#selina being the worried mother

[wonderstrevors]

Selina being Mama Cat to Jason in all this issue is so precious to me

[yannawayne]

i. what's up danger?

SYNOPSIS: "Alright, let's do this one last time. My name is Y/N Kyle. I was bitten by a radioactive spider, And I've been the one and only Spidey in Gotham. I’m pretty sure you know the rest." PAIRING: Older! Damian Wayne/Fem! Reader TAGS: Established relationship, Mild sexual jokes, Making out, Blood, Explosions, Mentions of Child Abuse, Good Aunt-Mom Selina Kyle AO3: yenwayne SERIES LINK: gotham's only spidey

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༻⊰───⋅

“Uh, good morning?” you offered weakly, trying to give a casual shrug despite the mess around you. “Mom, this might sound insane. But, I think I might have accidentally discovered superpowers.”

Selina stared at you, blinking slowly as she processed the scene before her. Her lips twitched as if she were trying to hold back a laugh or perhaps some form of disbelief.

“Accidentally discovered superpowers?” she echoed. “I think you've been around your boyfriend and his family too much. Baby—”

Before she could finish, your hand instinctively reached out. With a flick of your wrist, a web shot from your fingers and latched onto the door behind her. In a heartbeat, the door was yanked from its hinges, splintering as it flew across the room and crashed into the wall with a resounding thud.

Selina’s eyes widened in shock as she turned to face the now doorless doorway. She blinked at the empty space where the door had once been.

“Well,” she said, “I guess that’s one way to explain things.”

༻⊰───⋅

Saturday, 9:02 PM - Catwoman’s Apartment, Gotham City.

SELINA'S DEFT FINGERS SLID over the fabric of the dress, adjusting and smoothing it until it drapes perfectly over your figure. The elegant emerald gown shimmered softly under the dim apartment lights, the material flowing luxuriously against your skin.

"You didn’t steal this, did you?" you murmur, adjusting the necklace that rests delicately around your neck. "I’d rather not end up in jail tonight."

"The dress? No, it’s one of my old ones," Selina scoffed, turning away and handing you a pair of black heels. "But if anyone asks about the necklace, just say it’s a family heirloom. Which, technically, it is."

You shot her a pointed look. She rolled her eyes with a smirk.

"Oh, hush. I haven’t stolen anything in... at least a month," she drawled.

"A month, wow! That’s a new record," you teased, slipping into the heels.

Selina laughed and shook her head. "Don’t get too comfortable. Just because I’m on a hiatus doesn’t mean I’ve gone straight."

"Well, let’s hope your hiatus lasts at least through tonight," you winced.

She smirked, giving you a once-over. "Trust me, darling, tonight is all about you."

You were about to respond when Selina suddenly snapped her fingers.

“Before I forget...” she said, reaching into one of her drawers. She pulled out a thigh strap and wrapped the leather around your leg, fastening it securely. 

Then, she slid one of her blades into the strap. You rolled your eyes but accepted the gesture with a resigned nod. It was Gotham, after all—being prepared was always a need.

“Damian’s got me covered tonight,” you say, trying to reassure her. “You don’t have to worry so much.”

Selina paused, her hands still on the thigh strap, and gave you a skeptical look. “Sweetheart, I worry about you all the time. It’s not that I don’t trust Damian—he’s solid. But Gotham? That’s a different story. Where those Bats go, trouble’s sure to follow.”

You chuckled, adjusting the strap to make sure it was secure. “We’ll manage, mom.”

Selina Kyle might not have been your biological mother, but she became your mother the moment you were placed in her arms years ago. In that instant, the blood that bound you was inconsequential compared to the unspoken promise she made to protect you.

To Selina, you were her child. Not because of any legal ties or shared genetics, but because she chose to be your mother every single day.

And to you, Selina was more than just an aunt. She was the lifeline who stepped in when everything else had crumbled around you.

Selina and Maggie, your biological mother, had both grown up in a fractured family. Their father was a vicious drunkard. Their mother, Maria, was a ghost in their lives—emotionally absent and detached. 

When Maria died, the world turned colder. The sisters were torn apart: Maggie was adopted by a warm, loving family, while Selina was abandoned to the unforgiving grip of Gotham’s orphanages. Those grim streets, steeped in shadows and danger, carved her into Catwoman.

But darkness has a way of creeping back into the light, no matter how hard you try to keep it at bay. Maggie, who had managed to build a life of stability and warmth, became a target for the shadows of Catwoman’s past. 

Black Mask.

Kidnapped, tortured, and left to die, Maggie was nothing but a ghost by the time the attack was done. Her husband was slain in the carnage, and the only remnant of their family was you— barely a toddler, too young to grasp the gravity of your loss but old enough to feel its weight.

With no other family to turn to, she took you in, binding her fate to yours and vowing to protect you from a world that had already taken so much from both of you.

Her life wasn’t easy. She was young, barely in her twenties, struggling to make ends meet in one of Gotham’s most unforgiving neighborhoods. The meager jobs she managed to scrape together were barely enough to cover the rent, let alone the needs of a growing child.

Selina's decision to take up the mantle of Catwoman was never about the thrill of the heist or the allure of jewels; it was about survival—yours and hers. Gotham demanded a price, and she chose to pay it herself, risking her life each time she donned the suit to give you a chance at something better.

You grew up with a keen sense of the world, your intelligence uncovering bits and pieces of her double life. The mysterious disappearances, the luxurious items that mysteriously appeared—each clue painted a picture that you slowly began to understand.

When the time came for the truth to be revealed, it wasn’t easy

Selina’s hand glided across her vanity, fingers brushing over the cool surface before settling on a sleek black clutch. With a flick of her wrist, she turned and handed it to you.

You accepted it with a gleam in your eye, stepping back as you held it close. A playful twirl sent the emerald fabric of your gown swirling around you, catching the light in a way that made it shimmer. 

“Well? What do you think?”

Selina’s stern look melted away like ice under a warming sun. Her gaze swept over your outfit, absorbing the delicate neckline, the tailored fit around your waist, and the gown’s fluid cascade to the floor. 

In this small, quiet moment, the weight of the world seemed to lift. For just a heartbeat, she allowed herself to pretend that the two of you were simply a normal mother and daughter, sharing a simple, beautiful moment together.

“You’ve always had a way of making everything around you look better,” she purred. “You’re going to knock the whole school off their feet. Damian’s going to need a crowbar to keep the other guys away.”

Selina reached out to adjust the straps on your dress, her touch precise and caring. Her fingers brushed a stray strand of hair from your face, the movement as gentle as a whisper.

“Just remember, darling,” she spoke slowly, “it never hurts to stay safe.”

Ruby-red manicured nails tapped your cheek as she straightened up, a knowing look in her eyes.

Pause. Your eyes widened as you caught the hint of her meaning. “You’re not saying I—”

“I was at that age,” she interrupted with a mock-serious tone. “I’m just saying you should be prepared. Especially with the way that boy looks at you like you’re the only person in the room. You’ve got him wrapped around your finger. Make sure he wraps something else too.”

A flush of embarrassment rose to your cheeks. You sputtered and fumbled with the clutch in your hand. “Mom! What the hell?! I think that’s enough advice for one night!”

BEEP!

Just as Selina was about to respond, a car horn blared from outside, slicing through the evening’s quiet. Both of you turned towards the window, where a Porsche 911 emerged from the darkness. It looked painfully out of place against the backdrop of your neighborhood—cracked sidewalks strewn with trash, graffiti-streaked walls, and the occasional flickering streetlamp battling the encroaching shadows.

“Looks like your chariot awaits,” Selina said, her hands sliding up your shoulders as she gently nudged you toward the door. “Have a great time, but keep your wits about you. Gotham’s never as calm as it seems.”

With one final hug, you stepped out of the apartment and descended the narrow, dimly lit staircase. As you reached the bottom, you emerged into the cool night air, where Damian stood by his car parked right under a street lamp.

He was impeccably dressed in a deep black suit that seemed to swallow the surrounding light, giving him an almost smoky allure. An emerald button-up shirt peeked from beneath the jacket, its rich hue a perfect match for the striking color of your dress. 

Damian’s smoldering gaze warmed as he saw you approaching, a small, approving smile curling at the corners of his lips. He lifted two fingers in a beckoning motion, and though you rolled your eyes, you stepped forward.

“Beloved,” he greeted, extending a hand to you. “You look stunning.”

“Hi, handsome,” you grinned, taking his hand and stepping closer to press a gentle kiss against his lips. Damian responded with a soft hum, his arm slipping around your shoulders as he tilted his head slightly. The kiss deepened just enough to make the moment linger, leaving a warmth that held between you. 

Just as you were about to lose yourself completely, Selina’s voice sliced through the night air. 

“You’re going to be late!”

Damian pulled away from you so abruptly that it looked as if he’d been yanked back by an invisible force. His face flushed a patchy red, a blend of embarrassment and irritation. He shot a sidelong glance at Selina, his eyes quickly shifting back to you.

Damian huffs, releasing a sharp exhale through his teeth. “Shall we go?”

The click of the car door echoed as Damian opened it for you, his lips twisting into a scowl. You settled into the plush passenger seat, the soft fabric of your gown rustling as Damian carefully lifted it to prevent any creases. 

While you adjusted yourself in the seat, you glanced back and waved at Selina, her silhouette framed against the windows. A snort escaped you as you noticed the deadpan look Damian shot in her direction.

Damian was always somewhat awkward around Selina. As Robin, his view of Catwoman was clear-cut—she was a criminal to be dealt with. And yet, he still held a deep respect for her as your mother.

Once he settled into the driver’s seat and started the engine, the car roared to life with a smooth, powerful purr. The sleek vehicle glided down the streets with impressive speed, Damian navigating through traffic with a confidence that bordered on recklessness. 

As he shifted gears, the radio flicked on, filling the car with a soft, pulsing beat.

This may be the night that my dreams might let me know All the stars are closer All the stars are closer All the stars are closer This may be the night that my dreams might let me know

Tilting your head back into the seat, your hair bunching around your shoulders, your thoughts drifted to the first time Damian took you for a drive. Both of you had been sixteen then, and his aggressive maneuvering had left you gripping the seat, your heart racing as if you were in a high-speed chase. Now, though, the thrill was familiar, adrenaline thrumming steadily in your blood.

The ride was brief but exhilarating, and soon the car pulled into the school’s parking lot. Sleek cars and limousines lined the lot, each more extravagant than the last. Students and their dates, dressed in their finest formal wear, mingled and laughed, making their way toward the entrance.

Stepping out of the car, the crisp night air greeted you like a refreshing embrace, carrying the delicate scent of fresh flowers and the faint strains of classical music wafting from the entrance. The soft glow of string lights and lanterns illuminated the path ahead, casting a warm, golden hue over the scene. Damian drew you close, his arm slipping around your waist as you walked together.

The ballroom was stunningly elegant. 

Crystal chandeliers hung from the high ceiling, their shimmering prisms scattering colorful reflections across the polished marble floor. Tables draped in white linens, adorned with fresh roses and flickering candles, lined the room. The dance floor gleamed under the ambient light, already alive with couples swaying gracefully to the gentle strains of Franz Liszt. 

The whole scene practically screamed old money.

You were going to die.

You’d never quite get used to events like these. Over the years, you’d been to your fair share of galas and charity balls, mostly because of your relationship with Damian and that brief, awkward phase when Selina was involved with Bruce.  

Each time, you had a knack for stumbling through social minefields, unintentionally insulting high-profile guests or spilling wine on someone’s multimillion-dollar gown And, without fail, the next day’s press would seize the opportunity to spotlight you and your social faux pas.

Gotham Academy, with its glossy veneer and elite crowd, was just another arena 

It was a breeding ground for rich fucks, each one more insufferable than the last. The halls echoed with the chatter of kids who had everything handed to them, their lives a far cry from yours. The only reason you’d managed to slip through those gilded gates was thanks to the Martha-Wayne scholarship. Without it, you’d still be stuck in the middle of nowhere with your mother, scraping by on whatever scraps you could find.

“Ya amar, are you going to keep staring at the floor? Or may I have the honor of requesting a dance?”

Damian’s voice cut through your self-deprecating spiral as he snapped his fingers in front of your eyes.

Blinking up at him, you pursed your lips. “I don’t know... this is a really interesting floor.”

Damian raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise. “Oh, really? Pray tell, what makes it so interesting that you’d rather stand here instead of dancing with me?”

“I don’t know. I could stare at it all night,” you hummed, crossing your arms. “Plus, we’ve got to keep our thing going, you know? I can't give in that easily.”

“Our thing? What thing?” Damian blinked.

“The thing where we act like we hate each other but still want each other carnally,” you said, throwing your head back as you laughed.

"Tt," Damian deadpanned, reaching out to grab you by the waist. He lifted you off the ground, your feet barely brushing the polished marble beneath. You wrapped an arm around his neck and giggled, holding on as he carried you toward the center of the ballroom.

“You never miss an opportunity to mortify me, do you?” Damian scolded, gently setting you back down on the floor. Both of you assumed a waltz stance, your hands finding their places on each other’s shoulders and waist.

“I think I just enjoy keeping you on your toes,” you replied with a grin, swaying gracefully with him as the music enveloped you.

Damian's lips curved into a wry smile, despite his grumbling. "You know how much I despise these games you play, Cat."

“Oh? Cat?” you laughed, the rich, velvety fabric of your dress brushing against Damian’s sleek suit as you danced. “Are we going for the classic Batman and Catwoman trope here? Because once Selina retires, I could always take up the mantle of the next Catwoman.”

Damian’s smile dropped, replaced by a look of exasperation. “Please do not. I fear what will become of you then."

“Why not?” you asked, batting your lashes coyly. “Does the idea of me as Catwoman not thrill you?”

Damian made a noncommittal sound, his ears tinged with red as he averted his gaze.

“Don’t get shy on me,” you said with a grin, your voice dropping to a teasing purr. Your hand glided up his jaw, your touch lingering just enough to be felt.

A shadow of something intense flickered in the depths of his jade-green eyes. Damian’s grip on your waist tightened slightly, his gaze narrowing into a mock glare that barely concealed the warmth beneath.

“I guess I would not... be entirely opposed to that idea,” he muttered.

He led you into a slow dance, his movements fluid and graceful, reminiscent of those quiet, moonlit nights in his manor’s kitchen. You recalled late evenings when the room was bathed in the soft, silvery glow of moonlight streaming through the windows. On those nights, the world outside felt far away, leaving just the two of you swaying gently to the soft strains of music playing from his phone’s speakers.

It was moments like these that peeled away his walls. In the soft glow of the ballroom lights, the tender, affectionate side of him emerged—like a rare flower blooming in the quiet of twilight. Each layer revealed a deeper, more intimate part of him, offering you a special kind of attention that made every shared glance and touch feel intimate.

“This crazy, almost maddening attraction I have for you makes me feel like I want to stab myself,” Damian murmured as he spun you around, the fabric of your dress flared out like a blooming flower at his feet.

“Wow, you really have a way with words,” you said with a smile. “Admit it—you love every second of it, don’t you?”

Damian’s lips curled into a smirk.

“Perhaps,” he conceded. He drew you back into his embrace as he guided you across the dance floor, your bodies moved in perfect harmony, like two pieces fitting together in a delicate puzzle.

The world around you seemed to blur into a gentle haze of soft music and swirling lights. Damian’s gaze, however, remained sharp and vigilant.

“I don’t like how they’re staring at you,” he murmured, his green eyes narrowing as they scanned the crowd. His voice carried the familiar edge of possessiveness. “Perhaps they need a reminder of whom you belong to.”

“Damian, no—”

Before you could protest, Damian leaned in, closing the distance between you with a smooth turn of his head. The kiss was tender yet heated, his teeth gently tugging at your bottom lip.

Anyone who glanced your way would see Damian Thomas Wayne with his lips pressed against yours, making it clear who he was with. It wasn’t the first time he’d been so overt—there was that incident when you both ended up in detention because he couldn’t keep his hands off you by your locker.

You whined softly, trying to pull away, a thin strand of saliva connecting your lips in a delicate, glistening thread. “We’re in public—”

“Shut up,” he murmured against your lips, his voice rough yet tender, before diving back in. The breath you had been holding escaped in a slow, shuddering sigh, mingling with his as he drew you closer, his hands firmly cupping your hips.

Damian seemed to swallow every sweet sound you made, chuckling softly as you mumbled curses against his lips, your grip on his tie tightening. The world around you blurred into insignificance, leaving just the two of you enveloped in a bubble of intense sensation. Your breaths came in ragged bursts, eyes fluttering open and then closing again, lost in the heat of the moment. When you finally pulled apart, both of you were breathless and flushed, the lingering electric buzz of the kiss still crackling in the air between you.

Damian and you locked eyes, his face blank until a shit-eating grin slowly spread across his face.

"I hate you so much," you scowled. “You’re impossible, Damian Wayne.”

“Perhaps,” he murmured, his voice a low, teasing whisper. He leaned in, using your own words against you. “Admit it—you love every second of it, don’t you?”

Before you could respond, he tilted your chin up, his lips brushing lightly against yours as he whispered, “Let them see. They’ll just have to get used to the sight.”

The kiss was softer this time, more tender, as you swayed gently against him, savoring the moment of calm.

BOOM.

Without warning, the tranquility was shattered by a deafening explosion. 

The sound of shattering glass and a violent burst of energy tore through the ballroom, turning the once elegant space into a scene of utter chaos. Crystal chandeliers swung erratically from the ceiling, their light flickering in disorienting patterns as debris rained down like confetti. The room erupted into a frenzy of screams and frantic movement as everyone scrambled for cover.

“Holy shit!” you gasped, your voice barely piercing through the screams and destruction.

CREAK.

A sudden, ominous groan echoed through the room, drawing your gaze upward. The chandelier, swaying precariously, seemed to shudder as its support gave way. Then, with a heart-stopping creak, the massive fixture began to fall. 

Without a moment’s hesitation, Damian’s hand shot out, grabbing your arm with a firm grip. 

“Move!”

You scrambled to keep up with his rapid pace, but your long gown snagged on the edge of a flipped table, sending you sprawling to the floor with a jarring thud. Your hand slipped from his grip, and Damian, realizing you were no longer beside him, turned back in a surge of panic.

With no time to guide you gently to safety, he yanked you up from the floor. He pulled you both behind the overturned table, using it as a makeshift barricade.

The chandelier crashed down with a thunderous roar, sending shards of glass, splintered wood, and shattered fragments spiraling through the air. As the debris rained down, you screamed and reached out desperately for Damian. Without hesitation, he rushed to your side, enveloping you in his arms. He pulled you close, pressing your face into his chest and shielding you from the rain of debris with his body.

Finally, the noise of destruction faded into a heavy silence. Damian lifted his head slightly, peering down at you.

“Are you okay?” he panted, voice edged with worry.

Shaken up, you heaved and shook your head vehemently, unable to find the words through your trembling fear.

“What the fuck was that?” 

"I don't have a single clue," Damian shrugged, eyes still scanning the room as he peeked over the edge of the table.

From the smoke emerged a middle-aged man, suspended in the air by his mechanical arms—sleek, metallic, and bristling with a variety of intimidating gadgets. The arms whirred and slashed through the air with deadly force, carving through the walls and sending more chunks of debris down.

