#latino Jason they can never take you away from me

[ashenquill]

Assorted conversations from the Batfam group chat, in no particular order:

Tim: I discovered the key to the fourth dimension

Steph: the fuck

Dick: Tim, have you slept recently?

Tim: No. But I have been awaken, not by daylight, but by the ear splitting shriek of the universe as the stars are blotted out, leaving us to our fate on this cold and inhospitable planet. Are you ready for this reckoning? For the end of all you could ever know?

Steph: 🪕

Steph: ^certified banjo moment

Duke: 🪕certified banjo moment 🪕

Tim: 🪕 🪕 🪕

Jason: IM TRYING TO SLEEP ASSHOLES

————

Jason: my life is a tragedy. Not a Greek tragedy, because I’m not Greek. A Mexican tragedy.

————

Tim: have you ever seen Shakira and Shakespeare in the same room?

Jason: STOP DESECRATING EVERYTHING I LOVE

Duke: 💃 Shake-speara Shake-speara 💃

————

Tim, sick of his stockholders’ shit, ready to start throwing fists if he has to sit through one more board meeting: what if I blew up my entire company

Jason: Based?

Dick: Put down the dynamite and drink water/eat food/rest

Tim: wildly different responses. Thank you

————

Duke: sometimes I Kolbe, sometimes I helicopter

————

Steph, suffering from blood loss, a concussion, and 37 hours of no sleep:

Steph: time

Steph: TIMMM

Steph: update

Steph: I’m going pire 😭😭😭😭

Steph: met payechey was only 200 Donald’s

Steph: shot

Steph: that’s not how’s you spell it

Steph: my paycheck was only 2200 dollars

Steph: 200*

Tim: are you okay?

Steph: just peachy

————

Tim: this is why I didn’t have birth siblings

Jason: said with the confidence of someone who had literally any say in that decision at all

————

Steph: [image of a Minecraft chat log]

[Transcription:

<PurplePplEatr> cook those too

<redrobinYUMM> I’m a 50s housewife

<PurplePplEatr> in the flesh

<redrobinYUMM> I’ve got your lunch sweetie

<PurplePplEatr> im at work bitch wife

<redrobinYUMM> I wish you could roast carrots

<redrobinYUMM> give me a proper cooking sim, Minecraft

<redrobinYUMM> cowards

<PurplePplEatr> zanahoria more like zanaWHOREia

<PurplePplEatr> boom roasted

<redrobinYUMM> *sobs*

<PurplePplEatr> ugh youre such a typical woman

<PurplePplEatr> rah rah misogyny ]

Steph: some weird-ass rp in the Minecraft chat

————

Steph: I’m a trendsetter

Damian: Brown, you learned about that from me.

Steph: I’m a ✨trendsetter✨

[beautyconsumer]

For the prompt thing, what do you think Jason’s favourite food would be. Obviously he’s used to and will eat anything he’s given but what particularly do you think he’d like? Also, what do you think he’d like to cook?

For the song thing, I think the chain by fleetwood Mac is a very Jason Todd song.

I don’t have anything else, sorry. 👍

Jason is mostly shown to be eating fast food in what I've seen from canon. And the fandom, much to my delight, has decided that his obsessive and meticulous tendencies would be focused into his cooking as well.

And it makes so much sense to me because from going to cheap fast food one is used to from a busy poor family to be able to go all the way to prepare long process food... I love that for him.

For a specific meal I'm not sure but I think he'd be a total snob. If we're going with Latino!Jason and in this case I'm going with mexican cuisine because that's what I know— he'd be the type to buy expensive ass thick stakes, carne asada with salsa de molcajete, potatoes, guacamole, he's a all or nothing kind of guy.

On that note; I personally see Jason using food as a form of love, if preparing a meal that would take more than a few minutes is a from of self care for himself, I also see him doing it for the people he cares about. Romantic or otherwise.

Cooking for his family, his friends, the outlaws, people he has a crush on.

That's how he shows he cares, alright?

If even not going all the way to bake/cook them something I see him stopping at a convenience store or a fast food chain to get them something so their stomach isn't empty.

With a specific dynamic...

Jaygrant: I see Grant absolutely blown away by the care and love Jason pours into cooking. Grant's heart swelling and not knowing what to do with these emotions because wow he cares so much, he doesn't deserve this. But Grant is nothing but an opportunist he's not taking the horse in the mouth.

And also perceives the love when someone else feeds him. Hehe Hence why I think Bruce getting him food and taking care of him without showing much emotions or actual words meant so much back then. Which is also another way Jason perceives affection; actions speak louder than words. Bruce (or anyone) protecting him means a lot.

I was reminded of that one panel in Knight Terrors where he goes, "I just wanted someone—"

Someone having his back means a lot, especially because of his long story of being betrayed and/alone.

And THAT SONG! That song is in my Jason Todd playlist, you're so right!!!!

"If you don't love me now, you will never love me again, I can still hear you saying you will never break the chain."

I see Under the Red Hood playing with that song. And it pours Jason's feelings so well. It just fits too well.

[rubydubydoo122]

In every universe Jason Peter Todd dies young. It’s a fate sealed across the multiverse. Maybe he could hope that there’s one universe where he doesn’t. aka, Jason, Dick, and Bruce go multiverse hopping, and are not having a fun time. (Ps, when I started writing this fic I hced Jason as Latino, but I don't really believe in that hc anymore, so just a heads up if you don't like that hc)

TRIGGER WARNING -> Child Death (it's Jason) and overdose

Bruce seemed to have that look on his face. The one where he was about to tell Jason something he didn’t want to hear in that tone that made him feel like he was 12 again.

12, like the little lamb who the Joker had Gutted alive, eaten alive.

Jason had to swallow the bile that was rising up in his throat, and turned to Bruce, “I’m sorry I killed the Joker, but not really. You can yell at me later for it. Ok?” Jason wasn’t taking any of Bruce’s ‘Holier than thou’ attitude. He know. He knows he’ll never be good enough for Bruce. He’s known since the moment his brain was sewn back together by the Lazarus waters. Jason knew he could never be good enough for Bruce. If Jason knows that, Bruce has to know that.

Dick was leaning against a wall head clutched in his hands and with his eyes squeezed shut shut. Then he took a deep breath, and it was almost instantaneous the way Dick collected himself.

Just another way Jason wasn’t Dick and would never be him. 

Though, Jason felt like he was missing something when he realized both Bruce and Dick were plastering on their gala smiles.

Though Dick’s voice was tight, barely masking the venom when he spoke, “Ms. Haywood.”

Jason doesn’t think he’s ever turned around so fast, “ Mom?”

Sheila’s eyes lit up in a way Jason couldn’t explain, “Willis,” She swatted Jason’s chest, but let her hand linger, “I thought you were the one who told me to stop calling you papi. ”

Oh. oh. Ew. Ew. Ew. This was some “Back to the Future” type buffoonery. He took a step back, but then noticed how eyes were red and pupils were dialated, “Sheila, are you high?”

She giggled, “It’s just a little coke.” she moved closer and ran a hand up and down Jason’s chest, “You look nice. Almost like the day we met.”

Dick swatted Sheila’s hand away and slightly stepped inbetween the two.

Jason could feel his shoulders creep down a little, now that Dick was acting as a wall “Where’s Jason?”

Sheila pouted, “but Willy, it’s my weekend with him.”

“You’re as high as Icarus right now, and outside, without him. I think I have every right to see my son. Can I borrow your keys?” He held a hand out.

She hummed, “Alright, butcha gotta gimmie something first.”

“Ok…”

She put a finger to her chin and looked up, “A romantic old kiss.”

Jason was about to die from discomfort and cringe into hell, “How about… I promise you one for later.”

She sidestepped Dick and gripped Jason’s collar, “nuh, uh uh,”

Jason was dead. He was dead, and this was hell, “Sheila, please, not–not in front of my Dad.” Jason glanced at Bruce who seemed to be rebooting. The words kinda slipped out, but they seemed to make her falter, “And you’re making a really bad first impression.” Hopefully this wouldn’t be much of an issue. He was pretty sure Papi’s parents died years before he was born, because this was Gotham. No one lived long.

“Oh.” Sheila immediately let go, and smoothed her hair, “It’s nice to meet you sir. I- uh, Willis didn’t tell me he was bringing you. I’m Dr. Sheila Haywood.” She held out a hand

Bruce raised an eyebrow, but didn’t shake it back. It was a power play that Bruce uses with superheroes he didn’t trust. 

“Sheila, why don’t you go on a little walk. Sober up. Then we can all talk together.”

“Yeah. Ok.” She dug her keys out of her pocket, handed them to Jason, and headed down the block.

He ignored Bruce and Dick’s looks as he headed towards the apartment listed on the keychain. It wasn’t too far, a couple buildings down, but something about this Gotham made him feel… off kilter. He didn’t really recognize it as well as the other ones. It seemed… better somehow. Not that there wasn’t crime happening around them, it’s just, compared to their Gotham, the crime seemed juvinile.

The opened the door to the building and went to the third story. Only to realize the door to the apartment wasn’t even locked.

It’s because she was high.

But then why didn’t Jason lock the door? By the time he was five he knew locking the doors were important.

“Mama?”

That was a baby.

He heard scrambling, and the sound of small footsteps making their way to see who had just come in. Baby Jay laid eyes on Jason and his face lit up, “Papi!” and the toddler was barrelling towards him. 

Jason squatted down to embrace the Baby Jay, and stood up while bringing the kid with him. Jason was very skilled at the art of picking up kids. The Alley Kids don’t call him Tio Rojo for no reason. 

He planted a kiss in Baby Jay’s curls, “What have you been up to, Mi alma.”

Baby Jay leaned into Jason’s shoulder an shook his head. Though, it was a bit aggressive, so Jason was 90% certain he was wiping his face on Jason’s shirt, “Nothin’...” Jay looked up and held Jason’s face with both hands, “Papi, your eyes hold the whole earth.”

Jason gave Jay a little laugh, “Is that so?” Though he held Jay’s eye contact. Something… something was off.

“They’re brown like the dirt, green like the trees, and blue like the oceans.”

There was a soft chuckle, that definitely did not come from Dick. Except, Bruce doesn’t chuckle. At least not anymore.

Jason turned around to look at Bruce, who was looking reverently fondly longingly warmly at the two of them, “It’s nice to know you’ve always had a way with words.”

Honestly, Jason might’ve stool there gaping like a fish for years if Baby Jay didn’t start making grabby hands towards Bruce. 

Bruce’s eyes narrowed and reached a hand out to wipe Jason’s face. Baby Jay began to flop towards Bruce, and Bruce immediately caught him, “Hey there, Jay. What’s on your hands?”

“Nothin’!” Jay stuffed his hands in his tiny pockets, “I don’t even have hands.”

If Bruce didn’t look so worried serious, Jason would’ve laughed. Except he didn’t, because now that he thought about it, it did feel like something was on his face. 

Dick made his way deeper into the apartment, very obviously looking for something.

He wiped it with his sleeve, and when he looked at it, there was a white chalky substance clinging to the brown leather. 

“Shit!” Dick swore from the kitchen, “There’s cocaine spilled on the dining table. And a spoon.”

“Call 911.” Jason immediately bent down to grab the Narcan from the pocket by his ankle. Except the packet he had was empty. He used it to help a man who was overdosing during patrol, before their stakeout with Black Mask.

And Bruce keeps Narcan in the vehicles he drives, not his utility belt. Because the parts of Gotham Batman patrols ‘doesn’t have much of a drug problem.’ “Dick, do you carry Narcan with you?”

“I ran out a couple days ago, and only had time to restock for my uniform.” Meaning Officer Grayson would have Narcan, not Nightwing.

Jason looked back to Bruce and Baby Jay. Bruce who’s eyebrows were furrowing more and more, and Baby Jay who was looking at Bruce like he was an angel.

Jason stood up, “Sheila’s a doctor. Maybe… Maybe there’s some in the bathroom? Or the kitchen. Or somewhere.”

He made his way to the bathroom. It was where Mami kept the Narcan when her opiates had been messed around with. There was a first aid kit, but only the with the basic bandaids, antibiotics and painkillers.

“There…There isn’t a home phone.” 

What?

Jason remembers using the homephone to call 911 when– right. Sheila’s his mom, not Catherine.

Still, why, why in the world would she leave a four year old at home alone ? Why in tarnation would she leave her cocaine in reach for a toddler ? She was a doctor , she should know better.

Even when Mami had doctors appointments and Papi was busy working, because chemotherapy is expensive, she would leave him with their neighbor, not all alone. And when the neighbors were too busy she would take Jason with her. Even when Mami had switched to opiates after they couldn’t pay for chemo, even when she was so tired she could barely walk, she made sure to keep the meds sealed and out of reach from Jason. And now, because Sheila was too careless, because Sheila didn’t care, because she didn’t want–

There was crying like the lamb like Tiny Tim. Right, Bruce was alone with a baby. He probably barely knew what to do.

He went into the living room and sat down next to Bruce, who was holding a wriggling Jay. Jason took Jay from Bruce and started rubbing his back. He was warmer than before, “What’s wrong?”

Jay grabbed at his chest, and pulled his shirt, “ Hurts .” Jason rested his hand on Jay’s chest. His heart was beating rapidly. 

Jason– Jason didn’t want to tell Baby Jay a poem to distract him. Because a poem would mean the end and– It can’t be the end. Not when, not when Baby Jay had never lived. Not when he had a whole lifetime ahead of him.

Bruce stood up, and went over to where the CD player was sitting on the windowsill.

“Bruce, what are you doing?”

Jason could tell what Bruce was doing. He was searching through the CD basket. He really meant why he was doing it.

“You, um, you said you used to listen to Billy Joel with your… Dad.” Bruce found the CD he was looking for, “This doesn’t say what song it is.”

“Billy never disappoints for any occasion.”

Bruce put the CD into the player, and the quick stacattos of the piano chords began to play. Maybe ‘Only the Good Die Young’ was a bad song to play when a toddler what fighting for his life.

Though Jay’s crying pettered out when he heard the music.

“ Come out, Virginia, don't let me wait; You Catholic girls start much too late; Aw, but sooner or later it comes down to fate; I might as well will be the one,” Jason stood up, and started swaying to the beat with Jay in his arms, as they listened to the song, “Well, they showed you a statue, told you to pray; They built you a temple and locked you away; Aw, but they never told you the price that you pay; For things that you might have done. Well, only the good die young; That's what I said; Only the good die young; Only the good die young.”

Jason started singing, because he didn’t want Jay wondering why they were just swaying in silence, “ You mighta heard I run with a dangerous crowd; We ain't too pretty, we ain't too proud; We might be laughing a bit too loud; Aw, but that never hurt no one; So come on, Virginia, show me a sign; Send up a signal, I'll throw you the line;” Jason covered Jay’s eyes, and earned a giggle, “ The stained-glass curtain you're hiding behind; Never let's in the sun,” Jason felt his heart swell as Jay softly sang along. 

He was aware that Bruce and Dick were just watching. He was aware that Jay’s heartbeat was still getting faster and faster. He was aware when Jay stopped singing along. He was aware when Jay went into cardiac arrest. He was aware when Dick started doing chest compressions on the doll on the couch. He just couldn’t seem to move his arms, or legs. He couldn’t seem to blink and he couldn’t hear anything. Weren’t they just listening to Billy Joel? What were they listening to again? Vienna? My Life?

There would soon be a child buried in the ground. In a coffin that was too small. There were now seven coffins in the ground that were too small. There was going to be more. With each universe the went to, they brought the death of a Jason like an inescapable prophacy.

Everything lurched around him. The sun engulfed the earth, though it goosebumps dotted his skiin like there was six feet of snow on the ground and he was buried in it. He was buried in white.

A child was gone.

[jessmalia]

(@jonismitchell I'm replying to this in reblog as to avoid the character limit)

Oooh, good question. I haven't read them in a while so I don't remember the details all that well. I do think overall they're way less good than PJO cause they're less cohesive, the themes aren't as strong and the seven main characters (plus Nico and Reyna) are a few too many to balance. That's why I enjoyed the first two books with the trios way more. I do like all of the characters, though, even if Riordan deciding to make them more diverse really made his shortcomings regarding writing groups he's not a part of, especially racial minorities, show. I'm white, though, so I'm not the authority on any of this. The main criticisms I've heard from other people actually a part of these groups is serious stereotyping of Latino men with writing Leo, giving the female characters of color Eurocentric features under the guise of godly genetics, using fetishising language like comparing their skin color to food (which I noticed on my Lightning Thief reread he did with Medusa too) and just a general inability to really ground the characters in realistic POC experiences. I'm sure there's more I'm not recalling or haven't heard of.

On things I can actually personally speak on, though, his villianzing of femininity goes up so much with Piper's chronic Not Like Other Girls syndrome and the villianizing of Drew Tanaka (the fandom has done a really good job of reclaiming Drew and rewriting her, though, which I'm happy about). I'm also not thrilled with how Nico is forcibly outed by Cupid, though I do really love the spotlight he gets in the books, since he was one of my favorite characters from PJO. And I do love that it is revealed that he's gay and in love with Percy (both for his personal journey and cause I was a big percico shipper when I was fourteen), I just wish it was handled a little differently. On that note, too, I think Percy was written out of character in their relationship, because he cared about him way less than in the main series.

The book I remember liking the most was the first one. I just loved the Piper/Jason/Leo friendship so much, I think they made a great trio. The second book was a bit lower on the list for me cause I liked the roman camp less and also that trio felt less united cause Percy spent so much time thinking about his old memories.

As for the remaining books, I remember liking Annabeth's quest, cause she's way less annoying when she's away from Percy. I also thought it was well written. I LOVED the Piper and Annabeth scene with Ares' and Aphrodite's sons Fear and Panic, cause the whole love and hate are very similar emotions thing and the contrast between Athena logic vs. Aphrodite feelings, and it made me quite a big Pipabeth shipper (the endgame in my head). I have mixed feelings on Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus, but I really wanna reread that part before I put an analysis out there. What I can say, though, is that I don't think it had the lasting effect it should've had. I also think the whole thing with Percy's loyalty fatal flaw was very weirdly payed off. Like, they did this whole thing building up how Percy was gonna screw up saving the world cause he had to save his friends and then in the end Leo's just kinda goes "No, let me sacrifice myself," and Percy's like "Okay, fine," so it didn't seem like it was that big of a problem lol. I think that was very much a result of the series having too many main characters.

Overall, it was enjoyable throughout, though it was more so in the beginning, and I liked returning to the characters I loved and falling in love with some new ones, but it was ultimately a mix of well written and badly written stuff that just didn't reach what I thought was a real genius that the original series possessed.

Some of these things might change when I reread, so you never know. Though that will probably take a while since I want to return to Trails of Apollo before that.

you know i’m also neutral-to-anti percabeth depending on how annoyed i feel that day and i feel extremely validated by your anti percabeth tag bc i feel like everyone thinks im insane

I know! But it's the fandom that's insane. They're all fooled by the mist of the narrative but we're sighted mortals who see the truth, for real.

[fryingpan1234567]

Tastes Like Candy- Batboys Halloween Drabbles!!

just some sugar-sweet Batfam things; don’t mind me ☺️

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

“Wally, stop eating candy!” To punctuate his sentence, Dick Grayson threw a Snickers bar at his boyfriend, who’d been sitting on the kitchen counter pounding just about every ounce of sugar in the manor for an hour. Rookie mistake; Wally caught it and popped it in his mouth with a shiteating grin.

“Will you hold my hair back when I inevitably puke later?” Wally cooed, batting his eyelashes at Dick, who glared at him.

“No. It’s a fate you brought upon yourself.”

Wally pouted, leaning forwards. Dick honestly wasn’t a big sugar person- but he had been drinking something like apple cider for the entirety of Halloween (and honestly October as a whole), and he stood between Wally’s legs where he sat on the counter. He begrudgingly accepted a short kiss, but pulled away when the speedster drunkenly tried to deepen it by tugging him closer by his belt loops.

“Wally, I think you’re on a sugar high,” Dick said, not unkindly, but not too happy either.

Wally grinned like the Joker. “Nah, I’m 21. Too old for that.” For emphasis, he shoved more candy in his mouth and stuck out his rainbow stained tongue. “Perfectly fine!”

“Exactly. You’re 21. What are you doing eating this much candy,” Dick deadpanned, passive-aggressively sipping his apple cider.

“Because I can. And because it reminds me of you,” Wally hummed, once again pulling his boyfriend closer. Dick set down his cup with a sigh and wrapped his arms around Wally’s neck.

“How so?” he asked.

Wally smiled, less Cheshire-like this time, and kissed him. When he pulled away, Dick’s lips were a mix of blue and purple from Wally’s tongue.

“You taste like sugar all the time,” he said simply, and Dick had to admit that made him fall hard for his dumbass boyfriend all over again.

Wally’s smile suddenly dropped.

“Oh, fuck- bathroom,” he managed, then hopped off the counter and ran off (thankfully without superspeed) to the nearest one with a hand over his mouth.

Dick groaned and jogged after him.

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

Maybe pranking wasn’t a good way to spend Halloween night in Gotham; there was enough trouble going around, but Jason Todd figured he was entitled to a little fun while he was in town.

So there he stood on the roof of some rando’s house, holding onto the chimney for leverage and awaiting his target. He was in full costume, only with a brand new black hood to go over the helmet and an entirely experimental lightsaber that could absolutely explode if it so desired, just to count himself as a Sith Lord.

Roy, who was perched on top of said chimney like the sharpshooter vigilante he was, simply wore a fox mask and donned Ollie’s old green hat with a red feather from the old days.

Robin Hood and Darth Vader stalked a neighborhood full of trick or treating kids, because the number one asshole in the area was taking his kid out like a normal person as if he hadn’t spent the past few weeks displacing half the Gotham Latino community in favor of a new golf course and clubhouse. Jason would’ve preferred murder, but Roy assured him this was better.

“You ready, Pretty Bird?” Roy said, voice barely loud enough to hear. “He’s coming up soon.”

“Still woulda liked to just shoot him,” Jason grumbled, hefting the water balloon ✨conveniently filled with hot sauce✨. Yeah, that one was Roy’s idea, but it would probably be funny- especially if it landed on his face. And Jay never misses a shot.

Roy nudged him as Asshole #1 and his bratty little kid made their way up the observed house’s walkway.

“This is better, I promise you. Did it last year with Ollie at some crime lord I don’t remember the name of,” he grinned. “You’ll love it. We can shoot him some other time.”

Jason hummed as the kid obnoxiously rang the doorbell six times. “Wish I could hit the kid too.”

Roy muffled his laugh in Jay’s shoulder. “Maybe that’s a little too mean. We’re still heroish people, come on.”

When the balloons were thrown, it was a direct hit. The first landed right on his face, as targeted, and the other on the irritatingly expensive suit for a children’s holiday he was wearing. 

Roy and Jason high fived as the kid and parent alike started screaming, but by the time anyone could look up to the roof, Robin Hood and Darth Vader were gone.

The second the two of them made it to a clear space, the masks were off and Jason was pinning Roy to a wall in a heated kiss. Roy could taste the chocolate Jason had stolen from the manor earlier on his lips, and he grinned into it.

“That was AMAZING!” he broke the kiss to shout to the night sky. Jay smiled and drifted his hands up and down Roy’s waist. “We should do that again, for the rest of the night.”

“Okay, sweetheart,” he laughed, pulling him back in.

And then no, they didn’t spend the rest of their night busting assholes. They made out on a rooftop until Bruce was angrily texting at two in the morning, asking where the fuck he’d gone.

Heaven, that’s where.

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

“Jesus Christ.” Conner hid his face in his boyfriend’s chest, turning away from the movie screen, but he could still hear the screams.

Tim Drake laughed softly, pausing the movie.

“Tapping out already, gorgeous?” he teased, running a hand through the Kryptonian’s hair.

Kon mumbled something like ‘too scary’ into Tim’s shirt. Tim patted his head sympathetically and exited the movie.

“Fine then, no Scream,” he mused. “What about the Conjuring?”

Conner popped his head up indignantly, giving Tim a look like he was crazy.

“That is infinitely worse!” he protested. “No! How about Disney Zombies! Jon showed me that one!”

Tim made a face. “Zombies?”

Conner nodded enthusiastically.

“If you like zombies, what about World War Z?”

The two of them had been (attempting to) watch horror movies all night, curled up in Tim’s room in the manor with blankets and popcorn and candy, all the lights off for ✨atmosphere✨, as Tim said. Kon didn’t really get it.

“Is it scary?” Conner said dubiously, snuggling further into Tim’s side and pulling the blanket they were sharing up to his chin.

“Um.” Tim did want to watch the movie, but he also didn’t really want to lie to his poor boyfriend. “I mean, yeah. There’s also- WAIT A DAMN MINUTE.”

