#Danny is still following them home bc he's like “this has GOT to be a test”

[starry-bi-sky]

don't you want to be a cult leader? - danyal al ghul au

this is mostly a joke post but i thought it was funny and had to share so--

his first mistake was, obviously, inheriting his father's inability to see an injustice and stand still. -- actually, danyal's first mistake was his lair being so big. a mountainous island with a large temple in the center resembling his old home in Nanda Parbat? With sprawling foliage and rivers and streams and waterfalls galore? What was he going to do with all that space? Let it go to waste? He had plants there! Native trees of the ghost zone growing from the soil! He couldn't let it all be left unchecked!

So naturally after helping a fellow teenage assassin ghost -- who he later learns is named Akihiko, -- from Walker of all people, he sent them over to hang low at his lair until it was safe enough for them to wander around the Zone. Walker couldn't get through Danyal's astrofield if his life depended on it, and trust him -- he's tried. Danny was clearing out debris from his stupid transport vans for weeks.

Honestly it wasn't so bad, he and Aki really quickly became fast friends and Danny loves having a sparring partner close to his level again -- he hasn't had this much fun fighting since he left the League. Aki was very dedicated and levelheaded, the both of them clicked really well because of it.

Nonono, the real trouble began after Danyal met some long-passed League members and allowed them to come join his island as well. Apparently they had made a few enemies of the zone, and maybe Danyal still felt some loyalty to the League. He couldn't just let them be left to rot. Their zealotry could be overlooked so long as they kept it contained and helped him take care of his island.

And it.. snowballs from there? He meets a teen squire aptly calling himself Ambroise -- whether that was his living name or not is yet to be seen -- who died during feudal france, who is just about as dramatic and passionate as every french stereotype makes them out to be. He calls Danyal "my moon and great muse" -- which is both flattering and little uncomfortable, but Danyal's grown up in the League as the Grandson of the Demon Head, he is used to mild worship. he passes it off as nothing more, nothing less. -- and while his energy is overwhelming on the worst of days, he helps Danny draw out of his shell more in ways that Sam and Tucker still struggle with.

Him and Aki butt heads a lot, but the two seem to hold the other in at least some positive regard, so Danny doesn't worry too much about them fighting while he's gone. It only becomes a mild issue when Aki also begins calling Danny "my moon". It's a little sweet, so Danyal brushes it off.

Then he takes in a troupe of ghosts some time after he defeats Pariah Dark and they begin calling him "great one" just as the yetis do in the far frozen. This is where he meets the twins -- a pair of sibling ghosts who call themselves Trixie and Missy (short for Trick and Mislead) -- who aren't quite as passionate as Ambroise but more energetic than Aki. Eventually they also start calling Danyal "my moon" and attach themselves to his hip, even within the living. They like to hide in his shadow and cause trouble for the rest of the students. He makes sure they don't hurt anyone.

He's pretty sure Aki is jealous, same with Ambroise, but he can't be too certain other than the fact that they become much more lingering (re: clingy) whenever he visits the island.. Something he's trying to do much more often these days due to the increasing amount of people living there now. Since when did he become so popular?

Then there's Pēnelópeia from the Greater Athens, who ran away from home and joined his Island after he ran into her while she was being chased by Skulker -- and he's pretty sure the reason was because of her chimeric appearance. Her strange eyes and mismatched wings and lion's tail and talons. She assimilates into his friend group very easily, she gets along well with Ambroise and Trixie and Danny usually finds the three of them climbing the trees to pluck the most fruit from the top. They can fly and he knows it, but they prefer to climb.

Then finally there's silent poet Akkara who comes from ancient mesopotamia, who gets along most with Aki -- which is no surprise there considering their similar personality dispositions. he watches Aki and Danyal fight each other and leaves comments on this or that that he notices. He writes Danyal poems on clay tablets and leaves them by his room.

They're one big mismatched group of outcasts, and Danny's got the other ghosts on his island to tend to, because they're living on his island and he wants to be hospitable even if he struggles with that. But he spends the most of his time with them.

Sam and Tucker are making fun of him. Tucker jokingly tells him 'careful Danny, at this rate you're gonna start a cult'. Danny really wishes he had taken that joke more seriously.

He just. keeps. collecting people. Wayward souls lost in the zone, looking for shelter or refuge from something or other -- whether that be another hostile ghost, or a past afterlife, or just a purpose. Danyal finds them, he takes them in, offers them a place on his island until they are ready to leave. Many seldom do. He's not complaining -- he has the space, and it feels like it's only ever growing.

His close friends, his "inner circle" as he's heard the others call them, keep insistently calling him "my moon". He starts calling them his stars, because then it only feels fair. They're his stars, this is his constellation. It becomes a thing; little star halos begin forming behind their heads, picking them out from the rest. He loves them so much, it's hard to place. Sam and Tucker are also his stars, but they reside in the living realm, they're his tie to Life. Meanwhile, his friends here know what it's like to be dead, and sometimes its nice to relate.

Those living on his island keep calling him "Great One" and he's beginning to notice zealotry in their care for his island. He really, deeply appreciates it. His close friends gain nicknames -- as his stars, it's only natural for him to pick them out from the cluster in the skies. Akihiko, his Sirius and bright star. Trix and Missy, Castor and Pollux, the twins and troublemakers. Ambroise, his zealous Antares and close friend. Penelopeia, chimeric and loyal Vega. And Akkara, his Arcturus and strength.

It's ridiculous how long it takes for him to notice; he is, of course, a deadly trained assassin. He is meant to be observant -- and normally he is! But somehow this becomes a blind spot. One that becomes too big to be dealt with by the time he realizes it.

He should've noticed when Aki, his Sirius, stood beside him one day while Danyal looked over his island and saw the sprawling spirits carrying on about their afterlife and bowing to him as they saw him, and said: "I looked down into the depths when I met you; I couldn't measure it." They aren't one for flowing prose, it took him so off guard he was silent for over a minute before he finally spoke.

Danyal should've recognized devotion for what it is, and yet he didn't. He should've recognized it when Antares began spouting praises about him, crowing about his radiance and resplendence to the heavens. He just brushed it off as Ambroise being Ambroise. He should've recognized it when Trix and Missy nearly broke Dash's leg after he knocked Danyal's books out of his hands, he excused it as them being protective. Of them coming from times where such violence may have been customary -- after all, that's what he used to be like. What he was still like, sometimes, when his emotions nearly got the better of him.

He should've noticed it when the people living on his island followed his word like gospel, looked at him like he hung the stars in the sky. When his friends gifted him a shawl with the moon phases delicately embroidered into it, with silver, shimmering thread and moving stars lovingly stitched into it. Their constellations seen clear as day in the dark fabric. When he found small shrines dedicated to him -- but they lacked any image of him beyond stones carved to look like moons, so he ignored it. When the religious imagery began popping up.

He really, really should've noticed it when a bunch of cultists accidentally summoned Antares, and Antares had turned to him when he arrived and called them heretics. But he was so centered on the fact that they had kidnapped one of his stars, that he hadn't paid much attention to what Ambroise had said.

Sages say that faith is blind, they should also say faith in you is even blinder.

It really only hits him one afternoon while he's sitting in Sam's room studying with Tucker, Missy and Trixie lounging at his feet, Aki sat on his right, Penelopeia braiding his hair, Ambroise draped against him, and Akkara lurking over him. Its one of the rare few times they're all in one room together.

It hits him like a bolt of lightning. He looks up from his textbook. "Oh Ancients," he says in no amounting shock. Everyone looks up to him.

"I've become my grandfather."

[mutable-manifestation]

"Do you have anything you would like to pack?" his little brother, who he hasn't seen in a decade, asks with an affected hesitance.

A test. But when isn't it with the League?

He remembers that well enough, tests upon tests upon tests. Every breathe a test, every step an evaluation, every blink a quiz and he failed and failed and failed until they cast him aside like yesterday's garbage.

But Danny had planned for this eventuality. Had planned and planned and planned until his back-up plans had back-up plans, with his parents - the ones that had actually cared for him - and his sister throwing in suggestions and revisions along the way.

With the acquisition of his ghost powers the plans got all the simpler.

It would only take a short time back with the League to get a lay of the land and chose a primary plan. A quick text to his mirror-born and she'd have a fake body ready to swap with him at the drop of a hat.

So he pasted on a stoic expression and gave a simple "No."

'Aren't I a good little soldier,' he let his body language scream for him. 'Look how well I've avoided making any attachments! Look how eternal my loyalty to the League burns, that a decade with a loving family has not swayed me in the slightest. I'll leave all behind, o' Demon's Heir, for I am at your command. Nothing has changed. There is no need to be alarmed. I am just another League asset ready for reassignment.'

His brother's gaze flicked to the box cutter and Danny swiftly closed and stowed in on his person in a way that, to Damian, must have screamed "I haven't kept up with my weapons practice since I got here and would still lose to 6-year-old you."

He swallowed back the conflicted feelings - humiliation at how he must look, jealousy at his brother's prowess that had undoubtedly only improved in their time apart, relief that he hadn't had to keep up with said practice, warring joy and fear that the League had finally come back for him, grief and anticipation that this was likely the last time he'd ever see his brother or any of the League ever again - and kept vicious hold of his neutral expression.

His brother nodded, an awkward expression Danny couldn't place the purpose of marring his face as he turned back down the stairs.

Like a loyal dog shadow, Danny followed.

---

It was quite the struggle for Danny to keep his emotions in check upon seeing the entirety of the Wayne family sat in his living room.

There was shock, sure, but primarily disappointment. First Lex, then Vlad, and now even Brucie Wayne. Danny would appreciate it if billionaires could stop being genuinely evil for five seconds, thanks.

Every single one of them glance up at the pair as they enter the living room, and Tucker pauses his speech to look over his shoulder.

Danny lets his expression return to normal before Tucker can see him - he loves his friends, but they'd all agreed that Sam and Tucker didn't have the emotional control to avoid giving anything away, and given that Danny left at six, any kind of attempt at a code phrase was just as likely to give away the game.

When and if the League came for him, they'd decided, Danny would disappear on his own, and text them when Operation: Death 2 (the two was added after his first death) was complete and he was on his way home.

The League would simply see it as him playing along to maintain cover until they were well and truly gone.

"Wow, I already thought you guys looked a lot alike but seeing you standing side-by-side is way trippy," Tucker says, eyes flicking between them.

Danny could practically hear the unspoken "Did Bruce Wayne also decide to clone you???"

For his part, Danny just snorts.

"Everyone in the world has, like, 7 look-a-likes Tuck. Sometimes they meet."

"It be like that sometimes," Tucker nods sagely.

"It really do," Danny grins back, before turning to the other guests. "Anyway, sorry for interrupting your little expo here, I'm just headed out to the shed, don't mind me."

"I shall assist," Damian says. It isn't unexpected, he doubts the Demon's Heir cares about a battery - not when he doesn't know it's made of Lazarus water, at least.

"I'd appreciate it, if it's not too much trouble," Danny smiles, all midwestern charm as he nods and opens the door for the both of them.

His expression drops back to complete neutrality once the door is closed, and voices pick up again inside. Luckily, the curtains are shut, so Tucker won't see him ignore the shed completely and return his empty gaze to his brother, just another drone awaiting orders.

His brother freezes as he turns to catch the expression.

"The shed?" he asks.

Danny doesn't hesitate, though he doesn't understand why Damian asks when he should know.

"An excuse, keeping Foley in the dark will allow more time for exfiltration. Given you are here as a civilian, it is important to confuse the timeframes."

Left unsaid is that they could just kill Tucker, but that would be even more suspicious.

He lets his eyes flick to the dark car parked on the curb leadingly.

Damian finally moves to the vehicle. They spend the next 20 minutes in stoic, awkward silence hidden behind tinted windows. He honestly can't believe it's taking them this long to give an excuse to leave.

---

The first thing Tim notices about Damian 2 - Danny, he reminds himself - is the eyes. If the two of them wore the same clothes, it would be the eyes alone that distinguished them, the vibrant blue a stark contrast to Damian's own dark green.

The next thing he notices is the emotion. Or rather, the lack thereof.

When Damian first came to the Wayne's he was a vicious thing, primary emotions being: fury and stabby.

Danny just look dead. A statue wouldn't been more lifelike stood next to him.

Then, as the young inventor they'd used as a cover story began to turn, he melted to life, all charming smiles and amused quirks of the lips and friendly banter. It would've been a relief to see him turn out so normal if not for that empty, empty expression he'd had not moments before.

Instead, they saw the interaction for what it was - Danny had grow up a spy, and just like Damian had thrown his all into murder, Danny had throw his all into spying, until everything he was - his expressions, his emotions, his body language, every aspect of communication down to the last detail - was exactly what he wanted it to be.

Meeting in any other circumstance, Tim would've taken him for just another Clark-type in the making. He was the perfect actor.

How long had he waited here, Tim wondered, molding himself into this for just a scrap of attention from the League? And after a full decade, how much of the real Danny was left?

---

As it turned out, Tucker Foley's design actually had quite a lot of promise. It made Tim feel less bad about using him as an excuse to be in the area, at least, and they swiftly scheduled a second meeting with him before returning to the car.

The awkward, intense silence that greeted them was honestly exactly was Tim would expect from putting two Damians in the same room - well, if you forbade stabbing first.

Speaking of which -

"So, like, you aren't going to try to stab and/or murder me are you?" Tim asks once they're all filed in and on their way to the airport.

"Tim." Bruce reprimands.

"Come on, that's totally a fair question. I have a right to know if I need to start sleeping with two eyes open again."

"As if you sleep in the first place, Drake," Damian rolls his eyes.

"He's got ya there Timmy," Dick chimes in, the traitor.

"Sleep is for the weak," he retorts, before turning back to Danny. "Seriously though, stabbing?"

In lieu of an answer, Danny looks to Damian.

Damian grimaces.

"No stabbing," he says, and Danny just nods before returning his eyes to a point somewhere over Dick's shoulder, right where he'd been looking before they entered the limo.

A beat passes.

"Also no murder," Damian spits out, in what Tim would very nearly call a panicked afterthought.

Danny blinks, a look of sheer confusion washing over his face before it's shoved back away and he looks over and nods once mor, tacking on a dull "Understood."

The uneasy silence returned, and Bruce seemed preoccupied simply staring at his new son.

"So!" Dick clapped, evidently deciding he'd had enough. "It's nice to finally meet you, Danny - can I call you Danny? - I'm your oldest brother, Richard Grayson! But just call me Dick."

"I have no brothers," Danny said, eyes chips of ice.

---

Danny was having a bad time.

Anyone in Amity Park could tell you Danny Fenton? Can't lie for shit.

The one thing he can do is keep his mouth shut and pray that's sufficient.

Keeping a straight face is a battle for a variety of reasons, and The best luck he's already had to leave about a dozen puns unsaid in the course of the car ride thus far.

Not only is he struggling not to pun, he's struggling to understand.

Why does this Tim guy think Danny would stab him? Why is Damian telling him not to stab him?? Why is Damian forbidding murder???

It's not that Danny has problem with the lack of stabbing and murder - quite the opposite - it's just that... it's Damian. Damian, here to personally exfiltrate him. Damian, Demon's Heir. Whose entourage, then, must be composed of League members. Which, of course he wouldn't stab them (outside of training) so why does it need to be said?

He would think they just think that poorly of him, if not for the fact that these others don't read as League members at all.

Calculated movements, highly aware of their surroundings, suspiciously muscular? Yeah, sure.

But they're acting like they're trying to make casual conversation.

He would think it's all a test - and of course it must be - except...what is the point of claiming to be his brother when he only has a single brother: the twin he isn't allowed to acknowledge as his brother.

When he says he doesn't have a brother, out of the corner of his eye, he almost thinks Damian looks hurt.

He brushes it off as his imagination.

"Daniel," Bruce Wayne calls him, and he can't fully suppress his reaction. He knows everyone of them must see the clenched jaw, the seat squishing between clenched fingers, and the look of utter hatred and disdain that washes over him for a split second before he can squash it back down.

"Danny," the man corrects, and name doesn't sound like a reprimand, but he hears one anyway. "You may not remember all of the details as you were... young. when you left the League of Assassins. But Damian is your twin brother."

"I recall our biological connection. That does not make him my brother, he is the Heir."

This, at least, he doesn't need to act to say in a dead voice. This is a just quote, beaten into his brain until it echoed around and around at every errant thought of his brother, a constant background static even after all of his time away.

"I am your brother," Damian says, voice firm, "heir or not."

"The Demon's Head has changed his mind on the matter, then?"

The question is absent, Danny doesn't really care about the answer, he just cares about blending in long enough to pull off his plan, except-

"Grandfather is dead."

---

"Grandfather is dead."

Damian watches as his brother's eyes sharpen for perhaps the first time the whole car ride.

"And the Pits didn't work?"

"He was not afforded the use of the pits, given that it was a coup. Grandfather is dead, mother has gone into hiding, and I... have been living with our father for a few years now."

He gestures with his eyes - uncertain how much his brother knows - and watches on as he and Father enter a brief staring competition.

"Hello," Father says, only slightly less stunned silent than he'd been when he had first met Damian.

"Hello," Danny returns, voice hollow rather than the more neutral-lilt it had adopted previously.

