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loveharlow · 8 months ago

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SEVEN [THE INBETWEEN] - KISS IT BETTER

PAIRING ‧₊˚ JJ Maybank x Fem!Reader

SYNOPSIS‧₊˚[2.5k] Three weeks of no John B or Sarah and you're officially overwhelmed with grief and mixed signals, leading to an emotional outburst directed at certain blonde.

WARNING(S)‧₊˚ swearing, mentions of death, mutual pining, grief avoidance, little fluff, mentions of low self-esteem/negative self-image, mentions of past non-con

NOW PLAYING‧₊˚

A/N‧₊˚ I think this chapter is actually so soft and beautiful🥺 and I never really say this but I do think listening to the song on repeat as you read makes it one hundred times better.

˗ˏˋ series masterlist ˎˊ˗

THIS DAY MARKED THREE WEEKS SINCE YOU’D LOST JOHN B AND SARAH…And one week since JJ kissed you out of nowhere. Co-existing in your other presumed dead best friend’s house has been…odd, to say the least. You didn’t really know how to talk to JJ now, which was something you never thought would be an issue.

He’d been in the surf shack working on your car more than usual, without your company unfortunately. You’d been taking more small jobs just to get out of the house at this point. But barely talking to your best friend for an entire week while living in the same space was starting to take a toll on you.

And so was the kiss.

Did he mean to do it? Was it a spur of the moment thing? Did JJ have feelings for you? Ten thousand thoughts running around in your mind at once, driving you closer and closer to the edge of crazy. Your heart was telling you that the kiss was no accident — that it seemed too passionate and eager to be something he’d done in the heat of the moment. But your head was telling you that the kiss was an act of grief — something he’d done in a moment where his head wasn’t exactly screwed on straight.

That it was an honest mistake.

You didn’t know which part of you that you believed.

Or which part of you that you wanted to believe.

It was nightfall when you walked up the steps of The Chateau, bag slung lazily over your shoulder as you huffed out a puff of air, exhausted from your nearly ten hour long babysitting gig. Some couple needed someone to watch over their three kids while they went on a date. You should’ve known something was off when the mother was offering fifty dollars an hour, way over minimum wage — her three kids were more like a pint-sized trio of bats from hell. But you walked away with five-hundred more dollars in your pocket, so who were you to complain?

But even with fatigue and hunger weighing heavy on your bones, your heart still dropped at the thought of seeing JJ at the end of the day.

Sighing, you quietly opened the door of the home, throwing your bag on the sofa and letting the door close behind you as Marley immediately came charging, light paws feeling like punches on your thighs but you smiled nonetheless.

“Hi, pretty girl. How are you?” You cooed, scratching behind both of her ears as she wiggled against you.

Another set of footsteps rounded the corner, a freshly awoken JJ coming into your view. You coughed awkwardly under your breath, straightening out as the two of you locked eyes. “Oh, hey. I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“Nah, it’s fine. I’m just glad you made it in before it got too late, one of the corner stores got robbed a couple hours ago.” He said, voice raspy and low from sleep as he rubbed the exhaustion out of his eyes.

The two of you stood there awkwardly— JJ scratching the back of his head as you averted your eyes anywhere else, Marley’s panting filling the silence.

You took a deep breath, shoving your hands in the back of your pockets as JJ mindlessly nibbled on his lower lip. You took the opportunity to break the silence, the blonde seemingly having the same idea.

“Well, I’m gonna get ready for bed-”

“Look, I’m sorry-”

You both stopped talking, attempting to allow the other to speak. Small smiles broke out on your faces, the two of you looking down at your feet simultaneously. “This is awkward, if I’ve ever seen it…” JJ huffed out humorously. “Can we just…like, sit down and talk, for a minute?” He asked, his own words making him cringe slightly as he motioned towards the battered sofa.

You nodded, not saying a word as you plopped down on the piece of furniture, eyes on the floor as your hands held each other in your lap. JJ sat down oddly slow next to you. You expected him to try and create as much distance between the two of you as possible but surprisingly, he sat so close that your shoulders were brushing in the tiniest of ways.

The unexpectedness of it all had your brows furrowing, finding some kind of courage to look the boy in his eyes as he finally settled on the right words to say.

“...I shouldn’t have kissed you.” For some reason, the string of words made your heart tremble and your lips parted in surprise. They hurt more than you ever expected them to. Noticing your solemn expression, JJ was quick to clean up his statement, turning in his seat to look at you completely. “Not in the sense that I didn’t want to, no, God no.” He sputtered, hands moving around wildly. “It’s just that, with everything going on, I don't think that moment was the best moment to act on my feelings-”

He was cut off when you lurched forward, colliding your lips with his in the heat of the moment. In your haste and his surprise, the blonde accidentally bit your lip but you didn’t mind, never breaking the exchange. After a moment, you both seemed to settle into it — one of his hands sliding around your hip and waist to find a home on the end of your back, pulling you closer in the smallest motion. Your own hands cradled his jaw on each side, pulling him deeper into you.

You kissed that boy until you couldn’t anymore. Until your lips were swollen and wet, your head spinning as you pulled back and let your hands fall, sliding down the length of his neck and shoulders while his own hand slid back to rest on your thigh.

“...What was that for?” He asked in a whisper. He sounded breathless.

You simply gulped, tucking a small strand of hair behind your ear before speaking. “...When you kissed me, I felt something. Something I didn’t think I should feel while kissing my best friend. Because I never thought I’d be kissing my best friend at all.” You explained, elevating your gaze to meet his eyes. “And I thought to myself that I should feel repulsed. That the kiss should feel wrong. Right? But nothing about that kiss felt wrong.” You told him. “I haven’t been avoiding you because of the kiss, JJ. I’ve been avoiding you because I haven’t been able to get the thought of kissing you again out of my head since it happened.”

“And now that you have?” He asked, eyes searching yours. “Now, that you have kissed me again?”

“...I’m struggling not to do it a third time.” You breathed out, eyes fleeting towards his lips for the slightest of moments. “I don’t know what this is. In my head, you’re my absolute best friend and I love you in that aspect but everytime I see you now, I can’t help but think about you in ways that I shouldn’t. So, if that kiss or this one didn’t mean anything to you, you’d better tell me now because-”

“Oh, it meant something.” He cut you off enthusiastically, a small smirk playing on his lips. “I know you probably have no idea but that kiss meant everything to me.” He told you, edging closer on the sofa. “I’ve had this huge crush on you for, like, ever. Probably since I even knew what a crush was. But you know how I am…” He lowered his voice, avoiding your eyes. “I didn’t trust myself with you. Anytime I look at you, I see this ball of light around you and I never want it to go away. Or be the reason for it going away. With me and all my shit…”

“I don’t think of you like that.” You said honestly, a small frown on your face. “You aren’t some southside screw up or a charity case. JJ, you know that I don’t care about all that. I’m always there to walk through it with you, your life doesn’t define you, you know that. Or at least, you should.” You told the blonde, running a soft hand through his hair. “And I know that it may take some time for you to believe that for yourself but I’ll be the one to tell you it everyday until you actually hear it, as a friend or…whatever else.”

You reminded the boy, biting your lower lip in thought. “...That’s why you never said anything? Because you thought you weren’t good for me?”

He seemed to ponder on the statement before nodding, somewhat shamefully. “I mean, c'mon, look at you.” He scoffed, wide blue eyes looking at your face with so much adoration and purity that you never cared to notice before. “Someone like you doesn’t need to waste her life away trying to love someone like me.”

“I do love you-”

“Not in the way that I love you.” He blurted, pinching his eyes shut as he cut you off.

“...I could. But you’ll never know if you don’t let me try.” You told him. “I won’t sit here and tell you that I love you in that way because I really don’t know. But whatever I’m starting to feel for you is beyond a friendship and once I figure that out, who knows? But I also don’t want you to wait on me to figure things out if that’s not what you want.” You concluded, retreating your hands back to the comfort of your lap.

You don’t know how helpless you looked, but you made no attempt to hide the frown that you could feel on your face. You knew JJ was known as promiscuous but his ways seemed to have settled with everything that’s happened. Although the thought of him with anyone made your gut turn, you didn’t want to confine him within the cage of your emotional contemplation. You didn’t want to lead him on now knowing how he felt about you.

“Hey,” He started, a hand on your arm. “I will wait. And that’s my choice. If you decide that you want me, that you want this, then I will be here. I know my past actions are probably making my words seem like a load of shit right now, but weeks ago? When I was hooking up with half the island? I was under the impression that you and I would never happen. But now there’s a chance.” He spoke, laughing at the end of his sentence, the oddness of the action making your face twist. “Sorry, I just, I thought about somethin'.” He said, waving himself off. “I was talking to Bree one day, about you. I told him that the odds of you ever liking me back were one in a million. And he told me that a one in a million chance is still a chance, to which I told him that he was full of shit. But now…” He trailed off, shrugging.

“...John B knew?” You asked, tilting your head to the side. JJ rolled his eyes playfully.

“I think everyone knew, except you, of course.” He cocked an eyebrow, you being the one to roll your eyes this time.

“...So what do we do now?” You asked, voice small.

JJ sighed, suddenly sitting up straighter in his seat and taking both of your hands in his own. “...As much as I want to make you my girlfriend, right here and right now, I don’t think it’s a good idea. I think that we both need time to grieve and sort ourselves and I also think that you need time to explore your feelings more and make sure that this isn’t a fluke.” That was the most mature sentence you'd ever heard leave JJ's lips.

“A fluke?” You asked, mildly offended. “What does that mean?”

“Just that, I’ve seen how you can deal with grief. And not to twist the knife…are you okay with me talking about the…Rafe thing?” You clenched your jaw at the mere mention of his name, nodding stiffly in JJ’s direction, the boy drawing his lips into a thin line before continuing. “When that happened, you were still grieving. You kissed him because you were in a bad place and he was there and he ended up...taking advantage of that vulnerable part of you, right?” You hummed in agreement. “I am not at all blaming you for what happened when I say this. You didn’t deserve it and that asshole should be six feet under for what he did and, God so help me, I will put him there myself-”

“JJ.” You interrupted the boy’s rant, wanting him to finish his point completely. Huffing out a puff of air, he continued.

“I’m sorry. I just, I really hate that that happened to you. And I know it happened to you, not me but I want to kill him. Every day that I wake up, I just hope he's dead somewhere.”

“I know. Trust me, I know.” You reassured.

“But all I’m trying to say is that, I don’t want to repeat that same cycle — taking advantage of your emotional state. I want you to be yourself again and be in the right space before trying to take this any further. And I want you to have no doubts and be completely sure.” You understood his point of view and his reasoning behind it. Nodding, you allowed him to finish his sentence. “So, for now? We can just figure things out, set some kinda boundaries, if you want.”

You thought about it for a moment, fingers drawing shapes on one of his hands. “...Just honesty. If you kiss someone, hook up with someone…” The words made your eyes twitch. “Just don’t let me find out from someone else.”

“Oh, I can promise you that I have no one else on my mind, especially now that I know I’m on yours, so there will be nothing to tell ‘n nothin’ to find out, m’lady.” He smiled, saluting towards you. “I’m all yours, even if you aren’t mine. Yet.” He winked.

It’d been weeks since you’d seen the goofy side of JJ. It was comforting.

You giggled, bowing your head slightly. “I promise that I am solely focused on clarifying my feelings towards you and only you, blondie.” You returned the sentiment and the salute. “What about our friendship, though? Is it still a friendship?”

“Mmm….” He thought aloud, chewing the inside of his cheek. “Actually, you’re the smart one. What’s like a fancy, silly term for developing a relationship? Like getting to know each other but not dating, like the in between stage?”

“...We can say we’re in a courtship?” You suggest half-jokingly, shrugging. “But… does this also mean we have to stop kissing each other? 'Cause I kind of like that part.”

JJ faked offense, throwing a palm against his chest and gasping. “Kissing?” He asked, wide eyed and shocked. “We are pogues. And number one rule of pogues, is no pogue-on-pogue macking…Eugh.” He reprimanded playfully, fake gagging. You slapped his shoulder in response, a smile on your face as one grew on his.

“No pogue-on-pogue macking, huh?” You said, playfully swatting his arms as he did yours. “

“That’s exactly right, little miss lips-a-lot - Ow! Did you just pinch my nipple?” He laugh-shouted, holding his chest as your swatting ceased. “What are you? Six?-”

You took the opportunity with JJ's guard down to grab the nape of his neck and pull his face into yours, giving him one last hard, passionate kiss of the night, slightly biting his lip as you drew your face away from his.

“How’s that for no pogue-on-pogue macking?”

next chapter>

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brucewaynehater101 · 8 months ago

Note

Okay okay, so Tim finds out Bruce is stuck in the timestream and gathers all his siblings + Barbara for a meeting, presenting his evidence, a drafted plan of action to save Bruce . . .

. . . And asks what to do with this information

They all come to an agreement / majority vote

l e t h i m d i e

=========

Once upon a time they thought that Gotham, the world, that they, all needed Batman

Now that isn't the case anymore

Oh he was mourned, by the Justice League, by his allies, by civilians . . .

