#I can never decide whether Jason's eyes should be blue or green

[moa-broke-me]

No. No, he couldn't think like that. He's been through worse, far worse, than having to take care of a child.

A child who was crying right below him.

He came to his senses and knelt down to her level. "Hey... What's your name?" He asked.

She sniffled. "I-I 'unno... Papa... Help..."

He hesitated for a minute, but he couldn't deny her sad, sad face. "... Do you want a hug?" He opened his arms, and she flew directly into them. He wasn't much of a touchy-feely person, but that didn't matter right now. She relaxed against his chest, she had ran to him before. He was her 'safety' now, whether he liked it or not. He didn't know how to take care of children, he didn't know the first thing. But he knew that just suddenly popping into existence from wherever this little girl had been floating around... It was probably pretty jarring.

He sat down on the bed and relaxed, trying to act as calmly as he could so that, hopefully, she'd imitate.

After a while, she seemed ok, but then her stomach growled, and she started crying again.

He panicked and looked to his night stand drawer. "Ok, I have peanuts, if you want some. Wait, shit, no, you could be allergic!" He turned to look at his new daughter. "Crap, sorry for cursing in front of you, I shouldn't do that. Are you allergic? You don't know, you just got here. Ok, um... Wait, we can just go to the dining pavilion. I'm such a goof." He laughed at his mistake, though the nameless girl didn't seem to find it funny. "Ok, well, let's get you dinner." He picked her up and laid her on his hip, deciding against shadow travel. She didn't want to scare the poor girl if he could avoid it.

He took her to his table, got both of them a plate each. "Do you know what you want, or should I choose for you?"

She shifted her blue-green eyes to the plate and chose a pudding cup, grabbing it off the plate with her chubby little fingers and trying, unsuccessfully, to peel the foil off.

He tried to take the pudding cup himself, but she squealed in protest. "I was only gonna open it for you, jeez." He sighed, watching her struggle, before trying again. "Let me do it for you." He suggested.

She pouted. "I wan' do it! By m'self!"

He sighed. "Well, I'll give you some of mine while you try to figure it out. Ok?" He didn't want this little girl to go hungry all because she was too stubborn to let him open her pudding.

She nodded and scooted closer to him, her fingers still fiddling with the pudding cup. He got a plate of brisket, strawberries, some ricotta and pesto ravioli, just to make sure she'd get enough nutrients, since the only way he could be persuaded to eat anything green as a kid was if it was smothered in butter and parmesan and blended up into pasta sauce. He'd never actually considered the nutritional value of what he ate, but suddenly, he was. Because it wasn't for him. It was for this little girl.

He grabbed a strawberry first, and the minute she bit into it, she reached over and grabbed a second and third. He was glad to know she could chew, and, after popping a raviolo in his own mouth, stuck a fork in the brisket and held it to hers.

She took a bite, but quickly spat it out. "Don' like it."

He sighed, deciding not to force her to eat it anyway. If he had to be a dad, he wasn't gonna be that kind of dad. "Ok, we'll find something else for you."

He started feeding her some of his ravioli, and they got through about half of it together, before, suddenly, she jumped out of his lap. Not sure when she got there, but she ran off to greet Percy and Jason, who had just come back from their respective homes.

"Daddy! Tata!" She chirped, bouncing between the two thoroughly confused young men. Annabeth's eyebrow's shot up, and she looked at Percy in disbelief.

Nico stood from his table. "I can explain."

He went over and sighed, turning to Jason. "Ok, so your stepmom doesn't like the fact that I'm in your life. She thinks you're wasting all your energy on me and that I'm weighing you down from reaching your full potential and basically just confirming every self-depricating thought I've ever had regarding our relationship. So she sent me this little girl to care for, as a way to prove that I don't deserve you because I can't give you the life you want, y'know, because that life involves little kids. But I'm gonna prove her wrong, ok? Not only will I take care of her, I'll do it better than anyone else could just to prove her wrong, because I hate her, and because I love you!" He took a deep breath. "Ok, there we go. I think that's everything."

Annabeth nodded. "... Still doesn't explain why she looks exactly like Percy and basically nothing like either of you two. Or why she calls all three of you 'daddy' in different languages."

Percy looked more confused than anything. "Did... Did she... Use me somehow?"

Nico shrugged. "I don't know. First, we need to give her a name. Maury can come later."

"You didn't give her a name!?" Annabeth shouted.

"It's on my to-do list, ok? Now don't get too loud, you could upset her."

Annabeth sighed, looking down at Hera's only halfblood daughter, and smiled. "Y'know, all things considered, you're adjusting quite well."

Nico smiled. "Thanks. Now that I think about it, though... Pavona would be pretty. You like that name?"

She nodded, smiling. "Thanks, papa. I love you."

He picked her up and sighed. This was gonna be tough. But with her two other dads, and even Annabeth's support, maybe it wouldn't be as hard as Hera anticipated.

Fic idea where Nico wakes up to a random three year old in his cabin and the kid calls him Papa and Nico is just ???

While everyone is trying to figure out where the kid came from and who or what it really might be, the kid accidentally explodes a bunch of goblets. And everyone is just ??? and Nico waits for a sign from Poseidon like "oh yeah that's mine, thanks for finding them" but nothing comes, and now he's a little nervous, because those green eyes look awfully familiar, so he squats to the kid's height and is just like, "...Percy?"

And the kid just squeals excitedly, looking around and calling out, "daddy??"

The tension in the air almost triples.

The kid pouts when they realize Percy isn't actually around. Turns on Nico. "Papa, where's Daddy?"

Nico wonders if it would be socially acceptable to bury himself alive.

[an-all-write-life]

Could you do "before we jump" or "laying on the spring grass" with Jason Todd please?

Warning(s): None

A/N: I did “laying on the spring grass” since I got another request for “before we jump” with Jason. ^_^

“That one’s a bunny.“ Jason said.

“Nuh-uh.” You protested. “It’s an elephant. See the trunk?”

Jason shook his head. “You’re crazy. Don’t you see the fluffy tail? It’s obviously a bunny.”

“You need to get your eyes checked,” You said, closing your eyes and relishing the warmth of the sun on your skin.

The sky was a bright blue, fluffy white clouds blowing across gently. The kind that were perfect for cloud watching. You and Jason were lying in the Manor’s backyard, blades of grass tickling your arms. Tulips and daffodils were blooming, their bright colors adding to the warm atmosphere.

Jason’s hand was clasped with yours, his thumb rubbing gently along your knuckles.

You were just beginning to doze off, the sun’s warmth lulling you to sleep, when you heard Jason’s voice.

“I love you, [Y/N].”

Your eyes opened and you turned your head to find him gazing at you, his blue eyes shining in the sunlight.

“What?”

A panicked expression crossed his face, his grip on your hand tightening. “I–nothing. I shouldn’t–I shouldn’t have said anything. I thought you were asleep.”

“So you only said it because you thought I wouldn’t hear?” You asked.

He bit his lip, his eyes flicking from your eyes to the sky and back again.

“I didn’t want to…upset things between us. I didn’t want you to feel like you have to say it back.”

“I love you too,” You said, a smile on your lips. “And I’m not just saying it back; I mean it.”

Jason’s face lit up. “Really?”

You nodded, leaning across to kiss his nose. “With all my heart.”

“I Love You” Prompts-Closed

Everything tag list: @rogrsnbarnes @avengerdragoness @fangirlnova @sonoflac @redhoodparker @pythiaaa @silversilvercat @purplemetahuman @emmadevr @jaybirdxarsenal @harpertoddfangirl  @superpeanutwastaken @rynne311 @miss-alys  @nxxttime @mizmahlia  @thebeastwrites @local-fandom-trashcan @rnindexplosion @mimikyu-of-death @ihatebagels @pooiooi

Jason Todd tag list: @rebellca@jason-todd-rh@boosyboo9206@peterparkers-waffles@blu-eyed-devil@jason-todd-squad

Strikethrough means I can’t tag you.

Wanna be tagged? Let me know!

[robinofgothamcity]

♡ starting prompt: “if I was your boyfriend, I’d pepper you with kisses and gifts and spoil you so bad.” 

♡ pairing: tim drake (Robin YJ S2) x fem reader

♡ lyric inspiration: “if we go down then we go down together, we’ll get away with everything, we’ll show them we are better.” 

♡ note: not checked for grammar or spelling mistakes

Tim Drake was a special one, everyone knew that. he wasn’t Dick, the happy go lucky Robin, he for sure wasn’t Jason Todd, the sarcastic and very rude Robin. he was the tactical Robin, the one who made sure everything went as planned, whether it was on a mission or when all of you decided to hangout. 

you were not apart of his plan. at all. 

when you first joined the team, you were very similar to Garfield and Bart. very playful, extremely flexible when it came to hanging out with everyone on the team which made you very likable amongst them. Tim didn’t really like it at first. 

he thought all you liked to do was have fun and play games but when he finally saw you out on the field, he was more than impressed. it was like a flip of a switch. your playful personality immediately went out the window and it was like you became a whole other person. 

the team at the moment was having a bit down time. more than usual that is. you were lying around the lair, kicking your legs up against Bart as Nightwing walked in with Robin following behind him. 

“hey guys!” you murmured through a mouthful of chips, “afternoon ( hero name ), enjoying that bag of chips?” Nightwing asked. you nodded happily as Bart reached in and ate some, “what has all of you here? you guys aren’t usually around at this time of day,” Garfield exclaimed. 

Robin sat next to you, making sure he didn’t sit too close to you. when he started developing his crush on you, he immediately sensed himself getting nervous around you so he made it his mission to remain a close yet far distance. 

“we need to talk to the team and since some of you are here, we figured it was best to break the news to you now,” you gave Tim and the rest of the boys a nervous look, “is the team breaking up? because I can’t afford to be back on the street,” you practically blurted. 

Nightwing laughed, shaking his head, “nothing like that! the city of Gotham actually wants to honor the team this weekend at a special dinner,” Nightwing said. you sighed in relief as he continued, “they want it to be a black tie event so all of you need to be dressed appropriately. Wonder Woman herself offered to buy your attire if you choose to attend,” he mentioned to you.

you perked up in excitement. 

“awesome! I’ll give her a call right now, thanking her in advanced,” you said, getting up from the couch and heading to the nearest phones. Tim sighed, watching you walk away as Nightwing gave his brother a look of confusion. 

“any of you planning on asking any of the girls as a date?” Nightwing asked off handedly. Garfield and Bart instantly perked up, eyes darting in the direction of where you went, “definitely ( hero name ),” the two boys said. 

suddenly, the air went thick as Bart, Garfield, and Tim looked at each other. a competitive stare fell on their faces as Nightwing could tell something was up, “mind telling me what all of you are thinking?” Nightwing asked them as Garfield and Bart instantly looked at each other. 

“I’m asking her out!” the two of them shouted. 

Nightwing shook his head disappointedly. he knew that this would become an issue. there wasn’t many girls on the team that could be asked out on a date so that really only left you and Cassie on terms of availability. 

“please, like she’d accept you as a date,” Bart told Garfield as Garfield immediately stood up in defensive, “you’re the one to talk!” he retorted just as loudly. 

Nightwing could tell his brother was thinking to himself. something he did often and while he wasn’t exactly the best at figuring it out, this time, he knew it had to do with the conversation at hand. every now and again, Dick could see the way Tim looked at you. some of it was eyes of admiration but more often than not, he had that lovestruck look. 

Dick could just tell that Tim was also apart of the competition in trying to ask you out. you had walked back inside to the living room but this time with Cassie at your side. you were laughing at something she said before Garfield and Bart attacked you suddenly. 

“do you want to be my date to the dinner?” they both yelled in unison. Cassie immediately started laughing as you stood in place, not knowing whether to accept or not, “uh, Garfield? I thought you seen me as a sister?” you asked, seeing Gar’s dejected face. 

last week while all of you were playing a game of cards, he had mentioned that he thought of you as a sister in passing. while he never thought that the comment would ever come back to haunt him, sure enough it did. Gar hung his head low as Bart gave you a hopeful look. 

“you serious?” you asked the redhead. Bart nodded excitedly, “yeah! we can get matching ties and dresses!” he practically boasted as he grabbed your hand, shaking it in excitement. 

you shook your head, “whatever Allen, the color we’re wearing is dark green so find a tie and I can find a color to match a dress with it,” you stated, making Bart nod in agreement. 

once you were out of earshot with Cassie, Bart fist pumped the air in excitement as he danced in place, “told you I’d get the girl!” he exclaimed happily. Tim sighed, not saying much as he tried to not make it sense that he was both jealous and disappointed. 

he had no idea that they were going to ask you out this quickly. Tim figured that maybe he could get you alone and ask you out when the time was right but now....Bart had beat him to the punch and by the looks of it, you seemed pretty interested in him too. 

Tim wasn’t one to get insecure about himself rather quickly but seeing someone he had grown to like over the course of the last few months, he felt that small bit of insecurity rise up. 

+

Saturday morning at the lair was busier than usual. since Gar hadn’t acquired a date for tonight, between him and a few others, they offered to take patrol for the night. you were feeling nervous bubbles in your stomach. you had never gone on a date before and while you had never saw Bart as anything but a brother, maybe the dinner could change it. 

you ironed out the forest green dress and hung it in your designated room closet. while you were trying on a few heels Wonder Woman had bought you, you heard a knock on your door before seeing Megan walk in with a solemn look on her face. 

“hey Megan!” you exclaimed happily. she gave you a tight lipped smile, “Bart’s on the phone. he needs to tell you something,” she murmured, handing the phone over to you. 

you grabbed it, hearing the hacking cough coming from the other end of the phone. you instantly sighed knowing exactly why Bart had called you. he wasn’t going to be able to make it to the dinner. he had caught the bug that Jaime had a few days before and wasn’t able to get out of bed. 

“I told you not to hang out with him Thursday night,” you threatened, clutching your heel in your hand, “but did you listen? no you did not. now I have dress that won’t be worn because the IDIOT who had offered to be my date was irresponsible,” you exclaimed. 

Bart tried to makeup an apology but you practically waved it off, “have fun in bed you jerk!” you said before hanging up. Megan gave you a sad look, “you’re really not going tonight?” you sighed, shaking your shoulders, “you should! Wonder Girl, Robin, Blue Beetle, Nightwing, Superboy, and the rest of us are still going. you could always just tag along with one of us!” she offered. 

you thanked her silently. you figured since Wonder Woman had already bought the dress for you, you couldn’t just let it go to waste. “sure, I’ll tag with Wonder Girl tonight,” you murmured, trying not to seem disappointed. 

Megan gave you a quick hug before letting you go back to doing your makeup. Tim walked in with his suit in hand as Megan walked out of your room, “what’s going on?” he asked Nightwing. he looked to his brother, “Bart caught the bug Blue had a few days ago and can’t go to the dinner with ( your name ), he whispered. 

Tim tried not to seem happy by what he had just found out but since Bart was sick and Gar was staying for patrol, he figured his stars must’ve aligned. the dinner was going to be happening in under an hour and all he was told to do was bring his suit so all of you could head out in one car. 

“that must be upsetting for her,” Tim replied, seeing as Dick started to laugh, “some how I get the sense that you aren’t as upset as she is,” he said before walking away. 

Tim didn’t say anything as he heard Dick tell him to get dressed within the next few minutes before all of you were late. as Tim went into the bathroom, he heard you call Cassie or Megan over to your room. he wondered what you needed but figured it wasn’t his place to head over if you didn’t call for him. 

putting on the suit didn’t take as long as he thought. all he needed was help tying the tie and he went back out to the front of the lair. “she looks great, doesn’t she?” he heard Zatanna say to Megan, “I feel kinda bad for Bart. he really missed out,” she added on. 

you walked out of your room as you struggled to walk with your heels on. Garfield, Tim, and even Nightwing were a bit taken back by how you looked. you had never been so dressed up before so they were in a bit of shock as you walked out with Cassie. 

“wow,” Garfield whispered, “can I be your date tonight?” he said as you smacked him in the back of his head, “sorry Gar, you have patrol or else I would actually take you up on that,” you giggled before sitting down on the couch. 

Tim almost instantly sat next to you as he gave you a smile, “you look....fantastic,” he mentioned. you looked at the ground, not trying to get caught with a flustered expression, “thanks Rob, it means a lot coming from you,” you said, not realizing what you were actually saying. 

Dick smiled to himself as he watched the interaction. his heart warmed up at the sight of the two of you. he knew Tim took himself a bit too seriously sometimes so seeing you break that harsh exterior made him happy. Tim needed to loosen up and maybe you would be the one to do that for him. hell, Tim trusted you with his life and that was not something he said often.

after all of you arrived to the dinner and thanked everyone who coordinated the event, all of you sat down at separate tables to eat. you had asked for a two seat table since you figured that Bart was going to join you but now, you realized that you’d probably be eating alone on the balcony. 

just as you handed your jacket to the hostess, you saw Robin walking your way, “mind if I sit with you?” he asked nervously. you perked up, “of course! you sure you don’t wanna sit with Nightwing or even Blue?” you asked. Tim shook his head no, “I’d prefer if I sat with you,” he tried to say without a blush covering his face. 

he pulled your chair out, making sure you were already seated before pushing you back in. Tim sat across from you, giving you a smile before looking to the hostess who was making her way over to the two of you again. 

-

the night had went relatively quickly. that semi-awkward tension between the two of you quickly disappeared as both of you got comfortable around each other. 

Robin, underneath that shell of his was a pretty funny guy. he would tell a joke that would have you crying from laughter for at least a few minutes and while the hostess that was attending the two of you had mentioned that it was getting a bit more cold and the two of you should just head in, neither you or Robin made the move to actually go inside. 

the two of you were sitting down on cushioned lawn chairs, talking about a failed mission the two of you had went on a few months ago that made Bart lose his eyebrows due to an explosion. 

“I swear, it was the funniest thing ever,” you said through giggles, “you really should have been on our team.” Tim sighed contently as he watched you run your hand through your hair, “hey, can I ask you something?” he asked suddenly. 

you nodded, a bit nervous on why he changed his mood all of a sudden, “do you have a thing with Bart?” he asked. you were taken back, not knowing that this would be the question, “uh, no? we’re just friends. I know we were supposed to be each others dates but I think he really only asked me because of his little competition with Garfield,” you murmured, “why do you ask?” 

the two of you had been leaning up against the rail of the balcony as you had taken Tim’s jacket earlier in the night and wrapped it around yourself. 

“I was wondering...if after this dinner.....you’d be interested in going out on another date with me?” 

you stayed silent for a moment, not knowing what to respond with. 

“with me? really? I never thought of Mr.Perfect asking me out on a date,” you replied, trying not to make it too awkward, “I don’t think you’re any different than I am. I’ve liked you for a while now and have been wondering if you felt the same.” 

you let out a sigh, “of course. I’d love too. I’m just not sure what you see in me is all,” you responded with. Tim grabbed your hand and held it, “you’re amazing. whether it’s on the field and kicking someone’s ass or just lounging around the lair with Gar and Bart. if I was your boyfriend, I’d pepper you with kisses and gifts and spoil you so bad,” he confessed. 

you stayed silent, not knowing how to reply. you had never taken Tim as the romantic type and was not expecting that kind of confession. 

Tim leaned in and placed the smallest kiss on your lips as he put his forehead on yours after he pulled away. you smiled, putting your hand on his cheek and brushing your thumb against it, “that means I should probably tell you who I really am,” Tim murmured, taking off his domino mask. 

“I’m Tim, Tim Drake.” 

“ ( your name ).” 

[miraculouslycurious]

This Is NOT Identity Theft

Just a quick Maribat Crack Fic ~ Prompt/Idea came from @jinx-jade ~ Thank you to everyone on the Maribat? Get In! Discord Server for motivating me to finish this! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miracle Queen had been a disaster for Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She had lost each and every temporary hero and Master Fu within a few hours.

She stopped her spiraling and took a breath. She and Chat Noir had revealed themselves shortly after Miracle Queen and had formed a sibling relationship between the two. Marinette had finally been able to explain why the ‘high road’ was wrong and now Adrien was able to stand up for Marinette whenever Lila tried to blame Marinette for something.

The rest of the class had fallen deep into Lila’s ever growing circle of lies. There were however, a few exceptions. 

After the events of Miracle Queen, Chloé had been growing into a kinder, new version of herself, as she was extremely ashamed of her actions while akumatized. The rest of the class didn’t believe that Chloé was working to be better as Lila had told them that Chloè was just pretending to be nice. 

Chloé had apologized profusely to Marinette for the way she had treated the bluenette in past years. Marinette had forgiven her and welcomed her with open arms into the group of outcasts.

Juleka had been the only one in the class with brain cells left. She had had the sense to check her sources and apologize to Marinette.  Luka and Kagami had quickly joined their group and they became the new Team Miraculous. 

Since Miracle Queen had ended in everyone getting exposed, the miraculi switched holders. Luka took up the Fox Miraculous, Chloé was now using the Dragon Miraculous, Juleka was using the snake miraculous, while Kagami was using the Bee miraculous. Adrien and Marinette still held the Cat and Ladybug respectively. 

Luka went by the name Todd, as it meant fox, Chloé went by Demon Spawn, Juleka went by Nighthood, a reference to the ‘hood’ cobras had, while Kagami used the name Hachi, meaning bee in Japanese. 

As time went on, team miraculous strengthened while Hawkmoth got more and more desperate. Sentimonsters began appearing less and less, as the peacock miraculous was weakening Mayura.

The only thing left to do was to find Hawkmoth and take his miraculous away. 

Now, the Miraculous Team was not incompetent in any sense, however they did not have the equipment or skills needed to track down the butterfly miraculous. That was when they finally decided to contact the Justice League and arrange a meeting. 

——

Grabbing the horse miraculous, Marinette called for Tikki and Kaalki to merge before practically shoving the other members of her team through the portal. 

Arriving in the meeting room of the watchtower, Team Miraculous arrived to see some of the more prominent members of the Justice League. Present in the room was some of the bafam; Batman himself, Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin and Robin, along with other members such as Superman, Green Lantern, Aquaman and The Flash. 

Ladybug stepped forward and addressed the room full of heroes. "Hello Justice League. I am Ladybug and I'm here with my team" she gestured to the teens behind her. “In order to seek help in ending Hawkmoth’s reign of emotional captivity over Paris once and for all.”

Green Lantern snorted. “Yeah right, that sounds like something out of the Anime Nightwing watches.” 

Ladybug’s eyes turned from an ocean blue to a stormy sky. “I can assure you Mr. Lantern, that none of this is fake or made up. I have watched my team, my friends and my family die countless times because of our enemy, just to be brought back, still remembering how they died.” 

Superman sucked in a long breath before exhaling. “How can we help?” 

“At this point, we only need help tracking down the identities of Mayura and Hawkmoth.” 

“We will do everything possible to help you guys. Please give us a moment.” Superman and the older members of the league headed out into the hall, leaving Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin and Robin with Team Miraculous. Both groups took one look at each other before turning back to their respective teams. 

In reality, the bats were eavesdropping on Team Miraculous’s conversation while pretending to be chatting about something else. Todd, Luka’s form while using the fox miraculous had wandered over to the windows overlooking the city. 

“Hey Todd! Get back over here!” Nighthood called. 

The remaining bats in the room froze, all of them staring at Red Hood. 

“What do you need, replacement?” Todd asked, smirking at Juleka as he used the nickname he had chosen after she started using the snake miraculous, as he had been the wielder of the snake before her.

The bats were staring at this point, checking to make sure that Red Hood and Red Robin were still standing next to them.

“Ugh, I hate that nickname. Anyways, have you seen Demon Spawn? She wandered off somewhere and I can’t find her.” Nighthood asked. “LB and Chat haven’t seen her either, and Hachi is… probably trying to locate all the weapons in this building.” 

The bats looked between one another before bolting into the hallway to find Batman and leave. Damian, Tim, and Jason were now all terrified of whatever psychic powers the teens held and Dick? Dick was worried about whether any of them would end up wearing a version of his Discowing suit. That suit was his, and his alone. 

They never did end up taking Dick’s suit as inspiration. Marinette made sure of it, as in her eyes, it was a disgrace to humankind and should be burned in fire.

[phantomchick]

Here's a snippet from a fic I may post on my ao3 at some point in the future:

"I was weak... that's why I died. You were weak too, that's why you couldn't save me."

"Jason-"

"No. No more. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of you, I'm tired of myself, my head, what the lazarus pit did to my mind. I'm tired of not knowing when it's me thinking something or when it's the magic influencing me. I'm just-" He pressed his hands to his eyes. "I'm so tired of it all. I don't have the energy to care anymore. I don't even have the energy to be angry, I think that's why I'm so sane right now, I think that's why I feel more like me than I have in years."

"What?" Bruce asked. He changed tracks, "Then you should talk to someone Jason, your brothers, a doctor from the league-"

"My brothers? I'm dead to them. I'm dead to you." Jason raised his head and stared at him. But it wasn't a challenge in his eyes, he was just - looking at him, direct and steady but just that. "I'm my own ghost, a shadow or a wraith clinging to what I could've been if I hadn't been killed, only I'm not what I could've been. And I'm definitely not what I should've been, if I'd lived. Jason Todd never killed anyone, Jason Todd loved helping people. I'm. I'm not me. And none of you have ever treated me like I was, you've tried, but you couldn't make even yourselves believe in the act enough to pass muster and that just made me angry which made me even less... myself." He continued to look at his father, tears winking threateningly from the corner of his eyes for a moment as if they might spill. "Jason Todd would've gone to college, would've been a doctor or a historian or an engineer or an english teacher or followed up on any number of the things he was interested in at school as well as being a hero."

