#Okay but imagine if the Waynes pulled a Kent and just took this small child that squirmed out of a meteorite or pod

[puppetmaster13u]

Oh, oh! What if he gets them as the first sign of him evolving again. Like how the praetorians and queens have the head crests but of course in human-ish form that doesn't manifest fully, so it took until he took in his first child. Like his body was like oh, child?? Lil baby xeno??? We release the chemicals for the start of molting into a queen now. Clark is so confused about others' reaction to B and is actually more than a little offended on his and his kids behalf! So they were born as a very deadly species, so what? It's not like they chose that, and they're some of the kindest people he knows even if their communication skills with people outside their hive leaves something to be desired.

Clark is like: Um this is literally my best friend in this world and I would die for him- Bruce: I can hurt every single one of you if you hurt him. You will not die but you will suffer the entire time Clark: Bruce we talked about this no-

Oh my gosh what if the kids start out more similar to chestbursters, like the chitin is more flesh colored and no vents or anything, just reeally long tail and things like sharp teeth and claws? Like they have a natural 'in-between' stage of human and xenomorph, once the change is finished. But it takes practice and such to shift into a human disguise (uncomfortable, instincts blaring about how vulnerable they are) and into a fully xeno form?

Damian, oh I am slowly rotating this boi. And like, in most things he's a test tube baby. Love the idea of the xeno-bits coming from a meteorite shower and can totally see the league taking some interest and samples.

I think it's actually canon that the xenos are influenced by the hosts they developed in yeah. But another alien race already wiped out the martians. BUT. We have seen in comics xenomorphs being used as rabid attack dogs... J'onn has a bit of trauma even if it'd be partially soothed if Bruce just let him peek in his mind. Bruce has never killed ever (save for once because I can't see any sort of Xenomorph queen, hybrid or not, letting someone who nearly killed or did kill their children living so Joker probably gets murdered)

Slowly rotating xenomorph batfam, either full blown xenomorph or similar to several experiments are some sort of xeno hybrids- probably with human but there's also been other types too.

[crimsonrae]

A Matter of Degrees

Chapter Two

Summary:  Dr. Emil Hamilton had been fascinated by Superman, but not afraid. Five years after his death Clark finds out why.

Clark Kent x OC

Rated: Mature

A/N: I’m not a big Superman fan, but after watching Snyder’s films and Henry, I wanted to explore a more broken/healing Clark. Slowish build on this. Let me know if you want to be tagged. :) - Clark in the next chapter: promise.

Metropolis

Lois sighed as she finished the last paragraph of her report on the new Senate nominee. As far as reports go, this one was pretty bland and even she could admit that it lacked a certain...spark. Her usual wit was failing her and she only could thank God that the article wasn't needed for another two days, it would give her time to scratch and polish.

Scratch and polish.

She snorted quietly to herself and shook her head.

She couldn't remember the last time she had been ahead on her articles, had time to do more than a quick polish before handing it over to an associate editor for a good scratching and polishing. Addie was probably going to die of shock when she noticed how error-free all of her work had become... Or maybe not.

The overly pregnant editor had been taking on lighter loads of work as she moved closer to her maternity leave and had bullied almost every reporter in the building into proofreading their own work three times before submitting it to lessen her stress. Lois had been one of the last to conform to Addie's authoritarian rule – not because she didn't want to lighten the woman's load, but because she usually didn't have the time to be that editorial thorough. Perry was good at keeping her busy, knowing that she could handle more than one assignment if she didn't have a big story brewing. She would have been amazed that she had the time now, but she had noticed he had been handing her less and less.

Her stomach twisted sourly at the thought.

Lois had to fight to not look in the direction of Perry's office or toward the desk of a certain tall undercover superhero. Not that it mattered... he wouldn't be there. She hadn't missed the concerned glances from the staff and the undercurrent of worry that touched Perry's tone whenever they talked lately. The office knew something was up with her and Clark... they just weren't sure what.

A good portion of the office had been at his funeral and they had seen firsthand how close she was to the Kent family. To say that everyone had been shocked by Clark's return from the dead was something of an understatement. It had been an open casket funeral after all. Surprisingly, it had been Perry that had weaved the lie that allowed Clark to come back after Lois had revealed who Clark really was to him. His star reporter had fallen afoul of the criminal element while investigating another award-winning story. The destruction from Doomsday had created a golden opportunity for the Feds to fake Clark's death until those responsible for the threat against him were apprehended.

Somehow, Clark had produced a story from that packet of bullshit and that seemed to quiet most of the reporters at the Planet. The rest still asking questions were the ones that dealt with the typical page six news. They wanted the gossip.

How long had she and Clark been an item?

Had she been aware that he had faked his death?

She had been so distraught at the funeral, surely, she hadn't known – she must be furious.

Is that why they barely seemed to be talking? The tension could be cut with a knife.

If anything, those particular encounters had solidified Lois's empathy for people who had a distaste for reporters. She had told Victoria to mind her own damn business and to go chase after Bruce Wayne more times than she could count at this point. Still, she would rather have the gossip columnist's attention on her than on Clark.

Clark.

Again, she had to fight from glancing towards his empty desk. She had to fight the sharp pang that filled her chest at the thought of him. She wasn't sure if it was better or worse that he was away on assignment.

It had taken Lois months to admit that the man she had fallen in love with was gone... and she didn't mean dead. The relief, the joy that had overwhelmed her when the Justice League had brought Clark back had made her blind to the pain that encompassed him. She should have realized that coming back to life would be a traumatic experience, that there would be repercussions... She had just been so happy to have his gentle gaze and shy smile again... and he was Superman. She didn't think that he would be affected by everything so drastically. It was a stupid assumption. Clark wasn't impervious to the world, to emotion, if anything he felt it more than any ten people combined.

