#Robin!Strike AU

[swift-creates]

@chrumblr-whumblr day 17: touch starved and day 18: shaking hands

wc: 2272 | warnings: mentions of minor violence, injuries, mention of alcohol, strike trying to delude herself | characters: Strike (OC) (pov), Rex, Fives, Echo, '94 / Mikaere Dunn (OC), Omega

more batfam au!!! somewhat of a sequel to this

Rex - Batman Fives and Echo - Nightwing Strike - Red Hood '94/Mika - Red Robin Omega - Robin

i spent so long on this fic and then procrastinated posting it even longer hahahaha (<- suffering) Fives and Echo both go by Nightwing to confuse the enemy. it works despite the fact that their domino masks do Not hide that one nightwing obviously has a goatee and tattoo and the other one doesn't.

Rex is really doing his absolute best to get his daughter back, Strike is just an unreliable narrator due to having abysmally low self-esteem and lying to herself a Lot and trying to convince herself that she hates the Family and they hate her (when they really want her to get to know her and she really wants to go home).

more things about Strike on AO3

It starts when she first returns to the Batcave. Red Hood got too deep into a tangle with some of Falcone's thugs and had to be rescued by Nightwing. Nightwing, of all people. He tried to make a joke about it, and she punched him in the nose. Now she watches him press a rag to the source of the blood, watches Rex fuss over him as Robin and Red Robin stare at her. This must be strange for them, unused to seeing her in the Batcave when to her, it had always been the only place she belonged.

"Honestly? I kind of deserved that." Fives pulls the rag away from his face, winces, and puts it back. Echo scowls. "No, you didn't. Strike overreacted." It's surreal, seeing her name come out of his mouth. It's surreal seeing him at all. He belongs in pictures on Rex's desk, in old newspaper clippings, on a gravestone.

Her ribs and leg ache, but she refuses to ask them for one of the first-aid kits she knows are kept inside a drawer just a few feet away. (Or the bottle of whiskey in the one below.) They probably wouldn't give it to her, anyway.

"Strike?" Rex turns and finally notices her standing there. She gives him a flippant wave with her free hand, the other buried beneath her jacket. "Hey, old man. Worried I'll swoop in and steal your chance to clean up the streets of Gotham?" He doesn't say anything in reply, steps toward her instead. She resists the urge to ask, Is there blood on my face? because she already knows there is and braces for blows, yelling, anything.

He wraps his arms around her, and she freezes.

What? Out of everything she'd expected, a hug had not been one of them. (But this hug is so warm, so comforting, and so safe. It reminds her of when she was a kid, and she thought his embrace could keep out every single bad thing in Gotham, from villains and goons to rough concrete and grazed knees. She hasn't had this kind of hug in years. All she wants to do is melt into her dad and confess all the sins she's ever committed, collapse in his arms and beg for forgiveness.)

"Come home."

I will. The words almost leave her mouth, dance on her lips, the tip of her tongue.

But then she remembers who she is, and she remembers who he is, and she pushes him away.

"They had more backup than I thought. The birds brought me back here. I'm not staying." She avoids looking him in the eyes, knows they'll be round and pained and longing for someone who doesn't exist anymore. "Sure you won't let anyone patch you up?" His voice is hushed. "I can take care of myself," she snarls, turning towards the lifts. Her legs have gotten too used to standing still, and her first step lurches embarrassingly before she catches herself and limps the rest of the way, ignoring the stares that must be pinned on her from behind.

The doors close her off from the rest, and then she turns and leans against the back wall, catching a breath, it seems for the first time that night. Her leg is screaming by now, and her ribs are even worse, twinging every time she takes a breath.

She limps out into the manor, and realises it's the first time she's been back there since dying. Everything looks roughly the same, save for more of… everything. More shoes and boots by the door, more framed pictures hanging on the walls. There's a drawing beside the nearest doorway, and she doesn't know what makes her stop to look at it.

It's hers.

It's the family-as-animals picture she'd drawn when she was 12. Her as a robin, obviously. Rex as a large bat. Two more birds on faraway branches in the background representing Fives and Echo. And somehow 12-year-old Strike had never been outed as Robin. Wonders never cease.

But why would he frame this up? It isn't even that good.

She shakes her head, chalks it up to sentimentality (summoning up less contempt than she would have liked), and keeps walking. If memory serves right, Fives and Echo store their old motorbikes in the aboveground garage. She'd grab one for the ride back to her safe houses; if they wanted it back, they'd come after her themselves. They have other vehicles now anyway, they won't need those old things-

"Strik'ika?"

She freezes again. (She seems to be doing that a lot tonight.)

"99?" The old steward looks shocked to see her there, coming right up to her in a sharp contrast to Rex's wary approach and sudden hug. (Did he even know she'd been back? Had he still thought she was dead, up till right now?) "Ad'ika…" He reaches out, his old fingers brush her chin, and she resists the urge to lean into the contact. "You've grown so tall now."

Strike can feel the tears bubbling up inside her chest. She chokes them down and doesn't dare to speak. Like the manor itself, 99 looks practically unchanged, but on closer inspection, his hands are rougher than she remembers, and all the lines on his face engraved deeper — the smiling ones too, not just the worry furrows.

They make him happy.

She doesn't know why the revelation feels like a knife through her bruised ribs.

Does he think she's back for good? That his little one, his ad'ika is home to stay.

Better lower his expectations.

"I'm not staying." She pulls away from him like she pulled away from Rex, like she pulls away from the idea of coming home. Except she doesn't, does she? Her heart longs for the halls, the cave, the sparring mats. Have they updated the dojo in the last four years? Does the kitchen still have the same ceramic tiles, subtle blue floral patterns on bright unstained white? Is her room still hers, or have they given that to the Replacement, too?

But she doesn't care. About the Bat, about the manor, about the baby birds. Not even the pictures of various kids she can see scattered all over Rex's office. So she acts like it, turns away from him as the traitorous tears burn in her eyes.

"You won't even stay for tea?" If she says yes, the first thing he'll do is fetch a pot and bags of earl grey, and then he'll insist she take cookies with her cup, and then Rex will walk in and look at them with that wistful look in his eyes like he knows just how much she wants to go back to the days when it was just the three of them a family a team and then it will never end. So she doesn't. "I… I have to go." She swallows back the truth, limps away from him and out the door.

Trying to convince herself that their family is dead, and so is the little girl in the Robin costume, beaming up at her from the picture on Rex's desk.

~

It really starts the night in the library.

She's staring at the fireplace as the birds squawk behind her, flocking around the focal point that is their father sitting contentedly in the middle of the couch. Omega is curled up under his arm, reading a book Strike saw it was Grimm's Fairy Tales when she took it off the shelf earlier and occasionally grumbling at her siblings when they disturb her. Mika is play-struggling with Fives, and Echo has his prosthetic feet crossed ankle-over-ankle and propped on their little brother's lap; not an unimpressive feat given how much the other two boys are wriggling. Every so often his eyes flick up to Strike, and she moves her gaze back to the fire, pretends she hasn't been watching her family actually be a family. Without her.

So what if all she wants is to move closer, to press up against Rex's side in his space formed by his arm braced on the back of the couch? No one has asked her to join them; she shouldn't even be there, anyway. The only reason she'd followed them back to the 'cave in the first place was because she'd been promised 99's baking, which had been provided almost an hour ago. She should leave now, ride back to her apartment before it gets too light and people notice a single motorbike leaving Wayne Manor.

But she doesn't. Instead, she stares at the flames and pretends everything she's ever wanted isn't sitting three feet away, giggling and wrestling and being alive, alive, alive.

They go silent at some point, and she sneaks a look to see them all asleep. Omega has a finger stuck in her book, marking where she'd stopped, and Mika's head leans against hers, black on blonde, as Fives and Echo snore in tandem beside him. Rex's eyes are closed; he looks more relaxed than she remembers seeing him in the last few years. She thinks about the hug she'd spurned, and her heart aches.