But the Batfamily has grown into their own, they've found a way to fight for Gotham, Bludhaven, Crime Alley because they've inherited the Fear of Batman

They've found their own ways to instill the fear of them into the criminal world

Their territories are becoming better even despite their Patriarch being dead

And they feel less dead than they were becoming under his thumb

The Dark Knight is Dead; Long Live The Dark Knights

· · ·

People questioned what would happen with the Prince of Gotham dead

Tim tried becoming CEO, but Jason stepped in himself to take the mantle from right under him, citing he was too young and should enjoy his childhood while it still lasted

That started quite a fight between them

Duke Thomas was adopted by Jason and while not technically joining the family's nightlife, Signal could always be found while the sun was up

Gotham's bones broke, organs failed, and flesh was bitten off

Gotham has never been better since Batman or even The Second Robin died

Praise the Batfamily

This is happiness . . .

=========

Somebody finds out they let Batman die

Be it the Justice League, other heroes, their rogues, or another hero's rogues, or somebody else entirely

They find out

Do other groups learn by themselves? Does this knowledge come into the hands of people who would spread it?

Either way, the Batclan is going to have to confront that it's known they let Batman die

Is the knowledge it used maliciously, is the accuser wanting answers, or is it a mix of both

Gosh, what will Alfred think if he learns? I imagine that even if he enabled Bruce's abuse they kept him around, stick close enemies and friends after all

(me thinks personally that Joker is throwing a fit with his nemesis dead, and he may not even be able to abuse the fact his own kids killed him cuz it was a child abuser who was killed by his abused)

(but I'd love to see your take on Joker's pov when he only knows Batman is dead and if he learns his kids left him for dead and if he learns they were abused by him and that's why they let him die)

Now I'm wondering what would happen if it got leaked to the public that the Batfamily knew Batman could've been saved but did nothing about it. There could be so many different reactions from different groups

Crime Alley people, criminals, people outside Gotham, Gothamites themselves, and Bludhaven residents would have different takes collectively methinks

Fucking hell, that isn't even accounting for all the fuckery you could do w/ Bruce Wayne = Batman and I'm not talking about an post-mortem identity reveal, I'm talking identity shenanigans

Like say the bats knowing they could have saved Bruce but left him for dead and somebody/some group learns this and leaks it

And then Jason steps in to say "you know the FUCK what? We knew our old man could have been saved and since he was shit we voted/agreed to let him die!!" And all hell breaks loose

And that's just one example!

=========

Inspired by that ask on Jason calling for a family meeting after learning Bruce is stuck in the timestream to figure out what to do from there

+ the one post where Dick tries and fails to get Tim to give up on Bruce so he doesn't embark on BruceQuest and Bruce dies in the Timestream

w/ Cassandra in particular, it'd be fun to explore her psyche in the Vote branch, if she votes to let Bruce die or not considering her "No Kill" stance

Heck, with both branches they alone bring so much fun to the table, even without the flavor of The Reveal

Agreement: You get the explore a world where all the bat kids + Barbara want Bruce dead, by why is it? You get to see all their reasons for it, and how their reasonings may mesh or clash and how they come to make their decisions!

Majority Vote: You get to see the conflicts between those who want him back and want him dead + what they do and think knowing who voted for what then onwards

Bonus if a batsibling or two start of wanting Bruce back but then decide they want him gone, or the reverse, or they flip flop again and again until they make their choice

Either branch I think would overhaul the Batfamily's relationships w/ each other in a major way and not just because someone has to take Bruce's spot as the family head or whatever, but because they chose/voted for said Patriarch to die

That's a big fucking deal

Oh yeah, Duke; is he ever taught about the (technically not) Patricide committed? Or do they keep him ignorant because ignorance is bliss?

Because if he learns through means other than them, yeah it'll be a shit show the Bats won't be prepared for beforehand

Oh yeah what about Gordon? Do you think he'd be in the know or learn via leaks or a leaker cuz he's kind of Barbara's family

Hello!!!!!!!!!!

Tw: abuse, death, murder, child abuse, suicide (let me know if I need to add more)

I love this idea, and I'm totally up for breaking it down.

If it's not an agreement, then it's likely that the ones who disagree will try to save Bruce regardless of what everyone else wants

This will turn into an all-out war as those who want Bruce dead try to prevent the others from succeeding. It would be like a weird version of capture the flag, clue, and escape the room. The save-Bruce team (whether out of love or duty) would need to gather all the evidence that Tim did while fending off attacks and working against the clock (there comes a point in time that it's too late to save Bruce).

Even if they all agree, it's still complicated feelings wise.

Bruce is an abusive piece of shit (especially in this AU), but it's hard to not love your abuser. The cycle of abuse is difficult to break out of. I think Dick and Jason would be at the point they are more apathetic to Bruce's care/love. They are adults who don't rely on him. They might still love Bruce, but it's easier for them to put a defense against the man emotionally to the point of condoning his murder.

Babs and Steph aren't his kids, so, while their feelings aren't black and white, it's easier to distance themselves from Bruce.

Canonically, I think Tim recently got adopted by Bruce. This makes it harder for him to outright reject Bruce. When given evidence (and shown what Bruce did to his other family members), Tim might come to the conclusion that it's better off without Bruce.

Damian is a child who just got to meet his dad. I doubt he'd be on board with this plan nor, with his hero worship, would he be able to find faults in him. He simply hasn't spent enough time with Bruce (and lots of angst to be explored there. Basically, his "siblings" that he's just met are telling him it's better for him if their dad is dead).

Cass loves Bruce. She trusts his mission, what he's supposed to stand for, and that he does love his kids (she can see that he truly does love everyone). At the same time, he hurts her siblings. She doesn't agree with leaving Bruce to die, but her feelings are complicated on the matter.

How the batkids feel about Alfred is similar (although not categorically per a kid) as they feel about Bruce

If they've reached the point where they have acknowledged that Alfred will never be on their side nor protect them, they still love that old man. They want him to be around, they would be sad at his death, but they know Alfred could and has hurt them. They know Alfred would choose Bruce over them.

The JL find out Bruce isn't actually dead with the Black Lantern battle thing.

Theoretically, other heroes can then start trying to save Bruce. Without canon Tim's information, though, they might not be able to. Bonus points to this batfam au if Oracle and others actively sabotage their efforts.

Gordon would be presented with all the evidence that Batman was an abusive piece of shit.

The Commissioner would try to bury any feelings of grief out of guilt for what he's unknowingly allowed his ex friend to get away with. If he knew that Batman was the same boy he threw a jacket over at the scene of that kid's parents' murder, he would sit at his desk with a bottle of scotch and a lit cigarette trying to figure out where it all went wrong. Jim would blame himself, curse Batman, and, as he curses himself for always allowing, do not a damn thing against what the masked vigilantes tell him to do.

Crime Alley and Bludhaven respectively probably would either not give a fuck, say "good riddance," or whistle at the fact the Bat's own kids refused to save him.

Gothamites know their vigilantes. If the batkids had refused to help Batman, than they trust the kids. There's nothing out there that would turn a man's entire family against him besides the man himself. By the end of the week, all Batman related stuff is burnt and replaced by the many symbols of the birds.

Anyone outside of Gotham (besides Bludhaven) will criticize the batkids. Gotham becomes fiercely protective over their birds after that and will fist fight anyone who tries to talk shit about them or their decision.

Fuck Joker, but here's how I think he felt about it.

Man definitely lost his shit in a fit of giggles. It seems (though Joker is slightly disappointed he wasn't part of the final showdown) that Batman was dragged down to the level of madness he swore he'd never go to. If Batman's kids turned against him, oh that must mean that the furry freak truly did horrendous actions against them!

That clown spends several weeks coming up with twisted fantasies and theories to ask out of the Birds to tease out their reactions for when he next sees them. He wants to know exactly how the Dark Knight fell and what was so dastardly to turn children against their father.

After he solves that mystery? Dealer's choice. He doesn't quite get as much joy without Batman around. He can play around with Red Hood and Red Robin specifically (if JJ happened), but nobody is the Dark Knight.

Maybe his melancholy turns into rage where he starts seriously gunning for all the Birds for not returning Batman to him. That, or Joker kills himself cause his nemesis/obsession is gone. Both are likely responses.

Anyways, I also love the positive notes you had that I didn't address. The hopefulness of them doing better for Gotham and Jason adopting Duke is fantastic. I'd love more of that as well as everything else

#dc comics #dc universe #thank you for the ask!!!!#bruce wayne #bruce wayne bashing #dc au

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wannaeatramyeon · 1 year ago

Note

THANK U FOR THE RECENT SAMUEL SEO im literally so obsessed with him i cant-

but!! he’s not the only one!!

could u try goo with a childhood friends!lover? (im just going through my list of red flags boyfriends with this trope heh)

To my requests. sorry for not answering in order. Btw I've got a school day/teenager long fic with Goo in the Gun + Goo masterlist... but how about this.

Goo Kim x Reader: Childhood 'friends'

G/N. Sorta childhood friends to lovers.

Goo descends into your life like an angel.

"Will you pay me if I beat up these boys?" he shouts over, giving the wooden baseball bat in his hand a few practice swings.

(He takes in your cowering body, cornered against the wall, the group of older boys slinging insults first.

Then your pristine, limited edition trainers and the expensive label on your clothes second.)

You look over at the short figure with the badly bleached blonde hair. He seems small for his age, same as you.

Best case scenario, he makes good on his word. Worst case, they beat both of you up.

You give a nod and all hell breaks loose.

Goo isn't an angel at all. He's a demon that has ascended and strutted into your life.

"Is this enough?" You ask, peeling open your velcro Sanrio wallet and removing a handful of bills.

"Thanks!" Goo swipes it out of your hand, tainting the notes with blood before tucking it away in his pocket with a reassuring pat.

A body at his feet lets out a groan and he gives them a hard kick. You think there’s a crunch of bone breaking. It’s not as sickening as you thought it would be.

"That one's for free." He gives you a gigawatt grin and you return it. In your eyes, not even what you just witnessed this boy doing could tarnish his shine.

"My name is Goo," he signals for your phone and you hand it over without a second thought. He taps in what you assume are his contact details before giving it back.

"Call me if you need any help." You reach out to take it and he leans in, smile taking a dangerous edge, "You'll need to pay though."

For fear of retribution, you ask Goo to walk you back home from school everyday for the next few weeks.

You text him a time and an address, and he texts you back his price. It's enough to drain your allowance, but not enough for you to risk your safety.

He waits for you by your school gates everyday, with his patchy hair and a scruffy jacket three sizes too big, and gives you a wave with both arms whenever he spots you.

He's chatty. Much chattier than you expected. Always just seemingly rattling off whatever is on his mind. Animes he has watched, manhwas he's reading. What he had for lunch, what he's craving for dinner.

You piece together that Goo is only a few months older than you. He should be in 6th grade by now but he never mentions school. You don't think he even attends school.

He also has a terrible sweet tooth, that you pay for of course. Stopping off at a convenience store together as he picks out a snack.

"Get whatever you want." you say the first time you catch him deciding between a drink or a bar of chocolate. "I'll pay for it."

He buys both.

That should have been a mistake. He drains your allowance further everyday. Yet you can't help thinking it's fine as he gives you a toothy grin that reaches his eyes.

The weeks pass by in the blink of an eye. When you reach your front door on the last day, Goo shuffles, fidgets uncharacteristically.

"I can keep walking you home," he says, eyes on the floor and kicking at dirt. "...I can give you a discount."

Goo starts seeing you at the weekend too.

You're the first person that sees him after getting his hair professionally done.

"I'm handsome, aren't I!" his bravado masks his nervousness. He doesn't know why he's nervous in the first place, but when you agree and ruffle his newly coiffed locks, it evaporates completely.

Payment comes in the form of food and drinks, snacks and street food, cinema tickets, small little gifts he has his eye on.

As consolation, at least he always shares.

When you first met you're sure he was shorter than you.

You don't remember when he matched your height, but now you notice you have to tilt your chin up to look at him.

You miss the scruffy jacket he used to have. The one that he rapidly grew out of, body filling out with muscle. It gets replaced by more and more luxurious brands. His hair looks more and more polished. He picks up glasses along the way to complete the look.

He still makes you pay every time you meet. You feel like he lets you off easy with cheap choices because his taste these days seems anything but cheap.

You wish you had more time with the boy you used to know, but you love the man he's growing into.

Goo never lets you sway too far away from him, keeps you by his side most weeks. Reaches out to send you silly memes or calls you just to ramble his thoughts when you're apart.

You're two peas in a pod.

The longest time you spend apart is when Goo is sent away to juvie.

An unknown number texts you, says they're Goo's cousin and breaks the news.

It doesn't come as a surprise, considering how you first met, the person he is. You've spent years together at this point and seen him at his most violent and bloodthirsty.

Still. For you, nothing can tarnish his shine.

On the day Goo is released, you're waiting for him outside the juvenile detention centre.

You're the first person he sees, and he waves at you with both arms before opening them, welcoming you, offering himself.

He’s even taller, more muscular. His features distinguished and jawline cutting. His hair, just like years gone by, is bleached and patchy.

The grin is the same. It’s always the same.

You sprint and throw yourself full force into Goo, knocking the air out of his lungs.

He holds you tight. Clings on harder than he ever has. Missed you more than he will ever admit.

As if you're reading his mind, you murmur into his collar, "I've missed you.'

Goo takes a deep inhale, nose nestled in your hair and breathing in your familiar scent. Relishing your touch, your presence, you.

He doesn't plan on spending this long away from you ever again.

"Me too, Sweetheart."

