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ariadne-does-her-best · 3 years ago

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Sparks Dancing Across Your Skin

Jason Todd x Reader One-Shot; Soulmate!Au

Word Count: 5,000+

Warnings: Mentions of death, gets very angsty but ends with a happy ending :)

Author's Note: Hey guys! I just wanted to let you know that I’m trying to post once every two weeks on Sunday but its very difficult for me right now. I just started college this week so I haven't been very active on any of my socials because of my orientation schedule. Originally, this was going to be around the same length as the Dick one-shot but when I finished writing it, it didn’t feel complete so I may go back and turn this into a series. I’m not very satisfied with this but I did want to try and post regularly. Please let me know how you like this and if you would be willing to read a series with a similar plot. Thank you, Ariadne.

Summary: As someone with a busy schedule, you never really thought of who could be your soulmate. Rather you didn’t have the time. But lucky for you, it’s your friend. Unluckily for you, he’s a vigilante and you don’t even know his secret identity.

You sighed as you packed up your belongings. You never meant to stay late but here you were, sitting in Mrs. Jones’s classroom, and if the clock was correct, Mrs. Jones herself had left more than two hours ago.

The class committee meetings weren’t supposed to take so long but that was only if the president, vice president, and secretary were all sharing the workload. As president, you had to pick up all of the slack that your friends left you. But you didn’t mind since you understood that they also have a life outside of school.

As you left the classroom, you made sure the door was locked on the inside before checking your phone. You only had one text and it was from your mother, telling you that she had to jet over to Paris to meet with an investor and that your father had gone to South Korea to look at some sort of textile for her. She ended the text by saying that she loves you and that she’ll try to be back in a week.

You stuffed your phone back into your pocket, turning the corner of the hallway towards the main entrance. You had parked your car in the back of the parking lot, something that you had started to regret once you saw how deserted the school really was. Remembering the fact that most people were kidnapped in parking lots, albeit grocery store parking lots, they were still parking lots at the end of the day. You sped up when you saw your car and yanked the door open before locking it after sitting inside. When you turned around to put your seatbelt on, you let out a scream when you saw that someone was in your backseat.

“Calm down, it's just me,” the boy said in the back, his red domino mask doing nothing to mask the laughter threatening to spill out of his mouth.

You sighed, running a hand through your hair as you stared at the boy who was laying on your backseat. Robin was organizing the items in your car, putting them into two piles. You watched him as he pulled out a piece of gum and popped a bubble. You smiled as you shook your head before coughing as you turned your car on, effectively grabbing his attention.

“You wanna go to the diner and tell me why you’re not with the Bat tonight?”

At that he pursed his lips, a small smile threatening to spill over.

“I dunno if I should…”

“I’ll pay.”

“Deal.”

*****

When you had first met Robin, it was after he had tried to help you escape from a mugger. Instead of cowering like he had expected you to, you had just grabbed the man's arm, twisting it as far back as you could without breaking it, and kicked him down. Robin had swooped down, laughing as he handcuffed the man and complimented you on your punch. You both were waiting for the GCPD when your stomach grumbled and you offered to treat him to some waffles at the diner across the street since it had started snowing. After that, you both kept meeting up frequently at night, him on patrol and you going home after finishing whatever official school-related event you had.

And soon enough, those nights all added up to you and Robin meeting up frequently to eat at the same diner from the first time you had met. You liked your friendship with Robin. Even though you had no idea who he was under the mask, you felt comfortable with him, like he was your rock to help keep you grounded.

As you sat there and watched him fiddle with the menu, you resisted the urge to grab his hands and instead looked down at your own hands. You started picking at the skin on one of your still healing scabs from where a cat from the animal shelter you volunteered at had scratched you.

“You should stop that,” Robin was looking at you, his bottom lip stuck out slightly in what you recognized as worry.

“You’re my distraction,” you waved your hand at him, “so go on, distract me.”

“What do you want me to talk about,” he asked as he leaned back, letting Linda, the waitress, put your regular orders down on the table. After a chorus of ‘thank you’s, you sipped your hot chocolate and contemplated on what to ask him. There was so much you didn’t know about Robin, such as his identity, but you didn’t want to scare him away.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”.

“Maybe a librarian,” he said after a long pause. You smiled at that and started stuffing your face with your hashbrowns, watching as Robin finished chewing his food.

“What about you, what do you want to be?”

You sat there, thinking. You never really knew what you wanted to be. Every year, you would have a new dream job but it never felt right to you. You just shrugged before turning the topic to books and different book recommendations, watching his eyes light up at the mention of literature.

“You should read Le Petit Prince,” you said as you both stood outside on the chilly November night. You had talked about different works by Shakespeare and had only started heading outside once Linda told you that it was ten. It was snowing slightly and Robin looked breathtaking with the white snow in his dark hair, his red mask creating a sharp contrast against the fairness of his skin.

“Only if you read it to me,” he said before grappling to the top of the veterinarian's office near the diner. You slowly walked to your car and turned it on. Robin was still sitting on the top of the building and as you pulled out of the parking lot, you waved goodbye to him before heading home, rolling your eyes with a smile when you realized that he was following you by running across the roofs of the buildings.

*****

“Hello, I’m (Y/N) (L/N), your tutor here at the Student Center. And you are?”

“Jason Todd,” the boy said, nodding at you as he pulled out his chair and sat down. You smiled at him and wrote his name down on the form you were given. You asked him basic questions about his grade, what class the assignment he wanted to go over was from, and what his reason was for visiting the center.

“All right, so it looks like Mr. Mijia wanted you to come in here and just have someone review your essay for you. Is he doing the extra credit padding before final exams again?”

Jason nodded his head and you marked the according box.

“Alright, the first thing I’m going to have you do is pull up an electronic copy and pass the hard copy to me. Then we’ll have you read it aloud so we can catch any grammatical errors.”

Jason nodded again before clearing his throat and reading his paper off of his screen, stumbling over the wording of his essay only twice. You were impressed, his style of writing was advanced, with him connecting his ideas throughout the whole essay.

“As time progresses, it is imperative to look--”

“Hey bestie,” you sighed when you heard the grating voice of Elsie Lager. You gave Jason an apologetic look before forcing a smile on your face as you faced Elsie.

“Hi Els, what are you doing here,” you asked, taking note of the way her eyes flitted over Jason, before landing on you.

“I’m just here to give you these,” she said, holding out a thick manilla folder. “Mrs. Jones said that we have to read through all of these proposals for the Spring Fling and Jackson and I thought that you could do it since you are the president. And because your mom is the famous torchbearer in today’s fashion world. It’ll just be soooo easy for you.”

You resisted the urge to smack Elsie with the manilla folder, aware of the fact that if you did that there was a witness, and instead took it from her hands before flipping through it. Great, there were over fifty concepts and designs to choose from. Taking out your planner, you wrote down ‘choose Spring Fling concept’ between your Taekwondo lesson and your animal fashion show at the shelter.

“I have that down, anything else I can do for you Elsie,” you asked with a strained smile. The brunette stood there, twisting a piece of hair around her pointer finger before smacking her forehead.

“OMG, I totally forgot! Callisto Barsotti told me that you should keep your ears open for an invite to one of his parties. I’ve gotta go now but you just have to tell me how you got Callisto to notice you, you lucky bitch.”

You watched as Elsie left the library, blowing a kiss towards you, in a blur of white. Sighing, you turned back around to Jason.

“I’m so sorry about the interruption. Why don’t you continue reading from where you were interrupted.”

“She’s a bitch,” Jason said. Your eyes widened in surprise and you watched as he leaned towards you, resting his face on his hand. “Why are you friends with people that take advantage of you like that?”

You sucked in your breath, keeping your face impassive as you stared down at him.

“You have no idea what my life is like Jason Todd,” you said evenly, setting the manilla folder to the side. “And because you don’t know me, why don’t we talk about something we do have some knowledge about: your essay.”

Jason just sighed before he started packing his items up, tugging the hard copy of his essay out from under your hands.

“You and I both know that I don’t need help with my essay. But if you ever need help, let me know,” and with a familiar wave, he left you sitting in the library, confused about how you had gotten his attention when you both weren’t even in the same grade.

*****

You scanned the room as you tugged your jacket around you. You normally didn’t attend parties, especially those that you knew involved alcohol, but your mother had pushed you to go after being nagged by Elsie’s mother by her daughter’s lack of invitation. And speaking of Elsie, she had left you alone as soon as she had entered the house. Which sucked since she had insisted on driving in her new Mercedes.

As you walked around the living room, making small talk with the people who greeted you, you couldn’t help but think about what Jason Todd had told you. It frustrated you that he took up so much space in your head, that he was all that you could think of since that day in the library.

He didn’t know anything about your life. While he had grown up on the streets, you had grown up with a silver spoon in your mouth, never having to worry about anything.

‘But you do worry,’ the small voice in your head said, sounding very similar to Robin. You needed a drink.

You were searching the coolers for a bottle of water when a heavy arm wrapped around your shoulders causing you to flinch and elbow them in the stomach.

“Ow, what was that for,” the person asked, slurring their words slightly. You looked up and sighed when you saw it was the host of the party, Callisto Barsotti. He smiled at you and rubbed at his stomach before holding his arms out, “I’ll let you go if you give me a hug,” he said, enunciating his words with grabby motions.

Normally, you would be on your best behavior, helping whoever was drunk by getting them water and calling their friends, but you were pissed. You didn’t want to be at this party, instead, your mother had forced you to go after Mrs. Lager had bitched to your mom about her precious Elsie not being invited. And to make matters worse, you were tired. So tired.

You were tired of your mother, for filling up your schedule with things you had no interest in, such as modeling gigs and piano lessons. Your father for never being there. Elsie for complaining to her mom and Callisto for inviting you to his stupid party. Jason Todd for being in your head for over a month. Robin for not reaching out in weeks. But mostly at yourself. You were upset at yourself for quietly taking all of this and then loading yourself up with more so you could be the perfect doll for your mother to brag about raising.

So when Callisto tried to grab you and hug you, you kneed him in the groin before deciding to walk home. Ignoring his cries and the looks you got from others at the party, you ran out of the house, only pausing to take a breath once you exited the gated property. You didn’t know where you wanted to go so you let your legs decide on what direction to walk.

Walking around anywhere in the middle of the night was not a great idea. But walking around Gotham in the middle of the night was one of the worst ideas anyone could have. Looking back at it, your night could have gotten worse, like you being kidnapped by a c-grade villain or something.

Instead, you ended up running into Robin. He didn’t look surprised to see you and instead gave you a small smile.

“So, do you wanna go to the diner,” he asked, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

“No,” you snapped, “Leave me the fuck alone birdbrain.” You pushed past him, a look of surprise etched on his face.

“(Y/N)! Wait!”

You ignored his calls and instead sped up, aware of the fact that he was catching up to you. At this point, you were walking near the actual city parts of Gotham so maybe you could get a cab to drop you off at your mother’s apartment near the business sector.

At that thought, you broke into a run, sprinting down the street before calling a cab, hyper-aware of the fact that Robin was staring at you with a look of hurt and confusion on his face.

*****

You felt bad for how you treated Robin. He didn’t deserve your cold shoulder and you certainly didn’t deserve him. With his witty jokes and the way he always followed you to make sure you got home alright, you had realized yesterday in the cab, watching the red and yellow of his costume jump by on the roof, that you didn’t deserve him.

You threw yourself back into your different activities and soon, you didn’t even have enough time to even think about what you were going to eat for dinner.

As you exited the school building, you walked slowly towards your car, being careful not to slip on the ice on the ground as you rounded the corner.

But you felt someone grab your wrist, making you scream and fall. The person cursed as they tried to pull you up but you slid as far away as you could from them so you could see their face. It was Callisto Barsotti.

“What the fuck,” you yelled, trying to yank your wrist out of his iron-like grip. When that didn’t work you got ready to elbow him but he twisted your other arm behind you, causing you to scream.

“Not today you bastard,” he growled as he started to drag you. You screamed and tugged against him, and when he turned towards you, you stopped pulling against him and stomped on his foot, making sure to drag your snow boots against the skin on his shin.

Callisto let out a cry of pain and you pushed him away from you, letting yourself fall to the ground out of shock.

“You little gremlin,” Callisto stuttered out as he started limping towards you. You panicked as you tried to find something heavy to hit him with. A rock or anything would do. But you couldn’t find anything so you got up on trembling legs to run towards your car.

But you didn’t have to worry as a figure in red and yellow dropped by and wacked Callisto in the back of the head. Your eyes widened as Robin took this moment to start kicking the fallen boy. You don’t know how long you stared at him, but you snapped out of your daze once you started hearing cracking noises.

“Stop! Robin, please stop,” you cried desperately. But he didn’t stop, he continued to beat Callisto.

“Please stop,” you cried, whimpering as you knelt down near Robin. When he didn’t listen to you again, you leaned forward and grabbed his face, turning it towards you. You were going to tell him to stop again but you then felt a warm sensation, different from the coldness from the March air, followed by the feeling of a shock. Your soulmate, Robin was your soulmate.

He stared at you in shock, allowing you to pull him off of Callisto. You pushed him towards your car, and he stumbled since he was still staring at you as a look of understanding passed on his face.

“Look,” you said, inspecting the blood on Robin’s costume, “you need to listen to what I’m going to say carefully. Go to my car and grab the cleaning wipes from the trunk. Clean yourself off as I call the cops. The story is going to be that you were patrolling the area and heard my screams.”

Robin stared at you, mouth slightly open as he reached to touch you with a bare hand. You let his fingers ghost against your skin, the shock from before still present as you pulled back to stare at him.

“Go.”

*****

It's been over five hours since Robin beat Callisto. Not half to death like you had expected but still pretty bad since he had a broken nose, arm, and bruised ribs. As you waited in the police station for your parents to pick you up (“The gang that you described could always come back for you,” the officer had said), you could only think about how scary it was, watching Robin hit someone so many times with so much anger in him. In the end, your parents didn’t come and instead, your older brother had driven all the way from Metropolis to pick you up.

You both didn’t talk to each other during the ride back to your house but you could tell he was worried by the way his eyes would flicker to you. When you reached the gates to your house, your brother had parked the car and turned to look at you.

‘(Y/N), I have no idea what's going on with you right now but if you ever feel overwhelmed or alone, just tell me and I’ll take you with me back to Gran’s in Metropolis.”

You smiled at him, eyes tired but filled with a small spark as you exited his car, making sure to express your thanks with a kiss on his cheek. As you entered your house, you took off your shoes and slipped on your home slippers before going to your room and taking a shower. Drying your hair, you walked towards your windows to close your curtains, letting out a slight scream when you saw a hand pressed against the glass.

You sighed when you saw it was Robin and opened your window, letting him come inside to your room. He looked around your room, studying the many medals and certificates you had accumulated from the years along with the magazines you had in your room, before turning towards you.

“Hey,” you said, walking to him slowly. Robin licked his lips slightly as he stared at you before coughing.

“Can I please touch you,” he asked, his voice breaking slightly. You nodded and watched as he took off his right glove before caressing your cheek with his hand. You watched as he smiled when he felt the same spark from before, a breathless laugh escaping his lips as he took off his left glove so he could hold you with both hands. You shivered as his thumb ghosted over your bottom lip, eyes closing before snapping open when you couldn’t feel the warmth from Robin’s hands.

“Don’t freak out,” he whispered in your ear, “I’m just going to close the window and then dry your hair for you. Just go and sit down and I’ll be right there.”

You nodded and sat down at the chair in front of your vanity, watching as he closed your window and pulled the curtains before grabbing your towel. You smiled as you watched him in the mirror, massaging your head with your hands before wrapping your towel around your scalp.

“How come you never asked me what my name was,” Robin asked as he brushed through your hair.

“You’ll tell me when the time is right.”

*****

“I should’ve asked him what his name was,” you thought as you walked near an alley, waiting for a sign of Batman so you could ask him what happened to your soulmate.

A couple of months had passed since you had last seen Robin in April. He had looked angry when you both had met up at the diner and he had further worried you when he ignored the ringing of his phone. As soon as he had seen that you were tucked into bed, he had given you a peck on the forehead before leaving through your window.

You were worried for him. Dressing up as a traffic light every night was dangerous, no matter how much you loved going out there and beating up criminals. So you had been following Batman for months, trying to find a moment to ask him what happened to your soulmate. But you never had the opportunity since he always managed to lose you by either disappearing or by just leading you into a dead end.

Months of following Batman has helped you as you were now familiar with the rooftops of Gotham, like the roof of the veterinarian’s office near the diner you and Robin used to meet up at. Sitting with binoculars, you let out a small gasp when you saw a familiar flash of red and yellow, watching as it ran across a rooftop. Scrambling, you started following the figure, zigzagging around multiple large gaps that you couldn’t jump before cursing when you realized that he was gone.

“Why are you following me,” an unfamiliar voice asked behind you. You turned around and assessed the boy, taking note of the fact that he was taller than your Robin and didn’t seem to have the same half-smile-half-smirk that he did. But the only way to confirm, for your brain to tell your heart to stop searching would be direct contact.

“I can’t find someone,” you started, voice shaky as your eyes filled with tears. The boy’s mouth twisted in a slight frown but he still let you continue.

“I just need to check that you’re not my Robin. Please, let me just hold your hand briefly or something. I just need to know.”

At this point, you were crying. When he hadn’t returned the next day, you had started to panic, wondering if he had really left you and gone somewhere else. But that night, you had started out of your bed, wondering what had woken you up when you felt a hollowness inside of you.

The boy patted your shoulder sympathetically before offering his hand to you. Sniffling, you pulled his glove down slightly so his wrist was showing and touched it.

There were no sparks, no warmth, as you collapsed on the rooftop and cried.

Your Robin was no more.

*****

You smiled as you entered the diner, waving at Linda before taking the booth that you and Robin used to eat at. Six years had passed since you had learned that he was no more and even though it was hard most of the time, you always moved forward. You had graduated high school and gone forward to become a librarian, your choice mostly influenced by your late soulmate.

As you waited for Linda to bring out your regular order, you looked around the diner, recognizing everyone except for a man wearing a red sweatshirt. He was staring down at his phone but was now looking up at you when he felt your stare. You flushed slightly and gave him a wave before looking out of the window.

When Linda came out with your packed regular, you left after giving her a large tip. You had to go back to work.

*****

When Jason came back to life, he knew something was wrong.

After finding out that you were his soulmate, he felt this familiar warmth inside of him, similar to the feeling from when Bruce had first made him Robin. But after the pit, that feeling was multiplied tenfold, to the point that it felt like he was being burned from the inside out. And then the random sparks started.

The first time was when he was with Talia. It had been months since she had started training him, helping him remember a bit of who he was beforehand. When she grabbed his wrist, he felt a spark. It wasn’t the same familiar, welcomed spark with you but it was still a spark. He had brushed it off as static electricity, especially since Talia didn’t seem to have noticed.

But the sparks continued. He felt it frequently when people would hold him, touch him, brush against him. It was an annoyance at that point. A reminder that something was wrong with him, especially since he knew that you were his soulmate and that the others seemed to have not noticed the sparks.

So when Jason saw you walking home one night, he couldn’t help but follow you to make sure you got back safe, just like in the old days. Except for the fact that it’s not like the old days and he was malfunctioning. He was too scared to meet you; he was terrified of the idea that he might touch you and that there would be no spark anymore.

Jason had decided to only follow you home and keep you safe from the shadows, to never interact with you directly. So why exactly was he bleeding on your couch?

He watched as you helped him out of his leather jacket, eyes following your movements to the best of his abilities. He then watched as you pulled out a pair of scissors and started cutting the area he was shot.

Your eyebrows were furrowed and Jason couldn’t help but want to reach out and smooth them. Instead, he settled for helping you by peeling the square of his cut shirt away as you prepared the gauze to apply pressure.

His head was spinning and his breathing sounded labored even to his own ears but Jason didn’t want to take off his helmet in fear that you would recognize him from the red domino. But you seemed to have other plans as you reached your hands towards his head, still applying pressure to his wound with your knee.

He tried to avoid your hands but it was difficult to do when his head started to spin. He just watched as your hands reached out towards his helmet and opened it.

A small, selfish part of him wanted you to pull off the helmet and accept him, regardless of whether or not the spark was still there. But from the two years that he had known you, he knew that you’d accept him as Robin, but he wasn’t sure that you’d accept him as Red Hood.

Jason watched as your eyes widened at the sight of his red domino but you didn’t go as far as to peel it off. Instead, you turned your attention back to his wound, gathering more gauze to apply pressure.

As he lost consciousness, he watched as your concerned face entered his vision. And then he felt the fated spark, and all he could think about was how right it felt.

*****

When Jason woke up, he was surprised. By multiple things. For one, you hadn’t called the cops on him. The second thing being the fact that he was, in fact, fine and not dead: he had checked by pinching himself. The third was that his domino was still on his face. And the last being that he could hear your voice clearly, it was distinct, like music against his ears.

He listened as you spoke, not understanding what you were saying but knowing that you were reading Le Petit Prince. After all, one of the first things he did after coming back from the pit was listening to the audiobook, imagining what you would sound like.

He heard the page flip and decided that now would be a good time to open his eyes and sit up.

His sudden movement startled you. You both stared at each other before Jason croaked out a ‘hi’. He watched as your eyes filled with tears as you hugged Jason gently like he was the most delicate, expensive thing in the world.

“I missed you (Y/N),” Jason whispered against your shoulder, feeling the tears form in his eyes as he pulled back.

Your eyes flitted down to his wound with a concerned look but he tilted your head up, towards his face as he pulled the domino off.

He saw a look of recognition in your eyes, knowing for sure that they recognized him when you whispered ‘Jason Todd.’

He nodded, watching as you slowly extended your hands towards his face, caressing it as you skimmed your thumbs over his cheekbones.

“I’m a terrible person,” Jason whispered, looking down into his lap. You simply lifted his face, shaking your head.

“You’re not a terrible person Jason. You were a hero back when you were Robin and you’re a hero as the Red Hood. You’ve always been one. Now lie back down before you pull your stitches and tell me what you’ve been up to.”

Jason smiled as he laid his head across your lap, smiling as the sparks now seemed to dance across his skin in joy, happy that he was finally home.

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kikyan · 4 years ago

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The Forbidden Fruit

Yandere Light Yagami x Female! Reader

“ Don’t worry [Y/N], my brother is amazing at studying! We can ask him some questions and you’ll understand it also immediately!!” Sayu said as she walked inside her nice decorative home with [Y/N] following behind. She took off her shoes and put on slippers, with [Y/N] following her actions. Sayu went to the kitchen where her mom was preparing a meal to fully satisfy the family during dinner and their little guest.

“ Hey, Mom! Is light home yet? Me and [Y/N] need help with our homework!”

Turning to face Sayu, she removed the ladle from the steaming pot and tilted her head to ponder on a suitable answer.

“ He isn’t, I think he has cram school today. He’ll be a bit late so why don’t you guys get started on it now and skip over the ones you don’t know? I’m sure by the time he arrives you’ll be finished with a majority of it!”

“ Hm. . .Okay! Wait, [Y/N] how long can you stay?”

“ The latest I can stay is around 8. I live 3 blocks from here so I should be fine staying this late.”

“ Oh, then you can stay for dinner! In the meantime, let’s go to my room!”

[Y/N] and Sayu ran to her room, Sayu loudly speaking moving about grabbing pens and pencils as she sat down on her bed. Instead of doing her homework, she grabbed a nearby magazine and examined its contents.

“ Hey, [Y/N]! Come look at this!”

“ What happened to homework Sayu?”

“ Later! My big brother will help us so don’t worry! Hey, come look at this though! Isn’t it pretty?”

[Y/N] simply turned away with a pout on her face. She sighed as she reached into her backpack and pulled out her homework and began to work on it by herself. Sayu put her magazine down before chirping a small, “When you finish let me see the answers” and picked up where she left off.

[Y/N] grumbled a small, ‘ if you aren’t going to help then neither will I’ before focusing on a question. Sayu whined loudly before placing the magazine down and joining her friend on the floor.

“ Fine, if you want to do homework, we can do homework.”

“ Good, that is what I came here to do.”

“ You’re no fun.”

Sayu eventually gave in and began to do homework with [Y/N], stumped on some of the problems they ignored them. The front door was opened and soon enough Light entered the room as Sayu let out a happy gasp as she turned to [Y/N], “ Brothers home! You know what that means!”

“ Sayu, while we may need help you shouldn’t use your brother like that.”

“ Oh c’mon, he is super smart and top of his class, he doesn’t mind helping!”

“ Sayu. . .”

[Y/N] kept an emotionless expression as they witnessed Sayu running down the stairs with glee. [Y/N] felt that the least they could do was accompany Sayu to greet her older brother. Once [Y/N] walked downstairs, regret was deep inside their soul when Sayu made eye-contact with her friend.

“ Oh Light! Here, this is my friend [Y/N]!”

“ Oh hello. It’s nice to meet you.”

Light replied with a small smile as he turned to his mother who asked him about his grades and he replied with handing her a parchment in which his mother gasped at seeing them. A smile of delight played on her face as she tilted her head cutely. [Y/N] just turned away and nodded. Light was a bit tired, but he did not fail to see the strange expression on [Y/N]’s face as she looked at him.

“ I know my brother is popular but jeez [Y/N], drool much?”

“ Your brother is strange.”

“ If you mean strange in that he studies a lot then yes!”

With a laugh, Sayu turned away to return back to her room.

“ Isn’t he supposed to be helping us? I don’t think mocking him will do you any good, Sayu.”

Sayu gasped as she ran to Light’s room to apologize. [Y/N] sighed before grabbing her things, it was close to her curfew even though Sayu rarely did anything. Light’s mom smiled as she walked closer to [Y/N].

“ Say, aren’t you hungry dear? Dinner is ready, why don’t you get Sayu and Light and come down to eat? Have a bite before you leave, sweetie.”

“ Are you sure? I don’t want to impose.”

“ Nonsense dear! Any friend of Sayu is welcome here! My husband for once won’t be working that late, it’s rare to see everyone together so this will be great!”

[Y/N] felt a bit strange, her choice clearly had an impact, but still, she would feel even worse for not accepting. She ran upstairs, opening the door to Sayu’s room and shaking her head when she didn’t see her. She went to Light’s room and knocked on the door, after hearing a small ‘ Come in’ from the other side did she open the door. She saw Light in a black long-sleeved shirt and his dress pants. Sayu was begging him to help her with her homework, even pointing to you and saying that you were having difficulties with it as well.

“ Well. . . if [Y/N] is also struggling then I could offer to help.”

“ Why does she get special treatment?”

“ What do you mean, if she knew how to do it then you could just ask her, but if you both need help then I can help you both.”

“ Sayu, Light, your mother says that dinner is ready and that your father is coming home soon, also, I taught you how to do it Sayu, you just didn’t listen.”

Before she could even say anything, the moment the door was open, Sayu, bolted out of the door and ran to greet her father. [ Y/N ] stood there, confused momentarily before shaking her head once again and staring at the door.

“ Sorry, Sayu is a handful at times.”

“ More like all the time, no offense.”

“ None taken, though I think we shouldn’t tell her that.”

“ Maybe so, is Sayu close with her father?”

“ That’s just her typical reaction to anything really, besides we rarely see our father so I guess her behavior is acceptable.”

“ I see, does he work often?”

“ Yes he does, he is a police officer.”

“ Oh, I see. Anyway dinner is ready, your mother asked me to tell you.”

“ I’ll be down in a second.”

[Y/N] nodded, turning away slightly until she laid eyes on a black notebook. It was strange, wasn’t expected of Lights aesthetic, but she didn’t question much about it. Light turned to his notebook before hiding it away and turning to face the door.

‘ Her friend seems to be perceptive. . . I should be fine if I keep up with the appearance of a good role model citizen.’

Light finished his business and went downstairs to where they were all gathered around the table and waiting for Light. Once he made his way to the table, they consumed the meal that was prepared for them, light talk in between bites.

“ So dad, this is a rare sight. Is everything okay at the station?”

“ Yeah. . . I can’t say much but this case is putting a big scare on everyone. We’ve never had anything like the Kira case before.”

“ Kira?”

[Y/N] perked up at name and everyone was a bit surprised to see that she was a bit unaware of the situation.

“ You aren’t aware of the news?”

“ Gosh [Y/N] the whole school talks about it!”

“ I’m sorry for not paying attention to what they say, most of the time no one has anything worth listening to.”

A deep, loud laugh was heard as Sayu’s dad chuckled a bit, before turning to Sayu, “ I think I like your friend a lot more Sayu.”

Light cleared his throat before proceeding, “ Kira is more of a vigilante, he is known for “cleaning up” the streets by killing the criminals in it. Essentially, he is taking justice into his own hands. It wasn’t until the detective known as L broadcasted a video feed that he determined that he only needed a face and a name to kill. The internet is full of information like that, I’m also surprised you didn’t hear about it.”

[Y/N] paid more attention when ‘L’ was mentioned, she started to deduce her own ideas inside. Sayu looked at her friend and with a snarky smile, “ So, are you team Kira or L?”

“ Sayu!”

“ Sayu, we talked about this!”

“ What, I wanted to see what it was.”

“ It doesn’t matter, your father is on this case so it’s disrespectful!”

“ No, it’s alright, anyone is entitled to their opinion. It doesn’t change the fact that we are determined to stop Kira.”

Light stared at his father and his expression, this did not go unnoticed by [Y/N]. She finished her meal and went to wash the plate.

“ Oh dear, please don’t worry about the plate. I can do that.”

“ So can I ma’am, it’s the least I can do in exchange for all the kindness you showed me.”

[Y/N] finished washing her plate and grabbed her bag, thanking the family and putting her shoes on. Sayu’s mother walked to the entrance and thanked [Y/N] for being Sayu’s friend and for everything she has done. [Y/N] nodded and thanked the woman for her kindness and hospitality.

“ It’s late, Light can walk you home. Can’t you Light?”

“ No, that’s okay. I don’t want to impose-”

“ Nonsense, he would be happy to take you. Just a moment, Light sweetie? Can you take [Y/N] home?”

Light nodded before grabbing his coat and headed outside with [Y/N]. As they were walking, silence fell upon them like snow, until Light attempted to lighten the mood and start small talk.

“ Thank’s for looking after Sayu, ever since she met you she has been more excited.”

“ You can say it, she’s been more annoying huh?”

“ Well, I wouldn’t put it like that. . .”

“ It’s okay, besides, it’s Sayu I should be thanking. I recently moved here, and it was Sayu who helped me make friends. I know I don’t look it, sound it, or am that person, but I care a lot for her.”

With a soft smile, Light looked at [Y/N] before continuing his talk. It wasn’t until a bit later did they talk about Kira.

“ I know that we were a bit loud back there, but I want to hear your opinions, who do you go for?”

“ Oh, the L and Kira talk, well, it sounds to me that Kira is doing everyone a favor and killing the criminals, the crime rate will go down from the looks of it, with everyone fearing it, but I think that too much power can get into Kira’s head and he can start hurting innocent people. I don’t have enough information on them to make a decision, but I know that L is a good detective, he might find Kira, or Kira can upstage him, who knows. Personally, I think that he isn’t setting a good example, he kills other while he hates them killing. Ironic really. I have different opinions on both, but I wouldn’t call myself a Kira or L supporter just yet.”

“ I see, I would love to hear your thoughts when you do!”

“ Okay. . . anyway’s this is my house, thanks for walking me back. Thank your mom for the meal and tell Sayu that I wrote her how to solve the problems on her sticky note.”

“ I will, it was nice meeting you!”

“ Likewise. . “

Both separated, Light went home and [Y/N] inside hers. It was dark and cool, she went into her room and looked out the window, Light was walking and for some reason, his lips were moving? Was he talking to himself? His lips were more like, trying to remain quiet, there was no one around and it gave the impression that he was being too cautious. Just what was Light Yagami?

It was a normal day, like any other, someone else died so it was whatever at this point. [Y/N] sighed as she sat in her chair and focused on the board, it was hard to remain awake. Sayu noticed this and leaned over to whisper, “ Didn’t get much sleep?”

“ Pay attention Sayu, I can’t come over everyday can I?”

“ Well no, but I should be fin-!?”

Sayu panicked when the teacher slammed her desk before continuing her discussion, Sayu sent [Y/N] a sour expression as [Y/N] laughed. She stayed up all night this week to read up on the Kira case, L, the killings, everything. It sounded like Kira has a power that is strange to everyone, but they had limits. If anything, she was leaning more towards the L side of anything. Someone who thinks that they have infinite power will more than likely think of themselves as highly. She was just waiting for a chance to prove that. While she didn’t participate in them, she lingered whenever someone wanted to argue about the cases to hear their opinion, in short, they suck.

She was walking one weekend, she came back from the store when she saw Light in town. He was just leaving as well so he decided to walk with her. She was thankful enough and the small talk turned into a conversation, at first he asked a bit about her thoughts and that was when she revealed some of them.

“ What I fear is Kira straying off his ideology and hurting others, other than that I don’t have many issues with him. L is more entertaining in my opinion, this whole battle is.”

“ Oh, well I see. What do you think Kira’s end goal is?”

“ A better society, that’s why he is getting rid of the criminals at least, I only hope it’s only bad guys.”

After a short conversation, they encountered a small dog as [Y/N] went to pet it, for some reason the dog was fixed on Light.

“ I think the dog likes you Light.”

“ You think so?”

“ He seems to like staring at you, or more like someone next to you, but there is nothing there, or is there?”

‘ Did she touch the notebook?’

Light questioned it while looking at [Y/N] as she was looking at something other than Light, she was looking straight at Ryuk. Light turned to look at Ryuk, turning back to [Y/N]. Ryuk moved to the side and while the dog’s eyes followed, [Y/N] did the same.

“ It’s a joke.”

Light changed his expression to one of amusement as he laughed a bit. Deep in his mind he was worried, was she playing with him?

“ You know, I had a friend back then before I moved that told me that animals can sense or see the things we can’t. She mentioned that animals can also see ghosts and impure things. It is rumored that when a dog barks, but there is nothing out there is because they are trying to drive out the evil spirit or alert others. Who knows, it was fixated on something next to you, maybe you’re being haunted or something.”

“ Haha, well, I don’t think we are but who knows, maybe you are right.”

Light glared at Ryuk as he was cackling.

‘ That was a close one wasn’t it Light, to think that this whole operation would have been blown off by a little girl. If anything, you aren’t being haunted by a spirit, more like you accepted the spirit.’

“ Hey, Light, how do you deal with it?”

“ Deal with that?”

“ School and stuff, you seem to work hard to keep up your grades and I dunno, it seems stressful. You must either have a good coping method for it or you really like studying.”

“ Well, I have other hobbies that help me relax, but I rarely get stressed. Why do you ask?”