“You think you can just throw away everything I’ve built?” the man roared. “This school, this place, it’s all been a mockery of my work, my life! I’ve sacrificed everything for this and you’ve repaid me with nothing but scorn!”

Damian cursed under his breath. He settled back down, biting off the fingertip of his glove and pulling it off with a grunt. Pulling up his sleeve, he tapped an emergency button on his wrist, activating a silent alert to his family.

“We have to go,” Damian whispered. He shrugged off his suit jacket and wrapped you in the fabric, pulling you close. He lifted you effortlessly, cradling you in his arms as he sprinted through the chaos.

He carried you swiftly through the building’s hallways, the shrill sound of distant alarms and the echo of your hurried footsteps reverberating off the walls. When you finally reached a safer location, he paused briefly, his sharp eyes scanning the area for any further threats.

“I’ll be okay,” you said, your voice trembling as he gently set you down. You gripped his hands tightly, trying to steady your breath. “Do—do you have your suit?”

“It’s in the car,” Damian grumbled, frustration evident in his voice as he ran his thumb over your knuckles.

“I’ll stay here and start helping with evacuations,” you say, already moving to slip out of your heels, the shoes discarded onto the floor.

Damian opened his mouth to protest, but you cut him off, shaking your head firmly.

“No,” you said firmly, your scowl sharpening. “None of this again. I make my own decisions.”

Damian’s expression hardened. “You’re not a trained fighter. You’re not supposed to be in harm’s way.”

"It's just evacuations. I’m not going to be fighting," you met his gaze as you stood up straight again. “And I’m not going to stand by while others are in danger.”

“Fine,” he said begrudgingly, “but stay hidden and keep away from the villain.”

“I know,” you said softly, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. You met his gaze lovingly before turning to re-enter the chaos. The corridors were now a frenzy of frantic students and faculty, desperately trying to evacuate.

Damian shot you one last look before sprinting back toward the parking lot.

You slipped back into the ballroom, heart pounding in your chest. The smoke swirled around you, as decor and debris lay strewn across the floor. Amid the chaos, you spotted a girl trapped beneath a toppled table, her muffled cries barely reaching your ears. Clutching your dress in your hands to avoid tripping, you hurried over to her.

“Hey, we need to move!” you called out, shoving aside the debris and wrestling with the heavy wood. With a determined push, you finally freed her from the wreckage. She wobbled as she stood, but you swiftly caught her, your grip steady and reassuring. “You’re okay now. Let’s get out of here.”

“Where’s everyone else?” she asked, her voice trembling.

“Everyone’s heading for the exits. We need to move quickly,” you replied, guiding her toward the nearest emergency exit. The sounds of the villain’s rampage echoed through the room, punctuated by the distant wail of sirens.

Once the girl was able to get back on her feet and run on her own, you rushed to assist another group, directing them towards the exits and making sure they stayed calm.

SWISH.

There was a sudden, sharp slice, and you snapped your head back toward the ballroom. Damian had reappeared, now clad in his suit.

“Robin?!”

With a decisive, diagonal slash, his katana cleaved through one of the villain’s mechanical arms. The blade sliced through the metal with a sharp, resonant hiss, and the arm’s severed end burst into a cascade of dazzling sparks. Pieces of twisted metal flew through the air like shrapnel, their jagged edges catching the erratic light from the shattered chandeliers.

His cape, a deep, blood-red shroud, billowed behind him like a dark wave, trailing in his wake as he moved. The clash of his katana against the villain’s mechanical arms echoed through the room, each strike a precise blur of red and black. 

Amidst the fight, your eyes were drawn to a figure huddled in the far corner. The student, paralyzed with fear, was frozen in place, eyes wide and fixed on the destruction unfolding before them.

Without a second thought, you sprinted towards them, nimbly navigating through the scattered debris and overturned tables. As you reached the student, you crouched beside them and gently placed a reassuring hand on their shoulder.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay. Alright? We’re going to get through this, but you need to move—now!” 

The student’s terrified eyes flickered with a glimmer of hope as they slowly began to rise with your help. Their breath came in shallow, panicked gasps, each exhale mingling with the smoky haze that filled the air. You grunted, your muscles straining as you slipped your arms beneath their shoulders, lifting them to their feet.

"Move!" you urged, guiding the student toward the doors. Their feet stumbled over the debris, but you kept a firm grip on their arm, pulling them along through the chaos. As you hurriedly navigated the wreckage-strewn floor, you felt a strange tingling sensation creeping up your leg.

It started as a subtle prickle, almost like static electricity, but quickly grew into an unsettling sensation that made your skin crawl. You glanced down, trying to pinpoint the source, but the shifting shadows and debris obscured your view. 

The legs of a spider, sleek and shadowy, crawled up the fabric of your emerald dress. Its tiny, pulsating body was nearly camouflaged against the rich material, and its eight eyes glinted with an eerie green glow, peering out from the shadows of the gown. 

Oblivious to its presence, you continued leading the student toward the safer part of the ballroom, focused on ensuring their escape.

The spider’s glow intensified, its eerie green light pulsating with an ominous rhythm as it crawled up your arm. Just as you pushed the student to safety, a sharp, burning sensation erupted where the spider sank its fangs deep into your skin. A piercing scream erupted from your lips.  The searing pain surged through your body, radiating outwards from the bite like a fiery wave. In a frantic, instinctive reaction, you slapped at your bicep, your nails digging into the skin. 

Panicked, Damian’s head snapped in your direction, eyes widening in alarm as he spotted you writhing in pain. In his moment of distraction, a metal arm swung violently towards him. The arm connected with a sickening thud against his side, the force of the impact sending him hurtling through the air. 

Damian crashed into a wall with a bone-jarring slam and his body crumpled to the ground, the force of the impact visibly shaking him. He lay there, gasping for breath, spit and blood spilling from his chin.

Groaning, he raised his head, feeling the crack in his mask press against his face. Strands of dark hair fell over his single exposed eye, partially obscuring his vision. Squinting through the haze of pain, he cursed under his breath as he saw the villain advancing toward you.

The spider's venom surged through your veins, a wave of searing, unbearable pain radiating from the bite. You stumbled and collapsed to the floor, struggling to stay upright. Pain tore through you as you crawled toward a nearby pillar, your fingers clawing weakly at the surface

Through the haze of your deteriorating vision and the throbbing fog that clouded your mind, you could barely make out the figure of the villain advancing toward you. His mechanical arms whirred with a menacing hum, their sharp, glinting edges catching the dim light of the ruined ballroom.

The last thing you saw before darkness swallowed you was a blur of red.

With a snarl, Damian lunged, his katana slicing through the air with deadly intent. The blade crashed into the villain's mechanical arm, the impact resonating like a gunshot. Sparks exploded from the severed joint, showering the room in a cascade of crackling light as the villain staggered, his metal limbs convulsing with malfunction.

Sliding across the debris-strewn floor, Damian executed a perfect skid, coming to a stop on his knees. He positioned himself between you and the advancing threat, his katana held in a poised, defensive stance.

“Is this all you’ve got?” Damian seethes. “A pathetic tantrum because your grandiose plans fell apart? You’re nothing more than a washed-up has-been clinging to your failures.” 

“You think you know what it’s like to sacrifice everything? To watch your life's work crumble? You have no idea what I’ve lost! My research was going to change the world!”

The villain’s mechanical arms flared up in response, their whirring growing louder as he prepared to strike again. Just as an arm was about to land, the piercing whir of a batarang sliced through the air. It struck the villain’s mechanical arm with precision, a bright explosion erupting from the impact. Damian grunted as he braced himself, holding firm against the shockwave, his muscles straining to keep steady. One hand instinctively dropped to your head, shielding you from the force. 

The villain recoiled in surprise, momentarily disoriented by the sudden blast, his movements faltering as the shockwave threw him off balance.

Suddenly, the room was engulfed in darkness. The lights flickered and died, plunging the space into a pitch-black void. Shadows danced along the walls, punctuated by loud bangs and the crackling of debris.

Through the darkness, Batman emerged, his imposing figure cutting through the shadows. The sound of his cape rustling was almost like a herald of doom as he got into a fighting stance.

“Robin,” Batman’s voice was a low, commanding growl, “take the girl. I’ll handle it from here.”

Damian wasted no time, swiftly scooping you into his arms. The icy chill of your skin against his own drove a spear of terror through him. The panic clawing at the edges of his mind was a monster he couldn’t afford to face, not now. He focused on keeping you as steady as possible, though your limp form felt like dead weight against him.

He tore out of the ballroom, his shoes skidding on the polished floor as he barreled into the hallway. His breath came in ragged gasps, each inhale burning in his lungs, but he didn’t slow down. He couldn’t. The entrance was just ahead.

Bursting through the doors, Damian propelled himself into the open air. The scene outside was pure pandemonium. Parents screamed for their children, kids clung to each other in terror, and the harsh wail of sirens pierced the night. Ambulance lights flickered like distant stars in the dark, red and blue blurs.

Now outside, Damian spotted a group of paramedics and, without a second thought, sprinted toward them. His hands shook slightly as he laid you down on the gurney, the coldness of your skin searing itself into his memory.

“She’s unresponsive,” he rushed out in a pant. “Pale skin, cold to the touch. Vital signs are unknown. She needs immediate attention.”

As he spoke, Selina rushed over, her fur coat billowing with each urgent step. The strands of her short, dark hair whipped wildly around her face, framing eyes wide with fear.

She bent down to your level, her breath visible in the cool night air as she placed a trembling hand on your forehead. Her fingers, warm against the alarming chill of your skin, recoiled slightly at the clammy coldness that greeted them. Selina winced, her gaze hardening as she took in the stark contrast between your deathly pallor.

“What happened?” she demanded, her voice taut with concern.

A paramedic, swiftly assessing your condition, replied, “We think she’s in shock. We’ll stabilize her and check for any other issues.”

Selina’s eyes, reflecting a storm of emotions, darted between you and Damian.

“Go,” she urged Damian, her voice carrying a firm edge despite the underlying tremor of her fear. “I’ve got this under control. Go take down that bastard and make him pay for what he did.”

Damian hesitated for a heartbeat, his gaze lingering on you. Every muscle in his body screamed to stay, but there was still a threat that left no room for hesitation. He nodded and without another word, turned and sprinted back toward the building. His cape flared out behind him, a streak against the night sky.

Selina's eyes followed Damian's retreating figure momentarily before refocusing on the paramedics. She watched them with sharp eyes, taking in every action and every word. Her hand never left your forehead, each pass of her thumb trying to provide comfort that her heart couldn’t.

As the haze of unconsciousness began to lift, you slowly became aware of your surroundings. The dim, unfamiliar light filtered through your closed eyelids, and a dull, persistent ache from the bite lingered in your arm. You winced, raising a hand to your arm to find that the pain had subsided, leaving only a faint, dull throb. There was no scar, just a vague sense of discomfort. 

Was that just a dream?

Before you could think about it anymore, your aunt's face was already in your peripheral. 

Selina's voice caught in her throat as your eyes began to flutter open. Her grip on your hand tightened involuntarily, a mix of relief and worry playing across her features.

"Hey, there," she said softly. "You gave us quite a scare, sweetheart."

You stared at her in confusion, teeth chattering against the biting cold. Selina’s eyes softened and she shed her coat, the plush fur rustling softly as it slipped from her shoulders. With gentle hands, she draped the coat around you, the dense, velvety texture brushing against your skin. The rich, warm scent of her perfume mingled with the coat’s embrace. As the coat enveloped you, its heat began to seep into your shivering body, gradually easing the icy grip of the cold.

“You’re going to be okay,” she whispered, the words more for her own reassurance than yours.

The night was supposed to be a celebration, a rite of passage, a milestone to cherish. Instead, it had turned into yet another brutal reminder of what Gotham’s streets truly were: a merciless battleground that chewed up hope and spat it out with a sneer.

God, this city was shit. 

Selina sighed, pushing those thoughts aside for the moment. The priority now was clear: get you home and into dry clothes.

"How are you feeling?" she asked softly, her fingers tracing a path along your cheek as if trying to reassure herself that you were truly okay. 

“Dizzy,” you mumbled. A soft groan escaped your lips as you tried to shake off the haze clinging to your senses. Your eyes fluttered shut for a moment, only to snap open again with a jolt as a sudden realization struck you.

“Damian—where—” you gasped, your voice barely more than a hoarse whisper. In a frantic attempt to sit up, you tried to push yourself upright, but the paramedics and Selina were quick to intervene. Their hands gently, yet firmly, guided you back down onto the gurney.

“Whoa, easy there,” Selina murmured soothingly. “Don’t push yourself. The paramedics said you’re in shock. You need to stay still for now.” 

You could feel the gentle pressure of her hands, steady and reassuring, as they anchored you in place. Her eyes, bright green, locked onto yours, conveying more than words ever could. She took a breath, her gaze flickering to the paramedics who were working swiftly around you.

“And Damian is... with his father,” she said, her voice trailing off as she gave you a look, the unspoken meaning in it clear.

Selina’s gaze shifted back to the paramedics with her usual air of confidence. She squared her shoulders, her tone now authoritative.

“Is there a chance I could take her home?” Selina asked, brushing her fingers through your hair with a gentle but firm touch. “It’s getting late, and I’d really rather have her safe in her room.”

The paramedic, a no-nonsense woman named Helen, gave Selina a critical once-over before shifting her gaze to you. Her eyes, sharp and assessing, took in your pale face and the faint tremors still running through your body.

“Well, she’s stable enough for transport, and we’ve done the basic stabilizing procedures,” Helen said, her tone pragmatic. “But she’s still in shock, and it could be risky to move her too quickly. Are you sure you can handle her?”

“She’s my kid. I’ve dealt with worse, believe me,” she replied with a wry grin.

Helen’s gaze softened slightly, though her voice remained stern. “Alright, but she’ll need monitoring for the next 24-48 hours. Light meals, plenty of rest. And no strenuous activity. She should see a doctor as soon as possible.”

Selina’s fingers idly traced patterns on the back of your hand as she listened intently to Helen’s instructions. 

“I’ll make sure all of that’s taken care of. Thank you,” Selina said, her voice carrying a rare note of sincerity. Helen nodded, seemingly satisfied with Selina’s response. She handed Selina a card with basic instructions and a phone number to call if any complications arose.

Despite your reluctance to leave while Damian was still knee-deep in the battle, your hazy mind and Selina's insistence eventually led to you being pushed into the back of your aunt's sleek convertible.

The drive was a blur of city lights and concerned glances from Selina. You leaned back, your head resting against the cool, smooth leather of the seat. The gentle hum of the engine beneath you was a steady, rhythmic comfort, a small solace amidst the turmoil. 

"Don't worry," Selina murmured, her eyes flicking to the rearview mirror to check on you. "Damian can handle himself. And the Bat will make sure he's safe. You rest. I'll tell you if anything happens to him."

Her words were a quiet promise amidst the rush of the city outside. You nodded weakly, feeling the weight of exhaustion pressing heavily on your eyelids. As the city sped by, its neon glow and shifting shadows blending into a dreamlike haze, you closed your eyes. The fatigue finally overtook you, and you drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.

༻⊰───⋅

 Sunday , 9:02 AM - Your room, Catwoman’s Apartment.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

There was a deep, throbbing ache in your arm, an insistent rhythm that seemed to pulse with each heartbeat, dragging you reluctantly from the depths of sleep. Your eyelids fluttered open to the soft, golden light spilling through the curtains, bathing your bedroom in a warm, comforting glow.

Through the thin walls, the distant murmur of the waking metropolis began to seep in—honking horns, the rhythmic rumble of early morning traffic, and the intermittent chatter of pedestrians starting their day. Occasionally, a siren's wail pierced through the background noise, a sharp reminder of the city's ceaseless pulse.

Faintly, through the walls, the muffled sound of the living room TV drifted to you.

“Good morning, Gothamites! Looking for another beautiful day here in the city. Clouds to start off with, but a pleasant afternoon ahead. Temperature’s in the high 40s—”

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

With a groan of frustration, you reached out to silence the blaring alarm clock. As you swung your arm toward it, the clock was crushed under the force. It slammed into the table, which splintered and buckled under the impact. Wood cracked and shattered, sending fragments skittering across the floor. The sudden and violent destruction jolted you fully awake. You stared, wide-eyed and disbelieving, at the mess, your arm still extended in mid-air as if it was frozen.

“What the—?” you muttered, your voice trailing off as you inspected your hand. It looked like your hand, perfectly normal and familiar. Just a normal hand.

Carefully, you climbed out of bed, wincing as you surveyed the mess of splintered wood and scattered debris strewn across the floor. 

You paused. A sudden, sharp tingle pulsed through your arm, like an electric jolt that raced beneath your skin. It was both invigorating and disorienting, sending a rush of awareness through your senses. Instinctively, you turned your head, your reflexes sharp as your hand darted out to catch a fly that had buzzed too close.

To your shock, your fingers closed around the tiny insect with a reflex you didn’t know you possessed. You stared at the fly, trapped gently between your fingers. Carefully, you opened your hand and let the fly go. 

It darted away, disappearing into the room. 

“Okay... That was new,” you muttered, shaking your head as if trying to clear away the confusion.

The tingling in your arm surged again, sharper and more insistent this time. You winced, the sensation both alien and unsettling, your mind struggling to grasp what was happening. Instinctively, you extended your hand, your gaze fixed on it in growing confusion.

Then, without warning, your fingers curled involuntarily, and something shot out from your wrist. A thin, silvery thread erupted into the air, glistening with a strange, iridescent sheen. 

THWIP.

The web snaked through the room, swift and fluid, before anchoring itself with a solid thunk against the wall. The sight of it—a web, unmistakably organic, stretching taut and firm—left you gaping in shock.

“What the actual fuck,” you freaked out. You took a hesitant step forward and tugged on it, half-expecting it to dissolve under your touch. But the webbing held firm.

You tried to pull it away, but it stayed stubbornly in place. Grunting, you pressed a foot against the wall for leverage and yanked harder. The webbing resisted with surprising strength, and a series of warning cracks echoed before a chunk of concrete broke away, crumbling under the strain.

The sudden release caught you off guard, sending you stumbling backward. You lost your balance and fell hard onto the floor, the impact knocking the breath out of you. For a moment, you just lay there, sprawled across the hardwood, your chest heaving as you tried to make sense of what just happened.

“What the fuck did I just get myself into?” you muttered to yourself, a disbelieving laugh bubbling up in your throat.

When you finally moved to stand, curiosity got the better of you. Experimenting, you aimed your hand at different parts of the room, determined to understand this strange new ability. 

This time, when you extended your hand, the web shot out with precision, latching onto a nearby lamp. You gave it a pull, and the lamp skidded across the floor toward you.

There was another tingle, and you perked up. The sensation was almost electric, a ripple of anticipation that seemed to focus on your bedroom door. As you turned toward it, the door swung open and Selina stepped in, dressed in her pajamas.

"What's with the noise...?” she trailed off and froze in the doorway, her eyes widening as they took in the chaos of the room. Broken wood and scattered debris covered the floor, interspersed with strands of glistening webbing clinging to the walls and lamp.

“Oh,” Selina murmured in surprise. She stepped cautiously over a particularly large piece of broken wood, her eyes darting around the room. Her gaze lingered on the webs, her brow furrowing as she raised an eyebrow at you. 