"So if the League has been... overtaken... my new assignment-"

"There is no new assignment," Father cuts in, voice gentle but sure.

"What."

"Even if the League weren't disbanded there would be no new assignment, your only duty now is to try and enjoy what childhood you have left. I...was unaware that I had children with Talia until she left Damian with me six years ago. And-"

"And we didn't find out about you until Timmers interrupted one of your reports the other day!" Dick interrupted, ruffling Tim's hair and indirectly throwing Damian under and 18-wheeler in the process.

His brother - his twin - looked at him. His face was once again blank, but Damian could sense the askance all the same.

"I... forgot you."

Damian did not know his brother well - at all, really - but he felt that the lack of change in expression might've been the worst possible outcome.

"Then you are not here to exfiltrate me on behalf of the League."

It wasn't a question, but...

"No."

"And you aren't here to ask my help in finding mother or undoing to coup?"

"No," he answers just in time for the car to pull to a stop at the airport.

"Perhaps we should wait to continue this conversation until we are in the privacy of the jet."

Dpxdc AU: Damian decides that it’s time to go collect his brother from his assignment. Danny is starting to sniff out some non-ghostly bullshit for once.

Damian knew his twin had been exiled from the age of seven, banished to travel and observe how scientists around the world engaged with Lazarus water. The only word that Damian received that his spare was still alive were the letters of lab reports and findings that were sent back to base. As the Heir, he’s pushed to be better lest he himself be exiled or simply executed. Danny becomes a fleeting thought and then once Damian arrived in Gotham, a none existent thought.

They weren’t raised to be friends or even friendly. The were not taught codependency or allotted time to bond. The could have been perfect strangers if not for their appearance and the stories of Danny’s shortcomings becoming Damian’s praise.

It’s only once Tim informs him of an intercepted letter, one sent and saved from years prior, that Damian recalls Danny enough to care. Tim prompts him to share more, especially given the coup recently committed by Deathstroke (Slade) and Talia gone into hiding with her zealots.

At family dinner that night Damian supplies: “I suppose I should be the one to bereave my twin of his assignment. His reports will certainly go unread.”

Chaos in the Batfam ensues- meanwhile across the country- Danny sneezes and finishes writing his yearly report: “No major discoveries aside from public record patents (attached), No assistance required. -Spare”. He doesn’t know why he bothers, he hasn’t received any contact from his mother or grandfather since he was 10ish and certainly hasnt thought about his twin. But, if there’s a chance (even an itty bitty one) that his reports are being read and are holding off his reassignment, he’d rather keep assassins out of Amity Park.

Little does he know that this letter is about to be intercepted by Pru, former assassin and friend of Tim Drake. He hadn’t expected his twin to suddenly arrive and tell him that his job was done. And certainly, seeing a plane filled with an uncomfortable looking ‘family’ that requested he join them and get to know Gotham and his birth father, was not on his bingo list.

Danny does his best to let them down gently- and they seem to be accepting that he’s acclimated to this weird little town and will leave him be- when Danny suddenly has to transform into Phantom in front of them to handle a rocket sent by Skulker.

They are less willing to accept his appeal to be left alone after that… Damian is trying to “bond” with him and all the others are trying to “help” in their own way.

Sam and Tucker howl with laughter at Danny’s suddenly very large family- all while secretly working with the Wayne’s to get Danny the fuck away from the Fentons before the scientists do something they can’t undo.

[merlin-wolfgang-trades-hale]

The McDanno looks of this posts reminded me of a scene of that ‘Danny gets a prince albert to not do anything stupid to spite Steve after he leaves bc of Shelbourne and they never really defined their relationship’ wip I have. So because I don’t at all know what the time table for it is, here’s a bit because I have no self control. 

 “So...this your game plan? Stalk me on my off time?” 

“Intervene, meddle, and crash every ‘date’. Yeah,” Steve nodded, using air quotes on the word date. “That guy was a loser! I did you a favor!”

“What if I just wanted a drink? Huh?”

“You can have a drink with the team, or at my place. Or yours. Cheaper. Better. This wasn’t because you were thirsty. If it were, you wouldn’t be going to an overpriced tourist trap.”

“Alright, maybe it’s not about the drink. Maybe it’s an escape from feeling like an unwanted outsider! Maybe I just wanted a night away from being reminded how far away from home I actually am! Maybe make a friend.” 

That cut deeper than he wanted it to, mostly because even if Danny was exaggerating to make a point, it was still a valid point to be made. Danny didn’t think of Hawaii as home and his leaving probably didn’t make it any better. He wasn’t here as Danny’s boss and only slightly here as Danny’s friend. He was in front of Danny as a remorseful lover who fucked up and wanted to fix what they had. But he’s never had a real relationship. Not one that mattered or that he thought he could be proud of. Or one he wanted to pursue.

He thought of Danny every free moment he had while he was away. Worried for a variety of reasons. About their relationship, first and foremost. About his safety without being there to watch his back, no matter how much he trusted the skills of the cousins. There was more to the job than what they did in the field. He accepted the Governor's offer and all that came with it, and he wasn’t blind that it was offered to him for his status and repertoire. He had no idea what him suddenly leaving would fully mean for the team and their perks once he was gone. 

He could just stand back. Let the pieces fall where they may. Well, he has! The thought of Danny with anyone else literally made him sick. He’ll deny it and have it back up his claim of needing to drive or he’ll get carsick. He even tried giving Catherine another chance in hopes he could go back to whatever he was doing during his time in the Navy to keep suspicion off of him not being straight. But that backfired and he hopes they won’t need help from her any time soon. Maybe in time he’ll forgive her for thinking about Danny and calling out his name when he reached climax with her going down on him but she’s blocked his number and he doesn’t blame her. His concern is still highly on getting Danny back so if it’s a wake up call for each of them at least they knew where they stand now. 

“If that’s all there is then they wouldn’t mind meeting your other friends,” Steve said stubbornly. He fought for what he believed in and after what they had, he had to fight for them. 

“And if I need a life outside of you?” 

Steve wished that would be more sarcastic, but the pain in Danny’s eyes was too real and he hates himself for causing it. 

“I’m not good at being away from you.”

Danny scoffed, “Really?” 

“I had to follow that lead. Maybe it’s pretentious to say I know you understand that, but you do. But I came back. And...it wasn’t because I was born here. Because I have a family legacy here. I came back...because you’re here. If you were to have found a way to get Grace back to Jersey, I’d go there.” 

“If Rachel did another bitch move and took Grace to England?” 

“Honestly? I’d call in some favors to keep her from doing it. But if she managed that bullshit, I got connections with guys who set up living arrangements for people anywhere, and I’d get us a place as close to Grace as possible.”     

“...and if I just want to fuck my way out of the feelings I have for you?” 

“Assuming they don’t run off because I’m looming by or with a black eye then...I’ll wait.”

“Wait?” 

“Until you get bored. Until you get tired. I fucked up, trust me, not a moment’s passed where I don’t remember that, but what we had doesn’t go away. It hasn’t. As angry as you are at me right now...you still care. You want ‘us’ as badly as I do.” 

His biggest fear is being wrong about that. That Danny didn’t care as much as he did, so as much as he hates not being able to automatically pick up where they left off, Danny’s anger at being left behind means he cares. More genuinely than anyone has cared about Steve in too long. Maybe even ever. 

“I need time, Steven...” 

“Good.” 

“Good?”

“Yeah, good. Means we’re not over. Just need to mend.” 

“Can we really be over when we never officially started?” 

“With loopholes like that...even if we go slow in the relationship part...if I invite you over for a beer. Will you come?” 

“...no.” 

“Oh...”

“I honestly didn’t come here to fuck anyone, you schmuck. I can’t right now anyway.” 

“What? Why not?” When Danny didn’t seem to want to answer, he prompted, “Danny, why not?”

“I’m still healing from my piercing...” 

“Piercing? What piercing will keep you fro-” his eyes zero in on Danny’s crotch. A jolt of arousal at the imagery in his mind went straight to his own cock, “You got pierced while I was away, Danno?” 

“Maybe. I got used to certain level of recklessness with you around. Suddenly, everything’s too orderly. And...I didn’t want to do anything stupid out of petty spite I’d regret later. This...ensured it.” 

“Can I see it?”

“You track me down, act all possessive and caveman like and made a show of personally returning the drink someone got for me, and now you’re asking to see me naked?” 

“You don’t have to get naked to show me your cock.” 

“You’re an animal, you know that?” 

“None of that has been a no. Come back to my place. Give me a show.” 

“You haven’t earned a show.”

------

they continue to banter, steve takes danny back to his place, doesn’t get a show but they at least know they want to work through their relationship-y things. 

[meatriarchived2]

same anon that was talking about raph earlier but if you’re comfortable with it i’m just being curious about him. did he have a fascination with the ocean when he was younger and that’s why he wanted to do underwater welding or was that a direction someone pointed him to? has he ever wanted to get any tattoos? what type of music does he like (doesn’t have to be time period related because if i could i’d introduce the lad to korn)

oh id love to yap more about my son, nonnie! ♡ thankyou for sending these!!

so raph initially started here as danilo ( now his middle name ) or, my version of danny gaines. and partly due to that and bc while i dont necessarily outright ship danny x julie i did attribute both pre-raph dan & julie to ocean aesthetics together! where julie was more those bright, soft blue shorelines and coral reefs and gentle crashing waves to raphs' harsher storms at sea, the dark depths below the surface, the unknown and unpredictability that comes with descending deeper into the darkening blue.

now that i have him separated from that tie back to gaines and hes an oiriginal character in his own right? his connection to the ocean i feel came from when his mom was still in the picture. raph is mexican-colombian and most of his maternal side of the family lives there still, hes never met them. but i imagine they live close along the coastlines of colombia - possibly around / nearby barranquilla! but i imagine his mom used to tell him all sorts of stories from home, of the beaches and the seaports, of the magdalena river ( smiles in maria alias mention ), all kinds of things. i think part of him, as much as raph puts on a good stone-face and doesnt show or speak on his family alot - i do think he misses his mom, more than he lets on. and the ocean in part is a small reconnect back to her, the family he never got to know, the younger half-sister he only recently found out about before the house events happened.

i think those connections drew him to the ocean first and foremost. and then, after graduating hs, which he just managed to given his history, he didnt feel confident he would make it into any proper university, like maria did. he didnt trust that his past wouldnt bite him in the ass. so, when he gotten information on trade schools, he went that route. and when he saw mentions about welding generally? that caught his attention. the port & underwater welding came after that, and although it drives him away from the flores', although it draws him hours from austin & his friends, he found a love in what he did with his trade. he enjoys it, it has the potential to earn real good. hes found something that to him, gives him purpose to a point. its something hes achieving, something he can be proud of for himself. and something that, though he doesnt admit it, makes him incredibly happy when he hears those same sentiments from maria, from ana, from mama flores. from their friends.

so i think its a mix of both! he had a pull to the sea bc of his mom as a way to connect back to her, even subconsciously. and was specifically pointed towards underwater welding as he was looking at different trades to work towards instead of fighting to get accepted into a uni!

he does have some tattoos!! i do fear i may have to go looking for specific ones to kinda reference to but! he has bergamot flowers on his left shoulder silhouetting an elk - which, elks have several meanings / myths regarding topics like strength, endurance, survival, protection, and devotion even if it brings death. bergamots are often used as a reminder that you, alone, are the only authority over your life. it serves to reaffirm to the receiver that they are empowered to their own free will as they navigate through life. and its a flower that maria, when he was released from juvie following his arrest in his teens had added into a 'welcome home!' type-bouquet she'd picked to give him when he got out. they're now a reminder for himself to keep that meaning in mind. his right arm also has a somewhat more light-hearted possum tattoo. he likely has more but those are some of his more notable ones ^_^

and for music yesssss!!!! raph would definitely listen to korn LMAO he's got at least one of their songs on one of his playlists im sure! he's definitely more inclined towards rock / metal / etc than anything! ^_^ which bc im silly & like to share, i'll list some of his playlists here :

mixtape - what plays through his radio. ode to maria - to be as soft as you. general raph vibes - throat-torn dog. dire verse - choke chained.

& then for the real funsies of it all,

raph & johnnys friendship vibes - raphjohnathan. all the boys - boys night!

raph is generally the kind that listens to rock but also especially angry rock LMAO guy uses it to yknow. let off steam without punching something.... or.. someone-

[redrobin-detective]

Ok, I’ve tried and tried and tried to write this fic because I see it so clearly in my mind but it’s just not going no matter what I do. But I don’t want the idea to die with me. The closest this came to being written was exile which was an attempt to bleed out some of the energy of this au.

Anyway, so it starts off vaguely similar to canon only more aggressive. There had been underlying tension between ghosts and humans for a while, the dead jealous/angry at the living for disrespecting them. The successful creation of the Fenton ghost portal (and another halfa) was considered an act of war and so the ghosts responded in kind. So basically all of S1 occurs fairly close to canon except ghost attacks are more violent and have increasingly more consequences as time passes. Also the attacks aren’t just in Amity Park with ghosts becoming a worldwide issue but Amity is a focal point. Regular people know the ghosts hate them though they don’t know why. Phantom is very much a controversial figure as he is a ghost but also clearly is fighting off the more violent ghosts. 

One day, not long after the events of Control Freaks, Amity Park wakes up to find three of their own are gone. Danny Fenton, Sam Manson and Tucker Foley are nowhere to be found. There’s a massive manhunt, the parents go on TV and beg for information but they cannot be found. Curiously enough, town hero Phantom was also missing. There’s some evidence they left of their own volition so the Mansons and Foleys eventually relent that the kids fled on their own. The Fentons are 100% certain the kids were stolen/killed by ghosts as a statement. And the fact that Phantom went missing around the same time means he was the one who killed them. Jazz knows Danny was Phantom but had no idea what was going on and knew her parents wouldn’t listen she just, kept quiet and privately tried to piece together what happened. 

Three years pass and finally it looks like the Ecto War is coming to a close. Young, naive ghosts attempted to raise Pariah Dark in a bid to win. It went disastrously but Phantom (who was periodically spotted around the world, deep in the worst battles of the war) and group of loyal allies subdued the king. By the law of ghosts, Phantom was named heir apparent and he declared that the fighting would stop. Humans and ghosts would have to negotiate and co-exist in peace. But he’s not king yet, no he needs to be crowned at the place where it began, Amity Park’s Fenton portal (”where it all began” has a double meaning of the beginning of the war but also symbolically where Phantom began as Kings assume the crown where their living life ended to show their abandonment of their first life and the commitment to their second). Amity is NOT happy to hear that their former hero is coming home.

Amity has been through the wringer, ghost attacks got pretty bad. The Fenton’s throw themselves into their work to cancel out the grief, they create a group of ghost hunters nicknamed the Reds (for their red blood, ghosts are nicknamed Greens) to control the threat. Valerie heads the young adult division and is considered one of the best, she drops out of school to devote herself to it full time. Oh also her dad is now the Mayor as most have died or didn’t want the job. There are still people who like Phantom and see him as a hero (a lot of Casper Kids) but it’s generally an unpopular opinion in town. Maddie and Jack are ready to obliterate the ghost that took their son’s life the moment he’s within city limits. It’s a powder keg ready to blow. It all comes to a head when Phantom and his entourage arrive.

First off, Phantom looks very different, much less human looking than when he left. He’s clearly aged like a normal teen but his eyes look much, much older.  His skin is dead white with a blue tinge to it from his ice core and his aura is super cold. His hair is longer and is very misty that kind of swirls around him and his has fangs and claws. When he’s deep in battle or his obsession, his sclera turn black and he looks scary af. His entourage is ghosts who have sworn loyalty to him, who he picked up along the way after battling beside them for 3 years. Fright Knight, Skulker and Frostbite are recognizable allies. They are not happy that their future King is back in Amity (secretly fearing they’ll lose him once more to his human life). J&M have a shot and are going for the kill when they see something that shocks them; Sam and Tucker are in Phantom’s entourage.

There had been whispers that Phantom interacted with humans, that humans were in his inner circle but this is something else together. And so are Sam and Tucker. Sam is Phantom’s General, she is talented and collected and half feral. She used to be a pacifist but the trials of war and understanding that peace sometimes needs to be fought for made her compromise. She’s covered in scars and an extremely talented fighter. She’s missing her right hand up to her forearm, she can form a ‘phantom limb’ (basically borrowing ectoplasm from her future ghost) to do some things with some powers. Tucker is the support, he uses human and ghost tech to organize, weaponize and generally keep things running. He’s covered in homemade tech (shields and weapons and computers) and he rarely removes. Both he and Sam have kinda forgotten how to interact with and really BE human after so long among the dead. They had attempted to conceal themselves but they had forgotten how strong parental love and recognition is. J&M want to know about Danny, the teens don’t know how to respond but assure them he’s alive. Phantom can’t bring himself to look at them.

This is where I start to lose track of things but there will be parallels of Valerie/Maddie vs Sam as female warriors on opposite sides who are willing to go behind, possibly compromising the things important to them, for victory. Tucker will be contrasted against Jack/Jazz as the one making weapons but also generally keeping the human parts of the team mentally/physically afloat. *Severe* PTSD for all three of them. They’re also unnaturally codependent on each other, get super anxious when one of the trio is out of sight and sleep in a big cuddle pile. They will fucking Kill You if you look at one of them wrong. Vlad will be involved, he had been jailed for war crimes but convinced Walker to stage a coup to overthrow Danny and take the crown before he’s actually declared King and is too powerful. Vlad is more unhinged here, more ghost than human (a hint on what could happen to Danny if he’s not careful). He is eventually defeated but he sacrifices his life for ghost power which, in the end, is what makes him able to be beaten.

