#(titan throwing a body at batman) 'CRINGE'

[misspickman]

Making my brother play arkham asylum which means i just get a front row seat to him calling bruce names for like 90% of the game

[aceofshitposts]

Happy Valentines Day everyone!!! This wasnt actually what I initially planned and it technically... isn’t v-day themed but it DOES feature idiots in love so that’s good enough, right? No beta we die like robins okay hope you enjoy! (will probably throw this up on ao3 tomorrow too)

ALSO a reminder that you can totally send me prompts for little drabbles/ficlets!! a sentence or dialogue or just an au you think might be cool (i adore aus) or if you just wanna say hi!

-

Jason's not stupid. It's just that. Things can sneak up on you sometimes, okay? They all have that habit of getting lost in the details or not looking for what isn’t expected. And boy, is this not expected.

"Please," Tim is imploring in the same tone a child asks their parent for a candy bar at the grocery store checkout, "Bruce isn't even going to be there so you don't have to worry about him."

That's. Really not the problem. The problem is Jason has no idea why Tim is asking him, of all people. Not that he doesn't like hanging out with Tim, as a matter of fact he probably likes it too much. Seeking Tim out had become a bad habit, if he’s honest, that has escalated from working on cases together to eating meals after patrol and even occasionally meeting up during the day to whisk Tim away from the office for a proper lunch.

They're friends, right? But that doesn't explain why Tim is inviting him to an important social gathering and not, say, one of the Titans if he needs a second that badly. Hell, Dick or Stephanie are better choices than Jason is. Asking Jason is. Is. It’s-

It feels a little like Tim’s asking him on a date. Which is absurd for all kinds of reasons, least of which is that Tim doesn’t like Jason like that.

"Why are you asking me?"

Jason winces. That sounded harsh even to him and the way Tim’s expression goes from distinctly hurt to completely closed off has Jason cringing even more.

“Okay,” Tim says, turning towards the open window.

“Okay?” Jason repeats, already forgetting that Tim hasn’t answered his question.

“Mhmm, don’t worry about it,” he says in a tone that suggests Jason should absolutely worry about it.

With that Tim slips out the window and into the early Gotham morning, leaving Jason with an extra breakfast burrito that they’d never even got around to eating before Tim had… whatever the hell that had been. Jason stares at the open window for a moment more, the wind blowing a napkin into his face, and decides he’ll deal with it after sleeping.

-

“What the hell did you do??”

If the sound of Jason’s bedroom door violently hitting the wall didn’t wake Jason up then Stephanie’s indigent yelling would have done the job just fine.

“What the hell do you want?” Jason asks, then shoves a pillow over his head in the vain hopes she will go away.

“Get up!”

The covers are pulled from his body which wouldn’t be so bad if this didn’t also give Stephanie better access to punch him squarely in the stomach. Jason snarls, leaping out of bed to tackle Stephanie to the floor. They grapple around on the floor for a while, Stephanie succeeding in nailing Jason in the throat with an elbow and pinning him to the floor.

“What,” she says pointedly, “did you do to Tim??”

Jason wheezes, only half due to the pressure still on his throat. Stephanie stares down at him furiously.

“I have no idea what you mean,” Jason says hoarsely. 

Stephanie’s eyes narrow.

“Well, you better figure it out because he showed up at my apartment and has spent the entire morning moping under my blankets and obsessively redesigning Redbird on his tablet.”

Stephanie gets up in one smooth motion then offers a hand to help pull Jason up from the floor. Jason rubs at his sore throat giving Stephanie an incredulous look.

“I dunno what his problem is; he asked me to some fancy dinner and I just asked why he wasn’t asking you or whatever-”

“You what?”

“What! What did I do?”

“What did you do??” Stephanie shrieks in lieu of answering the question. “You have to be joking.”

When Jason just stares at her for a good minute Stephanie’s expression breaks and she starts laughing.

“Oh my god, please tell me you got dosed with something from Ivy or took a blow to the head recently,” she wheezes through her laughter. “Oh, noo, this is too stupid.”

“If you’ve figured out whatever is going on, could you clue me in?” Jason implores which only makes Stephanie laugh harder.

“Nope!” she says, popping the P, “this is too fucking funny. You’re on your own, bro.”

Before Stephanie leaves she makes sure to steal some of Jason’s leftovers and laugh at him some more, giving a two fingered salute as she leaves through the same window Tim had earlier that morning.

Over the course of the day Jason tries to busy himself cleaning his weapons and kitchen but he just end up stewing in the echoes of Stephanie’s laughter. He’s slumped on the couch rereading the same paragraph of a random paperback he’d grabbed when around four in the afternoon he receives a text from Cass that’s just a smiley face. It’s the only warning he gets before Tim comes stumbling through his window, laptop tucked under his arm.

“Okay, so, I’m still mad at you,” Tim starts, which is great, “but I want you to watch this.”

He sets his laptop down on Jason’s coffee table and maybe Jason can finally find out what this is all about.

On Tim’s laptop screen he opens what looks like a power-point presentation, and isn’t that just incredibly Tim, with the title: “Reasons We Make A Good Couple and Shouldn’t Break Up”.

