#[ i know it's canon for diana to drop off the face of the earth for periods of time so consider this past hiatus canon lol

[faeriekit]

Health and Hybrids (XXVII)👽👻💚

[I can't remember the original prompt posters  for the life of me but here's a mashup between a cryptid!Danny, presumed-alien!Danny, dp x dc, and the prompt made the one body horror meat grinder fic.]

🖤Chapter navigation can be found here🖤 Click to browse previous updates.

💚 Ao3 Is here for all parts 💚 (now featuring mediocre mouseover translations, only available on a computer)

Where we last left off... Danny has another hashtag breakdown! Diana helps mediate. Stinky Dad and the Alien Guy observe.

Trigger warnings for this story:  body horror | gore | post-dissection fic | dehumanization (probably) |  my nonexistent attempts at following DC canon. On with the show.

💚👻👽👻💚

Danny’s space-watching time is very important to him. He’s pretty sure it’s on his schedule, even.

Every few days—and even more days in a week, now that people are relatively certain that he’s not going to start hitting the medical staff—Danny gets wheeled over to the big window to stare out at the moon.

The moon hasn’t changed all that much since his first few visits, since. You know. It’s in space. Still, the stars shift in their positions, and sometimes they face Earth, and sometimes they do not, and a couple times Danny sees people flying out there, which is super neat.

Sometimes Danny sees maintenance workers out doing repairs on their buildings, too. They wave back at him when they’re not busy or carrying something, which makes Danny’s core bubble and spark with joy.

So, Danny is watching the stars twinkle in the sky with all the meditative calm his Obsession requires when something plops onto his head. It doesn’t hurt, but it does put pressure onto his neck. Ow.

Danny hisses automatically, but he already knows who it is—the quick-fast-kid-who-hasn’t-introduced-himself practically vibrates against Danny’s skin, all excited by omg/omg/misch/iefomg.

Typical. Danny wants to feign a bite, but his neck kind of hurts. He settles for grumbling. “What?”

“Dude,” the teenager says, or, uh, Danny approximates he says something kind of like dude, anyway— “Want to come see a feoht?”

Uh. “A what?” Danny asks, ignoring how the guy’s chin keeps digging into his scalp. It might be the most non-medical physical contact Danny’s had since he broke down with Diana. Maybe.

The teen backs up, and models some very quick punches into the air, making his own sound effects to match. It’s all very impressive, or whatever. Danny’s not going to applaud, though; his arms are tired.

“…Sure.” It’s not like Danny has anything better to do.

“Berstan!” the kid chirps, and—

Danny clamps down on his wheelchair wheels because holycraptheyaremoVINGFAST. His wheels aren’t on the ground—the teen is carrying him, chair and all—!

He’s going to be in so much trouble for running. Danny’s wheels touch the ground, and he drops straight to the floor. His hands shake all the way up to his elbows as he grips his wheels. He is going to be in so much trouble when the nurses look for him and he’s not there.

Oh no. Oh no.

“Here we are!” the quickfast teenager announces, grinning. They’re in a room with a big, rubberized floor. It’s basketball orange. The rest of the room is virtually indistinguishable from the cloth folding walls Casper High uses to divide the gym into smaller gyms—giant cloth panels line every surface that isn’t the floor. Walls. Ceiling.

Well. It’s certainly…sound dampening. There’s vents, though. So. At least they can breathe.

The other teenagers Danny recognizes yell out to them, cheerful as ever. One waves—the kid behind him waves back, and then they’re all clustered together, pleased and breathing heavy and slightly sweaty.

“Feel alright?” one teen asks—Danny recognizes him after a second; he usually has a leather jacket on over his brightly colored shirt. He isn’t sure what the huge S is for, but hey, it’s a cool emblem or whatever. Danny used to have his initial on his…

…Danny doesn’t want to think about that, actually. He doesn’t want to think about anything about home at all.

Oh. Someone asked him a question, and now they’re all looking at him for answers. Danny nods jerkily—something sloshes inside his skull, though, which. Ew. He scrunches his face up when everyone else starts to look worried about his expression, though; it’s no big deal! It’s just! Gross!

The boy who is very fast pats his hand before sliding to the other side of the room. There are buttons there, which he presses; the room shifts, just a little, to make a piece of the floor turn away in favor of a rack of weapons. The teenager who’s always masked, but is now in an exercise shirt, whistles approvingly, and two of the teens—whoah—start flying off to grab at the equipment available.

…There’s some cool stuff there. Danny. Danny might…

He doesn’t want to fight, per se, but. Um. Weaponry is intrinsically cool. There’s no doubt about it. Half the reason he liked to play Doomed was collecting the newest and coolest weapon to blast at all his enemies with! And Tuc—

—and—

—Tucker—

Something clicks right up in front of Danny’s face.

He flinches.

“You good?” the teenager asks, big blue eyes on him as Danny struggles to breathe. “Do you want hweorfan?”

Danny gasps around three uneasy breaths before his ears catch up. Or. Well, his ears work, but his brain doesn’t know what the teen is saying?? Danny shakes his head anyway—he doesn’t want more to happen. He wants less.

The teenager frowns. Danny immediately worries that he did something wrong. “Okay, but tell me if you change your mod.”

As soon as Danny figures out what that is? Sure. He’ll tell him.

In the meantime, the kids split up into groups; one set of two goes to one side of the gym and the other goes in the air, floating on the other si— wait, they can float??

…Danny stares, and two ostensibly human-looking teenagers take to the air, loudly teasing the two left on the ground, and, yeah. They’re flying. Danny watches as the one on the ground starts counting, ready to start their match, only to interrupt his own countdown for a sneak-attack at the start and a PIFF of a smoke bomb going off. Danny can’t see the buzzing kid disappear from sight as the air begins to thicken, but there’s a distinct taste of JOY/games/VICIOUS that flutters through him that tells Danny that, wherever he is in that smoke cloud, he’s living his best life.

 And. Well.

The fighting is—there isn’t a better word for it, it’s just so damn cool. There’s kicking and punching and throwing and tossing and—sure, Danny can take a few hits and deal out some surprise punches when he has to, but these kids know what they’re doing, which is so cool, because once Danny lost the benefit of gravity mid-fight basically everything Mom had trained in him had been thrown out the window. The physics were just never right.

(And— Mom—)

Like, all the punches are happening at speeds that Danny can only kind of follow. His neck starts hurting from trying to follow them—but he can’t stop watching, and the kids are really having a blast. They’re laughing. They’re teasing. They show off, even, stopping to pose and flex and be admired by their sole observer, which Danny obliges with some gentle claps. The others are quick to jump on any distraction, though, and are more than willing to have Danny be the center of attention while they sneak up on showstoppers, stick or lasso in hand.

On one hand, Danny should probably be more alarmed by the sight of kids acting as literal child soldiers training to be combat ready. He…he’s pretty sure he’s meant to be one of them as soon as he’s recovered enough to get trained.

And…it is scary. It is kind of a scary thought that Danny might have to go back to…go back to fighting and getting hit and hitting and everything that fighting means.

On the other hand, there’s no one here. All the kids here are Danny’s age, and they’re not fighting because someone is making them; they’re having fun, and their job is to help people.

…Danny puts his legs higher up on his wheelchair, until he can wrap his arms around his knees. They’re supposed to beat up threats, but they don’t think that Danny’s a threat. They’re letting him sleep in a bed and get medical care and making sure he gets medication and everything. They let him hang out with their children and he has toys and fidgets to pass the time, and maybe he’ll have to pay them back later, but… isn’t helping out because he got helped only fair?

And they let non-humans live on Earth! That one teen’s stinky dad said that they could help Danny stay on Earth, he thinks. Or, uh, it’s what he thinks the green guy translated that as? So as long as he doesn’t leave, they could even protect him from the— all the bad stuff on Earth! So really, all Danny has to do is work on getting better. He’s safe here. Diana is here, the stinky dad is here, and there’s a whole team of super-people with super powers ready to help people.

Danny’s safe. He’s calm. He’s fine. He’s…worried that Diana doesn’t know where he is, but she’s smart and there’s probably cameras.

He watches the teens play around with various weaponry like they’re his model rocket. There’re thrown projectiles and giant hammers and dodgeballs and sticks, staves, and lassos; someone pulls out a shield, of all things, glittering gold and gleaming with something that itches at the back of Danny’s eyeball, and there’s a gun that sh—

Danny only breaks out of the memory of RUNNINGRUNNINGRUNNING when he realizes that someone is holding him. He’s choking. He doesn’t know who’s holding him, but they’re not hurting him right now and he can see a crowd of other colorful figures around him, which means he’s not with the Guys in White.