It took her two months to notice the nightmares. He stopped sleeping all together after she confronted him about it. She wished she hadn't said anything, because she was rather sure that the lack of sleep was what spurned the flashes of temper he had become prone to.

Nothing big.

Nothing violent.

At least not overtly.

It was little things, like his cell phone needed to be replaced on an almost constant basis. She had found it crushed to bits on more than one occasion. It was reports of restrained criminals packaged nicely for the police having to be carted to the hospital because their binds had been tethered a little too tight. There was a car thief that had limited use of the fingers in his right hand from a lack of blood circulation.

And she couldn't get him to talk about it. Whatever he was thinking, whatever he was feeling – she was sure it had to do with whatever he had experienced while he had been dead. But he had shut her out. Clark refused to talk to her. At first, he had smiled and reassured her that everything was fine that he was still sorting himself out. Lois couldn't pinpoint the exact moment she stopped believing that smile, but she had watched it become more brittle the more she pushed. He withdrew from her. And their relationship became something she couldn't recognize as a relationship.

She felt like a lighthouse on a dark foggy night, but the ship she was guiding was heading for the rocks anyway.

It took her ten months before she gave up and returned her engagement ring.

Eleven before he finished moving out of her apartment.

They were now on the official one-year anniversary of his return and he wasn't even here.

Lois swallowed against the sudden constriction of her throat. She wished Clark was here if only to reassure herself that he was at the very least physically okay, even if he wasn't mentally – emotionally. She missed him and it hurt.

It had hurt for a while now.

She sighed and sent her article to Addie. She would be taking the rest of the day off.

     ── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ──

Russia

It was ridiculously cold.

Rebecca clenched and unclenched her fists in her pocket in an unconscious attempt to keep her fingers from going numb. Even while sporting a fur-lined coat and gloves that would put a clown's to shame the icy chill of Moscow's winter still penetrated enough to lick at her skin. She usually didn't mind the cold, her body ran a little warmer than most peoples, but today that chill seemed to have a bite. She wondered distantly if she was getting sick... She hadn't thought she could anymore.

"You were just supposed to get pictures."

The reprimand was clear, the Slavic intonation making its owner's annoyance all the more apparent. Rebecca didn't move her eyes from the group of children receiving medical care not one-hundred feet from her, "Anatoli, tell me what would have happened if I had just taken pictures?"

Chocolate eyes softened as they studied the young woman before him. She had tucked her dark hair into a loose braid, her grey scarf musing the strands lose. She should be wearing a hat, he thought gruffly, but didn't say as such – she looked tired. He tried to remember if he had ever seen her smile, "You would not be leaving Moscow."

"And those children?"

Anatoli sighed, "Would be someplace else."

Her eyes blue, almost violet in color flashed as she looked balefully at him, "Starved, scared, orphaned. How much would they fetch to the right buyers, Anatoli? Someplace else... you don't need to sugar coat things with me. I know what that someplace else would be for these children. Still could be."

"They will be safe, my friend. I will find them good homes, I promise." He briefly spared the small group a glance, "You were reckless."

"No one saw." Rebecca whispered and pulled her gaze away when a small boy began to watch her curiously.

Anatoli snorted, "There was lightening. It was so bright and it made the truck stop. The mean man wouldn't move after it flashed... Don't tell me no one saw. I have ten little somethings that saw and in today's world such accounts would not be taken as a child's imagination."

Rebecca sighed, not wanting to admit he was right. She used to long for the day where people who were different, special, could be acknowledged, and with the appearance and resurrection of Superman, the arrival of the Flash, and Aquaman, Batman, Wonder Woman said people seemed to be coming out of the woodwork. In many places, even accepted for their differences, but there were more still where such uniqueness was seen as dangerous or worse valuable.

In the last half-decade, Rebecca wasn't sure how many suspicious labs she had stumbled upon.

Let's see what makes the freaks tick, she thought bitterly. Her fingers flexing as if she was about to discover she was in one such lab.

This time it wasn't a lab she stumbled upon, but it was something dark enough to make her stomach twist in knots. She still wasn't fully certain what had made her detour from the main city to the more industrialized sections. She felt like she had been called – like some sort of invisible tether had pulled her to the warehouse that had held the kids. It didn't take much to recognize the Bratva guard outside...they crawled all over the city. It took even less to deduce the children's purpose once she realized they resided inside. There had been no signs of the usual strangeness that seemed to attract her into these situations. No odd flares of light or smoke, no hum of different in the air. Just a feeling to come.

No. These children were normal, if not traumatized, and she hadn't been about to watch them be sold to whatever sexual sadist that lurked out there.

So yes, she had acted. She didn't regret it.

Except for the pair of icy eyes that watched her from the back of an ambulance. The little towheaded boy that hadn't taken his eyes off of her since being pulled from the truck. Rebecca had noticed he said less than the others – more observant, shy, wary. She was rather sure that little boy was the reason she had found them all. He certainly hadn't been surprised by her sudden appearance.

She pursed her lips as she studied him. There were no indications that he was other like her... nothing obvious anyway. She just had a feeling. A feeling not too dissimilar to what had led her here.

She held in a sigh, "Have the boy go to Marvin."

Anatoli raised a brow and followed her gaze to the ambulance, "He's like us?"

