#spelling it Cass hurt me more than I can say

[igotanidea]

Cheater - part 2

part 1

Warnings: SMUT -MINORS DNI PLEASE! heavy angst, heartbreak, poor life choices, trauma, drama

A/N: special thanks to @90s-belladonna - I kinda heard your comment :D, and sorry for all the spelling mistakes, it's waayyyy past midnight here but I just had to finish it.

Ok, here we go people. Get ready for angst in 3....2......1.....

***

„You sure as hell moved on pretty fast.”

“Come on, Dick, it’s been three months. Do you seriously expect me to cry over a guy who, may I remind you, cheated on me. And who, may I remind you as well, you wanted to beat to shit cause of that?”

“Hey, I’m just saying” Dick raised his hands in surrendering gesture “it’s just nice to see you smiling again.”

“Besides.” Y/N gave him a warning expression “Kyle and I are just friends. We are having fun together, but he is a freaking green lantern. Here one second and on the other side of the galaxy the other. You cannot quite rely on a guy like that to get into a serious relationship with.”

“Mhm, sure. Someone should probably tell him you think so.”

“Why?”

“Cause I can see the way he looks at you.”

“Which is how exactly?” the girl turned around, facing Dick, her eyes showing nothing more but a confusion.

“Like you are a piece of meat, Y/N. He surely wants something more than friendship.”

“Who? Kyle? He’s a resident flirt. He’s not treating me seriously, and neither do I him.”

“Right, whatever you say.”

“You are being paranoid Dick. I know you want to protect me and I appreciate that, truly” she put a hand on his shoulder making him look straight into her face “but I’m fine, I promise. And if anything wrong were to happen I know where to turn. You may have slightly different judgment, but all I’m asking is a little bit of trust. Can I have that, Dickie?”

“Fine! Fine! Have it your way. But. If he does anything. I mean, anything you don’t like, you tell me, all right?”

“All right, Mr. Vigilante. Even though with all the batman training I could probably kick his ass myself. But I promise.”

“Good. Have a nice date then.” he laughed leaving the room.

“It’s not a date!” he yelled after him

“Sure, you keep telling yourself that, sunshine!”

***

After learning what Jason did (who was irrelevant at the moment) Y/N swore to herself she will not succumb into depression and bad thinking. Nope. It was not her fault, she was the victim and there was seriously no reason to dwell on the past. It hurt, sure it did, she loved him after all and such feeling cannot just be turned off, but slowly with Babs, Cass and Steph help she got back on her feet. This entire situation was particularly hard for Dick, since if nothing else Jace was his brother, but he was Y/N’s biggest support as well, helping her get her mind of things by giving her some serious vigilante training and let her join the team on the field. He would never do that under any other circumstances and Y/N appreciated that in every way possible.

So yes, after a month or so, she started to heal and let go, opening herself to life and putting her extra energy into patrols and night work. And that was how she met Kyle. It was actually quite easy. One day, on the titans meeting, while Y/N was discussing the details of newest mission with Donna he just dropped by, apparently because of some mission, and the girl instantly caught his attention.  And given the fact that Kyle had a relationship with Wonder Girl it made it easier to push through to Y/N.

“So, who’s your little friend, Donna?” he asked, tilting his head and eyeing Y/N carefully.

“I’m sorry, who are you calling little, green?” Y/N scoffed “just because you ego is sky rocket high, does not mean I will let you diminish me.”

“All right, there’s no need to get defensive. You just seem like the newest member of the team and that makes you …. Well, little. Unexperienced. A greenie if I may say so. ”

“Kyle….” Donna warned the boy, but he let those words go.

“No offence here, little one, but maybe you should just go home and stay safe. Earth has many protectors who are way more qualified to do the job.”

“Ok, that’s it.” Y/N came right at him, before Donna or any other member of the Titans could stop her. He knew exactly what green lanterns were capable of so with just one perfect swing, turn and kick she managed to grab his ring, with which he was recklessly playing. Once her fingers clutched around the source of the boy’s power, taking him completely by surprise, she threw some of her shurikens in his direction, the force of the flying object, pinning Kyle to the wall.

“Hmmmm” he muttered easily breaking free and humming in admiration “I may have underestimated you.” he reached his hands toward her “I don’t think we were properly introduced. I’m Kyle Rayner, and who may you be, sunshine?”

***

Their relationship was rocky. There were teasing and playing on each other’s nerves, but also quiet moments together when no words were needed to fill the silence. There were fights and banters, but also supporting each other and tending to each other wounds. Y/N missed the fact that this was pretty similar to the other relationship she was before. Guess the girl had a type. But still, Kyle was just a friend to her. Maybe even a frenemy. Nothing more. Nothing. And that was why it was so hard for her to believe the truth behind Dick’s words. Did Kyle see more to their talking and meeting than it truly was? Did he want … more?

It was a bit too late to wonder about that, but her mind was just fixed on this thought.

Was that why he asked her out for tonight. Truly, Y/N believed it was just a casual outing, especially when he mentioned the possibility of his female friend joining him. Y/N was convinced, she was supposed to be the wingwoman and said friend was the one Kyle had his eyes on, but now, as she recollected how the guy asked her out, she realized how wrong she was all this time.

“Hey, Y/n” Kyle grabbed her waist from behind and not giving a damn about her kicking and screaming to put her down, spun her in the air “how about we go out next Saturday? Hm? Come on, say yes, you know it’s impossible to deny this handsome face.”

“First of all, get your hands off me, Rayner! And secondly, why would I say yes to you. You are a terrible person.”

“hmmm. You’ll get dinner for free, and perhaps a flower? How is that for an incentive?”

“That sounds better. I may be friends with a billionaire son, but still had to cut on expenses. How unfair is that?” she scoffed

“It’s settled than.” Kyle smirked “I’ll pick you up at 6 p.m., little one.”

“Stop calling me that!”

“Not a chance” he bend over and pecked her cheek so quickly it was like it never happened “Oh, and one more thing. I have this one friend, who recently started going out with some new dude. She says there’s a bit awkwardness between them, though she paved over the reason. Anyway, I thought maybe we can show those two how nice and friendly it can be between a man and a woman?”

“Oh, so now I’m a woman?”

“Hush, little one. What I meant was that Artemis and her guy may be joining us, hope you don’t mind? We can still have….. “ he hesitated, his eyes fixed on his face and he had to fight an urge to lick his lips “fun.”

“I don’t really care who joins us.” Y/N waved her hands around dismissively “can I just go now?’

“Sure. I’ll see you soon, pretty.” He threw her directions and took off flying.

“Showoff.” She mumbled under her nose.

BUT WHAT THE HELL DID HE CALL HER?! PRETTY?!

***

Yes, she obviously misjudged Kyle’s intentions over her and that came out painfully clear when he knocked on her door, all dressed up, looking.. well, as much as she hated to admit it, handsome. Thank god, she put on a clear pair of jeans and her best shirt. Otherwise she would fell terribly underdressed.

“Hello, little one.” He smiled his signature flirty smile and handed her a single flower.

“One flower?” she raised an eyebrow taking it from his hand “what am I supposed to do with it? Smell and swoon over your charm?”

“told you it was gonna be a single one.  Were you expecting more?”

“No.” she shook her head “let’s just go, all right. I’m actually pretty hungry and the sooner I meet that friend of yours, the sooner I will be free of talking to you.”

“Always a pleasure to be the one to be used by you.” Kyle grinned and motioned her to the car.

“SHUT UP!”

“You look so cute when you are flustered.” He cooed “now come on, get it the car. Are you waiting for me to open the door for you? Cause that may take some time.”

“I’m just reconsidering if my hunger is really worse than the pain of being in your company…..” she pinched the bridge of her nose, wondering what she just got herself into “Fine. Fine, I’ll get in. But just to be clear, I’m ordering the most expensive dish on the menu.”

“Which would probably be a burger and fries, but whatever you say, little one.”

“I HATE YOU, RAYNER!”

“Yeah, I love you too, Y/N.” he teased playfully, but somehow his tone was a bit different than usually.

Oh, she was terribly wrong with judging his intentions, and hell, apparently Dick was right. 

***

Once they arrived at the destination, Kyle quickly noticed his friend already sitting in one of the booths. Her red hair were obviously distinctive so there was not a chance to miss the girl.

“Y/N, I’d like you to meet Artemis, one of the biggest mischief there is. Artie….”

“Don’t call me Artie!”

“…. This is Y/N, the girl who though she could beat me the first time we met. Hopefully now she realizes how wrong she was.”

“Hi!” Y/N decided to ignore Kyle’s words and focus on the other girl, instead “I’m Y/N. Good to see I’m not the one who gets called by him.”

“That’s annoying, isn’t it? Maybe we should join forces in kicking his ass?” Artemis smiled

“Bet that would be a shame for him. Can you imagine? Beaten by two girls?” both of them laughed. This Artemis girl seemed nice.

“Ok, ladies, enough of your silly dreams. Where did you lost your boyfriend, Arty? Cause my girl mentioned something about trying to leave me broke and I can’t wait to see her try. How long will we have to wait for him?”

“He just went to the bathroom. Something about bracing himself. You can’t possibly realize how  much effort I had to put in dragging him out tonight.”

“Girl, can we switch guys?” Y/N laughed “I would kill for a man who’d rather stay at home than make me go out.”

“Hmm, nice try, but I’m not giving up Jason so easily.”

“Jason?” Y/N froze for a second. No. No, this could not be…..

“Oh, there he is. Hey, Jace!” Artemis waved her hand in the direction of a black-haired guy. With a white strand of hair in the middle of the forehead. “We’re here.”

“Rayner.” Jason muttered, slipping into the booth.

“You never mentioned you were going out with Jay Todd!” Kyle laughed loudly “that is a hell of a coincidence, isn’t it?”

“Wait, you know each other?” Artemis’ gaze switched between two boys

“Long story full of hate and friendship.” Kyle laughed again. “Anyway, Jason, I’d like you to meet and probably get jealous of the pretty girl I came with tonight. No offence to your girlfriend present.”

“None taken.” Artemis shrugged and snuggled closer to Jason.

Jason, whose gaze travelled toward Y/N.

And then he realized and his eyes turned wide.

And what was even worse, she realized too. The girl who was so nice and sympathetic was also the one, Jason cheated on Y/N with.

“Hey, are you two all right there? You both look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Yeah, we’re fine.” Jason stuttered, not really convincing anyone.

Oh fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

This was sure as hell going to be a fucking interesting night.

***

The tension could literally be cut with a knife.

At least for Jason and Y/N since Kyle and Artemis were having so much fun together that if the other two were to disappear and never come back, none of them would even notice. While the lantern and the red head were just talking and talking and talking, the former Robin and the newest Titans member were focused on picking on their food, not even eating, just dragging it all over the plates, eyes down, unable to pretend. All those months of lying to herself and just by seeing him Y/N was falling back into the same trap.

Good thing she caught herself on repeating the same scenario.

“You are being awfully quiet, Y/N” Kyle finally realized whose voice was missing in the conversation “Todd here is a constant growler, but what happened to my little one?” he grabbed her waist pulling her closer and pinched her side, missing the furious glint in Jason’s eyes. Y/N did not and decided to use it.

“Sorry, I was just thinking about how lucky I am to be here with you, Kyle. And you let me pick my own food, that is sooo kind of you.” she mocked “boys this days, right Artemis?’

“Sure…..” the other girl nodded “we are both lucky I guess, I mean Jace, despite his rather harsh outside is pretty friendly on the inside.”

“Oh, I’m sure he is.” Y/N smiled, her eye travelling to Jason, who at this point was just clenching his jaw. “Kyle, honey! You should have told me you knew each other. I would be much better  prepared for this date. Now I feel like I don’t know your friends at all and seem boring.”

“boring? Y/N, love….” Kyle immediately matched Y/N tone, not fully aware why she turned to be like this, but he liked that. “You are everything but boring.”

“Oh, stop it” he laughed in the silliest, girlish smile she could produce and pushed his chest lightly, playfully “you’re making me blush.”

“And that’s the prettiest blush in the galaxy.” Kyle brushed a strand of hair from her forehead, bringing his face closer to hers. “And I would know, I am the green lantern after all.”

That was simply enough for Jason. He could not control himself anymore, standing up abruptly, almost tripping the table and the dishes.

“Jason?” Artemis took his hand, rubbing it gently “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” He hissed through clenched teeth. “I need to smoke.” Without any other word of explanation or apology he left the table, heading towards the back exit.

“I’m sorry.” Artemis sighed deeply “I told he’s been acting strange for a while now…..”

“Really?” Y/N sipped on her cocktail innocently “for how long exactly.”

“A few months actually. I’m not really sure what’s got into him…. Maybe I should go and check on him?”

“Leave it, Artie. I’m telling you, Todd is one hell of a strange man…..

“Can’t argue with that….” Y/N mumbled, but no one heard her.

“…. A closed book, you could never open unless he lets you in.”

“Right…..” the red head played with her knife, twisting it between her fingers skillfully. “Kyle, I … I really should talk to you in private later.”

“Whatever you have to say, you can do it in front of Y/N.”

“Nah.” Y/N shook her head “I’ll give you two a minute. I need to go to the bathroom either way.”

“I’m sorry Y/N.” Artemis eyed her apologetically.

“It’s all right. Just have your talk, I get it.” Oh, she did get it. Guilt was eating Artemis up and Y/N was definitely not going to be the one to sympathize with her. “Just let me know when you’re done.”

“You got it, pretty. I gotta take you back home safe after all.”

Y/N just send him a light smile and headed towards the bathroom, but before she could reach it, she felt a strong grip on her wrist and was dragged outside.

“What the fuck!?” she hissed, twisting her assaulter arm in a well-trained motion, but it backfired on her, once she noticed who the attacker was. “What the fuck, Jason!?”

“What are you doing with him!?”

“Why do you care?!”

“What are you doing with that pimp!?”

“Pimp?! Oh, I’m sorry, are you speaking from experience? Cause sure as hell you would recognize someone to do it that business.”

“Be careful with words now, princess.” Jason hissed

“Oh, you think you can scare me” she cooed “that is just so. damn. Cute. In case you didn’t notice things have changed. I’m not the helpless girl anymore. Dick….”

“Oh, I know what my brother did. I know he trained you and made you join Titans. Is that how you met Rayner? Are you going out with him now?’

“This is none of your damn business!” she yelled

“Isn’t it?” he hissed taking a step forward, pressing her into the building wall, trapping her between it and his body, her hands pinned on her sides.

“I can still kick your ass, you know.” she struggled against his grip. Damn it, he was strong, that one thing surely did not change.”

“Than do it, I dare you.” he mumbled into her ear and it made her shiver.

Focus Y/N - she thought to herself -remember what he did”

“how is it going with Artemis?” she kept her tone cool, not showing how his proximity was affecting her “she’s worried you don’t love her anymore, you know.” she pouted “such a shame. Wasting perfectly good relationship…. AUCH!” she yelled as Jason pressed her further into the wall, the cold stone hurting her back.

“Do you ever shut up?!” he hissed

“At least I’m running my mouth in all the right places!” she yelled trying to push him off “not where they should never wander!”

“How about I show you were they should wander.” His eyes glistened with lust and she shivered under the weight of it. Oh, hell no!

“Don’t even think about it!” she hissed, but he completely ignored her words, getting closer and closer to her face, his grip becoming iron clad, probably leaving bruises “GET THE FUCK OFF ME! KY….”

Before she could finish yelling the other guy’s name Jason’s lips were already on hers, moving rapidly, hungrily with the intensity that made her melt instantly. And hating herself for that. For a moment she was struggling to break free, but once his hands moved over to her waist, pressing her closer to him, wondering over her entire body, touching all the places only he knew about she completely gave up. Fuck, he just knew her body too well to even try to object. At the moment, her brain just stopped functioning, completely giving in to the desire he was igniting in her.

God, his mouth. His soft mouth, moving against her own, biting on the lower lip, causing her to moan involuntarily and let his tongue inside, exploring and claiming her.

“Jason…” she whined, fisting hands into his jacket, pulling him closer.

“Yes, princess. Keep saying my name. Tell me you missed me the way I missed you….” he tangled one hand in her hair, tilting her head and kissing her neck, sucking on the sensitive skin and leaving a hickey. "Tell me….” He panted against her skin.

“I… I…..” she whimpered, still fighting not to give in completely, but slowly losing this fight “Fuck….” Poor girl could not hold back a whimper as Jason grabbed the back of her thighs, lifting her up and wrapping her legs around his waist, pressing her into the wall once again, but this time making sure she did not feel any pain.

“Why did you came with that fucker, huh?” he mumbled playing with the hem of her shirt “out of every people on the planet it had to be him?” he grinded against her and damn, it reminded her of all the nights they spend together tangled in the sheets, when he was making her feel so good.