 There’s lots of ideas on what it means to be live or dead and where the divide really is, is it a heartbeat or it is how you choose to use your existence. On how duty shouldn’t mean you need to give up everything. Because Jack and Maddie believe that Phantom killed their son and, in a way, they’re right. Before they left, the ghost war had gotten so bad and the rumors of Dark being resurrected were going around. Amity attacks were at an all time high, people in their school were being killed just because Danny went there. He realized he had to choose between Fenton or Phantom and he chose to protect the world. He abandoned his human identity and went off to fight in war. Tried to convince Sam and Tucker to stay but they followed him through hell and back. Because Danny spends so much time as Phantom, Fenton is severely neglected. His long hair is cool and floaty as Phantom but is unkempt and stringy, hanging in his face as Fenton. He’s wan and underweight and looks like a walking corpse. He knows his human half will give out soon if he doesn’t give it more attention but he just can’t there’s too much to do, too many people to save.

It would end with Danny being outed to the town, not the world, just the town. Jack and Maddie need to recon with the fact that their boy DID leave of his own choice but only because their failure to protect him (from both the portal and ghosts) made him feel he had to take all this responsibility on his shoulders. Danny also has to recognize that he (and Sam/Tuck) can’t do all this on their own and they can trust and rely on the people around him. Phantom is crowned King but he decides Amity will be his base. The trio eat more, sleep some, catches up on school all the while continuing their duties as King and court. The ghosts also see that Phantom’s humanity isn’t a weakness but a strength and will bring peace to the Earth/Zone so they also take some of the burdens off his shoulder. 

Basically I load up heavily with angst at the beginning and end with all the love and comfort imaginable. I just can’t fucking figure out the middle and my motivation will not let me write this shit out. But I can’t let this AU die bc it fucking keeps me up at night.

[wannaliveattheholidayinn]

Ok, But Seriously, I Have Thoughts

I have... really mixed feelings about this episode, so I'm gonna talk about those feelings. And if my feelings about zep as a show and this season come out during that... so be it. (Seriously, this got long. I'd apologize, but I'm not sorry). Also spoilers for the new ep below the cut, but y'all should've been able to guess that

- I... Zimon seriously deserves just so much better. We saw them as a couple together for three episodes, and they honestly weren't explored enough. Zimon... and this is a very personal opinion, but they really do strike me as a couple who never fully leave the honeymoon phase... like ever. Like, of course, they'll fight and disagree on a lot of things, but they also can have adult children, and just kind of act like newlyweds even if they've been married for over twenty years. And again, I know that's a very personal opinion, but I mean... we all knew c/arkeman was gonna be endgame, and it just feels like zimon was never given an actual chance.

- However, I do very much appreciate that their breakup was not messy, there's still clearly a ton of respect for the other on both of their sides, and that Simon is okay.

- "We didn't belong together." No, you fucking did.

- I am not going to stop writing Zimon fanfic either. In fact, this might spur me to write more and work harder on writing Zimon fanfic.

- Rose. Fucking. Deserves. Better. I'm not even gonna elaborate on this one. We all know it.

- Despite the fact that I fucking hate c/arkeman and that it was very, very rushed... I'm giving acting and singing props to Jane. I Melt With You is a song that's extremely personal to me. It helped get me through a point in my life where... I was constantly feeling at war with others, myself, and even felt unsafe in my own home (something I still feel today, no matter how irrational I know it is). I just generally feel a strong connection to every version of the song bc of that, whether it's the original or the Bowling for Soup cover (that was in Sky High!), and... Jane just has a way of making me feel safe when she sings. So, I really, really loved her cover.

- Um... yeah, I'm gonna be real, I don't like the idea of Max having powers. I don't know, I just think it kinda changes the whole original concept of the show, and I'm not a big fan of that...

- Simon! Simon working on changing SPRQ Point!!!!

- I do not really like how they handled Simon's racial bias/systemic racism in coding storyline *after* episode six (aka it only really being mentioned in passing, not being further explored, etc.), but,,, credits due where it's due I guess? I like how they handled him going to Danny Michael Davis, and how DMD listened.

- Sidenote, I kinda find it weird we as a fandom don't refer to him as Danny... it's Danny Michael Davis, DMD, or fucking Willy Wonka jokes. Makes sense I guess.

- Um... the writing was just... so lazy. Yeah. It's... really sad, I think that the show would've benefitted from even one less ep. But on the other hand... lazy writing is lazy writing.

- I think it would've been better - honestly - if Zoey's feelings of loss hadn't been connected to Max in a romantic way, but in a platonic/familial way. We didn't see a ton of their friendship, and yeah,, I hate Max, but there are a few moments there where you can see a legitimate friendship that's really sweet. I also think if they had maybe explored Zoey's fear of losing Simon as well as Max and centered the finale more on Zoey telling Simon about her power, it would've just been a lot better.

- But... honestly, after I just aired out all my issues with this episode (and the season too kinda),,, I honestly liked it. I hate that Zimon broke up and I just generally hate cl*arkeman but... this ep had some really great moments. Zoey and Mitch were beautiful to see again. Mctobin, Davidemily, and Mo x Perry were all absolutely my favorite parts of the episode. Hell, I'll even admit I... well I don't wanna say laughed considering I was so close to crying, but I let out a weird, breathy noise resembling a laugh when Zoey just blurted out she and Simon had broken up.

I don't want to say it was a bad episode, because I did honestly, enjoy ~parts~ of it... but... it wasn't even that cl/arkeman happened, I knew it would, but how it did... it just honestly (my g.od i need to stop writing that word) seemed like they were trying to kill off or like... fucking quash *any* hope Zimon shippers may have had,,, and the writing was just so fucking lazy, I just...

I started the show after dance one night because my teacher showed us the Help! number bc he was an extra in it. And I had already been intrigued by the few ads I had seen for it. So, my mom and I watched it, and we loved it. So we kept watching. And it was good! It was really good! Sure it could be cheesy, but... that didn't matter. I latched on...

I don't know if, ZEP is gonna get renewed, and if it is, I don't know if I'll watch it if/when it does. I latch on to shows really fucking hard when I do latch on. It's why I keep rewatching The Good Place and why I'll never forgive Freeform/Disney/Marvel for canceling Cloak and Dagger. The way I latch onto things is probably a bit unhealthy. And the fact of the matter is, despite everything, my overwhelming feelings about ZEP are positive. And I latched on. I'd honestly do it all over again.

I have a lot of feelings about this fandom and this show, both positive and negative. Still, I love it. Unconditionally. Ultimately, I don't care if Zoey ends up with Max or Simon (though, seriously, she and Simon are made for each other). It's a good fucking show, ships shouldn't be everything that matters.

I began lurking in this fandom when I was fifteen. I began posting fanfic for it when I was sixteen. I'm almost seventeen now. I was planning to get Tumblr when I was seventeen. I also knew I wouldn't forgive myself if I hadn't made my presence here known if it didn't get renewed.

I want to thank @simon-haynes because, uh, holy fuck, I adore you. Running a blog for fandom is something I couldn't even fathom, especially when a large portion of the fandom doesn't like your ship. I legitimately can't believe you followed me.

Thank you to @jennakang. You are, honestly, one of the best writers I've ever read from. You were so incredibly supportive of my writing on ao3, despite the fact you didn't know who I was, and that really meant the world to me. Thank you so much for your contributions to the fandom. Also, uh, fun fact, I was the anon who, after you expressed the want to write the quarantined Zimon fic, sent in that ask that was like "please do!" and also "hope I'm not being pushy about this". I don't know if you remember that at all, but your response meant the world to me.

And uh, lastly @myheartissetinmotion. Um, wow. I know we barely know each other, but I can honestly say, you have been my anchor for this whole show. I love both your Tori content on TikTok as well as just zep content you do on there, and how you wrote her into zep on ao3. I personally like to think of you as the pioneer of Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist Tok. You were pretty unbiased when it came to ships on there, and that made me feel safe in a place where there were virtually no zimon shippers. Your content was funny, and I always found myself laughing or screaming "accurate" at it. I know, I'm the nuisance who every few months DMs you about something zep related, but I hope you know, you made me feel both seen and somewhat appreciated in this fandom. I cannot thank you enough, Isabella 💗

I know Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist may not be ending. But this still oddly feels like the end of an era. I'm not leaving the fandom, I plan to keep posting fanfic for it and everything. I just want everyone who may be reading this to know I love this fandom and I would not take any moment here back.

Also, this is me formally asking for a link to a Discord group chat since I know it exists but I'm too scared to actually ask any of you for it directly.

[killerhatcanons]

Could u do a childhood friends hc with Trapper, The Shape and Ghostface?? 🥺🥺

Of course my friend! uwu

So we can imagine most of Michael‘s and Trapper‘s childhoods but I don’t think Danny has much of a background lore going as far soo I‘d personally also put him into a difficult household (even though I wish it were different) I also think I’ll put this one into a text form

TW: idek what to tag this with but I’m guessing abuse/domestic violence

The Trapper (Evan MacMillan)

Evan had always in a way idolized his father and his father had never deemed anyone worthy to get close to his son. Needless to say Evan didn’t have many friends at all when he was young. The other children were scared of his father and the stories their parents had told them about the MacMillan family. They were gruesome, as much as a parent would allow their child to hear but enough to ensure they would never want to get close to the MacMillan child.

You had always thought it was unfair. It wasn’t Evan’s fault that his dad was mean and you didn’t want him to sit alone over something he wasn’t responsible for. So you approached him and you kept approaching him even as he tried to push you away. He knew about the stories and he himself knew very well that his father wasn’t the kindest person. Time and time again had his father hit him for not following his orders, had thrown away his sketches and sent him to bed on an empty stomach as a punishment. He understood why others feared his father and he didn’t blame them. Even though he loved his father, he also despised him. He knew no one but him would endure his father’s punishments so when the tiny you approached him he tried his best to push you away. You were far too fragile, you couldn’t get close to him or his father. 

But you didn’t care. No matter how many times he rudely sent you away you always returned. And as time passed he felt himself slowly growing fond of you. You were nice to him, the only person that made him feel warm and he didn’t want you to leave him anymore. He wanted to keep your kindness, to keep the warmth you made him feel through the utter coldness he was accustomed to. So he allowed you to stay if only for a while which soon became longer and longer.

You played together in elementary school and he would protect you from anyone that even attempted to bully you. Or ask you out for that matter. He soon had to realize that he grew more and more possessive of you, that he didn’t want anyone to take you away from him. You had been with him since the beginning, had shown him kindness and understanding, had been there for him and took care of the bruises his father kept giving him. As cheesy as this sounded you had been his sun all along, naturally and selflessly giving him warmth without ever being asked to. His one and only friend.

Shit I might need to turn this into a fiction maybe? haha we’ll see

The Shape (Michael Meyers)

Michael had always been the silent child in your kindergarten group. First everyone thought he was just a little shy but you soon realized that he simply refused to speak. Of course your teacher tried to convince him to talk, even had a meeting with his parents but they assured that he learned speaking, however at one point simply stopped any form of communication. To the adults he was a hopeless case. They tried desparately to change him, but he wouldn’t budge. 

To you he was a welcome friend. You didn’t mind his silence, you knew he was listening to you and you could still play together. Well, it was mostly you telling him what to do with the toys, because he himself wouldn’t do anything besides holding them in his hand, but that wasn’t much of an issue to you. 

Of course you tried to get him to play with your other friends too, but his lack of enthusiasm often got in the way and the other kids got scared of his silent and emotionless behavior. However, even when they told you to, you refused to stop playing with Michael. Yes, he was a little odd, but that didn’t make him a bad child (killing his sister later lowkey did tho oop) so you didn’t want him to be alone. Everyone needs some company, right? 

Over time you noticed, that he would remember what you had told him to do with the toys, instead of simply holding them, to which you would give him a big smile.

This improvement you saw in his behavior made you even sadder when one day he stopped coming to the kindergarten. At first you had thought he was sick, but weeks went on without a single trace of him or his parents.

Upon asking you own they had told you he was sent to another kindergarten instead, that was specialized on children like him. You were sad of course, but you accepted it, hoping he would find more friends to play with now. 

You only later found out he was sent to an asylum instead of another kindergarten.

The Ghostface (Danny Johnson)

Danny Johnson did not have the nicest childhood imaginable. After her divorce his mother didn’t become directly abusive to him, more so the alcohol. 

He liked to think that the slurring woman bruising him wasn’t his mother, that it was simply someone else, someone more aggressive trying to be her. He didn’t want to think his mother hated him, he didn’t want to believe she would bruise him, would shout at him and blame him for what had happened to her marriage. 

Even as a young boy he knew to cover his bruises. He loved his mother, he didn’t want her to be alone even though the woman the alcohol brought out of her hurt him in every way possible. But it was his fault right? His dad didn’t want him so he left him and his mother. He was responsible and the least he thought he could do was let her let out her pain on the person responsible for her misery.

In school he didn’t talk much to anyone. He was a rather shy kid, not wanting to cause anymore trouble for anyone. At lunch he sat alone, but he didn’t mind. He also didn’t mind being called weird or gross for his greasy long hair or the bags under his eyes. Not that he wanted to talk to anyone about himself anyways. Not even to you as you approached him. 

You had watched him sit alone for a long time. He looked sad, restless, sometimes even scared and despite not even knowing him, it hurt you to see anyone in this state. So you went to talk to him. However, it took a while for him to stop avoiding you as best as he could and he eventually opened up to you a bit. He still didn’t tell you about the abuse until you reached middle school, but when he did you were determined to help him, to clear his understanding of him not being responsible for anything and to get him a new home. 

With the help of your parents you were able to get him out of his household and soon find a acquainted family that was willing to take him in. The Olsens tried their best to provide him with everything he needed. And while you knew it would take time for him to heal, you were relieved he was part of a loving family now, that would help him back onto a safe track. 

You couldn’t have known that the damage to Danny’s brain had already been done and there was no way of saving him from the twisted prison of his own mind.

OOK THESE ARE WAY DARKER THAN YOU PROBABLY WANTED BUT I OOP GOT CARRIED AWAY 

I can attempt to make it more wholesome a second time if you want these were just the most logical things that came to my mind haha... honestly idk but I usually think that someone isn’t just yk born a killer (except Michael maybe pfft) so I came up with some uhm logical upbringings to the boys haha yeet..

Anyways I’m considering turning the Evan and Ghosty one into their own separate story thingsies. Kinda hard to do something with Michael bc uhm Psychiatry but possibly something with a reader that’s also in treatment or we pull a Harley Quinn sometime who knows! 

For now I hope you aren’t too mad that this was so... dark instead of cute oop >:)) if you’re mad just let me die on the hook next time pffft

[twoidiotwriters1]

Written In The Stars CXLIII (Harry Potter xF!Oc)

A/N: I knew ppl were going to drop my fic in this book bc I made things complicated but I don’t regret the plot— did it still made me sad? yes it sure did -Danny

Words: 5,256

Series’ Masterlist

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

Listen to: ‘No Control’ -by Dylan Reynolds

Chapter Five: The New Routine.

Dumbledore knocked on the door three times and Mrs Weasley's voice was quick to answer.

"Who's there? Declare yourself!"

"It is I, Dumbledore, bringing Harry. Mel and Erick are with us."

"Harry, dear!" Mrs Weasley opened the door at once, letting them in. "Mel! Erick! Gracious, Albus, you gave me a fright, you said not to expect you before morning!"

"We were lucky, Slughorn proved much more persuadable than I had expected. The children's doing, of course. Ah, hello, Nymphadora!"

"Hello, Professor... Wotcher, kids."

"Hi, Tonks."

Tonks was looking remarkably grim, Mel looked around the kitchen.

"Where's my mum?"

"I told her to go to bed," Mrs Weasley said sweetly, "it's almost midnight, the baby kept her up last night and she needed to sleep."

"I'd better be off," Tonks stood up. "Thanks for the tea and sympathy, Molly."

"Please don't leave on my account," said Dumbledore, "I cannot stay, I have urgent matters to discuss with Rufus Scrimgeour."

"No, no, I need to get going," She replied. "'Night —"

"Dear, why not come to dinner at the weekend, Remus and Mad-Eye are coming — ?"

"My uncle's coming?" Mel asked with excitement.

"No, really, Molly... thanks anyway..." Tonks said tensely. "Good night, everyone."

"Well, I shall see you at Hogwarts," Dumbledore told them. "Take care of yourself. Molly, your servant."

He and Tonks disapparated, Erick spoke up.

"You have a lovely house, Mrs Weasley."

"Oh dear, well, we do make an effort on making it cosy," Mrs Weasley smiled.  "You're like Ron, all of you, you look as though you've had Stretching Jinxes put on you. I swear Ron's grown four inches since I last bought him school robes. Are you hungry?"

"Yeah, I am," said Harry.

"A bit," Erick agreed.

