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superlarva · 1 year ago

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They sat like that for some time.

Finally, here's Chapter 7 - Nightmare of Raising Dominoes! Sorry it took so long to post! Traveling's a pain.

Prologue: 00 Previous chapter: 06 Next chapter: 08

Summary: Rex and Cody meet up to go over some important information late at night. Fives has a nightmare.

CW: Child abuse (in a dream, but still), nightmares

^Please be careful, friends. The first part of this chapter could be distressing to some. I put a thing like this:

~~~~~

where the dream ends, so if you want to skip it, just scroll down until you see that.

Chapter 7 - Nightmare

The man slammed the car door, cutting Fives off from the loud argument outside the apartment building’s entrance. He could not hear what Rex was saying anymore, but he seemed mad. He was trying to push past some of the men, but they grabbed him and held him back, away from the car.

One of the men got into the driver’s seat and the car roared to life. As they began to drive away, Fives tried to turn to see Rex one last time, but the seat belt was constricting him. He could not move, not even an inch. It was pulled taught. He strained against the belt. Pulled against it. Tried to wriggle out. But it just dug into his skin deeper.

It hurt.

He let it hurt.

He wanted to see Rex.

Fives knew where he was being taken soon as he heard the first drop of rain hit the windshield. Kamino. White halls. Cold, hard beds. Ration bars.

Home.

He was going home.

Mom was nice as the men had handed him over. She smiled and hugged him and talked about getting him something nice and warm to eat. He knew as soon as the door slid shut behind them and the men were out of sight she would be frowning and hitting and yelling.

Fives stepped into the house and screwed his eyes shut. He jumped at the sound of his mom slamming the door.

Fives sat in the room he had shared with his brothers. They were all gone now, even Echo. He felt like he should be more sad than he was.

He was scared.

He wanted to go back to Rex’s apartment.

Fives could hear yelling from down the hall. That was odd, his mom did not normally have company. He climbed down from his bunk to listen at the door.

He could hear her voice clearly, although the words were too faint to distinguish. The other voice he also recognized and with a start he opened the door and ran down the hall towards it.

Rex had come!

Rex was here!

He was going to take him back and make everything all better.

But what if he didn’t?

No, he would. He was nice.

Was he really?

Suddenly Fives couldn’t quite remember.

He peaked around the corner to see his mom and Rex standing in the training room. He had heard them arguing, but now they were not speaking to each other at all. Both faced away from him.

Fives crept closer and softly called out to Rex. The man did not turn around. Fives pulled on the sleeve of his jacket, “Rex?”

Rex yanked his hand away and whirled around, face contorted in disgust, “Don’t touch me!”

Fives stumbled back, surprised, “I- I-”

“What did you think?” His mom turned to face him as well. She wore the same disgusted expression as Rex, “You thought he came here for you? You thought he cared about you? You? CT-5555? You’re just a failure. A failed experiment. You mean nothing.”

Fives looked over to Rex, “I-I’m s-s-sorry.”

“You’re suh-suh-sorry?” Rex mocked, a smirk spreading across his face.

Fives took a step back. Rex was supposed to be nice. This wasn’t right!

Rex stepped forwards and leaned down so his face was inches from Fives’s, “You’re a waste of space. You and CT-1409 should have died that day with the other three. I don’t want you.”

Fives turned and ran, but Rex grabbed his arm before he could escape the room. Rex yanked Fives back towards him so they were face to face again and sneered, “You really thought you could get away that easily?”

Rex was holding his arm so tightly that Fives thought if he squeezed any more it might pop off.

Fives’s mom knelt down next to him and poked his thigh, grinning, “You know, if we chop off his legs, he won’t be able to get away at all.”

Fives looked to Rex for help, but Rex was already pulling a long knife from his pocket and eyeing his legs.

“N-no!” Fives protested, trying to wriggle out of Rex’s grip.

“Calm down, sweetheart,” His mother said, petting his shoulder and sending shivers up his spine. “You’ll be just like your brother. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted? To be just like your brothers?”

“No! No!” Fives looked frantically from his mom to Rex, trying to find any spark of the man he had first met only a few days earlier, but there was nothing comforting in Rex’s face. His skin stretched and sagged to make room for his wicked grin. The proportions bordered on inhuman.

It was not Rex; it could not be. Not the real one. Fives screwed his eyes shut and began to scream.

He screamed for Rex, for Echo, for Cody.

For anyone.

~~~~~

“Fives?”

Someone was shaking his shoulders. He was lying down now. He vaguely wondered if they had tied him to a table, but he was lying on something soft. He wanted to see where he was—he was so confused—but he did not want to open his eyes just to see Rex’s twisted face glaring back at him. He trembled.

The shaking stopped.

“Fives?” The voice asked again. It had a tremor in it almost as if it was scared. “Are you awake now?”

The voice sounded like Rex’s, and it sent a shiver down Fives’s spine.

“Cody,” The voice said softly, “Could you get the extra blanket from the closet?”

Fives laid stone still. Cody and Rex. Not mom and Rex. Had he been sleeping? Had it just been a dream?

He felt a hand run through his hair, smoothing it back, away from his forehead. Rex’s voice asked if he was awake again and Fives relented with a small nod.

The bed dipped as what Fives assumed was Rex—although he refused to open his eyes—sat on the edge, “Bad dream?”

Fives gave another small nod.

“We heard you calling out for us.”

Steps began to approach the bed and Fives tensed.

“That’s just Cody with another blanket,” Rex’s voice said as Fives felt the blanket being placed over him. “Is that better?”

“Mm-hmm,” Fives finally managed as the footsteps faded away.

“Do you want to open your eyes? It’s just me—just Rex.”

Fives cracked an eye open, half expecting to see the Rex from his dream hovering over him. Instead, he was met with a head of short curly hair bathed in golden light flooding in from the open doorway into the hallway, kind brown eyes, and a face wracked with worry.

Fives let out a shaky breath and opened both eyes fully, “R-Rex?”

“Yes, I’m here.”

“Are- are you real?” Fives reached up to touch Rex’s face.

Rex did not flinch away and did not look at him in disgust. He instead smiled and allowed Fives to prod at his cheek, “As real as you are.”

Fives let his arm fall back down onto the sheets, satisfied that he was no longer dreaming.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Rex asked softly.

Fives turned away and curled up, hugging his T-rex plush to his chest, “No, I’m fine. I’ll b-be quiet now. I’m s-sorry.”

Rex sat down heavily next to Cody at the kitchen table. The table was littered with papers and informational pamphlets. Before he and Cody had heard Fives screaming out for help, they had been going over the documents provided to them about the twins and had been signing the boys up for school, doctor’s appointments to get their vaccines, and therapy.

Cody crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back, “How is he?”

Rex shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, sighing, “He wanted to be left alone. Didn’t want to talk about it.”

“You know it’s not your fault, right?”

Rex looked up at his older brother desperately, “Of course it’s my fault! He’s terrified of me!”

Cody reached out and laid a reassuring hand on Rex’s shoulder, “He’s not scared of you, just scared of what he thinks you might do. He just met you and you know he’s had bad parental figures in the past. It’ll just take time.”

Rex nodded, but there was still a deep sadness in his eyes.

“Besides,” Cody continued, “When I saw you guys this morning at the hospital, you were thick as thieves. I think he trusts you.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah, I do. I mean, when he was yelling our names, yours was the first he called for.”

Rex’s eyes scanned over the table and landed on the boys’ birth certificates, “Heck Cody, do you think she really called him that?”

“CT-5555?” Cody clarified before his eyes fixed on a point over Rex’s shoulder and he went white as a sheet.

Rex’s heart dropped, landing in his gut, as he turned to see a tiny hand disappear from around the corner of the hallway.

“Fives?” Rex bolted from the chair to reach the boy’s retreating figure.

Fives was wrapped in a blanket and in his haste to get back into Rex’s room, he tripped over the edge that was dragging on the ground and fell to the floor with a loud thwack. Rex quickly covered the distance between them and knelt down next to the boy.

Fives was silent for moment before he started wailing loudly, curling up into a ball on the floor. Rex looked back to Cody who was hovering uncertainly a few feet away, face still drained of color.

Cody met his eyes, a reassuring calmness spreading across his face, and slowly sank down next to the sobbing boy, “That looked like it hurt.”

Cody’s voice was gentle, and Fives let out a shuddering breath as he nodded in agreement.

“Yeah?” Cody asked softly, “Can you tell me where it hurts?”

“E-ev-everywhere!”

Rex grimaced, he had to give it to the kid, it probably did hurt everywhere given the massive collection of bruises and scrapes he was sporting when he had acquired him a little over 24 hours earlier.

“Okay. Do you think you can sit up for me?”

Fives acquiesced and was soon sitting with his back pressed up against the wall and his knees drawn up to his chest. Tears were still running down the boy’s cheeks, but his sobs were much quieter, “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t m-mean to l-leave the- the room. I-”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Cody interrupted.

Fives turned to Cody, looking a little stunned.

“He’s right,” Rex jumped in. “You’re allowed to go anywhere in this apartment.”

Fives turned his large confused eyes on Rex.

“I mean it,” Rex said before switching gears. He needed to make sure Fives was alright after that fall, “Did you hit anything when you fell? Are you hurt?”

“N-not really,” Fives admitted, wiping a tear away with his sleeve.

“Are you more upset about what I said?” Cody asked. He looked like he already knew the answer.

A fresh wave of tears gathered in Fives’s eyes, “I’m s-scared.”

Rex and Cody exchanged a glance before Cody ventured a cautious, “What are you afraid of?”

“That you’ll- that you’ll b-be just l-like m-m-mom!” Fives cried before hiding his face behind his knees.

Rex scooted forward and wrapped Fives in a tight hug, “If I ever do anything she did to you, you let me know and I’ll stop. I promise.”

Fives hugged Rex back and sobbed into his shirt.

They sat like that for some time.

At one point Cody got up and returned with a glass of water and a box of tissues. Fives seemed content to cry into Rex’s shirt, but Cody was eventually able to coax him into blowing his nose a could times and taking a few sips of water.

After the boy calmed down a little Rex decided they needed to clarify a few things.

“Fives?” Fives sniffled in response, and Rex continued, “First off, do you want me to call you Fives? Because you’re not a number. If you want, we can change your name. Change it to anything you want.”

Fives was silent for a moment before turning his head to the side against Rex’s shirt so he could speak, “I-I don’t like CT-5555, b-but I- I like F-Fives.”

Rex glanced over to Cody, then back at the boy, “So, we should call you Fives?”

Fives nodded, “Fives is what Eh-Echo calls me.”

“Okay,” Rex said softly, trying not to let his heart shattering into a million pieces for his boys show in his voice, “Next, it is very important that you understand that I will not let anyone take you back to her.”

Fives took a breath, “I- I don’t have to- to go back?”

“No, never.”

“Really?”

“I think you and Echo are stuck with me.”

Fives was silent for a moment and Rex’s heart sunk. What if he’d ruined it already and Fives did not want to stay with him? Suddenly Fives shifted his head up to look at him, his chin digging into Rex’s sternum. The boy’s face was full of hope, “Forever?”

Rex smiled, “For as long as you want.”

@marierg @stressed-cherry @ffdemon @renton6echo @bambambunny @tearfulsolace @rndmpeep @brokenphoenix99 @nerdy-valkyrie @xylionet @tazmbc1 @eyayah123 @the-bad-batch-baroness @sarcastic-nebula @ihaventpickedausername @sexysmeagolshitposting @emma-1409

#I almost cut this chapter from the story #I still think I could have #But IDK #I figure there's no harm in posting it #the clone wars #tcw #clone wars #arc trooper echo #arc trooper fives #clone trooper echo #clone trooper fives #captain rex #commander cody #domino twins #baby dominos #superlarva

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alienpossession · 1 year ago

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Planting The Seeds II

Blake's arrival to the party proven to be the start of the frat bros demise. After absorbing the real Blake's memory before its mother plant fully consumed the jock, the alien clone of Blake casually drive back to the frat house where the party is already at its full swing. The alien Blake blended in easily with the crowd, passing on smiles and hi-fives to girls and bros alike, practically posing like the real Blake complete with all his mannerism. Yet, his mission remained clear and he's not going to let the mission failed. With several seeds in his pockets, he's determined to move the base of his people to this seemingly highly-populated location rather than deep in the forest away from the human populace. So, he dropped several seeds inside the beer keg and then dropped the rest of it in the lush backyard of the frat house.

Throughout the night, no one noticed anything weird even when the seeds started to grow into sprouts and continued to grow. Among the boys playing beer pong and forced to chug straight from the keg, the lucky few would swallowed the seeds and started their transformation too. Blake found solace from a mission done well and he let his human's personality took rein for the rest of the night as he went on to cheer for his brothers and fucked around with some sorority babes that teased him

The following morning, Blake woke up to two cheerleading babes drooling with their eyes rolled to the back right by his side. Underneath them, right on the pool of their salivas, are several seeds that certainly comes from the two girls as they have turned into seed makers. Not only that, the window has been broken by this growing vegetation bursted from the backyard and an opened pod also stashed right next to the overgrown and verdant plants. When he finally opened his bedroom door, a wide scuplted back became his first sight in the morning. The buck-naked clone then turn himself around to face his older brother that run the mission as he welcomed him

"Good morning, Blake. The others are waiting down below. Thank you for your massive work,"

Blake just looked at his younger siblings with admiration. He might be stiff and still sounded off, but this is definitely a perfect clone of James Honeywell. Blake went on to kiss the clone James and then asked the buck-naked clone on the original's whereabout. Turns out, the original stashed underneath the bed Blake slept on last night, so Blake guided the clone's hands to the remnant of half-consumed James' head and that's when a radiant bluish glow followed suit, seemingly flowing from the original to the clone. The clone's eyes glowed in response to the memory he received and not even a minute later, it's like as if James Honeywell has never been a victim of an alien infiltration and consumption

As they descended through the stairs and headed to the backyard, the evidence of last night party still freshly scattered around the frat house. Red solo cups, clothing articles, spilled alcohol and dust crumbs, everything indicated a very rowdy and loud party that lasted as long as it could. Some of these bodies seemingly looked pure and safe from the invasion as they are not in close proximity to a seed or anything military-related. That will have to change later today for the perfect infiltration, but for now, Blake wanted to check on his other fellow brothers

As Blake and James stepped to the backyard that is now covered in green and giving the pool an ultimate shade from the sun, they smiled widely to welcome their new brothers. The first one to burst out is Aaron, which certainly consumed the seeds last night as the real Aaron now camouflaged to the land as he lost his life upon the plant bursting out from his torso as he turned into the base of a tree. So, unlike his upcoming brothers, instead of tearing down a pod from inside, this one bursted out from a tree.

Like a domino effect, one by one the pods started to crack, revealing the various bodies that has been cloned by the handful of plants.

Ranging from freshmen to senior, the frat bros and the one coming from the other frats, gay or straights or even bi, these bodies emerged out from their cocoon with a look of confusion and shock plastered to their face.

Yet, they quickly warmed up and acclimatized to their surroundings as they can sense that the two human standing in front of their eyes are just like them and more than happy to help them to become the real one through and through

As more and more bodies walking out from the existing pods, they eventually gathered as they embraced each other after their monumontous journey from mere seeds hundreds of lightyears away into the very person they are now. With more than 20 bros already converted, they still have some more works to do with the rest of the frat house members that managed to avoid their fate in the previous night. Clad only in speedos or briefs, the converted bros started to swarm back into the frat house and ready to plant their seeds of death across the various passed out bros that still stuck in the frat house.