Wait-

Back up.

“Break up??” Jason asks incredulously.

Tim’s head whips around to look at Jason, the slide on the screen changing to a picture of the two of them in uniform at the local 24 hour diner, probably taken by the waitress and posted on some social media platform, Tim reaching across the table to snag a piece of Jason’s bacon. It’s got several heart emojis all over it.

“You- yes? Isn’t that?” Tim sputters suddenly turning a bright shade of red.

“To break up don’t we have to date first?” Jason asks in a rush before his brain has really caught up with the situation.

Tim gets impossibly more red, muttering, “oh my fucking god,” while slamming the laptop shut. He runs a hand through his hair, looking as nervous and off kilter as Jason currently feels.

“I’m. I’m so sorry, Jay, I thought-” Tim starts rambling, words flowing together into an incoherent string while Jason’s brain tries desperately to parse what’s happening.

Like a lightbulb finally turning on in the middle of the night, Jason understands.

“Tim. Are we dating?”

Tim stops, jaw audibly snapping shut. He looks at Jason for all of two seconds before his gaze darts away miserably, looking at the floor.

“Yes?” he ventures, sounding unsure. “I just. I assumed you wanted to take it slow.”

Jason can’t help the bark of laughter that escapes his throat.

“Do I look like I do anything slow, Babybird?”

Tim growls in frustration, throwing his hands in the air and then pointing an accusing finger at Jason.

“We go out all the time! I hang out in your apartment! But whenever I’d try to initiate something more, you’d back off! I was trying to be considerate!”

Oh holy shit. Stephanie is right, this is stupid. Jason had thought he’d been projecting his own desires onto Tim, that there was no way Tim would want to be close to him like that. Even after all this time, Tim still finds ways to surprise Jason.

“Well, this explains why Stephanie punched and then started laughing at me this morning,” Jason laughs while draping an arm over his eyes. They really were Batman’s kids if their complete inability to communicate like normal people was anything to go by.

“God, Jason, I am so sorry,” Tim says, dropping down beside Jason on the couch with an oof. “I never should have assumed anything.”

“Hey, Babybird?” Jason shuffles over so he can throw his arm over Tim’s shoulders.

Tim startles, looking at Jason with wide blue eyes.

“Shut up and let me kiss you.”

Yeah, okay, maybe sometimes Jason is stupid. But he can at least find solace in the knowledge that sometimes Tim is also. Besides that, Jason tells himself, what really matters is that they got their shit together in the end. Even if that realization is undoubtedly going to come with a large amount of their family all pointing and laughing at them for being idiots.

“So,” Tim ventures after they’ve spent half an hour making out on Jason’s couch, “does this mean you’ll come with me to the dinner?”

Jason muffles a laugh against Tim’s collarbone and says, “yeah, sure I’ll come.”

“Okay, cool, cool. We’ve got to be there in an hour then.”

[catxsnow]

KIDNAPPED

Request: Can I please request something with "have I been kidnapped?" + "Um.. that's unclear". Go crazy with it.

Warning: car crash, uh, swearing, cringe (I was 3/4 done this and realized I hated it so, uh, Sorry Amanda) 

A/N: Reporting to you live and Tipsy friends what’s good

Word count: 2.6k

San Francisco usually wasn't a crazy city. Sure the traffic sucked, but at least the views were nice. The local shops always had something interesting and you were guaranteed to find a coffee shop on every block. Over all, you were glad you moved there, it was a nice change in your life - one that you needed.

However, when this group of so called 'Titans' showed up, things got pretty out of control. Buildings got destroyed, people were put in harms way with the sudden increase in villains showed up to take these guys out. You hadn't had the luxury of running into any of them, hopefully you wouldn't have to.

You moved there to get away from your hectic life, you didn't want to be thrown right back into something even worse. The news was filled with these guys - a girl getting chased on rooftop by her deranged father, Robin falling to his death only to be saved by someone who resembled Superman, even a green tiger.

It was interesting seeing them all on the news, but other than that, you never wanted to be involved in any accident that they caused. It seemed they were used to hurting people more than saving them - even if it was accidental.

San Francisco seemed to be safer than the last city you were in. For once, you could walk home with your headphones in and not worry about your surroundings. Just like any night, you walked from work back to your apartment in the late hours of the night, wanting nothing more than to just crash in your bed.

The night was cold and no matter how tightly your wrapped your coat around yourself it didn't bring any more warmth. The sound of traffic was tuned out by your headphones. Street lights illuminated your path and you were so close to your home that you could almost smell the inside of it. Not actually, but you really missed your room after that long day.

The sound of a crash overpowered your music. You turned back to see what had happened by the second you had done so all you could see was the tail end of a car coming directly towards you. There was no time to move out of the way or even to think. Even if there was, you were frozen in your spot with fear.

A body crashed into you before the metal of a car. Your heart rate was going so incredibly fast that black spots filled your vision. You should have been dead, that car was coming right at you. You tried so hard to keep yourself awake, but the only thing that you saw was a red 'S' on a black t-shirt as you passed out completely.