“ I dunno, don’t want to see you bottle everything up and then explode on us.”

“ You’re really kind, you know that?”

At the sound of this compliment, [Y/N] turned into a darker shade as she looked away. She was never good with compliments but nonetheless, while she was embarrassed, she accepted them.

“ What do. . .you mean. . .”

“ Although you have difficulty expressing it [Y/N], you seem to be emotionally connected with people. I guess it’s rare to see someone so kind, just like you said, it’s hard to find people who have something worth saying you know?”

“ Most people are assholes, excuse my language, but they are like a test. If you can notice flaws in others, you can avoid having those with yourself. If you see someone insulting others, then you’ll try to perfect yourself to not be like them, you’ll try not to insult others but people like them are fair game. It’s just something strange I thought of but, while it would be nice to not have them in society, it’s hard to picture one without since we are so used to it. I guess we kinda need people like them in life for us to be better, I honestly have no clue I’m just a teenage girl after all.”

“ You have an interesting take on your views, did Kira impact it?”

“ Actually, yes. Both Kira and L, the whole battle really. One is fighting for a better society and it gets you thinking if Kira is a bad guy or not, then you have L who strives for order in society but is trying to rid of us the one thing that keeps us safe. I see both really, fear conditions you to not act out since you fear punishment, but laws do the same, if anything its similar, just that this lesson, laws start to morph into morals that society just follows. Both shape society, one is faster and the other takes years to perfect. Anyway’s sorry for geeking out on you, thanks again for walking me home Light. Give your family my greetings, hope to see you soon.”

[Y/N] thanked Light one last time with a small bow before proceeding to enter her home. Light only looked at her before waving off and leaving with Ryuk following Light.

‘ Isn’t she perceptive? Well, if anything at least she seems to be a supporter of Kira.’

“ No, she isn’t, not yet at least. She is stuck in the middle and I want to ensure that she chooses right.”

‘ Since when do you care over who is in line with who?’

“ Well, after all, if I want to make this world a better place I need to know who is worthy and who isn’t. [Y/N] is no exception. She is kind and I think her mindset is compassionate and understanding, but I don’t think that she has enough to convert herself to a Kira worshiper her. Everyone labels either Kira as a savior or as a murderer and I think that we need to clear his name up a bit.”

‘ Oh? Is she really this important?’

“ She seems to understand Kira’s ideology as much as I do, even though I am him. She is more than fitting in my new world.”

‘ Sounds like you’re in love with a teenager who is a couple of years younger than you.’

“ If anything, you should stop talking to me in public, others can’t see you but when I talk to you others notice and it’s weird.”

‘ Love. . . ‘ Light pondered on that thought, sure there were plenty of girls who had a crush on him and more, he didn’t think much of it but it was strange. Was he in love? All those other girls who confessed to him seemed to think otherwise, they never cared much for their studies much less cared enough for anything aside from appearance. Yet here [Y/N] was, a diamond in the rough, someone who would think, had views that he was interested in hearing. She could be someone interesting to converse with even if he wasn’t under the influence of the notebook. [Y/N] wasn’t like most people in society who went on with their day to day life and believed anything, [Y/N] thought outside the box and tried to understand everyone and everything, she would benefit this new world more, but more importantly, she would benefit Light more.

[Y/N] put her groceries away at a fast pace, skipping past the post-it note that read, ‘ Back at 6 ‘. She ran to her room and grabbed her journal and logged into the internet and began to log into the site that was used for supporting Kira.

‘ Kira, one of my bullies was being mean to me, robbed me of my money and went to target others, even threatening to hurt my little brother. Kira please, give justice and rid us of scum like him. His name is XXX and this is his picture.’

“ Needs a name and face and doesn’t have to be in direct contact.”

‘ The police are trying to destroy our peaceful society, we must get rid of them for Kira, they need to understand that Kira is doing what they could never!’

“ Light’s dad is working the Kira case, how far is he into it? It’s probably nothing but. . . there could be something supernatural happening. There is no weapon out there that is used liked that, and that thing with Light and the dog? Should be nothing . .”

[Y/N] wrote in her journal, thinking much about the conflict. If anything, she was more in favor of L, he was a world star detective and she loved crime-solving so of course, she studied up on what was known about him. L was right in most aspects, there are some jobs where being a bad apple doesn’t cut it and even in a job setting, you can’t give someone who is ‘bad’ power that they can abuse. Essentially, the power that Kira has is what is making him think he is some god and that is dangerous, Kira will stop at nothing to get what he wants if that is his ideology and that includes hurting others, even those he swore to protect. L wants to establish order and although he is a bit reckless, he craves for a society that understands right from wrong in a more law centered area, since morals are the individual’s thoughts and ideas.

[Y/N] knew that while those who acted unfavorably deserved worse, death is too sweet for them, but also logically we need them to prove a point to others. [Y/N] sighed when she finished her notes, she suspected a lot but she needed to go over more to hear what she could about the case to reach a conclusion on who she thinks is Kira.

It was like any other day, one that was peaceful as much as you would in a world with Kira and L battling it out, Sayu invited [Y/N] to their house for dinner and for help on their homework. Sadly her father wouldn’t be joining them due to work so [Y/N] decided to snoop around to see what she could find. They were in Light’s room getting help as he repeated what he told Sayu previously regarding the work. Light was busy looking at [Y/N] as she looked at her notebook, she finished her homework ages ago but for the sake of it, she pretended as if she was struggling too. Light was growing concerned more and more, if anything was he feeling love toward [Y/N]? He thought too much on it, if he did love her this would be awkward, he was almost a school graduate and she was barely entering high school, but above all, she was more of a guilty pleasure and she still hasn’t sided with Kira completely. It was infuriating to see someone he cared so much about not understand him all that well, but no matter, he knew what he had to do and his plan was already in motion. He just needed to show her how nice Kira was.

‘ He is staring at me. . . what does he want? I shouldn’t think too much on it but. . . there is something strange about Light. His expressions, they seem so. . . so fake. I wonder what he is hiding.’

Dinner was soon called and [Y/N] stayed behind a little longer to clean up her things, Light trusting that no one would find the compartment to the notebook, but still couldn’t be too safe, could you? Light stayed close as [Y/N] placed her pencils in her pouch, the moment he turned his back, [Y/N] started to look around the room.

‘ For a model student he sure is basic, but whatever, I’m trying to find information on Kira and the case. . .what is this?’

At that moment, she noticed a pen, that seemed to be broken apart but not in any bad shape, as it was purposely broken apart. Was Light some kis genius who had a weird fixation with breaking things? Maybe. [Y/N] was looking around and around, but there was nothing strange. It wasn’t until she stepped on the controller and there was the channel that covered a lot regarding Kira and the criminals, almost as if they were handing them to Kira themselves. Nothing uncommon, it was a popular show after all, but the off-putting thing about the whole thing was how everything fit regarding his persona. Light’s expression when Kira was mentioned as if he wanted it to be acknowledged. No matter, there was nothing of use at all in this room so she went down to eat with the rest.

After dinner, for reasons untold, it was earlier than usual so it was nothing too surprising when [Y/N] offered herself to walk home, leaving the Yagami household to settle earlier than usual. As she was walking there was a sound, a large sound alerted her to turn around as she was met with a face, this person had bloodshot eyes and wore all black, but above anything, they were carrying a bloodied knife. [Y/N] fumbled a bit as she tried to run away and the figure started to chase her down.

‘ W-why now? W-who is he?’

[Y/N] panicked as she ended up getting tackled by the figure, she panicked as she struggled until he lifted the knife to her neck as she let out a small breath. Fearing that even the slightest breath could get her cut. The figure was breathing rapidly, hyperventilating even.

‘ I-is he on drugs?’

Soon, the figure stopped breathing altogether and slummed forward, the knife that he had fallen next to him. His whole body was slumped forward and pressed up against [Y/N]. Her breath escalated, turning to the figure and letting out a large screech and throwing him over.

“ [Y/N]? Hey, what happened?!”

[Y/N] scrambled away from the body as she looked up to see the person who called her name. Her eyes widened in fear as she met those wth concern of Light.

‘Light. . . Light, Light Yagami. .’

“ [Y/N] who is he? Are you alright?”

Nodding, [Y/N] shakingly pointed to the man, Light’s eyes tracing back and touching the man, his felt no pulse. His eyes darted to the knife as she looked over at [Y/N] with concern all over his face.

“ Did he do anything to you [Y/N]?”

“ N-no, I think he passed out beforehand. S-should we call the cops?”

“ Yeah, I’m already on it.”

Light called the cops and explained the situation as [Y/N] glared at Light. Light was the first one to arrive at the scene and he was somewhat calm about. Light has been acting suspiciously this entire time, it’s safe to consider Light a possible suspect. What scared [Y/N] more, was that she could see his face lifting, more as if he was smiling. Case closed, Light had something to do with this, Light had to be Kira.

[Y/N] was in her home taking a bath. The cops came to the scene and took care of everything, to her suspicion, his death was a heart attack. The police assumed that it was Kira once again as this man had no previous health history that put him in any risk for one.

“ I’m sorry you had to experience something frightful, I am only thankful that my son was there to help you Miss [L/N].”

“ Don’t worry about it. . thank you for your work sir.”

“ Of course, Light, see to it that she gets home safely.”

Light nodded and walked her home. It was nothing that far, but they had small talk along the way.

“ Hey Light, do you really think it was Kira?”

“ Possibly, the man had a heart attack as the rest and he was apparently a wanted criminal so if anything that is enough to consider it. If Kira did, how do you feel?”

“ Well, I guess I owe Kira my life, after all, he did save me. Then again, it’s my own experience so I guess that isn’t enough evidence, but I think that Kira is someone who won’t stray off his path and will continue to be justice!”

Light let out a chuckle and turned to the side. He was smiling proudly, he won over [Y/N], he did it. She understood Kira’s ideology and believed in him. She would make a perfect companion in this world he seeks to create. Once they reached her house, [Y/N] thanked him and went inside her home with Light bidding her a good night.

Recalling the end of the eventful night, [Y/N] got out to the bath and changed. She clicked on the T.V and a program started as she wrote in her journal.

‘ Light was there almost immediately after, it wasn’t that far from where I was, his house was close by so they should have heard something.’

‘ Light kept asking me about Kira, and when I told him I was a Kira supporter he seemed happy.’

‘ Kira killed my assailant.’

“ This just in, we have reports of a criminal that was announced on T.V at 7 was killed today around 8:48 PM! Does this mean that Kira struck again?”

“ Of course he did! Kira knows that his loyal followers would present him with scum that the world has! He killed [ Criminal Name ] to show us that he hears us, we must show him more devotion!”

‘ [Criminal Name], that’s who attacked me. . . that’s the channel that was in Lightroom. . .the ability to kill someone with a name and face would be something supernatural, the dog looking next to Light and moving his eyes, Light and his fake smiles, the fact that Kira was changing patterns when it was revealed by the cops this, Light’s dad is a cop. . .Light is Kira. . .’

[Y/N] eyes widened as she tried hard to compose her argument that she would present to the task force, to L himself.

“ Light, you fucking bastard. I caught you.”

The next day, [Y/N] dressed up and went to the police station. She talked to those in front, “ Please you have to let me see L or the chief, I have information that can help with the case.”

“ Sorry, but they are busy. You can leave a message and we can deliver it.”

“ No I can’t risk the information I have, when are they not busy?”

“ It’s the Kira case, now run along.”

“ [Y/N]? What are you doing here?”

“ Light. . . oh nothing. Just trying to get more information on what happened yesterday.”

“ Don’t worry, what happened yesterday won’t happen again. If you want to know I can ask my father, but don’t worry about it.”

[Y/N] nodded before returning home and leaving Light alone to attend his business. It was a shock, Light was there and so was [Y/N], she didn’t realize how hard it would be to tell them that Light is Kira. She also let it slip her mind that Light was the Cheifs son, it would be devastating to hear that your son is a wanted criminal. She was chilling in her room until someone ran her doorbell. She went downstairs and was met with an old man as she smiled and asked for [Y/N].

“ Is this [Y/N]?”

“ Yes?”

“ I see, well please come with me. You have some information present regarding the Kira case? L is interested in what you have to say. With that, [Y/N] smiled before nodding and going inside the car. She was blindfolded during the car ride but that was to be expected. She was also blindfolded when she was taken to see L, but it was taken off when they were in the room. She was met with a man with messy black hair, white long-sleeved shirt, blue jeans, and dark eye bags.

“ You must be miss [Y/N] [L/N] right?”

“ Yes, you must be L, right? Sorry to bother you but I think I know who Kira is. It’s just a guess right now but I think it’s him, no, some part of me knows it’s him!”

“ And who would that be?”

“ Light Yagami.”

“ I see, so you suspect him too.”

“ You do as well?”

“ Yes I do, in fact, I know it is him. I wonder what makes you think that?”

“ Well, I believe that the way he kills isn’t from this world, it can’t be. It has to be something else, while I don’t know what it is, it leaves some trace. I and Light were walking and I know it sounds silly but there was this dog and he kept staring at something that wasn’t there, even Light saw it but I couldn’t! It was strange, he didn’t tell me he saw it, but his eyes were matching those of the dog. Besides, he was watching T.V once and for some reason it was on that channel that broadcasts those criminals and for some reason, [Criminal Names] ended up attacking me the same day! Light’s dad is a cop, so it would make sense for him to access information and such, besides, Light hides behind his appearance. When I was attacked and he called the cops, I swore I saw him smile!”

“ Calm down, I think this is interesting. Your reasoning is good and you’re very observant, but you see I have a similar issue. It’s Light, Light is Kira, but I can’t find any evidence that proves it’s him, therefore I propose something. Do you want to work for me?”

“ I-!?”

“ Ryuzaki, are you sure?”

“ Yes, I am Watari, besides, she is close to Light, if anything she can be the key to get more evidence against him.”

“ I accept!”

“ Why don’t you consider this more carefully Miss, Ryuzaki can manage just fine if you say no.”

“ No, I accept! I’ve always had my views towards Kira, sure he gets rid of the criminals, but someone with that power, I fear who they might hurt to continue this path. Besides, Light has been lying this whole time, he needs to be put away.”

L looked at the female with amusement in his eyes, he was intrigued with her. It seemed that she was determined, something he admired a lot. He nodded and told her of his plan, she would try what she could to gain information from Light and try to get evidence for the task force. [Y/N] was happy to meet L, if anything she was happy that for once she was seen as her age, she was given a responsibility and she would not fail. Since then, she had been reporting to Light, even when L made himself public to Light as well. [Y/N] had been operating in the shadows, she had been visiting Sayu recently, having talks with Light and doing homework with Sayu, luckily everything was fine. [Y/N] met Misa, who was a little too upset with the whole Light kinda paying more attention to her and Sayu, but he was just trying to be a good older brother. All the commotion happened, as [Y/N] did nothing but report. She didn’t buy the whole girlfriend act so she looked more into it.

“ So you think Misa knows?”

“ Yes, Light’s expressions mask annoyance and hatred so I highly doubt he likes her, she either knows and he is keeping her alive for that, or she is being used/went willingly with him. It’s a little toxic, to be honest.”

“ Now we aren’t one to comment on Light’s relationship status [Y/N], but still, this is intriguing. We both came to the conclusion that there was a second Kira, my suspicion of her has risen. Thank you for this information [Y/N].”

“ Of course anything to help out!”

[Y/N] thanked L before heading out. She was thankful for this job and opportunity. Although she didn’t find much, she assisted a lot in the investigation, and it was even worse when L and Watari were killed.

Tears streamed down [Y/N] face as she was informed of his passing by someone else, finding out that Light was the one to take his place. If anything, she was repulsed. Disgusted, the same murderer that killed L and others, posing as the lead detective? There were so many wrongs with that, she had to do something. Miraculously, someone with the name N reached out to her regarding the situation, 5 years later. Light ended up moving in with Misa, but he was always around constantly messaging [Y/N] about his sister and about her. It was no surprise that she was informed of many things, she was introduced to the task force later while L was still alive, talking about how she was someone who went undercover. He would ask her constantly about her thoughts and she would have to answer how she would normally take into consideration that she is communicating with the devil himself. [Y/N] was now a 20-year-old female, working secretly with N, or near regarding everything. Taking into consideration the information that L had and what [Y/N] had to say. They did well to keep [Y/N] a secret from Light though, she was a secret that remained deep within the task force, Light would, no should never know that she was involved. She would speak about what she knew, the death note and possible fake rule, etc.

[Y/N] got a message from Light, asking her out for a coffee to speak about somethings. She normally would brush it off, had it not been for Near saying she should go and see what he wants. She hesitantly agreed, choosing to go. The conversation was one that was a bit bland, for someone keeping contact with the other for so long.

“ How have you been [Y/N]?”

“ Good and you?”

“ I’ve been preoccupied and with Misa, it’s hard to keep track.”

“ That must be a bummer, but hey wouldn’t she be mad? I mean you’re hanging out with a girl now, not your little sister’s friend.”

“ It’s not like we are something after all.”

Light forced himself to say those things. It is true that they haven’t been in contact for so long, but she had been there every step of the way. She had supported him in so much, she wasn’t as smart as him, but she also wasn’t like Misa who was acting than thinking. [Y/N] opened her mind for anything and everything, she was someone who understood a dream and passion and helps both the pros and cons to it, both sides, understanding o anything, someone that was suitable, a role model even in his new world that he was constructing. Light was always interested in her, he just couldn’t say anything. Misa came into the picture and he had to obey and act as the perfect boyfriend. He thought he almost lost his grasp on you had it not been for the fact that you still stayed close to him, almost as if you wanted him too, right?

“ Yeah, we aren’t anything. You aren’t that kind of person for sure, but any leads in the Kira case? I mean, you told me that you were made chief on the investigation, along with L so I am interested in learning what it is you know about Kira, sure I understand that you have to capture him but, I’m sure he had a reason.”

“ You mean a reason to kill L right?”

The silence was in the cafe, [Y/N] panicked, no she didn’t slip up, god that wire that Near had planted in her better be picking this up because this wasn’t part of the plan.

“ I thought L was alive, Light you better not be joking-?!”

“ Now why would I joke about his death, besides N is there to confirm it, isn’t he.”

“ When?”

“ Since you visited the task force. Believe it or not, I tend to keep great tabs on those that matter, I need, or I want.”

“ I see, you knew the whole time. Including what L meant to me and you still had the fucking audacity, why haven’t you killed me yet? Surely I must have been a mole in the plan, some bug worth squashing right?”

“ Because I want you [Y/N]. You matter a lot more than you think to me, in this new world that I am planning on creating, I want you to be the first person welcomed in there, ruling next to me.”

“ What? I thought Misa, who was the second owner would do that.”

“ I needed her eyes, you must have known from all your notes. 5 years ago you suspected me, and now you know. Yes, I did kill L, the Death note is in my possession, I am lying to the police, I am Kira, I am the God of this new world, and you shall be next to me to judge all these souls.”

“ Why me?”

“ Simply put, back then you were struggling to pick a side, I thought I won you over but then I realized, you are better than me at putting up appearances. I see why L trusted you a lot more than us, but one thing I learned is that the mind can be persuaded a lot. I understood a lot more than you realized, you are understanding, compassionate if anything you see both sides of the same coin and I admire that about you. You have a voice in the matter, unlike these brainless fools, you see my true vision, you see me for me. You see past Kira’s actions and more of his motives!”

“ All I see is a fucking murderer, but go off I guess.”

A small chuckle was released by Light as he turned to face you and whispered in [Y/N]’s ear, ‘ The wire you were wearing is of no use anymore, anything I said wasn’t even recorded. Isn’t that lovely, you’re mine and believe me, I will cleanse your mind from his poison.”

“ What about Misa? What about everyone. They will find me.”

“ They will find the notebook that I made, one that has your name in it and they will think that you died. No one will find someone they think is dead.”

“ Kira, you’re nothing but a killer.”

“ No, this was a sacrifice I had to make, and believe it, it was worth it for this, for you. This is the fruit of my labor, of our labor.”

“ I had nothing to do in this ploy-!?”

“ Oh, but you did! DON’T YOU SEE. YOU WERE ON MY MIND THE ENTIRE TIME I KILLED THEM. I DID THIS FOR YOU, FOR US, FOR THE FUTURE.”

Light composed himself before returning back to his usual self.

“ This was a sacrifice we had to make if I told Misa to kill herself, she would. That would be too obvious though, so I’ll keep her around and you hidden. Just like L kept you hidden, history is repeating itself but only for a moment, we are looking at a new era [Y/N] one that I know you’ll understand, one that you will come to understand again. If you think about it, I’m cleansing your mind once again. You’ll experience what it is to taste

The Forbidden Fruit~

#yandere #yandere x reader #yandere x darling #yandere x y/n #yandere headcanons #yandere oneshot #yandere death note #yandere light yagami #yandere light #yandere light x reader #light yagami #death note

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olivia-anderson-fanfic · 4 years ago

Text

Another One?!, Part 2

First > Next

Years passed them by. It’s funny how that happens when no one in the house has a distinct schedule to follow.

The hours blending together was actually really good for them as vigilantes. People couldn’t just plan around their normal patrolling hours.

Also, it meant that they could take days off without anyone thinking much of it.

Like today.

He glared at his reflection, touching his hair for the millionth time in an attempt to fix it. Or, rather, un-fix it. He was going for a messier look, why couldn’t he just get it to cooperate?

He gave his wife a pleading look. “Help?”

She clicked her tongue and looked him up and down a few times to get a gauge for his outfit (which he had purposely made too vague for her to get an idea of what they were doing) then rested her hands on her hips. “Well, I’d love to help…”

“But…?”

“But I can’t use my expertise unless I know where we’re going. There’s certain looks for different occasions, after all.”

He sighed. “C’mon…”

She bit her lip. “Fine. Just tell me how formal I need to be.”

“Casual…” He hesitated as he mulled it over. “But not jeans casual, more like day-dress casual. And wear darker colors, you could get stains on it.”

“There, was that so hard?”

He raised his eyebrow at her. “Considering I’m sure you’ve now guessed the surprise, I’m going to say yes.”

She gave him a cheeky grin and a wink.

He pouted. Man. He’d been so careful about keeping everything a secret from her. It was their tenth anniversary, he’d wanted to surprise her. He’d pulled out all the stops, even using cash for the tickets so she wouldn’t have an easy way to trace the payments.

Only to have it spoiled because of his hair.

Dang.

Then, she laughed and he thought that maybe it wasn’t so bad that she’d found out. The smile was worth it.

She reached up and started running her fingers through his hair. “As always, your problem is that you use too much hair gel… you never learn, do you…?”

“Maybe I do it on purpose to make you mess with my hair.”

She gave him a skeptical look and then pulled away. “Done. Time to get ready for… a carnival…? No… a circus.”

He pouted.

Marinette gave him another one of those laughs before slipping into the bathroom to change.

Two hours later they sat in a circus tent. Front-row seats, of course, they weren’t stingy.

She rested her head on his shoulder as they waited for everything to start. He stole some of her popcorn and smiled at the halfhearted glare he earned. His smile dropped when she dropped some onto his head. He pulled away from her to try and pick the pieces out.

“C’mon, Mari, my hair took so long. The paparazzi always checks on us on our anniversaries. I’m a model, you can’t do this to me --.”

And then the lights dimmed. And the ringmaster walked out.

The both of them tensed. The crowd was buzzing with excitment, but the two vigilantes gave each other wary looks. The ringmaster seemed almost anxious, his knuckles white on his cane.

Still, he gave a brilliant smile to the crowd as he announced the first act.

They relaxed the longer they watched. Nothing seemed to be going wrong, the contortionist was absolutely fine. So was the person doing aerial silks, and the clowns, the snake charmer…

Maybe the ringmaster was just new. He seemed to be growing more and more confident with each act. False alarm.

But then the trapeze artists came onstage.

Marinette murmured something about their outfits that he didn’t catch but knew was insulting.

The young performer smiled and waved to the crowd, then started climbing the opposite ladder as his parents.

The mom grabbed ahold of the trapeze and smiled as she hooked her knees over the bar, then held her hands out for her husband. The man jumped out and caught her hands.

And then the wire snapped.

The couple barely had a chance to scream before they hit the dirt.

The tent was completely silent.

And then the chaos started. Parents rushed to cover their kids’ eyes, people stumbled over each other as they ran, others surged forward to see better.

He could feel Marinette hop the railing in front of them to go check their pulses. There was no need, everyone could see it plainly, but she still tried.

Adrien didn’t move, his eyes locked on the kid.

He was standing there. He was hugging himself tightly, shaking, tears spilling over his cheeks.

He needed help.

A hand wrapped around his wrist. Marinette was pulling him out of the tent. He didn’t want to leave the kid alone but he couldn’t do that as Adrien Agreste. They needed to transform.

It took way too long to find a hiding place because people were already hiding in every obvious place they could think of. After a while they just broke into a trailer and dropped some money on the counter as an apology, unable to waste any more time.

They ran back into the tent and found that, to their horror, the police were there already.

Marinette mumbled a curse. “You deal with the kid, I’m going to steal some evidence before they get rid of it all.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek and then practically disappeared.

Adrien found his way over to the child, who had been covered in a shock blanket. They flinched when he got closer and he gave his most award-winning smile as he held up his hands in surrender. “Hey, I don’t want to hurt you, I promise.”

They looked kind of skeptical, but they did scoot over a little on their bench so he could sit down.

He sat as far away as he could, setting his baton at his feet carefully. “What’s your name, kiddo?”

His eyes never wavered from the front of the tent. It was like he was waiting for something or someone, but Adrien couldn’t guess what.

“Dick.”

“Well, Dick, do you have any family that I can take you to?”

Maybe that was what he was waiting for --?

“No.”

His smile disappeared. Ah. Not great.

He followed his gaze to the door and mulled everything over.

The kid didn’t seem to be in much of a rush, the shock was wearing off but it would still make the passage of time kind of weird for him. Adrien could take the time to think his next words through.

He’d met kids who had lost their last remaining family members before. Sometimes Marinette and Adrien just couldn’t get there in time and she wouldn’t be able to bring them back. It was an inevitable and unfortunately common part of their jobs. But every single time felt like a punch to the gut.

But he couldn’t let that show, not really.

He watched the kid out of the corner of his eyes. You always base your approach on how the kid is reacting in the moment. Some wanted open comfort, but this one didn’t want that if the way he’d flinched when Adrien had come close was any indication. Others wanted to just talk, also not going to happen considering the short answers he’d been given thus far. This kid seemed to just want to be left alone, but leaving a child in a vulnerable state was never a good idea.

So, what was he supposed to do?

He sighed. “I’m really sorry about what happened, these kinds of accidents --.”

“It wasn’t an accident.”

Adrien blanked. “Sorry?”

“It wasn’t an accident.” Dick hugged the blanket tighter around himself. “There was two guys. Mean-looking. Tried to get Mr. Haly to do some… protection payments? Left all mad and stuff. Said they would get paid or get payback.”

He was so shocked that the kid had given an answer with more than a few words in it that his brain buzzed right past the information he was given and he had to backtrack to actually process it.

And, when he did, his fists clenched.

“Did they mention any names?” He asked quietly, fighting to keep his voice level. This was still a kid who needs help, he couldn’t allow his anger to mess that up.

“Zucco.”

Adrien filed that information away for later and then gave the kid a once-over. They were no longer staring at the door, instead just fidgeting under their blanket. It was good that they were coming out of shock, but he doubted that Dick would see it that way. The numbness would be wearing off soon, and the feelings that would come to take its place would be painful.

He did the only thing he could think of: try and distract the kid. Good to see he’s passing on the unhealthy coping mechanisms.

“Hey, are you going to stay in the circus?”

“Can I?” Said Dick. He didn’t seem all that excited, just confused. As if he hadn’t thought that an option.

Adrien shrugged. “I mean, there’s that whole thing about ‘running away and joining the circus’. Even if they force you into an orphanage, you can probably just come back here.”

“I hear orphanages suck.”

True. He doubted that Dick would get the mental health treatment he needed (if he got any at all) and the money at those kinds of places were always stretched thin, especially in Gotham. He didn’t like the idea of sending the kid there, but what other choices did he have?

Before he could really think of an answer a hand clapped itself over his shoulder.

He barely even looked back. He knew who it was going to be. He fought back a groan.

“Ross,” he said, the smile on his face becoming more strained. He wasn’t going to fight in front of Dick, the kid was already stressed enough. “Nice to see you again.”

The cop didn’t seem all that concerned about niceties, his grip tightening on Adrien’s shoulder. “Get away from my witness.”

“He has a name. And he doesn’t know anything. Leave him alone.”

Dick frowned. “But I --.”

Marinette popped up out of nowhere, arms crossed over her chest as she openly glared at the officer. “You guys should keep better track of the evidence you actually do have, someone might take it.”

Officer Ross went pale and then ran to his partner to ask where the evidence was.

Adrien was also pale, though for different reasons. This kid didn’t know that the police were corrupt and that telling them anything would likely end in him getting killed? He couldn’t let that happen. Where could he keep him that they wouldn’t check? An orphanage or the circus wouldn’t work, those would be the first places they’d go…

He brought a smile to his face as he carefully leaned towards the kid. To his delight, he didn’t flinch or lean away. Progress!

“Hey, I’ve got some friends that I think I can give you to. Good people. They’ll take care of you until we can find something more permanent, sound good?”

Dick looked a little skeptical but he nodded.

Adrien carefully scooped the kid up in his arms and looked at his wife. “I’m going to take him, you can go home for the night and relax.” He sent her a discreet wink.

She smiled faintly and gave Dick a tiny wave before slipping out of the tent.

Good. She’d understood.

She had definitely not understood.

You see, winks are ambiguous.

Adrien’s wink had meant ‘Get home and brush up on your acting skills because we need to sell this’.

She had thought his wink had meant ‘It’s our anniversary and we shouldn’t be working anyways. Go ahead and head home, we’ve already done too much and I want to relax with my darling wife’.

So, when she’d gotten home she’d detransformed and slipped into some comfy pajamas and plopped herself down on the couch to watch some TV.

And then the door had opened.

She’d smiled and poked her head up. “Back already? That was quick --.”

Adrien was still holding Dick to himself.

Tikki gave a quiet gasp of surprise and zipped between the couch cushions.

Her husband smiled. “Hey, can I cash in a favor?”

Marinette opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, and then pursed her lips tightly. She couldn’t exactly say ‘no’, because now that she thought about it they really didn’t have any other options (kids have a tendency to have no filter and this one seemed to lack any common sense at all if she was judging by his outfit)...

Didn’t mean she couldn’t be bitter. They should have had more of a conversation about this than a wink, and she was going to tell him that:

“I don’t know, Chat, my husband isn’t here right now. This is the kind of thing you’re supposed to discuss with your partner.”

Adrien winced almost imperceptibly and had the decency to look sheepish. “I’m sure he’d be fine with it. Please, I have nowhere else I can take him.”

She bit her lip and looked at the kid, then squeezed her eyes shut.

There was a more selfish reason that they both wanted to do this…

They wanted kids. It had just never really been an option for them. If she wanted to get pregnant, she would pretty much have to give up crime-fighting for those nine months (and possibly permanently, that stuff has long-term effects). They couldn’t really bring themselves to adopt, either, because their lives were hectic and every single book in the world says that adoptees need a stable home.

She couldn’t let their wishes cloud their judgment. She was supposed to be the rational one. They would certainly mess this kid up, taking him wasn’t an option…

But leaving him wasn’t an option…

And it was kind of like the universe was dropping Dick into their laps…

Dick started to sniffle, bringing a hand up to wipe his eyes. Damn. She’d taken too long and now he felt rejected.

Her heart clenched. The kid didn’t deserve this...

“I… we can take him… but only temporarily. We need to find a better home for him eventually.”

It was best that none of them got their hopes up. This wasn’t a good solution, just the only one they could think of at the moment. At some point they’d think of a better one, and they’d have to do that.

Adrien and Dick both nodded.

Marinette slowly walked over and leaned down slightly to be at the kid’s eye level. “I’m Marinette Agreste. What’s your name, sweetie?”

“Richard. You can call me Dick, though.”

Listen. She wasn’t proud of what she’d said. But she’d never heard it before -- she was far less social than Adrien was -- and, really, how do you get the name ‘Dick’ from ‘Richard’?

“I don’t think you understand how much I cannot do that.”

Adrien had had to set Dick down, he was laughing so hard.

When he came home (as Adrien, this time), he was surprised to see Marinette stress baking.

He wasn’t sure why he was surprised, adopting a child is a stressful situation even if you had been expecting it. And they definitely had not been expecting it.

He watched her bake for a moment in the doorway.

She clicked her tongue. “Are you just going to watch me bake or are you going to come inside? Or do I have to make a ‘look what the cat dragged in’ joke everytime I see you, now?”

He smiled and took a seat on the counter. “What’re you making?”

“Cookies.” She turned around for some flour and then sent him a half-hearted glare when she saw him sitting next to it. “I was using that counter.”

“Unfortunate.”

Marinette clicked her tongue again and then moved to another spot. “When...” She grimaced a little. “When… the kid wakes up from a nightmare -- because there’s no way that he wouldn’t have one after tonight -- I’d like to at least have something sweet ready for him. I know we’re not his parents or whatever, but he should at least feel welcome while he’s here.”

He sobered a little, pulling a knee to his chest. “The whole vigilante thing… we’re going to have to put it on hold for a little while, you know…”

“There’s no way we can properly take care of a kid and be Chat Noir and Ladybug. Or, at least, we’d need to make some changes.” She procured a whisk out of seemingly nowhere and started whisking the batter.

He raised his eyebrows. “Changes?”

“We could take shifts. I’d take night shifts as Ladybug and day shifts parenting the kid. You do the opposite.”

“We’d burn out,” said Adrien with a sigh.

“Well, what are we supposed to do? Give the city over to Superman? Guy is shady enough as it is.”

He rolled his eyes. “He’s not shady, you just can’t handle people being nice to you.”

“MY POINT IS that we can’t just stop protecting the city. Especially not if the mob is going after circuses of all things.”

“Yeah, why are they doing that? Is there really money from circuses? Aren’t they all going out of fashion because of that whole ‘animal abuse’ thing most of them have going on?”

“As they should,” she murmured. She finished whisking and started searching for something in the drawers. She procured a scoop and started making rows of cookies. “But, probably, smuggling. No one bats an eye when circuses cross borders, that’s kind of their whole thing.”

He nodded slowly. “Fair enough. Still seems like a hassle, especially now that they’re probably going to be more heavily regulated because those people died.”

“Well, hopefully their sacrifice won’t be in vain. The bit of trapeze wire I stole from the police might give us some leads on the guy’s pseuds.”

“Are you calling up Nygma?”

