#jason may be liminal in this idk

[wonderlandsakura]

Ok but Jason is so for the whole Wayne Foster Project.

Like this is everything he hoped he could give back to society after getting adopted by B?

It's probably the whole reason he comes back to the family and is the thing that heals his and Bruce's relationship.

He might also help interview potential foster families, introduce potential ones that are crime alley and poor but love kids despite not being able to have any, or pointing out which homes need to have custody removed cause he's seen their kids suffering on the streets.

He probably sends his street kids there, ensuring that siblings and families both found and biological can stay together.

All the kids with shit parents but can't/shouldn't stay on the street, he sends there.

Not every child, cause children, especially these children, deserve the freedom of choice, and sometimes they want to stay on the street where they can protect and provide for family, cause it's still family, even if they're broken and have hurt them, he knows that (he's lived that)

It's better that he doesn't betray their trust and that they come to him when they're in trouble, than that he betrays it and they break out of the foster homes and lose then to the streets.

He understands that, even if the rest of his family can't.

He understands provided and protecting family even though they don't deserve it, even though they've hurt him.

He did it for his mom, he did it for both of them.

It's the reason why he died.

It's the reason why he still loves his siblings, still loves Bruce, even though they've hurt each other.

That is to say, he understands Danny.

He can guess what he's doing.

He might not know the full extent of it, but he can guess that he's probably trying to protect his parents.

He's not going to support that, as they've clearly hurt him in ways no parent should, no person should, and he hates that, he knows what it feels like, even if what happened to him was not as invasive and long lasting as what might have happened to Danny, and it makes him want to rip their throats out and crush every bone in their body, cause they don't deserve Danny's love...

But he understands what it's like, and he respects it.

He has to, or he could push Danny away before he can teach him that they are no longer family, that even if they were, it is not enough to forgive them, it is not enough to protect them.

They don't deserve that.

Danny doesn't deserve to have to hurt himself because of them.

He can love them still, (heavens know he still loves them) but that doesn't mean he should protect them.

He can forgive them, (heavens know he's forgiven them) but that doesn't mean he should forget what they did and let them hurt him again.

He can consider them family, but do they truly consider him the same? Do they care for him as they should? They say he's their son, but do they act like it?

What defines protection?

What defines family?

What makes family worthy protection?

If family has hurt family, what can you protect?

What will you protect?

It will take time, Jason knows.

But he can wait forever for his little brother to give him the go ahead to rip his parents to shreds.

He's Family after all.

Heavens know he would die for Family.

Dp x Dc AU: Bruce has a 'if you can't beat them, join them' mentality about the tabloids claiming he adopts too many kids- Developing foster homes that are paid for through the Wayne inheritance, personally vetted by the Bats, they're the leaders in the space for child health outcomes and family placement. Insert Danny.

---

Bruce has too much wealth, too many rumors and not enough reach into the abhorrent foster homes around Gotham to improve them. Tim ends up being the one to suggest it- He's the one who buys up their real estate for their safe houses after all- and Bruce is more than ready to pull the metaphorical trigger to get new clean welcoming spaces, Bat-background checked fosters and a new era of adoption in Gotham underway.

He's lobbied the state and the federal government for reforms of course, but this is a project he can micromanage. He spends time with every kid that comes through, talks with all the families that want to adopt and makes sure that these miniature homes are provided only the very best. Alfred personally hires all the staff, and with Barbara more than happy to help relocate the unhoused children she spots while they patrol, the project is a glowing success.

Occasionally, spots in their houses fill up, and those are the weeks were Cass takes on the Cowl of Batman- Bruce Wayne will personally invite a child in need to his home. He always has one of his kids present (they rotate on a pre-determined schedule) and he does his best to try and get them to understand that they deserve the world, have all the potential that anyone else has and can achieve a bright future. That he will personally aid them in their ambitions.

PR goes crazy for it of course, but Bruce and all of his children know its genuine. Almost too genuine, because a betting pool 'WILL THEY BE ADOPTED' regularly circulates between the siblings and the entire JL when someone spends time at the manor. And not just the black-haired, Blue-eyed kids get picked as favored outcomes- but obviously the running joke gets passed around.

It's a Thursday night when Bruce gets the call that the houses have once again filled up, and that there is a child in need of a home. The social worker (he knows her as Marsha and he has flowers planned to be sent on her birthday next week, like he does for all of his employees) (Say micromanaged one more time) explains that the kid is a bit cagey but has opened up with some humor. She explains that he has a few strange... mannerisms. She's not sure what to make of him, a non-gothamite for sure but something is, well, distinctly 'not from around here' about his energy.

Danny arrives at the house, meets Duke and Alfred, and by the time Bruce meets him at the dinner table it seems as though Marsha had it all wrong. This kid was laughing, he was teasing, he was totally playing along like he'd gone through nothing. Bruce is glad he's in high spirits but its just so... so different from all the other children he's taken in.

Bruce re-focuses on the conversation when Duke mentions something flashing, and its the first time that Danny goes quiet. Entirely still.

"...you noticed that?" Danny quietly asks, a bit of disbelief in his tone.

"You don't have a flashlight on or something do you? It was super bright whatever it is that you had in your hand a second ago?" Duke tries to sound chill but he's looking very much not chill. Bruce saw nothing, and that puts him further on edge.

"Look... I uh, I've been though... I've been through a lot lately. And the last lab I was in kind of, messed with me. I'm normally much better at dealing with it all, I promise." Danny sounds nervous, and the room seems to chill.

"Ah shoot, sorry." Danny notices something and frantically apologizes.

"Sorry for what Danny? You've done nothing wrong but I am worried about you- You said you were in a lab?" Bruce is desperately trying to calm him down while not slipping into Batman interrogation mode.

"Uh, yeah, like a lot of labs. It should get warmer in a second, its just cause I startled, I promise."

"You're a meta." Duke speaks softly and with hope in his voice- Danny is looking between them with wide eyes filled with fear.