><

You woke up to arguing and bright lights staring down at you. Your head was pounding and it took you a moment to remember what had happened. A car had nearly hit you and somehow you impossibly had been saved. Then, embarrassingly you completely passed out from shock. Wherever you were now, it certainly wasn't a hospital.

There were several people standing together, each of them trying to talk over one another. You sat up on the bed, rubbing your eyes in hopes that this headache would go away. "Uh," you spoke up, but none of them had heard you. They were too engrossed in arguing to notice that you had woken up.

"Hello?" You tried again. Still nothing. You tried to listen in to what they were talking about and quickly came to the conclusion that it was you. Whoever saved you obviously wasn't supposed to bring you there, that was what the yelling was about. There was also the point that you couldn't just be left in the street unconscious - another good point.

This time, you coughed loud enough for one of them to look over at you. Your eyes narrowed in on his t-shirt, it was the same one that had saved you. And it wasn't just any 'S', it was Superman's logo. Whoever this guy was, he was obviously fast enough to be related to the man of steel himself.

As you looked at the others in the group, you picked up on who they were as well. Fiery red hair, bright green hair, these were the people that were on the news. You were in the Titans home base with the heroes themselves. "Holy shit," you mumbled out, eyes wide. There were a few there that you didn't recognize and you were sure it was only because they were in civvies.

"You're the Titans," your jaw fell slack. As much as you bashed them to your friends, saying how much danger they brought to this city, meeting them had been completely different. This was a group of people that kicked ass and had quite literally saved your life. You never thought you'd meet them, especially under these circumstances.

The oldest one - or at least you assumed him to be - looked at the one with the green hair. "Don't let them leave," he ordered. The others followed him out into the hall. They had no idea what to do with you, that was obvious. Conner shouldn't have brought you there. They understood he was still new at this, but he should have known better.

You still felt in shock. Shock from nearly dying. Shock from being saved. Shock from waking up in the Titan's home base. You never expected your day to go like this, and you never wished it to. These masked heroes brought nothing but trouble to San Francisco... and yet if it wasn't for them you wouldn't be standing there.

The green haired one awkwardly rocked back and forth on his heels. This must have been the one that could turn into the tiger - at least it made the most sense in your mind. He avoided looking at you. The squeak of his sneakers against the floor and the hum of the medical equipment at your side was the only sound in the room. It drove you nuts.

"Can you turn into any animal or just a tiger?" You suddenly blurted out, unable to take this awkward silence any more. His eyes widened at your question. How did you even know that he could do that? How had you pieced together that they were the Titans so quickly anyways? None of them were in their suits.

"Uh..." Gar trailed off. "Tiger is just the easiest," he answered. "How did you know that I could do that?" You raised your eyebrows at him - was he serious? Without words you point to your own hair. He seemed to understand what you meant. Green tiger, green hair, it was pretty easy to put together. You could see his cheeks tint red.

"My name's Garfield. Gar," He tried to cover up his embarrassment. Gar cringed at the sound of his voice cracking.

"Should you be telling me that?" You asked. Wasn't the whole point of being a hero having a secret identity? This was the first time that you had met one, and it certainly felt like he didn't really know what he was doing. Nonetheless, you were just happy that they didn't kill you for knowing their identity - or their secret location.

"You already know what I look like what's the harm in knowing my name?" Gar shrugged. He wanted nothing more than to get the attention off of him - so he decided to throw the new guy under the bus. "Besides I think Conner kinda already has a crush on you, so."

"Super-rip-off?" You asked. To be fair, you didn't know his name, or if he even was related to the great Superman. All you knew, was that he had saved your life and you were grateful for it. And from what small glimpse you got of him, he was pretty cute too.

"He probably heard that," Gar told you. Heat rose to your cheeks with embarrassment. "But yes. Superboy. He's the one that saved you and brought you here. Really, he probably should have taken you to a hospital but he's kinda new at this whole thing so, yeah. I guess now they're trying to figure out what to do with you."

"So, have I been kidnapped?" You asked again. The leader had said that you weren't allowed to leave and that Gar was supposed to stop you if you tried to. Would you ever be allowed to leave again if you knew their secrets? Would they really trust a stranger that they just met? They didn't even know your name!

"Um, that's unclear," Gar answered. To be honest, he really didn't know what Dick planned to do with you. After growing up alongside Batman, it was drilled into him to be super cautious. He knew how to keep his identity safe and not let anyone know who he really was. Conner had ruined that pretty quick.

"My name's (Y//N), by the way," You told him, sticking your hand out for him to shake. Gar grinned and accepted it. For everything that just happened to you, you were taking it all pretty well. He expected you to freak out, or even something worse like faint again. "I guess if I am being kidnapped you should at least know who I is."

Gar pulled one of the chairs beside the bed to sit across from you. He started asking you questions about your life - what you did, what you liked to do in you spare time, things like that. It was nice talking with him. For a kid, he seemed like a very genuine guy. You wanted to ask about him, but considering his lifestyle, it didn't seem like a good idea.

It felt like hours that you were stuck in there, chatting away as the people outside that room tried to figure out just what to do with you. Finally, the man that saved you - Conner - and the one who ordered Gar to stay with you, came back in. The two other women that were with them earlier hadn't come back.