He’s hyperventilating. He can’t help it. He can’t stop it! His lungs hurt and there’s no end to the stress pressing out of his chest. Someone is holding him; where’s his chair? Did he lose it?? That’s really expensive medical equipment—they’re going to be so mad at him—!

Someone lifts him out of the stranger’s arms. It’s one of the older quick-buzzing humans. Not the teenager, and not the oldest one, he thinks. Danny can’t tell. He can’t breathe, and it’s hard to focus.

He’s shushing Danny like he’s a kid. Danny would be insulted, except he can’t breathe, and he really wants someone to help him, and his eyes are all weird and he can’t see and he doesn’t know where he is and his core hurts and his chair is gone—

Oh. The guy puts Danny’s hand on his chest and models breathing in with one big, visible breath.

Danny breathes in.

The guy models breathing out. It’s a long, slow breath.

…Danny struggles through the follow-through, but he manages. Well. He chokes hard enough to cough, twice, but…close enough.

The colorful forms milling about slowly disperse, until it’s largely just Danny, and the fast guy radiating very measured levels of calm, and his friend in black and blue, who is eating a sandwich. They breathe in, and they breathe out. That one guy eats his sandwich.

Danny looks around. He’s…the room he’s in is really big. Tables. Benches. Little stands of foo… Oh. He’s in a cafeteria. Cool.

…He squints through the new haze of green in his eyes. He’s probably strained something, but there are more important things at stake here: can he get some real food here?

“Where is here?” Danny asks. Rasps. He’s mostly horizontal, so manipulating his head around to glance at his surroundings is kind of a strain on his neck. Is that a hot dog cart?

“Wistheall,” the two say simultaneously—the guy in black and blue and a bird on his chest swallows his sandwich. “…Want a snakka?”

You know what? Danny’s going to assume that this means a snack. Sure! Why not. Nodding his head so quickly hurts, but he’s also not walking anywhere, so it’s not like it’s a full-body pain. The buzzing-quick guy sort of just…carries him around and asks Danny what he wants, and the bird guy gets it for him.

The little vibrations the guy is giving off are tinged a little with wor/ryworry/worry, but the guy’s mostly…at peace? Forcibly shoved it all down? Danny and the guy are practically chest to chest at this point, so it’s probably just that Danny’s close enough to feel even really quiet things.

His suit is super smooth, by the way. It’s not, like, skintight—there’s a little armor underneath, Danny can feel—but the fabric itself is like super slick. It’s cool. Texturally.

Also, he gives Danny a tube of something that are clearly off-brand Prongles, so Danny’s mostly just enjoying that instead of wondering what’s up with this guy and his friend.

“Are you okay?” the guy finally asks, his chatter mostly winding down into a question Danny can recognize. Danny swallows his bite of chips with a swig from his water bottle, and nods. He’s…unsettled, but he’s fine. He doesn’t know where he is, but he didn’t know where the teenagers had left him either, so this is about what he expected.

Even under his red hood-and-mask, the guy’s eyes are kind. Kinda worried. Not mean. “Something bad happened?”

…Danny looks back at his chips. Something bad happened, but it didn’t happen recently. “No,” Danny muttered around the crumbs in his mouth. He swallowed dryly. “Not…not now.”

The vibrations slow, and dim, melancholy lacing through the air. The sensation makes Danny itch. “Before?”

Danny nods. He thinks about his body melting from the outside in, his face dripping off in chunks of wet matter, his throat torn open still screaming.

“It was a—“ Danny tries, but he doesn’t actually know their word for gun or blaster. He just forces his fingers to make a familiar symbol, holding his own middle and end fingers back, leaving a shaking, uncomfortable thumb and pointer.

The quiet pew pew sound effects probably aren’t necessary, but the more detail, the better, or something like that.

Danny remembers how hot it got. Just…all the heat and light, and he could smell smoke right up until he couldn’t. And his face…everything hurt—everything still hurts, even—but the scary point had been when suddenly his face hadn’t hurt, and there was nothing left to feel.

…The guy holding him pulls Danny’s fingers away from his face. Oh. Danny was pulling at his still-green, still-healing wound. He. Uh. He doesn’t remember starting to do that anymore.

“Sorry,” Danny whispers. He swallows something wet from his sinuses to his stomach, and has to fight back the memory of a blood-and-ecto-and-flesh slurry taking its place in his esophagus as he tried to crawl away to die. Again.

The man sends out pulses of sorrysorrysorry through his skin. “Me too,” he murmurs back.

Then Danny gets hitched up—Danny squawks—and gets thrown into a better position over one shoulder, so Danny has better height to see from and a better perch in the guy’s arms. Danny drops half his prongles on the floor in the process. “Want to go find your chair?” the guy asks, body vibrating just a touch outside of Danny’s conscious awareness. Still, even without seeing the guy’s face, his whole body radiates sympathy/curiOSITy/Hungry.

…Didn’t they just eat?

Either way, Danny’s not torn between staring sadly at the ground where his prongles lay cold and bared to the cruelty of the world or getting up to go find his chair. “Yes,” he agrees, and uses the flat of his forearms to haul himself up higher onto the guy’s shoulders. Kindly, the guy in red doesn’t even budge. “Thank you.”

“Na geswincan,” the guy reports back easily, which Danny is pretty sure is a less-formal you’re welcome. Too bad there’s a whole language’s worth of context Danny’s missing out on here. His friend even snags Danny an extra can of prongles, and is kind enough to rips open the seal for him.

Nothing beats recovering from a crying jag like chips. Danny takes them earnestly.

The quick-fast guy hooks his arm onto his friend’s, and the world starts to stretch and blend into the in-between planes of reality, slices of world layered atop each other. The guy smashes through each one and pulls them both along for the ride.

It’s not quite like dunking his head in the portal, but it’s not not like sticking his head in a homemade portal either. Danny shakily pulls out a chip and starts chewing. He’ll just take the ride as it comes.

*

“Superboy.”

Kon winces.

“Robin.” Wonder Woman’s eyes turn to the more remorseful end of the bunch. “Wonder Girl. Impulse.”

“Wedidn’tmeanto!” Bart wails into a pillow, which. Fair. Cassie is sweating from possibly every pore she’s ever had (and maybe even a few she doesn’t??), and Tim is doing that stoic-faced thing that means he’s flipping the hell out too much to even tell his face to make expressions about it.

Kon just looks…miserable. Just absolutely miserable.

“…Triggered by firearms, maybe…?” Tim mutters under his breath, which means that he’s theorizing about their guest’s symptoms rather than coming up with solutions-oriented paths out of this confrontation and Cassie wants to shake him because this is NOT the time, Timothy Jackson Drake, except he’s kind of made of mortal human flesh and if she actually shakes him too hard he might die.

“I hope you understand how deeply irresponsible it was to take our patient out of his rooms without any form of supervision from either myself, his medical team, or an adult up to speed with our patient’s medical and psychological needs.” Wonder Woman’s voice is sharp—and her eyes are on Timmy Wonder Boy, who’s barely paying attention, making it clear that the majority of her ire is currently on him. “All four of you are being taken off of mission rosters for the next month in favor of remedial training. I hope that you are all satisfied with the decisions you made.”

“Fiiiine,” Cassie groans. Kon slumps in place. Tim nods without really looking.

Bart, still wailing at lightning speed into his pillow, continues doing…that.

[diaryofabeautyfiend]

This chapter contains canon typical violence, smut, mentions of blood, major character death.

Small Time Witch (31)

It had been three days and you hadn’t heard from Loki. The little screwdriver around your neck was barely warm. His heart rate was erratic and sometimes barely existent. You were beginning to think Odin was right. You sat alone on the field where Loki would lead Thanos. You sat waiting for him every day.

The field was filled with wild flowers. You picked a few and braided them into a crown. It was warm and the sun kissed your skin making it glow. When this was all over you would re sod this field. The people of Vanaheim deserved to have nice spaces. While you were deep in thought you didn’t notice the presence until she was sitting next to you. She was always with you in some capacity. Always whispering in your ear. Begging you to follow her. These last few days her voice has been louder than anyone else.

“Took you long enough to show your face.” You didn’t look over. You knew what Death looked like.

“You’ve been waiting for me?”

“What’s to wait for? You’re always with me. Have been for the last ten years. Longest relationship I’ve had.”

She laughed, “I made you what you are. Shaped you into the person you’ve become. I’m here to see my creation’s first steps.”