Mel sat down between them, she was quite pleased about Mrs Weasley's comment on her growth, even though hers was less noticeable than the boys' who now were five and seven inches taller than her.

Crookshanks and Grey quickly made their way to them. Grey didn't like Erick very much, though Mel didn't know why. Crookshanks, on the other hand, was a huge fan.

"So Hermione's here?" Harry asked as he watched the ginger cat ruin the impeccable set of clothes Erick was wearing.

"Oh yes, she arrived the day before yesterday. Everyone's in bed, of course, we didn't expect you for hours. Here you are — Bread, dears?"

"Thanks, Mrs Weasley."

"So you persuaded Horace Slughorn to take the job?"

"It wasn't hard," Mel smiled. "Professor Slughorn was eager to get to know us better."

"He taught Arthur and me. He was at Hogwarts for ages, started around the same time as Dumbledore, I think. Did you like him?"

Harry and Erick shrugged, Mel kept her attention on her plate.

"I know what you mean... Of course he can be charming when he wants to be, but Arthur's never liked him much. The Ministry's littered with Slughorn's old favorites, he was always good at giving leg ups, but he never had much time for Arthur — didn't seem to think he was enough of a highflier. Well, that just shows you, even Slughorn makes mistakes. I don't know whether Ron's told you in any of his letters — it's only just happened — but Arthur's been promoted!"

Harry made a funny noise, taken by surprise. Erick did a sort of delighted hum and Mel stopped eating, staring at her attentively.

"That's great!" Harry said.

"You are sweet... Yes, Rufus Scrimgeour has set up several new offices in response to the present situation, and Arthur's heading the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects. It's a big job, he's got ten people reporting to him now!"

"Sounds important," Erick smiled.

"What exactly — ?"

"Well, you see, in all the panic about You-Know-Who, odd things have been cropping up for sale everywhere, things that are supposed to guard against You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters. You can imagine the kind of thing — so-called protective potions that are really gravy with a bit of bubotuber pus added, or instructions for defensive jinxes that actually make your ears fall off..."

Mrs Weasley looked beyond proud as she told them all about her husband's new job. Mel was happy for him, she couldn't think of a man who deserved a promotion more than Mr Weasley.

"...So you see, it's a very important job, and I tell him it's just silly to miss dealing with spark plugs and toasters and all the rest of that Muggle rubbish."

"Well, the heart wants what it wants," Mel chuckled, she was unaware of the way both boys looked at her.

"Is Mr Weasley still at work?" Harry questioned.

"Yes, he is. As a matter of fact, he's a tiny bit late... He said he'd be back around midnight..."

Mel felt something awful crawling up her chest when she noticed all the tiny hands on the clock were now pointing at 'Mortal peril'.

"It's been like that for a while now," Mrs Weasley commented, "ever since You-Know-Who came back into the open. I suppose everybody's in mortal danger now... I don't think it can be just our family... but I don't know anyone else who's got a clock like this, so I can't check. Oh!"

Mr Weasley's was now currently pointing at 'travelling.'

"He's coming!" She got up, a second later there was a knock on the door. "Arthur, is that you?"

"Yes. But I would say that even if I were a Death Eater, dear. Ask the question!"

"Oh, honestly..."

"Molly!"

"All right, all right... What is your dearest ambition?"

"To find out how airplanes stay up."

Mel and Harry shared a look of amusement, she heard Erick mumbling 'How do they stay up?' Mrs Weasley tried to open the door but her husband kept it shut.

"Molly! I've got to ask you your question first!"

"Arthur, really, this is just silly..."

"What do you like me to call you when we're alone together?"

The group of teenagers froze.

"Mollywobbles," Mrs Weasley whispered to the tiny crack in the door.

Mel choked on the soup, Harry had to hide his face entirely to control his laughing fit after watching her almost die, Erick quickly patted her back.

"Correct," Mr Weasley said brightly. "Now you can let me in."

"I still don't see why we have to go through that every time you come home!" Mrs Weasley complained as the man walked in. "I mean, a Death Eater might have forced the answer out of you before impersonating you!"

"I know, dear, but it's Ministry procedure, and I have to set an example. Something smells good — onion soup? Kids! We didn't expect you until morning!"

They all greeted Mr Weasley, Mel finally able to breathe and Harry able to speak without cracking up.

"Thanks, Molly," He said when the woman set a plate for him. "It's been a tough night. Some idiot's started selling Metamorph-Medals. Just sling them around your neck and you'll be able to change your appearance at will. A hundred thousand disguises, all for ten Galleons!"

"And what really happens when you put them on?"

"Mostly you just turn a fairly unpleasant orange color, but a couple of people have also sprouted tentaclelike warts all over their bodies. As if St. Mungo's didn't have enough to do already!"

"It sounds like the sort of thing Fred and George would find funny," said Mrs Weasley with doubt. "Are you sure — ?"

"Of course I am! The boys wouldn't do anything like that now, not when people are desperate for protection!"

"So is that why you're late, Metamorph-Medals?"

"No, we got wind of a nasty backfiring jinx down in Elephant and Castle, but luckily the Magical Law Enforcement Squad had sorted it out by the time we got there..."

Harry yawned beside her, Mel was starting to feel weary herself after days of sleeping in the backseat of a car.

"Bed," said Mrs Weasley. "I've got Fred and George's room all ready for you, boys. Mel, you're sharing Ginny's bedroom but I don't want you to wake the girls up. Is it okay if you sleep with Erick and Harry tonight?"

"Yeah, it's fine," Mel yawned, too sleepy to care.

"Where are the twins?" Harry asked.

"Oh, they're in Diagon Alley, sleeping in the little flat over their joke shop as they're so busy," said Mrs Weasley, and Mel could tell there was a hint of pride in her voice. "I must say, I didn't approve at first, but they do seem to have a bit of a flair for business! Come on, dears, your trunks are already up there."

"'Night, Mr Weasley," said Harry.

"Thank you for letting us stay," Erick added.

"Have a goodnight!" Mel ended.

"G'night," said Mr Weasley.

Mel had been in the twins' room a couple of times through the years, it was startling when she walked in and couldn't recognize it. The smell of fireworks was still hanging in the air and there was a few boxes of their personal items laying around, but almost nothing left from their essence in the room, it made her feel homesick.

There were only two beds since they weren't expected until the next morning. Mrs Weasley quickly made a third bed appear with a flick of her wand, it was smaller than the other two, mostly blankets and cushions piled together. She apologized profusely, but Mel didn't mind, she would've slept on the floor considering how exhausted she was.

The boys insisted that she took one of their beds but Mel refused, when she came back from changing Erick was already tucked in her pile of blankets. Harry was grinning at the way his feet were hanging over the edge.

The following morning she was awoken by the door slamming open and a pair of feet stomping into the room. She hid her face between the pillows, Harry's mattress squeaked as he sat up, and fabric rustled as Erick pushed down his blankets.

"Wuzzgoinon?" Harry asked sleepily.

"We didn't know you were here already!" There was a soft thud coming from Harry's bed after Ron sat down on it.

"Ron, don't hit him!" Hermione sat on Mel's bed.

"Dear Merlin," She groaned, hiding under the covers. "I'm going to murder you two..."

"All right?" Ron asked.

"Never been better," said Harry, sounding a bit more awake. "You?"

"Not bad."

"I knew there was no way I'd have a quiet morning here," Erick grumbled. "Hi, 'Mione..."

"Hi!" She said brightly, then shook one of Mel's legs. "Wake up! I want to hear all you did during your mission!"

"When did you get here? Mum's only just told us!" Ron said.

"About one o'clock this morning," Harry replied, Mel turned around and squinted, trying to get used to the sunlight.

"Were the Muggles all right? Did they treat you okay?"

"Same as usual... they didn't talk to me much, but I like it better that way. How're you, Hermione?"

"Oh, I'm fine."

"What's the time? Have we missed breakfast?" Harry said.

"Don't worry about that, Mum's bringing you up a tray; she reckons you look underfed," said Ron.

"Well, he is," Mel replied, finally sitting up. "You should've seen my mum — almost forced the food down his throat once..."

Harry threw a pillow at her, but he missed by a considerable distance.

"So, what's been going on?" Ron asked eagerly.

"Nothing much, I've just been stuck at my aunt and uncle's, haven't I?"

"And we just had a road trip around some towns," Erick said, getting out of his covers only to sit down on Harry's bed.

"Come off it!" said Ron. "You've been off with Dumbledore!"

"It wasn't that exciting. He just wanted us to help him persuade this old teacher to come out of retirement. His name's Horace Slughorn."

"Oh... We thought —" Hermione hushed him, Ron was quick to correct his mistake. "— we thought it'd be something like that."

"You did?" Harry grinned.

"Yeah... yeah, now Umbridge has left, obviously we need a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, don't we? So, er, what's he like?"

"He looks a bit like a walrus, and he used to be Head of Slytherin," Harry shrugged, then he glanced back at their friend and raised a brow. "Something wrong, Hermione?"

The girl gave a start, straightening in her place.

"No, of course not! So, um, did Slughorn seem like he'll be a good teacher?"

"Well, he's got a sharp mind no doubt," Erick yawned, laying on the mattress.

"He can't be worse than Umbridge, can he?" added Harry, softly kicking Erick to move him away from his legs.

"I know someone who's worse than Umbridge," Ginny walked in sulking. "Hi, guys."

"What's up with you?" Ron questioned.

"It's her, she's driving me mad."

"What's she done now?" asked Hermione.

"It's the way she talks to me — you'd think I was about three!"

"I know, she's so full of herself..."

"You better not be talking about my mum," Mel joked.

"Can't you two lay off her for five seconds?" Ron scoffed.

"Oh, that's right, defend her! We all know you can't get enough of her," Ginny rolled her eyes.

Harry and Mel shared a confused look, and just when he was about to ask the door opened again. The boy pulled up his covers so fast that Erick fell to the floor.

"Oh," Mel said quietly, staring up at Fleur Delacour.

"Children," she said brightly. "Eet 'as been too long!"

Mrs Weasley walked in right after her, looking upset.

"There was no need to bring up the tray, I was just about to do it myself!"

"Eet was no trouble," Fleur left the tray floating between their beds and kissed her and Harry on both cheeks. Erick got up with a scowl, he shook Fleur's hand, not letting her touch him any further. "I 'ave been longing to see you. You remember my seester, Gabrielle? She never stops talking about 'Arry Potter. She will be delighted to see you again."

"Oh... is she here too?" Harry asked.

"No, no, silly boy," Fleur laughed, "I mean next summer, when we — but do you not know?"

"We hadn't got around to telling him yet," Mrs Weasley said grumpily.

"Bill and I are going to be married!"

"Oh," said Harry, looking back at Mel begging her to help him. "Wow. Er — congratulations!"

"That's brilliant," Mel was unsure of how to react, none of the other women in the room looked happy.

"Bill is very busy at ze moment, working very 'ard, and I only work part-time at Gringotts for my Eenglish, so he brought me 'ere for a few days to get to know 'is family properly. I was so pleased to 'ear you would be coming — zere isn't much to do 'ere, unless you like cooking and chickens! Well — enjoy your breakfast!"

She turned around and left the room with a joyous air, then Emily walked in, holding her son.

"Hi kids," She smiled.

Mel jumped out of bed and gave her mother a big hug. She took her baby brother and kissed him all over his small face. Mrs Weasley muttered something Mel could not hear, Ginny inched closer and started to play with Reggie's little fingers.

"Mum hates her," the girl told her, clearly talking about Fleur.

"I do not hate her! I just think they've hurried into this engagement, that's all!"

"Well, it's not like we all have time to spare, do we?" Emily asked carefully, brushing the hair away from Mel's forehead.

"They've known each other a year," said Ron crossly.

"Well, that's not very long! I know why it's happened, of course. It's all this uncertainty with You-Know-Who coming back, people think they might be dead tomorrow, so they're rushing all sorts of decisions they'd normally take time over. It was the same last time he was powerful, people eloping left, right, and center—"

"Including you and Dad," Ginny smirked.

"Yes, well, your father and I were made for each other, what was the point in waiting? Whereas Bill and Fleur... well... what have they really got in common? He's a hard-working, down-to-earth sort of person, whereas she's —"

"A cow," Ginny replied. "But Bill's not that down-to-earth. He's a Curse-Breaker, isn't he, he likes a bit of adventure, a bit of glamour... I expect that's why he's gone for Phlegm."

"That's exactly what people used to say about me and Matthew," Emily raised a brow. "Now they tell me we were the perfect couple! You see, time's all it takes to change one's opinion, I think we shouldn't talk about relationships that aren't ours."

"I think she's lovely," Mel shrugged, softly kissing her brother's cheek. "You guys are being too harsh on her. I mean, Ginny, you're beautiful —"

"I'm sorry, Mel, I have a boyfriend," She joked.

"— But that doesn't mean you're silly, does it?" Mel sat down on her bed. "Have you forgotten how nice she was to Ron after he helped her sister?"

Mrs Weasley left looking rather tired, Emily kissed Mel, Harry and Erick on the cheek before leaving, leaving Leon Regulus in the room.

"Don't you get used to her if she's staying in the same house?" Harry chuckled, staring at the way Ron was struggling to breathe.

"Well, you do... but if she jumps out at you unexpectedly, like then..."

"It's pathetic," said Hermione, without even asking she took Regulus out of Mel's hold, ignoring the girl's protests.

"I feel your pain, Ronnie, don't listen to them," Mel sighed, leaning back on the bed frame.

"You don't really want her around forever?" Ginny insisted. "Well, Mum's going to put a stop to it if she can, I bet you anything."

"She shouldn't!" Mel replied. "What would you feel if you were deeply in love with someone and everyone tried to keep you away from them? You're own family!"

"How's she going to manage that, anyway?" asked Harry.

"She keeps trying to get Tonks round for dinner. I think she's hoping Bill will fall for Tonks instead. I hope he does, I'd much rather have her in the family."

"Yeah, that'll work," Ron snorted. "Listen, no bloke in his right mind's going to fancy Tonks when Fleur's around. I mean, Tonks is okay-looking when she isn't doing stupid things to her hair and her nose, but —"

"She's a damn sight nicer than Phlegm,'' Ginny made a face of disgust.

"And she's more intelligent, she's an Auror!" said Hermione, Reggie cried a bit and Ginny took it away from Hermione.

"Fleur's not stupid, she was good enough to enter the Triwizard Tournament," Harry argued.

"Not you as well!" Hermione scowled.

"I suppose you like the way Phlegm says ' 'Arry,' do you?" Ginny huffed.

"No," said Harry, blushing a bit, "I was just saying, Phlegm — I mean, Fleur —"

"Oh, please," Mel snorted. "You're just upset because Bill is your favourite brother, Ginny — you're scared he'll stop hanging out here once he marries Fleur. Hermione, I know you're lying, you're not angry because she isn't smart enough for your standards."

Hermione blushed a deep shade of red.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Sure you don't," She grinned. "But you know she's not any of those things, I know you do. I mean, so what if she's confident, as long as she loves Bill like he deserves, right? Don't you want him to be happy?"

Ginny looked at Reggie for a long time, then she sighed heavily.

"I would like her to respect our way of handling the house, that's all..."

"That's understandable," Mel nodded. "But she's the one having to get used to the Weasleys, and if I may give my opinion, you guys are as peculiar as any French girl."

Ginny's face showed a small grin.

"In my opinion," Erick spoke casually, grabbing a toast from the tray. "Fleur's too ostentatious — but she knows how to use her charm, which means she's got a brain. Joseph told me she was a great conversationalist—"

"Can't you talk like a normal bloke?" Ron frowned. "Do you like her, yes or no?"

"I'm saying she's nice."

"Nice?" The redheaded boy asked in bewilderment.

"She's not my type," The older boy rolled his eyes.

"What's your type, then?" Ron demanded.

Erick threw a quick glance at Mel before replying.

"Friendly."

"Okay, maybe Mel's right," Ginny continued, Reggie started to get restless and she swayed him a bit from side to side. "But I still get along with Tonks better, at least she's a laugh..."

"Well, she can still come and hang out, but you can't force love."

"She hasn't been much of a laugh lately though," Ron pointed out. "Every time I've seen her she's looked more like Moaning Myrtle."

"That's not fair," Hermione frowned. "She still hasn't got over what happened... you know... I mean, he was her cousin!"

Harry quickly looked down and busied himself with a spoonful of eggs, Mel grabbed a cup of tea and drank half of it in one large sip.

"Tonks and Sirius barely knew each other! Sirius was in Azkaban half her life and before that their families never met —"

"That's not the point — She thinks it was her fault he died!"

"How does she work that one out?" Harry asked, his mouth half-full.

"Well, she was fighting Bellatrix Lestrange, wasn't she? I think she feels that if only she had finished her off, Bellatrix couldn't have killed Sirius."

Mel tried to remember, there was a huge part of that night she couldn't recall.

"That's stupid," said Ron.

"It's survivor's guilt. I know Lupin's tried to talk her round, but she's still really down. She's actually having trouble with her Metamorphosing!"

"With her — ?"

"She can't change her appearance like she used to. I think her powers must have been affected by shock, or something."

"I didn't know that could happen," said Harry.

"Nor did I, but I suppose if you're really depressed..."