“Uh, good morning?” you offered weakly, trying to give a casual shrug despite the mess around you. “Mom, this might sound insane. But, I think I might have accidentally discovered superpowers.”

Selina stared at you, blinking slowly as she processed the scene before her. Her lips twitched as if she were trying to hold back a laugh or perhaps some form of disbelief.

“Accidentally discovered superpowers?” she echoed. “I think you've been around your boyfriend and his family too much. Baby—”

Before she could finish, your hand instinctively reached out. With a flick of your wrist, a web shot from your fingers and latched onto the door behind her. In a heartbeat, the door was yanked from its hinges, splintering as it flew across the room and crashed into the wall with a resounding thud.

Selina’s eyes widened in shock as she turned to face the now doorless doorway. She blinked at the empty space where the door had once been.

“Well,” she said, “I guess that’s one way to explain things.”

You stood there, face heating up as you tried to pull your hand back. “Y-Yeah, I think I need to work on my control.”

Selina shook her head, a frown on her lips. “Okay. First... Let’s get this mess cleaned up before the landlord starts asking questions. And maybe—just maybe—try not to redecorate the whole apartment with your... spider silk.”

༻⊰───⋅

A warm mug of coffee was placed in your hands as Selina settled beside you. You took a sip, but your knee continued to bounce in an anxious rhythm. She had called the school earlier to inform them that you would be taking it easy for the week, citing sickness as the reason.

You cast a glance at the puncture marks on your wrists with a mix of disgust and unease.

Oh, you felt sick alright.

"Alright," Selina said, taking a sip from her own coffee mug and setting it down with a clink. "We need to figure out what’s going on and how to handle it. The sooner we get a grasp on this, the better."

You nodded absentmindedly, flexing your fingers around your mug.

Selina sat with a laptop positioned between the two of you, its screen a chaotic mosaic of open newspaper articles and news websites. Humming softly to herself, she clicked through the pages, her eyes darting across headlines and images. The rhythmic clatter of her clicks was punctuated by occasional pauses as she focused on key details.

“Am I a meta?” you blurted out, staring at your reflection in the dark liquid of your coffee.

"Well," Selina began, her tone measured, "based on what we've seen so far, you're likely displaying meta-human traits. Though," she added with a wry smile, "I'm pretty sure I’m human despite the whole cat shtick. Same goes for your mother. Your father...well, that’s a different story."

You raised an eyebrow, curiosity piqued. "What do you mean by that?"

"Secretive guy. Kind of insane," Selina murmured to herself. "He did genetics research—"

She paused.

"Wait a minute," she said, her voice trailing off as she seemed to piece together something significant. "Your father was involved in genetics research..."

Selina licked her lips before grumbling and typing into the laptop. The screen flickered, and she pulled up a dense academic paper with your father's name prominently displayed. The title read: "Genetic Enhancement through Arachnid DNA Integration: Potential and Pitfalls."

She stared at the screen for a moment, a mix of disbelief and concern crossing her face. "Total nutjob," she muttered, shaking her head.

You squinted at the screen, trying to make sense of the technical jargon. "So... what’s it say?"

Selina’s fingers danced over the keyboard, scrolling through the dense paragraphs. "It describes experiments involving spider DNA to enhance human traits—strength, agility, and reflexes. Medical use too."

RING!

The sharp ring of your phone shattered the silence, jolting you both. Startled, you fumbled with the mug in your hand, which slipped from your grip and tumbled toward the floor. Your reflexes kicked in, and your foot shot out, catching the mug mid-fall with a swift kick, sending it flying back up into your hand. You blinked.

Selina’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, her gaze flicking from the mug in your foot to you. She grabbed a notepad from the desk, her pen already poised, and began scribbling furiously.

“Fast reflexes,” she muttered.

You scrambled to set the mug back on the table, your hands slick with sweat as you snatched your phone off the couch.

"Hello?" you answered, nervously wiping your damp hands on the fabric of your jeans. "W-Who’s this?"

"Beloved?" Damian’s voice crackled through your phone, sharp with an edge of worry. Arabic curses slipped through his words. “I’m sorry for calling so late. I didn’t mean to. I was knocked out after the confrontation.”

Your heart skipped a beat. “You got knocked out? What happened?”

"Just a minor inconvenience for someone of my skillset," he said dismissively. "I’m fine now. But what of you? Father mentioned that Selina told him about your sudden absences from school.”

You hesitated, glancing at Selina, who shook her head vehemently. She pressed a finger to her lips, urging you to stay silent about the spider situation.

"Fine!" you squeaked. "Totally fine. Just... family matters."

Damian’s voice was laced with skepticism. "Family matters? Are you sure you’re alright?"

"Yep," you replied, trying to keep your voice steady despite the strain. "Absolutely. Just... you know, the explosion rattled me a bit. The paramedics said I needed some rest for a few days.”

"I can head over to care for you—"

Selina rolled her eyes and extended her hand.

“Give me the phone,” she said, her tone brooking no argument. You hesitated for a moment, but the stern look on her face made it clear you had no choice. Reluctantly, you handed it over.

"Damian," she greeted him with a sickly sweet tone, "this is Selina. Everything is under control here. There’s no need for you to come breaking into my apartment."

There was a grunt before Damian responded, "Miss Kyle, I insist. It’s no trouble. I should be there to help. As any partner would."

Selina’s eyes flashed with irritation as she leaned against the couch, arms crossed. "I appreciate your concern, kid. But it’s really not necessary. She’s fine."

"Fine?" Damian’s voice took on a mocking tone. "After a confrontation like that? I highly doubt it. Recovery after such an incident can be complicated.”

Selina scowled. Her voice cut through the phone line with a sharp edge. "Damian, do you seriously doubt my abilities as a guardian?"

There was a pause.

"With all due respect—"

"I've got this!" Selina hissed. "She's safe, she's resting, and you're not needed here right now. Understood?"

There was another pause before Damian reluctantly agreed. "Understood. But if anything happens—"

"You'll be the first to know," Selina assured him "Now, go take care of yourself. I have got this handled."

"Fine," Damian said, still sounding begrudging. "Take care."

Selina handed the phone back to you, her expression exasperated. “He’s persistent, I’ll give him that.”

“You couldn’t even imagine,” you snorted as you pressed the phone back to your ear. “Hi, baby.”

Damian’s voice crackled through the speakers, the faint static only adding to the gruffness of his tone. 

"Tt. Hello," he grumbled, his tone falling flat. You couldn’t help but snicker, the sound escaping despite your best efforts to stifle it. 

“Don’t be mad,” you whisper into the phone. “I’ll only be gone for a week. You’ll survive. Mom's right—I’m in good hands. You need to focus on recovering too.”

“Anything at all. Father and Alfred have confined me to my bed, but the window to my bedroom remains open. The sheer ignorance of their restraint measures astounds me—they failed to account for my skills in evading such confinement.”

"Please, don’t try to escape through your window on my behalf. I really don’t need Bruce lecturing us again,” you groaned, pressing a hand to your forehead. 

“Very well,” Damian said with a hint of a pout, “but do remember, I am at your disposal if you should require anything.”

“Uh huh,” you hummed. “I’ll see you soon. Take care of yourself, Dami.”

“And you, my beloved,” he said, his voice softening. “Until then.”

There was a beep, and the call ended. You sighed, letting your hand drop.

Selina took a sip of her coffee, her lips curling into a wry grin. “He’s just like his father—equally obsessive and protective. Must run in the genes. That or we just have a knack for ensnaring emotionally constipated men.”

You laughed, a light, nervous sound that filled the room. As you tried to drop your phone back on the couch, you were met with unexpected resistance. The phone stubbornly adhered to your hand, as if it had decided to become a permanent accessory.

“Uh…” 

You squinted at the phone, wriggling your fingers and trying to shake it off. No matter what you did, the phone remained firmly in place, glued to your palm.

"Sticky hands?" Selina suggested, glancing at the notepad in her hand now filled with scribbled notes and observations. She made a note with a touch of amusement, her pen moving quickly across the page.

Grumbling under your breath, you made a few more attempts to pry the phone off your hand. “Looks like it. Just another thing to add to the list of weird,” you huffed.

With furrowed brows, you used your other hand to grip the phone, attempting to twist it away. In your distracted state, you failed to account for your newfound strength. The device crumbled under your grip, shards of plastic and glass exploding across the couch.

You stared at the wreckage in disbelief, your heart sinking. Not missing a beat, Selina quickly scribbled down “Enhanced strength” on her notepad.

You grumbled as the remnants of your phone fell to the floor, a mix of frustration and embarrassment washing over you.

"Can't we—can't we call Batman for this?" you asked, your hand nervously tangling in your hair. "Why'd you stop me from telling Damian anyway?"

Selina’s expression turned severe. Her hands gripped your shoulders firmly, guiding you to face her.

"Listen to me. Batman, Damian, or anyone else cannot know about this right now."

"What—Mom—"

"Not a word," she cut in sharply. "This is meta-level stuff we're dealing with. The Bats don’t handle metas well. We need to keep this under wraps until we fully understand it. The last thing I need is Bruce doing something to hurt my daughter."

Your face fell as her words sank in.

Selina’s grip on your shoulders relaxed slightly, and her gaze softened. Her voice took on a gentler, more empathetic tone. "Power frightens people, especially when it’s something they don’t understand. When they encounter something extraordinary, their confusion often morphs into fear. And fear... well, fear can make people see threats where there are none."

She took a deep breath, her expression grim. "Batman, in particular, has contingency plans for every potential threat, even for his closest allies. We—I can't risk him viewing you as one." Her fingers tightened on your shoulders, a silent plea for understanding.

"Alright," you said quietly, trying to steady your voice. Lying to Bruce was one thing. But Damian... Damian was different. The thought of deceiving him felt like a weight pressing heavily on your chest.

Selina seemed to sense your hesitation. Her gaze softened, and she placed a hand gently on your shoulder. “I know it’s not easy,” she said, her tone soothing. “Damian is—”

“Different,” you finished for her, the word catching in your throat. “He’s always been there for me, and now... I’m just lying to him.”

Selina nodded. “I understand. But you know, that boy looks up to his father. There’s no telling he won’t spill something. I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

"I get it,” your lips pursed. “But... what do we do now?"

Selina’s expression shifted from intense to thoughtful as she took a step back, her grip loosening. She glanced at the scattered remnants of your phone, then at the notepad filled with her hastily scribbled notes.

"Well," she sighed, "we need to find another space. I think you've done enough damage in our apartment."

 ༻⊰───⋅

NEXT ->

[astorianyxkings]

The first time Selina saw tiny Dick Grayson as Robin her first initial thought was "Oh a new kitten," come to find out her new kitten can freaking fly and is actually Batman's batling.

She tries to corner him once or twice, just to make sure he's okay being Batman's sidekick and baby Dick is just like "???".

Bruce starts to realize what's up so whenever he needs to distract Catwoman, he just sends Robin to charm and disarm. Selina can't plan a heist if she's busy wondering about whether or not Batman's feeding him enough.

Dick eventually catches on and is just like "guess I have a mom now too." Does he sometime have to foil her plans? Yes but technically all kids do that. Does he mediate when Bat and Cat don't wanna talk to each other? Yes but so do children of divorce.

Selina's conflicted because she really likes the kid but she's got no idea who he is. Until, she's undercover at a Wayne Gala (gotta see what Brucie has that can go) and sees this tiny kid with a scruff of dark hair and a blinding smile running around followed by his exasperated father trying to reign him in and she has an "oh shit" moment.

Bruce isn't exactly sure she knows. Well obviously he knows that Selina Kyle is Catwoman and Dick knows because there's no keeping anything from his son. But "entrepreneur" Selina Kyle is suddenly not only interested in working with WE but also interest in his son's school play.

Dick is absolutely delighted. He begged Bruce to bring her to said play and when she shows up he's all smiles. Selina is thrilled, the teachers are confused because they didn't know he had a mother. It doesn't help that from afar he looks like the perfect combination of Selina and Bruce.

Selina babysat at the manor a few times and when Bruce returns to nothing stolen, he agrees to but her down as an emergency contact for Dick's school.

The only thing she worries about is keeping him away from his aunts. Mostly because one actively drugs his dad with flowers and the other's dating the Joker and if she's his aunt there's no way the clown would be his uncle. Dick understands but is confused because it seems to him that his aunts should just date each other. Selina feels vindicated.

[akairawrites]

Curiosity killed The Cat | Damian Wayne Imagine

Taglist

@ella-fella-bo-bella @ayoitsurfavdesigurl @luvvvjada @harleycao @aiq39

You were just 14 years old when you first encountered the infamous Damian Wayne. He strode through Gotham Metro Academy as if he owned the place, and with his father being the wealthiest man in Gotham City, it wasn't surprising. What made it even more intriguing was that you seemed to share almost every class with him.

"Why are you trailing me?" He inquired, standing tall beside your desk as you retrieved your class materials from your backpack. You glanced up, meeting his fierce green eyes without flinching. "Excuse me?" you retorted.

"You've been following me around, why?" he pressed, his tone dripping with curiosity. You scoffed and sized him up. "Ever been to a school before? If it were up to me, I'd be nowhere near you."

Damian clicked his tongue in annoyance. "How did you even get into this school? You don't seem like you can afford—" Before he could finish his sentence, you cut him off with a swift, hard punch to his face. You didn't care about his status as Bruce Wayne's son; whatever he was going to say deserved a punch.

The entire class stared at you in disbelief as Damian held his face where your punch had landed. If he hadn't looked furious before, he certainly did now. He restrained himself from retaliating, aware of the prohibition against hitting females, a double standard he found frustrating.

⋆

"This is her second time punching a student, Ms. Kyle. I'm afraid that if this happens again, we will have no choice but to expel [Y/n]," the principal expressed with a concerned tone.

The principal's worried look held firm as Selina, your mother, fixed you with a glare that felt like it could burn holes through your head. This wasn't the first time she'd been summoned to the school, and it seemed like it wouldn't be the last. After a discussion with the principal, it was decided that you would receive two weeks of detention. It was definitely worth silencing that arrogant son of a bitch.

"We need to address your anger management," Selina said as both of you walked down the empty hallway. "I don't have anger issues," you retorted bluntly, even though deep down, you knew it was a problem you'd inherited from your late father. When you got into these moods, Selina knew precisely how to help you feel better.

"Since it's the weekend, how about we have a girls' night out?" Selina suggested. You looked up at her, and she gave you a knowing smile. The smirk that crossed your face was all the confirmation she needed.

⋆

The moon hung full in the night sky as you and your mother, Selina, dashed through the streets of Gotham. When Selina halted, so did you. You peered down at the pristine glass that showcased exquisite diamond jewelry. Selina crouched over the glass ceiling, her cat-like nails making quick work of creating a large enough opening for both of you to slip through.

She gracefully entered the opening and gestured for you to follow. Drawing upon what Selina had taught you, you descended with a feline-like agility, landing on your feet without a sound. It was a moment that made Selina proud, despite the unconventional circumstances. She knew that involving her 14-year-old in a heist wasn't ideal, but she wanted to bond with you, and this was the only way she knew how.

"Help yourself to whatever you want, sweetheart," Selina encouraged as she admired the jewels in a glass casing. While she did that, you explored the room, not as captivated by the treasures as your mother was. In the corner of your eye, you glimpsed something that stopped you in your tracks—a beautiful green necklace sealed in a small glass case, nestled in a black pendant box. It seemed to call your name, drawing you closer until a loud shattering of glass snapped you out of your trance.

You turned quickly to see Batman and Robin approaching your mother, who had wandered farther from you than you realized. They hadn't even noticed your presence in the room.

"Well, if it isn't the Bat, and this must be Robin," Selina greeted, eyeing him while he maintained his glare.

"Catwoman," Batman acknowledged in his deep voice. This was your first time seeing Batman in person, a day your mother had been preparing you for.

You hid behind a jewelry display, watching through the glass. Your mother surveyed the room discreetly, likely looking for you, then returned her attention to the masked hero. She placed her hands on her hips, drawing closer to them. Her finger trailed up his shoulder and over his neck, likely sending shivers down his spine.

"Why so formal? You can address me by my name, Bruce," she whispered into his ear, causing him to visibly tense. Your mother always had a way with words, especially in getting herself out of tight spots, even more so now with her secret weapon.

As Selina approached Robin, she ruffled his hair, prompting him to slap her hand away and glare at her intensely. She chuckled to herself. "You know, I have a sidekick myself."

The moment those words left her lips, you sprang from your hiding place. Before he could react, you attacked Robin with a quick blow to the face and a kick to the stomach, sending him flying across the room, crashing into a jewelry display.

While your mother was distracted with Batman, you made a beeline for the necklace. You attempted to grab it but were tackled to the ground by Robin, who recovered quickly. You kicked him off and reached for the necklace. The moment your hand touched the glass, he threw a Batarang, slicing your hand open. You grunted in pain, clutching your bleeding hand as crimson pooled on the floor.

With no time to process what had just happened, Robin advanced on you. In a moment of quick thinking, you grabbed the necklace and crawled between his legs to avoid a confrontation. You dashed towards your mother as she secured her bag of jewels, and together, you swiftly escaped from the scene

Part 2 out now!

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[flamingpudding]

Ghost Kitten

A/N: I got fascinated with the idea of Danny being Selina's son and then during work this sort of idea formed in my head.

Danny wasn't supposed to know yet. Jack had it all prepared for when Danny would get to learn about this. But this, this was not how Danny was supposed to learn about his origins yet. Jack Fenton wasn't sure how to react, so he ended up possible reacting in the worst way possible if he judged it by the way his sweet little boy was looking at them.

Jack tried to remember where it went wrong. Jazz had come to them, told them Danny wanted to have an important talk. That it was so important that she needed both of them to focus on him seriously. It had worried Maddie and him at first and when they sat down on the couch facing their children they weren't sure what to expect. But then his boy told him about the accident he had in the lap, about how things changed even asking them if they ever noticed how Danny's behaviours changed.

Jack had to admit then, that he hadn't really noticed and it made his mouth taste like dirt. He didn't like where this was going. He saw how his children exchanged a glance and then his sweet boy told them the truth and Jack could feel the horror overtaking his entire mind. The accident had changed Danny even worse.

He couldn't help but remember a term he had last heard long ago before his collage years even. Meta Human. His son had become a Meta human with ghost based powers and had kept it a secret from them for so long. Jack didn't know how to react then and still didn't know now. All he could think about were the horrors he had put his sweet little son through. All the times he had offhandedly said he would tear him apart molecule by molecule. In how much fear did his son have to live until he gathered enough courage to tell them, most likely only because Jazz was there to support him?

Jack didn't want to imagine it anymore. All he wanted was to hug his little boy and tell him that everything would be okay but before he could do anything. Maddie, his until then wonderful, wife told them something in return they had an agreement over when to tell them.

"You're adopted. You are not my child."

Until then Jack had always thought Maddie loved Danny just as much as he did but as he locked at his wife and saw the steely coldness flickering in them with distress. He wasn't so sure anymore. Torn between being angry at Maddie for the first time after so long and wanting to comfort his boy, Jack could do nothing but sat frozen as his beloved family broke apart before his eyes.

Suddenly Maddie and Jazz got into a headed argument, Danny was starting to draw into himself, making himself smaller watching his mother and sister fight. Until Maddie stormed out fo the room. Jazzie gave him a challenging look but Jack didn't know what to say so instead, what he had planned to tell his son when he turned 18 he was going to tell him now.