You smiled at them both, hoping that your kindness would lessen whatever sort of punishment they had coming for you. Conner looked flustered at your smile, proving Gar's theory even more.

"Superboy shouldn't have brought you here," The oldest one spoke. He looked familiar, and it took you a few moments to realize why. He was that kid in the circus - the one that's parents died in the middle of an act. The Flying Graysons - this must have been Dick. "We talked abo-"

"You're Dick Grayson!" You grinned. Excitement grew within you for meeting someone you idolized as a child. "I went to like four of your shows when I was a kid! Oh my god you and your family were like my heroes! We stopped at Haly's Circus for three weeks straight. You were the reason I joined gymnastics, I wanted to be like you!"

Dick looked taken aback by your sudden outburst, as did Gar and Conner. His shock turned to a smile, it was nice to see someone who remembered his time in the circus. It reminded him of his childhood, being back there - no responsibilities, no drama, just fun. What were the odds that Conner picked up one of his old fans?

Why was he here? What connection did he have to the Titans? The three men watched as the gears in your brain turned as you pieced everything together. Bruce Wayne took him in when he was a kid - right around the same time that Robin - another childhood hero of yours - showed up. Was he Robin?

No, the one on the news a couple months back was shorter, and had different hair. But the Robin that was in Gotham - the Robin that you looked up to - had the same acrobatic techniques as Dick had. "You're Robin," you looked over him, picturing him with a mask and green suit. "The old Robin. Which means... Bruce... Holy shit!"

"Wow you put that together a little too quickly," Gar looked impressed by your analytical skills. First guessing that he was the tiger, then Conner being related to Superman in someway, now Dick being Robin? You were good. "And you look angry," he looked over at his mentor. Dick's arms were crossed and his jaw tight. This little revelation just made things far more complicated.

"Oh I'm so fucked," You whispered to yourself. Knowing who Batman was? That was something that very few people knew about. You certainly weren't supposed to know and yet here you were. "I don't suppose you'll just believe me when I say I'm really good at keeping secrets and that I promise to never say anything?"

"I do, actually," Conner spoke for the first time since you had met him. The three of you looked at him in shock. This man didn't know you, he couldn't possible just believe your word like that. "I can hear your heartbeat, you weren't lying."

"So I can go?"

"No," Dick stopped you. "If I find out that you did tell anyone out secret, I will find you. Trust me, I'll be far more kinder to you than Batman." Conner could hear your heart rate once more. This time, it was erratic - you were scared. You gulped and nodded your head. The last thing you wanted to do was get on their bad side.

Dick gestured for you to follow him. You did, with Gar and Conner only a few steps behind the both of you. The apartment was massive, and beautiful. But if Bruce Wayne was funding it you expected nothing less. You didn't get to look at much before reaching an elevator. Dick pressed the button and the doors opened wide for you to walk in.

"You don't want my name? Address? Anything to track me down?" You asked.

"I've already got a file on you," Dick answered. You should have known that he would. If he was really Robin, he would have found out everything about you the second you were carried through those doors. "And if I really wanted to find you, it wouldn't be that hard. Just remember what I said."

"Right. Don't tell anyone or Batman will break my bones. Got it," you shuddered at the thought, walking into the elevator. "Nice meeting you all, I guess." You looked over at Conner, "Thanks for saving me, and uh, feel free to call me," you winked right before the doors closed. Gar was right, and he was cute.

Conner's face flushed red. They watched in the small screen as you went down. A smile grew on your face - it wasn't very often you were so forward like that. But hey, you weren't going to see him again so why not? Unless, he did actually call you - which was unlikely. Did heroes have romantic partners?

Conner looked over at his friends. Gar was giving him a thumbs up at the win and Dick was holding back a chuckle. None of them expected their evenings to go like that, but it sure was interesting to see it play out. You seemed like a nice person, and by the way that Conner could tell that you weren't lying, a trustworthy one as well.

"You have their number in that file, right?"

[feralmerit]

He got a little lost, big deal.

saints row 4 meme / accepting as always

Blüdhaven isn’t Gotham. It’s not his home turf, the groundhe can travel better than the goddamn Batman because Batman didn’t spend years crawling through its dirt.

Blüdhaven is a different sort of dirt and it’s just... not his.

Which all comes out to roughly the same thing—making a wrongturn, getting into the wrong situation without backup. He’s on the opposite endof whatever party crashing the Titans are doing, so all he has to do is last longenough to get the help and endure the lecture afterwards. If he can win, great,but Jason’s smart enough to know better.

Surviving has been winning in his book for years.

He even mostly thinks he’s alright, right up until some big,potentially metahuman bastards burst in. Even then, he isn’t worried about ituntil he’s taken a few hits and realizes inhaling is getting hard. He goes onthe retreat, because there’s no victims here, nothing to be gained by getting himselfbeat to death, but he’s misjudged where the roof is and how long it’d take forhis opponents to recover for a charge.

Not that long, it turns out.

Jason falls.

It’s an utterly terrifying sensation, one he should be usedto but isn’t. The way his gut heaves, the way his body twists in a frantic,desperate attempt to fix how gravity is acting in all the wrong ways. It’s abad angle for the grapples, but it’s bad angle or a snapped neck, a crushed skull,and Jason fires the line off.