#lookism #lookism x reader #goo kim #goo kim x reader #lookism fic #kim joongoo #kim joongoo x reader #wannaeatramyeon

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orionremastered · 13 days ago

Note

do you think you would ever do a wingfic? cause i LOVE your writing style and your shifter fics have lead me to believe that you would be super good at it :]

like brucie would obviously have batwings cause ✨drama✨ and maybe for the rest of the fam they have wings that match their hair colors and personalities? if that makes sense 🫠 and maybe the reader has just super duper soft wings :}

if you ever decide to do something wingfic esq. just know that i would be the first to read :3

with love - @gothammybeloved

Rising from the dead with this one (I have twenty asks in my inbox)

Happy Holidays you mfs

Masterlist

Bruce

Def a bat. Causes him problems with the press having similar wings to Batman sometimes but there's a lot of other people with bat wings so it's generally a baseless accusation. This likely goes for the entire batfam because lots of people have similar bird wings. Ye

I'd think that he and Lucius Fox probably designed some kind of protection for bat wings (and then later of feather wings once he adopted Dick etc) because criminals would purposely or accidentally rip the membrane/break the bones of batfam wings.

Dick

Dick is a Blue Jay because;

A) blue does it need explanation

B) Blue Jays have elliptical wings which are shaped in a way that "allow birds to maneuver tightly in confined spaces and minimize drag for rapid ascent and descent". And it makes sense for Dick who is flexible to concerning degrees. So. Neat

Jason

We have two options here:

A) secretary bird bc they beat the shit out of snakes. I promise. Snakes = dirty criminals yk??? Also that bird looks like it reads Jane Austen

B) Andean Condor which is the largest bird of prey

because Jason is a brick shit house

Tim

Crow/Raven. Doesn't matter cause they're both smart and have been known to use things like tools and other stuff etc.

Also black would fit with the Red Robin suit I'd think so yeah 👍

Damian

Like father like son, so bat wings too. In the League I'd think they would treat the wings of the Al Ghul (I'd wanna say all have bat wings too? Cant see Ra's with bird wings) family as...

Idk but see the vision ok: painting the membrane with special paint that doesn't weigh them down, in gold intricate patterns. They'd have people do it for them but when moving to Gotham, Damian would probably keep doing it himself.

Steph

Red (or yellow) tailed black cockatoo. Cockatoos have a fun personality I think and the wings of the red tailed black cockatoo are black, fitting in with her suit, but also have a fun sprinkle of yellow colouring.

Idk what birds have purple wings I sorry

Cass

An owl with black wings (black banded owl, black barn owl etc.) because:

A) black . Black bat? Like?

B) owls are silent in flight which makes sense for Cass because she's very stealthy and quiet.

Duke

Keeping a trend of Australian birds I think he'd be a rainbow lorikeet. Lovable colourful birds that no one can find a reason to hate except for when there's fifty squawking next to your bedroom cough cough

Have mostly yellow wings. Bonus their chest feathers reflect in ultraviolet light to signal (! See what I did there) to other birds. Let's pretend their wings do that too

Alfred

Some kind of albatross. This man went from British special forces to a butler for billionaires in America. He has travelled. He has seen shit. He makes it look easy

Bonus most albatross species live up and over of 50 years which isn't the longest but still pretty cool.

#batfam #batfamily #bruce wayne #jason todd #dick grayson #damian wayne #tim drake #stephanie brown #cassandra cain #alfred pennyworth #duke thomas

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felixcloud6288 · 3 months ago

Text

Dungeon Meshi Chapter 7

Marcille looks amazing in armor.

Of Laios's guesses over how Living Armor moves, I think the third one is closest to my guess. The actual truth was way outside anything I would have guessed. It's a colony of shellfish.

Note: When I say "Living Armor" going forward, I'm referring to the individual creatures that animate the armor rather than the armor itself.

After Laios removed the head, the body became blind. So the colony is doing more than just muscle contractions to make it move. They probably have some way of sending nerve signals to their connected neighbors so they can quickly coordinate themselves.

As seen in the end of the chapter, the Living Armor have eyes of their own. So they can see without the head, but the Living Armor in the head are probably specially tasked to get visual and auditory information.

So next question I'd have is whether the Living Armor in a suit act similar to the Thing where they're more like a confederacy willing to work together but would abandon each other if necessary. If the suit of armor were blown open in the chest area, would the Living Armor in the arms and legs try to separate from it and abandon the ones in the chest area, or would they stick together?

If Living Armor is akin to how the Thing works, then that would imply every Living Armor is equally capable at fulfilling whatever role it needs to perform and what it does is dependent entirely on where it is in the body.

That is a good submission hold by Laios.

I'm going to guess the exterior of the Living Armor is an actual suit of armor. The Living Armor occupies it and uses the inner walls as half of its shell and then it makes the other half itself.

I'm with Laios. This is an amazing discovery. He should publish a book about the monster discoveries he makes alongside Senshi's dungeon cookbook.

How many times has Marcille previously used her staff as a lasso on Laios?

Look at Laios wanting those Living Armor innards.

I like how Senshi is experimenting with how to cook Living Armor. It's a new edible monster for him so he's trying several ideas at once to find out what is a good method to cook them. And as a nice detail, the nutrition details are unknown because this isn't anything he's ever cooked before.

Do the Living Armors smell like iron because they inhabit iron armor or do they have a high iron content? Maybe their shells are made of iron to help blend themselves into the armor. How do they get any nourishment?

Not everything can be a hit. I'd be concerned about the Living Armor used for the feet.

Laios got his old sword from a normal suit of Living Armor. I guess those ones were using regular swords. The wing pattern of his new sword is part of the hilt itself. Maybe the Living Armor inside the hilt has something to do with the pattern?

Laios has been desperately trying to smuggle something from their monster hunting adventures with him since the beginning. He tried to pocket some man-eating plant seeds only for Marcille to add them to the dish Senshi was making. Then he tried to take some giant bat bones only for Marcille to make him throw them away. And he was quick to hide the Living Armor's eyes when Marcille offered to check it for curses.

Well he's finally got his monster souvenir. And it will be an amazing companion if he ever decides to present his findings on Living Armor.

back

#dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #dungeon meshi readthrough

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v-o-i-d-e-d · 1 year ago

Note

May we have a oneshot based on this scene (https://youtube.com/watch?v=BgVJDd5vHfw&feature=share) for Spockxreader?

Omg, I love this scene! Of, course I will do it! I altered some parts just a little bit but the gist is the same. I hope you like it!

Title: Hello Sweetie

Pairing: Spock x fem!reader, implied platonic Jim Kirk x reader, and platonic Bones x reader

Warnings: canon violence, it's implied that Jim meddled for matchmaking purposes, nothing else I think

Word Count: 2924

She really shouldn’t have been here. Pure lunacy had gotten her here in the first place. Doctor (Y/N) (L/N) was never meant for this type of fieldwork and she was willing to bet that her own lack of skill was a huge reason why she was in this particularly dangerous situation. She was stood in the middle of a very ornate room – a sort of banquet hall she surmised – with her hands cuffed in front of her. Her elegant dress was singed at the hem and her hair had fallen out of its elegant updo. She looked around and noticed there were a total of three other people in the room all of whom wore heavy robes with hoods to obscure most of their faces: the alien guard beside her the one behind her and the one standing by the door they just came in through.

“You know when I get invited to parties, normally there’s food,” She said to the guard who stood closely to her right. He did not acknowledge her at all and his large, bug-like eyes stayed focused on the door at the other end of the room. (Y/N) rolled her eyes, “So much for small talk.”

As she shifted her weight from foot to foot with impatience she couldn’t help but place partial blame on the genius who thought this plan up in the first place. Captain James T. Kirk. Just a day earlier he had cornered (Y/N) in her office and asked her to take part in a simple recognizance mission.

“I’m telling you this is an easy mission and it will go off without a hitch! You’re in, you’re out, you’re done,” Kirk pleaded as he followed her out into the main area of the medbay. He had just explained how it would be perfect for her because she was sociable and friendly. Of course, he couldn’t help but add in the added benefit of her good looks. “People will be spilling their guts to you! All you gotta do is bat those eyelashes.”

“Captain, this is harassment. I told you: missions like that are not in my job training.” (Y/N) turned to face Kirk and used her hand to apply emphasis to her statement. “I. Am. Not. Going. End of story.”

The door opened after what felt like hours but what was only a few minutes. (Y/N) watched as an alien that looked similar to the guard but larger walked confidently into the room accompanied by a few other guards. The big alien was dressed in fine clothes and had an elaborate and heavy-looking headdress on, signaling to (Y/N) that it would be good for her health to not piss him off. She stayed silent until the alien stood so close to her that she could smell him. He smelled of rotten meat and expensive oils.

“You are Doctor (Y/N) (L/N) of the starship Enterprise.” He said. “I have reason to believe you are a cohort of Commander Spock.”

This took (Y/N) by surprise. Her brows furrowed and her lips tugged into a frown. Sure she had worked with Spock plenty of times but surely not enough to be considered a cohort, or associated with him by name.

“I think there’s been some sort of mistake here. I don’t even know Commander Spock that well!”

“Spock suggested you specifically for the mission.”

(Y/N) paused and dropped her hand down to her side. Kirk could very well be lying just to get her to agree but then why else would he want a surgeon doing a spy’s job.

“No, he didn’t. You just want me to give in,” She huffed and gathered some old patient files that needed to be sorted and brushed passed Kirk and into her office. She couldn’t deny the rush of warmth spreading across her face but she could do her best at hiding it.

“I’m serious! He said you were beautiful and that you would be disarming enough to get people to talk to you about anything,” Kirk once again followed (Y/N) into her office but this time stopped to lean on the door frame. He crossed his arms and smirked as he watched the doctor deadpan at him.

“Commander Spock said that? Those exact words?” She didn’t believe Spock even knew how to actually compliment people, even behind their backs.

The alien huffed and one of his henchmen stepped forward. He was very scrawny and his large eyes darted wildly around the room.

“We have reliable intel that you are close to the Enterprise’s second-in-command and we would like you to divulge his whereabouts. We know that he has been trying to infiltrate our databases and that is a crime that can not go unpunished,” his voice was harsh, like a steaming tea kettle and (Y/N) winced.

“Well, I’m sorry but your intel is wrong. I wouldn’t even classify us as friends. Well, I mean it’s not that I don’t want to be his friend. I actually like him a lot but he spends just about every moment with me in silence or critiquing me so-“

“Enough! Quit your useless rambling and tell us where he is!” The boss alien thundered out so loud that the floor seemed to shake. (Y/N) was officially freaked out.

“Look, I’m telling you, I have no idea where he is! I don’t even know if he’s on this planet!” She pleaded with the aliens and hoped they believed her because it was the truth. She hadn’t seen Spock for a while, even before Kirk made her go on this mission.

“Yeah, he didn’t say those exact words but that’s definitely what he meant to say. I could tell.”

“Kirk, get out of my office.”

Kirk sighed and walked up to the desk, “Just please do this mission. We are so close to our goal we just need a little push. (Y/N)-

“Doctor (L/N).”

“(Y/N). Please.”

If there’s one thing that (Y/N) can’t resist, it’s James being sincere. It just happens so rarely that she caves right away. After a moment of glaring into Kirk’s pleading eyes, she rubbed her eyes and sighed, “Fine!”

“Yes!” Kirk pumped his fist in victory.

“But I want to talk to Spock first.”

Kirk paused and side-glanced before looking back at (Y/N), “You can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Cause he’s on the mission.”

“I thought you said he asked for me. How could he have told you that if he’s on mission already?” (Y/N) raised an accusatory eyebrow, she was sure she caught Kirk in his lie but he was quick.

“Because he just left this morning. Now find your hottest dress and meet me in the transport room for your briefing,” Kirk tapped the desk before quickly exiting the room.

“Wait, Now?!”

(Y/N) could honestly say she had not thought of how to get out of a situation like this. All attention was on her – something that she would normally thrive with – but she was at a loss for words for the first time in her life. The big alien grumbled and leaned forward to look closer at her face. She didn’t hide her fear.

“Look, I swear on my life I don’t know what Spock is doing or where he is,” She couldn’t hide the tremble in her voice but she tried to be as firm as possible.

“Humans,” the alien spat, “They lie so blithely.”

“I’m not lying!”

“How can you claim to like someone but know nothing about them? You are lying!”

(Y/N) huffed and rolled her eyes, “Just because I like him does not mean he likes me! The guy does not even think that way! He doesn’t talk to me unless it has something to do with my job!” She had stepped forward during her rant but was immediately seized by the guards that were closest to her. They gripped tightly on her upper arms but the guard on her left quickly loosened his grip and she couldn’t help but think that the sensation was familiar. It reminded her of her first meeting with Commander Spock.

She was in a hurry to get to the medbay as she had been sent a 9-1-1 message by Bones. In her hurry she had been completely disregarding the safety of other people in the halls, bumping into several people while shouting an apology over her shoulder. It was while she was giving one of these hurried apologies that she managed to bump into a solid form that barely stumbled while she went tripping toward the ground. With a yelp, she braced for the ground but was stopped by a strong hand taking hold of her upper arm.

“Doctor (L/N), it’s not safe to be running through the halls. The hazard is amplified when one is not paying attention.”

The monotone voice of Commander Spock caused (Y/N) to snap her eyes open and scramble to stand on her own two feet rather than being suspended by her arm.