"I mean I don't technically have the gene-"

"Danny, have you told any of your case workers where you were? Do any authorities know what you've been through?" Bruce needs to know, desperately, that who ever gave this young boy super powers is brought to justice. Danny goes quiet.

"I'm really sorry." He says softly, but he doesn't leave them.

Duke and Bruce try to ask a few more questions but the silence that meets them declares the conversation over, even with Duke admitting he himself is a meta. Danny didn't even look up from his plate. They watch a movie after dinner, and Danny seems to get back to the smile-y happy guy he had been before dinner.

Each of the bat-fam have their own interactions with Danny- And even if they're getting along amazingly, Danny won't open up. He doesn't open up to his provided therapist. Doesn't talk to Alfred. No one knows what's up.

So when Marsha calls Bruce back explaining they now have a spot for Danny and he can move out of the Manor... Bruce replies that he'd like to get started on Adoption paperwork, so long as Danny is fine with it.

---

Turns out, Danny is fine with it. he's both the newest Wayne and their newest case. (And godamnit, his new family is going to avenge him. If only he'd let them try.)

Danny figures out that Duke= Signal early on because of that dinner, and if he's going to keep his parents out of jail, he needs to be as close to the investigation as possible. He knows that he shouldn't protect the Fentons, but he feels the upset in his core at the thought of letting them befall any harm. He has to protect them. Has to protect Jazz and her hiding spot as a mole within their lab. Has to.

Even if it meant lying to his new family who loves him, and who he loves in equal return. Even if it means lying to The Bats.

---

Tabloids go crazy about the black-haired blue-eyed thing of course, but no poll was ever taken by the batfam or the JL who know the whole story.

[demonic0angel]

Mermaid AU (click for clarity)

MerMay is taking too long!! So have an introductory post to the Mermaid AU (I will probably make more for May idk)

Notes:

+ Danny actually has 2 forms, one of his usual Mer form and another for Phantom. As Phantom, he’s an orca (specifically a southern resident orca). In his normal form, he’s a black clownfish.

+ Most ghosts and liminals are Mer that are related to aquatic mammals. Ordinary Mer are usually fish. I haven’t fully fleshed it out yet.

+ Jazz is the only one who’s a full fish (whale shark) out of her aquatic mammal siblings. Dan is a transient orca and Dani is a short-finned pilot whale. Jazz is the largest of her siblings, almost more than 2x their size.

+ Originally, I was struggling on what to choose for Jazz since I wanted her to be huge, but making her a blue whale was…. A tad too much and it didn’t quite fit my hcs of wanting ghosts to be aquatic mammals while everyone else are fish, but then I smacked myself on the forehead because hello?? Whale shark??

+ Jason is a lion fish and he’s around the same size as Danny, although his human torso is bigger and his tail is smaller/shorter. The rest of his family are also exotic-looking fish.

+ I wanted to throttle myself for making Jason a lion fish. It was hell on earth trying to find references to color/draw him (but I succeeded bc he looks so good). Idk why all lion fish lowkey look so different from each other???? Help

+ I wish I could go into detail about the choices I picked and animal facts (bc I fucking LOVE the sea and space) but I’ll save that for May.

[artstaeus3600]

You know idk if it's just the way I was raised or my weird sense of justice but I love when Jason or Tim or really any of the bat kids don't forgive Batman, and I really absolutely love the way Jazz is written in Blood on the Crown by SkylarkSky, but that might just be because I'm okay with murder for you loved ones :p

But we need more Jazz x Jason being murder buddies and sure Jazz may have ended up with mad science vibes but really that's just how she was raised, she probably also helps Jason with therapy, no she doesn't do the therapy but she helps with his smoking or his drinking problems, she gets really disappointed and Jason caves immediately.

Like more batman's moral code was never going to hold up with Jason when to Jason he had justifiable reasons why he killed (not saying every murders okay just some) and Jazz would probably agree she's probably seen all the victims of the jokers just wandering around or any of the rogues for that matter (I like to think shes a little bit of a medium because of her being liminal)

We need more morally grey characters anyway...

This probably just sounds like a rant so sorry bout that, here's the fic I mentioned!

[stealingyourbones]

*A pitbull trots up to you and lays his head on your counter. As you pet his head he huffs and purple smoke comes from his breath. It swirls into fairy with flaming purple hair and wings to match. *

Okay, so you know how it's fanon that being exposed to enough ectoplasm can make someone liminal, right?

And in my head canon being liminal means you have a small ghost core, which initials have a small obsession.

IE Jazz-Psychiatry, Sam-Goth/Vegan, Tucker-Technology and basically all of Amity Park.

And basically all of the bats dance with death on a semi-regular basis.

So they all have been exposed to ectoplasm enough to have their own cores.

But what are their obsessions I hear you ask?

Well, let me tell you!!

Batman/Bruce Wayne- Justice

This one is pretty obvious. It's the whole reason he put on the mask. But it's also the reason he doesn't kill or use guns. When Jason died Bruce Couldn't kill Joker. I went against his obsession.

Nightwing/Dick Grayson- Fun

This one is a bit more mellow compared to the rest of the bats, but I figured it suited him the best because he's the oldest and basically the Jack Frost of the group.

Red Hood/Jason Todd- Home

Now you may be thinking "why not revenge or sticking it to the bat?" Well dear friend, let me tell you!! Jason's obsession has been corrupted by the pit. Argo, rage. I'll expound on this more if you want, but I figured the rest is context clues.

Red Robin/Tim Drake- Robin

Tim is obsession is being the perfect robin. Even if he takes up another mantle. He is the Jack of all trades and basically Bruce's platonic soulmate. But also idk, I feel like he's could have a better one.

Robin/Damian Wayne- Protection

Damian's obsession is similar to Danny's in a way, but instead of him protecting a place he protects the weak. That is why he likes being Robin and also why he collects animals like pokemon.