Mel suddenly looked down at her hands and gulped. She hadn't tried to do any kind of magic ever since she'd come back from the Ministry, now a new fear was rising above everything else, the possibility of not being able to be as good as before because of her anguish.

"Ginny," Mrs Weasley walked in again, "come downstairs and help me with the lunch."

"I'm talking to this lot!" Ginny exclaimed, her attention quickly leaving Mel's brother.

"Now!"

"She only wants me there so she doesn't have to be alone with Fleur! Emily's too tired all the time, mum doesn't let her do anything..." The girl got up to leave the room, but Mel stopped her.

"Hey, give that baby back!" She demanded. "I was holding him first!"

Ron stood up and took the baby, claiming no one ever allowed him to play with him. Ginny turned around swiftly, mocking the way Fleur would usually move, once she got to the door she looked over her shoulder one last time before leaving.

"You lot had better come down quickly too!"

Harry, Mel and Erick ate silently while Hermione examined some boxes, Ron was now playing with Reg.

"What's this?" Hermione held up a small telescope.

"Dunno, but if Fred and George've left it here, it's probably not ready for the joke shop yet, so be careful."

"Your mum said the shop's going well," Harry mentioned. "Said Fred and George have got a real flair for business."

"That's an understatement. They're raking in the Galleons! I can't wait to see the place, we haven't been to Diagon Alley yet, because Mum says Dad's got to be there for extra security and he's been really busy at work, but it sounds excellent."

"And what about Percy? Is he talking to your mum and dad again?"

"Nope."

"What a git," Erick muttered, drinking his tea while watching Hermione examine the telescope.

"But he knows your dad was right all along now about Voldemort being back —"

"Dumbledore says people find it far easier to forgive others for being wrong than being right," said Hermione. "I heard him telling your mum, Ron."

"Sounds like the sort of mental thing Dumbledore would say," said Ron.

Mel didn't try to contradict him this time.

"He's going to be giving me private lessons this year," Harry said casually. "Mel already finished hers and he'll have time to teach me."

Hermione gasped, Erick merely looked up from his food.

"You kept that quiet!" Ron exclaimed, Mel's brother slipping from his hold without him noticing.

"I only just remembered. He told me last night in your broom shed."

"Blimey... private lessons with Dumbledore! And he said you're ready to go, Mel? I wonder why he's—?"

"Careful with Lee before you drop him flat on the floor!" Mel scowled. "I see why no one lets you hold him..."

"I don't know exactly why he's going to be giving me lessons, but I think it must be because of the prophecy," Harry continued to speak, eyes fixed on his food. "You know, the one they were trying to steal at the Ministry..."

Erick pulled out his wand and with a quick movement, his plate started to follow him around the room. He took Leon Regulus and mumbled something about the baby needing a nap and Ginny needing help back in the kitchen. Mel wished she could've left with him.

"Nobody knows what it said, though," said Hermione once the Slytherin was gone. "Mel broke it."

"Although the Prophet says —" Ron started.

"Shh!" Hermione interrupted.

"The Prophet's got it right," Harry forced himself to look up. "That glass ball Mel destroyed wasn't the only record of the prophecy. I heard the whole thing in Dumbledore's office, he was the one the prophecy was made to, so he could tell me. From what it said... it looks like I'm the one who's got to finish off Voldemort... At least, it said neither of us could live while the other survives."

She wished she could've spent at least one day without thinking about the prophecy, but Harry had to live knowing that he'd have to face Voldemort, so she couldn't complain.

BANG!

Hermione vanished behind a cloud of dark smoke.

"Hermione!" shouted the three of them.

The girl stood up, coughing.

"I squeezed it and it — it punched me!"

"Don't worry," said Ron biting his lip so he wouldn't laugh, "Mum'll fix that, she's good at healing minor injuries —"

"Oh well, never mind that now!" said Hermione, pushing it aside. "Harry, oh, Harry... We wondered, after we got back from the Ministry... Obviously, we didn't want to say anything to you, but from what Lucius Malfoy said about the prophecy, how it was about you and Voldemort, well, we thought it might be something like this... Oh, Harry... Are you scared?"

"Not as much as I was," Harry shrugged. "When I first heard it, I was... but now, it seems as though I always knew I'd have to face him in the end..."

"When we heard Dumbledore was collecting you in person, we thought he might be telling you something or showing you something to do with the prophecy. And we were kind of right, weren't we? He wouldn't be giving you lessons if he thought you were a goner, wouldn't waste his time — he must think you've got a chance!"

"Of course he does!" Mel got up, starting to pick up the pieces of the tray that had smashed when the boys ran to help Hermione. "Harry's a great wizard, we just need to teach him how to fight..."

Her friends looked at her with pity, they must've been thinking of her lifeline connection with Harry and how it could affect her, but Mel couldn't look afraid or else they wouldn't believe her words.

"Guys, we'll get through this..." Mel looked down a the tiny scars on her palm, rubbing them gently.

"That's true," said Hermione. "I wonder what he'll teach you, Harry? Really advanced defensive magic, probably... powerful countercurses... anti-jinxes... probably the same things he taught to Mel. And evasive enchantments generally— Well, at least you know one lesson you'll be having this year, that's one more than Ron and me. I wonder when our O.W.L. results will come?"

"Can't be long now, it's been a month," said Ron.

"Hang on, I think Dumbledore said our O.W.L. results would be arriving today!"

"Yeah, that's true!" Mel admitted, leaving the broken plates on the desk.

"Today? Today? But why didn't you — oh my God — you should have said —" Hermione squeaked. "I'm going to see whether any owls have come..."

Ron and Hermione left the room quickly, Harry and her were left alone, but this felt a thousand times less awkward than a year before.

"Thank you," Harry said, helping her fold the blankets.

"I didn't do anything. You know they're scared, even if they don't show it..."

"I'm thanking you because it must be hard for you as well, not to show it," He tilted his head. "Usually, you're an open book..."

"I used to be," She corrected. "My feelings are just mine, Harry, and no one else needs to know about them."

He frowned.

"Still, you know it's better not to hold things in, right?"

Mel stared at him.

"Look at you, teaching me about how to handle my emotions!"

The boy let out a chuckle and reached to hold her hand.

"It's going to be okay, Mellow."

She melted at the name, it'd been a long time since he'd called her that. She looked down again at her scarred hand, and that stirred her into talking. An idea started to take form in her mind.

"What if there's a chance you don't have to be the only chosen one?"

Harry blinked.

"What?"

"What if I am your backup?"

"H-How would that even..?"

"Think about it," Mel started. "I was there when he tried to kill you, and that's when our connection was created — it grows stronger when you inch closer to death... What if the reason we can feel each other's pain, is because it warns us about the incoming danger? What if the reason we're connected it's because I'm destined to take your place if you die?"

"But — but the prophecy said it was a boy —"

"Prophecies can change, you're not obliged to copy them exactly as they're told! Even Dumbledore thought I could be the child of the prophecy! What if, in a way, we both are?"

"It doesn't mean anything, Mel. I chose to be —"

"Who says I can't choose to help you?" She lifted her right hand. "I marked myself with the prophecy, see? If we do this together we'll have a real advantage. We even promised it back in the ministry, didn't we? If you die I take your place, if I die —"

"I make sure is not in vain," Harry had finally made up his mind. "D'you think Dumbledore knows? Do you think that's why he wants us to decide for ourselves what we'll do with our lifeline?"

"I have no idea," Mel responded sincerely. "But if we're doing this, we need to set the rules now."

Harry thought about it, then he grabbed her hands and squeezed them lightly.

"Let's talk."

Next Chapter —>

Taglist.

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[mutable-manifestation]

Lmao

The kid who asked about bomb stuff isn't from school they work for (most of their students avoid them outside of school hours re the whole 'unhinged, probably rogues in the making' thing

So anyway, Danny & Dash go 'that's a great lesson idea' and coordinate to have a 'bomb day'

They bring in bombs (they just puff glitter everywhere, but they look legit)

Danny is in his usual Metalshop class and just "today's practical lesson is to learn how to disarm a bomb" *whips out a bomb with a timer set for the end of the class period visibly ticking down and starts lecturing about the 'more common setup, which is what we're using for practice today.'

Dash's class is part evaluation, part situational awareness, & part reflexes.

he has two types of bombs - ones that are stable enough to chuck into the distance and ones that can't be moved. They're sprinkled around an obstacle course he puts them through (before explaining beyond 'do not turn around or leave the course until you reach the end, super ominously')

He waits at the end while the rest of the class lines up to go through one at a time every few minutes

The first person out is like "Dr. Baxter holy shit there are bombs in there!"

Holds up clipboard, "how many did you spot and where?"

"How- that doesn't matter we have to warn the others and get out of here!"

"Not to worry [student], those are good instincts to have but this is all part of the exercise. I'll give the full debrief when everyone is through, for now just tell me how many you spotted and how many different kinds."

"...s...seven...? But Dr. Baxter-"

next student interrupts by barreling out screaming "Dr. Baxter holy shit there are bombs in there!"

At the end he's like "Most of you failed to note all of the bomb's locations and only 4 of you noticed there was more than one kind. Those of you with run times above three minutes will be doing runs tomorrow. I notice only three of you exited the course entirely - likely because the sides were lined with bombs and wire. Good job on finding an exit, Tim. While flexibility wasn't the point of this lesson it's an advantageous skill to have in many situations! Mara, Davis," he addresses the glitter-covered students, whose shrieks of terror everyone could still recall. "I would advise you to consider how affecting your environment might trigger the dangers around you the next time you find yourselves surrounded by bombs."

"But now," he claps his hands, "Let's talk about id'ing which bombs are throw-able to determine how everyone could have exited the maze early on."

When Danny's morning students get to the maze, they're resigned.

Miraculously, no one called the cops. In part bc Danny had never gotten in trouble for having stuff like Joker Gas or Fear Toxin so why would a bomb be different? In part bc people don't carry their phones in gym (they have to leave them in a tray at the door) or Tim would've had the bats in there.

-----

Imagine Tim coming home with a small bruise and Bruce is like 'What happened? At school?? That wasn't there this morning????'

'...I lost.'

'Lost what???'

'Dodgeshot'

'?????????'

-----

...consider. Wes has not let the Phantom thing go. Maybe he doesn't try to tell people anymore (bc he's realized that 'the light of truth is not enough to break through your foul sway on the innocent masses minds') but he just. Follows Danny around.

The Fentons won't sell him stuff bc he literally said he wanted to use it on Danny (& then bc they realized Danny was Phantom and wow, good thing they said no)

The GIW won't sell to him bc he made them look like even bigger idiots, publically, by trying to do the Phantom=Fenton thing and then everyone mocks them and shows them the memes. They got a lot of shit for thinking Gregor was a ghost disguised as a human. The mockery for thinking an alive-person with a pulse is Phantom? ridiculous.

(They actually don't care about being mocked or they wouldn't be GIW, but it was so vicious & public that they lost funding for 'poor resource management' or something)

So since he can't expose/fight him Wes 'detailed corkboard on Fenton=Phantom theory' Weston just decides to follow Danny around to keep an eye on him.

Danny thinks it's hilarious

They're kinda moving into frenemy-territory slowly but surely, so it could be worse.

I could totally see him as a history (look at how it all connects) teacher.

Or a cop.

he'd be perfect as a cop omg

First time Danny brings in Joker gas someone 911's and Wes is one of the responding cops.

The demonstration is over by the time the police show up (the kid texted them and is trying to text to cancel but now the cops are there so no one was expecting them).

The principal gets contacted and is like 'not to worry the exercise is approved.' but the cops insist on talking to the person.

"Fenton," the first cop in the room greets, ignoring his partner behind him saying 'let me- dangit.'

"Wes," Danny grins. "I'm surprised to see you in Gotham."

"I have my eyes on you, Fenton," he hisses. "Tell me how you got your hands on Joker Gas?"

"Alright, that's enough," his partner grabs Wes' shoulder and drags him back. "I'm sorry for him, he's new Dr....Fenton? Was it. But we do need to know how you got your hands on the Joker Gas."

"Oh, it's no trouble officer. I just vacuumed some up during the last attack." Danny smiles.

"...Vacuumed."

"Yep! The Fenton Weasel 2.7, for all your sample collection needs! I'd been thinking of doing this lesson for a while, so when the gas popped up on my doorstep and I needed to either wait for it to dissipate or clean it up I figured two birds, one stone. You know?"

"...Right. Well. Have a nice d-"

"No! There is no way we're just letting this go! He brought Joker Gas into a school! We can't just-"

Danny cuts off Wes with a cough.

"My lesson was pre-approved, Wes," his grin is just as wide and off-putting as the day he dosed himself with Fear Gas. "The only reason you're here at all is because my explanations were inadequate to soothe my students' nerves."

Officer Weston ground his teeth before snarling out, "My. Eye. On You," pointing to his eyes then to Danny, and whirling to leave - once again abandoning his visibly exasperated partner.

Short DPXDC Prompts #468

Danny is a Chemistry teacher at Gotham Academy. His favorite student is Tim. He shocks the students by teaching and creating a Fear Antitoxin for the kids to learn as part of their curriculum.

[boneheat]

Besides the gray ghost angstlist, what was the other fanmix you had for them? Also do you have any headcanons for them?

HEY sorry I took so long to get to this, had a busy weekend and also like, had just started working on another gray ghost mix the day before you sent this?? and was hoping to finish it before i answered?? but it's gonna take some more time to get everything together so!

FIRST OFF my secret is that i am always working on like a billion different gray ghost mixes, because i have a lot of songs for them and a bunch of different configurations for how they could go together! they have a lot going on!! right now the one i almost have done is more focused on the phantom/red huntress dynamic, and the most concrete idea i have for a followup is one specifically about the flirting with disaster moment where they were actually dating

and i do have some headcanons for them (as well as a pretty thorough understanding of how things would develop between them In My Rewrite but that's for another time)! under the cut because this got a little out of hand:

- tbh even when Danny turned his interest to Sam I still think he was really not over Valerie, the fact that Double Cross My Heart opens with him still pining over her and the rest of the episode is meant to convince us he and Sam are the real otp by having them fight the whole time... anyways

- I do think Val still has feelings for Danny at that point as well, she's just better at hiding it and also convinced it's her heroic duty to keep him safe! when Sam and Danny get together she tries dating other people (of any gender bc Val is bi thanks) but finds that none of them seem to get her the way Danny did

- For one they are not nearly as forgiving of her being late or just having to skip dates entirely bc of reasons she can't really explain, whereas Danny was fine with it bc he also did that all the time

- On one of their first dates they go see whatever Blockbuster set in Space is out at the moment and Valerie lets Danny complain about all the inaccuracies on the way home. Val texts Star that she can't hang out bc she's on a date with Danny and Star sends back a screenshot of this

- Valerie is by far the Coolest Person Danny's even been friends with, much less dated. Unless you count when Paulina was being possessed by Kitty, which I do not! Mostly this just means she's significantly less socially awkward than his other friends and follows normie meme accounts and knows tiktok dances

- Meanwhile Danny is by far the least cool person Valerie has ever dated, and she does tease him for being weird sometimes but also thinks it's cute and refreshing and it feels like he just likes her for her, bad parts and all (which really comes into perspective post-reveal)

-this is less a headcanon and more an observation but i think about the part in Flirting With Disaster where Danny tries to convince Sam and Tucker that he and Valerie dating is a good idea and brings up her having a ninth-degree black belt as a PRO like, constantly. The Fentons love women who can fight what can be said

- in fact Danny probably recognizes that if Valerie was the one with the crazy ghost powers and he just had the conventional weaponry he would be a little ectoplasmic goo stain by this point. He certainly does well for himself, but Valerie just has a natural athletic affinity and skill for this kind of thing that he doesn't

- she sucks at video games (in the way people who didn't grow up playing video games do) though, so ha

- i could certainly come up with more (and at multiple points in this i started to ramble about my rewrite timeline and had to cut it back) but this is already so long woops. thank you for giving me an opportunity to talk about them though this was fun

[dbd-and-slashers-fics]

Little miss starch here, back at it again. Actually, it's my birthday in 5 days (27th), so I have a special little request (or a big one I'm sorry for wasting your time). Can I get Evan, Frank, Danny/Jed, Herman and Michael and my request is this: plan me a birthday (or not planning, bc ig these are all murderers lmao) - so like, what they get me, is there a cake and what we doin that day - and if you want I can retweet this with my reactions bc I will love whatever you write let's be real here

(OMG!! HAPPY WOMB ESCAPE YOU CRISPY ROOT!! WOMB EVICTION IS SUPER GREAT DUDE LIKE WOW FINALLY MOVED OUT AND ARE LIVING IN A SHARE WOMB CALLED MOTHER EARTH. Wild. And heck yeah! Let me see those reactions! I’m glad you enjoy the writing! I’m trying!)

Evan Macmillan (The Trapper):

- Evan is a very classy and traditional guy. Get ready for a birthday party with a few friends, both survivor and killer. It’s a little awkward but it’s okay because it is your day and everyone understands that if they fuck it up, he’ll fuck them up. He’s probably got a nice ass cake he may have asked Sally and Bubba to bake, and a little present corner. He’ll also dress nice and make you dress nice too. No matter your style, even if he has to make you a stylish hobo. You’re gonna be the belle of the ball.