“Oh, gosh, I’m so sorry, Commander! You’re totally right, I wasn’t paying attention-“

“Apology accepted, Doctor,” Spock interrupted her rambling and then walked passed her without waiting for a response. (Y/N) huffed and frowned as she too walked away from the scene of the social crime.

“Well, isn’t he a sweetie,” She grumbled before picking up her pace through the halls, this time paying attention to where she was going.

From then on, “sweetie” was (Y/N)’s nickname for Spock. She was careful to never say it to his face since she had worked with him a lot more since the “incident” but in private and amongst friends, the sarcastic endearment rolled easily off the tongue. It got to the point where she even used it with the Captain.

“Why do you call him that, it’s weird,” Kirk questioned one day over drinks in the lounge.

“Because every time I talk to him, he’s an asshole. I think it’s funny.”

Kirk laughed and sipped his whiskey. “Well, I think you might have a crush on our favorite Vulcan.”

“Oh, I definitely do,” (Y/N) was very direct. Kirk choked on his drink in surprise and coughed as (Y/N) continued, “But that’s out of the equation because I don’t even think Spock thinks about anyone unless they’re useful for something he needs doing.”

(Y/N) downed the last of her drink and shook her head to try to rid herself of the floaty state the alcohol put her in. In the morning, she would regret letting James Kirk in on her best-kept secret but she was not worried about that or anything else except for going to bed.

“Well, speak of the devil,” Kirk said with a smirk. Spock walked in with his hands clasped behind his back and his usual blank expression. Upon noticing the state of his friend and his colleague he resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“Oh, hello, sweetie!” (Y/N) laughed at her own words and Kirk couldn’t help but laugh as well. Spock was stunned into silence. He let his hands drop to his sides and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He didn’t know exactly how to respond, she had never called him anything other than his name and rank before. He decided to ignore the sudden endearment.

“Captain, you’re needed on the bridge,” He managed to finally say what he needed to say before quickly turning and leaving the room.

When Kirk took the liberty of retelling the story to (Y/N) the next morning, she was mortified.

The large alien hisses to one of his henchmen in a language (Y/N) doesn’t understand and then another one of them steps forward. In a tone that seemed to be unsure of the words he was saying, he started,

“Our studies show that typically when one human likes another, the feeling is reciprocated,”

“Spock is not human,” (Y/N) couldn’t help but laugh before correcting herself, “Well, not all human.”

“Then you have no reason to protect him.”

“That’s not how feelings even work! Not human ones! I admire him and I will protect him but I do not expect any such action from him. Just as I don't expect a sunset to admire me back or for the stars to gaze back at me! Feelings are not about reciprocity!”

“This does not align with our intel,” The big alien was clearly angry, and (Y/N) had a strong feeling that things would not go well from here but as she said she would do her best to protect Spock.

“Regardless of your intel,” (Y/N) scoffed, “Commander Spock has much more important things to do than worry about me or what I’m doing so. I’m of no use to you. Let me go.”

Why did she never know when to shut up?

The large alien’s face stretched into what (Y/N) had to assume was his version of a grin but looked more like he was preparing to eat her. She wouldn’t doubt it if she was being honest.

“If you are of no use for giving information, you can be put to other uses, Doctor.”

“What? Wait!”

The guard to her right started to lead her back toward the door they came through and (Y/N) began to struggle.

“Take her to the nursery, the larvae must be fed,” The big alien ordered with a loud cracking laugh. Just as (Y/N) yanked harshly away from the guard pulling her, the guard to her left took firm hold of her arm once more but instead of leading her forward, he tugged her back into him. Suddenly, he pulled a phaser and shot the other guard. Crying out in fear, (Y/N) struggled once more to get away from this rogue guard as the henchmen began to make their way over to stop him. The guard removed his hood and revealed his face.

“Commander!” (Y/N) gasped and her cheeks reddened. Everyone paused for a brief moment of shock before the big alien roared for his henchmen and guards to seize the two star fleet officers. Spock shot a few more before looking down at (Y/N) with an almost unnoticeable smirk.

“Hello, Sweetie,” He said before moving his grip from (Y/N)’s arm to her hand and pulling her to a run. (Y/N)’s face was warm and it was not because of the running. She couldn’t help but laugh as they ran through the corridors, dodging phasers and guards. “We have to get to the front entrance. That’s the only place Scotty can beam us up!” Spock shouted over his shoulder.

“Right!”

They ran until they reached the front room. Standing in the middle of the room was not the best option but they were only there for a moment before they both felt the familiar feeling of being beamed up to the transport room. Upon their arrival, Spock immediately ushered (Y/N) toward the awaiting Doctor Bones.

“I’m fine! Just a few cuts and bruises. Nothing I haven’t had before,” (Y/N) tried to wave the grouchy Doctor away but he swatted her hands away and then removed the cuffs.

“I’ll be the judge of that, cupcake. You look like you caught on fire.” He was gesturing to the hem of her dress.

“I think for a moment I did,” (Y/N) laughed while Bones shook his head.

“All right, you’re free to go. You too, Spock.”

Bones finally released the two, though he had told Spock that he could leave about twenty minutes ago. The Vulcan had refused. Spock and (Y/N) walked side by side in silence for a while before Spock broke it.

“You have misread me.”

(Y/N) furrowed her eyebrows and looked up at her Commander who was still looking straight ahead. “What do you mean, Commander?”

“My feelings about you. You have misread them.”

Her eyes widened. In the chaos of escape, she had forgotten that Spock was standing right next to her when she basically saying she loved him. Okay, slight exaggeration but she still felt embarrassed.

“Oh.” That was all she said. All she could say. Another time of silence passed.

“I apologize if my actions suggested that I do not enjoy your company,” Spock was deliberate with his words as if he didn’t know if what he was saying was the right thing. The tips of his ears were tinged a faint green when he finally paused in his step to look at (Y/N). She noticed the blush on his ears and couldn’t help the small smile that snuck onto her face.

“So, you like to hang out with me?”

“Well, I’ve never accompanied you in a social setting so it would be illogical for me to say that I like something that I have not tried.”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes.

“However, I do enjoy working with you. You are very good at your job, Doctor (L/N),” Spock clasped his hands behind his back so that (Y/N) would not see him picking at his cuticles. He was nervous.

“(Y/N).”

“Pardon?”

“Call me (Y/N). Outside of work obviously,” (Y/N) shrugged and looked away from Spock’s intense gaze.

“(Y/N).” She could’ve melted at the way her name sounded coming from his lips. It was experimental and a bit rigid sounding but it was a start. She finally looked back into Spock’s eyes and smiled brightly.

“Do you want to go get dinner with me, Spock? I’m starving,” (Y/N) resumed her walk, this time in the direction of the cafeteria. She heard Spock’s steps fall in line with hers.

“I highly doubt that you are starving. You always attend normal meal times which means you must have eaten this morning,” Spock said in a matter-of-fact tone. (Y/N) laughed and shook her head.

“It’s an expression, Spock.”

#Spock x reader #AOS Spock #Star Trek #Jim Kirk #Enterprise #xreader #SpockxYou #Doctor who reference #Spock Imagine

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luxury-nightmare · 6 months ago

Text

mom says it’s my turn on the writing

Idea came from @silverstudios

The exhaustion has returned, as it always did this time of year. The snow outside the window signaled that it was time for it to hibernate. But it couldn’t bring itself to go back to the nest. It was too big for just it. It would bring back to many painful memories of it’s last hibernation.

Back when it still had Winfrey.

It didn’t know where else to go to hibernate besides it’s nest, it couldn’t think of anywhere else it felt safe. Besides, well-

No, it would not stay at the human’s house to hibernate. They would turn it into the asylum the second its guard was down. It would not get lured into such an easy trap.

It wouldn’t. It,

It needed a place to sleep, and the human was the closest thing it had to a safe place, but it would not.

It would not,

It would….

……..

It did.

Curled up into Alex’s bedroom closet, it padded the nest of extra blankets and pillows it had made from it could fine inside. It curled around in circles, preparing to finally hibernate for the winte-

“What are you doing?” It looked up sleepily at the human, standing in the open closet. “Preparing to hibernate” it said, struggling to keep its eyes open “why?”

Alex raised an eyebrow in confusion “Velidgun hibernate?” They asked. Clyde rolled its eyes “yeah, most of the winter.” Alex looked over to the side, “and you’re staying, here?”

Clyde turned over to the side. “I can’t go back to the nest” it stated simply. “Why?” The human asked. Clyde shivered, it couldn’t tell them about Winfey, couldn’t tell them anything.

At least not yet

“None of your business” it stated, and it could see Alex’s flinch in its mind. They were still kind of scared of it. Good. It wouldn’t need them for much longer.

“Okay” they replied, then turned to shut the door. They paused, and turned back to the veldigun. “Tell me if you need anything”

They shut the door. Clyde rolled its eyes.

It didn’t need anything

It didn’t need anyone

It needed to stop lying to itself

————————————

Alex had been avoiding their closet like the plague, aware of the sleeping demon inside. They had been trying to live life around the velidgun in their house, but Clyde had somehow become some sort of staple in Alex’s life.

So, they did something weird.

Not as stupid as the first time they had left out a sandwich for Clyde, just sort of odd. It had seen how much Clyde had adored Halloween, and they had seen it squirming around in its sleep, so they had dug up an old bat plushie they had as a kid. They opened the closet and placed the plushie into Clyde’s makeshift nest, then turned to leave.

Only for Clyde to grab them and pull them in.

Alex panicked, only the breath a sigh of relief when they realized they were still in their coat and winter gloves. Their bones wouldn’t be fusing with their flesh from this. They looked over at Clyde, the sleeping veldigun’s face still as the sea, arms wrapped around them in a hug. Alex was confused, but went along with it for now.

They could rest for a bit.

————————————

two more left

new connection

faint, but there

drown the soul in void

An experiment

could it drown this mind in madness

w̵͇͙̤̄͆͑h̷͚́͝a̵͓͚̋t̴̬͉̞́́̾ ̶̘̽̒͠à̶̹̰̤r̶̫̂͆͂ẹ̸͎́̓͌͜ ̷̻́̇̕ỳ̵͉͑̽o̸̝̠̤̕͠͠ȕ̵͔͚ ̶̪͇̦̒̃̈d̴͔͓̩͐ǒ̷͚͙͘î̸͎͔́ṉ̶̬͑̀g̵͉͑̇ ̴̙͓̐̀f̴̺̭̄͋͝ǐ̴͖͎͆ṟ̷̛̉͑s̸̬̙̣͗́͝t̶̺̩̙͌̓?̵̘͊͐̋

————————————

Clyde woke with a start. It blinked a few times to chase the sleep away from its eyes.

It’s always had the weirdest hibernation dreams.

Six it was starving, it always was when it woke up from hibernation. It saw something out of the corner of its eye, and it turned to open the closet door.

Sure enough, there was a sandwich there. Peanut butter and jelly, it’s favorite. It yawned and stretched, and went to go take a bite.

Maybe staying with the human for hibernation wasn’t so bad

#dreams of an insomniac #doai #doai sitcom au #clyde doai #doai clyde #doai alex williams #alex williams doai #Doai six #i like to this that since Clyde was the first velidgun six created #(Again just a headcannon)#It’s six’s favorite #So it gets brief connection to it in it’s dreams #Only in incredibly deep sleep though #Like in hibernation #If you’re wondering Simon’s the least favorite child

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ghoultrifle · 1 year ago

Note

I know it’s a bit early but I really hope we get some fan fiction of phantom celebrating Halloween for the first time

Thank you anon! I took this and kinda combined it with @p1nkcanoe's post here because i adore the idea of the abbey descending into chaos for two months a year. Also big credit to @marsohthree for her Phantom Halloween thoughts!

Here's 1.8k words of Phantom's first Halloween! This is somewhat based on unmasked Phantom but that's just because i never celebrated Halloween as a kid so he's all i have to go off asfhajghaldgh. Stick around to the end for a cute photo of Barbie and Ken! (also this is my first non-smut story and i'm a bit rusty, sorry!)

Phantom was practically vibrating with excitement, yes it was only September 1st but he’d heard today was the start of something called ‘Spooky Season’. Some people (Swiss) called it ‘Spoopy Season’ but that was silly because spoopy isn’t a proper word and it doesn’t even mean scary!

The clock struck midnight, signalling the end of Summer and the start of two months of ghoul-induced chaos, Phantom was loving it. By the time the sun rose on the first of September, the walls of the Abbey were already covered in spray-on cobwebs and the glass panes in the doors stained with a bone-chilling red. Phantom had been the one to source the blood, having recently learned how to hunt with Cumulus; he absolutely was not a natural and the blood covering the walls had sprayed from the new ghoul after he mistook his tail for a rabbit.

All the ghouls from different disciplines of the clergy, including the band ghouls, collaborated on turning the Abbey into a hellfest, literally. They tried to recreate the atmosphere of the pit, only in the ghoul’s quarters of course, they’re not monsters. The mixed quarters, common areas between humans and ghouls, were turned into more of a haunted house with your typical Halloween attractions and scares.

Phantom couldn’t contain his goofy smile as he helped set up the mixed quarters, placing plastic spiders that he animated using his quintessence to occasionally scurry across the fake webs. He was dressed in a slutty devil costume, Rain dressed in the accompanying angel costume. Phantom’s red skirt barely covered his ass and his black mesh top matched his patchy painted nails. Rain was sporting a white miniskirt with thigh highs to match and a halo headband. Of course none of the ghouls needed to dress up, they could simply unglamour themselves, but it was more fun to do it this way.