Her eyes burn again. Traitorous, traitorous feelings.

Is it those very same that make her crawl across the couch and curl up against him? That close her eyes as she settles all too quickly into the familiar rhythm of breathing with him, and drag her down into sleep?

(She shouldn't be here they don't want her here why isn't she running for the hills why does she want to stay with people who don't want her-)

(But she wants them. Maybe that's all that matters right now.)

~

When she wakes up, she takes a moment to realise where she is. Her head is resting in the crook of his neck, and his arm rests around her shoulders, making it near impossible for her to wriggle away without him noticing. Not that she wants to. He must have moved sometime during the night.

It's warm and comforting in this hold. He starts to stir, and she quickly closes her eyes again, feigning uninterrupted sleep. There's the sound of a soft sigh, then: "I know you’re awake, Strik'ika." She resists the urge to wince.

Reluctantly she opens her eyes and sits up, pulling away from that warm hug she's not likely to get again, and forces her expression to blankness. "Morning."

"Morning." His gaze is level as it meets hers, even as it flicks down to her shoulder where his arm has just been resting. "Sleep well?"

She does her best to shrug noncommittally, but she's never been good at pretending not to care. Not when she always cares too much.

A brittle blanket of silence settles over them like that night on the rooftop, the night when he put a hand on her shoulder and she flinched. At the same time she wants it to shatter into a billion pieces and wants to hold her breath so it will never break.

"Strike?" His voice practically begs her to look at him, hushed and almost hopeful. She can't. Not when her eyes are already brimming with tears, blurring the pattern of the couch into a smudge of colour.

"Ad'ika?"

That is what truly breaks their standoff, in the end.

"Stop calling me that. I'm not a kid anymore," she snarls, and her own heart screams against the acid in her voice, even as she thinks he'll finally, for once in his life, stop and not push. "Why did you stay last night?" he asks instead. "You usually leave." It's all she can do not to look at him and see if his eyes are as pained as she thinks they are. "99 was baking." "No. Why did you stay?" His voice trembles so slightly, no one would catch it but his daughter.

"Because-" Because I want to find excuses to stay with you. Because I miss the family we were and the family we could have been and the family that you are without me. Because I want you to stop wanting me back. Because the kid you loved is dead and there's a weapon in her skin. "Because-"

Because because because. Because everything, because nothing, because of you, because of me.

Because the tears are warm as they spill down her cheeks, and she can't stop them. Can't stop her hands from shaking as she wipes them desperately off. And then his are there, folding her fingers in his own as he wraps her in his arms again and gently dries her face.

"I'm here. I'm here, kid. I've got you." Words she hates, words she needs, words she never thought she'd hear again.

"I'm sorry." I'm sorry imsorryimsorryimsorryimsorry-

"Shhh. I know. Me too."

Her eyes are squeezed shut as he pulls her tightly against his chest, and nothing can hurt her when her buir is there to protect her, when he has her back, when they're Batman and Robin again- no, not Batman and Robin, but something new, something different. But he will always be her father, and she will always be his daughter. This is what she whispers between wracking sobs, clinging to him like she's 12 and waking up from a nightmare again. He presses a kiss to her forehead and holds her tighter.

The nightmare is over. This is what he whispers back, when she's all cried out and the pain on her face finally eases. You are safe here, and you are loved, and you are alive.

And maybe that's all that matters, right now.

[moobrvoobl-moobmoob-oobmpoobroom]

she is so Jason Todd coded

[rainybyday]

So what if it wasn’t Danny that looks like Damian but it was Damian that looks like Danny

I’m thinking internet friends Tim and Danny, close enough that Danny knows that he is talking to The Time Drake while Tim knows about his ghost-believing-crazed parents. Sure, there are some secrets that are never told like how Danny kept the fact that is half dead and that his town is sort of haunted (or that he is the King of said ghost) but Tim also kept the secret that he is Robin and was taken in by Batman (aka Bruce Wayne) from him so it’s a balanced-out secret! But they are still close, close enough that Time knows exactly how Danny looks like.

So, to say when Bruce introduced Damian to Tim of all people had not only made him silently panic over the fact that Danny may or may not be de-aged (which was quickly cleared away when he messaged Danny that night) but also to the fact that Danny may or may not be potentially Bruce’s son

at first, he didn’t know what to think about that bit of information 

it was after Damian’s attempt at his life did Tim made it his mission to not only meet Danny in real time but to also convince him the fact that he is Bruce Wayne’s lost long son and the demon brat’s brother because he rather have Danny as a brother then Damain of all people. If he was going to have to live with demon brat then he wants Danny too as composition.

It was only fair after all. 

Not only that, but if it gets the brat to shut up about being the blood son and one and only heir of the bat, then it was a plus in his book

What Tim forgot in his mission in proving of his new potential future brother to his family was that if he was, in fact, Damian’s brother then that would mean that Danny is, potentially, an al Ghul

This family was only barely scratching the surface with an assassin baby, now they are going to have to learn how to live with a half dead boy who has Lazarus in his blood (and maybe Ghost King but details)

[harringroveera]

Real Harringrove texts

Made two versions ‘cause it fits all four of them

[charie-caphine]

Some Cormoran Strike AUs I need, aka through the ages & beyond:

Medieval AU (a la "The Name of the Rose")

Wild West AU (guess they'd be American in this one)

Victorian AU (step aside, Holmes)

Jazz Age AU (late 20s-early 30s - Phryne Fisher vibes?)

Christie time AU (late 30s-early 40s - shove it, Poirot)

Hardboiled AU (1950s - dark stormy nights, dames and horses)

Cyberpunk AU (Rachel & Deckard got nothing on them)

Animals Crack AU (literally a cormorant and a robin)

[jonathanbyersphd]

Jancy Academic Rivals AU thoughts

Based on this post. I have spent all day thinking about it and here's what I have so far

1996 Maine

Robin is Nancy’s roommate 

Argyle is Jonathan’s roommate (I personally love the idea that Argyle is secretly rich)

Steve is also Jonathan & Argyle's roommate but he's never home so Jonathan goes like 3 weeks before ever seeing him in their dorm

Nancy’s best subjects are Chemistry, English, and Polisci-Debate

Jonathan’s best subjects are English, Polisci-Debate, Art, and Latin

Jonathan is from Hawkins and was friendish with Nancy but moved to Montauk, NY when he was like 7 so Nancy doesn’t remember him 

He remembers her bc of course he does 

Nancy is class president because she’s top of the class and is in charge of touring students around campus

Nancy begged her parents to send her here at the age of like 13 and she’s been there since

Jonathan is just now transferring in as a junior and a scholarship student

Jonathan applied because he wants to go to The National School of Photography in France or the Rhode Island School of Design 

While touring Jonathan Nancy makes an off comment about how that’s essentially a waste of an education and how she went to Paris over the summer

Jonathan is understandably annoyed because his assumptions that everyone at the school is going to be nothing but spoiled, pompous rich kids are proving true 

He’s also annoyed she does not remember him at all (but never brings up that they sort of know each other bc awkward)

So he asks in a snippy way what she plans to do and she tells him she's going to go to Oxford to study Journalism and he asks how that’s any better

They are very much giving pretentious and just another suburban girl in their initial introductions

Jonathan resolves to attempt to ignore her as much as possible which is very difficult because he has a crush (He may think she's ambitious and overly competitive but she's also gorgeous and wasn't mean about him being a scholarship student)

Anyways one night while looking for somewhere to smoke Jonathan & Argyle find Nancy, Robin, and Steve breaking into the school pool for a late-night swim/hang out (Picture s1 pool scene minus the murder and st*ncy scene)

And naturally, our intrepid little art hoe takes photos 

Nancy finds out and gets even madder at him because if anyone else found out she’d be in trouble and it could ruin her reputation

THEN as though all of that wasn’t enough Jonathan corrects Nancy’s Math error in class and she gets pissed 

Because she’s right she's always right (except this time)

And Jonathan teasingly offers to tutor her if she needs it 

Thus academic rivalry is born

Nancy is pissed because Jonathan’s Advanced Latin class counts as more credit. Jonathan is pissed because Nancy is so much better at Chemistry.