#planting the seeds #replica #clone #male clone #alien transformation #identity #identity theft

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starilicious · 6 months ago

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mere haath mein (echo x gn!reader)

》 summary: reader and echo's love story from strangers to friends to lovers throughout the clone wars (a 4+1 type of story)

》 series masterlist: (please read the masterlist before continuing on!)

click here to read on AO3

》 part 4.5.2 word count: ~1.9k

》 part 4.5.2 warnings: none

》 part 4.5.2 spoilers: bad batch citadel episode

》 a/n: so sorry i disappeared! college took over my life like a storm but the semester is over now which means back to posting! i hope you all enjoyed the last season of our favs... it was such a bittersweet ending and i'm going to miss watching the show. :(( but in other news, here is the original a/n i had of this part of the fic sitting in my drafts: i lied, 4.5.2 is a longer part than i thought it would originally be LOL but enjoy!!! also, instead of fives dying, i had him disappear off the face of the galaxy. he tells anakin and rex about the chips, but he’s able to get out of that warehouse place alive because i truly despise the fact that echo is the only one left of domino squad… it makes me sad ksdfhgksdf

४.५.१ (4.5.2)

Your personal commlink crackles to life. A staticky voice comes through as you struggle to hear the message. You swiftly link it to your monitor, boosting the long-range signal the best you can.

“–stro? It’s Rex. Can you hear me? We… –und him. Come to dock...–bay six at 1600.”

The channel closes, and the static disappears into silence. You furrow your eyebrows in confusion as you glance at your chronometer. 0900, it reads.

After Fives disappeared, you became especially close with Rex, often accompanying him on missions where your skills as an engineer were needed. Times were getting rough and the GAR needed all the help they could get out in the field. You were first to volunteer.

For the rest of the day, you’re distracted. Even Arjun, one of the newest engineers on your team as a replacement for Prauf and Sonia, notices it. Dropping tools, tripping over supplies, forgetting your train of thought. You’re just so baffled. Rex has never done this before. And what in the galaxy could he possibly need you for right after a mission?

You’re at the hanger ten minutes early, the anxiety of just wanting to know eating away at your sanity. You tap your foot incessantly when you stand still and pace frequently from one side of the bay to another when you’re in motion, still attempting to decipher Rex’s cryptic message.

And finally (right on time, you vaguely register), two ships dock and disembark. One of them you don’t recognize as being a standard GAR ship–rather, it’s an Omicron-class attack shuttle. Is that what Rex wanted you here for? Some starship? A flash of irritation crosses through your mind as you strain to see the people getting off.

You recognize the Generals facing away from you: Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Windu. But they’re blocking your view of anyone else. You drop your gaze and see Rex’s legs in their classic blue armor as well as someone standing next to him, but you can’t tell who.

The Jedi turn to walk away and finally you can see who they were talking to. You make your way to them quickly. You don’t recognize any of the men but Rex, making you even more confused as to why he called you here.

“Rex?” you call tentatively and he turns around from his conversation to acknowledge you.

Your jaw drops as you take in the sight. The cybernetic legs instead of skin and bone, the scomp link as a replacement for a right hand, the red skull on his armor, the implants dotting his head, his face tired and haggard. His face is exactly like the clones you see everyday, but something about the recognition that lights up in his sunken eyes tells you that it’s still him.

“It’s you,” you whisper in shock, staring blatantly at the man you fell in love with during the midst of a galactic war. The man who found you, the man you lost.

The man you couldn’t save.

Echo gapes at you in surprise, clearly not expecting you to have turned up. He glances behind you at Rex in question before meeting your eyes, seemingly finding his answer.

“Hi, Astro,” he murmurs, voice deep and unused as if he just awoke from a restful night of sleep. For a moment, everything is at a standstill. No one dares to even say a word as you stand in front of each other, unsaid conversations hanging in the air. The wind breezes across your face, a gentle caress as if to say it’s okay. He’s real.

“Echo,” you breathe and throw your arms around him tightly, the shellshocked tears finally streaming down your face. You don’t give a damn about who’s watching, too wrapped in the fact that he’s home, Echo’s home, with me, in my arms.

I will never let you go again.

Echo curls his arms around your waist in a tight embrace, burying his face into your neck as he mumbles your name in what sounds like relief. You hear a choking sob, but whether it’s ripped out of you or out of Echo, you don't care.

“I’m back, I’m here. I’m here,” Echo chants it religiously, pressing his quiet promises into your searing skin and engraving it within. Whether he’s reassuring you or himself, you can’t tell. The plastoid armor cuts uncomfortably into your arms as you hug him, but the pain grounds you from cloud nine.

When Echo died, you and Fives became inseparable, always accompanying each other in quiet support. Both of you were your closest connection to Echo. And then when Fives disappeared, you felt like you lost your fragile tether completely, just floating along like broken space debris. No purpose, no happiness. Just existing within a vacuum void with no life, no resolve, no motivation.

You gently push him away then, taking his gaunt face into your hands to examine him. Your fingers hesitantly touch the implants in his head, and you let out a pained sigh at the slight frown his mouth curves into. Echo’s eyes are sullen, exhausted, but you see his determination as clear as day.

“What have they done to you, Echo?”

He doesn’t respond, instead observing you himself, noticing the darkness under your eyes and your slightly unkempt look, very unlike the prim and proper person he left behind. The brightness in your eyes has dulled, and he sees his own fatigue mirrored in your soul. Echo’s heart aches at the thought.

You take a step back from him, and he loosens his hold on you. You look behind him to see four men–clones, you realize in surprise as you peer closer.

“This is Clone Force 99,” Rex introduces you to them as Echo steps to your right to let you see them fully. “They helped rescue Echo.”

You study each one of them in curiosity as they introduce themselves to you. Clearly, there’s something different about them–you can see it in the way they carry themselves. You shake each one of their hands, reiterating your gratitude again and again.

“Thank you, all of you. I wish I could repay you in some way for rescuing him. You really don’t know how much this means to me,” you say, genuine appreciation coloring your voice. Hunter gives you a knowing smile.

“Anytime! Busting those clankers up is our speciality,” he grins and you can’t help but laugh at his happy demeanor. It kind of reminded you of Fives. A shadow of sadness passes over you, but you push it away quickly.

“Actually, there is something you may be able to do for us,” Tech pipes up. Your eyebrows raise and you gesture for him to continue, noticing Crosshair’s smirk that he makes no effort in suppressing. You weren’t exactly expecting a request at this very moment, but you don’t mind fulfilling it. It’s the least I can do. You hear Rex and Echo quietly laugh behind you.

“You’re an engineer, yes?” Tech inquires, adjusting his goggles to study you. You nod in affirmation.

“Good. I am in need of your services. We seem to be having a slight problem with the suspension support system…” he moves towards the Omicron-class attack shuttle and you follow in his footsteps, leaving the rest of Clone Force 99 and Echo and Rex slightly behind to talk amongst themselves.

You examine the blueprints on the datapad he hands you as he talks at what feels like breakneck speed. “When I pilot the Marauder–” ah, so that’s what it’s called. “–the steering feels quite sluggish and is difficult to handle when we’re in the midst of battle. I deduced it’s due to the suspension, but I can’t seem to pinpoint the exact location nor the nature of the problem even after looking over these schematics for a few hours.”

You hum in response as you scan the diagnostics before finding the issue easily in a matter of a few moments.

“Ah! Don’t worry Tech, this is a very simple fix. You need to realign the thrusters and make sure they’re properly connected to the steering shaft. I suggest taking a look at the control arms too–the thruster hinges that connect to the frame look like they’ve been through a lot, so maybe consider replacing them? I think I’ve got a couple of spare ones in my shop if you want,” you advise, handing the datapad back to him. Tech stares at you, mouth agape as he absentmindedly accepts the datapad.

You simply smile and turn around to see everyone else losing it after watching the exchange. Even Crosshair has cracked a smile, something clearly rare based on his aloof attitude. Puzzled, you ask, “What’s so funny?”

Hunter, bless him, takes mercy on you and explains dutifully. “Tech has been trying to fix that for at least two hours and you figured out the problem in thirty seconds. No one has ever been able to beat Tech at something he knows practically everything about.”

You huff out a light laugh of surprise. “Well, it is my job to fix and repair starships. It would be pretty bad if I wasn’t able to diagnose issues as soon as I got them,” you point out. Hunter nods in agreement as the laughter slowly begins to die down.

“So, I’m assuming you all are getting medals, right? I mean you’ve clearly pulled off an amazing and incredibly difficult mission,” you ask, glancing from one clone to the next, your gaze landing on Echo.

“Not… really our thing,” Tech shrugs.

“Accolades,” Crosshair concurs, mouth moving around the toothpick that seems to be permanently present.

"Yeah, we're just in it for the thrill. Yo!" Wrecker grins, pumping his fist into the air.

Hunter turns to Echo. "You sure it's… your thing?"

You steal a glance at Echo as the confusion dances across his face. "What do you mean?"

"Your path is different," Hunter elaborates before letting out a chuckle. "Like ours."

You can practically see the gears turning in Echo's head as he processes Hunter's underlying message. You stay silent.

"If you ever feel like you don't fit in with them, well… find us.” Hunter inclines his head to the team, and Tech, Crosshair, and Wrecker give you all a nod of goodbye. And with that, you watch Clone Force 99 retire back to their ship, leaving you, Echo, and Rex behind to watch.

“Those are some of the finest troopers I’ve ever fought alongside,” Rex states. He pauses for a moment before placing his hand on Echo’s shoulder, shaking him out of his train of thought.

“Echo.”

He turns to look at him.

“You and I go way back. If that’s where you feel your place is… then that’s where you belong,” Rex asserts, eyes roaming Echo’s conflicted face. You can’t fight the sad smile that appears on your lips. Even through all the pain he’s gone through, Rex always puts his friends–his brothers–first.

Rex rotates slightly to face you. “And if you would like to accompany him, Astro… I can make it happen.”

Your eyes widen in surprise, not believing your ears. Is he serious? You and Echo glance at each other then, an instantaneous unspoken agreement settling into the space between you. Rex pats both of your shoulders and departs.

You and Echo follow Clone Force 99’s path, each step of yours carrying you closer and closer to the unknown. You’re about to leave behind everything.

Your right hand brushes against Echo’s left one.

Well, not quite everything.

And when you all turn around to see Rex one last time and salute to him, you know that no matter what, it will be okay because Echo’s beside you. Right where he should be.

---

please consider reblogging! it really helps me and is super encouraging ^_^

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lesquatrechevrons · 2 months ago

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rugby au musings

something about me: I LOVE sports au, especially when I haven’t played in 10 years lol

the commanders!! (Non exhaustive list) (more squads under the cut!)

Cody: scrum half (domineering and in the thick of things, of course - he would be one of those scrum halves that basically captain it all)

Fox: fly half (much like the above, except he truly is everywhere at once running the show. *never* on the same team as Cody; if on a Corries only team, then Stone is his scrum half)

Thire, Ponds and I’m chucking Bly in this one because of his canon scope visor: fullbacks all the way! Deep in the back, the Hail Mary of defense, patron catchers of long drop kicks, and drop kickers in turn - can get dirty by running to the backs to create a defense line

Thorn: the dude with the canonical wings MUST be a winger, he might be a canon heavy gunner but this dude yearns to fly across the pitch and deliver all the schemes that Fox lil dastardly fly half heart can think of. And Doom would be a winger too - just on vibes!!!

Wolffe: epitome of the 8th, this guy controls the scrum from the back, knows where the ball is - I would say Comet and Sinker are flankers much for this reason.

Neyo: I am tempted to put him as n 8 as well except he’s canonically a mean sonova trained by death watch and whose battalion is Urban Guerrilla All Day All The Time, so I think he’s going to be right there in the scrum, Hooker with the fastest foot in the galaxy (the need to get the ball from the other’s side hooker and nudge it to the second row/n 8)

Colt, Bacara: they feel like props (first row scrum) to me, but they also have such second row/wingers vibes. at this point could be either forwards or backs - it really depends on the body type!

if torrent was a whole team:

Rex: imma gonna put my full face paint for this one 🤡 and say that Rex is a fly half like Owen Farrell was during the last World Cup. Rex secret weapon is a deadly drop kick.

Fives: I’m incredibly torn on this one because I feel like him and Echo would be stunning scrum halves! I’m going to go with scrum half for Fives and flanker for Echo, but they’re the kind of players that truly can be everywhere at once.

Kix: fullback 5ever, this dude is seeing the bigger picture, he’s got your back, he’s your last chance, and he gets underestimated at everyone’s peril

Jesse: another mr n 8!!! It’s all fun and games until that ball rolls his way and then he and and Echo and Fives get in the flow, that ball moves of independent will!

Hardcase: hooker! In the thick of things, he would get a massive kick out of the position name alone, and he would get to wreck havoc!! His tackles are intense!

Dogma… him I was thinking second row (the dudes that get flown in the hair during line outs (the side ball thing)) but he and Tup would be such a wings combo!!! Dudes can run!! and Dogma would be such a fastidious tackler, he would know all the Rules (rugby rules have the capital R), he would tiptoe just the line to not get carded!

Dominoes <3: Hevy is a prop (next to Hardcase! What a duo!!!); Cutup is with Kix with the backs, and Droidbait Is Second Row (behind Jesse and in front of Jesse!)

bonus:

Alphas: They Would Be Playing Rugby League (the vibe is any Sam Burgess flying fist, but especially the World Cup one in against SZ)

Nulls: Aussie Rules (They Are Minding Their Own Stuff Slightly To The Left Of Everyone Else - and a sleeveless kit ;}c )

#Of course I have rugby head canons for the clones that are 3/4s wrong -> feel free to change my mind!#star wars #quatre things #rugby things #Throw back to ten years ago when I used to play (and ship of course lol). Also I’m outing myself as a past England enjoyer lol #I wanted to think about the 212th but I know wayyyyy less about them (shame on me!!!!!!!!!!!!!)#I feel like I could make a case for Waxer and Boil to be backs but then who is going to offset’s Cody’s explosive scrumming???#tbh the 212th all seem backs. And torrent mostly forwards. We gotta merge them #Maybe in 3 years I will get around to draw something from this au lol #tcw rugby au

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noras-dc-shenanigans · 1 year ago

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Parents | Discovery

‘Okay. Don’t panic, Danny, no need to panic, your parents just saw you transform into Phantom and now think you’re possessing yourself and are chasing you with a giant cannon that will rip out your ghost half which would kill you for real. It’s fine. Everything’s fine, don’t panic—‘

A massive explosion ahead of him cut him off, and Danny, definitely panicking, veered to the side and phased through a building to get more distance. On the street he’d left behind, the GAV screeched as it, probably, goes up on two wheels from the hard turn his dad made to try to follow Phantom.

A little time bought, Danny dived down, just under the street, and headed in the direction he thought his abandoned observatory was in. While underground travel was great for escaping, it was awful for navigation. Once he’d gone far enough he couldn’t feel the ecto from the giant cannon anymore, Danny cautiously popped his head above ground.

And groaned, because he’s way out on the edges of town, and nowhere near his hideout.