Kon jumped at the sudden outburst, but Tim was on a warpath suddenly to find the right movie.

“What?” He was almost afraid to ask.

“Zombieland,” Tim said gleefully, pulling it up on the screen. “Seen it?”

“You know I haven’t,” Conner grumbled. “It sounds scary.”

“No, no, no.” Tim cupped his face and pressed a small kiss to the tip of his nose. “I promise it’s not. It’s just hilarious.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Well, you missed,” Kon mused. Tim barely had time to open his mouth to say something in confusion before Conner pulled him down, pressing their lips together. He tasted like the caramel popcorn he’d been eating all night, and something cinnamon-y, maybe pumpkin spice. Tim was a sucker for that stuff.

When they pulled apart, he was dizzy, having not expecting that. Conner neatly took the remote out of his hand and started the movie, making himself comfortable in Tim’s lap.

“Y-You little shit,” Tim finally managed, pressing a kiss to Kon’s neck to make him squirm. “I’m gonna-“

“Shh, watch the movie!”

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

Two superkids sat in Damian Wayne’s bedroom, promptly ignoring the screams coming from Tim’s room next door (both from Conner and whatever garbage they were watching), a deck of cards and shots of apple cider lined up between them.

“I do not understand,” Damian said slowly. That was a rare occurrence.

“It’s simple!” Jon chirped, drawing a card off the top as Damian dumped a packet of Swedish Fish into his mouth. “Answer the question on the card truthfully, do the dare, or take a shot. Umm, it was more fun when the Justice League did it, but we’re not legal, so…”

“What, you mean to drink?” Dami mused at his boyfriend’s antics.

Jon stuck the card into the bottom of the pile and shrugged. “Well, yeah. Couple of fifteen year olds can’t take real shots.”

“Says you.”

“What?”

“What?”

“Damian, do you underage drink?” Jon teased, poking at his knee over the playing field.

Dami swatted him away, cracking a rare smile. “Of course not. That is absurd.”

“Sure, babe,” Jon laughed. “So! Wanna go first?”

Damian stuck his red stained tongue out as he drew the first card, then glanced down at it, immediately making a face.

“Truth- who… was your gay awakening.” He glared at Jon, who beamed back innocently. “Did you write these?”

“Maybe,” Jon said. “So? Who’s it gonna be? Corpse Husband for the voice? Zac Efron for the… everything? Who was it?”

Damian smiled again and reached over the playing field, taking the back of Jon’s neck and dragging him forward to meet halfway. Sugar of many kinds lingered on his lips, and on Dami’s when he pulled away just to rest their foreheads together.

“It was you,” he whispered, and Jon grinned in dizzy adoration. “It was the annoyingly bright super-boy with beautiful eyes and a puppy heart. He basically forced my third eye open with a crowbar, but I love him for it.”

“Is my Dami making a joke?” Jon gasped. Damian rolled his eyes affectionately. “Are you saying your third eye is equivalent to your gay awakening?”

“Pretty much.”

“Well, I love you too, dorkface.”

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

🎃🥰✨✨

[herstarburststories]

Spending Christmas with the batboys + Bruce

Merry Christmas, lovelies!

Dick Grayson:

You two started to spend the holidays together when he reunited the Titans.

At the beginning, he didn't live in the tower, but spared his time between the Wayne Manor and the Titan's home.

But we all know that he decided to stay permanently with his team after a while

And you were a part of said team

So, the first time was an accidental celebration

Donna "accidentally" forgot to tell Dick they were celebrating Christmas because it slipped her mind. Therefore she "accidentally" organized a whole Christmas party, while he was away to give Alfred and Bruce their presents.

Perfect timing in accidental, right?

He wasn't much fond of those reunions when he was Robin. With Bruce, he'd always throw a gala and Dick would have to spend all night faking smiles in his rebellious young years.

The beautiful memories reminded him of the circus, and they were just a reminisce.

In the circus, everyone came from somewhere else. So, Christmas was the best kind of mess; all the traditions falling into places, making room for everyone to feel at home before and after the special Christmas performance.

It was way better than a pretentious gala, and he had his parents.

But then, the titans came together.

And he was slowly opening up, understanding that he was still made for happiness.

And, to be honest, this seemed so much like the circus.

Kori being adorable with her glorg meal that everybody would try, Donna insisting that they had to do the Amazon combat that celebrated honorable warriors, Garfield baking every single thing on the table on a veg version, Cyborg picking the songs, Raven telling about old Christmas take from every culture she could get, and you getting fireworks for Christmas because yes.

The kind of mess that makes you never want to leave again.

He was a little hesitant, but he couldn't say no to y'all puppy eyes.

He couldn't say no to you, especially.

Robin added his own little piece of tradition, something he used to do with his parents: ordering pizza for Christmas and eating it after the turkey.

It was a cozy celebration.

As Nightwing, you never know.

Sometimes he'll split his time between the Wayne Manor and the Titans.

Sometimes he will spend Christmas Eve in Gotham and Christmas in the tower

Not to mention when he decides to also give Bludhaven a patrol before Christmas

There was even that time the Titans went to Themyscera and Tamaran

IT'S EXHAUSTING IN THE BEST WAY, so nice

He always brings you along to wherever he is going

And you two always share a slice of pizza and some fireworks to honor the traditions

He always gets Christmas presents for everyone

Most time dumb presents like ugly sweaters and such

The only serious presents he gives are peeptalks and anything you and Alfred might want

He's the one that puts thing in the Titans's socks

This Christmas, you're giving him a dog

Also, sexy times, he usually wears a Santa hat and uses themed pick up lines because he's that cheesy

Dick: Hey, wanna sit on Santa's lap and tell me what you want for christmas?

You don't know if you're laughing because that's genuinely funny or because it's ridiculous

Either way, you end up on his bed so it's a win

He always pulls you to the mistletoe

Also, if you're going to spend Christmas with your people, he will buy them all quality gifts

And will charm every single kid by playing with them

Cue Nightwing making a whole acrobacy only to put the star on the tree

When you two are married and with a child, he'll lift you up, as you hold your baby, so the kid can place the star on top of the tree

Jason Todd:

Jason grew up surrounded by many cultures

Especially latinos

Therefore, he's used to certain traditions when it comes to Christmas

As in, waiting to eat until midnight

And a giant family screaming and talking

And the television always in the background

And the fireworks bright

Not that he had this with his blood family, but he always sneaked in some nice neighbor's house to eat and feel a little safe

At the fostercare, it wasn't much similar

They had a donation or two sometimes, so he got some presents

And they had a dinner

It just wasn't was warming as the families's heart-lighted confusions

He enjoyed eating and then watching tv

After Batman took him in, he'd go to the galas when he was Robin

But that wasn't the best part

Every gala Bruce Wayne had ever thrown was somehow interrupted by villainies

Just because you close the door, doesn't mean you aren't in Gotham

Either Penguin invaded the gala or Poison Ivy started a protest miles away for the trees that were cut in the name of Christmas, there was always something

Catwoman had stole a diamond next year, but this year the Joker was dressed up as Santa to give people killing presents

Batman and Robin in action!

He had fun like that, and after a little, he'd come back to the manor and watch TV with Bruce and Alfred

Whilst eating Alfred's delicious Christmas meal after midnight

Also handmade presents for Bruce and Alfred if he's still young

As he meets you, if he's Robin, he takes you to the galas

And you find out he's Robin when he's trying to sneak out of his superhero uniform

You were just looking around for your date, a guy that you meet in a library, that disappeared for half hour and now he's half dressed in a Robin costume

It's safe to say that Christmas became a huge step in your relationship

Cue many imitations about the rich folks and how dumb they are

Plus pranks on them

You both stay at the gala until Bruce is ready to leave, but not in the main room; you and Jason sneak around to the garden and to the roof, to see the stars

He can still see some fireworks from afar

They're coming from where he used to survive

It's a good night

As Red Hood, it switches a bit

He's not a fan of galas, thank you

When he still isn't on good terms with his family, he'll just go on patrol and spend the rest of the night snuggling with you in his apartment, watching TV and eating something that Alfred sent him

He doesn't put up a Christmas tree, but you do

Jason pretends to complain but he loves setting up the Christmas tree with you

You buy fireworks so you two can keep this tradition alive

And once he's more open, you ask him to come over to spend Christmas with your family

He's kind dumbfounded to see this, and very scared

Your family is welcoming to him and very... Loud

He likes this, just like when he was a kid and could pretend he had a normal childhood for a day

Happily, you guys either have the same traditions because you're latina, or you're more than willingly to make place for them in Christmas

He's the tallest dude in the room, so he has the duty to place the star.

He remembers when he was little, how his mom and his fostercare taker would tell him that the light's flickering because it's Christmas almost every month, so he also donates a lot during the holiday season. Actually, he's always donating. Yet, this part of the year is the one the spends more money on.

Also, if he's with the Outlaws, bar time to celebrate AND KAROKE

Y/N: Will Santa give me his candy cane?

Jason: Only if you sit on his lap.

Roy: Guys, come on.

If Kory and Dick are on good terms, get ready. Jason will be rolling his eyes all the time because his brother just can be THAT annoying and Kori brought him along.

Jason: Ho-ho-hoe Grayson.

It's still nice to have him there, not that Jason will admit that

He also buys Lian a gift with your help

He always kisses you and whispers Merry Christmas before wishing it to any other

When he's okay with his family, he spends time there in Christmas and gives them presents

All double-meaning presents

Dick has a shirt that says I am (a) Dick, Tim as a Thing #2, Damian as a "I'm on the naughty list because I killed santa" one and Bruce as a mug saying Superman is my idol.

Alfred has an old, expensive book.

Jason will grab a mistletoe and put it neat your lips, then your neck, then your shoulders, then your boobs and just kiss every place.

When you and Jason have a child, he will make plans with the kid to KIDNAP SANTA

Tim Drake:

Christmas? No, thanks. Work.

You'll LITERALLY have to pull him away from his chair

You won't let him go on patrol on Christmas, thanks

Instead, you'll ask his help to bake the feast

And he'll Google everything he needs

He always gets you the best presents

Mostly spends Christmas with the batfam, but sometimes he says with the YJ as well

And when he does, it takes ONE glass for him to start blabbing about Christmas facts

And the hot topic is: if Santa was real, would he be a speedster?

He has a power point because this is a recurring discussion with Bart and you

Y/N: Santa HAS to be a speedster. That's the only way he'd be able to give everyone presents.

Tim: You aren't considering the elfs. And that there are more people that can run.

Bart: We should put me to deliver gifts and see how quick I can deliver.

He will use the Christmas lights as handcuffs with you in bed

He always know who got who in secret santa

Yes, I just said he'd used Christmas ornaments to tie you up and switched topics

If he can't come to Gotham, he will send Bruce a text

There's a karoke night where only Christmas songs are allowed

You and him duet

If a kid of yours is there, he dress up as Santa

Also, you always pulls him under the mistletoes.

He always blushes before kissing you

Damian Wayne

He didn't grow up to have Christmas, his present would be killing someone in train to be an assassin

That changes when he comes to the Manor

He keeps an unfazed masquerade, but he actually enjoys the small traditions

As baking with Alfred to the sound of Christmas music

Or setting up the tree with Bruce in his spare time

You're usually there as well, being open about the merry

Your joy makes it even better

You buy all his pets a Christmas clothing

He will give you a painting as a present

In case of having kids, he will play something called "Gifts Hunt"

Similar to easter egg hunting, but with christmas gifts

You two spend much time watching the glittering lights of the city

Gotham almost looks docile

He will go on patrol, but will be back to the feast

Y/N: Remember, you can only kill people after the feast.

Damian: ... Wasn't planing on killing anyone, but this is a good present.

Bruce: No.

Also, add arabic food to this!

You learn how to say Merry Christmas in arabic.

There will be snowball combats

He doesn't mind going to galas, so it's up to you

The titans come to visit him during Christmas if he doesn't go there

Jon is often there as well and always have a present to him, and you always takes a picture of those two (and his team too) because it's just too adorable

Also, Titans there = Richard there. He's really into nudging his baby brother because he's a grown up with a girlfriend now

And so is Gar, mistletoe everywhere

The only time you two have peace is when Kori gets in and taker her boyfriend away to hive you some privacy

You've never liked an alien more

Everyone prays in their own religion before starting to eat. If not because Christmas, then just to be grateful about everything.

Usually, Damian's other brothers show up and it's so much noise

Damian plays piano through the night

Alfred takes pictures of everyone, and even will make a frame of yours and Damian's.

CHRISTMAS MOVIE MARATHON TO CLOSE THE NIGHT.

It was really good.

Bruce Wayne:

Patrol!

You'll dress up as santa in a sexy costume

Cue you putting Merry Christmas sticks on his cape

Also, he will say ho ho ho... Merry Christmas when he gets a villain I JUST KNOW

His time in the gala is splits between crime and dances

He always saves the last dance for you, just like he dad used to do with his mom

You're in there for the Christmas decorations work, among Damian and Alfred

Also, Clark ALWAYS visits in Christmas

And he always gives Bruce matching gifts

You cover him up as he needs to sneak out the gala all the time

The Justice League is invited to the gala

As they're necessary to work at the Hall of Justice, you'll come along

Thanks Barry for helping to set up Christmas decorations there

Bruce always kisses you before leaving for patrol in this season, because he knows it's a very important holiday for you and he knows it's not the ideal

You and the hero's significantive others stay there baking and making things

MAKE CHRISTMAS THEMED COOKIES THAT SEEM AS THE HEROES

Y/N: You know, Batman-cookie was delicious, but not better than Green Arrow's.

Bruce: Yeah? Maybe the real Batman will taste better.

Making out in the batmobile (which is also decorated, your bet is on Jason)

He gets in a little woe through the night, you'll do your best to keep him up

Helps him to pick the presents for his kids

Snow, snow, snow! He and you will get in the snow

Not necessarily snowball war, but you'll walk through the snow and just take a moment

Even Batman can have soft happinesses in Christmas

[theodorecanaryhood]

A batboys guide on how to deal...

Another headcanon no one asked for! Bored and need some new ideas...

This HC will feature Dick and Jason and show how they deal with different topics in their lives.

Dick and Jason x reader

Dick and dealing with racism:

He'd never had an issue with you being from a different country

He's dated literal aliens before (hello Koriand'r)

Dating a Latino wasn't much different for him, he liked to expand his options

You were lovely, funny, beautiful

Man was he smitten

But all it took was one asshole to say the wrong thing

'Go back to Mexico' one of the group members said, laughing with his friends

Dick went red

'Babe, leave it' you said trying to pull Dick away

Dick saw red and marched over to the guys

'First off, she's Cuban. Second, she has more right to be here. She's a nice person unlike you and your little gang' Dick said

The boys stopped laughing now

'So why don't you walk the other way, or I'll make you regret what you just said'

The boys left, Dick was calm now

You kissed him, smiling

Dick is pretty humble, yet he's rubbed the wrong way he can be feisty

Which you love

Jason:

Oh boy...

Jason is a hot head with a short fuse

Does not take a lot to piss him off

So one day, when the two of you are walking down the street you bump into someone by accident

Of course, being the polite British person you are (because yes us Brits are very polite) you apologise instantly

'Sure, whatever' the person mumbles under their breath, you let it go but then the person makes a comment

'Guess people can't see where they're going in whatever retard country you're from'

Jason wasn't paying attention until that moment

You, on reflex, put your arm out to stop Jason from pulling this man's head off

'Don't speak to my girl like that you pathetic little child' Jason practically screamed

The man looked shocked

You had to pull Jason away before he killed him

'She was nice enough to apologise to you for bumping into you and you pull this shit' Jason said, the man shocked

The man scurried away rather sharpish to get away

You trying not to make a scene pulled Jason a little harder

'It's ok babe, you don't have to beat him up' you say calmly

Jason kisses you

'Wanna blow off steam in the bedroom?' Jason asks laughing

You roll your eyes and smile

'OK'

Dick dealing with homophobia:

You and your boyfriend were not big on PDA

No one wants to see two people kissing or whatever

Regardless of what gendre

The most you did in public was hold hands

The occasion glance from women

The occasion glance from the elderly

But on the odd occasion, someone would say or do something to get a response

'Eww' you heard a woman say

Dick winked at her as he let go of your hand and put his arm around you

The woman looked on in disgust

You went red with embarrassment

Dick just laughed

'Such a tease' you say

'That's why you love me' Dick smiles again

You just carry on walking like no one else is there

Jason:

Oh dear.....again

Remember people, he's a short fuse

Jason never cared much for PDA

He preferred to leave it for the bedroom

But he had no issues putting his arm around you

Holding your hand

Kissing you quick when no one was looking

One day in Gotham, you were walking down the street holding hands

No one really seemed to care

However, one did

'Can you not do that fag shit in my face please?' This man said straight to the point

Jason saw red

You stood frozen not knowing what to do or say

Jason let go of your hand

'Mind your fucking business, we're not doing anything inappropriate. We're just walking down the street' Jason said, his voice was calm but his face wasn't

The man squared up to Jason, then realised Jason was all muscle and backed down

'Don't like something, got some advice pal. Look the other way' Jason said as the man walked away

Jason held your hand again, walking with you down the street

You just smiled at him

'No one talks to you like that' Jason said as he kissed your head

And elderly couple walking behind you saw everything and smiled at you as they walked by

Dick dealing with a crying s/o (gender neutral)

I guess first he would wrap his arms around you

Wait for you to calm down

Ask you why you're upset

Sit with you and listen to your issues

Let you cry it out

Then he would kiss you

Hold you in his arms until you fell asleep

He would cook for you

Let you watch whatever crap you wanted

He would just hold you the whole time

Give you random kisses every so often

Jason:

He's scared

Thinks he's done something to upset you

He would hold you still

Ask what's wrong

Kiss you on the head, cheek and then lips

Help you cry it out

Hold you

Pretty much the same as Dick, he would cook for you

Lay with you on the couch or bed and let you talk

Stay awake until you fell asleep to know you were ok

Then he'll kiss you

Big spoon

Dick and dealing with a sick s/o (gender neutral)

Call in sick himself to stay home with you

Make you soup

Tea

Give you a back rub

Neck rub

He would hold you as he softly hums to you

If you were throwing up he would hold your hair back for you

Rub your back

'Sip your water babe, don't chug it' he would say

Netflix all day with a bucket just in case

You fall asleep on his shoulder

Dick just holds you in his arms as you sleep

Jason

Stay home and look after you

Make you something to eat

Make you tea with lemon and honey

Or a sugary tea if throwing up

Give you blankets

Check your temperature every so often

If puking, he would hold your hair back

Wipe your face with a wet towel

Get you some water

He would run you a bath in the evening

'Leave the door open in case you fall asleep' Jason calls out from the bedroom

When getting into bed, he would hold you all night

Keeping you warm in his arms as you fall asleep

[ectonurites]

Okay, I needed to get this off my chest, and you have good takes so uh: I noticed that in the batfandom there tends to be a bunch of stereotypes associated with the racebends.

Like latino Jason is kinda weird to me, because he's from a low income place y'know, he's from the streets, and so making him latino seems kinda stereotype-y. Aside from the Ryan Potter stuff, the aisan-no-specified-country  Tim one actually kinda bothers me a bit, like "he's *smart* so let's make him aisan!" and as a poc myself, (i’m indian) where that stereotype sometimes applies to me (esp cuz it’s wrong!), the smart aisan guy trope is really frustrating. I get it if they’re doing because of the Ryan Potter video, but otherwise,,,, uh.

Also I understand if there are poc fans doing racebends because they want to project on their favs, but when it’s white fans doing it to see representation, I get a little uncomfortable because it comes off as out of touch. Even with the canon poc characters, there’s a lot of race based tropes that the fandom uses in their portrayals of the characters that are race bent that, intentional or not, can seem offensive. I do like when the cast is more racially diverse, but I’m not a fan of how stereotype-y the popular racebends+canon pocs are. Especially when the white part of the fandom portrays it. I'm not gonna go out of my way and say they're being racist but like. Jeez.

Yeah, so that’s my hot take. Sorry in advance if this doesn’t fall under the “Within Reason” mandate on your ask box and I cause trouble.

Oh you’re totally fine, theres no real heavily enforced rules beyond ‘be nice’ for my inbox tbh the ‘within reason’ thing was something i’d just thrown there when i was like 14 and never took it away haha

But yeah you raise a lot of really good points here, and they’re definitely things I’ve noticed around the fandom too. I think it’s always just good to be mindful of stereotypes with this kind of thing, especially those of us who are white in the fandom need to be aware of how work we make might be impacting others because it matters! Also it’s really important to give attention to the characters who are canonically poc as well, because for real I see so many people in fanworks just go out of their way to exclude Duke and Cass (or reduce them to such poor caricatures of themselves) and it’s really sad. Also like, the entire Fox family? Where are they?

I think its also kinda... concerning that even DC themselves have been guilty of some of this stereotyping you’re talking about. Like them reportedly changing Tim’s backstory for Titans to be more based on the streets (essentially more elements of Jason’s background) rather than his comic background of coming from a wealthy family before they cast Jay Lycurgo in the role. 

I also think back to how Devin Grayson canonized Dick being of Romani descent basically just to fetishize him, by using a lot of really harmful stereotypes. Others have talked about that in detail before (this is a really great post about it) and its just... 😬

[perseusjackson-jasongrace]

Empires on the Horizon VI

Jason is a CEO: Part VI

Here’s my masterlist for the next part and my other stuff

TW: not really overt but there is mention of NSFW activities. 

every story has a

beginning

middle

and end

not necessarily in that order

-Tim Burton

“Annabeth Chase, my favourite impulse-controller,” Jason smirked, pulling his friend into his chest for a hug.

Her grey eyes sparked with mirth, “What do you want you troublemaker?”

“I find it offensive that you think I’m a troublemaker. We all know it’s your boyfriend that gets us into a mess.”

“Lies and propaganda,” She raised a brow, “You two are in a committed relationship with hullabaloo.”

He gave her a wide-eyed look, “Hullabaloo?”

“I’ve been spending way too much time with Percy,” She sighed.

He burst out laughing, “Who in this day and age says ‘hullabaloo?’”

“Percy discovered the word when we were in high school and thought it was the most hilarious thing he’s ever heard. He used to say it all the time.”

Jason shook his head amusement dancing on his lips, “So why did you want to meet me? I thought you’d be with Leo today since you’ve been out of state all week.”

They collapsed onto his couch. Annabeth tucked her feet underneath her and he propped his on the ottoman. When they settled down, she finally looked at him.

“Yea,” She pinched the bridge of her nose, “He had to go into work today because the part-time lecturer couldn’t make it for classes.”

“What’s going on? Why do you look so…” He had never been good at finding the words that matched the emotion, “So frustrated?”

“I’m not,” She gave him a weak smile, “I’m not. I just miss him.”

“You saw each other last night, didn’t you? He picked you up for the airport?”

“Yea but we haven’t gotten the chance to talk. I don’t know how to–, I just miss him.”

“Hey,” He grabbed her hands, “Take a deep breath. We have all the time in the world.”

Neither of them had quite figured out how to handle emotions, how to express them. It was an ongoing frustration when he and Luke were dating. Annabeth and Leo had learned how to read each other after all these years; four years of friendship and three years of dating had cemented that bond, had it running core deep. But him and her still couldn’t quite get the words out on their own.

“I miss his presence,” She breathed, “We saw each other last night but I was exhausted, and it was late. He practically had to carry me from the car to our bed and then he left early this morning. We just haven’t had the chance to catch up, to exist together yet.”

He held her close, let her head fall onto his shoulder.

“Being away from him is like losing a limb or being thrown into the deep end of the pool when you don’t know how to swim, like walking through darkness. You know what all of those have in common?” She looked up at him, grey eyes lined with tears.

“What?”

“Emptiness, the absence of something vital.”

“I think,” He tilted her chin up, caught the storm in her gaze, “I think you are lucky to have someone who makes saying goodbye so hard.”

“Did you just quote Winnie the Pooh at me?”

He winced, “Yes?”

She dissolved into laughter, “Really Jason? Winnie the Pooh?”

“What?” He gave her an indignant look, “It’s a good quote, and better than anything I could have come up with.”

“You are something else.” She managed to rein in her amusement, “What’s been up with you?”

“Nothing exciting,” He shrugged.

“Nah uh Mister,” His friend gave him a look, “Leo tells me you met a lady? What happened to my cousin? And how did you meet her? Do you have a picture?”

“Alright,” He chuckled, “Slow down. I don’t have a lady; we’ve been on one date. Next one is tomorrow. Your cousin and I didn’t get to exchange numbers at the dinner and I’m sure you know he’s now seeing Reyna. Thalia introduced Zoe and I, she’s a vet at the Conservatory and no I do not have a picture.”