He’ll take you out on the town afterwards when everyone leaves. A sweet little walk in the park and a few awkward but sweet words. He isn’t great at expressing his total adoration for you, but you’ll get it anyways. He’ll melt if you smooch his cheek.

Frank Morrison (The Legion):

- Frank is the opposite of classy. First off, he’d start your birthday off with no cake. You and the gang go out for milkshakes or slushees and you can buy as many snacks as you want. Y’all just chill together for a few hours playing games, talking shit, playing with make up or outfits. This is the one time the only time that Frank will let you put makeup on him. So make him look ridiculous. Draw dickbutt on him, get that sweet sweet revenge for the time he drew on your face. After that, you two are sneaking up to the attic for some alone time. You guys can spend that time however you want (Lenny face), but after everything he’ll be giving you an entire talk about how glad he is that he’s met you and how important you are to him.

Probably made you a hand carved necklace piece. Something you hold dear to heart that you can wear all the time to remember him by and cheer you up when you’re down.

Michael Myers (The Shape):

- Michael doesn’t really do birthdays. He’s sort of been trapped in an asylum and he doesn’t have great memories. Now, if you told him it was your birthday, he might do some asking around about it. Expect to come home to a shitload of his hidden Halloween candy and fun activities you guys can do, like painting, cartoons, and paper mache.

Also get ready for him to carry you around on his back. A lot. He may seem like he is annoyed or doesn’t care, but inside he is actually really content because he hasn’t had this much fun before! He also loves you so there is that-

Danny Johnson (The Ghostface):

- Ah yes, Danny Johnson, a charismatically smug bastard and king of romance. We all know this doodoo head is a dork and is actually great at birthdays. As much as he loves the spotlight and loves popularity, he’ll actually give you a small surprise. Aside from a present, which would most likely be something he thought you might like so he stole it, he takes you out into the fleet with his camera. Just when you think you’re lost, he’ll sneak into some old, overgrown, ruined building you didn’t even know was there. He’ll make you follow him, and you’ll end up in a small clearing by a running river, right next to a sort of waterfall dip into a lake. It’s a very soothing and charming spot.

He then makes you take poses or just takes pictures of you doing whatever while complimenting and flirting the whole time. You two will end up under a willow tree somewhere while he tells you cheesy jokes and pick up lines. It’s a really calm day and he starts opening up about stories and telling you everything he loves about you. It’s really sweet and all about you!

Herman Carter (The Doctor):

- Herman is a wild man, we all know this. You probably expect him to serve you a still beating heart starched to a potato battery as a birthday cake. Honestly, any other time he would, but a birthday is important. At least, for him. It’s very rare for him to find something he feels anything towards, and the fact that he loves you is enough for him to make the effort.

He has no cooking skills, so he buys you your favorite flavor cupcake from a supermarket or bakery. He might even buy some extra treats for the both of you later on. He has a little stash of alcohol and music. He, like Danny, isn’t going to make a big gathering, mostly because everyone is scared shitless of him and also the Institute isn’t that great a place for party’s, you know, because of most of the rooms being bathrooms and what not.

He’ll play music on his phonograph and dance with you, read to you, and just overall be pleasant. This will also be the first time he takes off his head gear. And holy fuck, this man is so handsome when his eyes aren’t threatening to leave his skull.

[pynkhues]

I hope you post your c & c Christmas fic! I am having a horrible Christmas alone bc of covid 19 and could use a little cheering up.

I’m so sorry you had a horrible Christmas alone, anon! And I know this is a few days late and a few dollars short, but I hope the first scene (and it’s a doozy of a scene at 3k words haha) from it helps? 

I’m trying to finish the fic now, so fingers crossed I have it all up by tomorrow. It’s ended up being really long, haha, so hopefully people still want a monster Christmas fic four days after Christmas! 😊

“No.”

And damn, if Rio doesn’t pop an eyebrow at that.

“No?”

The question is enough to make Jane’s bottom lip wobble as she rocks in her galoshes, the sound of her wet socks squelching inside them making somethin’ in Rio’s head twitch, because shit – he’d tried to get her out of them at the back door. Tried to pick her up and cart her upstairs to the tub, ready to wash the snow Kenny had shoved down the back of her parka off, but she hadn’t wanted that neither. Had been content to dart beneath his arm the second he’d lugged Marcus up with his other; even more content to leave a trail of sludgy footprints behind her through the kitchen like she wanted him to follow, and he hadn’t exactly.

Or y’know, he had until she’d dashed past him again and he’d gotten a hand into the hood of her jacket.

“So you don’t want to get in there with him, huh?” Rio asks now, jerking his head back to where Marcus is already sprawled out in the tub, fuckin’ blissed out, his skinny arms slung over the rim and his body submerged in the steamy, sudsy water ‘til he looks like some eight-year-old mafia don. It’d make Rio grin – does – until he meets Jane’s look again, her bottom lip still wobbling as she furiously shakes her head, her rabbit beanie slipping down her icy wet hair.

Rio frowns.

“You ain’t cold?”

And shit, he knows she is.

Knows it because the second he’d pulled up to Glenvale Elementary School today to pick ‘em up, she’d been cold. A last-day-of-school snowball fight havin’ ballooned out until the faculty were left frantically trying to dry off forty shivering kids, and whatever, Rio had thought. It was good for them. Work hard, play hard gotta start somewhere, and he’d plucked Jane and Marcus’ tooth-chattering selves out of the fray and blast the car heaters the whole way home, but the second they’d tumbled out of the car, Kenny had thrown a snowball himself, and a fresh fight had begun.

And okay, maybe he should’ve stopped it sooner than he did, but he had Mick on call and the last drops to organise before the holidays, because apparently people buyin’ up supplies of prescription drugs as gifts for sick family members is a straight up thing (and call Rio Father Christmas, because damn if he ain’t deliverin’ on the fuckin’ miracle. Ain’t even price gouging, although that’s more because Elizabeth had turned a particular shade of purple at the prospect and he knew he’d never hear the end of it if he’d bloated prices, but - - damn, it would’ve put at least two of the kids through college.)

Point is, maybe he meant to pull ‘em in after half an hour, but by the time he finally got back outside it’d been close to two full hours and the kids were all red-nosed and tremblin’, their clothes soaked through, the evening just starting to yawn above them to swallow the last of the light whole.

“No,” Jane repeats now, sullen this time, and Rio feels his nostrils flare in irritation as he stares back down at her. At least the room is warm enough, he thinks, watching the steam curl the ends of her wet hair, the ebb of the heating warping the air as it pours from the floor vents. The kids’ bathroom is one of the rooms they’ve refit over the last year – a pet project of Elizabeth’s that Rio had found himself involved in, mostly because he almost got as much of a thrill out of inventing organisational systems as she did. The big, low white tub set back against the wall with polka dotted wallpaper above it, gold light fittings and a long, deep blue vanity that had as much storage as they could ever need. Still – it didn’t stop one of Emma’s bikini’d Barbie’s and a fuckin’ deluge of rubber sea animals from taking up space around the room.

“I’m a grown up,” Jane adds, sniffing wetly, pulling his attention back, and Rio’s second eyebrow raises to meet his first. “Grown ups don’t have baths with boys.”

“Om has baths with daddy,” Marcus says helpfully from the tub, and Rio gestures back at him, taking in the way Jane just huffs out a breath and stomps her little foot against the white honeycomb tiles and it figures, Rio thinks, that one of Elizabeth’s kids would end up with the fuckin’ stubborn powerball in that genetic lottery.

Figures it’d be Jane too.

“That’s different, they have to share everything because they’re a mommy and an od.”

At least the others ain’t this stubborn, he reminds himself, scrubbing a hand back over his head. At least he’d been able to pile ‘em up with towels and sweats and direct them to the downstairs bathroom while he handled Jane and Marcus, but then again - -

He trains his ears to hear ‘em – Emma and Danny’s giggles sounding through the floor beneath his feet, loud even over the downpour of the shower, and then:

The flush of a toilet.

Kenny screams.

Right.

Lotta other balls in that genetic lottery too though, huh?

He exhales sharply.

“A’ight,” he says, looking back down at Jane’s pink little face. “You don’t gotta share a bath since you’re all grown, but you can’t stay in your wet clothes.”

And it’s weird then – the look that Jane levels him with. Somethin’ too hard in the set to her mouth and too open in her wide green eyes, and Rio’s frown deepens, brow furrowing, because there’s somethin’ in that look that tells him this ain’t entirely just about stubbornness, when suddenly Marcus chimes in from the tub.

“Soup.”

And shit, no, they’re havin’ pizza for dinner – Rio’s already ordered it – but before he can say as much, Jane’s nose is wrinkling up and she’s rolling those too wide eyes and that hard set to her mouth is softening, and huh, Rio thinks. They ain’t talking about dinner either.

“Soup doesn’t have bubbles, Marcus.”

“This one does!” he tells her easily, and Rio turns to watch his son glide his hands through the bathwater, catching soapsuds, a too-innocent grin on his face. “It’s an alien soup. Like - - like from Neptune. I got abducted! I’m gonna get eaten! Help me, Officer Janey!!”

With that, he slides down into the water, flails his skinny legs up above the surface, fake yelling, and Rio huffs, exasperated as water spills over the top of the tub, but can’t quite hide the twitch at his lips when he sees Jane’s look tear – the urge to play too already warring on her face as she steps closer.

“No, Marcus! We can play later, not - - ”

“Help!! Hel - - blergh.”

Marcus splutters around a mouthful of soapsuds, and Rio does roll his eyes this time, grabbing a washcloth from the sink to wipe his son’s face.

“You gonna help him, Officer Janey?” he asks, glancing back from Marcus and they can all see Jane’s resolve weakening. She shifts her weight, puffs out her cheeks, and then, just like that, she caves.

“Okay, Sir Marcus, I’ll get you home for Christmas.”

And thank fuck for that, Rio thinks, keeping his expression carefully in check as Marcus grins in delight, squirming back up the side of the tub to make room for her. It only takes a minute for her to peel off her jacket, leaking freezing water everywhere in the process, and Rio edges forwards, starting to help her when his cell phone buzzes in the back pocket of his jeans. He pulls it out, checks the number, and hooks it under his ear as he crouches down beside Jane.

“’ey,” he says, and immediately he’s met with a wave of sound from the chaos of the mall – the tinny, tinkling melodies of Christmas songs and the thrum of shoppers, the distant sounds of static announcements and the too-close bray of Annie’s laugh, but it’s Elizabeth who replies, her voice clear and clean as a bell.

“Hi. Did we decide on the flatware set for your sister in the end? They’ve got one on sale here at this cute little kitchen place, and - - ”

Rio sighs, annoyance sparking at the fraying edges of his patience. He lifts up Jane’s leg as she dangles herself over the edge of the tub, pulling off one of her galoshes, and then the other, cringing when her soaked pink socks settle back on the floor, leaving a smear of dirty water on the tiles.

“We decided no, mami,” he tells Elizabeth over the line, pulling off Jane’s socks in one rough motion as Jane makes a grab for a rubber fish. “We already got her the - - ”

“Towels, I know, but she didn’t have enough forks for us when we were there last week, and if that’s going to be a regular thing now, I really think we should get her the extra flatware set.”

And shit, Rio thinks, moving to kneel so he can peel off Jane’s sopping wet sweater and shirt as she kicks off her jeans and undies, it figures.

It figures because Elizabeth’s been pressed about Carmen’s place since Carmen and Matt finally separated back in August, splittin’ up their assets and sellin’ the house. It had been a long time comin’, and Rio couldn’t say he wasn’t pleased about it – after all, him and Carmen hadn’t always seen eye-to-eye, but shit, she was his sister and she was a boss bitch, and Matt had always been the sort of belly crawlin’ fuck who’d soured at any woman who was more of one than him.

Anyway, it didn’t take all that much to figure out that Elizabeth was watchin’ Carmen’s marriage dissolve and her new life as a single mom with the sort of projecting fixation that - - shit - - just dredged up baggage.

Still, it was kind of fuckin’ funny too to watch Elizabeth try to help Carmen in the way she wouldn’t let anyone do for her back when she finally called it with her own dumbass ex.

“Yeah, those towels weren’t cheap,” Rio says into the phone, standing up and grabbing Jane underneath her icy arms to swing her into the hot water beside Marcus, letting her eyes slip shut briefly when Jane kicks a fresh wave of hot water onto the floor of the bathroom.

“Neither is cooking dinner for seven extra people.”

Grabbing his cell properly now that Jane’s in the tub, Rio drops his free arm down, grabbing Jane and Marcus’ wet clothes off the floor and striding out of the room, down the stairs and beelining for the laundry. He grins, pleased, when he sees Emma’s already put her own snow clothes in the washing machine, even if she’s managed to spill washing powder all over the floor in the process of it.

“One thing,” he sing-songs over the bustle of the mall behind Elizabeth’s voice. “Everyone’s gettin’ one thing. If you want to get Carmen the flatware set, that’s two things.”

And he can’t even see her, but he can feel Elizabeth bristle down the line.

“I might not be as quick with the books as you, but I do know basic math, thank you.”

Which - - shit, not what he meant. He grabs a rag out of the laundry cabinet, dropping down to wipe up the powder.

“Nah, you ain’t hearin’ me. I know you, Elizabeth. You get Carmen two things, you gettin’ everyone two things – Aida, my mom, your sister, your friend – we ain’t doin’ that this year. We decided that.”

Vaguely he can hear her sister laugh over the line again, and then Ruby say:

What about…

“No, I think she has one of those already,” Elizabeth replies, and Rio sighs, tossing the rag into the washing machine with the kids’ clothes. Vaguely, he can hear footsteps down the hall behind him, Jane and Marcus still playing in the tub, the shower a few rooms up, and he still has some business calls to make tonight, and damn, weren’t they going to figure out which presents were from Santa and which were from them later too? He checks his watch and frowns.  

“Elizabeth, what time you comin’ home?”

“Soon,” she tells him quickly, then, to one of the others: “No, that’s too much.”

Suddenly, a cold little hand grabs his wrist, and Rio glances down to see Emma clutching at it, already decked out in her pink fleecy sweats and rainbow fuzzy unicorn slippers, which’d be fine if her hair wasn’t hanging wet, soaking into the back of her dressing gown. He frowns, pushes his cell between his shoulder and head again to pull a hair elastic off his wrist and tie her hair back up off her neck.

“Od, can we watch Frozen tonight?”

And Rio briefly blanches at that, but grunts in affirmation, letting her go only for Emma to come back and cling to his hand again, splaying his fingers so she can fit her own between his. He blinks down at her curiously, picking up his cell again with his other hand, because damn, it ain’t like she’s never held his hand before – she’s always been a touchy kid – but he figured she’d be out of sight the second he told her she could put Frozen on. Like she’s seen the look on his face, she squeezes his hand and sidles closer until she’s practically on top of his leg, and so Rio crouches down instead, lugging her up and carrying her out of the laundry and over to the living room, letting her rest her head on his shoulder as she clings to his side.

“Annie, stop it,” Elizabeth says, annoyance growing in her tone, and Rio rolls his eyes, depositing Emma on the couch, and okay, maybe the kid’s just tired, he thinks, watching as she nestles back in the cushions, her big blue eyes only half-lidded.

He flicks on the TV while Elizabeth babbles to Annie and Ruby in his ear, like she’s half-forgotten to hang-up, and he’s about to do it himself instead when he hears the name Dean pop outta Annie’s mouth, which - -

Fuck that.

His jaw tightens, loosens, tightens again.

“Thought we weren’t doin’ all of that this year,” he hums, tryin’ to keep his voice light as he loads up Frozen on Disney+ and grabs one of the blankets to toss over Emma, because wasn’t that dumbass ex of hers off in Nevada this year with his new girl’s family?

“What?”

And sure, play dumb, baby, Rio thinks, striding out of the room as Emma wriggles down in the blanket. He heads back towards the corridor, hearing Jane squeal somewhere upstairs and Marcus laugh as he moves towards the downstairs bathroom.

“Thought we had the place and everyone in it to ourselves.”

“We do,” she tells him quickly, and he can hear her moving herself, walkin’ maybe – her sister’s voice getting further away.

“We ain’t changin’ plans.”

Because fuck – they’re a week out from Christmas, and they had shit on lock this year. Had decided on that together too after the whole mess of last year with Elizabeth having to do the six hour round trip to take the kids to South Haven after Dean’s car had broken down (fuckin’ allegedly, Rio thinks with a snort, because he could smell that bullshit a mile away).

“The plan isn’t changing,” she promises, raising her voice a little to be heard over the roaring opening chords of Last Christmas. “We’re still hosting everyone, and the kids are staying with us, it’s just - - something’s just come up which is - - I mean. It’s really not anything you need to worry about. I’ll tell you when I get home.”

Exhaling harshly, Rio scrubs a hand back over his head again, and shit – if this means Dean’s comin’ again - -

He pauses, distracted suddenly by the sight of Danny bouncing from foot-to-foot outside the bathroom, shaking with cold in his parka and beanie, melted snow dripping from his hair, waiting still for his turn in the bathroom. With a grunt of irritation, Rio strides up the hall, banging heavily on the door only to hear a strained in a minute from Kenny through the crack, and Jesus, Rio thinks.

Teenagers.