Nancy tries to transfer into Latin for the extra credit, and Jonathan tries to transfer out of Chemistry because he's better at Earth Sciences (Jonathan isn't successful and Nancy does transfer in but she's completely lost)

It gets to the point where the whole school knows that these two are just insane and trying to one-up each other 

Their polisci-debate class is just the two of them arguing over various issues (not that they necessarily disagree but they both approach issues with different viewpoints i.e. gender v class in s3) while the class watches

And the sexual tension is BAD which Nancy knows and hates because she’s mad enough he can challenge her academically but then he’s also hot??? (Robin is unrelenting until Nancy finally admits to thinking that Jonathan is hot but Nancy insists nothing is going to happen)

Jonathan is lowkey-highkey dying inside from the tension but he’s thriving in teasing Nancy over academics (Argyle thinks he's crazy over this and can't figure out why they won't just do hanky panky)

Argyle and Robin end up bonding and forming the “Jonathan & Nancy just make out already club” which they definitely treat like a skull and crossbones-ish secret society

Steve is also an unwilling member

This leads to Jonathan & Nancy having to hang out more outside of class because of their roommates 

This also leads to Nancy buying Jonathan a new lens for his camera ( I don’t think she’d get him a whole new camera) for his birthday (I HC his birthday as October 10th) and he feels guilty because it’s too nice of a gift 

So to "pay her back" he makes a mixtape for her (Purely platonic he assures Argyle. Can you believe she doesn't know The Cure?) (He def puts Just Like Heaven & Friday I'm in Love on it though)

And maybe on Halloween Nancy and Jonathan end up at a party in the woods behind the school and maybe he lets her borrow his sweater because she’s cold 

And maybe he walks her back to her dorm after this party because she’s been drinking a little (not like blacked out though) and there’s allegedly a bear in the woods (Jonathan might also be high and a little paranoid)

On the walk home, he finally reveals that they went to elementary together.

Plot Twist Nancy did remember him but she was still holding a grudge because he disappeared without saying goodbye

Jonathan then apologizes and makes a big deal about saying goodnight to her 

She returns his sweater a couple days later and everyone starts gossiping about why she had it and Nancy retreats after this 

But then it all comes to a head when their Polisci-Debate professor (Murray) assigns them to be partners on a research article (because he knows) 

One minute they’re whisper-arguing in the library and then Jonathan kisses her 

Nancy kisses him back 

They are hot and heavy making out in the stacks until the librarian catches them

They have to talk their way out of detention 

Then they go up to Nancy's room (because Robin is in Jonathan's with Steve & Argyle) and share a bed

They don’t tell anyone though (again Murray knows) because they don’t want to give them the satisfaction

They continue business as usual then one night over Thanksgiving break Robin, Argyle, and Steve catch them holding hands as they’re walking back from the woods and are like “busted”

Steve owes Robin money 

They still continue the academic rivalry part though because Jonathan knows Nancy likes the competition and he’s happy to indulge her 

They end up tying for the top of the class at the end of the semester effectively ending Nancy’s streak. 

I am attempting to write this as a full fic but I cannot write fanfic to save my life so if someone wants to take this plot bunny be my guest (just tag me when you're done)

[yuwigqi]

Selina becoming Batwoman: Good AU. I like it. Cool.

But there's already a Batwoman.

So when Selina and Bruce marry: Bruce becomes Catman.

The entire Batfamily rebrands.

Dick becomes Calico. The multicolored patterns remind him of the original bright Robin colors.

Kate becomes the Lioness. Bette joins her as Lionette (a play on the word Lionet, a word for a baby lion)

Cass becomes the Black Panther. No ones sure how but she gets even more stealthy.

Tim becomes the Abyssian. (Reference to the Brown Color, like the Drake suit, and how they're supposedly the smartest breed of domestic cat)

Jason becomes the Blue Tiger. It's a cryptid, and no one's sure it ever existed, much like how no one's sure how Jason came back to life. There's some mythology to it, which I think ties in to Jason having some magic.

Damian becomes Leopard. The perfect predator, an opportunistic hunter that strikes from the shadows. (Plus they look like kitties...)

Babs becomes the Catseye. She sees everything, in an almost supernatural way, to outsiders.

Duke becomes Snow Leopard. 1. It's a Leopard, signifying his love for Robin in the first place. And the bright white is similar to his bright yellow, both a juxtaposition to the Batfam (Catfam)'s darkness. It also stands out in another way. Snow Leopards live in the icy tundra, much different than the greenery and savannas of other big cats. Similar to Duke's powers being a stark contrast.

Steph becomes the Pink Panther, but still wears Purple. She pretends she thinks its pink. Just to be silly, and annoy goons.

[deadsetobsessions]

Sea Cryptic! Danny AU- Pt.4

[Pt.1] [Pt.2] [Pt.3][Pt.5][Pt.6][Pt.7]

Danny was sitting in the back, his backpack obnoxiously taking up the seat next to him, when the door to the lecture hall creaked open near silently.

“What are you in here for?” Danny asked the guy who crept into class. He sympathetically took his backpack off the Seat of Shame and allowed the guy to sit down. Funnily enough, they had the same hair and eye color.

“Gen Ed. Undecided. You?” The guy grunted quietly back.

“Environmental studies. I’m Danny.”

“Tim.”

With the implicit understanding of two people in a required class they could not give less than two fucks about, Tim and Danny tuned back into the lecture. When the class was assigned group work, Danny looked over to see Tim softly snoring, head slammed down on the table.

“Tim. Wake up, dude.” Danny poked his shoulder.

“Huh? Class over?”

“Nah, we got group work. Discussion board.”

“Oh shit, thanks for waking me up. Wanna team up?”

Danny shrugged. “Sure. We should aim to post it in the middle so the professor doesn’t read our answers to the class.”

“Yeah, sounds like a good idea. Any idea what we’re talking about?”

“Kind of?”

“Good enough for me.”

——

Tim Drake kept seeing Danny Fenton around on campus.

“Danny! Dude, what are you doing?”

Danny turned, gloved hands full of crumpled trash. “Picking up after the student population, apparently.”

“Didn’t think environmental studies was that serious.”

“Global warming is very serious, you jerk,” Danny smirked at him, crossing the grass to put the trash into the trash can. “Reduce, reuse, oil shouldn’t be spilled in water and all that.”

“Basic stuff,” Tim grinned. Nice, he basically had a friend past Bernard now!

They were friends, right?

“And yet humanity fails to comprehend it. Incredible. Incredibly stupid that is.”

“They get it. Major corporations just don’t care.”

Danny sighed. “True that. You on your way to your next class?” He took off his biodegradable gloves off (nitrile and nylon, baby!) and chucked them into the trash.

“I’ve got free time, actually. Prof cancelled for his daughter’s surgery.”

“Oh, shit, that’s rough! You wanna go downtown and join the strike?”

“A strike? What for?” Even as he asked, Tim hiked his bag higher onto his shoulder, ready to go. They fell into step as the two left campus.

“Apparently, Quillan Pharma was doing some shady shit at their manufacturing plants. I think it’s like killing kids, and pouring toxins into the ground.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Yeah. Oh! Poison Ivy’s gonna be there!”

Tim blinked. He casted a sideways look at Danny. Sure he’s been here long enough to know… but it couldn’t hurt to check. “You know she’s an eco-terrorist, right?”