It hurts like nothing else, which Jason is distantly unsurprisedabout; there are all sorts of unique forms of pain. He was right about thelines. Bad angle, the fact that they’ve been used and not reset correctly—theline twists and wraps around his arm, his full weight goes slamming onto itand the force twists him hard enough he hears ominous snapping and poppingsounds. The pain drives all his air out in an involuntary squealing shriek he’ddeny if he could remember how the world worked when he wasn’t a frightened, twistingpinata. It takes too long to figure out how to breathe—there’s gunfire, he’s runout of time to calm himself down.

It hurts like a motherfuckerand thank god for borderline psychotic bat training because Jason powers throughit, twists upside down on his bad arm, despite the way it screams protest andmakes his eyes water. The birdarang he’s always carrying around isn’t sharp inthe way it should be anymore, but these sort of things never really lose theiredge, and it only takes him a second or two longer than it should to get throughhis line and drop again.

He manages to twist his feet underneath him, roll, and boltdown the alley before he realizes the gunfire and fighting stopped—Jason jerksaround, ready to sprint back, what if they need back up—?

Almost as bad as the fucking Bat, Dick’s suddenly in front of him and there’s a jarring mixtureof relief and terror that jerks up through his chest and makes him flinch awayfrom the alarmed expression there. Adrenaline rushes into anger and Jason can tastecopper in his mouth—he gags a little on a warning, trying to back up.

He gets like this, sometimes. Especially when he’s hurt.Bruce dragged him out from under the dining room table, once, because he hadn’trealized, and Jason had gone halfway into hysterical rage and it’s lucky Bruceis Batman because the punches and kicks he’d thrown got him kicked out of everyother foster home that had bothered with him and that was before he actually knew how to throw them.

(he still hides under tables sometimes, but now he’s gently cajoledout from them by soft words from Alfred, the stern insistence that in this house, Master Jason, we are not inthe habit of hurting scared children and Jason’s never had the heart tosnap that he was nineteen thank youvery much.)

In any case, if he’d been smarter or faster maybe he could’vewarned Dick, said something to stop him. Maybe he should’ve gotten over hisembarrassment and said something, given a hint better than yeah my dad was a piece of shit or bro, nothing good happens in Gotham’s alleys when he’d beencrashing, uninvited, on the old Robin’s couch.

But Jason doesn’t, he hadn’t, and Dick reaches out, tryingto help him, and maybe it’s the alleyway, the pain, or just that little brokenpiece, that deep knowledge thatanyone who reaches for him could tear him apart if he doesn’t tear them apartfirst, but he’s reacting physically before the rest of him catches up.

His instinct is all feral, all fear and adrenaline-tingedrage, forced into the microscope of Bruce’s training regimen. He must begetting better, though, or maybe he’s more injured than he wants to believe, becausehe pulls the third punch before it completes, throwing himself off balance andturning that into a roll that sets him into a corner between the alleyway and agarbage container. That’s more comfortable, back to the wall, safe. He’s been here before, he can use the way he’s wedged in to protect two sides of him. It makes it hard to get more than one person at him at a time.

But there’s only Dick in the alleyway, and he hasn’t come after Jason since Jason did his best to break his pretty face.

Guilt sets in at the same time the pain comes screamingback, lighting his torso on fire from his mangled arm to his ribs to histhroat. He cringes, apologetic but not able to do anything about the way hisbody shakes or the way his good arm comes up to ward off a blow he knows isn’t coming.

Grow up, get away from your shitbag parents, get adopted by a billionaire, get out of Gotham,punch your childhood hero in the face. Try and sleep with him before you dothat, just to make it real confusing.

God, he’s so fucked up. No wonder Dick hates him.

“Don’t—Don’t fucking touch me, man. Please just—I’m sorry.”

[lostheartfics]

The Return Ch. 10

Chapters: 10/? Fandom: Teen Titans/Young Justice Crossover Main Pairing: Jinx/Kid Flash Additional Tags: smidgen of Spitfire, mild Language, warnings will be added as I go, Teen Titans/Young Justice crossover, mainly Flinx, Mentions of RobStar and BBRae, also some mentions of Joy (Jade/Roy) aka Cheshire/Red Arrow, a very nonexistent pairing, hints of Billy Numerous/Kyd Wykkyd (in future chapters), m/m implications Chapter Summary: Nightmares and punishment.

It was nearing midnight when he felt a warm body sliding under his blanket. A muscled arm reaches out and wraps around his waist, pulling him closer and against the person's chest. He lets out a content sigh before pulling the owner of the arm's hand from his waist to his own chest, cuddling into the man's embrace. Elliot traces letters onto the person's hand, slowly forming sentences so that he could understand instead of turning on the lights to sign. 'Lonely?'

A chuckle vibrates from the chest against his back. "Just a bit...The beds here can fit an entire herd if they tried." Billy says quietly, trying not to disturb the others through these paper thin walls. Elliot lets out a pleased hum as he felt chaste kisses trailing down the nape of his neck.

'I was getting lonely.' He traces, and he could feel the smile curling against his neck.