Bruce swallowed around a sudden lump in his throat.. "You could still do those things Jason it's not too late and I can-"

Jason shook his head, "I'm not Jason though. Not really. I'm the Red Hood. I'm a resurrected victim of the Joker. I'm the spawn of the Lazarus pit made with what used to be Jason's body, what used to be his brain. I'm insane and I'm untreatable and I'm so so tired of not being good enough, whether it's at something specific or just in general as a person, because of what I am."

"Jason that's ridiculous, of course you're you and you know that's not how the Lazarus pit works. You need to calm down and let us help you." Bruce tried desperately, he felt like he was teetering on a precipice, like his words were scrambled and fogged as they left his mouth. Not enough. Not good enough, he knew instantly. But he didn't know where this sudden monologue was going, he didn't know where or how to cut it off and divert it.

Jason shook his head gently, everything about him was gentle right now even the small slightly sad smile barely curving his lips and the easy relaxed shrug of his shoulders as he gazed up at Bruce. It was such a contrast to his usual demeanour that Bruce couldn't help but tense, unnerved by the change.

"I am calm. That's the point. That's why I'm saying all this, I'm not doing it to lash out or torment you Bruce, though I get why you'd think that after all I've done." He gave a dry laugh. "But I have clarity right now, not the kind of clarity you get while focusing on a task singlemindedly though I've done that plenty - probably out of some misguided subconscious attempt at fixing myself come to think of it. But yeah I've got the kind of clarity you get when your mind is clear and you're stone cold sobre, I'm too mentally and emotionally exhausted from the last week to feel as strongly as I always always feel things and it's.. a relief but I can barely even feel that, it's like it's all..." He stretched for the word, "muffled. I can think right now Bruce and the pit's not involved in the process, it's nice." He added with some humour, some warmth, "But I can't focus too hard on that or I'll get angry about how it never should have been involved in the process and then it'll be back, twisting its way through everything with or without me noticing it or distracting me before I CAN take note of it."

"Anyway, my point is, I'm clear headed right now. And I'm telling you the truth. I'm tired of you and I'm tired of being in my own head. I don't think you're my dad and I don't think that I'm your son, I don't think I'm their brother or that they're mine either. The dad I remember having, the batman I remember working with is... so different to what you are even when you're acting parental to the others and I... am so far from that person you used to love. I'm not your family, I'm not anything of yours and it's lonely but I... accept that. You're not my dad Bruce. That might sound hurtful but it's just... true? In a family of choice what did you think would happen once we stopped choosing each other? Or maybe not each other for you guys, but for me."

"Jason."

"I'm weak, I'm tired, I want the Joker dead. These are facts." Jason listed, leaning onto his crossed arms on the table almost lazily. Shutting his eyes.

"You love someone who doesn't exist anymore; you love a boy you still have a shrine to in the cave, you love someone who I'm not. Who I barely remember being if I ever was him at all and that's alright, okay? I might not think so when I'm all green eyed and furious but... right now I can so I'm telling you - It's alright to grieve for the child you lost and the future that could've been, even now that I'm here. I'm literally the embodiment of grieving over could've beens. It makes sense, it's understandable and it's okay. But. At some point we have to accept that we're not what we miss Bruce."

Bruce stared.

This was horrifying and strange and he didn't understand why Jason's tone was so calm and reasonable when he was talking about things that were slicing open all of Bruce's oldest wounds or why he was insisting that he wasn't himself. Even if he entertained the thought to go along with his hypothetical, the Lazarus pit didn't work like that; he'd been around Ra's enough to know. What was this? What was driving this sudden identity crisis?

Jason opened one bright blue eye from where his head rested upon his arms and added, "And we're never going to be."

Bruce flinched back.

He caught a hold of himself and straightened.

"I'll admit, there is a possibility that your Lazarus syndrome's been influencing you more than anyone thought. But you're still the same person you've always been even before you were exposed to it Jason, just older, you've been through more and you've changed but that doesn't mean that you're not my son anymore. I know my son and I know you're him."

Jason shook his head, he sighed heavily and squeezed the watchful eye shut again to match the other, burying his face in his arms.

"Jason." Bruce tried to get his attention. "Jason!"

He continued to ignore him.

Bruce rubbed the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "This discussion isn't over. We'll look into treatment methods for your Lazarus syndrome, I'm sorry I haven't done it before now. I should have."

Still no reply.

Bruce decided that was all they could get through for now, he left the room without further comment from Jason and it left him feeling off balance and estranged.

[redhoodieone]

Hate You More Part 2

Hey!!! Here is Part 2! Hope you all like it because there WILL be a Part 3! And I didn’t actually plan that lol.

WARNINGS: Language. Masturbation. Sex Toy.

“Do you think she’ll really like it?”

Who is Jason talking about?

Is he talking about me? Is he actually trying to make up for what happened between us earlier? Is this his way of saying he’s sorry and that he doesn’t really hate me?

I can feel my heart pounding in my chest. The thought of Jason doing something nice for me makes me suddenly nervous.

What if he smiles at me? What if he hugs me? What if there’s a moment between us?

Just the thought of Jason being nice to me and the possibility of “anything” happening between us sends me into a panic state. I find myself running back up the stairs and slamming my bedroom door shut and locking myself in.

What should I do to prepare myself when I see Jason?

Hiding out in my bathroom that’s privately connected to my bedroom, I stare at my reflection in the elegant massive mirror and begin to list what I should do.

Brush my teeth? I’d definitely need my breath freshly mint just in case we talk very close.

I hastily grab my tooth brush and apply a significant amount of toothpaste just to fresh up my mouth. After the appropriate time of scrubbing my mouth clean, I rinse and spit out the excess fluids and stare back into the mirror.

Touch up my makeup? I could apply more black eyeliner and mascara to make my eyes pop.

After retouching my makeup, I decide to put on my favorite tinted lip balm that’ll make my lips kissable yet comfortable.

I realize then that I should change my outfit. I sigh happily after pulling on my red lady thong. Deciding to slip on my favorite black skinny jeans with the tears throughout my thighs and knees, and my “lucky” red and black sexy corset top. The reason why it’s lucky is because any guy who sees me in it always lets me have my way with him. I chuckle to myself as I put on my black high heel boots because I can only imagine what Jason’s face will look like.

I hope he’ll be shocked as hell. Picturing his mouth hanging open like a cartoon’s and seeing the lustful look in his eyes sends a shiver down my spine.

I then make sure my push up bra makes my cleavage look so fucking amazing, I straighten my long hair and leave it down because I definitely have a hair pulling kink and it’s something I take very seriously.

After the spritz of my go-to hookup perfume, Oud Wood by Tom Ford, I realize I’m at my 150% best and make my way down the stairs. The second I make it to the sliding door leading to the backyard, I freeze.

And then suddenly, I’m hit with a wave of shyness; a feeling I’ve never really felt before. But why the fuck would I feel nervous about around Jason? Because come on—I HATE the fucking guy!!!

The little voice in my mind throws it’s head back and laughs in a tormenting manner at me: because you have feelings for him, you jackass!

No. No, I don’t. I’m not stupid enough to believe that. I should just go outside and see if the fool even flirts with me, because if he does, I can just laugh at him and make him feel like shit.

With one deep breath, I open the sliding door and slip silently outside. The backyard is lit up in a blue hue from the pool and jacuzzi. It’s a beautiful setting, I won’t admit that out loud. I look around and realize Jason isn’t where he was before.

Where the fuck is he?

A wolf whistle behind me alerts me fast.

“Fuck...holy shit. Is today my birthday?”

Spinning around, I’m face to face with a smug looking Jason. I may be frozen in place but I can see that he doesn’t hide the fact that he’s checking me out; like a hunter sneaking up on its prey. Jason licks his bottom lip and winks at me.

“So, what brings you down here looking like...that?” Jason teases.

Why the hell is he making me so nervous?! Out of all the other horrible times we’ve had, I’ve never felt so anxious to tell him to fuck off, but here I am! Standing like an idiot who can’t open her mouth and speak like a normal person!

I find myself pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. Fuck my life. “I...I saw your peace offering. I-I figured if you want to try to play nice that maybe I...I could too.”

There. I said it. Now that wasn’t so hard, right?

Jason stares down at me in surprise. His green eyes so wide and maddening that I find it difficult as hell to breathe. Slowly inhaling some air, I smile at him.

“I saw you got pizza. You also set out my favorite drink. You did all that, right?” I ask, pointing back at the mansion.

“I-uh...I did but-”

“Jaybird?”

We both whip around and see Isabel standing behind him. Isabel Ardila, one of Jason’s many one night stands. My eyes trail down from her curly blonde hair down to her skimpy purple dress with her huge tits practically falling out.

She pouts her pink full lips and flirts at him with her pretty blue eyes.

“Isabel...what-what are you doing here?” Jason stammers out. He instantly looks stunned as if he really wasn’t expecting her to come over.

“It’s a slow boring night. I thought we could hit up one of your dad’s nightclubs and have some fun,” Isabel says, and approaches us. She has a few inches above me, and looks down at me with a smirk. “Look at you all dressed up so sexy tonight, and for Jason...”

I frown and look between Jason and her.

“He is your brother, you know?”

Isabel cringes and grabs Jason’s arm tightly. “Please tell me nothing is going on between you and your sister. That is sooo disgusting!”

I look to Jason and plead with him through our eye contact to say something. Say anything to her! I know Isabel’s right, and that Jason is my brother but he’s also my stepbrother. I also want him to admit that I’m not the only one who is flirting between us...if that’s what we’re even calling it.

I can’t be the only one who has feelings right now. Jason must have them, too.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Of course I don’t have feelings for her! Y/N, you’re my fucking sister, and I think it’s gross as fuck that you’re trying to fuck me. I mean, God damn! We’re family!” Jason taunts. He acts repulsed and pretends to puke in front of me.

Isabel giggles and the two of them laugh their asses off at me. Don’t get me wrong. There is a questionable amount of pain in my chest at what Jason said, but my inner bitch is clawing her way out of my head and I may or may not be responsible for whatever happens right now.

“That’s a bit rich coming from you, Jason. As of this morning, you’ve made it perfectly clear that I’m not in your family. So, if we’re not family, then we’re nothing to each other,” I say with a bitchy grin.

Jason and Isabel aren’t laughing anymore. As a matter of fact, they’re completely shocked at me.

“Oh, and for the record Isabel, there’s absolutely NOTHING going on between Jason and me. I know he’s my brother. I’m not even denying that. But as for him,” I say, gesturing over to Jason, who is staring me down hard. “He doesn’t see me a sister. If anything, he might want to fuck me. He’s completely obsessed with making me hear him fuck other girls. His behavior is disgusting because he’s supposed to be my brother! What he’s trying to do to me is borderline illegal!”

Isabel jerks her head over to Jason. “What is she talking about, Jason?!”

“Go on, Jay. Tell her. Tell her how you always stare at me, tease me, and how you’re always talking about sex with me!” I urge him angrily.

Jason’s eyes darken and for a second, I’m kinda scared of him. He clenches his jaw. “I rather get castrated by the Joker, than ever fuck you, princess.”

It’s like everything around me freezes. My smile shifts into a frown and my confidence is taken away fast like a toy from an adult. Isabel scoffs and shakes her head at me. My cheeks burn with humiliation and I just know I won’t hear the end of this from either of them, especially Jason.

I don’t know whether I’m more embarrassed of the fact that Jason claims he rather get castrated from the Joker, the psychotic clown villain in Gotham than have sex me, or if the thought of having sex with me in general is just so...unbearable.

I didn’t think I was so unfuckable until now.

“That’s fine with me. I rather fuck Dick than you, because he’s Bruce’s favorite son and he’s more of a man than you’ll ever be,” I spit out before turning to run back into the mansion.

——————————————————————————

I slam my bedroom door again for the second time today, but I don’t care. Rage is fucking pumping through my blood and I need a fucking release before I lose control.

Ripping off my clothes until I’m down to my lacy bra and thong, I climb up my big bed and reach into my nightstand to get my dildo and lube out. The thick, veiny replica of a man’s penis is what I’ll have to take out my frustrations on.

I throw myself down; my head hitting the pillow and my hair fanned out around me in a sexy manner as if I’m ready to get my brains fucked out. Popping open the lube, I squeeze a good amount in my hand to smooth it over my dildo. Tossing the lube somewhere on my bed, I pull my thong to the side to reveal my bare pussy.

My fingertips rub up and down my folds. I’m so wet that I know I can slip a finger or two in without any resistance.

“I fucking hate him so much,” I mutter under my breath.

Jason is literally the only guy who could piss me off and make me want to fuck him into submission.

Maybe he could even fuck me until I’m down on my knees for him.

Closing my eyes, I start to push my dildo into me. My walls squeeze around the toy tightly as I gasp at how good it feels to be full.

“Fuck...” I choke out in overwhelming pleasure.

“Fuck princess...”

My eyes shoot open and I’m completely horrified to discover Jason Fucking Todd is standing in MY bedroom, with his mouth hanging open in shock and with wide eyes, and his Fucking hand rubbing against his prominent bulge.

“Jason...what are you doing in my room?” I struggle to say, as I continue to push and pull my dildo in and out of my pussy fast. I just can’t stop. I can’t find it in me to stop when Jason is in my room watching me.

He quickly closes my bedroom door with his foot and makes his way towards my bed to stand directly in front of me. I use my other hand to caress my tits that I so badly want to free from my bra.

“I came to tell you I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, Y/N,” Jason begins but trails off when he watches intently when I pull out the dildo and he can see all my slick coated on the sex toy. He licks his bottom lip and bites it. “You’re right though. I don’t see you as a sister or a part of this family because the way I feel for you isn’t the way a brother should feel. I-I never meant to hurt your feelings. I just...I tried so hard to not to fucking fall for you but I did and I can’t stop.”

I look up and notice Jason’s eyes are wet. Despite his usual cocky behavior and sexual advances, he was standing here before me and he appears to regret everything.

I sit up and lean back on my elbows. I drop the dildo in between my open thighs and I force myself to look up at Jason. I expected to see him staring at my obvious insanely wet pussy but his beautiful emerald green eyes were locked on my eyes.

“I really thought you hated me,” I whisper, afraid to hear what Jason says that might hurt me again.

“Oh sweetheart, I don’t hate you. I could never hate you. The only person I hate is myself, and that is something I’ve been doing for most of my fucking life,” Jason admits. He tries to smile but it falls when he sees I’m not.

Jason crawls onto my bed and stops as soon as he’s in front of my legs. He’s immediately nervous; his shaky hands run up my knees and stops until he reaches my closed thighs. He keeps his eyes on me.

“Listen to me, Y/N. You’re right. I’m a fucking asshole. I’m always a dick to you and that isn’t right. I’m sorry for everything I’ve said and done to you, and I know sorry won’t even make up for all the hurt I’ve caused you. Just...please,” he whispers and reaches for my hands. He holds them tightly. “Please give me a chance to show you how much you really mean to me. One chance. Please?”

I know our fight is both our faults, and if one chance can fix this, I’m game.

“Okay, you get one chance Jay,” I say and with an evil smirk that I can’t help, I open my thighs and I pat my pussy. “You want a chance? Make me cum. With your fingers. With your mouth. If you can make me cum so hard, you can do whatever you want to my body.”

Jason’s eyes darken with lust. He licks his lips and he gives me his usual shit eating grin. “Oh princess, you are aware of my oral fixation for pussies don’t you? I’m going to make you cum so hard that you’ll be begging to be mine!”

[whereflowersbloom]

Let me heal you

Jason Todd didn’t hate Bruce or Dick. Nah. Waste of valuable energy. In fact, Jason respected, dare he say even admired his ward and brother. What he despised were their inflexible morals, or rather his family forcing their morals on everyone else. Specially him. We don’t kill. Yes, yes. Fine. What exasperated him was when Bruce decided that his morals applied to everyone else that he took issue. Including the black sheep of the family. He didn’t precisely kill, he let himself go for a single minute. He lost it one time. Batman gave everyone unlimited chances at redemption, except the Red Hood. One mistakes and he’s exiled. In the end it didn’t matter. Nevertheless, he was aware that was not the reason he was angry tonight. No. It was entirely something else.

He could hear her anywhere he was, no matter what time of day or night, what state of sobriety or inebriation, critically wounded. In the dark dangerous streets of Gotham, the sparring ring with the smack of fists and bodies, between the breaths he took as he was falling into the arms of Morpheus. He could always hear Raven. Foolish. She was too far from him. He lived and painfully yearned for her. She was soft curves and he was hard edges. She was a fierce and magical Phoenix while he was a fucking jay with broken wings and a delirious mind. What a catch, Jason.

It drove him mad, how much it didn’t make sense, at all. A soldier wouldn’t fall asleep to a lullaby, but rather the drumbeats of wrath and screams of his opponents. But she was that, for in each beat of her heart Jason heard the call to arms. These complicated feelings, he didn’t remember when they started surging in him. He tried to sort out his feelings, even though he knew that would hurt worse than the burning pain emanating from his cracked ribs. Tsk. He could use a cig right this second.

She was probably at the Manor with Richard, staying in the guest room which was Coincidently next to his old bedroom. And here he was alone, in his modest studio apartment. The pain of his bruised and broken flesh and bones was nothing compared to that excruciating knowledge. Jason rubbed his palms over his weary eyes trying to calm himself. Attempt to dampen the burning rage that was about to send him to a dark place in his mind he didn’t want to think about. He had control. He couldn’t lose control over the voices. Feel the boiling anger, burning in his chest, squeezing his heart. Let the eternal agony that burned through his blood and singed his eyes an unnatural green color. He left that fucking bullshit behind. He loathed the Pit for taking his chance to offer her something...relatively normal.

Since Artemis and Bizarro were gone. Officially, Jason was on his own for the first time in a long while. As he pulled his arms up to finish bandaging his wounds, his shoulders stung and in a gasping breath Jason quickly dropped his arms. He was useless. The pain was worse today than it usually had been. Probably from all the previous battles against Black Mask and his personal army of mercenaries. They had become a pain in the ass. Perhaps a short visit to good Doctor Tompkins would have been a better idea. He cursed breathlessly.

A knock at the door was his only warning before he turned around to see her. Raven opening the door and striding in as if this was her room and not his. Not that this was the first time she sneaked into his apartment.

She was here. It wasn’t a vision or product of his imagination or effect of high dosage of painkillers. He swallowed hard as he found himself speechless, mind blank in her presence. With her dark cloak and hood down, serene expression and looking at him with intense amethyst gems.

He paid a high price after using the pit to have his life back and this anew tremendous strength. But there’s something else, something he’d never felt before. A pull in his chest, as though someone had tied a string to one of his ribs and it was tugging on it, gently but insistently, coaxing him towards her...She was his answer. For a half-demon goddess she was the closest thing to heaven to him. The wings of freedom.

“What is it?” Jason growled harshly. It wasn’t a threat. He simply didn’t want her to see him like this. In such a weak position that he couldn’t even patch up his own damn body. Those little bits of his bloody past stopped him from reaching out to her. What right did he have to ask her to love him despite everything? Indeed he paid a high price.

“Came here to gloat, little bird?” He spat poisonous words with a half smirk. Poisonous words and threats were all he ever had. He closed his eyes, breathing slowly, deeply, getting air into his lungs, refusing to be beaten by this, refusing to be anything less than civil and let her see right through him.

There was no answer. She watched him closely for a moment before slowly closing the distance between her and him. As if she was nervous that he would order her away. Like last time she had been here, her palm caressing his cheek with such tenderness he had forgotten it existed. Her breath was warm against his neck and he was dying to mutter ‘please stay’.

What a joke. Jason Todd. Unapologetically and insanely in love with the little Raven. A Titan. Each atom of his body breathed longing into the space between them, aching to be with her, love her as a whole as it should be. But with a fractured mind, chained with firm mania cuffs. So hateful and yet insanely in love with this creature capable of drowning him in his ashes.

“I came to offer my help healing you but if you don’t want then...” She studied throughly his figure for a solid minute but at his reaction, furrowed forehead formed a thin line. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to regain her elegant composure, taking a step back.

He quickly wrapped his hand around her wrist to stop her from leaving. It was our of instinct or his body ice cold starved for a ray of light. He kept his face clear of the pain his shoulders felt at the movement, but Raven’s eyes flickered to them. A flash of genuine worry. Why he couldn’t apologize and be a gentleman like the golden boy. Damn it. Manners Todd.

“Are you mad at me?” Raven asked serious. She twisted her body around to face him yet she didn’t pry her wrist from his grip that had gentled as soon as he halted her.

Did she want the truth? No. He was mad at himself for not fighting for her. For being weak. For his wickedness. For all his bullshit. But the beat in his chest was now pounding like a hammer against an anvil, erasing the other sounds around him. He could only focus on her.

“No.” Jason forced a chuckled though it lacked the usual mirth. “I’m not mad at you. Which is surprising considering we are usually infuriating each other every other day, sunshine. Missing me much?” Letting her go was far more unbearable than his cracked ribs. She continued staring at him deciding whether he was telling her the truth or guessing what game he was playing tonight.

He felt his body tense in anticipation of her answer. Did she miss him? Did she think of him as often as he did? He considered briefly sending her away though every fibre of his being rebelled against the action.

Raven knew she shouldn’t be here but yet she found herself coming anyway, despite her rationality telling her to run, to flee, to hide, to forget that she ever came here…But something deeper, something stronger, urged her forwards. She didn’t dare fight it any longer. Yes. She missed him every second since their last encounter. She bit her lip out of habit. She was a Titan and he was an outlaw. Different sides of the coin.

“Jason.” Her free hand stretched for his that had loosened from her wrist. His callouses scraped across her skin and she found herself enjoying the touch perhaps too much for her own good. She recalled the last time they made contact. First he gave into it like a malnourished kid offered a piece of bread, but then he rejected it unreasonably. So adamant on pushing her away. Not this time.

Raven let out a heavy and deep sigh.

“How long do you plan to continue this ridiculous dance? Running around in circles.” She asked him openly with a soft voice. Her heart seizing painfully tight in her chest.

As long as it takes for you to leave me, he thought to himself. No answer.

“Jason” Raven repeated his name until his eyes met hers, it was a combination of lake blue and cyan. Impossibly beautiful and perfect, usually brightening with amusement or laughter, slightly shadowed by regret. Except now they were dull with contained sorrow. Let me heal you. All the hurting parts of you.

“Are you ashamed of me? Is that why you reject me?” She spoke with a cracked voice and glassy eyes. Doubting her worth snd pride wounded.

What. No. No. Hell no. The least he ever wanted was to hurt her. His fists clenched with frustration. How could she ever think he was ashamed of her? He adored her with his broken and dammed soul. He was ashamed of himself.

“I’m not ashamed of you.” Jason said with a shake of his head. “I’m disappointed in my own weakness. I could never be whole...” He admitted out loud with the weight of his past deeds and his unpredictable future. He inhaled deeply as he ruffled his dark curls.

She narrowed her eyes in understanding, wetting her lips before speaking. “Jason. You’re stronger then you think. You can deal with this. Don’t let this ruin who you are and what we could have.” She whispered softly, words caught between mustered courage and steady resolve. Voicing the possibility of a ‘us’. There was no point denying their attraction at this point.

One moment he was standing there. Motionless. Then he was moving, moving towards her, closer, before he’s quite given his body permission to do so because he couldn’t just stand there and not hold her.

At that Jason stopped breathing for a moment and his eyes shot to her. He wrapped his arms around her frame, tightening a fraction. His eyes were filled with something Raven was unsure of how to describe even with her empathic abilities. It was a mixture of emotions she couldn’t keep up with. Something she’s seen in him before but no one else.

Surprise. Fear. Worry. But over all happiness. Yes happiness and divine peace.

He stared down at her, a rational protest rising in his throat, the terrified assertion that she can’t help him, she can’t put up with this side of him. The rage and the voices and his uncontrollable anger. But in her eyes he found the answer. She’d already made up her mind. As if she was saying ‘I choose you’. Him. The damaged not charming and righteous Dick.

She could feel Jason’s volatile emotions call to her, voice hoarse and raw from his injuries but distinct and sharp, piercing straight to her soul. Pleading with his spirit. “Please…Stay with me.” She automatically snaked her arms around his neck. Her touch. Merely touching her used to be enough but now he couldn’t get enough.

He had been terrified by what her touch had inspired in him at first, terrified of what he might be able to do to her body if she let him…The things he wanted ro do to her. But unable to stop thinking about it, craving it, his lips on her neck, his strong, hard body pressing hers into the wall of his apartment, not caring anymore about his own physical pain. He pressed a passionate kiss to her lips.

Jason had never believed in soulmates, that was folks tales for mindless romantics. This didn’t change his mind about the topic. One thing was certain, if there was a person whose edged fit his perfectly regardless of the roughness, that would be Raven. She was darkness herself but in his mind she was the sun encasing him in gentle warmth. The stars were meant to reflect in her eyes. If there was a heaven, Raven was the owner of his.

Small jayrae prompt for @alerialblu @ravenfan1242 @amaati @niahti @jasonrae117 @catyypss 💜💖

[artxyra]

I got another request! So, Jason is Red Hood at the time when he sees Marinette clutching a backpack (it has the miraculous box inside and some essentials and clothing) as she was falling from a portal (even tho a cloud was covering it so it looked like she was falling from the sky) into a river. He jumps in, saves her, and says something like "Holy sh*t I just saved an angel" He stays hidden for 2 weeks helping her until the fam meet her. [Anything you want from here but end goal is daminette]

It was close to midnight when the Red Hood notice that something was up. Little did he knew was that his next encounter with someone would have changed his entire life. He looked up to the cloudy night sky that always plagues Gotham, nothing felt out of the place. Well, the moment lasted into his begins to see a silhouette of someone falling from the sky. The person was coming down fast, real fast.