‘I have got to get a compass or something. At least then I could keep in a straight line!’

Sighing, Danny went both invisible and intangible, just to be safe, and started heading back into the city proper. He’d only been flying— slowly, cautiously, looking out for any traps— about five minutes when he heard voices.

Normally, Danny would ignore it, it’s not his business what people are doing, but the voices were coming from an abandoned building and it was like 2:00 in the morning (he thought) and well… at this point anything shady is probably ghost related, so he might as well—

And yup, there it was, the gasp of cold air. Joy.

With a heartfelt, totally unnecessary sigh, Danny veered off to the building and popped his head through a wall, still invisible. It’s took him a moment to adjust from street-lights to nothing, but then he could see what’s going on.

Only… he had no idea what’s going on.

There’s a group of people that certainly looked like they should be ghosts, but other than the faint ecto signature off one larger one…

They seemed to be human. Weird humans, but human.

The largest was dressed in all black, with a cape and a pointy cowl and his lower face being the only visible skin. The maybe-ghost was the next largest, with a red helmet and brown leather jacket over black combat clothes, and some sort of chest armor with a red bat on it.

Then there’s a slightly shorter, more slenderly built one in a skintight black suit with a blue bat and striped down his arms to his fingers. He’s got nothing but a black domino mask on, showcasing his black hair.

The next two also had dominos and black hair, though the middle one was pale and in a red armor-vest thing and tight black pants, and the shortest had darker skin and more green.

All of them were standing around Big Black, who was holding up some sort of device that was giving off noises. Judging by the arguing going on, the noises weren’t good ones. As Danny watched, another person in all purple walked out of a side room, this one appearing female with blond hair under a purple hood, a matching mask over her nose and mouth. She joined the group and said something just out of Danny’s super-hearing range, and they all responded by turning their attention back to the noisy devise.

Danny was still contemplating how to approach the situation when some instinct in him caused him to go back intangible, having involuntary dropped it earlier to concentrate on invisibility. Half a second later, a slim figure in all black, including a helmet, dropped through him. They hit the floor with a roll, and by the time Danny had shot up into the rafters all the others had taken battle stances. Big Black had some sort of shurikan thingy, Red Helmet guns, Blue Stripe two batons, Red Vest and Purple had staffs, and Green Cape a thin sword. Small Black popped out of the roll and into a fighting stance Danny had seen his mom take, so he assumed it was karate.

Somehow, most of them were staring straight at him, despite his invisibility still being up. Just to test, Danny flew sideways a few yards, and yup, they could see him somehow. He’s betting there’s some sort of tech in those masks of theirs.

For another few moments, they’re at a standmate. Then there was an explosion somewhere outside, and Danny startled enough to become visible again. There’s another big BANG! and then some screams, followed by—

“Oh come on!”

Completely fed up, Danny took off in the direction of the familiar shouting, totally forgetting about the Weird People he left behind.

Less than two minutes later, Phantom showed up in the downtown area and sucker punched Skulker in the metal face, taking the hunter ghost by surprise. He corrected himself mid-fall and shot off a bunch of lasers to distract Phantom, before beginning his very, very, very worn-out speech.

“Ghost Child! I have come to finally claim your pelt! With my new upgrades, you won’t escape me again!”

Phantom, unimpressed, rolled his eyes and shot several ecto-blasts at the annoying rogue as he retorted,

“Uh-huh, right. Remind me again, is this the fifth or sixth time this month you’ve said that? I’m thinkin sixth.”

Dodge. Spin. Shoot, shoot, dodge, shoot. Taunt Skulker into doing something stupid with his new jet pack, ice it over, suck him into the thermos before he can recover.

‘Just another day of ghost hunting.’ He thought wryly, clipping the thermos to his belt and taking off before someone can show up to shoot at him. Danny automatically headed for his house, keeping low and invisible, before stopping dead in an empty alley a few blocks away.

‘Oh. Right.’

Memories of his parents just— was it really just an hour ago? Ready to tear him apart to get to their son flooded his mind, and despite not needing to he sucked in a breath, battling the tears that popped into his eyes.

‘I can’t go home.’

The thought hit abruptly, and brutally. Suddenly, Danny found himself in the corner of the alley, behind a bunch of broken pallets. Tears streamed down his face, choked-down sobs barely escaped his mouth, and he curled in on himself, core aching in the way he imagined his heart would, if he changed back.

‘But you can’t do that anymore either, remember? Not after whatever they hit you with. It’s gone. Your human half is gone. You can’t switch back, can’t be separated again, not like that time with their weird invention. This is permanent.’

Grief, pure and thick, shuddered through Danny as he sat there, for minutes or hours or days. He didn’t care, couldn’t, not after losing so much. His humanity, his parents, his home.

All of it, gone, in just a few minutes.

By the time the Halfa’s emotion had run their course, the sky had just barely begun to lighten, and the niggling feeling that he’d forgotten something rushed back threefold when several silhouettes appeared on all sides.

‘Oh, right. The Weird Humans.’

Some part of Danny thought he should be getting up, running, fighting, something. But the larger part, the kid under the hero, the teenager who just wanted his parents, couldn’t work up the strength.

He watched, as if through a tv screen, as Big Black cautiously approached. As the others all moved in, blocked both ends of the alley and the rooftop. He stared blankly, face still hot and wet from his tears, as Big Black knelt in front of him and started talking. Danny couldn’t get his brain booted back up enough to understand, and after a few minutes BB seemed to give up.

Instead, he got closer, and closer, and then Danny was being carried away. The man was holding him gently to his chest, grip firm but not restraining. After a few moments, Danny let his head gently thunk to the man’s chest armor, and closed his eyes.

He was just— just too tired to take anything else. Two to three ghost fights a day, barely attending classes, grades dropping lower and lower as the school year drags on… passing out on top of his homework, rushing out at all time of the night, being shot at by his parents and Red Huntress and rogue ghosts.

Losing his friends, Tucker to his parent’s new job in another state, Sam to her parent’s fancy boarding school in Europe. His sister, to a college half a country away.

His parents, to their prejudice and rage.

It was all just— just too much.

Danny just wanted a break.

“It’s all right, lad. You’re safe with us.”

The voice is gruff, but gentle, and he’d been wrapped in something warm and tucked comfortingly against a chest and it’s just been so long since he felt safe he just…

He just gave in.

————

Alright, my contribution to DPxDCFamilyWeek! Just finished on time!

#DPxDCFamilyWeek #Danny phantom #dc #batman #batfam #it’s sadder then I meant it to be…#oops

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iamawolfstarsimp · 6 months ago

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sup bitches im back

and I KNOW it's been a long time since I've written but it's been busy with school life and then also I've been hanging out with my gf more and my friends so I'm just trying to balance everything. This week and next week are finals week for school and then after that I'm on summer break (and I'll be writing a ton during summer)

but anywhoo I've brought today a clone wars fic for yall (since there's an absence of tickle content in the star wars fandom, especially clones)

So yeah enjoy!!

Echo sat on the edge of his metal bunk, staring down at the floor.

It was one of those days where the adrenaline didn't really kick in before you get geared up and head out with your squad or legion before you fly to whatever planet you were supposed to fight on.

Days like this the weight of all that had happened with the war and how many people he'd lost bore down upon his like an unmovable weight that he had to drag with him wherever he went.

His thoughts started spiraling to back when he was a shiny, to his first mission with the other domino's, to becoming an ARC tropper with fives and not the rest of his squad. It should have been the others. It should have been their medal and their award because of how brave they were and everything they did. And how did he let them die? Along with so many other good men. He should have done something in the moment to help maybe stop them from meeting their fate.

He shook his head to get rid of the dizziness as an, oh so familiar voice shook him out of his trance.

"Echooo," Fives called out in a sing-song voice, that he did because he knew it annoyed Echo.

"What." He replied dryly as Fives pranced into their barracks.

"Ooh, grumpy much?" Fives raised an eyebrow as he walked twords him. "What's wrong this time, your blacks just a little too tight?" He teased.

"Shut it." Echo eyerolled. "You seem a little too happy, what did you do?"

"Hid the Gereral's lightsaber under one of the shinies bunks." Fives grinned. "So when he questions us we can just blame the shiny's."

"I am not taking the blame for something you did again." Echo grumbled. Fives' jaw dropped. "You get me in trouble too much."

"Since when do you mind getting in trouble? And why are you so grumpy?" Fives question, hands on his hips.

"Since you decided to annoy me!" Echo shouted back. "Will you just kriff off!?"

Fives dramatically put a hand to his chest. "Oh, you wound me Echo!"

"What?" Echo watched as Fives sunk to the ground, laying down by Echo's feet.

"How could you say such a thing to me! Not kriff! I don't know if I'll ever recover!"

"You're so dramatic." Echo eyerolled again. Fives liked to tell him when they were younger that if he kept eyerolling his eyes would pop out eventually. "Get up." Echo kicked Fives' side.

Fives lay there unmoving with his hand still on his chest, eyes closed. Echo stated at him for a good few seconds before Fives lunged over and grabbed Echo's ankle, sharply tugging him to the ground with a loud yelp and a thud.

"What are you doing?!" Echo yelled as Fives made short work of crawling on top of him and sitting on his legs, starting to grapple with his hands. Fives only cackled and continued to wrestle with Echo.

Echo managed to hook his leg onto Fives' shoulder and pull him to the ground, jumping on top of him. It didn't take long for Fives to do the same to him though. They went back and forth till Fives had Echo pinned to the floor, arms held against the ground by Fives.

"You are far too grumpy for someone who is about to go into a battle here in an hour." Fives panted.

"An hour?! Fives we don't have time to goof around, we have to go get suited up!" Echo exclaimed. It was Fives' turn to eyeroll.

"I'm sure we have time for this. It's an emergency case scenario!" Fives grinned. Echo started squirming underneath him more and more, starting to catch on.

"I'm not even grumpy! Will you let me up so I can go put my armour on!?" Echo pushed against Fives' grip on his wrists.

"Since Kix isn't around to help you, I guess it's up to me." Echo groaned at that. "I know just how to help you Echo!"

"L-listen, Fives! We can talk about this! I'll help you prank anyone you want- waIT FIVES!" Fives laughed at Echo's quickly reddening face.

"You'll be fine, this is good for you!" Fives grinned. He quickly dropped Echo's wrist and dove his hand into Echo's stomach, forming his hand into a claw and digging into his lower stomach. Echo burst out cackling, throwing his body any which way to try and escape. He immediately grabbed Fives' hand that was currently torturing him but was unable to pull the ARC tropper's hand away from his belly.

"Fihihives, STAHAP!!" Echo threw his head back, not feeling the pain as his head hit the metal floor.

"Don't hurt yourself!" Fives laughed, moving his hand to dig into Echo's ribs, evoking more squirming out of the latter.

This wasn't an irregular occurrence for these two. This happened at least one every 3-4 battles, Fives almost always instigating the fights for this exact reason. Echo was being "too uptight" or "he needed help getting that stick out of his ass". But regardless, it was always something that got Echo into this situation.

Echo kicked his legs against the ground, the unrelenting tickles becoming increasingly hard to deal with.

"I-hahaha-hate you sohoho much!" Echo arched his back but that just caused Fives to poke his stomach till he un-arched.

"Oh no, you don't hate me you hate this." Fives leaned forward, sticking his face in the crook of Echo's neck and rubbed his scruffy goatee against it. Echo yelled, scrunching his neck to get rid of the sensations overriding his system.

"NOAHAHA!! Fives!!" Echo was completely powerless to do anything to stop Fives besides scream his lungs out and squirm with all his might. Other than that he could just sit there and take it.

"Aww, what's wrong?" Fives whispered in his ear, something he knew Echo despised. "The big bad ARC tropper Echo can't take some tickles?"

"You can't take them either!" Echo argued back.

Fives retaliated by letting go of Echo's hands and digging his hands into his underarms. Echo jumped than burst out laughing, hands reaching to grab Fives'.

"I'm sohohorry!! Please, Fives!!"

Fives chose to ignore him and continue as if he hadn't heard him. Fives felt Echo's body shake with laughter underneath of him, legs flailing, arms pushing Five's hands and head away from him. Echo's laughter was so loud he didn't hear Rex ask to come inside or walk up behind him.

Fives jumped back off Echo with a yelp after being jabbed in his sides by Rex. Echo rolled away from Fives, still panting.

"Oh, hey Rex." Fives grinned. Echo glared at his other domino but said nothing.

"You two were supposed to be in gear up room ten minutes ago." Rex answered. "You wanna explain what you two were doing during that time and why General Skywalker's lightsaber was found underneath a shiny's bed?"

The two twins glanced and each other and shrugged. Rex sighed and rubbed his temples. "Go get geared up. Be ready and with the rest of the 501st in thirty minutes. Any later and I'm reporting you two, again."

They both stood up and noded with a "yes, sir" before running off talking to themselves.

In the distance, Rex could hear them talking faintly. "I told you we were gonna get in trouble!" "Nah, it's finee. He didn't even seem that mad..."

He sighed again. Those two were gonna be the death of him.

Hope you liked! (kinda a rushed ending but school night so)

#star wars #the clone wars #arc trooper echo #arc trooper fives #tickling #tickle fics #captain rex #once again i did not check for spelling errors #forgive me 😔

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rarespawnwrites · 10 months ago

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Hey, WIP Wednesday is a thing, right?

Maybe I can make it my thing? Let's find out.

Red Hood Steph, anyone?

Age 20

One moment, Stephanie Brown slept, sprawled out like a starfish in her underwear on a hotel boxspring mattress. The next, the bed vanished from beneath her and she thumped gracelessly to the floor with a startled yelp.

Her eyes opened to find themselves looking once more through her helmet’s display, and she didn’t need to look to know she was once again in full Red Hood get-up. She could hear the wind and the uncomfortably close pattering of raindrops. She sighed deeply, staring at the ceiling of the now empty, decrepit room, then tilted her head to see the wall to the outside missing. Old scorch marks and a wrecked exterior revealed the location to have been victim to explosive force at some point.

The air was damp. It was raining. It was always raining in Gotham.

Stephanie lay where she’d fallen, unmoving on the dirty floor of what was now an abandoned hotel. “Good morning to you too, universe,” she drawled.

She should get up, figure out the lay of the land of this new Gotham. Hide from whatever version of the bats existed here before the energy spike from the dimension shift lured them over. With her luck, they’d be vampires again. She’d just finished decapitating her evil vampire self.

‘...Five more minutes,’ she decided, and closed her eyes.

Exhaustion pulled her back into a fitful doze and she drifted. The sensation of being exposed kept her jerking back to awareness every few minutes, but her hyper-vigilance frequently kept her in this cycle, so she’d take what she could get.

The uncomfortable half-sleep seemed to drag on for an eternity, and yet it still wasn’t long enough before it was interrupted.

Adrenaline spiked and her eyes shot open just before thuds to her left signaled the impact of feet onto the nearby floor. Two figures stood at the wrecked entrance of the room, the low light giving her minimal details without turning her night vision on. Not worth the glow that would give away her state of consciousness. Both newcomers were capes, though only the shorter one was actually wearing a cape. Stephanie’s armor hid her sudden tension, so she kept her breathing deep and slow.

‘If I stay reeeal still, maybe they won’t see me,’ she thought wryly.