“Jace….” She moaned more, grabbing his neck and putting his mouth back down, kissing him back with desperation and need.

“You’re mine.” He hissed, letting go off her thigs, her whole weight leaning onto the wall as he started unzipping her pants “Fuck, you could have wear a skirt for once. But you know what, I’m actually glad you didn’t. Means you weren’t planning on doing anything with him.” He slid her pants and panties down a bit, putting her feet back onto the ground just to get them all the way to her ankles, getting on her knees in front of her, grabbing her ass now. “God I missed this. I missed you.” he breathed, kissing her leg up, slowly, tentatively, getting towards her inside thigh and stopping there for a second.

“Please…. “ she buckled her hips, head falling back and banging against the concrete. She didn’t care if anyone saw them here in quite compromising position. She needed him. She wanted him. She craved the way he always knew how to please her, how to satisfy her hunger “Please Jason….”

“What do you need princess?” he licked on her most sensitive part with the precision no one else could even begin to compete with and she let out that little kitten noise that always made him aware of how good he was doing. Jason Todd had a fucking praise kink and his pants were already tight. “tell me. You already got me on my knees, I’m listening.”

“I…I…. Ah! Jason!”

“Yes, princess?” he smirked, sucking on her clit “you’re so wet for me, and god, you taste just delicious….”

“I need you in me, now!”

“I got you covered.” He raised onto his feet, unzipping his own pants, ready for action, once again lifting her up, spreading her wide and pushing in. Fuck, he was fucking her in a public place and what spurred him on even more was that she let him. He made a mistake of ever letting her go. Of cheating on her. He would do everything to get her back, to make her forgive him, to come back into her life. Anything. Artemis might have been hot and good in bed, but Y/n and him shared a connection,  a deep bond, they had history. Surely that must have meant something to her, right? Right?

They were going to talk later and he would explain everything, begging for her but as for now all the was focused on was making her cum, reminding her how good he could make her feel. He. No one else. Not Rayner or any other fucker. He. Jason Todd. The one bound to her, left at her mercy.

God, she felt so good, so tight, so warm around him when he was snapping his hips against her, getting lost in all the sweet sounds she was making for him.

“Baby….” He whispered kissing her with undeniable passion ‘you’re mine….. you’re only mine. Say it. Tell me you still love me. ” he begged slowly losing his mind over the sensations

 “I…. Ah! Don’t stop. Jace. Fuck, don’t stop” she pressed herself onto him, picking up the pace, fire inside her begging to be released. “Please, please, oh, please, Jace.” He nails dig into his back and he welcomed that familiar pain.

 “Come for me, baby. Let me feel you.”

“So… close… “ she panted, her breath ragged.

“I’m the only one who can make you feel like this.  Make you cum so fast, so hard. No one else. Not a one-night stand and definitely not Rayner.”

“Oh, fuck, fuck!” she screamed as he finally took her over the edge, her orgasm overwhelming her whole, her body shaking in his arms as he held her tight, caressing her back and sides, whispering praises and sweet nothings into her ear, following soon after, coming inside her. What he didn’t know was that she screamed not only because of the intensity of the orgasm, but also because she realized Kyle was still inside the diner. With Artemis. Artemis with whom Jason cheated Y/N on.

Fuck, he made a terrible mistake.

“Princess” Jason mumbled, still bemused by claiming her like this, pretty sure now that he made her come they would talk and clear things out “I love you….”

“Fuck you, Todd!” much to his surprise she pushed him away, tear gathering in her eyes.

“I don’t …. What….?”

“You fucking idiot! You stupid scumbag!” she cried out, bending for her pants and panties and putting them back on. God, she fell for him again. stupid, stupid, stupid

“Baby….” He reached for her cheek, but she slapped his hand hard

“Get away from me! I’m warning you.”

“But I …. I….. I want you back….” He stuttered “I’m sorry for what I did, I am. Losing you made me realize…”

“Oh just shut the fuck up. You used me. Again .That’s all  it was. And fuck, I let you. And hey, you just cheated on your girl, who you previously cheated with. Funny, isn’t it?” she smiled sourly, wiping away the tears. “Guess the history repeat itself. Once a cheater, always a cheater. Anyway, I am going home….”

“At least let me take you.” his eyes were futilely searching hers “We can talk when you calm down, baby.

“Talk!?” she snapped “I don’t ever, ever, ever, want to see you again! And I can go by myself, definitely not with you. Good luck explaining to Kyle and …. Her… where I went.” She turned on her feet, angrily walking away.

He fucked up. Again .

***

“Dick…..” she showed up on her best friend’s doorstep, shaking, crying, freezing to death.

“Y/N? What happened?” Dick instantly pull her into his chest and inside, rubbing her back just to warm her up a bit.

“I…. I did something terrible. I… I let….”

“Shh…” Dick cooed “breathe. Just breathe, all right? I’ll get you something to drink, you will take a shower and some rest and then tell me, ok?”

“O.. ok…” she stuttered

“Whatever happened, whatever Jason did to you, I’m here. I’ll help you.”

“How….how do you know…..?”

“I know you are not shaking like that because of Kyle. He’s a prick but he wouldn’t hurt you. My brother on the other side…” he shook his head “I guess I will have to kill him.”

“No, please, just stay with me.” She clung onto him desperately searching for safety and reassurance "I don;t want to be alone...." her sob was just so terrible it made Dick tighten the hug.

“I’m not going anywhere. At least for now…..”

To be continued?

[maladapt1vedaydreamer]

Shackles Of The Past - Chapter 1

A/N: Saw there was a concerning lack of Az-centric fics that don't revolve around mate discourse, aka bat boys/inner circle centric and wanted to contribute.

for a more detailed summary see here.

chapter summary: tired parents, their toddler and his angsty friend.

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There is unrest in Prythian.

Skirmishes along courts’ borders are becoming more frequent, inside conflicts rising in most. Feyre would love to think that the Night Court has been spared after everything its people have been through, but she would be lying to herself. Report after report is dropped onto their desks each day, Rhysand is frequently moving between courts for meetings, some more pleasant than others, while Feyre stays behind with Nyx to deal with internal affairs. Cassian and Azriel are almost never at home, much to Nesta’s displeasure, the General paying visits to the camps while the Spymaster is off collecting intel, trying to get at least some idea on what has the people frazzled. The lack of such is taking a toll on every member of the family.

Feyre sighs, taking in the blurring letters of the report about the latest slaughter in one of the outermost towns of the court. That’s what they were, slaughters. This is the tenth one In the past month. Reports would contain depictions of multiple bodies torn apart, limbs strewn all around. Families, strangers, neighbors, there was no pattern. The only thing all the attacks had in common was the bloodbath and the fact that there were no witnesses. None. No one has seen, or heard, anything, the bodies would be found in the morning with the earliest riser. As if that wasn't making their job hard enough, when they went out to investigate in person they would find nothing. No bodies, no blood, no recollection of the people those bodies belonged to. It's as if they never existed, as if the incident had never occurred. Rhys and her pried into the minds of the people who wrote the reports and they would, once again, find nothing. Not even a spell that could be an explanation to all of this. He doesn't mention it, but Feyre knows it's eating Rhys up inside.

Frustrated, Feyre drops the report and pushes away from the desk, rubbing at her eyes after hours of staring at the papers that never seem to end.

”I hope that frustration isn't going to end up with a brother less for me.”

The effect of his voice in her head is instant, the warmth that flows through her down the bond is enough to grant her momentary relief from the oncoming headache.

”I'm not making any promises.”

The lightness that echoes brings a smile to her face and she leans back in the chair with a sigh.

”Should I be placing bets?”

The snort that leaves her would be called unfitting of a High Lady if you asked some of the High Lords, but Feyre was never one for following norms.

”They would have to be home to get on my nerves. You as well”.

The light on the other side dims a little and she almost feels bad for her words. Before she can apologize, a trickle of borderline giddiness shoots through her as Rhys answers back. “I know, love. I will be home soon, tomorrow actually.”

Feyre shoots up in her seat, a grin spreading across her face so big her cheeks start hurting.

”I thought it wasn't supposed to be another week or so?”

She's up now, moving out of the office and towards the nursery where Nyx is playing in his little playpen. After more than a year, she finally feels settled enough to leave him in a room with only the wards as her eyes and ears.

”True, but Az says he has some news. I'm meeting up with him before we head back. Cass should be there by tomorrow night as well.” That peaks her interest and she knows he feels her curiosity.

She enters the nursery and finds their son sitting up in the playpen, a stuffed bat in his hand being flung around, courtesy of aunt Nesta. She thought it was hilarious, Rhys not so much. “Even if the main topic will be work, I'm glad we can all be present for a family dinner. It's been weeks since we've all been in one place.” She stands in the doorway for a moment, taking in their entire future playing peacefully, swaddled in darkness with only the setting sun providing enough light to see his smiling face. Adoration warms her from the inside.

”It will be nice to have us all gathered. I still owe Cassian a beating for last time.” Feyre manages to stifle a laugh, not wanting to interrupt Nyx in his play. ”I'll be taking bets on that.”

Nyx babbles at something in the air and Feyre tilts her head, not seeing anything at first. He's almost a year and a half now, toddling around and falling over, babbling and repeating everything he hears. She has Cassian to thank for the arsenal of cuss words the child has, his pronounciation of shit and fuck is immaculate. He hasn't started speaking in full sentences yet, and Feyre would be worried, but he's happy and healthy. If it takes him a little longer than most, so be it.

”Do you have so little faith in me Feyre, darling?” The drawl in Rhysand's voice has her rolling her eyes in exasperation even as it makes her legs feel weak. Stupid male.

”Now don't go putting words in my mouth.” The amusement shooting down the bond has her regretting her choice of words immediately.

”I can think of something different to put there.”

If he were physically there, she would've whacked him on the head before putting Nyx to bed and taking him up on the offer. Instead, she scoffs and sends the annoyance down the bond. The sound is enough to catch Nyx's attention and her heart melts as she watches his eyes crinkle with a smile and small giggles escape his lips. She lets Rhys in on the scene and the bond lights up with warmth.

“Hello, precious.” Taking light steps towards the playpen, now that she got his attention, she smiles at her son. The babe giggles at her once more, wings fluttering on his back, before he turns to look over his shoulder to continue babbling. Feyre frowns and looks at the wall behind him, yet there is nothing there.

“Who are you talking to?”

Her voice is gentle, always gentle with Nyx, as she opens the small gate and steps into the playpen before kneeling in front of him. Her son turns back to smile at her and once again looks, or rather tries to look behind himself.

”Is everything alright?”

She's so focused on the background that Rhys's voice almost startles her. She checks on all the wards and shields around the house and all of them are intact.

”I think so…" She trails off as a flutter of something whirls around the tip of Nyx's wings. Not wanting to alarm the babe or her mate, Feyre keeps her calm because logically, nothing that shouldn't be here is present. Gently, she reaches out and wraps her hands around his middle, tugging him up so he's standing in front of her. That has him turning around once again as he shrieks and claps happily while trying to bounce in place. He is so precious to her. To them. She is so happy to have him.

”Feyre?”

The undertone of worry has her focusing back on the task at hand, and she goes to turn Nyx away from herself to check his back. Before she can though, that same something flies out from behind his back and twirls around the tips of his wings. Feyre laughs. She laughs in relief and amusement and adoration.

”An update, please?” Her heart is still thumping in her chest as she lets her feelings flow down the bond once again.

”Seems like Nyx here, got himself a friend.” She projects the scene to Rhys once more. This time, it's of the babe still bouncing in his mother's arms as a wisp of shadow twirls almost playfully around him, snaking down his arm and dancing between Feyre’s fingers before going back to Nyx. She feels the amusement and surprise as if it were her own.

”Well, that's something our Spymaster failed to mention.” Nyx lets put another giggle as the wisp flies in circles up and down his arms, and he bats his hands to try and grab at it. Feyre finally pulls him into her lap and relaxes on the floor as she watches him. The wisp disappears behind Nyx at some point and Feyre has a suspicion it's hiding under his wings.

”I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't know. Those little pests sometimes have a mind of their own.” She calls them pests, but they're anything but. With the amount of times they helped save the Court, their family, Az, they were as much part of the Inner Circle as their master. Rhys hums in reply and Feyre doesn't bother stopping his access. Instead, she lets him watch as she plays with their son, stuffed toys pulled into various scenarios. At one point he looks up at her with those starry eyes alight with wonder and tugs at her hair.

“Mama.” If Feyre melts every time the word leaves his mouth, no one has to know.

“That's right, mama's right here.” The boy smiles before he tilts his head, seemingly confused.

“Dada?” She doesn't know whether the pang of sadness that shoots through her is her own or her mate's. Regardless, she smooths down the unruly mop of hair before responding. “Dada is busy right now, but he will be back tomorrow. As will uncle Cass and uncle Az. Do you miss them, as well?”

Nyx positively shrieks at the news of his father coming tomorrow and Feyre struggles not to grimace at the volume. She hears Rhys's laugh in her head and the thought that their peace could once more be ruined by outside forces is almost enough to make her combust on the spot. Almost. The wisp peaks out from behind Nyx once more and gets the same reaction.

”I should invest in some ear-plugs.” Laughter is the only thing she gets in response. This time, the tiny thing circles Nyx's left wrist and stays there, undisturbed by the boy's constant movement. Feyre finally decides to acknowledge it and pokes Nyx in his side.

“Is that a new friend?” When he finally calms down from his giggles he shakes his head resolutely. “Nuh-uh. Az.” He says it with such indignation that Feyre can't help but laugh.

“I apologize, of course it's Az. Does he keep you company sometimes?” She's mostly curious because while she occasionally sees whispers of their Spymaster's shadows around the house, keeping an eye on things, they never linger.

Nyx opens his mouth to respond but he's cut off by a yawn. He rubs at his eyes and lets out,“Always.” A short ”Huh.” is all she gets from Rhys's end. Curious, indeed.

“Let's get you to bed, precious. It's been a long day.” She scoops him up in her arms and can't help but smile at the obvious frown that appears on his face at the mention of calling it a day. She can't have that now, can she?

“If you go to bed now, you'll have plenty of energy to play with everyone tomorrow.” The stars in his eyes light up once more at that and she takes it as a go ahead. The warmth of the bond is almost unbearable as she tucks Nyx in and kisses his forehead before wishing him goodnight. The boy doesn't mind sleeping on his own, he burrows deeper into the blanket with the promise of tomorrow's fun.

”Go to bed, Feyre. I'll be home soon.” She slips out of the nursery and goes to their bedroom. No sooner than she changes her clothes and her head hits the pillow, she's fast asleep. The only thing on her mind being the male on the other side of the continent.

•°•°•°•°•°•

Gentle claws tap against Azriel's mental shield and he lowers them just enough for his brother to get through.

”I'll be there in a moment. You got everything you need?” Azriel responds with an affirmative and lets the almost scorching sun of the Summer Court beat against his skin as he waits. The heat does wonders for the coiled muscles in his back and wings. He took off the fighting leathers a few minutes back, the heat from them unbearable, leaving him in a black short-sleeve. While most of the tension has been from the evasiveness of the new danger in Prythian, he would be lying If he said some of it isn't apprehension of seeing Rhys. Not that they haven't spoken since the Solstice, they have. While there has been tension and anger between them for some time, they're on the mend. After all, one discussion has nothing on more than 500 years of brotherhood. Things are easier now, almost back to how they were. Azriel simply couldn't forget the look on his brother's face from that night.

The judgment.

The barely held back anger.

The disappointment.

His shadows swarm around his shoulders and up his neck, as if being swallowed into oblivion would protect him from his own mind. The comforting whispers aren't received but he appreciates their presence nevertheless. It's been months and Azriel hasn't disobeyed the order given by his brother, his High Lord. That was his High Lord in that office. He spent some time simmering in anger, at Rhys, at himself. Soon after, he realized he needed to do better, be better. Azriel knows the truth, deep down. Centuries, he has spent ignoring it, keeping it close to his heart and mind in the hopes that if he didn’t admit it to himself, it wouldn’t be true. The implications of it might just fracture him irreparably. Another secret that will die with him. So, chasing something that wasn't meant to be, wasn't going to help him protect his family. They have something to fight for, to live for, he only has them; And he'll be damned if he doesn't protect their peace this time around. Azriel would give pieces of himself away, if it meant keeping them.

The sudden appearance of his brother before him would've startled him if not for the whispers of Brother is here, a second before he is and he reels away from the thoughts to give Rhys his full attention. His brother looks worse for wear, even as he stands there in the middle of a field in elegant attire, the bags under his eyes and unruly hair, both of which were probably the result of worrying about little Nyx and Feyre and a lack of sleep, give him away. It still doesn't dim the shit-eating grin across his face as he approaches him, arms spread.