She shrugged and set the cookies in the oven. “Kinda. He hasn’t done anything in three months, so he’s due any day now. I’ll talk to him about it after saving whoever he captured this time… unless you want to talk to him instead?”

He grinned. “No, I could never go instead of you. You like making fun of his outfit too much.”

“Awwww, thanks, Chaton,” she cooed. She took a seat next to him and pressed a short kiss to his lips. “You know me so well.”

“Well, we’ve been partners for fifteen years. You’d hope I’d know you by now.”

She smiled faintly and leaned into him. She watched the timer tick down for a little while in silence, biting her lip.

“What’s wrong?”

“I mean, even if the trapeze was sabotaged, what are the chances that the acid is something special that we can trace to him? One of us is going to have to go undercover.”

He raised his eyebrows. “And leave Dick alone?”

“There’s no way Zucco is only going after this one place. We can’t take back what’s happened to him, but we can at least make sure he’s the only one to have to go through this.”

Adrien frowned. She was right, though he hated it. While they had given themselves the obligation of taking care of Dick, they couldn’t just drop everything for him. Especially considering their jobs.

“Okay, M’lady, what’s the plan?”

“Well, I hear that the circus is looking for new trapeze artists.”

She smiled as she set the last of the cookies in the Tupperware and started heading towards Dick’s new room.

Her conversation with Adrien had gone a lot better than she was expecting, honestly. She’d explained her reasoning for why it would be safe now and he’d, however reluctantly, agreed that she’d made sense.

She decided she’d wait a few days for everything to end up in the news properly before asking to join the circus. After all, it would be suspicious if she called just a few hours after a tragedy.

She stopped outside the former guest room and considered knocking… and then decided she’d better not. On the off chance that Dick wasn’t having a nightmare, she didn’t want to wake him.

She pressed the door open and then stopped cold when she saw that the kid was crying.

Marinette glanced behind her, wondering if she could get away with just walking past and acting like she was going to the bathroom or something. She wasn’t good with emotions, not with people close to her. Random people on the street were fine, people she’d never have to interact with again were fine, but this…

She was not nearly as good as Adrien… but Adrien was asleep, the fucker...

“Miss Marinette?” Said the kid.

She winced mentally and reached along the wall for the light. “Yes, sweetie, it’s me.”

The light flicked on and she saw Dick duck his head so his hair would hide his face.

“I brought cookies,” she said awkwardly as she walked over and took a seat on the edge of his bed. “I didn’t know what you’d like, so I just went with chocolate chip.”

He nodded slightly and mumbled his thanks as he took the Tupperware from her.

She bit her lip as he nibbled at her cookies, and then couldn’t help but smile at the way his posture relaxed a little.

“These are good.”

“My parents were bakers. I’d have been disowned if I couldn’t make chocolate chip cookies.”

He cracked the tiniest of smiles.

She floundered again in the new silence. There’s a difference between comfortable silences and awkward ones and this was definitely feeling more on the awkward side.

“I could teach you to bake, if you’d like. I doubt you had time to learn on the road.”

He hesitated. “I’d burn the place down.”

“That’s okay. If I could teach Adrien to cook then there’s hope for anyone.”

She had not, in fact, been able to teach Adrien to cook. He had set the entire kitchen on fire in what they now called The Brownie Incident… but Dick didn’t need to know that.

He smiled a little more and leaned back against the bed frame, still eating cookies. He had to be on his third one by now. She wasn’t going to call him out on it, though.

She glanced him over. He was no longer really hiding his face, and the tears had stopped sliding down his cheeks. He seemed content. She didn’t want to drag any feelings back, but...

“Would you like to talk about your nightmare?” She asked quietly.

“No.”

She winced internally. “Okay. Would you like me to leave?”

“No.”

Marinette let a little bit of surprise show on her face for just a second before slowly scooting over to lay next to him. She took a cookie he offered her and closed her eyes, relaxing a little.

“Are you going to sleep again?”

“No.”

“That’s okay. Do you want that baking lesson now?”

Dick giggled a little. “But we already have cookies…”

“Well, we don’t have any cakes, now, do we? Or brownies. And there’s other types of cookies!”

She peeked an eye open and couldn’t help but smile a little at the grin on the kid’s face at the mention of all the possibilities.

Then he gave her a suspicious look. “Are you trying to fatten me up like an evil witch?”

“Yes,” she said gravely. “I adopt little circus kids and fatten them up to eat. The entire house is actually made of candy.”

To her surprise and slight horror, he actually brought the corner of his blanket to his mouth. Then he spat it out. “Liar!”

“I…” She trailed off. She didn’t know how to respond to that. Moving on. “So, about that baking thing, how do brownies sound?”

He grabbed her by the sleeve of her pajama shirt and pulled her out into the halls with a bright smile. She had to do a half-jog to keep up with him.

“Shhhh, Mister Adrien is asleep!” He stage-whispered.

She scoffed. “Me?! You’re the one running!”

“Shhhhhhhhh!”

Marinette clicked her tongue once and allowed him to pull her into a full on jog as they raced through the house. Really, it was a testament to how tired he was that Adrien didn’t wake up.

She grinned and offered him a hand to get up on the counter, and then was reminded of the fact that he was a literal trapeze artist as he vaulted off of her hand and jumped over her head to get to it.

She whispered a quiet “holy shit” in English, then covered her mouth with her hand. She and Adrien had a sort of unspoken rule that you can only curse in English, it’s just a weird thing that bilingual households do where cursing in the second language just doesn’t count, but now this was an actual kid who spoke (as far as she was aware) only English. She can’t teach him curse words!

But he didn’t seem to hear it, instead smiling as he reached towards the sink and started cleaning his hands.

She washed her hands after him and then started pulling down things to make brownies. Should she do chocolate chips or just cocoa powder…?

She remembered The Brownie Incident.

She shivered.

Cocoa powder. Definitely cocoa powder.

She put some butter in the microwave.

“What does ‘holy shit’ mean?”

She wheezed. “Uh-- I-- um--.”

“I’m just messing with you. I already know.”

Oh thank fuck.

Well, maybe not. She was kind of glad that he was feeling comfortable enough to joke around with her, but… the idea of him secretly being a little shit, while not necessarily surprising, was a bit worrying.

“Okay… good? Just… don’t swear in front of Adrien. I don’t really care, but if he hears you he might think I taught you… so it’s just our little secret, okay?”

He smiled and made a zipping motion across his lips. She copied the motion.

Aw, she’d almost forgotten how cute kids were when they weren’t in dangerous or sad situations.

The microwave beeped and she hummed as she combined the butter, cocoa, and sugar. She stirred a bit and then handed Dick the eggs.

“Here, you can crack three of them into the bowl. Do you know how to do that?”

He huffed. “Yes!”

He, in fact, did not know how to do that.

She watched in open-mouthed horror as he attempted to just pull the egg open without cracking it.

“N… no, sweetie. You need to break it on the counter, first.”

He nodded and then slammed the egg on the counter.

Marinette wiped some egg off of the front of her shirt and then took a few breaths to steady herself. Now that the shock had worn off, she was very tempted to laugh and she was not going to do that to this poor, confused kid.

“I think I did it wrong.”

She snickered and then coughed to cover it up. “I… yes. I’ll show you how to do it.”

He gave a tiny smile as she took his hand and taught him how to crack an egg. He repeated the process with the other two eggs and she worked at cleaning up the mess he’d made.

… how the fuck was there egg on the wall? That was a good seven feet away from the island they were cooking on. Sure, he had to be strong to be an acrobat, but what the fuck?

She sighed and set the napkin done now that he was done and smiled as she added the vanilla, salt, and flour.

She handed him a spatula.

“Stir. Go wild, kid,” she said,

Big mistake.

Dick took her words to heart, and she watched as he stirred madly, batter flying everywhere.

She laughed, only to get splashed with the batter.

She managed to stop his hand and sent him a tiny glare.

“I'm starting to think you’re doing this on purpose.”

“Whaaaat? No.”

She narrowed her eyes slightly, and then gasped when he lobbed a tiny bit of batter at her shirt.

“Oops,” he said, giving her a feral grin.

Marinette couldn’t help but smile back… then she reached past him and grabbed a handful of flour. She flicked her fingers and smiled when it got on his face.

He pouted and started rubbing his eyes. “Ow…”

Panic.

“Oh, sorry, did I get it in your eyes?” She leaned down. “Let me see.”

He nodded and slowly brought his hands away from his face and she checked his eyes with her fingers carefully --.

Only to feel an egg smash itself on top of her head.

She wiped some egg from her face and narrowed her eyes at him. “I’ll get you for that one, you traitor!”

He squealed and set the batter down, then did a backroll away from her.

Marinette and Dick grabbed their weapons…

An hour later, they were both breathing heavily.

“Truce?” She said, lowering her flour-covered arm.

He nodded slowly… and then threw an egg at her.

She dodged it easily and glared at him, her hand already reaching for her flour again —.

“Now truce! Now truce.”

She hesitated, then clicked her tongue as she let herself relax.

They looked around the mess that was the kitchen... at the batter still somehow untouched on the counter… the oven, which hadn’t even been preheated yet…

“Do you just want to eat the batter?”

“Let me get some spoons.”

A few hours later, Adrien walked in… only to stop short when he saw his wife and new kid there, covered in cooking ingredients. Dick had fallen asleep with his head on her shoulder. She was fine with this, there was still some batter left.

“Um…?”

“Brownies are cursed,” she told him, then she took another spoonful.

“What?” Said a bewildered and still half-asleep Adrien.

She looked her husband dead in the eye as she pulled the spoon from her mouth with a tiny ‘pop’.

“Brownies are cursed.”

Adrien felt bad homeschooling the kid.

Really, it had brought him a lot of grief growing up. He hadn’t known anyone besides Chloe and Kagami until he was twelve years old.

But, as it turned out, Dick really needed to be homeschooled.

On top of just… having no formal education whatsoever and his general knowledge being a toss of the dice, it was also the middle of the school year and everyone knows you can’t just dump new kids into a class halfway through.

Adrien tipped his head back against his chair and closed his eyes.

Dick was taking a test to see what he had to teach him, but he wasn’t concerned about the kid cheating. What was he going to do? Sneak away, grab a textbook, and start flipping through it without him noticing?

He sighed.

The kid was… weird.

He was always smiling, always in motion, always affectionate. It was something they’d figured out quickly, but it had taken longer to notice that he was only like that when he was talking about things he actually wanted to. If they asked how he was doing, because it had only really been a week since it had happened, he would clam up and start semi-subtly shifting the conversation away.

He was avoiding his problems. And Marinette and Adrien really didn’t know what to do. He had stolen their unhealthy coping mechanism and now they were forced to stand back and watch as the kid destroyed himself the same way they did. And they knew it was a terrible coping mechanism, even Dick might have known it, but what were they supposed to do? They had been around much longer and they hadn’t found a better mechanism, what could they do for Dick?

He peeked an eye open and looked at the kid, who was chewing on the end of his pen as he thought through the question he was on.

… damn, he was actually going to have to learn how to cope, huh?

So, that afternoon, he passed Dick off to Marinette like a baton in a relay race and took a bus to the bookstore.

The psychology section was huge and filled to the brim with case studies. It was honestly daunting to look at. Instead, he made his way to the clerk.

The woman looked him up and down once. “Rough week?”

“You have no idea,” he muttered. “Can I have some recommendations for books on adoption, parenting, and coping with trauma? And also a highlighter, that would probably help.”

He skimmed through the parenting and adoption books. He and Marinette had already done this a few years back when they had first been considering kids, he was mostly just getting a refresher.

And then he turned to the five books on coping mechanisms he’d bought.

He took a deep breath and started looking methodically reading his way through it, highlighter in hand.

The next day, he found Dick, who was drumming his fingers on the table as he glared at the textbook in front of him.

Adrien had some suspicions about the kid in front of him, though he wasn’t absolutely sure yet. Still, he figured he should test his theory.

Besides, it would also help keep the kid safe and physical activity was one of the things a book on coping mechanisms had suggested.

Multi-tasking!

Or maybe it was just efficiency…

Whatever!

He smiled. “Hey, kid, want to try something different for today’s lesson?”

Dick looked up, frowning. “Like what?”

“Well… how do you feel about learning self-defense?”

“Where are you going?” Asked Dick with a tiny frown as she started bustling around the living room in search of her shoes.

“Uh… work!” She said.

They’d both agreed that telling Dick that she was going to go do the exact job his parents had just died in was a terrible idea, so they’d thought up a cover story… too bad she couldn’t think of it at the moment. She finally saw her shoes tucked under the couch and dove down to grab them, then sent her kid a smile.

“Have a good day, sweetie, I’ll see you later,” she said, walking over and pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

She ducked out the door and started running all over again. Her eyes found their way to her watch. It was a tryout and she was going to be late…

But she wasn’t.

Barely.

She stumbled inside with one minute to spare, panting, and it took everything in her not to slump over the nearest bench and die.

“Hi,” she wheezed at Haly, who raised his eyebrows slightly at her.

“You’re really cutting it close, here. Have anything to say for yourself?”

She rested a hand over her heart as if that would somehow bring it back to normal. “I need a fucking car.”

Haly paused, then nodded. “That explains that. I’ll let you off with a warning that you should try not to be late again.”

“Oka --.” She stopped, and then looked at him. “I got the job?”

He shrugged and pointed around at the empty tent. “You’re the only one here.”

Wow. She’d suspected that people would be less than eager to take the job offer, but to be the only person…

Well, she figured that she should just be thankful. That made things much easier.

She smiled faintly. “Cool. Should I still show you my skills and everything?”

He motioned to the trapeze. There was a net under it. The man had learned his lesson, at least. “Please.”

It turns out that being Ladybug is really helpful when you want to be a trapeze artist.

Actually, she found that being a trapeze artist was actually easier in some ways. Instead of having to hold tight to one thin string when swinging around, she was able to get a proper grip on a bar.

It was a lot of fun. Recently, she’d been using her cane more. Having a yoyo was impractical as a weapon when people were firing guns, so she’d more or less stopped using it. She’d almost forgotten what it was like to feel the wind in her hair. It was calming...

Also, she got to show off, which was always fun.

She stopped after a few minor tricks and gave a bow to Haly, who seemed to just be glad that she actually had an idea of what she was doing.

“You’ll need about a month of training before you do any shows. Do you have any other expertise?”

She shook her head. It was a lie, she would probably be good with aerial silks or contortionism, but she felt some weird need to do the trapeze…

Just then, her phone buzzed.

She glanced at it and read the news headline.

She groaned and turned to Haly. “Can I have a minute? I need to take this.”

The man nodded.

She scowled as she stepped out and dialled a number.

“NYGMA.”

“Ladybug!” Riddler said cheerfully. She could hear a woman sobbing in the background. “What’s up? Did you see the news?”

“Yes, I saw. I’m at a job interview!”

The smile in the man’s voice disappeared as he spoke next: “Oh, I’m sorry. I can reschedule the death trap.”

“YOU CAN, CAN YOU?”

“Yep! How does tomorrow sound?”

She squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to relax. “I can do tomorrow. Thank you. And let go of the poor lady, will you?”

“Fiiiiine.”

She hung up on him and then stepped back inside, giving Haly her brightest smile.

“I can start working in two days, if that sounds good to you.”

Adrien hesitated.

Really, he should be getting Marinette to train Dick on self-defense. They had similar movement styles…

But his hunch had been right. This kid seemed to learn a lot better when he was multitasking and, as much as he loved his wife, he didn’t think her English was good enough to teach someone else.

And, besides, he wanted to spend time with his kid, dang it!

He stopped Dick before he could throw another punch at the dummy to fix his form. “I know putting power into it is hard when you’re so little, but you need to rotate your hips so you can get at least some kind of force behind it.”

The kid pouted. “But this is so boooooooring. It’s just the same thing over and over again! I want to do cool stuff!”

“Not yet. You have to understand the basics before you start messing with it.”

Dick gave another pout, this time adding puppy-dog eyes, but, unfortunately for him, Adrien had never been fond of dogs. He raised his eyebrows, unimpressed.

The kid groaned and started punching the pads again.

“I before E, except after C, or when sounding like A, as in neighbor and…”

It didn’t take long for Marinette to notice The Guy.

She had a pretty good vantage point from the ladder to her trapeze. She would stop at the top, her hands up in a salute, and pause for ‘dramatic effect’.

Her eyes flicked over the crowd and locked on the face of The Guy.

He was at every show, his face pulled into a bored frown as he rested his head on his hand. He’d sit there the whole time, watching the same performance over and over again, and then leave the moment the show was over.

She pursed her lips for half a second before bringing her face back to its smile.

She’d brought a camera this time. This time she’d be able to get his face so she and Adrien could get information on him.

But, for now, she concentrated on making the first jump to the trapeze…

She sat down after her act, still breathing heavily. She was in shape… but, kwami, that kind of stuff is hard! Still, she couldn’t help but smile. She hadn’t been challenged in a while. It was kind of fun.

She wondered, vaguely, if this was what she’d be doing if she hadn’t gone back into crime fighting.

Marinette pushed that thought from her head as she downed her water. It wasn’t the time. She only had a few more minutes before she was on again for the outro. She needed the picture now.

She grabbed her camera from her locker and snuck her way to the stands, and pointed her camera --.

The Guy had spotted her. He looked directly at her camera, his face set in an even deeper frown than usual.

She quickly snapped the picture, then darted back behind the curtain. Her heart beat wildly in her chest. Shit! Shitshitshit --!

Okay. Breathe.

He wasn’t going to just kill her. If the way they’d offed the Graysons was any indication, they didn’t want to draw too much attention to the circus. It was unfortunate what had happened, but not suspicious. However, the trapeze was new and there was a net. An accident like that couldn’t happen again.

No, they’d probably wait until after the show. That would be fine. She could deal with that. At least then she could stall until she had energy by waiting with someone.

She felt a hand tap her shoulder and looked over at the contortionist. “Time?”

“Time,” he said simply.

She hid the camera and ran out with him, smiling like she wasn’t about to face off with a mobster.

Two hours later, she stepped into her train car and crossed her arms over her chest. “Right, I know you’re in here,” she said quietly.

Or, at least, she hoped so. Because otherwise she would be looking a little silly --.

Wait, a knife pressed to her neck. Maybe she wished she was wrong.

She clicked her tongue and leaned into her attacker, closing her eyes. “You Americans still say ‘yo’, right?”

The Guy tensed a little under her, and then whispered a confused, “No…?”

She huffed. “Damn. Why do you change your greetings so often? Whatever. Kaalki, a little help would be nice.”

“Who --?” Began The Guy, but he was quickly cut off.

Because a portal opened under them and dumped them into a back alley in Gotham.

Marinette grinned and grabbed his arm, using his confusion to lean forward and flip him over her shoulder. He cursed as his back hit the ground and the blade clattered to the floor.

She grabbed it nonchalantly and her eyes flicked over the hilt.

A name was engraved there.

Zucco.

“You mob people make this too easy. Now, tell me everything you know.”

He glared up at her. “They’ll kill me!”

“And what gave you the impression that I wouldn’t?” She twirled the knife in her fingers. “Quickly, please, I have a kid to get back to.”

A half hour later, he had spilled everything he knew.

And his guts…

She rolled off of him and glanced at the bloodied dagger in her hand. Her nose scrunched up as she dropped it beside him. There. Now it looked like a mob hit.

She pushed herself to her feet and dusted herself off, only to groan at the sight of the blood staining her front.

She gave the corpse a kick as she cursed him out:

“Asshole. I liked these clothes!”

He smiled as he pulled his wife into his side.

Dick had finally gone to bed, so it was just them two. For once.

Marinette had a show in an hour that she needed to portal back for, and Adrien needed to go out as Chat Noir soon, but they didn’t want to get up just yet.

She yawned and curled closer to him. “I guess…” She yawned again. “I guess I should tell you what I found out. Which is basically nothing. Apparently, hardly anyone has ever seen Zucco in person, just the higher ups. He just sends people to do his bidding.”

He groaned and buried his face in her hair. “Great. Did you at least give the sample to Nygma when you saw him yesterday?”

“Obviously.” Her watch beeped and she mumbled a curse. “Alright, I have to go.”

“Nooooooo.”

“Yeeees,” she said, gently pushing his chest until he let go. She stretched out a bit and then walked to the bedroom door.

It swung open before she even touched the knob.

Dick was standing in the doorway, hugging a Chat Noir doll to his chest. “I had a nightmare. Can I sleep with you guys?”

Marinette glanced at her watch and then at the kid and then at her watch again.

“Or are you guys both going out again?”

Adrien winced. “You noticed that?”

“It’s, like, every night,” he said irritably. He sighed and wiped his eyes a little bit. “Fine. I’ll just go lay down again.”

She bit her lip and then leaned down to look him in the eyes. “I’ll be back in four hours, okay, sweetie? Can you handle that?”

Dick looked at the ground. “Sure.”

Marinette grimaced. “I’m sorry.” She pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I’ll be back soon.”

They could hear the coatrack hit the ground in her hurry to grab her jacket and get out the door.

Adrien sighed and looked at Dick, who was still standing in the doorway.

He really should be going on patrol. The people of Gotham had begun to notice that Chat Noir and Ladybug had been showing up less frequently. Crime rates were rising…

He laid back in bed and opened his arms. “I won’t leave. Come here.”

Dick gave a tiny smile, though it seemed a little forced. Still, he got into bed and curled up in Adrien’s arms.

“Would you like to talk about it?” He tried.

“No.”

He sighed. “You’re going to have to talk about it, eventually. Avoiding it is just going to make it harder to deal with later.”

“Nope.”

He gave a tiny laugh. Dang. This kid really was just them but younger. Now all he needed was a miraculous and he’d be a perfect mini version of them…

“Where do you guys even go?” Asked Dick, his voice muffled in Adrien’s chest.

“Work,” he said after a few minutes’ deliberation.

“I thought you didn’t really have jobs.”

He laughed quietly. “Marinette has a million jobs, and I have my one. Though we don’t really get paid for what we do most of the time.”

“Why do you do it, then?”

Adrien raised his eyebrows slightly, then gave a tiny shrug. “Why did you do the trapeze?”

He’d meant for it to be a rhetorical question, meant for it to be something that would make Dick change the subject, so it was a complete surprise when the kid whispered: “It was all that I knew.”

Internally, he was screaming. It was happening! Finally! He had opened up a little bit!

Externally, he nodded and rubbed circles into the kid’s back. “Hopefully, we can make it so it’s not all you know. Help you branch out a little bit while you’re here.”

He felt tiny hands clutch the back of his shirt. “Can’t do that when you’re always gone.”

“I know,” he mumbled, closing his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

They stayed in silence for a long time. Adrien was pretty sure that Dick had fallen asleep, but he wasn’t going to move. The kid had noticed that they were gone often, but the two of them had always made sure to wait until he had fallen asleep to leave. He had to be waking up at least once a night, so…

He held the kid close to his chest.

A few hours later, the door creaked open.

Adrien opened an eye blearily and saw Marinette get into bed. He lifted an arm for Marinette to join the cuddle and smiled faintly when she actually did.

He let himself drift off.

A few days later, Marinette and Adrien came back from patrols to find Dick talking to the kwamis. All of them gave sounds of surprise when they saw the two vigilantes in the door and disappeared except for Trixx, who turned and fixed their purple eyes on them.

Marinette pursed her lips tightly for a second, considering what to say, and then decided on: “What the fuck, guys?”

Adrien removed his arm from around her waist so he could bury his face in his hands.

Trixx smiled. “It’s not what it looks like. He found us.”

“He…” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “So… you’re telling me that this kid pushed our bed aside, pulled up the exact right floorboard, and pulled out the miracle box...”

“... yes.”

“Forgive me for being skeptical, but I’m not buying it.”

Dick pouted and hugged the tiny fox to his chest. “Are you mad at her?”

Marinette hesitated.

Before Dick had known about the kwamis, they had a chance of giving him back. They would have been able to find better parents for him, been able to give him a genuinely good life. But now… they couldn’t risk giving him up. The reason they’d taken him in in the first place was that he was relatively loose-lipped. Now that he knew something so important, there was no way in hell that they could risk him ever telling anyone.

Of course, she doubted they would have been able to give up Dick anyways. She’d grown annoyingly attached to the kid, he was sweet and generally made her life a little more fun, but now there wasn’t an option at all.

Still, this part of their lives… beyond needing to keep things a secret, it was extremely dangerous to involve a kid in this kind of thing.

Adrien answered first: “No, we’re not mad. Just… this wasn’t exactly the plan.”

“And what was the plan? Never telling me that we have a bunch of… what did they call themselves? Kwamis? Whatever, they’re gods. There are just gods living in our house!”

Marinette shrugged. “We weren’t telling you because we didn’t want you to get dragged into this part of our lives, sweetie.”

Dick huffed. “And are there any other secrets that I should know about?”

“They’re Ladybug and Chat Noir,” supplied Trixx.

“TRIXX?!”

“WHAT THE FUCK?!”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY’RE CHAT NOIR AND LADYBUG?!”

The fox kwami laughed and disappeared.

Marinette scowled. “I know you’re still here, Trixx, where are you? I will hunt you.”

“Please, Mari, you don’t need to do that. Just get the fox miraculous and summon her here, it’s much easier.”

“Smart.”

“WHY HAVE YOU STILL NOT DENIED IT?!”

Marinette and Adrien looked at each other awkwardly.

Well… the secret was out.

She opened her purse and he opened his jacket, and their kwamis slowly poked their heads out to look at Dick.

Poor kid was not prepared.

He covered his eyes with his hands and took a few deep breaths. “So… I… wow…”

Well, she supposed there could be worse reactions.

“Wait, so are you investigating what happened with my parents?”

Like that. That was a worse reaction. Fuck.

Marinette carefully took a seat on the floor by her kid. Adrien sat down as well.

“We’re working on it,” she said carefully. “I’m following a lead and I got help from a… an associate of ours.”

Adrien nodded. “It will take a while. It’s just the two of us -- and Nygma, I guess -- so it’s not going to be done quickly.”

Dick removed his hands from his eyes and looked at them both. “I want to help.”

“No,” said both adults instantly.

“But --.”

“Nope,” said Marinette.

“I --.”

Adrien held up his hands. “Not allowed.”

Dick pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. “Why not? They’re my parents.”

Marinette shook her head slowly. “It has nothing to do with that. You’re a kid, we can’t just let you fight crime.”

“Oh? And when did you start fighting crime?”

“Eighteen,” said Marinette, which technically wasn’t a lie…

Which means it was unfortunate that Adrien gave a more accurate answer: “I was twelve, she was thirteen.”

She groaned and rested her head in her hands. “Damn it, Adrien.”

“So, when I’m twelve, can I join you guys?”

Marinette pursed her lips tightly. She didn’t want to be a hypocrite, but she also didn’t want to let an actual kid fight crime. She had fought crime as a kid, it had messed her up. She wasn’t eager to pass that on to someone else…

But…

“Fine. How about this: if we don’t solve it by the time you’re twelve you can join us for that case specifically.”

Dick pouted a little, but seemed to understand. “Okay.”

She and Adrien met eyes. They had three years to solve this case before Dick would get involved, and they couldn’t let that happen.

But it was three years.

How hard could it be?

He and Marinette sat on the floor in front of the miracle box, sorting the miraculi into two different piles: ‘Will Protect’ and ‘Can’t Protect’.

Once that was done, they started sifting through the ‘Will Protect’ pile.

“Turtle?” Marinette said.

Adrien shook his head. “Doesn’t fit his fighting style. Bee?”

She shuddered. “Don’t need another Chloe. Snake?”

They tipped their heads from side to side as they considered it, but then Trixx piped up: “I’m right here, y’know.”

The two vigilantes jumped out of their skin. Then they glared at the kwami.

“Must you always sneak up on us?”

“Yes. Anyways, I’m the best fit for the kid and you know it.”

Marinette pursed her lips. Adrien raised his eyebrows.

It was true. From the moment they’d started considering giving Dick a miraculous (because, even if they doubted he was ever going to get to that point, they figured they should at least make sure he was safe), they’d both been eyeing the fox miraculous…

Thing was…

“You’re just going to tell him more of our secrets,” he complained, sighing.

Trixx crossed their paws over their chest. “Do you really have any other secrets you care about?”

They considered this for a minute, before Marinette clicked her tongue.

“Fine. Fine! Adrien, you’ll need to train him on his powers, your secondary powers are closer than mine. I’ll take up sparring to teach him a fight style that better matches his circus training.”

Adrien pouted and fell back until his head hit her lap. “You don’t think I was teaching him well enough? Because our fight styles and training were completely different? I’m wounded, M’lady. I’ll never recover.”

She leaned down and pressed a kiss to his lips.

He smiled. “I’ve been cured.”

She clicked her tongue.

Adrien smiled…

And then her watch beeped. He groaned and wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her stomach. “Nooooo, don’t gooooooooooo.”

“I can’t just not go, Chaton.”

“Why nooooot? It would be so easy.”

She slowly peeled his arms off of her, smiling fondly. “Relax. I’ll be back later. Hang out with… with Di --... Nope. With the kid. Maybe train him a little in his powers or whatever.”

He laid on the floor with a pout as he watched her leave, and then looked down at the necklace in his hands.

Well, he supposed he might as well. What else could he do? Protect the city? Nah.

He walked to his kid’s room and rolled his eyes when he saw the kid standing with his ear pressed to the wall.

“Hello?”

Dick’s face reddened and he turned to Adrien with a bright smile. “It’s not what it looks like.”

Wow, he really was a good fit for Trixx.

He sighed and offered the necklace. “You’re not in trouble. C’mon, we’re going to teach you to use these powers.”

Trixx floated over to rest on Dick’s shoulder and Adrien waved him along to the training room.

Adrien held up a hand before walking to the window and quickly shutting the curtains.

He smiled as the kid transformed.

Adrien stretched lazily. “Right, on your back right now is a flute. It… works like a flute. You can play music with it if you want, and also hit people with it if you want. It also summons your power.”

Dick nodded and pulled it off his back. “What can I do?”

“You play a note and envision an illusion of some sort. The limit is just your imagination.”

“Like a Green Lantern?”

“I… kind of. You just have illusions, if you touch them they disappear.”

“That sucks.”

“I guess. Alright, so you’re probably going to have side-effects.”

He watched the kid’s eyes widen and rushed to explain: “It usually isn’t bad. Just weird. It’s why I like to sit on counters and why Mari’s always so cold. It also changes looks a little. Like… Mari has a lot more white in her eyes and my hair has those two little tufts that I have to gel down.”

Dick’s shoulders relaxed a little. “Okay. So… powers.”

“Yep.”

He pulled out his flute.

Adrien smiled. “Right, let’s start simple. The main thing you need is a clear vision. I’m going to close my eyes and you’re going to make something appear in the room. If you’re doing it right then it should appear real, if not then we’ll figure out what’s going wrong.”

He closed his eyes and waited for a few seconds after he heard the shrill note of the flute. Then he opened his eyes.

And came face to face with a giant, bright pink inflatable elephant.

“I…”

Dick grinned. “Think we should address the elephant in the room?”

He blinked once, then broke into a matching grin. “You’re what’s been missing from my life. Oh my kwami. That was beautiful.”

Then he actually went to inspect the elephant. It was pretty good. The lighting was a little off but it wasn’t plainly obvious it was fake, if he wasn’t paying attention he doubted he would’ve noticed. That made sense. Powers were usually pretty instinctual.

He nodded slowly. “Now try something that makes sound.”

Dick brought the flute to his lips and played another note.

He had expected the elephant to disappear and get replaced by something. Instead, it let out a high whine as the air in it slipped out of a new gash on its side.

Adrien smiled.

“Nice.” He sighed and let his smile lessen. Now for the reason they had thought the fox miraculous could be used for protection: “Okay. Make yourself disappear.”

He got a frown for that one. “Sorry?”

“It’s… you’re still a kid. You need to know how to cloak yourself so you don’t get hurt. We can’t really stop you from coming with us in an ethical way, but we need to at least make sure you’ll be okay if you come along.”

Dick frowned. “I thought you were going to let me help.”

“In three years. If we haven’t already solved this case yet. And if we think that you’re going to be able to handle it.”

“But --.”

“We were heroes at a young age. True. We weren’t ready for it, though, and we don’t want to screw up a kid in the same way we were screwed up. That’s the whole thing about having kids, we want you to have a better life than we did.”

The kid gave an annoyed expression before bringing his flute to his lips. With a shrill note, the annoyed face disappeared.

Adrien tipped his head from side to side as he considered this. He was pretty sure that he could sense something off, but he wasn’t sure if that was just his mind messing with him because he knew that Dick was there…

He walked towards where he’d last seen him to make sure and then stopped short when he realized what was off. His feet weren’t making any sound.

There wasn’t any sound at all, actually.

“You’ve done too much. You got rid of all sound, not just your own.”

Dick appeared, a grin on his face.

“This is boring. Can we make it into a game? Like hide-n-seek?”

Adrien hesitated, then shrugged. “Don’t see why not.” He brought his hands up to cover his eyes. “Thirty… twenty-nine…”

She hummed absently as she and Dick stretched to warm up.

She was a little jealous, if she was honest, he was way more flexible than she was even though he was out of practice and she wasn’t. She’d been stretching before this kid was even born. How dare he still be more flexible than her.

Still, she rolled to her feet and offered him a hand up.

Dick’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly and he did a backhandspring from the floor.

How the fuck?

But she wasn’t going to act like this was an amazing thing. She was already bitter enough about his flexibility, admitting that he was also better at gymnastics would be even worse.

Instead, she grinned. “Hey, kid, what should we call you?”

He thought for a minute, taking his flute out and twirling it in his hand like a baton. “Robin?”

“I…” She held up a finger to say ‘one minute’ and then pulled out her phone. After a quick google search to make sure they were talking about the same animal, she gave her kid a confused look. “You’re a fox.”

“Yes.”

“Robins are birds.”

“Yes.”

She opened her mouth, then closed it again. She really didn’t know why she asked a kid who called himself ‘Dick’ to name himself. Really, she should have expected this.

Marinette shrugged to herself. “Fine. I’m just gonna keep calling you ‘sweetie’.”

“Okay!” He stopped twirling his flute and pointed it at Marinette. “So, you’re going to teach me to use my circus training for fighting?”

She sighed and pulled out her cane, leaning against it. “Right. I’ll need to check to see how well you know the basics, first, though.”

Dick groaned. “I’m ready. I feel like I’ve been ready for ages!”

“I know, I know, but I need to make sure, okay?”

He gave her an annoyed look.

Marinette pursed her lips tightly. “Okay. Fine.” She dropped her cane. “Spar with me.”

Dick’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Yep. You’ll have first swing and I won't get a weapon.”

True to her word, she let him have the first swing. She dodged and grabbed his arm, then pressed her foot to the middle of his back. He hit the ground with a groan. She pulled the flute from his hand and sent him a tired glare.