“Is that—” there was a choked-off noise from the taller figure. “Why does he have...?!” The sputtering voice was only vaguely familiar. His outline was too slim to be Damian, but too tall and well-built to be the rich kid. The timbre of his voice was an adult’s, anyway. Not Duke’s, though. One of the extended family?

Oh, wait. If she was picking up on the subtext of this guy’s freak-out correctly, they’d expected the Red Hood to be a guy. That meant gender swap or a sidekick remix.

“Might be an imitator,” another voice suggested, “but no one’s had eyes on Red Hood all night.” That voice she recognized. Teenaged. Wiz kid vibe. Sharp enunciation.

‘Ugh,’ she thought. ‘The rich kid.’ No matter how mixed up or messed up the universe, there he was: the Bat’s third Shadow. She could only see him in her periphery, but it looked like he was fiddling with something in his hands. Probably getting readings off the residual energy in the area.

“Magic transformation?” he theorized. “Time-traveling successor?” His fidgeting paused as he eyed her still form. “Hey, is she dead?”

The other one stepped closer and dropped to a knee, giving her a clearer view of him. Shaggy dark hair; movie star cheekbones; domino; minimal armor on a striped bodysuit. ‘Nightnight or something. Night Knight?’ She hadn’t really interacted with him in the one version of Gotham she’d seen him in. She wasn’t sure he even existed in her home dimension.

“No,” he called out. “She’s breathing. Just unconscious. And my money’s on ‘brainwashed into thinking she’s the real one.’” His hand went to his utility belt.

Bats were predictable. Even a bat Stephanie was only vaguely aware existed. That’s why she was ready when Nightguy came at her with a syringe filled with what she presumed was a sedative so she could be moved to a secure location.

The lenses on her helmet blinked on, startling him while the hand closest to him snapped up and gripped the side of his hand. In the same movement, she twisted to pull herself up and into his space before shoving his neck with her other forearm, using his resistance to get her feet under her. With a slide and a shift, she got a good angle to push his head down and hopped over him, giving him a good kick as she passed to give herself momentum.

“Nice to meet you too, pretty-boy,” she called over her shoulder as she fled. Her voice came out monotone and tinny through the modulation of her helmet, but she liked to think it added personality.

After the last couple months of world-hopping, Stephanie had learned to infer what relationship the bats had with their local Red Hood based on their reception toward a new one showing up. This group had thought there was a possibility she was a magically transformed version of their original. Immediately trying to ensure she stayed unconscious while they moved her… well, that was a pretty blatant hint this world’s Red Hood wasn’t in on like… family dinners or game nights. Whatever the good little boys and girls did when they didn’t have the kind of “troubled history” that put them on the outs with Bruce.

Nah, he was like her. Guilty until proven innocent.

She tried not to take this Nightguy’s approach personally, even if she definitely took it extremely personally.

‘Wow, Bruce raises ONE murderous assassin child, and suddenly every kid with a shady background is a potential villain.’ To be fair, both Damian and Stephanie were, in fact, categorized as villains. And these days, Stephanie could also be categorized as a murderous assassin.It was possible Bruce had a point. But Stephanie was pretty sure it never paid to be fair to a billionaire, much less Bruce Wayne.

Fuck that guy.

#batfam fic #wip wednesday #living bomb steph fic #reverse robins

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albatmobile · 2 years ago

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The Art of Rehabilitating Snowbirds Chapter 13

𓅪 After not hearing from Roy or Jason for five years, you suddenly find yourself taking in extra income as a babysitter for their child.

𓅪 Rated: M | TW: mentions of torture + addiction | 8.2k includes: continuation from chapter 11, hurt/comfort, opening up, bonding

fem!Reader x Jason Todd x Roy Harper [masterlist]

Chapter 13: Diamonds/ Table for One | ao3 - wattpad

“HOLY FUCK!” you exclaim finally. “It’s… There’s no way,” you say as you look between the two of them, not even realizing that your hands have moved to your face in pure disbelief.

So, Red Hood is Jason?

The memory of the motorcycle incident smacks an unwanted blush across your cheeks. One look at Roy’s lax form on the counter is the only thing that gives you reassurance as you tentatively walk toward Red Hood’s hulking form. You stop, nearly chest to chest with him, as you further test the limits by lifting your hands to caress his helmet. It's a good sign, you suppose, that Red Hood allows you to take him in and hasn’t threatened to kill you yet.

All of these factors are further evidence that, yes, this is indeed Jason.

You use your knowledge of vigilante suits, which has been buried deep down in your memories, to run your fingers along the underside of the helmet. Immediately, your fingers find two nearly hidden buttons and click down on both at the same time. The helmet hisses as it unlocks around his face, but you don’t remove it just yet out of fear. You allow yourself a few more moments to bask in whatever remaining normalcy is left, clinging tightly to the only reality you’ve ever known.

You’re sure it’s Jason now because if it were any other gun-holstering costumed freak, you’d be long dead by now. Yet here you stood, imploringly staring up at the masked man, ready to remove the last remaining buffer between the two of you.

“Take it off,” you demand. The anticipatory edge of the silence that lingers in the dim light of the room stirs at your demand. His hands come up to gently remove the helmet and you’re instantly met with Jason’s signature skunk-striped hair. His usual gorgeous green eyes are hidden, however, as they remain covered by a domino mask. He doesn’t say anything as you take him in, suit and all. He doesn't even budge when your finger traces lazily up and down the familiar scar that stretches across his face. “So, it’s true then?”

You can’t help but feel betrayed by all those run-ins, knowing they knew exactly who you were the entire time. Almost like they’d been toying with you.

All those years, they shared those knowing looks, the odd family vacations, sudden ‘projects.’ All those times you felt left out… It all made sense now. To anyone outside the situation, as you’d been until mere moments ago, it probably did look like you’d been strung along, toyed with and, shit, maybe even groomed. Maybe all those things did happen, but this reveal brings a hidden piece of the puzzle to the forefront of the fucked up puzzle between you, the Waynes and, strangely enough, Roy Harper.

Both of them appear too frightened to talk, which makes you want to laugh; however, the whole situation is far too fucked up for you to do anything but stare.

Between Roy bleeding out on the counter and you standing in Roy’s shirt with your pussy halfway visible, you don’t know what’s worse. No, you know what’s fucking worse? All the dumb, nerdy shit you did in front of the literal Bat Family…

You want to smack your forehead, remembering all the dumb shit you’d said and done. Even though you try to force it from your mind, the memories come flooding back anyway. You rub at the crease between your brows, thinking about how they all just sat there and let you- UGH.

“This is probably the most humiliating day of my life,” you groan with your hands dropping from Jason’s heated face in favor of slumping next to Roy’s body on one of the island stools. You continue to wallow in self-pity as everything settles over you. “You guys seriously have no idea.”

“Au contrar, I think we have the best idea.” Roy can’t contain his snickers as he mimics your past self with a high, obnoxious voice, “‘I swear, Nightwing has the juiciest ass! The new Robin has RBF, but I bet he’s DTF!’”

“Hey!” you admonish him with a barely held laugh at his crassness. “I never said that last shit and everyone talked about Nightwing’s- Dick’s ass too!” Hell, you're forgetting that you showed Tim your Red Robin fan blog. Twice. You groan again at the memory of proudly showing off all the ass shots and other salacious photos you’d collected for the blog. “So, I think we’re forgetting the bigger picture here.” You then dive into the recent coffee shop accident, slowly recollecting how you’d acted in front of them. “Oh my god, I kept you from your child. No, wait, holy shit, I whacked you in the head with a toilet tank!”

Roy snickers, but Jason shuts it down swiftly, “Shut it, arrow dude.”

You think back to them following you here and… “And you offered me money?” You still don’t understand why they’d tried to give you money. Regardless of the heroes being Jason and Roy, you can't place why they said what they said.

“Thought you would accept it,” Jason says it like it explains everything.

Your face scrunches up. “Like a cheap fucking whore or something?”

“I mean… if the glove fits.”

“You absolute fucking cunt,” you grit out before whacking him in the chest with his boyfriend’s discarded trucker hat.

“I bet you’re a straight FREAK!” Roy throws a wink your way, but you continue to look at Jason. He doesn’t seem upset... You think back to the time Roy walked in on you and Jason in each other’s space and how nonchalant he'd been. “Jason knows I’m just a flirt. Right, daddy?”

You dramatically fake gag. “Not that this whole reveal thing hasn’t been suuper fun,” you say sarcastically, standing up from the stool to allow Jason easier access to Roy’s wound, “but I have to go and literally do anything that’s not this.”You finish your sentence by gesturing dramatically from Roy to Jason.

You think they’ll get the hint to fuck off with the immature shit, but no.

“You’re not doing this yet,” Roy wiggles his brows at you as he mimics your gesture, only to hiss when Jason applies antiseptic. “Oh, fuck me.”

You look over at an amused Jason, then at Roy’s shit-eating grin. You sigh, realizing you’ve been outnumbered by these dumbasses, “You’re both intolerable.”

You feel an impending headache coming on and rub at your already pounding temple.

“She sounds like Damian.”

Oh, fuck no. You turn on your heel with a glare and get up in Roy’s face. “Do you have a death wish or something, Roy?”

“Already practically died, princess.” His loopy ass ruffles your hair. “Silly goose.”

What?

“What does that mean?”

You watch as Roy draws in a short breath as if he hadn’t actually meant to say it out loud.

He unwittingly reaches out for Jason’s hand, only to find it already there. He releases a shaky breath, clasping Jason's hand as he cuts off the pant leg high up on Roy's thigh to reveal a wicked-looking slash.

You attempt to school your reaction but, ultimately, can’t help the horrified look now stamped across your face.

You’ve watched enough shows on TLC to have seen some decent gore from those godforsaken surgery scenes they shoved into every show. Hell, even the bridal shows, it seems. Regardless, it always left you queasy. For some reason, seeing Roy’s gushing laceration right in front of you is different from that. It's somehow worse and yet not as bad at the same time. It probably helps that Roy's still being his idiotic self and not, like, screaming in agony or some scary shit like that, but still, it's a lot of blood.

One of the first things they’d shown you when you’d first arrived to babysit was where the medical kit was stashed. Without a second thought, you retrieve it, practically shoving it into Jason’s grateful hands with an urgency you can tell he finds amusing. Based on their nonchalant attitude towards the whole situation, you can tell they’ve definitely dealt with worse.

You watch Jason’s steady movements against Roy’s freckled thigh with fascination. It’s as if he’s mapped out the spot so many times he doesn’t even need to look down to know exactly where to place his hands and where to avoid, even though the wound looks insanely fresh. It can't have occurred more than an hour or so ago and yet, Jason maneuvers around it with practiced ease as if he'd already been patching it up for weeks.

An uncomfortable ache catches in your throat as you watch them interact with each other. No walls, just intimacy and the inexplicable knowledge of their quirks and all the little in-betweens you’d never know the full extent of.

It’s bittersweet.

You could be here with them every day and yet you could only dream about what it’d be like to be on the receiving end of this situation.

Jason yawns for the seventh time since you’d brought the kit back and you surprise yourself when you nudge him out of the way to take over. Your eyes resolutely remain on the supplies if only to avoid the flush you feel stirring under their close inspection of your every movement.

The quick glance you’d seen of his wound earlier proves Roy would need stitches, something Jason had obviously already deduced since he’d already delicately placed seven neat ones along Roy’s irritated flesh.

With the stitching done, you know you can take over from here.

“You should get changed,” you say, eyeing Jason's dirty uniform with a palpable distaste until you notice blood soaking through his shirt. “Did you get injured, too?”

Roy groans as he sits up to move his legs over the edge of the counter before hopping down with a visible wince, “Just my dumbass managed to get nicked.”

“Don’t think it counts as a ‘nick’ if you needed stitches, weirdo.”

“Fair.” Roy holds up his hands in mock surrender before turning his attention back to Jason. “I can finish this up, love,” he offers quietly.

“Alright,” Jason begrudgingly agrees. He pulls him in for a quick, gentle kiss before he disappears off around the corner.

You think back to how earlier Roy had been shocked enough to let you hold his prosthetic, but he seems to be coming down from the adrenaline finally and now suddenly doesn’t want you around him with it exposed?

“You sure know how to stare,” you shake yourself from your thoughts, meeting Roy’s eyes when he says your name. “I know you’ve been eyeing this bad boy up ever since our reunion, beautiful.”

You blush at your obvious obsession with his prosthetic… weapon?

“Roy, I just held a gun to your boyfriend’s back,” you look up at him seriously and motion him over to the couch, “I think you’re mistaking my guilt for judgment. The least I can do is finish cleaning you up.”

He beams blearily at you as he plops down with legs spread and a lazy arm thrown over his eyes. You wait for a sexual innuendo that never comes. When it doesn't, you settle on your knees between his legs with a warm, soapy washcloth.

He removes his arm slightly to watch you. “Jay tell you to use that?”

"No," you look down at the washcloth in your hand and wonder if you’ve made a mistake, “I’m just doing what seems most logical.” He snorts at your statement only to grit his teeth when you start to gently dab at the angry red skin near the stitches. You continue with your attempt to distract him from the pain. “Well, that and I watched Alfred do shit like this for me. Though, to be fair, nothing I had was ever anything like this.”

“Hey,” he says lightly, “we don’t have to compare injuries now, princess.”

You roll your eyes, turning your attention back to his thigh just as Jason reemerges in his PJs.

“Actually, that’s exactly what you’re doing. You did say you were going to tell her about your arm.”

“I said nothing of the sort!” he insists, trapping you between his legs when he absentmindedly closes them. “Oh, shit, sorry.”

You giggle more as a reflex, than anything, considering you’re more preoccupied with your current, intimate position. Stop blushing, you reprimand yourself, and focus! Well, focus on the task at hand and not on what’s currently in front of you, at least.

Surely, if you stared at Roy's crotch in front of you, whatever little focus you currently have would go to shit.

Jason continues on nonchalantly, however, like you hadn’t just come face to face with his boyfriend’s crotch.

Shit, why are you being so chalant?

“You told her you practically died. You can’t just say shit like that and not explain.”

You try your best to focus on drying Roy’s skin with a clean towel, but your stomach flips at the idea of Jason offering information. Would you really get more answers to what you’ve been wondering about for years?

You feel Roy’s laugh more than anything, considering you’re looking anywhere but up.

“Guess it is about time after, what, six years of knowing each other?” You minimize yourself as much as you can, hoping he won’t stop. “Fuck, this is harder than it seems, especially with you not looking at me, princess.”

“Call me by my name,” you say suddenly, shocking even yourself as you meet his intense stare. Even though you know Roy can feel your hands shaking against his leg, you force yourself to continue on with feigned confidence, “If you’re going to tell me everything, at least say my name.”

You watch as he gulps and turns to Jason, seemingly for backup, but for what, you still have no idea.

“Alright,” he obliges you with a sinful rasp of your name that leaves you reeling, “if you have requests, so do I.”

You tilt your head quizzically, then gasp and shift away as he brings his arm fully in front of you.

You shake your head, looking up at him before you can truly focus on any details. “Roy, you don’t have to show me. I didn’t really see anything yet anyway, so,” you trail off as you search his eyes for any sign of hesitancy but only find amusement. “But it’s not like I’d judge you if I did, per se!”