“I hope you know all that information gave me a ton more questions.”

He rolled his eyes, shoving her shoulder lightly, “Let’s get some coffee going and maybe bring out the choc chips and then you can harass me with your endless curiosity.”

“Hey, this curiosity is what made us friends.” Her voice followed him as they walked to kitchen, where she promptly hoisted herself onto the countertop and plucked a cookie from the jar.

“As far as I understand it was Leo’s dumbassery that made us friends.”

“Yea, but without my curiosity I wouldn’t have bothered to check why a skinny, curly-haired, Latino was cursing a blue streak underneath the table.”

“I still think we should be crediting Leo because if he hadn’t gotten his foot stuck in my backpack and tripped thereby falling underneath our table it wouldn’t have been me and you who helped him.”

“Oh gods,” She giggled, “We really were a chaotic bunch weren’t we?”

“Nothing has changed Chase,” He handed her a steaming mug of coffee, “We just have less opportunities to be chaotic now.”

“I used to be so excited to grow up, but all my years have escaped me, have sped by me faster than bullets and I’m not yet grown.”

He leaned across the counter, bringing his cappuccino to his cheek, “I don’t think we ever really are. We’re just an accumulation of all our years before now. I am still one and two and ten and twenty.”

Annabeth looked at him then, caught his gaze in her grey eyes, “When did you get so wise?”

“Guess I’m spending too much time with you.” He winked, “Now please help me find something to wear for tomorrow. Zoe is taking me somewhere in nature and she says I should be prepared for a little exercise.”

“Are we talking a walk in the park or a hike up Blood Hill?”

“I don’t know she said it was a surprise and I don’t get any more information than wear clothes you can move in a little.”

His friend smirked at him, “Sounds steamy?”

“I’m pretty sure sex requires clothes off, not on, t least to some degree.” He rolled his eyes.

“Mhmm, okay. All i’m saying is make sure you pack a condom, or multiple.”

“We are not having- we will get arrested for public indecency.” He grumbled, pushing her shoulder, “So get your mind out of the gutter Chase.”

Her laugh was bells and beauty. “Come on then Mr Grace, let’s go raid your closet.” She held out her hand for him to help her off the counter, and the two blondes disappeared into his room.

***

Jason took a deep breath, letting his nerves find their space in his chest, stomach, lungs. He didn’t like walking into things when he didn’t have all the information; ergo surprises were avoided as much as possible.

A knock at his window pulled him from his mind.

“Are you going to come out? Or do you want to have a car date?” Sparkling dark eyes and a bright smile peered at him through the glass.

“I’m coming,” He laughed, grabbing his wallet and keys before opening the door.

“Hello Jason,” She stood on her toes and looped her arms around his neck. He folded his arms around her waist, catching the soft hints of juniper berry and clove that was purely her.

“How are you?” They pulled away.

“I am nervous,” He admitted, “I don’t like surprises.”

“Yes I did imagine so, I am not fond of them either, but this one was a necessity as it needs an explanation.”

“Well I hope I dressed okay?” He gestured towards his jeans and loose white tee.

“It’s perfect.” She looked him up and down, her eyes flashing, “Now come on, we only have the place for a couple hours.”

“Hold on,” He moved to his trunk, “These are for you,”

“Oh Jason,” She gasped softly, taking the flowers from him, “These are­– Who is your florist because these bouquets are unbelievable?”

He ducked his head, attempting to hide his reddening cheeks, “I choose them myself.”

“Well, your taste is exquisite,” She smiled up at him and he knew he had picked perfectly. Sunflowers because the dress she wore on their first date was liquid sunlight. And red roses because she was beautiful, poised, regal, just as they were.

While she admired the bouquet, he took the time to note their surroundings. They seemed to be on some sort of field, school or farm he didn’t know. A small wooden marquee sat a few meters away, but it was unoccupied which meant they were alone out here.

“Okay,” Zoe started, “So I don’t know how weird this is going to be to you, but I figured I’d get all my secrets out before you’re in too deep.”

“I’m starting to get mildly suspicious,” He raised a brow quizzically.

“Don’t worry I don’t plan on murdering you. I could probably take you in hand to hand combat but for someone of your size, drugs or poison would be the better method.”

He blinked at her, “You spend a lot of your time wondering what the best method for murder is?”

“This is not going well,” She giggled, “I don’t plan on killing you. I brought you here so we could practice some archery.”

“That does not make me feel even remotely better.”

She slugged his shoulder, mirth bouncing in her eyes, “I’ve been doing archery since my first year at varsity and I thought it’d be cool to share it with you.”

“Oh,” Was his eloquent reply, and then, “Well I’m honoured, thank you.”

“Don’t get too sappy on me, I’m only willing to go easy on you in the practice trials.”

“This implies a competition of some sort?”

“Of course. One question answered to whoever gets bullseye or as close to it.”

“I feel like I’m at a serious disadvantage here,” He pouted at her.

“I wouldn’t say that. I’ve only been doing it for nine years,” She smirked.

He groaned, waving his hands, “Oh gods, I see I’m going to be bared to the bone after this.”

“Don’t worry Grace you get to torture me on our next date.”

“Be prepared Nightshade because after this set-up I am not going easy on you.”

“I certainly hope not,” Fire danced in her eyes.

He narrowed his gaze, taking a single step towards her, “Is that a challenge Miss Nightshade?”

“Aren’t scared of a little heat, are you?” She mirrored him, closing the distance.

“Bring it on,” His words were nothing but exhales and anticipation.

Their noses brushed, eyes of midnight and electric storms pinning each other to the world.

“Ready to learn?” She breathed.

“Ready to be taught.”

“Okay,” She stepped away, taking a deep breath before moving to the table that he now noticed had two metal bows and various arrows.

“You’ll get the thirty-pound bow and large arrows to start. Hopefully you don’t need anything heavier because I did not ask for the thirty-four.” She frowned, “Okay some rules. Never have your arrow nocked until you’re on the firing line. Don’t collect arrows until everyone is done shooting. Don’t hold your bow sideways, you will hit someone. Do not under any circumstances pull the string back while there’s no arrow.”

“Got it.” He nodded.

“Cool, you’re gonna do great!” She clapped her hands, excitement radiating from her every movement. “Let’s get you equipped so you don’t end up with string-snapped wrists or a raw thumb.”

And then she was handing him all sorts of equipment, guiding him so everything fit where it was supposed to. Her hands, calloused and small, brushed over his as she adjusted the arm guard and made sure the thumb flap was correct. She explained how to stand, moving his feet and angling his shoulders until she deemed it good enough.

“Okay, let’s do some shooting.”

“I’m ready!” He smiled at her, hoping his own excitement was evident.

“Don’t worry about hitting bullseye, just choose a spot on the target and try to get all your arrows to land in the same place.”

He nodded, rolling his shoulders and moving to stand in position.

“Since it’s just us I’m going to forego formalities, so began shooting Grace.”

He had a clumsy start, arrows falling short of the target, or flying far over it, but Zoe was patient, adjusting and helping him each time.

“This is…” He stared in wonder at the arrow he had managed to bed inches away from the center. ‘I can understand why you enjoy it.”

“Great because now it’s time for Question and Arrow.”

“Fun,” He chortled, “You come up with that?”

“Yes, I thought it was rather clever.”

“Oh it is, I never expected anything less doctor.”

She snorted at him, “Ready to see the queen take her throne?”

“Please Your Majesty,” He bowed low, gesturing to the field.

She laughed and took her stand at the line, adjusting herself and making sure the sight on her bow was at the right level. She took an arrow from the stand in front of her feet, placed it on the string with trained casualness and looked over her shoulder at him. Her smiled was wicked.

She lifted the bow, pulled the string taut and fired the arrow. Before he had time to see where it had landed, she was already nocking her second one, and moments later her third.

He blinked, stared between her bright eyes and the three silver arrows now embedded in the small red circle fifteen meters away, and adjusted his pants.

She smirked, “How was that?”

“Possibly the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” He breathed.

“Ready to answer some burning questions?”

“If I say no will you keep shooting?”

She raised a brow, “Hot and bothered, are you?”

“No thanks to you,” He growled.

She pulled him to the line, “I’m glad you’re taking to it so nicely.”

“I think I’m taking to you,” He grabbed her wrist, pulling her flush to him.

“You don’t even know me?”

“After that little display I’m half willing to marry you on the spot.”

She laughed and shoved away from him, “You’re a special breed Mr Grace. Men do not usually fall into marriage ideas after seeing a woman shoot arrows.”

“Then they are not men.” He frowned, “And besides, anyone with aim as accurate as yours has many, many advantages.”

“Questions Grace,” She took a step back, amusement and… something else passing over her face.

“Right okay,”

So they stood to the line and fired. Her a question him an answer. Then an arrow. A curse as she hit the center and he missed the target completely. Another question, answer, arrow. Question, answer, arrow.

Until two hours had blurred by and Jason had confessed to three college pranks, horrible braces in high school, and the weirdest fear of bricks. She had taken pity on him and answered her own questions after he kept losing their little battle. He knew she regretted her college days because she had wasted them studying, knew she was as gorgeous in high school as she is now, and her weird fear was thunder.

“This was great Zoe, thank you.”

“Thank you,” She beamed at him, “For not thinking I’m weird, or for dismissing this.”

He wrapped his arms around her, speaking into her neck, “I think this may be the coolest second date I’ve ever been on.”

“Really?”  She lifted his head, tugging at his hair until they were staring at each other.

“Really.” He smiled softly, “I did not know archery could be so…”

“Grounding?” She offered.

“Yes, and exhilarating.”

“I don’t know if I can put into words how much it means to me to hear you say that.”

“I was thinking,” He stroked his fingers down her side gently, “Since you didn’t get to do the typical college things maybe I can plan the next date?”

“Sounds like a dream, what are you thinking?”

“Drive-in theatre? I’m fairly sure ‘When the Stars Burn Out’ is playing.”

She nodded, eyes wide with excitement, “I’ve always wanted to go to a drive in! When?”

“Give me a couple days to plan but how does Wednesday sound?”

“Perfect.”

He cupped her cheek, memorising the constellations in her eyes, the soft lines around her mouth  that told you she smiled often, and the lines between her forehead that told you she frowned often too.

“You are divine.” He exhaled.

“Are you going to kiss me?” Was her reply.

He grinned, wild and undaunted, “Happy to.”

And then their lips were meeting, soft and steady. The world fell away, became swirls of colour and sound, became the background of a Monet, became life. And oh gods, Zoe’s hands may be rough with the proof of living, but her lips were softer than petals, than clouds. He held back a groan at her nails scraping his neck gently.

Reluctantly they pulled apart, resting their foreheads against each other.

“Wow,” She whispered.

“Indeed,” He chuckled.

It was that kiss, lingering spice and the smell of beginnings that followed him into his apartment later. Rolled down his skin as he took a shower. Fluttered behind his eyelids as he finally collapsed into bed. That kiss that marked the beginning.

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

HOW MUCH DO WE LOVE ZOE? Very much because Ciara just projects onto her??!?!????!!??!! oops.

Tags (if you want to be added to/ taken off the tag list just let me know, all my channels of communication are open):

@lesbian-peanuts​

@queen-of-demons-and-hell​

@msdrpreist​​

@sparkythunderstorm​​

@nishlicious-01​​

@lucyisblue​​

@leydiangelo​​​

[bigskydreaming]

For @imashittalkingmushroom who requested some Tim content. Excerpt from one of the seemingly endless WIPs I toil away at in my downtime because me pace myself, in this economy, hah. This one’s called “The Vienna Game” and is Batfam ensemble versus a new rising threat, which Tim has a revelation about here. This part is just a rough draft for the moment, but you get the idea.

THE VIENNA GAME

Chapter Five: Pawn Storm

Barely five minutes after Tim’s head hit his pillow, he sat bolt upright in bed, heart hammering in his throat.

“They’re all connected,” he said, wide-eyed to an empty room. The lack of a response bequeathed by his surroundings was a bit, well, lacking, so he leaped to his feet and raced down to the hall to the Batcave’s nearest access point.

“They’re all connected,” he shouted again as he took the rough-hewn stone stairs three at a time. His words bounced and rattled off the walls of the cave, winging upwards into its darkest recesses and rousing the bats from their nests overhead. They scattered in every direction, deeper into the darkness, as they reacted to his urgency and intensity with shrieking complaints.

If only his actual family could be similarly moved. But no, they had to suck instead.

“Whozit whatzit howzit?” Dick swiveled in his chair, just enough to shoot the younger boy a quizzical eyebrow but not enough to necessitate removing his feet from next to the Batcomputer’s keyboard, where Bruce was currently drilling holes into them with a patented (and thus wholly ineffective) Batglare.

“What is it Lassie? Did Timmy fall down the well again? One bark for yes, two for no,” Jason said brightly. He bent at the waist and braced his hands on his thighs as though actually talking to a dog; it had the unfortunate side-effect of making his stupid brother a stupid firmly planted rock that did little more than shift the merest micro-meter when Tim rolled his eyes and brusquely shouldered past him.

“That doesn’t even make any sense. I’m Timmy,” he said irritably. Too late he realized the trap he’d blearily wandered into as his jackass brother practically cackled with glee. Tim reddened and quickened his pace to the Batcomputer. “Oh shut up.”

Jason swivelled, but whatever his intended follow-up, he abruptly cut off as an apple core arced out of the shadows and bounced off his head. The second eldest pivoted sharply once more and scowled in the direction it’d come from as Tim absently took note of the several other apple cores scattered around Jason’s feet.

“Would you stop that?”

Cassandra, target of his ire, merely contemplated him for a beat before shaking her head. 

“No thank you,” she politely declined, and she bit into a fresh apple with a loud crunch.

“You will be cleaning those up, not Alfred,” their father said, wearily enough Tim got the sense this had been going on for quite some time. His sister just shrugged. 

“Worth it.”

Bruce exercised the better part of valor and shifted his attention back to Tim. “And didn’t you say you were going to bed?”

“I did say that,” Tim said agreeably as he barreled forth unto the Batcomputer. He batted (hah - oh no, the sleep deprivation was real) Dick’s feet aside and rebutted Dick’s injurious expression with an apologetic one of his own; apparently appeased, Dick just lithely shrugged and lifted his linked legs straight off the desk’s surface and then just never stopped. Instead he kept lifting his legs up, up and away until he’d transitioned into a perfect handstand on the seat of the chair, which he then transitioned out of by gracefully flipping over the chair’s back and onto his feet. Because see, Tim’s eldest brother’s middle name was not in fact ‘John,’ it was ‘Just That Extra.’

“I even did that,” Tim continued as he set his fingers to dancing swiftly across the keyboard. “But then I realized something.”

“You look ridiculous when you pop your collar,” Steph said knowingly.

“What? No. Wait, when have I ever done that?”

“Umm, the last time you were drunk, duh.”

Tim paused just long enough to shoot his ex an absolutely baffled look, over where she was lounging bonelessly next to Cass. 

“When was I drunk?”

Steph tilted her head to the side and squinted in thought. “Drunk, concussed....whatever. It was definitely one of those two. I have pictures. They’re not good.”

Perhaps sensing his impending spontaneous combustion, Bruce interceded, raising a hand to quiet the perpetual storm of sibling (and Steph) nonsense.

“What’s this about, Tim?”

“Our newest Rogue, the one we just finally caught last week,” Tim reported, turning his attention back to the Dance of the Keystrokes. “We have a problem.”

Their father frowned. “Desperado? What’s the problem?”

“His name,” Tim said grimly. He finished pulling up the string of files he’d only minutes ago linked together in his own mind. Flashing into existence on the wall to wall screens before them were all the notes the various members of their family had compiled on the new villain in town, as well as a number of other files for a good dozen or so other relatively new or unknown villains scattered across the globe, with these latter documents pulled from the digital archives of various superhero teams and law enforcement agencies worldwide.

Blitz, a speedster located in Southern California, their indistinct form pixelated and blurred virtue of the crackling halo of electrical energy they seemed to wear like a cloak of St. Elmo’s Fire. 

A Filipino man and woman purported to be fraternal twins operating out of a number of hotspots throughout Southeast Asia, with a combined name whose translation from Tagalog roughly amounted to ‘Double Check.’

A young brunette woman seemingly barely out of her teens, with eyes hidden behind an overly large pair of sunglasses, linked to a series of crimes in Argentina and Chile and allegedly going by the name ‘Swindle.’

A black man in his mid to late twenties, moving across the Iberian peninsula, with no reported name given, just a strange adherence to a symbol that appeared to be of a windmill, of all things, and that had local press dubbing him ‘Don Quixote.’

King March, a white man in his late forties to early fifties, with black hair and greying temples and a stern but smug disposition in all the files Interpol had compiled on him due to his frequent appearances as a person of interest throughout Eastern Europe.

A short, acrobatic Latino teleporter who offered up only the name ‘Castle’ in his sporadic run-ins with various hero organizations across the globe. 

Tempo, suspected to originally hail from Sri Lanka, and last sighted in Hong Kong of all places...and by no means the only one of this assortment of individuals engaged in criminal enterprises in a city known for its Batman Inc presence. 

Undermine, a masked man so far content to operate just out of Australia.

Flag Fall, another masked individual largely spotted in the Southeastern U.S.

An unseen person or persons known only by a calling card left in various Saharan regions, identifying them as someone named ‘Tabia.’

And lastly, a mature black woman out of the UK, sporting a wry, enigmatic smile in the only known picture of her, alongside her alleged pseudonym: Zugzwang.

“It was pretty much total coincidence I put it together,” Tim said as his family gathered more closely behind him to survey the assembled files over his shoulder. “I’d come across most these files over the past couple months, just in passing, as I like to familiarize myself with the various players in most Batman Inc. operating cities, and I was just reading this last file before bed, just to kinda wind down, y’know....”

“That sentence makes me so sad I don’t even have the heart to make fun of you,” Jason interrupted. He frowned. “Wait, that implies I have a heart. Hang on, that doesn’t sound right. And is this, what, sympathy I’m feeling right now? Eww, that is not the emotion I ordered. Take it back.”

Tim glared at him briefly, and then foraged on. “Anyway, as I was saying, I happened to be reading this last file before bed, and her name stuck out for me and from there I just started connecting some dots. See, alone, none of these names stand out as particularly significant, but put them together, and what happens?”

“They all have multiple meanings,” Damian said, scowling at the screens with focused intensity. “Mostly innocuous, but they’re also all....hmm. Chess terminology.”

Tim nodded enthusiastically. “Bingo! Ten points to Stabby Smurf.”

He bent over the keyboard again and started pulling up various video files, catching sight of reflections out of the corner of his eye as he did so. Duke seemed to be mouthing “Stabby Smurf” with a kind of horrified awe and Damian himself seemed unable to decide if he was offended or not. Whoops, that part hadn’t been meant to come out aloud. Tim coughed to cover a grimace slash smirk and hastened back to his point. 

“For instance, based on geographical location alone, Flag Fall seems to be an obvious reference to an actual flag, but the term also refers to timed chess matches, when a given player has run out of time to make a move. Swindle isn’t just a term for cheating or fraud, but in chess, refers to when a losing player tricks their opponent into falling for a decoy move that ends the game in a draw instead of a loss. King march is a term for when you advance your king up the board, tempo is a single turn or move, a double check is when two different pieces put an opponent’s king in check simultaneously, and undermining is when you capture a defensive piece of your opponent’s and leave their king undefended.”

He stopped for a breath and Damian quickly stepped into the breach and picked up where he left off, seamlessly following the train of thought. “And Tabia comes from the Arabic for ‘essence,’ but in chess is a key point, specifically a point of departure from which you can perform any number of signature moves. The windmill symbol utilized by this individual in Spain and its surrounding regions most likely then does not reference Don Quixote, but rather a looped series of moves, usually brought upon by a rook and a bishop, which forces an opponent’s king to ‘windmill’ back and forth between just two or three squares in order to keep out of check.”

“And then Blitz of course refers to a specific opening gambit, that can bring about checkmate in four moves or less,” Tim resumed. “And while Castle has so far been assumed to be nothing more than a surname according to various heroes who have encountered him, largely no doubt due to the fact that he doesn’t affect any kind of costume or disguise, when you consider that pretty much all his demonstrations of teleportation utilize a kind of ‘switching’ of two persons’ relative placement in space/time, either as a signature or an actual staple of his power, its far more likely his name is a reference to ‘castling.’ Which of course then just brings us back to Zugzwang, which is a German term that loosely translates to ‘compulsion to move’ and specifically denotes any scenario in chess in which a player has no choice but to move, even though all moves available to them are inevitably going to worsen their position.”

They all took a minute to absorb that then, speed-reading their way through the various files with all the quickness that made it an actual possibility one or more of them might someday make it all the way through a read-through of the entire Wayne Manor Library, even taking into account the minimal time any of them allotted to the having of actual ‘hobbies.’

It was Cass who found something new to seize upon next, though she never once flicked her eyes away from where they tracked the movements of one videoed individual to the next, screen by screen. 

“It’s not just the names,” she reported, scrutinizing each figure intently. “They move alike. When they fight. Its not a lot. But enough that they probably trained together, or at least shared a teacher.”

Tim nodded again. “I thought so too, but I wasn’t sure. I don’t have your eye for that, but it seemed like they might.”

“Reeet, record scratch,” Steph jumped in then. “Not to be all ‘talk nerdy to me, baby,’ since we don’t do that any more and whoops, totally forgot for a second that your dad is legit standing right here, wow, awkwaaaaaard, but for those of us still waiting to buy a vowel, why is this a problem with that Desperado dude specifically?”

“Because we’ve been operating off of the assumption that he chose his name as a more obvious reference to simply being some kind of outlaw,” Bruce said. “But in terms of chess specifically, a desperado piece is any piece that is trapped or in danger, and then sacrifices itself to achieve some kind of maximum damage or compensation that greatly outweighs the loss of itself.”

Steph nodded and pursed her lips. “Cool, cool. Okay so first off, let me just say how glad I am that it was you in specific that decided to follow up on that. Definitely the best of all timelines there, like just so, so absolutely stellar, that. It in no way compounded the awkwardness of the moment or contributed to my pending death by mortification. Secondly, oh, like. Yikes, so that’s not great, huh.”

“No, its not,” Bruce said seriously, with only the barest of twitches in the proximity of those things other people use to smile, aka lips. “If all of this turns out to bear fruit, as I suspect it will, the relative ease with which this Desperado was captured is nothing short of ominous. But luckily, we now have a chance to get ahead of whatever else might be in the works there. Excellent work, Tim.”

Tim squirmed, digging deep into the well of his bodily mastery and various techniques for exerting mind over matter. Don’t blush, don’t blush, you’re a super cool crime-fighting dude, not a total dweeb. “Like I said, it was mostly just dumb luck.”

“Hey now, none of that, Baby Bird,” Dick said, clapping him on the shoulder. “You still had to spot the pattern and connect the dots no matter how circumstantial you feel happening across the first dot was. That’s all you, kiddo.”

“Dick, I’m almost eighteen,” Tim whined. Ugh, his brother was the worst. He was going to be calling him Baby Bird when he was eighty at this point. And there went all his attempts at bodily mastery. Insult was added to injury when he stumbled to the side, then, though that had more to do with Jason hip-checking him out of the way so he could take over at the Batcomputer’s keyboard.

“Hey! What the hell was that for, Jay?”

“Umm, saving your ass, duh,” his other older brother said. Tim narrowed his eyes.

“That tracks how, exactly?”

“You were well on your way to immolation by way of embarrassment thanks to all the attention, so I’m stealing your thunder, double duh. Like I said, saving your ass. You’re welcome,” Jason said distractedly, busy with whatever else he was doing aside from being King of the Assholes.

Correction. That brother was the worst.

“Gee, thanks ever so much,” Tim intoned acidly.

“Don’t mention it, brat.”

Tim was still working on a return volley when Jason found whatever it was he was looking for and called up some more files onscreen.

“Okay, so check it out. Remember back in March, when we caught wind of some ‘new talent’ looking to establish a foothold in the local underground, and once we routed them, the only head honcho we could seemingly trace all of that back to was someone we assumed to be named Cassie or Cassandra based on what little we could decrypt of her communications? So now I’m thinking what if we filled in the gaps there wrong, and her name actually was Caissa?”

Tim looked around, but the name didn’t seem to be ringing any bells for anyone else either. 

“Okay, I’ll bite. Who the hell is Caissa?”

“The fictional regurgitation of some plagiaristic hack from two hundred years ago.”

“Jason,” Bruce sighed. Jason rolled his eyes.