“You got lucky,” said Dick, his voice muffled against the floor.

She pulled him back to his feet. “No, you’re a child and I’ve been fighting for years. Like pretty much everyone else you’re going to fight. Which means that we can’t rush your training, okay? You have years before we let you into the field, if we do, so…”

He brushed himself off with a bitter expression.

“Fine. We drill basics.”

Riddler grinned, spinning around in his chair.

“Ladybug and Chat Noi --.” He stopped short, his eyes widening as they spotted something behind them. “What the heck? You guys brought a kid to this?”

He glanced behind himself and cringed lightly. He reached out and gently pulled Dick behind himself a little. Nygma had never been one for random attacks, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to make sure that this kid was safe.

And why had they brought him?

Marinette clicked her tongue once in annoyance. “Hey, sweetie, show the nice man your powers for a second.”

Dick brought his flute to his lips. With one high note he was gone.

Yep. They were really regretting giving him that miraculous right about then. They hadn’t even realized that he was coming along until Adrien had missed a jump and realized that his bones hadn’t audibly cracked like they usually did when he messed up like that.

He reappeared with a fox-like grin playing across his thin lips.

(Or maybe they just thought it was fox-like because he was currently dressed as a fox. Who knows.)

Riddler considered this for a minute, then nodded. “I understand now.”

Adrien sighed. “Yep.”

Marinette pulled out her yoyo and summoned a coloring book and some crayons. Dick beamed and plopped down on the floor to color.

The parents smiled fondly at their kid and then turned to Riddler.

“Now, you have news?” Adrien said.

“Good news and bad news.”

The adults looked at each other and gave tiny shrugs.

“Good news first,” said Marinette.

“Good news is that there’s only one person who supplies that specific acid.”

Adrien’s eyebrows knit together. That sounded good, but…

“Bad news is that she’s pretty popular. Over two-hundred customers popular.”

Ah. There it was.

Marinette covered Dick’s ears so she could curse.

Adrien, however, shrugged. “Do you have a list of her customers?”

Riddler nodded slowly. “Of course. I’ll forward it to you guys.”

“Thanks for the help, Nygma. See you in a few months.” With that, Marinette picked up Dick and held him to her hip.

“I’ll get you with the next one!”

“Mhmm. Sure.”

Adrien gave an apologetic smile and a friendly wave as he hurried out after his wife.

Marinette hummed absently as she pulled her jacket on, then froze up when she heard a gun click behind her head.

“Turn around. Slowly.”

She pulled a smile to her face and held her hands up in a kind of surrender, then turned around.

Wow. This man looked exactly like how gangsters looked in movies. She probably would have laughed if he wasn’t pointing a gun at her.

And, even with the gun pointed at her, she had to suppress a smile.

“Who are you?” He asked.

She frowned. “Shouldn’t I be asking that of you, sir? You’re the one attacking the random trapeze artist.”

“You’ve killed every single man I’ve sent in here to make sure everything was going to plan.”

“Maybe you should’ve sent a woman. We apparently get the job done better.”

“Who. Are. You?”

“Marinette Agreste, but I’m sure you knew that. Otherwise you wouldn’t know that I’ve killed ‘every single man you’ve sent here’.”

He scowled. “That wasn’t what I was asking and you know it.”

“Do I? Maybe you should be clearer,” she said. “Or, you could just tell me your name and I promise I would be much more compliant.”

The man seemed to consider this for a minute, his face tinged red with annoyance. She tried to push down the twinge of satisfaction. Even if this wasn’t Zucco, he at least had to be pretty high up and was likely the person who had ordered the goons to kill Dick’s parents. This bitch deserved all the hell she gave him, in her not-so-humble opinion.

“Giovanni,” he said carefully.

She smiled. “See? Was that so hard? Now, who am I...? I don’t know. I sometimes fight people. What else is there to say?”

He didn’t seem amused. “Why are you killing all my men?”

“I wouldn’t have to if they didn’t notice me noticing them every time. It’s getting very annoying. Send less observant people.”

Her eyes caught Kaalki’s. The kwami was hiding in a duffel bag that had been left open and she gave a tiny shrug to say go.

The man gave a scream as a portal sliced his hand off.

Marinette hummed absently and leaned down to pick up the gun. She pried the hand off of the gun and tossed it aside.

“WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK --.”

“I know, I know, it hurts, but could you be quieter?” She rubbed the side of her head. “Right, I have a few questions about Zucco.”

“He’d kill m --.”

“Yes. Yes, he would. But maybe you should concern yourself less with him, who has already made up his mind about killing you, and more about me, who’s still mulling it over.”

An hour later she stepped out of the changing room, humming as she tossed the gun back over her shoulder lazily.

“Haly?” She yelled, and smiled when his head popped out from his train care.

He looked stunned for a moment before he pulled himself together. “Yes?”

“I’m quitting. It’s been fun, though!”

She bit her lip as she strode out into the night.

Well, if she wasn’t already on Zucco’s radar she definitely would be now.

Greeeeaaaat.

It’s hard to look into people when you’re on the run from the mob.

They’d done everything they could think of. Marinette had withdrawn everything from their accounts, Adrien had altered all their appearances, Dick had... come along.

And it turns out tracking down 237 people is hard or something. Who knew.

You have to:

Figure out whether or not the person you’re after has pseuds. In order to do this you have to track their income patterns. This requires pretty high tech stuff, which they were generally trying to avoid because of the whole ‘mob out to get them’ thing.

Then, if they do have pseuds, you have to find all their assets. Then you have to go and check every single safehouse to see if it is, in fact, Zucco or someone working for him. It’s not fun. Most people in the mob are trained to not tell secrets no matter what, and getting to the point where you can get that information is… time consuming.

And they didn’t have time.

They glared at the remaining names. Dick was turning twelve tomorrow. They hadn’t even realized it because time was getting fuzzy again, but then they had come home to him hanging upside down from one of the lights on the ceiling and chanting about how close his birthday was.

After checking to make sure their kid hadn’t somehow gotten high or drunk, because what the heck, they had flown into a panic about how much work they still had to do.

“What’re the ethics of killing all 92 people tonight?” She asked, leaning back against her husband as he clicked through files.

“Even if we could, I’d say it’s probably frowned upon.”

She groaned and closed her eyes, then opened them again to glare at the papers in front of her. “How much you wanna bet that the very first one we choose after the kid joins us is going to be the right one?”

“Knowing our luck? That’s definitely going to happen.”

She gave a bitter laugh before pushing herself back up. “I’m going to break into a bakery to make a cake.”

“Cupcakes. You know he’s going to want to spend the day out in the field looking for answers, we might as well have food we can travel with.”

She clicked her tongue but nodded.

He fell back on the bed and glared at the list. He should have said they started at eighteen...

Well, at least it hadn’t been the first person that they’d looked into with Dick.

It had been the second.

After… ‘interogating’ the guy they’d found, they’d been given the name of this cruise ship and where it often docked. Then Dick had given them all cover so they could sneak on undetected.

And now night had hit. The three of them sat, perched on a railing as they observed the goons below them.

She watched Adrien send a wave before disappearing to take out the captain and destroy anything that could be used to contact land.

She turned to the kid next to her and reached out to ruffle his hair. “Ready, sweetie?”

Dick gave a slightly nervous smile before pulling out his flute.

“You’re only allowed to get involved if I’m dying, remember?”

He nodded, though she got the feeling that the kid wasn’t listening. Or, rather, he was listening and just opting not to take the words to heart.

She clicked her tongue once. Then she began walking along the outer edges of the ship, Dick trailing along behind her. She twirled her yoyo absently. They needed to get to the private quarters, as she was pretty sure that Zucco wouldn’t be anywhere else (he sent people out to do all his work, there was no way he was doing any work on his ship).

Then she heard laughter.

She looked up and scowled at the three henchmen who were leaning over the side of the railing above them.

“Oh my god, Ladybug has a kid!”

Her yoyo came to a stop. “Hilarious, I know.”

“Kinda! I mean the most deadly vigilantes in the world have a little kid trailing around like a lost puppy! That’s so good!”

She pressed her lips together tightly. “Mhmm. Please, tell me more...”

“Gonna say ‘or else’? Or else what? You’re going to change our diapers?”

She nodded slowly, then turned to Dick. She pressed a kiss to the top of his head. She opted to ignore the way the three roared with laughter above her at the action, instead concentrating on him.

“Sweetie, I want you to cover your eyes for a second, please. I’ll tell you when you can look again, okay?”

He nodded and brought his hands to his eyes.

She wheeled on the criminals, whose laughter was quickly dying.

“Oops,” said one of them, his voice so quiet she’d barely heard it.

But she did. And she fought off some laughter of her own. “‘Oops’ is right.”

Three minutes later, she smiled and pulled Dick’s hands away from his eyes.

“Hey, sweetie, how’re you feeling?”

He glanced behind her and she winced, expecting him to become horrified, but then he suddenly tossed his flute.

There was a satisfying ‘thunk’ as it made contact with the guy’s head and he fell over the side.

Marinette looked at Dick and gave him a tiny smile. He beamed in return.

“Thanks for the save.”

“No problem.”

She tossed her yoyo and recovered his flute for him, then took his hand. She led her kid through the ship.

When he caught up with them, Adrien smiled and rested a hand over the top of the kid’s head. “I found out where the private quarters are.”

“Really?”

“Yep. Follow me.”

The three of them went along in silence. Whenever they passed someone they’d casually knock them over the side. They might live that way.

But probably not.

Still, it was relatively easy.

They walked along the private quarters, poking their head in doors and then closing them.

Eventually, they came to the most grandiose-looking cabin. Really, they should have checked it first, but whatever. Marinette, Adrien, and Dick all gave each other wary looks before Adrien kicked the door open.

The poor guy had been asleep. Sucks.

Zucco looked up slowly and then gasped, reaching under his pillow and pulling out a gun.

Ah. Now that sucks for them.

Dick gave a high-pitched whine.

Marinette and Adrien instantly reached for Dick to push him behind them, only to stop short when their hands passed through clean air. They turned to look, confused expressions on their faces, only to find that the kid was gone.

Uh…

They frowned slightly and looked around. Their faces drained of color when they found their way back to where Zucco was.

Or, rather, had been. Because he was missing, too.

Marinette cursed beside him and Adrien felt like punching a wall. Dick hadn’t been making that noise because he was scared, he’d been making that noise because he’d been creating an illusion.

They had to stop Dick before he did something he would regret.

Their eyes searched the room desperately, their ears strained. There had to be something off. Dick and Zucco hadn’t left, Marinette and Adrien were covering too much of the door for both of them to squeeze past without the illusion breaking, so they were still in the cabin.

Marinette pursed her lips tightly and pulled the door shut, then lopped off the doorknob with her yoyo.

Adrien nodded and they began to shuffle through the room.

It was needlessly huge, but there was a lot of stuff in it. A bed, a mostly untouched kitchen area, a bathroom with a jacuzzi, a possibly real treasure chest, a vanity…

He knocked his staff against things absently. It should reveal illusions…

Where was this kid?

He kicked some jewelry on the floor in irritation and then blinked when they hit the wall nearby without a sound.

Wait a minute…

He swung his staff in a large circle around him and couldn’t help but wince when he hit something that he couldn’t see. The illusion shattered and Dick groaned in pain as he stumbled off of Zucco, holding his side where Adrien had hit him.

But, for once, Adrien wasn’t looking at the kid. His eyes found their way to the floor, where Zucco had curled up. He was beaten and bloody, bruises starting to form on his pale skin.

“Robin…” He whispered, looking at Dick.

Dick was crying, the blunt end of his flute bloodied.

Adrien walked over and carefully pulled the flute from his hands and then drew him into his chest. “You can’t kill him.”

“But --!”

“No buts.” Marinette gave Zucco a kick to the head to make sure he was down before joining the hug.

“But you kill people!”

“And we’re also adults. When you’re an adult you can kill people, too.”

“M’lady…”

She winced a little. “Yeah, I hear it. But… anyways, sweetie, we can’t let a kid kill anyone. Killing… it messes with you. We don’t want that life for you.”

Adrien sighed. “You’re a kid. You can’t kill someone, it’s not good for your psyche. Leave that kind of thing to us.”

Dick took a shaky breath, and then nodded.

They’d been right to not want to include him in this. Vigilantism wasn’t healthy for kids.

And they especially shouldn’t have brought Dick along for this part, they should have expected that something like this would happen. He was too close to the case.

He swallowed thickly and hugged him closer.

Marinette pulled away carefully. She hummed, grabbing Zucco by the back of his nightshirt and dragging him away.

He gently rubbed circle’s into the kid’s back. “You want some ice cream? I think there’s still some at home…”

Dick giggled a little. “That ice cream is so expired.”

“You don’t know that!”

“It’s been, like, three years.”

Adrien sighed. “Okay, maybe, but hush.”

He pulled away slightly from the kid and wiped some stray tears from his cheeks.

“Want to go home anyways?”

Dick smiled faintly and nodded.

She dropped back on the bed and smiled as she curled in the blankets. The night had been… interesting… but at least she was home now.

She felt tiny hands wrap around her and her smile widened as she felt a face bury itself in her stomach.

But then her smile lessened. She slowly combed her fingers through the kid’s hair.

“I need your miraculous back, sweetie.”

“No. I want to keep doing it.”

She gave Adrien a pleading look and he sighed, slipping into bed and wrapping his arms around them. “She’s right. We don’t want —.”

“And what about what I want?”

It definitely wasn’t an angle they’d considered. They’d been very concerned about the kid ending up like them (they had given up on trying to fix themselves a long time ago, but they were still self aware of the fact that they didn’t cope healthily). But… what if they were too late? The kid had already been exhibiting signs of their bad coping mechanisms, had been since the start, had they accidentally encouraged it just by being around him?

She didn’t know.

What she did know, though, was that they’d messed up by letting him come along. He’d had a taste of the adrenaline, and there was no going back.

She flinched. “I… are you sure?”

Dick nodded against her stomach. “I want to help people.”

She bit her lip. Dick was one of those kids that would sneak out and do it anyways, the least they could do was make sure he was safe.

Adrien seemed to come to the same conclusion, because he sighed again and squeezed them both tighter.

“As long as you make sure to always be with one of us while you’re doing vigilante work…” he said reluctantly.

“I can do that.”

Oh, thank kwami.