You sat quietly enjoying the breeze together. You set the crown on her head. She smiled for a moment then the followers wilted. She frowned and plucked off the crown and set it in her lap. You hovered your hand over it springing it back to life.

“Is this what you envisioned when you fucked with my life? Did you put me here so that I could fight your boyfriend?”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Semantics. You love him.”

“I do. I’ll take him with me today.”

“You’ll take him in pieces.”

“So violent. Unbecoming of a princess.”

“I’m not a princess.”

“Semantics.” She smiled showing you all of her perfectly polished teeth.

“Is Loki alive?”

“Barely. Thanos will bring him alive to the battle. Don’t let him get in your head. He knows you’ll be moved to save Loki. You have a job to do.”

“And when I do it, what side of the battlefield will you be on?”

“The winning side. Get some rest, my sweet. Tomorrow is going to be a son of a bitch.” She winked at you and disappeared. You knew what you had to do. When the time came you would be ready.

——————————————————————

The eve of battle. Everyone was antsy. You could practically smell the adrenaline. It’s thick fog choked you when you walked into a room full of people. You made some modifications to your plans which involved magic you could barely do, The Ancient One, Auntie Agatha and Wanda. You had to get Loki away from Thanos as soon as they land. You had to strike fast and hard. They were prepared.

You sat alone at a table ignoring the merriment. You almost didn’t notice your coven and Wanda filing in. They held hands and your mother and Helene rested their hands on your shoulders. Frigga stood behind you making you the center of the circle. They invoked Hecate and Diana to be by your side. “May your magic be strong and your resolve stronger.” Helene chanted.

“And may Thanos know who is the baddest witch in every known universe.” Agatha chimed in.

“Blessed be!” they all cheered.

“Ladies, tomorrow, please aid in evacuating the outlying villages. I don’t want innocent lives lost. Lana, Constance, Margot and Flora, you will stay behind with several of the light elves to keep the palace grounds protected.”

“Why does the new girl get to go to the battle grounds with you?” Constance whined. Mobius was right. It should have been her.

Before you could answer Agatha chimed in, “When you have magic as powerful as Wanda you can fight the aliens. Keep practicing, sweetheart.” You almost spit out your wine you were laughing so hard.

The little screwdriver felt hot against your chest. You could feel Loki. “SHIT! They are almost here!” You stood on the table and shouted, “Shut up! Everyone shut the fuck up! They’re early! Get to your assignments now!”

Hilde fitted you with with armor and you all raced to your positions. Those who were going to Asgard got to the field and called for Heimdall. You kept your eyes trained on Steve and whispered a silent prayer that he’d be safe.

You and Helene lit up the field as much as you could with energy balls. Around the perimeter the Vanir set torches ablaze. Freyr joined you and the ladies to concentrate your strongest magic on Thanos to incapacitate him early. Hilde, Thor and Ororo were on guard as well.

Thanos’ ships landed spraying earth all along the front lines. Frost giants snarled and banged their shields. Thanos stepped off of his ship holding Loki over his shoulder like a rag doll. Just as predicted, Cull Obsidian and Proxima Midnight did not exit the ship with them. You called for Heimdall to show you. They landed there. Danvers added that the Nova Corps and the Sovereign reported Thanos’ troops on Xandar. He was punishing anyone who helped you. Tony said a ship landed outside of DC. Shield , Rhodey and the rest of the X-men were handling business there. You prepared for this and ensured that armies were ready in all the nine realms. No one was safe from this disease.

While Thanos walked down the ramp of his ship, his troops and yours held stock still and aching to fight. Your own plan was clear. Get Loki, kill Thanos, make sure Tony dies, snap the rest out of existence. You could not be shaken.

Thanos picked up Loki by the scruff of his neck. Agatha kept a hand on you. “Stay with us. No stupid mistakes.” she whispered to you. Of course, because he’s an arrogant prick, he made a speech.

“Look at you, hiding behind your wife’s skirt. Your weakness is disgusting. How easy it was to sway you to my side. You are a failure.”

“I am a god” he croaked “and my wife is going to rip you apart.”

“Now!” You shouted and sent a beam of energy straight at Thanos. You had him on his knees. Pietro swooped in and grabbed Loki. He took him to Frigga and Njord then rejoined the fight.

Thanos screamed as his armor split and his weapon clanged on the ground. “Go, you idiots!” His troops mobilized and so did yours.

Just as you planned, the barrier went up when he called for airstrikes. The firepower from the guns could not penetrate effectively protecting your troops. Unfortunately also Thanos’ troops. Danvers and Valkyrie incapacitated the ships right away. The Ebony Maw had Tony in his grasp. Tony wouldn’t be able to fight him off. One of the Maw’s spikes penetrated the Arc Reactor. You heard Thor screaming for him. Hulk rushed to him and tried shaking him awake. He was gone.

You almost lost it hearing your friends scream for Tony through your comms. This time you didn’t shut them off. You deserved to hear it. Out of nowhere, an additional beam of magic hit Thanos. It was brilliant green and strong.

“Miss me, Pet?” Loki shouted looking strong. Frigga Njord and Maja worked fast to heal him.

“We’ve got him! Go!” You screamed to everyone else. You stopped using your magic and let the stones take over. Your whole body glowed and your eyes went white. You grabbed Loki’s hand and intensified his magic. Thanos was in complete agony. While Loki weighed him down with chains that sprouted from the ground, you rested your boot on his chest. He couldn’t breathe.

“This is over.” You snapped and his ships and all of his troops started to disintegrate. You got confirmation that they were going down everywhere. You knelt down next to him and got up close to his ear, “I hope you rot and I hope it hurts.”

Thor came behind you with Mjølnir resting on his shoulder, “Go for the head, Brother.” With one swing he delivered the fatal blow. His blood sprayed your face and body. You didn’t move until his heart stopped.

Death rested her hand on your shoulder, “I’m impressed.” Her voice was amused but you could see she was shaken seeing Thanos in this state.

“I knew you would be.” Just for good measure, you electrocuted his body until it turned to ash. You swept it all up in a little wind and dumped it into a box that you sent deep within Vanaheim’s core.

Death smiled again, “You don’t trust me to hang on to him?”

You chuckled, “I jumped time and almost died taking in these stones to save my man. No telling what you’d do.”

“Smart girl. I taught you well.” The two of you embraced and she shimmered away.

Everyone in your general vicinity was staring at you. You could hear a pin drop.

“What? We’re old friends.”

“Like in Harry Potter!” Lana shouted excitedly. You nearly fell over laughing.

——————————————————————

All in all you had very few casualties. The armies of the Nine were virtually unscathed. Your greatest loss, of course, was Tony. The crew from Asgard rejoined you. You gave them space to mourn privately. With Wong’s help, you expelled the Time Stone and gave it back to The Ancient One. They opened up portals for all Midgardians to return home. You said your goodbyes to all of your family and friends as they left. Your mother made you promise you’d be along to visit soon. You reminded Agatha you still had the Kale’s to deal with. You’d be home soon enough.

You made your way over to the Avengers to extend your condolences. You fashioned a vessel for his body to arrive safely back on Earth. They all shook your hand as they filed out. All except Steve who drew you in for a hug. “I’m so sorry for your loss, Captain. He fought valiantly.”

“Thank you, Princess. We know going into any battle there could be losses. He’s not the first friend I’ve had to say goodbye to.” That broke your heart especially knowing Bucky was alive.

“Does he have a family?”

“A girlfriend. His parents are deceased.”

“I’m so sorry again. Please, never hesitate to call on me should you need my help.”

“Thank you.” He followed Tony’s body through the portal.

Loki eyed you suspiciously. “Save it. I’ll tell you later” you groaned as you stretched.

“You are a dazzling liar, my little queen.”

“Oh, king of my heart, you have no idea.”

You went to the great hall with the intention of going to bed soon after. But, doing battle works up an aggressive appetite. You ate and drank until you were about to bust and then you drank some more. You were laid out on the table while Thor regaled everyone with tales from the battlefield. You nearly made it out when he suggested body shots. You and Loki declined but we’re far too entertained to leave the party. Hilde turned to you and smiled. You knew that smile. She just couldn’t leave well enough alone.

“Just one.” She jingled the shot glass in front of your face. You couldn’t resist her.

