#Kaldur'ahm FanFiction

[plzravagemethxxx]

BLOODLUST pt. 2

BLOODLUST Masterlist

Part One Part Three

"Fine. Fine." Y/N raised her hands in surrender. "But I'm only consenting to reconnaissance. We go in, collect information, and we get out."

KF and Robin exchanged giddy smiles.

Then Robin turned to Y/N, a sly gleam in his eyes. "Ready to be whelmed?"

The fire is still burning bright when the four of them arrive at Cadmus.

The fire brigade was busily attempting to put out what flames still remained, as well as trying to rescue the scientists and workers who were in the building.

"STAY PUT," a firefighter ordered through a megaphone. "WE WILL GET YOU OUT!"

That was the last thing Y/N heard them say before suddenly the ground shook with the weight of a loud explosion from within the laboratory. She saw the impact blow two of the men in lab coats out the window and into the air.

"KF, go!" she shouted, and she didn't need to tell him twice.

In a blink of an eye, Kid Flash raced towards Cadmus and ran up the steep face of the building, catching the poor scientists before they could meet an untimely demise. His momentum led him to speeding up to the roof, where he deposited the scientists before he tripped and fell.

"Shoot!" he managed to yelp, before quickly finding purchase on the windowsill. "Oh, thank god."

"It's what's-his-name!" one of the firefighters exclaimed. "Eh... Flash Boy!"

Robin snorted.

"It's KID FLASH!" KF grumbled. "Why is that so hard?"

"He's soooo smooth, isn't he?" Robin mused as he, Aqualad, and Bloodlust ran up to the building.

"Shut it, Rob," Bloodlust snarked. She grabbed her knife and sliced her palms and the soles of her feet. Then she lunged up at the side of the building. "STICK!" Her hands and feet stuck strongly to the concrete, and she began to climb up like a spider towards KF. "Hold on, buddy."

"Yep!" KF replied. "Kinda all I can do at the moment!"

In a couple seconds, Bloodlust crossed the building and arrived just before KF's grip could falter completely. She grabbed his wrist, and he clung to her arm fast, and she hauled the two of them into Cadmus through the open window.

"Must they always run ahead?" Aqualad muttered as he watched. He sighed. "We need a plan—"

But then he turned, and found Robin, too, had disappeared from his side. Instead, he saw the youngest of them all running up the fire truck ladder before grabbing onto an unused hose and using it like a rope to swing himself into the window as well.

Aqualad sighed. "Of course."

He hurried over to the fire trucks, right beside the firefighters still trying to hose down the fire.

"I need to borrow that!" he quickly warned, before he pulled his two Atlantean weapons from their sheaths and redirected the water from the hose to propel himself into the air, up to the roof, where the two scientists remained. "Step aboard. Now."

The men didn't hesitate. Aqualad landed first, as he set foot on the windowsill his friends had entered through, then lowered the scientists down the ground.

"Finally," Bloodlust called as Aqualad entered the building.

"I appreciate the help," he sarcastically replied.

"Hey, you handled it!" Robin protested, typing away at one of the computers he'd opened. "Besides. We're here to investigate. Poetic justice, remember?"

"Yeah," Y/N noted. "Investigate. KF," she added sternly, leveling the redhead with a look as he made shadow puppets using the light of Robin's screen.

"Sorry, sorry," Kid Flash mused in a very unapologetic tone. He glanced back to see Bloodlust was no longer looking, then resumed his shenanigans with a silent snicker.

"Robin," Bloodlust called, "found anything?"

"No, not much yet," the Boy Wonder replied. "Check some of the physical files and stuff, might be something there."

"Got it." She marched over to another desk and plucked the papers off of it, struggling to read the contents in the minimal light. She found notes on different DNA samples the lab had been given, most likely via ancestry tests and the like. One paper had, in bold red letters at the bottom, PATERNITY TEST NEGATIVE. Y/N set that paper aside and kept looking.

Suddenly, she heard the familiar ding! of an elevator, and frowned. She looked up to see Aqualad had gone off, and KF was following, and so she did the same.

She found the two boys standing at the mouth of a hall leading to an elevator shaft.

"There was something in the..." Aqualad muttered.

KF frowned. "Elevators should be locked down."

"Well, this one isn't," Bloodlust replied, stalking over to it. She heard Robin's footsteps as he followed. "That's suspicious. Rob, is this what I think it is?"

"This is wrong," he agreed, pulling up his holographic screen to search his archives for a confirmation. "Thought so. This is a high-speed express elevator. It doesn't belong in a two-story building!"

"Unless the building isn't just two stories," Bloodlust realized. She touched the doors and frowned. "Aqualad, you said you saw something enter the elevator?"

"Something that also doesn't belong here," he said.

He stepped up to the doors and gestured for Bloodlust to step aside. When she did, he placed his hands on the gap between the doors and pried them open with a shout.

The rest of them clambered beside him and gazed down at the elevator shaft. It stretched downwards for far longer than a supposed small-scale genetics laboratory should require.

"And that's why they need an express elevator," Robin quipped.

He pulled his grappling hook launcher out of his pocket and fired it into the ceiling of the shaft. Then he leapt into the shaft and continued to fall and fall until his line eventually came to an end at just around a floor labeled SB 25.

"I'm at the end of my rope," he muttered, a soft shock in his tone as he swung over to the door of the elevator. He quickly sidestepped until he found a decent spot to sit, then produced his screens again.

Aqualad came down next, followed by Bloodlust and then Kid Flash.

"I knew something was off with this place," Bloodlust hissed, touching the cold metal of the door again. "Not only is this an express elevator; these doors are heavily reinforced. They're probably not indestructible, but most definitely bulletproof. And I can feel it vibrating. Robin, these have tech behind them. Passcodes."

"On it," the Boy Wonder replied. "Bypassing security... there. Go."

Aqualad didn't miss a beat. He tore these doors open too, then the four of them slipped inside quickly. They found themselves, wide-eyed, in another enormous hallway. The lights were a deep red, the walls and ceiling and floor a murky black. Panel upon panel of black metal ran down the hall, giving the room a strange aura about it.

"Welcome to Project Cadmus," Robin announced.

Kid Flash wasted no time in rushing again. Aqualad tried to grab him to stop him, but the boy was far too fast. He sped ahead, only to severely underestimate his speed and fail to smoothly as he neared the end of the hall. He tripped and skidded across the floor, grunting in pain.

And then there was a thud. A heavy, scarily close weight dropping beside him, and KF opened his eyes as a strange, elephant-sized creature lifted its foot and began to lower it right over him.

Luckily, as per his powers, KF was more than fast enough to get out of the way of the herd of... creatures? As he stepped back and rejoined his friends, who were now in the hall with him, he struggled to understand what he was looking at.

The creatures were enormous. They had gravelly gray skin with strange red markings and pale underbellies and curved tusks emerging from the sides of their fanged mouths. Their eyes were a deep red and their faces seemed curved in permanent snarls. Bloodlust swore one of them met her gaze as it passed. They roared and blew steam from their nostrils, the heat so intense it was nearly disorienting.

"What are those?" Bloodlust asked in a hushed whisper, only for her eyes to then catch a glimpse of yet another anomaly. "Huh?!"

Seated in a sort of crouched position on the top of the monster was a tiny creature with beady red eyes and markings to match the bigger creature over its own cool gray skin. There were hard-looking lumps on their knees and curved appendages coming from the sides of its face. As the monsters passed, the tiny creature's horns began to glow a bright red.

Y/N's heart skipped such a long beat it might as well have stopped. There was this strange sensation in her body as she met the goblin-creature's gaze; a tingling which started at the top of her head and trickled pleasantly down to the tips of her bare toes. She was always aware of the blood in her body thanks to her metahuman powers but suddenly her understanding of it all was... heightened? Was that the right word? She was hyperaware of the beat of her heart, of the rush of her bloodflow, of the—

"BLOOD!"

Y/N jumped. "What?!"

Kid Flash was standing right next to her, his hand on her shoulder, a concerned look in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "You sorta zoned out for a second."

"I..." Y/N took a shaky breath, then frowned. Why was her breathing so heavy now? "Sorry, I just... I don't know." She put her hand to her chest. "My heart feels like it's going supersonic right now. It... it must be the shock, I guess."

Robin didn't look convinced. "Doubtful. Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah," Bloodlust assured him. "I'm okay. Um. What were those?"

Aqualad shook his head. "We do not know. But this is proof that Batman, Black Canary, and you were right. Cadmus is keeping far too many secrets."

"Well?" Robin prompted. "We're here now. Might as well uncover a couple more."

Y/N frowned. "Robin, I said only reconnaissance."

"C'mon!" KF protested. "Blood, we're already here. We can't exactly leave now! You can't say you're not curious."

This is a bad idea, Y/N noted. She glanced at her friends' faces, their looks of hope for her to agree with them (even in Aqualad's gaze, surprisingly). But I am intrigued by all of this. What were those things? Can we find that out? And not be caught by our mentors?

"Fine," she amended, waving KF away from her face. "Fine, fine. But if things go south, I'm calling Arrow."

"What?!" KF demanded.

"Hey, better him than Bats, right?" Y/N reminded him. "And he can help keep Canary from killing me."

"It's a deal," Robin said, cutting off Kid Flash before he could get annoyed. "If stuff hits the fan, you can call GA."

"Good." Y/N nodded. "Now. Where do we start?"

They were shocked upon opening the first vault, which really didn't bode well.

Robin found a bit of difficulty in hacking open the vault, which he was initially frustrated by.

"That's a first," he grumbled. "Hold on."

There was no need to hold on, however, because he managed to crack the code five seconds later. With a satisfying click and hiss, the vault doors slid opened.

"Okay..." Robin muttered, looking into the vault. "I am officially whelmed."

Inside the vault was column after column of cylinder-shaped semi-transparent containment chambers. Within each chamber was yet another unidentifiable organism with similar characteristics to the giants and gremlins from earlier. At the center of the room was an energy of sorts; a buzzing, bright blue ball of something, flashing rapidly as it drew power the containment chambers.

"They're... they're living batteries," Bloodlust realized.

Kid Flash marched up closer to the chambers. "This is how they hide this massive underground facility from the world! The real Cadmus isn't on the grid! It generates its own power with these... things." He placed his hands on his hips. "It must be what they're bred for."

Aqualad turned to Bloodlust. "You were right, my friend. They truly live up to the legend of their name."

Bloodlust nodded silently.

"So Cadmus creates new life," Robin noted. He marched up to the blue sphere of power, to the little control panel at the base of the structure, and connected his own monitor to the controls. "Let's find out why."

Y/N saddled up beside Robin and read his screen over his shoulder. Her eyes fell on paragraph after paragraph of scientific terminology and lab reports.

"They call them Genomorphs," Robin narrated. "Whoa! Look at the stats on these things!" He tapped on the image of the giant creatures from earlier, opening up a window with a characteristic breakdown of the organism. "Super strength, telepathy, razor claws—these things are living weapons!"

"They're engineering an army," KF muttered. "But for who?"

"Wait." Robin leaned forward and tapped on one of the files. "There's some other stuff. Project Kr and... ugh." He shook his head. "The file's triple encrypted. I can't—"

"DON'T MOVE!"

The four of them whirled around at the sudden shout, eyes wide and hands clenched into fists. Rushing towards them, a group of growling Genomorphs at his heels and shoulder, was... was that Guardian?!

"Wait!" he shouted, stopping dead in his tracks as he scanned the faces of the teenagers. Recognition flashed in his eyes. "Robin? Aqualad? Kid Flash? Bloodlust?"

"Hey, at least he got your name right," Robin teased KF before he continued trying to hack into the files.

"I know you," Aqualad spoke up. "Guardian. A hero."

"I do my best," Guardian humbly said.

"What are you doing down here?" Bloodlust demanded. "And why've you got those Genomorphs with you?"

"I'm Chief of Security," Guardian explained. "You're all trespassing. But we can call the Justice League, figure this out."

"You think the League is going to approve of you breeding weapons?!" KF fired back.

"Weapons?" Guardian questioned. "What're you... what am I..."

But he was cut off as the Genomorph on his shoulder turned to him, its horns glowing red. Y/N, too, staggered back, suddenly overcome with a strange urge; although, to do what, she was unsure.