He covers the mouthpiece of the phone, glancing down at Danny who just shifts his weight again, snow-pale except for his bright red nose as he stares up at him.

“Use our bathroom,” he tells him, jerking his head upstairs towards his and Elizabeth’s en suite and Danny blinks owlishly back at him, shivering still, and Rio jerks his head in instruction again because it’d be just his luck to have to cart the kid to hospital for hypothermia again.

“Is everything okay there?” Elizabeth asks as someone says is this all today, ma’am?

“Fine,” Rio says shortly, and then, just to annoy her: “I’ll tell you when you get home, yeah?”

And it works, if her huff is anything to go by, and then when he hears cash or card? his lip curls.

“Elizabeth, don’t get the flatware set.”

The last thing he hears before she hangs up is the ring of the cash register.

[ziracona]

This is sortof a weird question, but in ILM do you think any of the other Killer's would have obliged in killing Quentin when he fell asleep in the Clown Trial? I know this would require specific conditions for this to happen with other Killer's, so let's just say that after Clown is finished tying up and drugging the Survivors freak Entity bullshit happens (The Entity would still not take notice though) and Kenneth is randomly swapped out for another reaper. How do you think they would all react to everything? Obviously Philip would help, but how do you think someone like Evan or Sally would react to seeing everyone tied up and getting screamed at to kill Quentin?

Huh. Interesting question.  I guess it would be really different from killer to killer. Lucky for them, basically everyone fucking hates the Clown and Freddy (for different reasons) no matter what their alignment is. The ones who’d have a lot of fun with that situation being presented to them (IE Danny or Amanda or Herman) would maybe just keep torturing people, although, while I don’t think like Danny would care, some of those would at least kill Quentin if convinced in time it would piss Freddy the fuck off forever. Do it for the hate, you know. That might be kinda hard to do though. Because also I’m not sure that would be the angle it would occur to the survivors to roll persuasion from. So it just depends on how things unfolded.

As far as the others go, I think any member of Legion would kill Quentin, or wake him up, although in very different ways/acting different about it depending on the Legion. They do know they’re not supposed to kill-kill them, and they’re a little more squeamish than the other killers bc so new at that point. (Although I forgot--Danny wasn’t there yet, and I don’t think Adiris was either. If she was, she would have woken him up bc ‘hey that’s not normal’ and probably also called the Entity and been like “Hey Nergal something fucked is going on what’s happening?”). Susie would straight up help, and probably even pre-Distortion/Iron Maiden, seeing that horror? Joey would too. Under pressure he only makes snap decisions and his heart is good deep down. Frank and Julie would also intervein on their behalf, but they’d be way more aggressive or shitty about it. It would freak them the fuck out too, but they’d play it cool and try not to show that and postpone an internal freak out till they got home. I think a lot of the killers would either kill Quentin or (and/or actually) called the Entity, bc they follow the rules. Evan would be like Bullshit again from Freddy I see and called HR tiredly while finishing the trial normally and killing them all on hooks probably. Sally would have probably panicked and strangled everyone to death quickly. A few like Bubba would have just been fucking confused, but I think their panic confusion response would be *hits with weapon* so that would get the job done probably? Unintentionally maybe, but hey? Same for Max. I think in a room of people screaming and begging him to kill the unconscious bleeding person on the floor he’d panic and hit it with the hammer. I mean, what’s his motive not to? He’s supposed to kill them, and violence is both a requirement here and a learned response.

 Then there’s the ones out of control, like Lisa and Rin, and they’d probably just try to attack and do the trial normally. Rin might have had enough presence of mind to momentarily do a kill? Interesting. Need to consider that. She’d try, if she could. Michael would have been one of the confused ‘what in the goddamn’ ones, but I think his response to “OH MY GOD KILL HIM PLEASE PLEASE KILL HIM NOW” would be ‘uh ok’ and to stab him. Like, I guess? Unless he got just fascinated by this weird situation going on, in which case he might try and figure stuff out first. He doesn’t have much living in his life so I can’t blame the guy for being like ‘whoa a day that’s not like every single fucking other one’, although that could really suck for the survivors. Anna would have fuckin flipped. That’s the really interesting one. She would not have killed him--for one, she doesn’t speak English. Probably would have just tried to help him. Not sure what she’d have done to the others--honestly, they wouldn’t be a priority. But if she did anything, it would either be ignore, or quick mercy kill, because she never understood torture, and was disgusted by it, and since they were all tied up, there’s no hunt going on. Also, after what happened to her in Blight’s lab, I think she has some amount of trauma sympathy for people being tied up and tortured. If she was able to stabilize Quentin/he woke up, she might let them go--especially with Quentin pulling for them too--out of ptsd sympathy. It would be a weird day for her if so, because they were all older survivors too, but it’s possible. She saved a grown-ass adult once before, a long time ago.

And like you said, Philip would instantly try to help.

[photolover82]

The Masked Singer Season 5 Episode 1 Recap: The “Game Changing” Premiere, Let’s Meet Group A (Commentary & Guesses)

Hello my fellow Masked Singer friends! Welcome (or welcome back) to Ana’s Masked Singer recap, where I, Ana, recap every episode of the Masked Singer! Woohoo, the first one of Season 5 and I am so excited wow! Season 5 was off to an amazing start, with Group A performing for the first time. I really enjoyed this one, so let’s get into the recap:

Ok, so to start, we have a new host aka Neicy Nash, and I really liked her, she was like the female version of Nick Cannon. I enjoyed her banter with Ken too so it was great I liked it a lot.

Also, let’s talk about the infamous cluedadoo or how I am gonna call him the freaking “Rooster” 🐓🐔 who is not really an actual contestant competing but he is feeding us the clues (hehe see what I did there?) ...

He was kind of mysterious and I am intrigued honestly, but I still have so many questions, will he have clues? He did say that we have to guess who he is as well so how will this work? Anyways having said that, let’s get into the main 5 of Group A which are Snail 🐌, Seashell 🐚, Russian Dolls 🪆, Raccoon 🦝, and Robopine 🦔.

Let’s start with the eliminated contestant who was

*DRUMROLL PLEASE*

The Snail 🐌

Commentary: He sang You Make My Dreams by Hall & Oats and it was good, nothing amazing or mind blowing (we’ll get to those performances later), but I didn’t expect him to go home first (I’ll explain who I expected later too). I really enjoyed it personally, the song is well known and catchy, I was bopping my head. It was a solid performance. I would give it a rating of a 7/10. I kind of felt the same way about Baby Alien last season that I felt about Snail going home.

Anyways, having said that, he was revealed to be (to my surprise)...

*DRUMROLL PLEASE*

Kermit the Frog 🐸

Omg ok, I didn’t expect that, when I tell you my jaw dropped, I am not kidding. My first impression guess was Ted Danson for God’s sake.... like I didn’t get this and I am so mad I didn’t because when I rewatched it, I totally heard the Kermit in there, and I saw people say it on Twitter, but I was like nah they wouldn’t do that, these people are trolling... and wow yeah I was wrong, I felt like a 🤡. BUT OMG IT WAS KERMIT, WHAT AN ICON. The most famous contestant on the show ever... how dope! Now, we need Miss Piggy on the show, because she’s another icon lol. I wonder what she said about this hehe 😜

Anyways, now that that’s done with, let’s go over the remaining 4 and give you my subpar guesses, the first ones of season 5:

1. Raccoon 🦝

Commentary: Ok like yikes my eardrums... this one’s one of the worst performances I have seen on the show, like it was so screechy oml. He honestly should have gone home instead of Snail, Snail was done dirty. I really don’t understand how he is still in the competition... Sorry I wish I had something nicer to say but he was just yikes, I’m sorry it kinda seems like he isn’t singing on purpose, it seems like a joke.

My guess for Raccoon is (I am 💯 on this):

Danny Trejo

Reasoning/Clues: So like this sounds stupid, but when the guy sang, Danny Trejo’s face popped into my head for some reason... idk my logic sometimes isn’t logical... but anyways the clues align:

Been in Prison for a long time= he was in prison in California when he was young because he got into a lot of trouble with drugs

Read Hunchback of Notre Dame= he said that during his time in prison acting kind of helped him survive and he would recite Wizard of Oz and... you guessed it... the Hunchback of Notre Dame

2. Russian Dolls 🪆

Commentary: ok, so I already knew how they were gonna sound but I am still super impressed. I feel like there are more than 2 people, maybe 3, I feel like I heard 3 voices in there. They sang Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson and it was impeccable, their harmonies are really great, and their voices blend together amazingly.

They are (again I am positive about this one):

Hanson

Reasoning/Clues: I know like everybody on the internet says this, but when I did the voice matching, it really does sound like them (even tho idk much about them personally)... but anyways here are clues that match:

Used to be the world’s hottest toy but then got replaced by shiner toys= they were popping off with their song MMMBOP in the 90s until they were replaced by other boy bands like *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys

Bus Stop= reference to a lyric from their song Man From Milwaukee

Sign that says Mitzfitz Toyz Store= Abbreviation of the guys’ first names, which are Issac, Taylor, and Zac aka ITZ

3. Seashell 🐚

Commentary: I am so happy that her voice is just as good as her costume, costume wise she is my favorite, and I am happy to report that her voice is also one of my faves. She sang Listen to Your Heart by Roxette and honestly she reminds me so much of Jellyfish, someone who is amazing vocally but has a bit of nerves at first. She does ease into it as it goes on and I really enjoyed it, she was great! However, at first, I thought she was someone else but then I heard her voice a second time and it sounded familiar....

My guess is (I feel good about this one):

Tamera Mowry

Reasoning/Clues: Besides her voice that made me think it was one of the twins, but the clues made me specifically think Tamera:

Hot Dog= the twins were born in Germany and Hot Dogs are German

Witch Broom= References to the Disney movie her and Tia Mowry did, Twitches, which btw is the reason I know them (that and Sister, Sister), that movie was my childhood I loved it

Chameleon= in an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Tia gets bitten by a chameleon and turns into the evil twin aka Tamera

Rooster clue: “No 2 Shells are the same”= she’s a twin lol, and she isn’t the same as her sister kinda thing

4. Robopine 🦔

Commentary: BRO I WAS SHOOK WHEN I HEARD THIS ONE SING. If you saw my costume rating, I was like meh I am not a huge fan of this costume, it’s kinda scary looking, and I just wrote it off, but BOY I WAS WRONG. My jaw was on the floor when I heard this man’s voice on the TV for the first time. He is absolutely my favorite of the night with his rendition of Never Too Much by Luther Vandross. His voice is BUTTER 🧈, so freaking smooth and wonderful. I just want him to sing me to sleep or for my birthday, like man I love him so much.

This one is so hard omg but I am gonna guess for now (it’s not a good guess, subject to change):

Eddie Murphy?

Reasoning/Clues: Ok, so I am not even gonna give reasoning, bc I don’t really know who he could be, I just threw Eddie Murphy because the man can sing and he is the age that was told... what really tripped me up was that he said he was in his 60s and has GRANDCHILDREN.... like he could be lying but it was so nonchalant that it was too good to be a lie, I was so confident at first thinking Chris Jackson but that what he said to the judges about grandchildren tripped me up, but also the judges thought he was lying but I am gonna act like he wasn’t and the only person I thought who could fit that profile is Eddie Murphy (or someone else said Terry Crews but idk I don’t think the man can sing like that)... however a lot of people say that it is Tyrese Gibson but that’s if the whole age thing is a lie but it is a good guess. Here are the clues tho:

Can of Soda Men in Black Drinking from

Spaceship Flying into Strands of DNA 🧬

He “used 411 day and night just to make a connection... until a certain angel said hello and a random call changed everything”

George Washington Figure

Now on his next mission

Anyway, that is it! I hope you guys enjoyed this recap! Don’t forget to follow, like, comment, and do all the social media-y things people do. Tell me whose your favorite performance/do you agree with my guesses? Lemme know! See you in the next recap! Bye guys 👋🏼😄

[angeltrapz]

DUDE OK I loved ur answer for th Mallick n Lawrence one so I got a follow up: how do u think Daniel takes to bein Diana’s older sibling??? ooghdhfj im so in love w the family dynamic it’s What They All Deserve!!!!

jsjsjddj GOD I'm in love w it too + it IS what they deserve!!!! I'm so glad!!! ok ok ok let's Go

I think Daniel LOVES it. he takes very quickly 2 Diana, esp given what they have in common btwn them - I see Daniel as being very good w kids, the cousin who inevitably gets saddled w the responsibility of Child Wrangler at every family holiday/gathering/reunion but who doesn't mind it a bit! he's always sort of like, longed 2 have siblings n he never had that so like. Diana is very much welcomed!!

but it goes deeper than tht. Daniel has heard plenty abt Diana frm Lawrence b4 th two of them ever properly meet, n its like. she was eight years old. Daniel was a child too, sixteen and a teenager, but Diana was so LITTLE. n tht just makes them seethe. bc they knew Jigsaw was full of shit, knew he didn't mind putting children in danger fr his own personal gain, but like - it's just. she was innocent too. she was a kid too. n so like, they're already protective of her b4 they even meet her, they can't help it.

it does take Diana a little while to warm up 2 Daniel, though, bc her experience has also left her w a general unease around new ppl. but once she does? its like they've known each other all their lives!! Lawrence is a little taken aback by how quickly Diana accepts Daniel into her life but like, in that heart-clenched almost overwhelmingly relieved n happy way. its so good to see her so at ease around ppl, esp knowing how much she's struggled w it after tht night. plus, it definitely helps tht they become close rather quickly - given tht he's like, Literally dating Daniel's father + Adam n Mallick, it definitely brings everything like. full circle fr Lawrence. if he thinks abt it too long it makes him tear up bc his family is Truly complete w Diana there!! Just as it does fr Eric, it warms Lawrence's heart to see both his partners + Daniel get along w Diana so well!!

smth Daniel + Diana like 2 do together is paint each other's nails! Daniel lets her pick whatever colours she wants fr him (she Rly likes to give him funky patterns/neon colours) n she usually chooses anything pastel, but occasionally she'll pick up th black both bc Adam likes it too n sometimes he'll join in (let's be real. p much all of them will let Diana paint their nails if she asks. whatever colour.) n bc she likes th way it looks on Daniel n wants to look cool too!! (Daniel Def has 2 take a moment th first time she explains that bc She Thinks He's Cool??? He's The Cool Older Sibling???)

Daniel Also lets her practice makeup on him. she'll just walk out w her makeup bag (the small amount of makeup Alison has allowed her to play w) n b like "can I make u pretty again please?" n Daniel is just like Well How Do I Say No To That???? so he's sitting there w his legs crossed, lips bright sparkly pink n metallic blue eyeshadow all over his eyelids and his eyebrows a little bit, some blush on his cheeks and nose and his shirt too, n she's telling him all abt what she learned at school that day n he's nodding as much as he can b4 she tells him to stay still again, n then she shows him what he looks like in her little compact mirror n he's always like "oh I do look pretty!!! good job!!" n then sometimes he'll do it fr her if she wants him too. Lawrence walks into the living room while this is going on n just pauses fr a minute, watching them, their kids, heart all fond n soft n warm, n he'll put a hand on Daniel's shoulder as he passes and he murmurs, "thank you," n then he follows Adam outside to sit in the sun fr a bit. eventually Mallick takes Daniel's place fr a little while n its just. this is their normalcy and it is beautiful.

another thing they do is when Lawrence is working late and won't b home b4 Diana has to go to bed, Daniel will read her a bedtime story instead to help take her mind off of it + its a part of routine tht helps her fall asleep better bc she's so used to it. sometimes they end up reading her more than one bc she's got just the cutest and saddest puppy face when she asks for one more story, please, Danny? n so like twenty minutes will pass n Daniel still isn't back out in th living room like they said they would be, so Eric goes to check on them bc while they're reading he can usually hear them both laughing and he hasn't for a bit. he peeks in the doorway to th room Diana sleeps in when she stays over n he finds her and Daniel sat up in bed, Diana sound asleep w her head against their shoulder n Daniel's cheek resting against th top of her head, sleeping just like she is and he just. he goes back out 2 get Adam, who is getting himself a bowl of cereal in th kitchen to combat the post-meds nausea he gets while he Art n Eric wait up fr Lawrence, n Eric comes into th kitchen w this huge smile on his face like. do u have yr camera w u its SUPER important.

n Eric's smile has always been contagious fr Adam, so he's smiling too when he says "yeah I'll go get it real quick," n now Art is getting up off the couch like what's going on? n Adam shrugs as he disappears into th bedroom n reappears seconds later w his camera. Eric leads them both back there n when Adam finally sees wht Eric was grinning abt he like. his heart does this Thing bc god, this is not the life he ever envisioned himself capable of having. like fr so long Adam had resigned himself 2 th fact that he wouldn't have smth like this and just. to see Diana and Daniel there, leaning on each other n feeling relaxed enough in each other's presence to fall asleep, to see Eric barely holding back tears bc he's thinking the same thing while Art has a hand on his arm and is just Beaming, to know Lawrence is going to smile just as wide when he sees the picture? its just like Holy Shit, Dude. VERY much a "take that, Jigsaw" moment. I know I stress on tht a lot but I think literally everyone present in this dynamic is so unused to tht kind of like. We Made It, We Are Happy, This Is It, u know? its been a fucking struggle to get here, for every single one of them, n it can b something as simple as th kids falling asleep that really brings that fact home.

basically Daniel accepts Diana p much instantly n their bond melts every1's hearts!!