“Brother dearest.” Azriel scoffs but doesn't shy away when Rhysand pulls him in for a hug. It makes something deep inside tremble, so he pulls away before he can fall into himself. The grin on Rhysand's face doesn't falter even as his eyes scan him for any injuries. Overprotective bastard.

“Hello, brother dearest.” Just to ease his mind a bit. The light of mischief in the starry eyes almost makes him choke because he hasn't seen it in so long.

“I knew all that eye rolling was for show.” It's natural to slip into the back and forth banter, as easy as breathing. “Don't you have scores to settle with Cassian?” The usual monotonous voice is gone, mellowed into a deep timbre that allows those listening to get an actual read on him. His shadows, forever his loyal companions, respond in kind, snaking down his body and up Rhysand’s, greeting his brother’s darkness and he greets them back in his own way before turning back to Azriel.

“If you mean, am I beating his ass tonight? Then the answer is yes. He should be back soon as well, earlier than expected. Something about missing Nesta too much.” Azriel graces him with a raised brow and a very judgmental look. In response, Rhys simply holds up a hand between them.

“Not a word, Az.”

A grin teases at Azriel's lips that he tries and fails to hold back.

“I didn't even open my mouth.”

“You didn't have to, I could sense your judgment from over here.” The annoyance is watered down with a grin overtaking Rhys’s face and Azriel very foolishly thinks he has options. He considers putting the information that he has in the back of his mind under lock and key for at least a few hours so they can have a peaceful get-together. He considers never letting them know and just taking care of it himself. Or just letting somebody else do something for once. But he knows all of that wishful thinking would be irresponsible and detrimental to their future.

“Ready to go home?” Azriel thinks to himself that he needs to get it together, there is no reason a question worded like that should make him feel as if there was a knife twisted in his gut. He’s always ready to go home. Instead of answering verbally he takes a step closer to Rhys and they clasp forearms as Rhys prepares to winnow them home. As the familiar darkness swirls around them and eats up the view of the outside world, Azriel takes one last look at the mirth and happiness on his brother’s face, before the darkness swallows them completely.

There, in pitch-black darkness where they disintegrate into nothing, he wonders how he’s going to keep that smile on Rhysand when what he has to share will shake their calm and safety away once more.

How will he protect them from her when he already failed once, all those years ago? Can he?

The only thing Azriel is certain of, is that he will do anything to keep Amarantha's claws away from his family. Whatever that entails.

°•○●○•°•○●○•°•○●○•°

A/N: posting this here as well just to see what are your thoughts (if you do end up liking it, the rest (of what I've written so far) you can read HERE), be mindful of the tags.

Let me know what you think!

[essayofthoughts]

how about vex and one of the kids, cure wounds?

Oh oh! This lets me indulge that headcanon of mine that emotionally gutted you! You know - this one.

It isn't often that Gwennie gets injured, surprisingly enough. She's as enamoured with inventing and explosions as Percy is, but she's also much more fireproof and does actually have a modicum of sense - she knows not to pick up anything sharp and look both ways before crossing the street (or, better yet, to cross the street safely on Trinket's back) and besides which, Percy's very good at bandaging the children up from their inevitable cuts and scrapes well before she returns from a patrol.

So it's rare to see Gwen, a little teary eyed and one hand held gingerly, at the door to the library. Even before spotting the tears she knows something's wrong: Trinket's head swings up from where he'd been sprawled in a sleepy pile on the floor, and she knows how protective of his little siblings Trinket is.

"Mummy?" Gwen's voice is quiet and has that little hitching breath that means even though she's not crying now she had been recently. "I hurt myself."

She steps in when Vex gestures, holding out her hand and oh. Oh, that's nasty. It had taken them a bit of time to see how bruises and burns and cuts look on Gwen's scarlet skin, but this is a nasty graze, thickly clotting dark blood across the heel of her palm like someone's tried to crust her skin with living rubies.

Gwen's blood, though, is far more precious to Vex than any ruby she might encounter.

"Oh darling," she says, taking her daughter's hand in hers. Gwen runs warm - just as warm as Percy to the exact same degree - and the first thing Vex does is press a kiss to Gwen's palm. Kiss it better may not really work, but it soothes the children and with Gwen especially she and Percy have gone out of their way to show her that she's loved. "Let me fix that."

Cure Wounds is an old and familiar spell and it's easy to cast, the words a soft murmur against her daughter's skin before the magic takes effect.

"Oh," says Gwen, as the green-gold washes over her hand, catching around the edge of the graze like water at the shore, sparkling instead of frothing and when it finally fades away the start of the scab does too, leaving behind clean, unmarred skin. "Oh!"

"There we go," Vex says and presses a kiss to Gwen's forehead. "All better."

Gwen's silent, examining her hand closely before comparing it to the scar on her arm - the only mark left on her after a playfight with Danny went wrong and a glass had been smashed. Percy had patched the children up, and everything healed fine, but- well. First scars tend to be remembered.

"Mummy," Gwen says slowly. "Daddy has a lot of these." She points to her scar. "But you can heal things so they don't do that."

"Yes," she says, unsure where Gwen's going with this.

"Can you heal them too? These-" She points at the scar again.

"Scars," she says. "They're called scars."

"Scars," Gwen says. "Can you heal them?"

If only. There's a lot Vex would give to have been able to heal Percy of even half of what Ripley had inflicted on him. She'll settle for the bitch being goddamn dead.

"Scars are what happen when you don't heal bad injuries with magic," she says. "They're how the body heals on it's own." She pulls back her sleeve, shows one of the small bitemarks she has from when she'd been raising Trinket. "See?"

"Oh," Gwen says, still frowning, still clearly thinking. "Daddy was hurt a lot then."

Oh. Oh it's this conversation. Vex has managed to avoid this conversation with all of the children so far - they've all taken it to Percy. She'd thought Gwen would too - the two are thick as thieves and it's quite adorable really - but. Well.

"Yes," she says. "By the same people who hurt your Auntie Cass."

"Oh."

Gwen is still thinking. She doesn't seem upset - and Vex credits herself as being very good at reading her children - but she's not entirely sure what Gwen's thinking at all.

"Uncle Tary says people come up with new spells all the time."

... Okay this is a jump.

"Your Uncle Tary likes to make up stories," she says with a smile. "But yes, some people do develop new spells."

"And Daddy invents new techno- technyli- Tek-no-log-gy." Oh Gwen stumbling over long words shouldn't be so cute but it always is. "And Vesper says that people find new things out all the time too."

"Yes."

Gwen nods, simple and determined, clearly to herself, so much her father's daughter. Vex waits for her daughter to look back up at her and lets her have space to speak.

"I'm going to find out how to heal scars," Gwen says. "But you can't tell him. He'll make The Face."

Oh boy will he. Vex is having a hard time not making it herself now, and covers for that by reaching down to hug her daughter.

"I'm sure you will," she says into Gwennie's pigtails. "Shall I help you find some books on it?"

[cookies-over-yonder]

disconnected memory

Willy's forearm disintegrates into nothingness, and the effect slowly travels up to his shoulder.

Flesh shifts in colour to a dark shade of red, before crumbling into fine bits of dust that vanish into thin air.

And whatever happens to Willy… happens to Cass.

⋆ or ⋆

The spell Scary casts on Willy goes awry, and Taylor is the one who pays the price

ao3

1 | 2

this is the first fic for my new au: My Mom DIED... and came back as a DEMON!? a.k.a. demon!cass au!!!

shout out to @llumimoon for helping me come up with the summary and also for being my brainstorm buddy for this au (and for being amazing in general🥰💖)

1. love

⋆

Nicky wouldn't say that he and Cassandra were ever really in love. They loved each other like friends.

Like family.

And then they started one.

Nicky couldn't stay for long, and it tore him apart, but it was for their safety.

So he settled on supporting them from afar.

Nicky wouldn't say that Cassandra plagued his thoughts. It was more like fond memories that snuck up on him.

He would replay them to lift his spirits.

Nicky can only watch in horror as Scary's vampiric touch travels up Willy's arm, and Cassandra's screams follow.

"Mom!"

That's when Taylor rushes forward and snatches the phone, nearly dropping it, and then managing it to hold it steady.

Nicky looks back at Willy.

His forearm disintegrates into nothingness, and the effect slowly travels up to his shoulder.

Flesh shifts in colour to a dark shade of red, before crumbling into fine bits of dust that vanish into thin air.

And whatever happens to Willy… happens to Cass.

Nicky can't see the phone, but he can hear Taylor screaming, and as Willy's face begins to turn red and crumble away, he can hear Cass's screams stop.

"Taylor—"

Nick Close was seven years old when his dad got a phone call that changed everything. Well, it wasn't the phone call that changed everything, it was the information behind it.

"Mom—"

Nick Close found out through his dad's words that he would never see her again. Alive, anyway.

"Taylor, I love you—"

Nick Close never got in his last words to her.

"I—I love you too, I—Mom… Mom! "

In a matter of seconds, the goth kid's hands are trembling, and Willy is gone.

And whatever happens to Willy—

A glass-shattering scream echoes throughout the church.

And the clatter of a phone against the floor.

And the sound of shaky breaths increasing in speed.

Nicky snaps himself out of his hazy wave of shock to see that Taylor has lost his balance, and he's tipping over…

The next thing Nicky knows, he's holding an unconscious Taylor in his arm.

Nick Close didn't watch Morgan die.

"Taylor!" Grant's kid shouts, and despite himself, when Nicky hears footsteps approaching, a ring of fire encircles him and his son.

"No one go near him," his voice rumbles, low and fiery.

Taylor is completely limp. His eyes are shut tight and the only movement is the rise and fall of his chest.

He dropped the phone, dropped his cane, and fainted.

Nicky feels something burn inside him. It's a hot, flaming mix of love and fear and every emotion between the two and all that he can think to do is stay right here with his son.

"Taylor?" Nicky shakes him a little by the shoulder. His face scrunches up, and then his eyes crack open.

"...Dad?" he mumbles. His voice is hoarse from screaming, but even aside from that, he sounds so small .

"Hey, kid."

"Wha—"

Taylor's eyes go wide with horror, and his breathing picks up again. "Mo—Mom, she—"

He jolts out of Nicky's grasp, but when he stands on his own, it's clear that his wobbling legs won't hold him up for more than a second, so Nicky is quick to steady him with a hand on his arm.

"I—I saw her…she—she—"

"Taylor, breathe."

His whole body is trembling, and his breaths are coming in quick, and he has this wild look in his eyes that bounces around the room before it stops, staring directly back at Nicky.

What he says next hurts a million times more than any battle wound could.

There's a pleading in his voice. There's desperation, there's fear.

There's a sliver of belief.

"Tha… that wasn't real, right?"

Nicky can't bring himself to say anything.

It's a question he knows. It's a question he knows so well he can still feel the taste of the words on his own tongue. It's a question that coursed through him from age seven to age twelve in another life in another version of the universe, but it still pulls him right back.

"I… I—I mean I've had nightmares before," Taylor laughs in a sort of hysterical way. His eyes are wild and everywhere again. "About—about you, and about Mom—that wasn't—this isn't—"

"Taylor—"

"It wasn't real," he mutters and then stares daggers at Nicky. " Tell me it wasn't real!"

Nicky wants to tell him that. Nicky wants to believe it's true. But he can't. The tears in Taylor's eyes are soon reflected in his own.

"...Why aren't you saying anything?" he asks, and his voice breaks. "Please. Please ."

"I…" Nicky feels his voice laced with sorrow as the hot tears slide down his face. "I can't tell you that, kid."

Taylor's eyes widen, and he starts shaking his head.

When Taylor's head tips forward a little, Nicky realizes he's fully hyperventilating now.

"Ta—Taylor, uh—"

Fuck. He doesn't know what to do.

Fuck.

He can't let Taylor pass out again.

Nicky lets down the circle of fire around him, and the first person to Taylor's side is Grant's kid—Link.

Link takes Taylor from Nicky's hold and keeps him upright by the shoulders, turning him so they're face to face.

"Taylor, Taylor, hey, can you hear me?"

There's no response. No acknowledgement. Taylor's breathing is too shallow and too fast, and he has a faraway, horrified gaze that won't alter in the slightest.

Nicky thinks his gaze is something slightly similar. It must be, because Sparrow's hand is on his own shoulder now.

It's only for a second, but it's grounding, it brings him back. And then Sparrow is with Taylor and Link and casting something, and Taylor's breathing steadies, but his expression doesn't soften, and the horrified look remains all the same.

Not even the sound of gunshots make Taylor flinch.

Lark shoots the spot on which Willy stood maybe three or four times, shouting something Nicky can't decipher right now.

Willy is dead.

"Guys, I think we should go. Now."

Willy is dead, and no one is celebrating.

"Yeah, let's um, let's head out."

Willy is dead, and Taylor is borderline catatonic.

"Taylor, I—I'm gonna carry you okay?"

Willy is dead, and so is Cassandra.

⭒

[wrencatte]

a longer than normal snippet of bad news this place is magic af chapter 3 because it's 422 in the am and i should really go to bed but im not. (wc: approx 1,151). This is a ROUGH draft

Gotham isn’t alive.

Gotham isn’t not alive.

(It’s complicated.)

But when you have as much as ambient magic that Gotham does – festering, pooling. Nowhere to go. No one use it. It languishes, steeping into the foundations, seeking physical objects to siphon a droplet from a deep, abyssal ocean –

When you have as much ambient magic that Gotham does –

The line between alive and not alive gets a little blurred.

—

Tim lets them laugh, lets Steph’s boundless capacity for banter ease some of them tension. He glances over at Cass and sees it in her expression that she noticed it too – Jason’s shaking hands, the pinch of pain around his eyes, the sheen in them that he keeps blinking away.

It could be blamed on his injuries. Most of it can probably be blamed on his injuries. But he folds his arms over his chest, pressing close in a way that has to hurt the claw marks there, and his nails dig into his sleeves, the fabric of his sweatshirt being the only thing keeping him from drawing blood.

He closes his eyes, exhausted, and cuts in. “It’s still hurting you – the cloaking spell.”

Not a question. A statement of fact.

The banter cuts off, the light teasing dies down. Jason doesn’t look at him, nails burrowing, teeth flashing to bite his lip. His fangs – because that’s what they are no matter how often Bruce calls them elongated canines; he just doesn’t want to admit that Jason has fangs. Some things are too weird for Batman. – split his lip, blood beading up.

“No,” he says.

Steph frowns. “Jason…”

He frowns back, something gleaming beyond the tears in his eyes – and Tim thinks of sunlight through sweet tea and vintage whiskey. “We don’t have time to worry about it,” he snaps with only a quarter of his usual heat. If Tim’s already exhausted, he can’t imagine how Jason feels.

“There’s always time,” Duke says then glances at the ceiling when all Jason does is sneer in response. “Fine – if you wanna be a stubborn asshole about it we’ll let you. For now.” There’s a glow in his eyes to match Jason’s – but golden where Jason’s is copper. The hair on the back of Tim’s neck stands on end and he remembers – he never really forgot – that Duke’s meta-abilities are weird and odd and more and now he’s starting to get an idea of why. “What’s the plan?”

Jason slumps like his strings have been cut. Cass swings her arms over his shoulders, slouching in a way that’s uncharacteristic of her but makes Jason reach up and hold on to keep her from sliding to the ground.

And subsequently makes him stop pressing on his injuries.

“The plan is to figure out where his final circle is going to be and stop him,” Jason says slowly. He presses his lips together. Tim hands him a napkin that he takes without looking, dabbing at the blood almost absently. His eyes flicker across the map, following Duke’s lines from point a to b all the way to m – thirteen points. Twelve like a clock and then one directly in the middle. “That’s smack dab in the middle of the reservoir.”

“The labyrinth,” Tim says. Jason nods. “Great. Just what we needed.”

“I’m sorry, the what?” Duke asks, brows furrowed. The gold in his eyes has faded even if Jason still shimmers copper. “We have a labyrinth?”

“We don’t,” Steph says and she looks absolutely disgusted by the direction this is going. “The Court of Owls, on the other hand, did. Do we really have to?”

Duke pinches the bridge of his nose. “The Court of Owls?” Everyone stares at him. “Hey, don’t look at me like that,” he snaps. “Some of us are new to this whole vigilante business. I’m still in Jason’s era of casefiles!”

Jason groans. “Great,” he mutters.

Tim gives him a sympathetic look that’s ignored. He’s seen the reports from Jason’s time as Robin and they’re not pretty – Rogues like Kite Man and Condiment King weren’t a common place then. It was usually the Families and the darker crimes that really makes Tim wonder who thought it was a good idea to let a teenager on the streets like that. Though, he’s sure Jason had seen worse before he was Robin.

Already files on the Court of Owls are popping up on screen, courtesy of Barbara. Duke leans in, scanning the words, lips moving, his eyes getting wider and wider the further he gets, jaw dropping.

“What?” he whispers. “No, seriously. What?” He gestures frantically at the screen. “Dick? Your, your parents?” he asks Tim.