Guardian pressed a hand to his head, groaning in discomfort. But then he opened his eyes again, a glimmer of determination in his eyes, and he looked back at the protégés. "Take them down hard! No mercy!"

Bloodlust was the first to act. She slipped her knife from its sheath and slashed at her palms, allowing the stray drops of her blood to fall.

"SMOKE!" she ordered, and her blood erupted into billowing red smoke.

Robin was quick to take advantage and produced his grappling hook launcher again. He fired it up onto the support beams overhead, then leapt up, allowing the wire to carry him to brief safety.

The Genomorphs advanced, slashing through the smoke and snarling; but their vision was obscured. Bloodlust took full control of the smoke and concentrated it around the eyes of the Genomorphs, blinding them but allowing her and her friends full visibility.

One came too close for comfort, and she lunged at the monster, letting the blood on her palms touch its skin.

"BURN!"

Instantly, the Genomorph let out a high-pitched, agonized shriek as its flesh began to burn and boil. It fell to the ground, and Y/N moved on to the next enemy combatant until she heard the electric crackling of Aqualad's weapons and followed the sound. She saw him knock down Guardian, and she ran alongside him and KF to escape the vault.

They booked it as fast as they could, staying out of reach of the Genomorphs by just a hair. Alarms began to blare, sending waves of pain through Bloodlust's head, but she kept sprinting until she found Robin, busily hacking away at the elevator. KF ran ahead, seemingly scolding him, until the elevator door opened and they rushed inside. Bloodlust quickly followed.

"You couldn't wait for us?" she panted, turning to Robin with a glare.

"You made it!" Robin grinned. "No need to complain!"

The growling of the Genomorphs grew closer, and Y/N looked up and yelped, pushing herself against the side of the elevator just in time to allow Aqualad to jump into the shaft. The doors shut behind him, trapping them inside.

"Okay, good," Bloodlust sighed. She stood and dusted herself off, then commanded her hands to heal. "Now, we leave."

But the floor level display continued to increase. They were going deeper into the sublevels.

"We're headed down?" Aqualad demanded.

"Dude!" KF turned to Robin. "Out is up!"

"Excuse me?" Robin frowned. "Project Kr? It's down, on sublevel 52."

"This is out of control," Aqualad protested. "Perhaps... perhaps we should contact the League."

"On it," Bloodlust began, but before she could reach her communications device, Robin grabbed her wrist. She leveled him with a wide-eyed glare. "Explain yourself or I will cut off your hand, Robin."

"Look, Blood, I think you're going to want to see this stuff," he implored. "Trust me."

"You promised that I could call Arrow!" Y/N reminded him. "Make good on your word!"

But then the elevator dinged open, and soon Y/N was too shocked by what she saw to even remember to call Oliver.

The hall—if it could even be called that—was strange, red, and flesh-like in appearance. Glowing blue pustule-esque structures jutted out from the wall, emanating ominous light.

"What is this place?" Bloodlust whispered.

Robin ran ahead.

"No!" Bloodlust reached for him, but he was already too far. "No, I don't like this at all, guys."

"Well, we are already here," KF tried to convince her, before quickly shutting up because Bloodlust gave him such a cold look he turned away. He elected to run after Robin.

Aqualad sighed heavily. "I will go with them. If you wish to stay back, that is your decision."

Y/N wanted to fall to her knees and kiss his feet in thanks. She hated this feeling of being here. The air was thicker, the walls looked alive, it was unnatural, unreal in all the worst ways.

But then Robin's words came back to her:

Look, Blood, I think you're going to want to see this stuff. Trust me.

"N-no." Bloodlust swallowed her nerves. "I'll come with you."

Aqualad hesitated. Then he offered her a gentle smile, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"That is quite brave of you, my friend," he assured her.

Y/N nodded. "Thanks."

[aloonaram]

I’ve been kinda dead here but I needed to post this fic rec bc it was so fucking good and im devastated this is the only fic on their profile

Genuinely felt like I was watching a season of young justice, yall have to read it.

And for anyone who has read it already, do you have an recs that are similar and finished?? I need more older young justice fics with centric nightwing 😭

[super-luna-fic]

Camp Justice Character Profiles

Callan "Cal" Josephine Alvarez W.

Alias: Crow Camp Justice Age: 14 Sex: Female Species: Human Hair: Dark Brown Curly Eye Color: Dark Hazel Brown Camp Justice Height: 5'6 Race/Ethnicity: West Indian (Trinidad and India), Dominican, Caucasian Skills: Martial Arts, Stealth, Weaponry, Acrobatics, Gymnastics, TBA Personality/Traits: Friendly (most of the time), Competitive, Short-tempered, Hardworking, Optimistic, Patient (that's what she thinks), Loyal, Mischievous, Hardheaded, Playful, Caring

Richard "Dick" John Grayson

Alias: Robin Camp Justice Age: 14 Sex: Male Species: Human Hair: Black Short and Wavy Eye Color: Electric Blue Camp Justice Height: 5'5.75 Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian (Romanian, French) Skills: Martial Arts, Stealth, Weaponry, Acrobatics, Decoding (Hacking), Gymnastics Personality/Traits: Optimistic, Compassionate, Caring, Loyal, Cocky, Playful, Hot-tempered, Ambitious

Wallace "Wally" Rudolph West

Alias: Kid Flash Camp Justice Age: 15 Sex: Male Species: Human Hair: Red Straight Eye Color: Gemstone Green Camp Justice Height: 5'8 Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian (Scottish, Norwegian) Skills/Powers: Martial Arts, Stealth, Super Speed, Super Stamina, Accelerated Healing, Phasing, Science Personality/Traits: Energetic, Impatient, Loyal, Caring, Playful, Talkative, Cocky, Kind Hearted

Kaldur'ahm

Alias: Aqualad Camp Justice Age: 16 Sex: Male Species: Atlantean, Human Hair: Light Blonde Curly Eye Color: Pistachio Green Camp Justice Height: 5'9 Race/Ethnicity: African American (Nigerian Ancestry) Skills/Powers: Martial Arts, Superhuman Strength, Hydro kinesis, Enhanced Hearing, Durability, Aquatic Respiration Personality/Traits: Calm, Level-headed, Caring, Loyal, Responsible, Noble

Conner "Con" Kent

Alias: Superboy Camp Justice Age: Biological body of 15-year-old but was created 6 months before being discovered Sex: Male Species: Kryptonian, Human Hair: Black Straight Eye Color: Ocean Blue Camp Justice Height: 5'9 Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian Skills/Powers: Martial Arts, Super Strength, Super Hearing, Durability, Enhanced Vision, Accelerated Healing Personality/Traits: Hard-headed, Defiant, Loyal, Temperamental, Shy

Roy Harper

Alias: Speedy, Red Arrow Camp Justice Age: 17 Sex: Male Species: Human Hair: Red Orange Straight Eye Color: Sky Blue Camp Justice Height: 5'9.5 Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian (Dutch), Native American (Navajo) Skills: Martial Arts, Stealth, Archery, Technology, Weaponry Personality/Traits: Loyal, Short-tempered, Serious (sometimes), Playful

Artemis Crock

Alias: Artemis Camp Justice Age: 15 Sex: Female Species: Human Hair: Blonde Wavy Eye Color: Green-grey Camp Justice Height: 5'7 Race/Ethnicity: White (Scandinavian), Asian (Vietnamese) Skills: Martial Arts, Archery, Weaponry, Stealth Personality/Traits: Passionate, Loyal, Witty, Hardheaded

M'gann M'orzz

Alias: Miss Martian Camp Justice Age: Generally appears as a 15-year-old but is biologically 45 Sex: Female Species: Martian Hair: Red Straight Eye Color: Reddish Brown Camp Justice Height: Generally presents herself as 5'7 Race/Ethnicity: N/A Skills/Powers: Martial Arts, Telepathy, Phasing, Flight, Mind Control, Shapeshifting, Invisibility, Durability Personality/Traits: Optimistic, Cheerful, Playful, Loyal, Polite, Caring

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the DC original characters or plots. The only characters I own are the ones I created. This is merely a fanfiction story.

DO NOT REPOST ANYWHERE!

A/N: Thank you so much for continuing to keep up with my posts. I will be posting the first chapter later this week. If you have any questions or just want to talk please do send me a message!

See ya later!

[batfam-fanfics]

I don't need magic to love you by Spooky_Vanilla

1 Chapter - 2156 words

“I don’t get why it’s not working!” Zatanna cried out, tangling her fingers into her hair. The counter spell didn’t work. Neither did the second or the third spell.

“I don’t get why you guys are freaking out.” Nightwing replied casually. Wally pressed kisses against his neck, like that was a totally normal thing.

“At least they aren’t trying to go to Nightwing’s room anymore.” Artemis ignored them. Actually, it seemed like everyone was doing their best to ignore them.

-

Or: Dick and Wally ended up getting hit with a love spell. The Team knows this. Dick and Wally have been dating for months. The Team doesn't know this.

[kattythingz]

I need Ed meeting Black Canary. She's a badass, she's emotionally intelligent, she can never meet Teacher or General Armstrong (he's still terrified of that particular team up), she's also the one in charge of his new the kids' training

So. I did what you asked, technically. The prompt... got away from me a little. For 2.7k.

Don't hate me too much haha

YJ x FMA Pt. 7

🧡 Pt. 1 💛 Pt. 2 🤍 Pt. 3 🩵 Pt. 4 💙 Pt. 5 🧡 Pt. 6 💛

Robin zetaed into the mission room that afternoon just in time to glimpse Kaldur hitting the training ground.

Robin’s eyebrows shot up as Kaldur gave an actual noise at the impact—a rarity in sparring, considering his literally tougher skin—and didn’t rise immediately. Ed walked the short distance toward Kaldur’s sitting-up form, dressed in his high-neck shirt from yesterday and clearly borrowed pants from Ling, extending a friendly grin and a hand to Kaldur.

Kaldur accepted both with a smile, and Ed hauled him up without a sweat.

“You still good?” he asked amusedly.

“I am only just starting,” Kaldur said, then chuckled. “Although, if all your tosses carry such force, then I think I might owe Ling an apology now for laughing at him yesterday.”

Ling exaggerated a gasp in the peanut gallery outside the training circle, a familiar red hoodie draped over his arm, and Ed let out a snort. “Nah, Ling had that one coming for weeks. Anyway, you took that impact pretty well, considering I’ve used the same force on a suit of armor for four years straight.” He eyed Kaldur curiously. “Is your skin tough, by any chance?”

Kaldur blinked at the easy, and accurate, assessment. “Yes, it is. Did you figure that out just from tossing me?”

“Well, not really,” Ed hummed. “Your skin’s got a bit of a shine to it in the right lighting. It reminded me a little of shark scales—which, I guess is pretty cliche, huh?” 

He laughed at Kaldur’s politely deadpan expression, but it wasn’t from any place of mockery; Robin didn’t think anything about this guy was disingenuous. That, and Ling’s brighter eyes at the sound spoke really gross volumes.

“A little,” Kaldur admitted, “but I take no offense to that.”

“Cool, cool. Tell me if I ever do put my foot in my mouth, though, yeah? I don’t wanna go around pissing off the wrong guys and all.”

Ling choked on air out of nowhere, coughing frantically into his hand when Ed whipped toward him with narrowed eyes.

“You got something to say, babe?” Ed asked, and Ling sweat-dropped.

“O-Of course not. Just a bit of inhaled dust. As you were.”

Robin stifled his own laugh at the sight much better than Ling—unlike Wally, who hastily scrambled to slap a hand over his own escaped chortle. Robin stopped next to his best friend with a cheery elbow to his side, grinning when Wally released his silence upon impact. He shot Robin a glare, in tandem with Ed’s eyes darting to Wally as well.

Unfortunately, before Robin could witness a double murder, Kaldur cleared his throat, saying, “I have been meaning to ask, Ed.”

Ed humphed before turning to Kaldur, to Ling and Wally’s laughable relief. “What?”

He said it a little irately, but Robin was starting to think that was maybe the guy’s default setting and nothing to take personally. So, another Superboy, basically. They all had more than enough experience with that.