*a small commotion is heard outside*

I know there is more birds I could list but I better hit the road. Here's a bag of teeth for your troubles!!

*the pitbull jumps, grabs the fairy in his mouth, and runs out the door. A legion of tooth fairies are seen chasing after him.*

SO LONG SUCKERS!!!!!

aaaa what a good dog I'm love <3333 oh man I love all of these takes sm!

[star-the-lady]

OK I'm curious. So what if instead of just Joker being a ghost, so many other Gotham rogues are as well? Harley is also a ghost cuz she fell in basically the same acid the Joker did. Her real body dissolved and ghost!Harley came back, not that she realized.

Mr Freeze is also a ghost. He has an ice core and due to the weird mutations that happened to him he physically can't survive without ice.

Poison Ivy is 100% a ghost. Like come on. Green skin? Ghost powers? Her obsession with preserving nature? Duh.

A similar argument can be made for every Gotham rogue imo. Their obsessions aren't slick.

Including Batman. Batman is ALSO a ghost, and you know how I know this? No one could survive that many physics defying stunts. Idk how or why, but that man is dead as a doorknob and has been for a good long while. Maybe Ra's al Ghul knows this. Maybe that's why he's so obsessed with Bruce. But he won't say a word because he either thinks Bruce already knows or he wants to see how long it will take before he realizes. Maybe Bruce knows what he is but isn't planning on telling anyone.

The batkids might also be ghosts or at least liminal. They're part of Bruce's fraid, and if they ever die they're 100% either resurrecting or becoming ghosts. It's 50/50. Look at Jason.

Alfred may also be a ghost. How has that man survived so long? No one knows.

The Joker is Dead (and always has been)

Danny is attending Gotham U and gets caught up in a Joker escapade and realizes the clown is, in fact, a ghost.

Suddenly everything makes an insane amount of sense: the fact that no one has killed a psycho with seemingly human-normal abilities yet, that Arkham can’t keep him for more than a week, the obsessive behavior, the appearance.

Honestly, Danny should have clocked this before he even met the spook.

And Danny doesn’t want to step on any toes, really. The Bat and the Joker have A Thing going on. But, the Batman just isn’t equipped to really put a ghost away. No wonder there’s a breakout from Arkham every couple of months. How many other Gotham rogues are obsessive ghosts haunting the city?

Joker doesn’t display any of the usual ghost powers he associates with his own “rogues”—who’ve really become more like unwanted relatives over the years what with their dropping in uninvited, making a mess, and then ditching before they had to help clean.

It strikes Danny, as he’s being tied up by the clown-costumed goons, that maybe the Joker doesn’t know.

Huh.

How does he broach the topic in a sensitive way?

“Hey, uh. Not to be rude but… You know you’re dead, right?”

Danny winces. Not like that, probably.

The Clown Prince of Crime stops in front of him, the crazed light in his eyes dimmed slightly by confusion. He glances back and forth between Danny and the students around him who are shying away from their insane classmate. (Which is. Fair.)

A menacing giggle warbles from the specter’s throat. He leans into Danny’s bubble, that eerie grin stretching somehow wider.

“Ohhhh really?” The clown draws it out and Danny can hear the crackle of static in the high notes. Honestly. How did no one figure this out before? “And are you gonna kill me, hmm? Have I got a widdle hero in my bait tank?”

“No, no, I mean, it’s not… you’re not… like? You’re not alive,” Danny rambles, trying to clarify and failing utterly. “You’re already dead.”

The Joker tilts his head, eyes dilating and glowing toxic green. He considers what Danny said, then throws his head back and cackles like a hyena.

The ghost doubles over, even, laughing so hard it sounds like he’s gonna bust something. He puts a white-gloved hand on Danny’s shoulder for support and squeezes, just shy of hurting.

After an uncomfortably long moment, the ghost wipes imaginary tears out of his eyes and pats Danny on the back so hard he stumbles and falls to his knee.

“You’re a riot, kid! If I didn’t have a date already planned…”

He trails off and ambles away, still chuckling and muttering to himself. “And they say I’m crazy! Wait til Bats hears about this!”

Danny watches him go, despondent.

It’s always harder when they don’t know.

This is gonna be a mess.

[poppitron360]

- Once again, I’ve found that writing my thoughts down as I go is the best way to organise them, like the text form of a reaction video.

- Idk why, but I’ve always headcanoned Leo as a good sewer. I feel like Esperanza would’ve taught him all kinds of handiwork, not necessarily just the traditionally more masculine ones. Plus, there’s extra angst of him needing to mend broken clothes in order to survive between foster homes.

- “He absolutely couldn’t be serious right now. He couldn’t. He’d shatter if he tried” I wanna put my fist through a fucking wall.

- I need a fluffy oneshot of the Lost Trio at a fair trying to beat the rigged machines more than I need my own kidney, I think.

- I was reading about Leo talking about his fire powers being his burden and my cat was probably thinking “why is this bitch screaming into their mattress and then repeatedly muttering the words “I’m fine” while rocking backwards and forwards?”

- Tbh that was me throughout the whole funeral scene.

- Okay, I’m a bit busy with art fight and other projects, but the image of Festus’ fire backlit against the silhouette of a crying Leo, holding Jason’s shroud is fanart I NEED to see, probably by a much more skilled artist, and would also be a great front cover in a fantasy realm where there is a paperback version of this fic. The symbolism! The imagery! Leo is about to embark on a dangerous quest all because of his love for Jason and his grief of losing him- they’re shrouded in fire like doomed lovers, Leo unable to move while Jason is reduced to nothing more than a sheet of fabric. Leo just sitting there and letting the fire consume him. Just arghhhh.

- The fact that canonically Festus felt affected by Jason’s death and grieved for him too fills my heart with so much warmth and sadness. Hurting my favourite human characters is one thing. Hurting their animal sidekick (mechanical or not) is so much worse.

- It may be that I unironically enjoy terrible jokes, but “I’m not a mourning person” had me in stitches.