"Yeah?" Billy breathes out, his breath tickling his neck, causing a shiver to run down his spine. Elliot spins around to face his boyfriend. He leans forward, resting his forehead against Billy's as he tries to match his breathing with his. Billy raises a hand and cups Elliot's face, his thumb tracing the pale boy's bottom lip. Elliot's purt tongue teasingly touches the pad of his thumb, making the cloning man groan with desire.

Billy opens his mouth to speak but the voice that tumble out of his mouth is hollow and indifferent. "Master Slade knows what you're up to…" At the mention of that monster, Elliot's body stiffens, and he shuffles backwards in surprise.

Billy stumbles into the darkness before gloved hands reach out and grab Elliot by the wrists. He's screaming now, even though no actual sound comes out from his mouth. He inwardly curses his damn birthright for the mutilation of his vocal chords as a child.

Instead of seeing the face of his boyfriend, he is met with a black and bronze mask, the sole eyes piercing into his soul. "I will not tolerate betrayal, Kyd Wykkyd." The man's cold voice echoes as two hands wrap around Elliot's neck and begin to squeeze, restricting his air passageways painfully. "You may not think I am aware of what you're planning, but I am already three steps ahead. It's foolish of you to think that the heroes will come to your aid. I will get what I want," Kyd claws against the iron grip around his neck, desperately struggling to call for help but to no avail. He can hear the smirk in Slade's voice as the grip around his neck squeeze with more power.

"And I will do it by any means possible..." His eyes burn with white spots, a sure sign of him losing consciousness, and tears prickle at the corners of his eyes as he feels his body grow limp in the hands of this monster. His last thought brings him at peace as his body stops fighting all together.

Billy.

Kyd gasps as he's startled awake. The room is dark, and his silent wheezing echoes in the confinement of his dubbed tomb. Or, at least, what Slade likes to call, "sleeping pods for the pets". Just thinking about the man makes Kyd's blood boil as he let out a growl of pure hatred and disgust.

He needed to work fast. No one would expect anything to happen while he was currently supposed to be in a catatonic state inside his pod until the Master woke them up for their next task. Through the glass of his pod, he can make out the shapes of other pods through the darkness- not a flicker of movement in sight. Cheshire must have gone off-duty and was letting the cameras do all the work for the night.

Slowly, Kyd rustles in one of his pockets for the note he had pre-written and slides it beneath his leg to subtly teleport it to his desired location. He hears the slight whoosh! of the mini-portal opening, and he drops the slip of paper into it before dissolving it as quickly as he can. He closes his eyes and hopes his message gets through to the right person.

She was hoping to sleep for a few more hours if her arms hadn't been cramping so painfully. Her whole body felt heavy as if it were made of lead. She didn't want to wake up just yet, but she can only keep her eyes closed for so long before getting bored with being in a state of half awake and half asleep. Jinx groans, forcing her eyes to flutter open. She blinks away the sleep from her eyes, attempting to sit up in bed and is immediately pulled backwards once again.

Jinx turns her gaze down and realizes the glowing magenta cuffs around her wrist. Jinx reaches out to the cuff with her other hand, only for it to be restricted by a matching cuff. "Ah…" The events of last night replay in her head, and she clicks her tongue in annoyance. After the twins saved her, Jinx realizes, she must have passed out. She's been passing out a lot these days; this recurring phenomenon is really starting to get on her nerves...She looks down at the cuffs and tries another hard tug before finally giving up. "I guess I pushed a bit too far and really pissed Bats off this time…"

"That's an understatement," Jinx jumps at the sound, lifting her head up to see Robin stroll in with Kid Flash following behind. "Sorry for the cuffs. Bats didn't want to risk you running away again." Robin gives her a tired smile, leaning against the wall beside her bed.

Kid zooms past the Boy Wonder and is at her side in an instant, settling on the stool at her bedside while intertwining their fingers together. "How are you feelin'?"

"As good as I can be for someone who just got her ass handed to her by her ex-best friend." She massages the skin of her wrist around the cuffs, narrowing her eyes at its ability to deflect the use of her powers. Anti-meta cuffs. Wonderful. "So, does Batman have a bondage kink or-"

"Jinx," Robin shuts down her joke, a warning in his voice. It makes her sits up a little straighter in bed, ready for orders or maybe even scolding for her reckless behavior yesterday. Either one, she knew, would not be pleasant.

Robin opens his mouth to continue but is interrupted by the door slamming open. A furious Artemis stands in the doorway with an apprehensive Miss Martian, a solemn Kaldur, and an equally unhappy Superboy trailing behind her. "Good, the traitor's awake." The archer spits out venomously with a vicious glare to match. "Let's finish that talk we put aside yesterday, shall we?"

Jinx glares right back at Artemis, who doesn't even flinch. "Oh, would you get over it?! I've been crime-free for four years now, so why don't you get that stick out of your ass, princess." Artemis's eyes narrow and looks prepared to throw some punches at Jinx when Kaldur shoots out a hand to stop her.