“You mentioned earlier before you grabbed me, ‘too low,’” Kaldur said. “But I was using the same angle that I usually do with Robin as my partner. Black Canary has already advised me on my technique there, and she would have told me if I was slipping in our previous training…”

He trailed off near the end, sounding uncharacteristically insecure, probably because he thought Black Canary was holding back some sort of disappointment in him.

Which was stupid, Robin thought, considering Kaldur was practically their best at hand-to-hand.

Ed must’ve realized something similar, either about Kaldur’s character or his skill, as he softened with a grin suddenly. 

“It wasn’t your angle, technically,” Ed said. “It’s more, you didn’t put enough push into the strike. You mentioned sparring with Robin—I’m guessing he moves around a lot and never stays in one place?”

He glanced over at Robin as though for confirmation, a keen intelligence in that single look, and Robin hoped his startled nerves didn’t show at being mentalized so easily. He pulled a smirk before anyone could notice him wavering and said, “You got it!”

“Right.” Robin let out an imperceptible exhale when Ed dismissed him for Kaldur in the next breath. “So, your problem was exactly that. You kept expecting me to bounce out of the way, but I stood my ground every time, and it threw you off.”

Wally was definitely staring at Robin in his periphery, but he ignored him in favor of focusing on Kaldur’s reaction to the words. He furrowed his brow, considering, before his eyes widened.

“Oh, I see,” he said. “So, next time, I would need to anchor my strikes more?”

Ed chuckled. “A little more to it than that. It’s a matter of quicker adaptability, I think—”

“So, what’s with the impromptu lesson, anyway?” Robin leaned into Wally to whisper, while Ed imparted Black Canary-level advice onto Kaldur. “I didn’t realize you were so excited to get your ass handed to you outside of training.”

“Shut up, dude,” Wally whispered back, annoyed. “That is so not what happens. And, I’m not the one who suggested this. It was Artemis who asked; blame her.”

“Hey! Nobody forced you to watch,” Artemis retorted. “You can go back to losing at video games if you really want to. Some of us actually want to learn a thing or two.”

Artemis had a point, obviously, but… It was weird. That she’d prompted this.

Was Artemis gauging Ed too? Bruce had made it clear to Robin the other day that the League had little reason, for now, to be wary of Ed—but that was the thing. There was always a “for now” attached to these things until they had concrete assurance.

Robin was more into the hands-off approach, personally. Ed seemed like a fun guy, and Ling trusted him with his literal future in marriage, so Robin didn’t think there was anything shady to uncover about him, per se. But this was also the second time that same group of bad guys, led by the same head scientist, had gone and kidnapped someone from the same other world. And they didn’t even have a name for this organization yet. The circumstances warranted a smidgen of caution, at the very least.

That being said.

“Oh, oh! If Kaldur’s had his turn now, can I go next?”

Ed and Kaldur turned their heads to him, both frowning with their own suspicion and surprise respectively. 

“I don’t trust that tone,” Ed said carefully, which caused Ling to snort.

Robin grinned, taking the compliment generously. “You mean you aren’t curious how our styles match up in a fight?”

Artemis made an interested noise next to him. “Actually, now that you mention it…”

“I’d be willing to bet on something like that!” Wally chimed in, munching on an energy bar. “Ten bucks says Rob loses for once.”

Ed’s eyes lit at the apparent challenge now. “For once?”

“Robin is the best among us in hand-to-hand combat, thus far,” Kaldur filled in for Ed. He eased out of position in favor of holding a contemplative hand to his chin. “It… would be interesting to witness the match-up. If you wouldn’t mind, that is, Ed.”

“Oh, yeah, sure, don’t bother asking me—”

“I don’t mind,” Ed interrupted Robin with an outright smirk, and Robin could already feel the action itching under his skin, begging to say bet. “But if you do—”

“You are so on!” Robin laughed before launching himself onto the training circle.

“Alright! Give us a show, wonder boy!” Wally cheered, which came in insulting tandem with Ling’s cheerier, “Remember he’s still a child, Ed!”

Kaldur gave Robin his own smirk as he passed, bidding him good luck before dropping between Megan and Superboy, and with only the entire team’s respect for him on the line, Robin wasted no time getting into stance. 

“On three?” Ed said.

“Only if you need the countdown.”

Ed’s grin sharpened an edge, and that was all the warning Robin let linger before taking the first lunge.

He nearly took the first bruise too when the zeta tube speaker blared out of the blue.

Recognized: Black Canary, one-three.

Robin staggered on his recovery landing only because Ed pulled away so abruptly. Robin almost stared at that bizarre reaction, but the zeta tube announcing Batman’s arrival next gave him his own pause.

Black Canary and Batman strode in, the former raising an eyebrow at the sight of the busy training ground. 

“I see you’ve already taken over my half of classes,” she said. “I haven’t even told the team yet.”

Robin had several questions already. Among them why Ed stuttered in response to the teasing, “Oh, no, this wasn’t—I haven’t taken over anything yet, this was just—”

“I’m kidding, Ed,” she stopped him with a laugh. Her smile softened when he straightened to meet her gaze when she was close enough. “I wouldn’t have minded if you did start today. As long as it gets the team training on time.”

“R-Right.” Ed’s cheeks went pink, and he rubbed the side of his neck. “Obviously. But I’ll still be sure to ask next time.”

Black Canary looked amused at that, and it took Robin a second to realize—

“If you say so.”

Ed was intimidated.

It was almost too insane to be true, and it reflected in all of Robin’s teammates when he shared a bewildered glance with them. Ed talked back at the Batman without batting an eye, but he held himself practically on his toes around Black Canary? Talk about doing things backward; that made zero sense.

It made perfect sense to Ling, at least, who gave a light-hearted greeting to Black Canary as he hopped onto the circle.

“I see you two have already met!” Ling said, and there was something in the subtle widening of his grin and in Ed’s hasty glare at him that Robin was so poking later.

“Woah, back up a second there,” Wally interjected, stumbling onto the circle too, prompting the rest of the team to follow. “What haven’t you told us yet? And what does Ed have to do with it?”

“Ed’s going to take over half your combat training starting after your next misson,” Batman made his voice known on that dramatic note. Robin was sure that was a smirk trying to tug Batman’s lips. “You’ll be splitting your time between him and Black Canary, to make the most of your training.”

“Really? That’s great!” Megan beamed, to Superboy’s noticeable disgruntlement. He crossed his arms and humphed. Although, he didn’t grumble like Robin expected. So that was probably a good sign for warming up to Ed.

Ling shared Megan’s excitement on a softer heat, expression nakedly fond as he said to Ed, “Yes, very great. And undoubtedly not your idea?”

“It was my idea, actually,” Ed snarked, turning his nose and earning goopier eyes from Ling for the motion. “It’s called equivalent exchange, not free-loading and mooching off other people’s resources.”

“Is that not the same thing twice?”

“The hell it is—!”

“Alright, settle down, everyone,” Black Canary said, coolly, though the laugh was well-hidden in her voice. “We didn’t come here just to give this news. Batman has a new mission for you. And a question for Ed.”

Everyone started at the words and, like a switch flipped, they turned their serious attention to Batman. Ed sobered too, saying, “For me?”

“Yes.” Batman pulled up an immediately familiar map on a holographic screen. Robin narrowed his eyes, already wondering—

“The Watchtower detected an immense power surge in the Bialyan Desert.” Batman zoomed in the map to the desert in question. “Spectral analysis revealed elements that are non-terrestrial in origin. However, given recent revelations with the team’s last mission, we now have reason to believe these signals might be otherworldly as well. We adjusted our readings with that in mind to align more with previous power surges of your variety”—he looked pointedly at Ed and Ling—“and came up with something like a pictionary.”

Ed caught on instantly. “A circle, you mean?!”

Batman nodded. “This is what it looks like.”

Robin wasn’t sure what he was looking at for a second. The circle resembled nothing of the one that had summoned Ed and Ling here. It was much simpler, with less tiny symbols scrawled between the circles and the triangle in the middle. Honestly, Robin’s first stupid thought had been—

“The Illuminati?” Wally choked out, laughing. “Are you serious?”

“The whatnow?” Megan said, in adorable tandem with Superboy’s confusion.

“The Illuminati! It’s—well, it’s a little hard to explain if you’re not even familiar with internet culture, but—”

“No.”

Everything stopped at Ed’s whisper, suddenly.

Robin whirled around with the rest of the team, and he was sure his eyes weren’t the only ones to widen at the stark horror contorting Ed’s features.  

Ling’s own expression crumpled in comparison, bleeding concern in his call of, “Ed? What is it?”

“This is what your signals showed?” Ed bowled right over his fiance’s attempt at comfort, staggering forward. “This? Are you sure?”

“We triple-checked it,” Batman said, and the set line of his lips deepened when Ed paled. “I guess I don’t have to ask if it’s familiar. What does it mean?”

“It’s—” 

Ed barely got out the word before swallowing it heavily. His hands were shaking, Robin noted with alarm, and his eyes looked like they couldn’t stray from the circle, no matter how hard his breathing shuddered.

He shook his head vehemently. “It doesn’t matter. Because this shouldn’t be here. Al and I made sure of it ourselves—”

“Ed, you’re not making any sense,” Ling intervened gently, taking one of Ed’s tremulous hands. Weary eyes darted to Ling, and finally settled a little. “Explain it to me, at least. What is that circle?”

The atmosphere pulled with Ed’s tentative inhale. And exhale.

Even Superboy was poised to react to… something, a rare concern pinching his brow when Ed sucked in a proper breath at last, if only to whisper.

“It’s a transmutation base. One of Tucker’s—the one he used to…”

Matching horror dawned on Ling. “Are you certain?”

“I think I’d remember that damn circle painted on his walls in red with Nina—!”

“Sunshine, take another breath. It’s alright.” Ed let out a jagged breath at Ling’s thumb soothing the back of his hand. He ducked his head, making a better effort to steady himself, and Ling released his own short sigh of relief. He glanced around the group with some pain before murmuring to Ed, “Do you want me to explain all that to them? Or can you?”

“No, I…” Inhale. Exhale. Ed raised his chin. “I can do it.”

He kept one hand in Ling’s as he twisted to face Batman. He carefully didn’t face the rest of the team, nor Black Canary, curiously. “That circle alone couldn’t have emitted that surge you were talking about. It’s less of a complete circle, and more of a tweaked base to implement into a larger reaction. And this one… has been tweaked to merge living things.”

Robin tensed at the weighty delivery. Ed hadn’t said it, but he didn’t need to. His seconds-ago reaction spelled it out: they were talking about humans here.

Batman shared the same thinking, as he intoned, “All living things?”

“Theoretically, yes.” Ed clenched his jaw. “Realistically, you’d probably only get concrete results with small animals. Like I said, it’s… stronger, as an amplifier.”

“I see.”

Batman pursed his lips. Minutely as always, but… more obvious than usual too. This wasn’t an easy implication to swallow for anyone.

Superboy was especially affected as he squeezed his fists, and Megan shot him a worried look. She didn’t risk comforting him yet, but Robin had a feeling she’d be trying to later.

“What does this mean for our mission, Batman?” Kaldur was the one to pose the question on the team’s minds. 

“Nothing, for now,” Batman said. “Your mission remains to find out the source of whatever caused that power surge, whatever its nature. If it turns out our same mystery organization is involved, and in Bialya no less, we’ll consider the impacts then.”

The team put on their game faces and nodded, but Ed remained despondent in the corner of Robin’s vision, and Ling’s sympathetic eyes stayed on him too.

Robin pretended not to notice Black Canary setting a hand on Ed’s shoulder as the team got ready for their mission. And nobody asked what she’d whispered to him.

That had been spelled out too.

<- previous ◆ next ->

[fandom-friday]

A Collision of Masks by movaz (https://archiveofourown.org/works/31346069/chapters/77510633) Batman., Young Justice. Thirteen years ago he emerged as Robin, partner to Batman. Ten years ago, the Justice League formed and and Batman refused to join their ranks. Seven years ago, he lost Robin and found Nightwing. Three years ago, he left Gotham for good. Today, Young Justice showed up in his precinct. Dick Grayson is about to find out that none of his masks can hide him from the inevitable movement of fate. I really like how this is takes the question of 'what if Batman didn't join the Justice League?', and not only gives an answer, but also fleshes out the world that this AU is in. I also like how Dick managed to worm his way into the hearts of people he would in another life call friends. And in Wally's case, a best friend!

