#Nyssa is right; He really is like a wet dog

[bowlerhatwearer]

So, I heard that Nikolai gets along with @northerngrail 's scary murderous women

Greetings Anon ^^

He does indeed and Nikolai himself is surprised by this, because, he was a nervous wreck when, for example, he encountered Devi Brillianti (@northerngrail OC) for the first time.

But, even if he is aware what they are capable of, and at first this causes him to be wary, there is something comforting just, talking with them.

Nikolai, is, emotionally and mentally hurting a lot from what had happened, the destruction of his home he was unable to safe, running for his life in Mayberry, being separated from his sister again etc. etc. Even if Nikolai would insist he is fine or try to suppresses it, he is not.

So, talking with them, about what he has experienced, helps him, and, he warms up to them, they see him like a brother, and Nikolai has to admit, he sees them like sisters as we and cars for them.

Although Nikolai would at first insist he is perfectly healthy and does not need more to eat, which of course Devi, Debbie, Alicia etc. would doubt, given how malnourished he looks.

Yours sincerely

Bowler

[mxtantrights]

PAST LIVES - 4 blurb

here comes the time where Ricard Grayson infiltrates the reader’s day. I think Dick plays up the eldest sibling to a t, whenever he’s able to be around that is.

You open the manor’s front door- against the wishes of Alfred who is somewhere with his ears burning at the fact that he hasn’t opened the door to one of the masters of the house- and there he is.

Dick Grayson.

“Master Grayson.”

You jump at the sound of Alfred’s voice. Dick laughs at that too. 

“Hello Alfred. It’s good to see you.”

You turn to Alfred with your hands over your heart, “You like to scare me don’t you?”

He says nothing, instead he turns around and goes back to where he came from. Shaking your head you turn back to Dick.

“So, ready for some sibling bonding time?” You hold up a finger to get him to wait. You head into the closet - once again making Alfred’s ears red- and grab your duffle bag that had been packed since last night. When you return you drop it next to his.

“I’ve never been camping before.”

- 

TWELVE HOURS LATER

You have your hoodie pulled up and tightened around your head. The fuzzy socks tucked into your jeans are helping a bit and the fire too. But you just hadn’t expected the cold to hit you like a slab of cement.

All the training had really went down the drain.

Dick comes out from his tent and sits by your side. He’s got on his own sweater with a best over it. Smart.

“How’s Jason?” he asks.

Your eyes widen and you turn to him quickly, “What?”

“Are you two not- sorry I just thought I had picked up on something.”

You clear your throat and face the fire again. If Dick had picked up on something, how long was it before everyone knew? Besides Damian who had clocked the two of you from the beginning. 

“No yeah we’re. We’re a thing.” you say.

“Just a thing?” he asks.

You shrug your shoulders, “I don’t get picky with normal people things, you know?”

But you’re not really asking. Dick Grayson knows all to well about not being picky with normal people things. You all do. 

“We can totally change the subject.” he offers.

“How’s everything with your friends?” you ask.

“Great. Wally’s great if you’re headed in that direction.”

You nod along this time.

“I’m sorry if this is awkward. I just haven’t had someone close in age to talk to, or who wanted to talk besides Tim when he can keep his eyes open.” he says.

“It’s okay,” you remove your hands from your pockets and place them over the fire, “I take a bit of time to adjust after being resurrected and the league.”

If you knew it would have made him nervous or worried you wouldn’t have slipped that in there. But you honestly don’t think too much about the words you use anymore when talking about your past. It was your past for a reason and you’re doing the work to keep it that way.

Still, you hold back sometimes. 

“Are you okay?” 

You turn to look at him again and he’s already looking at you. It’s not a weird question to ask, especially after you basically just said you were brought back from the dead and became an assassin. Brainwashed assassin.

Not a lot of people ask if you’re okay. Most people who know, like Nyssa and Talia, didn’t ask in such a way. They made sure you were okay by checking you wounds after an mission or going over training. Bruce sees if you’re okay by inviting you over for monthly dinners. That way he came watch over you and make sure with his own eyes that you’re okay. Same with Damian and his random drop-ins.

Jason and Tim are the ones who skirt around the question. That’s partly because you ask them the same question back and it usually turns into a playful conversation about how you all could be doing better, but you’re doing good with what you got.

And now there was Dick.

You don’t know why- or maybe you do and you won’t admit it- but you start to tear up. You think it must be Dick Grayson’s superpowers or something. It’s the same way that you felt when he came back during the first family dinner at your place.