Rushing to what he presumed to be the persons landing grounds, he failed to realize that the person wasn’t going to reach the cold hard concrete ground but the river not far from him. As the person was falling quickly than anticipated, he ditched his jacket and ran towards the river.

Splash. Splash.

He breaks for air pulling the formerly falling person with him to shore. Back on dry land, the Red Hood was finally able to get a good look at the person he saved.

“Holy shit, did I just save an Angel?” He whispers to himself brushing back strands of dark hair that clings to the girl’s face.

Looking around for any signs of help coming, he picks the girl up into his arms and disappears into the night, not caring that it was his night to patrol.

Marinette woke up the next day with a massive headache. Quickly leaning upward, she calls out for Tikki as she searches through the blankets looking for her backpack. It hasn’t registered to Marinette that wasn’t at home nor was she in Paris anymore.

Tikki flies up to Marinette, giving the panic guardian a sense of reassurance.

“Where am I? Kaalki?” Marinette finally takes in her bearings as she touches face noticing the lack of glasses that is the horse miraculous.

“Kaalki’s fine, Marinette. Your entry coming here was rather shaky.” Tikki states keeping close to Marinette as the realization hits her. Turning to the side table, Marinette sees the horse miraculous and puts.

“Kaalki, where did that portal send us?” Kaalki finally appears but she scoffs and looks around the room.

“The portal sent us to a place called Gotham. In the Americas, apparently.” Kaalki answers before flying off to who knows where.

“Gotham, like in the Batman comics?” Marinette says before groaning resting her hand over her forehead and lay back down. All she could do is think, how was this possible.

“Hey Angel from the sky, you alright in there?” A voice startles her out of the bed. She stares at the tall muscular man in front of her. He has a turf of white in his dark hair, blue eyes, and wearing the worst kind of leather jacket she has ever seen in her life.

Racking through her brain, she tries to find the words to say in English, “Uh… and you are?”

“I should be asking you the same, but the names Jason, and you look like someone who has been trucked over, twice,” Jason says cautiously take a few steps forward.

Marinette’s shoulders relax. “I’m Marinette.”

Marinette walks over to Jason, shaking his hand, thus creating one of the most cherished siblings’ bonds ever created in the city of Gotham.

Over the course of a week, Jason quickly learned that Marinette’s English wasn’t that great (she knew basic English, but then again who doesn’t know anything past basic English), he also learned that Marinette was only sixteen almost seventeen, just a year younger than this youngest brother. Marinette had learned that Jason lives by himself in this rundown apartment complex, though he does spend a handful of times over at his adoptive family’s house. She also learned he really enjoys guns and rock music, so of course they bond over Jagged Stone’s latest new album.

At the beginning of her second week in Gotham, Marinette was growing anxious and a little stir crazy. After Jason had left to go to work, she decided that it would do her and the kwamis well to leave the apartment and explore. She doesn’t know why, but she found herself drawn to the park.

Pulling out the remains of one her sketchbook, she finds a dainty little bench underneath a tree far away from people. Looking around, inspiration hits her, so she begins sketching out an outline.

Marinette doesn’t know how long it has passed until a ball dropped in front of her. She sets the sketchbook aside and is immediately greeted by black Great Dane wagging his tail. Marinette giggles before bending down to search for a name tag.

“Titus?” Marinette mutters before scratching Titus’ head and neck.

Titus nudges the ball towards her getting the message to Marinette. She managed to play ball with her new furry friend until a concerned voice calls out the dog’s name. The person she assumes is Titus’ owner walks in fury towards her direction.

“Hi, he came over to me…” The owner cuts her off turning his attention to the dog who wags his tail in the owner’s face before walking over to Marinette. Marinette tries and fails to conceal her laughter.

The owner sighs and turns his attention to Marinette, “Damian.”

“Damian,” Marinette test the name, “Well you have a very nice dog. Actually, I’m very thankful for him pulling me out of my zone.” She holds out her hand. Damian shakes it after a moment of eyeing her down.

“Titus does have a tendency to do that.” She’s beginning to wonder if Damian was a person against small talk or better yet talking about himself.

Marinette bends down to say goodbye but not before wishing to see him and Damian again in the future.

Damian turns to Titus who does the same, and Damian could have sworn that he says a smirk on that dog’s face.

After their first encounter, Damian and Marinette continuously met at the park. Their second encounter was by pure accident. Marinette had wanted ice cream the following day and decided to enjoy her soft serve back on that dainty bench. Titus wanted to get out again, so Damian took him back to the park around the same time. After that, they decided to meet at the park every day around the same time.

As another week past by, Marinette finally began to wonder what was going on in Paris. She doubts that any besides her parents would care that she was missing, but she can’t help but wonder whether that person (or group) that was after her left Paris alone.

As Marinette grow closer to Damian, she did the same with Jason. He even took her to the shooting ring for practice one night and was blown away by her aim. Jason now swears that if Bruce doesn’t adopt his newly claimed sister then he would find a way to do it legally.

After having Marinette to his lonesome for two weeks, Jason decided that it might be best to introduce her to the family against every bone in his body. He knows that Marinette is hiding something, but it also seemed like she didn’t know what she was hiding also.

“Hey Pixie-Pop, you would you mind coming with to B’s house?” He asks on that faithful Sunday morning, which is odd considering Sundays were the days he typically leaves Marinette to herself.

“Sure,” She pauses for a moment, “Are you sure that they wouldn’t mind? I hate to be—” She rambles on getting a chuckle out of the older male.

“Nah, Pixie-Pop, they wouldn’t mind.” He tells her easing her growing anxiety.

Marinette smiles up at him before rushing into the guestroom that slowly became her room.

On the back of Jason’s bike reminded her of her Nona. In fact, every time she rides with him it’s a constant reminder of her Nona, the rush of wind blowing through her hair. The feeling of someone close to you knowing that you’re most likely being protected. Marinette had dreamed of getting a bike of her own when she older and in case she can never return to Paris perhaps Jason would be willing to teach her.

“Jay-Jay this a house, it’s a mansion.” Were the first few words upon entering the Wayne Manor grounds. Jason laughs it off by rubbing her head and motioning for her to follow him.

“Sup nimrods, I’m back and I brought a guest. Treat her right and there will be no bullets shooting tonight.” He calls out to the group of people settled into the room.

Marinette squirms underneath all the glances she was receiving but upon seeing the familiar sight of green eyes and a certain Great Dane, she slowly became at ease.

“Hey Damian, I didn’t know you lived here.” Well, ring the alarms because immediately she is greeted by screams of all kinds some projected to the green-eyed teen while one was projected to her.

Ignoring the commotion that is aimed at him, Damian curtly nods to Marinette as Titus rushes over to her. “Hi, Angel.” Cue another round of commotion.

So, dinner was a complete mess, well not like food is thrown everywhere kind of a mess but it was an emotional disaster. Tim was knocked over the table, the like of caffeine and sleep finally getting to him. Dick and was having a heated conversation with Jason about Marinette, all while Bruce sat there in silence. Secretly he was hoping for the chance of grandchildren in the future if this girl can make it through with his family.

Once Damian had finished his food and notice how uncomfortable Marinette is, they managed to disappear down the halls to who knows where. Alfred walks in shaking his head all while cleaning up the dishes.

Marinette ended up moving into Wayne Manor just days after the dinner at the request of Jason who ended up tag-teaming with Bruce. It didn’t take her long to figure their secret identities and it wasn’t long after that when they question her as to why she was declared missing and presumed dead in Paris. Let just say that was another heated conversation because it unleashed a whole lot of emotions.

Damian finally worked up the courage to ask the bluenette out after her staying with them for over a month. Both of them were too afraid of ruining the friendship they created. Not long after they started dating, Marinette learned that the people who were after her in Paris were a part of some cult under the name League of Assassins. This is then prompted Damian to talk about his past and Marinette telling the family that she had known their identities for quite some time. It didn’t them long to meet the kwamis and adding Ladybug to their personal alliance.

Marinette only went back to Paris after some convincing from the Batfamily to at least give her parents some sort of closure that their daughter is safe. She took Kaalki to make the trip easy. Her parents were, of course, mad at her for not contacting them sooner, but after she explained everything it was Sabine that had some choice words to say to some “old co-workers” of hers from her early teen and adult years. As much as they didn’t want Marinette to leave, her parents knew their daughter was happier in Gotham than she ever was after the whole Hawkmoth ordeal and even both that. Her missing person case was closed, and Marinette went back to Gotham with the promise to come to see them again in the summer.

Damian and Marinette finally shared their first kiss with each other after a couple of months of dating. It was Titus that pushed them to do at the park underneath the bench where they meet.

Permanent Tag List: @vixen-uchiha | @i-is-mysterious | @kuroko26 | @maribat-is-lifeblood | @marinettepotterandplagg | @loveswifi | @ladybug-182

Unspecific Tag List: @g-arya | @jardimazul | @jeminiikrystal | @zalladane | @bluerosette23  | @dast218 

[neerasrealm]

Ice Skate Races

I told myself I’d spend December focusing on some christmas themed shorts and now it’s the 19th. This is the only one I have finished. I’m so sorry. Anyway uhhh wholesome Zalgo minions content to bless your day you’re welcome Word Count: 2081

He strode slowly toward the bodies laying on the floor in front of him. Both of them, killed by gunshots. His expensive knee-length boots squelched quietly as he stepped in blood. He lifted up his foot, a noise of disgust escaping him. He huffed and stepped back. Great...he’d have to clean his shoes later...

‘’Yo dude- dudes! Get over here!’’ a younger voice called behind him. He heard heels walk across the room toward the voice and stop.

‘’Oh!’’ The other voice was more feminine. 

‘’Snoooow!!’’ the first voice replied excitedly. ‘’Yo, Jason come look!’’

He turned to look at his two companions. One was tall, completely in black save for a white masked face. The other was much shorter, with messy brown hair, ripped jeans and a blue coat. The shorter one, named Natalie, grinned at him. She had one green eye that shone in the light, and the other was a clock. ‘’It’s snowing!’’ she repeated.

‘’And?’’

‘’And? It’s snow, dude!’’ 

Jason crossed his arms, looking at her unamused. ‘’You’re like a child.’’

‘’You’re the one who plays with dolls!’’ she snapped back. Jason snarled at her. Before the two could fight each other, the taller one of his companions cleared her throat. The two of them turned to look at her, then huffed and looked away.

‘’I’d rather get home as soon as possible. We’re actually getting a break for once, and I’d like to enjoy said break if I can.’’ Jason muttered.

‘’Exactly! This is our last job before our christmas break, which means…’’ Natalie grinned. ‘’We should celebrate! It’s snowing, it’s december, we don’t gotta worry about Zalgo on our asses…’’ she trailed off, smiling dreamily. Jason rolled his eyes. ‘’What about you, Jane?’’ she asked, turning to the taller girl. ‘’You wanna actually enjoy christmas for once instead of being a scrooge like this idiot?’’ she gestured to Jason as she spoke. Jason grunted and busied himself with pulling wallets from the corpse’s pockets. Jane chuckled a bit.

‘’Sure. Why not?’’ she reached up and took off her mask, shaking her hair out of her burnt face. ‘’What were you thinking?’’ she asked, tilting her head. 

‘’Mmm...I think I remember seeing an ice skating rink on our way here!’’ Natalie grinned up at her. ‘’How’s that sound, babe?’’

‘’Sounds fun!’’ Jane smiled a bit and nodded. She turned to Jason, who was searching nooks and crannies for spare cash or anything of interest. Not like the owners of the apartment would be needing any of it. ‘’What about you Jason? You wanna come with us?’’ He glanced at them for a moment, looking unamused as always.

‘’I can’t ice skate.’’ he grunted.

‘’Well neither can I,’’ Nat replied. ‘’You should just come! Have fun for once!’’ he squinted at her as she spoke.

‘’Just go bother someone else, you two…’’ he muttered as he moved away from the shelf he was examining and over toward one of the hallways. Presumably so he could search the bedroom for anything of interest. Natalie huffed and rolled her eyes.

"Fine then, Mr Grinch…" she muttered. She reached over and grabbed Jane's hand. "We're gonna have a magical christmas experience without you!" She yelled after him. She glared off in his direction for a bit before relenting and pulling Jane off with her. 

The two walked down the stairs of the apartment building and out into the cold. She grinned up at Jane as they walked down the street. "You ever been ice skating before?"

"A few times- with my mom and dad." She replied gently. "You?"

"A couple times. Not amazing at it though." She chuckled. "Luckily I have a hot lady to catch me when I fall though." She added with a wink. Jane laughed.

"Sure, sure." She squeezed Nat's hand. They continued walking, enjoying the presence of one another. It was silent for a bit until-

"Natalie! Jane!" They turned around to see Jason running toward them. He stopped, panting a bit before straightening himself up. He cleared his throat. "...I'm coming with you two." He finally said, sounding reluctant. 

"I knew it!" Natalie jumped on the spot, pointing at him with a grin. "You do have a heart!"

"...no I don't." Jason glared at her. "And I'm only coming because Zalgo would blame me if you two were to get in any trouble. I am not ice skating."

"Whatever you say, toy-boy."

××××

"I am not ice skating."

"Yes you are!" Natalie snapped at the toymaker. She held up a pair of ice skates. "We already paid for these! You're putting 'em on, whether you like it or not." She tossed them into his lap and sat down on the bench beside him, kicking off her brown ugg boots and putting on the ice skates. Jason sighed and reluctantly did the same. By the time they were done, Jane had already switched out her own shoes and gotten onto the ice. They both stood at the edge of the rink, watching her elegantly skate around the circumference of it.

She skated around toward them and gestured as she approached. "You two coming or what?" She called. Natalie grinned eagerly and stepped onto the ice, wobbling a bit. She gripped the edge of the rink for support and took off, half skating and half stumbling. She definitely didn't know how to skate properly, but she was having fun at least! Jason however was not. He stepped onto the ice and gripped the edge of the rink, glancing down anxiously. 

He shuffled along carefully, too unsteady on both his feet and his nerves to try and actually skate. Jane noticed him struggling and cut across the rink, stopping near him. "You need some help?" She asked, reaching out to take his arm. He swatted her away.

"I'm fine! I just-" he huffed. "...I've never done this before." 

Jane's eyes widened in surprise. "Never?" She asked, taken aback. Jason was so old yet he'd never gone ice skating?! The toymaker shook his head and glanced away, embarrassed. She held out her hand to him. "It's fun, y'know," she murmured. "You want me to teach you?"

He glanced at her for a long moment, then took her hand in his. She beamed under her mask and tugged him. "Stop trying to walk on the ice. Swerve your legs, you're trying to build momentum and glide. Not run."

Jason gulped nervously and nodded. It took him a while to get it and figure out what exactly she meant, but once he did he found himself grinning and laughing as the two of them skated around the rink, holding each other's hand the whole way. Eventually, Jane reached over and grabbed his other hand, pulling him out to the center of the rink. He looked around nervously. "Jane?" He asked, sounding a little scared. She suddenly let go of him and glided back. Jason yelped in surprise and had to quickly regain his balance. He glanced around anxiously. "Jane! Jane wait, come back!" He reached out toward her, too scared to move himself. She gestured for him to come closer. He whimpered, and nervously skated himself forward. Instead of falling over like he expected, he slid across the ice and over to her. She took his hands again and smiled up at him.

"You did it!" She chirped. Jason blinked in surprise. "See? It's not scary at all." She chuckled. 

"...oh." he paused for a moment before breaking into a soft smile. "I- I did it…" he giggled a bit, giddy with the excitement that he learned something, all by himself! However, his joy was cut short by the sound of Natalie yelling behind them. They glanced over at her, watching her get up onto her hands and knees.

"You okay, love?" Jane called as Nat shook her head a few times. She glanced over at them and grinned. 

"I'm good!" She managed to get back on her feet then looked over at Jason. "Race me!"

"Hm?"

"Race me!" She repeated. "Around the rink, I'll give you a head start if you think you can't do it!"

Jason stared at her for a moment, then glanced at Jane. A smirk curled up his face and he let go of her hands, turning and skating quickly over to Nat. She took off before he even reached her. "Hey!" He skated after her. "I thought I got a head start!"

Nat laughed back at him. She ended up winning, just barely, and Jason demanded a rematch. Then he declared the second lost race was just a practice run. He won the third, and Nat decided they'd do best out of three. Jane watched them circle around the rink again and again, smiling softly under her mask. Eventually she skated over to the exit of the rink and took her skates off, slipping back into her regular boots. 

Jane wandered over to the small coffee stand by the rink and ordered three hot chocolates. She didn't need to watch Jason and Natalie to know who was winning their races, they were making it very loud and very clear. She chuckled a bit as she wandered over to a small table with the drinks and set them down. She walked over to the rink again and leaned against the barrier. "Hey you two!" She called as they skated toward her. They looked up at her, surprised. "I got hot chocolate out here, if you're done yelling at each other."

"Oh HELL yeah!" Natalie turned around and skated back toward the rink's exit. Jason grinned and followed her. Jane sat at the table, watching them toss their shoes to each other before walking over to join her. Nat collapsed herself in her chair and Jane slid over her hot chocolate.

‘’Extra marshmallows, just the way you like it.’’ she murmured. The clock-eyed girl broke out into a grin and stomped her feet against the artificial grass on the ground in glee. Jane passed Jason’s hot chocolate to him. ‘’And I got yours with cream and chocolate flakes.’’ she told him. Jason smiled thankfully and took a long sip of the hot, sugary drink. Jane sighed out and took off her mask, setting it down and sipping her own hot chocolate. They were all quiet, just enjoying the warmth. Jane eventually broke the silence. ‘’You know...I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen you smile so much, Jason.’’

He looked over at her, surprised. Natalie looked at him. ‘’Holy shit,’’ she gasped. ‘’It’s a christmas miracle!’’

‘’PFFFFT-’’ Jason wheezed. He glanced at the two girls and smiled sheepishly. ‘’I...suppose I’m...having a good time...’’ he murmured, looking away. He sipped his hot chocolate again to think for a minute. ‘’I’ve never really celebrated christmas much.’’

‘’You haven’t?’’ Nat cocked a brow at him. Jason shook his head.

‘’Zalgo celebrates of course- you know him, he likes indulging in parties and making himself seem great with all his gifts...but he didn’t always, now that I think about it,’’ he paused for a moment, thinking. ‘’But anyway- we have the parties on christmas eve and day obviously, but that’s about all I’ve ever done…’’

‘’What about before?’’

Jason looked at Natalie, confused at the question. ‘’Before?’’

‘’Before Zalgo,’’ she said. ‘’When you were human.’’

Jason paused. ‘’When I was human…’’ he looked away. ‘’Well- it was the eighteen-hundreds so...I can’t say we could do much.’’ he shrugged. ‘’My family was fairly well off, so we could afford to celebrate a little. Some food, and some simple gifts…’’ he paused before smiling, glancing at the girls. ‘’You know, I’m only around ten years younger than the christmas tree.’’

‘’No way!’’ Nat gawked at him. ‘’You’re messing with me!’’

‘’It’s true! They were introduced to england in the forties, and I was born around the fifties!’’ he grinned at her. She broke out into laughs. 

‘’Fucking hell dude, you’re old.’’

‘’Not as old as Zalgo.’’ he replied with a sly smirk, which only made the two of them snicker. Even Jane was laughing, albeit fairly quietly. She looked at the two of them and smiled. They didn’t get along very often...it was nice seeing the two be nice to each other for once. She sipped her hot chocolate and glanced between them.

‘’You guys wanna go look at the christmas lights after this?’’ she suggested. The two turned to her and grinned.

[xaysnotebook]

Chapter 1 - Behind Colored Eyes

“I told you it was pointless to even try to study for that test! It was made to screw over your final grade.”

“I know, but at least we got a passing grade, almost everyone failed besides us.” Alex replied, pacing unevenly. The psychology final was played as the hardest final outside of the math department, and they had been one of the few students to get a passing grade. The only cost of this is that they skipped out on work for a couple days and stayed awake for possibly a little too long. 

“Well, I know you’re hungry, how about that new restaurant down by Semia’s house? It’s some Italian place I think.”

“I would love to, but you know I can't afford it, and I am not asking for money again.” Alex was already in debt because of college, they also had a personal debt to their parents for more than a month of rent and food bills.

“If you say so, you could always dip into your savings again. You need a little bit of a pick-me-up. You could always talk to Sandra.” That last comment made Alex stop in their tracks, their gray eyes almost glazing over with anger. “Alright, that was too far I already know. I’ll leave you alone for a bit.”

“Damn, Jason.” Alex thought out loud, earning him a questioning glance from a couple walking nearby. Jason was good to keep around for simple conversation, but he was definitely able to turn rude quickly. Alex started back towards the apartment, feeling slightly more lonely than before, but nothing they weren't used to. They were a generally lonely person for multiple reasons, but any time they got left, it felt a bit worse.

Alex was a scrawny but tall person, standing at about six foot two while actually standing up straight. They had a mess of blue hair that was starting to fade from being in the sun too often. With a smaller nose and piercing gray eyes, they had been compared to a blue raven before, actually being called Raven by some coworkers and friends. They were also born a male, but had chosen to live by the “they” pronouns when they were around seventeen, being easily passable for both genders and drifting around on what they felt like on a minute to minute basis. Now they were almost twenty-one, and already knew it was going to be another bland birthday, most likely spent with Tasha.

As they walked up to their apartment building, they heard the sound of loud music playing and quickly assumed it was Tasha. However there was a distinct feeling that they were being watched. After glancing about, they noticed a peculiar pair of yellow eyes staring through a set of blinds. For obvious reasons they were taken aback and quickly scurried to the front door of the apartment complex. After going inside, they made a wide path around the strange apartment and got to their own. From the door, it was clear that Tasha was blaring some assortment of rap music, and easily loud enough that they would get a noise complaint later for it. Pushing through the front, Alex found the living room in tatters, the dining room full and random cups leftover, and a clearly hung over Tasha sleeping on the kitchen floor. After turning off the music, Alex walked over to the fridge, nudging Tasha with their foot on the way only to hear a slight grunt. How anyone could sleep with that loud music playing, on a cold floor was beyond Alex, but they knew Tasha was used to it by now. She was in her last semester, graduating with two majors and a minor in only four years, something that would take most people at least eight.

Tasha was the type of person that was born hyper-intelligent, and hated every minute of it. As such, she rebelled by being a straight A student, with an insane party life. She was a chubby Native American girl with long black hair that was almost always braided, bright green eyes, and a large birthmark across her left eye. When Alex had first met her, they had seemed like polar opposites, and almost resented each other. Then they were put as roommates in their first year, and before Christmas break had become best friends, almost inseparable.

“Tasha, wake up, You need to eat something before noon.” Alex whispered as they bent over to shake her awake. “I ate before I drank. I think I’ll live, Alex.” Tasha muttered sleepily, trying to cover herself with aluminum foil.

“Yes, but you also have a test at three to finish your mathematics major, and you need to need to finish your project with Janet.” Janet had made extra sure to yell at Alex before they left campus.

“Ugh, fine,” Tasha said groggily as she rolled over to face Alex, her eyes still blurry from exhaustion, “but only if we can go to the coffee shop. I need my fix!”

“Then let’s go and get your drugs, but you’re buying this time!” Alex said, feeling that all too familiar shift in balance within themself, almost like a subtle knock on the back of their head.

“Two large chai lattes please!” Alex chimed to the barista.

“Seven thirty-four please.” She responded in a monotone manner, “Thank you, name?”

“Alex, and could you put a smiley face under it?” Alex responded hopefully.

“Sure, hon.” She said, a slight smile beginning to creep onto her face.

“Thank you!” Alex beamed. They made their way towards the table that Tasha was sitting at, suddenly remembering that it was supposed to be her turn to pay for the drinks. “Weren’t you supposed to pay this time?” they commented after sitting down. Tasha was staring off absentmindedly, vaguely tracing mathematical equations on the table with her finger. “Hey Spacey! Whatcha thinking about?”

Snapping back to reality, she slyly commented “The probability that they’ll mess up on our lattes yet again. I mean how hard is it to make regular chai lattes?”

“Hey relax! I sweet talked the barista, we should be good for today!” Alex’s definition of “sweet talking” was rather loose, but it always seemed to work out for them.

“Well thank you, you massive flirt.” Tasha chuckled as she eyed him lazily, “You know, you’ve been single since the end of freshman year. Aren’t you lonely?”

“I mean yeah, I’m always yet never lonely. You know how my head works better than anyone else. And besides, why would I need another best friend when I have you?” Alex responded, half heartedly flirting. The two had actually been close to dating once, but had decided against it and to remain best friends. At the point they were at in their friendship, it would either fail miserably or go perfectly, and neither of them were willing to risk everything that they had been through.

“Yeah, but we both know that you..”

“Alex!” Cried the barista, “With two smiley faces!”

“I’ll go grab those for us.” Tasha said as she stood. As she walked away, Alex had a familiar sensation of being watched. Scanning the room, they didn’t notice anyone looking at them besides Tasha as she was walking back.

Then they glanced at the barista. Those same piercing yellow eyes, seeming to attack their very soul. Her eyes suddenly went back to a dull brown color and she shook her head clear, seemingly losing a couple inches of height before going to the next customer in line. “Did you see her eyes?” Alex stammered out while they slightly shook in panic.

Tasha sat down and eyed them curiously, “What? That lady’s? No? Why do you look so scared suddenly?” She peered at him strangely, like an owner looking at a scared puppy.