“Fine, whatever. So there’s this poem by this untalented dumbass named William Jones back in the 1700s, about a made-up Greek goddess of chess, named Caissa. But really, its just a rip-off of a much older poem from the 1500s by an Italian dude named Hieronymus Vida, in which the character of Caissa was originally named Scacchia. So I mean, I’m just saying, if this chick was going by the name Scacchia, I would have pegged what that was a reference to right away, because like, I have taste and so I’m way more familiar with the original version than the ode of a derivative hack. But I guess you just can’t count on bad guys to default to the superior take,” he lamented with a mournful sigh.

“But wait, aren’t you a bad guy?” Duke inquired, all bright eyes and fake innocence. Jason shot him A Look.

“Not this week, duh. Keep up.”

“Oh, sorry, my bad. I forgot to look at the calendar again.”

“You’re forgiven,” Jason said magnaminously. “Anyway, might just be a hunch, but worth looking into, I’d say. If her name really was actually Caissa, this Desperado could be working for her, and he might actually just be Round Two.”

Cass nodded. “Makes sense. Also restores my good name. Thanks little brother.”

“Any time, little sister. This mean you’ll stop throwing shit at me now?”

“Nope.”

“I hate you.”

“I know. Keeps me up at night.”

“You’re nocturnal, you bipedal asshat.”

Cass just smirked some more and sashayed away. Then flipped into a handstand and started walking away on her hands because clearly, she’d been spending too much time with Dick.

Which reminded him - Tim turned his attention back to his oldest brother, mortification forgotten or at least put on hold for the moment. 

“Hey, so, a lot of the files noted that several of these people are likely polyglots,” Tim said. “Since Cass thinks they have some kind of shared combat instruction in their background, I’m thinking there’s a chance we could get a better idea of what regions they all might have been in, in order to get that shared instruction, if we could isolate what languages or dialects or even accents they might have in common, y’know? You’ve got the best ear for languages, what do you think?”

Dick nodded thoughtfully as he perused several of the files. “Its a good idea. I’ll get into it. First though, I’ve gotta make a few calls.”

Their father shot him an appraising glance. “Harper?” He asked.

Dick nodded again. “Yeah, Roy, but also Helena and Tiger. Can’t hurt to have all three of them read in on this. Where there’s smoke there’s fire, and where there’s chess, there’s bound to be Checkmate. I’d find it way too big a coincidence if there’s not a connection there somewhere, and if there is one to be found, I’d say those three are our best chance of finding it.”

Bruce made a sour face. Dick arched a challenging eyebrow. Bruce sighed.

“I’m not disagreeing, I just don’t like it.”

Dick laughed. “Well, you don’t like anything, so really we’re all just in awe of your dedication to your Brand, Pops.”

Bruce rolled his eyes and sighed again, before turning his attention back to Tim. “As for you, I think you’ve contributed enough for one night, don’t you? Why don’t you get back to what you were doing before this....what was that again....oh right, getting some sleep?”

Tim made a face of his own. He was way too keyed up now - again - still - to go back to bed now. And again, must he reiterate, he was almost eighteen, helloooooo.

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

“Oh good, I’m so glad that’s what’s catching on as the family motto.”

“Don’t see you going to bed,” Tim sulked in a most mature fashion. The absolute height of maturity. Nay, the apogee, the zenith, we’re talking orbital here.

“Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne,” Jason interrupted in a thunderous facsimile of their father’s impressive baritone. “This is a Do As I Say, Not As I Do household!”

“This from the son who makes an art form out of never doing either,” Bruce said dryly.

Jason shrugged and buffed his nails against his chest, blithely unconcerned. “I go my own way. Its part of my charm.”

“Oh cool,” Duke cut in excitedly. “Are we playing that game again where we just make up our own definitions that have nothing to do with the actual words we say?”

Jason gasped and pressed his palm flat over his heart. “Et tu, Daisy Dukes?”

Duke nodded gravely. “Et mi, Sweeney Todd.”

“Boys,” Bruce said wearily. 

Both stopped and shot him expectant looks.

“What?”

“I actually have no idea, to be honest. It just feels like one of those things I should attempt to say periodically. Never mind. Carry on.”

Jason snorted and rolled his eyes at Duke as the two of them wandered off towards the opposite end of the cave. “As if we were ever going to do otherwise. He’s so weird sometimes, I swear.”

Duke hummed in agreement. “I think its on account of him being an ancient eldritch being.”

“I’m only forty-two,” Bruce called after them, aggrieved. They ignored him.

“Did you know, he was actually there to witness the actual dawn of time,” Jason said. “And yet, wake him up before noon and its like you’ve committed murder. And I would know. I’ve actually murdered people.”

“That’s true, you have.”

[munchyn]

Pragma or  Philia

Summary: I can’t remember and I’m too lazy to re-read it. I think Y/n has trouble opening up to people and then something happens between her and Nico

Word count: nearly 2k

A/N: Sorry in advance of I don't get the personalities of the characters right. It's been a while since I read the books. The characters do not belong to me and neither does the story. They belong to Rick Riordan and you belong to you. I'm sorry if it's kinda weird. It's okay if you cringe (I cringed as I wrote it). Also, Pragma is longstanding love in Ancient Greek and philia is deep friendship in Ancient Greek.

Warning: none that I remember.

I looked over at my brother, Percy, as he trotted towards me. I started speed walking away. I knew he wanted to introduce me to his friends. But my anti-social ass always told him that I already had enough friends. Which was half true. Half true because I already did have enough friends. Half lie because I didn't have any friends,

I started to jog when I felt that my half-brother was gaining up on me. Soon, I was sprinting across camp to get away from Percy. Other campers watched in amusement as the two children of Poseidon chased each other. Well, for them the one child of Poseidon. As they surely didn't know who I was. There were only a few people who I had actually talked to. Those people were Percy, Chiron, Annabeth, Connor & Travis Stoll, Nico di Angelo and Jen, the satyr that had brought me to Camp Half-Blood over six years ago.

I had been in camp longer than Percy had. For most of my life here, I had slept in the Hermes cabin and lived there with the Stolls. No, they weren't my friends. Like I said before, I have no friends. They are more like allies or partners in crime. But anyway, I wasn't claimed until one year after Percy had arrived.

On one hand, I was glad I didn't have to sleep in a cabin crowded with thieves every night. On the other hand, I felt left out. Why hadn't my father noticed me until after two of his sons arrived at the camp? One of them being a cyclops. Was I not enough to be noticed? I mean, for more than half of my life I spent it on praying to Olympus for one of the gods to claim me. And then, after a lunatic with a sword comes along is when I finally get noticed. That lunatic had no idea what he was doing half of the time by the way. But he saved the world twice so I guess that makes up for it.

I held no grudge against Percy or Tyson though. What was the point? They didn't have the fault and besides, what was done was done.

"Y/n!" Percy panted as he grabbed my arm, stopping me and my thoughts. "Stop! I want to introduce you to my friends."

"That's exactly what I've been avoiding Percy," I say as I squirm out of his grip. "I also have enough friends as it is."

"You don't have any friends," he says bluntly. 'Wow,' I think to myself. 'So nice.'

"That's the point."

"Whatever," he says and grabs my hand. "You are going to meet my friends." I groaned and rolled my eyes.

"You can be so annoying sometimes," I say, but Percy ignored me and continued to drag me to the Poseidon cabin. He slammed open the door and seven faces turned to look at us. Between them, I recognized Annabeth, Nico and a girl that Annabeth seemed to hang out with a lot. Although I did not know her name. Percy sat me down on one of the bunks. He later sat down next to Annabeth on the bunk opposite mine. The others were already sitting down. I was sat down. I was next to Nico, who had a look that read he was sorry for me. I gave him the same look.

Nico was the closest thing I have to a friend. We used to have talks together about how the camp could improve and how the gods always sent demigods into their fights. In fact, it was our very first conversation together.

I leaned back against the wall as Percy introduced me to the group. I put on my annoyed face, but on the inside, I felt touched that Percy really cared for me enough to take his time to gather up people for me to meet them. As soon as he found out that I was his sister he tried to break down the walls that I had created around me. But so far the only person that had managed to do that was the person that was sitting next to me.

"How come I've never seen you around then?" asked the Latino boy next to the girl whose name I learned was Piper. I shrugged.

"I tend to keep to myself," I say. "I don't think you should be asking that question. I don't see you that much around camp either."

The boy blushed a deep crimson and I saw a bit of his hair go on fire before it went out. I huffed out a laugh. 'Okay,' I think. 'He has pyrokinesis.'

There was silence in the room and the tension was so thick you could've cut it with a knife. Percy must have noticed this and coughed to catch everyone's attention. "How 'bout we play some game?" he says. "Any suggestions Piper?"

Piper sighed. "Do I really need to say it? I think you already know what I'm going to say."

Percy had a confused look on his face as he said, "Seven minutes in heaven?"

Piper, who had already stood up to the center of the room whacked him on the back of the head. "No you dumb ass," she says. "Don't make me any more of an Aphrodite child than I have to."

I smirked. 'I like her.'

"I think you might just be the only person that I actually like in this room, Piper," I laugh out. I heard Nico making a choking noise next to me. I wondered but left it for later. Percy, meanwhile, looked at me with a hurt look. "Oh don't be a baby Percy. You'll always be my brother, I have to love you."

Annabeth smiled and Piper sat down on the floor. "Nice to know Y/n," she says. "It's also a refreshing sight to see Percy the one being sassed so thank you."

"It's no problem," I say. "If you want any more refreshing sights you should hang out with us at the Poseidon table during lunch."

"Could we just move on with what we were previously doing?" asks Percy, looking between me and Piper with a desperate look.

"Well, I was going to say we should play truth or dare."

I jumped off of the bed. "Truth or Dare!?!! This is my jam!" Nico looked at me weirdly. Probably because of my change in attitude around him. I was usually more like him, now I was showing my more Percy-like self. I moved to sit in front of Piper.

"Since you're so excited, Y/n, why don't you go first?" says Leo. "Truth or Dare?"

"Dare," I say.

[Time Skip. I'm sorry.]

We had played a few rounds of Truth or Dare. At the moment, Percy was dressed up as Ariel (which he didn't mind), Leo had red war paint and Jason was wearing a pink princess dress. Nico's face, unfortunately, had been decorated with makeup and glitter by Hazel.

"Y/n," says Piper and I looked at her. "Truth or Dare?"

"You already know my answer Piper," I say and she smirks.

"I dare you to kiss the person to your left," she says and my heart drops. I look over to my left and see that Leo's face was flushing a deep red. Judging from the heat I felt in my cheeks mine was probably in the same condition. He turns to look at me and we both lean in. Our lips met in a kiss. It wasn't just a peck, but it wasn't a full-on makeout session. We both pulled apart and I looked down at the ground in embarrassment.

I didn't dare to look at anyone. Especially Nico. 'Darn it,' I curse to myself. 'Why couldn't Piper have said "to your right"?' Yep that's right. I had a crush on the Ghost King. On the only person that managed to break down my walls. 

I was still looking down when Nico finally decided to stand and leave. I looked up just in time to see the door slam shut. 

"Nico!" I called out for my only friend. I stood up and headed outside to look for Nico. I looked around to see if I could find him. After about ten seconds I saw him going to the forest, and even from here, anger radiated off of him. "Nico, wait!"

I chase after him but he seemed to walk faster when he heard my voice. 'Now I know how  Percy falt about a half hour ago.' I started to run as to not lose him from sight. I nearly crashed into him when he stopped all of a sudden.

"Why don't you just go and play Truth or Dare with Leo," he said as he gestured to the cluster of cabins behind me. 'Wait, did he say Leo?'

"Nico, I wasn't playing Truth or Dare with just Leo," I say and he mumbles something under his breath. "What?"

"I said that it looked like it," Nico rolled his eyes and continued walking into the forest. But he didn't go very far after I grabbed his arm. I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to read his poker face. Then I realized what was going on.

"Are you jealous of Leo?" I ask and Nico looks down. I burst out laughing and Nico goes even more red in the face. I wipe away a tear from my eye. "You are jealous of a guy I just met literally less than an hour ago. Oh, my gods." I catch my breath and Nico looks at me with a grumpy pout. I pinch his cheek. "You are actually really cute when you're jealous." 

I give him a peck on the lips and he blushes fifty different shades of red. My eyes widen as I just realized what I had done. "I'm so sorry Nico," I say as a fidget with the hem of my shirt. "You probably don't even like me."

Before I could say anything else he cupped my face in his hands and placed a soft kiss. I slowly kissed back and hugged him once he pulled away. "I really like you Y/n," he says into my hair.

"I really like you too, Nico," I say and peck his nose. There was a moment of silence. "I'm guessing this is the part where you ask me out?"

"Well, I was thinking more about asking you to be my girlfriend-"

"Yes," I said interrupting him. "I'll be your girlfriend." He grinned his grip around my waist got stronger. "Should we go and share the news?"

Nico paused to pretend he was thinking, "Nah," he says after a while. "They've been trying to get us together for the past year. Let them suffer."

[gaymortagokat]

What Drew Did During the War   ArtofPadillaAZ

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom:

Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan,

The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Relationships: Silena Beauregard & Drew Tanaka, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano/Drew Tanaka, Silena Beauregard & Clarisse la Rue, Will Solace & Drew Tanaka

Characters: Katie Gardner, Kayla Knowles, Drew Tanaka, Clarisse La Rue, Will Solace, Lacy (Percy Jackson), Valentina Diaz, Mitchell (Percy Jackson), Frank Zhang, Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Percy Jackson, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Nico di Angelo, Octavian (Percy Jackson), Piper McLean, Gaea (Percy Jackson), Leo Valdez, Jason Grace

Additional Tags: Blood, Blood and Injury, Violence, Slight canon diversion, Minor Character Death, Drew is a healer, she is actually good at it, Charmspeak (Percy Jackson), One Shot

Series: Part 3 of Shared Secrets

Summary:   Set during the final scenes of Blood Of Olympus, Drew serves as a medic under her estranged friend Will. She's a fast runner and manages to weave through the fighting with ease. She patches up injured and brings other runners supplies. When the fighting is over she has a moment with Reyna before returning to her cabin to clean up and sleep.

It's not directly related to the Shared Secrets series but is what I had in mind when I wrote it.

Drew knew a war was coming for days, weeks even. She remembered the battles the Ancient Romans fought from world history courses that briefly covered the Greco-Roman world, Egypt, and the Indus Valley. If Camp Jupiter was anything like the old Roman Empire there was going to be a lot of injuries, and not to mention Gaea was trying to kill them all. So Drew spent the last few weeks training. She wasn't a fighter, but she was a runner. She could run for a long time; during spring break, she had participated in a 10K and finished in just under 50 minutes (49:55 to be exact). Drew had done that run with zero extra weight except for the mp3 strapped to her arm. Drew has spent the last few weeks training to carry a backpack filled with anything she might need to stabilize an injured person long enough to get them to the Apollo Cabin or at the very least away from the fighting.

She ran different routes every day pushing herself to go further each time. She weighed down her backpack with rocks she picked up around camp and filled it until she could feel it's weight but left it light enough to not make her lean forward like she had to do with her school backpack. She had even used the weighted backpack to strengthen her arms and legs, and after about a week and a half she felt stronger. 

Each day got closer and closer to the fight against the Romans and Gaea and the day The Seven, Percy and Annabeth, Jason, two Romans, a tiny not so funny Latino who kept trying to flirt with her, and her slightly younger, daughter of a movie star sister, were supposed to save the world. The closer Drew got to that day the more determined she became to do a good job. She didn't want to lose another sibling and didn't know what she would do if she did.

The day before everything was supposed to fall apart Drew went to see an old friend, Will Solstice. They hadn't been particularly close the last few years, but she figured he would be expecting her. After all, he taught her basic first aid and how to use unconventional items as a tourniquet or splint (in return Drew taught him how to repair torn clothes and how to use a flat iron).

Drew found him taking inventory of all the medical supplies available in the med bay. "Hey, Hon, I need some supplies for tomorrow."

The curly haired blonde jumped and Drew snickered quietly. "Gods Drew. Learn to knock."

"Sorry, my schedule is a bit full."

"I'm sure you would have time if you cut a few minutes off your gossip time. You said you needed supplies for tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"I can't give you them, you know that. The day of anyone providing medical care receives a bag with prepackaged supplies."

"I know that. But you and I both know I'm the fastest runner you'll have tomorrow and many will decide to fight instead. You'll have extra bags."

"That better not have been Charmspeak, Drew."

"Oh please. Why would I use Charmspeak to convince you of the truth?" 

Will thought for a second, his bright eyes taking in her expression while his brain decided her level of honesty. "Alright," Will decided, "I'll give you supplies. Come on." Will motioned for her to follow him.

He led her to a shelf containing gauze and medical tape. "Open your bag. I'm just going to toss things in and we'll organize once I've got everything."

Drew listened and held open her bag. They moved along the shelves as Will tossed gauze, tape, liquid bandage, rulers, rope, Neosporin, pre cut cloth, medical stapler, extra staples, antiseptic wipes, containers of ambrosia (liquid and solid) and other medical salves. 

Will looked at the overflowing bag, "okay that's enough." He sat down where she was standing and Drew followed.

They organized the supplies, and as Will placed them in the bag he told her her instructions for the next day. 

"You probably won't need the Neosporin until after the fight- only use it on smaller cuts and burns after they've been clean. The gauze is for heavier bleeding, use the cloths for lighter stuff if necessary- '' Drew of course knew all of this but a final reminder was always helpful. "Rulers and cloths are for splints. Cloths are also for tourniquets. Stapler to reattach limbs- remember a bit of ambrosia with major injuries. Liquid bandage for smaller cuts also to be used after all the fighting and once a cut is cleaned. Hence the antiseptic cloths. If you need to give stitches always rinse off blood so you can see. I didn't give you any supplies to give stitches. I know you have things that will work. The salve you will probably use after as well. 

Tomorrow, I want you to handle the more major injuries. You see something. Just go to it. You can get to them faster than anyone and with major injuries and grave injuries every second makes a difference. Stabilized them then get them away from the fight. Do your best to get them to someone who can look after them. And please, Drew, have good bedside manner. A calm voice can do a lot to help people relax. And last but not least have a water bottle on you. You're going to be doing a lot of running. I don't need you passing out from dehydration."

"Alright. Thanks Doll. For the supplies." Drew stood to leave slipping on her backpack as she did so. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night, Drew."

"Night."

Drew exited the cabin and made her way to her own. She walked past Hephaestus and Ares kids as they rushed off in various directions to set up more defences along the camp's border. They have been doing that for days. Aries kids laid landmines near one of the predicted entrances the Romans would take while Hephaestus kids with some help from the Athena Cabin built and set up blockades at strategic points.

Drew twisted the knob to her cabin door feeling the cool metal on her palm and releasing a heavy sigh from deep in her chest as she pushed open the door. Inside the cabin were all her brother's and sisters- she slipped off her shoes and went to her bed. Her siblings were laying out their clothes for tomorrow. Drew followed her siblings lead and grabbed running shorts with a 6 inseam, a light sleeveless shirt, the most comfortable sports bra she owned, running socks that had a second layer at the toes and heel, had arch support and would rest above her ankles (every time she wore no show socks something went wrong on her run), and her favorite running shoes. Her favorite running shoes matched her shorts (turquoise and pink). They were her favorite brand because they consistently were breathable, comfortable, and beautiful. The first pair she ever wore were from Silena.

About four summers ago Silena arrived to camp a few days later than usual with a loosely wrapped box. When the two of them had a moment alone Silena smiled softly and handed Drew the box. "I'm sorry it's wrapped poorly. I was in a hurry."

"It's alright, Silena." Drew hooked a finger under the paper and pulled. When she opened the box she saw pink running shoes.

"They're trail running shoes. They'll work a thousand times better than your Vans."

"Thank you Silena. Can't wait to use them."

"I hope I got the size right."

Drew checked the inside tag. "You did."

"Do you wanna go on a run tomorrow morning?"

"Only if we go swimming after."

"I think we can."

Drew smiled at the memory. Since that summer Drew always came to camp with trail running shoes. She set her shoes and clothes on the foot of her bed and laid down. She closed her eyes listening to the occasional chatter of her siblings. They were quieter today, but Drew guessed that was what happened when people were preparing for war.

"Drew" -One of her brothers said carefully- "are you awake?"

She opened her eyes and sat up. "I am. What's wrong Hon?"

"What's going to happen tomorrow?" He asked. He was three years younger than Drew and had arrived at camp the last year. If it wasn't for the impending fight Drew would have considered him lucky for having never known anyone who has died in a demi-god related battle.

"Tomorrow most of the campers will be fighting. And when it's over many will have various injuries." Drew said simply.

"But what will it be like?"

"Loud. Lots of yelling. You'll hear cabin leaders giving orders, and you might get a bit disoriented."

"You're our cabin leader. Won't you be fighting?"

"No. I'll be pulling injured from the fighting."

"What does that mean for us?" Another sibling asked.

"I want you all in pairs at the minimum. Look after each other. If you want to fight I won't stop you. You'll partner up with another cabin if that's what you choose. If you don't want to fight you'll be treating the wounded. Pulling people out of the fighting and patching up wounds until they can be seen by any member of the Apollo Cabin. If that's what you want to do, look out for siblings and others doing that job. It's a solo job but do your best to know where others are. And when the fighting is over and everyone is in camp borders we all meet back here. No exceptions."

The siblings all nodded. No charmspeak was necessary for them to do what Drew wanted this time. 

"We all need sleep. If you're not done preparing for tomorrow you have five minutes then all lights are being turned off." Drew laid back down and closed her eyes once more. 

In the morning Drew started her day with stretches. There was no telling when her job would start and it was important to have her muscles warmed up unless she wanted to pull something after running for a short period of time. Once she was finished she met with her cabin for breakfast where she had something high in sugar and fulfilling.

The next several hours passed in anxious waiting. The Romans and the monsters standing behind them were closer to camp than they ever had been before, and the number of monsters had grown double what they were when Drew saw them last. Drew had snuck out of camp to see them days earlier. If they weren't intimidating then with their silhouettes outlined by the sun they sure are now when they could attack camp at any moment. 

Will gathered all his medics in the early evening and went over their job. Drew looked around at the group. There were a few of the youngest Apollo, Athena, Iris, and Demeter kids, and half of her cabin. Drew was the oldest having just turned 16 before summer began. She was also the tallest and the only one not wearing leg and thigh guards and arm guards since she found the metal to be restrictive.

Will finished speaking and everyone split up to head to different points where the battle was predicted to take place. Drew stayed behind to find out where Will was going to be.

"Drew. What's up?"

"Just wondering' where you'll be?"

"I'm on sabotage duty. We're going to try to take down as many catapults as possible. Just remember to go where you think you're needed, and here," Will pulled out what looked like a thin metal box and held it out to her.

Once it was in her hand she recognized it. A butterfly knife. Drew looked at him quizzically, "What do i need this for?"

"Just in case. I w-" yelling outside camp caught their attention. "I got to go. You need to head out too."

Drew nodded and they both ran off. Drew pushed past the Cave of the Oracle and Thalia's Tree towards the farm road. The closer she got the louder the fighting became. Just before the road was Camp Jupiter holding a line. Behind them was a line of monsters. They weren't moving. Just watching. A figure In front of them appeared to be the one giving the orders. He said something to the person next to him and disappeared into the army of monsters.  A scream nearby caught her attention and she ran towards it.

It was an eighteen-year-old from the Hephestus cabin he had been at camp since before Drew first arrived, and he had taken an arrow to the knee. Drew knelt at his side. "Hey," Drew said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, just breathe. I'm gonna get you out of here."

"Drew?"

"Yeah it's me-" Drew wanted to use his name knowing it would help him calm down, but she simply did not know what it was. "-Sweetheart. I have to get this arrow out of your leg then I'm going to heal you a bit and get you out of here."

She pulled out a container of cubed ambrosia, gauze and opened the butterfly knife. One hand held the shaft of the arrow while the other tried to snap off the arrow head. She could hear the wood creak as she tried to carefully remove the metal. It wasn't working. "Screw it," she muttered. She gripped the metal firmly and pulled hard. The arrow head broke off with a snap and the son of Hephestus groaned in pain.

"Sorry Hon. That was just the easy part. I need you to stay as still as you can." She placed a small piece of ambrosia in his hand and closed his hand. "Don't eat this til after the arrow is out."

He gave her a small nod. Drew pulls her hand straight up as fast as she could. Blood poured from the wound for a few seconds until the ambrosia took effect. The worst of the damage was healed. Drew wrapped his knee then put the ambrosia away. 