I love AUs like this where you make one tweak and just watch things spiral in different directions (and sometimes find startling similarities that still make sense). And this change can make such an interesting ripple effect in the DC universe, and my brain is already picking at different details. Thanks so much for the rec!

Participate in Fandom Friday to show your favorite creators from this week some love! :)

[cinnademon]

HERE WE GOOOOO!!! 🥳

I finally got around to finishing my Fanfiction Appreciation Day gift for @threewaysdivided​ for her lovely and super amazing DP x YJ crossover Young Justice: Deathly Weapons. Go and read their fic and send them lots of love and cookies ❤️🍪

The first one is the new one I just finished for Chapter 18: Black Gold. In the previous art pieces I did for this story, I realized I made a grave transgression: I didn’t do any images focusing on our favorite speedster! So here’s Wally, in all his imagined glory after sucker-running(?) two henchman against the wall. Let this serve as a reminder that whatever Wally may or may not do in future chapters (side-eyes 3WD), he is still the lovable and heroic speedster that we all know and love. Remind me to never draw anything using a wide-angle lens perspective ever again.

The second image is (sort of) a happy accident! I was rooting through my hard drive the other day, looking at all of my files from the past few years, when I came across this image that I originally drew as part of the first set of images I did for YJ:DW! I have no idea why I didn’t post it along with the others, or how I could have forgotten about it, but here’s an extra super-bonus image for Chapter 6! 

Thank you for all the effort and love you pour into your amazing stories, and I hope you are doing well!✌️

[attendsquoi]

Thea's Quest ~ Ch. 4

Chapter 4: Denial

Summary: Thea gets roped into the team’s “mission” to find Kent Nelson, climbs a very real lava rock wall, and has a heart to heart with Wally of all people.

Warnings: Canon typical violence

Word count: 3.1k

~~~

“Initiate combat training. 3, 2, 1.” The computer rang out.

The team was gathered in the mission room. There were no assignments for the day, so they were catching up on some training and – in Thea’s case – some much needed rest.

The demigod had just returned from her mentor’s mandatory days off, and was still nursing a few cuts and bruises. It was good to be back. As much as she appreciated Diana sharing her apartment, it was too quiet for Thea. After years of being surrounded by the busiest cabin in camp half blood, Thea felt far more at home in the cave. 

She stood off to the side, chatting with M’gann and Artemis as they watched Superboy and Kaldur spar. Thea couldn’t help but analyze their movements; an old habit from running combat lessons at camp.

“Kaldur’s, uh, nice – don’t you think.” Artemis said as Thea tuned back into their conversation. “Handsome, commanding. You should totally ask him out.” The girl suggested to M'gann.

Thea couldn’t help but smile to herself about both of her friends’ not-so-subtle crushes on Superboy. 

“He’s like a big brother to me.” M’gann denied.

“Oh, but you know who would make the cutest couple?” Thea said, jumping into the conversation. “You and Wally.” The demigod said, teasing Artemis.

She laughed at the way Artemis wrinkled her nose.

“Yes, yes! You’re so full of passion, and he’s so full of…” M’gann trailed off.

“Of it?” Artemis suggested, causing the three of them to laugh.

“Failed: Aqualad.” The computerized voice announced.

Thea looked over to see Superboy helping Kaldur off the ground.

“Black Canary taught me that.” He said, proud.

Thea was happy for Superboy, enjoying seeing her team, along with herself, make progress with Canary’s training.

~~~

Thea’s head turned as Wally ran by her, looking over to see where Red Tornado had entered the cave.

“Do you have a mission for us?” The speedster asked as Red Tornado walked into the room.

“Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility.” Red Tornado replied.

“Yeah, well, the Batman's with the Robin, doing the dynamic-duo thing in Gotham.” Wally said. “But you're headed somewhere, right? Hot date? Or a mission?”

“If we can be of help.” Kaldur pacified.

“Oh, we don’t need to.” Thea interrupted, weary from her week.

Her wishes went ignored as Tornado pulled up an image on the cave’s computer.

“This is Kent Nelson, a friend. He is 106 years old.” Tornado began.

“Guy doesn't look a day over 90.” Wally whispered to Artemis.

“And he has been missing for 23 days. Kent was a charter member of the Justice Society, the precursor to your mentors' Justice League.” Tornado said.

Kaldur’s eyes widened in realization. “Of course. Nelson was Earth's sorcerer supreme. He was Dr. Fate.” He exclaimed.

Wally rolled his eyes. “Pfft. More like Doctor Fake.” 

Kaldur turned to Thea as Wally continued talking.

“If you are tired, or injured, you do not need to join us on this impromptu outing. It is not an official mission, and you are under no obligation to go – especially if you need rest.” He said.

Thea’s posture softened.

“Guy knows advanced science and "Dumbledore’s" it up to scare bad guys and impress babes.” She heard Wally continue.

Thea’s eyes narrowed.

“I appreciate it, but I’ll be fine. There’s no way I’m about to let Wally get proved wrong without me.” She whispered to Kaldur.

He smiled back at her.

“Kent may simply be on one of his walkabouts, but he is caretaker to the Helmet of Fate, the source of the doctor's mystic might, and it is unwise to leave such power unguarded.” Tornado added.

“He's like the great sorcerer priests and priestesses of Mars. I would be honored to help find him.” M’gann replied.

“Me too!” Wally blurted, sticking his hand in the air. “So honored I can barely stand it. Magic rocks.” 

Thea rolled her eyes.

“Take this. Red Tornado said to Kaldur. “It is the key to the Tower of Fate.”

~~~

“What are the chances we'd both so admire the mystic arts?” Wally asked M’gann as she piloted the bioship to the team’s destination.

Thea could tell Artemis was equally annoyed with his dishonesty. Her eyebrows raised when she saw the girl smirk.

“So, Wally, when did you first realize your honest affinity for sorcery?” Artemis needled.

Unfortunately, he took it in stride.

“Well, I don't like to brag, but before I became Kid Flash, I seriously considered becoming a wizard myself.” He said, without looking away from M’gann.

“We've reached Tornado's coordinates, but…” The Martian began, not paying Wally any attention.

“Nothing's there.” Superboy finished for her.

“Take us down.” Kaldur ordered.

Once they got off the bioship, the team started to inspect the empty field where they had arrived.

“Nothing.” Wally said, skidding to a stop after having run around the perimeter. “This isn't simple camouflage.”

“So, what do you think? Adaptive micro-optoelectronics combined with phase-shifting?” Artemis asked.

“Absolutely… not!” Wally caught himself. “Clearly mystic powers are at work here.”

Thea paused, stepping around them. “Mystic powers” were largely out of her understanding, but the concealment reminded her of the nature of the mist. She closed her eyes and thought back to Chiron’s training. The mist is malleable. She pictured pushing apart a lead curtain.

She opened her eyes, raised her right hand and snapped. 

The sound echoed across the field. Nothing happened. But that’s when Thea felt it; almost like a hum, some sort of noise or vibration coming from the very ground they stood on.

“That energy… there’s something here.” She insisted, turning back to the team.

They seemed largely confused, not understanding what the girl had just done.

Kaldur looked down at the key.

“A test of faith.” He said to himself. “Stand behind me.” He said, raising his head.

Kaldur walked a few paces forward, and Thea stepped out of the way, following his instructions. He put his hand forward, as if he was inserting the key into a lock, then he turned his wrist. There was a click. A door appeared, open, as if it was inviting them inside. The team followed Kaldur through the threshold.

~~~

As soon as the last of them entered, the door closed behind them by itself. Then it disappeared.

“Uh, where'd the door go?” Superboy asked.

Suddenly a hologram of an old man – Thea recognized him as Kent Nelson  –  appeared.

“Greetings. You have entered with a key, but the tower does not recognize you.” The mirage spoke. “Please state your purpose and intent.”

“We are true believers, here to find Dr. Fate.” Wally announced.

Thea thought she saw the image frown before dissipating. Then the floor started to creak, before suddenly it collapsed beneath their feet.

Thea screamed but, thanks to her demigod impulses, reacted fast. As quickly as she could, Thea drew her dagger and thrust it into the rocky wall of the chasm. She lodged it there, dangling. As she looked down, she saw a pit of lava beneath them. 

“Those were my favorite boots. This Nelson guy better be worth it.” She heard Superboy say from the edge of the lava.

Acting on instinct, she moved her legs to find footholds. 

“Okay, you’re fine. It’s just the lava rock wall at camp, you can climb out.” She mumbled to herself.

Soon enough, she found notches to rest her feet and started hoisting herself up. Gripping the handle of her dagger in one hand, she stretched the other arm, curling her fingers around the rocky grips. Slowly but surely, she started climbing up and out.

“Having trouble maintaining altitude.” M’gann stammered as she tried to levitate her and Wally above the lava, but they were gradually sinking. “I'm so hot.”

“You certainly are.” Wally said.

“Wally!” Artemis chastised. 

“Hey, inches above sizzling death, I'm entitled to speak my mind.” He defended.

“My physiology, and M'gann's, are susceptible to extreme heat.” Kaldur announced. He was clinging to Artemis – at less risk of falling than M’gann, but certainly still suffering.

“We must climb out quickly.” He implored.

Thea had just about reached the top, but her arms burned from the exertion. She was still not fully recovered.

“I’m about there.” She called, turning her shoulders to face the team. “But I don’t know if I’ll have the strength to pull myself out, much less the rest of you. And I don’t know how I am going to get to you in the first place.” She said.

“Hello, M'gann. We never truly answered the question.” M’gann realized. “Red Tornado sent us to see if Mr. Nelson and the helmet were safe.” She shouted out above them.

Suddenly, the heat stopped. 

~~~

Thea sighed in relief, stopping a moment, still clutching her dagger and the top ledge of the pit to catch her breath.

“Can you get down?” Kaldur called from below her.

Thea looked down, seeing her friends gathered on a platform where the lava had been. 

“I could climb down, but it might take me a minute.” She called back.

Suddenly, an arrow shot by her face, lodging itself in the rock beside her. Artemis had sent a grappling rope to aid her.

“Thanks!” Thea said, grabbing the wire before unlodging her dagger from the rock and sliding down.

When she fell to the platform, Kaldur was kneeling on the ground. 

“This platform, it should be red-hot, but it is cool to the touch.” He said.

“Don't worry, Megalicious, I gotcha.” Wally said to M’gann as they landed.

“Enough!” Artemis yelled. “Your little impress-M'gann-at-all-costs game nearly got us all barbecued!”

“When did this become my fault?” Wally asked, incredulous. 

“When you lied to that whatever-it-was and called yourself a true believer!” Artemis accused.

Thea moved forward, resting a hand on her shoulder.

“Breathe.” She instructed her friend, calm and quiet, though she couldn’t deny her own anger at Wally.

“Wally, you don't believe?” M’gann asked, startled.

Wally floundered for a moment.

“Fine. Fine! I lied about believing in magic. But magic is the real lie. A major load.” He declared.

“Wally, I studied for a year at the Conservatory of Sorcery in Atlantis. The mystic arts created the skin-icons that power my water-bearers.” Kaldur said.

“My whole world relies on some conception of magic, or at least a godly power beyond understanding.” Thea added.

“Dude, you ever hear of bioelectricity? And what power would that be, Thea? You don’t seem to have any!” Wally said sarcastically. “Hey, in primitive cultures, fire was once considered magical too. Today, it's all a bunch of tricks.”

Thea bristled.

“Oh, you did not just call us primitive.” She warned.

“You're pretty close-minded for a guy who can break the sound barrier in his sneakers.” Artemis accused.

“That's science!” Wally insisted. “I recreated Flash's laboratory experiment and here I am. Everything can be explained by science.” 

“Let us test that theory.” Kaldur said, leaning down to open a hatch in the platform.

“Wait, the back draft from the lava will roast us alive!” Wally yelled, panicked.

“Huh.” Thea said.

“It's snow.”

~~~

The team clambered through the doorway, into an expansive, wintery scene.