The first ritual of the day was to carve the ministry’s pumpkins. After the hunting mishap, the pack decided Phantom was not to be trusted with a knife and was instead relegated to design and project management. He chose a bat design, of course, and carefully stood on his tiptoes watching over Aether’s shoulder as he carved out the flying creatures. Once the new ghoul was satisfied with his elder’s work he picked it up like a baby and would not let go, showing it proudly to everyone he met.

It got so bad he almost took it into the shower before Dew whisked it away, “Nuh uh lil guy, I am not cleaning pumpkin seeds out the drain. You can have it back after.” Dew proceeded to accidentally drop the pumpkin as he was walking back to Phantom’s room, startled by the motion-activated skeleton in the hallway. So instead of a pumpkin, the quintessence ghoul was met with a ‘forgive me?’ pair of bat plushies, it was love at first sight. They’re named Barbie and Ken and, yes, they're dressed in pink cowboy costumes.

Time passed as Phantom eagerly awaited The Day. In the meantime he’d often be found wrapped up in toilet roll, launching himself out of the shadows at passers by, trying to scare human members of the clergy and failing miserably, “Why aren’t they scared by my costume, Mounty?” he’d pout. “Well, you do it every morning so I think they know to expect you by now.” Mountain replies. This only inspires the mischievous ghoul to up his scare game, his dream career being a scarer at a haunted house after the pack took him to Halloween Horror Nights.

The next day Aether and Omega had their work cut out at the infirmary as three clergymen were admitted for various fright-related conditions. Phantom bat-hung from the ceiling, the corpse of a freshly-hunted rabbit in his bloodied mouth, canines poking out as he smiled at the passing humans.

Phantom was forbidden from wearing anything other than normal clothes or slutty costumes from that point onwards.

In the days leading up to Halloween, the pack were sent on a trip to gather themed food for the ministry, Frankenstein crisps, ghost marshmallows, and of course sweets for trick-or-treaters. They thought it would be funny to let Phantom loose in the supermarket with just a list, the poor ghoul only just having learned how to read. “What’s this say?” Phantom asked excitedly, gasping for air as he ran back outside to where his pack was waiting, “Gummy worms, darling, you know the ones?” Cumulus replied the first time. Phantom nodded his head, skipping back into the store, only to jog back out minutes later.

“What ‘bout this one, Aeth?” He questioned, pointing hurriedly at the list. “Can’t see when you’re waving your hand around like that, Bug!” The older ghoul chuckled, moving Phantom’s hand away, “Ah, this is a tricky one. It says choco-late eye-balls.” Aether answers slowly as his hand traces the syllables on the paper. “If you can’t read anything else, just buy something spoopy!” Swiss shouts as Phantom shoots him a death stare from the store entrance.

It took five times as long as it would have taken if the pack joined Phantom, but the little guy enjoyed it too much for them to intervene. The ministry was now fully stocked, ready for the end of October.

Phantom awoke at 3am, the witching hour. His quintessence was tingling with the spirits of those below, rising for their day to shine. Today was the day. He restlessly walked to the kitchen, ready to eat despite the hour, to be met with a very tired Mountain. “Bug, what are you doing up? I thought we taught you how to read clocks?” he asked, still awake from the previous day. “Is Halloween Mounty! I couldn’t sleep any longer, too excited!”

Mountain sighed, clearly Swiss hasn’t been teaching Phantom how to tell the date as well as the time, “Tommy, it’s only the 29th of October, Halloween isn’t for another two days.” He frowned, upset for the eager ghoul. Phantom’s eyes began to water, tears instantly falling at the realisation, embarrassed and dismayed.

“Oh it’s alright, Bug, we can celebrate today if you’d like? Think of it as a practice!” Mountain replied frantically trying to abate the weeping ghoul. He pulled out his phone and texted the groupchat:

Mountain (3:06am): Ok ghouls change of plans… we’re celebrating Halloween today. Be ready :)

Dew (3:07am): huh? halpoween isnt todsy tho

Cumulus (3:07am): Yeah, what? What have you been meddling with Big Boy?

Mountain (3:10am): Phantom thought it was Halloween today and now he’s crying because it isn’t. I can’t bear to look at him like that so I told him we’re doing it today ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Mountain (3:10am): Not my fault btw! Someone (@Swisstopher) didn’t teach new bug how to read the date

Swiss (3:18am): …

Come sunrise, the pack was ready for the rootin-ist tootin-ist Halloween this side of October 31st. Mountain and Aether were dressed up as cowboys, basically an Arthur Morgan cosplay. Aurora wore Phantom’s devil costume with Rain still sporting the angel side. Dew and Cirrus were both zombies, full makeup (and a bit of unglamouring) making them look truly horrifying. Cumulus is wearing a sexy police outfit, because fuck the cops, right? And Swiss is shirtless, wearing a toilet seat cover with ‘Dracula’ written on it in sharpie, “I’m sexy dracula, OK?!”

Phantom was sitting on the edge of his bed, kicking his legs in excitement, ready to start the day. He was adorning a bat costume he made all by himself. It was a black cloth with eye holes cut out and some metal wire to make wings, Aether helped with that part.

They spent the day watching low-budget horror films and eating the Halloween goodies that they’d been saving for trick-or-treaters. Phantom was snuggled on the sofa right in the middle of the large ghoul cuddle pile, chirping happily as he realised how loved he was, his pack did this for him. They sat all day in their uncomfortable costumes just to give him the best not-Halloween ever, and it wasn’t even sundown yet.

Phantom sat by the front door, his tongue poked out as he tied his shoes, ready to go out. The whole pack was coming with him on his first candy hunt, except Dew, he’d gone on a smoke break and was taking so long they left without him.

Dew was, in fact, not on a smoke break. He was carefully knocking on the door of each house the pack was going to visit, “Hi! Yeah I know it’s not Halloween but my friend thinks it is, so could you just play along, please?” he asked, far too many times on behalf of what looked like a fully grown adult. Most of the houses complied, and the few that didn’t, well, Dew gave them a 20 and they quickly got on board. Nothing was going to ruin his Phantom’s night!

And so, one-by-one the occupants of the nearest village were met with a bedraggled Phantom in his homemade bat costume. “Trick or treat?” He’d shout, arms outstretched, holding a comically large bucket for the size of the ghoul offering it.

“Oh sweet thing, happy Halloween! I love your costume, did you make it yourself?” One old lady asked. Phantom nodded as he blushed and twirled to show off the wings. “Very impressive, young man. I think you deserve some chocolate for that, don’t you?” She smiled as she almost emptied a whole tub into Phantom’s bucket, his arms buckling at the weight.

The moon was illuminating the night sky, and the night was winding down. The young ghoul had long abandoned his candy bucket, simply too heavy for him to hold. They walked back to the abbey, Cumulus carrying the night’s haul while Swiss gave Phantom a piggyback, the quintessence ghoul’s legs sore from all the walking.

When they opened the front door, they were met with Copia in bat wings matching Phantom’s. He’d missed the day due to clergy commitments but wanted to show his support for his favourite ghoul. Copia guided them all to the common room where he’d decorated it as grotesquely as he could; bones everywhere, blood dripping from the ceiling, and various speakers playing spooky sounds.

Phantom plopped himself in the middle of the room, taking in the view and soundscape surrounding him as he ate the treats Cirrus left out for tonight, the rest stored safely away from the young ghoul. He couldn’t help but think how lucky he was to be in such a supportive pack. Oh boy was he ready for actual Halloween.

and they were roommates

#spoopy is a word #trifle answers #trifle writes #the band ghost #nameless ghouls #dewdrop ghoul #rain ghoul #cirrus ghoulette #ghoul hcs #cumulus ghoulette #phantom ghoul #swiss ghoul #aurora ghoulette #mountain ghoul #the band ghost fanfiction #halloween

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detectivereads · 3 months ago

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Batman The Long Halloween: The Last Halloween: Prologue #0 by Jeph Loeb

100/5 this was so good; I can’t wait to read more.

This post is for fan entertainment, I am not being paid.

Hi everyone,

I hope you are well.

Ok this comic, I got this on Batman Day, and I was totally stoked to get something from the series The Long Halloween. I love the whole story about The Long Halloween with the crime families, to the murders and this shows how Two-Face came to be, (or at least a version, they have the iconic court room scene with acid.)

Now I did get confused when I was reading the comic, when it said Prologue since this already have Harvey Dent being splashed with acid but looking closer, I saw the subtitle The Last Halloween so that cleared things up.

We also see Glinda Dent, Harvey’s wife, who went MIA for a year and now came back, if you read the Long Halloween, you’ll understand how big of a role she played. I always sympathize with her, that she wanted to spend more time with her husband, but in Gotham you’ll be lucky to get two minutes.

Harvey is one of the villains I always felt sorry for, granted looking at some of Batman’s rogues, there is a lot of people there that are villains of circumstance, either being manipulated to being a villain or just pushed too far. But this comic shows that desire that he wants to be with his wife and have the life before he got horribly disfigure. But not all good things last. Especially when Calendar man has a bone to pick with the Dents.

Now I will say this Calendar Man is freaking terrifying; I played Arkham City and did some background research on the guy and this man is crazy. Tim Sale has done wonderful work on Calendar man on how in the Long Halloween series he has made him so creepy and unsettling.

Calendar Man reminds me of a cult leader when we see him in the church, but way more disturbing. After his acolytes botched a robbery Calendar Man promptly disposes of them.

However, I did find one issue with one part of the comic, where Calendar Man went to the Dent’s house, Harvey was in the other room while Gilda was answering the door for what she thought would be tick or treaters. You think that Harvey would coming busting in the room like the Kool-aid man when he heard his wife’s body dropped to the floor.

Now a real treat that this comic had given us we get to see Robin, Jim had asked Batman if Robin wouldn’t mind going tick or treating with Barbara (Barbara the niece not the daughter, this is the universe where Barbara is the niece).

But Batman gets summon with the bat signal, Two-Face is there he needs Batman’s help on finding Gilda and Calendar Man.

Now this scene where Calendar Man is doing the token bad guy speech, is my favorite scene besides the little color that is on the baby bottle topper the scene is completely black and white. Calendar man has Gilda in the confessional, he is not happy with her roll during the Long Halloween, and he is there to get his revenge on her.

However, before Calendar Man could pull the trigger, Two-Face busts in dressed like one of the acolytes as per Calendar Man orders to show that he is “loyal” to Calendar Man, he has to perform a heist.

Calendar Man wants the Moussaieff Red Diamond, but Calendar Man falls into the trap that Batman set up. We also see the real Harvey and Solomon Grundy busting in the room of the church. After Harvey interrogates one of the acolytes, telling Harvey where she is, he disposes of them and rescues Gilda, but like all of Gotham rogues Calendar Man has the penchant to use bombs.

Solomon Grundy takes the blow, but we all know Solomon Grundy will rise again. But it is bittersweet to see Solomon sacrifice himself for a friend.

Back to the butt kicking that Batman is laying out on Calendar Man.

Calendar Man is again telling Batman how hard his life was on the streets of Gotham but felt alive when he was committing crimes. Batman finishes whooping Calendar Man and dashes off.

We see Two-Face and Gilda rowing off into the moonlight? (I don’t know if the sun is rising at this point.) Two-Face and Gilda, Batman and Robin all good things comes in pairs.

Batman is worried about Harvey and Gilda, what could happen to them or what they can do together.

I love this series, I can’t wait for the next issues, seeing some of the covers I have high hopes for the series.

#books recommendations #book review #mysteries #batman comics #batman the long halloween last halloween #batman #robin #james gordon #barbara gordon #harvey dent dc #two face #calendar man #julian day #gilda dent #halloween #halloween tbr

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starkstruck27 · 6 months ago

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My fourth fill for @harringrovesummerbingo!! Prompt + Space: Rainy Day, A1 Title: Cat Got Your Tongue? Major Tags: None Rating: Mature Word Count: 1808 words Additional Tags: Batman AU, Kissing in the rain, Rainy Gotham City, Billy as Batman, Steve as Catwoman Summary: Batman got a tip from the police commissioner that the Penguin is getting ready to do some recruiting for something big he has planned. While waiting for something to happen, The Cat shows up. Also on: Ao3

It seemed like it was always raining in Gotham City, or it was always about to. But then again, when it seemed like there was only ever bad news and bad days for the citizens of the city, it was hardly appropriate for the days to be full of sunshine. And tonight, while Batman stood on a rooftop, hidden in the shadow of a billboard, waiting for the Penguin to come out of his night club, the rain seemed completely justified in falling.

It’d been a hard start to the summer this year in Gotham. First, Nancy Wheeler, aka ‘The Riddler’, had kidnapped the police commissioner’s daughter and held her for a week while the police department scrambled to figure out her clues. Batman had been able to figure them out after a few days, but then they’d gone on the run, and it took a week until he was able to get her back into Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane and get little Jane back to her father.