She nodded, despite the fact that she wasn't fully sure, but her gut rarely led her wrong. She cut her violet gaze back to the bear of a man next to her. A small stirring of guilt pulled at her and she smiled sadly, "I didn't mean to make trouble for you, Anatoli."

Moscow was Anatoli's home and he needed anonymity to help people, people who were different, find safe havens. She feared she had just shown a spotlight on his presence.

The older man snorted, an amused twinkle entered his chocolate eyes, "Agh, you come to visit, I know to expect some excitement. You lasted longer than I thought. I owe Marvin money now."

Rebecca rolled her eyes, "You two need a hobby."

"Who has time for hobbies?" Anatoli grunted before nudging her towards his car. He had packed her belongings in the back and made sure to have new travel papers for her. She needed to leave, now, before the Bratva came to inquire about her, "Take the car. Don't call me until your safe."

Reluctantly, she nodded. She hated to leave, she felt like she had left things half done, but she understood the immediacy of her departure. She climbed slowly behind the wheel and found the keys still in the ignition. Anatoli cast her a brief wave and her lips twitched in a subdued smile.

He was in her rearview in moments and her phone was out and on speaker seconds after that. She listened to the dull ringing for a dull moment before the connection came thru, "Hamilton, this you?"

"Hey, Sporty." She intoned quietly, "My trip to Russian's been cut short and it looks like I'll be stateside for a bit... was wondering if you had any work for me?"

There was a brief pause and the clinking of glass trickled over the line. She must have interrupted his lunch, "I don't have anything for you in Gotham. It's actually quiet here for once, but hold on. I'm having lunch with a friend from another paper, let me ask him if he's got anything."

Things went quiet before strains of muffled voices filtered to her. She raised a brow as she realized that Sporty had merely put his hand over the receiver. She wondered if he knew how to work the mute button. Abruptly sound rushed back as a smooth baritone greeted her ears, "Ms. Hamilton?"

"Speaking."

"This is Perry White from the Daily Planet. Sporty tells me that you're a writer – a good one."

Rebecca felt her brow arch higher, "Is there a question in there, Mr. White?"

"Yeah, why haven't I heard of you?"

"I publish under a pseudonym." She replied blandly, "Rachel Wisen."

There was a long silence and she could almost hear the dots connecting in this man's mind, "The travel blogger?"

She snorted and felt shades of her father hover around her. How many times had she heard him say those same words, "Yes, Mr. White... the travel blogger."

"Huh...Look, I don't have any reporting positions open, but one of my associate editors is about to go on maternity leave – I was actually thinking of having my travel editor take over her workload. I could use you to take over his position. It'd be a temporary arrangement."

"Daily Planet is in Metropolis, right?" Rebecca asked after a moment. She didn't know why. She knew exactly where the Planet was and that it was a city, she had no desire to visit. Shades of her father indeed.

"That's right."

Yet, she found herself saying, "Temporary sounds perfect, Mr. White. I can be there at the end of the week."

"Good. I'll get your contact info from Sporty and we can finalize the details when I get back to my office. Have a good day, Ms. Hamilton."

"You too -"

He hung up before she had a chance to finish. Rebecca sighed, remembering vaguely that Sporty was much the same when in business mode. She chalked it up to a newspaper reporter quirk but was thankful for the brevity. It was going to be an interesting few months.

Previous Chapter    Next Chapter

[kdenbibi]

Endless Chapter 4 Damian Wayne x reader (x various)

Summary: What should be a boring outing turns into something else very,very fast.

Warnings: Mature language, light violence, Jon being the sweetheart he is.

Author Note: Thank you for being patient!! I’ve reunited with my laptop so i can finally post :’) also holy shit this is the longest chapter so far wHOOPS- Feedback and or questions are always welcome lovelies 

Tag list: @mirajanestrauss1999

Saturday morning finally rolled around and I wanted nothing more than to sleep in, as it turns out, showing Jon around our obnoxiously large campus took a toll, that and the added stress of everyone and they mama asking me about him like I was his keeper, made me tired in like, seven different ways.

I rolled deeper into my soft covers, ready to drift back into the dreamless state I was in but the universe, of course, had other plans.

And by universe I mean my mother.

Just as sleep grasped at my brain Redbone by Childish Gambino suddenly began blaring from a few rooms over and I rolled over with a sad groan, today was obviously gonna be a cleaning day. This was her subtle way of telling me to wake my ass up and come into the kitchen for breakfast, then directions, if I didn’t get up in the next few minutes she’d make her way upstairs with the speaker blasting as loud as it could and dance her way around my room till I inevitably got up to join her, morning breath and all.