- Something’s up with that box under the bed and I know it. I know it’s gonna be the catalyst for all this. It keeps showing up. It’s sus.

- “One where Jason was present for […] his wedding.” Yeah I know enough about the expanded lore of this universe to confirm Jason’s definitely gonna be present for his wedding LOL.

- And Leo talking about their kids in a platonic way at first but I’m sure will become in a different way later. The fact that this is something he’s fantasising about even now? Ugh.

- You’ve lured me in with this almost-fluffy moment of Leo thinking about his future with Jason and immediately hit me with “Leo dreamed of fire.” I’ve read enough fanfiction to know that this next scene is NOT gonna go well.

- WAIT THIS IS THE SCENE WITH THE PARKING GARAGE? I REMEMBER THIS FROM THE ASK GAME MONTHS AGO!! THIS IS THE MOST EXCITED I HAVE EVER BEEN ABOUT A PARKING GARAGE EVER.

- That’s actually saying something. I genuinely enjoy just existing in liminal spaces like underground car parks and empty hotel corridors. I do, in fact, regularly get excited about parking garages. But this is still, the MOST excited I’ve been about one, at least in a long time.

- I’ve always tried to write Leo with it in mind that his biggest fear is losing control and hurting others with his powers like he did his mom. My interpretation of this nightmare is that it’s a reflection of that, plus the fact that he is blaming himself for Jason’s death and Piper’s grief. I do wanna know, though- why a parking garage? Is that something from the books that I’ve forgotten about or something significant to Leo? Or is it just that liminal spaces are designed to be creepy? Or that dreams are sometimes completely random?

- Also, is this a trademark Demigod Dream full of prophetic symbolism or is this just Leo’s regular old trauma, grief, and guilt? Is Leo gonna worry that it might be a prophecy confirming his fears, although it isn’t actually?

- I am curious to know how the Plot will progress from here, although I’m pretty sure I’m right about the box of Jason’s old stuff.

- I’m trying (And failing) to read a chapter per night until I’m caught up, so I’ll be back tomorrow or perhaps next week to read chapter 4!

The choiceless hope in grief (chapter three)

They waited until nighttime to hold the funeral, both because Jason had liked looking at the stars and because that posed less opportunity for the neighbors to wonder why the strange family that had just moved here was burning tie-dye bedsheets in the yard in the middle of the day. Tristan didn’t ask exactly what it was they were doing. After a few weeks with them, he was probably used to their antics. It was a nice night—not too warm, but also not super cold. The sky was clear and beautiful. Leo’s heart was too heavy to enjoy any of it. With a gulp, he walked up to the unlit campfire, spreading the bedsheet across it with Piper. They had to keep it partially folded so it fit into their makeshift fire pit—the purpose of this wasn’t to accidentally burn down half of Tahlequah. Piper let go of the shroud and stepped back, nodding to him. Leo gulped. Right. He was supposed to light the shroud on fire.  If the deceased didn’t have a partner, it was camp tradition for their closest friend to do final honors. Despite all of Leo’s faults, that was him. Besides, he was the one with the fire powers. He was the obvious choice. This was supposed to be his job, and his burden.  He couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Rating: Teen and Up

Chapter Word Count: 3.6k

CW: Themes of grief. (This is a funeral chapter, so, that should perhaps be obvious, lol) First | < Prev | Next >

———

Chapter 3: Festus torches a bedsheet

Leo and Piper picked out a simple white bedsheet to use for the shroud. It wasn’t fancy, but it was easily available and they made the most of it.

They tie-dyed it, both of them ending up with splotches of purple and orange all over their arms and clothes in the process.

Once the bedsheet was dry, they spent a whole afternoon stitching—and, quite frankly, doing a terrible job. They were both utter garbage at it. Hopefully, “it’s the thought that counts” still applied with dead best friends.

There was something kind of comforting about just sitting with Piper, working in silence on different ends of the same piece of fabric. In knowing that, if nothing else, Leo could at least do this for her.

“Jason would have loved this,” Piper sniffled when they inspected the final product.

“You think so?” Leo asked, building up to an entirely misplaced joke so he didn’t split open right there. “Personally, I’m not sure. He was such a stickler for rules, he might be offended that his shroud doesn’t meet demigod funeral regulations.”

“Shut up. You know he would have loved this,” Piper repeated, voice quavering terribly as they folded the shroud into a more compact form so they’d be able to carry it outside with ease later.

They couldn’t do a full funeral pyre—Piper’s backyard didn’t have the space, and they didn’t have the materials—but they’d built a campfire, and that would have to be enough.

Jason had already gotten a proper hero’s funeral. This wouldn’t be that. It wasn’t supposed to be.

“Pretty sure I poked myself with my needle and bled on the bedsheet at one point. If we end up summoning Jason and/or a random demon by accident, that’s totally my bad,” Leo warned, because he absolutely couldn’t be serious right now. He couldn’t. He’d shatter if he tried.

It wasn’t closure, but Leo still felt a bittersweet satisfaction when he looked at the finished product.

It was tradition to represent the godly parent with the shroud. They’d decided to say fuck that. 

Jason’s shroud was a mess of orange and purple dye. It had symbols stitched all over it, but none for anyone’s godly parent.

It had Piper’s dagger and a small flame for Leo so the three of them could be together one last time. 

The rest was just memories. A mess of stitches that was only recognizable as a bird’s eye view of the Grand Canyon if you had a particularly vivid imagination. A cartoonish taco and marshmallows and twin video game controllers. The Superman logo. A meteorite among a sky full of stars.

And, Leo’s final contribution: a terrible likeness of a ridiculous wolf plushie from the time they’d dragged Jason out of camp to go to a fair after he’d mentioned he’d never been. Despite the fact that it was his first time, Jason had somehow been the only one of them who’d actually managed to get a prize out of one of the terribly rigged claw machines. He hadn’t even cheated! There was truly no justice in the universe.