After that, Jonathan Byers, aka ‘The Scarecrow’, had managed to escape Arkham by rigging the air conditioning unit with his fear toxin and scaring the guards into letting him out. Luckily, he didn’t let any of the other patients out, and instead he left to try and terrorize the city by unleashing his newest brand of fear toxin on a large crowd that’d formed for a press conference with District Attorney Harvey Dent. Batman had come just in time to stop it, and though he became afflicted by the fear gas himself, he was able to stall Scarecrow for enough time until the police showed up to take him back to Arkham.

And of course, just after that, Tommy Hagan, aka ‘Professor Pyg’, had somehow overthrown the cops on the bus that was supposed to take him and a few other prisoners to Black Gate Penitentiary, and they had all escaped. Pyg then came back to the city and managed to get a job with a catering company, only to kill the head cook and take his place in the kitchen. He then used both him and the cops he’d killed as the main course for the evening, nearly making hundreds of people eat their fellow citizens. His plans were foiled when Batman inevitably showed up, putting a stop to the evening before the first course was served and capturing Pyg, delivering him to Black Gate personally.

And then tonight, Police Commissioner Jim Hopper had turned on the bat signal once again, and it was time for Billy Hargrove to turn back into his alter-ego and meet him on the roof of the police station. This time the havoc was going to be unleashed by Eddie Munson, aka ‘The Penguin’. Apparently, the police had gotten a tip from an anonymous source that Penguin was gonna do some recruiting at his club that evening for something big he was planning, and they needed Batman to help them figure out who was being recruited, and for what.

And now Billy was waiting, waiting, waiting on the rooftop across from the Iceberg Lounge, hoping for any leads. So far, nobody had gone into the club except for the usual clientele, and he wasn’t hearing anything on the wire he’d managed to sneak onto the bouncer, nor on the one that he’d safely planted inside the club months ago. If Penguin was recruiting tonight, it was probably not going to be for a long while. Billy just hoped that it wouldn’t take all night. His suit was waterproof, but the rain was still managing to chill him to the bone as he crouched in the shadows.

“Well, well, well,” somebody said, and Billy knew that voice. “What’s a tall, dark and brooding thing like you doing up here so late at night?”

“Funny,” he said, “I could ask you the same thing.”

“You could,” they said, “But that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get a good answer.”

Steve Harrington, aka ‘The Cat’. A thief, and one with a rags-to-riches story that would put Cinderella to shame. He grew up poor and with neglectful parents, and did anything he could to survive on the cold streets of Gotham. And once he realized the lavish life he could live if he only just took it, he never stopped taking. He could steal anything from anyone, and was almost never caught. And even if he was, he always somehow managed to slip away and avoid capture from the police. He was the best thief in Gotham City, but it’s just for this reason that Billy had never turned him in whenever they met like this. Because even though he was a criminal, the best thief in Gotham City had managed to steal the Batman’s heart.

“I thought cats didn’t like getting wet,” Billy said, emerging from the shadows to step closer to his companion.

“Some do,” Steve replied, a certain look in his eyes that made something in Billy stir. “In fact, some of us live for it.”

Billy could feel himself starting to blush under his cowl, but he made sure that he didn’t show it. Steve still probably knew, anyway. “So you’ve decided to come out and play in the rain just for shits and giggles?”

“Oh, no, darling,” Steve said, his voice coated in sweetness, “Eddie’s got a little something for me, so I’m enjoying the rain while I can, then I’m going to go inside and get it.”

“What do you mean he’s got something for you?” Billy asked, putting aside the feeling in his gut in the hopes of getting some kind of lead.

“I mean he’s got a room full of rich bitches and deep-pocket dicks that are just waiting to give me their purses and their jewelry. Every so often Eddie lets me in to take whatever I’ve got my eye on, and that’s why he’s the one birdie in Gotham that I don’t have any desire to sink my teeth into. He scratches my back, I scratch his.”

“Is that so?” Billy asked, “And what exactly is it that you have on him?”

“Oh, now, now, Batsy, you know by now that I only purr for the right price,” Steve said, teasing him with a wink and a cheeky smile.

“So, what do you want? Name your price,” Billy said, pretending he wasn’t about to fold like a deck of cards.

“I want…” Steve paused, pretending like he had to think, tapping his chin and everything, before turning around with a Cheshire grin. “I want a night with you. I want us both to take off our silly costumes and dress up nice and go to dinner at the finest restaurant in town. I want you to treat me like I’m royalty, like I’m your king, and like you’ll always be my Dark Knight. And then I want you to take me home, whichever of our places is closer, and I want you to punish me for all the bad things I’ve done. I want you to do whatever you feel is necessary to make sure I learn my lesson. And when I don’t, I want you to meet with me again, when I have more information about the criminals that roam the streets, and I want you to ask what my price is then, and we’ll do it all over again.”

Billy could feel the heat emanating from his own face as he listened to the things Steve was describing. And damn if he didn’t want it, too. But then he realized something that, right now, there was a more pressing matter at hand, and he had to ask about it before either Steve left or he swallowed his own tongue.

“What did you mean, ‘whichever of our places is closer’? Where do you think I live?” He asked, alarm bells going off in his head. He trusted Steve, but he knew he probably shouldn’t. And there was no way he trusted him with his secret identity. At least not yet.

“Oh, sweetie, I know where you live. I figured it out months ago,” Steve said, “And give Alfred my regards, by the way.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes you do. But don’t worry, baby. Nobody else could ever get it out of me, because the only price I want for information is the one I want from you. There’s no amount of diamonds or dollars in the world that would get me to give you up, or else don’t you think I would’ve done it by now?”

“How do I know that I can trust you?”

“Well see, that’s the fun part,” Steve grinned, slinking closer. “You don’t.”

And when he kissed Billy, suddenly the idea of him knowing didn’t seem so bad. It was a dangerous thought, one that could potentially lead to his downfall, but Billy had never been one to shy away from danger. In fact, just the fact that he was where he was at that moment proved he preferred to embrace it. But for as nice as it was, now was not the time. He still had to find out what the Penguin was planning, and if Steve had any information, he’d have to get it sooner rather than later.

“Maybe,” he said as they finally parted, “Maybe I can pay your price on another night, but I need any information you’ve got now. What can you tell me about what Eddie has planned?”

“First you’ve got to give me your word that what I asked for is what’s going to be done. Tomorrow night, seven o’clock. I know you never go back on your word, so give me that, and I’ll give you what I’ve got on Eddie.”

“Okay, I give you my word. I’ll take you out tomorrow night, seven o’clock sharp,” Billy said, “Now, what have you got?”

“There’s nothing happening tonight,” Steve said.

“Pardon me?”

“Nothing is happening tonight. Eddie’s not recruiting, and he probably won’t be for another couple of days. He’s planning something soon, but it’s not going to go down for another couple of weeks, and if you keep your word, I’ll give you the insight on that once I have it. But for now, nothing’s going on.”

“That can’t be,” Billy mumbled, a little taken aback by what Steve said, and more than a little skeptical.

“Can’t it?” Steve asked as he walked to the ledge of the building’s roof.

“Jim Hopper said someone called in with a tip that Penguin was planning for something tonight.”

“And who do you think made that call?” He asked as he stepped onto the ledge, winking again before adding, “See you tomorrow night, Batsy.”

And by the time it had clicked in Billy’s head what he was getting at, The Cat was gone.

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th3sp4rr0w · 1 year ago

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Day Seven

A03 Link <- Starts at Chapter/Day One for those just joining us :))

Prompts For Day Seven Flatline/Restrained/CPR

Alt. Prompt For Day Seven Disowned From Family

Prompts Used for Day Seven All

Tw's; Blood, Severe Injury, Lots of Medical Talk, Dubious Medical Accuracy, Implied Drugging, Mentioned Child Murder/Death, Parental Child Abuse

Chapter Seven under the cut :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The worst moments of any parent’s life are when you realize your kid is in trouble and you can’t drop everything right away to go save them.

For most parents, this moment comes when their kid’s sick and they can’t get out of work to go pick them up, or they go to a friend’s house for the night, and they come home with horror stories and the “I didn’t want to wake you up” line. When you and your kid are vigilantes on a mission in a foreign country, however, that feeling doubles.

He hadn’t wanted Robin near the action tonight and sent him out on his own. He had watched him leave from the shadows. He almost called him back and told him to stick with him tonight. He regretted everything now, of course, but regret doesn’t change our actions. Guilt doesn’t right our wrongs.

Batman got the emergency signal while he was in the middle of a fight. The Joker may not have shown up as promised, but these were definitely his men, and they were out for blood. Batman couldn’t leave the victims there, so he had stepped in and immediately regretted it.

He finished up as quick as he could, then sped off. He didn’t have his regular bat mobile here, never seeing the need for one, but he did have a car that was adjacent to it in terms of speed and self-drivability. He followed the signal to a warehouse on the edge of the city, far enough away that anything could’ve happened, and it’d likely go unmonitored. He saw the corpse of a young man when he pulled in, and selfish as it was, he prayed he wasn’t too late for Robin.

He saw Robin when he got the door opened and fell to the ground. His eyes caught the tools in the doorknob. He saw his boy for just a moment before everything fell apart.

The blast shook the ground and nearly made him lose his footing. He watched his boy, his funny, sweet boy get swallowed by the plume, burning bits of his flesh and ricocheting debris off his already beaten little body.

If there was anyone else in that building, they were already dead. He couldn’t think about how if Jason hadn’t opened the door when he did, he’d likely be dead; Batman could see where metal beams being stored in the warehouse had fallen where Jason should’ve been standing. Batman racked his eyes across the wreckage, looking for anything out of the ordinary to make sure they were safe. There was part of an arm somewhere to the left of them he refused to think about.

He pulled him away from the wreckage and checked him over. Miraculously, he was still breathing. Several broken bones stood out to him; his rib cage was misshapen and his wrist looked like it was at the wrong angle. The worst of his injuries were several large gashes across his body, including one on his back, and several large burns spread across his arms and legs. The damage to his cheek and the blood in his hair indicated a severe concussion; they’d have to monitor him for brain bleeds...

He stopped breathing. Batman pressed two fingers against the boy’s neck. Nothing. Shit, shit, shit-

He got into position on Jason’s left side, pressing his hands above where his heart should be. He tried not to think about him as the boy that called him papa that week, the one who’d gushed about Jane Austen and had the most wicked sense of humor and-

Batman plugged the boy’s nose, tipping his head back gently. He took a deep breath and blew it into his lungs, making sure his chest rose when he did. He immediately started CPR again.

He couldn’t afford to think right now. He wasn’t Bruce. This wasn’t Jason and this wasn’t Robin. This was a little boy who was hurt and who had to live, dammit-

As a parent, he always thought the worst moments of his life were going to be when his kids did something stupid, and he couldn’t get to them right away. He was quickly learning that the worst moments of a parent’s life were the moments when they weren’t sure if they were going to come home alone after a trip with their child.

He stopped to check for a heartbeat. A slow, but steady ‘thunk... thunk... thunk...’ greeted him. He could see the shallow breaths he took.

Batman made sure to cradle as much of the body as he could as he scooped him up. He kept his neck as stable as he could as he ran towards the car and opened the back seat, carefully sliding in.

“Computer,” he said gruffly, “Take me to the air vac.”

The car started. He hated using the self-driving modes on these things, but this time he didn’t have a choice.

The first thing Batman did was strap him into a neck brace. He ripped the boy’s clothes off, being as careful as he could manage not to jostle him in the case of a spine injury. He’d done so to both get a better look at the injuries and prevent them from sealing in any heat that would cause more damage.

The whole area of the boy’s torso was a solid mass of black and blue. There had been a tear in his suit that allowed his skin to burn there a little bit as well, though the majority of the burns were on his legs and hands. His wrists and upper-forearms were shiny and pink, the rest being relatively clear. He didn’t think there was any smoke inhalation.

His legs and hands were a different story. He wasn’t sure if the boy would be able to keep his legs; they were a solid mass of deep red and black. His boots had protected his feet and ankles for the most part, but that meant very little if the legs themselves were too damaged. His hands were only slightly better. Batman focused on those first, grabbing a clean saline solution and flushing the areas of any soot or debris as well as cooling down the area, preventing it from burning itself more.

His suit had protected him from the worst of it, but there was still a significant amount of damage. He’d estimate about 40 percent of his body had been hit, so...

Jason just hit 90 pounds at his physical last week. Though, he did a lot of exercise, so he needed more fluid in a day than a normal child did.

Once they got in the plane, he would set him up with two large I.V. lines to deliver 4,500 mL of fluid to start with, all within 8 hours. He’d have to monitor his urine output and would probably have to adjust it accordingly, but...

He was just thankful his airway was secured. He didn’t have the medical supplies in the car to do it himself. He’d still have to put him on oxygen once they got to the plane, but at least he was breathing. It was a start.

As the car rolled to a stop, Batman wasted no time in scooping the unconscious teen up in his arms and running towards the plane. His boys thought he was paranoid for including all the medical equipment, but this is why he does so. Jason... wouldn’t make the flight home otherwise, and nearly all the clinics and hospitals in the area weren’t equipped to deal with Jason’s injuries. He pushed the thought out of his mind before it could form.

He got him on the plane. He set him down on the cot before fluttering around, checking he had what he needed.

He pressed his com unit, “Agent A, are you there?”

“Yes, sir,” Alfred replied immediately. “I saw the signal from the cave, is everything alright?”

The pit in his stomach grew larger. “No. We’re preparing for an emergency flight home,” he said as he ripped off his gloves, changing the kevlar and metal for a sterile medical grade latex.