"Danny you know how we have barely any contact with family from my side? There is a reason behind it. But the important part here is that the only one I do keep sort of contact with is my fourth cousin and even that is nothing more than a couple messages ever few months."

"And what does that have to do with Danny?" Jazz pressed on while his little boy finally got the courage to look up at him.

"Dann-no, I need for you to now that no matter what you are or what I am going to tell you, you are my little boy, my son." Jack did everything he could to stare reassuringly at his boy and smiled once he saw him smile just a little too, he was most likely relieved that he was taking the news better than his mother.

"About 16 year ago, my fourth cousin contacted me out of the blue, till then we had only exchanged a couple of words and theories and projects. But that time was different. She was panicked, unsure and distressed. I don't know the specifics, all she told me was that she had gotten pregnant with a child from a fling who she wasn't sure wanted a relationship with or not and that she couldn't take care of a child in a city as dangerous as where she lived."

Understanding dawned on his daughter's face and Jack smiled fondly, Jazzie-pants had always been a smart cookie. "She didn't want to put the baby into her system, nor let a stranger take care of it. So she asked me and the moment I saw the little baby the first time. I knew he would be my son no matter what or how long she would want for me to take care of him."

Danny blinked wide eyed at Jack as finally his boy also understood what he was telling him. "Technically you are my fifth cousin, but I would prefer for you to stay my son for as long as you want."

He left his children after telling Danny the truth of his origin. Jack new he would love his son no matter what he was or his reaction towards the truth of his origins. Still he hoped this would not tear his family apart and that it would only take a day or two for Maddie to cool off for things to go back to an adjusted normal. Jack mused that he would have to diele back on the ghost ripping comments, he wouldn't want for his little boy to live in fear in their own house.

That what he thought until he saw his wife stewing in their bedroom, muttering about theories and how their boy wasn't their boy. He knew his wife, and dearly loved her. But it was because he knew her that he did the next thing he felt like regretting the next moment.

Danny is no longer safe with us. - J

He didn't get an answer from his cousin and the next morning he knew why. He did expect for her to want to remove Danny from their care, but he did not expect her to visit him with barely any time delay the next day.

All he could do was to stare and watch as Selina appeared on his doorstep with a man that was glaring at him and Jack might have only seen in magazines before, asking if she could meet her boy and how much he had already told Danny about his birth. And when he saw his baby boy's reaction to the two he wanted to do nothing more than hug and cuddle his little boy but once again, he got beaten to it by his fourth cousin.

His poor boy looked so unsure when Selina hugged him that Jack really wanted to take him away again, but he had no other choice, if he wanted to ensure his boy's safety.

[skay-ali]

Little Sparrow

The idea of ​​a spy reading runs through my mind, even more so when I remember Anna, Operation Red Sparrow and Agent Salt.

The first idea that comes to mind is that you are the daughter of Bruce and a Russian spy.

Of course she never tells the man, after all it was just a setback that arose from their adventure, on the way to a mission.

She decides to stay with you and start a new life, something that didn't last long because her enemies killed her

Leaving you in the care of Russian spies.

You became his new masterpiece, after all your mother's and your father's blood created a perfect girl for this field of spies.

Murder, seduce and seduce important people, steal important information and other things, you were capable of all of that.

Until you were replaced, at such a young age you were used as a scapegoat for the United States government.

You ended up with all the scum, locked in jail, rotting.

Until intelligence agent Amanda Waller offers you to join her famous suicide squad, in exchange for getting out of jail. basically sell your soul to the devil again.

The other idea is that she is Bruce and Selina's daughter.

When they were just starting their relationship, Selina, worried about putting you in danger, left you in the care of one of her clients, a Russian millionaire, who has no children, but a wife who loves them.

You were everything they needed. They were a happy family, until the man's enemies kill the entire family, leaving you alive.

You become an orphan with no future, until some agents recruit you, remembering your great abilities and skills at school.

Whatever the case, you ended up in the suicide squad full of people more demonite than you.

What you didn't expect is that each of the members who are older than you see you as their little girl, whom they must protect.

The different members teach him to fight like them, to handle swords, to shoot...

Even Harley Quinn, the crazy psychopath as you nicknamed her, doesn't stop treating you like her little daughter and teaching you everything she knows. well you wouldn't complain you had fun stealing with her.

The problem was that when the Justice League found out about the new member of the squad.

The savior complex appeared, but it was too late for you, you liked this life of action and danger, much more if you could take revenge on those who betrayed you.

Oh I can imagine Bruce realizing that they are family, and everyone in the league being surprised, because his daughter is equally or more dangerous than Harley Quinn.

Imagine that the league and the squad get together because of some problem, they start fighting everyone against everyone, and reader, without imitating himself, is savage with all his opponents.

with a batman trying to stop his daughter and get her on the right path.

thinking that a loving family would make up for all the years she was raised as a lethal weapon.

maybe reader on a mission, alone where she faces young supers, a cute smile and a flirt, and has them in her palm.

Oh and I think, some obsessive ones.

[ghostbsuter]

Batclan and Catband (part 2)

> previous part

> next part

.・゜-: ✧ :-

Dinner ended up a relatively calm affair, or as calm as it can be with the batclan and the cat catband in one place.

"Where is elle actually?" Selina asks, leaning on the table with a grin.

"With her aunty harley and pam," he answers, phone in hand. "They're bringing her over soon, tho."

Dick, sitting opposite of Danny, perks up at that. "Your daughter, right? How old is she?"

The teen practically glows at the question, proud and not far from showing it.

"Become 2 recently! A gremlin in sheep clothes, truly. She knows how to get what she wants, a habit learned from her glam glam." At the last words, he gives catwoman the stink eye, huffing when she laughs at him.

"I have been wondering, how old are you, danny? If you don't mind." Bruce has an easygoing smile on, but Danny knows that glint in his eyes.

"Also freshly turned 18."

Both Selina and Danny watch the other man carefully, one hiding her sharp stare, the other openly showing it.

"Isn't that a bit young to become a single parent?" The man asks in concern, no matter he should be with emotions, mother and son recognise the tone of worry and relax slightly.

"Her circumstances of appearing in our life is not much to be desired. However, we are very happy with her joining our little family at that time."

Danny speaks fondly, smiling as he recalls the moments. "Selina helped immensely when needed and didn't shy from showering the little gremlin in love"

While the batclan would have loved to continue the conversation, Alfred appeared with a gentle smile.

"Master Danny, there is a guest waiting patiently at the front door for you, I'm afraid she might just run off with no one watching." He gives a very amused look at the members of the table.

He shoots out of his chair, letting the butler lead him out and about.

Once the teen is gone, does Bruce straighten his form and look at selina.

"What about the mother? Is there anything—"

"I'll stop you right there, bat dear." She holds up her hand, giving a sharp smile.

"While I'd rather not talk behind Danny's back like this," she gives the table a look, noting that every member seems to be in their vigilante persona.

"Elle doesn't have a mother, I won't explain any details without Danny's consent, but this is more of a Kon-El situation."

(Bruce, in particular, doesn't like how that info makes everything else snap into place, and the final picture isn't much better.)

"Kon-El situation– isn't she a toddler??"

"Why would anyone go for danny??"

"Was it Lex Luthor–?!"

Their questions were silenced by the sound of tiny footsteps running to the door and swinging it open with no grace.

The tiny being runs around the table, peeks over it to see where a certain woman is located at and sprint to her lap.

The father of said being isn't far from her, making sure she doesn't trip nor fall. Alfred closes the doors and flawlessly slips next to Bruce, the amused smile very much still present.

"Glam glam!" The tiny girl squeals excited, getting pulled up and seated, just in sight of everyone else.

She is like a carbon copy of her father, minus the gender, but at the stares she becomes quite shy, very endearing.

Danny sits next to them, grin on his face and gesturing to the batclan.

"Wanna meet your uncles and aunts, elle darling?"

[mochinek0]

Daminette December 2023: 15-Lost A Bet (SUB)

Damian wouldn't say he hated someone, but he hated Marinette. She was a new employee at Wayne Enterprise and she was a giant distraction. He would catch himself watching her.

'This has got to stop!'

"I want to make a bet with you." Damian announced as Marinette walked by his office.

"Fine." Marinette spoke, "What do you get if you win?"

"If?" he chuckled.

She smiled, "What if I win? I'm very competitive."

"I would prefer you work in a different section." Damian spoke, "What do you want?"

'Pfft. That's all he wants? Me out of his way? I'm not telling him I'm leaving to a different section in two month; he can suffer.'

"I want you to take me to the Wayne Gala." Marinette announced.

'I knew it! She is just like all those other girls.'

"And before you start flattering yourself, " Mari spoke, "I want a way in, to promote my own fashion line. Being with you helps."

"so you are using me as a business tool." he stated.

"Isn't that what every woman who dates your father does?" Marinette asked, "Promote their next ballet recital, movie premiere, Broadway show, or modeling catalog? I figured you Waynes were use to it."

"He dated those woman." Damian spoke, embarrassed by his father's background of woman.

"Oh." Marinette whispered, "Well, I'm not asking to date you. How about an invite then? You won't even have to talk to me, if you don't want to. Let alone e stuck with me for the entire night."

"Agreed." Damian smiled.

Damian sighed in frustration. Marinette had won their bet and certainly was using the gala to her advantage. He never expected her to come so dressed up. Being in the office was one thing, but seeing her in a gown was another. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. She was a social butterfly, much like his father. She spoke to everyone without a worry. It became a bigger problem when other guys kept offering her a drink. It seemed like the whole gala had their eyes on her.

Damian growled and made his way over to the middle of the crowd. He put his arm around her waist, immediately gaining her attention.

"Marinette." Damian spoke, "I have been looking for you.

"Mr. Wayne." Marinette answered back.

He smirked, "It is after hours."

Mari gulped, "D-Damian."

Marinette looked away, but he could see the faint blush on her cheeks. Damian smiled at her reaction. Several guys took note that the Ice Prince was smiling at the designer and quickly made their way to another side of the room.

"My stepmother wanted to see your latest creation, I believe." Damian declared.

"Oh?" Marinette questioned.

Damian kept his arm at her waist and guided her through the crowd.

"Are you ok?" he whispered.

"Yes." she whispered back, "Were you just trying to get me awy because if so, I didn’t need your help."

'I was trying to help!'

By her pout, he could tell she was upset.

'I don't know why she would want to be with those idiots anyways.'

"Thank you again, Marinette, for making my dress." Selina spoke, seeing her.

"Of course." Mari smiled, "I enjoy making your outfits."

Damian remained silent, realizing that Marinette already was acquainted with his step-mother and likely her friends.

"How was the mob?" Selina asked, taking a sip of champagne.

Marinette shrugged, "A few customers, but other than that, a few trying for a good time."

Selina watched out of the corner of her eye as Damian gripped his glass a bit too hard. She smirked.

"You should take one of them up on their offer." she suggested.

"I should?" Marinette asked confused.

Selina looked over to the mob, ignoring Damian's glare.

"The hell she should." The Wayne heir growled.

"Marinette is a single, desirable young woman, Damian." Selina answered back, "She has needs as well."

Mari looked down at the floor, blushing red.

'I certainly wasn't expecting my sex life to be somehting my bosses' family talked about. I wonder what made Selina change her mind. Before, she was telling me never to leave with someone from one of these things.'

Before Marinette could ask, Damian grabbed her and pulled her out towards the garden.

Selina smirked as she watched them walk away.

'Now, where's Bruce? He owes me $100.'

Selina spotted Tim and made her way towards him.

"Do you know were Bruce is?" she asked.

"Uh, I think he stepped out for a breath of fresh air." Tim answered, "Why?"

'So he already got bored and left to roam. Did he really think no one will notice him gone?'

She sighed, "Tell him he owes me $100."

"Wait!" Tim exclaimed, "What?"

"Yeah. We had a bet." Selina replied.

"Hold up! Is this about getting Damian a date?" he questioned.

"Yep." she spoke.

"Dammit!" Tim whined.

"Why are you upset?" Selina asked, "Do you not want him to be happy?"

Tim pulled out his wallet and handed her $100.

"He asked you to pay me?" she rebutted.

"No." he pouted, "He made another bet with me that you would succeed. I thought you wouldn't."

Selina laughed and took the money.

"Who did you set him up with?" Tim asked out of curiosity.

"The designer." she smiled, "He seemed really upset with her getting attention. I told her she should take advantage of the cesspool and go home with one of the. Your brother grabbed her hand and took her outside after that. Thanks, Tim."

Tim watched in shock as she walked away. He had no idea his younger brother had a crush on their new designer.

'Didn't expect him to be the possessive type. Scratch that, Talia waltz in here like she owns Wayne Manor, all the time, and Bruce still lets her, as long as she behaves. Looks like Bruce, but has Talia's attitude. I need to stop making bets with Bruce.'

TAGLIST: @maribat-calendar-events @animeweebgirl@a-star-with-a-human-name@meme991001@vixen-uchiha@abrx2002@alysrose-starchild@fandom-trapped-03@dood-space@moonlightstar64@saltymiraculer@marveldcedits20@09shell-sea09@icerosecrystal@animegirlweeb@insane-fangirl-of-everything@blueblossombliss@nickristus-dreamer@megawhitleycalderonpaganus@missmadwoman@meira-3919@princessdaisysolosyourfaves@blep-23@fangirlingfanatic@darkhinauniverse@ravenr22@im-a-satanic-ritual@ravennm84@bianca-hooks123@a-slytherinish-gryffindor@starling218

[sokoneedsagun]

Let’s talk about “replacement”

If you’ve been in the dc fandom for longer than maybe a week, you’ve probably seen it before. It’s present in fanfics, tumblr posts, role plays, and fanart. On the off chance that you somehow don’t know about it, “replacement” is a sort of nickname often used for Tim Drake by Jason Todd

This post is going to be cut, I’m going to leave the explanation out but there should be two other sections under it as well

Where did it come from?

There are two possible places that the use of it came from

The first is from a Batman comic series from 2002 called “hush” and I’ll spare you most spoilers about the comic but the part of it that’s important to this conversation has to do with Bruce, Jason, Tim, Selina, and Clayface

While catwoman is fighting huntress (Helena Bertanelli) who is currently drugged by poison ivy, Bruce is worried that Helena is going to force Selina to kill her so he tells Tim (who is Robin at the time) to stay where is and look for someone

Before Bruce can tell him who he’s looking for a figure appears behind Tim and says he’s the one they’re looking for, before hitting Tim and calling him “pretender”

When Bruce finds Tim he’s being held at knifepoint by “Jason” who begins lashing out and then fighting Bruce. Eventually he melts in the rain and is shown to be only made out of clay, and the real Jason Todd is still dead.

The important thing about this, is that Jason never called Tim “pretender,” he never held Tim at knifepoint point (if you ever see anything about Jason “slitting Tim’s throat” that’s where it’s from, Tim was fine all he needed was a bandage), all of it was done by Clayface who was mimicking Dick Graysons movements and using what he knew about Jason to manipulate Bruce.

As to where “replacement” specifically came from, the only time I’ve ever heard about its origin was in a TikTok where the person who made the video said it came from a fanfic (which is very likely true), in the comics Jason has never called Tim by that name

Why does the nickname not make sense?

The nickname doesn’t make sense because if anyone would be a pretender or replacement, it’s Jason. Jason Todd is one of the original robins but he isn’t the original Robin. That title will always belong to DIck Grayson.

And in brining up something like this you have to acknowledge the origins of the moniker in the first place. The name “Robin” came from a nickname that Mary Grayson had for her son, I’m fairly sure the original reasoning was because he was born in the early spring. The reason DIck chose to go by Robin is because the name was important to him, it let him feel closer to his late mother, similarly to how the original Robin costume is based on his flying Grayson’s outfit.

But when Dick was 17 or 18 he was shot in the shoulder by the joker, and Bruce tells him that he can’t keep risking his life as Robin, so he fires him. Dick moves out to Blüdhaven, starts working almost solely with the teen titans, and gets a new moniker (nightwing) given to him by Superman.

And then Bruce adopts Jason, and he gives him Dick’s name and uniform, putting a new child in the way of harm. And yes, Jason did make Robin his own but it was not his, he would have no right to put a claim over the name.

Why does any of this matter?

In short, it doesn’t. There is nothing inherently wrong with writing Jason using the term but in my opinion for their relationship, it just dosen’t make sense.

In the comics Jason has a complicated relationship with everyone in the batfamily, he’s grappling with coming back to life and trying to find a place for himself while also working through his own grief and anger

When you read comics though, when they’re together they often work well together and even hang out a few times, there’s one panel where Jason is trying to take tim out to get a drink (underage drinking is bad don’t do it/lh), and they have a fairly normal sibling dynamic with each other

Which is why I don’t understand where the concept of all the hate and resentment came from in the fandom, I’m genuinely curious as to know why it’s so prominent everywhere

[were-wolverine]

au where selina adopts dick instead of bruce

- selina goes with bruce to the circus as a date

- when the Graysons fall, she knows bruce is reliving what happened to his parents

- she kisses bruce on the cheek and stealthily makes her way through the crowd to the youngest Grayson

- selina has always had motherly instincts, it’s why she has so many cats. she’s known for taking in strays, so what’s one more?

- she pulls dick into a hug and he melts into her, he just needs someone to hold him right now

- selina reminds dick of his mother- the same warm brown skin, the same tight embrace, both kissing the top of his head and whispering reassurances with a slightly accented voice

- she whisks him away from the police (she doesn’t trust them in general, let alone with a newly orphaned child) and lets bruce deal with the consequences. dick sits on her couch with a cat in his lap as selina introduces herself and explains everything to him

- dick is just glad he doesn’t have to go with the cops or social services (he knows not to trust them), and his gut is telling him he can trust selina. after all, animals are a great judge of character and all of the cats seem to love her

- bruce is aware selina took dick in, but considering how quickly the police give up looking for the boy, bruce doesn’t mind her essentially kidnapping him

(selina eventually becomes a foster parent and legally fosters dick, but it’s years later and the police/legal system don’t care enough to worry about a previously missing persons suddenly appearing as a foster kid. gotta love Gotham)

- dick is still young and angry and wants revenge on tony zucco. selina is honest about her identity as Catwoman, and he asks her to help him get back at the man who killed his parents

- together, they steal his most prized possessions, bankrupt him, and overall ruin his life, and then they hand him over to the cops with evidence of his crimes duct-taped to him

- dick is a natural at stealth, thanks to his acrobatic abilities, and he begs selina to train him. he wants to be like robin hood, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, and who is selina to deny him that?