I stretched my limbs, enjoying every crack and pop my body made in response, the sore feeling temporarily making me forget what I was doing.Once my brain caught up to speed with my body I went through the basics of my morning routine, my hair was mushed in a sloppy bun and I didn’t bother switching out of my PJ’s, knowing the majority of the day would be spent inside. I entered the kitchen to quite the sight, my mother swung her body to the rhythmic beat of the song, carelessly singing into her spatula. I contemplated recording her to laugh at later but decided against it, and slid over to her, my fuzzy socks smoothly gliding me across the wooden floor. She finally noticed me, not stopping her performance, she simply shoved her ��microphone’ in my face, we goofed off for the rest of the song before she remembered the breakfast slowly burning on the stove.I pulled myself up on a random stool and rested my head on the cool marble countertop as she scrambled to save what was left of the eggs.She shuffled her way to her phone, which was responsible for the wonderful tunes floating through our apartment before turning down the volume,“Damn that song, always distracts me.” She snorted plating up the breakfast and sliding it a few inches from my face.“Well, it is a bop, so I can’t blame ya.” I shoveled the food into my mouth, the warmth quickly waking me all the way up. She skipped over to gently kiss my forehead before turning back to her plate. I scooped up the last if my food happy to have had it but sad to see it gone. I washed my dish, slinging my hands around to dry them before I questioned her,“So lemme guess, we’re cleaning today?” She nodded taking a long sip of her coffee.“Ah yes, I’ll be handling that, as for you my wonderful child, you are gonna go run some errands for me.” She spoke not missing a beat. I mentally cursed.'great now I had to put on real people clothes.’ “Can we trade? I don’t wanna put on pants.” I tried to whine but the quick look I got from her quickly shut me down.“You don’t gotta get dressed, walk outta here looking like that. Don’t matter to me, as long as you deposit a check before the bank gets busy, get some groceries, get the cat some food- oh! Also, stop by your job and drop some books off for me.” She listed off not looking up from her phone, straight-faced until she turned to look up.“What?” “Our tasks seem heavily unbalanced.” She stared at me, unfazed, yeesh her glare could make Batman nervous. “Oh I’m sorry did you want to clean the bathroom, living room, kitchen, and vacuum all the carpets- oh wait let’s not forget all the laundry we need to do and-” “Okay okay I get it.” I laughed rising off the stool with a final stretch, before running over and quickly kissing her cheek. She swatted me away cursing at me for nearly knocking her off her seat, I couldn’t help but laugh all the way to my room. I kicked my socks off, the sun shining in through the window warmed the room slightly, I stood in the light enjoying the soft warmth before it occurred to me that- holy shit the sun’s shining. I ran over to my window, to my surprise the gray clouds parted ever so slightly showing just a smidge of bright blue. As childish as it was, this filled me with some kinda fascination, Gotham rarely got sun, I took this as a sign, today would be a good one. I yawned shaking myself out of the daze and walked over to my desk, a bunch of unorganized yet still somehow understandable notes lay sprawled out reminding me of different things to do, however, what caught my eye was the somewhat crumpled business card Bird boy gave me, it sat untouched since I set it down that night.A silly part of me felt guilty for not calling, I mean he straight up pulled an uncle Ben on me, “With great power- blah blah blah.” I muttered flicking the tiny card so it faced downward. I plopped myself on my bed, unplugging my phone from the charger and procrastinated my shower by mindlessly going through the seemingly endless notifications, my eyes found a random message I received a few hours earlier, I checked the it wondering which one of my friends could possibly be up that early, however I didn’t have to wonder long, Jon had sent a simple but adorable 'Good morning’ text. Smiling I thought of the boy, we’d been practically joined at the hip the past week, and I couldn’t find much to complain about, he was a really sweet person, someone who saw the  positive in everything and made Gotham seem brighter- yuck I sound super cheesy but I swear, that’s how you had to describe him.I won’t lie, at first, all that optimism was off-putting, my outlook on life was far from bleak but he managed to find joy in every and anything that crossed our way, even living with the Wayne kid couldn’t bring him down. Realizing I still hadn’t responded, I quickly shot a 'Hello’ back, asking what on earth he was doing up as early as he was, according to him his body was so used to the farm life, it was muscle memory at this point. I paused to imagine him as a farm boy, but the image of him chasing chickens and pigs quickly turned into him leaning against a tractor, sleeves rolled up, sweat collecting at his brow, curly black hair sticking out in every which way. I cleared my throat snapping myself back to reality. 'note to self, try not to thirst over your friends (y/n).’ I jokingly asked if he planned to spend his first free day in Gotham hanging around the storm cloud also known as Damian Wayne and he quickly shot the idea down. “We don’t really talk unless we have to."I furrowed my brows shooting back, "Man that sucks, you think you’d at least be sorta friends with the guy you’re sharing a roof with.” He simply responded.

“ :’) ”

I snorted, gathering my clothes in a bundled heap and finally headed off to the bathroom. 

After a brisk shower, I redressed myself, now much more appropriately than the Superman pajama pants I was previously rocking.I checked my phone once again to see Jon had sent another message.“Would you mind hanging out today? That is if you’re not already sick of me :p .” I tugged my bottom lip between my teeth as I thought of a way to squeeze him into my schedule, before sighing in disappointment.“Get tired of you? Psh not happening, I can’t get enough.” I snorted at my text, he was way to easy to tease.I could see his face changing color in my head, quickly I continued texting as I slipped into my shoes. “But alas, moms is making me do errands all day ;( .” I shoved my phone into my jacket pocket, securely tying the laces of my sneakers, surprised when my phone suddenly buzzed again.“I wouldn’t mind coming along! As long as I didn’t get in your way that is.” I couldn’t help but smile at his words,“It’s just boring stuff though.” “Oh come on, nothing’s boring with you."I couldn’t fight the small smile from taking over my face.He said stuff like that all the time- it always threw me for a loop, I mean the kid would freeze on sight if you complimented him but damn could he say some smooth shit- and the worst part was he wasn’t even trying to flirt! He was just a sweetheart. I brushed off what others might have seen as flirting because he was so genuine to everyone. I contemplated his offer, it wouldn’t do any harm to have the extra company, plus he seemed to want to get away from the Wayne kid, and I couldn’t really blame him for that.So I sent him my street address and my apartment number telling him to come whenever so we could head out, and yes I’ll be the first to admit I should probably have been more careful, after all, I had just met him and he could very easily be a serial killer but if you knew him in person, even just for five minutes you’d see the kid didn’t have a malicious bone in his body. I spent the time waiting for his arrival grabbing the books my mom needed to be returned and the check she needed deposited, before I knew it there was a knock at the door, I jumped up eager to get out the apartment before my mom could see Jon, knowing her she’d interrogate the hell out of him, and I didn’t wanna scare the kid off, at least not this early into the friendship. I made it just in time to see her open the door, his bright blue eyes widened in surprise before instantly sticking out his hand."Morning, ma'am! My name’s Jon Kent, I’m a friend of your daughters.” She shook his hand before looking back at me, a knowing smirk on her face. Much to my dismay she opened the door wider and welcomed him inside. “(Y/n) you weren’t planning on ditching your chores for some cute boy now were you?” “Ma.,” I warned grabbing my keys and then Jon’s arm. “He’s actually here to help me out, this is my mom Jon, Jon this is my mother, okay? Okay. Bye.” She grabbed my collar before I could run, dragging Jon back along with me. “What’s the rush? I wanna meet your new friend.” He smiled, nervously shoving his hands in his pockets.“ I hope you don’t mind, your daughters been helping me out since I moved here, figured it was high time I repaid her.” My mother’s eyes raked over his tall form, examining him like he was under a microscope. See she had this way about her, she could read people in an instant, tell if their intentions were pure or not, I couldn’t help but hold my breath as I  waited for her response.