“Okay, but like… people suck sometimes. And all she’s asking for is like don’t kill the planet. And she doesn’t do that whole mind control thing too much anymore! The Sirens are so cool. Plus, one of my best friends at home might actually kill me if I don’t try to get her autograph. Poison Ivy is like, Sam’s personal hero.”

Tim snickered. “Yeah, okay. Mind if one of my friends join? His name’s Bernard.”

“The more the merrier,” Danny nodded. “Ooo! Hot chocolate. Want some?”

Danny bought three drinks as Tim trailed behind, texting Bernard.

“He said yes.”

“Cool! We should meet up somewhere before the drinks get cold.”

Well, Danny got the autograph. Tim got a new friend, and Bernard got a drink from his crush.

——

“Oh, you’re the glowing dude that Batman always talks about!”

Danny blinked, eyes scanning the wing-like cape and the yellow emblem on the hero’s suit. Danny was indeed glowing, stars and nebulas freckling across neon green skin, and glowing hair the color of a white dwarf star, tinged with the blue from his ice core.

“I… have absolutely no idea who you are,” Danny lied, like a liar. He’s found a surprising niche of entertainment in messing with the local vigilantes and he’ll be damned if he missed this opportunity.

He heard a snicker from the comm lines as Red Robin visibly brushes it off.

“I’m Red Robin. Why are you picking up trash?”

“Picking up after you humans, apparently.”

The both of them blink, feeling a weird sense of déjà vu. A moment of awkward silence passed before they both shook it off.

“Are you here to help? No offense, but the track record for you people is terrible.” Danny strode over and grabbed a bag. He opened it, and shook it at Red Robin’s face. “See? Batarangs, these odd bird looking ones, the R’s. Seriously, pick up after yourselves!”

“Oh, woah, can we have these back?”

Danny yanked the bag back before Red Robin could get close. “Pay me. These were incredibly tedious to pick up. Especially the batarangs. I mean, I even found a whole bunch of old rusted ones in the middle of the bay. What did you do, dump an entire bag in there from the air?”

Red Robin sighed and took out a wad of cash, with tracking fluid all over it. Danny grimaced, smelling the odd scent on the money. “That’s not real cash. It smells off. Are you trying to give me counterfeits because you’re broke?”

Red Robin gaped, oddly offended. “No! They’re real!”

“Doesn’t smell like it. It’s stinkier than the trash. Go get the one with the money, the litterer. Tell him I’ll be back the next full moon. I don’t want to talk to you anymore.” Danny grumbled, disappearing on the spot to watch Red Robin flounder with the stack of cash and the piles of dead bodies on the shore.

“What the fuck even is my life these days?” Red Robin wondered out loud, stuffing the cash back into his pocket. He looked over the plastic wrapped bodies and slumped, sighing.

Oddly enough, Danny felt a sense of sympathy. Well, he’s not getting paid for sympathy. He’s not getting paid at all tonight, actually. Danny flew off, plunging once more into the depths of the significantly cleaner waters, and used his ice to scoop out oil stains.

Danny glanced around and sighed. He had a lot of work to do.

——

“So you’re saying he’s like a werewolf mermaid fae child immortal god thing, right?”

Bruce grunted.

“B, what the hell are you smoking these days? You know drugs are bad, right? Do we need Superman to give you that PSA?” Jason snickered.

Tim, massaging his arms from having to haul an ungodly amount of dead bodies, grunted. He’s so similar to Bruce that it gave the people currently in the cave hives.

“He said full moon. I don’t think we can track him with regular stuff. The bugs kept shorting out.”

“Oh boy,” Dick sighed. “Don’t fall off the spiral cliff, Tim. You’ve got midterms to think about so no stalking the guy.”

“Yet,” Tim shot back, changing out of his suit.

Bruce grunted, setting aside a huge stack of cash.

[noxcheshire]

Back at it again with my Danny is mom coded au’s, but this time it’s because of Clockwork that he suddenly has a whole ass teenage kid.

Clockwork had been bored or maybe he was playing a game against an opponent, or even lost a bet, whatever it was, he stepped in right as Jason was searching for his biological mother.

The DNA that would have registered itself as one Sheila Haywood, confirming Jason’s mother, glitched a terrible green across the screens of the batcomputer.

In those few moments of chaos Jason’s heart beat rapidly as he tried to figure out why the computer wasn’t working, wondering if his only chance to find his mom — his blood mom — would never find success.

Then as suddenly as things went wrong the DNA settled and pinged.

Jason watched, his chest tight, as one Danny C. Works, formerly Danny Fenton appeared onto the big screen.

Danny looked a lot like Jason, short cut black hair more straight than the subtle curls of Jason’s own; deep blue eyes, tired in a way that spoke of long days and nights, but with a warm happiness that made the familiar smile — the one Jason would see on himself every time he looked into the mirror — even more striking.

Jason didn’t linger too long on the male identifying gender, nor the fact his mom leaned more towards a masculine name or clothing.

There were plenty of male to female, and female to male leaning individuals that lived in Crime Alley. He had seen it enough to not even bat an eye at it, even now. After all, in Gotham you minded your business least you find yourself in business you can’t leave.

On a different monitor information of Danny C. Works piled for Jason to quickly browse through.

Danny was a senior engineer, no intimate relationships, and with no close connections to family outside of the tentative calls from Jasmine Fenton.

Danny was estranged from Jack and Madeline Fenton, a falling out that had occurred just a little before Danny’s high school graduation. If Jason calculated it correctly that would have been — around the season Jason himself would have been born.

Okay, so no grandparents then but I might have a maybe aunt. Jason scrolled further and stilled.

Twin toddlers: Dante and Danielle Works.

Jason had baby siblings.

He doesn’t let the sting of younger siblings consume him, doesn’t allow the whispering thoughts of why he had been given up when his younger siblings had been kept and so very obviously loved.

Jason took deep breathes, he didn’t have time to linger here. He had a family to get to, and a family he would get to.

It took almost all night to reach, the starlight night sky slowly and surely fading into cloudy wine as the sun rose, but Jason made it.

And when the door opened to his hesitant but firm knock, Jason was unable to speak. His mom — dad, maybe? Did they want to be mom or dad? — stood in the doorway, brows furrowed in confusion.

It was when Danny spoke his vigilante name did Jason only just realize that he was still dressed to the nine’s in his Robin costume.

[supershot73199]

Dpxdc demon siblings au prompt

So standard demon twin/sibling setup where after dying for dissapointing Ras Danny is thrown into the pit where he doesn't surface. Damian mourns his brother but never tells the bat's at first because it's to painful but then because he doesn't want to cause his family pain with the knowledge that they have a brother/son/grandson respectively. (I personally like Danny being the older one in this whether it's just the first born twin or he's a couple years older is up to you all)

The rest under a read more.

So we cut to an older Damian as Robin and the batfam are fighting a exiled member of the League of assassins who wants revenge on something Ras did and decide that they will hurt Damian to hurt Ras.

So this exile uses a magical ritual to summon the ghosts of every assassin Ras turned on and killed (its a lot of them) so the bat's are not able to stop the ritual in time because they couldn't get a skilled enough magic user to Gotham in time (is there some other threat? Just out of contact? Performing at little Jimmy's birthday party? Who knows.)

So the bat's are getting what anti ghost gear they can (nth metal weapons magic doodads whatever) when the last and most powerful ghost is pulled through. Damian freezes because he knows that face, he's older and he has an unnatural glow, but Damian will never forget his brother.

The exile is laughing taunting the Bats about the dead son come for revenge on his brother who betrayed him Damian is emotionally distraught crying, apologizing, telling his brother that they tried to bring him back but the pit took him from them.

The other bat's are freaking out in their own way because holy shit this is true?! Meanwhile Danny is staring silently at Damian face completely blank. While the feral ghosts of the assassins are trying to break out of the summoning circle.