She held the knife in one hand and helped him to his feet. He was heavy. Drew adjusted the weight and began walking. Their first few steps were shaky and they had both nearly fallen, but they worked out s system. They walked at least forty feet away from the battle. Deciding it was a safe enough distance, Drew helped him sit down under a tree.

"Stay here. Someone from the Apollo Cabin will finish healing you."

"Thank you."

"Not a problem, Sweetheart. I've got to go, but you stay safe." Drew closed the knife and jogged off. 

It wasn't long before she saw another camper on the ground. A few others stood in front shielding them from further injury. Drew increased her speed. She dodged a few Romans and zipped around her fellow campers. 

She recognized this camper too. He was younger than her, and had been at camp maybe a year now. He dated a brother? Or a sister? Maybe it was both? Drew wasn't sure. 

"Drew, thank gods! You gotta help me."

"I plan on it." She looked closely at him, finding only a broken arm. "You got a broken arm. I'll set it. I don't recommend still fighting."

The splint was easy to make even with the unconventional supplies. The hardest part was focusing long enough to finish it. She was closer to the center of the fighting and the three peers protecting her and the younger boy were actively fighting Romans. Metal hit metal and rang in her ears uncomfortably. "Alright, you're done. I gotta go. Try not to break anything else."

They both stood and went their separate ways. Drew ran to the next person and the boy returned to fighting but moved further back. 

She finished setting a broken leg and was in the middle of pulling the girl to her feet when two of her siblings stopped her. 

"Drew, we can take her back. There's someone bleeding that way."

"Well why aren't you two heading over there?!"

"It's nearly a mile. We'll never make it." The ‘on time’ went unsaid.

"Alright. I left someone back there," she pointed the direction where she left the Hephestus kid. "It's away from the fighting."

"We'll take her there." Both her siblings took the girl from Drew, and as soon as Drew was free she began running. 

There was no guarantee she was going to make it on time. She had no idea what this person's injuries were like. She made her way through the fighting. She ran a few minutes and ended up in the area with little fighting. Looking ahead she spotted a group of 3 kneeling around something she couldn't see. Figuring it was the injured she was told about. She sped up, and Gods she hated being right.

There was blood. A lot of it. Coming from the arm. A sister's hands were covered in it. Her sister looked up at her, blue eyes filled with fear. "Drew, thank gods. You gotta help us. The bleeding has slowed, but we don't know what else to do."

Drew looked between the three trying to save the mystery campers life and noticed none of them were wearing a backpack. "Alright. One of you needs to move over."

Drew reached in her backpack and grabbed ambrosia, gasuse and medical tape. She handed the ambrosia to the person to her left and leaned over to press the gauze on the cut. "Did you give them some ambrosia?"

"Yeah."

Drew lifted her hands and checked the wound. "The bleeding has stopped but it's still open. Give them a little bit more." She looked at someone else. "There's antiseptic wipes in my bag. We have to clean off some of the blood if the tape is gonna stick."

They got the area around the stab wound cleaned and were taping down a new sheet of gauze when her sister said "What is that?"

They all followed her gaze and spotted monsters and dog headed men and Centaurs. They wore the symbol of Camp Jupiter, but it was obvious they weren't campers. They had moved closer to the Roman Campers line and had begun to attack them. Things were about to get a whole lot worse.  

"You three stay here. Protect them. I'll send someone over to help." She zipped up her backpack and left.

She ran straight towards the fighting. Camp Jupiter was getting hit from both sides. She looked around trying to find any one she knew. She spotted an orange shirt and moved towards it. They got knocked down, but not without taking a Roman with them. Drew stood between the two and assessed their injuries. The Camp Half-Blood camper had a dislocated or broken elbow, Drew wasn't really sure she would have to get a closer look, and the Roman had a deep laceration on his arm. She wasn't even sure if she should help him; they weren't exactly on the same side. She remembered the promise she made to herself and what the army of monsters have begun doing. She wouldn't let someone else lose a sibling if she could help it. She knelt at his side slipping off her backpack- "What the hell, Drew!" She reached for the liquid ambrosia and a cloth. "Why you helping him?"

Drew's eyes narrowed. She let a few drops of ambrosia drip onto the cut as she said, "If you haven't noticed, Someone told the monsters to begin attacking. The Roman's are fighting a war on two fronts, and if history has taught us anything they won't last long. It would be better if we worked together instead of trying to kill each other which Gaea wants to do to all of us." She found an antiseptic cloth and wiped away the blood to find that the cut was shallower than before. She put a few more drops of Ambrosia and watched as the laceration became more like  a papercut. "You're all healed now, Hon."

"Thanks."

Drew turned around and did her best to set the broken arm. "There's some campers back there," Drew pointed to the direction she came from, "they might need some help. A camper is down. Blood loss from a cut on their arm. I healed them enough to stop the bleeding but they can't fight anymore. Three others are there protecting them."

"There are three people, why do they need help?" The Roman asked like the concept was foreign to him. 

Drew popped the joint back in place and looked back at the Roman surprised he hadn't returned to the fighting. "Two of them are my siblings and we aren't exactly known for being good fighters." Her words confused him more.

"I'll go," the other boy said.

"You have a broken arm."

"It's alright. Clarisse made all of us learn how to fight with one arm and the other hand."

Drew nodded. "Try not to undo my work."

“I’ll go with him.” The Roman stated.

“Isn’t that technically desertion? A crime if I am remembering military law correctly.”

“The Praetors are missing, my camp is being attacked by monsters and fighting yours because orders are orders. When the Praetors come back just don’t tell them what I did.”

Drew nodded and together they helped the Ares kid to his feet, and Drew handed him his sword before moving on to the next person.

Drew was finishing the knot on the cloth bandage when an explosion caught her attention. She looked in the direction of the noise and saw a mix of dirt and smoke in the air. A second explosion went off a short distance away and Drew realized the cause. The landmines.

She ran as fast as she could twisting around campers, ducking swords and jumping over kicked out legs. A few times she dropped to the ground and slid a few feet. At the edge of the minefield she saw a small group of Greeks were the closest to her off to her left directly in front of her were Romans. A quick glance at the Greeks told her they have a medic with them. A few Romans tried to get closer to the group sitting on the ground. Drew yelled at them filling her voice with Charmspeak, "Everybody stop walking!" She called to the Greeks attempting to give medical aid to one of their friends, "Do you have enough supplies?"

"Could use some more ambrosia."

"Alright, I'll come to you." She looked back at the Romans finding a few of them had moved a few steps. "Hey! What did I tell you!" Drew yelled using Charmspeak once more, "stop walking!"

Drew looked at the ground between her and her peers finding circles where the ground had been disturbed. Those must be the mines. She plotted a path and carefully followed it. She handed one of the campers a few cubes of ambrosia and looked at the larger group of Romans. 

"What are the injuries over there?"

"Uh she's bleeding a lot from her leg and arm. It's bad."

Drew plotted the path she would take step by step. She couldn't take her time. A Roman created a space or her and she dropped to her knees and began to access the damage.

The girl had shrapnel in her legs and arms. The bleeding in her left leg was the most worrying. One of her brothers in arms appeared to have his fingers inside her leg pinching something closed. The leg looked torn apart everywhere metal armor wasn't. The girls pants have been ripped around her wounds to reveal her dark skin. She needed the metal shards removed from her arms and legs before she could be healed.

"What happens if you remove your fingers?"

"She'll bleed, a lot."

Drew nodded and broke off a piece of ambrosia and handed it to the only other person without bloody hands. "She needs to eat this. It will heal her a little bit. Hopefully enough to stop the bleeding but not enough to make her heal around the metal."

She pulled out gauze and the butterfly knife and laid them on the girl's stomach. She grabbed a few larger strips of cloth and medical tape and laid them out as well.

"Remove your fingers slowly."

Drew watched ready to reapply pressure to the girl's leg. The girl was still bleeding, not a dangerous amount. She cut a piece of gauze into a smaller square and placed it over the wound applying the slightest bit of pressure.

"Now we can pull out the metal." She looked at the girl, "we'll try to be quick. Do your best to stay as still as you can."

"We can help." A voice said from behind her. Drew turned and saw the Romans who were trying to get here earlier. Looks like they've figured out how to navigate the minefield.

One knelt down next to her and placed his hands on the injured teen's leg just above her ankle. The other held down her shoulders so they could remove the metal from her arms.

They all did the best they could to pull the metal out with their bare hands. It became more difficult as their hands became slick with blood. Drew found herself wiping her hands on her shirt. A large number of metal shards were impeded deep in the girl's skin; they had to make the cut larger in order to pinch the metal between their fingers and pull it out. The entire time the girl screamed and moaned in pain. She occasionally broke free and accidentally slapped or kicked someone (not that anyone could blame her). 

They had only been working a few minutes when they heard the armies of both camps and the army of monsters stop fighting. Drew looked over confused. She had heard no orders for them to do that. Campers were looking west at the setting sun that had turned the sky orange. Drew followed their gaze and spotted pegasi outlined by the orange sun. And on the lead pegasus was a figure. Drew could make out a cloak sparkling in the sunlight and what could be a long braid, and below the girl and the pegasi was a statue. It was a statue Drew had only ever seen in drawings in textbooks and documentaries. The Athena Parthenos. 

The statue was set down near Thalia's Tree and the girl on the pegasus, Guido, landed in the clearing behind the Greeks. She yelled that she was returning it in an act of peace. Her voice carried to even the person furthest away from her. She wanted the Romans to stand with the Greeks. 

A smaller darker figure ran up to join her. It was Nico Di Angelo. "Listen to her!" He yelled. "Reyna risked her life for all of you!"

It was out of character for Nico to speak in front of a large group of people let alone tell them what to do. Drew had to admit, it was very brave of him. "If you haven't noticed Gaea is rising. If-"

YOU WILL DIE. 

The voice shook the earth. Drew felt her chest tighten as the wind picked up. The ground felt stickier than it had been seconds earlier. Drew looked down and saw the bloody earth bubbling slightly. A bubble popped below her leg and she felt the bloody mixture stick to her leg and move as if it was trying to pull her down. Gaea was officially awake, and they were surrounded.

The Roman girl yelled, "CLOSE RANKS!" Everyone standing rushed to stand shoulder to shoulder with the nearest person.

Some pasty blond Drew recognized as the Roman who led the army to Camp pushed through his auxilia troops- the monsters Drew understood to be the ones everyone was concerned about. The ones that had the Romans fighting on two fronts.

Drew rushed to finish removing the metal from the girl and quickly bandaged her. “By camp over there. I’ve been leaving injured. Can you take her there?” Drew asked all the Romans knowing she was unable to carry the girl let alone drag her through a minefield without accidentally blowing them up.

“Yes.”

“Here’s an extra piece of ambrosia. You only need a tiny bit to heal. Too much and it will kill you.”

Drew heard the clopping of horse hooves and turned to look. There was a squad of Centaurs joining the fight. “Don’t look those dudes in the eye unless you want to fight them.” one of the other boys told her.

“You two take her to where the other injured are, we’ll try to create a space to reach the others.” One decided standing up.

“Who says you get to be the one to decide what we do?” A girl asked. 

“I’m the oldest.”

Drew knew the type of arguing. Siblings. “It doesn’t matter who does what job,” Drew snapped using a bit of charmspeak, “we can’t stay here long.”

“The Greek is right. Whatever we do we need to decide fast. I don’t wanna be in this minefield once it’s dark.”

They all stood to leave when Drew felt something warm hit her arm. She brushed her hand down her arm and found fresh blood on her hand. She looked at the person next to her and saw blood dripping down his hand. “Hey, wait. You’re bleeding.”

He looked at her and in the setting sun his helmet reflected the light. She looked past the reflective metal into his dark eyes. “I’m alright. I’ll take care of it later.”

“I can take care of it right now.”

“No, it’s alright.”

“Okay. You have the ambrosia I gave you. Take a small piece of it. It will at least stop your bleeding.”

He nodded and jogged to catch up with his fellow soldiers.

Drew stayed where she was and studied the battle infront of her. How was she going to slip into that and pull an injured person away from that. She looked for any space and thought she spotted a way in when an explosion nearby knocked her down. 

Disoriented, she looked around off to one side and spotted a very injured Two Headed man; there were more behind them as well as a few Dog-headed men. Both creatures had very little fashion sense. The Two Headed men seemed to be wearing whatever cloth they found that fit around them. They were poorly dressed and made Brooklyn’s homeless look like kings (at least the few Drew had met had tried to keep clean and wore outfits while nearly monochromatic at least had their entire bodies covered).

The other Two Headed men hadn’t seen her yet. She thought she could use this to her advantage and picked up a few rocks before she stood up. She faced them then looked behind her. If she did everything right she could clear the minefield without injury. 

She threw a rock at the Two Headed men, she had missed hitting them but captured their attention. She turned slightly and threw the rest of the rocks in the direction of the Dog-headed men and captured their attention as well as some Centaurs. A Centaur ran at her and she spun on her heel and ran. She ran on the sections of raised earth avoiding the pits. Explosions went off behind her hitting enemies with celestial bronze shards. One explosion was close enough to her that it knocked her flat on her stomach. Her face connected with her forearms. After a few moments she stood silently thanking the Ares Cabin for making the path she was on wide enough for a person twice her size to lay on it. An arrow blew past her head, and she yelped before sprinting. She ran towards Half-Blood Hill and darted around some trees pausing behind what she hoped was adequate cover. In her brief pause to catch her breath she felt a dull ache in her thigh. She twisted to look at the area and found the source of her pain- a piece of metal easily the size of her hand was embedded in her toned thigh. She heard the crunching of sticks and leaves nearby. She covered her mouth with a hand and pulled out the metal. One of the Dog-headed men spotted her and alerted the rest of his group. Drew dropped the metal and began running once more before any of the monsters could get close. 

She looped back around to the campers and spotted her brother who looked at her with wide eyes. A few other campers noticed her and created a space. Drew slipped in the army a few seconds later Dog-headed men slammed into Roman shields. Behind them were a few Two Headed men and a Centaur. 

Someone tapped Drew’s shoulder. She whirled around and faced a helmet-less Roman with freckles and copper hair. “You’re a medic, right?”

“Today.”

He made a motion for her to follow. “My brother is hurt bad. We pulled him to the center. There are other injured there. Reyna wants to get them out of here to somewhere safe.

Drew had no idea who Reyna was but nodded anyways. In the center was a larger open space where some injured were laying. There was only one medic tending to the six injured. She slipped off her backpack and pulled out both forms of ambrosia.

The Roman led her to where the other medic was and kneeled at the injured boy’s side. He had been hit on part of the face and upper arm. Drew swore if she looked close enough she would see the boy’s bone. 

She opened the cubed ambrosia and grabbed the most appropriate bite sized piece. “Make sure he eats this. It will help heal him.” She put the cubed ambrosia away and grabbed gauze. She passed some to the other medic and placed the rest on the boys shoulder and applied pressure. He had healed a lot but was still bleeding. Blood seeped through the layers of gauze soaking Drew’s hands. She increased the pressure. After some time she removed her hands. He was still bleeding. Drew grabbed the medical stapler to close the wound and watched his breathing. 

She patted his face, “Hey stay awake, Dear. You can’t fall asleep right now.” his breathing was slow and his eyes were half closed. “Wake up,” Drew said with Charmspeak. The boy’s eyes snapped open. “You’re alright. I’m going to close the wound. It might hurt a bit.”

She pinched the skin together and stapled it. Three staples and it was closed. The other medic looked at her like she was a genius. “There are a few others who could use that.” he told her. “Can I borrow that?”

“Yeah, here.”

She turned back to the injured boy. She opened the liquid ambrosia and pulled out the eye dropper. She released a few drops of the golden liquid over the now closed cut and watched as his bleeding had completely stopped. She moved her hand and released a few more drops over the cut on his face. Now she had to clean him up and cover the wounds. Salve and gauze went over his cuts. “Stay awake, okay. I need to go check on the others. I’ll be back shortly.”

She made her way to the other medic. “What have the other injuries been like?”

“Mostly the same. There’s a few broken bones. I don’t have anything to heal them with. We need to think about how we are going to move them.”

“I can do it. Keep the ones here stable and awake. I’ll go around and give them some ambrosia. The first boy is ready. He lost a lot of blood. We might not be able to move him.”

“I’m working my way back. I'll check on him.”

Drew nodded. She worked her way around the group of injured and passed out ambrosia. Those with broken bones were near completely healed and decided to stick around and help move the other injured. 

The first boy was standing with the support of the Roman medic. Drew traded places with them and handed him the bottle of liquid ambrosia. She instructed him on how to use it. 

With the help from a few fighters Drew walked the injured boy to the spot where she had been leaving injured just before the border of Camp Half-Blood. There were more injured than she remembered bringing. 

The fighters who had protected Drew and the boy helped her lay him down. They got him settled when a son of Apollo walked up to her. “Are the bandages his only injuries. From what I could tell. Do you have supplies here?”

“Some. Could use some more ambrosia.”

“There’s a few boxes in my backpack, feel free to take one.” she turned away from him and lowered herself to his height. She waited until she heard the backpack close before turning back to him. “There’s at least three more I’ll be bringing back here.”

“Alright. If you see any of my siblings send them here. I could use another set of hands.”

“Will do. See you in a bit, Hon.”

Drew rushed back to the fighting and saw that the combined camps managed to push their enemies back a few inches. It was easier for Drew and the others to make their way back to the center. She helped another person to their feet. It was hard to support this girl. She was at least a foot shorter than Drew. 

The Roman medic approached her before she left. “I’m out of supplies.”

Drew looked around for anyone wearing a backpack to call them over to help. When she didn’t find someone she did the next best thing: capturing the attention of a CHB camper. “Hey, I need you to find another medic. Someone wearing a backpack. We’re running low on supplies here.”

“I’m on it.” the camper ran off.

The ground began to shake. Softly at first then it was like a rug had been pulled out from other them. Campers fell to the ground, including Drew and the young teen she was supporting. Through all the chatter of people and surprised screams the voice of the girl who returned the Athena Parthenos boomed. “EVERYBODY UP!” Drew struggled to find her footing in the shaking dirt. She was about to fall again when someone’s arm wrapped around her, holding her inplace. The person walked around her and helped the girl up. Drew realized it was Clarisse- Silena’s former best friend whom she wanted nothing to do with. “Thanks.”

Clarisse gave her a small smile and nodded towards the girl. “Get her out of here.”

Drew returned to her previous position and took careful steps. Together they fought their way across the quaking earth step by step. The pair nearly collapsed steps away from their destination. One of the self appointed guards led them to an empty space. 

“Have you seen any of my siblings, Drew.”

Oh shit, I forgot I was supposed to find one of Apollo’s children. “No, not yet, Hon. I sent someone to find another person with a backpack the medic down there is out of supplies”

“Give them some of your gauze and cloths since you’re bringing people here.”

Drew noticed the grass wrapping itself around the fingers of the people laying down. “What is going on here?”

“The grass is trying to hold those who aren’t moving much down. I’ve been having people go around and cut it.”

“You're still good on supplies, Sweetheart?”

“For now.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Drew began to jog back when the earth shook violently once more. She stumbled but stayed upright. The ground split open in front of her. She jumped over the crack with ease and continued on. She made it back to the other injured campers and saw mostly new faces. The others have been moved by other campers. Drew remembered seeing them on her way back. 

“Drew! You’re here.” Lacy yelled.

“Sweetheart, you're the one they found?”

“Yes. I am running low on supplies.”

Drew opened her hiking backpack and pulled out an unopened box of gauze and a lump of cut cloth. “I have extras.” She handed the stack to Lacey. Then moved on to the Roman medic. “Hey, you’re out of supplies, right?”

“Yes.”

She placed a box of gauze in his hands. “I’m looking for an Apollo kid; have any come by. They need help at the makeshift field hospital. There’s only one medic there.”

“I’m an Apollo kid.”

“Any siblings nearby?”

“I’m sure I can find a few. You start patching people up and I’ll go look.” He handed back the gause.

“Alright.”

They parted ways. Drew knelt at someone's side and applied pressure to their arm. The bleeding was too much. Drew reached in her bag for a strip of cloth, tucked in under the person’s arm above the wound and tied it. She pulled it as tight as she could then knotted it. She needed to get them out of here and to a child of Apollo. She pulled them to their feet and put their good arm over her shoulder. She was going to hand them off to someone else to take them to the field hospital when the Roman came back with a few others.

“This is my brother and sister.”

“Great, we need to get this person to the field hospital. At least one of you need to come with me.”

“I’ll go.” The sister volunteered. “I’ll trade you places.”

Drew nodded. And transferred the nearly unconscious person to the other person. Drew led the two Romans to the field hospital. On the very edges of the campers line she spotted Katie. She put a hand on their arm and said, “I need your help, follow me.” 

“Drew, you’re back.”

“He’s got a deep cut on his arm. We need to take care of this immediately.” Roman said.

“Who’s this?”

“Roman daughter of Apollo. She’s gonna stay here and help.”

“What did you need me for, Drew.”

“The grass is starting to grow around people’s bodies. I figured you could do something.”

“I’ll try. I make no promises.”

Drew furrowed her brows. A sound captured her attention instinct told her it was Charmspeek, which was weird she hadn’t said anything. She looked at camp and saw what she thought were two floating figures in the deep orange sky. Then she realized where the Charmspeak came from; Piper. The Seven had returned. 

“The earthquakes stopped.” Katie noted.

Drew looked at one of the campers laying down. The grass that was once snugly around their fingers was now loose and made no effort to grow and retighten. Not only that, the wind had stopped howling. “Gaea’s asleep.”

“Does that mean we won?”

“No.” Drew said simply. “We still have work to do.”

“How much gauze do you have?”

“Few boxes I think.”

“Leave some of it here. I’ll be out soon.”

Drew nodded and handed over two boxes and a vial of liquid ambrosia. She only had two boxes of gauze left and 1 full bottle of ambrosia.

Drew ran back, dodging swings from Dog-headed men and Two Headed men. She pushed past the first few lines and nearly ran into Annabeth. They both stared at each other for a moment before looking away and continuing their tasks. 

Back at the center Drew knelt next to one of Clarisse’s siblings. They needed stitches, something that was too hard to give in near darkness. She grabbed the stapler from her bag and used it in place of staples. She applied a salve and moved on to the next person.

“Drew?” Will asked carefully.

“Yes, Hon?”

“Were running out of supplies here.”

“So is the field hospital.”

Will sighed. “Give them the rest of your gauze and ambrosia. And leave the cloth strips here. The other medics are on their way here anyone with gauze will give it to you to take to the field hospital. We’ll have some staplers here. I’ll have you take some as well.”

“Do I keep the half full bottle of ambrosia? I have a full one in my backpack.”

“Yes keep the half full bottle, a few cloth strips and rulers, and your stapler.” 

“Alright.” Drew removed all the bundles of cloth strips except one and handed them to Will along with most of the rulers.

More medics with backpacks arrived and handed over what little gauze and ambrosia they had left. Drew zipped the backpack closed. “Drew, before you come back here,” Will began, “Can you grab more cloth from camp. We’re gonna need it.”

Drew nodded. “I’ll grab what I can.”

“Hurry.”

Drew took off running. She dropped off the gauze and ambrosia and staplers. Before she left she told one of the Apollo kids that more would join them soon and Will was assigning new jobs.

In the distance she spotted the lights from cabins and ran to the nearest one. She tossed open the door. There was a pile of freshly cleaned sheets on a table. Thank the gods, the Demeter Cabin hadn’t changed their sheets yet. Drew opened her backpack and stuffed as many sheets as she could inside. She closed it as much as she could and ran back to the medics. 

Both camps had increased the ground they held in the minutes she was gone. She easily made her way back and began taking out the sheets. The people not helping the injured began to tear the sheets into strips. A small pile was created in seconds. Will handed her the entire thing. “Take this back to the field hospital. I’ll be going with you.” Will told her. Drew waited until Will had helped someone to their feet and was successfully supporting them. 

They moved as quickly as they could in the dark. Drew had the cloth strips bundled in one arm and the Celestial bronze butterfly knife in her other hand. The metal glowed in the near complete darkness and provided some extra light. Halfway to the field hospital an explosion went off in the minefield. Will and Drew looked that direction then at each other. “Go, I’ve got this.” 

Drew ran over and scanned the field. She couldn’t see anything that told her who or what set off the landmine. “Hey! We’re over here.” Drew turned to the sounds and spotted a group of campers in the middle of the field. Two Headed men were crossing the field towards them. Drew looked down at her feet then ahead a few feet. It was flat. She stepped forward. The spot where she would be taking her next step appeared to dip. She squatted and brought the knife closer to it. She was right so she looked to the space next to her. Clear. She repeated the process while the Two Headed men walked across the field setting off mines.