- selina will still steal jewels from museums and such for herself, but she does that solo. together, the two of them go after corrupt rich people and steal their money, distributing it to the poor

- dick teaches himself how to hack and is able to access bank accounts, making it much easier to steal large amounts of money. selina is extremely proud of him

- selina makes dick his own suit and he goes by Stray. he is typically the one to give out money to people on the streets, and he’s eventually known by most of Gotham. bruce carefully ignores this happening, because he recognizes that Stray is helping the people of Gotham in a way Batman can’t

- bruce still finds and adopts jason, but his costume and name are obviously not Robin. probably Batboy. anyway, dick hears about Batman’s new sidekick and immediately thinks “friend? potential friend?” so he follows them around and befriends jason

- jason knows about Stray, and has a slight hero worship of him ‘cuz he’s like robin hood!’ which dick (and selina) find adorable

(dick is about 10 when his parents die, 12 when he becomes Stray officially, and 16 when jason (13) becomes Batboy)

- tim, when he finds out about dick being fostered by selina kyle after being declared missing for years, of course goes to confront them. dick was (still is) his childhood hero, and he was so worried when the older boy was declared missing

- at least until he recognized dick as Stray, but he couldn’t exactly confront him then

- anyway so tim shows up at selina’s apartment and demands to see dick. selina is like “you are tiny, come inside” and calls for dick. it takes dick a moment but he recognizes tim and hugs him. tim clings to him and dick just accepts it

- tim gives him the photo they took together and some others he found in the newspaper of dick and his parents. dick cries and thanks him

- they get to talking and dick & selina are like “how did you get here? where are your parents?” and tim is just like “oh they’re in egypt. i rode my bike here :)”

- this of course leads to dick and selina stealing tim and leaving bruce to deal with the consequences once again

- it’s easily resolved, selina becomes tim’s emergency contact and they talk to his parents; whenever janet and jack are away, tim will stay at selina’s. blackmail might be involved but a deal’s a deal

(dick is officially fostered by selina right after jason is adopted by bruce, and about 6 months after that tim (10) confronts selina and reunites with dick)

~ time skip ~

- dick goes to Gotham University and lives on campus but stays with selina every weekend. his major is undecided and he eventually drops out to start paramedic training

- when bruce doesn’t believe jason (15) about Garzonas, he runs away to selina’s where dick (18) and tim (12) comfort him. he tells them about sheila haywood and they research her, but jason ends up deciding not to go after her

- selina has a Talk with bruce and he apologizes to jason, inviting him back as Batboy. jason agrees but visits selina’s apartment far more often. he is Batboy for a few more years before offering the mantle to tim and going off to college

- tim respectfully declines being Batboy, and since jason never dies and bruce never goes off the deep end, it isn’t necessary for him to take on that role

- babs is still Batgirl and then Oracle, and tim decides to train under her with computer stuff instead of going out in a mask. tim helps both Batman and Stray when they need it

(babs becomes Batgirl around the time dick becomes Stray, and becomes Oracle a year into jason’s run as Batboy. she views jason as a little brother, and has a sort of Batman/Catwoman relationship with Stray (aka dick flirts with her as Batgirl and she pretends to hate it. they don’t actually date but end up becoming good friends) dick goes after the joker when babs gets paralyzed and breaks both of his legs. he is Oracle’s #1 fan and is super happy when tim decides to train under her)

(babs is about 2 years older than dick, and balanced being a college student/graduate with being a vigilante. she’s a total badass and works more with the Birds of Prey than Batman, but always has time for dick jason and tim)

- babs becomes a lawyer. dick becomes a paramedic and gives Stray to tim, instead becoming Nightwing- a medic vigilante. tim takes on the mantle of Stray and does the robin hood gig. jason leaves the vigilante life behind and goes to college, majoring in english and minoring in education (he wants to become an english teacher and give Gotham kids good educations)

~ the end ~

[igotanidea]

It was worth it :Dick Grayson x f!reader

Massive thanks to @pinkcherryblossom18 for letting me use her idea for this story: Titans!Dick who unexpectedly shows up at his old friend house to seek help for Rachel, even though he knows how pissed said friend is going to be at him. So, the girl is just spending the day with her adoptive mother, Selina Kyle, planning on doing sth fun when someone knocks on the door. And even after being welcomed in a vigilante/villain style, Dick still thinks it was worth showing at reader's doorstep.

“So…..” Selina started stretching her arms lazily and leaning back on the couch, crossing her legs

“So what?”  the younger girl, her not-so-official adoptive daughter rolled her eyes trying not to show how annoyed she was

“So, I was thinking about a little bit of a mother-daughter time would be fun….”

“You’re not my mother.” The girl pointed out. They may not have been related, but during the years Selina Kyle raised Y/N Y/L/N the latter took a lot from her. Teasing and playing around was definitely one of those traits.  “But I’m listening. Honestly, it’s getting boring living in this hell hole. God, I miss Gotham sometimes.”

“From what I can tell you keep yourself rather busy” Selina leaned down and grabbed one of the stray cats Y/N was taking care of, absentmindedly starting to rub its fur, much to the animal’s delight “Such a cutie” she purred at it “though I miss this freaking city too. Sometimes.”

“Let me guess why” the girl smirked “I bet it’s because of one particular Gotham vigilante…”

“Watch your tongue, dear. Such insinuations are way beyond your level. I taught you better.”

“Yeah, yeah you did. No matter how hard I try I always get back to the old ways.”

“Call it instinct, honey.” Selina flashed a smile and fluttered her eyelashes.

“Oh, stop it. Can’t fool me with that trick” Y/N rolled her eyes again “Cut to the chase”

“You won’t let me have my fun, do you?” Selina sighed dramatically but soon turned back to her calculated self. “You know, there’s a new boutique on the 34th. We can go full fashion. My wardrobe really need some renewal and judging from your T-shirt, yours as well.”

“What’s wrong with it?” Y/N took a quick glance at her hoodie and tilted her head. “besides all the cut fur, of course.”

“Oh, honey….” Selina sighed “I’m gone for what? Two weeks….”

“Two months.” The girl corrected crossing her arms

“And you’re already turning into someone …. Ordinary. Such a shame. I really need to get you back in shape. What do you say? A little shopping spree. Don’t you miss that thrill?” she smiled and a few flashbacks run through Y/N’s head. One of them of how one night when she and Selina were running the streets after one particularly good action and surprisingly were stopped by two male-counterparts. But. Putting that aside, Y/N did miss some action and night blood rush. The cold night air on her face as she was jumping from one rooftop to another. The chills and adrenaline when she was flexing and doing her most crazy acrobatic shit. The act she put on while flirting with whoever could her to the object of interest, pretending to be innocent and gullible only to show her mastermind and perfect plan behind all of this. She was smart, she was shrewd, fast-think and ….. lazy. As much as she hated to admit it, moving out and being left all by herself made her…. Unwilling. Selina was right. It was such a shame that of late her abilities were going to waste.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Selina asked a bit worried about her protégé.

“Nothing” the girl shook her head “But….. can I ask you a question?”

“I don’t need to answer, right?”

“Actually, I would like you to answer. Please” Y/N looked at Selina with pleading, honest and sad expression and it moved something inside the Catwoman’s heart.

“All right. Don’t make me go all soft on you.” she hissed covering all the feelings raising in her chest. Despite everything, she treated Y/n as a daughter (or maybe younger sister, since thinking of herself as mother made her feel old. “What is it?”

“How do you still find all of it funny and thrilling?”

“I’m sorry?”

“You know. For me, the best part wasn;t the fact that we… I…. was doing something forbidden. It was rather the part of being chased. And sometimes, getting caught. And… you know…..” Y/n’s cheeks were now a bit flushed and Selina knew exactly what, or rather who she was referring to.

“Oh, honey. You really do need something to get your mind off things” she gently caressed girl’s face. “you reminiscence too much and that is no good. We’re going tonight. Hope you can still use that charm of yours.”

“Right” Y/N looked down. “I…..” before she could say a thing she was cut off by a firm knock on the door “Sorry, let me just check who intend on ruining my evening.”

Unwillingly she stood up from the couch and with a couple quiet long steps opened the door.

“I’m not interested in whatever you are selling so leave …. Oh, shit…..”

“Hi Y/N” the young man on the other side smiled lightly and awkwardly.

“No.” Y/N was quick to reach the frame and shut the door close. What the hell!? What was he doing here?! It’s been what? Three years? Three years since his titans team fell apart and he rushed away from everything he knew, her included. Three years of radio silence on his part (well, she did not reach for him either, but still it was his fault since he was the one who disappeared without a trace). Shit! And now he was standing by her door and she was wearing an old hoodie and stretched pants. Her hair were a mess and she still had that freaking pelage everywhere. Damn it! Her heart was pounding like crazy, blood rushing straight to her head. Even after all those years, he had such an effect on her. Groaning in annoyance she leaned her back on the door, praying he would just go away.

“Who is it?” Selina emerged from the room with her most hypnotizing stride “Definitely someone worth attention if you’re left like this.” She chuckled

“Dick Grayson” Y/N smiled viciously watching Selina’s expression drop

“Is he….?”

“From what I can tell he’s alone, but who knows?” the girl shrugged “You know the bats, they lurk in the shadows.”

“Fuck. “ Selina cussed “This is not how I planned on this day to go.”

“You think I wanted this?!” Y/N scoffed

“Well, you mentioned something about missing being chased…..”

“Oh, shut up!” the girl finally let her rage go. “Sorry.” She chucked “I know the rules. Play it cool. Play it nice.”

“Precisely. You did it so many times before, what’s one more. Deal with it fast and I’ll meet you on our rooftop at 10 p.m.” she patted girl’s cheek in a condescending manner. “Don’t let me down.” And with such words she slipped through the open window.

“Don’t let me down.” Y/N mocked sticking her tongue out in a child-like behavior. “Whatever you say, mother. Coward. Running away because the bat may be on her track.” She muttered to herself.

“Y/N. Please, open the door. I need your help.”

“You need my help, now, huh?” once again she opened the door abruptly, standing face to face with her old (more than) friend. “How about I give you a hand?” she raised an arm in attempt to slap him, but he was faster and grabbed her wrist. She did not falter as she used another hand, that reached the destination and with a loud snap met with his cheek.

“Ouch.” He hissed and let go of her arm.

“You deserved that! Three years, Grayson! Three fuckign years and now you just appear out of thin air with….. a child?”

“Y/N, meet Rachel. She’s ….. she has some powers….. Can we come inside so I will explain it further?”

“No.” Y/N took a step to the right blocking the entrance.

“Y/N. I’m begging you…..”

“Well that is a new thing…..”

“Don’t make a scene.”

“And why not exactly?” she pondered.  “Because you are afraid of being embarrassed in front of…..” she hang the sentence waiting for them to remind her the name of the girl

“Rachel” the youngest of the three helped

“Right. Rachel. Sorry for that little display, bet your friend Dick did not mention who I am.”

“Not…. exactly….”

“Oh, okey. Well, long story short, we used to be….. frankly, I don’t even know how to describe our relationship….”

“Y/N…..” Dick sighed, his face still red from the slap. Y/N was definitely stronger than she looked at first sight.

“I am talking now.” Her face was now filled with rage and it made her look so powerful and fierce the boy shut his mouth instantly, suddenly being reminded why he fell for her so easily in the past. She was a force not to play with, but on the other side she had this soft side, only a few people knew how to reach.

“I already like her” Rachel smiled.

“Y/N look, she has nowhere to go. Her mother was shot, she never knew her father and I know you know how that feels……”

“I…..” she dropped her gaze. He knew exactly where to hit. The point was, she really did know the feeling. Her parents abandoned her when she was barely 9. For four years she was running around foster homes, never really wanted, tossed like a used glove, never really taken care of, until Selina saw something more to her and took her in, and trained her and showed her something better in life. “I hate you, Grayson. Now, get in, both of you.” she pulled her unexpected visitors into the narrow hallway. “You can go wait in the living room, pet the cats or whatever. They are not as predatory as they seem.”

“Just like someone else I know” Dick smiled at Y/N when Rachel left.

“Stop it.”

“What?”

“You know what. Why did you come to me? Why not any of your Titans friend? Donna? Dawn? Hell, even Hank would be better choice than me.”

“No.”

“What?”

“They wouldn’t . They don’t really know how it feels like to be raised without parents. You and I. We do. And you have a thing for stray living beings.”

“I ….. I don’t…..” she snorted with disgust but couldn’t hide the fact that only a second later she was checking out what Rachel was doing, making sure the girl was all right “I’m not like that….”

“You are. Even if you don’t want to admit it. I know you.”

“You knew me years ago. How do you know I did not change for worse?”

“I know.”

“Ok, I’m gonna ask you again” she punched his chest only to get some of the accumulated energy out “why. The hell. Are. YOU. here? And how did you even find me!?”

“I missed you.” he confessed

“Oh, hell no! I’m not falling for that. Our parents followed that path and look where it got them. I’m not making the same mistake. I can take the girl in and that is all. I want nothing to do with you. Not after….. after everything…..”

“I made a mistake, all right? I never should have….”

“Shut up! Just shut up! I don’t want to hear you!” she covered her ears not wanting to let him sweet talk her “ I’m over you, don’t you understand that. I never wanted you to come back and haunt me and …..DAMN IT!” out of frustration she started throwing punches. The kind of kicks he could have easily dodged, but didn’t “why don’t you just fight back?!” she hissed and finally her fist met with his jaw, taking them both by surprise.

“Selina would be proud of you.” Dick muttered making sure his maxilla wasn’t dislocated.

“Don’t think so. It’s hard to impress people who take their alter-ego from an animal. You know that” he nodded taking a deep breath “If anything she would be disappointed I lost control like that. Does it…. Does it hurt much?”

“See. Soft spot. Told you.” Dick smiled widely and immediately hissed in pain

“Do you want another, symmetric punch on the other side.”

“It was still worth it, you know. Coming here. Seeing you. I meant what I said, I really did miss you.”

“If you keep running your mouth I’m gonna kick you in the groin.”

“Ok, all right. I’ll stop. You really did not change a thing.”

“I hate you. Now, tell me what is wrong with that demonic child you decided to put on my shoulders.”  

@pinksirensong @somest1

[zahri-melitor]

If you thoughts on Selina? 13, 14, 29

13. Your favorite friendship they have

So given it's me: I actually really enjoy the small number of occasions we get to see Selina with Ted Grant.

Getting a massive soft spot for Selina and Eiko as well, actually, but one of the things about Ted is that he makes such a great mentor and uncle figure for the young women around him, and he seems bemused every time.

14. Best storyline they had

I have to say, Catwoman: Lonely City is very hard to go past. Cliff Chiang bottled some greatness there. Is it partly because we never get to have properly middle aged women in comics still being heroes? I know it's not main continuity, but it's beautiful and atmospheric and contained, and it spins out of one of my favourite periods of DC comics with a heartbreaking AU concept.

29. How do you think they would be as a parent? (and if they are a parent, how do you think they would be if they weren't?)

Ahahaha. Ahahahah. Ahahahaha. Well, the thing is, we've seen Selina as a parent, we've seen her as not a parent, we've seen her make the decision to opt out of parenting, and we've seen her (very occasionally) in the role of stepparent. We certainly have the Selina gamut on parenting!

I think, given her history, becoming a parent is something Selina needs to actively choose, and not just out of regret. Because she's run away from the concept so many times, I think she'd need to be in the correct headspace to do it, given how much it involves overtones of 'settling down' and 'putting up her whip'. She needs people around her to understand that she can still be herself as a parent, and she seems very worried she'll lose herself if she tries.

I think Selina with a kid who was older than Helena K ended up at the point of her adoption would be the sort of parent who hauls her kid along with her everywhere and doesn't let it cramp her lifestyle. Despite a lot of Helena W storytelling, I don't actually think Selina settles down to active parenting with nothing else going on. I think small Helena gets taken to the Caribbean where she learns to speak French and Italian in seaside resorts as her mother teaches her how to track and spot pickpockets and what tricks actually work. I think they do tours of the art galleries of the world. I think Selina actually works out how the Gotham Village functions as any kid of hers has so many unofficial aunts, uncles, cousins and siblings throughout Gotham and other cities that she now exists in an all encompassing network who will teach her kid things Selina doesn't really want Helena to learn and keep an eye on her while Selina's busy being herself.

[comicarc]

𝐈 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 (𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈)

previous • next

"A lonely moon craving for the radiant sun." In which a certain girl catches the attention of a prideful billionaire playboy as they both attempt to find their way in the world. (I haven't seen many fics explore Bruce in his formative years, so I thought I'd share my take on them, of course with romance.)

wc: 1964

“Finally, I’ve found you, little angel,” Selina enthused as she stared down at y/n’s sleeping figure. Exiting the large opening of the room’s extravagant windows, Selina circled the bed to be at y/n’s side. She stared at the comatose girl, with her head buried in a pillow, hair in disarray, and a little drool dripping from the side of her mouth. Brushing hair from the side of y/n’s face, Selina saw the light bruising that littered her forehead and a cut adorning her cheek. 

Worry began to plague Selina as she wondered what y/n had been up to after they were separated, but she had no time to process her thoughts as she heard the door unlatch. Seating herself at the end of the bed near y/n’s feet, Selina’s face was decorated with her signature grin as she announced, “Bruce Wayne, what do I owe for the pleasure of your company?” 

Sarcasm dripping from her every word, Bruce ignored her as he interrogated, “Ms. Kyle, how did you get in?”

“A magician never reveals her secrets, y’know.” Selina stood from her seat, positioning herself in front of y/n to protect her from an approaching Bruce. “No need to be formal with me, I thought we were already familiar seeing as you were comfortable enough to kidnap y/n.” Selina’s tongue was as sharp as a sword and she aimed to insult Bruce for having wounded her best friend.

“I didn’t kidnap her,” Bruce stated as if it was enough explanation for y/n’s current state.

“Give me a real answer pretty boy and maybe I might spare you.”

Bruce, having enough of games, finally revealed, “She’s been me with something. She got hurt and I’ve been helping her recuperate, that’s all.”

Skepticism was painted across Selina’s features, and being as keen as she was, Selina knew that he was only telling her half of the truth. In her last attempt to get him to confess, the girl threatened, “If you don’t tell me, you won’t ever see her again. I’ll make sure–”

Interrupting her, the boy sighed, recanting his half-truth by conceding, “Fine, it’s not like you can hurt the case anyway. y/n was helping me take down Falcone’s drug operation. She was just doing her last run for him in Crime Alley when she got caught in an explosion.”

“y/n’s working for Falcone?” Selina whipped her head around to look at the sleeping figure once again. How could she not have noticed? The girl’s once hopeful eyes were resting on dark circles, the corners of which reddened from tears. Wrinkles faintly announced their presence at the edge of her mouth and her forehead. Her lips were cracked like the tar of Gotham’s roads and her nose was redder than a fire truck. Though fatigue had left a visible mark on her body, Selina could hoped that the girl’s mind was in better condition. With the ghouls of her past haunting her and the demons of the present leading her to the gates of a living hell, y/n must have yearned for solace in the comfort of sleep.

“You have no idea what you’re doing to her, do you?” Selina asserted, looking to Bruce with an incomparable disdain. 

Puzzled, he questioned, “What are you talking about?”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“Don’t pretend you’re some weak, pathetic little girl when I can see that vicious mind working behind your eyes.” The towering woman scorned at the little girl, lacing each word with venom as she persisted, “y/n, an insolent monster like you doesn’t deserve a mother as forgiving as me.”

y/n studied her mother’s face, too blurry for her to discern any distinct features. Her voice, though sharp, held a familiar warmth to it. y/n craved to hear it again, despite the words it spewed. She opened her mouth to elicit more words from the woman before her, but nothing came out. 

“Falcone was right, staying with something like you is only going to keep me down,” she began to laugh, almost hysterically as she came to a realization. “I’ll take the Arkham job. If not for myself, then at least be rid of you.” 

Reduced to the body of a child, y/n’s stubby hands attempted to reach for her mother’s. She wanted to stop her from leaving. She wanted to show her that she wasn’t a monster. She wanted to beg for affection. But as her finger touched her mother’s hand, the figure faded from sight. 