“One! Hilde, just one.” You took her hand which she pulled away. “Well where do you want it?” She unbuttoned the top two of her shirt. There were hoops and hollers a plenty. You shook your head and didn’t dare make eye contact with your husband. You sprinkled the salt in her cleavage, licked slowly, did the shot and went for the citrus wedge. She spit it out and kissed you. Loki’s annoyance grew almost to the point of anger. You pulled away with her cackling like a crazy person.

“Is that the face other me wanted?!”

“You are going to get me in so much trouble.”

“I certainly hope so.” She winked at you and went back to your friends.

Loki stood from the table and made his way to you, “If you are quite finished, I would like to take you to bed, wife.”

“I am so ready, husband.” He picked you up and slung you over his shoulder. You yelped when he smacked your bottom.

He was undressing you before you even got to the door. He pushed you against the wall just outside the great hall and slipped his hands into your waistband. “Mmmm. So wet for me, darling.”

“All for you, my king.” He was so hard straining against leather. It was nearly painful. You were falling apart in his hands. “If you keep doing that I’m going to cum.” You were breathless. Chest heaving out sharp pants.

“I want you to. I want everyone to know how I make you feel. You are mine and I want the world to know it.”

You cried his name over and over again when you met your release. He set you down smothering you with his lips. “Take me to bed or I’m going to pull out your cock right here.”

“Ha promises promises.” he says against your lips. You trail your hand down to his pants and undo the buttons. When you pulled him closer he winced in pain. You took your hand away and lifted his shirt to see he was still bruised and bleeding from a wound on his side.

“Lok..” the higher you lifted his shirt the more damage you saw. “Oh. Loki...”

“It doesn’t hurt” he whispered trying to pull you back in for a kiss.

“Stop, Loki. Come on. Let me get you to bed.” He followed you into the bedroom and you started undressing him. “No more illusions.”

“Lie down, Pet. I’m going to fuck you silly.” He lifted off his shirt and you burst into tears. “Please don’t cry. You said no more illusions. Y/N, I’m dying to be inside of you. I will go slow. I just need to feel you wrapped around me.”

“God. I can’t believe you, Loki! You could have killed yourself. Look at you! You’re still bleeding. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“My love, I will only be hurting if I don’t get to fuck you. Please. Don’t make me beg.” You needed him too. For the next few hours you lost yourselves. There was no more pain. No more degradation. No more expectations. Just the two of you.

[melodious-madrigals]

dulce et decorum est

My contribution for Day 2 of Wondertrev Loveweek. 

Fandom: Wonder Woman Pairing: character study with background Diana/Steve Prompt: Soldier Word Count: 1350 Rating: T (canon-typical violence) Summary:  Steve Trevor was not always a soldier, but circumstances make him one. 

Read it on [AO3] or below the cut. 

***

Notes: This is technically canon-compliant, but as a rule I only write Steve Lives stories, so...you can decide for yourself whether you want this to just be a little pre-battle character study or the precursor to a canon divergence where Steve lives. I know which one I'm choosing! ;)

***

Steve Trevor was not always a soldier.

("I already tried doing nothing," he tells Diana, in the glow of a magical underground hot-spring. There was a clear before, a line drawn between that Steve and this one.)

*

Nothing isn't quite the word. The United States wasn't involved in the War, at that point. He wasn't involved either, but there wasn't yet a reason for him to be. Instead, Steve was sitting for his doctorate in engineering at a little school called Boston Tech, taking advantage of the brand-new curriculum in aeronautical engineering they were offering on the side. (Steve marveled at aeroplanes even before he linked up with the Royal Air Force to become a pilot.) The War existed, of course, but on the periphery of his consciousness. He got to follow it in the newspapers like any other American, and forget about it when he so chose.

And then the RMS Lusitania goes down, and Steve's older brother goes down with it.

He's in London before the month is out. There are moments he thinks the grief might kill him, swallow him whole. Joining up might not be the answer, might not provide the solace he's looking for, but at least it's something. He already tried nothing, see?

*

Steve proves to be absolutely ace with aeroplanes. He's got the drive and the academic background, and that's really all he needs, at first. The rush he gets flying planes almost makes him forget his pain, and he outflies all the other trainees in his group.

He gets reconnaissance missions initially, serves as eyes in the sky, spying on German positioning and reporting back to British Intelligence. Steve has a knack for getting lower and closer than the others in his cohort, and still managing to avoid the hostile fire. But this is war, and things never go right for very long.

His plane gets shot down. (It's the first time he cheats death during the War, but it's far from the last.)

His plane gets shot down over enemy territory, and he survives not only the crash, but the subsequent escape from behind the German battle line. He comes back with a trove of information, the position of troops, of High Command, of anecdotes from the German soldiers he meets who think nothing of his barely-there accent because if anything it sounds a little Hungarian.

And suddenly, British Intelligence realizes what an asset they have on their hands. An ace pilot, a competent engineer, smooth-talking and fluent in three languages (courtesy of his immigrant mother who insisted on speaking the languages of her youth with her children), smart and brash and green—too naive, still—and yearning to make a difference.

They make him a spy.

*

But this is war, and there's no delineation between soldier and spy, not really. For all that he goes on intelligence missions, he also ends up in the trenches, sometimes, waiting for a contact, or traveling days on foot to a point where it's safe to cross. He braces himself next to men who have been there a year, and then two and three and four, as shells explode so close that the earth shakes violently and dirt and debris spray down on them, even as they barely gain an inch. He hears the cries of the women and children forced to take shelter in forgotten bits of trench because the War has swallowed their villages (the men are already long gone, dead or drafted into the fight elsewhere). He watches as men lose toes and blood and limbs and less tangible bits of themselves.

Indeed, he gets shot—a flesh wound; he's lucky, if luck still exists here—and sees the deepest of sufferings in a makeshift hospital where men shudder with every breath, lungs destroyed by mustard gas, where the cries of the infirm ring out at all hours, like tortured bells tolling the loss of limb and life.

He becomes a soldier not by choice but by necessity. He learns the art of the machine gun when the chap manning it beside him drops between the space of one heartbeat and the next, a stray bullet between his eyes and his blood blossoming on the soil below. He knew how to shoot before—grew up on a ranch, after all—but he learns the difference between shooting a steer and shooting a man. (If you're not careful, if you're not looking, the difference evaporates all too quickly.) He learns how to drop bombs from planes and turn his tricky manoeuvres into evading anti-aircraft fire.

He makes friends, comrades, brothers-in-arms in almost every place he ends up, and watches most of them die. He almost dies himself a couple of times, but he scrapes his way out. (He comes back with a little less hope, a little less of himself, every time.)

It's like nothing he's ever seen. It's like the world is going to end. He does what he has to in order to survive. And that's to be a—

Soldier. What a dirty word, what a venomous concept.

Steve Trevor is not a soldier.

But he becomes one.

*

Steve Trevor's eyes are a thousand years old by the time he crashes on Themyscira. He wants the War to be over, desperately hopes the information he has will help achieve those ends, but he can't picture it. Can't believe it.

By the time he meets Diana, he can barely remember what a normal life looks like, much less imagine one for himself. (I have no idea, he says, when she asks him about why people get married. He's been a soldier so long that he's forgotten how to hope for something else.)

But the funny thing—the funny thing is that shortly after he meets her, he begins to feel the faintest flutterings of something foreign rattling around in his chest. It takes him several days to realize it's a spark of hope, bright and pure, reminding him of everything he was and still could yet be.

They will be good men again and the world will be better, she insists, and even though he brushes her off, for a moment, he lets himself believe it could really be that simple. Could he be good again, too, he wonders?

This is wonderful! You should be very proud, she tells the ice cream vendor, and he feels a smile burst onto his own face, completely unbidden. Life used to be about simple pleasures, he thinks, and it's not even a thought tinged in bitterness, poisoned by a darker reality, but rather something that he realizes might one day be true again.

No, but it's what I'm going to do, she says, before stepping into No Man's Land and defeating an entire battalion of Germans despite every gun pointed at her, freeing Veld in the process. She could do this, he thinks; she might really end the war. It might not go on forever.

I have no idea, he says, again, when she asks him what it's like when there are no wars to fight, but it's not quite the truth. He's starting to imagine. He's starting to imagine and the picture comes into sharper focus as he watches the grin on her face as she marvels at the snowflakes, as he hears her peals of laughter, as he touches her face in the low, flickering light.

There might be a future, a world without war, a world where guns are unnecessary and leisurely breakfasts are commonplace and soldiers can be engineers or husbands or professors or farmers or fathers instead.