And just like that, she leaned back against the countertop, her defensive posture melted into a relaxed one. “Well that’s awful kind of you young man, you kids have fun- be back before sunset I don’t wanna worry."He nodded, still smiling "Yes ma'am.” He turned to me and grabbed the heavy book bag from my hands with a wink. I went to follow him to the door only to be stopped once again,“When were you planning on telling me about him?” “Uh I don’t know mom, I didn’t think it was important for you to meet all my friends.” She smoothed her hands over my jacket. She looked up, a warm look on her face.“ You sure you’re just friends?” I playfully rolled my eyes, leaning over to kiss her cheek.“Yes, Ma.” She sighed looking out the door.“ Shame, you two would have made some cute grandbabies.” I groaned, “MOM YA NASTY- you’re so lucky he didn’t hear that.” I gave her a reluctant kiss on the cheek, practically running out the door, her loud laugh rang out in the hallway where Jon patiently stood against the wall, his face astoundingly red for some reason.“Sorry about that- she’s kinda protective.” He shrugged, his face still bright as a set of Christmas lights. “It’s no problem at all, my mom’s the same way.”

With that, we were on our way.

We passed the walk to the bank with random conversations he was in the middle of telling me a wild story about his short time living with one of Gotham’s most elite. “The first night I got there I was convinced he was some sort of robot who’s only emotional setting was irritable.” I laughed, embarrassingly loud might I add, but I couldn’t find it in me to care.“Wait- what? Can I have some context on that one?” He laughed, running a hand through his locks before continuing.     “Well I grew up in a family that always shared, we talk it out if we have a problem but this guy-” He huffed, gesturing wildly with his hands.“- He acts like he hates my guts but when I try to find out why, he gets even more upset!” I gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Don’t feel bad, that’s just who he is.” His face fell so I quickly added on,“Well don’t give up- he’s most likely never had someone like you around so it’s probably new, knowing your ass, you’ll get him to warm up in no time. "His eyes looked up, hopeful."You really think so?” “Well duh, who could resist you?” I pinched at his cheeks like my grandma would to me, he pried my hands off with an embarrassed huff, at this point I could see the shiny outer walls of the bank, now only a few blocks away. We walked in a comfortable silence for a while when out of nowhere a question popped up in my mind.“Hey can I ask you a kinda personal question.” He glanced over with a small smile. “Go for it.” “Where exactly are your parents, did they move down with you?” He sighed, a somber smile graced his features. “Nah, they’re back in Metropolis, they knew I had a better chance to- um learn out here.” I nodded. “Do you miss Metropolis?” He sighed, looking around the somewhat crowded streets, before looking back to me.“Yes and no, I’ve always been curious about Gotham, I mean it does make the news every year.” We both laughed before he continued.“There’s actually a lot of similarities between the cities.”“Oh yeah like what?” “So far the people are the most alike.” I glanced at him puzzled,“Really?"He nodded,"They’re both just really strong people, from what I can tell so far at least.” I smiled at this, and soon we were in line at the city bank, waiting patiently for our turn. I took the time to study the elderly couple waiting in front of us, their hands interlocked the entire time, I had the urge to tell them just how cute they were being, so I tapped the woman on the shoulder.“I’m sorry to bother you guys but I just had to say, you two are the most adorable couple.” The woman smiled warmly at me, her eyes were as young as could be when she glanced at the man next to her. “That’s so sweet of you to say, thank you. I’m Gloria, this is my husband Modesto.” He waved to us, an equally bright smile on his face. “Well I must say, you two are quite the pair as well, it’s nice to see such bright people together.” I smiled, looking at the beet-faced Jon, I was about to question the sudden change in color when I realized what the older woman meant.“Oh no-we’re just friends, but still thank you!” She leaned into her husband, who held her gently, “That’s how it starts isn’t it dear?” He laughed, grabbing her hands, bringing them to his lips. “I chased her for years, too chicken to say anythin’ thankfully my Gloria here is a smart one, she made the move for me.” I grinned at the couple, now lost in their own world, before turning back to my companion. “Thanks again for coming with me- you didn’t have to but you made this day something fun.” He playfully bumped my shoulder.“What are friends for if not the exact reason for making mundane stuff interesting?” “That’s a very good point-” my response was interrupted, a sound like thunder came from the entrance, the glass doors shattered into thousands of little pieces, people ducked and dived, trying their best to hide behind the kiosks and tables scattered around the place. Faster than I could register I was behind Jon, he stood tall, facing the five armed thugs responsible for all the destruction in the air.One of the men casually lifted his shotgun in the high above him before firing into the ceiling. The panicked screaming and collective confusion came to an abrupt halt. “Alright ladies and gents, we all know how this is gonna go, if you’d like to keep the contents of your head inside of your body, toss any and all valuables in the sack my colleague is so kindly passing around.” With sniffles and whimpers the people complied, tossing their things in with shaky hands, the masked man got to me and Jon, I glared tossing my phone and grocery money in with the coldest stare I could muster.