“Oh dear,” Alfred replied. “What do you need me to do?”

“Call Lesli, have her meet us at the cave” he replied. He usually saved this tone for the worst of Arkham’s breakouts, where he needed his kids to listen to him the most. He almost felt bad using it on Alfred.

“I need the cave’s medical area to be completely sterile. I’m prepping him for two large I.V.’s, wide open to administer 4,500 mL of fluids within the next 8 hours.” Batman wiped the child’s arm with alcohol pads before removing the needle cap on the I.V. line. “He has burns on about 40 percent of his body, as well as several blunt force trauma wounds, weapon unknown,” he carefully stuck the needle into his arm, securing it with medical tape. He started the process on the other side.

“I want a head C.T. to check for any bleeds or hemorrhaging. He also has several deep cuts on the majority of his body, most will likely require stitches. He also needs to be checked for carbon monoxide poisoning, and I’d prefer a full blood work-up before we administer any medications to make sure he wasn’t poisoned or drugged.”

“My word...”

“I’ve gotten his I.V.’s in,” he updated. “He’s being started on fluids as we speak,” he hung up the bags on the pole. “I’m going to get him on oxygen,” he said, grabbing the tank and mask, “Then inserting the catheter. We’ll be on our way shortly.”

“Very well, sir. I will contact Dr. Thompson. Would you like me to contact Nightwing as well?”

Batman cursed. He’d nearly forgotten Dick was on a mission.

“No. I’ll do that as soon as I get Robin-” his chest squeezed painfully; this couldn’t be happening- “Situated. Nightwing will want all the details. He’ll want to lash out at whoever tells him. He’ll never forgive himself if that’s you- He'll be alright in the end if he screams at me for a while.”

He heard the man make some sort of noise before clearing his throat. “Alright. I’ll go prep the med bay now. Make it back safe. Take care of him.”

“Will do. Thank you, Agent A.”

He muted the com. He made sure the oxygen mask was working- the rise and fall of his boy’s chest became much more steady- and he worked to prep the catheter. After that was all said and done, he’d have to put the plane on autopilot he hated doing that, but he had no choice and monitor him the entire ride home.

He debated placing a nasogastric tube; it was a long flight home, and he was unresponsive, but he didn’t have the mask that works with the tubing, and with the lack of a proper ventilator on the plane he was wary of giving him medications anyway-

He looked at the spot where they should’ve been, sporting an empty drawer. He would definitely look into that later, he always took methodical care of his medical stock and for it to be empty was shocking, but for now he had his decision made for him. He covered him with a shock blanket and walked away for a minute.

He started the plane. Now that he had stuck everything he had on hand into the boy to keep him alive, he could get him home.

He launched the plane himself, double checking known airline flight paths and government areas and setting his course with the computer.

He’d have to monitor the small boy himself. Make sure his heart was beating and he was breathing. He looked so much younger with the blanket and tubing and the mask. He was still breathing; he checked his heart rate.

Batman grabbed his emergency coms unit from his belt. He took off the cowl to put it in his ear and pressed the button.

While waiting for an answer, he grabbed his burn kit and got to work. He flushed them with more cold water first, just to double-check that they were flushed well and weren’t still hot. When he was done with one area, he put the blanket back over to prevent him from developing hypothermia.

“Batman?” he heard his eldest’s voice in his ear. “What’s wrong?”

“Nightwing,” he started as he worked, “Report.”

“Mission has been successful so far. We are on schedule to depart on time. There was a minor snag involving Starfire, however we are passed it. In full honesty, I did not understand a single thing that was happening, and I don’t think I want to, if that’s okay. I’m sure she’ll be typing her report soon if you’re interested. There are no injuries or serious damages to report- what?... No, I’m not counting you stubbing your toe five minutes ago- shut up, KF, no-”

“Nightwing,” he growled out. “Are you able to get to a secluded area?”

“Yes,” he replied immediately. He heard shuffling, as well as several whining teens before a door shut with a click. “Okay, what’s up, B? What happened? Is this about Joker?”

Batman took a deep breath. “It’s Robin.”

“What happened?” his tone was urgent and he could just imagine the look on his eldest’s face-

“About an hour and a half ago, I got an emergency signal from Robin. I was across the city dealing with a situation of my own and was not able to provide assistance for about 45 minutes. When I got to Robin’s location, he had just managed to pick the lock and get out of a warehouse he’d been held captive in.”

“How is he?” Dick asked immediately.

“He was beaten with a blunt object. I don’t know the extent of those injuries as of yet because I’ve been treating him for severe burning across 40 percent of his body.”

“What? Where’d the burns come from?”

Batman took a deep breath. “The warehouse exploded. There’s been at least one casualty.”

He made a wounded noise. Batman steeled himself; he hated hearing his kids upset. He busied himself with dressing the wounds.

“Oh my god,” he heard the boy mutter. “I- oh my god. What was he doing? What was he thinking?! How’d he get captured?”

“I don’t know yet,” he growled out. “It was the Joker. That’s all I know.”

“How do you know?” he demanded.

Batman looked at the J on Jason’s cheek. He’d been avoiding looking at it but it looked even more glaring than it had moments before.

“Just trust me,” he said after a few moments. He heard his son curse under his breath and start walking.

“I’m coming home,” he said, all business. He heard several shouts in the background.

“Nightwing-”

“Don’t ‘Nightwing’ me,” he hissed, “You let my little brother take on the Joker by himself-”

“I sent him away from where the fight was supposed to be!” he barked.

“That’s even worse!” he shouted back. He could hear him grabbing things as questions from the rest of the teens piled in. “What were you going to do by yourself? Huh? You were so focused on bringing down that mass murderer by yourself because-” he pitched his voice down low, doing a shoddy impression of the patented bat growl, “I work alone- except you don’t!”

His voice was back to being his son’s. Not Nightwing’s, not Robin’s. It was all Dick Grayson, voice cracks and all.

“You lost the right to work alone when you took me in and dressed me up to punch mentally ill criminals and you don’t get to take that back! You don’t get to just take on the Joker by your fucking self and look where it’s gotten you! My baby brother blew up in a fucking warehouse, Bru- Batman, I’m going home.”

"Nightwing. Your team needs you,” he said softly. The emotions that had been begging to be let out sat at the base of his throat, allowing him to gently coax his son into listening to him.

“The team would be fine,” he sniffled.

“I know they would. I also know you’ve likely scared them to death. I know you’re scared, sweetheart, I’m scared too,” he admitted. “But he’s breathing. I’ve got him. We’re going to do whatever it takes,” he promised. “Finish your mission, chum. I promise Jason will still be here when you get back.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“I’ll finish my mission,” his breath hitched, “But I’m coming straight home after. And you’d better give me every shred of information you get I swear to god-”

“I will,” he promised, and he meant it. “Go. I’ve got Robin. You go fill in your team.”

“Dad?” he heard him ask.

His chest squeezed tighter.

“Yes, lad?”

The other end was quiet for a moment.

“Do you really think he’s gonna be okay?”

His voice was smaller than Bruce had heard it be in years. It was more vulnerable than it should be, begging for reassurance. He hadn’t heard Dick adopt this sort of tone with him since he was about fifteen himself.

“I hope so, chum,” he muttered, looking down at Jason. “I hope so.”

When the call ended, Bruce walked over to the trash can. He sat heavy on his aching knees and emptied his guts at the image of his boy, his baby laying in a heap, burnt and broken in front of the warehouse. It was all he could see when he closed his eyes.

When he was done, he wiped his mouth with the back of his gloved hand. He changed gloves before he went back to treating Jason’s wounds. He went around the burns, applying dressings and checking the bleeding of any cuts. Most of them had already clotted, and those that hadn’t yet got fresh gauze pressed against them until they did. He didn’t dare close any of his wounds; infection was highly likely and he wasn’t sure if Leslie would want to keep them open so they could drain easier or not.

He checked the boy’s urine output halfway through the flight. He upped the fluids. He made sure he was breathing, that his heart rate was okay, that the dressings were moist. By the time they made it to the bat cave, he was exhausted.

He was immediately greeted by Leslie, who was prepared for the worst. She and Alfred checked over Bruce’s work, double checking I.V.’s, hooking him up to a monitor that showed his heart rate and blood pressure. After some evaluation, they decided to give him a blood transfusion.

Whatever he’d gone through before he’d been rescued resulted in a lot of blood loss. They prepared 5 units and had more on stand-by just in case. The initial 5 units was planned to be administered over about 4 hours, and they were already switching to warmed I.V. fluids to help prevent him from developing hypothermia.

They inserted a nasogastric tube, switching the oxygen mask for one that could accommodate it. After some quick blood work, they got him on some medication for the pain he was certainly in.

Normally, Bruce would be at the forefront of something massive like this. Asking questions, giving suggestions; not today. No, today he sat at his son’s bedside, stroking his forehead and whispering reassurances.

Leslie and Alfred ended up agreeing that the risk of infection, as well as the swelling was too high to risk stitching up the majority of Jason’s cuts, unless they had gone too deep into the dermis layer and beyond. They stitched up a couple of areas on his thighs and arms but left most of the cuts to heal.

Jason’s cheek did not get stitched. They wanted the swelling from his broken cheekbone to go down before they worked on it. Leslie said that, although she’d do her best, she wasn’t sure if it’d come down in time to stitch it.

They set his bones. They cleared his spine. Eventually, all there was left to do was scans and tests.

Alfred shoo’d him off to eat, shower, and nap. Standing alone for the first time, Bruce sunk to his knees.

Several minutes passed before a familiar voice called his name.

“Bruce?”

“What is it, Clark?” his voice sounded hallow. He didn’t bother looking up. He felt something soft bump his hands.

He opened his eyes to find his best friend holding his son’s zebra. The same one he’d just gotten for him.

“Alfred called me and told me what happened. He told me your hotel information and I got your things; I wasn’t sure what to do with this guy because he seemed important being on the bed and-”

There’s a sound parents make when their babies are in distress, and they can do nothing about it. A high keening thing that sets everyone around them on edge. It’s the noise of an animal at their breaking point. One of the worst parts about having the hearing Clark does is that hearing these sounds, these private moments, is unavoidable. Every cry and scream a parent makes when their baby is hurt, or worse.

Bruce took the zebra. He held it tight to his chest and wept.

Clark wasn’t sure what to do. There was no fixing this, no taking the pain away. He sat on the floor next to the other man, carefully dragging him into his lap the way ma does for him whenever he’s upset about something.

He knew it wasn’t enough. It could never be enough.

Clark had a feeling the zebra wouldn’t be leaving Bruce’s side for a while yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’d been two weeks since Danny had been back in school.

The popular kids avoided their group like the plague, including Star. She apologized in private. Danny got it. They still chatted about their books and how much fun they were having reading them on the side. He still hadn’t told the rest of the group that, while he couldn’t say they were friends, they were definitely headed in that direction.

They wouldn’t be happy she wasn’t his friend in public. Normally, he would agree, but he’d come to learn that she desperately needed a friend. Other than him and Kip, she really had nobody in her corner. The rest of the A-listers expected her to be some empty blonde, and while she could be very independent, overall, Paulina had final say over most of her life. They’d been friends since they were babies; she wasn’t ready to throw that away. So, empty-headed blonde bitch she was. She had her moments where she could stand up, but overall, it was like she was another casualty of the popular kids.

Ghost attacks had gradually decreased, leading to uneventful patrols and time to relax. Danny actually finished his homework and still had time to read before going to bed. He’d spent his Saturdays going back to the library with Jazz, having a short conversation with Kip before meeting up with Star to read silently. It was nice.

Red had texted the group chat. They explained some things. Both groups ended up apologizing. She healed up pretty well and was already back on patrol. Her first patrol back, they had a little banner with a cartoon ghost saying “Welcome to The Phan-Team!”

She called them losers. She had a wide grin on her face, and they’d laughed after. They did agree they needed a better name than “Team Phantom”, but until they figured one out, it stuck. They even had ‘team meetings’ (read; lunch) at Nasty Burger on Saturdays... and most days after school.

Sam had a big allowance she was willing to spend on her friends and they had a fast-food addiction. Sue them.

They’d had meetings after school at Nasty Burger for forever, but having Valerie there was a nice addition. She’d taken to the news better than they’d expected, and Danny was only sometimes looking over his shoulder to make sure she wasn’t plotting her revenge in secret. Sam even got her way, with Danny at least; she’d asked him if he’d ever consider going vegetarian at least a while back, and he promised that if NB ever came out with a decent veggie burger, he’d do it.

Sam was exceedingly smug when the restaurant debuted the burger, and looked like the cat that had gotten the cream when Danny conceded that it was good. Just like that, they had two vegetarians in the group.

During last Monday’s meeting, Sam had told them that Bruce Wayne’s kid had landed himself in the hospital. Although they were being really secretive about which one for privacy reasons, some details had slipped into public knowledge.

It’d been all over the news. By this point, everybody knew that Jason Todd-Wayne had been severely injured after getting kidnapped by the Joker during one of Bruce’s business trips. There weren’t too many details, including how he’d gotten kidnapped or what his injuries looked like, but it had somehow gotten out that his biological mother passed in the incident.

The gala had, of course, been cancelled, and people had been camping outside of the Wayne mansion to try and get a glimpse of the family. Apparently, the older Wayne kid had come back a week after the announcement, which was a big deal. Sam had shared the sparse details during lunch, in spite of him and Tucker asking her not to.