“My stipulations are that you look,” he says your name again. “Y’know, sometimes I’d catch you staring at my prosthetic. I wanted to show you, believe me, I did, but you’re like one of the smartest people I know aside from Jay. I knew you’d figure it out the second I showed you. ‘Sides, at the coffee shop, I could tell you were already somewhat suspicious of me already.”

You blush lightly at the realization that all those times you had been caught.

“Well, let me see then.”

You’d pushed the memory of the coffee shop far enough out of your mind that you only vaguely remembered arrow dude- Roy, damn… You’ll have to figure out a non-awkward way to ask him what his hero name is again. That's for another day, though, you remind yourself as you come face-to-face the prosthetic in its entirety.

He flips it over so you can get a full look at the expanse of it. The metal only goes up just slightly beyond the crook of his elbow and is met by a green skull and a scorpion with the word ‘Poison’ above it. You marvel at the odd green tattoos and allow your fingers to trace each indent and slightly raised line that adorns it.

“And to think I gave Jason shit for being edgy,” you joke lightly, winking at him before you can even realize you’ve done it. Abort. Abort. You clear your throat timidly, “Er, what does it do?”

“What can’t it do, babygirl?” You fake gag at the name and the two of you laugh when Jason voices much of the same contempt. “Nah, really, though. Shit’s a lab-certified killing machine.”

You allow your fingers to delicately dance along each mechanical mechanism of his bionic arm and giggle when he unexpectedly unleashes a compartment that hides a small crossbow.

He watches you with amusement as you stroke the dark metal.

“I wasn’t lying when I said it looks like some Marvel shit, but this is so much cooler,” you compliment him, watching in confusion as he blushes under your attention. “So, you left high school to get this?”

“No.”

The air in the room chills as the mood suddenly turns somber.

This time, it’s you looking at Jason for backup, but he only meets you with an unreadable gaze.

Even though they're offering you the information, you don’t want to make them feel uncomfortable or obligated to reveal anything more. “It’s been a long night. You don’t have to tell me shit,” you hold up your pinky earnestly, “swear to fuck I won’t hold it against you.”

“Ah, well, since you’ve sworn to fuck…” he chuckles, then sighs. “No, but I really do want to tell you. It’s just hard looking back on who I was and the shit I was doing to myself,” he admits. “I don’t want you to think differently of me, princess- I mean,” he quickly corrects himself with your name.

You shake your head to ward off his concern. “Roy, I-” You only barely stop yourself from saying you love him and attempt to cover your tracks. “I care about you a lot. Even with all those years apart, I still care about you just the same as I did when you left.”

“I didn’t leave. I didn’t want to abandon you and Jay.” He sucks in a shaky breath. “Shit, you know how I was… Always on some shit and if I wasn’t, I was looking for my next fix, whether it was alcohol or weed or… I was just always fucked up, okay?” he trails off unsurely.

You nod, remembering much of the same.

“I didn’t mean to drink as much as I did before I went on patrol this one night and I let myself get sloppy. They were waiting for me.”

“Who?”

“Cadmus.”

•••

It always went back to Cadmus.

Roy had spent the better part of the night shit-faced as usual, but this time, he still went on patrol against his better, read: piss-poor, judgment.

Ollie was pissing him off and so was that annoying bitch Artemis who seemed dead-set on stealing his spot. He didn’t even want to be a sidekick, having long outgrown the Speedy role.

It was the first night he went out in a brand new suit, without even having a name yet when he got into it with what he assumed to be low-level henchmen. What he failed to realize, in his disoriented state, was that it’d all been a trap.

A shitty one, at that.

Regardless, he'd been too out of it to fight at his full capacity and quickly succumbed to whatever poison they’d injected him with. He woke up in a lab who knows how many hours, days, weeks later in a sterile, quiet environment.

No one talked to him, no one acknowledged him and obviously, no one cared about the immense pain their experiments put him through.

He'd been poked and prodded like an animal. Treated like a leper.

“They tortured me,” he reveals. However, he isn’t looking at you anymore, seemingly focused on the memories that your questions had forced to the surface. “They starved me and sliced me with medical instruments all day. At night is when the psychological torture kicked in.”

You move without thinking, drawing Roy to your chest, if only to hide your brewing anger as you take in the new information. You’re so focused on the contact that you don’t even notice the sigh of relief he releases when his head falls against your cleavage.

Jason watches you for a brief moment before getting up to curl around Roy until you’re all one pathetic heap on the couch.

“They tried to make me into some sort of sleeper agent,” his voice cracks. “They wanted to use me to hurt my friends, to hurt Jay.” Jason coos and kisses away the tears from one side of Roy’s freckled cheek. You make use of swiping them away on the other cheek gently, wishing you could kiss it away as well. “I was, I am and will always be a weapon," he laughs humorlessly and stares down at his bionic arm like it’s a curse. After listening to him, you suppose it very well could be.

“That’s not true,” Jason insists.

You agree easily, “Once we’re out of the womb, we make ourselves. We’re not and you’re not, the product of anyone else.”

“Dish out sound advice, but can’t take it,” Jason stares at you blankly.

"Seriously?" Your head whips around to glare at him in retaliation. "Right now is the time to call me out on that shit?”

“I thought about dumb shit like you guys bickering while I was trapped in there,” this time, Roy’s laughter holds some merit as he watches the two of you in genuine amusement. “And about those dumb romance novels I knew Jason was reading all day without me there to annoy the shit out of him.”

“What do you mean?” you ask, smiling lightly in confusion. “He left right after you did.”

Jason glares as if you’ve somehow revealed some deep secret. Roy takes in your words as if it’s the first time, now electing to face his boyfriend.

“You came after me that fast, Jay?”

The way they're looking at each other is enough to make anyone envious. You especially so.

“Always, Roy.” It’s slightly cracked and lets you in on everything you need to know about how they feel about each other. “Took Oliver a bit of convincing that you were really gone when that other kid was running around, but once I did, you couldn’t get us to take a break.”

You glance over at Jason, wondering if it means what you think it means. “So private school was all a lie?” you try to confirm.

He shrugs. “With the resources I had and I knew Oliver had, I knew we would be his best, if not only hope.”

“How long were you there?” you ask gently.

“It was a blur,” Roy trails off, unsure, so you both look at Jason for the answer.

“Years,” Jason supplements easily, though you can see how it wears on his face.

Roy clears his throat uncomfortably and continues, “When I came to, I was being carried out of the place by Jay and my fucking clone who was working for them while Ollie fought off… I don’t even know what, to be honest.”

•••

Roy was a mess as he sat holed up in Jason’s apartment, coming to terms with the fact that, if it hadn’t been for the help from his clone, Guardian, they would’ve all been lab meat.

Jason allowed him to lay low for a while, per Roy’s request and watched as he wasted the weeks following drowning himself in booze and…

It was the one day that Jason came home early, expecting to deal with Roy drunk off his ass, but found something else entirely.

Something worse.

“How long, Roy?” Roy watched as Jason rushed to him, throwing aside the needle he’d been busy injecting into the flesh of his forearm. “How fucking long have you been doing this shit here?”

“Chill!” Roy’s eyes flickered uncoordinatedly as they met Jason’s concerned ones. “You act like my fucking wife, bro. Last time I checked, I'm still a free man.”

“This isn’t something to joke about, Roy. I-"

Jason had done everything for Roy; spent years looking, helped him get back in shape. Hell, Jason was the only one even cooking and cleaning while Roy got used to his new arm in the way he knew best: drinking.

All the while, Jason avoided you, though he couldn’t keep his distance from you for too long. To escape the mental toll the apartment was taking on him, Jason added your place to his regular patrol route as a way to watch over you.

Between rehabilitating Roy and keeping an eye on you, Jason barely had enough energy, let alone time, to take care of himself. He was drained, though not completely spent. Not yet, at least.

It was only when Damian, as Robin, followed Jason back to his apartment and saw Roy's pathetic state that Jason let him in on what had happened.

Jason had been avoiding Bruce and the manor’s inhabitants ever since Roy had first disappeared. Why wouldn't he? There was no reason to go crawling back to the trust fund, anyway, when he didn’t even have the courage to let himself be seen by you.

“You look pathetic, Harper,” Damian said as he took in Roy’s thin form and sunken face. “I suppose it only makes sense you’d end up like this considering you’ve alwyas been a habitual drunk.”

Roy winced, easily recognizing his harsh words as the truth.

He decided he’d quit drinking that night, decided that this time he’d really stick to it. Before the angsty teen could leave, Roy stopped Damian. to give you a message. “Tell her I’m okay, that I went to rehab.”

“People come out of rehab with metal arms?” Damian tch’ed at the piss-poor excuse, knowing you’d see right through it.

“People who know Oliver Queen and go to rehab come out with metal arms,” Roy challenged him easily, more out of reflex more than anything, though each man could tell it lacked his usual charm.

“If it comes up, I’ll be sure to mention it,” Damian said, though he still didn’t sound convinced.

“You takin’ care of her?” Roy rasped, watching as Damian moved toward the window.

Jason had yet to tell him of his new patrol route, so, as far as Roy knew, Jason hadn’t seen you in years either.

“She’s a grown woman. What control do I have over her?” Roy looked like a kicked puppy. Uncharacteristically, Damian tried again. “She can take care of herself, but yes,” Damian finally slipped out of the window and into the night, “I am.”

Just like that, he was gone.

•••

“So, we’re just gonna skip over the fact that you have a fucking clone?”

“Two,” Roy says.

“Two?” you repeat dumbly. “So, three Roys?”

“Two,” he says again.

•••

Roy had been mostly keeping his promise by only having a beer every once and a while, but he’d also been attending all his AA meetings, so he figured it kind of evened itself out.

It was shit logic and he knew it, but at least it was a start.

At least, Jason thought so.

Then, one day, Jason didn't seem to think so.

Soon, all the alcohol Roy would bring around the flat would be mysteriously dumped before Roy could get deeper in than a couple of drinks. All of this culminated into Roy confronting Jason with an anger he’d never directed at him before.

Jason stayed through the anger, stayed through the tears and stayed when Roy eventually fell into a drunken sleep. He stayed through the good days and the bad ones. Jason was there through it all.

It was a particular run-in with a familiar redhead that left Jason’s head spinning.

It was Roy.

Well, not Roy -Roy, considering this man had two flesh arms.

Another clone.

He told him his name was Red Arrow, meaning Oliver knew about him, which now also meant that Jason couldn’t tell Roy. The man gave Jason a small arrow and told him to activate it when Roy was ready to talk. Jason seriously considered breaking it in front of his face right then and there if it hadn’t been for the fact that the guy’d just saved his ass.

Jason had forgotten about said arrow until Roy found it in his discarded gear.

There’s one thing you should know: Jason is a great liar. There’s another thing you should know: Jason can’t lie to Roy. Sure, he could keep things, but lying to him was something he could never bring himself to do.

Jason remained calm when Roy shoved the arrow in his face.

“He goes by Red Arrow.”

Jason watched as Roy examined the arrow with growing hostility but asked anyway, “Who does? What is this?”

Two seconds ticked by; three, four and Jason wondered if he’d be strong enough to help Roy through another spiral.

He had to.

“Your other clone.”

Roy broke down. This time, though, Jason lost himself in work to prevent him from falling further into his own creeping depression. He’d been looking after the two people he loved most and had nearly lost himself in the process.

All the progress Roy had made since Damian’s visit was moot and it all stemmed from something Jason had hidden from him.

Jason was losing control of the situation and failing you and Roy again- just when everything was supposed to be looking up.

It’s easy, in hard times, to occupy feeble minds with work, which is exactly why Jason agreed to a multi-week mission with Dick and Tim even though, on any other occasion, he’d have rather bit a bullet. Jason needed an out. If only for a short while so he could get his head back on straight and be any support to Roy. It was ultimately an excuse, though. He knew he was abandoning Roy, but, fuck, Jason could hardly force himself out of bed every day as it was. How could he take care of two people when he couldn’t even take care of himself?

He imagined for a brief moment visiting you, letting you know he hadn’t forgotten you, that it was quite the opposite. He imagined telling you every secret he’d ever held from you, but it was only a figment of an irrational dream. That’s how it would have to remain and he knew it. For protection, he reminded himself.

Protection for you or himself? It was becoming more and more blurred with every passing month.

“So, you’re leaving me,” Roy scoffed as he threw an empty bottle into the existing pile on the floor.

Jason was completely worn out and had been heavily slacking in the cleaning department. Piles of dirty plates and takeaway containers littered the floor while the carpet was drenched in the remnants of booze, blood and bile.

“Roy, I want to help you and I want the best for you, but what you’re doing right now is hurting me… I need to-”

He cut him off swiftly. “To what, run away? Flee in the wake of adversity? She was right about you, you know? You never face shit. At least she would tell you to your face when she had an issue, but all you can ever do is bolt in the opposite direction,” he spat his words in Jason’s irate face. “Fucking, coward.”

“No,” Jason shook his head, “no, you don’t get to talk to me about her right now when you’re the only reason we haven’t seen her in years.” Roy seemed to sober up some at the harsh reality. Jason calmed his tone, realizing this would get them nowhere. “You don’t think that shit kills me? I’m trying and sometimes it seems like I’m the only one trying for both of us and that’s fine,” Jason was quick to reassure Roy because putting him down definitely wasn’t his intention. “But… I can’t deny that it’s been weighing on me, Roy. You are not and never will be a burden because I-“ Jason cut himself off at Roy’s startled face, realizing what he'd been about to say and cleared his throat. “I just need space to figure some shit out. I’ll be back soon. This isn’t goodbye and I’m not abandoning you.”

“Sure what it looks like from here,” Roy slurred.

“Yeah, well, you’re drunk, so what the fuck would you know?”

“Loosen up, Jay,” Roy called after Jason's retreating form, “you’re starting to sound as uptight as Bats.”

Jason hesitated by the door handle. He seriously considered leaving without another word, but for some reason, he just couldn’t. “That’s low and you know it.”

“Sorry," Though Roy didn’t sound it, "thought we were breaking hearts here, darling.”

Jason gave Roy one last look over as if it might be the last time he’d see him. Hell, with the downward spiral he was in, it very well could be.

Was it really right to leave him alone? No, but it was something he selfishly had to do.

“Yeah, seems like it.” His scarred hand tightened around the door. “I’m sorry.” Sorry for leaving, for not being able to save him sooner, for not being enough to drag him from his addiction- sorry for not protecting you.

Sorry for all of it.

•••

Three hours after Jason left was the first time he met a sickly-looking, shaky Will and, coincidentally, the first time he met Lian.

As he opened his door, a warm bundle was immediately shoved into Roy’s newly strengthened arms. After a few months of Wayne Enterprise physical training, Jason insisted he stop calling their PT sessions that, Roy had steadily been gaining his muscle mass back.

Roy hiccupped, taking in whatever the fuck this entire situation was. He didn’t have to wait too long for answers, though.

“The mom, Cheshire,” Roy couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath at the assassin’s familiar name, “she’s not in the picture. Ollie can’t know and I’m dying and Lian…” Will’s desperate ramblings ceased when his eyes finally laid upon the kid’s dark fluff of hair as she rested in Roy’s arms.

“Yeah? Well, I’m dying too, so get in line,” Roy snorted humorlessly, attempting to hand back the kid and lock the door behind him, but Will’s wedged foot prevented him from doing the latter.