Tim shrugs. “They were in over their heads,” he says casually. And it is pretty casual. The Court never wanted Tim. They were more pissed that Janet and Jake managed to snub them so well. Tim’s had two years to come to terms with the mess his parents left him with. “It’s actually one of the reasons they traveled so much. The Court did not like them ducking out like they did. Technically they were never official members anyway, too New Money to get more than a foot in the door.”

Babs pulls the files down. “I can send the rest to your tablet,” she tells him. “Let’s focus. Jason, why is he doing this?”

Jason drags a fingertip over the desk surface. Tim watches the motion – it’s not random. It’s…It means something. He traces it out over and over again. Steph ducks down, frowning, waving her hand in front of Jason’s face – he flinches, hand going flat on the desk.

“Magic,” Jason says.

“We’ve established that,” Tim replies.

He shakes his head, drags a hand down his face, winces when he pulls at the marks on his face. “No. Listen. Magic is pretty much everywhere. There’s, like, maybe two places on this planet where magic is null and only the Sorcerer Supreme knows where they are.”

“And that’s?”

“Currently it’s Zatanna Zatara,” Jason says with a smirk. Steph claps her hands, eyes sparkling. “Yeah, thought you might like that. She’s been Sorcerer Supreme for about…five years now? After Kent stopped being Doctor Fate and Khalid picked up the mantle. Gotham is not null.”

Duke quirks an eyebrow. “But no one here uses magic.”

Jason nods. “And that’s the problem. Magicians don’t come to Gotham – not because Batman asked nicely or anything, but it’s disgusting here.” He swallows thickly, looking like he might be sick. Tim hands him another orange juice and he takes it even though he rolls his eyes. “Magic has to be used. It’s gotta flow. It doesn’t even have to be a person – or the equivalent of one. Those magical objects we’ve dealt with over the years? That’s Gotham’s magic trying to find some outlet before it explodes like a powder keg. That’s the only reason we’re not suffering a weird magical plague.”

[pallasperilous]

Fifty Ways to Lose Your Lover

{on AO3} “Despair” Studio Draft 09/18/20 DO NOT DISTRIBUTE INT. DUNGEON - NIGHT. (CONT.) CASTIEL is verging on tears, joy and sorrow fighting for dominance. He knows what he’s about to say will be enough to summon THE EMPTY to claim him forever. DEAN is still struggling to process, but a terrible understanding is beginning to dawn on his face. CASTIEL ...I love you. DEAN (tearfully) I love you, too... ...buddy CASTIEL (Sighs grimly.)

> “Despair” Studio Draft 09/19/20 DO NOT DISTRIBUTE INT. DUNGEON - NIGHT. (CONT.) CASTIEL ...I love you. DEAN (meaningfully) I know.

Haha sorry dude I’ve just always wanted to say that CASTIEL opens the door for THE EMPTY and wordlessly walks into the sweet embrace of OBLIVION. > “Despair” Studio Draft 09/20/20 DO NOT DISTRIBUTE INT. DUNGEON - NIGHT. (CONT.) CASTIEL ...I love you.

DEAN Cass, man...I...how long have you felt this way?

CASTIEL Maybe...season 6? But I would’ve... (He pauses, overcome with emotion, then steadies himself to meet Dean’s gaze.) But I would’ve totally dicked down by mid-season 4.

DEAN Are you...are you fucking kidding me? That’s twelve seasons, Cass!! Network length seasons!

CASTIEL I didn’t think you could possibly reciprocate –

DEAN I had DESPERATION SEX with KETCH, Cass. ARTHUR KETCH. I had to get a TETANUS BOOSTER after that shit!  What the FUCK!

The pounding at the DOOR abruptly ceases. 

THE EMPTY (O.S.) Hey, so, this is getting weird, I think I’m gonna take off. 

CASTIEL Wait, no–

> “Despair” Studio Draft 09/21/20 DO NOT DISTRIBUTE INT. DUNGEON - NIGHT. (CONT.) CASTIEL ...I love you.

DEAN (tearfully) Bazinga.

CASTIEL opens the door and hurls DEAN into the glistening maw of THE EMPTY. > “Despair” Studio Draft 09/22/20 DO NOT DISTRIBUTE INT. DUNGEON - NIGHT. (CONT.)

CASTIEL ...I love you.

DEAN (tearfully) I love you, too.

BILLIE (O.S.) (Muffled, through DOOR) Pay up, bitch!

THE EMPTY (O.S.) Fuck!!  BILLIE (O.S.) There’s an ATM twenty minutes from here up 281. I’ll wait.

THE EMPTY (O.S.) Uggggggh you suck. > “Despair” Studio Draft 09/23/20 DO NOT DISTRIBUTE INT. DUNGEON - NIGHT. (CONT.)

CASTIEL ...I love you.

DEAN I love you, too.

CASTIEL Oh.

DEAN ...what?

CASTIEL Uh. Wow. I just...didn’t anticipate this. I’m...not sure what to say. I kind of thought the EMPTY would, you know, take me. Before you could say anything back.

DEAN Huh. Good job on the wards, I guess.

CASTIEL Thank you.

A beat.

CASTIEL (nervous laugh) I really thought the EMPTY would have taken me by now.

DEAN Do you want me to check on her, or...?

CASTIEL If you wouldn’t mind. I just worry.

THE EMPTY (Opening door) Haha I’m fine guys, this is hilarious. Seriously Castiel, I’m super flattered that you think I could  come up with anything worse than dating an unemployed closeted dude in his forties who’s obsessed with Zeppelin and lives with his adult brother in a basement in rural Kansas, LMAOOOO enjoy couple’s therapy, bitch > “Despair” Studio Draft 09/24/20 DO NOT DISTRIBUTE INT. DUNGEON - NIGHT. (CONT.)

CASTIEL ...I love you.

DEAN (tearfully) I love you, too. CASTIEL I mean that I love you in a romantic way. Just to be clear. DEAN No, I get it. Same. CASTIEL Sexually also. I mean, probably? Not super clear on that one, but I’m open to experimentation. DEAN I am ready to explore that with you at whatever pace and in whatever way is comfortable for all involved. CASTIEL Just making sure we’re on the same page, here: this is a homosexual declaration of romantic love. DEAN Yep. Super gay. ...queer? CASTIEL No, I like queer. It’s inclusive. DEAN An umbrella term, yeah. Reclaimed and shit. CASTIEL Because, while we’re both male-presenting, and I don’t want to diminish the significance of that, I’ve got a whole potential genderfluid situation going on, maybe also on the ace spectrum, and you’re...do you prefer bi, or pan, or...? DEAN Bi works. But, you know, 2020 style. CASTIEL Right, so meaning you experience attraction to more than one gender, not just two binary genders. DEAN (finger guns) Bingo. CASTIEL This has been a very helpful conversation. DEAN Yeah. I’m so happy we finally got to talk about this stuff, man. CASTIEL So am- THE EMPTY bursts through the door, seizes CASTIEL, and vanishes again. DEAN sighs.

> “Despair” Studio Draft 09/25/20 DO NOT DISTRIBUTE INT. DUNGEON - NIGHT. (CONT.)

CASTIEL ...I love you.

DEAN Don’t do this, Cass.

CASTIEL Yeet!

CASTIEL throws DEAN against the far wall as THE EMPTY pushes through the door.

THE EMPTY Yeet?? C’mon man, this is my last scene. I don’t even have a line, I’m just a fucking special effect. Throw me a bone here. 

CASTIEL I apologize. Let’s go again.

THE EMPTY Thank you.

CASTIEL (clears throat) Yoink me, Void Daddy.

THE EMPTY Oh my god. > “Despair” Studio Draft 09/25/20 #2 DO NOT DISTRIBUTE INT. DUNGEON - NIGHT. (CONT.)

CASTIEL ...I love you.

DEAN Nice try, Chuck. Now let him go.

CHUCK appears, looking miffed. CASTIEL suddenly relaxes, like a puppet whose strings have been cut.

CHUCK Shit. How did you figure it out? 

DEAN Cass and I hooked up all the way back in 9x06, man. 

CHUCK Wh...no you didn’t! The crew just lost the light but had to wrap the sequence!

CASTIEL That’s exactly what we wanted you to think. We’ve been together ever since.

DEAN We had a vow renewal ceremony last month when we legally adopted Jack. 

CASTIEL It was very moving. 

CHUCK This is insane. You can’t do this! I control everything that happens in this universe!

DEAN Becky taught us about coda fics, Chuck. And that was all the opening we needed. 

CASTIEL Dean. It’s time.

DEAN I’m ready.

CHUCK Wh...what are you doing?

CASTIEL Your power only extends to shots that make it to air, Chuck. 

CHUCK (glancing at watch) No. NO.

CASTIEL That was a very long speech you had me deliver. Almost enough to take us to end credits. And then on to another show entirely. 

CHUCK I think it’s OUTPOST. I haven’t...I haven’t even watched it.

DEAN Jack likes it okay.

CHUCK (sputtering) You bastards. You may try to fuck with me between eps, but whatever happens to me still has to fit logically with the situation at the beginning of the next episode!  

DEAN Ah, yes. Tell me, who’s writing the next episode, Cass?

CASTIEL (with sinister resolve) Bucklemming.

The blood drains from CHUCK’s face. 

DEAN Then I’d say...

CASTIEL shakes his ANGEL BLADE out into his hand.

DEAN ...Sky’s the limit. SMASH CUT TO CREDITS. {on AO3}

[hintofelation99]

Kate Babysits

Bruce: Kate I have an emergency.

Kate: What's up Bruce?

Bruce: A sorcerer put a deaging spell on the kids and-

Kate: And you need my help tracking down the sorcerer? No problem I-

Bruce: Actually I was going to see if you could babysit while I figure this out.

Kate just glares at him: Why can't Alfred babysit? Or your Justice League friends? Or, maybe, just maybe, you could hire a fucking babysitter!

Bruce, sighing: Please Kate, just stay back and babysit, please?

Kate: ...fine, but just remember I have no idea how to entertain kids, so if anything goes wrong it's on you.

Bruce, rolling his eyes: Sure, what's the worst that can happen?

-> 30 minutes later <-

Kate holds a two month old Damian as she looks down at a 4 y/o Duke, 5 y/o Tim, 5 y/o Steph, 6 y/o Cass, 6 y/o Jason, 11 y/o Dick, and 12 y/o Babs.

Kate: Okay kiddos, remember what auntie Katie taught you, no shooting in the house or at eachother.

Hands the kids guns.

Babs: Miss Katie, are you sure this is a good idea?

Kate: Of course it is swe- JASON! You will not try to shoot Tim! And stop chasing him before- Oh no...

Tim falls down the manor stairs, knocks out his front teeth. Kate shifts Damian to one arm and runs to the now crying Tim, picking him up and holding him on her hip, she checks him over.

Kate: Oh fuck! Bruce is gonna kill me!

Steph: Fuck!

Kate slowly turning to look at Steph: ...no

Steph, runs away yelling: FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!

Kate: Shit!

Dick, opens his mouth

Kate: Don't you dare! Go swing from a chandelier or something.

-> 5 minutes later <-

Cass: F- fu- fuck!

Kate: What?! How??

Steph, looking very proud: Cass and I played school and I taught her a new word!

Kate: Why would you-

A loud crash comes from the foyer.

Kate: shitshitshitshit.

Sees Dick on floor, mostly unharmed other than some bruises and a cut on his hand from a sharp metal edge on the chandelier.

Kate: What did you do?!

Dick: You told me to swing from a chandelier!!

Kate: It's called sarcasm!

Babs, sticking her tongue out at Dick: He's only 11, and my dad says that sarcasm is for adults. Like me!

Kate, looking unimpressed: How old are you?

Babs, looking very proud: I'm 12!

Kate: Well, that sucks because sarcasm is for 13 and up.

Babs looks offended and Dick sticks out his tongue at her.

Kate, shoves Damian into Barbara's arms: Take this, Tim I'm gonna need you to let go so I can bandage up Dick's hand.

Tim, now speaking with a lisp: Noooooo! I'm still sad!

Kate: Tim, please.

Tim just sniffles and gives her puppy dog eyes.

Kate: Fine! I can do this one handed.

-> 10 minutes and one bandaged hand later <-

Kate: Okay Dick, this time you stay near me.

Dick immediately treats Kate like a jungle gym and climbs on to her shoulders.

Dick: Okay!

Kate: Oh my god you're heavy, aren't you a little old to be carried?

Dick: But my hand hurts too much to walk!

Kate, rolling her eyes: Okay okay fine. At least I can still hold the baby, now where did Babs go?

Now with Dick on her shoulders, and Tim on her right hip she walks into the study to find the entrance to the batcave open.

Kate: Shit!!

Kate runs into the batcave and sees Cass practicing with all the weapons while Steph runs in circles around her. Damian has been placed on one of the lab tables near several tubes of acid, fear toxin, cuddle pollen, etc. instead of watching Damian Barbara is typing something on the batcomputer. Duke is still yelling fuck, but now he's also playing with a flame thrower.

Kate, picking up Damian with her left arm: Barbara stay away from there! Steph, Cass, come here right now! Duke, do not play with fire! Wait, where's Jason??

Looking around frantically Kate sees a holding cell. She puts Dick and Tim in there while she goes to catch the others.

Tim: Nooooo!!!

Kate: Dick, your brother is sad, give him cuddles!

Dick immediately pulling Tim into a hug and soothing him: Okay!

Kate takes away Duke's flamethrower: Do you know your abc's?

Duke, looking offended: Of course I do! I can write my name and all my abc's and-

Kate, pulling out a pen and a pad of paper: That's great, show me everything you can write.

Duke nods excitedly and Kate ushers him into the holding cell with Dick and Tim. She gives him the pen and paper, Duke starts to slowly write his name and the alphabet. Kate grabs Steph and Cass.

Kate: Hey Stephie?

Steph: Yes Miss Katie?

Kate: Duke is trying to learn how to write big words, and since you're such a good teacher I thought you could help!

Steph nods excitedly and immediately follows Kate into the cell to help. Kate picks up Cass and leaves the cell, locking the door on her way out.

Kate: Okay, Babs, what are you doing?

Barbara: Playing a video game.

Kate looks on the screen and sees that Baba has accessed the watch tower security cameras and is repeatedly turning alarms, lights, weapons systems, etc on and off. Superman and Green Lantern are freaking out while frantically searching for an invader.

Kate, nods looking slightly concerned: Okay, you have fun with that...

Kate runs upstairs to find Jason, after looking for an hour she finds him twirling a gun and reading a book in the library.

Kate: Wow, I guess somethings never change.

Jason looking up: What'd you say?

Kate: Nothing. Hey, where's your old DS?

Jason: Upstairs in-

Kate: Sweet, show me.

Jason: But I'm-

Kate: Show me now and I'll give you cookies.

Jason: hmmm... okay!

-> After grabbing the DS <-

Kate: Okay, grab all the books you want and follow me to the batcave.

They walk down to the cave and Kate puts Jason in the holding cell with Duke, Steph, Tim, and Dick. Jason is completely unphased by the others surrounding him, instead of addressing them he starts reading again.

Kate: Hey Babs, come here!

Babs: I'm in the middle of a game!

Green Lanterns screams can be heard coming from the speakers.

Kate: Wouldn't you rather play Cooking Mama?

Babs turns on all the alarms in the watch tower, turns off all the lights, and activates all major weapons before taking the DS and playing with it in the holding cell.

Kate: Uhhh, okay Cass, what do you like?

Cass looks at her confused. Kate looks around and sees a knife on the table.

Kate: Here, play with this, just keep it away from the others.

Cass happily walks into the cell while twirling the knife. Kate sighs in relief as she locks the door. She starts to sit down when Damian starts screaming.

Kate, rocking him: Shhhhhh, okay, okay. Uhhhh.

Damian starts flailing around, occasionally he's able to pull on a lock of her hair. She holds him at arms length and continues to rock him, this time it's more awkward due to her arms being completely extended. She sets him down a training mat to find something to sooth him. When she looks back on him he's giggling and gnawing at the handle of a sword.

Kate, shrugging: That works

-> 2 hours later <-

Bruce walks into the cave to see Kate asleep on the training mats, 2 month old Damian beside her chewing on a sword, and all of his other kids entertaining themselves in a holding cell that contains several knives and guns.

Bruce: KATE!! Did you give the kids weapons?!

Kate, opening her eyes sleepily: Wha-? Oh, yeah, couldn't find any toys.

Bruce: ...Next time I'm calling Roy.

Kate just shrugs as Bruce opens the cell door. Steph and Duke come running out, chasing eachother. Cass follows the two timidly. Jason keeps reading. Dick awkwardly carries a sleeping Tim. Bruce smiles takes Tim from Dick.

Bruce, as Tim slowly blinks his eyes open and yawns: Hey Timm- What happened to his teeth?!