He became a soldier, but he can become someone else, something else. Maybe he can become that something with Diana, if the Fates are kind. He's never believed they are, but looking at Diana in the soft morning light of Veld, he believes that maybe this time they will be. Without his authorization, the hope within him has grown into a huge, beautiful, flickering flame, because he might be a soldier now, it's true, but no one is ever just one thing.

***

Fin

***

Fun fact! Boston Tech (called so until 1916; now MIT) was a struggling institution at the time, trying to compete with the better-funded Lawrence Scientific School (of Harvard). They did, however, have the first aeronautical engineering curriculum in the country in 1914, in which I've decided Steve completed some coursework.

***

[flareblitzedyt]

Raid on Area 51 for the Ib Remake/Remaster (Major Spoilers Included!!):

Everything included in this post is 100% not canon, it’s a twist on the current Area 51 thing that’s happening on 20th of September 2019. Don’t take anything put here seriously, all fun & games (except the people who went there for real).

Ib, Garry, Mary are locked up at Area 51, trapped in the realms of a one of a kind USB that the scientists developed to keep them contained so no one can enjoy the remake/remaster of Ib.

Kouri planned to release the remake/remaster of Ib on Steam sometime later on in September 2019. Steam though thought it would be better if the world would not witness such a marvel, steals the data from Kouri and transfers it to Area 51. During their adventures, multiple characters were summoned by a mysterious voice who calls themselves Guertena "three innocent souls must be rescued from the murky hands of tyranny, please help them." to planet Earth.

They ban together under the simple name of invaders, to join the earthlings that initially went to the raid event, though the ones that were called know what they must do. It is up to them to combines their powers & efforts, of the entire rpg maker horror universe to free their & our three friends from the grasp of Area 51. Will they succeed?

(Game characters included in the list: Mogeko Castle, Aria’s Story, LiEat, Prom Dreams, The Witch’s House, Witch’s Heart, The Crooked Man, The Sandman, Mermaid Swamp, Blank Dream, Paranormal Syndrome, Hello Charlotte, Midnight Train, End Roll, Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea, Angels of Death, The Gray Garden, Dreaming Mary, Yume Nikki, Misao, Mad Father, Fausts Alptraum & Bevel’s Painting).

Neil uses his detective skills to analyse the situation to increase the chance of critical hits against the guard.

Diana inflicts poison to decrease the stats of the guards defense. Apollo uses his courage to lead the charge, increases army morale.

Yonaka summons her army of Mogeko minions to act as one of the main fighting forces of the entire operation.

Moge-ko tortures any injured guards as a message to the other guards to not fight against the invaders. Decreases guard morale.

Wadanohara uses her magic to half projectile damage from the guard to ensure that the minions can last longer.

Kyle unleashes the shrieks of the eternal damned to scare the guards and cause them to go deaf. (Warning, don't cause him to turn around, or we'll be damned).

Maggie lobs basketballs towards the guards to act as meat shields to decrease the chance of the invaders being hit by projectiles based weaponry.

Dolores summons Moloch to feast upon the dead guards, reviving any no named characters of the invaders to get back in the fight.

Aya & Alfred Drevis mows down trees with their chainsaws to use as javelins for the army, they also look cool! When there are no more trees, they'll reek havoc amongst the guards until their chainsaws rev no more.

Viola equips the guards beforehand with what looks to be mini radars to detect the movements of the invaders. They later become cursed and squeeze the wrists of the guards, decreasing their accuracy & physical strength.

Ellen summons a gigantic house that swallows up the guard (make sure that the front door is facing the guard!).

David Hoover appears as The Slenderman (but crooked) to scare the guards, lowering their morale.

Sophie Grundler summons the Sandman to cast sleeping sand on the guards, lowering their energy levels.

Aria summons donuts carried by rabbits to feed the invaders, enhancing short term strength. (Disclaimer: No rabbits are harmed at all in the entire operation).

Rin Yamazaki uses her unlady like manners to bully the guards, sadly though this is most unlikely to work, though it does distract them...at least.

Aki splatters the guards with her trusty baseball bat, also laughs demonically if a guard named Yoshino is splattered. (Doubles in power when teamed with Russell).

Russell splatters the guards with his blood soaked baseball bat, ineffective if medication for Russell every night wears off. (Doubles in power when teamed with Aki).

Gardenia prevents the invader's stamina from running out with her one of a kind spatula, maintaining long term energy.

Narrator will narrate on the entire operation, enhances Lewin's power.

Lewin documents everything that happens, enhances Narrator's power.

Selene pulls inappropiate faces (including tongues) to distract the guards.

Mishiro Usui lowers the morale of the guard by excessively telling them that they should not of existed in the first place.

Himeno Mikoto summons her army of stuffed teddy bears with knives to act as one of the main fighting forces of the entire operation.

Madotsuki and her YNFG counterparts sleep for eternity & rely that energy to all invaders to prevent their focus from dropping.

Hiroshi brings forth blue demons that acts as one of the main fighting forces of the entire operation.

Wendy distracts the guards by asking whereabouts she is along with finding her home.

Yosafire attempts to go from guard to guard, pick them up and fly high into the sky and drop them, only works half the time in the second half of the operation as Yosafire needs to overcome their fear of flying.

Bevel uses her trusty paintbrush to regenerate any lost armour & weaponry of the invaders.

Rachel's immunity to fear leaves the guard confused, also inspires minions to fight harder (somehow...).

Zack tears apart the guard with his trusty scythe (warning, if he runs out of guards to slay, he'll turn against any nearby invaders).

Mary dreams of a pink, soothing paradise that restores any moral losses for the invaders (warning, this may distract the mogeko minions and stops them from fighting, no other hindrances reported so far...I think...).

Efina creates very small dragons that nibbles on the guards feet, effectiveness of dragons depends on how much the guards lie throughout the entire operation.

Luna karate chops & axe kicks at the front lines to pave the way for the army alongside Claire.

Claire's positive attitude & cheerfulness inspires the ranks of any no named characters, leading the first charge against the guard alongside Luna.

Zizel enters the minds of the guard, acting as a phantom to catch their attention and decreases their rate of fire & accuracy.

Elisabeth distracts the guard by asking them where her doll is, when she finds her doll, she helps the mogeko & teddy bear minions by keeping their hair in style, increasing their self-confidence.

Charlotte unleashes an army of herself with multiple personas that supports the minions and attacks the guard.

Clyde is summoned as a last resort if the invaders have nearly lost, to rewrite any failures that happen, otherwise resetting the entire operation back to square until the operation is a success.

[pinkrae]

Can’t fake love || Chapter 4

The questions with no answers

--- Previous

Raven had been gone for a while. And he knew it. He’d been checking his watch every two minutes. Restrooms don’t take that long. Even if she spent a reasonable amount of time looking for one, chances were she would’ve been back by now. Unless something had happened.

Not being able to sit still anymore, Damian stood up from his seat and rushed to the door. Slightly blinded by the light in the lobby, he looked around in search of the restrooms. Which weren’t that hard to find because the sign was right there around the corner. Now he just needed to find Raven there.

Though, as usual for women’s restrooms, there had formed a line with a couple girls even standing outside the door. So he couldn’t just waltz in there without looking like a creep. Instead, he put on his charming smile.

“Excuse me, ladies.” He spoke in a polite voice, instantly grabbing their attention. “Could you help me out? I’m looking for a friend. Would you please check if there’s a Rachel in there?”

“Well, of course, sweetie.” One of the girls chirped and quickly peaked through the door. “Hello, is there a Rachel in there? Rachel?”

Not receiving an affirmative response, she looked back to the young man and shook her head. “No Rachels there.”

“Thank you.” With a small bow he took a step back, his features completely changing once his back was turned to the girls.

“We have a problem.” He pressed the button of his communicator in his ear, speaking to the rest of the team outside. On one hand, he didn’t want to cause an alarm had she really just gone somewhere to get some air. But on the other hand, all his instincts were screaming that something was wrong.

“What happened?” Kory asked with worry.

“Raven left the screening room almost 15 minutes ago and hasn’t returned.”

“You let her go alone?!” Beast Boy asked almost accusingly.

“I wasn’t gonna follow her to the restroom, you dimwit.” Damian spoke through gritted teeth. “Spread out. She couldn’t have gone too far.”

Since he was the one inside the building, it felt only logical to search for her there. Even if something told him that she wasn’t there. He argued with himself, asking why would she had left the building. Unless she was forced to. Maybe she found something. Maybe something found her. That thought made him angry. Mostly at himself.

The movie theater was big, there were so many places she could be at. And it worried him. Thankfully the rest of the team was on it already, searching outside. But it soothed his troubled mind only for that much.