You shake you head a bit and see his eyes widen, “No I’m fine. I will be fine. It’s just a lot. Having a big family like this, not really knowing about my past.”

He nods.

“I’m here if you want to talk. About anything.” he says.

You smile. And in that moment, you get up from your wooden log. 

“Get up.” you say.

He doesn’t even hesitate. He gets up without another word. And you, without hesitation, wrap your arms around him in a hug. He’s shocked, you can tell that much.

“Oh-” he starts.

Then he hugs you back.

“Thank you Dick.”

-

THREE DAYS LATER 

you accidentally knocked over the water on the table. The two ladies yelp and jump. You gasp pretty loudly, and cover you mouth for a moment.

“I’m so sorry.” you say.

They look at you as they pat down their outfits with the napkins to make sure they didn’t get wet. You try to smile as earnestly as you can, but really it comes out more of a smirk.

You walk out of the dinner and meet Dick at the front window.

“That didn’t look like an accident.” he comments.

It really wasn't. The women had been ogling at him the whole time you were eating. It didn’t seem to phase him that much, but it did disgust you. They weren’t even trying to hide it.

So you put your former tricks to the test.

You hum to yourself, “that’s too bad isn’t it?”

He chuckles.

“Alright, where to next?” he asks.

You nudge his shoulder with yours and you two begin to walk away from the diner. It wasn’t a bad day in Gotham. The weather had been decent, it wasn’t funny or anything but it wasn’t down right pouring rain. 

“I have to pick up a thingy for Fallon. It’s not far from here.” you answer.

Dick walks by your side until you get to the crosswalk. He then flanks to your left side, the closest to traffic. You notice it, like you noticed it the other times you’ve hung out, and you don't say a word.

Because you know he’s not gonna stop doing it.

“You’re worse than Jason, you know that?”

He actually waits to start talking, until you're both fully crossed. He’s gotten used to the fact that upon learning something new, or even having a profound thought, you have to stop in your tracks. Completely.

“Yeah yeah. Do you wanna see my dog?”

You stop.

“Oh my god, you have a dog too? Is this a Wayne thing?”

“Did you ever ask Jason about Sparky?”

“Oh wow, so it is a Wayne thing.”

[bat-losers-inc]

Collisions in the Dark (Ch 13): Desperado

Summary: Tim suddenly finds himself surrounded by allies and enemies alike as he risks his own life to bring Jason back from the grave. 

Pairings: Tim Drake / Jason Todd

Chapter Notes: Desperado: A piece that seems determined to give itself up, typically to bring about stalemate or perpetual check. Also a threatened piece that sacrifices itself for the maximum compensation possible.

“You are a fever I am learning to live with, and everything is happening at the wrong end of a very long tunnel.” — ” Straw House, Straw Dog”, Richard Siken.

“Don’t move,” The metal pressed hard against his neck and Tim couldn’t help the gasp that escaped him. Fingers dug into his shoulder. Tim could feel the force on the grip, every finger discernible through the layers of clothes he wore.

There were more people now. Tim could sense them behind him in the shifting of air and clothing.

“Signal the Demon Head. Tell them to bring the helicopter around to our location.

The knife was removed right before Tim was kicked in the back of the knees, sending him crashing to the ground. Tim caught himself with his hands out of reflex. He didn’t need to lift his hands to see that the skin there was scraped raw. The throbbing sensation told him all he needed to know. The feel of grit in the wounds. Sharp. Taunting him.

One of the people behind him spoke quietly into a comm unit.

Tim didn’t dare to look over his shoulder, instead beseeching the earth under his burning palms. He turned his head ever so slightly, eyes on the shadow of the man, stretched across the ground across Tim’s shoulder by the midday sun.  “Please. Please. Just let me do this for him and then I’ll go with you. I’ll go.”

I’m so close, thought Tim. It can’t end here.

“No.”

Tim almost wanted to laugh at the cruelness of it.

Game over. No more moves to get you out of this one, Drake.

Perhaps there were more moves to be explored, but Tim didn’t want to play this game anymore. Better to lay down his King and surrender the board to his opponent. But still…

Tim thought if it was going to end it would have been more dramatic. Not this do-not-pass-go bulls—

The trio of gunshots sounded loud enough to cause a small rockslide. Tim cringed inwards, cheek pressed against the stone, bracing for some kind of  impact that never came.

A hand grabbed him roughly by the jacket and jerked him onto his back. A gun, still smoking, was shoved in Tim’s face, but it wasn’t the shiny instrument that could seal Tim’s fate that had his eyes fixed. No… it was the face of a woman with eyes dark, wreathed in smudged kohl eyeliner. The effect it gave off was like elegant war paint.