She smiled and ruffled his hair. “I guess it would be kind of cool to have a whole family of vigilantes...”

~~~

As it turns out, I am unable to write pure fluff. It eludes me.

On the other hand, I managed a Christmas update!! Go me!!

Taglist

@i-am-ironic @nathleigh @mialuvscats @golden-promises @sassakitty @deathwishy @toodaloo-kangaroo

#another one?!#adrienette #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #adrien agreste #chat noir #dick grayson #nightwing #jason todd #red hood #tim drake #red robin #cassandra cain #orphan #damian wayne #robin #maribat

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kabira · 4 years ago

Text

04 | solo

pairing — spider-man!vernon x ofc

featuring — joshua, yeji (itzy), felix (skz), yangyang (nct)

word count — 2.6k

genres — spider-man au, marvel au, fluff, action, angst, humor

warnings — one instance of profanity

go to fic masterlist | main masterlist

“You’re being a bitch.”

Vernon closed his locker’s door with a click before turning around, looking at the ceiling in exasperation when he heard the accusatory voice. There was a tube light directly above him, brilliant and blinding right in his sight. He turned away as quickly as he had looked up, blinking back the dark spots in his stinging eyes.

He didn’t bother acknowledging Lucy before making his way down the hallway, bag slung over one shoulder. His muscles ached from the previous night’s encounter—he’d ended up swinging around for longer than usual, long after the three had to go back to the Helicarrier for their bedtime. Knowing May wouldn’t be waiting up for him back home had made him a little careless, and the exertion during gym hadn’t helped.

“Don’t you walk away from me, mister!” Luce called behind him. When she saw that he wasn’t stopping, she blew air out of her mouth in irritation before jogging to catch up. “Vernon! What is up with you?”

The hallway was mostly empty, which wasn’t that surprising. He’d had to stay back in the lab to clean up his new partner’s chemical spill, which had, of course, been blamed on him instead. The old Parker luck. “I need to get home, Luce.”

“Do you?” she asked, and he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. A muscle in her jaw was working, tensing and relaxing at periodic intervals, her eyes fixed on some point in the distance. She was usually relaxed, but her current gait was constrained, like a coiled-up spring. “I saw how you nailed that new kid in gym today. You usually opt out of dodgeball, but—”

“He had it coming,” Vernon said dismissively, but his lips thinned. The new guy she was referring to was Yangyang, who did have it coming, because of his little incident in the cafeteria the day before. Maybe it was a little uncalled for, but Vernon still honestly believed he had deserved it at least a little bit. “And you’re not supposed to chew gum in the school.”

“Neither are you supposed to be mean to people for no reason, but we’re all sinners.” Luce shrugged, and he bit back a few choice words. She pushed through the door as they reached the exit, and he shielded his eyes against the hot midday sun that’s shone directly at them. “For real, though. You got him good—I’ve never seen you so hostile towards anyone save for Flash. Did Yangyang say something to you?”

For some reason, her knowing his name annoyed Vernon even further. “Did you get the answers to those questions yesterday?” he asked, switching the subject.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Very funny.” The laces of her converse were untied, a band pin on the lapel of her jacket wobbly, a few strands loose from her dark ponytail. He blinked, tearing his mind away from the little details of her appearance and tried to focus on walking. Left, right, left. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“Yeah, well, I had a headache last night,” he said, grateful he didn’t have to hunt for excuses. His thoughts were already sluggish. “You can ask May.”

“I meant the one about Yangyang.” She paused, and he paused with her, taking a few steps before backtracking towards her. Her eyes were downcast, brow creased thoughtfully. Unconscious little gestures he knew like the back of his hand. Then she glanced up at him, right at him, so suddenly that when her eyes met his he swayed on his feet a little. “You don’t want to tell me, do you?”

I can’t, I’m sorry. But cryptic answers never helped. The last time he had tried withholding something from her that wasn’t his Spider-Man secret—the planned surprise party, for instance—she had persevered until he accidentally let it slip. Plus, she was sharp. A couple of new students, a few matching injuries, and she’d guess those three were superheroes right away. And where would he be then?

“It’s a guy thing,” he said instead, a little white lie he hoped would do the trick. Vernon raked a hand through his hair, pressing his lips into a smile as he squinted at her. “You’re going to embarrass me in front of all these pigeons.”

“The pigeons are half-dead because of New York’s air pollution, I’m pretty sure they have more important things to worry about than some guy’s adjustment problems,” she said, resuming her walk. He waited for her to pass him before following. “Look, I know the new kids are a sudden change after—” She bit the inside of her bottom lip. “Well. After…you know.”

All of a sudden, the atmosphere turned gloomier, as if a cloud had passed overhead. “Yeah,” Vernon said thickly, voice cracking. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, I know.”

Lucy glanced at him, and though he wasn’t looking directly at her, he could sense the regret in her eyes. “It must be difficult for them, too,” she said. “Joining a new school in the middle of a session, just a few weeks after…all that.” She shrugged, looking at him, and their eyes met. “There’s no harm in being decent.”

He looked away, feeling the lining of his stomach go hot-and-cold. Even a mention of the incident turned every sunny conversation into something dark and somber, even though it had been months already. The counselor/agent had tried making him open up about it as well, but he’d snapped at her, only to regret it right after. It was a difficult subject for him, especially since he felt at least partially responsible for what had happened—but he couldn’t tell Luce that without revealing more than he was supposed to.

“So you’re still trying to score an interview with Tony Stark?” he asked instead, trying to steer the conversation towards a different topic. “I still can’t believe the board’s letting you do that.”

“Honestly? I think the only reason they agreed to it is because then they won’t have to assign me to anything of real importance,” she said with a small laugh. “They think I can’t do it.”

“Can you?”

“I have my ways,” she said, a glint in her eye. “I’d tell you how, but it’s too dangerous to involve an innocent civilian in my plans.”

“Uh-huh.” He tried not to shake his head. Oh, the irony. “You don’t have to talk to Stark, you know. I’m sure there were other civilian witnesses to the Goblin incident.”

“Yeah, but their accounts have already been reported. I need a superhero for this job.” She blew a strand of her hair out of her eyes. “If not him, who else am I going to talk to? Spider-Man?”

He laughed awkwardly. “Maybe?”

“I think Stark might be easier than that.” She rolled her eyes. “That’s kind of the point of the mask.”

He looked at her in half-surprise, unsure what to feel. They had talked about Spider-Man before, of course, but only in passing. A masked vigilante wouldn’t really be central to their usual conversations. Still, he hadn’t expected her to say that. “Yeah,” he murmured, feeling oddly warm. “I guess it is.”

“Oh, look,” she said, stopping in her tracks again. Vernon raised his eyebrows, following her line of sight to a Daily Bugle billboard on the side of a tall building. “Jameson’s having a field day with those photos of the new guys.”

He took a long look at the screen, wrinkling his nose in distaste. “Why would you show me that?” he mumbled. On the top right corner of the screen was a blurry picture of him with Tiger, Nova, and Iceman, looking like a perfectly normal team of superheroes fighting crime—except for the leftover webbing clinging to Nova’s costume. Distractedly, Vernon wondered what Jameson made of that little detail.

“As a sighting in Queens last night reported, it seems that Spider-Man has now deemed it fit to invite even more of his delinquent partners into this city!” the man on the screen yelled. If Vernon tried hard enough, maybe he could even see little spit bubbles form in Jameson’s salt-and-pepper moustache during the passionate rant. “With crime rates already increasing steadily ever since the arrival of this masked menace, who knows what kind of mayhem the new additions to his team will spell for New York?”

Always the charmer.

“…anyway,” Luce muttered. She was frowning at the screen, but seemed unable to look away. “Who do you think those guys are?”

“Those guys?” Vernon echoed, awkwardly running his thumb along the strap of his bag. What could he say that would arouse the least suspicion? “They seem new.”

Nailed it.

“Right,” she mumbled, looking distracted, like her mind was far away—never a good sign with this one. “But, as I was saying, I know the past month’s been hard for you. It’s been hard for me, too, but you shouldn’t take it out on a few unsuspecting newbies when they don’t deserve it.”

Vernon kissed his teeth, choosing to stay silent. The last thing he wanted right now was more impromptu therapy, but he knew that trying to dissuade Lucy from speaking would only encourage her. The best he could do was shut up and let her have it.

“You know what’s helped me deal with it?” she asked, and he raised his eyebrows, wanting to get it over with. “Working. Ever since I joined the school newspaper, I’ve been able to keep myself busy. Distracted. I don’t want to sound like a mom, but maybe something like that could work out for you—like an after-school job or something.”

Oh, you have no idea. But he only shrugged, keeping his eyes on the billboard. He had been able to keep busy as Spider-Man, a well-needed distraction from the pain, but now with those three around, it wasn’t the good kind.

“Maybe,” he murmured, watching on as Jameson gesticulated violently onscreen. “We’ll see.”

Vernon swung the drone trapped at the end of his web in a full circle before letting go, letting it fly through the training room into a collapsed structure of another laser. The drone exploded, sparking as it crashed, crushing the circuit of the lasers in the structure beneath it.

Dusting off his hands, he turned, facing the rest of his ‘team’-mates, who stood to one side, having been watching him as he single-handedly took on the subjects of their training session. He had been going at it for about half an hour now, and it had been strangely satisfying to get to throw stuff around for the heck of it.

Nova stood leaning against the wall next to the control panel, his arms folded over his chest. “You done yet?” he asked in a bored voice.

The drone Vernon had just disabled sparked again, shooting an angry red beam across the room. Vernon clicked his modified web shooters into condensed impact mode and webbed the drone again without looking. The drone crackled once, then its light went dark.

“I am now,” he said, dropping his arm. Felix watched him with bleary eyes as he turned and headed towards the exit, which slid open with a pneumatic hiss. “And since I managed to complete the mission objective solo, I think I’m going to head home.”

“Except you didn’t.” White Tiger landed in his path, executing a perfect handspring that arched high over his head. Her reflexes were as good as his—maybe even better, but he would probably never tell her that.

She crossed her arms, shifting her weight to one leg. Despite the mask covering her features, he could sense how peeved she was through the sheer annoyance radiated by her posture. “The objective was to disable the bots without alerting the security system. You trashed the drones and crashed the system, and the power failure would have initiated a manual site-wide search. If this had been a real mission, we would have been discovered by now.”

“Except this isn’t a real mission,” he said, equally annoyed. “If it had been, I’m pretty sure I would have been able to do the job easily. Six armed drones against one spider? No competition.”

“And this was supposed to be a team effort,” she snapped. “If this had just been a solo training session, I would have had no problem with you doing what you just did. But in case you forgot, the whole point of this is to prepare us for team combat in real situations, to help us learn to work better, together. Your taking on everything alone wasn’t heroic, it was an obstruction of the purpose of this entire thing.”

She took a step back, suddenly, as if reeling from a blow, though he hadn’t even moved. The training room had gone silent—granted, it hadn’t been very noisy in the first, place, but her voice had been so loud and her words so rapid that Vernon had forgotten the silence. Now it pressed down on him, like another layer to his suit.

She dropped her arms to her sides, fingers curling in and out slightly, her claws retracting under the white gloves. “I know it’s difficult for you having to work with someone against your will,” she said, “and I know you don’t like us very much. But that’s not a good enough reason for you to throw away everything we’ve been training for. If you’re not going to be nice, at least try to be civil.”

She turned on his heel and stalked out the door. Vernon watched her go, right up until the doors slid back in place behind her.

He turned around, only to find the other two staring back at him. “Way to go,” Felix mumbled.

“You totally got schooled right there,” Yangyang said, though he didn’t sound very amused. “You know she takes this training stuff more seriously than any of us.” He shrugged; arms still folded. “Gotta be more sensitive than that.”

“Stop it,” Felix snapped at him, looking annoyed. “She only cares about this so much because it’s the only thing she’s got. You’ve got the Guardians, and I have—had—the X-Men, and probably a bunch of other mutant organizations, like the Frost Academy or something,” he added the last bit in an undertone, “but S.H.I.E.L.D.—after she lost her family, this is the only place she can turn to. That’s her one chance at making it, but this doofus is refusing to cooperate. If it were me, I’d be pretty pissed.”

Vernon narrowed his eyes at him, but couldn’t find the strength to argue. Too much about what Felix had said hit right where it hurt. Losing someone you cared about, suddenly having nobody to turn to…he understood how bad that was. But losing your entire family and being displaced from your home? He couldn’t even imagine it.

The earlier annoyance had drained from his body like an ebbing tide, leaving nothing but a hollowness and that damned guilt that seemed to follow him everywhere like an annoying ghost. Oh, well, my fault for having a conscience.

Suddenly tired, he sighed, tearing his eyes from the mutant’s and looking resignedly at a spot on the wall. As much as he would like to have a reason to properly hate his new team, he knew he couldn’t really blame them for any of this. “Where do you think she’ll go?”

“Maybe you shouldn’t—” Yangyang started.

“Up top,” Felix answered, cutting him off. His irises were rings of ice, but when Vernon looked at him then, they seemed almost warm. “Take the elevator to the left. Make sure you don’t fall off the side—New York’s a long way down.”

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zer0-is-me · 3 years ago

Text

Chapter 3 - The Olympians

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

A/N:

I need to stop writing at 1 AM. Oh well, I went to bed at 12(i think-) yesterday so i probably am not sleep deprived.

For now.

Anywho, without further ado, this is the third chapter! read on :)

Previously:

Katsuki stared at the newly named, 'Kibo’s, hand, before ignoring it completely. He stood up, stretching, and turned to leave.

He paused right before he was about to jump to the floor, and sighed.

“ Name’s Valour. If we’re doing your cringe-y ass shit, the vigilante of courage and bravery.”

As an afterthought, he added, “ And, no, I’m not using your name, dumb fuck.”

And then, he was gone.

Izuku couldn't get them out of his head.

The vigilante from the night before, that was.

It was just so... so... well, he couldn't really describe it. Take intriguing and confusing along with a hint of amusement, mix them up, and there you have it.

But seriously, it kept on bugging him. He knew it was too early to tell, and he knew Valour, as they called themselves, probably wouldn't be seen again for a while (they had mentioned, after all, that they usually patrolled in a different neighbourhood). And yet he couldn't help but feel that them meeting up would be important somehow.

That, because of the certain chain of events that led to another, something good would come out of it.

He quickly brushed that feeling off when Valour was nowhere to be seen for the next week. They'd probably forgotten all about him, anyway. Soon, instead of thinking about the mysterious figure that had saved him that day, his thoughts were plagued with rightful worry.

His mom wasn't getting better.

She had been in a car crash. Izuku wasn't with her - he was at school when it had happened. Sometimes he wished he had been. Then maybe he would be in her position instead.

Inko had suffered a traumatic brain injury during the crash, and it was moderate, according to the doctors. She might recover mostly, though that would be around twelve months away.

He had cried rivers that day. Not in front of the doctors, no, but when he was locked away in his room.

He remembered feeling numb when they had told him the news right up until he had forced himself to work on homework. It all crashed onto him in one thought, and he remembered clutching his pencil in such a knuckle-white grip that it cracked. His homework page looked a lot like it had been dipped into a swimming pool afterwards.

It had been two months ago.

Since then, Izuku had tried to keep moving. He'd never let a tear drop since that night, sucking it up and braving the kids from school's taunts and bullying. (He deserved it for not being there for her when it happened, anyway.) He'd found a job - since his mother couldn't make money for them anymore - at a convenience store which was conveniently placed close by.

... Convenient.

He tried his best in school and studied hard, hoping that his mom would be proud if- no, when she got out.

And Izuku knew that he should stop his vigilant activities. He knew it would be better for him - to instead try and balance visiting his mother, studying, school and work only, than try to shove vigilantism into it. Every night, he'd tell himself that it wasn't worth it; that the heroes would be able to fill his place easily, and he wasn't doing much anyway. That he should sleep a full eight hours for once.

And yet every night, Kibo left the house and travelled to the neighbouring neighbourhood, ready to save people.

The kids at school didn't make it much better, though.

Kacchan's tauntings and shoves never seemed to stop, even if he'd never seriously hurt him more than a bruise or two. It didn't bother Izuku much, actually - more like an annoying brother who just loved to be an asshole to you and say mean things.

What really bothered him were the other kids at school - those who'd place spider lilies on his desk, like a request for him to die, or punch and kick him between classes and after school.

Those things... they eventually kind of got to him. He'd stare at a blade for a second or a minute, before putting it out of sight.

His only motive to keep going at this point was the people he'd save as a vigilante, and his mother.

He couldn't leave her without a son.

...

Izuku was putting on his costume. Yup, he was going for another night of vigilantism. (An awesome conversation changer, he knows.)

(A week and two days had passed since he had met Valour. He wasn't sure why he was tracking this.)

As he walked through alleyways and shadows to get to the next neighbourhood, he decided to do something he hadn't in years.

He stayed in his home neighbourhood.

Who knew, maybe there would be more crime here.

" Tch. Man, shut up. I know what I'm talking about."

Well that's convenient.

He heard it from a nearby alleyway and went to take a look. Innocent people usually wouldn't be talking in a secluded alleyway at 2AM. Peering around the corner, three men stood. The same person spoke - he had large horns coming from his forehead (sort of like demon ones).

" I'm telling you-"

Another interrupted. He looked tall and strong, and had red, glowing eyes. " Look, we get that you want money. We all want it. But seriously, a quirk trafficking ring? That's a bit too far."

The remaining man had a long crooked nose and dark eyes, like the kind of villains you'd see in a more or less kid-friendly film, and his stature was thin and crooked.

" No, no," he said. " I want to hear where this goes. Go on."

He did. " Thank you. What I was saying, was I heard about a trafficking ring. It's... Well, apparently, the organization's lead by people who call themselves, 'The Olympians'. Obviously, they trade and sell kids with good quirks. There's a twist, though. If they are trading with another quirk trafficking ring, and not selling, they'll insist on doing something called 'The Tournament'. From what I've heard of it, that's how they decide who gets what kid. Not sure what happens there, though."

" Interesting," the thin man said. " Thank you, Nakamura."

" You're welcome, Ito."

The other with glowing eyes huffed. " How do we know you're lying or not?"

'Nakamura' growled. " Well, Kobayashi, you'll know if you take my word, won't you?"

'Kobayashi' scoffed, " What are we even supposed to do with that information? Where even is it?"

Nakamura sighed, " You idiot, if you look at-"

He cut off and his hand shot up to his neck, clawing at something that wasn't there. Kobayashi scowled. " Call me that again, asshole, and see what happens. You need to remember who's best between me and you."

Nakamura dropped to the ground and gasped for air. " F-Fine! Fine."

He scowled at the ground, " If- If you look at where kids have gone missing lately, y-you'll realise that they disappear in a specific location and time. I don't- don't have the info, b-but I'm sure if you dug around, you'd find it."

Kobayashi sighed, " Well. You're really quite useless."

He raised his hand, but Nakamura stuttered out, " W-Wait! I have connections. I can get you whatever you need."

Kobayashi smirked, " Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Ito, the thin guy, chuckled darkly. " Oh, you didn't have to be so tough on the newbie, Kobayashi."

" Well it worked, Ito, didn't it?" Kobayashi said.

" Of course."

Nakamura was slowly getting to his feet, when he heard a near-silent scrape of shoes on cement. None of the men seemed to hear it, but Izuku knew he had heard something. He looked up just in time to see a figure dodge out of sight from the rooftop overhead.

He made a split second decision and climbed the building, hoping to see who else had been eavesdropping.

He'd definitely try to turn these guys in, but curiosity got the better of him in that moment.

A/N:

Whoooo another chapter posted! This took way too long, sorry!

Ooooh we got some new people :0 Who will they be, and what part will they play?

Btw, if you haven't figured it out already, the chapters will be in the perspective of the two boys one at a time - so in one chapter, it'll be Izuku, the next, katsuki, the next izuku, etc.

I hope you have a wonderful day, bye byeee! <3

✨@mymanbakugou ✨ (damn this taglist is lonely. If anyone else wants to be tagged, just tell me :))

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nobodyfamousposts · 5 years ago

Text

My-Crack-ulous: The Movie Trailer

Happy April Fools, everybody! (Yes, I know I’m late. No, I don’t care.)

When a villain attacked…

“Go forth my akuma! And evilize him!”

The corrupted butterfly flew up to the window.

And kept running into the glass repeatedly as the window was still closed.

“Dammit! I bought this stupid thing to be automatic! Hawk Moth cursed to himself as he kept trying to hit the button to no effect. Eventually he gave up and was forced to call Nathalie to have her open the window by hand while he made a note to fire the contractor.

When a Guardian was beyond reach…

Fu and Wayzz gaped in horror at the breaking news in Paris from their apartment in Hawaii.

“Master! It’s Nooroo! Someone has found the Butterfly Miraculous!”

“And is using it for evil.” Fu replied, narrowing his eyes. “We must act.”

“But Master, we’re halfway across the world!”

Fu pulled out his cellphone and dialed the airport to arrange for a ticket to Paris.

He was immediately put on hold.

When a monster was unleashed…

“Ivan?” Bustier asked.

“Not anymore!” The hulking rock monstrosity answered. “Now I’m Stoneheart!”

“That’s nice, Ivan—er—Stoneheart, but you still need to say ‘here’ for role call.” She admonished him, gesturing to his many terrified yet still seated classmates who had previously been waiting to be marked for attendance.

“Oh. Sorry.”

When a miracle wasn’t there…

“It’s okay, Marinette.” She worked to reassure herself as she carried the box of macarons to school. “It’s the first day of school. That means a new school year. New changes. New chances. Now to go out there and show them what you’re made of!”

She squared up her shoulders, held her head high, and prepared herself for whatever the school year would bring.

“RAAAAAH!” Stoneheart yelled, stomping down the street and causing random destruction. People were running. Cars were being thrown. Loud noises and screams filled the streets.

She stared.

Her grip on the box was lost and many macaroons went falling out and onto the concrete.

“Nope.”

And promptly turned right back around and went home.

When Paris cried out for help…

“NOOO!” Chloe screeched from position trapped in the monster’s grip. “I chipped a nail!”

The mayor gasped in horror. “Chloe! Oh no!”

Roger gave him a dirty look from the side where he stood with his broken arm and surrounded by a number of other injured officers. All of them incredulous over the mayor bemoaning his daughter’s chipped nail.

One hero answered…

A figure could be seen standing proudly beyond a den of smoke.

“Who dares?!” Stoneheart demanded.

The figure approached, revealing itself—

“HOO HOOT!” The Owl called as he threw a net at the surprised Stoneheart.

“What the—?!”

“Now I’ve got you!”

His identity unknown.

“Is that Principal Damocles?” Nino wondered.

“Affirmative.” Max replied.

“Wow.” Kim marveled. “I don’t believe it…”

“Tell me about it.” Alix snarked.

Kim grinned, excitedly. “Our Principal was a furry this whole time!”

Everyone else facepalmed.

His abilities a mystery…

“A hidden lair. An armored costume. All sorts of gadgets. Where did you even get these things?!” Mendelieve demanded.

“Google.”

She frowned.

“I see…”

A pause.

“And pray tell, exactly how much of a school budget do we have that you could afford it all?”

Damocles coughed and looked away.

A lone hero.

Damocles stood tall as he stared down the young student before him.

“I know you want to help, young lady. But it is much too dangerous for you to be fighting monsters.”

Marinette stared in confusion. “What?”

He shook his head. “No. Don’t try to argue with me! I’m only looking out for your safety!”

“But I didn’t—”

He looked down at her, his eyes shining with something almost like tears. “I know the call of justice is strong, but you are young! And you deserve a chance at a normal life!”

“I never said—”

He sighed. “I can’t stop you, can I?”

“I’m not—”

“Even if I say no, you’ll just go out there anyway.”

“Actually no—”

“Very well! You can be my sidekick!”

A slow blink.

“What?”

Standing alone against an unknown foe…

“Dad, I think we need to talk.”

“Adrien, go to your room.”

“I know you miss Mom a lot…”

“I’m pretty sure I just told you to go to your room.”

“And her loss was hard on us all.”

“Room, Adrien.”

“But I think the way you’re handling it isn’t healthy.”

“What?!” Gabriel gasped, affronted. “How can you say that?!”

“Well for one,” Adrien replied, “You’re wearing a weird suited luchador getup.”

Gabriel looked down, realizing he was still currently transformed as Hawk Moth. Multiple butterflies floated around, adding to the incriminating appearance and showing that he was, in fact, the real Hawk Moth.

“And for another,” Adrien continued, “WE’RE IN MY ROOM.”

…

“Oh.”

The city against him…

“Whoever could this mysterious hero be?” Nadja Chamack asked on her show, sounding almost bored as she read the words off the prompter in an almost sarcastic manner.

The Mayor was shown at a press conference. “Paris has no need for vigilantes who take the law into their own hands, even if it’s against a terrorist with magical powers that said hero is currently the only one who can deal with. And certainly isn’t using government funds to combat. Wink. Wink.”

“So we’re just going to pretend we don’t know who this guy is?” One officer asked another.

“But…don’t we know?”

“Everyone knows.”

In Hawk Moth’s Lair…

“WHO IS THIS MAN?!” Hawk Moth shouted angrily over a table of newspaper clippings. “And how does he keep foiling my carefully laid plans?”

“You mean the carefully-laid plan you made to attack the city you happen to be in to get magical jewelry you don’t even know is here thinking the exact ones you want will just crop up?” Adrien questioned, sardonically.

“Adrien, I don’t believe I let you out of your room.”

“You let your stupid butterflies take it over!"

"I TOLD YOU THEY NEED THE SPACE!"

His enemies conspire…

Adrien smirked at the picture of Damocles putting on the Owl mask.

“Well, that was easy. I suppose the only thing left to do is tell father.”

Chloe groaned. “No. Adrikens no.”

“What?”

“Your dad’s designs are bad enough. He does NOT need help from Principal Damocles.”

They move against him…

"Hey dad.” Adrien said upon entering the mansion. “School was great—thanks for finally letting me go, by the way. I made some friends, impressed the teachers, and found out that my principal is the Owl."

Gabriel looked up from his conspiracy board and squinted at Adrien. “Who let you out of your room this time?"

“The butterflies.” Adrien deadpanned.

Ever plotting evil…

“Clearly he’s using an Owl Miraculous!” Gabriel exclaimed.

“Whyyyy?” Adrien drawled, annoyed and just wanting to have a normal dinner in peace. A normal, non-villainy-focused dinner.

“Well, he’s the Owl! What else would he be?”

“An old man with a fetish?”

“Don’t be foolish, Adrien! How else would he defeat my akumas if he didn’t have magic?”

Adrien rolled his eyes. “Because it’s not like your akumas are stupid or your plans are dumb.”

“Quite right.” Gabriel said with a resolute nod. “It’s clearly a work of genius! And only magic could counter it!”

He wasn’t serious…

“Now why is there no mention of an Owl Miraculous in the book?”

“Clearly it must be the most powerful!”

Adrien just thumped his head against the table in exasperation.

But even so, the hero will not falter…

“Yeah, sorry about this.” Chat Noir shrugged apologetically before moving to attack.

“A battle between sidekicks!” The Owl exclaimed gleefully. “Go get him, Spooky! I shall deal with the akuma!”

“I TOLD YOU I’M NOT YOUR SIDEKICK!” She shouted after him as he took off towards the rampaging monster. “Why does no one listen?”

Seeing the interaction between them, Chat Noir paused. “Wait—you, too?”

“What?”

“Is he your dad?”

She shook her head. “No. Just a neglectful mentor who kind of dragged me into this.”

“Oh. Same. Except mine can’t in any way be considered a mentor. And there was no ‘kind of’ about this. Or any choice altogether.”

She frowned. “Then why are you helping him?”

“Because 'My father is an evil supervillain' isn't a valid reason for the courts to accept emancipation apparently.”

A pause.

“Are…are you okay?”

He stared at her in shock.

“That’s the first time anyone’s ever asked me that.”

Whatever may happen…

From above, video footage shows the Owl was climbing the tower. Pulling himself ever upward and towards his foe. Bearing a fierce look on his face as he prepares for battle.

A different angle shows he’s maybe a couple feet off the ground and panting heavily.

“Am I at least halfway there yet?”

He will protect this city…

The Eiffel Tower fell over.

And he will save us all…

Stoneheart trudged by, still covered in a net and entirely unconcerned with it or the man still attached

“I think he’s giving up!” The Owl coughed out as he continued to be dragged along after. “Any minute now!”

#ml au #ml prompt #plot bunny #ml parody #fake trailer #ML CRACK #gabriel is an idiot #bad dad au #bad dad gabriel #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #mr. damocles

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that-bi-bitch-writes · 4 years ago

Text

Dreams of Indigo (C.2)

Pairing: Hitoshi Shinso x Non Binary Reader (can be read as Male Reader)

Word Count:

Warnings: Use of He/They pronouns, lots of swearing, mentions of bully, angst? edginess (i hope not) self mutilation/injury (not cutting) hurtful words, revenge.

If you'd like to avoid the self inflicted injury it comes after the huge space at the end of this chapter. Leave a comment and let me know if you'd like me to do a recap without the injury at the beginning of the next Chapter

Storyline: Reader is a teenage vigilante basically. Unlike the main characters Y/N doesn’t attend UA and somehow seems to keep finding themself in the company of the LOV but they’re not a villain. Call him a vigilante or an anti-hero whatever, just don’t call them a villain.

A/N: This is Chapter Two of the series. I know not many on tumblr are reading but I like this story and want to update. Sorry if anyone was actually waiting for me to update. I got caught up and forgot to finish the chapter. Shoot me any questions, my inbox is open to anything but requests as of now. This is cross posted on wattpad (@that-bi-bitch-writes) and Quotev (@DumbEnbyJuice)

Teaser Character Info Prologue Ch.1 Ch.2 Ch.3

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

It started with an interruption of what can be argued as the greatest dream of the century. There you were contently snuggling up to one of your MANY pillows with your cat curled up on the edge of the bed. The only thing that could cause you any sort of stress is if you were to

“WAKE UP!!!”

“I’m not gonna say it again Y/n, I know you heard me calling you?? WAKE UP! It’s your birthday”

‘I heard you calling’ you thought ‘but I don’t see the point in waking up early, it's my birthday. Why would I be excited to go to that hellhole on the one day that’s supposed to be all about me?’

“Yeah yeah I heard you, I’ll be out in a minute” you called back

Your birthday wasn’t exactly always a bad thing. Up until you were five you really liked celebrating your bday. But you didn’t get a quirk. Now you’re in the fourth grade with no definitive friend group, no quirk and what feels like nothing to celebrate. But your mom still enjoys your birthday.

SO you have to put on a smile, do a little twirl, sit there through the embarrassing rendition of happy birthday from your family members. And then it’s back to being alone. You have to go back to school where you’re not celebrated and you have to cope with the fact that another year has gone by with no signs of a quirk and an even slimmer chance that the bullying will end. But things will change. You’re gonna change them. First you have to make it through the day alive

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

Okay, so maybe making it through most of the day wasn’t as hard as you thought. Your teacher quietly wished you a happy birthday before class started, so the class wouldn’t descend into chaos. It’s very hard to keep 9 and 10 year olds focused on someone’s birthday. But whatever, the day seemed like it was gonna go smoothly

Despite the chaos of this morning your mom actually didn’t make too much of a big deal about your birthday and the celebrations were postponed for afterschool. The fake smiles and twirling and off key singing weren’t for another 6 hours, so you got to be a cynical 10 year old for just a little longer.

‘This bento is a little fancier today’ you thought ‘maybe i should appreciate mom more and she’d do this more often.’

For the first time in what felt like forever, you got to enjoy a nice lunch, by yourself, on the roof because for some reason, loners tend to spend their lunches on the roof, even if they are 10 year olds who should be showing off a birthday cupcake, or celebratory mochi or some other sweet. Everything was fine.

The keyword is WAS. Before you could leave school, a certain orange haired bully decided your day was going a little TOO well and it was his job to correct the universe’s error.

“Hey L/N I heard it was your birthday today. I hope you got to spend the day with your many friends.” he taunted.

And of course, all bullies have to have a posse so after every “biting” comment he looked to them to make sure they were laughing. For some kind of reassurance and camaraderie that you’d never really had.

‘That’s really weird but I’m oddly jealous’

“My friends are waiting for me with my family back at home. I’ve gotta go, see you tomorrow bully-chan” you bit back. Which was probably a huge mistake. The teasing chan mayhaps have set him off. Although none of his comments usually phased you, he took his time to think about the next one as you tried to scurry out of the classroom

“What family L/N? Your mother is always busy at work isn’t she? And I heard that your dad ran away when you were like 3 or something because you hadn’t gotten your quirk.”

You thought the torment would end there. Forget just thinking, you prayed to whatever god there was that it’d all end with him poking fun at the one weak spot everyone knew you had. Your parents. But he kept going after he saw you subtly tense at the mention of your father.

Nakamuro Keitaro is not just an everyday bully. He is the son of your mother’s ex best friend who resented your mother for having everything she wanted. A stable career, beauty, a child that seemed to be worth something, and a handsome successful husband. So she poisoned Keitaro against you. It was oddly really effective on her part. She might be an evil genius.

Anyway it wasn’t exactly hard to convince him to hate you especially once it was revealed that you were quirkless. All she had to do was convince him she was the victim in your moms’ fight and give him a little ammo against you. And like the dutiful son he is, he became her attack dog on a very loose leash.

“Is he ashamed of you?” Keitaro continued “Was he worried about the rumors people would spread if they found out that a pro hero produced a dud with no quirk and no shot at carrying on his family’s legacy”

Keitaro really knew how to get on your last fucking nerve, and the comments began to hurt. And like hurt does sometimes, it turned to anger. It was your 10th birthday. You were supposed to be stuffing your face with ice cream surrounded by your closest friends. And your father. It wasn’t your fault you were quirkless. It really wasn’t. But it was their fault you were miserable.

Misery loves company.

You didn’t know why you said it, and you wish you never did. Because the next words to come out of your mouth revealed something you’d wanted for so long. You had a quirk. But it was the last time you’d ever want to use it again. Well at least not for another three years.

“I heard a rumor you were so insecure not even bullying me could make you happy.” Power thronged off of the words you spat. “So you jumped out of this window and crippled yourself”

If your dad couldn’t love his quirkless child, lets see how Keitaro’s mom loves her crippled one.

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mystyrust · 4 years ago

Text

Fracture - Ectober 2020

Day 2 Prompt: Bones / Pulse

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27203635

Word Count: 2387

Tags: Past torture, identity reveal

There were many ways Maddie liked to spend her weekend. When her kids were younger, she and Jack would take them out to museums or parks – a family outing. Now that her kids are in high school and have a lot of homework, they don’t go out every weekend anymore. In fact, it feels like they haven’t had time to bond as a family in months. Jazz is always in the library and Danny is always with his friends – sometimes even sleeping over – or catching up on missed homework. Maddie could never figure out why Danny had a backlog of homework to catch up on, yet always had time to hang out with Sam and Tucker.

Now, with her kids spending all their free time by themselves, Maddie liked to spend her free time in her lab, creating and improving her inventions to catch the elusive ghost Phantom. It had been around the time that Phantom appeared that Danny and Jazz became more distant – while both her children were in support of the ghost vigilante, Maddie and Jack were against it, devoting their free time into solving the mystery of what made Phantom different from every other ghost that haunted Amity Park. They wanted to catch it, run experiments with it, and dissect it.

So this weekend was like any other – Maddie was huddled in her lab with Jack, working out the schematics of a new invention – when their Fenton Ghost Detector beeped; a strong ecto-signature was detected inside the Fenton household. This was normal if the ghost came out of the Fenton portal – this signature came from… the living room. Maddie and Jack ran up to find Phantom having stumbled through the front door, leaking ectoplasm behind it.

“What do you think you’re doing here, spook?!” Jack raised his ecto gun at the intruder, his large frame standing in between Maddie and the ghost. But Phantom was in no shape to fight.

“I… I need help,” The ghost managed to gasp out. Maddie paused in confusion. The ghost had tears streaming down its face, heavy breathing, and ectoplasm leaking down one limp arm. It’s mimicking of human physiology was fascinating. And to come to ghost hunters for help? Either this was a trap, or it wasn’t thinking straight.

“The..guys in…white… barely got away from them,” Phantom continued to explain. Maddie noticed him sway where he stood. And that was the weird part – he stood. Not floated. And he had legs, instead of a spectral tail.

“Please, before they… finish me… like they did…”

Jack lowered his ecto gun ever so slightly – not lowering his guard, but still confused about what to do. It was odd, seeing the always confident Phantom reduced to pleading and begging its former enemies. Something in his psyche was so shattered from his experience with the GIW…

Maddie didn’t know what to make of that, but she couldn’t waste a perfectly good opportunity when it knocked phased right through her front door.

“Let’s… let’s stabilize him for now,” Maddie said, lowering Jack’s aim. “Then we can ask him what happened. And decide what to do after that,”

Jack nodded in agreement. He gingerly placed his ectogun down, approaching Phantom with both is hands up and in front.

“We’ll help you, spook,” Jack spoke loud and purposefully. “But we’ll need to take you down to the lab to do that,” Phantom nodded slightly, and Jack took that as permission to walk up to the ghost. Phantom was… he wasn’t heavy but Jack wasn’t expecting the ghost to be as solid and corporeal as he was. He lifted the ghost in his arms, and followed Maddie down to the basement.

The ghost offered little resistance, but he was breathing heavily, and leaking a concerning amount of ectoplasm from his limp arm and one of his legs. It must be difficult to keep up the charade of struggling to breathe, when he’s lost as much ectoplasm as he has, Maddie thinks.

They place him on an examination table, with Maddie grabbing a scanner and running it over his damaged arm.

“Jack…” Her voice shuddered, “His arm is… it’s fractured.”

“What? That makes no sense, he doesn’t even have…bones…” but the scanner showed Jack exactly that.

There were a million and one questions that ghosted Maddie’s lips: How did you get bones? Do other ghosts also have bones? Where do the bones in your body go when you form a spectral tail? Are your bones made of calcium, just like human bodies? But the words that left her mouth were:

“You have bones?”

All her years of academic study, her dual MD/PhD, wasted on a Captain Obvious™ moment.

“Yeah, no duh,” Phantom cracked an eye open, while the rest of his face continued to grimace. “And it hurts…like hell…” There was that snarky teenaged attitude the Fentons were so familiar with.

“How do we even treat this?” Jack asked. One of Phantom’s legs was badly muddled – peeling the suit back revealed deep and numerous gashes. He was losing ounces of ectoplasm a second, and if these injuries were on a human, he’d need blood transfusion and stitches.

“Well, we can supplement ectoplasm to help his healing factor. And then…” Maddie gulped. “Stitch the leg. And set the arm.”

Maddie went to the back of the lab, returning with a set of tools. Scalpels, needles, and bandages. The glint of the metal must have caught Phantom’s eyes – how was he still conscious? A human with this much blood loss would not be awake right now – and the ghost started hyperventilating.

“What are you –? No, please! Please don’t! I wasn’t – !”

“Phantom! We’re helping you!” Jack yelled back. Phantom stared at Jack, eyes fogging over and breathing uneven.

“I’m sorry I never…I should have told you sooner,” Phantom cried. It was an ugly cry, from a body and heart in pain. Maddie didn’t know what else to call it. What kind of guilt could be eating Phantom alive, from the inside?

“I can’t –” Phantom grunted. “I can’t change back! I’m sorry, I’m sorry I should have –”

“How about we help you first, then you tell us what you should have told us when your arm and leg are better?”

Phantom, still sniffling, nodded silently.

Maddie set to work with putting stitches on his leg, while Jack hooked an IV of purified ectoplasm. She looped phase proof thread – from Jack’s Fenton Fishing Pole – onto a surgical needle, and set to work, closing one of the many wounds. Since the wound was deep, Maddie needed to stitch the inner layers first, before sewing the outer layers shut. She was marveled at the level of detail in this ghosts’ body – maybe she could ask him about that when he was healed up.

It was strange that only one leg was injured, while the other leg looked fine. It was stranger how Phantom’s breathing and crying hitched every time her needle pierced his flesh.

“Phantom, can you –? Can you feel the needle as I –?”

“Mhmm,” Phantom managed to grunt, tears freely flowing from his eyes. “Please hurry, Mom.”

Maddie froze in her tracks. Why did he even –? Okay calm down.

He can feel pain. He can display emotion. He can appear delusional with loss of bodily fluids. And in that delusion, he seeks a parental figure.

He has the psyche of a child, her rational mind concludes. So she’ll play that part.

“Almost,…Almost done, sweetie.” Maddie responds hesitantly. “You’re doing great.”