“Do you ever get tired of being wrong?” Artemis asked smugly.

“Well? Ever hear of string theory? We're in a pocket dimension.” Wally said.

“Ugh!” Artemis exclaimed.

They saw something glowing ahead of them.

“What's that?” Artemis asked, walking toward it.

“Ooh, maybe it's Nelson's magic wand.” Wally mocked, speeding ahead to join her.

“I got it.” They both spoke in tandem. “Unh. I can't let go.”

Suddenly, the cane lifted into the air, carrying Artemis and Wally with it.

“Whoa!” They both yelled before disappearing in a burst of light.

“I don't understand Wally.” M’gann spoke as the remaining four members of the team trekked through the snow. “It's almost like he needs to believe the impossible can't happen.” She said.

“Wally uses his understanding of science to control what he cannot comprehend. Acknowledging the existence of magic would be to relinquish the last vestige of that control.” Kaldur explained. 

They continued on in silence, with Superboy and M’gann pulling ahead to walk in front. Thea didn’t mind the snow, but she hated the wind, and she certainly wasn’t prepared for the weather. Kaldur noticed her angry shivering. Without saying anything, he shrugged off his jacket and set it around her shoulders. Thea glanced up at him in surprise.

“Wally’s attitude toward things he can’t explain may come from a place of insecurity and fear, but that does not justify it.” Kaldur began. 

“I hope you did not feel distressed by what he said. It is true that we do not have a good grasp on what your powers are, but even if you did not have them at all – you are obviously a skilled warrior, and we know that you’re an incredible teammate. He should not have been that disrespectful.” He insisted.

Thea did not shift her gaze from the path ahead, but Kaldur felt her step closer to him.

“Thank you.” She said.

As they continued on, Thea ended up walking next to M’gann for a while, letting the boys lead the way.

“I – I promise I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help but hear a little of what Kaldur said, and I just need you to know that we all value you – as a teammate and as a friend.” M’gann said. “Even Wally, he just… doesn’t always show it.” She cringed.

Thea smiled at her.

“Thanks, M’gann. I’m okay. I mean, I wouldn’t believe half the things that I know to be true if I hadn’t seen them for myself.” Thea responded quietly, tone sincere.

~~~

Then, just ahead of them, the group saw a doorway. Through it, Thea thought she could make out her friends' voices. None of them spoke, but they all ran toward the door.

“Ugh!” Superboy and Kaldur groaned as they fell through, the ground shifting from below their feet to their sides as they entered some M.C.Escher-esque room of staircases. 

Fortunately for Thea, she had been standing next to M’gann who grabbed her arm and levitated the two of them to the ground. Thea nodded to the Martian in thanks, but there was no time to talk before they scattered, trying to avoid the blasts coming from Abra Kadabra. Out of the corner of her eye, Thea saw Wally and Kent Nelson disappear into a bell.

Great. There they go. She thought to herself.

Once again, Thea realized too late how severely she was lacking in long range attack and defense gear.

I really need to get a shield. She thought, as she was caught by some sort of electric field, falling to the ground in pain.

The agony felt like it lasted forever. She couldn’t think straight, couldn’t even reach to grab for her weapons. While not severely injured, her scratches and bruises started to ache; Thea’s whole body shook with distress. She could hear her cries mixing with her teammates. Vaguely, she was aware of Klarion the witch boy standing over her, looking down at her with some confusion, before vanishing. 

Finally, the pain eased. Thea rolled herself onto her elbows, looking up in time to see Abra in his underpants disappear and Wally reappear with the helmet of fate. Looking around, she realized that Kent Nelson was nowhere to be found. But as Kaldur offered her a hand and she stood up, Thea was just glad all her friends were alright.

~~~

The team returned to the cave, weary but in one piece. Thea noticed how Wally seemed more somber on the flight back – not that the rest of the team was very talkative either. Everyone was pretty exhausted. Even so, Wally may not have known Kent Nelson for very long, but it never felt good to lose someone on the job. 

As everyone disbanded, Thea decided she needed a cup of tea before she did anything else. She went into the kitchen and put on the kettle, leaning against the counter as she waited for the water to boil. Slowly, she let her body ease, rolling her shoulders, closing her eyes, and tilting her head back.

She heard voices down the hall – Artemis and Wally, presumably in the souvenir room where they were putting the helmet of fate – but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. She listened as they stopped talking and as footsteps echoed down the hall, nearing the kitchen. 

Thea looked over to see Artemis, staring at her with a smirk.

“What’s that look for?” Thea questioned as she turned to the cabinets, pulling out a tea bag.

“I know I was teasing M’gann earlier, but it looks like I guessed the wrong girl.” Artemis replied.

“What are you talking about?” Thea asked.

“You’re wearing Kaldur’s jacket.” Artemis observed smugly.

Thea’s eyes widened, glancing down. It was true. She had forgotten she was even wearing it. Quickly, the girl shrugged it off, tossing it on a kitchen stool. 

“We were in the snow a lot longer than you were. My uniform is a toga – he was just being nice.” Thea defended, not meeting Artemis’ eye.

“Whatever you say.” Artemis sing-songed back, waltzing out of the kitchen. 

Thea heard the zeta tube announce Artemis’ departure, then startled back to attention when the kettle began to whistle. She was pulling out a mug and pouring her tea when she heard someone else walk into the kitchen. 

“Ahem.” Wally softly cleared his throat.

Thea turned to look over at the boy. He held his hands behind his back sheepishly.

“I just – I wanted to apologize.” He said.

Thea raised her eyebrows, giving him a gentle but expectant look.

“I was angry earlier. But not at you. And I took it out on you – and that was bad.” Wally said.

Thea’s face softened.

“I… I was hurt by what you said. But not because you’re wrong.” Thea said, letting out a deep sigh.

“Being a demigod, there are ways in which I’m more “powerful” than most mortals. I have quick instincts, I can read Greek, I can see things you can’t. But for the past five years, so has everyone around me. I don’t think I’ve ever felt powerful.” She confessed.

Wally winced before frowning.

“Thea, you climbed out of a lava pit hours ago. M’gann can fly, I have superspeed, Superboy is the strongest guy around – none of us could do that. You’re insanely powerful. And– and I’m sorry I made you feel otherwise.”

“I accept your apology. Thank you, Wally.” Thea said with a smile.

The boy perked up immediately.

“You betcha, beautiful! I’ll see you tomorrow.” He said, speeding out of the room before zetaing home.

[ghostpainters]

Surfer Dude: Casual Aqualad 

I can’t get California Surfer Kaldur out of my head. He’s chill, he’s ripped, he’s ocean boy...IKD. Kaldur in tee-shirts and board shorts lives rent free in my brain. 

[starwalker03]

angst brain worm. AU of WMLP where due to magic or soulmate stuff when one of the original team gets injured, all of them get scars or a mark where the scar is. The cast getting a back row seat to see horrible things happening to each other but can't pin point who got what scar. Someone is getting whipped no one but Dick knows who. The possibility to communicate with self harm. Wally getting out of the speedforce and seeing all these scars.

listen here you little shit-

I love the energy but I just considered my dark au wherein the whole team is one poly group of soulmates and took psychic damage. I need to go lie down.

okay i laid down and then didn't come back. anyway.

that is. horrible. knowing that one of their loved ones is going through something, not even knowing from pain how bad it is, only having a scar/mark. watching it shift and change as the injury heals.

there's probably a while where Kaldur is so confused because he keeps getting so many that heal way too quickly. they can't be Conner's, he isn't so easily wounded nor does he have a healing factor (as far as I'm aware? someone fact check me lmao. certainly not one as quick as Dick's) but it can't be Artemis or M'Gaan. finding out Dick is alive by science experiment means and realising that was all being done to Dick. the team always knowing if something is happening to Dick because those marks heal the quickest.

Wally getting them all at once is horrific to think about. especially cause he's just come out of the speed force; for a moment he thinks they're his own scars. he doesn't know what happened. and then he realises they're not real scars they're soul marks and his stomach drops.

Oh my god. everyone would have the brand from Slade. they would all know that Slade had branded Dick. not just marked him as something Slade owns, but specifically with such a barbaric instrument as white-hot metal. the knowledge as they watch it settle into their skin that Dick must have smelt his own burning flesh.

the scar on Dick's eye. seeing it slowly but surely track its way across his face, knowing that it's purposeful, not an accident, that there is probably something very bad going on right now while Dick takes this cut.

Okay I have to stop thinking about Dick. who else has had the shit kicked out of them.

man. M'Gaan's first field mission. she doesn't get a lot of them, but Bee would have sent her on at least one before letting her work with Renegade. the team seeing these injuries and panicking because it's not Dick. and it can't be Conner. and surely not Kaldur, he's locked up tight.

which leaves Meg and Artemis. Artemis is the only one who can logically surmise it's M'Gaan. fucking hell. M'Gaan was pretty much only hurt by fire or force in the show, she never dealt with stabs and genuine blows. she's a support fighter, really, until at least season two. and the whole team had a sort of thing in their heads of babying M'Gaan. knowing she's going through something, no ideas as to what, but that this could be the first time she's dealing with real genuine inescapable pain, without anyone by her side to help.

I can't handle this shit right now.

(Wally asking Dick which marks are from Dick, which ones are from other team members. Dick looking at his own scars on someone else's body and realising exactly what he's gone through and reliving it anew through Wally's eyes)

[newtonnote]

My Version of Young Justice Character Theme Songs V2

Tim: I’m Still Standing by Elton John

Cassie: Could've Been Me by Halsey

Kon: Top Of The World by Greek Fire

M'gann: Human by Ellie Goulding

Bart: I Was Born To Run by American Authors

Mia: Alive by Sia

Jaime: Familia by Nicki Minaj & Anuel AA (Feat. Bantu)

Kaldur: Whatever it Takes by Imagine Dragons

[plzravagemethxxx]

BLOODLUST pt. 1

BLOODLUST Masterlist

Prologue Part Two

"Well," Y/N sighed. "This doesn't look too hot."

Icicle Junior had leapt down from the posts of the bridge and had created a steep ramp in the middle of the road, sending cars flying. He threw his head back and laughed manically as the civilians swerved to try and avoid the ice.

Y/N rushed towards the cars as they flew through the air. She heard people's screams from within and ran as fast as she could, whipping out her knife and slashing her palms open. She felt the blood gush onto her skin and shouted, "STRONG!" as she caught the car midair and lowered it to the ground as gently as she could before moving onto the next one.

"Finally!" Junior shouted, noticing her. "I was wondering what a guy had to do to get a little attention around here!"

He lurched towards Y/N, only to be thwarted by an arrow piercing the back of his shoulder. Several more forced their way into his wall of ice.

Y/N scoffed and pressed down on the microphone of her earpiece. "Took you long enough."

"Yeah, yeah, shut up," Roy Harper grouched. "I don't see you fighting Junior."

"Civies are more important than villains," Y/N mused. She stepped a bit farther from Icicle Junior as the arrows began to beep, indicating that they were armed with explosives. "That's my motto, Speedy."

The blasts went off, and Junior grunted in pain as his wall broke apart. He fell back and snarled up at where Speedy and Green Arrow stood atop the bridge, their next arrows prepped and ready.

Junior summoned massive clumps of ice on his arms, then roared with effort as he chucked them up at the two archers.

"Junior's doing all this for attention?" Roy demanded. He let out another explosive arrow.

"I know," Y/N grumbled. "It's odd." She rushed at Junior, bloody hands extended, and ordered, "BURN!"

"Oh, no, you don't!" Icicle Junior leapt back, narrowly dodging Y/N's hands, which had started to smoke with heat. "Nobody told you, pretty girl? Ice and fire don't mix!"

He tossed several spikes of ice at her, but Y/N simply smacked a couple out of the way and they turned to puddles at her touch. The rest embedded themselves in the ground, and Y/N kept running.

Meanwhile, Roy and Oliver had made their way down to the street, and were firing off more arrows at Junior as he attempted to dodge each of Y/N's attacks.

"I'm telling you now," Roy stated. "This little distraction better not interfere."

Icicle Junior saw the arrows coming and quickly put up a frozen shield all around him. The explosive arrows made a hole in his barrier, and Y/N began to punch through the ice as well. Her burning blood splattered across the ice, reducing it to water in seconds.