"Artemis, why don't you let me do the talking?" Kaldur tells her before training his eyes onto the pink-haired sorceress. The steeliness in his eyes melted away Jinx's irritation at the blonde archer temporarily. "I apologize for Artemis's behavior, but I do believe her anger is justified. Why did you keep this from us?" He glances at Kid Flash and Robin, who shrunk under his pointed stare. "Were we not worthy of your trust?"

"We're supposed to be a team." Superboy adds, crossing his arms over his chest, anger etched onto his face. Kid Flash and Robin flinch at his words, while Jinx's heart pangs in sadness at their flinching. They have replaced the Titans. They have replaced her.

"Look, don't blame them. I should have been the one to tell you," Jinx speaks up, fidgeting with the cuffs around her wrist, her eyes drifted down onto her lap. "It's just that...Everyone knew that I used to be a villain and always used to shove that in my face every now and then. But then, I met you guys, and...I don't know…" She rubs the back of her neck, feeling a slight bit embarrassed by all this personal-feelings talk. Even when she was in the Titans, Jinx was never good with speaking about emotions and whatnot. "It was kind of a nice having some people not know about my villain status and have this underlying caution against me."

She could see the twinkle of pity flashing in their eyes, and Jinx inwardly cringes at the sight. This is why she doesn't talk about these things. The other party always makes it weird.

Artemis, however, is the only one who doesn't take the bait. She scoffs and rolls her eyes. "As if that will get me to trust anything you say, you deceiving bit-"

"Lay off, Artemis," Kid Flash intervenes, his brows furrowed in annoyance. "What's your deal? You've been so pissy ever since she got here." Jinx's eyes glances from the blonde archer to her speedster-ex in exasperation. He couldn't be serious right? She had thought the answer to that question was obvious, but she kept her mouth shut. It wasn't her secret to say. Artemis may be getting on her nerves, but she kind of understands where she's coming from.

And besides, she respects the girl code. Blurting out a girl's yearning to their crush is a big no-no. She knew better than that. If she was still a villain, she wouldn't give two shits about following some pathetic, unspoken rules girls had.

"How do we know that she's hasn't returned to being evil?" Artemis spits out. "What if she's just deceiving you guys to get you captured? From the beginning, everything about this situation seemed sketchy. Is it really just a coincidence that Slade is looking specifically for her? What if this is all just some kind of ploy to-"

Jinx's eyes narrow at Artemis's accusations. "I'm not-" The door swings open once again, stopping the next few words from coming out of her mouth. A dark, intimidating shadow looms in the doorway, silencing any other arguments from starting. Batman's rigid glare is pointed at the two girls who are desperately trying to stop themselves from putting on a screaming match in front of the Caped Crusader.

"Jinx," Jinx stiffens at the sound of her name. "Since you're awake, I think it's time to talk about your punishment for disobeying my orders."

"I thought the cuffs were already punishment." She jokes, rattling the chains around her wrists for emphasis, but Batman's stern glare makes the remaining taunts die in her throat.

Jinx sighs, "Look, Bats, I had to-"

Batman puts up a hand to stop her from continuing. "No, you didn't." He steps into the room, and the rest of the Team make way for him silently.

Jinx pales, not liking where this conversation is going. "Bruce-"

"I don't want to hear another word from you," Jinx bites her lip and continues to stay silent. "You explicitly went behind my back and put yourself in more danger, even at the cost of the Team. I have no choice but to put you under house-arrest to avoid any more danger."

Jinx gapes at the Caped Crusader, unable to properly form words. "B-but-! You can't-"

"I can, and I have." Batman says with a resigned sigh. "Jinx, I will not have you putting yourself or anyone else is danger. This is now the League's problem to solve. You aren't ready to handle this kind of-"

Robin jumps out of his seat. "Wait, hold on. You can't be serious. If anything, I should be the one to-"

"Enough, Robin. We will talk about that matter later in private," Batman shoots him a look, but Robin stands his ground defiantly.

"I know Slade more than anyone in this room, in the League, even more than you. I deserve to help-"

"Robin, I said, enough!" The superteens in the room flinch at Batman's loss of patience. The duo give each rock hard looks, neither one determined to falter. Jinx was reminded of how Robin used to be-the fearsome leader of the Teen Titans.

She tries to simmer down the tension in the room. "Bats, if you think it's going to be that easy, you are definitely underestimating Slade's abilities." Batman's jaw tenses, and she takes that as her cue to continue. "This goes beyond even that League's power. The Titans have been taken down, what makes you think he can't overrun the League?"

"Is he really that powerful?" Miss Martian speaks up, a wavering of perplexity in her voice.

"He managed to overcome death," Robin says indignantly with a scowl on his face, "who knows what he's capable of now." He crosses his arms over his chest and directs a glare to the ground.

Jinx nods in agreement. "That's why I should-"

Batman cuts her off before she can continue, "My decision has already been made, Jinx, and that's final." He explains with unwavering resolution. "You will not be leaving this mountain. I will surround this room with a level-four containment unit and confine you to this room if I have to."

Jinx glares at the Caped Crusader and spits out, "So, what? You're just going to keep me chained up here like some animal? A criminal?" If she wasn't so angry, she would have noted the way Batman tensed up at her words, but any sense of guilt was immediately washed out as he covers it up with an equal amount of stubborn ferocity.