“Dr. Crane, what’s the verdict?” A gruff voice spoke from beside her. Whipping her head, y/n observed two men seated at a worn wooden table across from each other.

“I’m sorry, sir.” The other man spoke, his face as blurry as her mother’s. y/n rushed to them, her feet feeling heavier than concrete. Each step had her heaving, and by the time she reached the man, all that was left of the scene was ash. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Approaching the burned building where y/n had ran from the previous night, Selina motioned for Bruce to stop. They were a few meters from the building and at the entrance of Crime Alley. 

Bruce shivered, from both fear and the breeze that swept between them. He wanted to leave, to run as far as he could, but his dread was trumped by his curiosity. Selina knew something and information was an important currency in Gotham. A figure approached Selina from behind. Tapping her shoulder, the blond-haired man questioned, “Why’d you call me here?” 

She moved aside, making room for him to stand beside Bruce. The motion went ignored by the man, Harvey, who pressed, “What’s he doing here?”

Reciprocating Harvey’s mannerisms, Selina chose to ignore his questions and began, “You both seem to have feelings for y/n, or at least, some stake in her well-being. Now I have no obligation to say anything, but I think I need to, for her sake.”

She turned and pointed toward a part of the building reduced to rubble. What remained of a windowsill was scorched with burn marks and round it lay a caved in bricks. Not only did it emit a foul odor, but the destroyed apartment looked disgusting. “Did you know y/n lived here?”

Both men froze, mouths left ajar for they were too stunned by the revelation to speak. Harvey knew y/n was by no means wealthy, but for her to live in such decrepit conditions was insane. How was she able to survive high society in Gotham and come back to this without a single complaint? How could he not have known? How could he not have helped her?

Bruce regained his voice first. “What’s your point.” 

“You don’t know anything about her, so don’t pretend you do. I’m sure you’re aware of how extravagant your lifestyles are, so how about you do her a favor and leave? She doesn’t need false hope or someone holding her from her potential. y/n doesn't need a tether to Gotham, so let her fly.”

“That’s all?” Harvey spoke, his eyebrow quirked up. “You think we want to hurt her?” 

“I think you’re doing it without even realizing it. y/n wasn’t a bedridden mess until she got involved with Bruce.” Selina snapped. “I’m worried she’ll be left with nothing when your little infatuations ends.”

“What the hell are you talking about,” Bruce’s blood began to boil from the accusation. Though he felt guilt for being the reason she got hurt, he didn’t want to accept it. 

Selina sighed, reasoning, “Bruce, you’ll forget about her when you go to Yale. And Harvey, I’m sorry to break the news but y/n’s not going to Harvard. Her scholarship got rescinded, so–”

Harvey interrupted, “That’s not possible, we were talking about it just yesterday.”

“The call came today. She put my number as an emergency in case they couldn’t reach her and well…”

The realization of the stark difference between their lives hit Bruce like a train. His parents had taught him the value of money, that it wasn’t a possession meant to be recklessly spent. But even if did do that, there was no consequence, always a safety net. He couldn’t imagine a life without one, a life without a second chance. It wasn’t until this that he understood how unstable life could be. 

Guilt had eaten at him since he was eight years old, crying in the middle of the night because he believed that his impatience had killed his parents. And even now, it ate into his heart, because he believed y/n was in that state because of him. If only he made her life easier at the Academy, if only he didn’t involve her in his scheme, if only he could have carried out his promise of keeping her safe. He didn’t fear responsibility, he feared loss, pain. 

Selina and Harvey were still bickering when Bruce exited the realm of his thoughts. He looked around and took in his surroundings for the first time. In the daylight, Crime Alley looked pathetic more than terrifying. Waste littered the walls adorned with scattered blood. The drain was clamorous as water poured into it, dripping from the cracks in the buildings surrounding them. 

No one here wanted to hurt others, they thought they needed to. If he put Falcone away, then another would take his place. The cycle would never end, and Gotham would remain broken. Someone needed to do something, and whoever did it needed to be the worst of the worst. 

Fear is a strong emotion, and if it's been this effective for all these crime lords, then why not the hero? Why doesn’t someone use the fear for good? Terrify the evil out of these pathetic criminals and give them a chance to see past their perspective. To help them understand what y/n did: that even the most miserable people in the world can have a chance at righteous happiness if they try. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

y/n awoke panting. Her head spun from the dream she was having, but after a few minutes, she could think clearly again. Alone in the familiar bedroom, y/n moved to get up. Though at first her legs felt as though they had gone numb, she was able to bring them to life and move to the door. She proceeded to turn the knob, but it wouldn’t budge. She tested it again, and the door remained secure. Bruce locked her in.

Her next thought was to call him & make him open the door for her. She searched the room until she finally found it. Brushing away the dust with the sleeve of her jacket, y/n’s phone lit up. The only thing on the screen was an email notification. The headline read: Scholarship RESCINDED. She couldn’t believe what she was reading, so she looked down at the sender. It was official. Wilcox followed through, much to y/n’s chagrin. 

So much pain, so much suffering through all these years, and the best she got was a one-way ticket to staying in hell. Did she fool herself into believing a non-existent hope? Was it all for nothing? No. Circumstances change, but y/n didn’t. She steeled her mind for she knew she achieve success one way or another. She’ll go to Gotham University, secure a high paying job and live her dream. Even if it wasn’t possible now, she was willing to fight till she got it. Giving up was the easiest thing she could, and she wasn’t a quitter. 

But she needed closure. Something to end this chapter of her life and for her to feel as though she was truly moving forward. And for that she had to confront her past. She had to confront the pain she refused to feel. She had to confront the memories she had been suppressing for the last decade. She had to confront Dr. Crane.

˖ ࣪🦇𓆰♡𓆪🦇ִ ࣪⋆

taglist: @earth-to-name

[secondgenerationnerd]

Little fic or headcannons of how much lian and roy are alike please and thank you

Oooooo imma do a fic! Someone mentioned this again and I’ve been thinking about it!

———————

When possible, the parents of Omega Squad like to get together for a ‘normal day’ with their kids. Well, as normal as their lives got. They rotated who hosted and who provided what food. Their kids enjoyed spending time with their parents….likely because some of them acted like they weren’t grown ass adults with teenage children.

“Is Jade on her way?” Linda asks Roy, swatting her husband’s hand away from the cake.

Roy nods, grinning at her phone, “Yeah, she is. Li’s been antsy all day about it. Not that she’d let me see it.”

Dick fakes a gasp, “A Harper avoiding showing their feelings? Say it isn’t so, Wallace!”

“I’m afraid it’s true, Richard.” Wally says solemnly, “When will they ever understand that being ‘too cool to care’ just keeps them apart from those who love them?”

“Hey, Bianca?” Roy calls to the beautiful woman chatting with Lois and Selina, “If I kill them, do you have to report it? Are you obligated to revive them or….?”

She glances at Dick and Wally, then back at Roy, “I’d revive one of them. Let the kids pick which one.”

Laughter fills the room as the teenagers get back from their ‘mission’ to the store. Several speedsters, two half aliens, plus growing teens means they need all the food they can get.

“Oh dear.” Jai sighs, “I think they finally lost it. I thought we had at least another week for Dad.”

“Don’t be an ass, dude,” Jon snorts, kissing his mother’s cheek as he carries most the grocery bags. “If anyone gets dementia first, it’ll be Bruce—“

More laughs and a faux glare from the Bat himself. Roy sees his daughter staring at him, “Yes, Lian Alice?”

“Ugh, you and Mom had to go with Alice for my middle name.” She rolls her eyes. “I sound like a Bridgerton character.”

“It’s a very respectable name for a little demon.” Roy says cheerfully, kissing her temple, “You can air your grievances to your mom in twenty minutes.”

To anyone who didn’t know her, the eye roll she gives her father would be disrespectful. But every adult in the room knows how anxious the topic of her mother is. It’s a simple way for her father to answer the question gnawing at her without her having to ask. Of course, her friends and boyfriend would never dare let her worry on it….even if she ‘doesn’t care’.

“Hey, Roja, did you ever try on that shirt I made?” Milagro asks, leaning against her father’s side on the couch.

“Aw fuck, I forgot, I’ll go try it on now.” She bats her eyes at Jai, teasing, “Any chance you want to help me change?”

“Jai Bartholomew,” Roy doesn’t turn back from where he’s putting the groceries away, “Make one move up those stairs and Irey becomes an only child.”

“I was going to say no, Uncle Roy, promise!” Not a single person believes the speedster with that mischievous look on his face. A few minutes after Lian disappears to her room, Roy notices how Dick and Wally look at him.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing. Just funny how you seem to forget where here shamelessness comes from. “If anyone else said that about his kid, Roy would kill them. But from Dick, he takes it as the teasing it is.

“Isn’t the point of parenthood making your kids better than you?”

Wally snorts at that, “Just yesterday you said ‘as long as she doesn’t do crack, murder is a cake walk.’”

“And I’ll die on that hill, thank you, Wallace.” Roy says, rolling his eyes. “Besides, I’m not shameless.”

“Right,” Dick nods, “Remind me how old Lian was when she said she knew you and Jaybird were together?”

“That depends, Uncle Dick,” Lian appears down the stairs, “How old I was when I told them? Or when I knew?”

The shirt she’d changed into is made of a sheer, deep red material. The sleeveless cut shows off her muscular back and arms. A black band of fabric hugs her breasts, a contrast against the exposed skin. Flip her long dark ponytail, Lian holds out her arms.

“I accept compliments but prefer cash.”

“Red really is your color,” Milagro says with a laugh, getting up to check the fit of the shirt. “Not too snug anywhere?”

“Not really, but if you want to check, my safe word is ‘French toast’.”

“Lian!” Roy meant to chide his daughter, but it came out as a laugh. How many times had he said the same thing to people in this room? Milagro does tug at the fabric, holding it at different lengths to see how they look. Several old scars poke out from the top, but most of them haven’t seen that burn in the center of her back before.

“What’s that, Chiquita?” Bianca asks, motioning at an old burn on her back.

“Hmm?” Lian looks over her shoulder, “Oh! Dad, isn’t that the brand from the human traffickers?”

The room goes quiet. The kids look intrigued at the new lore while the adults seem horrified. Roy glances at it. “Oh yeah. You were little bitty when it happened. I’m shocked they didn’t let you go when you called them pussies.”

“Excuse you, old man? I was a delightful child!” She scoffs, “Easily worth a few thousand.”

Were they really joking about this? Holy shit they were. Trust the Harper’s to come in with dark humor.

“Maybe nowadays, but then? You’d have settled for a sandwich and a nap.”

“Um,” Bianca blinks at the pair, “What happened?”

“Oh some jackasses kidnapped her. They were going to sell her to some creeps I’m sure, branded her to ‘keep track of merchandise’ blah blah blah.” Roy sips his soda.

It’s Lois who asks the next question, “And when you arrived?”

Oh that smile on his. Omega has seen it on Lian so many times. It’s not the Chesire cat grin she has during a fight. It’s an easy, almost laidback smile that could put anyone at ease….if the look in his eyes wasn’t murderous.

“When I left,” Roy says, ignoring the specifics of her question, “They were still breathing. I can’t say for sure if they were when my wife left.”

[coffeeandmagicaltales]

Spare some lore about Selina and Sting Sharp and their parents? It’s been a stupid 2 days at work and I think they’re so cute 😭. That sketch you did of them all made me so happy!

If not no worries! Just wanted to drop in and say your OCs always pique my interest!

OHHH I feel so honored <3 I'd love to answer <3

Spoiler free (I still haven't finished writing my fics)

Sharp Sisters

Lets's start from the oldest- "Sting".

She's about 6 in the drawing. Adventurous, curious, pretty mischievous, and very brave... Also getting into trouble a lot. A LOT.

Both of her parents work at Hogwarts, so she spent her childhood in the castle (when possible), sleeping in her parents' chamber or at her Muggle and magical grandparents' house.

She got sorted into Hufflepuff and immediately fell in love with Quidditch, becoming the youngest beater on the team. That's where her nickname came from - dressed in Hufflepuff black and yellow colors, flying recklessly and incredibly fast, giving hard blows to opponents, she looked like a dangerous little bee.

(below how I imagine her in my delulu land in my head)

She spends lots of time in detentions at Hogwarts due to the crazy ideas she comes up with (that make her parents roll their eyes and just say "ugh, again"; they've become so done with it, they just don't care anymore, and the only thing they ask is: "Is she bleeding? No? Oh, well, just take as many points from her as possible."). She's a free spirit who doesn't like being closed in between walls and loves to explore the world on her own, unlike her younger sister, who prefers to study in the library.

Her relationship with her sister is very profound, and even though they are like fire and water and sometimes disagree, they love each other unconditionally. Sting spends lots of time with Selina and gives her support. She deeply worries about her little sister's timid nature and gets into fights each time someone calls little Sharp "a weirdo".

Her relationship with her parents is pretty complicated. It was really wonderful until her 6th year at Hogwarts when she decided to become an Auror despite her... well... certain health issues. Aesop argued with her many times, trying to convince her to find a less dangerous job, but she already set her mind and was too stubborn. It is said that Sting was the only person Aesop ever raised his voice at, too scared of her being injured just like him, or even worse. But, as a rebellious 17-year-old, she did what she wanted to do, ignoring her father's plead. Her mother, Morana, was more optimistic about her life choices (Sting was a Sharp for Merlin's sake!) and convinced Aesop to train her as best as he and her could, preparing Sting for the worst.

She became an Auror, one of the best in history, duh! If you were a criminal and somebody had spilled the tea that Sting Sharp is investigating your case, well, better head to Nepal and intend to live as a goat... But! She didn't like this job at all. Ministry's orders, things against her moral compass she was told to do frustrated her, and after a few years, she quit. Waiting for Aesop's retirement, she took many part-time jobs, also helped her godmother Poppy to catch poachers, and when her dad was finally retired, they both opened a private detective office, also working with Morana and Selina.

Lesbian, she married a long-time girlfriend of hers, had no kids.

The youngest Sharp- Selene (sometimes written as Selina, more Slavic version of that name, as she is half British half Slovakian)

This little grumpy pumpkin, about 1 in the drawing, was literally born at Hogwarts and spent her time close to her parents. Sometimes with daddy: sitting on his desk, incredibly interested in classes, lulled to sleep by his lectures, or playing with vials (unbreakable) filled with glitter and colorful water. Sometimes with mummy: sleeping in a scarf wrapped around her body during her lectures. Sometimes with her many teacher aunts and uncles, who loved to take her to their classes (especially Ronen and Garlick).

Her interest in potions was obvious from the beginning, but soon Aesop discovered that, in her case, there was a thin line between genius and obsession, and she preferred to experiment rather than play with her peers. Only her older sister seemed to understand her and accept that Selina is a bit different than other kids her age: always gloomy and avoiding anyone's company. She stood out from the crowd also thanks to her dad's tall genes, his grumpy and dreamy nature and, well, his look in general, along with dark eyes and hair, crooked teeth, big nose. She was never considered "pretty", often being compared to her father. Other kids giving her unpleasant comments like "I wouldn't date old Sharp's lookalike".

(below how I imagine her in my delulu land in my head)

Other kids hated the fact that she's two teachers' daughter (and other teachers are her aunts and uncles) and bullied her a lot, calling her "a weirdo" or "a teacher's favorite" (Sting, ironically, never had that problem). Her parents and sister tried their best to make amends with anyone who dared to hurt Selina, but she felt sad and lonely anyway. She was often found hidden somewhere behind dad's cauldrons in his class, crying. Her situation was breaking Sharps' hearts, and they came up with an idea to sign her up for an internship at Parry Pippin's shop during her 3rd year. That was a jackpot; Selina made friends with adult potioneers, no longer feeling alone, and her talents began to thrive. After Pippin's death, she, not his children, became the shop's owner and one of the best healers in Europe, working occasionally at St. Mungo's or giving lectures at Hogwarts when Aesop was not feeling well.

Her relationship with her sister is stronger than diamond. She supports the sometimes annoyingly talkative and loud Sting and is always ready to help her. Their hearts were both broken when Selina got sorted into Slytherin, away from the older Sharp.

She's a daddy's daughter, and, no matter how much she loves her mum, it's Aesop she runs to first and clings to his jacket. She preferred to spend time with him as he was quieter and calmer than Morana, who loved wild adventures, that, on the other hand, Sting preferred more. Morana sometimes felt guilty that she couldn't approach her youngest daughter as well as Aesop, but she found out that they both enjoy slow hikes and exploring the calm Tatra Mountains in Slovakia. Selina anticipated those even few weeks long lonely trips with her mother.

She met her husband in Pippin's shop (Selina and Aesop both found a cure for his quite rare sickness), Garreth Weasley's son, who later took Sharp's surname. They had a beautiful red-headed son - Aesop Sharp Junior.

I hope you enjoed this little spoiler free backstory of my characters <3

It was hard to find a NPC mix of Morana&Aesop but this one is the best option:

Sad dark eyes, dark brown hair, high cheek bones, bushy arched brows, big nose, upper lip shape- Aesop

Tanned skin tone, 10K freckles, round face- Morana

[winchesterszvonecek]

I See Red 18+

Chapter 18 - I’m Not Going Anywhere

Word Count: 9474

Series Masterlist | Full Masterlist

For the last twenty four hours, Selina had been an unwilling participant in what she was describing as mind-numbing, and constant, speculation about how she managed to control Crowley’s hound. To tell the truth she couldn’t care less about the hound itself let alone how she controlled it – as she had already kind of guessed the answer to that question. 

It had to have been because of Crowley, who was pretty much the only thing, or person rather, that she actually cared about right now, which is why she was doing her absolute best to block out the incessant ramblings of her brothers and their many theories. Some of which ranged from her having once “bathed” in the blood of a fellow hound, her having walked directly into hell as opposed to only her soul going, and the more plausible of them all, her being Lucifer’s vessel. 

Obviously none of those were even remotely true, but Selina couldn’t exactly tell the truth about how she controlled the hound without exposing her relationship with Crowley, so she simply continued to ignore them and instead tried to focus on how she was going to go about fixing said relationship.

Or worse, how she was going to end it. 

Ever since she told Crowley to go, Selina had been debating with herself constantly, about whether being in a committed relationship with the King of Hell really was a good idea after all. She knew from the very moment she started having feelings for him that it probably wasn’t, hence why she had resisted Crowley until she physically, and emotionally, couldn’t anymore. And even now she still wasn’t fully convinced that their relationship wouldn’t end in anything other than heartbreak but at the same time she wanted to be with him. Hell, at this point she needed to be with him, as every single second of the day that she wasn’t with him felt like agony.

Especially now, when all she could think about were those text messages, which would then morph into disturbing images about him and some other woman that left her feeling sick to her stomach. 

Selina knew exactly why this whole ordeal was so hard for her. Why the thought of ending the relationship, regardless of any suspected infidelity, was utterly heartbreaking. She was in love with him. She was so deeply, so madly in love with Crowley that even the mere thought of losing him was enough to make her feel utterly paralysed and at this point, she had absolutely no idea what to do next. 

“Hey,” Sam said softly, giving Selina a gentle nudge which forced her to fall out of her thoughts and back into the real world, allowing him to continue, “are you doing okay? You’ve been picking at your food since you sat down.”