Trapped, Junior threw one last attack. He punched the air in Speedy's direction and kicked at Y/N, sending massive blasts of sharpened ice crystals at them both.

Y/N ducked out of the way, but felt some of the ice pierce her abdomen as she tried to escape the blast. Pain shot through her body and she yelped.

"HEAL!" she commanded, feeling the cuts on her hands seal quickly. The wound from being impaled began to patch itself up, a bit slower than her hands.

Roy, however, practically smirked as he jumped over his attack, pulling an arrow from his quiver and releasing it mid-air. The arrowhead slammed into Junior's chin hard, knocking him unconscious.

Green Arrow looked down at their adversary and chuckled. "Kid had a glass jaw!"

"Hilarious," Speedy said quickly. "Can we go?"

"Wow, such patience," Y/N teased, throwing her arm around his shoulders. "It's almost saint-like."

"Can you blame me?" Roy asked, quirking a brow at her. "Today's the day."

"That it is," Black Canary agreed as she pulled her motorcycle up to them. "Y/N, you good?"

"Peachy." The girl tapped the mended skin of her abdomen, feeling the newly formed flesh. "No more injuries. I may need a snack on the way, though."

"That's good." She tossed a helmet to the girl. "Get on and grab a bar. You don't want to be late, do you?"

The Hall of Justice was not the main base for the Justice League. Y/N had known that since Canary had elected to go off on a solo mission for a month, leaving Bloodlust to work with Green Arrow and Speedy. After a particularly grueling patrol, Oliver had invited the two of them to his house where he proceeded to patch them up, get drunk, and reveal the truth about the Justice League's headquarters.

"You see," he'd mumbled, "the Hall is just a fro-hic!-a front. We used to be at Mount Justice but then-hic!-our enemies found out about it." He'd spread his arms and eyes wide, looking absolutely scandalized. "Can you bel-hic!-believe that?" He'd shaken his head and returned to his bottle. "I can't believe that. How'd they-hic!-find us? I don't know."

Y/N had met Roy's eyes, sending him a silent question:

Do we ask more questions?

Roy had answered by turning to Oliver, his lips pursed in thought. "So, um. Where is your headquarters?"

"Mm." Oliver had lifted a hand and pointed to the ceiling. "The-hic!-Watchtower." He'd nodded firmly. "It's-hic!-in space. A satellite." Then he'd smiled softly. "Lovely view."

And so Y/N knew they were being played when Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado greeted her and the rest of her colleagues.

"Robin, Speedy, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Bloodlust," Manhunter listed off, "welcome. You now have unlimited access to the gym, our fully stocked galley, and of course..." He trailed off as the doors to the library opened up. "Our library."

"Make yourselves at home," Flash offered, gesturing to the armchairs scattered about near the large computer screens beside the Zeta tubes on the far side of the library.

Robin immediately flopped into one seat, as did Kid Flash. Aqualad instead gestured for Y/N to take the remaining chair, and she did with a polite smile, kicking one leg over the other. Speedy rested his hand on the back of her chair, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Don't tell me," he whispered, barely audible to anyone but Bloodlust, "this is the end of the tour."

"It better not be," Y/N hissed back.

But much to her disappointment, their mentors huddled close together, physically cutting the protégés out of the conversation even if they could still hear.

"Quick debrief to discuss the coincidence of four ice villains attacking on the same day," Batman explained, turning his head back to the sidekicks. "We shouldn't be too long."

With that, the adults turned to the Zeta tubes. Batman typed in his command into the computers, and the tubes whirred to life.

"Recognized: Batman, 0-2," the automated voice rang out. "Aquaman, 0-6. Flash, 0-4. Green Arrow, 0-8. Black Canary, 1-3. Martian Manhunter, 0-7. Red Tornado, 1-6."

"That's it?" Roy demanded, standing up straight. "You promised us a real look inside! Not a glorified backstage pass!"

"It is the first step," Aquaman replied calmly. "You've been granted access few others get."

"Oh, really?" Bloodlust growled. She gestured up to the windows, outside of which several civilians watched with cameras flashing. "Who cares which side of the glass we're on? This is insulting."

"Y/N," Canary began, stepping closer, "I understand your frustrations. Both of you," she added, nodding to Roy. "But you need to be patient."

"Patient?!" Y/N scoffed.

"What we need is respect," Roy scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked to Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash, who seemed appalled at the outburst. "They're treating us like kids. Worse... like sidekicks. We deserve better than this!"

But to Y/N and Roy's shock, none of them said anything. Then it hit her.

They don't know about the Watchtower, do they?

"You're kidding, right?" Roy seethed. "You're playing their game?! Why?!"

"Wait, Roy." Y/N tried to reach out for him, but Speedy shrugged her hand away.

"Today was supposed to be the day! Step one in becoming full-fledged members of the League!" Roy shouted.

"Well," Kid Flash muttered, "sure. But I thought step one was a tour of HQ?"

"Roy, they don't know," Y/N said softly, her anger slowly ebbing away.

Roy just leveled her with a cold look. "Then it's about time they learn." Then he turned back to the other protégés. "I bet they never told you, huh?"

Y/N didn't miss the way Oliver stiffened, nor the way Dinah's head shot over to him, the unmistakable air of fury about her.

"This place," Roy began, "the Hall of Justice, isn't the real thing. It's a false front for tourists and a pit stop for catching zeta beams to the real thing; an orbiting satellite called the Watchtower."

Batman, Aqualad, and Flash all rounded on Green Arrow. Canary's fingers twitched, like she was seriously considering strangling the man.

Oliver sighed and raised his hands in surrender. "I know, I know, but I thought maybe we could make an exception!"

"And you told Y/N, too?" Dinah growled. "Without my permission?"

"He didn't even tell us on purpose," Y/N reported. "He was drunk."

"Regardless, you are not helping your cause here, lass," Aqualad said. He tried to step closer to Y/N and Roy. "Stand down, son, or—"

"Or what?" Roy interrupted him furiously. "You'll send me to my room? And I'm not your son! I'm not even his," he snarled, turning to Oliver. "I thought I was his partner. But not anymore."

Y/N froze. "Roy, what—"

But he plucked his cap off of his head and dashed it to the ground. He turned his back to the Justice League, and shook his head disapprovingly at the protégés, who sat in stunned silence.

"I guess they're right about the three of you," he said coldly. "You're not ready. C'mon, Bloodlust."

But Y/N didn't move. She stood still as the world seemed to pause around her. She felt the piercing eyes of Dinah on her back, the bated breath of Roy before her, both eagerly awaiting her decision.

And what would her decision be?

They don't fully trust me, she noted. The League, at least. I'm only sixteen, I don't know my way around this line of work as well as I act like I do. Of course Dinah didn't want me finding out about the Watchtower. I could never make it on my own at this level. Petty thieves are one thing, but now the world associates me with Justice League-level threats, and I'm just not there yet. Not by myself.

But with Roy? I wouldn't be alone, I'd have someone with the same level of training as I. He trusts me, he's shown that time and time again. We're friends. He's my best friend.

But Canary—Dinah—she's like an older sister to me. Without her, I'd still be working three jobs to barely be able to support myself. I'd be broke and alone and I would never have made it this far.

What do I do?

"I..." Y/N swallowed the lump in her throat. "I'm sorry, Roy. But I'm staying with Canary for now."

Roy turned to face her, eyes wide. There was a glimmer of rage in his eyes, mixed with a twinge of hurt. His jaw loosened as he stared deep into her eyes.

"You're joking."

Silently, Y/N shook her head. For the first time in the years she'd known Roy Harper, she had never had him look at her this way. It stung in a manner she didn't know was possible.

"No." Y/N stood her ground. "I-I'm going to stay. With Canary. And them," she added, waving vaguely at the three boys watching this unfold. "I'm not confident in my ability to go off on my own, Roy. I-I don't doubt you. But I'm not strong enough yet."

There was a moment of silence.

"Fine," Roy whispered. "I can't say I'm not surprised. But it does hurt."

And with that, Roy stormed out of the room.

His absence left a bitter taste in Y/N's mouth. She kept her eyes on the doors, even as behind her, a notification alarm went off and the image of Superman projected onto the screen. She kept her eyes on the doors as Zatara, too, joined the call. And she kept her eyes on the doors as Canary walked up to her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I know it hurts, Y/N," she whispered, "but you did the right thing."

"It doesn't feel like it," Y/N replied in the same hushed tone, her voice cracking at the end.

"Hm."

"So..." Kid Flash started once the heroes had Zeta'd away to handle the threat Zatara had warned them of. "Are you okay?"

Y/N almost laughed at the question. "Do I look like I'm okay, KF?"

"Right, stupid question, sorry."

Y/N nodded.

Aqualad sighed heavily. "My King, I thought he trusted me. And yet... what else are they not telling us?"

"In Arrow's defense," Robin said, "Bloodlust did say he was intoxicated. But I've got a better question. Why didn't you leave with Speedy, Blood? And why didn't we?"

Y/N did not respond. Instead, after a beat of quiet, Aqualad looked up with a frown.

"What is Project Cadmus?"

"Genetics lab," Y/N replied swiftly. "Based here, in D.C. Don't know much else."

"Well!" Robin stood and cracked his knuckles before marching over to the computer. "Let's see what else we can find out."

"Access denied," the computer replied as Robin punched in some codes.

"Ha! Wanna bet?" Robin smirked and his fingers flew over the keyboard again. Soon, he managed to tear down the encryptions on the file.

"Whoa..." KF mused. "How are you doing that?"

"Same system as the Batcave," Robin replied. He pressed one last key, and the computer screen switched to a file titled 'Project Cadmus.'

"Access granted."

"We can see that," Y/N whispered, turning to see the screen. She skimmed the text, then shook her head. "Yeah, that's all they've got. Genetics lab in D.C."

"But if Batman's suspicious, maybe we should investigate?" Robin prompted.

"Solve their case," Aqualad translated, "before they do."

"We'll get in so much trouble," Y/N pointed out.

"Not like you're not used to that," Robin fired back. "Don't think I haven't seen your file, Bloodlust."

Y/N glared at him. "Alright. I might be fine. But you?"

"I stand with Bloodlust," Aqualad said. "They told us to stay put."

"For the blotting out the sun mission," Robin stated. "Not this."

"Wait!" KF cut in, raising a hand to stop them. "Are you guys going to Cadmus? Because if you're going, I'm going."

"Just like that?" Aqualad seemed surprised. "We're a team on a mission?"

Y/N chewed her lip. "I'm still not certain about this. But..." She turned to the screen, looking long and hard at the Cadmus logo. "I'll admit. Canary and I were worried about Cadmus. Have any of you guys heard of the legend?"

"Yes," Aqualad replied. "The Cadmus of myth created a new race by planting dragons' teeth into the ground."

"Yeah. We were worried that this Cadmus may be more like their namesake than they say," Y/N said. "Like, their genetic experiments may verge into illegal territory."

"I see..."

"Great!" Robin clapped his hands together. "I mean, not great, but great! That gives us another reason to check it out for ourselves! C'mon, Bloodlust! If they're doing what you suspect, we could bring them to justice. Our mentors can't blame us for that."

"They are all about justice," KF mused.

Finally, Y/N heaved a sigh. "You're not going to stop trying to convince me, are you?"

Robin just grinned.

"Fine. Fine." Y/N raised her hands in surrender. "But I'm only consenting to reconnaissance. We go in, collect information, and we get out."

KF and Robin exchanged giddy smiles.

Then Robin turned to Y/N, a sly gleam in his eyes. "Ready to be whelmed?"

[hardcore-lonewolf]

💉BLOODLINES💉

Prompt inspired by the newly crowned Vampire King in "DC Vs Vampires"; Plot: The Team has to keep their eyes on Robin whenever he first starts craving for the Lucky Girl's blood by Batman's strict orders...DO NOT LET HIM BITE HER, little did they know is that the Boy Wonder won't stop playing his favorite hunting game with Kitten to claim his prey as her predator. Batman describes her fresh blood as intoxicating and addictive for other vampires due to her pure magic energy from her astral projection of cosmic mana. The Team are ready to get these partners in crime through isolation from their blood pact and psychic bond they have with each other.