Kate: ...uhhh, gotta go!

[paintball-writes]

Day 3 - Identities

Day1 - Day2 - Day3 - Day4

Marinette had been living with the waynes for over a month now. The reason? Tom and Sabine sent her away to her biological father. Apparently To Dupain was not her biological, but Bruce Wayne was.

Marinette had a sliver of hope, A really, really thin one. Which had faltered by the month.

Marinette had defeated Hawk Moth with Chat Noir. Apparently Plagg found the brooches along with two sleeping kwamis accidentally. At night when Gabriel and Natalie were asleep, He had stolen the miraculous. On the patrol that night, Chat had told her that the miraculous were right under their noses. He gave her the two brooches and told her that Plagg had found the brooches in his father’s study. He told her that Gabriel was Hawk moth and Natalie was Mayura. Then he de-transformed and handed her the ring saying that he wanted to continue his life as a civilian.

Later that week it was announced that Chat noir found out who Hawk Moth was and he had stolen the miraculous at night. He then said that Gabriel and Natalie were the Villians. He then revealed himself saying that he was innocent, and he had no idea that his father was Hawk moth. Marinette had thought that with Hawkmoth gone she could beat Lila, But no, it Backfired. That was the reason she was Shipped off. Like an object. She was replaced just like an object.

Her only wish was to die. But she had tried to do that multiple times. Someone always managed to save her. So no, that option was unavailable. She had thought that she would finally be able to die in Gotham by sucide, But no, Selina, Cassandra or Jason always managed to save her.

By now she had started to see the woman as a mother figure. The Waynes hated her. They didn’t even listen to her side of the story. Only Cass and Jason had seen that there was more to the story. Selina and Alfred too, of course. The waynes saw her with disgust. They laid out certain rules.

And of course she figured out they were Bat family. She may not be from Gotham, but she wasn’t certainly stupid. She had to admit, The Waynes were really good at hiding the Batfam thingy. But what gave them away? Misplaced Batarangs by Tim. Then Tikki had also found the cave. She wasn’t stupid, Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne were good friends and certainly Batman and Superman. The people of Justice league stopped by often at the Manor too.

Speaking of the Justice League, They had given her an offer to join the League, but she declined. They had given her a satellite phone for emergencies to contact the league. They had praised her high and low. Batman was even Concerned for her when he found out her age range. Concerned! If they knew that Ladybug was their new sibling who was claimed to be a bully, she’d be declared a threat and her take Miraculous away.

Her routine was the same. Wake up. Eat breakfast in silence as she was being glared at. Study something. Do commissions while talking to her boyfriend, Luka and the others. Eat Lunch while being glared at. Study the Grimoire with Alfred. Sketch some designs while talking to Selina and Cass. Draw illustrations while Jason talks. Eat dinner in Silence. Stay up till 3 am doing commissions. Sleep.

Last week she had introduced Luka to Cass, Selina, Jason and Alfred. It went really well. Especially when Jason found out he was Jagged Stone’s son.

She was thinking how she could step up her game with the Waynes. In her thoughts she didn’t see Selina coming in.

“What are you thinking about Kitten ?” Selina asks, seeing the half sketched dress.

“Gah! Selina don’t scare me like that! Anyway I was thinking, ``What do I do to annoy the waynes?” Marinette asks the Master of scheming Cat-woman.

“Hmm, what about going to your true self? Being in headphones, ignoring them, Snide answers, and stuff like that?” Selina says thoughtfully.

“Selina, that's brilliant! You’re the best Mom!” Marinette says. She covers her mouth with her hand realizing what she said.

“Aww, Com’ere Kit. I love you.” Selina says softly.

“You’re not mad?” Marinette hesitantly asks.

“Of course not!” She says.

“You’ll be more of a mother than Sabine will ever be to me.” Marinette says with a small voice and hugs the older woman.

Then the Chaos was unleashed. Whenever the Waynes wanted to ask her something she’d ignore them and she always had her headphones on.

- - - - - - - -

“Marinette, tell me why did you hurt the poor girl?” Bruce asks in a stern voice. Of course Mari didn’t hear him because of the blaring music.

“Marinette, Why did you hurt the poor girl?” Bruce asks again, obviously annoyed.

“MARINETTE-” He was cut off from Alfred of course.

“If I may Master Bruce,” he says, earning a nod. He gently taps the girl’s shoulder. Marinette moves her hair away and removes her Airpod. The music is loud enough for everybody to hear.Meanwhile Bruce flushes in embarrassment. “Miss, Your father wants to ask you something.” Marinette nods. She turns to her Father.

“What?” She asks.

“I asked, Why did you hurt the poor girl marinette, around two months ago?” He asks, patience bearing thin.

“Oh? I didn’t know that I could make a clone of myself and Send one to the fencing class and the other to beat her up at the Seine?” She says in a bored tone. Jason and Cass, not being able to hold their laughter any longer, burst out laughing.

Later that night they checked her attendance, sure enough she was in the fencing class.

- - - - - -

One day Marinette got a call from the Justice league, Stating an emergency. She quickly transformed to Ladybug and Portalled to the Watchtower.

“Ladybug, welcome to the Watchtower,” Wonder Woman welcomed, standing at the head of a group of heroes. Interestingly enough, Batman and all of his brood were among them. Nightwing, Red Robin, Black Bat, and Robin and the others.

“Wonder Woman,” she greeted back. “What’s the problem?”

“Your former partner has been kidnapped.”

Ladybug’s face turned pale, but she took a deep breath instead of panicking. “What do we know?”

“Ra’s al Ghul has taken the former Chat Noir in an attempt to convince the Guardian of the Miraculous to turn over the jewels to him,” Batman reported.

Her face turned up into a snarl. “The League of Assassins,” she spat.

They were surprised that she knew Ra’s. But they hid it well.

“I take it you understand why we cannot allow the Miraculous to be surrendered to his control,” Batman continued.

Wonder Woman stepped in before Ladybug could reply. “Ladybug, we need you to tell us who the Guardian is so that we may protect them.”

Ladybug let out a cold laugh. Shivers ran down everyone’s spine. “Wonder Woman, you misunderstand. The Order of the Miraculous is all but dead. I’m all that’s left. You want the Grand Guardian of the Miraculous?” She spread her arms wide. “You’re looking at her. And Ra’s al Ghul can have them over my dead body. ”

The gathered heroes looked stunned. “Now where is Adrien?”

Red robin started, recovering first. “You’re not going alone.”

“You’re right,” Ladybug cut in. “I’m not. I’m gathering my team.”

“What Red Robin meant to say is that Batman and his assembled partners are going with you,” Wonder Woman soothed. “They have experience dealing with Ra’s and would be a great asset.”

“I’ll be back in ten minutes, at the most.” She said. Everyone nodded. She portalled away to gather her team.

Five minutes later a portal opened and stepped out Honey bee, Dragoness and Cobra in the Glory. The portal snapped shut when Ladybug entered.

“This is not enough! We’re dealing with Ra’s al Ghul and the league here!” Ladybug said. “We need her. She’s the last resort if we lose!” Dragoness exclaimed. The Justice league was confused. Who were they talking about?

“You’re right. Bee, you’re the only one who knows where she is. You’re her best friend. I can't find her in all of paris!” Ladybug asks, turning to Honey bee.

“You’re right, I do. It’ll be easy to find her. She’ll be in her room. She’s always Isolated, so don’t worry about getting caught.” Honey Bee answers.

“Isolation! I thought I told her to Socialize!” Ladybug exclaims.

“Yeah, but her family treats her like a pariah except some people. But Ladybug I don’t know if she’ll be able to fight.” Honey bee says.

“Rossi?”

“Rossi.”

“Now location please.” Ladybug says.

“Right. Wayne Manor, Gotham, New Jersey.” Honeybee whispers. Earning surprised looks from Ladybug and the Supers.

“Alright.” Ladybug portals away. This was all staged of course. She had recently found a spell to make a clone of herself.

“Why won't the hero be able to fight? She’s a hero!” Batman exclaims.

“Depression, you overgrown furry, Depression. She’s tried committing sucide several times. We saved her.” This earns many shocked looks.

Cue opening a portal. All of the Paris heroes Gasps. All in glory Multimouse is standing there.

When Honey Bee saw Multimouse, she gasped and enveloped her in a hug, muttering French endearments and saying how much she’d missed her. Dragoness stole Multimouse for a hug next before passing her on to Viperion who also received an extra peck on the lips in return, while Ladybug watched with a soft smile.

With Kaalki involved, it was child’s play to get into the assassin stronghold. Team Miraculous filled the gaps and worked seamlessly in their own right, simply a step away from Gotham’s Bats. They beat assassins on their own. The Bats just watched in awe.

It didn’t take them long to make their way to Ra’s.

The man wore a self-satisfied smirk on his face as he greeted him from his throne. A bruised and bloodied but otherwise intact Adrien was being restrained on the dias a few feet away.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Team Miraculous,” Ra’s mused, looking down the line. His eyes paused on Multimouse and his expression shifted to intense amusement. “And if it isn’t the latest in the Detective’s brood. I suppose heroics truly do run in the family after all.”

A number of shocked and confused gazes snapped to Multimouse, who simply stared at him down with cold eyes growling quietly.

“And yet she isn’t why we’re here,” Ladybug cut in coldly, shoving that problem in a box for later.

Ra’s shifted his oily attention to her. “Yes, I believe I requested the Guardian, young Bug.”

“And here I am,” Ladybug said simply. “But I will never cede the Miraculous to you.”

“Well, then I suppose the Blonde Cat dies.” The assassin near Adrien tried to kill him only to turn to orange smoke. Ra’s growls when he realizes he was tricked.

“Your reign is over. Your crimes won’t continue much longer. Tell me, just how long have you been using the Pits to keep yourself alive?”

“Goodbye, Ra’s al Ghul,” Ladybug intoned. “We’ll leave you to what remains of your empire.” She turned and motioned for the Fox to open the portal to the Watchtower. The Bats followed behind.

Adrien was at the fringes, attempting to escape a hero that was trying to get him to the Medbay for medical attention. He only had eyes for Multimouse.

“Marinette!” he called.

The Bats were shocked at both the name and the blatant outing of a secret identity.

Adrien broke free from his wounds. “Marinette, I’m so sorry,” he said brokenly.

It was quiet for a moment. “I take it they told you why I left, then,” Multimouse said, carefully devoid of emotion.

“I never thought-”

“Don’t, Adrien,” Queen Bee snapped.

Adrien gaped at his friend, shocked at the venom her words carried against him.

“But her Lies, they weren't hurting anyone!”

“How?” Multimouse snapped, her voice cracking. She took a deep breath. “How was it different? Because you told me I had to ‘take the high road?’ Because her lies would unravel themselves? Because she wasn’t hurting anyone? Bullshit, Adrien! They were hurting me!”

“She followed your advice at first,” Queen Bee said sharply. “She shouldn’t have, but you were her friend and she trusted you. By the time she realized that it had been a mistake, it was too late. Everyone else was in too deep and you did nothing . When Mari tried to tell everyone that they were being lied to, she was made to look like a liar. A bully.”

“Do you realize that the rest of us had people on watchlists?” Ryuko said bluntly. “People at risk of Akumatization that could bring the city to its knees. Aurore, because of Stormy Weather II. Ondine, because of Syren. But do you know who was on top?” She let the silence sit. “Marinette. Marinette was on top of that list. The only reason she was above Ladybug was because Marinette was drowning. But any time she tried to get through to the others, Lila hit back harder and you would ask Mari to back down. Because we don’t want to upset Lila, right? We don’t want her to become an akuma. Again.”

“My parents believed her, Adrien,” Multimouse said quietly. “They sent me away because I was ‘out of control’. I’m treated like a criminal where I am now! So I’m sorry, Adrien, but I can’t forgive you. You said you didn’t want to live with more lies, but then you stopped telling the truth when it threatened your ‘peace’. Even when that ‘peace’ might have ruined my life.” She took a deep, steadying breath. “But you know what they say, right? Never meet your heroes.” She turned and looked straight at Batman. “They’ll always just disappoint you.”

- - - - - - - -

The next week was tense at the Wayne manor. But eventually they apologised to marinette. She became close with them. She and her family then sent lawsuits to the Akuma class.

The saying is true then. “All’s well that ends well.”

@maribat-bdbwm

[ladydimitrescuspet]

În Viață Și În Moarte - In Life And In Death

ao3 link! you have every right to yell at me over on @homoo-wan-kenobi! I'm sorry for the sad fic, inspired by this ask by @schnuffel-puschel. tell me what you all thought, and please enjoy. mild violence and reader dies, I'm sorry. if it's any consolation, I cried writing this.

tu esti totul pentru mine - you're everything to me

***

Alcina had instructed you to stay in one of the rooms in the east wing of the castle, telling you not to open the door for anybody that was her, her daughters, or your handmaiden.

“I don’t care what commotion you hear outside this room, do not open this door for any reason. I need you to stay right here, draga mea, and I need you to take care of yourself and the baby.” Alcina said before she kissed your forehead.

“Come back to us, please.” You said softly as you squeezed her hand tightly, a move that she reciprocated.

That was four days ago. There wasn’t much commotion to be heard outside the door, just the wind howling outside your window. Your handmaiden brought you your meals whenever she could, often leaving you something to snack on just in case one of your meals was late. You’d often try to open the door, but soon realised that it was locked from the outside so despite Alcina’s words, you couldn’t let anybody in any way.

Pacing back and forth didn’t help with your anxiety over what was happening. What exactly was happening? Alcina didn’t tell you as she rushed you slightly to the other side of the castle. You jumped when the door to your room opened, hiding under the covers.

“Hello?” A voice called out. It definitely wasn’t Alcina. No, the voice was unfamiliar, but it sounded like a man’s voice. “Is anybody here?” The voice asked.

You slowly came up from under the covers, revealing your presence in the room. “Who are you?” You asked.

“My name’s Ethan Winters. What’s yours?” Ethan replied as he walked over to where you were on the bed.

"My name's Y/N. May I ask what you're doing here in the castle, Mr. Winters?" You asked.

"I'm looking for my daughter, Rose, they're keeping her here. Have you seen her?" Ethan asked. You shook your head. "I see you're having a baby too, right?" Ethan gestured to your protruding belly.

You smiled. "I am, she'll be born quite soon, actually." You replied.

Ethan nodded. "Well, we best get you out of this place. I'm sure the news of those monsters in this castle having my child worry you about them taking yours." Ethan replied as he grabbed your hand to pull you out of the bed, you resisted. "Y/N, what's wrong?" Ethan asked.

"The Lady of the castle has instructed me to stay here for my own safety." You replied. "She's taken very good care of me for well over a year, Mr. Winters."

Ethan scratched his head. "And you trust her?" You nodded your head. "Are you under a spell of some sort? Don't you see that she's just keeping you safe until she can get her hands on your child?" Ethan asked.

You slowly got out of the bed. "Alcina would never do anything to harm me or our child, Mr. Winters." You replied. "I'd really like it if you left the room or better yet, left the castle. Your daughter is not here, I'm afraid you've been misinformed." You explained.

"Maybe I have, but I can't just leave you here." Ethan said before grabbing your hand and pulling you out of the room.

You struggled against him. "Mr. Winters, please, I'm perfectly safe. I appreciate your concern." You tried tugging your arm free but his grip was too tight. "Mr. Winters, you're hurting me." You whimpered slightly.

He stopped and let go of your wrist. "Sorry." Ethan said before he started walking again. You followed after him. "How do you get out of this place?" He muttered to himself.

"I can help you find the way out." You replied. "The front door should actually be open and then you're good from there." The two of you walked down the stairs. A maniacal laugh rang out. "Just keep going. That's probably Daniela."

You'd been right. "Y/N?" Daniela asked.

"Hi, Dani. I was just showing Mr. Winters the way out. He won't be bothering us anymore." You replied. You tried to open the front door but it wouldn't budge. You frowned. "Dani, why does Alcina have the front door locked?" You asked, turning back around to face her.

"To keep him from going out. Why aren't you in the room, Y/N? Mother's going to be very crossed with you." Daniela replied. "Cass! Bela! Mr. Winters is by the front door, if you're around." Daniela called out before she went to grab your hand.

"Don't touch her." Ethan said as he pulled out his gun.

You gasped. "Mr. Winters, what are you doing? Put the gun down." You said. "Please."

"Y/N, you really shouldn't witness what I'm about to do." Ethan replied. "Take this key, it'll lead you to the Courtyard. Whatever you do, don't turn around for any noises that you hear." Ethan handed you the key.

You shook your head and dropped the key to the floor. "No, I won't leave you alone with her." You replied. "Everything's going to be fine, Dani, I'm just going to help him leave the castle grounds and then I'll be back." You said.