“Yeah,” Selina exhaled, forcing a weak smile that she knew Sam would see right through yet she didn’t have the energy to care about. She pulled her hand back from the table, where it had, indeed, spent the last… however long since Dean and Castiel brought the food home, picking at her fries. “Yeah, I’m okay. I guess I’m just not that hungry.”

“Rowena did say that the side effects of such powerful magic can cause loss of appetite,” Sam replied, as though trying to ease his own worries as under normal circumstances, Selina would have demolished that burger and fries. And sent Castiel off for seconds. 

“I still can’t believe you called Crowley’s mother for advice,” Dean muttered, shaking his head briefly as he shoved the last of his fries into his mouth and subtly eyed up Selina’s untouched meal. 

“Crowley thought she could help,” Sam said in defence – of his own actions, of course. He’d never defend Crowley, regardless of the strange friendship he had with Selina that prompted him to recommend Rowena to them in the first place. 

At the mention of Crowley, Selina’s stomach began to churn so much that she actually slid her entire meal across the table towards Dean, whose eyes widened like a child opening presents on their birthday. She then stood up, downing the last of her soda as sometimes the fizziness would help settle her stomach and she was really hoping that would be the case here as she truly couldn’t take feeling like this anymore. 

And yes, she knew how to stop herself from feeling like this – by talking to Crowley. But she just wasn’t sure whether she could manage to do that right now so instead she’d opt for soda. 

“I’m just gonna take a shower and then go to bed,” Selina said around a fake yawn, ignoring Castiel’s eyes that had been glued, almost suspiciously, to her since the moment he brought her home yesterday. She had a feeling he might have figured out the truth about her and Crowley, therefore she had been avoiding him like the plague in order to avoid that conversation.  

Leaving the room before anyone could so much as bid her a goodnight, Selina walked as quickly as she could down the corridor, in hopes that she could get away and be by herself for the rest of the night in order to wallow in her own self pity. However, to her everlasting and unfortunate luck, Castiel had decided to follow after her and just seconds before she could slip into the shower room, he called her name and she immediately froze in place.

Here we go, Selina thought to herself. Here was the dreaded moment in which he told her that he knew her dirty little secret, and was giving her one chance to either break things off with Crowley, or to come clean to her brothers about their relationship – neither of which Selina was overly fond about doing. 

“I know you wish to rest so I’ll make this quick,” Castiel said, stepping around Selina in order to face her as it didn’t seem like she was going to turn around herself. He noticed the way she held her breath, as though she knew what he was going to say – which didn’t surprise him as she was very intuitive. Although in this case, she seemed to be a little off in what she was expecting as his next words took her greatly by surprise. “Back when I was working with Crowley, I quickly came to learn that he hates pretty much everyone. But the way he is with you. The way he looks at you… There’s no doubt in my mind that he would ever be unfaithful towards you.”

“I…” Selina began, about to babble out some nonsense about how she had absolutely no idea what Castiel was talking about, but given the fact that he could easily sense when someone was lying and the fact that Selina didn’t have the energy to lie, all she did was sigh, “How did you know?”

“I had my suspicions for a while now, but I, uh, I heard you both arguing yesterday,” Castiel confessed, watching as Selina nodded her head gently and fiddled with her necklace – part of him wondering if she even knew the truth behind it or whether she thought it was nothing more than a simple ruby.

“I don’t know what to do, Cas,” Selina said, her voice a little shaky and the second she felt the lump rise in her throat she quickly swallowed it down as she would not allow herself to cry again. Although she wouldn’t lie, it did feel nice to finally have someone she could be honest with as truthfully, keeping this secret was becoming mentally exhausting. 

“Do what you think is right.”

“None of this is right,” Selina admitted, trying her best to keep her voice down as words tended to travel easily through the bunker corridors. She didn’t like admitting to herself, let alone anyone else, that what she was doing was wrong, but she just couldn’t deny it any longer. “Crowley is a demon. There’s nothing right about this at all.”

“At one time I would have agreed with you, but the more time I spend on Earth the more I come to realise that things don’t always have to be right. Sometimes, they just have to make you happy.” And with that Castiel walked off, as in his mind he’d said all he needed to say in order to hopefully get through to Selina.

Unfortunately though it would take a lot more than that to get through to her. She’d spent her whole life giving up her own happiness for the sake of others, so to her there was really no difference here as chances are she’d never be truly happy. In her mind there were only two options: one, she stays with Crowley and most likely loses her brothers in the process or two, she chooses her brothers and in turn loses Crowley. Either way, neither of those ended with her being truly happy so really all she could do now was think about which one of those options would be the easiest to live with. 

In a perfect world she’d be able to talk to Sam and Dean about it – or rather, in a perfect world she would be able to keep both her brothers and Crowley but given that God hates this world and likes to watch it suffer, that wasn’t a viable option here. Anyway, she really wished she could talk to Sam and Dean, as both of them had, at one point, given up someone they loved for this life, which she knows isn't exactly the same as her scenario but it’s as close as she could ever get it to be. 

However, given who it was that she loved and how that would play out should she tell them, Selina decided she couldn’t risk opening that door and instead opted to carry on with her night alone and go for a shower. 

Showers normally brought Selina a sense of comfort and peace, meaning she ended up staying in them until her skin went wrinkly and the steam made her lightheaded. But in this case, it only offered her ample time to be alone with her thoughts and given what those thoughts were revolving around and how badly they made her want to curl up into a ball, she decided to cut her shower incredibly short and head back to her room where hopefully, she could distract herself with one of her comfort movies.

Closing, and locking, her bedroom door behind her, Selina allowed her towel to drop from around her and grabbed her robe from the back of the door, securing it tightly around her waist as she delved further into the room. She went to undo her hair, as she often tied it up for showers in which she didn’t wash it, but the second her hand touched the top of her head she remembered – she hadn’t needed to tie it up as her hair was now short enough that it wouldn’t get wet in the shower. 

And truth be told, that only gave her another reason to be upset. 

Dropping her hand back down to her side and resisting the urge to just scream until she started to feel better, Selina grabbed her remote from her bedside table and switched on the TV. She went instantly to the app Charlie had installed for her, allowing her to watch anything she could ever possibly want and meaning she had each and every one of her comfort movies on stand-by. She even had a brand new documentary she could watch about penguins, as she loved penguins, but chances are it would make only her cry and she really didn’t want to cry, therefore a comfort movie was the safest option. 

And after scrolling for a few minutes she quickly decided on her all time favourite, and guaranteed to distract her, comfort movie – Saw 3.

The movie began to play as Selina dug around in her drawers for a pair of specific pyjamas, and by specific she meant her biggest, baggiest t-shirt and the comfiest pair of shorts she owned. Most of her pyjamas were comfortable, don't get her wrong, but sometimes you just really want that one specific pair and in this case, Selina didn’t need anything else irritating her tonight so the less chances she gave herself of that happening, the better. 

After locating the pyjamas and quickly throwing them on, Selina settled on the edge of her bed and ran both hands down her face, stretching out her skin with how hard she’d pressed down in order to feel something other than pain and tiredness. She was utterly exhausted as she hadn’t slept a wink last night, and something told her she wouldn’t tonight either as there was a hell of a lot more on her mind than there had been yesterday. 

Part of her was tempted to ask Castiel to simply put her to sleep but chances are he’d make talk to Crowley first as that would be “more healthy” than an angelic coma, but she wasn’t feeling up to arguing with him about it and instead, she simply accepted her fate. She tossed the remote aside and shuffled back onto her bed, glancing behind her to make sure she wasn’t about to sit on Kit, who was actually on top of her wardrobe. When she looked forwards again, she was immediately greeted by Death, who was now standing at the edge of her bed and had made her jump so much she was pretty sure she had levitated for a second.

“Motherf…” Selina began, before she pressed her lips firmly shut as she never liked swearing in front of primordial beings in case they didn’t like it and scattered her atoms across the universe. “Don’t you people ever knock?”

“Do you?” Death said in retort, unphased by her attitude as he’d grown used to it over the years. He raised his eyebrow, swapping his cane from one hand to the other as Selina simply rolled her lips in response, choosing not to reply as he had a point. She had walked into his library unannounced and uninvited, so she really wasn’t one to talk about manners.

“Why are you here?” Selina asked instead, wanting to speed things along as she had some torture to get back to watching and as fond as she was of Death, he wasn’t the black suit wearing supernatural being she really wanted to see right now. 

“I’m here because I’m fed up with your incessant moping.” Death said, as he never was one to beat around the bush.

“My moping?” Selina repeated, her eyes widened. “Why do you care if I’m moping? No actually, wait a second, how do you know that I’m moping? Are you spying on me?”

“Don’t flatter yourself, Selina, I have far more important things to do than spy on you,” Death replied, as coldly as ever. He took a step forward, glancing briefly towards the screen where he wasn’t at all surprised to see what was playing and had been wondering how long it would take before she buried her emotions in violence.

“Then I’ll ask you again, how do you know I’m moping?” Selina asked, a little fed up. And to tell the truth, a little offended that he was accusing her of moping – which she was, but shush, she didn’t need to hear it out loud.

“Because I can feel it.” Death told her, to which Selina’s eyebrows dipped from utter confusion. “And quite frankly, I’m sick of it.”

“Wait, you can feel it? What? Are you saying we’re connected or something?” Selina said around a nervous chuckle. 

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Death replied, and due to the fact that he didn’t lie, nor did he have much of a sense of humour, Selina didn’t think he was joking. 

“Yeah, I don’t think I like that,” Selina said, crossing her arms and running her hands up and down the sides of them as her entire body seemed to shiver. If they really were connected and he really could feel her moping, then what the hell else could he feel?

“Tough,” Death said bluntly, taking a final step forward to where there was no longer a gap between his legs and the end of her bed, making Selina shuffle back a little as he seemed a lot more intimidating now than he’d ever been. “You should have thought about that before you agreed to wear my ring in order to save your brother’s soul. Not to mention having not only been to my library, but owning the key as well. Now because of all that, we have the unfortunate issue of sharing a connection and let me just say, I am far more aggrieved by it than you could ever be.”

Selina went to reply, more than likely with something snappy, which is probably why Death cut her off before she could so much as get out the first syllable of her first word as he didn’t have the patience to deal with her attitude, not when he’d felt enough of it yesterday.

“I have an important role in this universe, and in many others, but I can’t exactly play it when all I can feel is you moping around here like a teenage girl having a strop, now can I?” Death finished, finding himself a little taken aback that Selina hadn’t mouthed off to him in response like she’d been about to. 

Instead she had closed her mouth fully and dropped her eyes to her lap, where her fingers fiddled anxiously with a loose thread on the hem of her shirt as unknown to him, his tone of voice had thrown her right back to her childhood and for a second, all she heard was John. 

“Selina, I know what you’re dealing with,” Death said, with a surprisingly softer tone than one might have thought possible from him, causing Selina to look back up at him now that he no longer resembled her father. “I know that you have trust issues. I know that everyone around you, your family included, has lied to you about one thing or another, and that would give anyone the right to be doubtful. But I also know that Crowley cares for you. That he has put his entire life on the line for you and if you think he would jeopardise all that by fooling around with some low-level demon then you’re a lot less smarter than I thought you were.” 

“If you know I have trust issues,” Selina began, ignoring the rapid beat of her heart beneath her rib, “then what makes you think I’m gonna believe anything you have to say to me?”

“What would I possibly gain from lying?”

“Peace,” Selina said bluntly, shuffling herself up a little further against the headboard. “You just said I was annoying you with my moping. But if I’m no longer moping, then you get peace.”

“If all I wanted was peace, I would simply sever the connection by killing you,” Death said plainly, and Selina wouldn’t lie, she considered asking him to do that just so she would get some peace of her own. 

“What else do you want then?” Selina asked curiously. “If not only peace.”

“I want you to be happy,” Death replied, before he suddenly teleported directly in front of Selina and lightly placed two fingers to her forehead. “So close your eyes, and watch.”

Selina’s eyes closed, whether by her own volition or Death’s she had no idea, but she didn’t get much chance to think on that, not when her mind suddenly fell out of the grey swirl of nothingness it had currently been in and landed smack bang in the middle of the one place she longed to be – Crowley’s bedroom. For a second she felt sick, as though she might see her worst fear come to life in the shape of Crowley and another woman, but when she scanned the room and found the bed empty, she slowly started to relax. 

A few seconds passed by until eventually, Crowley returned to his room. She knew this must have been before her accusations of infidelity as he seemed to be a lot happier than she suspected him of being now, especially since his eyes were glued to his phone, and when Selina shuffled forward a little to peek over his shoulder, her heart nearly burst at what was displayed on screen.

Her. 

Crowley was staring at the last picture she had sent him before their fight and in that moment Selina knew she’d been crazy. She knew Crowley would never cheat on her, not with the way he was currently gazing at a simple picture of her with what she could only hope was love in his eyes, as with each slowly passing second she found herself falling deeper in love with him and it really would crush her to learn he was incapable of loving her back.

In fact, Selina was so fixated on Crowley and his potential inability to love that she hadn’t even noticed that someone else had entered the room, not until a faint, muffled voice pulled both her own, and Crowley’s, attention towards it. She couldn’t hear anything this new addition was saying but it wouldn’t take a degree in rocket science to come to the conclusion that this was Lola, wearing the body of an attractive and curvy brunette woman, who would have caught most men’s eyes within minutes. 

But when it came to Crowley, he didn’t even look at her twice. He barely answered her either, his eyes continuously flicking down to his phone where Selina’s picture still resided. And it wasn’t until Guthrie entered the room a few moments later, looking a little flustered and if Selina had read his lips right, as for some reason she couldn’t make out anything they were saying in this… memory, or whatever it was, then she was fairly certain he had muttered something about a hellhound. 

At that, Selina caught the scheming way in which Lola smiled, and when Crowley absently set his phone next to his discarded coat before following Guthrie outside the room, she slipped a hex-bag into his pocket. Seconds later, Crowley’s phone pinged with the very message that had started all of this and from that moment, Selina finally knew the truth. 

The world around her started to fade and before she knew it, Selina was back in her room. She blinked a few times, trying to stop her head from spinning and once it did, not only did she notice that Death was now gone, but that the pain she had felt in her chest was now surpassing the point of unbearable. She knew what she had to do. She had to talk to Crowley, she had to tell him she was sorry and that she knew the truth but at the same time she wasn’t sure she’d be able to get the words out without crying.

So instead, Selina grabbed her phone, opened up her text thread with Crowley, deleted the previous messages in order to put them behind her and then, she began to type.

Selina: I don’t know if you even want to hear from me but I need you to know that I know what really happened. I know you didn’t cheat on me and I should have listened to you. I should have trusted you but instead I blew things up like I usually do and for that I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, and I understand if you’ve had enough and you want to call it quits but I just want you to know that I miss you… and I really wish you were here with me right now. 

Chewing anxiously on the skin of her lip and never once drawing her eyes away from the screen, Selina waited… And waited… Until eventually, those three little dots appeared on screen, indicating that Crowley was typing and helping spark an ounce of hope in her chest that perhaps she’d just been over dramatic in thinking she’d ruined everything, and that maybe Crowley could forgive her for blowing things out of proportion. 

However, as the dots continued to bounce up and down and as each painstakingly long second passed by, Selina’s heartbeat started to increase and her stomach began to churn. And when those three hopeful dots disappeared, with no message following behind them, she was pretty certain that she had well and truly fucked things up. 

With a faint click her phone screen went black and she tossed it aside before slouching down against her headboard, wishing she had more than four pillows so she could bury herself away in them forever. She knew she never should have made Crowley go without hearing him out first and now, because she had done just that, she was paying the price. 

Selina turned onto her side, her back facing away from the TV screen that was still playing as she pulled her duvet up as far as she could, until only her face was peeking out from beneath it — she never could fully hide away underneath it as it always made her feel like she was suffocating. And speaking of things she could feel, her eyes were already starting to sting with tears and she very nearly gave in in allowing them to fall. 

Until she heard him. 

“I’m here, Selina.” 

The duvet cover almost went flying across the room with the mere force in which Selina threw it off herself, part of her having trouble believing it was actually Crowley she heard and not her imagination being cruel and twisted. But when she saw him standing there, looking a little more dishevelled than she’d been in the memory, her heart nearly burst in her chest and those first few tears slowly rolled down her cheeks. She didn’t even bother getting off the bed and instead shuffled down it on her knees, falling forward instantly when she knew she’d be met with Crowley’s chest and not the cold, cement floor beneath them. 

“I’m sorry,” Selina whispered, burying her face in the crook of Crowley’s neck as he wrapped his arms tightly around her. Like seriously, he could have snapped her in half with how much strength he was using. Not that Selina minded though, she was just glad to see that she hadn’t ruined things like she’d originally thought. “I never should have told you to go.” 

“It’s okay, darling.” Crowley said assuringly, soothingly. He was about to raise one hand up to stroke the back of Selina’s head the way he knew she liked before she lifted it, her eyes glassy and he could tell by the dark circles beneath them that she’d been beating herself up since the moment he left.

“No, it’s not okay,” Selina shook her head as she removed her arms from around his neck, instead curling her fingers around the lapels of his coat as though she were afraid he’d leave. “I should have listened to you… I should have let you explain what happened instead of being difficult…” 

Crowley then went to speak, more than likely to explain that he hadn’t meant what he’d said and it had just been in the heat of the moment (and thank God it wasn’t Tuesday). But before he could do so much as let out a breath, Selina raised one hand and lightly placed her thumb on his lips, stopping him from going any further as he wasn’t the one who needed to explain himself here. 

She was. 

“Don’t,” she said softly, slowly drawing her thumb down his lips to land on his chin before the rest of her fingers splayed out over his cheek. “You were right. I was being difficult and I know that now. I know I should have listened to you. That I should have trusted you, and I do. I trust you with my life but sometimes… 

“Sometimes I can’t help but be sceptical about whether or not something is real. I mean, look at my past. Look at how many times I’ve been lied to. How many times I’ve been betrayed… These days I barely even trust myself, and when I saw those messages, and with what happened after I guess… I guess that part of my mind was just scaring me into believing that maybe none of this was ever real.”

“Selina, this is real,” Crowley said seriously, taking her face in his hands and wiping away the few lone tears that continued to slide down her freckled cheeks. “What I feel for you is real.” 

“I know. And that’s what scares me,” she replied, her voice barely even a whisper. But it was loud enough for Crowley to hear, and loud enough for him to narrow his eyes a little in question, prompting Selina to add, “My whole life I’ve never had… this. I’ve never been in a serious relationship before and I was fine with that. I was fine with never having known what it felt like to be in love but now… Now that I finally know what that feels like…” Selina took a breath, which trembled lightly as she watched Crowley’s eyes slowly widen at her confession. “That’s what truly scares me because I don’t know how to love someone. All I know is that I do… I love you… And it’s totally okay if you can’t say it back…” 

Before Selina could say anything else, Crowley placed his thumb on her lips, just as she’d done to him only moments ago, cutting her off and stopping her from rambling on as something told him she was about to. And as much as he’d normally love to listen to her ramble on about things, he really needed her to be quiet. Otherwise, he might never have been able to gather enough strength to say the next four words that slipped past his lips. 

“I love you too.” 

“You do?” Selina said, and with how soft her tone sounded, not to mention the way in which her eyes danced with hope, Crowley knew for certain that she’d truly needed to hear that.