"It’s rapid cellular degeneration," he said like he was losing patience but, more importantly, time. “I know I’m a goner by the end of the week,” Roy watched as Will looked down at his graying skin, “and I don’t have much time and you’re the only person I can trust.”

Roy was on edge. There was absolutely no way this kid was staying with him.

“Clearly, you don’t know me.”

“Know you? You are me,” Will said weakly.

“No, you’re ME," Roy spat bitterly, “and all of this is because of you." Will’s eyes unsteadily trailed across Roy’s shaky, pale state, still stuck halfway in, halfway out of a wasteland of alcohol, heroin and his own dismal thoughts. “I’m going through my own shit right now and I would just be a danger to it.”

“Her,” Will corrected.

“I don’t care,” Roy slurred petulantly, “s’not my kid.”

Will scoffed, noting how Roy had taken to supporting her head as soon as his grip had slipped out of position.

“Listen, the only reason I even knocked was to make sure my intel was right about this being your apartment.” He sagged forward, barely catching himself on the hallway wall next to Roy’s door. “I don’t have the time for this. I still need to tie up the rest of my loose ends. I can’t keep sticking around to convince you of the 'whys' of the situation. You’re a grown man. You know what you need to do.”

He saw the pain in Will’s eyes and how he never once took his eyes off of the kid- Lian.

Roy explained that he couldn’t. “How am I supposed to deal with this,” he gestured to himself, then to the kid swaddled in his arms, “and Lian at the same time?” He still obviously wasn't convinced.

"Who do you think tipped off Jason and Ollie about your location?" Will looked him over slowly as if the action alone was using up all his energy. Roy was shell-shocked. His clone switched gears as if feeling the weight of the seconds escaping. “I even made sure there was an inside man, Guardian," he said and looked at Roy as if he knew he had him cornered. "You owe me."

"I…" Roy trailed off dumbly.

Will had been the one to arrange the rescue mission?

"You're capable of great things, Roy Harper; Lian’s just the catalyst. Please,” he begged, “take care of her and take care of yourself. We’re both counting on you now.”

He didn’t wait for an answer as there was only one answer to give. Without another word, Will stumbled off with a supporting hand on the hallway wall as he dragged his limp body further away.

Sure, Roy could've easily caught up to him, said "fuck you, dude," handed him back Lian and went inside to finish the rest of the bottle, but he didn't. No, Roy let him walk away.

He closed the door as Will disappeared from view before finally allowing himself to take in the- no, his little girl.

•••

A month later, Jason came back to a semi-clean apartment with no booze in sight and a sober Roy on the couch holding a baby.

“I’ve been making amends with Ollie.”

“Oh?” Jason questioned as he cautiously circled around the tiny bundle.

This wasn’t the first time Roy had said this same shit; got sober for a decent amount of time before falling back into the same old, same old. Though, Jason had to admit that the baby was a new thing. If it was a promising sign or not, he didn’t know, but Roy seemed genuinely happy at least, which was definitely a step up from how he'd been when Jason left.

Roy bounced the kid up and down in his arms, not having yet bothered to look up at Jason. “Said he thought Will running around as me might give me more time to recover in private,” he said with a shrug. “Don’t know if I believe him, but at least we’re talking again. He got me an online therapist that specializes in addiction and shit, so I guess that’s pretty cool. Means I get to watch Lian and still get better, ya know?”

Jason let the information seep in as he came to a stop right in front of Roy and… “Lian, was it?”

He nodded proudly, shoving her in Jason’s direction without taking his verdant eyes off her small form. “She does this thing where she gurgles at me and then just kind of spits up everywhere. I swear to fuck, it’s the cutest thing.”

“Mm, I’ll take your word.” Jason had taken care of plenty of kids during his days on the streets, but it was Roy acting so domestic and tame that had taken him aback. “How long?”

“How long were you gone?” There was a slight hint of venom behind it that would be impossible for Jason to miss, but it was nothing compared to the drunken rages Jason was used to quelling.

From then on out, it was a mix of dirty diapers, late nights, training, AA meetings, therapy... and, somewhere along the way, they fell for each other.

Though, Jason would never let Roy know he’d fallen for him all those years ago, just as he’d done for you.

•••

“I still can’t believe that the two of you being together ended up being real. Especially after the way the two of you ardently danced around your gayness for the entire year I knew you. Why do you think I insisted on you guys not being dicks about it? I knew one of you was going to get hurt with the bullshit you’d say to each other.”

They offer you looks of sheepishness in return.

Roy’s the first to recover. “I mean, yeah, obviously, I always thought Jaybird over there was hot. You know what I mean,” he says with a sly wink your way, but you feign ignorance, choosing instead to stare down at your nails. “Anyway,” Roy rolls his eyes at you, “then it was finally time to get you.”

“Why wait so long after you’d been rescued?”

“I needed the time to recover fully.” You watch as the redhead gulps. “I didn’t want you to see me… how I was,” he sighs. “Shit, man, there’s some days where I don’t know if I even am recovered. It’s a long ass fucking process and it’s been brutal. I wouldn’t want to put you through that. Plus, the whole secret identity, vigilante thing didn’t help either.”

You still felt slightly betrayed he hadn’t wanted you for support, though you now knew it went so much deeper than you ever could’ve imagined.

“What about you?” you ask, pulling slightly at Jason's grip that’s around you and Roy in order to look at him.

“Already basically told you everything,” Jason fiddles with Roy’s fiery locks in an obvious attempt to dodge your curious gaze, “but here’s what you don’t know about that night, I guess.”

•••

After he sent you down the chute, he made quick work of the goons before high-tailing it to the cave. He found Bruce and Damian already suiting up, discussing the dire situation. Jason began to do the same alongside Dick until Bruce placed a firm hand on his forearm, preventing him from removing his shirt.

“What’s your damage?” Jason shook Bruce’s grip with a swift glare. “I’m helping.”

“Your anger and your developing alias would only hinder the mission and endanger countless lives, Jason. The answer is no. You need to stand down,” he said, voice devoid of any emotion. Bruce didn’t even bother shooting him a stern look or anything. The bastard was just arrogant enough to expect Jason not to fight him on it. “You're to stay down here.”

“I’m benched?” Pure desperation drenched each and every syllable. “You can’t stop me Bruce, I’ll-” He followed Bruce’s line of sight to the cameras on the main staircase and quickly trailed off. His heart stopped as he watched you being dragged up to the ballroom, struggling right beside...

By the time he looked away from the screen, Bruce and Damian were long gone, but Dick remained.

“Don’t take it personally, Jay,” Dick’s calm voice did nothing to soothe Jason’s increasing irritation.

Jason ignored him.

“I need to be there,” his voice was hushed against the whirs of technology that surrounded them, but Dick had heard it clearly.

Jason

“But it’s the Joker-”

“You think I don’t know?" he cut his older brother off vehemently. "She’s the one who doesn’t know, Dick.” How could he not see the agony this was causing him? Bruce’s cruel punishment was only making it worse. “She’s in danger and it’s because I let her out of my sight. You don’t understand, Dick, it’s all my fault.”

Dick took in Jason’s, pleading, sopping form and sighed, “She needs Jason more than Red Hood right now. Go to her. We’ll take care of the rest.” Jason sucked his teeth, glaring at Dick before going back to the screen as you were shoved around. “You know, Tim’s still benched after our run-in with Dent. He’ll need all the support he can get.” He patted his younger brother’s back comfortingly before securing his suit and taking off.

Jason took one more look at the security feed and angrily slammed his fist against the keyboard, shattering it in half from sheer force alone.

He refused to stay down here any longer when you were up there, fighting for your life.

No, he wouldn't don his Red Hood gear, but that didn't stop him from joining Tim in the ballroom as a helpless bystander.

Benched, he thought bitterly. Meanwhile, Joker and his men began their torture when he was the one who’d sent you straight into the Joker’s arms, just as his mom had done to him a year prior.

Like mother, like son.

•••

“You always go back to that night. Even knowing what I know now," you add pointedly, "you know, the whole gun-toting vigilante shit, there’s still nothing you could’ve done.”

"How?" His voice is distant and cold as if he’s in the midst of berating himself at this very moment. “I left you. What did I expect to fucking happen?”

“Jason, you were saving me,” you insist. “You got me out of the way and I was able to hide. For some reason, it was almost like they were looking for me…” You suddenly think back to the recent attacks and draw the same connections that Jason and Roy seemed to also silently be picking up on.

“You said something to me that night.”

You cut him off with a gentle hand on his knee. He looks up at you with a surprise that leaves you wanting to draw away, but you fight the urge and keep your hand in place. “Jason, I wasn’t in the right mind whatever I said.”

You think back as hard as you can, searching your memories of that night, but nothing sticks out. It’s as if your thoughts have been broadcast across your face because Jason easily supplements what you’re failing to connect.

“You said something about how, unless I had some crazy ninja abilities, there’s nothing I could’ve done,” Jason looks up at you so that you’re forced to meet his striking, emerald gaze. “I… it killed me. I had all of that and I still failed you.”

You stop him in his tracks. "See, that's what I don't understand. 'Failing,'" you add air quotes around the word. “How could you or any of your family have failed me when I’m still here?” You bring his hand up to the scar on your neck and watch as he viscerally reacts. “I would take a million more ugly scars like this if it meant I got to see you another day. All those years, I felt that weight every day.”

“S’not like he stayed away from you, princess. Don’t know if you picked up on it, but he used to watch over you like some twisted angel.”

You turn your head to Roy, who seems to be analyzing your unmoving hand from his boyfriend’s thigh until his hand comes to cover your own.

You let out a pleased hum at the contact, “Yeah, actually, I did pick up on that. Can we go back to that because what the actual fuck, you perv?” You look over at a laughing Roy. “And why the fuck are you laughing?”

"It wasn't like that," Jason admonishes his boyfriend. “You’re not the only one who’s had an incident with the Joker. Trust me, I know how it sticks. Hell, all I've been able to do is see how it sticks with you, too.”

You absentmindedly bring your hand to your scar. Whatever kind of experience Jason had with the Joker, you imagine it’d probably been a hell of a lot worse than what you’d experienced. You wince, noticing how they both watch your movement cautiously.

“What exactly did that entail?" you question him. "You keeping an eye on me?”

When Roy said Jason had watched over you like an angel, you didn’t have the slightest idea what it meant.

“Nothing,” Jason adamantly insists, but Roy’s snickering gives it all away.

It’s all you needed to know that, yes, Jason had quite literally stalked you. These fucking vigilantes are going to be the death of you. Maybe soon quite literally.

“Oh my god, I never shut my curtains.” He blushes at that, causing your mouth to gape open. “Are you fucking kidding me? I feel so fucking violated right now.”

He holds up his hands in faux-surrender, “It’s not like I saw anything, really.”

“What do you mean really?” you lean in, questioning him menacingly.

He looks hot under his collar and you don’t give him a chance to back down. He seems to understand this because, for once, he gives in.

“I knew if I showed up, you’d have too many questions that I wouldn’t be able to answer. Not when I still had so many to figure out myself. Plus, it didn’t feel right to see you again without Roy there,” he pleads for you to understand. Even though you definitely needed time to process all of this, you still nod in understanding. “It was therapeutic for me in a time when I couldn’t control anything. Roy was gone; I’d abandoned you,” he sighs and glances at your scar. “I knew Red Hood could protect you better than Jason Todd ever could. That’s something I know Damian feels the same.”

•••

It was always the same.

He really should’ve warned you about the basics of switching up your routine during training all those years ago to avoid creeps like, well, Jason.

The first few weeks were innocent check-ins, just making sure your lights were on and that you were feeding yourself. He watched over you when you went to the grocery store, dozed on and off when you went to school and cursed when he watched you go to the manor.

It was completely innocent until it wasn’t.

Three months in, he watched as you began to undress. Without hesitation, his head snapped in the opposite direction. The second time it happened, he easily did the same.

It was the third time that had him fucked up.

It was wrong.

It was so wrong.

You were wearing some skimpy skirt and tight turtleneck. Fucking nerd, he rolled his eyes at the latter choice, though he continued to greedily watch as you struggled to get off the offending fabric. Any other visit, he’d look away right about now, but that night, for some reason, you had him in a chokehold that he couldn’t seem to shake. No, he didn't want to shake it.

He was embarrassed by how quickly a tent formed in his pants before you'd even managed to strip a singular article of clothing.

It was definitely too late to look away when you bent down to toe off your shoes, flashing him your entire ass in the process.

Jason snapped his head so fast, that he was pretty sure his helmet mechanisms unlocked.

He slowly turned back around to see you on your bed in a lacy black bra and red thong, talking to someone on FaceTime. He glowered for a few moments when his vision became preoccupied with the familiar tan and black hair annoyingly taking up space on your screen.

Damian.

Fucking bastard.

It was all too much for him. He'd already overstepped too many boundaries, so he disappeared into the night.

Jason forced himself to maintain distance until months later with the phone call to you on that fateful night.

•••

“So, now that we know Jason was stalking me. Partially while I was underage, might I add?” you grimace.

“Again, wasn’t like that,” Jason cuts you off.

You roll your eyes, “Sure.”

“You were always alone.” Your stomach twists, realizing just how much they knew about you from the start. “It became therapeutic to know I could protect you.”

“Awesome. I thought we’d already been over the fact that my parents are pieces of shit, so what?” You're getting a bit defensive and irrational and you know it, but you can’t help but feel cornered when they're the ones who are supposed to be opening up to you. “So what if you knew I was alone? Back when we first met, it didn’t stop you from dangling the idea of me being a part of your family depending on how I responded to your advances on me that week.”

Jason breathes your name desperately, “You know that’s not true.”

You continue on, regardless, “You constantly teased me and for what? You didn’t even like me. I never had a chance with either of you, but that never stopped you from messing with my fucking head.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Am I?!” you exclaim, beginning to feel exasperated. “Because I think I’m finally seeing clearly now. Who am I kidding? This whole situation here,” you gesture between them and the direction of Lian's room, “you’re still doing it, even to this day. Both of you,” you glare at Roy, who shrinks sheepishly under your intense glare, “thinking that you can just call me whenever it’s fucking convenient to invite me back into your lives.”

Damn, maybe you do understand where Damian's coming from…

Jason’s voice cuts through your thoughts, “I did like you.”

You stop mid-rant, short-circuiting, “Excuse me?”

Jason has always been one to run from your confrontations, not meet them.

You think back to the drunken kisses, the close call in the fountain and even the Romeo and Juliet kiss, but you still can’t quite believe what you're hearing.

Even Roy seems visibly shocked by his boyfriend’s confession.

Jason looks at him, then at you. You still obviously don’t believe him, nor do you know how he got those intense scars you’ve endlessly traced over the time you've known him.

You wait in anticipation, thinking he’ll continue opening up to you, but no further explanation comes. You sigh when you realize you’ve gotten more information than you’d expected and that you'd just have to be content with the information they did give you. You still hate being left in the dark; hate how you came crawling back. Nevertheless, you follow them to their bed and easily allow yourself to be scooped up into their arms.

At least you can lay beside them knowing something.

It'll be enough. For now.

Always one to fall asleep first, you attempt to keep your eyes open as your breathing evens out and manage to stay awake long enough to hear Roy’s silent question.

“Why didn’t you tell her?”

You’re already asleep before you hear the response.

A/N: all will be revealed in due time!! have an amazing day/night!!