“I swear, she had bright yellow eyes for a few seconds! Then they were suddenly normal again? You really didn’t see them when you walked up to her?” Alex’s mind was racing at this point, could they be finally breaking apart? They had been warned stability would only last so long, but it has only been a couple years, it was too soon.

“Hey, Alex. Look at me.” Tasha said, grabbing their hand gently, “Is it getting bad again? Do we need to go?” 

“I don’t know, this isn’t how it was last time, not anything like this.” Alex’s voice was getting shaky, they were slowly slipping into a panic attack and were trying their hardest to avoid it as long as they could.

“I know what we saw, that bitch had yellow eyes. You can’t be getting bad again, I saw that.”

Alex shuddered slightly, “Well thank you Jason.” they said, not being sure whether to calm down since they weren’t crazy yet, or panic because a human just had bright yellow, almost snake like eyes.

“What’d he say?” Tasha questioned.

“He saw the eyes too I guess that means either we’re both going crazy, or she actually had yellow eyes.” Alex breathed out heavily, “It could be sleep loss, but that doesn’t usually affect everyone until after days of not sleeping. I’ve only been awake for maybe thirty hours at this point?”

“Okay, home or therapist?”

“Home. Joz is out of town this week for a seminar.” Alex breathed out shakily, still trying to sip coffee that was clearly too hot.

“Then come on, Joz will wait until she's back. And give me your keys, you’re in no state to drive.”

“I’ve driven while worse, but if you insist.” They would have refused to admit it, but they were truly terrified and most likely couldn’t even walk straight, let alone drive home.

After five minutes that seemed to last for an eternity, the two got back to the apartment complex and started heading towards the front door. Tasha glanced over and noticed Alex was watching a specific window very intently, “Why are you watching Ms. Higgans window? Expecting a ghost to come out?” she asked jokingly, attempting to lighten the mood. The only response that Alex provided was a vague murmur about yellow eyes. Tasha had seen Alex during bad breakdowns before, ranging from a light panic attack over tests to a complete meltdown where they had almost jumped out of a window. However, this was a new reaction, Alex was fully conscious but was unable to process much of anything really, almost like a breakdown, but without tears or hyperventilating or yelling or really any bad behaviour. As they walked inside the front door, Alex suddenly stopped directly outside of Ms. Higgans door. “Alex? What’s going on?” As she turned around, she stepped back in fear. Alex’s generally steel gray eyes had turned a deep violet, glowing and pulsating slowly.

[ethelphantom]

Always Been The Missing Piece

This is, uh, a sequel to the Maribat Secret Santa thing I wrote for @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry because Ailelie over at Ao3 gave me a good idea in the comments for an identity reveal fic because obviously they don't know the other isn't a civilian. So. Uh. I am planning at least one more sequel after this because I was given a perfect idea for BartAdrien identity reveal on the Maribat discord server and I need to write that too. Just, don't expect it to turn as long as either of these. And seriously, you really should read this only after Like You Could Be Family, because I seriously doubt this will make much sense without, but it's not like I will be able to actually stop you so....

(Also how the hell did I get to 13k? This has got to be the longest one-shot I've ever written please help me I have a problem)

Ao3 || First part | Third part

This is Maribat -- Don’t like; don’t read.

___________

“I don’t think disowning him is even necessary to make him my brother, and it seems there’s a chance we might become family regardless of whether this Bruce adopts me or not.”

Tim stared at the words written permanently on his wrist, rubbing the skin as though to see if they would smudge and leave. They did not. He had never truly thought of even getting a soulmate when he was young.

(Well, obviously he’d thought about it, rather often too. It was just that he always thought he wasn’t going to get one — either because his parents didn’t have one and he would surely be just like them, and then later, once he became Robin and later Red Robin, he thought that even if it wasn’t going to be because of his parents, then he wouldn’t get a soulmate because he wasn’t going to make it alive to 18.)

But, as all things that had anything to do with Fate always did, it didn’t go as he thought. After all, Fate was never quite so simple.

As it turned out, he made it to 18 and got a soulmark.

There was someone in the world Fate thought was the perfect match for him.

Then he for the longest time believed he would meet them while he was in the vigilante business because if his soulmate was a civilian, what would he even do? There was always a high chance of death because of what he did on a nightly basis, and it was certain he would have to disappear on multiple nights and occasions just to be Red Robin — no way he was going to give that up. That meant, that if he had a civilian romantic soulmate, they might accuse him of cheating, and then his life could be ruined because he was the damn CEO of Waye Enterprises and thus in the public eye all of the time. The words written on his wristed also sounded both like they could be romantic or platonic soulmates, since usually soulmates considered one another family of some sorts automatically — it didn’t necessarily mean his soulmate was speaking about one of his brothers becoming their brother-in-law. They all knew there was a chance Bruce would adopt his soulmate one day (no matter what they said about that being unnecessary.)

Then he actually met his soulmate.

He met Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

A sweet young woman almost his age, perhaps around a year younger than him (turns out he was right when she told him of herself later before he managed to go and search her up), with black hair the shade of midnight sky, her eyes blue as Morning Glories. She was kind, thoughtful, great at baking (she could so some pastries better than Alfred could, and that said a lot about her skills), and she shared Tim’s love of coffee (Dick had been horrified when he found her pouring energy drinks into extra strong black coffee after the first night she spent at the manor).

She was also MDC, Tim’s all-time favourite designer, and it was suddenly much easier to commission her when she could just show him the designs in person and talk about them — why she wanted this thing here and that thing somewhere else. Tim was also much more eager to pay her a whole lot more than what she ever asked for, even if that was partly because Marinette was trying her hardest to lower her prices for him.

Yeah no, that didn’t work with him at all — she was fantastic at what she did and he’d be damned if he let her do the work underpaid.

She never pushed his boundaries too far, only enough to have him open up a little, but because she never made him feel uncomfortable or like she was trying to use him, it was fine; He was horrible at opening up himself and wouldn’t have done it without her. It was clear she knew what was alright and what was not — most of the time anyway. And even when she did push his boundaries too far, it was because she tried to show her appreciation to him or got too excited, and when he or someone else pointed it out to her (because she was bad at noticing it herself), she immediately stopped doing the thing and apologised over and over because she never meant to violate his boundaries.

And then she made sure to never overstep it again unless he gave her the explicit permission to do so.

That told him more about her than many other things did or even could.

She was also intelligent, sassy and sarcastic when she wanted to be, had a strong sense of justice and he knew for a fact she knew how to fight and well. She’d mentioned having done martial arts for quite some time and because she made a complaint about having nearly no opponents on her level, Jason asked her if she wanted to try and spar with him. She agreed and won two out of three matches, and though there was a chance he was just holding back (unlikely, considering how much Jason had talked about it on patrol that night), Damian had challenged her after that and they came to a tie. Twice. Damian then won the last round, probably when he finally stopped underestimating her and holding back. There was no way she wasn’t good.

Marinette always tried to help people in need if she could and wouldn’t take no for an answer when she decided that a person beaten to a bloody pulp was in no condition to walk home, especially not alone. If she had to pay for the taxi to get them home, well, she did, never expecting anyone to pay back.

She was absolutely perfect, if you asked Tim.

The problem was, she was a civilian regardless of how well she fought or how intelligent she was. He could never risk her safety by being in a close relationship with her in case someone found out his identity and decided to use her against him. Wouldn’t be the first time that happened in vigilante business. It had given him enough of a heart attack to be with her while in civvies and get caught by the Riddler because of course he had to be there and there was nothing Tim could do to help her himself — the small and young CEO was not supposed to be able to punch a guy’s teeth in.

And then she’d gone and insulted his fashion taste. Tim agreed, definitely, that green and purple three-piece suit was atrocious, but it was a horrible idea if you were a civilian because the Riddler was extremely sensitive about his fashion choices and a villain and he had hardly any rules as to what he did and to whom, unlike some of the Rogues. Marinette didn’t even have any protective gear against him.

So yeah.

An almost-heart attack.

Turns out, she solved all of his riddles rather quickly, some of them with Tim once the Riddler noticed him, and in the end they all got out safely and unharmed.

At least half of the credit of that definitely went to Marinette.

The best course of action would either be to tell her, or cut ties with her, make her hate him or anything that got her out of the danger zone that came with being in a close relationship with him.

The second option was definitely not what he wanted.

And that was what led him to here, sitting at the table in the apartment he used (especially) when he needed an escape from his dear but way too invasive family with Kon and Bart.

“It’s just, I don’t know what to do! I like her, I really do, but I can hardly pursue a relationship with a civilian. I might endanger her life! We’ve seen that happen with enough many of us. Someone figures out our identity, kidnaps a loved one and puts them at risk. Or sees us too close to a civilian while in the suit and decides they’ll put the loved one at risk anyway. I can’t risk my soulmate’s life for something like that, she doesn’t deserve it,” Tim exclaimed, groaning as his head hit the table. Thank heavens Bart had pulled the plate from under him just in time before his forehead would have ended up in his food.

(Though it was likely he was going to lose half of his food to Bart as well, it was likely he was going to eat Tim’s food while Tim wasn’t there to protect it. Asshole friends and all that.)

Sure, Kon and Bart would have probably had fun watching him ruin his looks (and hair, especially his hair) because of the tomato sauce and spaghetti he somehow had not managed to burn, but maybe they were pitying him enough for his soulmate problems to not just let it  happen for this one time. That, and he’d gotten injured in their latest fight and he would not honestly be surprised if they blamed themselves for it at least a little — that was what Tim kept doing if any of his teammates got injured when he was there and even theoretically could have helped.

“Tell her?” Bart suggested, shrugging as he filled his mouth with the spaghetti. From Tim’s plate. Oh well. Telling him to stop would probably not really help and it’s not like Tim couldn’t just steal Kon’s food later. Bart continued speaking as soon as his mouth was empty. “I don’t see why not. If she’s as amazing as you make her out to be, I can’t see a reason why you shouldn’t tell her. I’m gonna tell Adrien, by the way.”

“Do you have any idea when you’re going to do it?”

“Nope, but not yet ‘cause I don’t think it’s fair or appropriate since Paris just declared their heroes dead ‘cause they haven’t made any appearances — but that’s not to say they don’t know where the bodies are, perhaps they’re just protecting them? — in quite the while, but I will soon enough. Wouldn’t be fair to him to keep it a secret, right?” he chuckled and chewed on his (Tim’s) food.

Oh yeah. Paris’ heroes, the ones that were apparently dead. The heroes they had thought didn’t actually exist and were just a make-believe story to entertain people until Paris held a public memorial for them because they were nowhere to be found and told the people they just hadn’t found their corpses, but maybe that was just to protect their identities. The reminder they hadn’t helped them with their villain felt like a punch in the gut to Tim now, even if he hadn’t been the one to make the decision to not help.

He shook the thoughts away. This was not the time for blaming himself or anyone else for it, he could very well do that later.

“Kon?”

“I agree with Bart. If you think she’s good for you, I think it’s better if you just told her. It’s not like you would want to just cut ties with her to protect her and hurt the both of you at the process. It would definitely be like you, but I know you don’t want to do that to the one person meant for you.”

Tim sighed and stole his plate back. It was significantly emptier than it had been two minutes ago. Damn Bart. As a last-ditch effort, he stole Kon’s plate and scooped some of his food to his own plate, ignoring the rather offended look on Kon’s face. His fault, he hadn’t protected Tim’s food from Bart. Besides, Tim needed to eat something proper, after all. It might have been a little too long since the last time he ate more than an energy bar… so probably around three days since.

No wonder he was the smallest of them.

Munching on his food, he sunk back into his thoughts while Bart and Kon chatted animatedly, the few words he picked up indicating the conversation was about soulmates and Adrien in particular.

It had been a few weeks since he and Bart met their soulmates, but both of them were definitely interested in them — likely romantically, but only time would tell for sure. Marinette was amazing and sweet and Adrien must have been the only one as much of a sunshine child as Bart was, though according to Marinette, he could be a little shit when he felt like it. Then Bart and Kon had overheard Marinette discussing Adrien’s father with someone and turns out, Bart was ready to run to Paris and kick the man’s ass himself, regardless of whether he was in prison for being a supervillain and terrorising the city for years or not. Not that Tim would have stopped him. After all, Stephanie too had decided to ruin his father’s plans when it turned out he’d become a villain.

...That was something Adrien could probably bond over with Stephanie at some point. Maybe they’d found the “my dad’s a supervillain and I had nothing to do with it” club.

(“The list of bad dads just grows and grows,” Tim swore he’d heard Bart say afterwards with a suspicious grin on his face. Tim wouldn’t disagree with him though, he could name quite the number of them himself as well, one of them being his very own father.)

Then Marinette had heard Bart declare war on Gabriel Agreste and immediately told him she was joining — according to her, he didn’t have a choice in the matter because she really wanted to kick his ass again.

(Again? When had she managed to do it in the first place?)

So yeah. Having a civilian soulmate was difficult.

Then again… What if he made her a vigilante? She did possess all of the necessary qualities and even more to become a good vigilante that he could think of. Perhaps he should ask her if she’d like to do that. After all, she was now family, both Bruce and Dick had declared so (rather clearly and Dick loudly), accompanied by Alfred’s nods, Jason’s approving humming (and the way he started treating her better than he did most of the family), Cass’ silent approval visible in her smile as she looked at Marinette, and a little reluctant Damian as well.

It wouldn’t matter she didn’t have any superpowers like some people did — none of the family did, and they were all great at what they did, even if Gotham was nearly impossible to save at this point anymore. She was already good at martial arts, knew how to take care of herself (if it didn’t mean her inability to eat when she was supposed to or her reluctance to go to sleep (nightmares, perhaps?), but she knew how to defend herself and others.) She would make a good vigilante, especially with some special and personalised training. Now he only needed it approved by the rest of the family because she could and would put two and two together and realise all of them were involved with the vigilante business if he came clean to her as one.

Actually, that sounded like a good idea.

Then his phone chimed on the coffee table in the living room and he all but ran there, injuries be damned.

“Hey, careful there, you wouldn’t want us to tell Alfred you need new stitches,” Kon called after him before turning to Bart. “How much do you want to bet that was Marinette messaging him right there?”

“Nope, not betting anything when we both know full well it was Mari. There’s no one else he’d practically dive out of the table for and leave his food unguarded with us. Speaking of...”

“Bart! Do not even think about eating my food while I’m gone! It better be still there untouched when I come back, or so help me god I will kick your ass back to the next millennium!”

Bart just snickered.

God, why was he even friends with Bart?

Oh yeah, because he didn’t know how to live on without him (or Kon) anymore anyway.

⬷۵⤐

Marinette paced around her room in the Manor, panic clearly showing on her face. Adrien sat on the bed placed near the wall, leaning to it, seemingly unconcerned. He was mostly waiting for Marinette to calm down enough to stay still and just listen for a second in between her freak outs.

Thank kwamii for the fact they had gotten Wayzz to secure the room and create a shell in which they could talk without needing to worry whether someone heard them or not. No one would. They were safe.

...They also wouldn’t disturb anyone with it since it was way past midnight already.

“But this ruins everything!” Marinette exclaimed, finally standing in one place long enough for Adrien to decide paying attention to her would be worth it. Or, could be worth it.

Adrien rested his chin on his palm, tilting his head. “Now, Buginette, I love you and all,  but this is getting ridiculous, utterly ridiculous (“Don’t you dare sound like Chloé right now, Adrien!”) Are you sure you need to panic about all this? As far as I see it, you could just, I don’t know, tell him. Gabriel isn’t a threat anymore, and even if he was, we aren’t in Paris,” he said, and plopped down on the bed, propping one leg on his knee. Plagg seated himself on Adrien’s head, ready to take a nap, while Tikki had nestled on Marinette’s shoulder. It was amazing how she was so used to Marinette freaking out that she could just stay calm on even a pacing Marinette.

“I know I could tell him because Gabriel is behind bars, and I should tell Tim because otherwise it won’t be fair to him and I like him, probably romantically soon, and I can’t let myself pursue a romantic relationship with anyone that doesn’t know because it’s too much to keep a secret, but I have no idea how to! What if I scare him off because right now it looks like the both of us are staying here in Gotham — or at least the States — and knowing the two of us, we won’t be able to just quit hero work either! Speaking of which, we have to design ourselves new suits because Paris just declared us dead like a week ago. Not Marinette and Adrien, obviously, but Chat Noir and Ladybug. Understandable, we just disappeared after the fight with Papillon and there’s no way anyone would believe him if he said he didn’t hurt us so why would they believe he didn’t also kill us and—”

“Nette, please, try to breathe and calm down. It’s not that serious of a situation,” Adrien tried but Marinette had resumed pacing around and it was clear as day she was freaking out. It was also clear she wasn’t listening to a word he said anymore, and barely even paid attention to the fact she wasn’t, in fact, alone in the room in general. He sighed and stood up, grabbing his best friend by the shoulders. Plagg shrieked before he shut his mouth because of his holder’s sudden movement.

Now that had her stop and concentrate her attention on him again.

“I know it’s difficult for you to reveal your identity to anyone, including me even long after I realised my behaviour was a big no-no and apologised to you, and that’s fine. It just means you’re being responsible. But. This is your soulmate we’re talking about. There are so many reasons why you should tell him and you know that if you don’t, whatever relationship you might end up in with Tim might go horribly wrong if all the while you’re keeping a secret such as this from him.” Adrien took a deep breath and looked Marinette directly in the eyes. “I am well aware you like him like, a lot, so there’s no way you’d want to risk losing him in either way — by putting him in danger or by having him tell he can’t take you disappearing on him all the time anymore.”

Damnit. Adrien was right. Marinette hated it when Adrien was right. Mostly, because usually when Adrien was right and even she had to admit it because it was so obvious, it meant that the kwamii also agreed with him. And well. When Tikki, the literal miniature goddess of creation, said something should be done, her word was final. She had no way out of this, now did she?

“Nope!” said Tikki from next to her ear.

Oh. She’d said that out loud. For crying out loud.

But yeah, she truly did like Tim, a lot. He was smart, could banter with her rather easily without ever making her uncomfortable by doing so, was never put off by sarcasm (which was, unfortunately, quite rare nowadays and that meant she found it rather refreshing), and he was kind. Also, he had a huge sweet-tooth and mostly a good taste which meant she could freely bake a lot and Tim would likely enjoy any and all of it. She could use him to test new recipes, too.

She also liked his appearance — a lot. His looks were definitely nothing to scoff at. His hair was black and silky, and his eyes were so enchantingly blue (as were many of his brothers’ and Conner’s, if she was being honest, but his were her favourites) and she couldn't help but just drown in them. He genuinely liked her designs (he says he loves them, her mind not so helpfully reminded her, because that made it even better and even harder to let go of him if the need be), he wasn’t pretending to do so because they were soulmates. Tim also had such great ideas for new clothing sometimes — he had been a massive help with the design for her latest dress that she was planning on making for the up-coming Wayne Gala where he (and the rest of the family) had invited her.

Yeah, and Tim knew how to paint nails a little too well. Marinette was certainly going to use that little fact to her advantage and have him do her nails at some point.

Marinette also truly enjoyed spending time with his family and him. All of them respected her at least on some level (gave her the basic respect Jagged had taught everyone was supposed to give her automatically unless she actually did something to warrant them to lose said respect) and didn't try to have her bake or design clothes for them or have her do their chores they were supposed to do because they wanted a little more time to themselves — especially not for free. Never for free. And, even if they did ask her to do something for them (usually it was Jay or Dick doing so), they never failed to remind her she could say no and that depending on what they asked her to do they’d compensate it to her as soon as possible in whatever form she wanted — whether that be money or new fabric or favours or them helping her the next time she baked something.

They didn’t take her for granted, and that was freeing.

She was genuinely happy to spend time with them. Their presence, especially Tim’s, was comforting to her, with him it was safe for her to just be herself.

Yeah, she was too far gone for one Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne and definitely did not want to lose him. She could only hope she was someone Tim could be himself with as well.

Honestly, her biggest problem with all and any of this was that Tim was a civilian and in case someone found out he was close to her, it would be no good for him to know. If the threat was magical, there was no way he could fight it off even if he was anything like his brothers when it came to fighting (she just didn’t know, but she did suspect he was). She herself could get out of problematic situations rather easily, but there was no telling just how bad situation could get until Tim would no longer have any way to get away. She figured he had to have at least some kind of basic training because so many in his family seemed to know martial arts, he lived in Gotham and was a CEO, but she had no idea to what extent he could protect himself.

And indeed, because the miraculous considered her an adult now and she no longer had a time limit after she used her special ability (whatever it was depending on the miraculous), it meant there was no way she would even consider stopping. Of course, she still tried not to push too far after she did use that ability as to not exhaust the kwami she was using too much and she’d made it her point to wear multiple miraculouses at once at all times so even if she had to detransform to let one kwami rest, she wouldn’t need to stop fighting right away or wait until they recharged.

In a city like Gotham where she could be needed, this all meant she could not stop being a hero. (Though, she knew that Batman wasn’t known for being too fond of magic users, or metas, whatever it was they called them, so she would need to have him somehow accept her presence or prepare to fight him and perhaps also all of his team that seemed to actually be his family — especially Robin seemed to still be a little child, younger than her when she received her miraculous.) Not since they had seemed to decide they were going nowhere from there, most of all not Paris.  

They were never going to return, they really didn’t want to do so, what with the entire city being full of traumatic memories to them. Maybe they’d visit Kagami and Luka and her parents, maybe his aunt and cousin, but otherwise, no. Besides, their soulmates were both here, they had hardly any people they had good relationships with in Paris anymore because they’d both eventually stood up to their class, Gabriel was in prison — which, in turn, meant that the majority of Paris blamed Papillon’s actions on Adrien at least on some level. It didn’t matter to them that he had said that no, he had nothing to do with his father’s actions, and that his father actually abused him and he was glad to be finally free from him.

It wasn’t like they didn’t have a list of excuses to stay.

(Marinette wasn’t going to admit it any time soon, but she had an actual list of the excuses to stay written down in case someone asked her and her brain wouldn’t agree on cooperating at that time. It was also partly in case she ended up mentioning there were many, many, many reasons for them to stay and someone asked for a list; This way she could literally provide them with one. It was both on multiple papers and notebooks and on her phone — after all, back-up copies were very useful.)

Yet another reason as to why she should tell Tim — even though her Miraculous Cure healed and restored almost anything, it had mostly stopped working on her as it drew its energy from both her and Tikki, and now she was full of scars. Sure, it mostly healed the biggest injuries so she was rarely limping or bleeding long, and they never became devastating, but well. It still wasn’t any good that she had to keep covering some of the scars behind layers of makeup or hide them under clothing. Thank kwami Adrien had yet to report the same was happening to him.

There was no way Tim wouldn’t discover the scars’ existence at some point, regardless of whether their soulbond was romantic or platonic (although she certainly hoped it was romantic), so it would be far better to just come clean about it before he eventually found out about them on his own anyway.

So yeah.

She also had a long list of very good reasons to tell Tim.

The problem here was, she had no idea how.

She could hardly just walk up to him and blurt out she was Ladybug when it had just been announced that Ladybug (and Chat Noir at that, but it was up to Adrien to decide whether he wanted to tell his identity to anyone aside from Bart — he likely wanted to tell him) were dead, she would have to come up with a better plan to that. A lot better plan.

But perhaps… perhaps if she presented him with a miraculous and asked him to fight alongside her and Adrien… Maybe Bart could be there as well if Adrien considered it a good idea?

“Hey, Adrien, what do you think? Would Tim be a good miraculous user? And how about Bart?” she asked. Fiddling with the mouse necklace she was wearing, Marinette turned to look at Adrien who had, at some point, left from her side. Mullo was sleeping somewhere inside her hood.  “They both seem like people that would like to help others if they could — I mean, Tim already tries as a CEO and I simply don’t know Bart that well yet — but I don’t know. I want to hear your opinion on this as well because even if I am now the guardian and could technically just do whatever the hell I wanted, you’re still my partner in crime… fighting, and since some of my previous choices weren’t too good…”

Yeah, she did mean Alya and Nino. Also others, but those she’d trusted the most, so…

“Are you seriously asking me if I’d like to have both our soulmates by our side if— no, when we are fighting possibly magic-based crime in Gotham or elsewhere in the States?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. She nodded slowly. Adrien arched an eyebrow as he looked at her like she had made the stupidest question he had ever heard in his life before. “Duh, obviously, of course I want them there. Bart would be good. He’s so fast already — no, seriously, I swear, he’s quicker at doing things than Plagg is at eating camembert —, he’s a quick thinker and okay, he’s a little impulsive, but most of the time his ideas haven’t been that horrible, so a miraculous could probably enhance all of it in a good way.”

“And Tim’s got a good sense of justice and he’s one of the smartest people I’ve met. He’d be great at any strategic positions and— you know, I think he could work either the snake or the dragon miraculous really well.”

Adrien nodded enthusiastically. “Now you’re talking my language. Mayhaps the fox miraculous would be good for Bart, he’d get to be creative and I’m sure if he got up to any mischief, Trixx would only be more than happy to help. Or maybe the horse— actually, no, forget about that, I don’t think that’s a good idea because he might get the idea to send us all to anywhere in the world because it seemed like a good idea to him for all of two seconds and that’s the one thing that would make everything really problematic.” Adrien sunk into his thought for a moment, tapping his nose with his finger absent-mindedly as he tried to think of something else. Then his eyes brightened as he came up with an idea.

“Oh, the turtle! He’s quick so it wouldn’t take him long to protect those in need of it, and maybe in some moments when he’s too impulsive, Wayzz could be there as a voice of reason and common sense in his head. I don’t actually mind his impulsiveness at all but sometimes all of us could use a Wayzz to help us slow down a little.”