If Leo closed his eyes, he could still hear the way Jason had laughed that afternoon, his eyes sparkling and his usually neat hair a disheveled mess from all the rides Leo and Piper had made him try. They hadn’t let him live the wolf plushie down their whole ride back—they’d jokingly dubbed it his son and repeatedly asked him to name it. Jason had rolled his eyes at them and then promptly given the plushie up for adoption to one of the younger campers when they’d gotten back to camp, despite their horrified protests about how he couldn’t do that to his child.

Leo wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry when he remembered it now.

Above all, this shroud was a tribute to Jason. Not to the version of him that most people had known, either. It wasn’t a tribute to Jason, the hero of Olympus, or Jason, the son of Jupiter and champion of Juno. 

Because sure, Jason may have been all of those things, too, but most of all, he’d been their friend. The guy who’d stayed awake with Leo in the sewer and tried to cheer him up. The guy who’d spent all night on the roof of his cabin with Piper, recreating a memory Hera had made up and making it theirs. Who was kind and just the right amount of goofy and had learned to loosen up and laugh at their antics. Who believed in the people he loved even more fiercely than he believed in the deities he’d been raised to worship.

This version of Jason had never been for the gods. This version of Jason was just for them.

~~~~

They waited until nighttime to hold the funeral, both because Jason had liked looking at the stars and because that posed less opportunity for the neighbors to wonder why the strange family that had just moved here was burning tie-dye bedsheets in the yard in the middle of the day.

Tristan didn’t ask exactly what it was they were doing. After a few weeks with them, he was probably used to their antics.

It was a nice night—not too warm, but also not super cold. The sky was clear and beautiful. Leo’s heart was too heavy to enjoy any of it.

With a gulp, he walked up to the unlit campfire, spreading the bedsheet across it with Piper. They had to keep it partially folded so it fit into their makeshift fire pit—the purpose of this wasn’t to accidentally burn down half of Tahlequah.

Piper let go of the shroud and stepped back, nodding to him.

Leo gulped. Right. He was supposed to light the shroud on fire. 

If the deceased didn’t have a partner, it was camp tradition for their closest friend to do final honors. Despite all of Leo’s faults, that was him. 

Besides, he was the one with the fire powers. He was the obvious choice.

This was supposed to be his job, and his burden. 

He couldn’t bring himself to do it. He held the fabric in his hands, all those memories of everything Jason had been, and he couldn’t do it. The lump in his throat felt bowling-ball sized, and he could hardly see what he was doing through the veil of tears that just wouldn’t stop.

Even after everything he’d told himself and promised Piper, he just couldn’t bring himself to close the lid on Jason’s figurative coffin. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

He wasn’t sure he’d ever be ready.

Leo didn't have to light the shroud on fire.

They’d let Festus come out of suitcase form for the evening, because it was only right that he also got to attend the funeral, weird looks from neighbors at the tiny plane flying back and forth above the house be damned. When Leo stood frozen in place with his hand on the shroud and couldn’t bring himself to light it, Festus creaked in sympathy, giving him another moment before promptly torching both Leo and the shroud. 

Leo didn’t have much capacity for focusing right now, so his clothes got a little singed, but he didn’t care. The fire felt familiar and weirdly soothing against his skin.

Festus creaked sadly, and Leo wiped at his own eyes with burning fingers, which was without danger for him but would have caused most other people to go blind in an instant.

“Thanks, buddy,” he said weakly, genuinely grateful for the warmth even though the night wasn’t super cold and he was technically dressed for the weather. He knew this was Festus being affectionate with him. It was Festus being affectionate with Jason, too. In a way, Leo was glad all three of them had gotten to be a part of this.

He kept his other hand on the burning sheet for another moment, afraid letting go would mean losing Jason all over again. It was a stupid thought. Jason wasn’t even actually here.

Finally, he wrapped his arms around himself and stepped back, sobbing quietly.

He was supposed to say a few words. That was how most funerals went—not just Camp Half-Blood ones. He’d actually wanted to come up with something to say, but every time he’d tried to focus on it, the pain got too intense for him to handle.

“I can’t do this,” he said quietly, the flames draining out of his body from the sheer intensity of the cold, raw grief. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

He wasn’t even sure if he was apologizing to Piper for not being able to do any of the things he’d promised, or apologizing to Jason for disappearing and failing to cheat fate and getting him killed.

Whatever the case, he didn’t think he deserved either of their forgiveness.

Piper stepped forward and took his hand, squeezing it gently. Telling him it was okay, even when Leo knew it wasn’t. Even when it felt like he was failing both of them all over again.

“Jason, you were maybe the bravest, kindest person I knew,” she began, her voice quavering. Her hand shook in Leo’s—her whole body was trembling—but unlike Leo, she kept talking despite her tears. She’d always been stronger than him. “You did everything to protect the people you loved, up until the end. I wish you’d told me about the stupid prophecy sooner. I wish you didn’t always make yourself carry everything alone. I just- we both loved you a whole bunch, okay? I just need you to know that.”

“Why did you always have to play the fucking hero?” Leo cursed, squeezing Piper’s fingers a little too tightly. He could barely form the words. To no one’s surprise, the burning shroud didn’t answer. “This isn’t fair.”

“It never is,” Piper said in a quiet, broken voice. She pulled Leo to her chest. “We shouldn’t have to just accept this after everything we’ve been through. But as mad as it makes me, that’s all we can do.”

Something burned in Leo, then—a tiny, glimmering spark of grief and anger and despair, screaming that this couldn’t just be it. There had to be something they could do. He wouldn’t just accept this was how things had to be.

“I miss Jason. I just want him back,” he said, trying to pretend that was something that could happen, and not the same desperate wish of a crying eight year old that refused to be pulled away from his mother’s tombstone because she couldn’t be gone. She just couldn’t be.

Half the reason he’d kept everyone at arm’s length for so long was he’d never wanted to feel loss like that again. But here he was—feeling just as small and helpless as he had back then.

“Yeah, I know.” Piper was still trembling against him. His shirt was wet with her tears. “Me too.”

Gods, Leo couldn’t do this. He couldn’t keep talking about this. He couldn’t keep thinking about this. He couldn’t keep Jason’s stupid face out of his head for ten seconds and at this rate, he was sure he was going to lose it.

“I hate funerals,” Leo sobbed into Piper’s shoulder. “I’m just not a mourning person.”

It was a completely stupid thing to say. For some reason, it helped, though.

“Did you just make a pun?” Piper half-laughed, half-sobbed, looking at him in startled disbelief. “And it wasn’t even a very good pun. It’s literally the middle of the night.”

“Fuck off, I’m grieving. Actually funny Leo will be back in five to seven business days,” Leo said, clenching his trembling fingers into her shirt. “Besides, Jason liked my shitty puns.”

“Yeah, he did.” Piper sniffled. “Thank you for doing this with me. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Don’t do that. Don’t thank me. The last time I should have been there, I wasn’t.” Leo was trembling so hard that he genuinely thought he might have shaken himself to bits if she hadn’t been holding onto him. “Besides, I kind of failed massively at everything you asked me to do, so-”

“I don’t care,” Piper interrupted, hugging him so fiercely that it knocked the air right out of Leo’s lungs. He wouldn’t have had it any other way. “I’m just glad you’re here.”

For the longest time, they just stayed there, sitting in the grass, holding each other until the flames died and all that remained was the pitch-black night.  ~~~~

Leo spent half the night numbly staring up at the ceiling. He had been right. The funeral hadn’t helped him. All it had done was cause him to cry himself into a pounding headache. 

He’d done it for Piper’s sake—and looking at her sleeping face that was almost peaceful, he was glad he had—but unpacking all the emotions he’d tried so desperately to lock up had still left Leo feeling like shit.

He felt like someone had taken him apart and put him back together all wrong, conveniently forgetting to put some components back in at all. Every part of him that had belonged to Jason had been violently ripped out, and now Leo was left with a bunch of sparking cables.

None of this was right. Nothing would ever be right again. 

Jason was dead. He’d been larger than life, and now he was gone, just like that. Even after weeks of living with that reality, it still felt completely surreal. Time should have stood still. The whole world should have stopped spinning to mourn a loss like that. But it didn’t. The world just kept turning, completely unmoved by Leo’s grief. Life continued. And all that was left of Jason were memories, an empty dorm room and a single box of belongings that was collecting dust under Piper’s bed.

All Leo could do now was mourn the six months he’d lost, and every single memory they’d never get to make. 

Worse, maybe, was the fact that he had to mourn a future he’d started to take for granted—one where Jason was present for all of his birthdays, and his wedding, and the opening of the machine shop Leo had dreamed of since he was a kid. One where they were the kind of lame adults who had barbecue night once a week and spent a lot of time reminiscing about all the bizarre shit they’d gone through as teenagers. One where Leo got to corrupt a little blond kid into being his troublemaker accomplice, and a girl with dark curls sat on Jason’s shoulders, making a mess of his hair. One where they got to grow up and grow old alongside each other.

Leo had no idea how he was supposed to face a future without Jason. Every fiber of his being ached, but despite the pain, he wasn’t sure any of this would ever feel real.

Leo hadn’t imagined any sort of future for himself in a very long time. He’d spent years just trying to make it through the day. Anything beyond surviving had been a minor concern.

But then he’d met Jason and Piper, and he’d foolishly allowed himself to dream.

And now here he was, staring at the ceiling, mourning a world that would never exist.