As for the feeling pain part, she isn’t how drugs can affect a ghost – and she can’t take a chance that Phantom will react badly to some experimental medication they use on him. She can only hope that he passes out at some point, and doesn’t feel any pain for the remainder of the procedure. From watching previous footage of his battles in chronological order, Maddie had concluded that Phantom has a fast healing factor. She can only hope that healing factor is still fast. He’ll be fine.

Funny how in the course of an hour, she stopped thinking of Phantom from an “it” and started to think of Phantom as a “he”

It took thirty more minutes of verbal coaxing and soothing for Maddie to finish stitching Phantom’s leg. He promptly passed out when that was done. While Phantom was asleep, Jack finished bandaging the arm, adding a splint to keep it straight.

Finally, with ghostly patient asleep and treated, Maddie and Jack sat down, exhausted.

“Well, I never thought – ” Jack paused, unsure how to word it. They learned more about Phantom’s physiology today than ever before, and he broke every known convention about ghosts that they’d researched thus far. Not to mention a ghost turning to a ghost hunter for help.

“I want to take a sample of his ectoplasm while we can,” Maddie said. “But he might not have enough to spare. And I have a feeling that we’ll get more questions than answers under the microscope, too.”

“You’re right,” Jack agreed. “I wonder what he went through, for him to be as injured as he was and decide to come to us, of all people. Heh, Danny and Jazz would freak.”

“Well, Danny’s sleeping over at Sam’s again, and Jazz was tutoring someone else this weekend.” Maddie mused. “It wouldn’t surprise me if Phantom stayed here for a few days without them even knowing.” It hurt her to know how detached her children had become from her, and it hurt her to know that her assessment of the situation was objectively correct – Jazz and Danny were rarely home.

“Well, he mentioned the guys in white,” Jack said. “If they are the ones who did this to him, and we protect him from those guys, we can earn his trust. And then maybe he’ll let his guard down enough for us to …at least solve the mystery of what he is.”

The two scientists stare at the sleeping form of Phantom, noticing how even in a seemingly unconscious state, his chest rises and falls with each breath.

“With his consent, I suppose,” Jack added.

A few hours later, in the middle of dinner, Maddie and Jack are interrupted to rude knocking from their front door.

“Ugh, not another door to door salesman,” Jack grunted. Answering the door revealed that their rude guests were none other than

“GIW,” an agent dressed in white answered, holding up an identification badge. There were two agents, both equipped with ecto guns and headphones, Maddie noted.

“Yes, we can see that,” Jack responded, keeping the shock out of his face. “If you wanted to come over for dinner, you should have called earlier. We don’t have leftovers.”

“We came to inform you that Phantom has escaped our captivity,”

“We didn’t even know you had Phantom in captivity,” Jack raised his brows in surprise.

“Just a few hours of questioning. We underestimated his abilities, and his allies.” The agent continued. “We’ll need extra weapons, the latest of whatever you’ve developed.”

“Well, we don’t have anything, since we gave you everything we made last time,” Maddie interjected. “So we don’t have anything complete yet. And besides, wouldn’t it have been faster for you to send an email or announcement that Phantom escaped? You must have lost a lot of time driving around to come tell us in person.”

“You never know who could be listening.”

“And besides,” the agent in the back added, “There was a chase. We don’t know where he disappeared to, but we suspect he stopped by here.”

“And why do you think he stopped by here?” Jack was very good at keeping the caution out of his voice, Maddie noted. If it were her, their cover would have probably been blown by now.

“Isn’t it weird for a ghost to hide out at a ghost hunter’s house?”

“True, but the same ghost uses technology he stole from a ghost hunter, and he can go into the ghost zone from the portal in your basement,” This was nothing new to Maddie. In fact, it annoyed her that Phantom used Fenton tech, because it meant he somehow evaded ghost detectors in their home to acquire it, or it was handed to him directly by Danny or Jazz. That last one hurt the most; she couldn’t bear the thought of her children going behind her back to support someone who was the very antithesis of everything they stood for.

Or, someone who used to be that. Maddie isn’t sure how she feels about Phantom now, but at the very least, she doesn’t want to hurt him anymore.

“Well, we’ve been home all day, and our equipment didn’t detect anything. But if we find anything new, we’ll call.” Jack told the two agents.

“Alright, stay on alert!” The first agent said, before leaving. Jack closed the front door, and the two waited until they saw the agents sit in their vehicle and drive off, before moving from their spot. Thank goodness they didn’t come inside or into the lab; the lab’s high ectoplasmic content could somewhat mask Phantom’s signature, and could be explained as a false positive on ghost detecting radars, but they wouldn’t be able to hide an unconscious ghost – an unconscious ghost! How wild is that?! – if the agents wound up downstairs.

Maddie breathed a sigh of relief.

“It’s been a few hours, let’s check on him”

Maddie and Jack headed downstairs to their lab. Just as they had left him, Phantom was sleeping on the examination table, hooked to an IV of ectoplasm. The fracture on his arm looked like it would heal completely – the naturally cool body temperature of the ghost helped, along with his quick healing factor. His leg looked significantly better, though Maddie wasn’t sure if the stitches would leave behind scars.

Maddie pulled a notebook from the work table, adding and updating her notes with everything they’d learned about Phantom today.

“Can ghosts get scars?” Maddie mused out loud. “Or is it unique to him?”

“I dunno, I guess we’ll have to ask –”

Their conversation is interrupted by a groan – Phantom was waking up – followed by a flash of bright white light. The Fentons covered their eyes, and when the light died down, they’re met with even more questions than answers.

“Danny?!”

#ectoberweek2020 #ectober2020 #danny phantom #dp fanfic #day 2

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themusicplayedherlife · 4 years ago

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Can you write a continuation of the Tim Drake x demigod reader where he introduced reader to the rest of the family?

a/n: This time it didn’t take years for me to finish this request lmfao! I didn’t write much interaction between the family because they’re so many members of the batfam and I can’t write group settings for the life of me??? but I def had some ideas about Damian and his curiosity towards Reader, anyway, anon! Hope you enjoy!

Meeting the family is inevitable, according to Annabeth after a long and winded rant about having dinner with Tim and his family from your end.

Granted, you knew most of his brothers and sisters in the Hermes cabin (including his three adopted siblings that he arrived at camp with), but knowing your fellow campers is one thing, getting to know them as the family he was raised with? That’s another matter altogether.

You knew of Dick Grayson, son of Aphrodite; Jason Todd, son of Ares; and Cassandra, daughter of Psyche. How could you not? They are prominent members of Camp Half-Blood. Maybe not like Percy and the rest of your group, but it‘s hard to ignore the adopted children of Bruce Wayne, ally of the gods and demigods (you had Wonder Woman and his adopted children to thank for that). Not only were they good looking, but they excelled in combat from the very moment they stepped foot into camp.

But you only know them as that—fellow campers. This is you getting to know them... better—intimately. And not to mention getting to finally meet THE Bruce Wayne and the rest of his mortal family members in person! No more second hand stories from Tim, or listening in on the stories his siblings would recount to the curious campers.

Wow. This is definitely out of your comfort zone, isn’t it?

A warm hand wraps around your cold fingers, steadying your shaky limbs.

“Hey,” Tim softly says, squeezing your fingers as another hand cradles your cheek. “They’re going to love you, χρυσή μου.”

My golden one. You practically melt at the softness and love in his voice when he calls you so. A reminder of how much you mean to him, of how much he loves you.

You smile involuntarily and lean into his touch.

You’re not given the chance to return the affection, the double doors of the manor being thrown open followed by a loud raucous of:

“He’s right there!” from Jason, and “Stop being such a dick,” from a tall, beautiful redhead with freckles followed by a lot more noise and bickering from what you assume is the rest of his family members.

You practically recoil, pulse beginning to pick up and fingers slowly beginning to twitch in his hold.

“Babe,” Tim starts, cutting through all the noise and he flashes you a smile, a reassuring one, with a squeeze of your hand. “I’m right here. I’ve got you.”

You nod and try to return the smile, but there’s no denying that his words and touch manage to ground you just a bit further.

“That's enough,” a deep, calm voice interjects, the earlier bickering coming to an abrupt stop as you remind yourself to breathe.

Bruce Wayne is a lot taller than you had imagined him to be—very handsome too. His stare is even more intense than you had expected, sharper and darker than the smolders he’d spare the pictures taken of him prompted or unprompted. And you can’t help the way your mind scans over him, searching and prodding like it usually does--there’s a darkness in this man that you can’t ignore. Burning deep and hot like hellfire. You wonder if it originates from his traumatic childhood, or if the darkness began to grow with the years--with his journey as the masked vigilante.

Tim has his own darkness, and so do his siblings, but Mr. Wayne? It seems to be tenfold. Controlled, sure, but barely hanging on by a thread.

Bruce pulls you out of your momentary awe, his voice somewhat gruff, but still managing to be kind. “Welcome home,” he says, mostly to Tim, but the small lift of his lips in your direction makes you feel welcomed as well. Yes, there’s a darkness in him, but there’s also a kindness that is rarely seen in others. It’s that kindness that you’re sure has raised Tim and his siblings, taught them that unbearable need to help others with no expectations of reciprocation. They’re just... kind to be kind.

Is it that kindness that stops him from bursting?

Tim tugs you along with him up the final steps of the manor where he hugs his adopted father after letting you go momentarily. “Thank you, Bruce.” He turns to you, holding out his hand for you to take and introducing you to him with an air of pride, as if he’s talked about you aside from being his partner to him before. And seeing the expression of familiarity flash behind Bruce’s blue eyes, you know he has.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” you offer a bit shyly, unsure of whether to offer him your hand or if to lean in for a hug. You’re not exactly sure what the proper etiquette is to greeting a parent, let alone your boyfriend’s father. You’ve only had the chance to interact with Percy’s mom, and even that is rare. With the rest it’s always been a “hello! Must steal your child for a quest, bye!” Never a proper sit down where you can properly introduce yourself to them.

Relief fills you when Bruce helps you by offering you his hand, mindful of which hand Tim is holding to keep you steady—emotionally and physically. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person. Tim and Diana speak highly of you.”

You immediately feel the heat crawl on your skin. What exactly have they said? “Likewise, Mr. Wayne. And I just want to say, on behalf of all my friends, thank you for all that you have done for us at camp. We really appreciate it.”

Tim squeezes your hand when Bruce chuckles lowly and asks for you to drop the formalities, telling you to call him Bruce instead.

Before anyone else can introduce themselves to you or you can take note of who else has followed Bruce and Jason to the door, Jason lets out a loud groan. “Can we hurry this along? We know who she is already and I’m hungry!”

“Jason,” the same redhead from before scolds him, smacking him—quite harshly, might you add—on the arm before extending her hand in your direction. “Barbara Gordon.” Ah! Dick’s ex girlfriend! You’ve heard Tim and Dick mention her a couple of times before. Mostly about how she’s always down Dick’s throat for being too reckless or something, you’re not entirely sure. “I’m so glad you’re finally able to join us for dinner! We’ve been trying to convince Tim to bring you along for a while now!”

You know they have been. Tim has mentioned it before, but at the time, you weren’t exactly ready to be in a crowded room with strangers. You’re still not completely ready, but after a talk with Hazel and Annabeth, you decided you couldn’t put it off for much longer.

As Hazel said, “You love Tim, whether you want to admit it or not. And it’s pretty obvious Tim loves you, too! Making an effort to meet his family would show that to Tim without you having to say those words just yet.”

You squeeze Tim’s hand, hoping she’s right. “I’m sorry.”

She waves her hand, a warm smile on her face. “No, I’m sorry if we all seem a little impatient. I really hope we don’t put you off! We’re all just a little... eager to meet the person that has stolen our Timmy’s heart.”

“Babs!” Tim whines, but it goes ignored by Barbara.

She laughs. “Come on in! The rest of the family is waiting in the den.”

Dinner is chaotic. Not as chaotic as dinner is back at camp, but it’s still pretty chaotic.

The youngest and only biological child of Bruce Wayne, is Damian, a boy with a sharp tongue and a curious thing, eyeing you before quickly looking away with a huff and pretending he hadn’t just been staring at you. Unlike the rest of the family, the darkness in him is a speck compared to theirs, even if he speaks with harsh words and an air of indifference. There’s more of a childish innocence that surrounds him, and you can’t help but wonder if it’s attributed to the rest of his family trying to help him make the most of his childhood.

You offer him a smile, one you hope doesn’t look strained or unnatural. You really do want to make him feel at ease with you. Make it easier for him to ask questions about you and your lineage like the rest of his family does.

Duke is the funniest of the group, not adopted, but still very much part of the family. He’s motivated, and just as smart as Tim, if their conversation about some riddle and case you briefly heard mentioned on the news is anything to go by. And just like Bruce and the rest of the family, he’s observant, maybe even more so than they are; offering you an out when it all becomes overwhelming by changing conversations or asking you if you need anything. He especially takes a liking to hearing stories of you and your mother, Athena, seemingly realizing that speaking about your mother is a clutch to you.

You can’t help it when you ask, “Are you sure you’re not a son of Athena’s?”

He’s taken aback by your question before laughing jovially. “That’d be so cool if I were, honestly! But nah, I’m just a regular ol’ meta-human.”

Dick snorts, leaning into your space to whisper loudly, as if to tease Duke—and completely ignoring the fact you lean away from him and closer to Tim—“Look at him nonchalantly trying to slip in that he’s not exactly human.”

Tim nudges Dick away from you with the palm of his hand, making his brother chuckle and back away with palms up in surrender. You thank Tim with a small smile which he returns.

Duke rubs the back of his head sheepishly. “How else was I supposed to say it?”

“Not at all,” Barbara adds in with a chirp, passing Cassandra the bowl of fruit that had been placed down by Alfred, their butler, something that you find really weird to say or even think. A butler! So weird.

“You guys are just jealous!”

Dick quirks an eyebrow in his direction. “I’m a child of Aphrodite.”

Jason pauses in his indulgence on seconds to flash him a smirk. “Ares.”

“Psyche,” Cassandra quietly adds as she adds fruit to her plate.

Tim grins. “Hermès.”

Damian glares at him without any heat. “My grandfather is Ra’s Al Ghul; my mother is Thalia Al Ghul; and my father is Batman.” Which is still wild to you. Who would’ve thought. I mean, other than the few conspiracies running around.

Barbara turns to you with an eye roll and you can’t help but laugh under your breath.

“Okay, all right, point taken! No need to flex. Damn.” Duke shakes his head. “A guy can’t even feel special.”

Bruce chuckles lowly. “You are special, Duke.” Duke lifts his head after huffing and beams, the rest of the family following after their father’s sincere words. “All of you are special.”

“But I’m more special, correct, father?”

A fond an exasperated chorus of “Damian!” fills the room.

The manor is quiet at night. Surprisingly enough.

Eleven people under one rooftop and you’re certain you could drop a pin on the floor and it’d resound throughout the manor.

And yet, even in the quiet, you and Tim lay awake in his childhood bedroom, too wired to fall asleep and give into your tiredness; both of you laying on your side and facing each other.

“You’re drained,” you whisper to Tim, brushing his hair falling over his eyes behind his ear.

He hums, closing his eyes as your fingers trail down the back of his ear and to his jaw. “I love my family, but it can be too much when everyone is together.”

You let out a small huff of a laugh, tapping your finger against his chin gently before dropping your hand down next to your face. “It’s not as bad as camp.”

“Maybe,” he agrees absentmindedly. “But at least at camp I can go hide out with you in your cabin or sneak off to the lake.”

”Guess so.”

His lashes flutter as brilliant blue eyes appear once more. “Meeting my family didn’t tire you out?”

You smile, hearing the worry in his voice. “A little. But it was fun meeting them. Loved them.”

“Yeah?” he asks, wrapping you up in his arms.

“Yeah,” you whisper, patting his chest with your palms, his heartbeat a soothing thump against your hand. “Almost as much as I love you.”

His long fingers wrap around your wrist just as it stutters under your hand. “Do you mean it?” He asks breathless, barely heard in the darkness of his room full of wooden book shelves and books you can’t believe he actually read at some point in his life.

“What?” You ask, watching him as he brings the hand that had been resting on his chest to his lips.

He presses a gentle kiss against your skin, eyes never leaving yours. “That you love me.”

You freeze, eyes moving from the hand he’s kissing to his brilliant blue eyes that don’t seem to ever stop sparkling. Even in the darkness he’s pure light, and you don’t understand how he can shine so brightly when the darkness surrounds him, practically ready to devour him. But you wouldn’t let it. You would never let that darkness take a hold of him. And if it ever did, you’d fight to bring him back, even if it meant going back to Tartarus, you would. “Yes,” you whisper.

His lips curve, smile growing and taking shape as he leans closer. Your hand rests on his cheek as you take him in; as he practically melts under your confession and touch. “I love you too, χρυσή μου.”

#tim drake x you #tim drake x reader #tim drake x y/n #tim drake imagine #timothy drake x reader #reader insert #request #queue: out saving the world

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iphoenixrising · 5 years ago

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hey we haven’t heard anything from you in a while. everything good? How’s life treating you? All my love for one of my favorite batfam writers!💗💗💗

Hi babe.

Ah sorry, I’ve been super busy at work and with kiddo :( I mean, I’m still writing when I can, but it’s just time and motivation. My project has really taken off (reads as: expanded) and most nights I’m chipping away at the massive amount of documentation for not only a Java-based framework, but an entire Platform *sob* So, it’s just such a huge amount of old articles and brainstorming sessions and meeting minutes and just ugh. I mean, it’s kind of interesting to try tracking all these things down and figuring out how they’re going to work together since the developers (from 12 to 50-ish, my God and now they want me to read markdown and do pull requests for comments and shit because this is my fucking life) are still working on the platform services, the development environment, and all these fucking tools I’ve never heard of (Kubernetes, wtf is this thing??) so I’m learning a foreign language almost tbh.

Did I mention *sigh*?

ANYWAY, also some of the things I’m working on that are like Batfam are a little more...I dunno, just things that a bit harder for me I guess, but even if I write just a sentence or two, I still count it as a win.

But like...I said something about a Sentinel / Guide Au, and even though I’m at what would be a good stopping point, I’m not very happy with it :/ So, if you’d like to see kind of what I’ve been doing, I’m going to throw down what I’ve got below the cut.

Warnings:

DickTim, Angst

Sentinel/Guide Au

After he brings B back from time, send the Dark Knight back to Gotham, he gives in to things long overdue, and trains with Shiva–

–to be an effective Guide.

Years of suppressants made it literally hell without them, trying to keep his shields up, trying to push out the telepathic traffic suffocating him the second he opens up just a crack.

Shiva, of course, had been her cheerfully murderous self, plying him with the full onslaught of a powerful Sentinel.

"You will be drawn to us from now on, Little Bird. You will want to protect us, bring us back from the abyss. If you choose to allow your powers as a Guide rein free, then you must learn to fight against the urges."

The fucked-up part is–

–she's right.

If he wants to stay in the life, wear the cape and cowl under the new name, go back to the Titans (since they've been looking for him again, fly-bys and searches for his tech), then he needs to learn how to deal with what he can do and how to deal with the instincts that come along for the ride.

It's not enough that Shiva is in the middle of hunting down a few former students ("They have made...the wrong choices."

"That's rich coming from you, you know."

"We all have a code, Little Bird, and I am no different.")

but they managed to run into a few other Sentinels along the way.

He'd like to say he'd taken his ass beating like a pro at this juncture in the vigilante game, but the reality is, they'd had to take shelter in a shitty lean-to, so he could be tragically, metaphysically hung-over.

He gives up the cowl and suit, utility belt and sundries. He goes as a wrecked teenage American boy, changing it up from the last time he trekked behind Lady Shiva and took on her adversaries. He tries not to think about Dick or Jason, Dami or Alfred, tries not to think about the confused look on B's face in his safe house, drying his hair after a long shower, trying to readjust to the current timeline.

("You aren't going back to Gotham?"

"I still have things to do."

"...there's something you aren't telling me."

"There's a lot I'm not telling you."

"Come to me when you're ready, Tim. No matter what, you're always going to be one of my Robins.")

Instead, he learns how to keep himself, and the Sentinels around him, safe and sane while trying to stay two steps ahead of the next fight, the next clue, the next "training."

In Shanghai a few months later, he knows it's time to move on when people part ways for the brightly clad superheroes coming en-masse down the packed street for him.

Well, moving on it is.

Going back to the Tower, away from the Bats and Gotham and the Rogue Gallery (thinking about facing the Joker this raw and open is fucking terrifying), was the best he was going to get considering the circumstances.

Those circumstances being the pointed twitch over Kon's eye and Bart's very intense gaze.

"You were supposed to call, asshole. The OG Batman has been back in Gotham for like months and you've just been, you know, chilling with Lady Shiva?"

Tim, who is so out of bullshit at this juncture, feels better after a hot shower and some old sweats with a Superboy t-shirt, throws up his fucking hands.

"All right, fine. I never told anyone. I...I've been on suppressants since I was a kid, just like my mom. Guides..."

"It's not that bad anymore!" Cassie tries helplessly, the first to actually reach across the table for his hand.

The instant connection makes them both gasp. It’s a shallow one, just a dip under her natural shield (he knows it’s Cissy, the Guide that’s been helping her until now, bringing her back whenever she hits a Zone, recognizes the touch of their Arrowette), just a skim over her immediate emotions this thing now untried and how utterly calm he makes her just by hands lightly placed.

"O-ooh," is soft while his fingers tighten, his eyes sharpen, his shields constructing around her, his instinct to protect.

"Not necessary," Gar chimes in, still leaning against the door between the kitchen and communal entertainment room, "we're all good in the Tower, T."

Is what shakes him out of it, hastily pulling away from Cassie's hand.

"Wow." Wonder Girl breathes out, eyes soft and half-mast, looking at him dreamily.

"Nope." Because he can already feel the headache coming on, how her hand tries to grab back at his.

“We could fight better together, Tim!”

“Do you even know how strong a Guide has to be to take care of four Sentinels?”

In one terribly creepy singular move, Bart, Kon, Gar, and Cassie give him that look.

You know, aimed at his face.

"No one," Bart cuts in, eyes wide at the exchange, of Tim's aura warm and inviting suddenly stronger, reaching out... "Tim, T. No one has to know."

The flash of fear, a residual from the tunic, makes him hedge back a subtle step back.

Kon pointedly grips him by the bicep, over his shirt while Bart moves enough that his shoulder bumps into Tim’s ribs, halting the possible escape attempt.

“Okay, okay, backing off. New powers are about a bitch, not like we all haven’t been there once or twice.” Kon soothes over, taking small steps and tugging until Tim is moving with him closer to the communal kitchen where his seat is empty at the island, and they can possibly get proof the guy actually eats.

“Amen,” Cassie throws up a hand and is already digging through the fridge until she finds–

–the last grape Zesti.

Tim’s eyes narrow dangerously on that singular can, his body moving before his brain can take over because he’s sliding on his old chair, the can cold against his fingers, too thirsty for caffeine that he can’t even.

Sure, it’s a trap, but with these guys, at least he knows it.

“I’m very not ready to do anything remotely Guide-like in the field,” the soft ca-saaaa as the can opens. “You want me to sleuth, fight, and strategize, then I’m all for it.”

Bart is just suddenly in Kon’s usual seat beside him, spinning around in tight, fast circles, “you mean you’re thinking about coming back? To the life?”

“Dude, that would be stellar.”

Tim side-eyes his besties, “it was never in the plan to-to stop.”

“Can’t blame us for assuming, you know,” Gar grins toothily, “no Red Robin for a while, my dude.”

Tim goes quiet, staring down at the can between his hands, shoulders hunched over.

“At least,” Raven’s voice is smooth and soft, comforting, “tell us why now, Tim?”

“Why now?”

“Why begin training as a Guide now?” She clarifies, sliding into the seat across from her, and the coolness of her aura, not a Sentinel, but something purely Raven puts his frayed nerves at ease, makes it easier for him to find the words.

“I turned 18,” and he can’t look at them while he admits to it, “and...and I figured out who my Sentinel is after Ra’s kicked me out the window.” (I was fine going out that way. It was fine. I was saving Wayne Enterprises from the League of Assassins, I was fighting the good fight. It shouldn’t have happened that way...why did it have to happen that way?)

“Oh,” and Cassie’s eyes get huge.

“Ra’s al Ghul is your Sentinel?!” Bart fairly screams.

“No dude,” Tim rolls his eyes and finds his can suddenly fascinating. “It’s...Dick. He’s...yeah. It’s him.”

“I didn’t hear that,” Kon hurries, standing shock-still, “I didn’t hear any of that.”

“Not him,” Bart is gritting his teeth because dammit, why couldn’t Tim have been his Guide? The universe was totally, wholly unfair.

A muscle in Tim’s jaw flexes, his nose pinkening along his upper cheekbones. He blinks watery eyes, takes a deep, deep breath to try and keep himself under control.

“Yeah,” and Tim sighs a little, the ache in his chest more acutely painful when he thinks about that moment waking up in the Cave, Dick in the Batsuit without the cape/cowl combo smiling down at him, still painfully unaware of the connection drawn tight between them.

(He doesn’t need me. He’s got Babs and Dami. His Guide and his Robin.)

Getting the absolute fuck out of the Manor had been his first order of business once he’d come to, just sprouting whatever placating bullshit Dick needed to hear to let him go without much of a fight (this time).

Finding Bruce and staying the hell out of Gotham hadn’t helped the pull he inexplicably felt, or the pressure of minds around him that had sent him to Shiva in the first damn place. His Guide abilities were overcoming the suppressants, so he was out of time...and out of options.

Still, even with the training, he occasionally has the dreams at night. Not the usual array of awful nightmares from his real life, Jason shooting him in the chest at point-blank to make sure the job gets done this time, Bruce dying right before his eyes, turning into that skeleton husk Superman brought to them thinking it was the real thing, Damian sneering at him with the katana held high, spitting out how it’s time the real Robin took his rightful place just before bringing the blade down–

No, no, it’s even worse than those.

It’s shadowy hands touching him, the warm wet of a mouth over his skin and scars, gentle voice in his ear telling him how beautiful he is, how much he’s needed, wanted, how it’s not just because of what he is or what tunic he used to wear, it’s all because he’s Tim. He doesn’t wake up when his dream self realizes it’s Dick over him, those blue eyes taking him in, pinning his wrists down to look over every inch of his naked body. He doesn’t wake up when Dick starts preparing him. He doesn’t wake up when Dick kisses him hard and desperate. He doesn’t wake up when the tears dry on his face and their bodies line up.

“Mine,” his dream Sentinel doesn’t even hesitate, “Don’t ever run from me again. Do you understand me, Tim?”

Just before Dick pushes, he wakes up, panting and hard, his instincts going crazy enough that he has to meditate to calm down.

Cassie gently wraps her hand around his shoulder, making sure they don’t have skin-to-skin contact this time. “I’m sorry,” she smiles gently at his frown, “I know you and Dick have had some...issues in the past few years.” But he can read the guilt in her face. Back when everyone thought Bruce was dead and his cape had been yanked out from under him, Dick had sent Cassie to try talking some “sense” into him. She still feels awful for jumping on the same train everyone else had been riding, the ‘that guy is suffering from depression’ instead of believing he might actually be right.

(It still stings though, doesn’t it?)

He doesn’t say anything back, just looks out one of the big windows and pulls out of her hold to take a drink of his Zesti.

“But,” Gar quickly jumps in, “you’ll stay in the Tower and fight on the team again, right? Like, no more trips with World’s Deadliest Assassins?”

Tim visibly hesitates, pausing with the can up to his mouth.

Slowly, he lowers it, his eyes taking on a cold calculation that is and isn’t like their old Rob. “Like I said, I can’t be a Guide for anyone, and I mean that. Second, I told you the truth in confidence, so I expect everyone to keep my secret. Third, I’m not anywhere near ready to go to Gotham or face the Bats, so for now, I’m fighting under the radar. If those aren’t acceptable stipulations, I’ll grab some of my clothes from storage and be out of your Tower.”

“Storage?” Kon glances around at the team, “Tim, buddy, why do you think we’d have your stuff in storage?”

“I assumed Dick would already approach you about making Damian part of the team,” his tone is absolutely empty, emotionless. “And there’s no way both of us could be here at the same time, so...” he lets them put it together from there.

The look of utter devastation on Kon’s face makes him feel slightly better.

Coming back when Cassie, Bart, and Kon have his back, just like they were closer to the end of their YJ run, makes the transition easier than it realistically should have been.

And it really might just be how low the dose of suppressants are now, or that he feels comfortable stepping into Robin’s role on the team, just with a different name, a different mask. It might just be how Bart has a tendency to hover with that hummingbird energy coming off him even when he’s seemingly standing still, maybe it’s Kon’s TTK pressing at his back even if the guy is across the room, maybe it’s how he and Cassie have leadership meetings where they just binge watch reruns of Gossip Girl and eat ice cream to bemoan their woes.

But maybe, it’s how he can feel them pulling at his shields unconsciously. Maybe it’s how he can sometimes push back enough, can skim just the edges to get impressions of angry, sad, depressed and gently erect a mental shield without delving deep without permission, can give them the space they need from their intense senses and powers.

Just another way he can be the regular guy on the team, working under the radar. So much a part of his role in the first damn place.

He doesn’t realize it becomes something normal until they take the good fight a little too close to Gotham for his liking, but the choices were few and Luthor is such an incredible ass hat that Tim actually plays it down, dresses up as CEO Tim Drake to divert their baddie while the team takes apart his latest weapon of mass destruction on the down-low.

What he absolutely doesn’t expect is to leave the lobby of one of the most posh restaurants in Metropolis–

And walk face-first into Dick Gryson’s chest.

(Technically, it’s Nightwing, but really, this doesn’t make the sitch any better.)

A hand, black with blue fingerstripes, covers his mouth, and the sound of a grapple retracting is a pending oh no that he doesn’t fight the vigilante pretty much kidnapping him off the street in broad daylight.

He can only thank God it isn’t skin-to-skin contact because his inner senses are flaring this close to the Sentinel, his Sentinel, that he has to grind his back teeth to keep himself in check. He pulls away the second they land it on solid rooftop, shoving his sleeve back to check the team’s status on his hidden wrist computer.

Mission success!

“Imagine my surprise,” Nightwing growls, hand on his shoulder to spin him around, “when I find you having lunch with someone like Lex Luthor instead of taking my damn calls, Timmy.”

Stepping out of that hold is subtle because Tim is looking over the side of the roof, adjusting his tie to try putting some distance between them. “I’m undercover. Those are the things people like us do when we’re running an Op, Nightwing.”

Those whiteouts narrow on him, a trick only Dick can really pull off effectively. “None of that tells me where the hell you’ve been for the last year since you left to find Bruce, found him, and didn’t come back.”

His back straightens, eyes looking away when the irritation and heat of anger hits him harder without the nice little cocktail of suppressants and stabilizers, makes his own shields tremble at the burning sear along the edges of his consciousness.

Instead of saying something he might come to regret, Tim sucks in a breath through his nose and works through the bolt of pain, gathers his shields around himself to keep the Sentinel from unerringly lashing out at him again.

“What the hell are you even doing here? Recon on Luthor? For which nefarious plot?”

A black and blue hand slashes the space between them, “not even important, Tim. So, how about you call your team and tell them you’ve got some Bat business because we? Need to talk.”

“I’m sorry, what now?”

“You heard me. I’ve been trying to get in contact with you for weeks.”

“I sent back your case files, asshole–”

“Not about cape and cowl shit, Tim!”

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about right now,” even though he does, he really does. He just doesn’t know why it has to happen now.

Nightwing, however, has had enough of the talk and with a whip of his arm has a bolo out and thrown, his natural speed as a Sentinel might be slower than someone like the Flash, but it still has Tim wrapped up tight faster than he can realistically dodge.

The sight of the vigilante Nightwing swinging through Metropolis with the CEO of Wayne Enterprises over one shoulder would be big news in the city if anyone had been bothered to really look up.

The hotel is nice Tim thinks while wiggling around on the bed where Dick pretty much dumped him. His fingers are already getting the bolo loose from around his upper body by the time Dick has the mask off and the Nightwing suit unzipped to flop around his waist.

The Gotham Knights t-shirt underneath is a new one since the old faded one got blown up in that little explosion in the ‘Haven a few years back.

Dick lifts and sets a chair down with a pointed clack, sitting down to watch Tim squirm his way up. He’s got the bolo loose enough to brace his palms.

“What part of I’m in the middle of an OP–”

“Don’t care,” Dick cuts him off ruthlessly, those blue eyes hard and jaw tense. “I honestly don’t give a crap about the Titans right now.”

“Well I sure as hell do thank-you very much,” Tim pulls the bolo off, tosses it across the room with an angry flick, facing his former mentor, former partner, former friend with those old feelings creeping up his throat to make the taste in his mouth coppery and bitter.

“The only thing I care about right now is that I finally caught up to you. The last time I even saw you was that swan dive–”

“I’m aware. Being kicked out of a window is pretty memorable, even for people like us,” he keeps it deadpan, keeps the anger and irritation, the feelings of shit like betrayal and it must have been so easy to throw me the fuck away.

“The point is, smart ass, you left the Cave and haven’t been back. You only answer my emails about cases and bad guys. But when I ask you to come back home, which I have, Tim, I don’t even know how many times, and I get nothing! We need you–”

“Why would I come back to Gotham for you?” Is what spills out of his mouth, something bitter and foul. “You’ve already got a fucking Robin to be your little brother, remember?”

Welp, there goes playing it cool.

But watching Dick jerk back like Tim had landed a physical blow was more satisfying than he wanted to admit.

“Are you kidding me right now? You’re still angry about that? I’ve explained to you exactly why–”

The irritation in Dick’s tone, obvious disgust when he leans back and crosses his arms over his chest is just about enough.

“You explained it just fine. You made your choice, so everyone just has to deal with it, right? Yeah, that’s really being my equal.”

Tim makes himself stay deadly calm and cold, moves his legs away from Dick’s to stand and take a few steps away from the seething Sentinel to adjust his tie and try to get his hands to quit trembling.

“I can’t believe you’re acting this childish, Tim. I’m really disappointed with you right now.”

“Glad we’re on the same page, Dick, disappointed in each other,” but it strikes him anyway in the small, sad place where he held on to the hope they could still work everything out somehow and at least go back to being friends. A small part that’s been slowly dying in degrees, and that last hit is enough to make it so absurdly painful.

(All those years in the R, fighting the good fight, being brothers, having each other’s backs, and it all ends here, doesn’t it?)

“What? I did everything I could do for you! I–”

“If that’s what you want to believe, then that’s fine. I don’t have any reasons to argue with you,” staring at his own reflection in the mirror, seeing the red start to creep over his cheeks, his eyes get overly shiny, Tim Drake straightens his spine and flexes his own shields.

He keeps himself together enough to turn on a heel and walk calmly to the door.

“Tim, just...okay, just wait. Let’s talk this out–”

He doesn’t even turn, hand already on the knob, just pulls open the door and takes a hasty step through. It’s only the first step, but Dick is still just suddenly there, trying to snatch at Tim’s wrist with a bare hand, managing the brush of fingertips over a pulse.

“Don’t leave like this,” Is the last thing Dick says before the electric shock slides up his spine, the pull to all his senses almost has him on his knees.

The touch has Tim lurching away, jerking his wrist up to cradle against his chest, the red burn of Dick’s emotions beating at his shields harder with just a simple graze.

It ends with Dick still in the doorway, braced against the frame, gaping, and Tim leaning heavily into the wall across the hall, a wince on his face.

Stupid metaphysical connections and shit.

The touch hadn’t been enough to, you know, like bond them or anything, but it’s widely believed True Pairs didn’t even have to touch to get impressions from one another.

“You asshole,” he seethes at that shocked expression.

“You feel like I betrayed you,” is low and thick, Dick’s eyes a little dazed with what he picked up through the momentary connection, “it hurt you so much when I made Dami my Robin because I didn’t even talk to you, I didn’t trust you. You think I just threw you out of my life. How could I ever do that to you...?”

If Tim was a better Guide, on a higher dose of suppressants, he would have been able to keep himself closed off enough that if they did manage to touch, he could have kept Dick out of his shields, wouldn’t have given him the ability to skim over shitty emotions.

If Tim was a better Guide, he wouldn’t have the urgent need to run.

But welp, here they are.

As the thought takes shape in his brain pan, that he’s in his civilian day-ware and can run down the hall while Dick –still half in Nightwing– is trapped in the doorway, his knees firm and his eyes dart wildly to the side, giving himself away.

And since Dick was Batman, is Nightwing, is a Sentinel, he sees the writing on the wall and absolutely refuses to let it happen. Dick shoves with his arms, darts out into the hallway, makes his suddenly weak knees work enough to shake up Tim’s plan, seizes the apparent Guide, his Guide, in a princess hold and get back before the door even starts to close.

“Put me–!”

But Dick folds his legs to sit with his back against the door, and wraps both arms around the struggling third Robin. He can hold onto Tim better than a bolo anyway.

The push at Tim’s shields is a pressure he isn’t used to dealing with, and it’s painful to fight against it rather than just let the tentative connection open. His hands curl into fists in his lap, trying to strain against the arms pinning him while concentrating on strengthening his shields.

He doesn’t realize he’s whispering, “no, no, no,” under his breath.

“Please,” Dick lays his forehead down on top of Timmy’s head, “please don’t go. Not now. I’m finally...Tim, I get it now. I swear, I get it.”

“...doesn’t matter. Too late.”

“That isn’t fair,” the smallest shift and Dick is breathing against his throat, making him shiver, “I just found out you’re...a Guide. My Guide. We haven’t even started yet. It can’t be too late if we haven’t had a beginning.” It gets worse when Dick breathes in his scent deeply, a noise coming out of his chest.

“We have had a beginning,” he bites out, fists tight, concentrating on keeping his shields strong but flexible, “we’ve had years–”

“And I’m not ready to throw all of that away.”

The pressure against his mental shields finally eases up as Dick raises his head, gives him a little shake to make him look up.

“You already did, remember?”

“I didn’t... I never threw you away. That’s not what I meant or wanted. Yes, I should have handled things better. I know that now, and I’m sorry I hurt you. I was sorry before, I just didn’t know how to tell you, how to make it better between us.”

Tim’s eyes narrow, and he doesn’t let up in case this is one of those diversionary tactics to put him in a false sense of security.

(They fight bad guys. Sometimes, they have to cheat, and he wouldn’t put it past Dick to do just that.)

“I don’t know what you think is going to happen here,” he finally tries, staring up into those blue, blue eyes (I trusted you once, and fuck if I’m going to let you do this to me again). “But whatever it is, you’re wrong. I’m not going to come back to Gotham and be your Guide. I’m not going to bond with you because the universe says I’m meant to be some kind of magical counterbalance.”

Dick’s expression crumples, his arms go a little slack.

“Tim, we’re...we’re a True–”

“I don’t give a fuck about True Pairs, Dick, not anymore. Babs has been your Guide since you both presented. She wants the job, she can damn well have it.”

It’s not a fight to push against Dick’s arms the second time and stand up out of his lap.

“You’ve loved me since the moment you put on the cape, Tim. I know you have.” When what he means is I know now.

“I loved you before that, you asshole, and you betrayed me. You don’t get that chance again.”

Turning away shouldn’t be this easy now that Dick knows the truth, but it is, and the very last parts of him still hoping, still craving, are just as easily–

–wiped out.

Dick’s eyes are watery when the door hisses and creaks upon opening, and it’s an automatic thing, reaching a hand up just expecting Tim to take it.

“Tim. Timmy, please.”

“Good-bye, Dick,” is already fading with rapidly retreating footsteps. At least he can keep some of his dignity because Dick will never know he falls the fuck apart as the elevator goes down.

Author’s notes:Here’s why I don’t like this: 1. I want to talk more about why Tim chose Shiva as the Sentinel to teach him how to be a good Guide. Like, I want to explore that dynamic more because I’ve never really had the time or space to write Shiva as we see her in Tim’s Robin run.2. I wanted to go more into the expanded senses of Sentinels and how to - hell, I dunno, make it seem to be a little closer to cannon maybe? Like point out some of Dick’s greatest escapes and be like part of that is due to his Sentinel power. 3. Dick says some shitty things, and I don’t give him any context. Like, at that point, he legit believes he did the right thing at the time, and look! Tim’s Red Robin so everyone wins! But yeah, once he got under those shields, the truth shakes him up. 4. I dunno, this au might not be for me. It doesn’t feel very different from some of my other angsty things I guess but meh. Who knows, I might fix it someday :D

#winter answers #with angst #and frustration #sentinel!au #Tim Drake #Dick Grayson #the titans!#my fics #my writing