Dirt hit her as she moved closer to the group. An explosion close to her knocked her back. Fear rose in her chest. She did not want to get killed by a mine. She had ringing in her ears, an intense headache, and pain nearly all over her body. Carefully she rose to her feet and continued crossing the field placing more weight on her left leg. One of the campers grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards them. “You have to help us.” A higher pitched voice said. “She’s bleeding too much. I don’t know what to do.”

Drew knelt down and did her best to feel what was wrong. The ground beneath her was wet and sticky and she could feel what she thought could have been Jeans. She squinted  attempting to focus better on the figure in front of her. She looked up and saw the injured girl’s face. She was blinking slowly. Drew dragged her eyes down to the teens arms. She couldn’t see anything except a faint outline, but she reached out feeling for a hand and found it. It was ice cold. Winter’s in New York cold. Blood Loss. She pressed two fingers into their wrist and felt a weak pulse. Her eyes moved further down and began to panic. She was sitting where her legs should be.

She acted quickly and put tourniquets on what was left of the teens legs. She pulled as tight as she could. “One of you need to carry her. Follow me. Single file.” Drew stood and led them back the way she came. Silently praying she hadn’t mixed up her directions. 

Drew led the campers all the way to the field hospital as fast as she could while making sure they were keeping up. At the field hospital Drew turned to face them. She helped lay the girl on the ground then Drew registered the way the girl had moved when they laid her down and the glassiness in her eyes. Drew nearly burst into tears. The girl was dead. Drew stumbled back. Maybe if I had been faster- someone touched her shoulder. Drew slowly turned and came face to face with Will.

“It’s not the time, Drew. We can’t stop yet.”

“I promised I wouldn’t-”

“You did everything you could. Injuries like that are hard to heal in the middle of the day, let alone in the dark.”

“If I just noticed sooner.”

“I don’t think it would have made much difference. Come on. I need help bringing more people here.”

Drew took a deep breath and winced at the smell of blood and something charred. “Let’s go.”

Drew ran back steps in front of Will, picked up an injured person and walked them back. She turned around to head back and saw a pack of Dog-headed men in the distance. The camps had gone through over half of the army or monsters. This new group would extend the battle by a few minutes.

She rushed back and grabbed another person and brought them back. She repeated this a few times when a Roman Camper stopped her.

“Will said you’re the fastest runner.”

“What do you need.”

“We’re running low on ambrosia here. In our camp we might have the draught we use there, but camp is on the other side of the road about two miles from here. I don’t know if any of it is there. I wasn’t in charge of supplies, and I haven’t been able to find my brother who was.”

“Which tent will it be in?”

“It will be in the open there will be a canopy over it. It will look like a stack of crates. You’ll probably find it next to a larger tent. One of the biggest there. There may be a cart nearby. Bring as much as you can back.”

“What do you need?”

“The draught. It's labeled. And bandages.” He held out a flashlight. “You might need this.”

“Thanks. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Drew ran as fast as she could. If her speed was consistent with her other times it would be eight to ten minutes to run the two miles. Her feet hit the ground at a standard rhythm. She focused on her breathing and keeping her arms from crossing in front of her. She slid under the swing of a Two Headed man and quickly jumped to her feet and kept going

“Drew! Where are you going?” Annabeth yelled.

“I’ll be right back! Have to go get something!” Drew yelled back, not wasting a second to turn around.

The sounds of battle grew quieter. Drew could hear the pounding of footsteps behind her, some were heavier than others. She looked behind her and spotted Annabeth and Dog-headed men. Annabeth drew a sword that was the same color as the moon. Drew couldn’t stop even if she wanted to. She said she would be back as fast as she could and she knew Annabeth could handle herself; Drew on the other hand wouldn’t be able to last in a fight.

She faced forward and kept running. Her muscles performed movements she was familiar with. Drew looked down briefly watching the separation in her steps she looked up to see the remains of the Romans camp. She focused on taking wider steps. 

As she drew closer, smaller tents for sleeping were missing. Larger tents had been destroyed. The only thing still standing was a canopy type tent like the ones used at marathons over the water tables. Hopefully that’s the supplies.

Drew skid to a stop and turned on the flashlight. She shined the light towards the canopy and saw crates. The butterfly knife fit under the wooden lid and she lifted to pry the box open. The wood creaked then the lid came free. Peering inside she found bandages. She moved to another box and saw it was labeled ‘Draught’. She opened the box and found water bottles. 

There was no way Drew could fit more than one box of water bottles in her backpack. She looked around for a cart and found one roughly three times the size of a child’s red Radio Flyer wagon overturned feet away. She jogged over and exclaimed it. The wheels looked fine. She spun it to be sure. It turned without an issue. Drew held the flashlight between her teeth and reached under the cart and began lifting it.

The wooden cart was awkward to move. It wasn’t terribly heavy; she pushed it on the side. It came up to her chest. She crouched down once more and slowly rolled it on its wheels praying something wouldn’t break as she did so. It shook into place, but stayed together. Drew let out a sigh in relief. She placed her hands on the bar and pushed it to the pile of crates and began loading it when Annabeth arrived out of breath.

“I think- this is the- last time- I call you lazy.”

“Thanks. Help me load this cart with bandages and the boxes labeled ‘draught’.”

They finished packing the cart with two layers of boxes and pushed it. It was difficult to get moving. Drew and Annabeth had to lean into it to get the wheels rolling, but once it was moving steadily Drew started to speed up. Drew and Annabeth reached the perfect speed. Not too fast to knock anything off.

The battle was still going on when they arrived back. A few Two Headed men charged at them. Drew pushed the cart onto the dirt road and worked her way across while Annabeth kept the Two Headed men away. The ground was raised on the other side of the road and caught the wheels. Drew ran to the otherside of the cart and attempted to lift it while pulling it. The wheels popped up and Drew continued pulling until the other wheels were on the grass.

She was moving the cart once more. A few feet away from the field hospital Drew and Will caught each other's eyes. Will ran over to help her.

“You made it!”

“There’s still more supplies back there.”

“This is enough. The battle is almost over. Someone can go get the rest later.”

“The top boxes are all bandages. The bottom ones are draught.”

Will motioned to what little soldiers were still guarding the field hospital to come over. “Where are all the guards?”

“Many returned to the fighting; there aren't many monsters left. A few minutes more and the fighting will be over.” Will explained handing a box to a fellow camper. “Get this to Kayla.”

Drew handed a box of Draught to a Roman Camper. “Give this to the Roman medic. She said she was out.”

“Drew,” Will said, handing her bandages, “Get these to the medics in the fighting. They’re out.”

Drew opened her backpack and shoved them inside. “I can take a few more.”

Will shoved another handful in her backpack. Then a third and fourth. Finally he picked up the box and dumped it in. some fell on the ground. Drew didn’t bother to pick them up. She closed her backpack and ran to the center. 

Her brother Mitchell was the first person she saw. “Hey, where’s Lacy? Thought you two were together?”

“Drew!” He gave her a quick hug. “She went with Val to take Conner to the field hospital.”

Drew opened her backpack revealing the bandages. “Heard you were out of these down here.”

“We are. There’s our pile of supplies.” he pointed at a stapler laying on the ground.

They removed the bandages from her backpack and Drew added her extra box of staples to the pile. She was about to head back to the field hospital when she spotted the mysterious girl with the cloak catch the person next to her as they fell. They had been stabbed. The girl stabbed the monster who injured her colleague in retaliation.

Drew rushed over and put an arm around the bleeding person’s waist and helped them stand. She looked in the girl's brown eyes and said “I got them from here.” the girl gave her a silent nod and returned to fighting. Drew walked the person around campers too engaged in a fight to step out of the way and towards the center and sat them down. They had been stabbed in the neck and shoulder and bleeding heavily. 

Drew slipped off their helmet and applied pressure to the side of their neck. “Hey, Hon,” Drew said calmly, noticing their panic, “I need you to calm down. I’m gonna get you patched up. Mitchell! Come here.”

“Yes, Drew?”

“There’s ambrosia in my backpack; Get it for me.”

“Here,”

“I can’t take it. You need to give them some.” Drew waited for her brother to give ambrosia then slowly removed her hands. They were still bleeding. “Shit. Give them a bit more.”

“But too much will-”

“I know, but they’re not chugging it.” Drew removed her hands once more finding the bleeding had stopped. She looked into the person’s eyes and smiled softly, “The bleeding has stopped. A bit more and you’ll be completely healed.”

“Thank you.”

“Not a problem, Dear.” She wiped her hands on her shirt and took the ambrosia from her brother. “Just a bit more of this and you should be good as new.” She dripped ambrosia on their neck and shoulder. The skin began to fuse back together. It wasn’t quite healed, so she added a bit more. “There. All done.”

“Thank you. I’m Jon.” 

Drew stood offering her and to help him up. “Drew.”

“I heard.”

It was weirdly quiet for a war. Drew looked around and spotted no monsters, just the glow of celestial bronze. The war was over. The mysterious girl appeared at Jon’s side. “You alright?” Drew’s eyes went wide at her voice; it sounded like how Belgium chocolate tastes.

“I am now, Praetor.”

“Come on, Let’s get the injured inside Camp Half-Blood’s border.” The girl began to lead Jon towards the field hospital. She turned and looked at Drew, “You coming?”

“Y-yeah.” She jogged to catch up.

The three of them arrived at the field hospital to find other campers preparing the most injured for transport via gurney. While a few others were helping injured walk to the Apollo cabin infirmary.

“Drew,” Will said. “We could use your help patching people up and getting them to infirmary. I’ve already sent people to get the rest of the supplies. Annabeth and Percy went with them.”

“Alright.”

Nico ran up to the Praetor, “Reyna, I talked to Dakota. He and Jason are taking a group to start setting up camp. I think Frank went with them.”

“Thanks for letting me know, Nico.”

Drew and Praetor Reyna went around tending to people's wounds and occasionally handing people new tasks (mostly Reyna). Reyna told her campers which of the injured to take back or where to head next, whether it was to Jason to help set up camp or to the supply crates the group led by Percy and Annabeth brought back to carry them into camp.

As injured were carried back to camp someone brought back stretchers. Drew helped load people on to them. Most of the people had been taken back to camp when Drew realized an Ares Camper she said needed to be taken back was still laying on a stretcher. She walked over to him and noticed he was asleep. She found the straps to the stretcher and strapped him in.

She lifted up one side and began pulling him back to camp centimeter by centimeter. “My gods,” she muttered, “What have you been eating.” Someone chuckled in front of her.

“Let me help.” Drew froze. She knew that voice; Praetor Reyna. Reyna picked up the other end of the stretcher and Drew realized, to her surprise, they were the same height.

“Of course,” she muttered, shaking her head.

“Used to being the tallest?”

“Yes. Having someone the same height sure makes this easier.”

“That, and you’re not pulling at least 200 pounds by yourself.”

“I would have made it to camp eventually.” This made Reyna laugh and Drew found herself wanting to make it happen again.

“Yeah, tomorrow morning.”

Drew chuckled. 

They fell into an awkward silence as they walked past the Temple of the Oracle. Drew looked at the Praetor’s forearm. She had a tattoo similar to the one Drew had seen on Jason months earlier. Reyna’s tattoo was a torch and sword, and the only reason Drew could see it was because it was glowing and pulsing like a slow heartbeat. The tattoo looked like burning coal, and Drew wondered if the girl's skin was actually burning. “Does it hurt?”

“Hmm?”

“Your tattoo. It’s glowing.” 

Reyna looked down then turned her wrist slightly as if she was trying to hide the tattoo. “It’s fine.”

“I think I have a salve in my bag for burns.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary at the moment.”

“Alright.”

“I should thank you.”

“For what?”

“I’ve heard a few stories from the Legion. You helped them before our camps were allies. It makes me believe lasting peace is possible.”

“Is that why you returned the Athena Parthenos?”

“Annabeth found it, but it could only be returned by a Roman.”

“Because the Romans stole it. Mortals history textbooks sometimes say it was destroyed during The Crusades after it was moved to Constantinople.”

“Yes. And every war between our camps since has been because of the theft.”

“We’re almost to the infirmary it’s past the lake and on the other side of the showers.”

Reyna nodded, and looked more tired than she had when they first started walking. Drew could still see the pulsing glow from her tattoo, but it had grown dimmer. 

Outside the cabins campers were standing around. Many had lost the adrenaline they had during the battle and were struggling to complete tasks. “Hey,” Drew said using her most commanding voice, “Wake up. I’m sure most of you have jobs to do.”

The campers who heard her looked at her quizzically. “Finish the task you started.” People returned to their tasks with new energy.

Reyna threw Drew a confused look, and Drew realized her Charmspeak may not have affected the Praetor. She chose not to press the topic not sure if it was an answer she wanted to hear.

They arrived at the Apollo Cabin. Campers moved out of their way and Piper and Kayla helped them move the still sleeping camper to an empty cot. 

Drew could see the Praetor’s tattoo better in the light. It was not black like Jason’s tattoo. She looked around at the other Roman campers and saw that their tattoos were also black. Her eyes went back to Reyna’s forearm. Her tattoo was dark red and the area surrounding it looked more like a sunburn the further from the tattoo Drew looked. It was like someone put a torch to her arm and attempted to trace over the tattoo. 

She looked at Piper then back at Reyna’s arm. If the Praetor was going to listen to anyone here it was probably her sister. Piper grabbed Reyna’s hand while Drew grabbed the salve she had in her backpack and handed it to Piper. “I’m going to our cabin. I told everyone we had to do a check in as soon as the battle was over.”

Piper nodded, “I’ll be there soon.”

Drew made her way back to her cabin. It was the first time she registered the ache in her shins, knees, shoulders and upper back as well as the coolness in her shoes and the weird squish they made with each step. Her head felt heavy and she could feel a slight pressure behind her eyes from tiredness.

Upon opening her cabin door she was hit with the smell of her sisters’ flowery perfume and acid like scent of her youngest brother's cologne. 

“Drew, you’re here.” multiple siblings said in unison.

“Hey, I don’t think we’re doing gossip time tonight.” Drew told them, slipping off her wet shoes. 

Her socked feet made an effort to stick to the cabin's wood floor as she crossed the room to the bathroom. She closed the door behind her. 

She turned on the sink and put her hands under the water. After a few moments the water turned pink. She grabbed a bar of soap not caring if it wasn’t hers and began to scrub her hand and forearms. The soap reached part of her arm and she hissed in pain. Quickly she rinsed off the soap and saw the reason for the stinging pain. Pieces of metal were in her arm, and now that she wiped off the dried blood and hit the metal, she was bleeding again.

Drew reached for a towel and patted her arms dry. She then grabbed a pair of tweezers and pulled a mix of Celestial bronze and regular metal from her arm and dropped it in the sink where the pieces made a little ‘tink’ upon hitting the porcelain. Once all the metal was out she turned on the water once more and held her arm under it until the water was nearly clear. She pat her arm dry once more then pulled off her shirt that suddenly felt very restrictive.

She tossed it in the sink and gave it a weird look. I don’t remember putting on a red shirt. The shirt had patches of scarlet red and some smaller patches of pink. Drew studied it for a second then looked in the mirror. The first thing she noticed was the color of her sports bra. Okay, I definitely know I didn’t put on a bra this dark. She took it off and grabbed the towel. She wet a section of it and began wiping her upper arms. She needed to get rid of this mix of something sticky on her skin and something dried on her skin pinching it.

This method wasn’t working too well. Upon realizing this she soaked the towel and dragged it over her skin. Cold water ran down her arms and chest cooling her down. She put down the towel and grabbed a second to pat herself dry.

She could feel this stickiness on her skin. She set the towel aside and picked up the wet one. She soaked it once more and was once again wiping down her skin. She dried her skin off once more. The towel was laid on one side of the counter and the wet cloths on the other. 

Drew searched through the bottles of soap on the counter looking for a face wash. Finding one she wet her face with closed eyes. Drew felt stinging on her cheek and forehead. Looking into the mirror she spotted the flash of metal. Using the tweezers she pulled out the shards then returned to washing her face. The water woke her up a bit helping her focus a bit better. 

Sitting on the edge of the toilet seat, Drew removed her reddish brown socks. It was more difficult than it should have been since they were wet and sticking to her skin. Once they were off Drew tossed them to the side and used the wet towel to wash her feet. 

Next, she soaked the towel she had used to dry herself and placed it over her lower legs. The towel was heavy on her legs and she could feel patches of stinging on her legs like she had razor burn. 

She rested her left heel on the counter and pulled out all the metal she could see. Her knees were caked in mud mixture that smelled like iron. She noticed a piece of metal poking through the mud and tried to pull it out. Her leg jerked and she hissed in pain once more. She would deal with it later. She went to put her right leg on the counter and felt a sharp ache in her thigh. “Son of a-”

She put her leg down and soaked the towel once more. She sat on the floor and wiggled her way out of the rest of her clothes. After the clothes had been kicked aside Drew began to carefully wiping away blood, mud and sweat. Once she was satisfied she began to remove all the metal she could leaving the larger pieces as they were too painful to remove on her own.

Reaching for her backpack without getting up hurt her thigh more than anything, but she was too tired and determined to care. She wanted to finish cleaning up so she could sleep. She dragged the backpack across the floor and opened it. Her fingers found the vial of ambrosia. Drew pulled it out of the bag, tossed the eyedropper aside and drank what little of the ambrosia was left. She felt the smaller scrapes heal. Then she grabbed the liquid bandage and the healing salve. 

She painted on the bandage on her smaller wounds then stood up carefully balancing on her left leg remembering she didn’t grab clean clothes. She held one of the towels in front of her and opened the door. “Hey, can one of you get me some clean clothes?”

“Yeah, Give me a second.” Valentina said.

“Thanks Dear.” Drew waited for her younger sister to return silently, adjusting her position to avoid falling over. 

Valentina returned with a pastel pink and purple robe. Drew took it with one hand as Valentina's eyes flicked down to her legs, “Do you need help?” she asked, voice filled with concern.

“No.” Drew said, quickly closing the door in the girl’s face.

Drew returned to her spot on the floor and yawned. She rubbed her eyes then unfolded the robe dropping a matching pair of boy shorts and a bralette. Inch by inch she put on the boy shorts trying to avoid every point of pain on her legs. The bra was easier to put on. 

The little bit of wakefulness she had was gone. She laid down, robe and pain forgotten and fell asleep.

Piper returned to her cabin after helping the rest of the seven, Reyna, and other cabin leaders locate the rest of the campers under their leadership. She knew her cabin mates had all returned. She wanted a shower like most campers did, but it was too late to argue over who got to shower first, so everyone seemed to collectively decide showers were closed for the night. 

Before returning to the Aphrodite Cabin she stopped at Canoe Lake deciding to rinse off the dirt and sweat. She decided she’d rather smell like the fishy lake than feel sticky the rest of the night.

Entering the cabin she found her siblings sitting on their beds quietly talking to each other. A few were whipping themselves down with makeup removing wipes and baby wipes. A glance around the room told her every one was there except one.

“Where’s Drew?”

“Piper, you're back.” Lacy said.

“We waited up for you.” Mitchell added.

“You didn’t have to.”

“I know.”

“Drew said we all had to check in. We figured it meant you too.”

“Where’s Drew?”

“Bathroom.” Valentina stated.

“She’s been in there since she got back.” Another sibling clarified. 

“How long has that been?”

“About an hour and a half.”

Piper made her way to the bathroom and knocked. “Drew, everyone made it back to the cabin alright. We’re gonna go to bed.”

No answer. Piper twisted the door knob finding it unlocked and pushed open the door. Drew was curled up on the floor in her underwear. Blood soaked towels were nearby. Piper stepped inside and saw Drew’s bloody shirt in the sink and the rest of her clothes near the towels. 

Piper knelt in front of her and gently shook her shoulder, “Drew, wake up.”

The Asian didn’t stir. 

Piper grabbed the girl's robe, put it on her and tied it closed. She looked out the door. A few of her siblings had gathered. 

“We can carry her.” Her twin fourteen-year-old brothers said. 

Piper nodded and stood up stepping back near the sink. The boys walked in and picked her up standing on either side of her. Piper noticed the cut on Drews leg. It was bleeding slightly. She followed her brothers out.

Lacy and Mitchell pulled back the blanket on Drew’s bed and the twins laid her on it. The white sheet began to turn pink. “Do any of you still have a stapler?”

“Yeah, I have mine, Piper.” Mitchell jogged to his bunk and grabbed it.

Piper and Lacy rolled Drew on her side revealing the gash. It was at least a few inches long. Piper pinched the skin together and Mitchell stapled it hoping his older sister wouldn’t wake up and yell at him.

A sister handed over what little bandages she had left and another fetched the salve from the bathroom. Piper bound Drew’s thigh and rolled her on her back. 

“Is all the blood in the bathroom hers?” a brother asked.

“No,” Piper said, “I would say much of it isn’t. If you want to go to bed you may. We’ll clean up tomorrow.”

As siblings returned to their bunks Piper, Lacy and Mitchell continued to patch up Drew. There wasn’t much to do. Drew had removed all the metal from her legs except for a few pieces. When they were done Piper left a bottle of draught for her with a note saying she didn’t need to worry about how much she drank since it wasn’t ambrosia.

Drew woke up to the sound of the cabin’s CD player playing a cabin favorite, Carly Rae Jepsen. She sat up slowly, her limbs feeling heavy. A few of her siblings were scrubbing the floor and she could see the light on in the bathroom.

“What’s going on?”

“You’re awake. You missed breakfast.”

“We’re just cleaning up the cabin.”

“I didn’t realize it was dirty.”

“You kinda left bloody footprints on the way to the bathroom last night. And some of us brought in mud. There’s the Roman’s water plus draught mixture on your nightstand. Piper said it doesn’t have the same deadly effects as ambrosia, so you can drink as much as you want.”

Drew pulled off her blanket and saw bandages wrapped around her thigh, both her knees and calves. Her eyes moved to her arms and found there was a bandage around one of them. “How-”

“You fell asleep in the bathroom. We brought you to bed and patched you up. Will was in here after breakfast to change your bandages.” Lacy explained.

Drew reached for the water bottle and twisted off the cap. She brought it to her lips. It tasted like regular water, but she could feel the soreness in her legs lessen. She put the bottle aside and carefully stood up. Her muscles felt weak, but she wasn’t shaking. Next she tried taking a few steps. They were slow, but she didn’t fall. Now all she had to do was get dressed.

By the time Drew got dressed (which would have gone faster if she had accepted her siblings help) it was time for lunch. She followed her siblings to the Mess Hall carrying the water bottle she had been taking sips from since she woke up. 

Lunch went as it usually did even with all the guests. Camp Jupiter separated by cabin willing to follow Camp Half-Blood’s rules about meals. When most were finished eating, Praetors Reyna and the only other one (Drew didn’t know much about him let alone his name) got up to speak to both camps. Drew noticed Reyna had the forearm where her tattoo was, wrapped. “Tomorrow morning,” Reyna began, “We Romans must return home. We appreciate your hospitality, especially since we almost killed you-”

“You almost got killed,” Annabeth corrected.

Reyna rolled her eyes. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly and she said, “Whatever, Chase.”

Campers burst into a collective “Ooooohh!” followed by laughter and playful shoving.

“Anyways,” the other Praetor said, “Reyna and I agree this marks a new era of friendship between the camps.”

Drew listened to the Praetors speak and the playful banter of others. Drew like to take it as a sign of their friendship sticking and their bond growing stronger. After all, Drew had learned the bonds between friends were often stronger and longer lasting than the bonds created from romantic love and hate, and she couldn’t wait to see what they could do with it.

[ashis2gay4u]

I Am Not A Robot (In One Post!!)

Nico di Angelo stared out his window, the skull head ashtray in his lap overflowing with ashes, cigarette butts, and burnt out joints, yet instead of ashing out the open window, he continued to ash into the tray.

He was sat on the ledge of the bay window, it being big enough to be a bed for an average height person. He gave a huff as he watched the boys playing soccer on the lawn across the street, smiling and laughing.

He can't remember the last time he laughed. Hell, he doesn't even remember what it sounds like.

Don't even get him started on his smile, because he's sure he'd rip his face in half if he even tried.

He put the ashtray aside, pulling his knees to his chest. He nestled his chin between them, continuing to watch.

One of those boys turned to look at him, and Nico froze as the others turned to stare him down.

"Hey!" one kid shouted, his black hair untamed, like he had just rolled out of bed, "Wanna join? Might be more fun than watching!"

Nico shook his head, "No, I'm good-"

Another boy, a Latino, shorter than the first, spoke up next, "But why not? We're one player short of a team, anyways!"

Nico stood up and leaned out the window, staring at the five boys there. "No, I'm good, thank you very much."

The blonde boy shrugged, "He doesn't want to play, guys."