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#jason todd x reader #reader x roy harper #reader x jason todd x roy harper #reader x jason todd #my fic: the art of rehabilitating snowbirds #my fic:ars

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mystical-flute · 4 months ago

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Checkered: Chapter 2

Was this supposed to only be a one shot? Yes, yes it was. But when a plot bunny bites you have to listen.

Also on AO3 || Buy me a ko-fi

The thing about KaibaCorp was that it had no political power in Domino. Not on the surface, anyway. None of the employees had ever been council members, or mayors, or governors, and nor had any of the executives. If you asked a resident of Domino who held the power, they would answer the same way - whoever had won the last election, of course.

That did not mean KaibaCorp didn’t wield political power anyway.

When Gozaburo Kaiba said to jump, the only thing you asked was how high and how much money he needed. Everyone in Domino could feel the invisible eyes and the pressure of Gozaburo’s thumb against the backs of their necks, even if they were nowhere near the towering building at the center of Domino.

Which was why, when five KaibaCorp cars pulled up to five different Domino high schools, no one, not security, or administration, questioned it, and sent the notice to each teacher like they would do if it were an actual parent taking their child from school early.

“Miss Mutou, it’s for you.”

Reika Mutou looked up from her textbook as the slip dropped onto her desk, and then felt her heart stop when the only thing written was the kanji for KC. Reika clenched the note in her fist as she stood up and grabbed her bag, sliding her book inside it before heading out of the room without a word.

To her great surprise, it was Kemo who had come to collect her, not Lector, and despite the air of neutrality on Kemo’s face, there was an air around him that warned her that something was wrong.

“Kemo, is everything -”

“I was instructed not to say anything until I got you to KaibaCorp, Miss Mutou. I’m sorry.”

Reika’s stomach twisted in nerves, and she stared out the window, counting the clouds in the sky for something to do.

“Your mother is fine, I will tell you that.”

And she exhaled in relief, though the nerves didn’t go away completely. “Thank you.” Whatever had happened was likely still bad, but her mother being safe was the most important thing.

The flickering white, red and blue lights was Reika’s first sign that something was terribly wrong.

“I’m going to let you out at the front door. Once you get out of the car, do not stop until you’re inside the building,” Kemo instructed as they neared the parking lot for KaibaCorp. “And go straight to your meeting room.”

That was the second sign.

But Reika did as she was instructed to, bolting out the door of the car and ignoring the reporters (why were there reporters here?) that were gathered in the press area by the front door, heading straight inside and for the front elevator, but as she passed through the bobby, she could see the pale, worried faces of the secretaries and other employees who were on the floor.

Oh no.

When she got up to the meeting room, she found three Young Five members, and each of their parents at the table, waiting for her.

“Mom?”

“Just sit down, Reika,” Miaka Mutou said quietly, patting the empty chair next to her. “Mr. Kaiba will explain.”

Her mother’s voice was never so soft, so unsure, but Reika took a seat and looked at the other Young Five members, who looked just as confused and concerned as she was.

When Mr. Kaiba arrived a few minutes later, it wasn’t the Mr. Kaiba the Young Five were expecting.

“Seto? Noah? What’s going on?” Hideo asked. “Where’s - ”

“Gozaburo is dead. I am the one in control of KaibaCorp.”

The words and tone of his voice were cold, but Reika could see a glimmer of something - relief, maybe? - in Seto’s eyes as he scanned the room.

“What happened?” Mei asked.

“The window in Conference Room 10 happened,” Noah said. “Father was a sore loser, and he jumped out the window.”

Noah’s tone echoed Seto’s - cold, uncaring, but again, she saw the same look of relief in his eyes.

Reika took a deep breath and addressed Seto. “I suppose you have been considering what to do about the Big Five and the Young Five.” Both groups were a relic of Gozaburo’s time - Gozaburo’s closest confidants, and the children that had been chosen by said confidants to be the faces of the future - but that had been Gozaburo’s future for the company, not Seto’s, and if Reika had learned anything about Seto Kaiba over the past four years, it was that Seto had a very different vision for the future.

“Yes, naturally that has been on my mind. And I have made the decision to allow you to stay on as the face of KaibaCorp’s next generation. You will still be invited to attend all of our events and learn from your mentors,” Seto explained. “However… this will not be the KaibaCorp you are used to. We are moving into the future and leaving the past behind. If that isn’t something you can handle, then leave.”

But no one moved, and she could see the pleased smiles on the BIg Five’s faces as they fanned out behind Seto and Noah.

“We will be going into a period of mourning. All employees will have the week off for the funeral and so we have time to plan out KaibaCorp’s new direction,” Seto continued.

“We do expect you to be at the center of the funeral with us, as a show of solidarity. Gozaburo was the weak link in KaibaCorp, not you or anyone else,” Noah added.

Hearing Noah call Gozaburo by his first name was a little startling. He had spent so long trying to fight for his place in the company, fighting against everything Seto had done so far, and now here they were, in solidarity that their father was dead and the world was better for it?

She wondered how much of it was a mask and how much of it was real. This whole situation was making her wonder if she’d ever known the real Noah - or Seto - at all.

It was then that she noticed there was someone missing from the group. “Seto, where’s Mokuba?”

“He’s with Ichika. You can go see him if you want,” Seto replied, turning to the door. “I’ll be in my office. Everyone else is dismissed for the day.”

Reika bowed, and the others quickly followed.

“No. None of that. Not from the Young Five,” Seto said, and Reika stood at her full height in confusion. “I do not want this to change the relationship we have already built. Do not bow to me when you see me.”

He was given five nods of understanding before he left the room, Noah trailing behind him.

“Did you need us for anything else, sirs?” she heard Sora ask.

“No. Do as Master Seto said. Go home and rest up. The mourning week is bound to be a very long one,” Nezbit sighed, and Reika could see him over by the cabinet where they kept the Singleton Paragon of Time whiskey and Cohiba Behike cigars - treats for the adults that were only pulled out during positive news for KaibaCorp.

“Reika,” her mother said, breaking her from her thoughts by putting a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s go home.”

And Reika followed her mother downstairs and around to the private employee parking lot.

“Mom… did he really jump out the window?” she hesitantly asked when they were in the privacy of her mother’s car.

Her mother nodded. “Yes, he really did.”

“So we’re really free from him?”

Another nod. “Yes.”

“Is it bad if I say good?”

Miaka shook her head. “No. It’s not bad at all.”

“Okay, good.”

“We’re still having dinner tonight, as planned. Your uncle can’t reschedule.”

Though they were free from Gozaburo’s reign of terror, she was stuck with Takeo for the rest of his life, and she was seriously wondering which was worse - dealing with a megalomaniac with a desire for war, or a man desperate to climb the political ladder.

“A sixteen year old can’t run a multi-billion yen corporation, it’s absurd!” Takeo said as he burst through the apartment door, Aunt Kumi, Yugi, and Grandpa shuffling in behind him. “Miaka, surely something can be done about this!”

Her mother didn’t even flinch as she spoke. “Takeo, would you want to go against Gozaburo Kaiba’s will? He stated he would hand control of the company over to Seto upon his death, and here we are.”

Uncle Takeo was a fascinating anomaly in the Mutou family. Her grandfather, Solomon, had been an Egyptian explorer in his younger years and had a deep love of games that ran so deep, he owned a shop dedicated to them. Her father, Genji, worked as an engineer, long hours, same as Takeo, but her father also wore leather jackets and kept his hair long, down to his shoulders as opposed to in spikes like the other Mutou men, and while her father didn’t enjoy games the same way as Reika, Yugi, or Solomon did, he did actually have a sense of humor.

Takeo on the other hand lived in Tokyo most of the time and was desperate to gain power and influence in Japan, and tried to get Yugi to forget about the games he so loved.

He had nothing to say though, in response to her mother’s warning about Gozaburo’s will, and instead frowned at her.

“Come on, Takeo, give the kid a chance,” her father said, rolling his eyes as he handed him a drink. “Gozaburo is dead, and he named a successor. Don’t write off Seto Kaiba just because he’s young. Honestly, if I didn’t have my big project going on at work I’d put in an application to Kaiba Corp just to see what the future’s gonna hold for it.”

“Is Noah alright?” Yugi asked. “I mean, that was his dad, even if Gozaburo wasn’t exactly a nice guy.”

Reika pressed her lips together. “I didn’t really get the chance to talk to him today but… he looked like he was at peace with what happened.” It usually wasn’t hard to tell what Noah was thinking, but he had masked something when they’d come in to inform the Young Five of what happened.

“I hope he’s okay,” Yugi murmured. “What about Mokuba? Did he…”

“No, Mokuba didn’t see anything. From what I understand, one of the Big Five grabbed him before Gozaburo went through the window,” her mother said. “Thankfully.”

“That’s good,” Kumi said with a small sigh of relief. “It must have been traumatizing enough for Noah and Seto to see it, but Mokuba is still so young…”

“I’ll be inviting him over whenever he wants, so I can keep teaching him piano,” Reika said with a small smile. “He’s quite good, especially for someone who hasn’t had the level of tutoring I had.”

“Yeah? Does he like Duel Monsters? Maybe I can teach him to play!” Yugi asked with a bright smile.

“Duel Monsters is more Seto’s game, but I’m sure now that Gozaburo’s gone Mokuba will be allowed into the game shop.”

That had been the stipulation Gozaburo put on Mokuba being able to spend time with Reika outside of Kaiba Corp related events - Mokuba wasn’t allowed to go into the game shop. The assumption the Young Five had was it was because he didn’t want Mokuba getting any ideas for gifts to Seto.

“He will be welcome with open arms,” Solomon said with a bright smile. “He seems like a good boy.”

Reika smiled in return. She couldn’t help but wonder just how much love Mokuba actually felt at Kaiba Manor, besides from Seto. She hoped he was supported by someone on the staff, or multiple someones.

“I think Mokuba likes Capsule Monsters Chess… I heard him talking about it to Seto once,” she said. “Did you get anything new in the shop for it, gramps?”

“Why yes actually! I got a new shipment of boards in. I haven’t put them out yet. Was told not to by the company until next week but… I suppose they would understand someone with the last name Kaiba getting an early look.”

Reika gave him a smile of relief. “Thanks gramps…”

“ - the funeral is on Thursday, Takeo, if you can make it.”

“I will speak to the governor. I’m certain he’ll want to be there, but I will make sure I am there too.”

Reika resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Of course he would want to use a funeral to try and get his name and face out into the business world. But Gozaburo Kaiba would get his grand farewell, but it would all be a show, just hundreds of puppets dancing on strings, and a grave that would only receive visitors because his predeceased wife shared the same one.

On Thursday, the whole Mutou clan arrived at a temple for the wake. Their heads were bowed as the offering of condolence money was handed to Kemo, before they entered the room where Gozaburo’s body was.

“Thank you for coming,” Noah said smoothly, though his eyes were hiding the annoyance of what must have been having to perform this performance of a distraught child. “It means so much to our family.”

“Are you okay?” she murmured to him.

“I’m ready for this week to be over,” he muttered in reply, stepping to the side to allow her parents room to light incense. “It’s exhausting having to pretend I care, and having to deal with so many people who are upset.”

Reika frowned. It seemed like such a quick heel turn against his father, that she wasn’t quite sure she believed he wasn’t upset at what happened.

“You’re on the same page with Seto? For sure?” she asked. “You’re really okay with the company not being for war machines of death?” She really hoped it was true, but he had been so focused on getting Gozaburo’s attention she couldn’t be sure.

“I’m sure. Seto put me in charge of designing VR for the company. He’s even using a design my father ignored,” Noah said. “I really do believe this is going to be for the best, Reika. I was just too blind to see it before.”

“I know it will be. You’ll be able to do some good in the world now.”

There was a lot she was leaving unsaid, but the funeral was no place for it. Not with so many ears - friendly and not - around her, and to be honest, not all of it was for Noah or Seto to hear.

She stood to the side and bowed to the owner of Yamazaki Industries when he approached, the mask of sadness evident on her face before making her way toward Seto and Mokuba.

Mokuba looked uneasy, unsure of his place here, while Seto, at least in Reika’s opinion, looked like he was attempting to fight back a smirk.

“Hi Reika,” Mokuba said softly. “Thank you for coming.”

“It’s not a problem.” It was an obligation. “But hey, I heard from a very reliable source that the new Capsule Monsters board has been delivered to stores.”

Mokuba’s eyes widened. “Really? Seto, can I please go to Kame Games so I can see the new board?”

Seto looked over at her, his face passive, unreadable. “After the mourning period is over. We will contact you when Mokuba is available.”

“Of course. We eagerly await your call.”

“Miss Reika.”

She glanced up at Lector and nodded once. Time to be with the Young Five.

During the funeral ceremonies, the Big and Young Five sat behind the Kaiba brothers, as the closest and the most valuable people to Gozaburo. They chanted and prayed, and Reika could see Lector’s Catholic Rosary clenched tightly in his fist. He was mouthing his own prayers in the downtime between Buddhist rites.

The funeral itself was much the same, though mourners lined the streets before and after the funeral itself, giving solemn looks toward the Kaiba brothers, yet didn’t seem to shed tears in the direction of the hearse as Gozaburo’s body was loaded into it to take to the crematory.

For them, at least, it was over. They had done their duty as the face of KaibaCorp’s new generation, and now they could relax - or as relax as much as they could being around the business world. There was still the large luncheon that had been planned by Sora’s family, to be held at their manor, but that at least would keep the adults distracted with alcohol.

“Just because Gozaburo is gone doesn’t mean we can trust Seto. Or hell, Noah for that matter, with the way they were able to get everything out from under Gozaburo. There’s no telling if they’ll do the same with the Big Five,” Katsuo said as they settled around a table, his eyes darting over to their mentors to make sure they were occupied.

“Don’t be stupid, Katsuo. Seto can’t afford to get rid of the Big Five right now, if ever.” Mei replied. “The world is watching him now. Everyone is waiting for him to fail, and people like Tanaka Industries would be more than happy to take control of the company and turn it back to where Gozaburo had it.”

None of them were fools - Seto Kaiba had never been interested in war, and arguments between Seto and Gozaburo had been hard to miss despite the closed doors. Everyone knew the era of war technology was gone from KaibaCorp.

“We all know Seto isn’t going to let that happen,” Reika said, leaning back against her chair. “He’s too prideful. None of us are going anywhere. Besides, a new era of KaibaCorp goes perfectly well with the aims of the Young Five.”

“The world might be watching KaibaCorp as a whole, but it’s watching us too. We were just in the Domino Times last week. Seto is going to need us to make it seem like KaibaCorp is still business as usual. Even if the business itself has changed,” Sora said with a nod. “It’ll be nice anyway. I don’t know how many more war machines I could see Nezbit come up with. Gozaburo might have been a monster, but let’s not kid ourselves, the Big Five are just as bad. And we have benefited from that destruction.”

Given what the Big Five had done for them over the years, money, notoriety, and, more recently, access to whatever university program they had their hearts set on after graduation, it was a bitter pill to swallow, but a true one. Blood stained their hands, whether they wanted it to or not. But now they would be washing the blood off, and Seto Kaiba was going to lead them.

“Let’s just agree, the five of us, that no matter what happens, we stick together as a team,” Katsuo said, lifting his glass in a toast. “To the Young FIve. Long may we reign.”