Wayzz himself looked torn between agreeing, and strongly disagreeing and escaping before Adrien could convince Marinette to give him to Bart.

“I’m seriously considering this now. I have no idea how to give them one, though. It isn’t as simple as it would have been in Papillon’s Paris — we don’t have a Miraculous threat here and no one knows us. I mean, they’ve probably heard of the deceased Ladybug and Chat Noir, but not the ones we’re going to become. We can hardly just swing up to them and be like “hey have you ever wanted to be a hero? Well, here’s a miraculous that will transform you into a magical superhero with the help of jewellery and a god like in some anime—” God damn it Adrien, now I consider transforming into LB the same kind of thing as your anime’s girls with objects to make them magically transform.”

“They’re magical girls, actually. And well, I have to say, we kind of are magical girls, you know. Magical transformation, magic, magic provided superpowers, magical healing, double lives, way too obvious costumes for anyone to not figure out our identity yet none of them do it anyway… Oh, and we have specific words to transform us along with magical accessories or jewellery and we have a literal transformation choreography! Clearly magical girls!”

“Magical girls, then, whatever. Never compare us to them again.”

Adrien just snickered.

“Ugh, shut up, will you?”

“Of course. But yeah, you’re right, we can’t just appear behind their windows and give them a miraculous. That would be just stupid and irresponsible, now wouldn’t it?”

“Why do you sound so sarcastic?”

“That might be because I kind of am.”

“Go away.”

She had no idea how she could still stand Adrien. Why was he her best friend again?

Oh yeah.

Because he was the one who had stood right there by her side through thick and thin.

That’s why.

⬷۵⤐

“So. Let me get this straight—”

“In this family?”

“Shut up, Jaybird. So, what you’re saying is, you want to reveal us all to your girlfriend because you don’t want to keep secrets this big from her?”

Tim sighed and ran a hand down his face, exasperated. Hadn’t he just explained this? “No, Dick, first of all, she’s not my girlfriend — at least yet. What I’m asking is if it’s okay to everyone I tell her I’m Red Robin and get her to start training so she can become a vigilante as well. She’d be good at it. I don’t want to keep my identity from her in case we do start dating because then what if she thinks I’m cheating on her or up to some other not-good stuff when I keep sneaking out in the middle of the night and can’t even tell her what for.”

“And why do you want her to be a vigilante? You know it’s dangerous.”

“Then why is any of us doing it? It would anyway be her choice. Besides, if she was fighting beside me, she wouldn’t even need to worry about me that much because she could technically probably see me and not have to stay at home, you know? I know I can see there’s something in her that reminds me a lot of most of us, the need to fight for justice and for those in need of help because no one else does either. I can see the crave to fight in her.”

Dick sighed and tilted his head, his expression hard as steel. “You really thought this through, didn’t you?”

“Obviously. And as to why I’m asking you is because she’s actually smart and would definitely put two and two together when I tell her I’m Red Robin; The likeliness of Robin, Red Robin, Batman, Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood — yes, Jason, you too, have you seen the giant red bat on your chest you insist on wearing even though you claim to detest us half the time because we all can see it —, Black Bat, the Signal and the rest of us being close with each other, if not family, is quite high. Basically, she would most likely connect you all to the vigilantes running around.”

Bruce crossed his arms over his chest and shot him the Batdad-Look™, and if he hadn’t been so determined to get them to agree, it would have probably made him a… little too nervous to keep on talking. Alas, it wasn’t going to make him stop because he really, really wanted Marinette to fight beside him and if it meant he needed to bear with Bruce’s Batdad-Looks™, then so be it. He was not about to go down without first putting up a fight.

Tim couldn’t even explain how grateful he was for the fact Bruce stayed quiet despite the expression on his face. It helped his situation a little.

Instead, it did not help that he could feel Cass’ eyes on his back. She was sitting on the ground a small distance away from them, probably reading all of them like they were open books. He decided to ignore it for now — there was really nothing else he could do.

“And you know she’s a good fighter — you saw her spar with Jason! You saw how she fought against Damian who actually, officially challenged her, like she were equal. He doesn’t do that too often. We all also know neither of them wasn’t holding back too much on second matched anymore, if at all in the in the third one. She only lost once they stopped holding back and even then she put up a good fight — the matches weren’t over in minutes. Like, we’ve all gotten training from at least the Bat himself, likely from many others too. She has not. That makes it an impressive feat. With training, she could probably be one of the best of us!”

Steph lifted her hands above her head as to surrender and to draw attention to herself. “Alright, I’m cool with it. Timmy’s passionate about his cause and also I like Mari. It could be fun to have her in the team.”

Thank goodness, at least someone was on his side.

Dick’s phone chimes and he looks at the message, groaning when he reads it. “Babs told me to tell you all that she also says yes, that she trusts Marinette with all of this if others are fine with it as well,” he says slowly, before he puts his phone away. It’s strange seeing him not cheerful, but Tim can’t afford to care about it too much now .

Another voice spoke up softly. “I think… Marinette makes a good fighter,” Cass said from her spot, resting her body weight on her arms with the flats of her palms on the ground. She seemed thoughtful. Her words carried a meaning all of them understood, even if she didn’t say it out loud — she liked her too and wanted her in, but that she too would like Marinette to get some training first before letting her out.

Just in case.

They knew she wanted to lose people just as much as the rest of them — which meant, she didn't want to lose any more people she cared about.

Then, a sigh. “Yeah, gotta agree. Could be nice to have her on our side, she’s fun. And Timber’s right, she does seem like she’s achin’ to go fight a bitch. It’d be better if we made sure she’s got the necessary skills and stuff, and I’d rather not have to fight her because one of us considers her an enemy or because she thinks that of us. Girl’s got some mad skills. Also, B, if you think about it for a second longer, I’m sure you’d realise that if there’s a chance she is going out anyway, I’m sure you’d prefer she followed your rules, too, right?”

Tim… wasn’t sure when the last time he’d been grateful for Jason’s input had last occurred, but he was certainly ready to let Jason do whatever the hell he wanted with criminals during their next patrol together, that’s how grateful he was. Yes, even if it meant Jason shooting them in the fucking kneecaps.

“Yes, but she’s still—”

“She’s what, Grayson? She put up a respectable fight even thought she’s still clearly inferior to me, but I do not doubt she could do the same in the field. Her skills most certainly require improvement and bettering, and she needs to fine her techniques if she wants to hold her own out there without getting killed, but I’m certain she’s more than capable of getting to Todd’s level with guidance.”

Okay, wow. Damian was defending Marinette. He definitely needed to tell this to her — he was sure she’s appreciate hearing the little demon of the family respected her enough to speak up against Dick and his father, the only ones of them he’d ever openly admitted held his respect, even if he didn’t necessarily word it as “I respect you” or “you have my respect.” It seemed Marinette got the honor of being the third one, and she had been family for all of some weeks. She’d even gotten him to use the word “respectable” when talking about her.

She got him admitting to all of them, all of them, that he thought she was good and worth his respect. Now that was something.

So, Tim also appreciated him speaking up. This tiny (alright so he may not have been that tiny anymore and there’s a chance Damian was now taller than Tim, but who cared, he would always be tiny to Tim) teenager was still the only biological child of Bruce and also one of the hardest of them to impress, so if he said something of this sort about anyone (the last time it was something about Jon but Tim hadn’t cared enough to remember what it actually was about anymore), everyone would at least listen to him before simply jumping to decisions.

So yeah. If there ever was a time Tim wanted nothing more than to take his little brother out and let him find a few new animals to keep as pets, even if they weren’t good as pets, it was now. It certainly was now.

“I’m siding with Tim here — don’t give me that look, Dick, the ones already sided with him are scarier and more dangerous than you and Bruce together, so even if I didn’t agree, his side would be the wiser choice—”, Duke starts, shrugging, though there was a clear smile on his face. “But like, Marinette’s nice, like actually nice, and if she’s going to become family anyway, I don’t see why we couldn’t have her in this as well. Tim has a good point — several good points, actually, so the logic is also on his side.”

Yeah, Tim certainly couldn’t hide his smile any longer. Only Dick and Bruce were yet to say yes. Maybe he could actually do this.

Of course, he was not going to go through with any of this if all of them didn’t agree. He could risk his own identity to his soulmate, but there was no way he was going to force anyone else to do so for anyone, least of all for someone that wasn’t literally linked to them by their very soul. He would never compromise all of them for one person.

“Okay, fine. It seems everyone else is saying yes, so I guess I’m outvoted here. I just want every one of you to stay safe, you know? I don’t want this to end up being the reason any of you gets hurt.”

Yes, Tim knew that. Regardless of how annoying Dick managed to get a lot of the time, or how frustratingly stubborn he always was, or how his attitude was irritatingly similar to Bruce’s even when their personalities weren’t even remotely similar most of the time (that one was probably causation of Bruce taking care of Dick for like a decade), there was never any doubt his love or concern for any of them wasn’t genuine. That much was more than obvious.

He managed to give Dick a small smile, hoping it would convey he was grateful he finally said yes.

Now there was only one left to convince.

The most difficult of them (if you didn’t count Damian in, anyway) to convert.

Bruce was stubborn as hell when he wanted to, but seeing as he was stubborn even if he wasn’t trying to be, this could either be easy or the most difficult thing Tim had ever done. It had taken him a while to convince Bruce to make him Robin, but back then all he was trying was to have him take himself in and train him; Back then Tim wasn’t planning on telling his identity to someone who didn’t know yet, someone who could figure out the rest of them as well, and then have her trained to become one of them. Tim knew it, it was a lot to ask, but he wanted to do it anyway. It was important to him, alright?

Tim turned to look at Bruce. “Well? How is it?” He placed his hands on his hips and tilted his head, waiting for an answer. Any answer, really.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Tim. What if something happens to her? Or what if something happens to you? Or any of your siblings?”

“But what if something happens to her because I didn’t tell her? And besides, something could happen to any of us at any given time, given what we all do on nightly basis. We could have also just not done it, but we are doing it anyway and like hell is any of us going to just quit. Out world is full of what-ifs, we cannot help them, and I’ll be damned if I let them make me lose the one person actually made for me, the one person that I was tailored to.”

“With all due respect, Master Bruce, I must say, you have told your identity — even if only subtly hinted at it with a very specific set of words so that it’s enough for them to make the connection — so many times that I think you can hardly be against this. None of them were even your soulmate. Need I remind you of who everyone knew or found out without ever even becoming one of us? At least Master Tim is planning on bringing her in on all of this and planning to have her properly trained,” Alfred said, appearing in the doorway behind Bruce.

So sure, Cass and Damian knew exactly how to seemingly just appear and reappear without anyone noticing as though they could teleport, sure, Commissioner Gordon always complained about Batman doing it, and sure, the rest of them knew how to blend in with the shadows (they just didn’t always do it), but Alfred also seemed to possess this skill — better than most of them, anyway. Tim had absolutely no idea how, but he wasn’t about to complain.

Besides, it was Alfred, so it wasn’t surprising. Honestly, was there anything the man couldn’t do?

But the thing is, Alfred was also right. He had let Rachel Dawes find out. He let commissioner Gordon find out. Mr. Fox knew because Bruce had asked for help and equipment he then used as Batman while he was being Bruce Wayne — now that right there had never even seen subtle hinting. A whole lot of other people knew as well, though many had found out on their own — such as Tim, while some found out because of other, not so lovely circumstances, like Selina.

So, all in all, Bruce was the worst of them to say anything about it. True, he was mostly protective of them, always thinking up the worst-case scenarios about everything, something Tim himself did as well because that was the easiest way to make sure they were prepared for absolutely anything and everything, but Tim trusted Marinette. He wanted to trust her, just like Bruce had trusted some people. And in any case, he’d rather trust than live his life in suspicion of most people, like some people he knew did. Like Bruce.

Bruce opened his mouth to say something, but as nothing came out, he just closed it again. A defeated sigh slipped past his lips and he let go of the tensity in his shoulders, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Fine, I can see when I’ve lost. I want to meet her soon after you tell her, maybe right away after it, though, regardless of whether she makes the connection or not. I would prefer if all of you were here then,” he said, motioning at all of them before he placed his hand on Tim’s shoulder. “And that you—” he cast a pointed look at Tim, “—tell us when you are going to do it. I trust that you understand what you’re doing. I do not want to find out Ms. Dupain-Cheng is a danger to any of you, but especially you.”

“Of course. I take full responsibility of her and her training—”

“No you won’t. I’ll do that, although I do expect you to be there for her and to be a major help. I’m still your father and I don’t care if you’re already 19, because I’m not letting my children be that much of adults just yet.”

“Hey!”

Bruce just smiled (a tense smile, one that was half-forced on his face) and left all of them (except Cass whom Tim couldn’t see anywhere anymore) behind, gaping.

“Did he just—”

“Oh my god he totally did!”

“Please tell me someone recorded B calling himself a father and calling us his children.”

Tim had a vague suspicion that Cass had indeed recorded it, was going to send it to all of them, and then, depending on the reactions to it, would send a voice message of her laughing to their group chat.

Well, that definitely went better than he thought.

⬷۵⤐

“You know, I’m glad I have you as my soulmate,” Marinette began around a week later as they were sitting in the living room of the Wayne Manor. She snuggled closer to him and Tim wrapped an arm around her, comfortable and relaxed for the first time in a few days. “I’ve known you for not that long, but I already know I don’t want to lose you.”

She reached for his hand and took it in her own. Tim squeezed her hand back.

“Me neither.” Tim saw this as an opening — after all, most, if not all, of his reasons to tell Marinette who he was and all his plans about how exactly he should do it were born from the idea that he didn’t want to lose her. And so, he stood up, still holding her hand, and pressed a light kiss on it. “I need to show you something important. Will you follow me?”

A soft laughed escaped from Marinette as she replied, smiling, “Always, to the ends of the world.”

Marinette let herself be pulled up to her feet and led through the endless dark hallways of the manor. He quickly shot a message (“I’m prepared to do it, I’m taking her down now. Be there in five”) to the group chat before putting his phone away. When it vibrates in his pocket, he first looked at Marinette as though to make sure it was fine with her if he checked and possibly answered — after all, he knew it wasn’t too urgent or they would have called, and as far as Marinette was aware, this was supposed to be their time together to get to know each other better and all, not time for either of them to spend talking to other people via phone —, the corners of his lips turning upwards at her when she nodded with a smile on her face.

It seemed smiles liked to creep up on his face a lot more now that Marinette was around.

The message was from Jason, and Tim rolled his eyes fondly at it.

I thought you were supposed to tell her instead of fighting her, babybird.

shut up jason

You know pwefectly well what taking her down means int his case

Oh yes, I most definitely do.

It’s just so much fun reminding you of the existence of double meanings you either use to insult people or forget about completely.

But yeah, we’ll be ready.

“One of your brothers?”

“Yep. Jason is being a cumberworld.”

“And him being a cumberworld definitely makes you grin and roll your eyes as though he merely made a stupid joke and you, unfortunately, thought it rather amusing. Got it.”

“Wait. You actually know what it means?”

“Duh, obviously. After listening to you and your family for a while, it seemed like a good idea to do some research on different English insults so they wouldn’t fly by me all the time.”

Tim snorted. Of course. Only Marinette would. Only her. Everyone else outside of their family seemed to give up on trying to understand after a little while, but noooo, this girl decided she was going to spend extra time doing some research just to be able to understand — that, and also most likely to be able to laugh at them. She definitely fit in just fine.

It didn’t take them too long after that to get to the main study in the manor that Tim had earlier told her was Bruce’s and told her not to go in. Maybe that was why Marinette now looked quite nervous and anxious as he unlocked the door and pushed it open, motioning for her to go in.

“Are you sure we can go in here? Mr Wayne— I mean, Bruce, isn’t going to get mad at us? And you aren’t about to kill me, right?” she laughed, trying to mask her nervousness with humour, but walked in anyway. She relaxed a little and the tensity in her shoulders slipped away the slightest bit as Tim shook his head as no.

He walked to the grandfather clock in the room and let go of Marinette’s hand in order to be able to turn the hands of the clock. The clock hit 10:48 (Tim had always thought there was no one more grim than the Batman but then he actually met Bruce Wayne and found out you needed to turn the clock to show the time Bruce’s parents had been murdered, and was just like that forced to change his view on the matter) and the panel unlocked, opening the door hidden from view behind the clock.

Marinette’s jaw dropped open. This was most certainly not what she had been expecting, that much was sure.

“Well then, my fair lady, shall we enter?” he asked, grinning at Marinette’s flabbergasted expression even as she walked closer and tried to figure out where the entrance would take them.

She could keep trying; he was not about to tell her just yet.

The elevator took them down and soon enough, they were in the cave. He stepped out of the doors and waited for Marinette to follow him.

“...Where are we?” she asked, her voice a little strained.

“Uh.”

“Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne, where in the world exactly did you take me?”

It seemed actually telling her turned out a little more difficult than he thought. Well, no use crying now — he couldn’t just brush off all of this like he hadn’t just taken his soulmate down to the Batcave either.

“Alright. So, this might come as a shock and for the love of all that’s still holy and sacred in this world please do not freak out. I just decided I needed to tell you this before we consider pursuing any relationship on a deeper and closer level than what we have now, regardless of in what sense it would be.

Marinette nodded slowly, encouraging him to go on even as she seemed suspicious (and anxious) about what was going on. Perhaps that was a good thing since they were in Gotham, in the city where you never knew who the person in front of you was or what they did in their free time (or at night).

Tim took a deep breath before dropping the bomb on her. “I am Red Robin, one of the vigilantes of Gotham.”

At his declaration, her jaw dropped. Again. “You— I— What?”

“I’m Red Robin,” he repeated and pulled out the domino mask he had taken with him and slipped into his pocket, putting it on his face. Thank heavens for Marinette and her need to give him big pockets whenever he commissioned her (and there was any reason to put pockets to said commissioned clothing) because of that one offhand comment complaining about too small pockets some of his clothes had. He scratched his chin awkwardly before realising what he was doing and pulled his hand down, pressing his nails to his skin to keep himself from bringing it up again. “I was also thinking, you’d make a good vigilante if that’s what you wanted to do. Obviously, I would need to train you first to make sure you’d be ready for Gotham’s streets, but I thought it could help you not to worry about me if you saw me in action and actually had the chance to help me if necessary?”

That… wasn’t supposed to come out as a question. Why did it come out as one?

But Marinette’s silence was worrying him. It would be understandable not to get an answer now, but he knew her well enough by now to know that she would be mindlessly rambling at this point if it were merely shock she was experiencing.

“You… You aren’t a villain or planning on becoming one, right? Because even if you were my soulmate, that would mean I’d have to take you down.” Almost certain he could feel Dick’s pointed (and amused, definitely amused) look on his back, he added, “I’m not about to go down the Batman-Catwoman route with this.”

That startled Marinette out of her shock and as she stared him dead in the eye, she blurted out, “Spots on!”

Tim could have almost sworn he heard an exasperated and quiet “Marinette, why couldn't you just tell him like we agreed?” as bright pink light enveloped her and soon revealed that in her place there stood a young woman in a red suit with black spots.

And a spotted mask.

Which made it a ladybug suit.

Or the Ladybug suit.

On his soulmate that came from Paris.

Paris’ Ladybug…

“Oh my god. You’re Ladybug. My soulmate is Ladybug. This is a thing now, apparently. Aren’t you supposed to be dead? Actually, no, I’ve seen enough people that were resurrected, it wouldn’t even be that surprising. How were you—”

Ladybug’s shoulders lifted to her ears and she smiled sheepishly. “Hi? I’m not a villain as you can see?”

It was Tim’s turn to simply stare at Marinette. He— he was not expecting this turn of events. He sighed and waved his hand a little in a “come here” gesture, knowing they were there and that they’d seen her transform anyway. That would mean there was no secret identity problem anymore as her identity wasn’t really a secret anymore, per se. Besides, since she was a hero already, they could very well just introduce themselves to her already.

He had to admit, this was absolutely wonderful as it meant she fit in perfectly — it was as though she had always been the missing piece of the puzzle that was his life and family.

Of course, though he was expecting fate to be a jerk and give him a civilian soulmate, Fate instead decided to cut him some slack and just give him someone that could actually keep up with him and the family he wasn’t going to get rid of anyway, no matter what he tried or wanted (not that he wanted to get rid of them most of the time).

But well. A soulmate was supposed to suit you perfectly, so maybe it wasn’t that surprising.

Ladybug didn’t seem to notice his family approaching them as she kept on rambling and tried to explain herself. “I’m also not dead and never was. Chat Noir isn’t dead either though he has died multiple times during akuma attacks and was resurrected by my Miraculous Cure. Paris just happens to have a tendency to get overdramatic and jump to conclusions, and Chaton and I decided we didn’t want the Ladyblogger on our backs any longer. Neither of us is too fond of her, especially not after the phenomenon that is Lila Rossi,” she said, sighing as she cocked her hip. Ladybug shook her head and turned her eyes to the side. It seemed the name meant a lot, just not in any good way. “Wait. If you’re Red Robin, then—”

“Hiii!”

Aaandd it seemed that Dick had taken that as his cue to make his presence known. How lovely.

Ladybug turned to Dick and then back to Tim, arching an eyebrow. “Since you’re Red Robin, I’m going to go ahead and suppose this is your family. Am I right?”

“Yeah, unfortunately.”

“They’re not going to try and fight me or drive me out of your city for having powers, right?”

Batgirl cuffed him upside the head as she skipped to them, walked past Tim and then looked Ladybug up and down before nodding approvingly. “Definitely approve, though that suit… Am I seriously supposed to believe you’re our sweet, wonderful, talented fashion designer? Also no, even if B-Man or Dickiebird over there tried, Timmers, Damian and I would fight for you. You’re staying because I like you. We all like you.”

Ladybug flushed lightly at the compliments and the otherwise sweet words, but to her credit, her voice didn’t even waver when she replied (unlike usually), “I just haven’t had the energy and time to change it yet. It’s magic, can’t change it that easily.”

“Oh, okay. Well, try and see if you can recognise all of us!”

Ladybug bit her lip and looked at each and every one of them separately, her calculating eyes feeling like they could see right through all of them. She walked between them and around them, a sly grin appearing on her face.

“Well, Bats here is probably Mr Wayne. He’s the oldest of all and I strongly doubt any of you could be doing what you are if he didn’t know — unless, of course, it was Alfred, and I don’t doubt Alfred’s skills at all, but I’m pretty sure that back when Robin wasn’t there yet, someone needed to look after Batman and I honestly think only Alfred could have that much power on him. So. Mr Wayne.”

Batman took off his cowl, indeed revealing Bruce himself.

As she moved on to Nightwing, she winked and laughed with an “I did do my homework on the flight here. Seriously, did you think I wouldn’t?” Then she turned to look Nightwing in the eye (or, would have looked him in the eye if not for his domino. “I’m going to say Dick. I’ve been watching you all while I’ve been here — in both forms, it seems —, and I doubt any of you could pull some of the moves, or the attitude, Nightwing does, except for Dick. Don’t give me that look, you did jump from the balcony at some point last week, landing safely on the ground after showing off and doing like a million spins and somersaults.”

Tim laughed. “Dick, I told you, someone else besides me was going to recognise you for your somersaults one day.”

“You too?”

“Oh yeah, I worked out Dick’s, Bruce’s and then Jason’s original identities because of Dick’s quadruple-somersault when I was a kid. Nightwing’s identity wasn’t difficult either since, well, it was obviously the previous Robin.”

“Of course you would.”

Then she turned to Oracle in her wheelchair. “Anyway. I know you’re Barbara, and I’m so glad to see you here too, but I’m nor sure about you alias,” she said, her voice clearly apologetic for the fact.

“It’s alright,” Barbara comforted her and gave her a smile, “I wasn’t expecting you to know it. I’m Oracle, it’s nice to meet you. I’ll probably get you on the comms at some point as well because managing things is what I do now. The woman in the chair, if you will,” she continued, making Marinette chuckle. Tim loved the sound.

“Then the big bad Red Helmet over there is Jason — no, seriously, Jay, why in the world are you the Red Hood if you aren’t even wearing one?” she asked, her face twisting as she looked at him. God, Tim loved this girl, she would happily stab any of their fashion sense with a smile on her face, and honestly, the helmet was horrible. Her words earned her snickers from all around the room. She was obviously pleased with herself as Jason took off his mask and gaped at her, offended.

She didn’t even pay him attention too much, continuing on with her list. “The scowling Robin over there is definitely Damian, only he could pull off those expression with a hint of Bat in them, and the current Batgirl is obviously Stephanie. Duke is the Signal — that was your name, right? Oh, and Cass, you’re Black Bat, aren’t you?” At Cass’ nod and her revealing her face, Marinette let out a sigh of relief. “You’re one of the only ones here with an acceptable suit.”

Ladybug transformed back into Marinette, a small creature appearing from her… earrings? before hiding inside her jacket. Tim decided to ignore it, maybe it was nothing. Marinette turned around, spinning on her heel to face Bruce. “Like, I know you need protection because there’s no magic to do so, but you could have protection with suits that looked less ridiculous and atrocious than this,” she said, motioning at their clothing. “That actually goes to most of you. I especially hope there’s a really good reason and a story behind Robin’s colours, because otherwise I will not possibly be able to understand why anyone would go around as a vigilante in colours this bright.”

“There is a reason behind the color choices,” Dick said disturbingly quietly from where he was standing. “They were my family’s colors.”

Marinette winced lightly — she too knew what had happened to them on that fateful night. “Alright. That’s a good reason, even if they’re still horrible colour choices. That would make you the first Robin, right?” Dick nodded. “It’s understandable for you to want to use your family’s colours.” Her solemn tone indicated she accepted Dick’s reason for it completely, telling them all she felt bad for saying they were horrible but knew she wouldn’t back off — and they wouldn’t blame her for that either —, and they all knew she was going to leave arguing and pressing for explanations away completely. Her limitless capability of empathy was admirable.