Jon’s POV

When I first heard the shot tear through the glass door my immediate response was to grab (y/n) and toss her behind me, I didn’t have time to think about it, I was trying my best to calm the frantically beating organ in my chest, I kept my eyes on the people, praying none of them made any sort of move to be a hero, that never ended well. I knew I could take a few of them down but 1. That would give me up to the public and 2. I was easily outnumbered. Too many things could go wrong with an outright attack, so I held back and waited for a plan to form in my head. One that didn’t get anyone hurt, and my identity exposed. 'seriously Jon? Are you worried about keeping up your secret identity? People’s lives are at stake, it doesn’t matter if you get in trouble later if you can save them now.’ I gave my thoughts a small nod of understanding, while at the same time trying to hype myself up for whatever stupid thing I was about to do, sure my dad was the man of Steel but that’s only half of who I was- my powers were unpredictable at best and some days they just didn’t work.I had the hardest time flying but that was also when I was my fastest if I could get it to work, I had a chance to take all their weapons giving the civilians a chance to escape. I took a deep breath when the man stealing from everyone got to us, (Y/n) hastily tossed her belongings in, I threw my phone, but the guy saw the book bag slung over my shoulder. “We said all of it, toss it in kid.” I couldn’t help the scoff that left my mouth.“They’re books, see for yourself.” I tossed the bag on the floor and the guy curiously rummaged through it, while he was distracted I tried my hardest to make myself fly, but there was nothing. No tingle, no feeling of weightlessness, just nothing. I felt sweat start to gather on my brow, the previously kneeling man in front of me barked out a laugh.“Don’t shit yourself kid- you can keep your stupid books.” A cold wave of fear rolled over me as he walked away, if my powers weren’t working this entire situation just got a lot more dangerous. The guy who looked to be calling the shots scratched his head in thought before realizing something with a snap of his fingers.“Oh right, get one of those shit heads to open the safe in the back-” he gestured to the shaking tellers behind their desks with his gun.“ - and if they try to cause any trouble we start shooting hostages.” Whispers of fear rang through the crowd, the tellers all looked at each other in panic, but made no move to listen to his request.He sighed, rubbing his face through the cliche ski mask, eyes scanning over the crowd before  landing on the sweet woman from before, tearing her from her husband’s grip, she winced when he pressed the weapon into her face, I cringed at the loud sound of it cocking. “Now.” He seethed through gritted teeth, like a bat out of hell one of the tellers sprinted out from the safety behind their desk and unlocked the door to the back room.The leader, all the while still painfully holding onto the woman, casually whistled, slowly walking around the mass of shivering people, he chuckled at the terror he was causing. Minutes passed with no other action, clearly bothering the masked psycho.He grumbled before forcing the elderly woman to her knees, “If you don’t hurry up your stores gonna get a new paint job!” He yelled towards the room where the teller and his man disappeared into.The crowd gasped in horror, Modesto reached out to his wife only to be roughly kicked away by one of the other criminals. Gloria sobbed at the sight of her beloved in pain. It made me see red. But I knew if I jumped on the roach-like jerk I wanted too, it would only make things worse. Never in my life had I felt more useless, Especially when (y/n) started to talk drawing his attention to her.

(Y/n) POV.