“I do.” Crowley nodded briefly, lightly drawing his thumb across the length of her jawline before his fingers travelled up the side of her face and tucked her hair behind her ear. “I have for some time now only I never knew how to say it out loud… I had simply hoped that my actions were enough to help show you that I did.” 

“I had hoped that you did,” Selina confessed, dropping her eyes a little as she always hated how pathetic she felt whenever she showed any sort of vulnerability. “But then again, I’m not as good at reading people as I think I am. Mainly because half the time they’re saying one thing yet they mean something completely different.” 

“I mean what I said,” Crowley said seriously, almost sternly as though he were trying to make sure it sunk into her, honestly stubborn, head. The last thing he wanted was for her to be living with doubts her whole life — as that’s how long he intended to be with her, until the harsh reality of humanity stole her away from him — so he really needed her to know that he meant it. “I love you, Selina. Only you.” 

“And I love you,” Selina whispered, followed behind by a short, shaky breath that might have been a full on sob had she not managed to compose herself a little. She’d never had a non-relative say they loved her, so to have not only the person she loved say it back, but for that person to be Crowley? It was all a lot for her to take in right now. 

However, she didn’t get long to think about that, or about how she was going to come out and tell her brothers who she was in love with before Crowley pulled her in for what she could only describe as the kiss of a lifetime. On one hand his fingers were tangled in her hair, gripping it gently to keep her firmly in place against his lips. His other fell to her hip, where his fingertips were slowly dipping deeper into her clothed flesh, causing Selina to arch her body towards him and hum softly into his mouth. 

“God, that sound alone is enough to make me never want to look at another woman again,” Crowley breathed out, taking Selina’s lips in his again before she even had a chance to breathe let alone say anything in response. 

Not that she even knew what to say, her mind was too far gone with the mere touch and taste of Crowley that she hadn’t even realised he’d lowered her back onto the bed. It wasn’t until her body sunk into the mattress and her leg absently hooked around the back of his, did she pick up on where he so clearly wanted this to go. But no matter how addicting the feather light brushes of his fingers across her thigh were, and as much as she wanted to experience make-up sex for the first time, as she had a feeling it would be something else entirely and that she’d reach even higher peaks than ever before, she simply couldn’t. 

“Wait, wait,” Selina gasped out, as Crowley had chosen that exact moment in time to sink his teeth into the skin of her neck. “Fuck… Stop, please, stop.” 

Crowley stopped instantly, removing his wandering hand from beneath her shirt and instead using it to hold himself up, remaining towered over her as she had yet to push him off. She had also yet to remove her leg from around his, so he was pretty certain that she was okay with that particular part of the situation. Though, that didn’t mean he wasn’t a little worried. That maybe he might have been going too far too quickly. Or worse, that he had hurt her. 

“Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” Crowley asked, bringing his free hand up to lightly brush his thumb over the spot on her neck where he was convinced he’d bitten too hard. 

“No, no, you didn’t hurt me,” Selina said quickly, assuringly, and with a sweet smile that remained on her face even when she leaned up to place a soft kiss to his lips, feeling the way his face, and body, softened with relief. “You did everything exactly right, I just,” she let out a sigh, dropping her head back onto the bed and glancing up at him, “God, I would love nothing more than to have make-up sex with you right now but I can’t.” 

“Are you worried your brothers might hear us?” Crowley asked curiously, watching as Selina’s face suddenly dropped as though she’d just remembered exactly where she was and who was around her. 

“I am now,” she huffed out around a nervous chuckle, and suddenly she was glad she had locked her bedroom door as explaining their current position to anyone who barged into her room would not be fun. “But, uh, no. No, that wasn’t it. I uh, I’m sort of… on my period.” 

“Ah, I see,” Crowley replied plainly, making no move to pull himself back off her in disgust like she assumed most men would. “Although I must say, that’s never bothered me before and now that you mention it, I do recall reading a little something about how an orgasm can do wonders for a woman’s cramps.” 

Selina laughed softly, “Oh, did you now?” 

Had this been anyone else she might have felt inclined to bring up how cocky it sounded in him assuming he could pull an orgasm from her, but given that it was Crowley, who never failed to do so, and more times than one she might add, she didn’t even stop to think about that. 

“I did,” Crowley said quietly, leaning down to kiss her gently, feeling her hands lift up to his face and when she began to run her thumbs along the lining of his beard his heart very nearly exploded in his chest as for a time there, he wasn’t sure whether he’d feel that again. “What do you say we try it out?” 

“As tempting as that sounds,” Selina began, craning herself up to take his lips in hers again and quietly murmuring against them, “I just find period sex too uncomfortable to want to do it… Especially when Saw 3 is playing in the background.” 

“Is it?” Crowley said in genuine surprise, glancing over his shoulder towards the TV and catching the final breath of life leaving some guy after his limbs were twisted from his body. Guess the sounds of torture where nothing more than white noise to him now. Although… the manner in which this particular character died was intriguing, therefore he mumbled aloud, “Huh, perhaps I should be taking notes instead.” 

At that, Selina couldn’t help but chuckle as she gave him a playful nudge on the arm, drawing Crowley's attention back to her, where once he saw that intoxicating smile of hers again all thoughts of torture left his mind and he couldn’t help but lean down to kiss her, wanting to feel said smile against his lips before it disappeared.  

“But maybe you still want to stay the night?” Selina asked, almost timidly yet so full of hope that she thought she might drown in it. 

“Darling, you don’t even need to ask,” Crowley replied, placing one last kiss on her lips before pulling back. He then took Selina’s hand, helping to lift her back to her previous position and once she was settled on her knees he slipped his arms around her waist and held her as close to him as he possibly could, needing to feel her heartbeat against his as had things gone differently yesterday, Selina’s heart may never have beat again. 

“Crowley?” Selina murmured against his neck, hearing a faint hum leave Crowley’s lips in response as he did nothing but rub slow circles on her back with his hand. “Why did Lola really try to kill me?”

“Because of me,” Crowley said around a sigh, pulling back just enough to be able to look Selina in the eyes and when he saw that hint of sadness, mixed with jealousy, lingering behind them, it prompted him to correct himself, “or rather, because she hates me. And would find immense pleasure in crushing my very being.”

“Then why not just kill me herself?” Selina questioned, ignoring the flutter of her stomach over hearing that her death would crush Crowley's entire being. If he hadn't already confessed his love for her then that sentence alone would have done it for him as just knowing that she was his weakness, and that his demons knew it too, was enough for any lingering doubts Selina may have had in her mind to swiftly fade away. “Why go through all that trouble?”

“I believe she thought she could maximise my pain and suffering by having you die by my hands,” Crowley explained, to which the realisation soon clouded over Selina’s eyes – she hadn't thought of it that way. “She released my hound not only to lure you out of here, but in hopes that I would blame myself for it having torn you to pieces, and that I would have to live with the belief that you died thinking I was responsible. Or in this case, that you had died believing that I had been unfaithful.”

“You think she somehow knew that you would accidentally leave your phone sitting out?”

“No. Despite her reputation as a homewrecker I believe that was simply a case of her being in the right place at the right time. An added bonus if you will. And as for the hex-bag, it was nothing more than a back-up should Juliette have failed in taking you out. Just another way she could pin the blame on me for your death.” Crowley explained, and Selina gently nodded her head, yet she continued to chew anxiously at her lip. “You don’t need to worry about Lola anymore, darling, I took care of her.”

“No, I know. I figured you would, but it’s just…” Selina sighed, slumping back to rest against her heels which caused Crowley’s arms to loosen from around her and fall back to his sides. “She was on your phone.. She saw your background, she saw our messages… Our photos… What’s to say she hasn’t told your entire asylum about us? What’s to say my brothers aren’t finding out about us right now from some random demon looking for immunity from them?”

“They have to find out about us sometime,” Crowley said softly, settling himself on the edge of Selina’s bed and taking her hand, placing a light kiss against her knuckles. “We can’t live like this forever.”

“I know,” Selina sighed, running her fingers through her hair as she couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated. “But I wanted to be the one to tell them. I didn’t want them to have to find out by having some demon send them screenshots of our messages.”

“Now you’re just getting ahead of yourself,” Crowley shuffled closer to her, placing his hand aside Selina’s face and turning it to face him properly. At the same time his other landed atop hers, stopping her from tapping it against her thigh in a fluster. “Chances are Lola didn’t even think to do anything with what she saw… Why would she? She assumed her plan would work and that you’d be dead, so in her mind she wouldn’t have needed to expose us. Especially when it would only give your brothers added ammunition towards hunting me down and we both know Lola didn’t want me dead. She wanted me to suffer and I couldn’t exactly do that if your brothers killed me now could I?” 

“I suppose,” Selina reluctantly agreed. She knew Crowley made a valid point but it still didn’t help ease the pit that was rapidly growing in her stomach. “I guess I’m just scared to see how they’ll react when they do find out.” 

“Well unless you’re planning on telling them now, you needn’t worry,” Crowley said, gently bringing Selina’s face towards him in order to place a soft kiss to her forehead in hopes that it would help her relax, as oftentimes, it did. And in this case it was no different as the second he pulled back from her he could already tell that she was a lot more relaxed than she’d been a minute ago. “Oh, I almost forgot to say… I love your new haircut.”   

“That makes one of us,” Selina mumbled, dropping her eyes to where the ends of her hair now lay splayed out across her shoulders and hating having been reminded of it. Though that didn’t mean she didn’t smile just a little, as she never could resist it when Crowley would compliment her – which was damn near all the time and something told her he did if that often simply because she smiled like that. 

“You don’t like it?” Crowley asked curiously, lifting his hand to run his palm down the length of her hair, allowing him to feel the softness of her loose curls beneath it as she timidly shook her head. “How come?”

What Selina meant to respond with was a made-up story about how she’d gone to the salon and the stylist had cut it a lot shorter than she would have wanted, but when she opened her mouth she quickly found that it had chosen to go against her mind and before she could stop herself, she was telling Crowley everything. And by everything, she meant everything. From what had happened to make her have to cut her hair, to why doing just that had upset her so much – aka, her deep seated issues of childhood trauma. 

It didn’t stop there though, as once Selina got going in talking about her childhood she found it rather difficult to stop. She guessed it was due to the fact that she never spoke about it to anyone, whether it be her brothers, who obviously knew about it but just hadn’t actually heard about it from Selina’s own lips, or whether it had been Bobby, or perhaps even a therapist — who it probably should have been but at this point it was probably too late for that. Whoever it may have been, she had simply chosen not to have to burden them with her own issues as she was well aware they all had their own. But when it came to Crowley, she just couldn’t seem to stop herself and honestly, by the time she got done telling him about her abandoned stuffed bunny, she didn’t even want to stop. 

“To this day I still think about that bunny,” Selina carried on, not even bothering to stop for breath half the time as she knew it would only make her crumble. “His name was Sir Hops-A-Lot. Childish I know, but I was five years old at the time so I thought it was appropriate. I still remember the day Dean got him for me. He’d spent the last of his own money trying to win him for me in one of those giant claw machines, instead of using it to buy himself pie or whatever it was that he had wanted.

“I don’t recall whether I had cried when Dean gave it to me but I certainly remember crying when my so-called father grabbed him out of my hands and threw him from the car window. I’ll never forget watching as we drove away from it. When I was trying my hardest to cry in silence so John wouldn’t shout at me again.”

At that point Selina finally took a second to breathe and when she did, it suddenly clicked in her mind that she had been rambling on and on about her childhood for a good twenty minutes or so. Obviously, she hadn’t intended to say any of that out loud, especially when all Crowley asked her was why she didn’t like her hair, but there was just something about having him with her that made her actually want to tell him everything. Not only because she thought it might help her feel better about it and that maybe she’d start to heal from it, but because she knew it wouldn’t scare him away once he found out how messed up she truly was. 

“Sorry, you just got a lot more than you bargained for there,” Selina said through a nervous chuckle, wiping at her eyes as at some point during her confessional, they’d started to water.

“Don’t apologise, love,” Crowley said softly, despite the anger he felt over hearing how she had been treated. He may not have been the best father himself and he was definitely a lot worse than Selina’s had been but that didn’t make him feel any less hatred towards John Winchester – who he would absolutely be visiting in Hell in order to torture him personally. 

John may have climbed out of Hell once that Devil’s Gate opened but there was absolutely no way he was getting into Heaven after the things he’d done and once he helped take down Azazel, he was swiftly thrown back to where he well and truly belonged. 

“You know you can talk to me about anything,” Crowley continued, using his thumbs to wipe Selina’s tears away. “I may not have the best advice to give you on whatever the subject may be but I’ll always listen. And I’ll always be here to comfort you afterwards.”

“It’s a little concerning how two of the things I go to for comfort are directly related to torture.” 

“Are you telling me that Saw 3 is your comfort movie?” Crowley asked, his eyebrow raised a touch and when all Selina did was press her lips together, answering that question without the need for words, he couldn’t stop himself from chuckling. 

“You just heard how fucked up my childhood was, what do you expect?” Selina defended, and Crowley couldn’t help but agree with her. “Honestly it was between that and this documentary that came out recently about penguins but that probably would have made me cry and I’m feeling fragile enough as it is so I went for the safest option.”

“Do you want to watch the documentary now?” Crowley asked, ghosting his thumb down Selina’s chin as he honestly just wanted to give her as many comforting touches as humanly possible, which was funny given her previous hatred for actually being touched. But he was just assuming that he didn’t count in that as any time he so much as brushed against her, she wouldn’t hesitate to gravitate towards him. 

“You want to watch a documentary about penguins with me?” Selina asked, her eyes a little widened as Crowley exactly didn’t strike her as the documentary type. 

“Darling, I would watch paint dry with you,” Crowley said without hesitation, making Selina smile sweetly as she leaned closer to him, her gaze continuously shifting between his eyes and his lips.

“And they say romance is dead,” Selina replied with a touch of humour, before cutting off Crowley’s motion to smile with what he was now calling the sweetest kiss she could have ever possibly given him. She pulled back just a little, taking a second to simply gaze into his eyes before adding, “I don’t know if what we’re doing is right, and I don’t know if it’s a good idea either… But what I do know is that you make me happier than I’ve ever felt before, and according to a very wise angel that's all that truly matters.”

“Wait, are you saying…?”

“Cas knows about us,” Selina said, with a rather sheepish smile as she wasn’t sure how Crowley would take that news as one of the last times he saw Castiel, he had just dug his hand into the angel’s chest in order to pry the angel tablet out from beneath his ribs. “But I don’t think we need to worry. He didn’t seem like he was out for blood, more so that he was just glad to see that I was finally happy.”

At that, Crowley’s face softened, “I’m glad I make you happy, my love, and I’m glad I don't have to worry about murderous angels either.”

“I wouldn’t lower your guard just yet,” Selina teased, ignoring the swarm of butterflies that were currently overriding her stomach over hearing Crowley call her my love. “At least, not until I tell him we’re back on good terms.”

“Well, I shall watch my back,” Crowley said humorously, pecking a soft kiss to Selina’s lips before the two of them climbed into her bed and began to learn all there was to know about penguins. 

Or rather Crowley was learning, as it appeared as though Selina already knew all there was to know about penguins and even took it upon herself to tell him her favourite facts about her favourite types of penguins anytime there was a moment of silence in the actual documentary. 

Crowley didn’t have a single interest in penguins but when it came to Selina not only would he watch as many documentaries as she wanted, but he would also gladly listen to her babble on about Emperors until the day he died if it made her happy.

After another few documentaries and a trip to Selina’s favourite burger place as she’d grown hungry throughout the evening and was demanding cheese fries, Selina eventually fell asleep. Honestly, Crowley was surprised it had taken her so long as she had been yawning ever since she first laid her head on his chest and at one point had nearly drifted off into her milkshake before jolting awake. 

Nevertheless, he was just glad to see her eyes had finally closed as he could tell by her dark circles beneath them, and slightest redness within them, that she more than likely hadn’t gotten any sleep last night, therefore he was really hoping that nothing would wake her up until late the next morning. 

However, at around 3am when Crowley was playing a game on his phone with the brightness fully down, he began to hear a strange noise. He had no idea what the noise was, as he’d never heard anything quite like it before. So, he quietly set his phone aside and as gently as he could, he shuffled up the headboard a little more, freezing the instant Selina stirred in her sleep as he thought he’d woken her. But when all she did was nuzzle closer to him, he allowed himself to relax and instead refocused his attention back on the strange noise.

It sounded almost like scratching. Perhaps shuffling even, as though there were a large rat or possibly a raccoon inside the walls, but considering the impenetrable fortress made out of literal cement that Selina lived in, it was highly unlikely that that was the case. The more the noise continued though, the more Crowley kept thinking it was an animal, and just when he was about to click his fingers in order to get rid of any potential critters that might be within the bunker walls, that’s when it hit him.

Selina had a cat. 

Lowering the hand that might have almost snapped Selina’s cat out of existence, Crowley sighed. The noise was still going and the more he listened, the more he realised that it was coming from beneath him, confirming his suspicions that it was, indeed, Kit, as he seemed to recall seeing the feline lounging atop the wardrobe all night and only coming down when Selina offered him fries. 

Obviously Crowley didn’t want to wake Selina, not for something she was probably used to given that she had had Kit for some time now but the noise was starting to drive him crazy. And so, after a quiet sigh to himself, and a prayer that Selina wouldn’t hate him for waking her, he gave her a gentle nudge and she quickly began to stir.

“Darling, I’m sorry to wake you,” Crowley whispered, cringing to himself when Selina let out a groggy groan that told him she’d been in a deep, peaceful sleep, “but that bloody cat of yours is driving me crazy.”

Selina groaned again before rolling away from Crowley and hanging her head over the side of the bed in order to look under it. It wasn’t hard for her to spot Kit, as even in complete darkness she could see his glowing eyes staring over at her, from where he was no doubt lying with his back was on the floor and his paws on the wooden slats as sometimes during the night he liked to climb under the bed and act as though he were crawling upside down on it.

“Bed. Now.” Selina said sleepily, yet sternly. She waited a few seconds, until reluctantly Kit shuffled out from under the bed and leapt up onto the wardrobe, from which he proceeded to stare menacingly at Crowley for stealing his spot on Selina’s bed and being the reason he was doing this.

He couldn’t even switch things up and lie by her feet, not when she shuffled around so much in her sleep that she would only end up kicking him off. Therefore, he had no choice but to sleep on top of the wardrobe, where he had meowed from until Selina got the hint to place his bed up there as he liked the height advantage when it came to pouncing on Dean.

“Sorry,” Selina whispered, lifting herself back onto the bed properly and returning to Crowley’s side once Kit had settled. “Did he wake you?”

“No, I wasn’t asleep,” Crowley replied, returning his arm around Selina’s shoulders in order to keep her as close to him as possible as one of the only things that brought him comfort these days was feeling her breath puffing out over his chest as she slept.

“Oh,” Selina murmured, biting at her lip a little before she added, “if there’s other things you could be doing then you don’t have to stay.”

“Nonsense,” Crowley said softly, his heart warming terribly over how innocent Selina sounded right now. “There’s nothing else I’d rather do than stay here with you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Now go back to sleep, my love, I’m not going anywhere,” Crowley said assuringly, leaning down to press a soft kiss to the top of Selina’s head. “Not now… Not ever.” 

Chapter 19 ->