“Guys,” Jaime’s voice was heard over the comms, “I found her--”

“Where?” Damian instantly stopped in his tracks.

“She’s outside--” Static.

“God damn it, Reyes, where?”

“Back of the theat-- … Static … --on the right.” Jaime didn’t even finish his sentence when Damian already turned around to find the nearest exit. “It’s ba--” Static.

“Beetle?” Beast Boy asked, concern obvious in his voice.

“Come in, Beetle.” But Kory’s request was once again met with only static.

Damn it.

Something was definitely wrong. Swinging the exit doors open with force, Damian ran to the location Blue Beetle had given.

There weren’t many places she could’ve gone, the area wasn’t that big. But the sound and light of Blue Beetle’s canon blasts were a good indicator as to where they were. Unlucky for the Titans, however, seeing this fuss behind the theater house, the journalists grew curious and some had shuffled their way there as well. This wasn’t going to end well if civilians were to get involved. And Damian wasn’t in his Robin suit either, so he didn’t like this situation one bit.

His mind was racing with thoughts. And he didn’t want to admit it, but most of them were about Raven. Was she save? Was she alright? Why weren’t either her or Blue Beetle’s comms working? What was happening?

And as soon as he ran around the corner, now joined by the rest of the team, his heart dropped. There she was. Lying on the ground unconscious while Blue was fighting some mysterious woman and her… henchmen?  They looked more like strange beasts with red glowing eyes, to be honest. But there was no time to contemplate on that.

“Damian,” Starfire spoke softly, now standing next to him and placing a hand on his shoulder, “get Raven to safety. There’s too many eyes here, we can’t risk exposure.”

It wasn’t often - or more like ever - that this happened, but he only partially listened to what the team leader was telling him. His mind had blocked everything else out and all he could see was her. What did the lady do to her? Was she hurt? He needed to--

“Get her out of here.” He suddenly snapped out of his thoughts. “Got it.” And without another second of hesitation, the boy rushed over to his friend.

Kory noticed the initial hesitation and it sparked concern within her. It was Damian who was always head first into action, get everyone to safety, get the objectives done. But this time he’d hesitated. It was unusual.

“Beast Boy,” she finally spoke again and nodded towards the group of journalists and other curious passersby, “crowd control. We don’t want any casualties.”

“On it!”

And with that Starfire and Wonder Girl joined the battle with the mystery woman and her beasts. It was unclear why she was here, who she was and what she wanted with Raven. Was she the killer they’d been looking for? So many unanswered questions still remained. But one thing was for certain - she needed to be stopped.

“You children are quite the nuisance,” the woman grumbled under her nose as she deflected one attack after the other using magic barriers.

But Damian didn’t have time to focus on the fight. He needed to get Raven out of there undetected both by the villain and the press, ideally. Good thing stealth was his strong suit, especially at night. So he lifted the girl in his arms and easily slipped through the buildings without anyone noticing. Hopefully, anyway. He’d worry about that later.

---

“How is she?” Donna asked softly, seeing Kory leave Raven’s room. The older female sighed and shook her head slightly.

“She said she wants to meditate.”

“That’s all she’s been doing lately.” Donna crossed her arms over her chest, her face expressing worry. “Are we sure she’s fine?”

“Damian checked her vitals as soon as he brought her to the Tower. She hasn’t sustained any significant physical injuries.” Kory explained as the two of them walked down the corridor. There was a moment of silence between the two of them before she sighed and continued. “But you’re right. We aren’t sure she’s fine.”

It had been a tough week for all of them. By what Raven told them, she remembered nothing of what happened to her after she left the theater. Jaime swore that when she’d found her, the woman, who Donna quickly recognized as Circe, the goddess of magic and an old enemy of the Amazons, had put her in some kind of trance using magic and was chanting something while her hand was pressed into Ravan’s chest. Though despite that, physically she was fine. And Damian made sure he checked it more than once.

But she’d been… distant. Even for her. She kept mostly in her room or outside the Tower meditating. Barely any food, any sleep or any interactions with anyone. If she did go to sleep, most nights she’d wake up from nightmares, covered in cold sweat. And they didn’t know how to help her. She wasn’t talking to them. Everyone was just on their toes, especially now that they knew they were dealing with a goddess.

“Any news on Circe?”

Donna shook her head. “She’s disappeared off the face of the Earth, it seems.” A sigh escaped her lips. “Starfire, I still believe we should alert the Justice League about this. Diana has fought her--”

“First we need to find her.” Kory interrupted the other. “If we have nothing on her, we have nothing to alert them for.”

“Do you not see what she’s done to Raven?” Raising her voice, she shot her arm backwards motioning to the empath’s room. “Is she not the one who killed all those innocent couples?”

“We have yet to find that all out, Donna.” The Tamaranean sighed and stopped in her tracks to look at Donna. Obviously, they were all worried. They wanted answers. They wanted justice. But… “We need information.”

“We need to stop her before it’s too late, that’s what we need.” Donna frowned and stormed off down another corridor. And Kory could only watch her leave as a sigh left her lips. A part of her knew that she was right. They might just need the help if this thing were to blow out of proportion. And by what Donna could tell them, Circe was no enemy to take light-heartedly. Still, there was a hint of hesitation inside of her. Almost like a pride thing. To prove that they could do it without the Justice League. On their own. They had gotten this far after all.

“You’re worried that the Justice League will deny their help because of me, aren’t you?” A sudden voice echoed from behind her. Gasping in surprise, Kory looked back to see Raven standing outside her room, probably having heard snippets of the conversation.

Opening her mouth to respond to the question, the older female hesitated to get any actual words out of her mouth. She didn’t know what to say, really. Raven was right and she knew that she knew it.

“You know that’s not--”

“Then don’t tell them about me.”

“What?” Kory was slightly taken aback.

“Tell them everything besides that. The killed couples, Damian and I’s PR stunts, how we found the damn witch, fought her and lost her.” Raven spoke with complete seriousness in her voice, as usual. The only thing unusual about it was probably the fact that it was the most that she had talked in days. “And we need to find her and stop her before more people die.”

“Are you saying that she is the killer?”

“All I’m saying”-- Raven sighed and covered her head with the hood of her cloak-- “is that we can’t fight this alone. She’s a goddess, for god’s sake.” Scowling, the girl turned and made her way to her usual spot outside the garden to meditate.

Didn’t she say she didn’t remember anything?

Now Kory was certain of at least one thing. She knew more than she let on.

--- Next chapter already available here

[ivedonestranger]

Chapters: 25/? Fandom: Teen Titans (Animated Series), Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Jinx/Raven (DCU) Characters: Raven (DCU), Cyborg (Character), Robin (DCU), Beast Boy, Batman, Green Lantern, Diana (Wonder Woman), Superman (DCU), Blue Beetle (DCU), Jinx (DCU), Koriand'r (DCU), Phil Coulson, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), See-More, Dorcas "Godiva" Leigh (DCU), Jason Woodrue, Bulletman, Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes, Zatanna Zatara, Komand'r (DCU), Stephen Strange, Karen Beecher, Kyd Wykkyd, Gizmo (DCU) Additional Tags: Multiple Crossovers, World Domination, Epic, Dark, Canon Temporary Character Death, Minor Character Death Series: Part 1 of The Midnight Saga Summary:

Though there were some in the know when it came to multiple realities, very few understood how expansive it was. Not only were their realities that changed fundamental parts of the known quantities, but there were also realities out there that were entirely different. Worse, there was something between those realities, and it wanted to get in.

All it needed was someone to open the door. She was his way in.

---------------------

Robin threw himself to the right, and the powered armor portions of his suit catapulted him through a small sapling causing it to explode into tiny wooden shards. Where he was standing was a smoldering black spot from a Kaz'Kal beam weapon.

'Oh, this is getting exciting,' he thought to himself sarcastically. Since the arrival of the Midnight Empress' swarm, he and his team had been pushed back from the center, and all Dick could do was hope that the plan was still working. Right now, though, he was doing his best to keep alive and take down as many of the enemy as possible.

"I need some backup!" Gizmo's voice screeched through the tiny speaker in Robin's headpiece. The augmented reality system painted a diamond to his left about 500 meters in the fray. Robin charged through the brush dodging bolts of energy that came out of nowhere. Robin's heart beat hard at the jungle melee. It was almost impossible to make out the movement in the smoke and smoldering fires that were crisscrossed with energy bolts and gunfire. In a matter of seconds though, the boy wonder could make out the metal spider arms of Gizmo followed by the mini-rocket blasts incinerating nearby foliage.