The light had been frantically shifting this entire time, one second it was around the leaders gun the next it was around his throat, it bounced around from person to person, object to object, like it was looking for the best possible way out if the situation like it was running every possible scenario. I groaned in frustration, the ping pong actions of the light were beginning to give me a headache, I shifted on my knees trying to look around the room and locate every one of the bastards, I can’t remember when they made us get down on the floor but from the soreness in my knees, it felt like time was passing by in slow motion. It was only when the leader grabbed a random hostage tearing her from her husband- no it wasn’t some random person it was Gloria, the kind woman who sure as hell didn’t deserve what was happening to her.“Hey, asshole.” I didn’t recognize my own voice, there was confidence in the words I spoke that sure as fuck didn’t belong in the situation I was smack dab in the middle of. He turned away from the crying civilians, tossing Gloria off to one of the other men, before stomping over, he leaned down close enough for me to see the green of his eyes.“You called darling’.” I ignored the dark rasp of his voice and the chills it sent up my spine and put on a brave face. “You’re about to make off with a shit ton of cash right?” “That I am doll face.” I could hear his grin in his voice, I cringed at him before continuing.“Well if you know you’re gonna get away with it just leave - if you kill her, or anyone else for that matter, your chances of escape go down by 90%."He leaned back, the fake shock in his eyes was obvious."Oh, and how would you know that sweetheart?” He laughed out, a ring of chuckles followed from his men. “Because I’m not an idiot. If the cops aren’t on their way already they sure as shit will be if any more gunshots ring out- you also have to account for the fact that the place you’re robbing is in the middle of downtown Gotham and people are bound to notice the bank getting held up by some hacks in dollar store ski masks.” He looked down at me with a sneer, his laughter ceasing instantaneously. He looked to his men, all equally dumbfounded before motioning for them to return Gloria to the floor. I sighed in relief before I was yanked up harshly by my arm.The man said nothing as he dragged me away, my eyes briefly met Jon’s wide ones. The man tugging me by my arm spun me around to face him, he raised his gun to my head, pressing the cold barrel into my skin. “Let this be a lesson- being a smart ass  can get you killed.” The light worked faster than my brain could register, I listened to my instincts and squeezed my eyes tight, Feeling that all too familiar heat building in my body again. This time though, it was instant. Even with my eyes tightly clamped together, I could see the bright, unforgiving light that suddenly flashed from- well somewhere on my body. My brain was working much faster than usual, the screams of the confused hostages and even the armed assailants, fell behind like background noise, I opened my eyes to see them all stumbling around, blinking in confusion, the man who was about to introduce my face to a bullet now laid on the floor, he screamed the loudest. “My eyes- I can’t see! Fucking bitch what did you do?!"I took the chance to kick his gun from the spot it landed, but before I could move my foot it shot in the opposite direction of him without me ever actually making contact, the blur of light that trailed behind the object gave me a pretty good idea of what happened. I acted quickly, while the light felt like cooperating with me, I focused on the rest of the guns, yanking them behind me, the light enveloped two of the goons heads before bringing them together with a resounding crack. One of the men stumbled in my direction, it scared me shitless, but no sooner had the fear registered in my head did he go flying into the remaining man, knocking them both out the window the haze faded away, I could hear the confused groans of the people behind me as their sight slowly returned, I breathed a sigh of relief, turning to see Jon, staring directly at me, a look of shock on his usually grinning face. For one reason or another, he could see me. Shit. "D-Did you see that?"He said nothing, mouth still agape, but he nodded nonetheless."All of it?” I asked wincing at the obvious answer.He nodded again, clearing his throat before hesitantly rising. “No it- don’t worry it’s okay.” I shakily exhaled, the adrenaline of whatever it is that just happened making me buzz. I felt my breath get shallow, the reality of it all was quickly leading me down the path of a panic attack.“I- I don’t know what’s happening that’s never- that doesn’t…” I struggled to voice all the crazy shit running through my head, Jon took a few steps towards me, gently placing his hands on my shoulders, “Hey- look we’re all okay, everything’s okay you just need to breathe.” I nodded taking choppy breaths. Jon met my eyes, a kind smile on his face, he opened his mouth to say something but the calm atmosphere was very short lived. “What the fuck happened here?” The man who took the teller in the back had returned, he looked at his fallen comrades trying to piece together what had happened before his eyes found the only people standing, He shot his gun with a sneer I tried to shove Jon from the direction of the bullet but I was surprised, too slow, he faced the gun man, the bullet bouncing off him like it was made of rubber, I was just as shocked as the man he was marching toward, with a swift punch to the chest, the guy hit the wall in pack of him leaving a rather noticable dent. I almost felt bad.

Almost.