Then she turned back to Tim. “Is that offer about training still on the table? I’d love to take it if so. I could probably win any of you as Ladybug because magic and a goddess in my pocket, also known as Tikki— Oh, actually! Tikki, come on out, come say hi to Tim!”

A small red, ladybug-like creature flew from under her jacket to Tim, smiling brightly. He immediately recognised it as the fairy he’s seen earlier. “Hi! I’m Tikki, the goddess — or as we like to call ourselves, the kwami — of creation. It’s lovely to finally meet my holder’s soulmate!”

“It’s, uh, nice to meet you as well, I guess? I take it you’re the one that helps Marinette transform,” Tim said, a little confused by the flying, speaking creature.

“Yup, I’m an ancient being, older than anything and everything else, so while she’s not the only one I’ve helped — the history is full of Ladybugs —, she’s my current holder. Remember that if you hurt her, while Adrien can do a lot of destruction and damage —” there seemed to be a double meaning behind those words but he just couldn’t figure out what it was. “—I will be the one you actually want to look out for!”

Tikki’s words were single handedly the single most terrifying thing Tim had ever heard, and it did not help at all that she was smiling all through it, her voice gentle and kind, her entire demeanour bright even when she was threatening him. He didn’t even want to know what a goddess of creation could do as retaliation.

“If I hurt her, I’d let you do whatever you wanted,” Tim finally heard himself say. Those words were surprisingly true and ran deep, he realised. It… should honestly have been alarming. It was not.

“Good, you understood quickly. This one’s good, let’s keep him.” Tikki patted his head — and such a weird image it must have been, a creature maybe the size of his hand patting his head —, bringing Tim comfort for some reason. He had absolutely no idea how she managed it, being terrifying and so sweet and safe at the same time. He could totally see where Marinette got it from. “Also, some of you have definitely been in close — too close — touch with the Lazarus Pit, this place reeks of it. Marinette, tell me, why haven’t we already taken Plagg with us to the Lazarus Pit and gotten rid of it for good?”

Marinette shrugged, unaware of what was happening in the background behind her — Jason gaping, Bruce in shock, Damian just staring at them like he had seen a ghost, which was a rather disturbing picture because sometimes it seemed the boy could get fazed by nothing. The rest looked just confused. Maybe he should just leave them be and try to focus on Marinette and Tikki right now. “Jeez, Tikki, I have no idea. Maybe, maybe it’s because this has got to be the first time I hear about them and honestly, it should be more disturbing than it is that I, for some reason I don’t want to know, actually know what you’re talking about. Is that a guardian thing?”

Tikki nodded before speaking. “Well, we have to do it at some point. Let’s take the cat with us as well, I’m sure he’d prefer not to be left alone if we’re taking Plagg with us anyway. For now, though, I’m sure we can talk about it later.”

Tim shook his head, trying to concentrate. “Yeah, the offer is still on the table. I’d be happy to train you. You’d also get training from the Bat himself if you wanted — he actually insisted on it before this,” he laughed. “But yeah, I’ll be there anyway. Fun soulmate bonding and all that, right? Fighting, training and sparring until we can no longer stand on our own two feet, that’s all anyone could ever want,” he mused, odd warmth filling his chest as Marinette chuckled at his comment.

“Yes, you get it. Finally someone gets it — looking at you, Chat. Having said that, I do have to tell you it’s a little awkward and a huge coincidence you happened to ask me if I wanted to become a vigilante, as I was kind of going to ask you the same.”

“Huh?”

“You just beat me to revealing your identity and asking. I was wondering if you’d like to try using a miraculous, you know? It’s so much fun unless you’re trying to save an entire city that’s flooding and your partner is not doing what he’s supposed to and you have maybe five minutes left after you use your special ability but other than that, it’s great. I know you sometimes get even magical threats here, and I’m sure you’d rather be able to deal with them yourself instead of having to get the magic users not from here involved every single time since it’s your city. Also, since I’m not going to quit being Ladybug, and I will be out there doing my thing, I’d like to have my soulmate in the team sometimes as well, by my side. Obviously, you can refuse, but like, I could see you being a good snake. Sass would like you.”

Tikki nodded, clearly agreeing with Marinette. He knew better than to ask if they realised what sass meant, or to tell them that he was already familiar with sass, since it was probable this Sass was one of the Kwamies. Kwamiis. Kwamii? He had no idea.

Then she turned around to face the others whose attention — all of it — went immediately to her when she focused hers at them. “It could also be fun to see how any of you work with a miraculous once I get to know you better and know which kwamii would fit to each of you — I do have quite many of them travelling with me, after all,” she said, and the smile playing on her lips was easy to hear from her words. Come the next words (and the jab at most of them), Tim also knew for sure there was a mischievous glint dancing in her eyes. “That, and the kwamii come up with alright costumes most of the time even if you have no idea how to design a good one yourself. The suits are much safer than yours, too, because again, magic . And god-given powers, quite literally.”

The little fairy — kwami, wasn’t it? ... she. Something. — settled herself on Marinette’s head while Marinette took out a small box from her purse, opening it. A bright light with a yellowish or orange hue appeared in front of her as another one of the kwamii took form. Marinette put on a necklace that looked like a fox’s tail, which honestly looked logical as it resembled the kwami as well — if they had something to do with each other, that is.

“Heya Marinette! What is it today? Ooohhh, there are more people to mess with today! The cat isn’t here, I see… Wait, is this the soulmate thing you and Chat discussed? Is one of them your soulmate? Do I actually get to meet him before any of the others do?” The fox looking kwami seemed excited and it was a little bothersome to realise how much the kwami reminded him of Bart. They would probably get along, if they ever got the chance to meet. Probably not.

“Well, Tikki met him already, but yes, you’ll get to gloat about this to Plagg, Wayzz, Mullo, Longg and the others. Except for Duusu, that’s forbidden. She’s not in a good enough mental state for that yet. But anyway, Trixx, Tim is my soulmate, the one that’s probably standing right behind me right now unless he actually somehow managed to stay still even in the presence of something new he doesn’t understand just yet,” she said and pulled out two cookies, handing one to each kwamii present. Tim flushed as he realised she knew exactly where he was and why he was there.

Marinette didn’t pay any attention to any of them anymore, only the kwami in front of her.

“Besides, you complained about not having gotten to patrol in a long while last night and as it seems they don’t hate the idea of a miraculous user here, yet anyway — not that it would stop me, honestly, you guys need to get out and be used sometimes and as the guardian, it’s kind of my responsibility —, they might even let me patrol with them and thus give you a chance to go around. Chaton and Plagg won’t be there, though, and I’m not going to tell him about them, so keep your mouth shut. I know you love knowing things others don’t, but you don’t get to tell them because then you won’t be able to keep the knowledge of more heroes to yourself, and I’d honestly rather have Chat and Plagg only know I’ve told my soulmate now so he’s free to tell his. Also, they—”, she pointed at his family, “—Get to keep their secrets, so there’s that too.”

It felt a little too familiar to hear Marinette call someone Chaton, and it irritated Tim to no ends to know that he knew the one Marinette had called Chaton earlier by name, but yet could still only connect it to Chat Noir and Chat Noir only.

Trixx flew around Tim’s head a few times until deciding on landing on top of it. The kwami started to eat the cookie, still there on top of his head, damnit, leaving cookie crumbles in his hair. “Hello there, Marinette’s soulmate! You seem rather interesting. Are you going to be trying to use one of us? It’s going to be so much fun seeing what kind of a hero you could become with our help!”

But, just as Tim was about to answer, an alarm went off in the cave. They all knew it was a villain attack, and soon all of them got notifications of said attack to their phones, computers, tablets, clocks, anything they had promised to carry around everywhere for this specific thing. Tim groaned and ran a hand down his face.

Not now, we don’t have time for this.

Even so, Tim ran off to put on his suit. There was a big chance Marinette would be coming along since she was, apparently, already used to villains (even if quite different from theirs), and he wanted to be there to see it.

At least Trixx let him leave without following.

⬷۵⤐

Marinette watched in wonder as everyone got a move on the second the alarm went off. It was so different from Paris. She hoped the civilians had more basic common sense than Parisians did, too, and would try to escape the danger zone instead of trying to get into it.

Barbara went to get a small piece of technology before wheeling to her. She took Marinette’s hand and pressed it on her palm. “Here. This is a comm. I want you to wear it when you’re out in the field at all times so you’ll be able to contact everyone, me included, at any time you need. They can also contact you if they’re in need of help or something. That, and I’ll be able to locate you at any point I want or need to, so yes, you have to use it,” she told her, but Marinette gave it back. Under Barbara’s rather scary and very unimpressed glare, she decided to give in. After all, she was — even bound to a wheelchair — one of the scariest of them. She was also one of Marinette’s favourites in the family and would probably admit this to any of them at any given time, so she reasoned that played a part in her decision as well.

“Fine, I’ll take it, but I need to transform first or it will disappear, though I’m pretty sure I could actually connect my own, safer communicator to yours,” she said before stepping back. “You might want to close your eyes, the light can be blinding. Tikki, spots on!”

Once the bright light went away, she got ready to unify Trixx and Tikki together. It would take her a lot of energy, but the stealth abilities Trixx came with were useful, as were the illusions, especially in a city such as Gotham, and Tikki, well, Marinette knew how to work with her the best, and the Miraculous Cure Tikki provided was the best thing ever since it could repair anything and everything if she was involved in it with the miraculous (and better yet, no one would need to pay for said repairs.) “Tikki, Trixx, unify!”

“Alright, I’m done now. I can take the comm now if you so insist,” she said, opening her palm and waiting for Barbara to hand it to her again. “You can call me Lady Vixen for now until I come up with a better name, Oracle.”

Oracle smiled at her and dropped the comm on Lady Vixen’s palm. She put it on, adjusting it until it no longer felt uncomfortable in her ear. Red Robin had just finished suiting up by then as well, and with a grin on his face, he stepped to her side. He brushed over her wrist with his fingers and she did the same to him, because even with their suits covering up the skin of their wrists, it made them more comfortable, more at ease, more focused. Happier. They turned to look at the rest of the family, waiting for the go-ahead since she still needed one from at least Batman.

After Batman nodded to her and smiled (which honestly was not a smile and looked more like a grimace, like seriously, Mr Wayne needed some help with how to smile), Nightwing gave her a bright smile (like, an actual smile, unlike Batman’s) and said, “Welcome to the team!”

She didn't reply, she knew she didn’t need to, and decided that swinging off with her soulmate was going to be enough.

Yeah, she was happy to be a part of the team, a part of the family.

Especially if her soulmate was going to be there for her and stay at her side through all of it.

____

@the-navistar-carol @kris-pines04 @thethirdwheelfriend @daminett4life

[setsailslash]

Good god your askbox is open for prompts??? Well then how about this gem that you definitely didn't see coming: Bat Boys in a Jaeger. Which batboys and how many of them (because in canon we've had three several times now and WHY NOT FOUR I GUESS if you wanted to) is up to you. Though I will definitely tentatively request Jason be at least present somewhere. Extra points for ghost drifting (whether it's cute or romantic or sexy or horrifying or none of those is also up to you)

in which Jason is a little bit of Raleigh and Yancy and Herc and Chuck all at the same time. way more bruce&jason content than anticipated but all the boys are here despite very obvious favouritism lmao (can totally be read as something more but it’s gen!! :OO)

Jason remembers how a ghost drift goes in distant memory. 

Bruce was always good in that he is a blank slate, never brought a thing into their driftspace and took everything that Jason offered as his own. 

Except.

The after effect was a buzzing sense of weightlessness that echoed inside of him. He’s not floating or flying, he’s at the cusp of a sharp long drop. And it’s nothing he can grasp especially on their worst days when the feedback from their drift goes rampant between them even without any of the machinery that should make it possible.

But it’s real and it’s true.

Jason’s hand moving before his head could truly register the motion, already following the way Bruce moved his. He was a shadow connected at every place, sewn to the man he calls his co-pilot.

-

When Jason dies ten miles off of the Gulf of Aden, Bruce pilots their Jaeger back to shore all on his own. Circuitry suit burning the entire way through skin to scorch flesh, co-pilot torn from his head while they were still connected. 

That was the last time Bruce ever steps foot inside of a Conn-Pod again.

-

Coming back to the Jaeger Program was never supposed to be like this.

Jason looks at Dick Grayson, the Program’s golden boy and tells him: “You don’t want me inside your head.”

They have both had Bruce Wayne as a co-pilot, the difference being Dick came out unscathed while Jason died. 

“Let me decide that for myself, Jay.” Dick answers with a smile despite the dark bruises under his eyes. He is in his drivesuit and they are standing in the Conn-Pod next to one another.

There’s something a lot like trepidation crawling up Jason’s spine. His heart kicks up a beat, each pulse a thundering boom to echo inside his helmet. 

“Don't say I didn't warn you.”

He felt like the sharpened rough edges of something ready to shatter on impact on a good day, he cannot imagine how Dick could navigate that.

"Lil' win—"

"Don't fucking call me that."

Their LOCCENT officer chooses that moment to come over the speakers, and Barbara’s voice leaves no room for anything otherwise when she asks them both. “Ready for the drop?” 

For Jaeger pilots like them, it's an ingrained response. They echo one another when they answer, “Ready.”

-

[Neural Handshake Initiating.]

Three. Two. One. 

They drop.

-

It’s biological, this drift of theirs. 

It’s a fit of their heads that fit tighter than the way their drivesuits can pull across their shoulders. Even with each piece settling over top, giving them the necessary weight, it’s a pull that has them feeling electricity spark across their skin.

It’s a singe.

-

It’s not enough though.

Because they need all the warm bodies encased in cold metal and put to the test. Jason is one more in a long line of sacrifices. The Kwoon looks and feels the exact same when he steps foot inside of it once again. There is an air of indifference, and it’s funny to learn nothing is sacred anymore. Not even this. 

What truly stings though is the sight of Bruce standing on the sidelines in a dark suit.

“Drift compatibility doesn’t mean shit anymore, does it?” Jason spits out because the man might be the Marshal now but he was once Jason’s co-pilot too. And something hits like a dull solid pang when it is a replacement candidate standing on the other end of the mats, bo-staff in hand. 

Jason doesn’t wait for an answer, he turns to Tim Drake to say: “I’m not going to dial down my moves.”

“Okay.” Tim’s lips quirk upwards at both corners, vicious and sharp, his grip shifts where it curls around the staff. “Then neither will I.”

-

They each make their first strike against the other. And then again and again and again.

There is a rush of blood, exhilaration in their veins. Sweat at their temples and it drips. Tim is good even if it physically pains Jason to admit to it.

Maybe drift compatibility is not the joke here, maybe it’s Jason. Because he is on his back, pinned and stunned when Tim draws the last point between them, bringing it to an even score. It’s unmistakable, he knows this feeling.

The end of his bo-staff is millimeters from grazing at Jason’s throat.

“Three-three.” Tim says to him.

-

The world is coming to an end. 

If this isn’t the time for desperation, then there probably isn’t one.  They are the last stand, a last ditch effort, one final score if Jason's ever seen one.

Bruce goes as far as to test his own son with Jason. 

“I imagined him differently.” Damian says to start.

And Jason fucking scowls at the brat.

-

He feels them in his head, their thoughts lingering like an afterthought.

Having access to every crevice of someone else’s mind is not something to be desired, let alone a thing he would do to himself again and again and again like it’s a special kind of punishment he thinks he deserves. 

But. Bruce asked.

It’s one thing to have nothing buzzing inside of his head, and another to have it full to bursting at the seams. To Jason Todd, drift compatibility is akin to having a conversation with a stranger in the pouring rain or shrouded in the dark of an alleyway, and finding a thing that he wants to hold on to for the rest of his life.

He is Dick watching his parents' death. He is Tim stepping foot inside of his first Shatterdome. He is Damian being kept out of the pilot placements despite his perfect simulation scores.

They fill his head with their thoughts, and they press into the core of him until they become him.

Jason didn't ever think he could experience this so many times. They are his last moment when that last thread of his connection to Bruce snaps, and he's dragged under the waters of the Gulf of Aden streaked in Kaiju Blue.

From beneath the waves, it glowed neon green when the bright lights of their Jaeger passes over him. Bruce burned during his last run, and Jason did too.

Jason inhales and they with him.

-

He is suited up.

And so is every remaining Jaeger pilot they’ve got left in the program: Dick standing with Damian next to Tim at the other end of the hallway leading to their Conn-Pods.

“When you drift with someone, you feel like there’s nothing to talk about. I don't want to regret all the things I never said, Jason.” 

It is a testament to how long he’s been waiting to hear this from Bruce when his eyes are prickling in what might actually be tears. It’s salty and it stings.

“B, you don't need to.” He lets the man tug him into his arms, and his voice gets muffled but that’s okay too. “I know them all.” Jason tells him. “I always have.”

It’s a lie, but it’s a very good one. Jason has always known Bruce in that painfully intimate way, understood the man for who he is and who he cannot be for Jason even if push comes to shove comes to out right blows. And there were plenty of that even during their best days. 

Jason has spent a long time resenting Bruce. 

Maybe it's about time he moved on from that.

The world has been coming to an end for a while now, it would be ending on a good note if they do not have to die inside of one another’s head once more.

When he makes the drop into driftspace this last time, he thinks of all their good times.

[mischiefapprentice]

1: Don’t Mess With Life and Death (Mischief’s Bride)

August 2003

Loki

"Please! Someone help me!"

That is all I can hear as I stroll along Hyde Park. The cold breeze of winter calms me down as it hits my pale skin, and I am more than thankful that it does not conjure my Jotünn form, as it can destroy a place whenever my rage comes. Even though my time in the original timeline is over, my strengths and powers never left me. They will be always a part of me until my last breath.

It has been more than 900 years since I have been 'ressurected' from death. The thought of seeing my companions die pained me as centuries passed, and I am tired living for eternity. If it weren't for that force that pulled my soul back to my dead body, I am with my mother Frigga already. I am sure that she may be dead by now. How I missed her so much.

"Please, anyone help me!"

Her loud wails can be heard from half a mile away from the park. I cannot help but go to her and see what happened to her. Is she the bride I am looking for? I hope so. She must be the one.

When I arrived to where the woman was, I see crimson blood staining the pure whiteness of snow. Did a murder scene happen? I must be too late already. I decide to follow the bloodstream to locate her, and found a beautiful woman surrounded with blood. She was terribly injured. It's like someone hit her violently that she bleed lots of blood. Who on earth could do this to this mortal?

"P-please help me... I'm carrying an unborn baby with me, and I cannot bear the thought of losing her." The woman mutters.

I sigh. She's carrying a child, and someone had the guts to physically abuse her. I sense her time of death getting closer and closer. It crawls like how a robber walks towards the house it chose to plunder. One's death may not be predicted by man, but us goblins could sense it.

It's against nature to meddle with life and death of a mortal. It is a change of cycle that you cannot just alter, for it requires a great price to pay. You cannot change what may happen to you, for it can also affect others. One is a part of a butterfly change; action affects action; one slight change affects your whole life.

"S-sir, p-please help m-me... I'm dying." She tells me. I could feel her baby's heartbeat, as if it tells me that I must save them both. I also could feel that her baby is my bride to be. I should help them both after all, shouldn't I?

I'm in this dilemma of choosing whether to heal her or let death kill them both. I cannot mess up with life and death. However, rules are also meant to be broken, right? I can defy whatever rule it is, if it means for them to live. I will go against nature.

"Miss, I may not be the divinity you seek, but I offer you extended time to live and see your daughter grow." I weakly smile at the woman. Shimmers of blue and green light appear on my hand as I performed a spell that will elongate both of their lives. As it comes to an end, I could really sense that she bears my bride. I could tell that she is as beautiful, kind and wise as this woman. How I wish I can make time go fast that I can meet her already.

I see her smile weakly as I cast the spell on her. I could hear her ask how I knew it is a girl. I really could feel that it is a she, not a he. At a blink of an eye, I disappeared to another place.

I know she'll live a long life, and she'll bring joy to my bride's world. In her care, I am confident that she will grow into a fine-looking and well-mannered lady, just like how I wished women are. Someday, I'll find her again.

       Stephen

Christine Wayland Time of death: 20:34 Cause: Car Accident Abigail Wayland Time of Death: 20:34 Cause: Miscarriage

When I arrived, I cannot find the soul of this woman. All I see is blood from the scene, and her footsteps. Someone messed with life and death. No one can meddle with the life cycle. I sighed, noting that I have a missing soul to find. Who could have the courage to alter nature's way? The baby should also be dead by now. I don't ill-wish the mother, but it has to be that way.

I leave the area, fearing that someone might see me and accuse me of murder. Oh, I remember: I cannot be seen by men. I am just a mere spirit, fetching souls and leading them either to afterlife or to despair. This is the work of a grim reaper; it can be tiring, knowing that many souls are around. Some just wander off the streets of London and try to seek others' attention.

"So, did you get your last soul for tonight?" Ishmael asks me as we log out for tonight. He has reached over half of his quota. I have exceeded twice of his, though. He is new to this job.

"No, and the last one is quite strange. I have her name on my list buti didn't see her soul nor her body." I tell him. He scrunches his brows in confusion. I hear him think who could've done it. "Have you heard of the Goblin?" He asks me. "I think he is the one responsible for that."

I ponder on that speculation he gave me. He is one of the missing soul our boss wants us to take care of. The goblin has been missing for almost 900 years and no one has managed to capture him and bring him to the afterlife. His name sounds familiar to me, but I don't know where have I heard of it. Our superiors have told us about it and reminded us to keep watch and report to them regarding the said missing soul.

As I came home, I now prepared to move out of the house I am renting for five years. I found a better place to stay in. I have a few things to pack, since I ain't fond of having unnecessary things to have, so that it won't be difficult for me to move out. My colleagues would complain of how heavy their things are whenever they move out of their spaces .

When I peek out of my window, I recognized the man who they call the Goblin... But wait. Is that...

Loki?

Didn't he die from Thanos's hands? How come he is... Darn. This is another alternate reality, and he of course would be alive. And he turned into a goblin? What happened?

I was about to call him, but I see fear in his eyes when he saw me. He didn't manage to wave at me nor smile. I didn't mean harm to him. Wait. I am a grim reaper, and we are on the watch for him. He sensed me!

Sighing, I tried to reach out to Thor, but still failed. I cannot conjure a portal to where he is. How I wanted to tell him that his brother is alive on another timeline. How I really wish.

       Loki

I feel like I did a grave mistake with meddling with the life and death of that woman. She must be dead by now. I saved her, and my future bride. I don't want to wait for another 900 years to meet my bride.

Living eternally has its own ups and downs. Yes, you get to live for a very long time, but you have to suffer the pain of losing your loved ones. Seeing them pass on to the afterlife relieves me, but I wish that I am with them there, living peacefully and without suffering.

Seeing Stephen made me relieved and uneasy at the same time. He is known as Doctor Strange in the timeline I came from, but he is known as a grim reaper in this one. I wished to say hello to them, but I cannot. I know that they have heard of me as one of the missing souls and I am on their watch.

I now ask myself: what if I just remained on that timeline? Would all of this happen? Would I stumble on a curse that makes me suffer from emotional pain that I wished myself death? Would I watch every single person I love die and wither with time?

When I arrive home, my loyal friend Lord William Hathford and his grandson Arnie James welcome me into their home. Their home will be my home from now on, until I decide to move to some other place where I can meet my bride. "It's good to see you again, sir." Lord William greets me. "You too, Mister." I greet them. "Still fine-looking as of the old days, aren't we?" He chuckled. "Oh, here is my grandson, Arnie Jason."

I smile at the boy. He reminds me of Peter Parker. I haven't met him yet, but I know that he exists in the timeline I have been in. "Hi, Jason. Nice to meet you!"

The boy hides a little bit behind Lord William. His brown hair makes me want to ruffle and mess it.

"James, don't be shy. He will be with us from now on." The old man says.

"No, it's fine. Maybe another time will do." I weakly smile at them. I really can't get my mind off that woman I saved from her death. William notices my bereft. "Sir, I know when you are deep in thought. Did something happen on your way home?" I sigh. "There's this woman I healed on my way home. She's in the verge of dying, and she is pregnant with a daughter."

William seats beside me as I narrated the whole event. His brows furrowed as I told him that I felt that she bears my bride. He told me of a prophesy where it tells that a Goblin, which I am, will save a woman who is about to die. The woman bears the Goblin's bride, the girl who shall draw the sword out of him. "How sure are you that it's the bride's mother?" He asks me. I shrug my shoulders. "I don't base on whether she bears my bride or not. What matters most is that I saved her from sudden death. That man shall pay for his insolence towards her."

William smiles, knowing that I have indeed changed for the better. He was with me when I was so down and no one believes me. He also knew of my true identity as an Asgardian who just got in another timeline. He is my most loyal friend. How do I repay him for his loyalty and support?

[rayewriting]

I Remember You (I Never Forgot You)

Fandom: Batman

Day 7- Reunion/Separation So, I probably could have posted this on time, but after church I had told people on tumblr they had till 3 to get votes on whether they wanted a Reunion or Separation fic, lunch, then the late nights caught up to me and I took a three-hour nap. This is also an unintentional third part to Being Enough and You Deserve More (More Than I Have). I'll put them all in series later So, here we are. I am sorry I am late for the last day. But I have been reading other people’s entries to Dick and Damian week and just 😍😍. I’ll have go back and bookmark some of my favorite ones!