"Awe, man!" the Latino said.

The Chinese boy shook his head and spoke up, barely loud enough for Nico to hear, "If he doesn't want to play, he doesn't have to... Plus, he kinda scares me."

At that, Nico slammed his window shut, glaring at them all. He flipped them off, and went to sit on his bed.

Curled up on his purple comforter, he fell into what he hopes will be a dreamless sleep.

~

He woke up the next day in a cold sweat. Everything was fine, up until he fell into that dark hole.

He hated that hole, with all it's horrid hallucinations and ghastly smells and horrifying noises.

He quickly threw the blanket away- how did it get on him and not below him?-, and stood up, going to take a quick shower.

He stared at his reflection afterwards, glaring into his own eyes.

He proceeded to brush his teeth, his eyes never leaving the stare into his own soul.

He had mastered this technique. Why? It was a distraction.

He quickly got dressed, before heading to his window, opening them up and sitting on the ledge, grabbing his lighter, smokes, and ashtray from beside him.

Just as he had taken the first inhale, a knock sounded at his door, followed by a sniffing sound.

"Dammit, Nico! I told you not to smoke in the house!" came the voice of his step-mother, Persephone.

He hated her, she was always switching between nice and mean with him.

"Fuck off, you bitch, I don't have time for you."

She slammed open the door, glaring at him. "You dare? I should call your father right now and-"

"And what? He won't fuckin' pick up. He never picks up. Not since Mamma and Bianca died, right?" he said coolly, smirking as she tensed up.

"Don't you dare mention her-"

"Suck it up, he cheated on you with her. Twice. And then once more with Hazel's mom. Yet you hate me the most. How so? Why not hate the man who cheated on you, because you aren't enough?"

Persephone merely walked over and smacked his ashtray out of his hand, his smokes and lighter flying out the window with it.

A loud crash rang out as the crystal skull broke.

"Don't. Smoke. In. My. House. You. Insolent. Brat!"

Nico pushed her away, grabbed his satchel from where it was perched against the windowsill, and nodded, "Fine. Next time, I'll smoke in your room, and leave all the ashes in your makeup and burn holes through all your favorite dresses. Cunt."

She was about to smack him, he could tell, so he did what he always did when she attacked him.

He jumped out the window, landing in her garden and rolling to his feet. He smirked up at her, "I think I crushed those pretty tulips that just bloomed! Sorry!"

She started screaming at him, but he was already in the garage, starting up his motorcycle. He took off down the street, heading towards his favorite place in the world.

The graveyard.

~

When he got there, he parked his bike and tossed his helmet to the side, sitting on his haunches in front of the gravestones before him.

"Hey, Mamma, Bianca. It's been a while."

He sighed, moving to sit with his legs crossed.

"I know I shouldn't break her rules, and I know I shouldn't fucking snap at her and piss her off, but she does everything she can to hurt me. I hate it."

He could feel the tears starting to fall, hitting his hands which were clasped so tightly in his lap he swore he was about to snap his own fingers in half.

"I had the nightmare again, Mamma, about-" He stopped himself, choking back a sob.

"I miss you, Mamma, Bianca. Sometimes I... I just want to be emotionless, like a robot."

~

"Hey, Nico... I heard from Persephone what had happened, I'm sorry she broke your ashtray, I know how much it meant to you," Hazel said softly, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Whatthefuckever, she can do what she wants..." Nico mumbled.

"You don't always have to be on top, you know," she replied, gently taking his hand in hers.

"I feel like I have to-"

"Because you can't show weakness, right? It's okay to be vulnerable, you don't have to act like the tough guy all the time."

Nico said nothing, merely stared out the window where his new plastic ashtray sat.

"You've been smoking a lot, lately."

"I know."

"You're just a baby, Nico. You shouldn't smoke so much..."

"I'm seventeen, Hazel."

"I know, but your lungs aren't fully developed yet."

"If I wanted advice, I'd go to a counselor or a medical professional," he snapped.

"...Better to be hated, than loved for what you're not," she said, before standing up.

He snatched his hand away, and she left, closing the door behind her softly.

~

It's been a year since he started watching the boys.

He sat perched on his window ledge as per usual, a new (although metal) skull ashtray sat in his lap. Persephone was gone, so she couldn't yell at him.

He stared out the open window, and noticed the black-haired boy and his friends were out front again, playing some demented form of tag.

The Latino looked up at him, and waved.

Despite his better judgment, he waved back.

He was just being polite, is all.

"Yo!" the blonde boy yelled, "Wanna play with us now?"

"What the fuck are you idiots even playing, anyways?" Nico questioned.

"TV Tag!" the black-haired boy said, smiling goofily.

Nico's heart stopped at that look on his face.

No, no. Not today. Begone, thoughts.

"What the fuck does that mean?"

The Latino stepped forwards, grinning wildly. Nico's heart did a flip.

"It's when you yell out a TV show name, and crouch down. The person can't idle by you, or tag you until you stand up. You can only crouch for ten seconds, though, but it's fair play to yell out another right afterwards!"

"That doesn't sound very fair at all, that should be illegal."

The blonde boy laughed, loud and booming. It made Nico's cheeks heat up.

Fuck, they're all hot.

"I like this kid!" he said.

The black-haired boy grinned, "Frank isn't here today, so if you want, you can fill in for him!"

Nico thought for a second, before putting out his smoke. He stood up, and promptly closed his window, disappearing from their sights.

"Awe, man! Percy, you scared him away!"

"I'm sorry, Jason, I didn't mean to! Besides, Leo probably did it, not me!"

"Hey! Jason, are you going to let him talk to me like that-"

"Gods, it's like watching a buncha old married couples. Maybe I should just go."

They all stopped talking, and turned to face Nico, who stood a few feet away, a smoke hanging from his lips.

"Smoking kills," the blonde boy- Jason, Nico recalled-, said.

"Exactly."

Jason made a choking noise at the blunt tone, and the Latino- Leo, the black-haired boy had called him- laughed.

"Cat got your tongue really good, eh, Superman?"

"Shut up, you stupid Christmas Elf."

"Jason, how could you?" he said, faking a sob. He turned to the black-haired boy, "Percy, are you going to let him talk to me like this?"

Percy rolled his eyes, "No, Repair Boy. Jason, play nice. Leo, stop being dumb."

Leo gave a gasp, falling against Jason. Jason caught him, rolling his eyes in turn.

Percy turned to look at Nico, "Hey, name's-"

"Percy," Nico said, smirking. "The blonde is Jason, and the tiny shit is Leo. I pay attention, you know."

Leo gave a cry, "You've embarrassed me in front of the hot goth! how could you!"

Jason dropped him, "Well, it does give Percy an advantage."

Nico stared at the three, "What?"

"Why do you think we've been spending so much time outside since we first noticed you?" Percy said, chuckling. "Me and Leo thought you were cute. Everybody's been trying to help both of us win a chance, well, except for Frank, who's apparently dating your-"

"Oh fuck no. That's Frank Zhang? Holy shit, that kid is dead-"

"Wait! He's really nice, we swear-" Jason said.

"No, he borrowed my Myth-O-Magic cards a few months ago from Hazel and spilled pop on them. Hazel's kept him away from my wrath for this long, but no more. Dead, he will be."

They all stared at him for a few moments, before collapsing to the grass in fits of laughter.

"That's why you want to murder him?" Leo said, wiping tears from his eyes.

"We... We thought-"

"That it was cause of what he said last year," Percy managed to get the whole sentence out, before giggling uncontrollably once more.

"I'm surrounded by idiots," Nico deadpanned.

"Yep, indeed."

"Wanna play that game?" he asked.

Leo's face lit up, "Si, indeed!"

They all stood up, exchanged looks, and then yelled in almost perfect unison, "NOT IT!" before taking off in different directions.

Nico soon learned physical activity was not meant to be done in skinny jeans.

~

"Hey, Mamma, Bianca."

It's been two months since he's last visited them. He'd been so busy running around with Leo, Jason, Percy, Grover (Percy's best friend), and Frank (who turned out to be really cool, even replaced his deck with a limited edition one), and had completely forgotten his promise to visit them every day.

The first time since he was ten, nonetheless. He's eighteen now.

"I made some... Ah, friends, I guess," he said, not sure how he felt about having friends.

The word tasted strange in his mouth, he doesn't think he's ever had any friends, not like the five friends he had made.

"...I kinda like them..."

"Awe, we like you too!" Leo Valdez said, appearing at his shoulder.

Nico almost had a heart attack, "What-? Why-"

Jason Grace, Percy Jackson, and Frank Zhang stood next to Leo, each with a bouquet of flowers. Nico stared at them all.

"My Mama died when I was seven, she was buried just over there," Leo said, smiling sadly, "Next to my twin brother."

"My mom died when I was about eleven, I think, I was abandoned outside this military facility- nobody claimed me-, so I didn't find out until I ran into my sister out on a mission with Leo, who I had picked up along the way with my girlfriend, Piper."

"And you?" he asked, turning to Percy.

"Here for emotional support," he said, brandishing two bouquets of red roses.

Nico stared at them all silently, "So-"

"Maria is a nice name," Leo said, sitting down next to where Nico sat hunched in front of the graves, "And if she had even a bit of your face on her, I bet she was gorgeous, too..."

Percy sat on the other side of him, placing a bouquet in front of the graves, "I'm sure Jason's mom won't mind. Bianca... That name sounds familiar. Was she an archer...?"

Nico nodded solemnly, "One of the best. At such a young age, she was already on the waiting list for the Olympics."

Percy went pale, "I knew her. I met her and you at a casino years ago."

"You- You were the boy with the blonde? That boy you left with was-"

"Grover, yeah. Annabeth is my other best friend, but nobody can compare to the G-Man."

Jason stood off to the side, and silently slunk off to his mother's grave.

Leo sighed, "Guess we've all met each other before, then. I remember her, too, she and Hazel used to play hide and seek with me and my brother Sammy Jr. all the time, up until he died."

"Sammy... Jr...? The kid she had a crush on?"

"Yeah, I had a crush on her, too, until I met my ex Calypso. Boy, that went to Hell-"

"-when he found out she had tried to seduce me while I was on-and-off dating Annabeth," Percy finished.

"Woah... We've got some fucked up connections, don't we?" Nico said, smirking.

"Yeah, we do," Percy replied, leaning back against the grass.

"Where'd Jason go?" Leo asked, looking around.

"Over here!" came the voice of the blonde.

"Oh, he's paying respects. Come on, Leo, let's go do that, too."

"...I'll come with, I can talk to them later," Nico said, standing up with the other two boys.

"Are you sure? You seemed to be having a decent one-sided conversation with the dead, Neeks," Leo said, chuckling silently.

"Yeah, yeah, Valdez. Let's go."

~

"Happy birthday, Baby Bat Wings!" Leo cried, waving a party streamer around.

Percy laughed and swung his arm around his shoulders, Leo following suit.

Soon enough, Nico had six boys hanging off of him, Jason, Frank, Grover, and Will Solace- who was the latest addition to their little group- soon joining in on the group hug.

Nico can't remember when he smiled so hard, but he'd gladly accept his face splitting in half if this was the reason why.

He blushed a deep crimson red as his two crushes, Leo and Percy, kissed each of his cheeks respectively.

~

"You've been hanging with the unloved kids a lot," Persephone accused, glaring at her step-son. "You've never really trusted or even liked them before, what happened?"

"He's just magnetic, he picks up all the loose pins," Hazel says, smiling sweetly at the wickedly bi-polar step-mother.

Persephone sniffed, "Yes, but he really shouldn't. I looked them all up, they all have criminal records or bad school reputations!"

"I'm nineteen now, Persephone. I can do whatever the fuck I want."

She got a wicked gleam in her eye at that, "Yes, you're right. So, you're an adult, now... Get the fuck out of my house.”

Nico stared at her, before turning to Hazel, "Can she do that?" he questioned, looking like he had just witnessed the most fucked up thing in history.

She shrugged, "'Dunno."

"Call Dad, then, see what he says!"

"He won't pick up the phone, and you know it," Persephone replied. "You have twenty-four hours to get the fuck out of my house, before I call the cops for thievery, breaking into my house, and vandalism!"

"Excuse the fuck you-"

She pulled out her phone, dialing 911. "Try me, Nico. Where's your mother to save you from my wrath now? I should have kicked you out as soon as you turned sixteen."

Nico glared, and rushed up the stairs, calling Leo to come get him. He grabbed all his clothes, pillows, and blankets and threw them out the window, packing his more fragile stuff and personal items into his multiple backpacks, his satchel, and his one suitcase, and dragged them all downstairs.

He spat in her face before leaving, Leo and Percy (who had offered his much bigger six-seater as a substitute for Leo's pick-up), helping him load up all his stuff.

They drove off, and Nico felt truly alive for once.

~

"Don't be so pathetic, Nico, just sing! Come on!"

"Shut up, Jackson, I will not-"

"You called?" Leo sang, prancing into the room, dressed entirely in Percy's clothes. He wore a black towel wrapped around his head.

Percy rolled his eyes, "Oh gods, not this again."

"Oh gods, not this again," Leo said in a mock imitation of Percy, "Look, I'm Perseus Jackson! All tough, all sexy! Dumb skater boy!"

Nico laughed, "He was a skater boy, she said seeya later boy-" he stopped himself, realizing he had been singing the lyrics.

The two boys stared at him, "Wow..."

"Such beauty," Leo said, smiling.

"Amazing..." Percy said, in awe.

Nico blushed, "Guys, come on... I'm not that good-"

"Better than Percy, he sounds like a dying whale!"

"You wound me, you shit."

"Suck it, Aquaman."

"When, where, how ha-"

Nico let out a squeak, "P-Percy!"

"Jealous, much?" the sea-green eyed boy said, smirking.

"I'm gonna be sick," Leo said, fake gagging.

"Both of you are dumb, absolutely not," Nico said, noticing how Leo's face lit up and Percy's face fell.

Oh boy, was he as smitten with them as they were with him.

~

Another nightmare, and Nico woke up screaming, thrashing at his blankets as he tried to sit up.

The sounds of footsteps came echoing down the hall, and Leo burst in, wearing nothing but a white tank top covered in grease stains and a pair of red Deadpool boxers, Percy appearing behind him wearing Superman pajama pants.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked, concerned.

Percy looked anxious, "Nightmares, buddy?"

Nico couldn't help it when he started crying, reaching out to them like a pathetic baby.

They both swooped in and hugged him, Percy settled behind him and Leo nestled up against Nico's chest, both mumbling soft, soothing words and holding him tight, but not too tightly as to trigger a flashback of any sorts.

"Mamma... Bianca... And I-"

"Shh, take your time..." Percy whispered, rubbing his cheek against Nico's hair.

"Yeah, Neeks, don't rush yourself."

"I felt so... Vulnerable... In that cave. We got stuck down there for a week on a field trip to Greece, there was this gas..."

Percy tightened his grip around Nico's waist, and Leo burrowed deeper against Nico's stomach, his cheek pressed against it.

Nico took a deep breath, before continuing.

"We were trapped for five days. Mamma... Got sick first. The gas created hallucinations, and... Her heart couldn't take the horrors. She started screaming about a lightning storm, shoved us out of the way, and then... She tripped and fell, landing face first on those ground spike things..."

Percy looked horrified, but Nico didn't see, so he continued on.

"Bianca got sick next. The smells really got to her. She thought she was in a metal scrap yard, and got... The ceiling collapsed on top of her," he said shakily, "I was left alone for the next three days, until they found me. I was malnourished and traumatized, and Dad... He left. Business trip after business trip.

"Last time he called me was when I was eleven... He said he wished I had died instead of Bianca, she wouldn't... She wouldn't have been as much of a failure as I am," Nico said, his whole body shaking as sobs wracked his body, occasionally breaking free.

He felt vulnerable, so very vulnerable.

"The noises were what fucked me up the most, mixed with the smells and hallucinations of monsters and demons and... And my dead family..."

He broke down entirely, turning slightly to latch onto Percy. Leo sat up and clung to them both in turn, tears of his own spilling down his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry," Leo mumbled, "I know what it's like to watch people you love die... I watched Mama and Sammy die in a fire... I started it..."

"I watched my mom get strangled to near-death as a kid... Stayed by her side in the hospital for a few days before I went off with Grover and Annabeth. Ran away to find the sick fucker who attacked her, this guy named Minotaur, he called himself..."

"We're all fucked up," Nico gasped, laughing silently.

"And vulnerable," Leo added.

"But that's good," Percy said, smiling softly through his own tears, "That means we aren't robots."

"Can you teach me how to feel?" Nico asked softly, "Can you turn my power back on...?"

"We'll try our fuckin' best."

~

After a year of living with the two, Nico said something that made the two boys stop and stare.

"I like you both. Fuck, I'm in love with both of you."

"What-" Leo questioned, ears going bright red.

"How-" Percy questioned, dropping his lucky pen Riptide, which he's had for years but never really used.

"I. Love. Both. Of. You," Nico said once again, even more bluntly than the first. "And I don't know how, I just know I do."

The two boys shared a look, before they both broke into huge smiles.

"Fuck. Yes," Leo said.

"So... How the fuck do we smash? Do we take turns or-"

"Percy!" Nico scolded, face flushing.

"Why don't we find out tonight?" Leo asked, smirking. "Would be a great way to celebrate our three-way."

"Wait, so-"

"Yes, Ghost King, I'd happily share you with Repair Boy," Percy said grinning.

"As long as I can be a bottom, I hate topping," Leo said.

Nico laughed, and instantly crashed onto the couch between them, moving the resumes they had been filling out.

The two snuggled up against him, and Nico smiled.

I am not a robot.

{La Fin}

~Ashton Bende

[fangirlingmonster]

Pragma or Philia?

Pragma or Philia?

Nico di Angelo x Female! Reader

A/N: Sorry in advance of I don't get the personalities of the characters right. It's been a while since I read the books. The characters do not belong to me and neither does the story. They belong to Rick Riordan and you belong to you. I'm sorry if it's kinda weird. It's okay if you cringe (I cringed as I wrote it). Also, Pragma is longstanding love in Ancient Greek and philia is deep friendship in Ancient Greek.

Fandom: Percy Jackson/ Heroes of Olympus

Pairing: Nico x Reader

_________________

I looked over at my brother, Percy, as he trotted towards me. I started speed walking away. I knew he wanted to introduce me to his friends. But my anti-social ass always told him that I already had enough friends. Which was half true. Half true because I already did have enough friends. Half lie because I didn't have any friends,

I started to jog when I felt that my half-brother was gaining up on me. Soon, I was sprinting across camp to get away from Percy. Other campers watched in amusement as the two children of Poseidon chased each other. Well, for them the one child of Poseidon. As they surely didn't know who I was. There were only a few people who I had actually talked to. Those people were Percy, Chiron, Annabeth, Connor & Travis Stoll, Nico di Angelo and Jen, the satyr that had brought me to Camp Half-Blood over six years ago.

I had been in camp longer than Percy had. For most of my life here, I had slept in the Hermes cabin and lived there with the Stolls. No, they weren't my friends. Like I said before, I have no friends. They are more like allies or partners in crime. But anyway, I wasn't claimed until one year after Percy had arrived.

On one hand, I was glad I didn't have to sleep in a cabin crowded with thieves every night. On the other hand, I felt left out. Why hadn't my father noticed me until after two of his sons arrived at the camp? One of them being a cyclops. Was I not enough to be noticed? I mean, for more than half of my life I spent it on praying to Olympus for one of the gods to claim me. And then, after a lunatic with a sword comes along is when I finally get noticed. That lunatic had no idea what he was doing half of the time by the way. But he saved the world twice so I guess that makes up for it.

I held no grudge against Percy or Tyson though. What was the point? They didn't have the fault and besides, what was done was done.

"Y/n!" Percy panted as he grabbed my arm, stopping me and my thoughts. "Stop! I want to introduce you to my friends."

"That's exactly what I've been avoiding Percy," I say as I squirm out of his grip. "I also have enough friends as it is."

"You don't have any friends," he says bluntly. 'Wow,' I think to myself. 'So nice.'

"That's the point."

"Whatever," he says and grabs my hand. "You are going to meet my friends." I groaned and rolled my eyes.

"You can be so annoying sometimes," I say, but Percy ignored me and continued to drag me to the Poseidon cabin. He slammed open the door and seven faces turned to look at us. Between them, I recognized Annabeth, Nico and a girl that Annabeth seemed to hang out with a lot. Although I did not know her name. Percy sat me down on one of the bunks. He later sat down next to Annabeth on the bunk opposite mine. The others were already sitting down. I was sat down. I was next to Nico, who had a look that read he was sorry for me. I gave him the same look.

Nico was the closest thing I have to a friend. We used to have talks together about how the camp could improve and how the gods always sent demigods into their fights. In fact, it was our very first conversation together.

I leaned back against the wall as Percy introduced me to the group. I put on my annoyed face, but on the inside, I felt touched that Percy really cared for me enough to take his time to gather up people for me to meet them. As soon as he found out that I was his sister he tried to break down the walls that I had created around me. But so far the only person that had managed to do that was the person that was sitting next to me.

"How come I've never seen you around then?" asked the Latino boy next to the girl whose name I learned was Piper. I shrugged.

"I tend to keep to myself," I say. "I don't think you should be asking that question. I don't see you that much around camp either."

The boy blushed a deep crimson and I saw a bit of his hair go on fire before it went out. I huffed out a laugh. 'Okay,' I think. 'He has pyrokinesis.'

There was silence in the room and the tension was so thick you could've cut it with a knife. Percy must have noticed this and coughed to catch everyone's attention. "How 'bout we play some game?" he says. "Any suggestions Piper?"

Piper sighed. "Do I really need to say it? I think you already know what I'm going to say."

Percy had a confused look on his face as he said, "Seven minutes in heaven?"

Piper, who had already stood up to the center of the room whacked him on the back of the head. "No you dumb ass," she says. "Don't make me any more of an Aphrodite child than I have to."

I smirked. 'I like her.'

"I think you might just be the only person that I actually like in this room, Piper," I laugh out. I heard Nico making a choking noise next to me. I wondered but left it for later. Percy, meanwhile, looked at me with a hurt look. "Oh don't be a baby Percy. You'll always be my brother, I have to love you."

Annabeth smiled and Piper sat down on the floor. "Nice to know Y/n," she says. "It's also a refreshing sight to see Percy the one being sassed so thank you."

"It's no problem," I say. "If you want any more refreshing sights you should hang out with us at the Poseidon table during lunch."

"Could we just move on with what we were previously doing?" asks Percy, looking between me and Piper with a desperate look.

"Well, I was going to say we should play truth or dare."

I jumped off of the bed. "Truth or Dare!?!! This is my jam!" Nico looked at me weirdly. Probably because of my change in attitude around him. I was usually more like him, now I was showing my more Percy-like self. I moved to sit in front of Piper.

"Since you're so excited, Y/n, why don't you go first?" says Leo. "Truth or Dare?"

"Dare," I say.

[Time Skip. I'm sorry.]

We had played a few rounds of Truth or Dare. At the moment, Percy was dressed up as Ariel (which he didn't mind), Leo had red war paint and Jason was wearing a pink princess dress. Nico's face, unfortunately, had been decorated with makeup and glitter by Hazel.

"Y/n," says Piper and I looked at her. "Truth or Dare?"

"You already know my answer Piper," I say and she smirks.

"I dare you to kiss the person to your left," she says and my heart drops. I look over to my left and see that Leo's face was flushing a deep red. Judging from the heat I felt in my cheeks mine was probably in the same condition. He turns to look at me and we both lean in. Our lips met in a kiss. It wasn't just a peck, but it wasn't a full-on makeout session. We both pulled apart and I looked down at the ground in embarrassment.

I didn't dare to look at anyone. Especially Nico. 'Darn it,' I curse to myself. 'Why couldn't Piper have said "to your right"?' Yep that's right. I had a crush on the Ghost King. On the only person that managed to break down my walls.

I was still looking down when Nico finally decided to stand and leave. I looked up just in time to see the door slam shut.

"Nico!" I called out for my only friend. I stood up and headed outside to look for Nico. I looked around to see if I could find him. After about ten seconds I saw him going to the forest, and even from here, anger radiated off of him. "Nico, wait!"

I chase after him but he seemed to walk faster when he heard my voice. 'Now I know how  Percy falt about a half hour ago.' I started to run as to not lose him from sight. I nearly crashed into him when he stopped all of a sudden.

"Why don't you just go and play Truth or Dare with Leo," he said as he gestured to the cluster of cabins behind me. 'Wait, did he say Leo?'

"Nico, I wasn't playing Truth or Dare with just Leo," I say and he mumbles something under his breath. "What?"