~~~~

Leo dreamed of fire.

This in and of itself was not unusual. He was a demigod son of Hephaestus. Dreams of fire to him were about as shocking as Percy eating blue food or Annabeth designing a building that utterly defied the laws of physics. 

Leo’s first thought was that this was a call from his dad, who was sick of his moping and wanted to offer helpful, comforting insight like “this is why machines are superior to demigods. You can’t just rebuild demigods when they die.”

He wondered if there was a way to hang up on a godly parent. Man, he really needed to figure out how to cancel this crappy dream vision plan he’d been automatically opted into. That was what he got for never reading the demigod terms and conditions.

But it wasn’t his dad. He’d been in Hephaestus’ workshop often enough that he could recognize it on sight, and that wasn’t what this place was.

Leo looked around, confused. He was in what looked like a standard underground parking garage. 

Except, unlike what Leo assumed to be the norm for underground parking garages, this one was both completely empty and had a raging fire tornado in the middle of it. 

Despite the fact that Leo was standing decently far away, the air felt uncomfortably warm—and if he, who was usually completely unbothered by flames of any kind, could tell, that meant it had to be scorching hot.

It was the kind of heat he’d only felt twice in his life. Once when he’d blown himself and Gaia to bits, and once when he’d been eight years old.

Leo shivered. He could feel his whole body trembling, everything in him trying desperately not to remember.

“What the hell is this?” he yelled into the empty parking garage.

The parking garage didn’t have the decency to answer.

Except it suddenly wasn’t empty. 

There were figures crouching behind the columns. Most of them were blurry, more shapes than people Leo could recognize.

But one of them…

“Piper?” he asked breathlessly. She was right in his line of sight, halfway across the empty car park, pressed closely to one of the columns.

Piper didn’t look up. Her gaze was fixated on the swirling cone of fire. Flames rolled outwards from the storm’s center in waves. They collided with the columns, including the one Leo was standing behind. The column provided some protection from the fire, but didn’t help much with the heat. 

“Piper!” Leo repeated, louder this time. Panic gripped his heart. If he could tell it was hot, how painful did it have to be for her?

He had to get to her. He had to make sure she was okay.

It was a frustratingly slow process. Leo kept having to duck behind columns to dodge the fire. Usually, he wouldn’t have bothered, fire-resistant as he was, but this was the kind of heat even Leo wasn’t brave enough to mess with.