One ghost manages to find a crack from where it was weakening from the thousands of ghosts trying to break it and rushes to attack Damian who is too distracted and too far from the others to react. He throws himself back scrambling for his sword as the assassins lunges forward to rip his heart out with his bare hands.

Yet as is seems he's about to meet his doom the assassin jerks to a stop before his momentum is reversed and he's thrown back into the circle. Everything is silent because the one who saved Damian was his own brother who was not even slowed by the magical protection (because he's half ghost not that anyone knows this but him)

The insane assassin starts going on about clearly his betrayed brother has decided that only he is worthy of striking down the heir to the demon. Except as he's mid monolog a ice knife is thrown into his leg missing all the arteries but causing a lot of pain. Then Danny speaks.

"I never blamed you little brother. Now dry those tears and Al-Ghul never shows weakness to an enemy."

As he says this for the first time since he's summoned Danny no longer has that blank face instead he has the most affection filled smile you can imagine while he wipes his brothers tears before he turns to the massive swarm of ghosts.

"Any who would seek to hurt my brother must first go through me, The Phantom, Pariah's bane, keeper of Balance and guardian of the mortal realms, but if you think you can take me by all means just do me a favor, let some other poor sap try first."

Now if the ghosts heed his warning or not is up to you if they do then Danny just opens a portal to the ghost zone for them to flee into, if not then he proceeds to beat the unliving shit out of them before tossing them through a portal anyway.

After everything is said and done Danny goes over to Damian talking about how proud he is to see him growing into such a good person and how it's so wonderful to see him again after all these years. Just really heartwarming stuff there's hugs Dick is crying into Jason's shoulder everything.

Then Danny says it's time for him to go he can't stay forever. Damian is upset saying he can't lose him right after he gets him back. Danny then laughs and says..

"This isn't a goodbye Damian it's just a see you later, I promise we'll see each other again before you know it."

And the batfamily are all crying thinking this is him saying that he'll be waiting in the after life for Damian. Before he goes through the portal closing it behind him

The bat's all handle the clean up and police for the crime scene before returning to the manor and getting explanations from Damian.

After all that the family come together to make a shrine to their departed brother with Damian being the last one to walk away to get some sleep.

The next morning everyone feels lighter with this secret no longer between them as they chat and laugh as they get ready for breakfast.

As they are all sat together ready to eat one of Damians siblings asks if there are any pleasant memories about Danyal Damian wants to share and Damain decides to tell a carefully edited version of one of their escapades (conveniently leaving out that he was responsible for the situation in the first place) only right as he finishes a voice chimes in.

"That's not how I remember it little brother." And standing there leaning against a wall is Danny himself.

[ew-selfish-art]

Dpx Dc AU: Ectoplasm is required for Ghosts to be visible to the human eye- And Danny creates his own ectoplasm.

Danny is visiting Jazz in Gotham and its weird how friendly everyone is. Like, the city gets a really bad rapport, everywhere he goes there is someone trying to strike up a conversation or answer his questions about getting around to the tourist spots. A few people even pointed out restaurants and ways to find off the beaten path gems! Jazz seems to role her eyes at him, but when he brings up her 'roommate' being kind of cute she flat out laughs.

Danny then comes to understand the Jazz doesn't have a roommate and that Ghosts in Gotham don't move far from their haunts- He's just been inadvertently turning these undead folks visible by accident of generating abnormal amounts of ectoplasm.

Which, is comforting in a way, he's never walking this dangerous city alone and really, most of the ghosts have been really friendly! They disappear once he's a few blocks away from them anyway.

---

Tim Drake is having a horrible day.

He'd been given intel that one of Black Mask's guys was going to snitch but that he'd died before given the opportunity to reach out to the GCPD. He tracks down the guy's last know whereabouts and yikes. Its next to the Theater. Tim was often grateful for his childhood obsessions, this time it backfired.

Tim and Bruce get into an argument about trust and respect and, worst of all, mental health. And even though Tim was vehemently against Batman accompanying Red Robin to the alleyway - that's exactly what happens.

They arrive and Bruce is closing up faster than a clam in the contaminated Gotham Bay- Clearly being in the Alley bothers him. No fucking shit. RR gets started on collecting evidence, there are a few extra blood splatters and a single left shoe... When a kid walks into the Alley.

"Uh, sorry to intrude-" The kid looks scared shitless, and runs away. And then, all of a sudden, Batman and Robin aren't alone in the Alley.

Tim can hardly believe his eyes as the dead man appears and quickly blabs Black Mask's bank passwords and what the plan had been- and While he's over joyed to have that closure, he turns around to Batman weeping in the arms of his parents.

The ghosts fade, and the emotions are certainly charged as this was never something Bruce or Tim would have ever dreamed of happening. Ghosts in Gotham. Talking, floating, granting closure.

"RR, Bats, come in." Oracle calls into their ears.

"Reporting in, but, uh, we need a minute."

"A minute? We have a case on 4th and-"

"O, we just saw the ghosts of the Waynes. It's going to be a minute."

"...Lots of Ghost reports lately then. Any chance you saw a kid looking like he could be adopted?"

"Yeah, actually, black hair and blue eyes. He was super polite before he ran away."

"We have work to do. Oracle, lets prioritize finding our person of interest and divert Nightwing and Robin to the case on 4th." Batman cut between them on the comms and he sounded... calmer than either of them anticipated.

---

Jazz is no longer laughing when Batman appears at her door explaining that he's looking for Danny (Who already flew away from town to get a good night's sleep before class on Monday). Turns out Danny reunited the man with his dead parents just briefly- and then the second guy appears and mentions how Danny had also given a guy who'd been murdered by a Mob enough time to explain the ongoing threats the city faced.

Jazz just rolls her eyes and says that it's not like the ghosts are going anywhere anytime soon and Danny will visit in another month. When pressed, she just explains that her brother is a weirdo. No of course he doesn't have powers. Gaslight and Girlbosses her way out.

And Jazz thinks that the game is up for at least another month, obviously when Danny visits more shit will stir up, but then this new guy appears.

Unlike the other Bats who are keen on watching her from a distance, the Red Hood knocks on her door. Are her eyebrows all the way into her hairline when Red Hood asks her to send his thanks along to Danny because somehow this whole situation led to his Dad expressing remorse for his actions and apologizing? Yes, yes they are.

But Jazz can smell Dissertation Data off of these vigilantes- Who is she to send them away? Jazz welcomes Red Hood into her place for a cup of tea and a small chat.

The story then devolves into Jazz getting shit done, Danny being cute by proximity and also bringing ghosts to the party, and the Bats having trauma resolve between them.

[swift-creates]

@chrumblr-whumblr day 14: traumatic touch aversion and day 15: memory loss

wc: 342 | warnings: minor swearing | characters: Lieutenant Strike (OC) (pov), Captain Rex (though they’re not lieutenant or captain in this)

a bit from my Batfam AU!!!! in which Strike is Red Hood, Rex is Batman, and they’re both Trying to emote (and failing spectacularly).

edit: accidentally wrote myself a little inconsistency with the sequel to this, pretend the 4th paragraph says 'returned to Gotham', not the manor. at this point in time, she hasn't been back to the manor yet

—

“Good work out there, Hood.” Strike looked to see Rex staring out over the Gotham skyline. “What?” “In one night, you took down the drug ring I’ve been trying to disassemble for weeks.” He remained perfectly still as he spoke, the suit making his silhouette more like a lack of light than an object casting shadow. “Good work.”

Strike stared at her father the Batman. He stared at the city.

She couldn’t remember the last time he’d told her that. Not that he’d rarely done it, or never. She just couldn’t remember. She knew she had the memories, knew he’d said it before, but the exact picture remained fuzzy, fragments floating just beyond her grasp. That was fine. She didn’t need those memories anyway.