Damian was at a restaurant, a five-star, high end, black tie only, type restaurant. When he received a letter- with a distantly familiar perfume that his heart aching, his mother’s preferred scent- with a time and location, he knew that this was not a request, but a warning. Of what he did not know, but it was serious enough that she left with traceable evidence. Evidence he had in his pocket right now. But he wasn’t focused on the letter, but the person in front of him. Talia.

 Dear Richard,

 “You have to return and be my Alexander, the ruler I have always wanted you to be,” Talia begins, reaching out her hands and placing them on the table, palm up, “In fact, Alexander was twenty when he became king of Macedon, as well.”

Damian makes a face at her hands and pointedly crosses his arms, hands tucking into the bends of his arms, then he speaks, “I do not have to do anything, Talia. The last time you forced my hand, I ended up with a sword in my chest, and I do not want to have a repeat performance.”

You should not search for me. 

The frown on the older woman’s features did not make her unattractive, but her lips go from the frown to a small grin as she continues speaking, “I was not in a good place at the time, my son, for that I do regret. However, I do believe I have… motivation for you to come back under your grandfather,” Damian did not show outwardly but his heart was pounding at her words, “A certain circus boy and two aliens ring a bell? And you are searching for a recent nanotechnology theft, correct?” Talia watches as her words sink into Damian’s head, then reaching his heart, “Perhaps I know where the stolen technology went.”

Damian’s face is still impassive, but his fury was raging- demanding that Damian take his hidden dagger and stab the woman in front of him. This woman was not the woman who gave him life, she had died long ago, perhaps before he even left the League all those years ago. But Damian did recognize the person in front of him, this was the person who had no qualms in taking lives, did not care that she was going to kill her own child for revenge- that she was going to kill her son’s family if he did not follow her. “How do I know that you are not bluffing?” Damian asks.

“Are you going to risk them by calling a bluff?” Talia asks smugly. She pulls out a small remote with a few buttons and Damian feels his blood pressure rise, “Think about it, Damian.”

Then she stands, and begins to leave the restaurant, but when she reaches the door Damian pulls himself out of his chair, grabs her arm and pulls her out of the establishment and into the snowfall, “Fine. I will go with you.”

Talia smiles, “Very well, Damian. We will head to the airport.”

 I am sorry, missing Mar’i’s birthday was not ever my intention. You should tell Kor’i and Mar’i my apologies.

 Dick answers the apartment door with a smile on his face, but it quickly drops into a confused frown, “Umm, do I know you, ma’am?”

The person in question is a pale-skin blonde woman in her early twenties, wearing a wine and golden tank top, denim shorts, white slip-on shoes, and wearing a cross-body purse, “No.”

Dick’s eyes harden as he asks, “Then can I ask why you are at my door then?”

The woman takes a deep breath and blurts out, “I had a customer and he left this note at the restaurant with a huge tip and instructions to come to this apartment today and give it to a “Dick Grayson” while wearing red and gold.” She continues- after pointing at her shirt- with, “I don’t know why he gave it to me or what it says but he gave me enough money to finish paying for my college degree and I couldn’t not do what he asked.” Then she dug into her purse and pulls out the envelope and hands it to Dick.

Dick was taking in all the information quickly, takes the letter, and opens the door, “Come in.”

The woman eyes widen as she steps through the door with, “Uh-okay?” then stops as she spots all the decorations. The balloons and streamers are purple, the table has green cups, plates and utensils, and a colorful banner was hanging in the doorway reading “Happy 2nd Birthday!”

“Dick, who is at the door? Tim said that they won’t—” a tall female with tan skin, wild hair, wearing a purple shirt and blue athletic shorts, steps out of a room, but stops seeing the younger woman, “Hello, I don’t think we have met before, I am Kor’i.”

As Kor’i sticks her hand out, the blonde squeaks out, “Blyss,” and shakes Kor’i’s hand.

“Please take a seat,” Dick says entering the living room, guiding Blyss to the couch and giving the letter to Kor’i, “I’m sorry for acting weird, but do you remember anything from that night?”

Blyss, sensing the serious turn of events, sits on the couch, begins to think for a minute, lips pulling into a slight pout, “He was with another person. She was older than him. They both seemed tense, but it wasn’t a business meeting, it was personal.”

Dick looks at her questioningly and sits on the other side of the couch, “How do you figure that?”

“I’ve worked there for a few years now; I have served food during business meetings- tense meeting- but the air was charged with different type of energy. Plus, not many businesses have dinners that late, usually those times are reserved for dates, engagements, or- a couple of times- divorce meetings. Things like that.”

“Do you remember overhearing anything?” Kor’i asks, finished reading the letter.

Blyss shook her head, “Everytime I walked over they would stop talking, like they did not want anyone listening.”

Dick and Kor’i look at each other, then a loud knock on the door resounds through the apartment, startling the three adults. Blyss and Dick stand up and Dick offers her a smile, “Thank you for the information,” he says as the adults begin to walk back to the door.

Following Kor’i, Blyss smiles, “I hope you find your son. He really saved me with the money.”

Dick flounders for a second then finally gets out, “He-he isn’t my son, he is my brother.”

Blyss stops for a minute then turns to him, “Sorry, it just- when you got that letter- you looked like I did when Nightwing and Flamebird saved my son from the guy who— who kidnapped him.”

Dick though back to the last couple of kidnapping cases and then it hits him. Blyss Hayes, victim of Jaxon Zhao- resulting in the birth of Xavier Hayes. After being released for good behavior, Jaxon kidnapped the one-year old from the park and held the infant hostage till he got a plane to Colombia. Of course, Nightwing and Flamebird snuck into the building, Nightwing taking down Jaxon as Flamebird took Xavier to the ambulances. Then he just nods his head at the young mother, opening the door, “That’s alright.”

Blyss smiles at Dick and Kor’i then says, “Come to the restaurant when you find him, I’ll treat everyone to a free meal.” Afterwards, she ducks around Tim and Mar’i with a small, “Happy birthday!” and runs down the hallway.

Tim, looking where the blonde left and asks, “Who was that?”

 It’s been made clear Todd’s infectious old behavior of disappearing has spread to even me.

 “Yeah, no shi—” Jason says, reading Damian’s letter, before Dick and Kor’i throw a dark look at him, in response he grins sheepishly, “Sorry.”

Everyone was gathered in Gotham, Bruce, Cass, Barbara, Steph, Tim, Jason, Kor’i, and Dick in the Batcave and Alfred and Mar’i were in the Manor. Bruce and Tim running scans over the paper, ink, and handwriting- Cass, Steph, and Barbara watching security footage from the restaurant leading to the airport- Jason, Kor’i, and Dick were reading the note again.

“The problem is that it doesn’t sound like how normally writes!” Dick shouts at no one particular, running his hands through his hair for what seems like the hundredth time, “But it is his handwriting! And one sentence doesn’t make any sense!”

 With your life getting so hectic, I took over the nanotechnology theft case. It has taken me overseas, perhaps an island off a coast.

 Damian grits his teeth at the pain on his back, “Five for every year he has been away from us,” came from his Grandfather’s throne. Fifty strikes from a whip, fifty miles to run, fifty new cuts, fifty new burns, fifty miles to swim. Damian never thought having a favorite number was logical, but he hated the number fifty now. No matter how illogical it was, he hated it.

But he had to- to save his family. To save Richard, Kor’iander, and his Qalbi.

So, he grits through strikes, runs the miles, accepts the cuts, grows numb to the burns, and swims the miles. He perseveres through the pain, with the thought of his family on his mind and in his heart.

He has done it for six months, what’s another day?

But he refuses to kill, when they bring him an assassin, he knocks them out, drops his weapon and sits down. His Grandfather then decides that electrocution should be added for his response. When they bring him his meals, he does not eat the meat. He doesn’t eat for two days when that’s all they give him.

He dies once, his heart just giving out from exhaustion. Grandfather throws him the Lazarus Pit.

Damian can hear the waters whispers when he is pulled out. Telling him to crush the larynx of the person in front of him. He sees the green and remembers the color green. Green eyes, surrounded by black lashes, chubby cheeks, and a button nose.

His Qalbi.

He cannot forget about his Qalbi.

That night he takes comfort in the darkness, the black surrounding him reminds him of his Qalbi’s hair, she has her father’s hair. His Qalbi reminds him of his baba. Of Richard. Richard, the person that always comes for Damian- no matter what.

Soon he remembers everyone else. The wild roses of the courtyard remind him of Kor’iander’s bright hair when she walks into the kitchen for the breakfast Damian cooked holding his Qalbi on her hip, the graceful swans swimming in the pond remind him of Cassandra dancing in the ballroom, the sun of Stephanie’s smile when she looks at Timothy, the library of Jason’s voice when the older man read to his Qalbi before Damian put her down for a nap, the smell of chocolate coming from the kitchens of Alfred’s cookies after a hard night of patrol, the sound of a keyboard clacking down a hall of Barbara’s superior computer skills, the pearl necklace resting on a jewelry stand reminds him of Father’s face when he gave Father one after searching for days.

When he remembers everyone, he can- Colin, Jon, Maya- he begins to draw them in the sand of his cell. A few people a day, whoever he misses the most that day.

Most of the time, it is his baba, Kor’iander, and his Qalbi.

 The placement reminds me of the infinity charm you bought me when I was, perhaps, a ten-year-old boy.

 “I never bought him a damn charm!” Dick screeches, punching the console of the computer. Kor’i puts a hand on his arm, trying to calm him down- she knows words won’t help- and Dick whips around to her face, “Kor’i, its been six months since he has left! I've been going crazy since he never showed up for patrol, I have looked everywhere I could think of. And he is writing about charms?”

Kor’i wraps her arms around his shoulders and pulls him into a hug, “I don’t know, Richard. Perhaps Damian meant something else?”

Dick’s, Tim’s, and Bruce’s shot up at Kor’i’s words, then towards the note.

“He gave us a number, ten, so maybe every ten letters spell something out?” Tim asks, “No, unless the first word is ‘Ddn’ or something bizarre. Every ten words maybe…? ‘Dear sorry tell clear’. No! For f—”

Dick steps grabs the note and reads out loud, “You, Mar’i’s, Kor’i, infectious, with, nanotechnology, island, infinity, ten.”

“How did you know?” Bruce asks.

“Damian finds the address and salutations unnecessary. So, I took that out,” Dick explains without looking at Bruce. “So those are our words.”

Everyone took a minute, to collect their thoughts, before Bruce speaking, “Assuming ‘You’ meaning is Dick, it seems that Damian wrote a warning that you, Kor’i, and Mar’i have been infected with nanotech. And then Damian gave us a location of Infinity Island and ten would be the number we used to get the message.”

Kor’i and Dick froze at Bruce’s words, then Dick was running up the stairs and Kor’i was flying alongside him, “Mar’i!”

Bruce turns to Barbara, “Get in contact to Captain Atom and Cyborg, I want them here ten minutes ago,” then to Tim, “When I bring them back here, I’m going to get blood samples of all three of them, as soon as it’s drawn, I want you running scans on them.”

Then Bruce was following Dick and Kor’i up the stairs to the living room, where Mar’i was playing with some blocks. He watches with Alfred, Kor’i and Dick holding their daughter tightly between them, deciding to wait a minute before interrupting them, then “We need blood samples; so, we can neutralize the tech.”

Dick glances up at Bruce with tears in his eyes, “O-Okay. Let’s go, my girls.” Dick stands up and Kor’i picks up Mar’i to bring to the Cave.

As he passes Bruce, Bruce places a hand on his shoulder and says, “We are going to fix this, Dick, I promise.”

“I know, Bruce. I know.”

   Love,

 Damian Grayson-Wayne

 “Baba!”

Yo, @doc-scrawls  and @nxxttime sad/angst enough?

[jflashandclash]

The Fall of the Sun: Traitors of Olympus

Six: Alabaster

A Sunny Promenade Where Everyone Wants to Kill Me

             When Alabaster left Cabin Eleven, his cheeks felt like they were on fire. The jeering from the Hermes occupants shouldn’t have bothered him so much—they were children that likely didn’t know that allegations of cooties actually meant that one had a parasitic bug infestation. Something else must have been unsettling him, and, in this particular case, beyond the fact that he was in Camp Half-Blood and NOT destroying the son of Poseidon, he suspected it was his attachment to Kally.

           Everyone close to him warned him that he was reckless: his mother, Axel, Luke, and Claymore.

           But, suffering from a severe infatuation after two real encounters? And acting on that infatuation? Eros and Aphrodite might as well come out of hiding to bow for applause. He did not like being their puppet and letting them distract him from what he should have been focusing on.

           His heartbeat thudded inside his head, his lips tingled, and he could still smell Kally’s scent beneath the sweat and blood: a shampoo or soap with mint and eucalyptus undertones. He could perfectly visualize the hope and excitement on her face when she spoke of a third camp, one not Roman or Greek.

           Maybe it wasn’t just Aphrodite and Eros.

           He didn’t have time to think about that right now, or whether or not one could love without the influence of those gods. He and Axel had discussed it before. Both of them liked to think someone could still fall in love without godly meddling, but that could have been their stubbornness clinging to independence from the gods.

           Alabaster felt a little nauseous to think that Axel had probably been referencing his love for the praetor during those conversations. Had he really been interested in her for that long?

           Alabaster didn’t have time for this. He should have been focusing on his transit in enemy territory.

           Most campers didn’t pay him heed. They seemed to think he was a mysterious Roman unit. The daughter of Ares and Rodriguez had gained more control over the camp. The Greek chaos had become more organized.

           As Alabaster walked past the other cabins, readily identifying to which god they belonged, he heard the chatter of units scurrying by,            

           “—counselor meeting outside the boundary—“

           “—true about Percy? Is he really—”

           “—Jason can barely walk. Anyone hear what happened to h—”

           Another set of campers, this one equipped with medical kits, a stretcher, and stethoscopes—likely Kally’s siblings—raced past.

           “—five dead campers. Each from a different cabin.”

           “It’s like someone systematically—”

           “—ghosts did some serious damage to the Roman—”

           “—Chiron still not up—”

           He stopped outside the cabin with the eerie glow of green torches: Cabin Twenty. There were spells inscribed on each stone, although half of it was gibberish that Alabaster readily identified as Minoan, likely written by Lou Ellen. One of the stones read something like, They think I’ll turn people into a tree, but really I explode glitter. The black tome-like doors were enormous and took up most of the façade.

           Originally, Alabaster had planned to map this out, so he could return from the Big House and restock here.

           Staring at Hecate’s cabin, he felt himself tremble in rage.

           He couldn’t go inside.

           As part of the deal to pardon Hecate for her involvement in the Titan’s War, Alabaster had been banned from Camp Half-Blood and from “polluting” the minds of his siblings. If he went inside, he’d have to accept that it would only ever be once and only because the barrier was down. He’d have to accept what few siblings he had left had been tricked into worshipping the corruption of Olympus.

           Although he told himself it didn’t bother him, that he didn’t care how a group of Olympic-lovers would live, that he had no business seeing how his siblings thrived, Alabaster learned he wasn’t as indifferent as he had hoped. He didn’t want to see what he could never have again.[1]

           Alabaster shook his head, writing the weakness off as exhaustion. He reached into his pocket to withdraw a Reese’s Stick that he’d swiped from Pax. The wrapper crinkled as he tossed the candy into the torch fire. This was a measly sacrifice. He’d have rather given Percy’s head, but this would have to do.

           While the green flames wicked around the bars, crackling into sickly, black smoke, he prayed, Mother, Morpheus, please grant the Pax brothers peace and distraction in their slumber. You owe them that at least. And… Alabaster bit his lip. And, please grant this to Kalypso Kassand, the daughter of Apollo.

           The dark tendrils twisted into the face of a winking man before being dusted by the breeze. At least Alabaster knew Morpheus heard him.  

           “I think I modeled if off of your laboratory,” someone said beside him.

           Alabaster caught a girl’s hand in mid-reach towards his nose. Although she hadn’t started the incantation, Alabaster could feel the Mist build up for something like a limb removal.

           When he glared at her, that piercing headache returned.

           Lou Ellen mimicked his wince of pain. Those brilliant green eyes, the same shade as his, twinkled playfully and painfully as he shoved her hand away.

           Alarm sank Alabaster’s stomach when he couldn’t remember what she had just said. Something about this cabin’s construction? From the blank stare of her pale face, she had a similar absentmindedness. Or she was an idiot. But, their previous team up and Alabaster’s instinct told him that Lou Ellen was no one to underestimate.

           “I was hoping you could restock me once I get back from the Big House, so I can defend myself when other stray gods decide to attack me.” Which, he figured, would happen to him statistically more often than the average demigod-to-god conflict. “Before I approach the main building, what defenses should I be aware of or what traps might I trigger?”

           If nothing else, at least this trip would be excellent for collecting intel on Camp Half-Blood’s defenses.

           “Um, this is a camp for teenagers,” she said, like his question was unwarranted.

           “Yes, and Guantanamo Bay is a playground for adults.”

           Lou Ellen took a step towards the Big House and grabbed his arm, like he was escorting her down a street in Victorian England and she’d be helpless in the case she was attacked without her older brother. Something about Lou Ellen screamed that she would want some poor idiot to try attacking them in a situation like that.

           He was confused and annoyed by her escort until he saw why: a Roman soldier had met up with Clarisse on her way away from the cabins with several other—Alabaster assumed—counselors. They were talking and the Roman was pointing to him.

           Lou Ellen made him walk faster towards the Big House.

           “I’m not sure they finished building it, but Pax had jumpstarted a project with the Stoll brothers, Matthias, and Jake to make a rapid-rotate ramp that will activate when Chiron’s wheelchair hits it, so as to rocket him into the Big House with uncontrollable speed.”

           “The centaur has a wheel chair?” Alabaster asked skeptically. He vaguely remembered a rumor about this, but had chalked it up to Pax’s nonsense.

           When they approached the Big House, Alabaster was stunned by its lack of grandeur and its rustic simplicity. The four-story country house was painted blue with white accents. In the morning light, the wrap-around porch looked homey and quaint. Not the home to a God of Madness and the trainer of blind killers.

           He could almost see why everyone bought into this trash.

           “When he’s not a centaur. I mean, why would a centaur need a chair?” she asked as they walked past the dangling dryad wind chimes. “The stairs you’re looking for are past the parlor and down the hall. I might have overheard Chris and known the area to be a prime territory for casting spells to curse the Demeter Cabin.”

           She released his arm at the door, near an outside table set for a card game. Once again, he had to bat her hand away from removing his. Somehow, he knew she’d try limb removal every chance she got.

           “Thank you,” he said. Although he’d fought beside this Greek, she didn’t owe him anything. Even if they did somehow know each other from the past, he was still surprised that she treated him more like an equal and a friend than a former enemy.

           She laughed sadly. “I mean, you’re a stiff, but you’re still my brother. And there aren’t a lot of children of Hecate left.” She glanced at one of the dryad wind chimes as it rotated into something else. “I feel like there were once a lot more…”

           “There were.” Alabaster preferred not to think about how popular his mother was with mortals and other creatures. And he didn’t want to think about what happened to his other siblings.

           Lou Ellen shook her head, her black hair shuddering. Her smile brightened and Alabaster couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d be great friends with Pax. “I need to go check on Miranda again and mess with her while she’s out. We can’t have everyone acting too serious right now. But uh, make sure Axel is okay. I think…” She rubbed her forehead, grimacing. “I… I think I used to have a thing for him.”

           Alabaster snorted out a laugh. “You and every other girl or monster at Camp Othrys.”

           They laughed. A wave of nostalgic irritation hit Alabaster and he could distinctly remember removing a much younger Lou Ellen’s tongue so she’d stop gushing about his older friend, only to have her post Axel’s band pictures all over Alabaster’s laboratory.

           Pain shot through his temple.

           Both of them cried out.

           “We have got to clear this up with Mom,” he said.

           “Yea,” she agreed. “Well, until then. Don’t die in there!” She waved him off and stepped off the porch.

           “Don’t die out here,” he said, another wave of nostalgia hitting him.

           When Alabaster stepped inside, he found the interior similar to the exterior—charming and old-fashioned. There was a fireplace and another table set up. Grape vines ran along the walls, reminding Alabaster that Dionysus normally lived here.

           A sense of pervasive unwelcome screamed at him to leave.

           Alabaster would have liked to breeze through the room after a brief, defensive sweep, but he saw two people in the corner that made him pause.

           Well, a centaur and a person.

           The centaur lay on the ground. An empty glass sat upright beside him near a stain in the carpet. There was a Party Ponies blanket covering most of his horse-half and part of his button-down shirt. A pillow was shoved under his thinning, brown hair.

           Beside the centaur, crouched ready for an attack, was a curly-haired blond demigod with narrowed violet eyes. For an instant, Alabaster thought the demigod was Dionysus himself, but knew he was mistaken by the way the boy’s hands trembled around a xiphos sword.

           “Prometheus told me that you’d come,” said the demigod, “After he put the monster in the basement.”

           That monster. Axel must have still been wearing his Leonis Caput helm. Alabaster refused to believe this could be an ambush set up by Prometheus. There would be no point in saving the Pax brothers in the first place if he wanted to end the Triple A Chimera later.

           “He also wanted me to tell you that it would be unwise to attack us,” he finished.

           Us.

           Alabaster glanced down at the centaur. Killing Chiron would be easy right now, the trainer of Percy and a line of other Olympic henchmen.  As an ease on his consciousness, Alabaster wouldn’t even have to kill this demigod. Somewhere on him, he must have had a disarming rune left.

           That was why Prometheus left the message. The gods would just replace Chiron. Their tyranny would continue. And Alabaster would shatter what fragile peace allowing the Triple A Chimera and their friends at this camp and make everyone more vulnerable to Eris’ next attack.

           Alabaster sighed. “I’m not here to fight.”

           The demigod’s shoulders relaxed. Clearly, he wasn’t either. “We’re going to be taking shifts to watch over Chiron and Argus until they wake up,” he explained, as though to say don’t change your mind. That sword stayed posed for a defense. “You and that monster… you were at the Battle of the Labyrinth, weren’t you?”

           From the age of this demigod, this boy would have been old enough to be part of the battle. Alabaster nodded his head. “Yes. It was a disaster.”

           The demigod nodded down the hallway. “That monster, the one Prometheus brought in…” He swallowed. “He crushed my twin brother’s, Castor’s, head at that battle.”

           Alabaster stared. Everyone knew there were causalities on both sides. But, the emotion was still raw in this boy’s red-rimmed eyes. Alabaster had never spoken to an enemy soldier about it. There was no theology here and no argument over government or godly rule. Just a dead sibling, like the ones that Alabaster lost.

           “I’m sorry for your loss,” Alabaster said.

           They examined one another for a moment longer. Had this boy wanted to, he could have come down the hall and killed Axel to get revenge. From Pax’s description of the situation, Alabaster doubted that Axel would have defended himself, or at least not defended himself well.

           With a sense of unease, Alabaster. continued past the parlor, down the hall. He tried to ignore the feeling of that boy’s eyes. At the end, he found the stairs, and the door behind them, slightly ajar. “Axel? Claymore?” he called to alert them to his presence.

           The reek of smoke stung his nose when he pushed the door completely open. With the daylight and hallway light spilling down the stairs, Alabaster could see the reflective gleam of two golden eyes above the crimson glow of a cigarette. In the corner, amongst the silhouettes of crates, jars, and other storage containers, a pile of imperial armor glistened.

           Claymore stood on the last step, his arms folded, leaning against the banister.

           Each step creaked as Alabaster leveled with him. The air grew chilly.

           “Your friend isn’t exactly the chattiest of company,” Claymore said.

           “Thank you for checking on him.”

           “A lot of good it did,” Claymore said, sounding more pensive than annoyed. Before Alabaster could ask him to, Claymore stepped up the stairs. “I’ll give you two a moment. I’m sure I’ll find the young gentleman by the horse even more uplifting.”

           Once Claymore exited the stairwell, Alabaster sat on the bottom step. Now that his eyes had adjusted to the lack of lighting, he could better see Axel. The older boy sat on the concrete floor and leaned back against a crate labeled Strawberry Preserves—A Divine Delight! His knees were pulled up, so he could rest his elbows on them and dangle his hands between his legs. Everything but his boxers must have been in the corner of the room.[2]  

           All Axel’s injuries from the past twelve hours were on display with a few additions Alabaster didn’t remember. There was the new scar where they said Kouta shot him in the shoulder. Bruise marks covered his chest from Percy’s hosing. Claw marks decorated his arms that—from the angle—Alabaster would have guessed were self-inflicted. In the center of Axel’s chest, above his heart, was a raw gash, one he hadn’t cleaned yet. Alabaster wondered, though doubted, whether or not Pax had given him that in defense.

           Axel’s reflective eyes were distant, rimmed red, and had dark circles. His tufted ears sat in a neutral position. The cigarette pinched between his lips had an inch of untapped ash dangling limply from the end.  

           “Ajax is asleep,” Alabaster said. “I gave him some of my pills. Kally passed out beside him while she was healing his hand.”

           Alabaster continued to update Axel on what little he knew about Percy’s position as King of Saturnalia, the camp’s condition, and the potential counselor meeting.

           The unease Alabaster felt earlier clenched his stomach tightly. Alabaster hadn’t seen this strategist slouch during their time at Camp Othrys, let alone sit in the dark, mostly-naked, nonreactive to any information…

           Until then, Alabaster didn’t realize how emotive Axel was when formulating a plan. Alabaster wished Axel would narrow his golden eyes in thought, twitch his ears at bad news, or clench his jaw. Something.

           After Alabaster finished talking, the ash fell from Axel’s cigarette, feeding a pile between his knees.