Over this past weekend, Jazz and Danny had the place to themselves. Their parents had left them alone so they could go to a ghost convention happening in the town over; it ran from stupid early to stupid late, and they hadn’t wanted to miss a second of it, so instead of making the drive they requested one of the rooms the event rented out for their attendee's. The whole thing sounded shady to Danny, but hey, at least they didn’t drag him and Jazz along for the ride.

The weirdest thing about it, honestly, was that Tucker couldn’t find anything about it online. It was freaky; his parents had sent several pictures showcasing thousands of people, and there was not one word about it anywhere on any major social media platform Tucker could find.

They’d tried to investigate further, but the website itself for the event had some pretty aggressive firewalls up and Tucker hadn’t had the time lately to tear them down. He’d tried tearing down as many as he could, walking away, and coming back, but he’d just ended up with more than he’d started with.

It was odd. Normally, Tucker could hack just about everything. They’d kept their guard up and warned Val to do the same, filling her in. Though he had to be a bit more subtle about it with Star, he had warned her he thought his parents were cooking up another scheme to get the whole town killed. She’d sent a laughing emoji and told him she’d keep an eye out.

Having the house to themselves for two days was amazing. They’d left Friday morning to get there early. The convention started that afternoon, went into Saturday, and ended Sunday afternoon, so the kids had plenty of time to do heinous acts, like keep food in the fridge without it reanimating and trying to eat them and use the door whenever they needed to leave the house at night.

Danny was almost disappointed as he sat in the quiet living room that Sunday evening. Val said she’d cover his patrol if he did her English homework, and he took her up on it to enjoy the empty house. His parents would be home soon, and he wasn’t ready for the cacophony of noise they’d bring with them. He’d bask in the silence and the peace it brought for a while longer.

He’d almost fallen asleep on the couch when loud voices penetrated his brain, loud clangs and laughs nearly starling him off the side.

“Oh, Danny!” his mom said cheerily. “I’m so glad you’re still awake, look what we got!”

Danny looked up blearily at her. He saw several inventions he’d never seen before. One looked like a new weapon.

“What is it?” he asked, hoping he didn’t sound as nervous as he felt.

“This is a new kind of ectogun! It’s even more powerful than ours, look-”

He would definitely be telling Valerie about this one. He wasn’t keen on anybody getting shot with that thing, especially since it blasted a hole right through their floor and into the basement, which had enforced steal surrounding every inch of it.

They went through the list of different weapons and traps. Each one left Danny dreading the next time his parents went out of their way to act like one of his rogues just a little more.

“And look at these!” Maddie gushed, “These are goggles! They...”

She had put them on before she trailed off. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts.

“Sorry, sweetie, I must be more tired than I thought. They protect your eyes better than our old ones against ectoplasm!” she finished. Danny nodded.

“Well,” she said quickly, “We have some stuff to put away and you have school tomorrow. You should go to bed so we can do that.”

“Okay, mom,” he yawned, “I love you.”

Jack smiled jovially and pulled him into a hug. “We love you too, son,” he said warmly.

He changed out of his jeans and into some sweats. He got comfortable in his nest, not bothering to turn on any lights. He was asleep within minutes.

He’d had a weird dream again. He dreamt that he was Robin, like, the mythical vigilante sidekick in New Jersey. If that wasn’t weird enough, he had visions of meetings in secret, and of something hunting him. He didn’t know what to make of it.

He woke up in a cold sweat and nearly cursed when he saw his parents hovering over his bed.

“Wha’s goin’ on,” he slurred in his sleep-idled glory.

“What are you,” Maddie hissed.

“Huh?”

“Now, Maddie, calm down,” his dad said, picking the boy up easily, “Let’s not jump to conclusions. We’ve got tests to conduct if we want to know for sure.”

Maddie scowled where she sat, looking pissed. “Fine, Jack. Let’s do the tests.”

Danny woke up a little as his parents brought him down the stairs and into the basement. He still felt sluggish.

“What’s-”

“Stop it,” she hissed.

Jack sat him down, putting his hand in his hair for a moment before strapping him to the chair.

He made a small questioning noise. Jack looked at him with his signature smile.

“I’m sorry, champ,” he started, “But your mom wants to test something. I’m going to humor her, and then when they’re done, you can go back to bed,” he promised.

“I’m not wrong, Jack,” Maddie’s voice was serious, more so than Danny had ever heard it be before.

Danny tried tugging at his restraints. He’d normally be able to bust through these easily, even in human form, but something was wrong. He couldn’t think clearly.

He’d feared his parents before, but it was never like this.

They pricked his finger. They pricked their fingers. There was a loud beeping a few seconds later.

“See, Maddie, he’s...” Jack’s voice trailed off.

Maddie made an enraged noise. She grabbed the gun she’d shown him earlier, changing the setting.

“Mom?” he asked, “What’s going on?”

“Shut up,” the false calm of the voice sent cold shivers down his very being.

“I’ve known for a long time that you weren’t my little boy,” she started, “But I was so desperate to have another child that I accepted it. I didn’t know who’s you were, but I swore I’d love you like my own, and this,” she sounded disgusted with him, and he was so confused, “Is how you repay me.”

“What are you-”

She shot him in the chest. He screamed.

It was like he was in the portal getting electrocuted all over again. His eyes teared up involuntarily. Through the pain and the tears, he could see the familiar white rings that indicated he was going ghost.

Jack paled. Danny himself felt like he’d been sapped of everything that made him human. What the fuck had they’d just hit him with? Did it have anything to do with why he felt like he couldn’t think?

He didn’t know where to look. Jack was beginning to make these keening sobs and all Danny wanted was for it to stop. It was one thing to hear your parents cry like that; it was another entirely to know that it was your fault, even if you didn’t do it on purpose.

He wanted to go back in time and change whatever he’d done to make his dad cry like that.

“I knew,” Maddie eventually continued. “I knew when I got back that night that you were different. You cried differently. Your smell was too sweet. My Danny had the most adorable little giggle that you just didn’t. I knew. ”

She got in his face. “I hoped that I was wrong. I was willing to pretend I was. I loved you for fifteen years. I was willing to accept that you replaced my baby boy, but you killed him. You ended his life to take his place. Why?”

“What are you talking-”

“Don’t lie to me!” she shouted. “Tell me the truth. Why did you kill my baby?!”

Old grief bubbled up in her like a stream. “He was already sick! Why’d you have to take away what precious time we had left with him?! Why couldn’t you just let him rest in peace?”

Soon, all of them were crying. Maddie and Jack in grief, old and new, and Danny from fear and confusion.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he sobbed. “Mom, what’s-”

She grabbed him by the throat. “You don’t get to call me that!” she hissed.

“Mom-”

“Shut up!”

“Dad!” he wailed. “What’s she talking about!”

All Jack could do was sob harder.

“Haven’t you done enough damage?!” she yelled.

“I don’t-”

She slapped him. It was the most pain she’d ever caused him.

Jack gasped, trying to speak through his tears. “Mads. Mads, why can’t we-”

“Why can’t we what , Jack?”

His breath hitched on another sob. “Our sons already gone. We’ve raised this boy for 15 years already and he hasn’t done any damage.”

“What’s your point, Jack?” Her voice was dangerous.

“Why can’t we just keep pretending,” he asked. His voice was the most fragile Danny had ever seen his dad be.

Her entire body twitched. She grabbed a knife from one of the new boxes they must’ve brought down before-

“Mads? Mads!” Jack yelled. “Maddie, please, he was going to die anyway-”

“That doesn’t give this thing the right to take his place!” she screamed. “I’m going to have fun dissecting it!”

Jack threw himself between Danny and Maddie. “Whether he is ours or not,” his voice rasped, “He is the boy we raised.”

“Jack. It killed our son. Look at it! It’s the one that’s been acting like a hero, interfering with our work!”

Jack looked at him squarely for the first time. He took in all his features. Danny tried to make himself look as pathetic as possible, not that it was hard with the tears that still streamed down his face.

The door opened. “Mom? Dad? What’s-…"

“Go back to bed, sweetie,” Maddie said sweetly through the tears. She still held the knife. “I’m just talking with your father.”

“Danny,” Jazz breathed. “Danny!”

“It’s not your brother,” Maddie reassured as Jazz ran down the stairs. She rushed towards Jazz, preventing her from touching him.

“Danny-”

“Danny’s gone.”

Jack turned towards Maddie and Jazz. He slowly turned towards where they kept the Fenton Bat™.

“Dad?” he asked softly.

Jack raised the bat.

Danny could only watch as his own father brought the bat down and onto his head, hitting him hard enough to tip the whole chair.

Maddie spun around at the noise, “Jack. Not in front of Jazz.” Her voice was stone cold.

“Don’t ‘not in front of Jazz’ me!” he yelled. “You said it yourself; that thing killed our little boy!”

“I know!” she yelled back. “I’ve known-”

“You’ve known?! Since when?!”

This would normally be the point where Jazz intervened. Two grieving people can take things too far quickly, and Jazz was all for early intervention. She stood there in horror as her parents started fighting before coming to her senses, dropping down and undoing Danny’s restraints.

As she did so, Danny could do nothing but cry. How did everything go so wrong so quickly?

She carried him up the stairs as fast as she could. Their parents didn’t realize what she had done until she slammed the door shut, propping it closed with a chair and racing upstairs.

“Okay,” she muttered, “Okay,” she said, more assured. She went into Danny’s room, closing the door and propping that shut too.

She grabbed his bag and started shoving clothes in it. Danny got the memo and grabbed his phone and water bottle from his stand. He grabbed his charger as well.

They worked together to pack a go bag as they listened to them break down the basement door downstairs. The flimsy bedroom door would not hold up as well.

Jazz put his library books on top of his other stuff. She had somehow managed to grab her copy of Pride and Prejudice to shove in as well. Danny looked at her.

She cupped his cheek. “I love you,” she whispered. “Now go, now.”

He nodded and hugged her one last time. He flew out of the room just as their parents busted the door.

As he flew away, invisible, he noticed several vans around the front. He went for the back, dodging between two of the vans.

He flew as fast as he could, deciding to visit Val on patrol before he left. He spotted her quickly, grabbing her wrist and pulling her gently out of sight line of the street before becoming visible again.

“Phantom,” she started, “I told you to... why do you have a bag? What happened to your head?!”

He took a deep breath. “They found out. I have to leave.”

“Shit,” she replied immediately. “Oh my god,” she continued. “Did they do that to you?!”

He nodded. She got quiet. “Come here,” she demanded, forcing him to get on her board. He held onto her waist, having a feeling he knew what was coming. “Make us invisible.”

Danny did as she said. They flew through the air, noticing more white vans as they went. Occasionally there’d be alarms that she shot with a marksman’s aim. They’d often be stopped before they even had a chance to start.

They ended up at Sam’s, who was still awake. Danny got the memo, turning intangible as they approached. When they got into the room, he dropped his powers. Sam startled as Val hopped off her board, gesturing for Danny to do the same. He followed.

“What’s- Danny? What happened?!”

Val filled her in, taking off her helmet. She pulled out her phone to text Tucker to come over.

He let Sam fuss over him, though- “Guys? I have to go.”

“We’re doing something before you leave,” Val snapped.

He raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Her face was the most malicious he’d ever seen it. “These fucking acts need to go. The media eats up a good story.”

Sam caught on immediately. “Oh, shit,” she muttered. She turned to him. “Give me your bag.”

He’d long since learned not to question them when they got an idea. He allowed them to take his bag, emptying the contents.

His cheek still stung, his temple throbbing. He hoped they knew what they were doing.

Tucker was tapping at the window a second later, Val going to open it after looking back at Sam for a second.

“Guys?” he asked, climbing in carefully. “What’s going on? Why’d you- oh shit,” he cut himself off when he saw Danny’s bag, looking back at his best friend. He winced sympathetically.

“Okay,” Val started. “Tucker, you brought the goods?”

He nodded, unzipping his bag and pulling its contents out.

Sam and Val both had that look on their faces that spelled out trouble for anybody that had ever dared to cross them. They both turned to him in unison, “Transform back into human form.”

He knew better than to question them. He did so without complaint.

“Am I allowed to know what this is about?” he asked warily.

“The GIW wants an enemy,” Sam started easily.

“So we’re giving them one,” Val finished. “We can’t just post this all overnight, that wouldn’t gain much traction,” she muttered mostly to herself, “We need to stir the pot, nice and good, and then drop these when the media’s hot.”

“We’ll need someone who has a following to help,” Sam mentioned.

It finally clicked. “Star,” he said immediately.

They turned to him. “Since when are you friends with Star?” Tucker asked, fiddling with his camera settings.

Danny smiled slightly. “Long story,” he said.

“Then we don’t have time,” Val cut them off. “Okay, Tucker, you ready?”

“Yup.”

“Then let’s get shooting,” she grinned.

They updated Jazz after their spotlight session, telling her about their plan. Danny texted Star, planting the seeds.

By the time Danny left Sam’s house, he had more money than he knew what to do with, some dry snacks in his bag, a new phone that Sam and Tucker had developed, and a plan.

He was headed to New Jersey. Ancients above, he hoped this worked.

#ailesswhumptober2023 #dp x dc #jason todd #danny fenton #danny phantom #dc robin #robin #batman #ai-less whumptober day seven #kite flies over the nightingale nest

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