On some level, she did. She missed when they’d return to the Batcave after patrol on long and cold winter nights, and 99 would be waiting with blankets and two mugs of hot chocolate. They’d take those and curl up on the couch, intending to get up and go to bed at some point. But Strike would always fall asleep on his shoulder, and he’d stay there, afraid to wake her up, until his own eyes fell closed. Or so 99 had told her when she’d returned to the manor after the League.

Good work.

Of course it was, she told herself. The Red Hood doesn’t half-ass her missions.

But it meant something, coming from him.

“Thanks,” she muttered, poking at a stray piece of trash with her boot. He turned and looked at her. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

He stepped closer, and hesitated. Then he put a hand on her shoulder.

She flinched.

She flinched.

Her father put a hand on her shoulder, and she flinched.

He pulled away instantly, hand disappearing beneath his cape again, and turned back to look at the city lights.

Come back, everything inside her screamed. To him, to her childhood, to their old life. Come back. But the distance between them remained, and so did the silence.

[moobrvoobl-moobmoob-oobmpoobroom]

Look you're having a Robin!Strike brainrot, there's this audio of Raven ans Starfire going around tiktok- And ummm... Needed ti get that out of my head :

Kana : My father may have abandonned me at early age and all but I still wish he loved me...

Strike : I too wish for the fatherly love... Will... You be my father Kana?

Kana : Yeah! Will you be mine Strike?

Strike : Yes!

cackling I love this so much (and they WOULD)

[sarcasticassian]

in a modern au Steve is deffo the type to buy a spell off an etsy witch to get a boy to text him back, Robin is said etsy witch and there's something about this loser that makes her message him and eventually she's straight up like 'this guy sounds awful, I'm refunding you, please don't reply if he texts you back' and they strike up a friendship and eventually they end up living together and Steve comes running in one day like 'I need you to give me a spell to make me like metal, the music not the thing! please, its urgent!' and Robin loses all hope because even after all these years Steve is still a loser, her pathetic loser but still

[flamingpudding]

The first part of this Au that I went out with so funny thank you for answering it I hope you were able to rest and stuff but anywho

I feel like after those first two parts I feel like RedRobin and Batman have questions about the Ghost King and Vlad relationship like they're asking questions

And the Klarions / Phantom children and the kids keep just dropping he with to college with our mom's parents, he would take kidnap mom and locked him in a basement, he's legally mom's godfather, he tried to marry grandmother on multiple occasions

I just feel like Dan anytime he gets the moment gets mad at him and goes like until you pay the 8.5 million you owe mom in child support is the day that you can call me your son ectoplasm donor.

Also I would find it so funny if outside of their Klarion thing they live with Vlad time from time again when Danny is overwhelmed or need someone to watch over them and the the rest of the people he's friends with in the Infinite Realms can't do it and are friends with the Wayne children

I feel like Duke will be having a heart attack when you realizes that he goes the same high school class as Dan or that Ellie and Dick best friends back when they were children for funsies

Also the reveal of Teekls has never been a cat it's going to get on doctor fate's nerves cuz he knows damn well that things never been a cat also I feel like all of them have the power to rip Dr Fate out of whoever he's possessing body and always he's pulling that power on him anytime they get the chance

Also a review of the fact that Teekl has never been a cat until when like Batman or Red Robin pov

Have I ever mentioned I love your ideas and how fun they are? Cause damn this had me laughing while reading it already.

Also glad the first two parts were still fun despite the mishaps that happed while writing :D

Also I skipped over the Teekl Part for the moment since I didn't know how to tie it in at the moment...

Sooooo anyway.... here we go again~ (sorry if its a bit short...)

Part 1 Part 2

------------------------

Red Robin was intrigued, worried and on several levels suspicious as he watched the interaction between the ones that had been Klarion, the current Klarion and Vlad Masters. He had also a lot of questions, he really wanted answers to but for now he held back.... partially. Vlad Masters was a contact Batman had brought in when the situation with the Demon became more dangerous than they originally expected.

John Constantine had mentioned they would need a even stronger force to really drive that Demon back and off handedly mentioned that something like an Ancient or a Ghost King would be needed. And wouldn't you know, Batman knew someone that claimed to have contacts with a Ghost King or rather THE Ghost King. And as luck would have it, Vlad Masters was in Gotham because of one of his relentless attempts at striking a business deal with Bruce Wayne. (That really had been an unexpected luck but by now Red Robin was also suspecting something else was at play.... [Like a bored Ancient of Time])

Well either way now he was watching, just a step behind his mentor, how Batman was grilling Vlad Masters on his relations to the Ghost King, since apparently they (the hero's assembled) wouldn't need to do anything anyway since the Ghost King was handling the demon threat. Red Robin did realise that not all heroes present were convinced but what else could they do but wait right now? Since according to Klarion their Mom aka the Ghost King was already dealing with the situation.

So with that happening, the well known bat-paranoia, curiosity, suspicion and need to know every good damn detail of a situation arose full force. Not that Red Robin minded, as mentioned before, he had a lot of questions too. Plus he wasn't so sure if the other Heroes had caught it but there were some disturbing things Klarion and is siblings sort of dropped that really needed clearing up.

While Batman was grilling Vlad Masters, Red Robin listened in but then decided to his own sort of questioning with Klarion, the current one.

"So... you called Vlad Masters 'old man'? And your suit is in the 'old man's style'?" the question was asked directly to the current Klarion. Since they were apparently here just to watch Red robin was sure he could just try having a sort of civil talk with his questions.

Klarion on the other hand grumbled crossing his arms, before uncrossing them again to pet the demon cat on his shoulder. "I just went with his dumb vampire look but more fancy and classic and less insane colouring."

The arched eyebrow stayed sort of hidden under his mask but it was there and Red Robin knows that tone Klarion used. It's the same Red Hood has when he begrudgingly admit do doing something the way Batman would. Which raises the a question he already had on his mind, how he could interpret Klarions use of 'old man'. Which would give Batman even more incentive to question Vlad Masters on his relation to the Ghost King. Also for now he was going to ignore the 'dumb vampire look' part, but he did note it down in his mind for later.

"Vlad Masters is your 'old man'?" There probably was a way to ask a little more subtle or nice but they were waiting for the Ghost King to beat up a Demon and he was making small talk with subtitle questioning with Klarion. So sue him for being blunt after all. Also the face Klarion was making right after he said.

"Well Far Frozen gets a hot summer." Was the instant reply and Red Robin blinked unter his mask. There probably was some information he was missing behind that reply.

"Ew no! He wishes though. But Vlad is like double or triple our Mom's age! He even went to collage with Grandpa Jack and Grandma Maddie!" Misrule suddenly interjected apparently done pestering Nightwing as she leaned over Klarion, resting her head on his and causing Teekl to hiss at her. Well that certainly got his attention now and with the way he saw, form the corner of his eyes, Batmans head wipe their way and then back at Vlad Masters it certainly also got his mentors.

"He wishes...? Triple your Moms.... age? The Ghost King?" His mental information board was getting more and more chaotic with the information he was getting.

"He acts like we are his kids and has a right to be called Dad by us." Misrule shrugged dismissively to which Klarion growled, he growled! Red Robin was tempted to check his ears because this was the first time he heard Klarion growl towards his sister.

"The day I call your DNA and my ecto donor anything with the context of father is the day he pays Mom the millions of child support he owns him and additional pays for emotional and physical distress." Okay, Red Robin was not ashamed to say he did a double take at Klarions growl and the fact that several alarm bells went off hin his mind with that one sentence alone.

"Mom has his own castle and riches from the previous King. Not like we would actually need that money. Plus Vlad does pay for your school tuition." Misrule answered her brother, complete ignoring the fact that Red Robin was having a mental crisis and thinking that Vlad Masters might even be an even greater threat, then just a weird and suspicious potential business partner and that the reason he has a summoning stone for the Ghost King might be a custody thing regarding Klarion and his siblings.