The final blast of fire before Leo got to her left Piper’s hair and one of her sleeves singed.

“Pipes?” he asked when he kneeled down beside her, his voice small. “Are you okay?”

She did look up, then, but she was looking past Leo like he was invisible.

He looked her over frantically. Her face was a mask of pain. Her arms… Leo gulped. Piper had been burnt, and badly. 

Leo couldn’t be burnt like that, but he knew it must’ve hurt like hell. He had no idea how Piper was even staying upright.

“Come on, we have to get you out of here,” he said, but it was hopeless. She didn’t seem to hear him.

More fire rolled past the column they were crouched behind and Piper winced at the heat, but she just stayed right there like she was pinned in place. She wasn’t running. Why the hell wasn’t she running?

Instead, she unslung something from her back—was that a blowpipe?—and aimed it right at the fire tornado.

“What, are you planning to knock the fire unconscious?” Leo asked, exasperated. Piper still didn’t seem to even notice he was there. She just poked her head out from the semi-safety of the column and took aim at the fiery cone, with no regards for how hurt she already was and how much worse it would get if whatever was controlling the fire got more pissed off. “We have to go!” 

Leo wasn’t thinking. He just knew instinctively that if he didn’t get her away from the firestorm, Piper wouldn’t make it.

He grabbed for her arm in blind desperation, pulling her back into cover.

Piper screamed in agony, dropping her weapon and clutching at the spot he’d touched. She curled into herself with a terrible whimper. 

Leo pulled away in horror. In his panic, he’d forgotten about the burns on her arms.

“I’m so sorry. I- I was just trying-” he said, his voice breaking. He’d gotten Jason killed, and now he’d hurt Piper. What kind of awful friend was he? “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“But you did,” Piper bit out, furious. It wasn’t her voice. There was something resentful and ancient about it. “Look at you. The little demigod who defeated Gaia. Do you truly believe you can save your friend? Whose flames do you think caused these burns?”

The scene shifted. Piper was running. The parking garage behind her had exploded into a wall of fire that was rapidly catching up to her—nipping at Piper’s heels, then enveloping her. She screamed as the flames swallowed her whole.

Leo was screaming too. He tried to reach out, to find her in the flames, but he couldn’t move. He could only watch as she disappeared in the wall of heat and smoke.

Suddenly, it was Leo at the center of the firestorm, flames pushing outwards from his supernova center.

He tried to rein his powers in, but they wouldn’t listen. The more he tried to control them, the more fiercely they pushed back, rolling outwards, swallowing everything in their path.

Leo was eight and the machine shop came down around him. He was sixteen and the sky was on fire. 

He was almost seventeen and everything he’d ever loved continued to be swallowed by the inferno of his dumpster fire life.“You are a child of flame,” the voice that wasn’t Piper’s taunted at the back of his head. “Anything you touch, you burn.”

———

Notes:

I’ve always had several grievances with how Jason’s death was handled, and one of the main ones was the fact that his arc was about finding his place between two camps that he both felt like he belonged to, only to have his arc end with him dying and getting a Camp Jupiter Funeral with zero of his CHB friends (or his sister) present. Yeah, no. We are not doing that. We cannot have the point of Jason’s arc be “he is of both camps” only to reduce him back to just Roman in death and for half of his friends to not even be given proper space to mourn him. Let him be of both camps!! That was the entire point! Grrr.

Anyway, obviously Leo and Piper are the specific focus of this fic, but since they were also Jason’s strongest ties to CHB, it makes sense to have them do the honors.

There’s some personal bits in here, specifically Leo’s thoughts on a future he always just assumed Jason would be a part of. I had a loved one pass away a few months ago, and it’s really strange to come to terms with the realization of how much of the future you’d taken for granted. And suddenly all that’s left is this mental image of an empty chair that you always thought they’d fill.

My relationship with that person was completely different than Leo’s was with Jason, but that feeling remains vaguely the same.

On a (slightly less? Potentially more?) depressing note, the plot is starting to kick in a little bit there at the end! Not fast—partially because I wanted to avoid messing with the ending of ToA too much, meaning the majority of this fic takes place after Tower of Nero—but some stuff certainly is going on here ;)

I would loveee to hear if anyone has thoughts on that last bit. I considered giving some extra context since what that scene is won’t be equally obvious to all readers, but I decided I may actually just wait and see if someone in the comment section draws the right conclusion :)

Tag List: @poppitron360 @bookIshpolythist @lilyfrey @lady-silkwing @intenebrisobscurat @manygeese @ann-rex

[ailithnight]

Ok, so, these were my tags in my original addition.

They are suddenly relevant with the addition of Danny arguing with, insulting, and messing with the others. Because if Tim is Liminal enough to pick up on the Ghost Speak vibes, the others must be as well. In fact, they may understand clearer since they've all been temporarily dead.

I can't decide which I like better, Damian picking up on the Ghost Speak most clearly since he was raised around a Pit, or Jason since he seems to have been permanently altered by the Pit what with his unfading Pit Rage. Maybe they could both be equal? IDK.

Point! Point is, Danny shadow sending fuck you vibes in Damian's direction and Damian just bristling with anger over it but not being able to say anything without himself sounding like Drake on day 4 without sleep.

Short DPXDC Prompts #809

Danny is extremely weak and injured and he really hates overshadowing people. He does the next best thing: takes over the shadow of a person. Unknowingly, Danny just possessed the shadow of Red Robin.

[currentfandomkick]

Amity legally uses ‘Sovereign State of Not Today Satan’ as their official address. And keep getting metas and various magic users (think the ‘i just want to live on a commune’ type everyday magic users in DC) who end up going.