"No, Y/N, you're not allowed to leave the castle, not with the baby on the way. Just go back to the room before Mother finds it empty." You nodded your head and turned to leave, but then you heard Ethan fire his gun, the bullet missing Daniela. "You son of a bitch." Daniela gritted through her teeth as she lunged forward towards him. You heard another two shots fire and then you heard a ringing in your ear and the faint sound of someone saying your name "Y/N? Y/N? Hey, stay with me." Daniela held you in her lap.

"What hap-" You couldn't get the whole question out.

"Cass! Bela! Mother! Please, come quickly!" You heard Daniela yell as loudly as she could. "You monster. Why the fuck would you shoot her?!" Daniela screamed at Ethan.

"I'm sorry, she got in the way. It was for you, only or you." Ethan was paralysed with shock, realising what he'd done. He dropped his gun.

You could hear the faint sound of buzzing and then faint clicking and clacking of heels. "Da- Dani, the b-ba-baby," You croaked out.

Daniela spoke to you through tears. "Shh, Y/N, Mother's almost here. She'll help you. You'll be fine. And the baby will be fine." Daniela rambled as she held onto your body tightly.

"Daniela? What happened?" Alcina asked. Daniela looked up at her. Alcina's eyes came upon your body and she turned to Ethan. "You fucking rat! What have you done?!" Alcina was furious. She wanted that man dead. You could hear the sound of blood squelching as she impaled Ethan with her claws, not stopping until her dress was covered in his blood or one of her daughters pulled her off.

"Mother, Y/N's losing blood fast, and the baby..." Daniela trailed off.

"Call Mother Miranda. Have her and Heisenberg get here as quickly as they can. Take Y/N to the sitting room and put her in a comfortable position." Alcina instructed her daughters. Alcina picked up Ethan's bloody body. "By the time I'm done disposing of his body, they should be here." Alcina left the room without another word.

You always thought a gunshot would kill someone instantly. You'd gotten hit in the shoulder and the chest. The shot to your chest should've been fatal, but here you were being carried by Daniela to the sitting room and being put into a comfortable position as her Mother had instructed. True to her word Mother Miranda and Heisenberg had gotten to the castle a few short seconds before Alcina came back.

"Mother Miranda, Heisenberg, she's in the sitting room." Alcina said as she guided them to where you were. Your breathing was quite shallow and it hurt to breathe. "Relax, my dear, Mother Miranda will do what she can to help you." Alcina ran her over your cheek and pressed a kiss to your forehead.

"Alcina, my dear, I don't think this'll work." Mother Miranda replied.

Alcina's face hardened. "Alci, think about Y/N and the baby." Heisenberg said. "We might not be able to save both of them."

Alcina eyes filled with tears at the thought of only one of you living. "No. No, we must help them both." Alcina said. "We can, we can deliver the baby and then tend to Y/N's wounds. Yes, yes, we'll give her the virus if we must." Heisenberg let out a deep sigh, Alcina scowled at him.

"Oh, Alcina, I'm afraid Y/N's lost more blood than I can work with. The virus won't take with the lack of blood." Mother Miranda replied. Alcina opened her mouth to protest, but Mother Miranda raised her hand. "However, I can deliver the baby if we can keep Y/N awake long enough. It's too risky to have her push with the blood loss so I'll have to cut into her."

Alcina nodded her head, taking your hand in hers. "Do what you must." Alcina replied. "I'm so sorry, iubirea mea. I've failed to keep you and our child safe, I failed at the one thing I promised you when you first came here. I failed at protecting you." Alcina pressed a kiss to the hand that she was holding.

You let out a small groan. "Al?" You asked.

"Yes, draga mea?" Alcina replied.

"The baby. Take care of her." It took you a while to get the sentence out but you managed to say it.

Alcina nodded her head. "Of course, my darling. I will protect her with everything I have in me. I won't break my promise to you twice, I wouldn't dare." Alcina could feel the tears falling down her face as Heisenberg's hand came upon her shoulder.

"You'll have to say goodbye now, Alci. It's likely that she won't wake up after the procedure." Heisenberg's word left a bitter taste in his mouth. The thought of you dying hurt him. You were like family to all of them even Mother Miranda. Heisenberg gave the hand Alcina wasn't holding a light squeeze before he walked over to the other side of the room. He couldn't find it in himself to say goodbye to you.

You could see the blurry outlines of Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela as they kneeled down beside you. You tried to give them a small smile but you just ended up grunting in pain at the attempt, coughing a bit.

"We'll miss you." Bela said. She placed a kiss to your cheek before standing up, the wetness of her tears lingering on your cheek.

Cassandra sniffled. "Terribly so. But we'll look after the little one, promise." Cassandra stroked your arm before standing next to Bela.

Daniela picked up your hand and looked up at her Mother. "It should be me lying here. His shots were meant for me, not you, you stupid little human. Why would you do that? It's not fair, you were supposed to be with us forever." Daniela wiped at her tears. "You said forever and now you're leaving us. Like two peas in a pod, you and Mother broke your promises. You stupid, stupid human, it should've been me." Daniela muttered those last few words to herself.

You gave her hand the tightest squeeze you could muster. "S-s-sor-sorry." Daniela brought your hand up to her mouth, her tears hitting the back of your hand. "Sorry."

Daniela pressed a kiss to your hand and then your forehead. "You better come back to us. I don't care how, just come back." Daniela whispered in your ear before she pushed herself up and went to stand with Bela and Cassandra.

Now it was Alcina's turn to say goodbye. You were fading faster, as your body was succumbing to your wounds.

"Y/N, my dear, tu esti totul pentru mine. Your spirit will live on in our child, I'm sure. She'll have your humour, your wisdom, and she'll have all of the love I can give her as I gave to you." Alcina placed one more kiss upon your forehead. "Goodbye, my love, may we meet again someday." Alcina went to rise but you moved your hand around to find hers. You could see her eyebrow raise through your fuzzy eyesight.

"Anastasia." You said softly. Alcina frowned. "Baby." You wheezed out.

Alcina smiled. "Anastasia. She who will rise again." Alcina said. "Sleep well, my darling. Our Anastasia will be taken care of." Alcina caressed your cheek before moving out of Mother Miranda's way.

You felt your eyes flutter close and you felt your breathing start to hurt less and less. Feeling the faint coldness of something against you as your breathing started to slow down. You heard soft cries as your hearing started to diminish. You felt at peace knowing that you were surrounded by the ones you called your family, knowing that they'd take great care of Anastasia. You felt at peace as you took your last breathe, your world now dark and quiet. As Mother Miranda had said while she sat beside you, "In each loss there is a gain, as in every gain there is a loss. and with each new ending comes a new beginning."

[ncssian]

A Favor: Part Seventeen

Nessian Modern AU

Masterlist

a/n: 70% of this fic is written on my phone lying on my side in bed while using swipe typing bc im too lazy to type out words and it shows

TW: discussion of SA

***

Nesta has an easier time adjusting to a third person in the cabin than she thought she would. Maybe it’s because Azriel indeed minds his business, and half the time Nesta isn’t aware he’s there at all.

Cassian seems to be more irritated by it than anyone else—not his brother, of course, but the fact that he and Nesta no longer exist in their own little bubble. Which is how he ends up at Nesta’s apartment with an overnight bag, sprawled out stomach-down on her mattress while she gets ready for bed.

“TV show or movie?” he asks, clicking through her laptop. Shows are Nesta’s thing and movies are Cassian’s; she feels generous enough tonight to say, “Movie.”

“Thank god,” he mutters, typing something on the laptop. “There’s a Turkish horror flick that I was saving for you.”

“Where do you even find these films?” Grabbing her hairbrush, she flops onto the bed beside him and starts brushing out her brassy locks. Before he can answer, Nesta’s phone buzzes from the stool she uses as a bedside table. Feyre’s name flashes on the screen.

Nesta frowns, but picks up without a second thought. “What is it?”

“Nothing serious,” her sister replies. “Just checking in.”

Before Cassian, Nesta didn’t very much understand the purpose of “checking in” without reason. Now she empathizes with Feyre a little. “I’m fine,” she says.

Deciding she can do better than that, she adds, “Cassian and I are about to start a movie.”

“Is it his choice? I’m so sorry for you.”

Nesta peeks over to where Cassian is still intently searching for his obscure movie and smiles a little. “I like Turkish horror,” she replies.

Cassian overhears and grins approvingly.

“Well, I’m looking at wedding dresses with Rhys so he can prepare for when he inevitably proposes,” Feyre says. “In case you wanted to know.”

Nesta did not particularly want to know, but she doesn’t say this. “Sounds fun. Is that it?”

“For what?”

“This conversation.”

Feyre sighs over the line. “Yes, I’ll let you go now. Thanks for picking up.”

The bar is in hell, Nesta thinks. Mostly because she put it there, but she still feels embarrassed to be congratulated over such small things. “Thanks for keeping it short.”

She’s about to hang up when she hears a male voice speak up in the background, and Feyre interrupts, “Wait—before you go, can you tell Cassian to call Rhys back? He wants Cass’s help picking a new team leader for the Italy project.”

Nesta has no idea what that is, but she says, “Sure, fine.” They say their goodbyes and hang up.

“What’d she want?” Cassian says without looking over at her.

“She said Rhys wants you to call him about the Italy project.”

Cassian turns toward her, half sitting up. “Really? What for?”

“Something about picking a team leader.” She returns to brushing her hair. “Why? What’s the Italy project?”

“Something I thought we put aside for good,” he grumbles. “It’s a year-long overseas project in Milan. Rhys thinks it’s gonna bring in a shit ton of money.”

“Sounds big. What do you have to do with it, though?” She’s never heard of Cassian being involved in Night Court’s international operations, even though he takes on more work than the usual employee.

Cassian shrugs, going back to movie searching. “He wanted me to be the one leading the team, and I guess he still feels petty about me turning him down. Honestly, choosing team leaders outside of my department isn’t even part of my jurisdiction.”

Nesta hesitates. “He offered you the job? When?” She didn’t know this.

“On New Year’s.”

“And you turned it down?”

“Yeah.” Cassian clicks on a link that looks like it’ll plant fifteen different viruses in Nesta’s laptop. “Found the movie,” he says.

“Why would you do that?” Nesta demands.

“The movie?”

“The job offer! Why would you turn down such a big opportunity without even telling me?”

Cassian laughs in confusion. “Are you angry right now?”

She’s astonished at his nonchalance. “Cassian,” she says. “It’s Italy.”

Italy with the art and history and seaside beauty—it’s on their top five places to see before they die.

“It’s Milan,” he says like there’s a difference, “and it’s an entire year away from you.” He shakes his head, sitting up to face her. “Are you out of your mind?”

She goes still. “Don’t tell me you said no because of me.”

“Of course I said no because of you.”

“It’s your dream job!” she bursts. “Traveling, exploring, being on your own—”

“Those are our dreams. I made those plans with you. The hell am I supposed to do all the way in Italy without you?”

“You sound codependent,” she retorts.

He narrows his brows. “Like you wouldn’t do the same thing in my position?”

He’s right, of course. Nesta would do the exact same thing for him. But Nesta and Cassian are not the same, and they both know it. “You can’t make that comparison,” she sighs.

“Why not?” he demands.

“Because—” She struggles to put it into words. “I would give up a long distance job for you because it would be worth it. You’re worth it. It doesn’t work the other way around.”

“Again: why the fuck not?”

So he’s really going to make her spell it out. “Because you’re a good boyfriend. You’re affectionate and caring, you always go the extra mile for those you love, and you come with all these free perks. It’s a great deal. And I’m not anything terrible, but I’m the bare minimum compared to you. Why would you give up Italy for the bare minimum?”

Cassian looks at her in disbelief. “I don’t even know how you can say so many wrong things in a row.”

“He’s blinded by love,” Nesta mutters to herself.

“First of all,” he holds up a finger, “I don’t know where you learned to compare yourself to me, but I don’t like it. You make it sound like I need to be paid back for every half-decent thing I do, and that is not the case at all.”

“Of course you think that,” she says. “You wouldn’t be a good person if you didn’t.”

“Then let me be a blunt person.” He puts a hand on her knee and looks her in the eye. “You will never be like me. Very few people are; you can’t take it personally.”

“Oh my god.” Her eyes might roll out of her head.

“But you’re not the bare minimum. Not even close.” He states it like an undeniable fact.

“How so?” she challenges.

“Like how Elain told me about this boy who broke her heart in her high school, and how the next day he walked into class in a leg cast. And how she just knew you had something to do with it, and you two had a huge fight about it that lasted a week.”

Nesta does not enjoy that memory being brought up. Elain called her a psychopath for the incident, and to save her feelings, Nesta (rather unconvincingly) said it had been an accident.

“I didn’t push anybody into a creek,” she maintains the lie. “Sometimes people just fall down there.”

“To be fair, you’re a lot more stable now than you were then. Now when people hurt those you care about, you find sneakier ways to hurt them back. Don’t you?”

“I do not,” Nesta defends.

“Really? Because Eris texted me earlier saying you’ve been ignoring him since New Year’s, and he’s starting to get worried that you have something heinous planned for him. I asked him why he would ever think such a thing of you.” Cassian leans forward and rests his chin on her shoulder. “Why would he think such a thing of you, Nesta?”

Cassian looks pretty well off from here, doesn’t he? She remembers Eris’s smug face. Did you know Rhysand’s parents found him sleeping in the streets?

“Because he said a bad thing,” Nesta says, looking down at her fingernails. “And I have an unfortunate reputation at school for getting back at people who say bad things.” Like the time Brian O’Connell made jokes about a rape trial the class was studying, and then couldn’t find an internship at a single firm the following summer.

“And what did he say? Because I can’t imagine he would directly insult you. He actually likes you, ass that he is.” His face is warm so close to her neck.

She looks away. “I won’t repeat it.”

That seems to be all Cassian needs to get an idea of what Eris said. “And how long are you planning on holding it against him?”

“Forever.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Nesta meets the eyes that haven’t left her face this entire time and snorts. “What’s your point?” Seriously, she’s starting to redden at how close he is.

He buries his face in her neck, his stubble rasping against the sensitive skin there. “The point is that you also do a lot for the people you love. Just in a different way.” He pulls away to look her in the eye. “Don’t do anything to Eris, though,” he says. “Not that I care for him or his shit opinions, but whatever you have planned isn’t worth it.”

Nesta wants to scoff in disbelief at the sincerity on Cassian’s face. He’s always choosing kindness, even at the worst moments. “So that’s your argument?” she says. “You won’t go to Italy because your girlfriend has a bad temper and a taste for revenge?”

“That’s my final argument, Your Honor.” He takes her hand. “Forget Milan, will you? One day I’ll take you to Portofino.”

The longer Nesta knows Cassian, the more she finds it useless to hide from him. Which is why she lets him watch the thoughts flit across her face as she considers his words, deciding whether she believes him. Deciding whether he’s right to give her so much devotion.

“Fine,” she finally says. “You’re right.”

A slow smile spreads across his face as he realizes he won. Wrapping his arms around Nesta’s waist and legs, he hauls her into his lap and shifts around until they’re both comfortable. The movie is forgotten for now.

“Out of curiosity…” He noses at the nape of her neck. “What did Eris say about me to make you so angry?”

When Nesta doesn’t answer, he says, “I’ve already heard everything that could possibly be said. The shit that used to get me when I was eighteen doesn’t have the same hold on me a decade later.”

She lets herself relax into his hold. “It was about the time you spent as an orphan.” Technically, he’s still an orphan, but it was different back then. “I didn’t like the tone of his voice.”

Cassian’s answering hum is a low rumble against her shirt. “Did you know my biological father was from Italy?”

Nesta perks up at that. “No.” She assumed he was entirely Algerian, even though he and Azriel probably look ethnically ambiguous to most. “Isn’t that all the more reason to see Italy someday?”

“Not at all,” he says. “If I could pretend that half of me didn’t exist, I would.”

She can’t think of a response that doesn’t involve a question, so she doesn’t reply. She waits for Cassian to speak on his own terms.

“I went to Italy once,” he admits. “For less than a day while my brothers were partying in Monte Carlo. I was young and stupid, and thought I would never be complete if I didn’t know who my father was.”

“Who was he?” She doesn’t know why she’s whispering.

“No one worth remembering,” Cassian says, his arms unconsciously tightening around her. “I put some dots together and realized how he and my mother must have met, how he must’ve—forced himself on her, and I decided that I didn’t care about bloodlines at all. I never returned to Italy after that.”

Nesta’s hands want to reach out and touch him, soothe him. But her muscles are suddenly very cold, and she can only stiffen. “And what about now? Do you… not want to go back?”

“It’s just a place to me,” he says. “Nothing special, nothing terrible. But I like the way it sounds when you talk about it.” His eyes sparkle. “I’d like to pretend it’s my first time going with you.”

“Alright, then.” She nods. “One day, we’ll go together. It’ll be our first time.”