So with all these things what did Red Robins brain decide to focus on? "Vlad Masters pays your school tuition? No wait you go to school?"

There was an awkward moment Red Robin received two very similar looking deadpan stares from Klarion and Misrule, the first Klarion.

"Of course I go to fucking school Mom would kill... well no thermos ground me if I didn't." Another drop of information Red Robin didn't know how to handle, what the hell does 'thermos ground' even mean? Was that like their version of grounding?

"Oh isn't today like a school night?" Misrule suddenly piped up pinching her brothers check and Red Robin felt weirdly reminded of some of the interactions he used to have with his siblings. It was strange to see Klarion like that.

"Shit... I forgot to do my part of my group project with Duke..." Klarion grumbled and Red Robin did a double take once more, blinking several times as there was a very very important information drop here, his head snapped towards Nightwing in hopes that the other had also caught it and thankfully, he had and while Signal wasn't present at the moment because he had done day patrols already and had been barely awake anyway when this whole Demon mess started.... they had gotten a hint of figuring out Klarions identity, they were certainly going to use later.

For now they had some more red flags to investigate in regards to the relation of Vlad Masters, the Ghost King, Klarion and Klarion's siblings.

---------------

Little Bonus (Next day after Demon Crisis):

"Hey Duke, who are you working with in a group project?"

"Huh oh that is Dante Masters-Nightingale."

"Masters-Nightingale? As in Vlad MASTERS?"

"Yeah, that what he said his temporary guardian's name is that pays for his schooling."

"Wait didn't I go with Danielle Nightingale-MASTERS to school too? We were like besties in school!"

"Oh god...."

"Tim, you okay you look very pale. Are you okay? Dick too..."

"BRUCE! VLAD MASTERS NEEDS TO BE PUT ON THE RED WATCH LIST AND WE NEED TO TALK WITH THE GHOST KING ASAP!"

[mysticmunson]

date night: alpha!steve harrington x omega!reader

summary: finally scoring a date, things go smoothly until you present, and only one alpha knows.

word count: 2.8k

authors note: hii so i wrote this like two months ago and tried wrapping it up to have it posted, but i enjoy this au so please request some expansion requests :)

warnings: a/b/o dynamics, smut 18+

The pungent smell of fryer grease sifted through the air of Benny’s, a mountain of food divided into a few plates as you sat with Robin, who was in the midst of discussing her most recent ‘study date’ with Vickie.

“Get this! We’re sitting there, talking about chemistry, and bam!” Robin exaggerates, voice lowering in fear of someone overhearing, “She looked at me and kissed me!”

You gasp, smacking her shoulder with the back of your hand, a french fry between your thumb and index finger. 

The couple had kissed a few times now, but the excitement remained as you knew how badly your friend pined over the redhead. 

“We just need to find you someone now.” She teased, taking a bite of her grilled cheese as a string of orange came from between the bread.

“I’m determined to get laid by the end of this month,” You proclaimed, giving yourself around 30 days, “I want to experience it because when or if I present, I want to be somewhat prepared.”

Presenting was a concern for your age group, freshly out of high school, as everyone awaited to discover if they would become an alpha or omega. There had been a few start to show, including your best friend, Steve. 

His presentation was expected, his father a well-known alpha in town, and the traits of one showed early. He was fiercely protective of those he cared about, known to be more than good in the sheets, and strong. Having grown up with him, you saw it happen in real time, making it even stranger when you realized how attractive he became.

Still, Robin supported you on your journey, but worried for your safety. Over analyzing any recollection you shared of a man flirting with you, deciding he was a murderer or ugly, or both. 

In her bedroom, you stood in a loose blouse, tucked into a jean skirt and a matching jacket. Applying another layer of lipstick, you fretted over your appearance as you waited for the clock to strike 6:30, and for your date to pick you up here. 

“Steve is coming over.” Robin mentioned, sipping on her water bottle, sitting cross-legged on her bed.

“Okay,”  You reply, “We just need him gone by the time Devin comes.”

Steve was a great best friend, but he could be a real pain in the ass. He had been scaring any potential boyfriend away since middle school, deeming them not good enough or them being too intimidated by him as he faked a macho persona.

For the plan to work, he couldn’t know. He would go on a tangent about how you didn’t have to have sex just to do it. That was true, but it was hard to listen to a guy who had numerous sexual partners preach it.

The front door swung open as if on cue as you and Robin went to the living room, Steve kicking off his shoes. He began his rant about work, Family Video making him lose hair from stress and children yanking on his hair.

You paid attention, but kept an extra eye on the clock, noticing the hands nearing 6:30. Cursing Steve’s tangent for not letting him leave sooner, you swallowed your anxieties, peaking to make sure a car wasn’t outside. As inconspicuously as possible, you stood and went to grab your heels from Robin’s room. 

Toeing quietly, you were hoping to go unnoticed, but Steve decided to be aware for one of the first times tonight. “Where are you going? You’re dressed up.”

Shrugging, you leaned against the wooden door, “Just out for the night, a friend is picking me up.”

A terrible liar, you thought of something that wasn’t completely fictional, however, they both could tell. The sight of headlights caught your attention, standing straighter, “Okay, bye!”

Robin rushed to the front door to stick her head out as you walked away, “Wrap it before you tap it!”

Embarrassment crawling up your neck, you flicked her off behind your back, opened the car door, and stepped in.

“What!” Steve gasped, startling Robin as she shut the door and who hadn’t expected him to follow her or hear him. Thankfully, the car had pulled away, leaving a confused man with a bit too much heat in his cheeks at his best friend to get some.

“I’m just kidding, Harrington. Don’t get your panties in a twist.” Robin snarled, shoulder-bumping him as she went back to her couch. 

The date was fine, Devin was a kid you’d gone to school with since diapers. He had boyish features, cheeks a bit chubby with dimples, and was always polite. He had asked you to hang out a few days prior, agreeing on tonight.

Curls in your stomach that you attributed to nerves hadn’t vanished, even as you both mutually realized midway through your walk in the park that things were platonic. 

Heat simmered within you, discarding your jacket and feeling beads of sweat trickle down the back of your neck. It wasn’t hot outside, even as you walked around and chatted. 

“Are you okay? I don’t mean to sound rude, you don’t look well.” Devin questioned, a hand on your shoulder as your legs began to wobble. 

Nausea flooded you before dissipating, wavering emotions as you tried to make sense of what was wrong. 

Through the nerves, you kept thinking of Steve. How he would let his fingers trail against your lower back in hugs, kiss your head when leaving, and put his hand in front of your body when he hit the brakes too hard while driving.

“I don’t know.” You mumbled, feeling tears threaten through. As you made that statement, you felt the surge between your legs, knowing you had presented. 

It couldn’t be happening now. Not with someone you didn’t know well. Not when you hadn’t been able to score a boyfriend first. Not now. 

“I think I need to go home, I’m so sorry-” You began, huffing as streaks of mascara fell down your warm cheeks. 

Assuring you it was okay, Devin drove you home, even stopping to get you a snack to make your stomach feel at ease. While it didn’t help, you appreciated the thoughtful gesture and thanked him as he waited for you to get securely in your apartment.

The space went from chilly to scorching, removing any amount of clothes you could besides a pair of boyshorts. Your mind raced with confusion as your nipples became hard, feeling a chill, but like a fire on ice. 

Anxieties without category hit you, curling in a ball as you cried, sitting on your floor. It felt pathetic, but no stream of thought was strong enough to withstand the hormones.

Time slipped by as you tried regulating your breathing, applying slight pressure on your clothed core. A shrill ring came from your black phone, lifting the handle and pressing it to your ear.

“You were not supposed to answer!” Robin grumbled, already giving the heads up that she’d call to see if you were getting some, that no answer would be her answer. You had forgotten this rule, her tone making you bring in a fresh set of tears.