"If that's what it takes to make you stay put, then yes," Batman spins on his heels and makes his way to the door. "This is goes beyond anyone's control, which means this the League's matter to tend to." He pauses at the doorway and says, "You should stay here and consider yourself grateful to be under our protection," before exiting the room.

"I'll speak to Unc-I mean, Flash to maybe get Bats to take the handcuffs off you." Kid Flash says in an attempt to comfort Jinx, taking her small hands in his.

"Where are the twins?" Jinx asked, taking notice of the absence of the twin speedsters. She felt exhausted; Batman's scolding drained her immensely. All she felt like doing was curl up in her bed and wish for everything to just be a dream.

But this wasn't a dream. This was reality.

"Batman grounded them and sent them to their private quarters." Robin explains with a dark look. "In their separate private quarters." Jinx closes her eyes, running her hands through her face in frustration. The twins must be devastated, not being able to be with the other. But they were clever and will figure something out to stay in contact- probably using some Morse Code through the walls in order to speak with each other.

She shrugs away Kid's hand and grips the covers of her bed. "I'd like to be alone...if you don't mind…" A flash of hurt passes through Kid's face, but he recovers quickly.

Artemis, on the other hand, is furious. "If you think our conversation is over, you are mis-"

"Artemis," Kaldur stops her by putting a hand on her arm. "I think we've had enough scolding for one day. I think we should give Jinx the space she wishes…"

Superboy and Artemis stare at their team leader in shock. "Wha-?" Artemis gasps out as Superboy says, "Seriously?" Miss Martian tugs at Superboy's arm towards the exit.

"Kaldur is right," Miss Martian speaks up with a passive voice. "I'm tired of everyone yelling at each other." After a few more encouraging tugs, Superboy concedes along with a reluctant Artemis in tow.

"I have some errands to run, so I'll be back in the morning." Kid Flash tells Jinx and Robin, who just grunts as answer as he pushes past the red-haired speedster and out the door. Kid Flash turns back to Jinx and reaches out to her, but stops midway. He lets his hand fall back to his side and gives her a tentative smile. "Don't give 'em too much Hell, Lucky." The corner of Jinx's lips tilt upward just slightly, and that's enough for Kid Flash to leave without worry.

He dashed out the door and through the Zeta-Beam teleporter tubes. Once he was out of Mt. Justice, and far enough away from any prying eyes, he rummages in his pocket for the slip of paper that had appeared out of nowhere and fallen into his lap when he awoke this morning.

The handwriting was very sloppy, as if written in a haste, but he could make out an array of numbers-no, coordinates. It was a destination that was written on the tiny scroll of paper.

Tonight. Midnight. Come alone. -KW

This could be a trap, and he would be stupid to even consider going on his own. But he remembered the forlorn desperation on the bat look-alike's face from the day before, and it had been haunting him since. Kid shook his head, decision made, and pocketed the note before dashing to the coordinates on the paper.

Guess, he was just that stupid then.

He smashes the chessboard against the wall, black and white pieces scatter separate directions. The noise shatters the still silence of the room as the pieces clatter to the ground. Cheshire flinches at the violent act and stands up straighter to avoid being another victim of Slade's aggressive wrath. "Master Slade," Cheshire speaks up as she rigidly kneels before the man, eyes down casted onto the floor. "I bring news to report."

"I am already aware of your disappointing performance, Cheshire," his voice is devoid of any emotion, and Cheshire is suddenly struck down by intense fear, "due to the sole fact that you have returned empty-handed."

She swallows down the fear in her throat and tries to keep her voice measured. "I had underestimated the number of our opponents." Cheshire removes her mask to look Slade in the eye. "However, last night had proven to not be as much of a failure as we assumed."

This had piqued Slade's interest. "...continue."

"Although we have failed to obtain Jinx, we managed to learn something...interesting about that boyfriend of hers," Cheshire smirks at the change in Slade's demeanor when he hears her words. "Before we get into those details, I came to inform you that the reprogramming has been completed. Project T is ready for deployment."

"Is that so?" Slade walks over to the holographic keyboard and punches in a series of codes. A holographic screen opens, and he scans its contents, a smirk begins to make its way onto his lips. "Excellent…" Slade turns back to face Cheshire, who continued to kneel behind him. "Now, I believe you mentioned some interesting information about a certain speedster?" Cheshire's smirk widens as she stands up from her kneeling position.

"It seems that Kid Flash's powers have become…limited since he was last with the Titans." Cheshire continues without skipping a beat, "He's slower- nearly ten-times more. And he can't vibrate his molecules through solid objects either. One of our biggest obstacles had just knocked itself down without us even doing a thing."

Slade makes a noise in amusement. "That is interesting…" Slade types onto the keyboard once again, and a picture of Kid Flash appears onto the holographic screen. "Very interesting, indeed..." The masked man's shoulders shake with a laughter that steadily rolls into a maniacal one as it echoes into the empty room. "Best news of the day so far. Prepare Project T for deployment. The attack will commence in two days. Do not disappoint me again, Cheshire."

Cheshire gives a short bow in response, her eyes glittering in bright red. "With pleasure, Master."