Robin was going crazy and the Team wasn't helping by isolating him inside the cage far away from Mouse. He ran out of blood bags and Batman was getting some more for his protégé before the Romanian acrobat goes on a berserk rampage for fresh blood. The Boy Wonder was panting and trying not to lose his sanity in front of the Lucky Girl.

The Team watched their comrade lose his mind while Mouse was frowning at him with sadness and worry. No matter how many times that her six comrades reassure the Lucky Girl...she seems to look concern and feel guilty about being a favorite painkiller to the vampire. Robin never said anything bad about her and would let the young thief cuddle right next to him as the warmth to his chills.

"Please let me out guys, I wanna hug Mouse." Aqualad shakes his head no, Wonder Girl and Superboy was protectively hiding Mouse behind them.

"Robin, we can't risk you draining Mouse's blood. Till Batman comes back with more bags for you, you're stuck in isolation and away from her." The Lucky Girl hugged Miss Martian, who held her and let the thief feel comfortable.

Mouse tries to walk over there, but both Kid Flash and Artemis kept her away from the Boy Wonder for her own safety. The Lucky Girl wasn't afraid of Robin and his vampirism...she was very curious about it. Batman explained the whole story and history behind it, which got her much impressed by how their kind were very different.

Ever since she found out about being half alien, the Lucky Girl would sneak out and bring some fresh blood bags she got from her birth mother's hospital clinic for Robin only. The Dark Knight eventually caught her and Mouse came clean about why she brought him his food. The caped crusader took her offer of getting blood from that clinic and it seemed to dim down the Boy Wonder's cravings for the red liquid until now.

Apparently...the clinic is doing blood donations and organ transfers for the poor. Mouse was scared for Batman's protégé due to the lack of control and attention whenever he smells the crimson substance. The Lucky Girl wasn't going to let the six people she sees as older siblings think that she's weak and fragile...she's ready to confront Robin about why he's trying to keep her away from him.

"Robin?" The Boy Wonder snapped his eyes open from hanging upside down to see Mouse rolling some fresh blood bags in a small ice box for him.

"What are you doing here Tiny? It's dangerous for you to get near me," the Lucky Girl shook her head no with a deep frown and slid the box over to his side.

"I'm sick and tired of you guys thinking that I'm just a fragile human being!" Mouse told Robin, shocking him as he grabs his meal and his fill of cold blood.

"Tiny, I'm a vampire, I could hurt you!" Robin growled at her in warning, trying to scare her away from him.

"So what? I just found out with my brother and cousins that we're half human!" Mouse retorted back at him in defiance, shifting into her Anodite form and standing in front of him. "I saved the Team in this form and they still believe that I'm a doll."

Robin stares at Mouse's alien form in shock and awe. His crush looks like a holy saint fallen from the heavens and was a blessed gift for him as his guardian angel. The Boy Wonder walks to the cell's door and was staring down at her a bit through the glass.

"I know you're scared that you'll hurt me, I won't run away again...please Robin, I'm worried about you." Mouse begged him softly.

Mouse gently puts her right hand at the door and leaves it there before leaning her forehead against the glass. Robin places his left one there to copy her and responds with a small smile while putting his forehead where she places her against the glass. The partners in crime closed their eyes and let their feelings speak through the sound of silence by the glass.

Batman walks inside the cellar with Catwoman to see that his adopted son was having a silent isolated moment with his godchild and was silently relieved that the Boy Wonder didn't try to latch himself onto Mouse. The Dark Knight sees a small ice box and notices that Robin was being fed with blood along with strawberries to cope with his craving by the Lucky Girl. The two younger heroes saw their mentors and they smiled at the couple.

"It seems you two have been getting along well," the Boy Wonder nodded his head yes while drinking some blood and humming at the sweet taste.

"Robin was hungry, so I got this delivery from Dr. Nelson and she made sure this blood was very healthy for him to drink." Mouse told her godparents. "I decided to show Robin my true self and he let me stay. I was lucky enough to find some huge strawberries and let him eat some with blood."

The glass suddenly came right off and Robin sighs in relief. Mouse held one strawberry in her hands and he gently eats it in response. The Lucky Girl could hear him purring in content and loving the full attention from his crush.

"Don't worry Robin, you'll be coming out of this cage soon and we can go somewhere for our picnic date. I promise you," she told him, earning a bright smile from the Boy Wonder.

Their picnic date was all fun and games. The two heroes were spending the greatest time within the crystal cove, they even shared their first kiss inside the cave with privacy and were now dating. The Team doesn't know about them being together cause Robin and Mouse tend to know how to hide their secret relationship as lovers.

"Hey Robin, how's your date?" Robin smiled at the words and begun telling the Team everything without blowing his cover. "Mouse, do you think his girlfriend's very cute?"

Mouse nodded while trying not to blush and was eating a green apple. The Boy Wonder walks over to the ginger-haired hacker and whispers that his thankfulness for getting his cravings down. The Lucky Girl hummed and nodded in agreement.

Artemis and Kid Flash was teasing the Boy Wonder about him being whipped by his new girlfriend. Wonder Girl, Aqualad, Miss Martian, and Superboy suddenly grew suspicious about how Mouse had almost turned red and thought it was jealousy at first till that day came. Robin was currently back in his bedroom in Wayne Manor and the Lucky Girl was sitting next to him.

"Kaldur, Opal, Conner, and M'gann are growing suspicious about us. I got a picture of my classmate James and you got me as Eve Lynne. Nobody on the Team knows about who I am...except for you." Mouse said to him.

"Artemis and Wally are gonna kill us for this. If they asked if I call you..." Robin trailed off in fear and nervousness.

The Lucky Girl squeaked softly in response with a petrified look and the Boy Wonder hugged her. The two sidekicks already told Batman and Catwoman, who shockingly approves their relationship like her biological family. Robin and Mouse sighed before they got ready to head into Mount Justice.

"Hey guys, how's your dates?" Robin and Mouse smiled nervously at Wonder Girl.

"Awesome/Great," the younger sidekicks responded, walking over to Kid Flash and Artemis.

"Hey Rob, can you call your girlfriend, I wanna meet her through the phone?" Kid Flash asked.

"Uh," the Lucky Girl went silent and left to get a book at the library.

"Where are you going Tiny?" Artemis asked her best friend.

"To the library, I met her already and it turned out his girlfriend is my date's little sister." The Team let her slide for the moment as they heard the Lucky Girl go to the library and shut the door.

"You guys know what, I'm gonna go practice in the training room...bye!" Robin was about to leave when Aqualad firmly pushes him back on the couch and the Boy Wonder knew he was screwed.

"Robin, call your girlfriend or we tell the rest of the Team about who you really are." Robin froze with disbelief, he nervously calls Mouse and puts it on speaker.

Superboy suddenly hears the familiar ringtone "Whispers In The Dark" by Skillet coming from the library and went wide-eyed in shock. The Boy of Steel could hear Mouse whining and trying to run inside her bedroom. She slams the door shut and answers the call.

"Hello?" Mouse replied softly in a whisper.

"You're about to be a dead rodent when you come out," the rest of the Team heard something moving and Mouse was probably busy trying to hide herself.

"Robin...tell the truth, Opal scares me worse than Conner." The Lady of Redemption gasped at that in offense while Superboy chuckles a bit and felt appreciated about those words.

"I'll hunt you down Mouse...just wait and see. Robin," a portal was suddenly formed and Robin was yanked inside the pink dimensional vortex with his phone before Kid Flash can react. "Dang it Mouse!"

Mouse hangs up and they shut down their phones. Robin was shivering like the Lucky Girl and pecked their lips. The Boy Wonder shifts into his bat form and she turns into hers before Mouse forms a psychic bond due to their blood pact of marriage.

ROBIN: Where are we, Bat-Cave?

MOUSE: Yes.

The two bats were flying through the Bat-Cave while practicing their flight skills and getting along like they did inside the crystal cove. Mouse forms a barrier to keep the Boy Wonder's body protected and secured from anything that's his weakness. Robin flew around her and the Lucky Girl giggles happily before hugging him.

Batman and Alfred found Robin hanging upside down on the Super Computer. The Boy Wonder wasn't alone, Catwoman and Patience sees the Lucky Girl beside him. Mouse was curled up under his wing and he was nuzzling her head with his nose.

The Team arrives a few minutes to see two bats hung upside down and noticed one of them have a hot pink collar on its neck. The Amazonian demigoddess realized that Mouse must've turned into a bat and was snuggling with the Boy Wonder. Robin turns back and took the Lucky Girl in his arms.

"Why didn't you tell us Mouse?" Miss Martian asked.

"Cause you guys have been overprotective of me whenever I'm near Robin, he won't even hurt me at all. If so, how come I'm still alive then huh? My family has a history with supernatural creatures and disasters. He'll never bite me...but he still wants blood and I supplied him some cold packs of them last week for his isolation from my mother's clinic and made sure it was O-." Kid Flash froze when the smaller bat spoke, Batman took her and gently placed Mouse right next to her mentor, causing her to fly and use her bat wings. "Thank you Batman...we formed a blood pact and a psychic bond when we were ten years old. Robin couldn't risk losing me cause I had almost died by how much mana I've losted, his family is part a royal bloodline that leaves him as the last of their kind and I somehow imprinted him in response due to my inner confirming that he's my true mate. We talked about it at a crystal cove, then the rest...well...we decided to be private about it and not show you guys out of guilt. Either way, that was uncalled for Opal. You realize that Robin and I can't even die right?"

Mouse shifts back to her human form and turns into her two forms...her hybrid and alien form, turning back to her human self. The Lucky Girl levitated down on the ground and walks over to Robin. The Boy Wonder turns into a bat and she cooed at him softly with a small smile, kissing his forehead in response that blushes from her affectionate gesture.

The Team watched as the bat in Mouse's arms was comfortable with her holding him and she gently caresses his wings with her glowing fingers. Robin was flustered red behind this form and was enjoying the full attention from the Lucky Girl. The Boy Wonder flies over to her right shoulder and tenderly nuzzles his face onto her cheek.

"I never thought Robin will be like this," the Boy of Steel whispered the Team.

"Wow Robin, she got you whipped huh?" Robin hissed at Kid Flash with glowing red eyes, who steps back goes behind Wonder Girl out of fear.

"Never push a vampire's limits KF, this one's really special and is a very good person. I remembered taking good care of him in this form, he was afraid and insecure till he realized it was me. He wasn't hurting as much like last time, but I couldn't let him suffer and be in pain. Robin never left me since then," Artemis gave the Lucky Girl an amused look and a raised eyebrow at Robin's flustered face. "I fed him earlier ago, he didn't want blood...he wanted fruit instead. Isn't that right my favorite vamp?"

Mouse sat down on a rolling chair and continues to eat her fresh bowl of fresh red strawberries. She passes a few to the Boy Wonder, who happily eats them and gave the Team a cheeky grin in his bat form. Wonder Girl rolled her eyes at the vampire while smiling and seeing Robin be fed by the Lucky Girl.

WONDER GIRL: This boy actually put a spell on her... MISS MARTIAN: Exactly. KID FLASH: He's an evil little bat, I'll tell y'all.

"KF is right, you really are pushing your powers to make her take care of you Robin." Robin shrugged at Aqualad's statement and continues to munch on some strawberries.

During a mission...Robin was hurt, Mouse was there to save him and he was drained from his blood cravings. The Lucky Girl sighs and unzips her collar to reveal her lithe neck. She bares it to the Boy Wonder and nods at him to bite her.

Robin was hesitant and tries to control himself from biting her. Mouse held his gloved hands in hers and begun healing the Boy Wonder from his open wounds. The Lucky Girl could see the Team trying to stop the thief from doing this and she was willing to do this act for her boyfriend.

ROBIN: Mouse, I can't.

MOUSE: I love you Robin, please...I know you're craving for blood. I'm willing to let you do this to me.

Robin takes a deep breath and kisses her face. The Boy Wonder's eyes were turning red and was trying to not act feral on Mouse. The Lucky Girl let him see her neck and his feral eyes were surprised that his mate was submitting to him.