“Tell me your name.” Her tone was blunt and jarring enough to leave Tim staring at her like the words she was speaking weren’t English. They most definitely were, though there was an accent that Tim couldn’t place.

“Your name!” she shouted. Her hair, chopped roughly into an angled bob, blew against the side of her face. She dropped to her knees and pressed the gun to the center of Tim’s forehead.

Her voice lowered but her words were no less rough.  “Tell me your name before I kill you out of sheer impatience alone. I don’t have time to waste standing out in the open where anyone can see.”

Tim found his voice finally. “Tim Drake.” he said.

The gun fell away from Tim’s head, her grip losing all of its tension at once.

“Christ, it is you.” she groaned, eyes traveling to the dead men next to them. She didn’t seem to feel particularly bad about shooting them in the back.

Her gaze fell on Jason and lingered.

“You’re here to bring him back, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

She tilted her head, a scrutinizing expression evident in her gaze.

“Is he really worth it?”

Tim swallowed and said with some conviction. “Yes.”

The woman nodded then proceeded to yank him to his feet. He was pulled down a set of stairs that led into the dim interior of the cave. Tim wrestled around in her grip for a moment. He couldn’t just leave Jason lying out there in the cold. But as he turned to look back he saw two men lifting Jason’s covered form and following in their wake down the steps.

“If someone asked my father the same question about you, he would answer the same.”

She glanced over her shoulder, expression disinterested. “I’m inclined to say fuck both of you and your pledges of love if only so that the rest of the planet doesn’t have to suffer the consequences of your selfishness. The both of you would raze the earth to keep the one you love.”

Her smile was sharp and luminescent in the torchlight glow. “You want to disagree but I can see in your eyes that it’s true. There’s a determination lurking behind those pretty blue eyes that refuses to die out.”

Tim stopped walking. There was a lot to unpack in such a statement, but Tim started with the most pressing. “I’m sorry… your father? ”

She stopped walking and turned to face him. That disinterested expression was back though Tim was starting to get the feeling that it hadn’t ever left. Nor would it.

“Don’t play the idiot. We both know you’re smarter than that otherwise Ra’s wouldn’t be pursuing you to the ends of the earth. He doesn’t waste his time on anyone he deems beneath him.”

The pieces were fitting into place, like a jumbled up puzzle. Tim had been given the corner pieces and now he could figure out the rest of the image. Nyssa Al Ghul. Ra’s other daughter. Talia’s sister. It was no wonder Talia had told Tim to come here.

“You’re supposed to be dead.” he said.

Nyssa shrugged and started descending the rest of the way down the stairs. “And you’re supposed to be Ra’s’ heir, the one he would leave his empire to. So?”

“So, if you hate my cause so much then why are you helping me?” asked Tim as he rounded the last few steps and entered into a large cave cast in an eerie green glow. Tim’s stride faulted as his gaze fell on the swaying waters of the lazarus pit.

Nyssa smiled. “Simple. As much as I hate this selfish, teenage puppy love that you and Jason Todd have for each other. I hate Ra’s so much more. And if bringing Jason Todd back to life is what keeps you fighting against my father, then I’ll help you. If only to keep you from joining him. I don’t think the world is ready to see what two calculating minds like yours and his can do together.”

Tim hugged his elbows, eyes still glued to the lazarus pit. “I don’t think I’m ready to find out either.”

The men shuffled past them to the edge of the lazarus pit. Jason body was lowered carefully onto the ground. Tim had to force himself not to look away when Jason’s body was unwrapped, the sheet falling open to expose his face, pale and tinged blue around the lips. His eyes looked like storm clouds, covering out that pale green that Tim so adored.

Nyssa placed a hand on Tim’s shoulder. “We don’t have much time, but I need you to know what you’re getting into before you blindly agree to go forward with this.”

“What do you mean? Will Jason go pit-crazed like before?” asked Tim.

Nyssa shook her head. “The risk is not Jason’s. It’s yours. There is a reason that someone can only be brought back from the dead with the lazarus pit once in their life. You get one free pass, I don’t think anyone really knows why, but after that it comes at a price.”

Tim swallowed, mouth dry. “What— What’s the price?”

“A life for a life.”

“So to bring Jason back… I’d have to die?”

Nyssa smiled. “Not exactly. You’d just be giving up your get out of death free card.”