Gotham going full monarchy and being recognized by Danny as a Sovereign Principality results in so many rulers in the Infinite Realms visiting to establish diplomatic relations with the ‘comparatively weak’ liminal pop on the basis of some obsessions requiring the mortal plane… and undergrowth being a God related to Swampthing is personal hc i can see being leveraged to ensure Gotham’s meta pop has a Noble Line of its own, or makes Swampthing a diplomat. Idk and idc but Brucie Wayne interacting with Swampthing at a gala where Poison Ivy is chatting with Sam about plant science and magic makes me happy. Sam swaps between comparing areas and growing plant sentience in Amity to ‘how to destroy a building with plants’ vs ‘how to reinforce a building with vines’ when she thinks Bruce and his brood aren’t watching.

Mostly incase the US screws up enough that it comes to war. Sam wants to be PreparedTM

Also isnt tucker technically a monarch as a reincarnation of a pharaoh? Him hanging out in atlantis and discussing technomancy and comparing magics and tech while Danny bugs Aquaman about basic diplomacy things that a king should be aware of on earth in the modern age. Why? Danny is asking for tucker!

Aquaman doesnt believe that, but also noted that Danny is given a lot of berth by the diplomatic group and deferred to, but also treated more like the ghosts treat one another than they do the humans. He’s fairly certain Danny won a minor kingship but lets it run itself. He is not aware Danny is functionally the emperor of the dead.

Paulina is absolutely helping Mayor Masters with the anti-usa thing on social media and works with Sam, to both’s annoyance… until they get to bash a policy or horrid take they find online. Yes this is how the two get along, no they are not friends! That’s absurd! Yes Sam did grab her coffee this morning and she’s getting a stupid vegan shake for Sam, what of it?

Danny enjoys helping Jason with the halfa nonsense later but doesnt admit to being a halfa. He says he helps his “cousin” with it. A cousin who when Jason meets her, is a carbon copy of Danny but younger and Girl.

Ellie is thrilled about the new halfa, and asks if he’s unstable too? No? Oh, that’s cool… hey what’s your big thing besides being a protector? Hers is travel! She stayed out of the US until they broke away from the USA for anti-ecto act reasons. Her dad is technically vlad. Technically….

Jason is confused, but rolls with it until Ellie later goes ‘btw can you tell robin his clones are ghosts in the rehab my cousin Jazz runs? One of them really loves baking and another is herding blob ghosts now. Most of them are ThrivingTM as ghosts and are arguing about names and ranks.’

Jason may be a bit mentally broke after that and miss the ‘since i’m the clone sucess story but my original didnt kill me, he coadopted me’ bit

Bruce is going to be so confused when he finds out his sons dead clones are ghosts and mostly took up mundane obsessions and refuse to chose an Undead Country, often stating ‘i only answer to the Ghost King and his kin’ while leaving random presents for them in Wayne Manor as ‘sorry i tried to kill you, i am doing well dead Dont Enter the Infinite Please’ bribes.

Add on for how other residents handle this. Not sure where Wes falls or Valerie—i see her helping with the borders but idk if she’d do that or be more liminal due to the suit and be working on developing her haunt in Elmerton who absolutely joined in the ‘fuck the US’ state of Not Today Satan.

Any idea on where everyone’s vigilante ID in gotham would fall? As Knights are nobility, but would Batman be the only one knighted or would there be multiple, and would Lady Gotham be the technical Queen who lets bruce “prince of gotham” handle most things as she deals with the ecto structure and keeping her liminals safe.

Would gotham and amity join the olympics, or be excluded on an anti-meta policy or other BS?

*slams the door open, eyes manic* Sovereign State!

A Sovereign State: "International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined territory, a government not under another, and the capacity to interact with other sovereign states."

The USA already HAS several that exsist within its boarders? And there was that Gay Island of Australia (no really, look it up.) There is a LONG history of humanity going "well fuck you too then, I'm leaving. But also I refuse to leave. I am METAPHORICALLY leaving." *leaves your country and makes their own*

And??

Where's the FUCK were you? Mr. President? During that INVASION by Pariah Dark??

No, really. Social contracts, my dude. That is WHY you have AN ARMY. For INVADING FORCES.

You ALSO have declared us, your citizens, non-sentient and stripped of us our Constitutional Rights WITHOUT hearings, studies, or any due processes. Not to mention just desecrating the dead like it's NOT a well known religious and moral taboo. AND attacking out dead family members! The list goes on!

Why do we pay you taxes, if YOU are the active threat to us AND you offer us no social services?? You've all but cut Amity off anyway!

.......*Takes our ball and goes home* FUCK IT.

They are literally Limnals. It's a TOWN OF METAS. Can you honestly tell me that they WOULDN'T look at the Ecto-Acts and just think: "Yeeeeeah, how about No. Hard Pass."

You can have your INCREDIBLY stupid and offensive law. In OUR country, that's illegal. "We can't do that?" Yes. We can. We informed you in a Formal Document, which you received, you had the opportunity to STOP us, you did or could not, AND we got Regonized by another government.

It's a Ghost Goverment. We, the city state of Amity, were recognized by like... going on 23 at this point. We have a list. All Ghost Goverments, too. Sucks for you that you don't recognize those, they've decided not to recognize YOURS back until you do.

Politics, baby~

Aaaw D:> Does the Upset Baby wanna call, Superman? Boo Hoo. Somebody's forgetting the Justice League serves EARTH, not AMERICA. Suck on a lemon and die mad about it. Better not come back as a Ghost though! Your Goverment will declare you a lab specimen!

Now if you'll excuse us, WE have interplanetary trade routes. Because WE can use alien tech from our Ghost Buddies. And the Fenton Anti-Creep Barrier means you can't do SHIT. So *large crowd of teenagers making rude noises at frustrated government officials*

*Justice Leauge taking picture in the background* You're doing great sweeties! Aquaman is? So proud of the younger generation? They really are the future, you guys. Can he come in?

Oh of COURSE, your Majesty! *somehow ONLY Aquaman is able to get past the barrier, much to the impotent fury of the GIW and various officials*

@hdgnj @stealingyourbones