           “Thank you,” Axel said softly, “for checking on Ajax.”

           As if there had been any other option for Alabaster.

           Alabaster frowned. “He tends to be hopeless on his own.”

           In all the replays of Alabaster’s nightmares, he hadn’t realistically considered how Axel would react after attacking—or being forced to attack—his little brother.

           For some reason, Alabaster always assumed Axel would be enraged.

           “Euna isn’t with you,” Alabaster said, wanting something to trigger inside Axel, instead of the nothingness in his eyes.

           Axel didn’t even shrug. “I assume she’s still going towards Tartarus with Jack.”

           The ash met the filter on Axel’s cigarette. His lips released, dropped it into the pile, still smoldering. Without looking, Axel reached behind him, to the side of the crate, where there was a box of cigarettes and a lighter. He tapped one out, lifted the thin cylinder to his lips, and reflexively cupped one hand around the end, like there was a breeze that might snuff out the flame. No breeze or movement came but the subtle flick of flame. The basement was still and cold.

           Alabaster had to wonder where he got those at this camp.

           When Axel was done, he set everything behind him and folded his legs pretzel style, ignoring how his calf crushed the still-glowing filter on the ground. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees again. “What was the point? Ajax and I gave three years of our lives, our childhoods, to fighting for Kronos. You gave even more. We watched good soldiers and friends die. Your family. I traded my consciousness to become a symbol of power and fear.”

           His golden eyes flicked to the discarded pile of armor in the corner.

           “Eris was right. Kronos’ army kept us safe from Santiago until we were old enough to confront him—as if we were enough to take him.” He grunted. “But… those gods… those tyrants we fought to dethrone are still there. Powerful enough that they could just… puppet me to brutalize one of the only things that matters in my life.”

           Slowly, Axel’s eyes met Alabaster’s. Again, he asked, with the dull, hopelessness of knowing he wouldn’t get a response, “What was the point?”

           This question had plagued Alabaster since the Battle of Manhattan. He’d sat in Dr. Cenotes’ office, staring at the hideous paintings on the therapist’s walls, wishing any answer would satisfy him. He’d screamed in his mother’s alter room, where she prayed to some mysterious, higher power, wanting an all-powerful deity to grace him with an acceptable answer, or at least verify that his feelings of helplessness and purposelessness were justified.

           At least Lamia’s attempts at his life had kept him busy. As had babysitting a manic, grieving Jack. As had his and Claymore’s research.

           But, confronted with Axel’s hollow gaze, the question extended to more than the war.

           “You’re alive,” Alabaster said. The words and sudden desperation in the pit of his stomach surprised him. “You, Ajax, and I—we’re all alive still. We may not feel like it, but we’re going to have to act like it for Ajax’s sake and our own.”

           He thought about Kally’s hopefulness and her suggestion to make a new camp.

           “We have to make a new home and build a new purpose,” he said, not sure he’d committed to the idea until the words came out.

           Axel gave an empty laugh. “No gods. No kings,” he quoted something the two of them had agreed upon a long time ago.[3] “How long do you think that will last?”

           “It doesn’t matter. There isn’t another option. Giving up isn’t an option. For people like you and I, it never has been and never will be. Breaking us is exactly what the gods want right now.”

           “Look who has become the riling lieutenant,” Axel teased weakly.

           Alabaster was relieved to see Axel’s eyes focus and crinkle with the tiniest hint of pride.

           “Shut up,” Alabaster said, rolling his eyes. He picked up the Leonis Caput helm and held it out to Axel. “Now come on. Let’s take something that symbolized power and fear and turn it into something else.”

           Axel’s bronze skin took on a sickly hue. “I will follow you up those stairs, but I am going to throw up if I try to put that on right now. And I do not want to be wearing a helmet with throw up in it.”

           For an awkward moment, Alabaster paused. He was so accustomed to Axel’s complete self-composure; he had forgotten the older boy would still be in shock. Quickly, he withdrew the helm and latched it onto his belt. He’d never noticed how much heavier the Leonis Caput was than his or Ajax’s helmets.

           After another moment, he gathered Axel’s Nemean Lion cloak. Axel swallowed and strapped back on his pteruges, his Mayan bracers, and his grieves. Alabaster helped him up and the two of them started up the stairs.

           “Where are we going?” Axel asked.

           Logic dictated that they should gather Pax and get into the Paxmobile before the Romans gained full awareness of exactly who they were. However, Alabaster was exhausted and knew there was no way they could get Pax out of here without a fight. Judging from the way Axel trembled as he walked up the stairs, Axel was even in worse shape, especially considering the onset of traumatic stress.

           They needed to do something very important before they could go to a demigod meeting, defend the camp, decide to help attack it, or strategize how to collect Percy’s head.             “We’re going to get you some clothing,” Alabaster said, “So Lou Ellen doesn’t squeal when she sees you with your shirt off.”

           “Excuse me?” Axel asked, clearly baffled as to why his lack of clothing would cause Alabaster’s annoying little sister alarm.

           “And then we’re going to find you somewhere safe to catnap. I didn’t sacrifice one of Pax’s Reese’s Sticks to Morpheus for a solid nap just to hear Pax whine about it being wasted later.”

           Despite their situation, Axel gave a near-genuine laugh. “You’re not letting me get out of that, are you?”

           “Do you want to hear your little brother whine?” Alabaster asked.

           Axel sighed sadly. “I’d be happy to.”            

 Thank you guys for the read! Some of my favorite chapters in this story are Alabaster chapters. What do you guys think? I hope you enjoyed this! Tune in next week for chapter seven: Maari:Diffusing the Aura of Strife and good luck to everyone heading back to school!

Footnotes:

[1] Mel’s Betacomment: “D: why do all your characters need such giant hug piles?”

Jack response: “Because the more I like a character, the worse things I do to them. It’s a societally acceptable version of masochism :D” (Also, she knows I’m WAY nicer to these characters than the ones in my others series XD)

[2] Mel’s Betacomment: “WHY YOU GOTTA MAKE AXEL SOUND HOT RIGHT NOW??? HE SHOULD BE SAD AND MOPEY AND UNATTRACTIVE LIKE PAX AND INSTEAD I'M GOING, WOW THAT'S HOT. WHAT EVEN!!! XDDD”

Jack’s response: I have none. I just needed to share this with the readers XD

[3] Name the reference! Either the philosophical one, or the video game.

[sassycassie-s-writing]

Dating Drama - Part 4: The Aftermath and Conclusion

By: SassyShoulderAngel319

Fandom/Character(s): DC, BatFam, SuperFam - Jason Todd/Red Hood, Conner Kent/Superboy

Rating: PG

Original Idea: Part 3 was too much of a cliffhanger so a Part 4 had to be written.

Notes: (Masterlist)(By Character)(About Me) And thus concludes the Dating Drama Saga! And just like any good book saga, this one is literally twice as long as parts 1 and 2 and, like, one-and-a-half times as long as part 3. @welovegroot @batboys-and-other-messes, couldn’t have done this without you two! So thank you! This is a little late because I needed a little help going over it and making sure the pacing and content felt right.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

^^^^^

I drove all night—or maybe I didn’t. I don’t even know. I was subconsciously making my way toward Metropolis—following the familiar route I’d taken dozens of times. Gotham and Metropolis weren’t terribly far apart—maybe an hour or two?—but I was so distracted that I didn’t notice that time even existed or how long I’d been in my car.

I came to a stop in Metropolis outside a familiar building. One I’d seen and been in hundreds of times.

I got out of my car, grabbed my backpack, and locked it behind me.

“Hello young lady. Been a while since I’ve seen you here,” the doorman said.

I smiled politely. “Yeah. Nice to see you again, Mr. Kane,” I replied.

He seemed to notice the smile was a little forced and my eyes were probably still bloodshot. “You alright, miss?”

I shrugged. “You know, I don’t know. Is Conner Kent home? Do you know?”

“I… am unsure. I don’t believe so. Mr. Kent left earlier but I don’t recall if he’s returned yet.”

“Well, may I go check?”

“Of course.” Mr. Kane pulled the door open for me.

“Thank you,” I said, still grinning, as I ducked into the apartment building.

“Miss!” Mr. Kane called after me. I turned, eyebrows up. “He hasn’t been the same since the last time I saw you here, you know. He’s not as… bright. Less cheerful. Not like the days when you two would run in here large as life, hand-in-hand, and smiling like you were the only two people in the world.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that. “Right,” I settled on, glancing down and walking backward toward the stairs.

“Whatever your purpose, young lady, I wish you the best of luck.”

“Thank you, Mr. Kane,” I said. I turned as he closed the door again and ran up the stairs.

Before I knew it, I was out of breath from the climb and standing in front of a door with a familiar number and chipped paint. I licked my lips—my whole mouth was dry. Closing my eyes with a sigh, I lifted my hand and knocked. “Hey Conner,” I said at a normal volume, knowing he could hear me if he was home.

There was a heartbeat of silence.

The door opened. “Hey Stars,” Conner greeted, looking somewhat surprised. There was a towel around his neck over his Superboy T-shirt and water glistening in his hair.

“Hi,” I replied. “Sorry to drop in like this. I… I didn’t know what else to do.”

He opened the door wider. “Come on in,” he said, a concerned expression on his face. I stepped over the threshold into an apartment where I spent dozens of nights over three-and-a-half years watching movies. “Have a seat,” Conner invited, gesturing to his sofa. He pulled his towel up over his head and shook it vigorously to dry off his hair before throwing it into the bathroom. His hair stuck out at odd angles, fluffy and significantly drier than it had been moments before. “Can I get you anything?” he called from where he was walking to his kitchen.

“Just water would be great. Thanks,” I replied.

He filled up a glass, brought it over to me, and passed it to me. I accepted it as he sat down on the other end of the sofa, perched on the edge as if ready to jump up at ay moment.

“What’s up?”

“Jason and I got in a fight earlier.”

He licked his lower lip and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I, uh, I know. I heard it.”

I snorted with bitter humor. “Why am I not surprised?”

“I heard him say my name in the back of my ears. I just wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to hurt you.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “So you heard what happened,” I stated.

“… Yeah.” Hesitantly, he patted my knee, almost as though he was wary to even touch me.

I nodded. “And what did you think?”

“Huh?”

“What did you think? Did we sound ridiculous and out-of-line?”

“Not really. You both made points and you both said things that seemed like you were trying to hurt the other. Even if you weren’t, that was how it sounded. Both of you crossed lines and neither of you were entirely fair. But emotions were running high and I know how anger feels more intimately than almost anyone and fairness isn’t always a player when emotions are high,” he said thoughtfully.

“Okay,” I said.

“How’s the infection?”

“Mostly gone. I feel healthy… physically. Alfred gave me some more antibiotics and I think I’ll be back at one-hundred-percent in a couple days. I’ve had a lot worse.”

“So how are you feeling?”

I shrugged. “Fine. A little achy and weak maybe, but that’ll go away soon.”

“Not exactly what I meant.”

“Oh. Then what did you mean?”

“Now that the fight’s over and you’ve had time to think about it. How are you feeling?”

I thought for a moment, trying to fathom my thoughts into words. “Lost. Confused. Still a little frustrated but the anger burned off a while ago. A little dumbfounded. Like, I didn’t think breaking up with your soulmate was even allowed.”

Conner snorted. “Well, Jason never was one for playing by the rules, was he?” he joked.

“Mmm. Fair point,” I said. I took a sip of water.

“Stars, listen, I know you still care for him. You don’t just leave your soulmate with… no emotional consequences. But part of me can’t help but hope you still care for me too. And even if that interest isn’t romantic, I want you to know I'm here for you, no matter what. Okay?”

I glanced up and met Conner’s eyes. They were a darker blue than Jason’s—more ocean-colored than Jason’s ice. I sighed. “I do still care for you, Kon. But I'm going to… I don’t know. Need time to… sort myself out, as Jason put it. And… I don’t know if I'm ready to just go running back to you. I mean, maybe I’ll just move to Bludhaven for a while and get away from everything. I don’t want to move back to Metropolis but I don’t really want to stay in Gotham either.”

“I understand. For now, can we still be friends?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean, can we still be friendly? No dancing around each other like we’re both bombs waiting to explode. You have a much more playful and cheery personality than anyone else I think I’ve ever met—except maybe Nightwing. I don’t want you to feel like you can’t be happy around me when something good is happening, like maybe we watch The Incredibles with Tim some night in the future, because you’re still conflicted about what happened with Jason.”

I took a deep breath, staring into the depths of my glass of water and thinking. “Yeah we can be friendly,” I decided.

“Thank you. Because I miss your smile.”

That made me smile. He was still kind.

He patted my knee. “There it is,” he said. “That smile could light up a city. It’s full of stars.”

I chuckled. “Thanks. I feel a little better now.”

Conner got to his feet. “You should get some rest. It’s too dark to drive anywhere and I think you could use some sleep.” He paused. “Feel free to take the bed. I’ll be out all night.”

“Where are you going?”

“I have a Metropolis to look after.”

Oh right. Duh. I rubbed at a scab on my knuckle that hadn’t healed from the last time I went out and fought bad guys. “Thank you, Kon. You’re being really nice to me.”

He shrugged. “Just doing what any… friend would do,” he said with a grin. He rested a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll be back in the morning. Get some rest.”

“Thank you,” I said.

He grinned, went to the window, and flew out. I sighed and shut it behind him. I’d done that more than once—a time two years ago when I got sick and couldn’t go out and fight with him sprang to mind.

I went to one of his cupboards and pulled out a few blankets. I wasn’t sure whether or not I’d sleep, but at least I could close my eyes, still feeling a little burnt from the salt of my tears. I snuggled down on his sofa and heaved a huge cleansing breath. A wave of tired washed over me. I closed my eyes, already drifting in and out of consciousness.

^^^^^

Starbeam was curled up against Conner’s chest, his arm thrown over her shoulders. They’d been watching a movie but switched over to the news on a text from Tim.

“—other news the superhero duo commonly nicknamed SuperStar by internet bloggers comprising of Metropolis’ own Superboy and Starbeam of Gotham took out the Green Rink Gang last night. The pair have been in some form of a business partnership for the last three years and have helped the city’s crime rate drop fifteen percent in that time with some degree of permanency. They left the Green Rink Gang tied up at the crime scene…”

“We did good,” Conner said, stroking her hair. Starbeam grunted tiredly in agreement. “It’s funny that they haven’t figured out that we’re in more of a romantic partnership than a business one. I mean, we don’t do much to hide it.”

“That is funny. You know what else is funny? I thought you were going to say ‘domestic partnership’ for a second there and I was like, ‘Isn’t that like a legal term for marriage?’” Starbeam joked.

Conner shrugged. “Maybe one day our romantic partnership will be a domestic one.”

“Mm. I'm not ready for that,” Starbeam said.

Conner’s eyes flicked to the cupboard where he kept his movie collection. It was too high for Starbeam to reach without getting on a kitchen stool, so he’d hidden the black velvet box containing a ring there where she wouldn’t find it. He’d had it for nearly a year but never felt ready enough or brave enough to ask the question. It could wait a little longer.

He looked back at the TV. Starbeam hadn’t even noticed he’d looked away from it.

^^^^^

Conner shook his head to clear it, twisting his body to bank around a skyscraper. Last he checked, that ring was still there and she still wasn’t ready.

That’s okay, he thought. Give it time to see what develops. Maybe things will change. And if they don’t, respect her decisions.

^^^^^

I woke up to clanging noises nearby, on a surface that was soft but decidedly not my own bed. My vigilante instincts kicked into overdrive. I’d been kidnapped and they were breaking out the torture equipment! Escape!

I tried to leap up into a fighting stance, but got tangled up in two or three different blankets. “Whoa!” I shouted, tilting dangerously and falling to crash on a coffee table I caught sight of.

“Op! Look out!” a familiar voice exclaimed. There was a whoosh and familiar arms were steadying me. Conner’s eyes searched my face—for signs of what, I wasn’t sure. “You okay? You hurt anything?”

“No. I'm good. Thanks,” I replied. “Sorry. I just… it was unfamiliar surroundings to wake up to and my mind… overreacted.”

He shrugged. “You’re a Gotham vigilante. You reacted according to appropriate threat levels in your situation,” he commented casually, helping me untangle from the blankets. “I was going to move you to my bed when I got in and saw you on the couch since it’s more comfortable, but I didn’t want to wake you up. Sorry. You looked so peaceful and I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“Right. So… Breakfast?”

“Love some. What can I help with?”

“Nothing. You can relax and let me finish making pancakes in peace,” Conner said, patting my shoulder before going back to the kitchen. “How’d you sleep?”

I pushed my messy hair out of my face. “Okay. How about you? How was Metropolis?”

“Eh. The usual. We’re not as bad as Gotham so I’ll never complain much,” he said, casting a playful grin over his shoulder.

His phone started to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket. “Hey Tim, what’s going on?”

Tim was in enough of a panic to be yelling, because I could hear him. “Dude! Starbeam is missing! She and Jason got in a fight yesterday and she just drove off and none of us even saw her leave and her phone’s GPS has been deactivated—” Did I deactivate my GPS? I didn’t remember. “—and she’s not answering her phone and her suit is still here in the cave so her homing device isn’t with her and we have no idea where she is and—”

“Tim!” Conner exclaimed to get his best friend to pipe down. “Calm down. She’s right here with me.”

“Hi Tim!” I called, hoping he could hear me from across the apartment. Conner passed me his phone and went back to stirring the pancake batter. “Hi Tim,” I repeated quieter.

“Starbeam! What the &*$% you can’t just disappear like that!” Tim shouted. “Do you have any idea how worried we’ve been?”

“I'm surprised anyone’s noticed me enough to be worried about me in Gotham, to be honest,” I admitted. “Jason’s still mad at me, probably, and the rest of you tend to be too focused on your own cases and projects to really pay attention to my comings and goings.”

“Fair point but it’s not like the entire house just listened to you fight and then didn’t care to check up on you. Dick went to your room with some cookies and ice cream and you were just gone and your backpack and some clothes were missing and your car wasn’t on the drive. We searched the entirety of Gotham for you all night! Why didn’t you tell anyone where you were going?”

“I needed some time alone, Timmy. And I didn’t need an entourage of bats following me.”

Tim was quiet for a second. “Okay,” he said. “Are you okay, though, Starbeam?”

“Yeah I'm fine. Conner’s taking real good care of me. Promise. He’s making pancakes right now.” I didn’t ask the questions I wanted to—how was Jason? Did he look for me?—because it felt petty.

“Okay. I'm… glad,” Tim said.

“Tim,” I said. “I know this last little while has been hard on you. With… me and your brother and your best friend and stuff. And I am sorry. Really. Hopefully one day everything will get sorted out and you won’t have to be so caught up in the middle of the drama.”

“Thanks Starbeam. That… means a lot. I, uh, I'm gonna go tell Bruce that I found where you are.”

“Okay. See you later, Tim.”

“Bye Starbeam.”

I hung up the call and set Conner’s phone off to the side. He glanced over at me.

“So, good to see you seem to be feeling somewhat better,” he said.

I sighed quietly. “Yeah I guess,” I said. “I mean, I'm not gonna feel, like, really good till like next week but my brain and heart aren’t as much of a hurricane as they were last night.”

“That’s something, at least,” Conner commented, making a pancake in a frying pan.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “Yeah it’s something.”

We had breakfast and then cleaned up, talking about superficial stuff like Metropolis’ weather compared to Gotham’s and whatever weird stuff we’d seen on the news lately. Once everything was put away, we stood in the kitchen. I felt better, but still not great. I perched on the arm of his sofa.

“Thank you, Kon. You’re being really kind to me,” I said. “This must not be easy on you either.”

He shrugged. “It’s not the easiest thing I’ve ever done—emotions aren’t my strong point—but I’m trying and I still care about you and your emotional well-being so I'm doing what I can,” he said. “I mean, am I dying a little inside knowing that someone I care about is hurting? Yeah. But sometimes we have to put aside our own feelings to be someone else’s anchor.”

I rocked back and forth on my heels. “Can I… can I hug you?” I asked tentatively. “If this was happening with my parents closer to me… I’d ask them for a hug.”

“Of course.”

It was a very awkward, distant hug—so unlike any I’d ever shared with him even when Jason and I were together the first time and Kon and I were just good friends. Despite what he said about us being friendly rather than dancing around each other like we were bombs, that was exactly what we were doing. Just dipping our toes into the water rather than diving into the deep end.

Despite the awkward distance though, I felt comforted. Safe. Being so small and wrapped in someone else’s arms always gave me a sense of security.

He patted the back of my head. “It’s going to be okay, Stars. I promise,” he vowed. “Everything will work out alright in the end.”

I nodded. “Thanks Conner. I hope so,” I agreed before pulling out of the hug.

His deep blue eyes searched my face. “It will. You’re strong and you’re smart.” He sighed. “Well. You’re welcome to stay here for a couple days till you figure out what you want, you know that right?”

“Thank you, Conner. But I… I can’t. Not yet. I just need to be by myself until I work out my heart.”

Conner looked hurt but tried not to. “Tha-That’s okay,” he said. “I’ll always be here for you.”

I stepped closer to him and set my hands on his elbows. “Thank you,” I said sincerely. “For everything.” I tilted up onto my tiptoes, hesitated, and placed a soft, halting kiss of gratitude on his cheek. Once I was back on solid ground, I turned on my heel, grabbed my backpack, and went to the door. I reached for the handle and turned around. “I’ll… I’ll let you know when I sort everything out.”

“Okay.” He quirked a small crooked smile.

“Goodbye, Conner.” I turned back to the door.

“Hang on!” he called before I could leave. I turned. There was a whoosh and he was in front of me. He gave me another hug. As he pulled away, he pressed his lips to the top of my head. “For luck,” he explained. “So you can figure everything out.”

I backed out the door. “Thank you, Conner. I’ll, uh, I’ll see you soon.” I shut it behind me.

^^^^^

One Month Later…

Knock-knock! “Hey Kon,” I said.

The door opened once again. “Hey there,” he replied with a little smile. “How’s Bludhaven been?”

“Oh. You know. It’s been Bludhaven. Doesn’t change.” I shrugged. “Dick comes over every couple nights to share stories and gossip about rogue’s love lives. Big brother Dick stuff.” Conner nodded understandingly. Everyone in our life who’d met Dick Grayson knew his caring, big brotherly nature.

“Seen Jason?”

“Nope. Last I heard, he and the Outlaws were somewhere in Colorado.”

“You okay with that?” Kon asked, opening the door wider to let me in. I stepped over the threshold and gave him a friendly side-arm hug.

“Yeah. He can do whatever he wants with his life. I figured out what I want with mine.”

“And what’s that?” Conner asked.

I hesitated, rocking back and forth on the balls of my feet. “If… if you’re willing, I’d like to try us again,” I admitted. “I still love you, Conner Kent. And I miss you.”

His face lit up. He pulled me into a delicate hug that grew stronger when he figured out how much strength wouldn’t crush me. “I would like that more than anything, Stars. I still love you too and I am completely willing to try.”

I grinned slightly. “May… may I?” I asked, eyes flicking down to Conner’s lips. He bit his lower one for a moment as a grin tilted up the corners.

“You may,” he replied, bending down.

It was soft and careful—nothing forceful. Neither of us grabbing onto the other and yanking for all we were worth. No. This was cautious. Hesitant. We were testing the waters and making sure this was what we both wanted.

Our last mission together—the one that caused my world to flip upside-down—shot through my head.

^^^^^

It was supposed to be a simple in-and-out mission. Run in, grab the package, and get out. Simple. No alarms triggered meant we could be in and out in ten minutes, tops. We’d spent the evening before casing the compound from the outside and slept not too far away from it, but far enough that their security wouldn’t find us.

But of course something had to go wrong and we breached an alarm when extracting the package from its containment. I wasn’t even sure what the package was. Batman just said it was a dangerous bioweapon and needed to be destroyed.

Conner grabbed my hand and started pulling me out of the facility. He was a lot faster than I was so I stumbled along behind, trying to secure the package in my utility belt with one hand.

I lost count of how many guards we knocked out after five and how many bullets we dodged after three. Conner nearly yanked my arm out of its socket at least twice pulling me out of the paths of stray bullets.

We cleared the compound and security guards opened fire even more than they had inside. Conner snatched me around the waist and took off into the sky. I shrieked in surprise as we shot out of range. Conner looked down at me, concern all over his face. “Package secure?” he asked. I put one hand over my belt. I could feel the vial that had the bioweapon in it.

“Yup!” I called over the wind.

We touched down several miles away from the compound where my ride—a miniature version of the Batwing—was waiting for me. My heart was still pounding from the fight and the moment I could have sworn I saw a bullet in slow-motion as it whizzed right past my eyes. Once my feet were back on solid ground, I sighed in relief that we were out of the situation, my lips quirking up into a small smile.

“Whoo! We made it!” I exclaimed. I whirled and grabbed Conner’s shoulders as though to give him a celebratory kiss—the way I would have done back when we were together.

I froze.

“Nope. Never mind,” I said, mortified. “Force of habit. Sorry. Forget it ever happened.”

“Forget what?” Kon asked, agreeing.

“Exactly.” I got in the Baby Batwing and jetted off before I could make a bigger idiot of myself.

^^^^^

No more of that. Kon was here, with me, now. And there wasn’t a Red-Hood-sized elephant in the room.

When we pulled away, Conner searched my face. “Okay?” he asked.

I nodded. “Okay.”

“Think we can do this again?”

“I think we can try.” I felt a grin pull on my face. There was a sense of rightness, wholeness, to the atmosphere of Conner’s living room, emotions thrumming between us. I had a feeling Conner and I would be just fine.