[damianwaynerocks]

Tim Drake & The Good Samaritan

hi i wrote something on ao3 so here it is

Description: Tim Drake tries to kill himself, whenever a therapist just so happens to stumble upon him. Tim opens up to her and realizes that maybe he's worth more than he thinks.

Warning: Suicide attempt, depression

dedicating this to @super-sons-a-bitches bc what a supportive mutual

_

He was done.

Tim Drake was done.

He'd known for a while what was true and what was not. Was he a good son? Not true. Was he simply a placeholder between Jason and Damian? True. Did anybody truly love him? Not true. Was he simply a burden? True.

Did he deserve to be alive? Definitely not true.

Tonight had been the last straw.

It had been him, Damian and Dick. They were going to bust a human trafficking operation. Tim had been paying attention, he would swear that up and down, but it wasn't enough. He had accidentally kicked a rock, and the traffickers noticed right as they started to pull into Gotham Harbor. With a yell of several crew members, the ship turned back around, into the open sea.

Where the brothers could not get them.

Damian was furious. "You incompetent fice!" he had snarled, "We almost had them! We were going to save fifty women and children, Drake, fifty!"

"You should've been more careful," Dick added, his arms crossed, "You scared them off." Dick never scolded like this. He only did it whenever he was truly upset.

And it was Tim's fault.

"I'm sorry!" he said, Dick clenched his jaw.

"Go home, Red Robin," he ordered. Tim stepped back.

"Good riddance, we'll be much better off without you, Drake," Damian sneered.

We'll be much better off without you.

Those were the words ringing in Tim's ears as he swung from building to building. The wind was whistling through his hair, and usually, it invigorated Tim.

But not tonight.

Tonight, it just reminded him of what he didn't deserve.

All he did was mess things up. He'd messed things up with Stephanie. He'd messed up not only this mission but countless missions beforehand. He'd even messed up his goddamn immune system, now that he didn't have a spleen.

Tim knew he wasn't enough. He wasn't enough to make his father, Jack Drake, proud of him. He wasn't enough to make his other father, Bruce Wayne, proud of him either. He wasn't good enough to be Robin, either. Dick had made that clear whenever he'd ripped the title away from him as soon as he laid eyes on Damian, even after he had tried to kill Tim.

Dick probably wished that Damian had succeeded, Tim thought, because Dick would have his Robin, and nobody would have to deal with Tim.

Tim decided at that moment that he was going to take it upon himself to finish what Damian hadn't been able to do.

He was going to kill himself.

Tim landed on the roof of an apartment building. He took out his earpiece, which doubled as a tracking device, throwing it on the ground and stomping on it. If he was going to die, he at least wanted to do it without Damian's voice in his ear.

How to do it? Tim thought. He knew some heroes kept cyanide pills on them in case they were ever captured, but Bruce had refused to allow that. Tim could jump off of the roof, but he was worried that he'd lose his nerve and grapple to safety before he could reach the ground.

There was only one way that he could think of.

Tim pulled off his gloves one at a time, letting them land on the ground. He took a Batarang, razor-sharp, out of his utility belt, and held it to his wrist. He took a deep breath, excited. He would finally be free. He would be free from the pain, from the knowledge that he was worthless. Better yet, his family would be free of him.

We'll be much better off without you.

With a small smile, Tim started to slide the blade across his wris-

"No!"

Tim whirled around, now poised to throw the Batarang. Hey, just because Tim was going to die, didn't mean he was going to let someone else die first. His eyes slid around the rooftop, looking for danger, but he only saw a woman.

She looked to be around Bruce's age, but there was something about her that was completely different than Bruce; her eyes had feeling in them.

"Please don't do it, Red Robin," the woman urged, "Please. Please stay."

"No," Tim replied stiffly. The woman took a deep breath.

"Okay," she said slowly, "But will you please have a cup of tea with me first? It isn't every day I get to meet a hero.

A hero. She thought he was a hero.

But she was wrong.

Before he could stop himself, he had thrown himself in her arms. She wrapped them around him, holding him tightly.

Tim gripped the lady's shoulders as hard as he dared- God, he didn't even know her name and he was crying on her shoulder -as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked gently. Tim shakes his head, choking back another sob.

"I don't want to think about it anymore," he croaked. The woman nodded.

"Okay," she said, "Then are you any good at geometry?"

Tim sniffed, then replied, "Yeah." The woman smiled.

"Would you mind helping my son, then? He's a freshman at Southwest High, and he's having trouble with his homework right now. And I think you could really help him."

You could really help him.

Tim nodded, shakily stepping back from the woman. She smiled warmly, grasping his hand as she led him off of the roof and down the stairs. "My name's Emira," she introduced herself, "But you can call me Emma. All of my friends do."

Friend.

"My name's-" he broke off, unsure of what he should say. Emma seemed to understand his hesitation.

"You don't have to tell me your real name," she assured him, "How about I call you Red?" Tim smiled weakly, and Emma took that to mean he agreed. "Alright, Red, here's the door." she fished a key out of her pocket, and opened the door to her apartment, Tim following.

The first thing he noticed was the Cross. There was a portrait of Jesus Christ on the Cross sitting above their table.

The table which had a young boy, around Damian's age, sitting at it, his brows scrunched in concentration.

"Hey, Danny!" Emma said, flashing her son a brilliant smile, "I found you a tutor!"

"Mom, I don't need a-" Danny stopped talking as he turned around, his jaw dropped. "Red Robin!?" he squeaked, "You're my favorite hero! And you're in my house!" he jumped up, smiling so wide it was almost unsettling, "You're the coolest! Holy crap!"

You're the coolest.

"Hi, Danny!" Tim greeted, putting on the smile he used for paparazzi.  "It's nice to meet you! So your mom says you need help with geometry?"

It took ten minutes, but Emma and Tim finally wrangled Danny to the table, where Tim was now helping him.

"See, you just gotta remember SohCahToa," Tim explained, "It's the easiest way to remember sine, cosine, and tangent."

Danny stuck his tongue out slightly in a way that reminded him of Damian. Tim's heart sank at the realization, all of his positive feelings sank with it.

We'll be much better off without you.

"Thanks, Red Robin!" Danny said excitedly after he'd finished his assignment and Tim had double-checked it, making sure that all of the answers were correct.

"Okay, Danny," Emma spoke up from where she'd been silently watching the two, "It's eleven. Time for bed."

"But Mom Red Robin is here-"

"You know what else is here? A big test tomorrow. You need your sleep."

Danny sighed, before looking at Tim and fishing his phone out of his pocket. "Do you mind if we take a picture? My friends will never believe I met the coolest of the Bat People!"

The coolest of the Bat People.

"Of course, Danny!" Tim replied, ruffling the kid's hair. After five minutes of multiple selfies on Snapchat, Danny gave Tim a hug, which Tim returned without hesitation.

"Goodnight!" Danny chirped and walked to what Tim presumed to be his bedroom.

After hearing the door shut, Emma turned to the hero. "Now, how do you like your tea?"

"Earl Gray, please."

As Emma set the kettle on the stove, she turned back to Tim. "He adores you," she said, referring to her son, "He wasn't lying. You mean so much to him."

You mean so much to him.

Tim sighed, putting his head in his hands. "Yeah, well, he's the only one then," he muttered. Emma waited for him to continue, and when he didn't, she spoke.

"I'm a therapist, you know," she stated, "So I can't tell anybody anything you say. HIPPA violation, jail time, huge fine and all that."

"This isn't an official session, so it doesn't apply."

Emma shrugged. "Maybe not legally, but if anybody gets wind of me telling anybody anything someone tells me in confidence, my clients will stop trusting me and stop coming, So my point's still there."

Tim bit his lip, looking up. This woman didn't know who he was, and judging from the average apartment, she had no connections to Bruce, which meant she wouldn't tell him- not that he'd care, of course, but still. Besides, it isn't like he'd ever see her again. "Maybe... maybe it wouldn't hurt."

Emma smiled warmly. "I promise, it won't," she turned back to the kettle as it whistled, and she poured the tea into two cups. Walking over to the table, she handed one to Tim, before sitting down herself. "Can I ask what led up to tonight?"

Tim looked down at his tea, not meeting her eyes. "I messed up bad tonight," he whispered, "Real bad."

"What do you think you did?"

"I-" Tim swallowed a gulp, "Nightwing and Robin and I were going to bust a human trafficking ring. Their ship was about to pull into the harbor, but I wasn't being careful enough. I knew they had motion detectors around the area, but I still wasn't paying attention enough not to kick a rock," He ran a hand through his hair, "And of course they saw, and they got away. And it was my fault."

"Who told you that it was your fault?"

"Nightwing and Robin."

Emma reached across the table to clasp his left hand in her right. "Tell me, Red, has Nightwing or Robin ever messed up a mission?"

Tim paused. There was one time where Dick was arguing with Jason, and Dick pushed Jason into the warehouse they were staking out, ruining any chance at catching a serial rapist for months. And then there was the time where Damian had been too hasty and let a serial killer get away because he refused to listen for Nightwing's signal. "Yeah, a few times," Tim finally said.

"See?" Emma said with another one of her warm smiles, "They aren't perfect either. So why do you have to be?"

They aren't perfect either.

"Because!" Tim groaned, "Batman chose them. He wanted them to be apart of the hero business. Me? I forced him to make me Robin. Nobody chose me. I wasn't wanted!"

"How old were you when you became Robin?"

"Like, eleven."

"Do you honestly think that Batman couldn't have simply wiped an eleven-year old's brain and sent him home if he didn't see something special in you?"

See something special in you.

Tim took a sip of his tea. "I... I guess not. But still! The Robin before me had just... quit. Batman probably just used me as a distraction from the pain of it. I was just a placeholder."

Emma took a sip of her own tea, thinking. "A placeholder? Because there's a new Robin?"

"Yes," Tim confirmed, "Exactly. I was Robin for a while, but as soon as Batman and Nightwing found someone else who had already been trained, who was Batman's... nephew," he paused, "They got rid of me! They made me stop being Robin! Nightwing retired, the other one quit, but me? I didn't have a choice!"

"And why do you think that-"

"And the worst part!?" Tim interrupted her, "This new kid? He tried to kill me! He had a sword and he was trying to kill me because he thought he deserved the title just because he was Batman's nephew! And he never got in trouble for it! They rewarded him with what he wanted!" he stopped nervously. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you." Emma waved her hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about it," she paused she took a sip of her tea, "Do you think there could be any possible reason as to why they made him Robin?"

Tim snorted. "Yeah, I know exactly why. They liked him better than me. He was better than me at fighting. He wasn't as scared as I was at first," he laughed bitterly, "Honestly, Emma? I think the reason they rewarded him was because he had the guts to do what the others were too apprehensive to do; get rid of me."

"Can I tell you what I think might have had something to do with it?" Emma asked, and Tim nodded his permission. "It sounds like this new Robin has a lot of rage. Do you think that maybe Batman and Nightwing knew that he needed an outlet for that and that the safest way to do that might be if they could keep an eye on him?"

"I... guess," Tim admitted begrudgingly, "But still! They didn't punish him or anything!"

"How are you so sure? Did you see what happened after?"

Tim bit his lip again. "I mean, not really? I left whenever Nightwing told me I couldn't be Robin anymore." he shook his head. "Even if maybe Nightwing didn't see any other way, that doesn't explain why they treat me like shit now."

"How so?" Emma asked, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Like, I'll be gone on a mission for weeks and when I get back, they hadn't even noticed I was gone!" Tim counted off the reasons on his fingers, "Or when it's clear I'm upset, nobody bothers to ask! And nobody ever reprimands Robin for all the terrible things to me! And all Batman does it tell me what I do wrong!"

"What things does Robin say to you?"

"Oh, you know," Tim rolled his eyes, "That I'm useless. That I'm slow. I’m abysmal. Just today, like an hour ago, he said that everyone would be better off if I was gone. I hate that he has this much power over me, but his words won't leave my head; we'll be much better off without you."

"Well, I can tell you right now that Danny wouldn't be," Emma said, "Because if he had failed that assignment, he would've gotten detention, and I wouldn't have time to pick up his new inhaler."

"Danny has asthma?" Tim asked with a frown. Emma nodded.

"Yes, but it's okay now because I'll be able to get the medicine. Now, back to you. Do you think that the reason Robin is so mean to you is that he's insecure?"

"Robin? Insecure?" Tim snorted, "As if. He's the most arrogant person I know."

"The most insecure people are almost always the most arrogant. Is there anything he would have to be insecure about? Maybe that... he's intimidated by you?"

That made Tim laugh out loud. Damian? Intimidated by Tim? Never. "Definitely not."

"Are you sure? Because it sounds like he just wants to prove that he's just as good as you," Emma countered, "Or maybe- not saying that it's your fault because you definitely don't deserve to be treated like that-"

You don't deserve to be treated like that.

"Maybe you haven't tried to show him that you don't want to be enemies?"

Tim took a sip of his tea. "I mean, yeah, I don't want our relationship to be like this. I'd love to be close to him. I was so excited when I first heard about him- before I met him, obviously -because I was finally getting a younger brother."

"Have you ever let him know that?"

"I guess not," Tim said with a frown, "But it doesn't really matter. He won't care. None of them will, even if they did know I'm hurting."

"Why don't you try?" Emma offered, "It couldn't hurt, right?"

"Yeah, except then they'll think I'm even weaker than they thought. They'll think I'm pathetic, and then Batman will make me stop being Red Robin, too." His grip around his cup tightened. "And then they'd kick me out. And I live with Batman, Emma. I don't have a place to go."

"You could come here," Emma offered, "I really don't think they'd kick you out, but if you're right, you are absolutely welcome here. I promise. You're wonderful company, Red."

You're wonderful company.

Tim sighed. "Thanks, that means a lot, but you don't have to lie," his bottom lip trembled, "I know I'm worthless. I don't matter. All I do is screw up."

The pair were silent for a minute, the only noise being Tim's tears falling into his cup of tea. Emma was the first one to break the silence.

"Say, do you happen to be the first Robin that wore pants?"

Tim sniffled. "Yeah." Emma's face broke into another warm smile.

"Well, that Robin saved my life. Two men were dragging me into an alley, whenever you stopped them. Without Batman, I might add."

Tim blinked. "Without Batman?" he whispered.

Emma nodded. "Without Batman. All on your own, Red. If it weren't for you, I'd probably be dead, and Danny would be an orphan."

Tim smiled weakly. "It wasn't a problem, really."

"I know it wasn't, because that's what you do. You save people," she gave him another reassuring squeeze. "Now, Red, have you ever been in a position where Batman or Nightwing saved you?"

That's what you do. You save people.

"Yeah," Tim answered, once again not meeting her eyes, "I was locked in a warehouse. A bomb was strapped to me, about to go off. Batman came in and- and I've never seen him like that. So... a mess," he paused, "I haven't thought about that in a while. I guess that means he cares."

"That definitely means he cares," Emma corrected him. Tim smiled, but it was replaced by a frown as he began to sob again.

"Maybe he did then, but now- now he has his new Robin. He doesn't care, none of them do," he blinked back tears, "I don't have anything to look forward to. My days are filled with insults and complaints. There's nothing good." His hands shaking, he took another sip of his Earl Gray.

"Then look forward to this," Emma said, "Every week. Eat dinner with Danny and I, and then when he goes to bed we can drink tea and talk some. And if you ever, and I mean ever, need a place to crash, you can always come here."

If Tim thought he'd run out of tears before, he was wrong. He started crying again. Nobody had been so nice, so warm to him, in years.

Emma got up and enveloped him in another hug. "Will you promise me something, Red?" she whispered, and at Tim's nod, she continued. "Promise me you'll tell your family how you feel, okay? And promise me you'll come back and tell me next week. And if you need something from me between then and now, promise me that you'll come, okay?"

"I promise," Tim agreed, sobbing into her shirt.

The next thirty minutes were spent with Tim wrapped up in Emma's arm, still in full Red Robin uniform minus the gloves, watching Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Tim hadn't been so at peace in as long as he could remember. His mom had always been distant, and Catwoman wasn't exactly a mother figure, so honestly? Being curled up in Emma was the closest he'd ever gotten to feeling a mother's love.

He would go back to the Manor after the movie, he told himself. He would tell them how he felt. He would try to mend his relationship with Damian. But first, he was going to soak in the feeling of a mother's embrace.

He was still nervous about it, but little did he know. Little did he know that Dick would break down crying and hug him, whispering apology after apology into his ear. Little did he know that Bruce would be riddled with guilt because how could he not have noticed that his son was hurting and would tell him he loved him so much. Little did he know that Damian, although he didn't show how much he regretted his harsh words, would shake Tim's hand and agree to try. Little did he know that every Thursday after he would have dinner and tea with Emma and Danny, to the point that he would reveal his secret identity to the family and make sure that Danny was enrolled at Gotham Academy. Little did he know that it wouldn't take long for Emma to start seeing him as another son, and she would not be scared to tell him how much she loved him and how proud of him she was.

Tim would find out these things later. But for now?

Tim just let himself sink into a mother's embrace.