Mouse takes a deep breath and felt the vampire kiss her neck. Robin found her sweet spot when her breath hitches and forms a hickey there. The Boy Wonder finds the vein he wants and licks there to make sure he don't shock his mate with fear.

The Lucky Girl gasps softly when she felt a set of fangs sinking into her neck and blushes madly in pleasure. Mouse could feel Robin's vampire venom giving her an excellent painkiller and she was stuck in a cloudy daze. The Boy Wonder hummed in delight and sucked some blood he was craving ever since they first met each other.

'Mine,' the Boy Wonder thought through feral possessiveness. 'My mate, my lover, my bride...she's all mine.'

Mouse closed her green eyes and held his cape tight in an iron grip. The Lucky Girl pants softly while Robin finishes and licks the two punctures up. The Boy Wonder gently kisses his mating mark and picks her up in his arms.

"Robin, what happened?" Robin looked down at a sleeping and flustered Mouse in his arms bridal style.

"Mouse let me suck her blood, she's somehow still alive through the whole thing." Mouse hummed in her sleep and cuddles close to his chest. "It seems that my blood cravings have stopped when I drank hers, she tastes sweeter than usual and I got myself hooked on it."

Kid Flash was about to take Mouse when Robin growled with red eyes at the speedster and bare his fangs as a threat to his best friend. Wonder Girl sprayed him lightly with holy water in warning and the Boy Wonder pouts at the demigoddess in response. Aqualad was surprised by his girlfriend's actions and she was clearly not letting Robin attack his best friend out of primal instinct.

"No biting from you anymore little bat," the demigoddess told Robin. "Try something, I got more inside my room."

"Where did you get holy water?" Miss Martian asked her, shocked that the demigoddess got something like that on her.

Artemis takes the Lucky Girl instead and the rest follows the archer. Wonder Girl was watching Robin twitch and shake with fear for holy water. The demigoddess was known to be scary due to her godparents Superman and Lois Lane.

"Superman," the Boy of Steel smirked down at Robin...their own mentors got each other's weaknesses now. "Batman has Kryptonite stones, Superman got wooden stakes, garlic powder, and holy water his room...hunters like my dad will never stopped packing this with him. Now then...let's head back and debrief before this blood-sucking heathen starts turning us into fruit snacks."

[nooowestayandgetcaught]

With The Patience Of An Atlantean

read on AO3

~1k, Kaldur & Roy & YJ Team, No Rating, Canon AU

Summary: Kaldur tries imitating Red Arrow's sense of humor. It makes Roy laugh.

[ariyougood]

ASTRAPHOBIA ⚡︎ W. West

IN WHICH:

- ASTRA was born to be a hero and it won't take much convincing for the justice league to look past her playful remarks to realize that.

↳ OR

- KAMILA CARTER is just figuring it out as she goes, and if she steals a few kisses from her best friend along the way who's gonna care?

[kattythingz]

YJ x FMA Pt. 5

Aka the au where Ed absolutely must remind every child soldier hero he runs into that they are, in fact, still children. Without picking any favorites whatsoever, of course.

(Jk, it's obviously M'gann. Fight me.)

🧡 Pt. 1 💛 Pt. 2 🤍 Pt. 3 🩵 Pt. 4 💙

M’gann didn’t think she was fully awake when she opened her bedroom door the next morning to the smell of food.

She’d made a pretty good habit of getting up around nine every morning so she could surprise Conner with a breakfast. It was admittedly corny of her, and it didn’t always work out, but she made a regular effort nonetheless. If she couldn’t drag him into a breakfast, then she was always on time to make cookies instead. Last week, Conner had even been waiting for her, asking awkwardly if “she had cookies to make or something”. He hadn’t tried joining her outright in the kitchen yet or anything, but they were getting there! She just knew it.

But she digressed. All that was to say, she was a little surprised when she heard muttering from the kitchen.

She floated instead of walking to avoid startling the person if it was Conner, and she was almost sure it was him when she got near enough.

That cursing was pretty distinctive, though.

“Ed?” she called tentatively at the threshold, just in time to catch Ed jolting hard enough to slip his fingers on the pan handle and burn himself.

He recoiled instantly, dropping the pan with a loud clang. “FUCK!” 

“Oh my god!” M’gann yelped and rushed over. “I am so sorry, I should’ve made some noise first—are you alright?! Here, the sink is right over here if you—!”

She stopped when a smile, of all things, crossed Ed’s lips and he chuckled.

“I barely felt it, don’t worry,” he said, still laughing. “Don’t you dare apologize for something like that, that’s amazing. I didn’t even hear you.”

“That is another thing you will have to ��get used to’, I’m afraid.”

It was M’gann’s turn to be startled at the amused voice behind her. She spun toward Kaldur sitting at the island, nursing what looked like a slightly burned omelet and a glass of orange juice. Which meant M’gann had definitely overslept, if he was already here at the cave and not his own place in Atlantis.

“Kaldur,” she stuttered, cheeks warm at the dual praise now. “That’s funny, I didn’t see you there either.”

“I have my own methods as well,” he said with a slight smirk.

“Tell me about it,” Ed said, pulling both their attention back to him. “You lot are gonna be the cause of my premature heart attack. Scaring the shit out of me one by one.”

He was already returning to his task of cracking eggs into a bowl, so M’gann asked Kaldur instead, “What did you do?”

“I only thought to help with preventing a mess,” Kaldur said, meaning—

“You literally made water float out of nowhere, you little shit!” Ed whirled around with a pointed spatula, and Kaldur’s smile held valiantly at the other end of it. “I thought I was going crazy. A little warning for that would’ve been nice, considering you’re supposed to be the polite one.”

“I believe I did warn you,” Kaldur hummed, “when I made my presence known first.”

“I changed my mind, don’t fucking talk back to me. You’ve been spending too much time with Ling.” Ed huffed, but he was obviously smiling when he turned back to the stove. “M’gann, have you eaten anything yet?”

It took her a second to realize Ed had used her Martian name. Probably because that was how he’d heard it from Ling, and Ling insisted on using her proper name—if she preferred it. M’gann didn’t mind being Megan to begin with, but she had to admit, it was nice hearing her name in its Martian pronunciation too. 

Though, she was surprised Ed had said it so easily. Her name wasn’t hard to pronounce, but it was “heavy” by Earth standards; when Robin and Wally had tried saying it, they’d needed to pause before connecting it in a sentence.

“M’gann?” Ed’s question pulled her out of her thoughts.

“Sorry.” She smacked her forehead and floated over to his side. She didn’t get it yet, but it was apparently considered rude on Earth to talk at someone from a distance. “You can use my Earth name, you know, if you want. M’gann and Megan mean the same thing to me.”

“At this point, I’ve heard the first one more thanks to Ling,” Ed said. “If you’d prefer it, though—”

“Oh, no! I was just saying. I don’t mind.” It made her really happy, actually.

“Good. I would’ve had to kick Ling’s ass too if you had a problem with it.” He shook his head, reaching for something beside the stovetop. He furrowed his brow when he only touched counter, opening his mouth to ask something—

M’gann, perhaps overeager, beat him to it.

“Here!”

Ed turned to accept the plate normally, a “thank you” spilling blindly from his lips, before his eyes widened at the plate being hovered at his eye-level. Catching the muscle memory too late, M’gann lowered it sheepishly to his height instead.

It was a long second before he accepted it.

“Thanks…” he repeated. “Let me guess, another thing I’ll have to get used to?”

M’gann giggled at the resignation in his tone. “Sorry about that.”

Ed finally smiled. He turned back to the pan, freeing the omelet from the surface and passing the plate easily to her.

She started at the offer, accepting without thinking, and he grinned.

“Don’t be,” he said. “That’s still amazing.”

She wasn’t used to hearing such direct praise from an adult—Ling said Ed was older than him, hadn’t he?—so she needed a second to remember to say over her skipping heartbeat, “Thank you. Like you said yesterday, though, that’s nothing special by my standards. Everyone on Mars can do it. We learn it as kids, even.”

“Really?”

Ed sounded genuinely interested, so she moved to the island with her plate and continued, “Oh, yeah. There’s a bunch of local games tailored to nurture exactly that skill. It’s as important as learning our first word—through telepathy, that is. We learn that too before out-loud speaking.” 

“We have a similar standard in Atlantis,” Kaldur said. He’d finished his food, and was leaning into the conversation with a noticeable spark in his eyes that M’gann was always happy to see; he was their friend before their leader, though he seemed to forget that often. “All Atlantean children like myself are trained in the ways of hydrokinesis since infancy. Speaking comes shortly after we have usually achieved our first trick.”

Ed’s infamous curiosity must’ve been sparked, because he put his back completely to the stove and leaned against it in favor of the conversation now. “That is so fucking cool, what the hell. But, wait, you said something about knowing ‘sorcery’ too—”

“Atlantean sorcery.” Kaldur nodded.

“Right. That. So, is that a different thing? Or can everyone do that too, and you just chose to get a mentor for it?”

“Actually—”

Kaldur paused suddenly, along with Ed and M’gann, at a distant noise from down the hall. It sounded like the slam of a mechanical door for a split second, accompanied furiously by a mad sprint, and—

“ED!”

M’gann jumped with Kaldur at the yell directly at the threshold, spinning together to blink at the source.

Ed deigned his attention to it much more slowly, and with a great roll of his eyes.

“A little louder, idiot prince. I don’t think Conner heard you yet.”

Ling’s eyes further widened where he stood panting, swallowing his breath for a palpable moment frozen on Ed. He’d obviously overslept and woken in a panic. His hair was wild and loose around his shoulders, his mouth agape—and he was completely shirtless.

M’gann’s face burned, and she turned away quickly. She didn’t need visuals to imagine the look on Ling’s face, anyway, when he breathed a second time, “Ed. You’re still here.”

Ed smiled in the corner of her vision, lifting off the counter. “Where else would I be, dumbass?”

“You… You weren’t there when I woke up. I thought—”

Ling’s already short breathing cut off at the same time Kaldur looked away with a polite grimace. M’gann could guess the cause of that interruption, then.

She counted one, two, three beats before Ed said, “You thought what?”

M’gann risked a peek at the couple now, and she couldn’t help her instinctive smile at the starry-eyed look on Ling’s face. It felt like, already, she’d seen more faces from Ling caused by Ed’s presence than his absence. And Ling had talked a lot about Ed before his undue arrival in their world. 

“I thought…” Ling sucked in a breath. “My hoodie was missing.”

“Is that what this is called?” Ed pulled back from Ling to observe the oversized sleeves of his red hoodie that did belong to Ling, now that M’gann noticed it. She’d known those pants looked familiar too; she helped Ling pick out those black short pants with the golden design up the legs herself, when they’d gone shopping for clothes for him.

Ling’s expression positively melted on Ed as he hummed a noncommittal answer.

“This doesn’t seem like your usual style,” Ed remarked with a questioning eyebrow at Ling. “Isn’t this a little sweltering for your sensitive skin? Not to mention the color. Although, it is an upgrade.”

He cracked a grin there at the end, and Ling chuckled.

“Well, I wasn’t entirely thinking of myself when I chose it,” he said warmly. “I’m glad to see my judgment hasn’t slipped, after all. Those really are your colors.”

Ed blushed bright and spontaneous. “A-Are you still half-asleep? What’s with the directness? And go put on a shirt already! What the hell are you doing running around this freezing place like that? Don’t tell me you’ve been prancing around like you did when you were sixteen—!”

Ed wasn’t the only one caught off-guard by Ling’s loud, bubbling laughter out of the blue. Kaldur’s eyebrows shot up at the rare sound triggered by practically nothing.

“I haven’t, I haven’t!” Ling said, beaming wider than the sun, and Ed’s face somehow colored redder.

“Y-Yeah, well, good! Now, seriously, go change.” Ed twisted out of Ling’s loose hold, grabbing two eggs from the carton as he passed it. “Or I’m eating your portion too!”

That made Ling yelp, and he actually stumbled. “Don’t even joke like that, Edward!”

“Good thing I’m not joking, then! One minute, Ling. One! Two—!”

Ling was gone down the hall in three. M’gann slapped a hand over her mouth to—badly—cover up a laugh, and Kaldur outright chuckled next to her.

Ed grinned by the stove too, and it felt like something in the cave had shifted.

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