Cyborg charged through at the same time as Kid Wykydd materialized.

"defense pattern Delta," Robin called over his speaker. Gizmo immediately lowered to their level, and they took up a circle facing outward. When Robin slipped into his spot, he activated the energy cannon built into the arm of his suit, and they began to fire.

It seemed like years as the wave upon wave of Kaz'Kal continued to charge them haphazardly. There was no way out of the fight, but so far, no one had fallen. Green fire reigned down as Starfire slammed into the ground sending a shockwave scattering the enemy. Eyes blazing with fierce power, she fired off multiple starbolts cutting through the cannon fodder of the Midnight Empress.

"What are we doing?" Kid Wykydd called from his position. "We can't stay here forever."

"We gotta fight until we can't anymore. Superman and Batman have their plan. We have to keep fighting until we're told to recall." Robin responded, trying to ignore the dropping energy meter of his weapon. How long could they hold out?

When her mind came back to her, she found herself crumpled on the floor of the Fortress' disused throne room. The dust had settled back down from their portal entry, and everything hurt. Raven pulled herself up and looked about trying to clear her vision of the pain that pulsed through her head.

She found him, Sovereign, laying on the floor trying to get up himself.

"What happened?" she barely croaked out.

"They….they hit me with something that stripped me of my power." Jason coughed his arms, shaking as he tried to push himself up. "I'm not invulnerable, Rachel, I knew there would come a time Iris would figure out something."

"What do we do? They'll storm the Fortress to get to you."

"Hold them off, Rachel," Jason said as he collapsed to the floor. "I'll regain my strength if I live long enough. Peace of this reality rests on you now."

Raven pulled herself up and felt a thrum through her chest. She looked at her hands and found they had a slight glow to them.

"I've transferred as much power I could to you, Rachel, but I don't know if it'll be enough."

The sorceress gritted her teeth and balled her fists in anger.

"It'll be enough."

"Robin, you still with us?" the voice of Green Arrow came across the speaker.

"Alive and kicking," Robin responded glad to hear a voice other than his team. It means others had survived Midnight's onslaught.

"Good. It looks like the bitches are pulling back and teleporting out. Can you regroup at the secondary location?"

"We're on our way."

Without having to say a word, The New Teen Titans destroyed the last of the cyber minions and Kaz'Kal before making their way through the forest to the staging area they had set up before the fight. When they broke through the woods and into the field, All Robin saw was destruction. Bodies were lying everywhere. Many of the enemies but there were some colorful suits and human bodies of their allies among the dead.

Triage tents had been set up, and the medics were hard at work. Robin looked at his own team. Starfire was bruised and skin bleeding in places from branches and the enemy. Cyborg's armor was stained, and he could make out the fact his systems were on back up power. Kid Wykydd did not look damaged, but Gizmos was a pile of black and blue bruises and had to use his spider arms to carry him forward.

They made their way towards the big tent when a familiar form came limping towards them from a nearby medical tent. Robin did not think it was possible, but he broke out into a grin.

"Garfield!"

"Robin!" Beast Boy said with a kid like grin. "I see you survived the bugs. Glad I never had any phobias over those. Anyone seriously hurt?"

"No," Robin said after looking at each of his team for a response. "Just scrapes and bruises."

"Well, can't help with that at the moment, we got some seriously injured people. You'll have to patch yourself up."

"Not a problem. How bad is it?"

Beast Boy's face fell, and he shook his head. "We lost a lot. Most among the non-metas but we did lose some metas to."

"Who?"

"I heard Doctor Strange talking. We lost Hawk girl and Black Lightning. Big Barda is critically wounded, and they don't think she'll make it through the night."

Robin gritted his teeth. So much death, heroes who had protected Earth for so long were gone.

"BB, Doctor Strange needs us to start prepping the wounded so we can move!" called a voice that rang familiar in Robin's ears. He saw the blond girl come out of the tent and freeze when she saw the Titans.

"Terra," Robin said with a frown.

"We needed all the help we could get," Beast Boy said. "She and I are working together in the Medical division, until I can heal enough to rejoin you in the field, Robin."

There was too much going on, and Richard knew he couldn't drum up old hatreds, especially when one of his own had betrayed them.

"I gotta go, Robin. I'll see ya." Beast Boy said patting the boy wonder on the shoulder.

Making is way through the rest of the shuffling soldiers and the tents, Robin finally met up with Green Arrow who looked more like a brown stain of mud and blood than his trademark green. He flashed a weary smile and motioned towards the main tent's entrance.

Robin strode in with his team camping outside, and it took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the dark. Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman were among the few powerful heroes that were there along with Iron Man, Agent Coulson, Captain America, and his retinue.

"My drones confirm that Midnight has withdrawn back into its fortress," Batman was saying with a low pain laced growl. He looks like he had caught the worse end of a beating. "Coulson and I got a direct hit on Sovereign so we can confirm he is down. We need to move now against Midnight Empress and her Archon Knights before they can regroup."

"What are you suggesting?" Green Arrow asked pulling some more arrows from a case in the tent and re-filling his quiver.

"All out assault on the fortress," Superman said grimly. "We cannot allow Sovereign to regain his strength, or he will rip this reality apart."

"Were risking a high casualty rate," Captain America said gritting his teeth. "I know our wizard friends can open portals and get us closer, but we'll have to cut through a lot to get in."

"It's our only chance," Tony Stark said pointing at the holographic Fortress that hovered over the overturned bucket. "As soon as Sovereign is back on his feet, he's going to hit us with everything he's got. Midnight is on the pure defensive. They didn't expect us to strike such a blow."

"When do we move?" Diana asked, folding her arms acrossed her chest.

"As soon as we can."

Raven had lifted Jason off the ground and set him on the empty throne that had seen eons of time. He coughed and could barely keep himself upright. The Midnight Empress sensed them first, the descent of Jinx and Blackfire who alighted gently into the throne room.

"What is your bidding, Mistress?" Jinx asked, stepping forward, looking curiously at the weakened form.

"Mann the defenses and prepare for a counter-attack," Raven said quickly as she stepped away from Sovereign after making sure he was comfortable.

"They aren't going to try to strike us now, are they?" the pinkette asked surprised.

"Well, it seems her god is wounded," Blackfire spat. "We're all going to pay if they come after us."

Raven snarled and spun on the Tamaranian and reached out with her hand. Blackfire was knocked backward and suspended in the air gasping and clawing at her throat.

"I do NOT need insolence from you right now, woman," Raven snarled, a deep thrum in her voice. "You are vexing me more than you are worth."

"Mistress," Jinx said calmly approaching and placing a hand gently on Raven's forearm. "We don't have time to create new Archon Knights. Blackfire is mouthy, but she serves."

Raven contemplated the thought as Blackfire kicked and gasped for breath dangling from the invisible power the Midnight Empress had cast. There was something delicious about watching her squirm, to have her life hanging so near the balance. With a huff of disgust, Raven threw her aside sending her into one of the stone pillars. Blackfire coughed and gagged trying to pull herself up from the ground.

"They will portal into the outskirts and launch a siege," Raven said returning to Sovereign's side to stand by him. "They won't be able to pierce the fortress' defenses that way. Secure the walls and let them throw themselves at us. Once they tire out, we'll destroy whatever is left."

Jinx bowed low while Blackfire turned on her heel and soared back up through the cavernous window she had come through.

"Control," Jason gasped out and then coughed.

Raven came to his side and knelt down beside him. He ran his hand through her hair and smiled at her. "You must show restraint. The power coursing through you can easily consume you. It feels good to have others lives in your hands. Avoid indulging in those fantasies."

"I will try."

"It's a fine line, my love. I know."

My Love.He had called her his love. A smile broke across her face.

---------------

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15078734/chapters/49278503

FF.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12993044/25/The-Corruption-of-Rachel-Roth

[damienthepious]

Alright alright, fic update post! I - get this - finished a chapter two to something, so, without further ado,

Fate Picks Its Favorites - True Gold

Chapter 2 - Namesakes

[Chapter 1] [AO3] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4]

The trouble is, the babies need names before any adoption can be finalized, and Lady Scott hasn’t exactly been considering children lately. She hasn’t had any reason to, and she certainly hasn’t been wasting time considering what names potential children might have. The unnamed babies in question are both sleeping, each carefully settled into their brand new cribs as Lady Scott’s lawyer weaves a legal safety net around all of them using words like asylum and protective custody and the right to nationality of foundlings. Sabitri had the insight to purchase a book of baby names with the rest of the supplies, but right now it’s only dangling from Diana’s hand as she paces back and forth between the cribs.