-----

Maximilian Pegasus looked up as his computer chimed with the sound of a new email. It had been a long day already, and while it was tempting to curl up with a Funny Bunny book and a glass of wine, it was probably important enough to warrant his attention.

He didn’t get surprised much anymore - not since before Shadi had given him the Millennium Eye to see into people’s minds - but this email had caught him off guard.

Dear Mr. Pegasus,

I would like to set up a meeting with you regarding the future of Duel Monsters. My company has created holographic technology that will revolutionize the gaming industry, and I want Duel Monsters to be at the forefront of it. Please reply to this email with the earliest date possible that we can meet.

Regards,

S. Kaiba

Pegasus couldn’t help but throw his head back and laugh. “Oh my, young Kaiba-boy, you sure do move quickly… Croquet! Set up a meeting with KaibaCorp, immediately!” When Croquet had disappeared from the room, Pegasus smirked a little.

“Well now Seto Kaiba, let's see what you can do.”

#yugioh #fanfiction #seto kaiba #mokuba kaiba #maximillion pegasus

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superlarva · 1 year ago

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Teen Hardcase with what I think of as the quintessential teen haircut.

Here's Chapter 6 - Shopping of Raising Dominoes! I had fun writing this one. Well, I have fun writing all of them :)

Prologue: 00 Previous Chapter: 05 Next Chapter: 07

Summary: Rex, Hardcase, and Fives go shopping.

CW: Implied/referenced child abuse (not really in this specific chapter, but just to be safe)

Chapter 6 - Shopping

After dropping Cody off at his car, Rex swung back around to his apartment building to pick up Hardcase. He had to admit, it would be helpful to have the teen around at the mall. An extra set of eyes to watch Fives and an extra set of arms to help carry things would not hurt.

That being said, Rex could not help the feeling of anxiety that settled in his gut as he knocked on the apartment door across the hall from his own. Hardcase could be a handful. He was a good kid, but he was loud and energetic to the point where it gave Rex a headache. He just hoped this was not going to turn into him babysitting the teen.

No one came to the door immediately and Fives began to fidget, “Maybe no one’s home.”

Rex frowned and knocked louder, “Well, Kix and Jesse are at work and Dogma and Tup are at school, but Hardcase should be here.”

“The half adult, half kid?”

Rex smirked, “Yeah, the teenager.”

At that the door swung open, revealing Hardcase, headphones dangling around his neck and mouth gaping a bit at the sight of Rex at his door.

“Uh, hey,” Hardcase fumbled with his headphones to pause his music before grinning up at Rex. He gestured to the headphones a little sheepishly, “Sorry, I guess I had it on a little too loud.”

“It’s fine.” Rex shrugged then motioned towards Fives, “This is Fives. He’s my, uh, he’s my son.”

Rex cringed at how uncomfortable he felt introducing Fives as his kid. Fives was his son and he already loved him more than he ever knew he could love anyone, but at the same time, he did not really feel like he knew the boy. And he sure as hell was not confident he deserved to be the kid’s dad.

Neither boy acknowledged Rex’s awkwardness and Hardcase gave Fives a silly salute, causing the boy to giggle and mimic the salute back, “Hiya Fives! I’m Hardcase.”

Fives giggled again, “Hardcase is a funny name.”

Hardcase grinned, “Fives is kinda a funny name too.”

Fives’s eyes glazed over, and the smile dropped from his face, mouth hanging slightly ajar. Rex jumped in quickly and laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder to try and bring him back from whatever thought had just crossed his mind, “We’re going to go to the mall to get some lunch and some things for the kids if you want to join us.”

Hardcase hesitated, looking between Rex, Fives, and the empty apartment behind him, “Am I allowed?”

Rex’s brows raised, he never knew Hardcase to be this cautious, “I wouldn’t be asking if you weren’t.”

Hardcase narrowed his eyes at Rex before something clicked and he grinned, “Okay.” He raced back into the apartment to grab his things.

As Hardcase disappeared, Rex crouched down next to Fives, “Hey, you okay?”

After a beat Fives shifted his gaze to meet Rex’s, the fog lifting from his eyes. He nodded.

“Hardcase is a good kid,” Rex explained, worried that something about the teen had freaked Fives out. He smiled fondly after Hardcase, “Sometimes he just gets into a little trouble because he’s too… energetic. That’s why he’s not at school today.”

“Do I go to school too?”

“You will,” Rex said, gaging the boy’s reaction. He seemed completely fine now. It was… puzzling.

Rex heard Hardcase footsteps approaching and straightened back up before smiling down at Fives, “Soon. But don’t worry about that right now.”

Hardcase reappeared and shut the door, locking it behind him, “Thanks so much, Rex. I was bored outa my mind.”

Rex smirked, “Don’t mention it. You’re only here to help me carry the heavy stuff.”

“Well, I only came for the free lunch,” Hardcase teased back as they headed down the stairs.

By the time they arrived at the food court, Fives and Hardcase were thick as thieves. Fives had asked what Hardcase’s headphones were, which resulted in them learning that Fives had never heard music before and Hardcase introducing him to the medium.

Fives clearly loved the sounds, his grin only growing wider as each new song was played. Rex made a mental note to show the boy Cody’s CD collection when they visited his apartment.

“Alright,” Rex said as they entered the food court. “Lunch first. What do you boys want?”

“Chicken teriyaki!” Hardcase said grinning and darting off through the throngs of people.

“Does that sound good?” Rex asked Fives as he grabbed the boy’s hand so as not to lose him in the crowd.

Fives shrugged.

Rex realized that it was possible the kid had never had chicken teriyaki before and made his way towards a man holding a platter of samples, “Here, you can get a sample from this gentleman to see if you like it.”

As they approached the man he smiled down at Fives, stuck a toothpick in a piece of chicken, and offered it to the boy. Fives looked up at Rex and Rex nodded, “Go ahead.”

The boy took the piece and popped it into his mouth.

“Yummy?”

Fives’s contemplative face devolved into a massive grin.

Rex couldn’t help but smile back, “Should we get more?”

“Can we? Please?”

“Of course,” Rex said, leading Fives towards the back of the line where Hardcase stood, fidgeting impatiently.

They got their food quickly and made their way to a table by the fountain. Rex had been worried about Fives near the crowds of people, but the boy seemed fine. He had even ordered his meal by himself, copying what Hardcase had said just before him.

Rex watched both boys begin to inhale their food and had to remind them to drink some water between bites. After Hardcase shoved the last bite of Fives’s unfinished chicken into his mouth, he turned to Rex, “So, what are we getting first?”

“I was thinking we’d start with the furniture, then move on to clothes and, uh, other things,” Rex said, starting to wish Cody was with him, making a list of everything the boys would need.

“Cool, so Ikea first.”

Rex nodded and began gathering up their trash. Fives and Hardcase started helping him and they were off to the furniture store before Rex knew it.

Rex himself was overwhelmed with the vast selection of children’s furniture at the department store and could tell Fives was as well. The boy never strayed out of arm’s length of Rex and was staring at the displays with wide eyes.

Hardcase, on the other hand, was pushing the cart excitedly and pointing to various different items he thought looked “cool” and asking Fives if he liked them.

Eventually, Rex picked out a couple bedroom sets that fit within what he assumed was his budget and asked Fives which one he wanted. The boy almost shyly pointed to the dark stained wooden set. Rex grinned, that was the one he would have picked. Hardcase seemed a little disappointed that Fives wouldn’t be getting a bed shaped like a rocket ship.

“What about Echo?” Fives asked, tugging Rex’s sleeve.

Rex frowned, he wished he knew more about the other twin, “Do you think he wants the same kind, or a different one?”

Fives shrugged, “I don’t think he’d care.”

“We’ll just get him the same one then,” Rex said, pulling out a pad and writing down the name of the bedroom set. They still needed two twin mattresses and sheets. Rex knelt down to Fives’s height, “Do you want to go with Hardcase to pick out some sheets for your beds?”

Fives shrugged a little reluctantly.

“I’ll just be right over there looking at the mattresses,” Rex said pointing.

Fives still didn’t look convinced, so Rex stood, pointing to the children’s section, “I don’t know about you Hardcase, but I saw a lot of fun looking sheets over there. I guess if Fives doesn’t want to go with you, you can pick out sheets for him and Echo all by yourself.”

Hardcase grinned, catching on quick, “Oh, yeah, I’ll be sure to get the best ones. Princesses and fairies and butterflies.”

Fives’s brows knit together, eyes darting between the two older men. As Hardcase turned away and began strolling over to the sheets, Fives gave in and ran towards the teen with impressive speed, “Wait! Wait, I’ll go with you!”

Rex snorted, a victorious grin plastered onto his face. As good as if felt to have Fives latch onto him, it was important that the boy would be able to separate himself from him, especially when it came time to send him to school.

Once the boys disappeared down an aisle, Rex turned away and headed towards the mattresses. The bed sets Rex was planning on buying for the boys contained frames for twin beds, so he picked out a twin mattress and noted the name down on his pad for later.

Rex grabbed a few pillows as he made his way back over to the sheets section to make sure the boys were still alive. Fives was standing next to the cart, arms full of what looked like sheets decorated with little colorful cartoon planets and spaceships. He looked over to Rex as he approached and held out the sheets, “For Echo?”

Rex smiled and dumped the sheets and pillows into the cart, “Where’s Hardcase?”

“I wanted the dino ones,” Fives explained, pointing up.

Hardcase was scaling the shelving unit to retrieve white dinosaur print sheets from the top shelf, about 4 meters off the ground.

“Hardcase!” Rex hissed, moving to stand under the boy in case he fell.

Hardcase looked down and shot Rex a sly grin, pressing a finger to his lips, before grabbing the sheets and tossing them down into the cart. He then motioned for Rex to move away.

“Don’t you dare,” Rex said through gritted teeth, even as he backed away towards Fives.

Hardcase sprung from the ledge and hit the ground, rolling as he did to break his fall. It made quite an impressive sound and Rex saw heads turning their way. He grabbed Hardcase by the arm and yanked him to his feet, “They have people who get paid to get things from the top shelf.”

“But that was more fun,” Hardcase smirked.

“We don’t climb inside.”

“What about at the rock gym?”

“That’s an exception. You know what I mean.” Rex sighed, turning to Fives, who was watching their back and forth with interest, “Sorry, kid, sometimes Hardcase isn’t a good example. We don’t climb on things in stores.”

Fives nodded, eyes not leaving Rex’s.

Rex shook his head, he knew Hardcase was just trying to be helpful, but he didn’t want Fives to try anything and get himself hurt, he was so small and fragile. “Okay, we got some sheets…” Rex trailed off thinking of what else they needed.

Fives pointed to a stack of quilts across the aisle, “Look! A bigger one!”

Hardcase picked up the quilt off the shelf that Fives was pointing to, “Hey, it matches.”

The navy patchwork quilt did indeed look like it belonged to the same bedding set as the sheets Fives had picked out.

“You want this quilt?” Rex asked, taking it from Hardcase and showing it to Fives.

Fives nodded and bounced a little on his toes, “Yes, please.”

“Alright, now for Echo’s.”

The trio scanned the shelves in search of a matching space quilt for Echo and found it after a few minutes, adding it to their cart.

Rex led the boys over to get lamps and nightlights next before finishing up at Ikea in the rug section.

After they paid and ordered the bed sets and mattresses to be delivered, they put everything into the trunk and wandered over to Target to get more clothes for the twins. Fives seemed to be enjoying himself and Rex was glad, he had thought the mall might overwhelm him too much and they would have to stop for the day after getting the furniture.

It was starting to get late in the afternoon, so Rex decided he would go grab some of the more “boring” essentials for the boys like socks and underwear while he let Hardcase and Fives take care of shirts and pants.

As Rex finished up, he made a quick stop in the toy section to get a few games for the kids. He didn’t really know what the boys would like, so he just picked out what he thought were the quintessential children’s toys: a box of matchbox cars, a deck of playing cards, little plastic animals, Legos, some cool action figure dudes in shiny white armor holding blasters, monopoly, dominoes, and a coloring kit. He was floundering around the kid’s aisle wondering what else he could get them when something fuzzy caught his eye.

Rex found Hardcase hard at work measuring a shirt against Fives’s body. Fives saw him first and pointed over to a cart with a few sets of clothes in it.

Hardcase, seeming to decide that the shirt would fit, flung it over his shoulder into the cart and turned to Rex, “Kix kept all of Tup’s old clothes, so we didn’t get a ton. I figured we could donate his stuff to you.”

Rex nodded, “That would be great actually. Thank you.”

“No problem.”

Rex turned to Fives, “I got you a present.”

“A present?”

“Yup,” He revealed a stuffed T-rex from behind his back and presented it to the boy.

Fives’s mouth dropped open, “Is- is that a real one?”

Hardcase laughed, “No, silly.”

Fives reached out to touch it.

“It’s a stuffed animal,” Rex explained, letting the boy take the toy. “Or, I guess, a stuffed dino.”

Fives looked up from the plushie with big innocent eyes, “What do they do?”

Rex paused, looking to Hardcase, then back at Fives, “Er- wait- stuffed animals or- or dinosaurs?”

“Dinosaurs?”

“Yeah, dinosaurs… dinos,” Rex shut his mouth, mind racing at Fives’s blank expression. Had Fives not known what dinosaurs were from the start? Had he first seen them on the pajamas he had picked out for him that first night and then just recognized them on the sheets and wanted them?

Luckily Hardcase covered for Rex as his mind went into overdrive, “Dinosaurs are these animals from a really long time ago. They’re really cool looking. They don’t live here anymore, but they used to. Their bones are underground now, and people like to dig them up.”

“So, this is a pretend one?”

“Yup,” Hardcase said popping the p. “You sleep with it at nighttime.”

“Oh,” Fives hugged the toy close to his chest and closed his eyes. “Like this?”

“Exactly.” Suddenly, a wicked grin spread across Hardcase’s face, “Hey, you know what that dinosaur is called?”

Rex was pulled out of his thoughts and began to blush. He knew where the teen was going with this.

“What’s it called?” Fives asked, oblivious.

“A T-rex, a tyrannosaurus rex.”

Fives’s grin matched Hardcase’s and he turned to Rex, “Like you!”

“Yeah, like me, kid,” Rex sighed, ruffling the boy’s hair. “Do you want to come help me pick one out for Echo?”

Fives’s face lit up, “Are there more?”

“Uh-huh,” Rex nodded, feeling a little self-conscious, “You can pick out a different one if you want too, I just thought…”

“No! I like this one the most! I just didn’t know there was another for Echo.”

“There’s plenty to choose from,” Rex said, leading the boy over to the toy aisle.

When they arrived at the shelves stocked full of plushies, Fives jaw went slack. He kept the T-rex under one arm and began riffling through the toys, trying to find the perfect one for Echo.

Hardcase and Rex stood back and watched the boy with amusement as he seemed to gravitate towards the other dinosaur stuffed animals. Eventually the boy pulled out a blue triceratops and held it out to Rex for approval.

“Think he’ll like that one?”

Fives nodded and popped it into the cart, keeping his T-rex secure under his arm.

#Rex kinda liked dinos as a kid #and he still kinda does #he's just embarrassed about it now #the clone wars #clone wars #tcw #arc trooper fives #arc trooper echo #captain rex #clone trooper echo #clone trooper fives #domino twins #baby dominos #tcw hardcase #clone trooper hardcase #superlarva #star wars

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