On the other end, Robin sat in her room with Steve walking in, not staying in the living room as she had asked. Her priorities were averted to the cry on the other side of the phone.

“Wait, what happened? Why are you crying? What happened with Devin?” Robin frantically questioned, Steve glancing over with furrowed brows as Robin had never stated who she was speaking with. 

“Devin? From junior year math class? That was the friend?” Steve grimaced, toying with nicknacks in his friend’s bedroom, earning a finger on the lips to quiet him down.

“I presented,” You whispered, “I’m so scared and uncomfortable and overwhelmed! What alpha do you know, I don’t care who it is anymore.” 

Though you would probably care later, the clouded judgment had you aching for any form of reprieve from the pain. 

“Fuck, I don’t know!” Robin squeaked, not wanting to reveal your status to Steve for fear of your embarrassment, but she contemplated. The gears of her brain turned as she questioned his overprotectiveness, the way he was quick to frustration when discovering you were on a date.

“Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out, Y/N. I promise.” She concluded, hanging up and grabbing her yearbook.

The faces of former students made her ill, but word got around about presentations, and she hoped that seeing their faces would make her recollect.

“What the hell’s going on? Do I need to go fight Devin?” Steve eyed his friend, an unnerving worry in his stomach. 

Biting her lip, she debated internally, “She needs help.”

“What is looking at that going to do?” Steve gawked, used to his friend’s antics, but still astounded when they acted erratically.

“I’m trying to remember who’s an alpha.”

“Why would you need to know who became an alpha-”

As the words left, his mouth ran dry, and he gulped while looking at Robin. She slowly looked up, watching the dark iris’ before her enlargen.

“Steve-” Robin began, the corner of a page between her two fingers.

The stern look on his face was withholding a multitude of emotions, ones she couldn’t quite make out. She made the judgment call that maybe Steve was your best bet.

“She’s at her place.” 

That was all that needed to be said before Steve ran out her front door and into his car. He had driven your route a million times, but never this fast. 

His blood pumped with nerves and excitement. He had spent his ruts alone, a fist full of himself with the occasional tears of frustration as he tried to alleviate his knot. But now you had presented as an omega.

Refraining from palming his crotch, he watched your streetlights come into view, throwing his car into park. The dark hallways were typically concerning, but your door was practically glowing within his mind.

He growled at the smell in the air, catching his attention more the closer he got. Gripping the door handle, it was unlocked, thankful no one else had noticed the compromising position. 

Choking on his own breath, he fumbled with the lock behind him and trekked down the dim hallway. The protectiveness he already felt was consuming, his palms sweating as he made his way closer. 

The door swung open too quickly as the handle slipped from his grasp, seeing you flinch from your curled position on the floor. 

As if you were nothing, he lifted you from your armpits, making you stand in front of him. Eyes blazing, he looked pointedly as he undid his belt.

“Your door.” He stated, voice wavering with stability.

Furrowing your brows, you looked up at him, “What?”

His shirt was shrugged off, tossing it to the ground as your eyes drifted to his broad chest, whimpering at the sight to his delight.

“It was unlocked, don’t you ever fucking do that again.” He gritted pushing his jeans off, cupping your cheek with one hand and leaning forward so the back of your knees touched your bed. 

His nose had skimmed against yours, breath fanning against your cheeks as you drank in every pheromone he perpetrated. Breath quickening, every thought coming to your head was vulgar, eyes softening in need.

“I won’t.” You whimpered, yelping as your back hit the wrinkled sheets, and his chest soon pressed against your bare one. 

“I mean it, don’t ever do that again, you could’ve gotten hurt.” He gripped your chin in his grasp, looking down at you as your clothed centers touched.

The brief touch made you wail, your body suddenly aware of what was to come. Equally as impatient, he grabbed one side of your underwear and ripped it. Repeating the act on the opposing side, the shreds of fabric were now a relic of the you before this moment.

Palming himself, looking down at your frame as a predator and prey, he growled. 

“How bad do you want it?” He egged on, ripping his own boxers off and onto the floor. 

“Please, Steve, please.” You whined, watching as his cock bobbed. Blushing profusely pink, your mouth watered at it and your chest began to burn with greed.

He seemed far too composed, the performance of himself he was forced to obtain through most of his teen years floating to the top. However, his soft spot was you. It always had been and both of your fresh senses were sensing the discomfort in both of you. 

“Alpha, please.”

That was all it took for his body to be pressed to yours and his lips to meet yours for the first time. 

Grunts and gasps came from you both as the underside of his cock rubbed against your folds, too consumed with how he tasted and how you smelled. 

“Keep that door locked, do you understand?” He gritted, fisting himself in his own grasp, his first thrust in synchronizing with your nod.

A pained cry rose from your lungs, tears already streaming down your cheeks, his lips kissing where the beads were.

Desperation reeked from you both as you grabbed at one another, needing any form of solidification that the other was there. 

Steve found comfort in your warmth, trying his best to soothe your discomfort with affection. Kissing on your neck or rubbing your clit, the latter making you shriek from sensitivity. 

“My omega now,” He sighed, balls reaching the curve of your ass as he settled against you, “my girl. Always have been.” 

“Always yours, alpha, always Steve.” You trembled, the veins of his length stimulating every ridge within yourself. His brown hair crowned around his face, only able to see him in your state of need. 

Though you were the one presenting, Steve felt the same wave of emotions he felt during his first rut, but now even more with another person. His person. The one who knew him since he had gaps in his front teeth, since he had graduated, and every minute moment before and after.

“Fuck, I love you.” He blurted out, feeling his own bashfulness creep up his neck. 

To his relief, you began to be more overcome with emotion, agreeing. Each thrust hit your spongy spot inside you, convincing you more and more he was the only one who could make you feel this way.

“I love you too,” You revealed, locking his lips between yours briefly, “M’sorry I didn’t ask for you first, I was nervous.”

Your words were sweeter than honey, but the implication that someone else almost came to your aid burned him deeply. His hands pushed up your thighs, your knees coming up as he fucked you deeper than you could comprehend. 

“Devin asked me out and I just wanted a boyfriend, but I didn’t want him, I swear-” You cried, unknowingly provoking more possessiveness. 

“Honey, please, it’s okay.” He gritted, clenching sheets in his shaking hands, suppressing the urge to flick his hips quicker.

“I wanted you, alpha, please.” You sighed, stroking his cheek and hair, anywhere you could touch, “I’m so happy, I’m sorry, thank you-”

“Don’t worry, I would’ve found you anyway. You’re my girl, my omega.” He assured, gulping down the emotions he felt when you looked into his eyes.

His words appeared to have a larger effect than any physical reimbursement could do for you as your fingers clenched within his hair. 

Your cry as you came made his hormones go into a flurry. He could feel your uneasiness being thrown into release. It was as if your chests opened in tandem, reaching out and moving in sync as he finished inside you.

White noise filled both of your ears as Steve’s body hovered over yours with much of his weight on top of you. Instinctively, you wrapped your arms around his chest, shoving your face against the crook of his neck. 

Pumping himself within you until sensitivity took over, he gasped at how you clenched around him. His stature shook as he knotted, a hand going to your hip to keep in place, chest heaving to regain a steady tempo.

“Thank you.” You whimpered, hugging his chest closer to your front, an embrace he matched. Pressing a kiss on the side of your forehead, he trailed down to your ear with pecks and bites.

Rolling to his back, he pulled you to his chest, rubbing your back after you tried sitting up.

“Just relax, honey.” He cooed, the exhaustion already hitting you both, stilling your hips from causing you both more frustration in the compromising position. 

“I want to make you knot again.” You whine beneath your breath, trying to sit up again, ignoring the pain shooting through your body at his swelling. 

“Easy tiger,” He chuckles, biting his lip to stop his own need, “we’ve got time.”

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