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krispydefendorpolice · 5 years ago

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The Demon’s Bride (4)

Call out to @vitaliciouscreations for their “Drop of Paradise” story. I’m using the same name Tiān but they came up with it (to best of my knowledge). Another fun read. Anyone interested in me putting up a random maribat recomendation in this part?

On to the story

Beginning Previous Next Masterpost

_________________

Chapter 4

After dropping Mari in front of the hotel she was staying at, where the teacher definitely had not noticed she was missing he fumed, Damian returned to the Bat cave. His father, all three of his brothers, his sister, Alfred and the rest of the extended Bat Clan were waiting.

“You never turned your comm back on,” Bruce commented.

“I needed to speak with Mari before talking to you,” Damian said, passing his father and pulling up files on the Bat computer.

“We had noticed. It would have been nice to know you were alright after she took down Jason the way she did.”

“Hence the reason I left my tracker on instead of disabling it. You knew where I was.”

“Who is this mystery girl the boys are talking about?” Barbara, aka Oracle, asked.

Damian ignored the question while he filtered through the files of the Wayne conference attendees for the school group staying at Mari’s hotel and down to the students on the trip. He pulled up the school picture of Mari and the information they had on her.

“She is a friend from my childhood,” he finally said looking at the information. He saw that her name was Marinette Dupain-Cheng, her parents on file were listed as Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng. So they hadn’t changed it, he thought, disappointed in himself because he never looked.

Damian turned when no one said anything after his declaration. Leaning against the console he waited for their responses.

“Bull shit Demon Spawn. You’ve never mentioned friends other than Jon and the Titans before,” Jason said, “and even then it’s because they are not your friends.”

“I assure you she is,” Damian said.

“Then why is this the first time any of us have ever heard about her?” Dick asked.

“None of you have ever shown a particular interest in my childhood with the League of Assassins before now, so why would I have talked about her to you?” Damian answered with a question of his own.

“Because you bit off our heads every time we asked anything,” Tim argued.

Damian narrowed his eyes, “The last time anyone asked me anything about the League I was 11 years old, had just moved in with a bunch of strangers, and had witnessed my family and my whole life destroyed by a madman. Of course I fucking yelled at you. I couldn’t handle it. I couldn’t cry, yell or rage about the unfairness of watching my family, my family,” he emphasized, “die because I was with strangers and emotions make you vulnerable and I could not afford any more vulnerabilities with the unknown situation I was in.”

The entire clan was silent during his tirade, and a bit ashamed at what he was revealing to them years afterwards.

“I’m sorry Damian. We should have realized that and asked you how you were handling the changes at the time,” Bruce was the first to apologize.

“So you weren’t just rabid from Mom’s Tender Loving Care?” Jason asked.

“Master Jason,” Alfred chided while the rest of the clan just gave Jason a Really? look.

“In the 10 years I lived with her I probably spent less than two in her actual company,” Damian said. “I don’t think I would have responded well at the time even if you had realized,” he acknowledged Bruce’s apology.

“Can you tell us about her?” Bruce asked.

“I can but there’s a lot to talk about to really understand everything. I’m meeting her tomorrow for her free day, we can come here for dinner. I can give you some of that background information now and she can answer any of the questions about herself that I can’t answer.”

“Alright. So tell us what we need to know.”

“Might I suggest we move this discussion out of the cave and to the parlor where we might be more comfortable while we talk,” Alfred interrupted.

“That sounds like a good idea Alfred,” Dick said.

**************************

They did as Alfred suggested and moved to the sitting room so they could sit comfortably while talking about Damian’s past. They were all aware that before he came to them at the age of 10 he had lived with his mother and grandfather and with the League of Assassins. He had been volatile and reckless even while he was taking up the mantle of Robin and began following the others into the vigilante lifestyle.

But apparently there was more to his actions as a kid than just being a snobbish brat raised to believe he was better than everyone else.

Damian sipped at his cup of Black tea while settling his mind around what he was going to discuss. He had spent the last 7 years trying not to think of the other half of his biological family and believing the rest were dead so that he hadn’t had any other reason to reflect on his youth in the League. But that had obviously been a mistake. If Mari survived did anyone else? Can I get my family back? He wondered to himself while the rest of the clan settled down with their drinks of choice.

Finally everyone was settled. Bruce was the one to set the ball rolling.

“So what should we know?”

“Before I start about what I know,” Damian began turning to Jason, “I need to know more about what you know of the League, Todd.”

Jason raised an eyebrow and looked at him stonily. If Damian was quiet about the League as a kid (lies, he really wasn’t because he was an Al Ghul dammit) then Todd was a monk who had taken a vow of silence (slightly less a lie, he didn’t talk about it but he did rant about what a bitch Talia was). None of the Bats knew much about his time with the League other than he met Talia before returning to Gotham to seek vengeance on the Joker.

“Like what, Demon Spawn?” Jason asked.

“Well, first, did you have a designation?”

“A what?”

“That’s a no then. Consider yourself lucky, or not, since you were one of mother’s various pet projects then.”

“Damian,” Dick warned as Damian still had a tendency to be very blunt, to the point of being abrasive, when talking about other’s trauma’s.

Damian frowned before nodding in acknowledgement of the warning and in apology for his tone.

“I suppose the first thing you should know is that the League of Assassins is only about two hundred years old, while Tiān the city from which it was established is thousand of years old. Grandfather found it years ago and started to recruit certain prized and influential citizens and families into following him. Eventually the majority of the city were members of his cult and doing his bidding. We can get more into why the League as its own city is important tomorrow.

“Now, since the League is a cult and it was born out of an independent city how has it maintained it’s membership for so long? And I assure you it wasn’t because grandfather shared the secret of the Lazarus Pits with anyone” he asked.

“They recruited new members,” Dick answered with a shrug.

Damian gave him his own Really? look. “Recruits only account for about 25% of the new trainees and they are usually older teens and young adults. The people that are disenfranchised from the society outside of the League. Individuals with knowledge of the world outside shaped by influences from outside and not by Ras Al Ghul,” Damian said. “I was one of 79 children born in my year group. I was not raised by Talia no matter how she spins it. Despite having a personal bodyguard, private tutors and a nursemaid because I was an Al Ghul heir, I was raised with the other children my age in the al’akadimia*.”

“Talia didn’t raise you?” Barbara asked.

“She oversaw my training, instruction and education which seems to be her impression of parenting, but no, she was not involved in the day to day of my life growing up. I got more of that with Father in the first few months than I did from her in the entirety of my time with her,” Damian answered.

The Bats were silent as they digested this new piece of information from their youngest.

“In the cave you mentioned losing your family. It sounded like it happened in Slade’s attack. If not Talia, who were you thinking of? The girl?” Tim asked.

*academy- Arabic via Google translate

_________________

So, this chapter f*cked with my head. I was just writing and playing with the story and had to come up with a reason for Damian being such a little shit as a kid. And I threw in the line about him losing his family and moving in with strangers when I had an oh shit moment of enlightenment.

In the Son of Batman, Damian witnessed his grandfathers death. His mother brought him to strangers and essentially dropped him on their doorstep. Then we get into the fact that most likely he was essentially abused growing up (how else do you get a kid that wont show emotions) but they were still his family and yeah...

I try throwing in a flippant reason but really it kinda sounds like a canon reason too.

I had never thought about why canon Damian was the way he was especially in that first movie and now my head hurts. I’m curious if anyone else has ever given that a thought or if you’re just now having that oh shit reaction?

Taglist: I’m so happy so many are enjoying it. I’m trying to get everyone but if I miss you I’m sorry but it’s not intentional. Also, I appreciate the comments but unless you ask I won’t tag you so if you’ve commented and not been tagged it’s cuz you didn’t ask or because I overlooked it trying to find everyone who’s asking to be tagged. And I’m going to ask that you message me since I’m having trouble finding all the asks in the comments. Thank you.

And thank you all!

@ozmav @multifandomscribette @mochinek0 @inevitableenquere @zebrabaker @poshplumcot @tog84 @luciferge @sonif50 @ravennightingaleandavatempus @northernbluetongue @actual-human-disaster @clumsy-owl-4178 @aarushi-03 @bluerosette23 @g-arya @moonyloonyx @fertileleaf @shreky-boi @thanks-captain-obvious @panda3506 @hinata3487 @thequestionablyhuman @dontgiveaflyinflip @dast218 @chocolatecatstheron @asianfrustration13 @slytherinsheashire @weird-pale-blonde-person @yin-390 @mycupisbroken @vixen-uchiha @kuroko26 @autisticlinx @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @mariae2900 @zalladane @hypnosharkrebeldreamer @tbehartoo @novicevoice @violatiger8 @thebookish3lf @fandomkitty8 @redscarlet95 @gingersnapnoir @chewbaccaatemythoughts

#daminette #maribat #marinette x damian #Betrothed AU #The Demon’s Bride #DLDR #Dead Dove Do Not Eat

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allthebooksandcrannies · 4 years ago

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Dana Has Enough- Chapter 2

Read on AO3

Read Ch 1

Every once in a while, even the people you know best manage to surprise you. What Dana really ought to have remembered, however, was that no one ever said those surprises were always pleasant. And it wasn’t just that Jack had forgotten his son’s birthday that really was so upsetting to Dana. No, the worst part was when Tim came down that morning and was obviously so unsurprised that his dad didn’t remember.

Dana had worked so hard to give Jack the benefit of the doubt when he and Tim fought. She knew that Jack had been ashamed of not spending enough time with Tim when he was little. He had talked about it all the time during his physical therapy appointments after he woke up from the coma. Back thenm he had been so excited about all his plans to be a better father, and she had believed him. But at some point, they had grown complacent and fallen back into old patterns.

Dana had been concerned about Tim and Jack for a while now but had stayed out of it because she wasn’t Tim’s mom. She wasn’t his parent, and it didn’t feel like her place to interfere in how Jack raised his son. But she would be damned if she let a child feel forgotten on his birthday.

Now, listening to Tim gush over some of the better photography exhibits he had seen at the museum before, but how he hadn’t had found time to see this one yet, Dana was really glad she had taken the time last night to do some last minute research into potential activities to do today. It had been harder than she expected to find something she was confident Tim would like. She had realized she had almost no idea what Tim was interested in, what he did with his free time. It had been an embarrassing realization to come to about someone she lived with. She had been almost ready to give up when she remembered the museum exhibit one of her college friends had posted about on Facebook the week before. She hadn’t even known that Tim had a camera like that when she decided to invite him, just remembering how obviously interested he was every time the news had anything to say about the Justice league or Gotham’s rotating roster of vigilantes.

She needed to do better. This kid deserved it.

She was almost disappointed when she finally pulled the car into the museum parking lot because she had never seen Tim this animated before. He had moved on from past exhibits to some of his favorite photographers to explaining just why it was so hard to get good superhero photos, particularly of nocturnal vigilantes and why this exhibit was such a big deal, but he pulled himself up short when the car came to a stop. Dana was honestly surprised his teeth didn’t make an audible clicking sound, he shut his mouth so quickly. She turned to Tim in the passenger seat.

“You okay, Tim?”

He looked startled by the question, and a little sheepish too. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to talk your ear off like that.” Tim didn’t meet her eyes. That wasn’t going to work.

“Don’t worry about it, kiddo. I thought it was really interesting. I had no idea that so much work went into trying to photograph superheroes, especially as art.”

“Oh, okay.” Dana didn’t think she was imagining the little smile on Tim’s face.

“C’mon, let’s go inside.”

---

Once inside the exhibit, it was like Tim forgot Dana was there, he was so focused on each piece. To Dana, they were just photos of superheroes. Really cool photos of superheroes, of course, but she was sure she was missing some deeper layers of meaning that were obvious to the more art savvy patrons around her. She started wandering around the exhibit.

She stopped in front of a large photo blown up in front on a massive canvas. It was obviously taken in Gotham, with a camera that probably had a great zoom feature if the subject matter was any indication. Standing in the light of a burning building was a little girl, no more than five years old. But what really made this one standout was the man in a domino mask crouched down in front of her, a red helmet at his side and one hand offering a lollipop to the kid.

Dana wasn’t sure what made her stand there so long. Maybe it was how calm the child looked in front of a man that scared the majority of Gotham adults. Maybe it was the realization that the Red Hood didn’t look all that much older than Tim. Practically a child himself. Dana stood there, just staring at those two children until she heard a quiet click beside her.

Startled, she looked to the side at the child next to her. Tim was focused on the camera screen, probably reviewing the photo he snuck, until he met her gaze with a crooked grin. “Sorry.” Something told Dana he wasn’t really that sorry. “I just really wanted to capture the look on your face.”

Dana rolled her eyes playfully. “Well, on that not-at-all creepy note I’m going to go look at some other photos.” Tim acquiesced. And she left him focused on the Red Hood with a strange expression of his own on his face.

Thinking she ought to let Tim enjoy the exhibit for a minute, she decided to swing by the giftshop. After all, at this point she could practically guarantee Jack hadn’t gotten the kid anything. Maybe they’d have something he’d like.

---

About five minutes later, Dana was incredibly frustrated. Why was everything so gimmicky? Almost everything in here was so obviously touristy, which, honestly, was patently ridiculous. What tourists were coming to Gotham. That’s what Metropolis was for.

Then she saw it. Yes, that would be perfect.

---

If Tim had questions about what was in the plastic bag with the GMA’s logo on it when Dana rejoined him, he didn’t ask them. Honestly, that was probably a symptom of a bigger problem, but Dana was going to leave that for another day.

Instead she just stood next to Tim as he examined the info tag next to a photo of Nightwing mid-backflip from one roof to another while Robin jumped after him with significantly less fanfare.

---

We really should do this more often, Dana thought as she watched Tim wave his hands around, sweeping gestures helping him tell some story about his friend Cassie trying to walk him and two other boys through her mother’s brownie recipe and it going terribly, terribly wrong.

Tim was actually a pretty good story teller once you got him going, and he seemed to relish the opportunity to talk about his friends to someone who didn’t know them. She had already gotten a thirty minute lecture on what made each of them so great and so exasperating, and Dana had had to hide her smile in her burger when he spent more time than he had on both Bart and Cassie combined on describing this Connor. The obliviousness here was probably the universe’s way of balancing out Tim’s genius because wow was Dana realizing just how brilliant this kid was. She had always known he was smart but it broke her heart to think that she had been missing so much of who this kid was for so long.

She wondered whether playboy Bruce Wayne realized just how wonderful Tim was. If the Waynes had always known Tim better than his actual family. If the way Tim talked about them was any indication, they probably did. She wondered if Tim would rather still be living with them. If he had ever let himself ask that question.

But if he didn’t want to go there, Dana wasn’t going to make him.

“So, were you able to get the mix off the ceiling?”

Dana was quickly learning not to trust Tim’s “innocent” expression.

“Of course we did,” he grinned, “just not before it dripped all in Dick’s hair.” If Dick Grayson ever asked, Dana most certainly did not laugh so hard she choked on a french fry.

---

When Tim tentatively asked if Dana would like to come to dinner at Wayne Manor with him as she dropped him off to meet up with his friends, she was far more hesitant to accept than she would have been even a day before. On the one hand, it was Wayne Manor. No one got a private invitation to Wayne Manor, and she had been curious about these people that had taken Tim in for so long. But, she couldn’t help but feel like she’d be an intruder. Against her better judgment, she said yes.

---

It was strange to go to dinner somewhere without Jack. She really needed to get out more, regardless of how Jack felt. She tried to suppress the feeling of not belonging as she fiddled with the hem of her two-year-old blouse as she waited in front of the ornate wooden door. As she squeezed the painstakingly wrapped package in her arms, she tried to bring in a deep breath. This was fine. Everything was fine. Tim had asked her here, hadn’t he? Of course, he may have only been trying to be polite…

She wasn’t able to go any farther down that path, however, before the door was unceremoniously yanked open to reveal Tim grinning straight at her. When did he get so tall?

“Dana! You made it!” He didn’t ask where Jack was, which was good because Dana didn’t want to tell Tim his dad was sulking because Dana refused to try to comfort him in his guilt over forgetting his sons birthday again. Shaking unpleasant thoughts out of her head Dana grinned straight back, handing Tim the gift she had bought that afternoon.

“Of course, I did! You didn’t think I’d miss Mr. Pennyworth’s cooking after hearing you talk it up all day?” Mentioning Alfred Pennyworth was apparently the right call because it clearly reminded Tim that he was supposed to step away from the door if he wanted her to be able to come in and he quickly backed up, present in hand.

Dana followed him into the house, and then towards what could only be described as a cacophony of noise. Several voices were busy talking over each other even though she couldn’t make out any of the words. Tim seemed quite amused by her trepidation to actually walk through the door to the dining room. Rude.

---

The introductions hadn’t been nearly as awkward as she’d feared. Granted, she’d gotten appraising looks from just about everyone in the room and it had gotten a little tense, but everyone had been polite. Dana had been guided to a spot to the left of Mr. Wayne’s seat at the head of the table and directly across from Mr. Pennyworth, and she had to admit that neither of them had really been what she expected.

Pennyworth had waited to join them until after he had brought out the meal, and it was some of the best food she had ever tasted by far. He was also hilarious, which was the unexpected bit. Dana had been prepared for a formal British gentleman, and he was that. But Dana had not been ready to watch him sass the richest man in Gotham twice in the first ten minutes of the meal. She now understood why Tim said Alfred was really the one in charge.

Meanwhile, Mr. “Call me Bruce, Dana, I insist!” Wayne was unerringly polite, but there was a quiet sort of intensity about him that was not apparent in the stories told in the society pages. If there wasn’t so much blatant fondness on his face when he glanced at the playfully arguing kids at the other end of the table, she might’ve called him intimidating.

The kids, on the other hand, were everything Tim had said they were, and Dana couldn’t be happier. Dick Grayson had been mercilessly teasing Tim and the other chattering kids, perfectly playing the embarrassing older brother while making sure that no one was left out or overly picked on. As for the other children, she had also been introduced to the infamous Cassie, Bart and Connor she’d heard so much about at lunch followed by a purple-clad blonde. Tim’s cheeks had been bright pink when he’d introduced Stephanie as his girlfriend. Interesting…

Dana didn’t really know where she fit into the clearly well-established dynamic of the group, but that was okay. She was here to make sure that Tim had people in his life who understood just how special he was, and these people seemed to understand that even better than Dana. Again, today was one humbling experience after another.

---

Dana was embarrassingly nervous when Tim picked up her gift last. Everyone else’s gifts had seemed so meaningful, and there had been a plethora of inside jokes involved. Plus, she had the uncomfortable feeling that everyone was treating this as a sort of test, to see if she really deserved to be here, to be around someone like Tim, and were waiting to find her wanting. Maybe she was being ridiculous, but damn if her heart wasn’t pounding anyway.

Tim opened the present slowly, to the consternation of the red-headed kid, Bart her mind supplied, who let out a comically loud groan of impatience. Finally, Tim pealed the last of the tape back and unfolded the last of the paper, pulling out the book within.

Dana felt the room go still as he opened it up to the middle, allowing the rest of the room to see the cover. It seemed like everyone turned to look at her in perfect unison, and she was hit with the impression that she had made a serious mistake.

“I just- You were talking about how hard it was to find good photos of the Gotham vigilantes, so…”

When Dana had seen the book claiming to be a compilation of the best photos of all of the Bats, she had figured he might appreciate it. She’d seen the batman and robin pins on his backpack after all. But the way everyone was looking at her, she was beginning to wonder if she had made a mistake, that is until…

“Well,” drawled Dick Grayson. “Timmy does love his Batman pictures.” And the room dissolved into laughter at a joke Dana didn’t understand. All of a sudden, everyone was talking over each other, telling various Tim stories, as the boy in question carefully paged through the book in silence. He paused for a long time on a recent image of Robin and Spoiler flying overhead.

No, Dana thought with a smile, she might not understand all of the inside jokes, but she understood the silent thank you Tim sent over everyone else’s heads just fine, and that was enough for her.

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marshmallowprotection · 4 years ago

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Hdbdjsvsu i grinned like an idiot at ur response lolol. Like that made me so happy (*/ω＼) Also I very much agree that having someone fiesty instead of mellow is definitely a fun change. She was actually the first grumpy/fiesty main character i created and im IN LOVE with it lolol

Ah, yes, Rigby and Saeyoung having a bit of Genius Rivalry. Luckily for them, they don't overlap entirely. He seems to gear more towards robotics and whatnot, which she does not. She likes making gadgets and weapons and techy suits and some seriously sci-fi stuff lmao.

Oh, she's also a hacker, a very good one at that, although it's not her primary job so I'd say she's probably just below Saeyoung in skill level.

Here's the first thing I didn't mention, the thing that caused her parents to keep her home most of the time: She has powers. It's not too much of a rarity in her universe, but its still the minority of the population, and it's best to keep the fact that you have powers on the down-low as much as possible. Her powers are reactive adaptation, coupled with enhanced strength. Her primary active adaptation is "steel" appendages such as wings. The steel-like organic material is her go-to.

Ever since she was 14, almost 15, she's been a vigilante hero, with her best (and first) friend Ryder, whom she met that same year. He also has powers, and eventually she revealed her powers to him because he was already doing the superhero stuff. And she was bored. Wanted in on it.

Deviant, she goes by, and it's where her cocky side comes out. Overconfident, cocky, witty, along with her usual demeanor. She loves pissing off her opponent, just like she loves pissing off her cousin, who takes care of her at that age.

Ah, right. Her parents, who are actually v good people and helped train her the best they could even without powers of their own, disappeared when she was 12. First her dad, called into work at HQ in Europe (they live in the U.S.), then her mom a month later, same deal, cos her dad couldnt handle the task on his own.

And then another month, and all communications stopped.

From there, it was practically Rigby's life goal to find them. She refused to believe they were dead. Long story short, they had no choice but to disappear, but were finally able to reunite when she was almost 19 years old. 7 years. She was just glad to have her parents back.

Nevertheless, though she would never admit it, she definitely has separation anxiety, and when she was still under her cousin's care, whenever he would leave on a business trip, it showed, though she tries to suppress it.

With her parents, came 2 new family members to be adopted into the family: Vasyl (m12) and Amara (f16). The reasoning behind this leads into an explanation on Rigby's work (and her parents' work), so I'll save that for later.

Rigby was a little upset at first, and it took her a while to get comfortable with not only the new siblings, but her parents themselves. However, she got close to Vasyl pretty fast, and now, at 22, she would put her life on the line without hesitation if it meant his safety and survival. She's stated that he's her favourite person lol.

Okay, one last thing: the whole fam is multilingual. Russian is her parents' first language, but her mom is like 1/4 american. Rigby considers both english and russian her first language, but would say english if she had to choose. By 22, she knows i think... 20 languages? Her powers affect the mind too -- quick learning and such (i did my research lol). So she knows so many damn languages lol.

[417]

(Sorry if this was a lot at once ^^")

You immediately sold it to me the minute that you said superpowers. You said wings and I said I'm simping.

She also seems too smart for her own good and sometimes that can be a tedious thing as well as a bad thing but it doesn't seem like it's that bad for her in that regard anyway. It sounds like she has a little too much fun with what she's doing out there. But, who hasn't been a little cocky and in over their head? Especially when you know you're smart and can whoop some ass like that? You shouldn't expect less from a teenager, I mean we've all read the comics, we know how that works.

I definitely find that character arc intriguing so it would be fun to see her pushed to her limits and how long she can hold up that feisty and brazen mask. Because, I know that we all can appreciate a character that's willing to go absolutely Wild, it can also be interesting to see how far they can be pushed before they absolutely lose it for real. That is to say, you don't really know someone until you know... circumstances put your back to the wall.

It's probably a good thing that she and Seven have different fixations because I imagine if they were working on the same thing that they would probably go mad with power. Because when you stick two people that know too much of the same thing together, well, neither can really figure out when to call it quits so they just keep working until they've invented, I don't know, time travel. When in reality they were supposed to be working on making popcorn or something. Nerds are impossibly incorrigible.

Don't even ask how they did it, they don't even know themselves.

#417 anon #ask #oc #cmc #mod kait

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ellana-ravenwood · 6 years ago

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When everything goes wrong... - Jason Todd x Single!mom reader 4/5

I’m still poor and computerless, but today I was able to get a computer to copy this from my notebook. Sorry in advance if there’s a lot of typo, I didn't have much time...Anyway, here’s the last part of this little Jaybird x Single!mom (well, recently single again haha)...Oh wait I lied. I got SO CARRIED AWAY once more that actually, this isn’t quite the last part. The next part, will be the last. For real this time haha. I just needed more time to wrap everything up nicely ! Hope you will like this chapter :

FINISHED SERIES : PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 5 NEWLY ADDED EPILOGUE : PART 1/3

My masterlist blog : @ella-ravenwood-archives

__________________________________________________

******

“And please, don’t come back. Thank you.”

Viggo’s words are like a knife slowly twisting in his heart.

But he knows. He should leave. He’s the reason you’re crying right now, and he should go. ASAP. Because it’s his fault. It’s because of him, that you’re crying. In front of your son.

You once told him that whenever things got too hard and you knew you were going to break down, you always made sure Viggo wouldn't see you. You’d go hide in the bathroom until you were composed again, or something like that. But you always made sure he would never see you cry.

Because if there was one thing you didn’t want, it was for you son to feel responsible for you and to grow up too fast. You didn’t want him to feel bad and to not live his childhood. You yourself grew up much too fast, having not so great parents...So your son ?

You were going to give him the best childhood you could, with as little worries as you could. Of course, he was a smart boy (unfortunately sometimes) and would understand that you didn’t feel good from times to times...but still. You’d make sure he wouldn’t see you cry. Wouldn’t see you break.

And here you were. Heartbroken. Your trust and hopes shattered once more.

It was too much and you couldn’t hold it in this time. You held everything inside for so long, and with Jason, you had such high hopes... So you (finally) broke down. In front of Viggo.

And Jason had to go. Quickly.

He couldn’t stay, or he knew he would crack and apologize and...it wouldn’t be good. He couldn’t do that. Because things were better this way, even if at the moment it felt like it was a stupid idea, as he saw you cry and lose control.

But he knew that ultimately, it was the best option. You’d get over it. And he had to leave. Now. Before he could ruin yours and your son’s life by staying. He fooled himself, thinking he could be happy and have a normal family life.

He can’t. He can’t drag you and sweet little Viggo in his night life. He had to leave. Without him in your life, you’d be safe.

Away from all this vigilante nonsense.

And so, even if he felt like he was dying a second time (and this time he knew there was no chance of resurrection), he left. Without looking back.

He couldn’t even remember walking from your apartment (where he left his heart) all the way to his car. He just kind of found himself sitting behind the wheel. Not sure how to process things, how to feel, what to do.

He just...He just left you and Viggo. Forever. He just...

Before he knew it, right there and then, he started to cry.

This hadn’t happened to him in years. Ever since he was a scared little boy, actually, living in a household without a father, and with a drug addicted mother.

He started to cry. For the first time in years and years.

Uncontrollably.

His entire body shaking, as an endless stream of salty tears ran down his cheeks. He felt like he was choking, unable to breathe properly in between his sobs. His hands were gripping the steering wheel tight, knuckles white.

For the first time in a very, very long time, Jason Todd let himself cry.

************

Viggo couldn’t sleep.

He kept thinking about what happened that afternoon over and over again. He couldn’t quite pinpoint what, but something felt wrong to him.

Besides, of course, the fact that you cried in front of him (which never happened before, even during very tough times, you kept smiling and fighting. For him), something just didn’t feel right.

From day one, Jason understood. Once he started to date you, he immediately accepted that your son was part of the deal. He was instantly involved in his life too. He helped with his homework, cooked dinner if you were coming home late, babysat him more often than not when you were too busy and he had free time, played video games with him...He took the all package.

Once he started to date you, he also took Viggo in. Without hesitation.

So it didn’t make sense that it would suddenly be “too much” for him. What could have possibly prop this sudden shift in his behavior to happen ?

Viggo couldn’t stop thinking about it...but even though he was a smart kid, smarter than average, he was still just a little boy and sometimes, adults made no sense to him. Like right now.

Why ? Why would Jason do that to them ? Why would he abandon them like that, while he always said he had no intention to leave them like Jess did ? Why did he reassure you so many times, if it was going to split at the first sign of troubles ?! After six months of things going perfectly well, why would he...

Oh. OH !! Suddenly, a light flicked on in Viggo’s head. Of course, but of course !!

He sat up in his bed, and felt suddenly sick. Because if it was really that, then that meant...It totally made sense though. Yes. Yes, that must be it.

Jason started to act weird and distant right after his birthday. Right after ”the event”. After “it” happened.

Of course. That would make so much sense. This was probably why. After all, why else would he mention Jess when he broke up with you ? Oh god. So it was all...

Viggo’s fault.

“The event”.

When...When he inadvertently called Jason “dad” !

That must be it. This was certainly the problem ! Oh my god, oh my god, it was all his fault. He ruined everything for his mom !

At the time, he acted as if he didn’t say anything, as if he didn’t even notice he used the word “dad” referring to Jason. Nobody else noticed, and since Jason didn’t react, he was so sure and hopeful he didn’t notice either !

But he must have. And it probably freaked him out ! Because it was one thing, to accept your girlfriend’s kid in your life. But it was another that this said kid started to call you “dad”.

It was an accident though ! He didn’t do it on purpose ! It’s just that...Just that...Well, his “father” came back that day.

Jess.

And it made Viggo realize that he wanted nothing to do with that man. Nothing to do with the one who abandoned him and never even tried to see him for those past eight years. Nope.

And it made Viggo realize that...That...That he came to see Jason as his dad ? As simple as that. I mean, he was more of a dad to him than his own father.

Viggo knew nothing about “Jess”.

And he didn’t even want to know anything about him. What were there to know from the man who didn’t even think twice about leaving his pregnant fiancée the day she gave birth ?! What could possibly be a good excuse as to why he left, and why he didn’t even come back ?

Why did he come back now ? If he hadn’t, then Viggo was pretty sure he wouldn’t have called Jason “dad” yet, and then things wouldn’t be ruined...

Of course, that poor little boy had no idea that Jess himself and his return was to blame, not the fact that he called Jason “dad”. On the contrary, him calling Jason that made the man happier than he ever felt but...He wasn’t his dad.

His dad just came back, and wanted a relationship with him. Wanted to get to know him. In Jason’s head, it was better for the kid to be with his real dad, even if he used to be a jerk (but not anymore right ? Since he came back). Anything would be better than to get attached to a guy who goes out at night to punch criminals, and who’s life is in constant danger.

And of course, Jason had no way of knowing that Viggo did not want this man back in his life. Did not want to give him a chance, because he saw all the hurt it gave his mom (even if she hid it well). He saw how much it messed you up...

But Viggo didn’t know it was because of Jess’ return (or he would have gone to Jason and knock some sense into him). No. He thought it was because he called him “dad”, and that Jay wasn’t ready for this. Viggo thought it was his fault, that he alone ruined everything by being a little bit too excited. That he once again ruined his mom’s life...

Of course, you never told him ONCE that you regretted having him. You never complained, and never made him feel like sometimes you wish you never had a kid...but Viggo was a smart child.

And smart people always overthought everything.

Many times, when he saw you leave for your third job of the day, he felt guilty. Because you did all this for him. And he knew it, even if you never said it. He was a smart and observant little one.

You sacrificed a lot, for your son. And of course to you it was normal, but sometimes, Viggo hoped you’d take care of yourself a bit more.

This is another reason why he wanted to have nothing to do with that Jess guy ! Parents were suppose to be like you ! Sure he wished you’d take care of yourself more, but a real loving parent was suppose to do everything so their kid would be happy. They were suppose to be there, every step of the way, in good but also in rough times. Which is what you did ever since he was born !

You went through so much, so that he could have a normal life even while not having a lot of money and living in a place like Gotham. You went through so much, just to make him feel safe and loved ! And what about that dude ? Uh ? What about Jess ?

He left. He abandoned him ! He didn’t even want to get to know him FOR EIGHT YEARS !! He wasn’t a parent. He didn’t deserve to be a dad. While you...You were the best mother ever.

Which is why your son was over the moon, when Jason came into your life. Finally. Finally someone worthy of your love, that loved you too ! But then...

Then Viggo had to come in and ruin everything by calling your boyfriend “dad”. Ugh. What an idiot he was !

Sat up in his bed, the boy looked out the window sadly and...It was too much, for such a little kid. Thinking everything was his fault. Tears started to stream down his face.

And if only you knew what was going on in his mind, you would have reassured him that of course, he wasn’t the cause of anything. It was just...Adult things. Sometimes life wasn’t really fair, and was tough. And unfortunately, it meant some people had it tougher than others.

But you had no idea of your son’s struggle. In a way, it was good you didn’t know, because seeing him cry, thinking it was all his fault (in the same way he started to cry the day he thought he “ruined” your first date) would surely break your heart. Another hit, one that you couldn’t handle.

Viggo stood up, and walked around his room to try and calm down. Ugh. There was no way he was going to be able to sleep tonight. Unless...

He got out of his room, and walked the short way from it to yours, rushing through the narrow corridor because it was super dark and surely, monsters lurked in the shadows !

He ran from his bedroom to yours, and came in as quietly as he could. You were completely out. Crying was tiring, and you cried a lot, that day...Now, you were sleeping peacefully in your bed.

Viggo slowly approached you, and sneaked under your blanket to cuddle against you. As usual, you were his medicine.

Whenever he couldn’t sleep, was scared or sick...Your mere presence would soothe him. And tonight, as he was thinking he was the reason your heart was broken again, he needed to feel you near him !

He had a fleeting thought about how he didn’t deserve to use your warmth to calm himself down, how he just ruined your life...but then you turned and opened an eye.

You stared at him for a few seconds, not sure wether you were awake or just dreaming about him (which happened often). But eventually, understanding this was reality and that he needed your love right now (after all, Jason’s departure was hard on him too...you knew he really got attached to him), you reached for your son, bringing him close to you and holding him against your heart.

All your motherly love pouring out through your embrace, and making Viggo choke back some tears.

He didn’t want you to see him cry, so he buried his little face in your arms and...He was just an eight year old kid. Sure he felt guilty, and he hoped you wouldn’t hate him once he’ll tell you why Jason really left...but tonight, he just needed his mama.

He instantly fell asleep, here, in your arms, his last thought going to Jason and wondering what would have happened if he had decided to truly become his dad...

************

The week-end passed fast, and in a blur. It was now Monday and you didn’t have to go to work until the evening, Viggo was in school and you were...Being depressed on your couch.

You tried to stay strong and to not let anyone see you didn’t feel good, but it was so difficult. More difficult than when Jess left you the day Viggo was born.

Talking about Jess. He kept calling you and asking to see Viggo, being more and more insistant and oh my god you just couldn’t deal with this right now !

You wished Jason would still be here...Somehow, he always had the right words and advices to help you figure things out. And sure what he said about Jess was odd and didn’t make sense to you but you wished he would still be here to elaborate on what it was exactly, that you should do.

You were just so lost. More than when you were young and with a baby in your arms, without any job and place to live. That time, you entered “survival mode” and you just HAD to figure things out on your own. Had to make it work, for your son.

But right now ? The problem was different. It wasn’t about being able to afford food or shelter (though you still struggled with that sometimes, living paycheck to paycheck). It wasn’t about finding ways to survive and such.

Nope.

It was about...How to deal with the biggest heartbreak of the century ? And you weren’t even exaggerating. Well, maybe a little.

When Jess left, you felt sad, sure, because you thought you loved him...But nothing compared to what you felt right now. Nothing compared to the feeling of loosing a guys like Jason.

Because you were so sure he was the one. He stole your heart so easily, and he was so nice and considerate and always seem to know what to say, when to say it. Always seemed to know what to do, and when to do it.

And Viggo...Viggo adored him.

It’s as if Jason had always been in your life. As if he was...Viggo’s father...

You felt so stupid thinking this. Jason was there for only six months. Which granted, was more than Jess ever came in but...No. Jason wasn’t Viggo’s father. You were sure that he would have been a great dad, but it clearly wasn’t what he wanted.

And Jess...Jess came back. But no matter what, you couldn’t find the will within you to forgive him for leaving you all those years ago. Something just didn’t feel right, in his return. But then...

AAAAAAAAH !! You wanted to scream.

So many heart problem at the same time, and you had no idea what to do. You were completely and utterly lost..You looked at the clock that was on the wall in your living room, and saw that you still had three hours before work.

Well. It was time to go see your best friend, Ally. She was close to your third work anyway, and you needed to rant.

Grabbing your bag, you left your apartment and dashed through Gotham’s street, hoping the hustling and bustling city would take your mind off of things.

************

Standing in front of this gigantic house, Viggo felt so damn small.

Jason said he would take him here “soon”, but he never actually had time to, in the end...The small boy, though he wasn’t usually shy, shrank back in his shoulder and suddenly wondered if all this was a good idea.

What if Jason himself answers the door ?

Uh. But no. Houses this big have a butler, of course ! “Alfred” is probably the one who will answer. Viggo heard a lot about him. Only good things. And he was excited to meet him one day...Though he never had the time to either.

Jason left before that.

Shaking this head of any bad thought, Viggo climbed the stairs leading to the massive oak doors and...Fuck. He was too short to reach the bell.

Sighing, he let down his heavy school backpack on the floor, and jumped. After a few attempt, he managed to ring the bell, and waited. Nervous.

An old man with a moustache open the door, and looked down, surprised.

“Um...Hello there ?”

English accent. This was definitely Alfred. He looked exactly how Viggo imagined him ! Kind and-

“What can I do for you young man ?”

Oh right, staring silently at someone while you just rung their door bell was weird. Viggo reached for his backpack and opened it, getting out of it a bunch of stuffs saying :

“Hi ! Um you don’t know me, my name is Viggo. But-”

“Ooooh ! Viggo ! I do know of you for sure. Master Jason blabbered quite a lot about you.”

The boy looks up at Alfred, trying to ignore the painful pang in his chest at knowing that Jason talked about him, before continuing :

“Right. Well. Yes. This is why I’m here, I’m bringing all those things back.”

“All of what ?”

“The stuffs Jason, his siblings and Mister Wayne gave me for my birthday.”

There’s a few seconds of confused silence, as Viggo slowly takes out of his backpack all his presents and gives them to Alfred, who’s arms are soon full of toys and whatnot.