She’s stalking. It’s something her mother used to do in moments of anxiety, and apparently Diana picked it up along the way. That thought makes her serene expression twitch, which irritates her enough that she gives up the pretense of even trying to read the baby name book, and she sets it down on her desk. Forcing her feet to stop at the feet of one of the cribs, she leans over the rail, staring down at the baby in contemplation.

The blue baby is sucking on his neon-glow pacifier even in his sleep, and his arms are clutched around the also-sleeping fish. Gears in her head turn.

This child was sent here with comfort objects. Maybe-

She needs to see the pods again.

They’re tucked away in an unused room next to the study, because Diana wants them nearby and because she knows it’s a room that her husband won’t enter unprompted. The slipshod pod is chock full of exposed wiring and greasy metal that she really isn’t sure if she should touch (someone put a baby in there?), but she reaches an arm in anyway, her sleeve carefully folded up. She doesn’t see anything else recognizable; no baby blankets, no convenient name-tag, no teddy bear, but when she retrieves her hand, her fingers brush against something that is unmistakably a button.

It’s under the lip, inside where the front hatch of the pod opened up. It’s not visible from outside, but what use would an infant have for a button, anyway? Is it some sort of low grade toy, just meant to engage motor function, or-

The moment her fingers brush against it, there’s a light and a sound, both unfamiliar. She crouches closer, because the voices - and they are unmistakably voices, now - are coming from inside the pod, and her angle is wrong to see the source. For a moment she thinks it’s a video, but the image soon resolves a bit closer than that.

It’s a hologram, like Diana has only ever seen in movies. Two tiny projected figures, each holding the other with their faces aimed away from Diana and towards the back of the pod- where the baby would have been. Their heads are too big, and their skin looks tinged blue in a way that she would have assumed was just a problem with the tint of the image if she hadn’t held a blue baby in her own arms less than an hour before. They are saying something, and though Diana can’t understand any of the words, the tone is very clear.

They are desperate, and they are loving, and they are saying goodbye.

It’s a very short message. The moment before it ends, the figures embrace tightly, and then they jerk apart as the hologram replays.

Their language is incredibly foreign, full of sibilant noises and trills that Diana is unsure if she could replicate. It sounds, in fact, quite alien.

Which really shouldn’t be a surprise, she thinks as the message statics out and replays a third time. She had known pretty instantly that the infants are both non-human, but she hadn’t expanded that thought to its logical next step, to the worry of what they are, if not human. The boxes that are ticked in her head now, though, include: advanced technology, unfamiliar anatomy, unfamiliar skin tones, incredible strength, literal flight, seemingly intelligent aquatic life, and all of the above dropping from the sky. The idea that they are aliens is certainly pulling ahead in the pool of likely origins for the children.

On the fourth repetition, she thinks she’s managed to pick out a specific word, or something like it. They (the parents? The alien parents?) say it near the beginning, and drop it a few more times in the middle, and near the end they repeat it over and over, drawing out long hisses between each instance.

She narrows her eyes. As strange and inhuman as the words are, there is something familiar here. Something about the way they say it, the obvious affection in their eyes, in the way they occasionally gasp, stop, compose themselves before continuing on. Something about the way that one particular word is said, so carefully, so warmly.

They certainly say it like a name.

If she’s wrong, though, and she tries to canonize it as the child’s name, it could be highly traumatizing down the line, couldn’t it? She listens again, and again, sat on the floor inelegantly, like a child. She has to be sure.

By the time she is sure, she’s also sure that she could recite the entire short speech phonetically, from memory, though she obviously hasn’t garnered any deeper understanding. She’s no linguist, and she has no convenient stone from which to base her translations. But she is sure of the most important part. She tests the word aloud, very quietly. She barely has to move her lips. She’s lucky that it’s one of the sounds that she can reproduce with her human vocal cords, and she feels-

Diana stands, carefully smoothing down her skirt, and the hologram shuts off on its own. Her mouth quirks into something like a smile. Clever device, she thinks, and then she turns her attention to the other pod.

On the surface, it’s far more impressive; gilded and gleaming and slick. When she runs her hands over the surface, they slide like she’s touching solid silk, and the inside is cushioned and gives enough to leave impressions of her fingertips for seconds after she pulls them away. No matter how carefully she looks, though, she can’t find a button like the one in the blue baby’s pod. She can’t find much of anything, actually, besides padding and extraneous shine. Sent in style, this one, but not much in the way of practical applications.

Well. She supposed it would be too much to ask to have that kind of luck twice in a row.

Sabitri is unpacking baby supplies in the corner when Diana comes back into the study, and her lawyer hasn’t moved from where she left him. He’s so engrossed in the heavy book in front of him that he doesn’t even blink at her reentry, and Sabitri knows her well enough that she simply continues with her work as well. Diana allows herself a brief twinge of pride in her people before she strides back over to the crib.

He’s still sleeping, but the fish is awake again, blinking up at her in drowsy confusion. Her lip pulls to the side, her nerves jumping in her stomach for only a moment before she murmurs the name aloud.

“Syx.” She’s already decided on the spelling she intends to use. She knows she’ll have to differentiate it from the number- she pronounces it differently, swallowing the vowel like the aliens had. Her eyes flick to the fish, whose fins had flared at the word. It’s looking up at her in obvious shock, and then with a look that makes Diana think that she has impressed the creature. She raises an eyebrow, gestures to the child very slightly (not enough for the two other humans in the room to notice), and repeats, questioningly, “Syx?”

The fish blinks, mouth slack for a moment before it flutters up and twirls in a quick circle, teeth exposed in something that could have been a grin on a mammal. On the fish, it looks somehow both pleased and intimidating. Or, it would have been intimidating if the thing wasn’t trapped in a tiny ball.

She takes the pseudo-smile as a confirmation, or as close to one as she can expect to get. She says the name a third time. Louder, now.

Her lawyer finally glances up from his paperwork. “You’ve made a decision?”

“One of two,” she says, folding her arms over her chest. She turns to the second boy, brow furrowing in concentration as gears turn in her mind.

This baby- he already has a bright, charming smile, and lovely hair, and he has cool blue eyes like her father did. Diana is momentarily grateful that she can’t see them while he’s sleeping. Then, of course, there are her emerging bruises to consider as well.

It wouldn’t be fair, would it? Just because the child has- features that remind her- it wouldn’t be fair to chain him with her father’s name as some sort of bizarre, too-late revenge. She can’t chain him with that sort of baggage. It wouldn’t be fair to either of them, and it certainly wouldn’t be a good first step towards teaching the boy to mind his own strength.

She purses her lips. Fathers, though. That’s a thought. Her own might be scorched earth but her husband-

The late Lord Scott had been one of the primary reasons she decided to marry Victor in the first place, over her other potential matches. He had been clever and observant and kind and he had known from the moment they met that what Diana needed most was a mentor. So, he slowly earned her trust and then taught her how to be clever like him, and observant like him, and she skimmed through the lessons on kindness as well, just to round out her edges. He taught her how to hone her hypervigilance into something useful and precise, and combined with her knack for being overlooked, she had become rather dangerous in certain circles. So much so that, when her father-in-law died, he explicitly left his company in her hands. Oh, Victor was to ‘run things’ as expected, of course, but beneath the lawyerspeak and cigars and back-patting, Diana and the late Lord Scott understood each other. Diana was, they both knew, impeccably good at pulling strings.

There’s a bust of her late father-in-law on the bookshelf behind her; she doesn’t turn to look at it.

Diana isn’t the type of person to prioritize kindness above self preservation, but… well, the two don’t always have to be mutually exclusive.

“Wayne,” she says, quite softly. “Wayne Scott.” She knows that just giving him the name of a good man won’t be enough on its own, but maybe it will help in some small way. His namesake was the only person she has ever known who never used his position, his power, to hurt others. She doesn’t want to turn this boy into his grandfather, but she can try to pass on some of what he taught her anyway.

She suspects that down the line there will be some consequences to giving her human-passing son a human-sounding name and her visibly inhuman son a name that slips off the tongue like an asp, but- well, her hands are tied. She can’t in good conscience know what Syx’s parents called him and then call him something else, call him Steven or Richard or god forbid Victor Junior, and she has nothing else to go on for Wayne. No clues, no context. She’s just going to have to explain it to them when they’re old enough to understand, and hope that it’s enough.

The ink on the official adoption paperwork is dry within the hour.