***

Cassian refuses to let Nesta leave bed the next morning, dragging his heavy mouth across her body whenever she tries to get up. She’s about to surrender to him altogether when her phone starts vibrating loudly, insistently.

Breaking away from Cassian’s attempt at cuddling, she answers without checking the caller ID. “Yes?” she croaks sleepily.

“Where the hell have you been?” Emerie demands.

Nesta shoves Cassian away despite his protests, untangling her legs from the sheets. “At home,” she says, getting out of bed and heading for the bathroom. “Am I supposed to be somewhere else?”

“We haven’t seen you in two weeks,” Emerie says. “Gwyn thought your boyfriend’s weird family killed you.”

“That’s not what happened,” Nesta assures, pulling her shorts down and sitting on the toilet. “I just needed some alone time.” People are all around her these days, it seems. Her body still can’t quite adjust to it.

“Well, have you had enough—are you peeing?”

“Yeah.” She wipes and flushes the toilet.

“Well, clear your day and kick your sorry boyfriend out of your place. I can’t remember the last time I went out.”

“Why does everybody always want to go out?” Nesta says as she washes her hands. “What’s wrong with staying in, being safe, never leaving the house?” She dries her hands on a towel and returns to the bedroom, where Cassian is now sitting up and checking his emails.

“You’re preaching to the choir, but this actually wasn’t my idea,” Emerie says.

Nesta and Cassian alert at the sound of a knock from the front door. Nesta never has uninvited guests.

“Hold on a second, Em,” she says, jogging up the short set of steps to the door. She opens it to the sight of an exasperated-looking Gwyn.

“Jeez, next time send a text that you’re alive, will you?” Gwyn says, shoving past Nesta to enter the apartment. “Do you know how worried I’ve been—” She halts midsentence, one foot hovering above a step as she realizes that Nesta isn’t alone. As she sees Cassian in her bed, bare-chested and highly amused.

“Hey.” He raises a hand in greeting.

Gwyn pales.

“Hello?” Emerie calls over the line.

“You girls both share the same brain,” Nesta sighs. “Let me call you back, Emerie.”

Gwyn whirls around just as Nesta hangs up. “That won’t be necessary,” she says quickly, looking embarrassed. “I’ll be outside. I’m sorry.”

She hurries out of the apartment even faster than she came in, ducking her head to hide her face.

Nesta tosses her arms up in the air. “Great,” she says to Cassian. “Your abs scared her away.”

“But I didn’t do anything—”

She shuts the door behind her as she follows Gwyn outside, barefoot and all. She barely notices the freezing cold air or the awful press of damp grass beneath her feet as she catches up to Gwyn and grabs her elbow. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Gwyn jerks suddenly, yanking out of Nesta’s hold. Her breathing seems a little shallow, and she looks even more embarrassed for it. “It’s nothing. I just didn’t know you had someone over.”

“Cassian? He’s cool, you don’t need to be weird about him,” she tries to reassure Gwyn. “Though I did use to tell him that not everybody wants to see him shirtless all the time.”

“It’s not that,” Gwyn says, waving her off.

Nesta gestures to the apartment. “Do you want to come back inside, then? I’m sure he has clothes on by now.”

Gwyn clears her throat uncomfortably and looks down. “I’d rather not. I’m—I don’t like being around men.”

Nesta pauses, not sure if she heard right. “Like, in a ‘check the backseat of your car before getting in’ way, or…?”

“No, like I can’t be alone in a room with a man without feeling sick. It activates my fight or flight, it’s weird.” She’s carefully stiff, like she’s ready to be met with humiliation.

Nesta remembers that Gwyn has never told her about her therapy sessions before, but she knows they’re more intensive than her own weekly conversations with Lana.

“Not that I think your boyfriend is a bad person,” Gwyn adds when Nesta doesn’t respond. “He looks really nice. He sounds nice, too.”

But Nesta doesn’t care about any of that. Unsure of what to do next, she reaches out and awkwardly pats Gwyn on the arm. “Good thing you’ve never been to the cabin, then. Cassian’s brother is staying…” She trails off when she realizes none of this is relevant. “Why are you here so early?” she asks instead.

Gwyn eases up a little at the change in subject. “I missed you. We’ve barely talked since Christmas.”

Nesta didn’t realize people would take such notice to her absence. “Yeah.” She flushes. “I do that sometimes. I’ll send a message next time I go into hibernation, though.”

“You’re freezing,” Gwyn suddenly scolds, noticing how Nesta’s goosebumped arms are wrapped tightly around herself. She unzips her red hoodie and shrugs it off. “Go back inside and get dressed.” She flings the hoodie around Nesta’s shoulders before Nesta can protest. “Meet me at my car. We’re hanging out.”

Nesta knows that a last minute change of events is not the end of the world, even if it sometimes feels like it. For Gwyn and Emerie, she can bear the discomfort of unexpected plans, same as she does for Cassian. But she at least has to know: “How long will we be out?”

“You can come home after lunch.” At Nesta’s face, Gwyn adds, “Lunch will be at two and shouldn’t take more than an hour.”

Looking her friend up and down, someone who has such an easy time understanding her, Nesta nods in satisfaction. She turns around to go back inside.

***

They end up at the library where Gwyn works, in the stacks of the long-abandoned encyclopedia section.

Emerie takes a loud sip from the huge McDonald’s soda she snuck in. “So all this show was because Gwyn didn’t want to work her shift alone?”

“I just have some last minute cleanup to do,” she hisses for the third time, shoving an old book back where it belongs. “Go to the porn section if you’re so bored here.”

“Oh, I definitely will,” Emerie says. “But I’m glad that we’re congregating now, even if it’s in the most depressing part of the library. I have a present for you girls.” She hands Nesta her drink so she can dig around in her purse.

Nesta personally has no complaints. The library is quiet, it smells of paper and old ink, and it holds all her favorite books. It’s almost better than staying in.

Emerie successfully pulls out a handful of folded and wrinkled papers from her bag, smoothing them out as best she can. “One for each of us,” she says, passing the papers around.

Nesta takes her paper and stares at the header. Gwyn is the first to speak. “Pole dancing classes?”

“Why?” Nesta says.

“Well, I originally offered them to Justinian and Isaac but they said no—”

“It’s really not for me,” Gwyn interrupts, trying to pass the registration form back to Emerie. “Sorry.”

Nesta doesn’t give her form back.

“Look,” Emerie says. “I get the hesitation. We’re a handful of boring bitches who hate having fun. But don’t you think that has to change at some point?”

“I’ve known you guys a month,” Gwyn retorts. “We’ve only been boring bitches for a month. This is too much.” She turns to Nesta for help.

Nesta is still staring at the paper. Dancing—on a pole, yes, but it’s still dancing. “I’ll do it,” she says.

Gwyn looks betrayed and Emerie looks elated. “Really?” She hops up and down. “That’s two against one, Gwyn. You have to do it, too.”

Gwyn’s cheeks are turning red in frustration. “You can’t just force this on me—”

“Gwyneth,” a sharp voice interrupts their conversation. Nesta spins around to find a young woman with dark skin and bleached white curls heading in their direction, a stack of books in her arms.

She halts before Nesta and glares. “No food or drink in the library.” She looks pointedly at the 32-ounce in her hand.

“It’s not mine.” Nesta shoves the drink back to Emerie.

But the librarian has turned to Gwyn, who hides the dance class form behind her back. “And what are you doing here?” she demands.

“Just putting up a few books, Merrill,” Gwyn answers quickly.

“While socializing?” the woman named Merrill sneers.

“We were just asking for help finding the romance section. Is that a problem?” Emerie crosses her arms and steps forward, letting a little of her beautiful deadliness slip into her stance. It’s the deadliness of someone at the top of her law class, someone who will graduate in a few months with all the power she could want in the palm of her hand. Nesta gets a rush from playing the lawyer game, too, but she’s never had the kind of ambition that Emerie has. Emerie is a shark sitting around in a small pond.

Merrill is not impressed. She snatches the styrofoam cup dangling from Emerie’s hand and tosses it in the nearby trash can. She turns back to Gwyn. “Hand your badge over and clock out.”

“But I’m not done yet—”

“Now.”

“Okay,” she squeaks. She pulls her ID badge off her neck and hands it to Merrill.

Nesta gapes in disbelief. Before she can speak up, Merrill says, “No loitering in the library. If you don’t have anything you need to check out, leave.” With one final judgmental look, she turns down an aisle of dusty books and disappears.

Gwyn makes a face at her back.

“That woman is not old enough to be acting that misanthropic,” Emerie says after Merrill is gone.

“Whatever,” Gwyn mutters. The registration form is still in her hand. She crumples it into a ball and throws it into the trash. “Let’s get out of here.”

Nesta stares at the trash as Gwyn turns to leave. “Coward,” she says.

Gwyn’s head snaps toward Nesta, her auburn hair swinging. “Excuse me?”

She shrugs. “You heard me.” Emerie’s eyes bounce back and forth between the girls.

“I did,” Gwyn says. “I was just making sure this wasn’t coming from the woman who would sooner bite someone’s head off than do something she doesn’t want to.”

“Girls,” Emerie snaps before Nesta can bite back. “It’s just a stupid dance class. I thought it would be fun to do together, but it doesn’t matter anymore.” Taking Gwyn by one arm and Nesta by the other, she starts steering them out of the stacks like a stern mother. “Now let’s go eat. I’m fucking hungry.”

Gwyn’s mood from the library doesn’t recover, even as they sit down for lunch at the local diner. Nesta thinks Gwyn might actually be sick when the male waiter winks at her while taking her order, and it’s not until long after he’s gone that color returns to her face. When their food arrives, Gwyn only picks at her plate.

“What’s wrong?” Nesta finally has to ask bluntly. “You look pukey.” Did the coward comment affect Gwyn more than she let on, or was it Merrill’s attitude that threw her off?

At Nesta’s words, Gwyn becomes even more pallid. “I just don’t feel great today,” she murmurs, looking around like she’s seeking a way out of the diner. “Sorry guys, I didn’t mean to be such a buzzkill. Maybe I should go home early.”

“Absolutely not,” Emerie says. “If you’re going home, we’re going home with you.”

Gwyn bites her lip, trying to decide if she wants that or not. But something about her antsy demeanor is too familiar to Nesta, because she says, “If you really want to be alone, do you mind driving me home first? Emerie’s car is a mess.”

“You just need to move around a few papers,” Emerie protests.

But Gwyn nods distractedly, already gathering her things. “Sure, no problem.” They pay the bill and go their separate ways.

During the ride home, the sky that’s been gray all day finally breaks open, unleashing a spattering of rain over the town. Nesta watches it sprinkle while Gwyn drives in silence.

“Why are you scared of Merrill?” she eventually asks. “She doesn’t look much older than you.”

Gwyn snorts, but there isn’t much heart to it. “Merrill is my superior, but I can handle her on most days.”

“Just not today?”

Gwyn eyes Nesta warily from the corner of her eye. “No, not today. Or this week.”

Nesta chooses not to push. The dull metal of the cars surrounding them glints under the rain, and they arrive at a red light.

After a minute, she takes a breath and blurts, “I’m not always like that around guys, you know.”

Nesta watches her closely, remembering how ghostly she seemed around Cassian, then the waiter. “Keep going.”

Gwyn stares straight at the traffic ahead, her fingers turning bone white on the steering wheel. “I’m just going through a hard period. Everything upsets me and I don’t know how to think straight. It’s like my brain accidentally traveled to the past and now it’s stuck there.” She sounds shaky, breathless, and it makes Nesta wonder what exactly her mind is experiencing.

Nesta knows what it’s like to be unable to move on. Her own brain has only recently started looking toward the future. “Where are you stuck, specifically?” she asks hesitantly. Maybe she can help Gwyn navigate her way out.

Gwyn’s chin quivers. “In a dark room.” Her lips form a tight line. “Being held down. I’m outnumbered.”

Nesta’s stomach turns. “How far back is it?”

“Two years,” Gwyn whispers. “Lately I can’t even look at anything without—remembering it. Thinking about it. Every time I feel like I’m moving past it, I end up being wrong.”

The light turns green, and Nesta puts a hand on Gwyn’s knee in an attempt to ground her. “Drive,” she commands softly.

Gwyn presses down on the accelerator, but Nesta can feel her leg trembling beneath her hand. She squeezes her knee hard. Even with the dark parts of her own past, Nesta has never felt what Gwyn is feeling right now. So she tries to stick to what she knows.

“It’s like you said,” she says carefully. “You’re going through a period where your brain isn’t being friendly to you. It’s horrible, but you can live with the knowledge that it’ll be over eventually.”

Gwyn shakes her head, holding back tears. “It doesn’t work like that. Once it goes away, it’ll just come back again. And it’ll be like that for the rest of my life.”

“You’re right.” Nesta doesn’t have a solution for that, and she hates it. “You’ll never forget. You can be at the peak of your life and still remember all of it. But,” she says slowly, “whether you reach a point where it barely fazes you, or if you keep crippling under the weight of it decades later, you’ll still be normal. You’ll be a perfectly normal human.”

Gwyn lets out a tearful laugh at that. “What does that even mean?”

Shit. “It means…” Nesta tries to explain herself better. “In case you’re worried that there’s something very wrong with you, I’m here telling you that there’s not. There will never be anything wrong with you.”

Gwyn eyes her skeptically as they turn onto a residential road. “Even if I never get past one nightmare I lived years ago? Even if that nightmare defines me until the day I die?”

“That won’t happen.” Nesta’s tone is simple, factual. “But yes, even then.”

“Really? You’re not gonna tell me to live for the better days or whatever?”

“Does that sound like something that would help you? Because I can say it if it does.”

Gwyn snorts. “No.” But her limbs are steady and her eyes are clear on the road. She clears her throat. “Thank you for listening. I think I might feel a little better now.”

“Was it because of what I said?” Nesta tries not to be too hopeful.

“I wouldn’t give you that much credit,” Gwyn says, crushing her hope. “But I’m glad I told you. It makes things…a lot easier for me.” She exhales deeply.

“You know my plate is mostly empty these days.” Nesta pats her knee. “That means I’ll always have room to help carry your shit.”

They pull up to Nesta’s apartment, and Gwyn parks at the curb. “Give me your dance class thing,” she says suddenly.

Frowning, Nesta pulls the wrinkled paper out of her purse and hands it to Gwyn.

Gwyn smooths it out on the steering wheel and grabs a pen from a cupholder, clicking it. “If you’re going to help carry my shit, I guess I have time for pole dancing now.”

“But that’s mine,” Nesta protests as Gwyn starts filling out the form.

“It can be both of ours,” she says, writing Nesta’s name under hers.

“Really?” Nesta grins with an excitement that she doesn’t easily feel. “You’re going to do it with us?”

“Why would I let you do it without me? So I can become the third wheel in our girl group?” She gives Nesta a look that says No way in hell.

Nesta rolls her eyes. “That would never happen to you.”

“Sure,” Gwyn drawls. She finishes the form and folds it in half before pocketing it. “I’ll give this to Emerie as a gift.” She leans over to peck Nesta on the cheek. “Now get home. Love you.”

Nesta turns red at the words and coughs. “Thanks for the ride,” she responds, getting out of the car.

“Say it back!” Gwyn calls after her. But Nesta shuts the door in her face and waves, pretending she can’t hear her. Gwyn mock-scowls at her through the window, but lets her off easy and drives away.

That’s enough feelings for today, Nesta decides. Even if her chest is swelling with emotion for her friend. It’s a sweet hurt that lingers long after she returns to her empty apartment.

***

a/n: i’m back in my no plot, just vibes era

taglist: @hellasblessed @sjm-things @thewayshedreamed @drielecarla @valkyriewarriors @superspiritfestival @aliveahaahahafuck @cupcakey00 @sayosdreams @rainbowcheetah512 @claralady @thebluemartini @nessiantho @missing-merlin @duskandstarlight @lucy617 @sleeping-and-books @everything-that-i-love @cassianscool @swankii-art-teacher @awesomelena555 @julemmaes @wickedqueenoffantasy @poisonous-bloom @observationanxioustheorist @gisellefigue08 @courtofjurdan @theoverlyenthusiasticwriter @wolfiixxx @cass-nes @seashade @royaltykxx @illyrianundercover @queenestarcheron @monstrousloves-explodinggalaxies @humanexile @that-golden-lyre @agentsofsheilds @mercy-is-alive @cassiansbigwingspan @laylaameer01 @verypaleninja @maastrash @bow-dawn @perseusannabeth @dead-on-the-inside666 @jlinez @hungryreadingaddict @anidealiveson @planet-faerie @shallowhighwaters @ghostlyrose2 @chosenfamily-valkyriequeens @rarephloxes

[stressedoutcanary]

A Hunch - Jason Todd × Reader

Summary:

You stopped short as you sensed that something wasn't right. You took in the surroundings; broken glass and clear signs of a fight and struggle.