Jon turned to me, huffing, the strange look of anger on his face melted away leaving shock, fear, and something else I couldn’t register.I opened my mouth, but all the questions in my mind refused to make their way out.I turned away without a word, and walked out the remains of the front door, I heard his loud footsteps crunch against the glass as he ran after my fastly pacing form. “(Y/n) wait-” “Nope.” I replied in a shaky voice, not daring to look back. “Listen to me we need to go back- just wait for a second!” He grabbed my arm, halting me in my tracks, the recoil was so hard I hit his chest.“I’m not going back there.” He stared at me, eyebrows furrowed in concern. “We have too, we need to give our statements to the police-” I ripped my way from his grip. “I am not talking to the damn cops.” He stared at me in disbelief,“We have too! It’s what’s right."It was my turn to stare at him like he was crazy."If I tell them what happened they’ll lock me up in some science lab for the rest of my life- in case you missed it GCPD hate anything to do with superheroes, no way- it’s not happening.” He ran a tired hand through his hair, staring at me with pleading eyes.“I wouldn’t let that happen to you.” I scoffed shoving my hands in my pockets,“There are some things even you can’t do Kent, and in case you missed it, they’ll drag your bulletproof ass in too-” I rolled my eyes turning away.“-Stay and talk if you want, but I wasn’t here.” I continued on my path trying not to jump at the sirens sounding behind me. I made it home, my mom greeted me with a smile before running to me at the sight of my puffy face, as soon as I got to my floor I let the tears fall unapologetically, the stress of it all weighed heavy on my shoulders as I trudged in the door.She let me cry into her chest for a while before I calmed down enough t explain what happened.“I just- I got so scared I totally freaked. I’m sorry about the errands.” I laughed lightly, sniffling at the end.She chuckled warmly, wiping at my eyes, her gaze was sad, loving but sad. “Baby I couldn’t give more of a damn about the groceries- you’re the one I’m concerned about, are you okay?"I shrugged, rubbing my puffed up eyes."I don’t know….I’ve never- that’s the strongest my powers have been, it was like I was on autopilot- what if I hurt the wrong people?” I quickly began to choke up again.She shushed me, grabbing my hands in her warm ones.“You don’t have a mean cell in your body baby, you couldn’t hurt innocent people if you had too."I said nothing, leaning into her, I wrapped my arms around her midsection, taking comfort in how little I felt.Her hand found my hair, softly petting my head as she told me hilarious stories of my older siblings and their problems growing up. "Everyone goes through their own struggles in life, some people let these challenges beat them down, consume them. Those are the people who try to face them alone, the people who fail. What a lot of the world fails to see is the beauty of life, we’re faced with hardships yes but the blessing is we don’t have to be alone with it all. "I raised my body into a sitting position, wiping my face on the sleeves of my sweater. "What are you saying?” She sighed, eyeing me thoughtfully before tucking a loose curl behind her ear. “I’m saying, you should take those nice people up on their offer.” I stared at her confused before it hit me like a train.The card.Robin, Nightwing. “Wait how did you-” “You should know by now nothing slips past me, Especially when my baby’s involved.” I looked at her, then down at my hands, the buzzing feeling from earlier had died down tremendously, but it never fully disappeared, something happened today, it changed something inside me. That much I could feel. I sighed nodding at the older woman, she leaned over to give my forehead a sloppy kiss, making me smile uncontrollably. “I trust you to make the right decision, for you.” And with that, she left my room. I sat there for a minute taking the time to unwind, I flopped back on my bed, my eyes trailing the window before glancing at the night sky, as I played with the hem of my sweater, the thought occurred to me, the first blue sky Gotham had seen in ages and I missed it. I smiled slightly, I preferred the gray anyway. Sooner than I thought I found myself on my roof, a plethora of snacks, the thickest blanket I owned and the damned little card that had kept me up at night thinking more times than I was comfortable admitting. I dragged myself to the loveseat, the fabric was cold to the touch as I carelessly plopped my body down, I made myself a nest in my blanket and popped a few Skittles in my mouth, I glanced up towards the surprisingly clear sky, usually you’d be lucky to get a glimpse of the stars but tonight they were on full display. I let the mostly silent universe calm my mind down enough to pick up my phone when it hit me that I no longer had a phone, I forgot to grab it before I stormed off from the bank.I tossed the candy wrapper on the table next to the chair, a new wave of distress washing over me. “Well shit.” I chewed at my thumb if the cops found my phone they’d be able to trace me to the scene- assuming Jon didn’t tell them I was there.I groaned wrapping myself further in my makeshift cocoon. A light knock from the other side of the roof brought me from my troubled thoughts. I ignored it, thinking it was just my imagination when I heard it again.I rose quietly, taking my blanket with me, I crossed the distance more curious than anything. I looked around waiting for the noise again. “Uhm… Hello?” “Hey.” A familiar voice called out making me jump back in surprise. “Jon??” I whipped my head around looking for the source of the voice.“Wait you can turn invisible too??” He suddenly floated up from the edge of the wall, I stared mouth agape as he landed, slightly ungraceful.“Unfortunately no, but I can fly! Well sometimes anyway.” I nodded, finally managing to close my mouth.“Not that this isn’t a really rad uh- surprise? But what are you doing here?"He kicked the pebbles around his feet, shuffling around like a lost puppy. "Well I know you’re probably mad at me but I wanted to return this as soon as possible.” He pulled my phone out of his pocket, hands slightly shaking.“S-Sorry it got cracked a little in the bag.” “No problem- thanks, really.” We stood there in a silence, not totally uncomfortable but definitely uneasy. But of course, in true 90’s sitcom fashion we both spoke out at the same time. “So about earlier-” “We should talk-” We laughed, he motioned for me to continue so I did with a deep breath.“I wanted to say sorry- for how I reacted. I know it was really immature and I guess I didn’t really give you the explanation you deserved.” His eyebrows shot up, he instantly came closer.“Oh my god no-I came here to apologize! I shouldn’t have pushed you to do something you were clearly uncomfortable with.” I sighed tightening the blanket around me.“Well for the sake of not arguing let’s agree to disagree.” He nodded, his trademark smile finally back on his face where it belonged. I could tell there was a lot more to say, so I motioned for him to follow me to my seat. I sat down, squishing myself against one side of the chair and patted the space next to me.He shrugged, plopping down with a grin. I offered him some of my blanket but he declined.“I don’t really get cold, thank you though. "We stared up, letting things settle down before either of us dared to break the comfortable silence. "I didn’t tell them.” He started not looking away from the stars. “Hm?” “The police, I told them some random hero burst in and out before I could register.” I turned away from the candy I’d been guzzling down, the shock evident on my face.“Jon you didn’t have to lie for me.” He shrugged finally looking down. “What are friends for if not to lie for you?” I laughed lightly at his call back before leaning back into the chair. “That’s a very good point.”

We sat there for what felt like hours, he told me a little bit about his powers, promising to explain everything when he could, before I remembered my reason for coming up here in the first place.I took the card out of my pocket catching Jon’s attention.

“What’s that?”

“Oh yeah, I totally forgot to tell you- a while ago Robin came up here and hassled me to tell him about my powers.” Jon seemingly choked on the soda he was in the middle of drinking. I stared at him slightly concerned before he waved me off, gesturing me to continue.

“Well anyway, before he could impale me with his stupid little knife things, in swoops this gorgeous spandex-clad man in blue and black- ever heard of Nightwing?” Jon nodded, shakily looking back and forth between the soda can and my face. I ignored his weird behavior with a shrug. “Anywho, he gave me this and told me to call him when I was ready.”

“Well, are you?” I looked at the dingy card, then at my wide-eyed friend.

I punched the numbers in before I could talk myself away from it.

“Guess we’ll find out.”