Tim stared into the depths of the lazarus pit. “So if I bring Jason back… I lose a life. And, later on, if someone tries to bring me back…”

“It wouldn’t be Jason. That’s for sure. He doesn’t have anything left to barter with death. But whoever does it, they’d lose their freebie, and then the next person, and the next… Ra’s has had his servants sacrificing themselves in honor of him for centuries. They give up their second chance in order to prolong his existence.”

“That’s vile.”

“It’s fitting. Death is a grizzly business. So why should thwarting it be a graceful affair?”

Nyssa’s eyed him as if he were a child. Compared to her, with what she knew about the world, he probably was one.

“So now you know the risks. Do you accept the terms of the pit? A life for a life.”

Tim nodded. “My second life for his. Anyway… I wouldn’t want a second life in a world without him. Who would I live for if not for him?”      

Nyssa smiled a smile all lips and no teeth.

“Good. Wade into the pit.”

Tim moved to the edge of the pit where a set of stone steps led down into the murky green water. He took the first step, water filling his shoes and soaking the edges of his pants. He kept walking until his clothes hung heavy on him as the weight of water saturated the fabric and clung to his arms and torso. He had expected a supernatural jolt to travel through his body once he’d immersed himself in the water. Nothing. It just felt like… water. Tim kept moving forward, only stopping when he was standing in the center of the pool, green water lapping at the top of his ribs as it rippled around him.

He turned, shivering, to face Nyssa. She was crouched at the edge of the pool, hands resting on top of Jason’s body.

“What now?” His breath frosted the air in front of him.

“Pull him into the pit with you and submerge the both of you under the water together. That’s when the pit effect’s will start to work.”

Tim waded over towards Jason’s body. He grasped onto Jason’s wrist. His wet hand soaked the sleeve of Jason’s shirt a dark blue. Submerged in the icy water, Tim’s fingers were almost as blue as Jason’s.

Footsteps hurried down the stone steps that led into the cave. Nyssa turned her head in the direction of the disturbance. Tim’s eyes slid past her head in the same direction. It was one of the men who’d carried Jason’s body down to the cave. He came around the corner of the stairs and jerked to a stop.

“What is it?” Nyssa asked, voice sharp and alert to the distress emanating from the figure. She got an answer, though it came in the form of a sword thrusting through the man’s torso.

Nyssa sprinted to the wall and yanked a spear free from the wall. She returned to stand next to Jason’s body, eyes glued to the man skewered on the blade.

The man stared briefly at the blade protruding from his body before he jerked forward, the blade dislodging with a horrible wet sound that had Tim’s stomach doing somersaults at he looked on. The man collapsed where he stood. Ra’s al Ghul scraped the bottom of his bloodstained shoe on the ground. It painted a red streak across the stone.

Tim’s grip tightened on Jason’s cold wrist. His fear was visible as the air before him fogged from his shaky breathing. Tim sunk his teeth into his bottom lip and tried to calm himself even though he knew that Ra’s had noticed it as well. Tim was terrified and they both knew it.

“Timothy, get out of the water.”

Ra’s stepped calmly over the bleeding man, bloody sword held easily at his side. His cold stare pinned Tim to the spot, like a butterfly under a magnifying glass.

“Don’t.” Nyssa hissed at him. She widened her stance, spear held at the ready.

Ra’s eyed her curiously. “Think carefully about your next move, Nyssa. I wouldn’t want to have to kill you right after finding out you’ve been alive for all these years.”

Nyssa didn’t so much look at Tim as angle her head in his direction.

“Remember to hold your breath.”

She planted her boot against Jason’s hip and shoved. Tim was standing too close. The weight of dead limbs fell on top of him, hitting him in the chest and knocking him backwards off his feet. Tim only had enough time to gasp a breath and wrap his arms around Jason’s torso before Jason’s body weight pressed him under the icy water.

Jason was the anchor tied around Tim’s legs, dragging him to the bottom of the sea.

Tim’s eyes burned as he stared up through the water, trying to see Nyssa and Ra’s head off against each other, swords coming together in the clash of metal against metal. Tim’s back knocked against the rocky bottom of the pit, Jason’s weight crushing the air from his lungs. His mouth opened in a silent, watery gasp of pain, air bubbling up to the surface.

Nothing happened.

He squeezed his eyes shut, and for a frantic moment thought he might drown before he could bring Jason back.

Then Tim felt a burning sensation starting up inside of him. Flashes of white light burst behind his eyelids. The pit waters were starting to take effect.

Tim gripped Jason tightly and gave himself up to the pit’s power.

The flashes came faster now, shuttering bursts of light exploding behind his eyes until, suddenly, everything erupted into a single blinding light. Murky colors came flooding in from the edges of Tim’s vision. They swirled and danced before Tim’s eyes, never forming any image or shape.