"I said that it looked like it," Nico rolled his eyes and continued walking into the forest. But he didn't go very far after I grabbed his arm. I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to read his poker face. Then I realized what was going on.

"Are you jealous of Leo?" I ask and Nico looks down. I burst out laughing and Nico goes even more red in the face. I wipe away a tear from my eye. "You are jealous of a guy I just met literally less than an hour ago. Oh, my gods." I catch my breath and Nico looks at me with a grumpy pout. I pinch his cheek. "You are actually really cute when you're jealous."

I give him a peck on the lips and he blushes fifty different shades of red. My eyes widen as I just realized what I had done. "I'm so sorry Nico," I say as a fidget with the hem of my shirt. "You probably don't even like me."

Before I could say anything else he cupped my face in his hands and placed a soft kiss. I slowly kissed back and hugged him once he pulled away. "I really like you Y/n," he says into my hair.

"I really like you too, Nico," I say and peck his nose. There was a moment of silence. "I'm guessing this is the part where you ask me out?"

"Well, I was thinking more about asking you to be my girlfriend-"

"Yes," I said interrupting him. "I'll be your girlfriend." He grinned his grip around my waist got stronger. "Should we go and share the news?"

Nico paused to pretend he was thinking, "Nah," he says after a while. "They've been trying to get us together for the past year. Let them suffer."

____________________________________

Thank you for reading through this (nearly 2,000 word long) Nico x Reader. I hope you like it and I will be trying out some requests i

[harveywritings92]

Cheater! Tim Drake x Reader Part 1

The following is a non profit fan based story Batman, Red hood, Nightwing etc. belongs to DC Comics please support the official release.

_

I gain no profit from this nor do I own anything other then OCs  and whatever sprouts from my imagination. Thanks for reading!

Y/n practically flew up the steps of Wayne manor she was so excited! She had to tell Tim, she got the voice acting gig she'd trying for Outta Wack productions! she was a voice actress and apart of the Trophy Scavenger team effective next week! She knocked and ringed the doorbell.

 Dick eating a bowl of cereal answered "ey y/nf!" he greeted as he swallowed a spoon full of Trix he moved aside to let her in Jason who was reading Terry Pratchett's Mort nodded and grunted at her as the h/c merrily walked inside "Is Tim in his room? I got big news!" She chirped and went upstairs practically skipping.

Dick chuckled at her enthusiasm then back to watching cartoons. When it slowly dawned on the brothers; they were pretty sure they both heard Y/n getting 'busy' with Tim in his room, they blanched as Dick was the first to speak "w-wait if Y/n just got here...." Jason whipped his head towards the stairs. "The who the hell is up there with Tim?!" Dick dropped his bowl while Jason bolted over couch and they ran upstairs to catch up with Y/n.

only hear a horrified "WHAT THE FUCK!" the two almost trip when they stopped in front of Tim's room to see a shocked and crying Y/n who was staring at Steph and Tim who were both naked and staring at the three stunned. no one moved nor said anything when a hollow bitter laugh came from the h/c a few seconds of her laughter she spoke up.

 "Jaime was fucking right..." she snorted as tears blurred her vision. "You fucking bastard! You knew I was cheated on in my last relationship! How could you!?"she demanded as taking a step towards them Dick held her back as the 'couple' flinched, the h/c was hands were shaking she so fucking distraught she "He and Bart told me you had a thing for Steph...Did I fucking listen--"

Y/n shook her head "No, Y'know what?...Fuck this! Fuck you both! you deserve each other!" She then turned to Tim took out the cellphone he had gotten her and threw it at him, the phone hit the raven haired boy in the head causing it to turn on and a picture of himself and Y/n came up on the lock-screen he looked down at it dazed.

"Never come near me again...I hate you Timothy Drake." she spat venom dripping off of every word Tim look sick as he watched her shove passed Dick and Jason who were still staring stunned that Tim would betray Y/n like this.

 "I'm gonna go make sure Y/n's alright, help her get home..." Jason muttered and followed after the heartbroken girl, While Dick just shook his head in disbelief at his younger brother disappointment and shame clear in his eyes "Way go Tim, you got the girl you always wanted..." said boy had yet to move from his spot eyes still glued to the phone screen.

Y/n... the way she looked at him with devastation and malice, her words kept echoing in his head "...I hate you Timothy Drake"  Every word felt like a dagger was twisting into his heart...Why? He wasn't in love with Y/n...he just using her,right? that was the plan...act as a rebound. Make Steph jealous then break-up with Y/n before it got too serious (he skipped that step.) and start dating Steph...after all that, He couldn't have fallen for Y/n, right?

The answer was pretty clear as his blue eyes stayed on the screen, focus on Y/n's happy face, it was mocking him. Tim felt dirty as every memory and moments they had shared together started replaying in his head. Tim hadn't realized he was crying until a few tears landed on the cellphone. He hadn't even noticed Steph curse him out and leave. 

Needless to say, the last couple weeks wasn't much of a shock to anyone. Steph wanted nothing to do with Tim, she punched him in the face when he tried talking to her, "You two timing sleaze! I had to find out from Barb, you and Y/n were dating for almost a year and six months! You lying son of a bitch!" she hit him again then called him every name in the book; 

Tim just stood there and took it knowing he deserved every bit of it "Well I hope it was fucking worth it, because we're through!" She yelled before storming off. And as for Y/n nobody seen or heard from her since the incident, and no one would tell him where she was, He asked Jason who was the last person to see her and he told Tim to shove it.

He ended up going to Y/n's apartment and a shady looking guy answer the door. Tim's jaw clenched he was pissed thinking Y/n had gotten together with this guy! he pushed himself passed the guy and looked around the apartment. His anger soon turned to fear and confusion to see all her stuff was gone and unpacked boxes littered the living room. 

"Hey, you can't ju-" The guy reached for Tim's shoulder only for the teen to grab his hand and bend it behind the man's back."Who the hell are you, what are you doing here?" the teen hissed the man winced feeling Tim's hold tighten he stuttered out his name and how he just bought the place from some depressed chick who's boyfriend cheated on her.

"How..do you know about that?"

 "S'what the neighbors told me, I take it the boyfriend is you?"

"Where's the girl now?"

"I don't know! some animation company hired her out of state...She's gone."

Tim's eyes widened he dropped the guy and just stared at his feet, the teen was silent for a few seconds then apologized walked out of the apartment and just as he was about leave he heard the guy speak up. 

"Y'know love is pretty confusing kid, Some are together for life... others aren't so great at it...But that doesn't stop them from trying, I hope it works out for the both of ya's..." Tim frowned taking what the guy said to heart and walked down the stairs and out into the street he stared blankly at the sky for a minute.

 Figures it would be a beautiful sunny day while he's miserable, he then locked on to to some trash cans that were left out, a sudden rush of anger overcame the teen his foot came up kicking one of them sending it crashing into a wall denting it. 

Tim let out a shaky breath then continued back to his car, thinking about how he had picture perfect life and a girl who loved him. and not for money, fame or any other form of greed. But loved him for being his own horrid self...And he threw that all away, because he couldn't let go of a stupid crush! 

Tim looked at Y/n's phone which was resting on his dash, He stared at it forlornly she must've known he put a tracker in it...Clever girl, Too bad he was to hung up on getting Steph to like him to notice at the time... It was a long drive back to the manor, Tim stayed hulled up in his room burying himself in work only coming out for patrol or if Alfred forced him out to eat, he made the wrong call and he's paying for it.  

2 years later...

"Tim my boy, someone your age should have a nice girl by his side..." And old man boasted to the young CEO, Tim mentally rolled his eyes annoyed and exhausted, listening to Mr. Georgeman boast about his grand-niece, every fricken time he went to gala, there was always some old money or debutante type who would try to set him up with their pretty young niece,cousin,daughter or granddaughter...

And every time he'd turn them down...he learned a long time ago saying that he'd "think about it." gave the parents and the girl false hope and the wrong impression; dates would be set up without his knowing, or he'd show up to a "lunch meeting" and see a living barbie doll dressed to the nines waiting for him.

 which would end in tears and embarrassment for them both when he turned them down, or the girls would show up at his job or apartment whining and wondering why he stood them up.

Now whenever ever a meeting was set up he'd double check to see who set it up and message them to cancel, it saves him the embarrassment and spares the girls their feelings. Tim was pulled out of his reverie by the old man patting his shoulder. 

"Well Mr.Drake would you be interested in my Luba?" the raven haired boy's eye twitched just a bit..."Erm... I'm sorry sir, I'm not looking for a relationship at the moment." Mr. Georgeman bristled at Tim's rejection and stomp away into the crowed which Tim surveyed he sighed checking his watch wondering if he's at that point where he's stayed long enough? and it was nearly quarter-past nine...

Tim hummed and slipped away from the ball room and out into the hotel lobby, when he saw a group of girls gasp when they saw him, They advanced towards him, Till one of them noticed something over his shoulder and shrieked excitedly, Tim sighed annoyed waited for the person to rush up to him and ask for a selfie or whatever only for the person to yell.

"Oh my god it's Y/n L/n!" Tim blinked Y/n...his Y/n? he whirled around as the girls forgot about him, and made a beeline for the h/c who wasn't alone he saw Jaime and Bart with her, but that's not what he was focus on...

His eyes instead were focused on the little raven haired girl who was freaking out and crying at all camera flashes going off. Causing Jaime to step in front of Y/n and the kid protectively, Bart took the baby from the h/c and got into the elevator while Jaime tried to get everyone to back up. "ey,ey everybody just needs ti calm down here" the Latino urged waving his hands. 

"Y/n!? was that Erin, she's gotten so big!"

"Whens your next album coming out?"

"Are you dating Bart or Jaime?"

"Did Erin get the dragon hoodie I sent?" 

"Will you marry me?"

Y/n was overwhelmed by the sudden ambush she barely had any breathing room to think! then she saw him... Tim standing a few feet from her. the h/c felt goosebumps form on her arms, as she watched his eyes narrow and he advanced towards her, she tugged on Jaime's shirt. 

"I see him too.." he said eyes glancing over his shoulder. Y/n took a deep breath and faced the crowed. "To answer your questions, Yes, June, neither, yes, NO!...anymore questons will be answered at the convention, goodnight!" Y/n and Jamie got into an elevator before Tim could reach them or anyone could stop them.

"That was too close!" Y/n sighed sliding down the wall Jaime sat down next to her. "You can't keep avoiding him, hermana." he said causing the girl to snort. "Yes I can! I've been doing it for two years." she huffed crossing her arms, the Latino frowned damn this girl is stubborn!

 "And what about Erin? what are you gonna do when she starts asking about her dad?" The h/c frowned she hadn't thought that far ahead, according to Bart; Her and Tim were apparently still together in the future, she scoffed when she heard that! As if she would take that cheater back! maybe in upside-down world! But in real life that bridge wasn't just burned, it was nuked beyond repair!

"Well what are you going to tell her?" Jaime asked again Y/n hummed "I don't know..." she mumbled Jamie patted her knee and they got up when the elevator pinged telling them they were at their floor, when they got to their room they found Bart waiting sitting on a chair watching TV while bouncing Erin on his knee, He looked nervous as he saw them come in "Tim called...He wants to meet with you." Y/n took Erin from him and balanced the toddler on her hip.

"Well, that's too bad c'os I don't want to meet him." Bart winced as she said this "it's kind of important that you meet him Y/n..." Speedster urged but, h/c wasn't having it, every time he even mentioned Tim she would stare or shoot him down, eventually the brown haired man begrudgingly dropped it. Both he and Jaime knew that Tim wasn't going let it go...he will find a way to get Y/n alone, especially since now Tim saw Erin...he was going want answers.

[megaguardain]

Achievement Hunter Crew: The Bat-Heist, Prologue and Chapter One

UPDATED

After the whole thing with James Ryan ‘the asshole guy’ Haywood, I’ve written him completely out of the story. He doesn’t exist in this universe anymore. Also, I’ve moved the timeline so character’s have changed superhero identities.

Introduction

In a world where superheroes have been around since the early 1900s, no one just robs banks anymore. Everyone’s gotta be taking over the world or enslaving the human race or whatever. But this crew, they’re just wanna rob and steal, not for the money. Just for bragging rights.

Earth-96 is a world where DC characters premiere when they first appear in the comics and age in real time. Batman has been patrolling Gotham since 1939 and the mantle has passed from Bruce Wayne to others since his passing.

Prologue

Earth-96, 2019. Tyler, Texas.

“The Batman was ‘instrumental’ in the arrest of the Joker earlier tonight, a spokesman from the GCPD told us,” the newswoman on the TV said. Shots of a battered Joker, giggling to himself, being loaded into an armored police van while Batman spoke to the police. He was actually shorter than the officers he spoke to.

Batman pressed something on his gauntlet and there was a sound of a roaring engine as something giant barreled toward him. As it got close, the Batman leapt into the air and grabbed onto the giant vehicle.

“Was that a new car?” a newsman asked as the cameraman caught the rear of the Batmobile turning down an alley, “Or did the Flash just pick him up?”

“It probably was a new car. How many has he got now?”

“Probably as many Robins he’s had,” the newswoman commented as she shuffled the papers in front of her, “Up next, who is this new Green Lantern?” the picture shifted to an amateur shot of a Latino woman in a Green Lantern uniform, “And can we trust her?”

The TV turned off. The man watching it put down the remote and sat up, stroking his lower jaw while in deep thought. He wore a black two-piece suit over a white dress shirt. His sleeves were rolled up, exposing the million tattoos on his arms. After reaching some kind of conclusion in his head, the man smiled and pulled out his phone. He scrolled through his contacts and selected one labelled “Michael”.

The phone rang as he put it to his ear.

“‘Sup Geoff,” Michael answered.

“‘Sup Michael, listen,” Geoff said, “I got an idea for something,”

“What kinda something?”

“A big something,”

“We heisting?” Michael asked.

“Oh yeah. It’s a big one, we’re going to need everyone on this,”

“What’re we stealing? Cash? Gold?”

“A car,”

There was a moment of awkward silence before Micahel asked, “Just a car?”

“‘Just a car?’,” Geoff sarcastically asked back, “Just get everyone and meet me at the safehouse,”

“Ya gotta give me something more than that Geoff,” Michael insisted, “Alfredo probably won’t show up over ‘just a car’,”

“We’re heisting the Batman’s car,” Geoff dropped the bomb.

“Shit,” Michael chuckled after another moment of silence, “Yep. Alfredo’s going to love that. That really isn’t just a car,”

“Told ya,” Geoff smiled, amused with himself, “We’ll go over the details at the safehouse,”

“A’ight. See ya soon,” Michael said.

“See ya soon,” Geoff said, ending the call. Geoff poured himself a glass of whiskey as he looked out the window, “This’ll be one for the books,”

Chapter 1:Unpredictable in a Predictable Way

Earth-96. Gotham City, New Jersey.

The new Batmobile had great soundproofing. Batman could hardly hear the sound of the engine from inside the car. The car sped through the streets of Gotham, everything inside was tinted red from the interior lights. He piloted the car over the Robert Kane Memorial Bridge, leaving the city lights glaring through the smog behind him.

“Dim exterior lights,” Batman commanded, his voice distorter still active. The external lights on the Batmobile dimmed, providing almost as much visibility as if they were turned completely off, “Engine, silent run,” Batman commanded. The engine of the Batmobile fell silent, even from outside the car it barely made a sound. 

Batman’s muscle memory expertly piloted the car down a hidden path off the side of the road, towards Wayne Manor. It rolled down and around, along a cliff face on the coast to a cave entrance that was hidden by a waterfall. Inside the cave was dimly lit by lights on either side of a paved track. The Batmobile followed the track into the cave.

After minute or two of following the dimly lit track, the cave opened up into a large cavern. There were multiple platforms bolted to the walls of the cavern, connected by catwalks, wires and elevators. The track the Batmobile led to one of the lowest platforms, it looked like a shelving unit with multiple cubbies that held various bat themed vehicles. From older Batmobiles to the Batplane, Batcyles, a lot of bat themed vehicles. Batman parked the Batmobile he was driving in the empty spot on the Vehicle Platform and got out of the car.

“How’s the new car?” a voice above called down. Batman looked up to see a man with black hair leaning on the railing of the platform above looking down at him. The man wore a red hoodie with a dark t-shirt with Batman’s logo on it.

“It pulls to the left,” Batman said as he approached the nearby elevator, “And the seat is too big,” he added as he stepped into the elevator. The elevator had no music as it took him up to the higher platform.

“Well, you’ll break her in. And maybe grow into the seat too,” the man teased. He was a whole six inches taller than Batman’s five and a half feet stature.

“I have never understood why you refer to the cars as ‘her’ Tim,” Batman said, ignoring the joke about his height and walking toward the fifteen foot, multi-screen computer on the platform, “Joker’s back in Arkham,” Batman said as he sat down in the large chair in front of the computer. He looked tiny in the chair.

“And his gang is already rioting. Wanting to strike down the government hierarchy,” Tim explained.

“What about Sionis or Ogilvy?” Batman asked as the computer displayed the profiles of Black Mask and Emperor Penguin.

“The False Face Society has been growing. With Joker’s latest stunt, they probably won’t stop,” Tim reported, “Ogilvy seems content with running business from the Iceberg Lounge. No one’s going to try anything big for a while,”

“What about Jason and his gang?” Batman asked, taking his cowl off. Showing that Batman wasn’t actually a man, but an Asian woman with short black hair.

“Cass, I know Jason isn’t your favorite person, but he’s on our side,” Tim sighed.

“He is a criminal, he kills people,” Cass scowled. The computer displayed information about the Red Hood Gang, run by the formerly dead, formerly Robin, Jason Todd.

“So did Bruce originally!” Tim countered.

“Not the same,”

“How?”

“Bruce was wrong and he realized that when he adopted Dick,” Cass explained.

“Well, just think of him as a neccessary evil,” Tim sighed, walking away.

Cass just stared at the computer screens as they continued to scroll through the different gangs of Gotham City and their territories around Gotham. The screens shifted to reports of the Joker Gang protesting outside Arkham Asylum, calling to free Joker.

The next night,

“Everybody on the ground!” a man wearing a potato-brown mask with a hand drawn smile shouted as he fired his rifle into the ceiling of the bank. He wore a brown leather jacket over a kevlar vest and t-shirt.

“Let’s go! Give us the money!” a man wearing a hockey mask that had a pattern with stickers from different tourist traps from around America shouted, tossing a duffle bag to the teller behind the counter. He wore a black two-piece suit under a kevlar vest and held a shotgun to a teller.

A third man wearing a BMX helmet, a Hawaiian shirt under a kevlar vest and white shorts, kept a shotgun trained on a security guard, “Don’t,” he growled when the guard moved.

“I knew it was a bad idea to extend hours into the evening,” the guard grumbled.

“Just load up the cash, we’re not interested in being murderers,” the one in the hockey mask said. The teller loaded bundles of money into the duffle bag.

“Give me the dye packs,” the one in the potato mask ordered another teller.

“Wh-what?” the teller asked.

The man in the potato mask punched the bulletproof glass that separated him and the teller, it shattered into pieces and possibly made several bystanders wet themselves as they screamed, “Dye packs,” the man ordered again, aiming his rifle at the teller, “Now,”

The teller quickly gathered and placed the dye packs on the counter in front of the potato masked man. The robber put the dye packs in his jacket pockets.

“How we doin’ Alpha?” he asked.

“I got the money!” the tourist hockey masked man shouted, taking the filled duffle bag from the teller, “Let’s go!”

The three bank robbers made their way to the front door, they each took cover on either side of the door frame. A sign behind them said ‘Welcome to Gotham City Trust, your money is safe with us!’.

“GCPD should be here any second now,” the BMX helmet man said.

“Good,” the potato masked man said, tossing the dye packs to his partners. The crew had to wait for less than a minute before they heard the sirens. The sirens stopped as they came close to the bank.

“GCPD!” they could hear shouted at them over a loudspeaker, “Put your weapons down and come out with your hands up!”

“They asked us so nicely Bravo, whaddya think?” the potato maked man asked.

“We should give them a gift for being so nice, Charlie,” the man wearing the BMX helmet suggested.

Alpha, Bravo and Charlie opened the doors of the bank and, without emerging too much from cover, threw the dye packs at the police cars parked outside. They landed with audible thuds that the robbers could hear from the bank entrance.

“Grenades!” one of the officers shouted.

“Go! Go! Go!” Alpha commanded. The robbers ran out the door and to the right, travelling along the side of the bank and away from the cops.

“Wait, it’s not a gre-” the dye packs exploded, covering the squad cars and nearby officers in hot red paint and creating a red smoke that flew into the sky.

“See ya losers!” Charlie shouted back at the police as he continued to flee.

The crew crossed the street, avoiding the oncoming traffic that sounded their horns at them, they came into a small alleyway that had an armored four-door car waiting for them. But before they could get close to the car, a shuriken in the shape of a pair of bird wings embedded itself in the car’s hood.

“You guys new ‘round here?” a young voice asked. The crew looked and saw an African-American man on the nearby fire escape, holding two yellow escrima sticks connected by yellow wire. He had yellow helmet with a black visor in the shape of a bat. He wore a yellow and black suit with a black reflective bat symbol on his chest, “Ya’ll should just give-”

The robbers just started firing at him. The young man pressed himself back against the building while the robbers slowly made their way close to the car. Bravo entered first in the driver’s seat and started the car, Alpha sat in the passenger’s seat while Charlie got into the back. Bravo sped out of the alleyway before the young man could stop them.

“We got the Signal’s attention, won’t be long ‘til he shows up,” Charlie said.

“You know what to do if that happens,” Alpha said.

Bravo drove the car away from the bank, several police cars with lights and sirens blaring chased after them. As they weaved through the slower traffic, Charlie rolled down the window next to him and started blind firing back at the cops.

“So, how’s it feel to be back in your home state Charlie?” Bravo asked casually.

“Heh. It’s alright. Never been to Gotham,” Charlie said just as casually, “Always wanted to see the Bat with my own eyes,”

“Well, if this goes right, you’re going to,” Alpha said. Bravo slipped through a hole in a police blockade on the Madison Bridge that led into Old Gotham. As the crew came off the bridge, a shadow passed over them.

“Was that-?” Charlie asked, just before Batman landed on their hood, “Yep! Yes it was!”

“Pull over!” the vigilante ordered.

“You want me to pull over? Okay!” Bravo said, jerking the wheel to one side, causing the car to spin out as Charlie pulled his upper half out of the window. Charlie fired his rifle at Batman, the dark knight flipped onto the roof and kicked the gun out of his hand.

“Shit!” Charlie cried.

Batman pulled Charlie out of the car, but he punched Batman in the gut. They both flew off the car as it sped away, a few police cars shot past them to chase after the other robbers while others stopped to barricade the street. Charlie stood up and pulled off his ruined potato mask, his face was hardly scratched despite having kissed the street at almost seventy miles per hour.

“You’re shorter than I expected,” he commented when Batman stood up.

“Give up,” Batman ordered.

“No, fuck you,” Charlie smirked, putting his fists up in a fighting stance. Charlie ran at Batman, throwing a right hook but Batman was already dodging, he grabbed Charlie’s arm and restrained it behind his back.

“Your friends left you behind,”

“Yeah well,” Charlie groaned, “Still gotta job to do,” he twisted around and tried to punch Batman with his free hand, but Batman caught it and restrained it too.

Charlie shrugged off Batman’s grip, surprising the vigilante, before spinning around to slug the dark knight, but only grazed his bat-ears. Batman struck a space under Charlie’s arm and robber’s arm fell limp. Charlie looked at his unusable arm and gave a one armed shrug, he charge at Batman again. Just as he got close enough to punch Batman, he realized he was flat on his back with Batman standing above him. The last thing he remembers before blacking out was Batman’s fist.

“Cass,” The Signal’s voice came over the radio in Batman’s ear.

“Go ahead Signal,” Batman said as he watched the police take custody of the bank robber.

“Sorry, they got away,” The Signal said, “I lost track of them and they switched cars before I found them again,”

“Understood, we’ll find them,” Batman assured.

Alpha and Bravo drove a beat up hippie van to a warehouse on one of Gotham’s many docks. They had removed their masks already, Bravo sporting a full beard of reddish-brown hair and glasses. Alpha having a handlebar mustache and stubble. 

“You sure Michael’s the one that should’ve been caught, Geoff?” Bravo asked as they pulled into the warehouse. It was pretty sparse inside, not much in terms of equipment or lighting. Two people sat at a crate, one was on her Nintendo Switch playing some game, the other was cleaning a sniper rifle.

“I’m sure Jack. He can buy the time Gavin and Trevor need, and get out without much trouble,” Geoff explained as he put the looted money on a crate they were using as a table, “Everything is going according to plan,”