No wonder the boy’s bag was so heavy, he did get a lot of things for his birthday...

“Not everything is there, but I was planing on doing more than one trip. The PlayStation wouldn’t fit in my backpack, but I’ll find a way to bring it somehow, don’t worry.”

Alfred settled everything on a side and stopped the kid from fetching more things from his backpack, asking, slightly confused :

“Young master Viggo, why are you giving everything back to us ?”

“Well, they got me those only because Jason was dating my mom. But he isn’t anymore. So I figured the right thing to do was to bring everything back.”

In an instant, connections are made in Alfred’s mind. And the old butler sighs like he never sighed before (and believe me, that man sighs a lot, with a house full of Waynes).

Ah. So Master Jason wasn’t dating Lady (Y/N) anymore. It would explain a lot, actually. Explain why Jason hadn’t been in the Manor in days, and skipped patrol, ignoring his father’s call.

Bruce thought it was because he spend the week-end with you and wanted to not be bothered...but it was actually the opposite. For some reasons, he broke up with you, and oh Alfred wasn’t happy.

He heard so much about you, and now he wasn’t going to meet you ? And it made no sense that Jason would break up with you while he was very obviously head over heels for you. He hadn’t seen that boy be that excited and happy about anything in years. Hadn’t seen that boy smile dreamily whenever he thought about you, or talk that fondly about someone like he did about Viggo.

Oh Jesus. Was this another “Wayne schtick” where they said something like “it’s better for their safety” and pushed people away ? Alfred couldn’t believe out of all of them, Jason would be the next one he had to scold about this.

He already knocked some sense into Bruce about this issue. Into Dick too. He thought for sure that he would skip Jason and move directly to Tim. For some reason, he always thought that Jason, out of all of them, would be the only one to realize that staying with those he loves was the best way to protect them.

Alfred was so sure that after his death, Jason would realize this. And yet, here he was, faced with one of the cutest kid he ever saw, and understanding that Jason broke up with the woman he loved trying to “save her”.

Alfred sighed again, and crouched in front of Viggo.

“You know, birthday gifts are just that, gifts. You’re not suppose to give them back, no matter what happened. I’m sure my...employers, didn’t give you all of this just because Master Jason was dating your mother, young fella. In fact, Master Damian has been talking quite a lot about you and your “cheese viking” abilities.”

“He has ?”

Viggo felt a smile growing on his face...immediately replaced with a sad look however, once he realized that it didn’t matter what Damian said, because he wouldn’t see him ever again. He was Jason’s brother, so since Jason left his life, he would too, right ?

Alfred’s jaws clenched at the sight of this little boy who was on the verge of tears. Oh yes, he really had some scolding to do. Master Jason was never going to hear the end of it. But then, another thought hit him :

“Wait did you..did you walk all the way here ?”

Viggo raised his face to the man, a guilty expression on his feature. Embarrassed, he said :

“I know I’m suppose to be in school, but I took the bus there and then instead of going left to school I went right. And then I looked at a map to see where Wayne Manor was. And then yes, I walked here.”

“From...?”

“East Gotham.”

“East Gotham ?!”

“Yes.”

“But that’s...That’s miles away !”

It was miles away. Too far for such a young kid to walk. Viggo had been walking since 8 am, lost his way a few times, until finally he arrived at the Manor.

It was now 4 pm, and the kid was tired, and hungry. His bag had been so heavy on his little shoulders...not just because it was filled with many things, but because bringing all those stuffs, giving them back to the Waynes...It meant that Jason was truly going out of his life now.

Wow. Well that kid was most definitely a fighter, if he walked from East Gotham to the Manor, with a heavy bag and with only a little snack he snatched from the kitchen back at home.

“Are you hungry ?”

The butler’s question takes Viggo by surprise. He was so sure that the man was gonna get annoyed or mad at him, for skipping school and bothering him (though according to Jason’s stories of course he wouldn’t be). And now...His stomach rumbled loudly. Yes. Yes he really was hungry.

Alfred took this as his queue to invite the boy inside.

************

You ended up wandering Gotham’s street, instead of going to your best friend’s house. Half-way to her place, you realized you didn’t actually want to rant, to wallow or to share your pain.

You actually wanted to be alone, and walk aimlessly so that your head could clear up. So that you could empty your brain.

“Miss (Y/L/N) ?”

You turn around and...Fuck. Here’s one person you really didn’t want to see.

Damian Wayne.

Jason’s little brother. And it’s so painful, the way he smiles at you as if he’s happy to see you again while everything between you and his brother are over.

“Oh, hey Damian.”

You really don’t want to talk to the boy. You really, really don’t want to. Because he’ll surely ask about Jason and you, and then you’d have to tell him, and clearly, he had no idea you broke up because he talked to you as if nothing and you don’t want to...Your phone ringing saves your ass.

You raise a hand and mouth the words “I have to take this” and Damian nods.

“Of course, take your time.”

You’re already fomenting a plan in your head about faking an emergency. You have no idea who just called, but you’re totally ready to act as if they just told you to come urgently because of something ! Anything to get away from more pain by talking with Damian.

You feel guilty for a few seconds, because Damian really is a sweet kid, and seems to really like Viggo but..You just can’t right now. You needed to be alone. Process the heartbreak. Seeing anyone connected to Jason was too much.

“Hello ?”

You say in your phone, already thinking of a way the conversation will unfold to save you from this situation. But the voice at the other side of the line is an unknown one. With a British accent. And it’s saying..

“HE DID WHAT ?!”

************

Damian didn’t understand anything of what you said, but from what he gathered, you needed to go to Wayne Manor. So naturally, he gave you a ride.

He came into town to do some shopping, and was driven here by one of Wayne inc’s chauffeurs. It didn’t take long for you two to arrive in Wayne Manor.

When you arrived, Alfred was waiting for you at the door. He lead you into the house’s kitchen and...there he was.

Viggo.

Sitting at the kitchen counter, with in front of him, a massive bowl of ice cream covered in sprinkles. Sat next to him is THE Bruce Wayne, also eating ice cream.

“...And so then they save the World.”

Your son says to Bruce, who seemed very interested in his story.

“Oh, but what about the unresolved story of the missing ring ?!”

“I wrote about this in the second chapter !”

“Well you have to tell me all about it !”

It’s kind of cute, how the mighty Bruce Wayne seems engrossed in the story of an eight years old. The fact he mentioned a “missing ring” made you realize your son was probably talking about the “Lord of the Rings” fan fiction he had been writing for a while.

Too cute. And painful to see, as you wish Viggo would have had time to truly connect with Jason’s father...

Your son is about to answer Bruce’s question, excited that he would be interested at all, but he notices you and a guilty look paints itself on his face.

“Mom...”

Bruce turns to you too now, and gives you a sympathetic smile. Oh. Yes. No doubt, he knows. He knows you and Jason are broken up, or he wouldn’t be so nice to Viggo, and smile at you like that. Right ? You turn to him and say :

“I’m so sorry. I wasn't expecting my boy to-”

“No no, it’s alright (Y/N). Really. All that matter is that he’s safe. We had a little talk, him and I. He won’t do such a thing again, right Viggo ?”

“Yes, Bruce. I get it now. I’m so sorry mom, I didn’t realize how dangerous it was to walk from town to here. Alone. I just wanted to bring the stuffs back...”

Your son gives you a deep apologetic look, and you wonder what Bruce Wayne said to him. It breaks your heart once more too, to realize that they were getting along, but because Jason broke up with you, there would be no chance of them ever bonding further.

“I’m...i’m sorry. Come on Viggo, the car is outside.”

You can’t find any other words but those. You know they’re lame. You know you should thanks mister Wayne and Alfred for taking care of Viggo. You know you should ask what they talked about, and do a little conversation while your son is finishing his ice cream. That would be the polite thing to do.

You know...But you just can’t. Because all this brings too much memories back that you don’t want to think about right now.

You don’t want to remember how perfect Jason and his family were to you and your boy. You don’t. So you grab your son’s hand and are ready to leave.

“Come back any time, Viggo.”

Bruce says, and your boy turns to him with hope filling his eyes. He says :

“Really ? I can ?”

“Yes. It’s not because Jason decided to...Do what he did, that it means we can’t see you anymore, you know ?”

“For real ?”

“Yes.”

“And we’ll eat ice cream again ? And play ? And also talk ?”

“Yes. Of course we will. I still have to know what happened to that ring.”

A large smile appears on your son’s face, and you feel so bad that you’re taking him away right now. But you have to leave this house. You just have to !

Your eyes cross Bruce’s and...You avoid his gaze.

And suddenly, the man realizes he might have made a mistake, in telling Viggo he could come back, and that it wasn’t because Jason decided to break up with you that he couldn’t talk to them anymore.

He just wanted to make the kid feel better. And he truly appreciated the little time he just spend with him. Alfred came in the kitchen as Bruce was making himself some coffee, and it was such a nice surprise to see the boy again !

He really enjoyed going to his birthday. That kid was brilliant, and his presence made Bruce oddly at ease. Happy. Maybe because he knew the good effect this boy had on his own son ? On Jason ? Yes. But not only.

Viggo had this kind of personality that made him loved by everyone without much effort. He was so smart and quick witted, so interesting !

So Bruce was happy when he noticed the small boy following Alfred. Which is why he didn’t understand why his butler and “adopted” father looked so gloomy.

Until Viggo started to talk about bringing his presents back...And just like Alfred, Bruce suddenly understood what went on. He then proceeded to talk with the kid about what just happened, making sure he’d realize how dangerous it was to walk that far from home, all alone.

Bruce had spend the last hour with Viggo, talking, playing and eating ice cream. And he realized he truly wanted the boy to come back one day, no matter what happened with Jason...But he hadn’t realize that maybe telling him that he was always welcome would hurt you.

Goddamnit, he was being insensitive once more. “Hell is paved with good intentions”, the saying goes. And it fits perfectly in this situation.

Bruce never even thought about how much it must hurt you, that the father of your now ex-boyfriend would do something like that...

And of course, you completely understood where the man was coming from ! Of course you completely got why he would want to see Viggo again, your kid was awesome ! Plus it seemed like they had talk a lot together and such but...Once again, you didn’t need to remember how great the Waynes were.

You didn’t need to remember what you were missing out.

“What did Todd do ?!”

Damian asks suddenly, and he doesn’t seem happy. Not happy at all. In fact, he’s furious. He just caught a glimpse of your sad face as his father was telling Viggo he could come back, and it drove him mad.

He didn’t know you that well, but he already really liked you. You and Viggo. So what happened ? Why would Viggo think he couldn’t come back ? Why did his father thought it had to be specified ? What happened ?

You were dating his older brother, of course you would...Oh. And it suddenly made sense. Yes. Well now, Damian was most definitely mad.

“Damian, this isn’t our business.”

His father says quietly, looking at you. And you try your best to muster a shy smile, and not break down in front of them...Damian was about to add something, but the hurt hidden behind your eyes stops him.

Viggo squeezes your hand and turns to Bruce and Damian :

“Well I think we better go now. Thank you for the ice cream. I don’t think I’ll come back though...It was nice while it lasted, right ?”

And then your son, your hand in his, starts to walk towards the exit.

You wish you could say something, thank them or anything ! Just have words come out of your mouth, and show them your gratitude. Tell them how much you wished you could get to know them better. How much you wished it would have worked out between you and Jason, because man you’d give anything to have such a great family-in-law.

But you can’t say anything, dragged out of the house by your little one.

You wish you could say something. Tell your son that it’s ok, he doesn’t have to “sacrifice” his want to come back to Wayne Manor for you (because there wasn’t any doubts in your mind that his last words were for your sake. That he said he wouldn’t come back, though he was clearly interested to, just because of you, so you wouldn’t get hurt further).

But you can’t say anything. And so you leave Wayne Manor, without looking back. Trying to chase away any thoughts about loosing your one chance at happiness. Trying to forget how great Jason Todd truly is...

************

You were the one.

He knew it.

Laid down in his bed, Jason couldn’t think of anything else. There was no other explanation as to why he felt so empty...You were the one.

His one true love.

Tt. If any of his brothers knew what he was thinking, they’d definitely make fun of him (or not, as they’d probably see how bad he felt).

Your smile, your touch, your laugh, your eyes, your hair, your voice...He loved everything about you. Even your annoying habits.

That probably meant that you were the one right ? He never loved anyone like he loved you. Ha. It was kind of funny, how he kept thinking about his love for you in the past tense, while he perfectly knew his heart would never forget you.

He loves you. Too much. So much it hurts. So much that he’d rather live forever in pain and keep you safe, than indulge himself in some happiness and risk your life every day.

It wasn’t just about you either. There was Viggo, too.

That sweet, smart, brave little boy.

He had to leave to truly realize what Viggo meant to him. To truly realize that he came to see that kid as his own...But he wasn’t his. And to be honest, it was better that way.

Jason Todd only brought bad luck to those around him. If he didn’t, then why the people he loved constantly got hurt ? Even death didn’t break the curse. He came back and kept on hurting everyone.

Kept on living in his rage, his hatred. It’s only when he met you, that he truly realized how much he hurt his family. How many things Bruce went through, and how he...

No.

Jason had to stop thinking about this. It wasn’t healthy. You always told him that living in the past was a terrible idea. That sure, some trauma would stay there for a long time, and sometimes resurface, but that moving on was the only option.

Only...He didn’t want to move on from you. But he had to. It made his heart, his entire being, bleed. But he had to let you go. You didn’t stick around him long enough, you weren’t cursed yet.

Sure, he broke your heart. Betrayed your trust. And hurt that sweet little kid’s feelings...But it was better to go through a momentary heartbreak rather than live with him, and be bound forever to his dangerous lifestyle.

How the hell did he think he could ever get a family ? With the life he’s leading ?! He couldn’t let Viggo become a vigilante ! He couldn’t let you be in constant danger ! And he knew that this is what would happen if...No. You all had to move on.

You’d get over it. Find someone better for yourself. Fall in love again. Someone great for Viggo too. Someone who deserved you. That would make you happy. Someone...Thinking about you moving on hurt him more than anything else.

And he really had to stop thinking about all this, it was slowly driving him crazy !! He had to get over it at some point, plus his dad kept calling him and one day or another he would have to tell him that he-

The door to his apartment burst open, and out of instinct, Jason jumps on his feet and aim a gun at it. But he lowers it just as fast, as, completely dumbfounded, he sees his entire family walking in.

Damian rushes to him and punches him in the stomach without any warning, while Cassandra pinches his cheeks.

“What the hell are you thinking Todd ?! Why would you leave her ?! Don’t even dare to say you don’t love her cause we al know that’s total bullshit !”

Damian rants, ready to punch him again once he gets back up (the punch to the stomach made him bend forward in pain, of course).

“You. Dumb.”

Cassandra says, and she rolls her eyes to the ceiling. Dick comes close, and helps his brother to get back up. He holds Damian away, telling him with his eyes to back off a little. He asks Cass’ to take care of it, and his beloved sister grabs Damian and holds him in a hug, his back against her chest, stoping him from moving and punching Jason again.

Jason doesn’t even have the breath to say anything, and just glares at his youngest brother. He then turns to Dick and is about to throw some hands...but the look in his older brother’s eyes stop him dead in his track.

“I’m so disappointed Jason. Why would you do this ? I always thought you weren’t the heartbreaker type...”

Outch. Disappointing Dick Grayson took a lot. The dude sure had a short temper sometimes (though he got better as he grew older), but it was so rare that he’d get “disappointed”. Jason finally caught his breath, but he was unable to say anything because of his brother’s words.

Outch.

“Master Damian, when I said “knocking some sense into him” I was referring to a more...metaphorical meaning to it. I didn’t mean that we’d punch him.”

Alfred is here to. What is this, an intervention ?!

“This is an intervention. We’re here to tell you how stupid you’re being, hoping you’ll listen to us. And please, don’t be your stubborn self and hear us out. You’re clearly making a huge mistake right now.”

Wow. Tim. Tim has never been that assertive before. In fact, Tim is usually the quietest one, and was probably the one that knew Jason the best too. They had a lot of similar trait, after all. And Jason was completely shocked that his little brother, who always admired him so much, would be that forward with him.

“Listen chum, I don’t know what is going on but you know you can talk to us right ?”

This was a first. Of course Jason always knew that ultimately, he could talk to his dad. That he’d always be here, lend him a shoulder to cry on. But he would have never expected that out of all his family members, Bruce would be the most understanding one right now...

“I have no idea what is going through your brain right now. I don’t know why you broke up with (Y/N), but I know my son. I know you have your reasons. So instead of telling you you’re being stupid, or anything of the like...Just talk to me please. To us.”

As he said those words, Bruce glared at his other kids and Alfred, and they all look away in shame. It wasn’t often nowadays, that Bruce showed them this sort of look. The one that meant they had to get a hold of themselves ! The one that made them instantly realize that yes, saying they were disappointed, that Jason was being stupid or hitting him...was probably not the best options.

“I agree with your father, Master Jason. I unfortunately didn’t really have time to meet Lady (Y/N) for long, however I heard a lot about her. You talked a lot about her, and you never talk about your personal life. Please, tell us why you took such a radical decision ?”

Jason knew that Alfred already knew. The butler had always been some kind of psychic, when it came to his “masters”. He always seemed to know. But he guessed he wanted to actually have details...

But here, faced with his family, Jason couldn't find the words to explain his reasoning. He couldn’t explain why he did it. He couldn’t...He was kind of glad, that Damian hit him in the guts, and that Cass’ pinched his cheek. That Dick told him he was disappointed, and that Tim said he was being stupid.

Because he deserved this. He deserved their harsh words and such. He...he...

He couldn’t say anything. And when he sat back down on his bed, put his head in his hands and became unable to control his tears...

His family knew this was serious.

************

“Motherfucker ! You’re suing me ?!”

You yell, reading the paper he just gave you. And oh you could just kill him right now ! You’re glaring at him and you’re about to step to him to hit him with the uppercut of the century, but he says :

“I’ll have you know that hitting me won’t help your case. On the contrary, I already told my lawyer about you punching and headbutting me ! And also, I had no choice (Y/N) ! You refuse to let me see Viggo !”

“Oh well I’ll have you know that Viggo is the one who did not want to see you. I let you in our house didn’t I ? I talked to you ? I accepted to hear your side of the story right ? But I’m certainly not going to force my son to do the same ! If he doesn’t want to, then he don’t have to !”

“He’s eight ! He shouldn’t have the right to say anything about this ! We’re his parents, he’s suppose to listen to us ! I’m actually pretty sure the reason he wants nothing to do with me is because of what you told him !”

It’s oh so clear in your mind that Jess would have never been a good father anyway. “He shouldn’t have the right to say anything about this” ? What ? So because you’re a parent your child looses all rights to be his own self ?

Fuck no ! You were always a big advocate of letting your kid learn things by himself, and as long as he wasn’t doing any bad/unsafe things or being a brat, then you’d let him do what he wanted to.

The fact that Jess thought he owned your boy infuriated you. Parents were there to guide, yes, but forcing your child to do something he very clearly really doesn’t want to do isn’t right !

If it was forcing him to do a sport or to learn an instrument, maybe you could accept it. Sometimes kids find their passion only by being forced to try new things...but forcing him to meet and talk to the guy who abandoned him all those years ago ?

Viggo never talked about it, but you knew he often wondered why his father decided not to even see him once. So you knew it was difficult for him, to accept seeing him now ! After all, Jess was back only for a few weeks, couldn’t he understand that “his” son needed to process things properly ?

Also, the fact that he was insinuating you were the reason Viggo didn’t want to see him drove you crazy. Because... :

“I never slandered you Jess ! NEVER ! I only stated the facts. I only ever told him the truth, that you left without a word and never came back !”

“But I am back now.”

“Yes, and he’s just a child and need to process that. Things aren’t easy for him ok ? Especially lately.”

“Come on (Y/N), stop this. We both know you’re the one that stop him from talking to me. No kids in their right mind wouldn’t want to know their father, no matter how much of an asshole they are !”

Your jaw tighten, and you have once more the urge to punch him, but you don’t do it, worried he might indeed hold this against you.

“That’s some kind of fantasy world you’re living in, Jess. We’re not in a movie or in a book. In real life, people don’t always forgive those who abandoned them in a snap of a finger. In real life, people don’t always give a second chance. Viggo knows you left, he knows. He grew up thinking his father didn’t want him. And you think he’s going to want to see you just like that ? That fast ? Wake up buddy, this isn’t some kind of heartfelt story about a father reconnecting with his son. This is real life. You might have made a mistake, but you can’t just expect us to forgive you just like that, because you changed your mind and came back. This isn’t how it works. This is never how it works. You can’t just say “sorry” and suddenly everything is fixed. If you want to see your son again, you have to be patient. He’ll eventually want to see you, because he’s that kind of kid. But right now, he’s going through a rough patch and is trying to digest everything. Give him time. Suing me won’t convince him you know ?”

There’s a silence. Jess is studying you, but doesn’t say anything for a while, and you wonder if you got through him.

If you made him understand your paint. If he got it. If he’ll do this properly, and not be an asshole. If he’ll give you guys time. To be honest, if he truly wanted to be part of your lives again, he would. Right ?

Finally, he speaks again :

“Mmm. Right. Well. I don’t have time for all this nonsense. I’ll see you in court, all the details are on the paper.”

He says coldly, and then he leaves. And you can’t believe this just happened. What the hell was wrong with him ?

Maybe you were too harsh ? Maybe he truly didn’t understand your son needed time ? Looking at the court paper in your hands once again, you were wondering how the hell you were going to pay for a lawyer.

************

The court date was today, and...how did this happen ?

You didn’t have a lawyer to defend yourself as you couldn’t afford one, and this wasn’t the type of case where the state would just give you one. While Jess ? Well Jess somehow had one of the best lawyer in Gotham.

That motherfucker twisted every single one of your words, and somehow...Somehow he knew of every single thing you did wrong in your life as a mother.

He knew about Viggo skipping school and going to Wayne Manor. He knew about that time your boy broke his arm after a skateboard accident. He knew...He knew about everything ! Every single things !

And they even talked about your relationship with Jason, saying how bad it could be for such a young kid such as Viggo to be thrown into fame like that, just because his mother was dating a Wayne.

You explained things were over with him, and then that goddamn lawyer found a way to make you look bad thanks to this, make you look like you couldn’t hold a relationship, like many men came in and left your life...But it wasn’t true !

You had no proof though, and you were growing increasingly frustrated and mad, which wasn’t helping your case. You knew you had to calm down, but you couldn’t, because somehow, that man, that lawyer, was making you look bad while twisting every single events around.

In the end, you have no idea how, he made the judge believe that you were the reason Jess left eight years ago, and that you somehow forbid him to see his own son. How did everything came to this conclusion ? You had no idea.

But the judge’s words chilled you to the bones, and made you unable to think, to talk, to even cry...

Jess had won custody.

************

It was 9 pm and Jason just arrived in Gotham...Though he wasn’t “Jason” right now. Nope. He was “Red Hood”. He was a night vigilante, criminals feared him.

He was...he was...He was sitting on top of a building, not in the mood to go out and break some knee caps. This was the first night he went out after the break-up, it seemed like he just couldn’t stay away.

Standing on the building in front of yours, he wondered if he should go see you now ? Or maybe wait in the morning, so he could see Viggo too ?

It was 9 pm after all, the kid was already in bed. But maybe that was better ? So you and him could have a nice conversation together and decide wether or not he should tell him too that he was Red Hood ?

Jason was nervous. He hoped to god you would forgive him. He was-

Wait, what ? Who was...No. No, already ?

Viggo was walking out of the building, with his backpack. He was followed by Jess, who had a traveling bag in his hand. And you.

And now, you were kissing your son goodbye ? And why were you holding Jess’ by the shoulders ? You turned around, and left, as Jess and Viggo climbed in a car and drove off.

And it was like a cold shower to Jason. Did this mean...Was it ? Was Jess back in your life ? Did you take Jason’s “advice” ?

Well then...Jason had no business coming back in your life now, if you were truly moving on. And that fast at that.

His head dropped sadly, his heart hurting even more than before, as if it was possible...And he walked away. No matter what his family said, no matter what they thought, he couldn’t just barge back in their life as they were just getting things back together. Mended long broken relationship.

Jason was an outsider. He was never suppose to come in their lives...

And so he walked away. Again. Thinking it was best for you and your son.

Oh but if only he had gotten a closer look. Then he would surely have seen the tears in Viggo’s eyes as you were saying “goodbye” to him. He would have seen that when you grabbed Jess’s shoulders, it was quite violent and you actually told him that he wouldn’t get away with things that easily ! And if Jason stayed a little longer, he would have seen the two cops that were there as mediators, the two cops that were there in case you wanted to punch Jess because...Apparently, you had a violent history.

This is why you lost custody of your child, after all...

************

“There’s pasta in the fridge, you can just heat it up.”

Viggo knew it. He just knew it. That man was bad news.

And he was a fake. Because so far, in front of cops, judges and his mom, he smiled and seemed to really want to get his son back. But then as soon as the door to his home close, Jess’s smile fell and he just...he...He just didn’t seem to care at all.

It’s like as soon as it was just him and Viggo, Jess couldn’t care less if he was alone or if “his” son was there.

“There’s pasta in the fridge, you can just heat it up.” and then he went straight upstairs, without even showing the boy his room or anything. Did he even have a room ?

Those past few days had been the toughest in his short little life. Jason was gone, and now he apparently couldn’t live with his mommy anymore. What was going on ?!

How did it happen so fast ? Why was the court order so quick ? How did the judge pass his judgement that fast with little evidence, just a good lawyer who talked well ?

His mom tried to explain to him what was happening, but Viggo was lost. Why did he have to leave her ?! This was one of those adult things he couldn’t understand. And why did everything move so fast ?!

In movies, it always takes months and months and...Oh but this is Gotham right ? This is real life, and real life wasn’t fair ! And Gotham ? It was the corruption capital.

Slowly but surely, Viggo was starting to think about all this as a sort of conspiracy against his mother ! Because why did everything move on so fast ? Why would she have no lawyer (even if she couldn’t afford one she had a basic right to be defended) ? Why did the judge act so fast ?

Viggo knew since day one that there was something fishy with Jess. And this all ordeal, him winning custody of “his” son ? It was extra-fishy.

But Viggo couldn’t quite pinpoint why all this was happening. Why would Jess do this ? Why would he fight and corrupt people that much just to get him back ?

Did he...Did he really want his son back ? Did he really want to have a relationship with him ? Was he just clumsy and unsure of how to do things which is why he acted that way ? Like a total jerk ?

Because Viggo could really make no sense of this. Why would he go to court just to get his kid back ? There was obviously other options. Or maybe he thought he played to much with your trust and didn’t take chances ?

Viggo’s brain was working 100 miles per hour, trying to figure out why this was happening. What could prop his “father” to trap his mom and get custody of him ?

The boy really wanted all that to be because Jess was afraid you’d never forgive him, because he truly wanted to get to know his son and such. God, a few months back, Viggo would have been over the moon with this ! Finally he would have a father ! One that would fight for him !

But now ? After Jason came in and showed him what a real dad was suppose to be ? After the court thing ? Deep down in his heart...Viggo knew something was up.

And it didn’t take long before he found out the truth.

If there was one thing everyone always said about your son, it was that he was too damn curious and sneaked everywhere he shouldn’t sneak in. He thought he should try to find his bedroom, but first, he was quite curious as to where “his father” went.

That’s when he heard small part of a conversation the man was having on the phone..

“Yes, everything worked perfectly fine. Oh yeah thanks for that, it’s great that the family has connections in the police and the judicial system. Ah yes the lawyer you provided was perfect, even without the corrupted judge we would have won I’m sure of it. No, no I haven’t asked her yet, but I’m sure she’ll say yes. She’s desperate to get her son back, I know that. Uh ? Oh I mean, I met the kid for the first time barely a few weeks ago you know, and only because...Uh ? Yes yes. Exactly. Nah. Well I left because I didn’t actually want children, but then it was too late right ? Hahaha, you got it. Ah yes. Women am I right ? Yes yes. I...Wait a second.”

Damn it ! Listening intently to the conversation, Viggo didn’t notice that he was getting dangerously close to loosing his balance, and unfortunately, he leaned forward a bit too much and took a loud step to catch himself up, warning Jess of his presence.

Before he could react, Jess was opening the door violently, phone still at his ear.

“Mr. Falcone ? I’ll call you back. Yes. I have a little thing to take care of. Yes yes. Thank you.”

He hung up, and Viggo took a step back, deeply frightened. “Falcone” ? He knows that name, he read it a lot in papers ! And it wasn’t good...

“Now, buddy, what did you hear exactly ?”

“Nothing ! Nothing I heard nothing !”

But the haste in which the boy answered meant more than anything. Clearly, he heard enough...Damn it. Jess had hoped things would have gone smoothly. He was about to grab “his” son...When the little brat broke into a sprint and rushed down the stairs, to the house’s entrance !!

“COME BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BRAT !!”

Never before Viggo had been that afraid, as he heard “his father”’s steps grow closer and closer...

************

Jason Todd never really believed in destiny. In fate.

He thought it was a silly concept. Plus, he hated the idea that his choices were pre-constructed for him, and that he just merely followed a path already written.

But here, right now, today...He had to admit that this had to be more than mere coincidences. Much more. Because really, the odds that would lead him there randomly were close to zero.

He was working his way through Gotham, wearing his Red Hood outfit, ready to finally get back into the knee-cap-breaking business, hoping it could clear off his mind of all the pain, when it happened.

It was about 2 am, time when for some reasons most crimes were committed in Gotham. Jason was on top of a small building, on Gotham’s docks (which is were most crimes happened at that time of the day), with the radio linked to the the “911″ headquarters.

But tonight seemed calm, and every time a call came in, it was too far from him and was taken by one of the other members of “Batcorps”.

In the end, all of them had a case to work on, except Jason. And the radio linked to the emergency phone lines stopped ringing. As soon as everyone, but Jason were occupied.

First “coincidence”. The second “coincidence” came as Jason was getting ready to move location, hoping he’d fall on some shady people and have a reason to beat them up.

He walked three steps, and his eyes were instantly drawn to two guys walking towards a warehouse. After years of those night vigilante activities, Jason came to have a knack to spot suspicious people.

And those two ? They instantly made his “spider sense” tingle. First of all, no honest people, in Gotham, would go to a warehouse at 2 in the morning.

Following his guts, Jason went after them. They went in an old warehouse through a side door, but the Red Hood spotted an open window on the first floor. It was rather easy for him to reach it and sneak in the building unnoticed (we never know, maybe those guys weren’t doing anything wrong, and in that case Jason would quickly be on his way).

At first, he thought he was about to discover an illegal dog fight ring or something, which is what was happening most of the time when shady people went to warehouses that late at night.

But then, came in the third “coincidence”. Third coincidence that convinced him that...Yup, fate definitely guided his feet here. Because sure, there were only three coincidences, but they were pretty huge.

The radio not giving him any case while usually the calls were pouring at that time of the night, and especially while he was on the docks ! Him randomly seeing those two guys and deciding to follow him. And...And now, walking in this empty warehouse and...

Jason couldn’t believe his eyes. What was he doing here ? He instantly entered “protective parent mode”, without even realizing it. Normally, if he had witness something like that, he would have dived in head first, attracting the bad guys attention and all. But now ? What if he got hurt ? What if his usual technique of getting everyone’s attention wasn’t gonna work ? What if he got caught in some kind of cross fire ?

What was he doing here anyway ?

He.

Viggo.

Why was sweet little Viggo in an old boat warehouse ?!

He wasn’t tied up or anything, but he looked absolutely terrified. And cold. Was he...in pyjamas ? Jesus it was freezing that night, why was he in pyjamas ?!

By instinct, Jason tried to spot “Jess”, who had to be there, right ? Maybe it was just a son/father outings...at 2 am ? In the freezing cold ? In PJs ? In an old warehouse ? On Gotham’s docks ? Yeah, fat chance.

Jason didn’t see Jess, but...

“So, now what ?”

“Well now we wait tomorrow to call the mom.”

“Who’s his mom exactly ? Some rich lady or sumthin’ ?”

“She’s somehow related to the Waynes, from my understanding.”

“Oh wow, big deal.”

“Yup.”

“And why are we waiting tomorrow morning again ?”

“Jeez, do you ever listen when we’re given a mission ?!”

“...Sometimes...”

“Uh. Idiot. We’re waiting morning because nights are for bats, get it ?”

“Ooooh, so waiting daylight so Batman and co won’t be around !”

“Exactly. If we call her now, ya can be sure those damn Batpeople are going to come and ruin the fun...”

Well, this was usually Jason’s queue to come in. But this time, he paid even more attention to his surroundings. Because it was Viggo’s life, that was in danger. He couldn’t make any mistakes.

He made a quick count of the thugs, they were only three, and none of them were close to Viggo. He could see they had guns, but those incompetent idiots left them far enough that Jason knew he would get to them before they could. They clearly weren’t expecting anyone to find them.

But hey, how could they be found ? Something was telling Jason than Jess wouldn’t call the cops for his missing son, and so no one was currently looking for Viggo. No one knew he had been taken. And even the infamous “Batfamily” intervened only when they were notified or saw something suspicious. That’s why they had the radio linked to 911.

Jason was confident that he would be able to get rid of them and save the kid pretty easily. Plus, they weren’t expecting him to come in, which was a plus. It really was lucky that Jason just happened to see those two guys and...

Luck ? No. Destiny.

Jason knew it, as soon as he saw Viggo. There was no way chance was the only reason he ended up in this warehouse, where that specific child was in danger. “Batpeople” ruin the fun, uh ?

“You’re damn right about that !”

Jason says, jumping in the middle of the room, close to all the thugs. In between them, their guns, and Viggo.

They’re surprised, but only for a second. After all, they’re criminals in Gotham, they’re used to have freaks jumping in from the sky !

But they’re also criminals that hadn’t been caught yet, which meant they knew how to handle themselves (or were particularly good at running away). Which also meant they had some tricks up their sleeves.

Said trick was...Two of the guys jumped to Jason, hoping to force their way to the guns, while the third one rushed to Viggo. M’yeah. Not very good trick.

Jason was almost vexed that they thought it’d be that easy. He did a front flip above the two thugs, and threw a batarang toward the third one but...What the hell ? That guy was much faster than Jason anticipated, and he was almost near Viggo ! This, was probably their “trick”.

The boy was smart, however, and he jumped on his feet to take some distance, hoping Red Hood would come save him in time. Viggo ran along the edge of the warehouse, and Jason instantly got worried.

This was an old warehouse on Gotham’s dock, which meant it probably used to be an old boat factories. In Gotham, to save money, said factories would be all along the littoral so they could just dump the boats directly in the ocean and not pay for transport. The fishing and boating industry used to be huge, in the city.

That meant that those warehouse had a particularity...the back of them were half above water, with doors opening from the inside directly onto the ocean. Which meant that there was always a small basin of water inside the warehouse, and right now, Viggo was running along it, and it freaked Jason out.

He had to get rid of those guys, and quick. But as he was about to chase after the one that was running behind Viggo, and that was much faster than he anticipated, the two other grabbed him. And...

“NO !”

The third thug was already near Viggo, and was grabbing him. How did that happen ? There were only three guys and..Well, Jason didn’t anticipate them to have a sort of “bat repellent technique”. Them splitting up in only two groups and one of them being so fast took him too much by surprise ! And everything was happening so fast !

Now one of them held Viggo. But the man was struggling as the boy wasn’t going to get caught that easily. He was wiggling in his arms and kicking and biting...Which propped the man to punch him.

Viggo fell on the floor, and Jason saw red.

How dare they. How dare they touch his little boy ?!

Anger sending a rush of adrenaline through him, he got rid of the two thugs that were holding him in a matter of seconds. Between the moment that third thug caught Viggo and the one those two other ones grabbed Jason, only a handful of seconds went by.

Jason twisted his arms around, and managed to get a hold of both their head, before violently making their head collide ! Their skulls cracked in a sinister way, as they both fell unconscious on the floor. Things had happen so fast. The two thugs never even had time to touch Jason much, only grab his arms...which ultimately helped him get rid of them.

Jason turned around, and saw the fear in the last thug’s eyes. Clearly, he wasn’t expecting this to happen. His plan was probably to catch the kid and then bargain, the kid’s life in exchange of them three walking out free. This was probably how they managed to not be in jail so far...

But here’s the thing. The kid struggled, and he punched him, throwing him on the floor. And in those few seconds wasted,Red Hood got rid of his two friends !

Well, too bad for them. But there was no way he would go in prison. The third thug was about to grab Viggo again, who was passed out after the punch (he was just a little boy after all) and being thrown on the floor, and was not struggling anymore. But as he grabbed the kid, Jason threw another batarang and...the man falls backward into the water. Knocked out.

Dragging Viggo with him.

Fuck. Goddamnit. What was up with Jason that night ? He never made such amateurish mistakes before. Normally this all ordeal would have been done fast, and without any accident...And here he was, running to the water, his heart beating too fast, and unable to think properly.

This is what happened, when those you loved where kidnapped ! You lost all control, and reason ! And their life was in even more danger ! This is why Jason wanted you and your son to stay away from him !

Then again, your son was in danger that night not because of him...Why was he there ?

Without thinking about it twice, Jason dived into the freezing water. He frantically searched all around but didn’t see Viggo anywhere ! The seconds went by, and Jason’s felt like he was slowly dying. If he couldn’t find the boy...AH !

He caught a glimpse of the kid’s bright red pyjamas, and swam as fast as he could to reach him. In a matter of seconds, they were both out of the water and...

Jason’s heart drops. His blood freeze. His mind goes blank.

Viggo wasn’t breathing. And his skin was so cold.

No. No no no no no. Please god no. Everything but this.

Not Viggo. Not his precious little boy. No...

But no matter what Jason was doing, his CPR didn’t seem to work. And the kid was growing colder and colder.

“No ! No ! Come on Viggo ! Come on boy, please ! Please don’t leave me !”

The boy was unresponding. His lips were blue.

“Don’t go please don’t go ! You can’t go ! You can’t leave your mom ! You can’t leave me ! Please, please !”

But Viggo wasn’t breathing. Wasn’t moving. And his skin was know frighteningly cold. His eyes weren't opening...and he wasn’t breathing.

“Come on, come on breathe. Breathe...Come on, son, BREATHE !!”

To be continued...

__________________________________

At that point, who is surprised that I got carried away and wrote too much again ? Haha. I started to write this “final” part and at first thought it was gonna be fine, but then...Yeah nope, I had to cut it in half again, because it was just TOO much haha. This is already pretty long, so you can imagine ^^'. Interesting how this was initially suppose to be just a one shot...Mm. I guess “dad!Jason” and all inspire me a shit ton haha. So anyway, yup. By the way this is more of a “TRANSITION” chapter, so I think it’s probably the weakest out of the four so far because of this, as I had to settle a few things and such...I hope Anyway I hope you’re not disappointed, and that this story makes sense and isn’t just stupid and bad...

I also hope you liked it, if you did, ya can show it by leaving a feedback and reblogging :D.

See you soon with number 5 (basically next time I can get hold of a computer OR if I can buy one first thanks to the GoFundMe :)). Sorry again for any typos, or if it’s bad. The writing conditions weren’t great, and it’s really late right now as I’m finishing this up...Anyway. Yes. Ok.

#Jason Todd x Reader #Jason Todd imagine #Red Hood x reader #Red Hood imagine #Red Hood #Jason Todd #Jason Todd fanfic #Jason Todd reader insert #Batfam #Batfamily #Batfam imagine #Batfamily imagine #Batfam x reader #Batfamily x Reader #JASON TODD IS GREAT OK ?!#Fav Robin #Jason Todd deserves more love

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