Tim’s lungs burned with the need for air. A booming rattle reverberated through the ground. The water tremored around Tim’s prone form.

He opened his watery eyes to see what had caused it, but his vision was already fading to black.

Tim jerked into consciousness with a gasp that filling his lungs with water. He opened his eyes to dark water. Around him the world was exploding with distant noise. The sensation was similar to listening to far off thunder. A dull roar that you felt more in your bones than heard with your ears. There was the thud of something large dropping into the water and Tim turned his head to see a chunk of stone sinking to the pit floor next to him.

His body seized and twisted with the need to breath, but his limbs were so heavy they felt anchored to the pit floor.

Something seized his arm and yanked him upwards towards the noise and lights. Tim blinked blearily at the hand locked in a vice grip around his elbow and let his gaze travel upwards to the dark hair that shifted sluggishly with the motion of the water.

Jason, Tim had a moment to think before he was pulled above the surface of the water into a world that was falling to pieces around them.

Tim crawled up onto the steps, coughing up mouthfuls of water with every breath. He stared up through watery eyes at the scene in front of him. There was a wide rent in the cave ceiling, streaming sunlight across the ground, light catching on the craters left in the ground by fallen rocks. The cave’s interior had been turned into a battlefield, groups of people dancing in combat around boulders and dead bodies.

Tim was startled to see the Batwing parked in the cave’s interior, ramp dropped open at the back and left that way. His eyes found Bruce and Dick fighting beside Nyssa, the three of them alternating attacks between Ra’s and his ninjas. Dick caught sight of Tim as he was pivoting away from an enemy’s strike. He lashed out with a kick to his foe’s torso and risked turning back towards Tim, screaming out towards him. Whatever he said was lost among the cacophony of noise, but the jerk of his head towards the Batwing got his meaning across.

Tim choked up more water, wishing he could stop the shaking in his limbs enough to get his feet under him and head into the fray. As it was now, though, he’d probably only succeed in getting himself captured or killed.

He knew he needed to move. Instead he turned his head and stared at Jason, his body hunched next to him as he hacked into a fist. Water streamed from his hair and shoulders.

Tim gripped Jason’s wet sleeve with shaking fingers. He couldn’t believe he was alive, but the evidence was all there. Tangible under Tim’s fingertips. Shaking from the cold.

“Jason,” his name came hoarsely from his lips. Jason shifted, eyes finding him under a tangle of wet hair. He squeezed Tim’s fingers so tightly that it hurt. Tim was tempted to pull free, but before he could Jason was stumbling to his feet, dragging Tim up with him.  

They hurtled forward into the strife in a reckless, heedless way that was possible only for the truly weary and wounded. They clutched each other, fists knotted tight in jackets and sweatshirts, bodies pressed flushed against each other, using the other’s weight to keep themselves upright.

It was a relief when strong hands latched onto them, lifting their failing forms off their feet. Tim was hefted over a solid set of shoulders. He stared disjointedly at Jason as he was lifted into Bruce’s arms, head pressing against the hard line of Bruce’s kevlar suit.

Dick ran up the ramp of the Batwing, Tim’s head jostling with each step. He was placed on the floor of the aircraft, back propped up against a cabinet. Bruce shifted Jason off into Dick’s hands and hustled past them towards the controls. Jason couldn’t keep his feet for more than a minute before they crumpled under him.

“Woah, easy. Easy.” Dick eased him to the ground. His eyes kept flickering worriedly to the fighting that the bottom of the ramp. Nyssa and her men wouldn’t be able to hold them off forever.

“Bruce, get us out of here already!” Dick shouted. Tim stared at him as he slammed his palm against a button on the wall. The ramp started to close as the engines roared to life. The aircraft lifted off the ground, the ramp still hanging halfway open.

Dick turned just in time to see a blade spiraling towards his chest. He threw himself sideways and watched as the blade slammed into the wall by Tim’s head and clattered into Tim’s lap. Tim couldn’t muster up the energy push it onto the floor.

Dick was next to him in an instant, hands checking him for injuries.

“Are you alright? Did it hit you?”

Tim clutched at Dick’s wrist, ceasing his movements. He was so tired. He just wanted to sleep.

“Fine, I’m—”

“Timothy!”

Tim words abandoned him as he watched Ra’s, now empty handed, struggle towards them against the press of bodies. The last thing he saw was Ra’s’ savage expression fixed upon him  before the ramp closed completely.  

Tim’s body gave a violent shiver right before he passed out.