For the first time in forever Jason was scared. He couldn't lose you.

Warnings: Violence, Kidnapping, Light swearing. Angst with comfort/happy ending. Reader is unintentionally a badass.

A/N:I....might have gotten a lot a bit carried away with this one, but I am really happy with the way it turned out.😁

Also Don't blame me for the spelling mistakes and grammar coz I am TIRED OKAY?! But do tell me if you find any

•°•°•°•°

This was your second day on work and you would much rather be anywhere else, right now being kidnapped by The Joker himself would feel like a field trip.

When you decided to work in a café, you expected to smell the rich aroma of roasted coffee beans all day long, to see happy faces of customers and co-workers alike, and to get the amount of money which can cover your expenses since all Jason does is sleep all day and kick the crap out of people all night. One of you had to be the responsible one. What you didn't expect however was that you'd have to deal with whatever the hell this guy in front of you was trying.

"Sir, I already gave you what you ordered can you just stop holding up the line now." You were sure everyone except this dumbass could see the vein popping on your forehead but you guessed he couldn't see past the forced smile plastered on your face.

"Oh come on babe, It's not like these people have anywhere important to be. Now have you been covered in bees recently?"

"...Umm"

Oh god no. No. No. No. NO. If he uses a cheesy pick up line I am going to KILL HIM.

He continued "Oh you know I just assumed, because, well you look sweeter than honey." The guy winked and wiggled his eyebrows at you.

'THAT'S IT I AM KILLING HIM. Sweeter than honey?!!! Seriously!!!! Wait, What if throw his coffee in his face? Nahh I will probably get fired. Damn you manager!! This day cannot get any worse.'

You raised an eyebrow at him and sighed to yourself. This is gonna be a loooooong shift.

•°•°•

After going through this torturous day, safe to say you were more than relieved when you got back to your shared apartment.

Maybe if I am lucky enough I will catch Jason before he leaves for his 'night job' You thought to yourself as you unlocked the door and stepped inside.

As soon as you entered, you noticed the dim lights and the smell of freshly cooked food. You assumed it was one of those nights in which Jason behaves like a hopeless romantic and it turns into a cliché dinner date followed by a movie marathon while being cuddled up on the couch.

You smiled to yourself at the thought.

"Jay you will not believe what happened at work today." You started babbling the way you usually do as you made your way to the kitchen. "There was this really weird guy who kept flirting with me and--" You stopped short as you sensed that something wasn't right. You took in the surroundings; broken glass and clear signs of a fight and struggle.

This was all very, very wrong. There was an uneasy silence which was soon however, broken by a groan, you whipped your head around at the source of the sound.

"JASON!!"

There he was Jason. Your Jason. All battered up and tied to a chair. Just as you took a step towards him a hand was placed on your lower back. You froze completely. Another hand made its way up, tracing up your spine, the palm of the hand was then placed on the back of your neck.

You were wrong. This day just got a helluva lot worse.

You were yanked forward and now you could see Jason up close. He looked at you with dizzy eyes, "it's going to be okay" he spoke softly, there were clear indications that he was disoriented, no wonder he didn't get out of his bonds yet. Jason's gaze shifted towards the intruder behind you. He gritted his teeth and spoke in a low and dangerous tone.

"Sionis this is between you and me So. Let. Her. Go."

"From where I am standing, you are not in any position to make demands, Red. And a word of advice, you really shouldn't make promises you can't keep."

The hand on your lower back disappeared and before you could even blink, you felt the muzzle of a gun being pressed on your temple. Your eyes widened in fear. The only thing keeping you from a full-on panic attack was Jason's presence. You knew, as long as he was there, you were going to be just fine.

"We could have done some good together-- you and me. We could have rebuilt Gotham in a way she deserves." You gasped as Roman's fingers tightened around the back of your neck. "You see Red Hood you took my beautiful Gotham city away from me and now I get to take this beauty away from you."

The fingers on your neck were now threaded through your hairs. Tears welled up in your eyes as the stinging sensation in your scalp intensified. For the first time in forever Jason was scared. He couldn't lose you. You meant the world to him. At the same time he refused to give Roman the satisfaction. Jason made sure his face wouldn't show how much pain he was in, seeing the tears in your eyes and the absolute fear behind them.

"You are the most feared crime lord in the Gotham underworld Sionis, or well atleast you were, and this is the best revenge plan you could come up with? That's just...sad." You could tell Jason was taunting him. He was trying to get the attention off of you and surprisingly it was working. You went along with his idea and bit your lip to stop any and every sound that can come out of your mouth.

Roman was already blinded with the rage he felt towards Jason and the mocking tone in his words was the last straw, he threw you to the side and got in Jason's face, a gun was placed underneath your lover's chin as you stumbled to the floor. The tension in the room was thick. Both men were defiantly staring each other down. Even though Jason managed to get you free, there was no after plan, there was no way he could take on Black Mask in his current state, so he did what he does best, he got on Black Mask's already ignited nerves.

"Are you going to shoot me or what Blackie? Because if I get back to my senses before you kill me, I will fill you up with so much lead Superman won't be able to see through you."

Roman seemingly calmed himself down, stood up straight, aimed the gun straight at Jason's forehead.

"Here I thought you were special Jason, that you were worthy to be my heir, my friend. What a waste. Now you will die like any other disappointing employee of mine."

•°•°•

As soon as you were free and you saw Jason distracting the crime lord, you quickly scanned your surroundings; you could get a knife from the kitchen counter but you'll probably be shot down as soon as you try to make a run for it. There is also a spare gun in the bedroom but that's not happening because well the same reason.

And then your heard it, Black Mask cocked his gun and seeing the gun pointed at Jason something in you snapped, there was no way in hell you were going to lose the one person you loved more than anything in this world. Not again.

Thankfully there was a chair within your grasp and before anyone could register anything you jumped to your feet, grabbed it and swung it hard.

"HANDS OFF MY MAN!!!", Your voice was heard in what seemed like forever, as the hard wood of the chair connected with Roman's back. He fell to the floor as pieces of the chair dropped down around him. You reared back your foot and before he could get back up, the heel of your foot connected with his jaw and just like that, he was down with a thud.

You heard Jason mutter a surprised, "Well wasn't that anticlimactic", as you stood there looking at the unconscious body on the floor, unable to wrap your head around the events of this evening.

By the time you turned around to untie Jason, he was already free and you were pulled into a hug as your face pressed against his chest, you inhaled his familiar scent and wrapped your arms around his waist.

"(Y/N) I was so scared. That bastard got the jump on me. I wanted to do something. I wanted to stop him. I couldn't see you get hurt but I couldn't move. I-I love you more than anything I have ever loved." Jason buried his face in your neck.

You just hummed as Jason soothingly ran his fingers through your hairs. Tears flowed freely down your cheeks as you hugged him tightly, keeping him impossibly close to you. You knew there was nothing you could say to make him feel less guilty so you both just stayed there for a while, feeling safe in each other's embrace.

•°•°•

"We are getting reports that earlier tonight after a deadly run in with a bat-vigilante, the notoriously known crime lord of Gotham Underworld, Roman Sionis aka The Black Mask, was apprehended today, The Batman himself was seen handing this dangerous criminal over to the Blackgate prison guards our sources tell us--"

You saw Jason switch off the headlines, he was sitting on the bed's edge, he squeezed his eyes with he heels of his palms. Seeing his distress you made your way over to him with a first-aid kit and a few extra bandages. You stood in front of him and for the first time since the fiasco, you were able to see how bad of a shape he was in and a frown made its way on to your lips.

Jason looked up at you and brought both of your hands towards his lips. As he kissed the knuckles of your hands, he whispered, "I'll be fine. Don't worry. I am in this condition every now then...But Lets talk about you." You raised an eyebrow at his comment as your hand moved to dab the alcohol swab over his wounds. Getting the hint, he further explained himself.

"I mean how did you take him out? Like did you take some self defense classes while I was away or Cass taught you some stuff or...?"

"Oh That! That was just instinct, my love. I saw him point a gun at you and I just--I just lost it I guess. Plus I had a hunch, the chair was sturdy enough to knock him down, the kick was just reflex so...", you shrugged.

"So you mean to say you took out someone from Bruce's Rogue Gallery on the basis of a hunch? A. Frickin. Hunch?!"

You grinned and pecked his lips, moving away to get some supplies for stitching up the bigger wounds.

"(Y/N) you are insane!"

"Says the one who wears a mask underneath a mask, thinking it gives him a dramatic flare", you smirked at his dramatic gasp.

"Just so you know it more of a helmet than a mas--", you cut him off by a playful smack on the chest.

"Todd, I swear I can make this stitch much more painful for you if you don't shut the hell up right now"

"Yes ma'am", He gave you a mock salute as you smiled went back to tending his wounds.

°•°•°•°•

[misterspectacular]

Jack was the reason Castiel realized he was in love with Dean.

It happened in season 14, episode 2 after this particular discussion:

Jack is Castiel's mirror. Jack shows Castiel who he is, because Jack is (as most children are) a reflection of those who raised him. In Jack's case, he's especially a reflection of Cass (Castiel is more a father to him than the others). 

Jack, here, is behaving very much like Castiel did in 13x14 (Good Intentions).

In that episode, Castiel basically thinks Jack brought him back (from the Empty) so that he can prepare... to defeat Michael.

--skip ahead--

So after this, Dean and Cass were sent on a mission by Donatello and almost die as a result -- they realize they were set up by Donatello. We find out the reason Donatello was trying to get them killed is because he’s soulless and his mind was corrupted by the tablet as a result (souls act as a sort of filter). He thinks he needs to protect the tablet, protect the power and the knowledge, so he’s refusing to tell them what he’s translated (which is the entire thing).

So Sam and Dean are trying to get the info out of Donatello, and Castiel watches from the computer while they do. It doesn’t seem that anyone’s really considered killing Donatello.

But Donatello, during this, suffocates Dean with his magic.

AKA

And Cass freaks out, cause of course.

And then he wants to DESTROY DONATELLO. Look at this. I love the camera angles, and the zooming up, and Castiel’s little “I’m gonna kill him” face. How dare he do that to Dean?

This is literally the moment that Castiel decides, you know what. I’m gonna kill this guy. Yet he kind of plays it off like it’s just because he doesn’t have a soul, this is the KIND thing to do.

But does this face say “oh, poor guy, we should end his suffering“?

No. This face says “I am going to destroy you”.

So he says, let’s end his suffering, it’s better if we kill him because if he dies then another prophet comes into being... one that will give them the translation. Sam and Dean are both very against this idea, even if it means it’ll open up the portal and they’ll get their mother and Jack back. And Sam says, no, we don’t need to kill the guy, we just need the spell. So Castiel says “fine” and rushes to go lock himself in the room with Donatello.

Castiel asks if Donatello knows the spell they need. And Donatello confirms that he does, but that Castiel is wasting his time. He didn’t give the spell to Sam and Dean, and he’s not going to give it to Cass either.

Castiel removes his wings -- I mean, his overcoat, cause he’s gonna do some dastardly deeds and he knows it.

So it’s back to what I said before. As soon as Donatello used his magic to suffocate Dean, he wanted to destroy the bastard. And he may have other reasons for doing what he’s doing, risking his life, Donatello’s life, but I definitely think he was considering other methods up UNTIL Donatello hurt Dean. (Actually, those “other reasons” are to stop Lucifer and MICHAEL. So that actually relates to Dean, too -- wanting to stop Michael. And “anyone else” I believe IS “Michael”. From the beginning of this episode, Castiel has stated that he feels it’s his duty to stop him, and I don’t doubt that he has fears related to Michael wanting to use this reality’s Dean as a vessel).

So Castiel stays behind while Sam and Dean take Donatello to the hospital.

--skip ahead--

So the interesting part here, is that Castiel is saying “I will do whatever it takes to stop Michael”, yet when Jack is talking to him in 14x02, Castiel is clearly considering all other options before he considers allowing Dean to die. He’s more focused on saving Dean than the rest of the world, which has always been the thing with Cass (“It was all about saving one man, right?” -- Metatron. And then the thing with the mark of Cain when Castiel says that he’ll “have to watch” Dean destroy the world, rather than “I’ll have to stop you from destroying the world”. Dean always comes first, even above the whole damn world).

So basically when Castiel says “whatever it takes”, it’s not “whatever it takes to save the world”, it’s “whatever it takes to save Dean”.

After all, “Dean Winchester is saved,” the angel uttered as soon as he’d gripped the man tight and raised him from perdition. It’s truly fitting, isn’t it?

So I think that conversation with Jack kind of showed him that, normally he IS on Jack’s side of things... just not when it comes to Dean. Never when it comes to Dean. And why would that be? ....

I kind of love how Castiel sort of tries to weave his way around admitting it, though (previous to 15x18). He has a tendency to do that sort of thing. I noticed it in 15x03 when he was talking to Belphagor.

This is absolutely, definitely true -- he’s telling the truth about how Belphegor wearing Jack is affecting him, BUT... Dean being upset with him is also a huge reason that he’s upset. He stated those things about being used because it IS on his mind. The scene just before this one kind of proves that, for me, as well:

Ten seconds later...

I do definitely think him using Jack’s body is incredibly upsetting but I also think Belphegor is stating a lot of what Castiel believes to be truths. I mean, we have to remember that the writers are doing this on purpose, and why else would they have Belphegor say all this stuff that’s meant to hurt Castiel if it’s not even gonna work (cause it’s not true). Cass is definitely not just angry because of the demon using his son’s body. This is actually the same ep that he “moves on” from Dean.

My point was, anyway, that Cass has this habit of kind of weaving his way around his own truths -- it’s not even that he lies, but he avoids saying or admitting to the most obvious truth which is that he’s in love with Dean.

I know I really branched off, here, but I have ADD so you’re gonna have to deal...  besides I make a lot of valid points, anyway.

[cherry-glade]

all that is in a name

pairing: aged up!damian wayne x fem!reader

summary: you come to him, and his name is on your hand like you’re showing off to the world that you’re his. damian doesn’t know if he can handle it.

warnings: just a whole lotta sweetness, implications that reader is of south asian descent, unintentional love confessions.

a/n: i am very, very nervous about posting this, but i’ve procrastinated for way too long, so i hope whoever ends up reading this enjoys it!

w/c: 2876 words

Damian notices it as soon as you greet him at the door with a smile and a kiss to his cheek, the rich colour of mehndi on your hands. You’re holding a plastic bag in your hands which he takes from you as you toe your shoes off and then follow him into the kitchen.

“Wedding food,” you explain when he looks through the bag and finds various sweet dishes, as well as little boxes of food and slices of wedding cake. He remembers you telling him about a distant relative’s wedding, remembers expressing his remorse about not being able to accompany you because of prior commitments.

“Thank you, Y/N,” he says, pressing a kiss to your knuckles before you both try your best to fit the food into the fridge and then head up to his bedroom after you’ve had a glass of water to quench your thirst.

“I’ve missed you,” you say once you’re there, both curled into each other, and there’s a pang in Damian’s chest. You haven’t seen each other in a while, and it’s mostly his fault, because of missions, but he knows you understand.

“I missed you too, dearly,” he responds, squeezing an arm around your waist as he presses his mouth to your forehead in a chaste kiss, lingering there for a moment so he can breathe in the scent of your shampoo.

You part after a moment or two and Damian’s eyes fall to the second bag dangling from your fingers, smaller than the first. He looks to you, a question on his tongue, but you know him and so you beat him to it.

“The last time I wore mehndi, Cass saw and wanted me to put some on her too,” you explain, reaching into the bag and pulling out a handful of mehndi cones. “So I brought some today for us to try out on her.” His heart warms at the kind gesture, and then he remembers that you’re wearing mehndi too, dark against your skin, and wants to see more of it.

“Show me,” Damian requests, looking down at the deep reddish brown staining your nails and palms. You sit down on the rug with him, placing the bag down beside you and hold your hands out in front of you with your palms up like an offering, an offering Damian will gladly accept.

He carefully takes your hands in his and studies the dark swirls on your skin, the flowers and curling lines and then—letters. Small and almost delicate, tucked away underneath the petal of a flower, but they’re definitely letters spelling out his name.

“Damian?” He hears you say, and looks up to see your face, concerned as your eyes scan over his body like you’re checking for injuries of some sort. “What’s up? You’re not hurt, are you?” You ask, frowning at him.

“It’s my name,” he blurts out, thumb tracing reverently over the letters, and your hands tense up almost imperceptibly, then start to tremble in his. Damian looks up at you, concerned when you avoid his eyes and just stare down at your joined hands, face pale other than the blotchy redness high in your cheeks.

“It’s nothing, really, just a joke,” you try to play off with a wavering smile, but Damian can see right past it. You’re nervous, maybe even a little scared, and it worries Damian because he’s quite certain he hasn’t done anything to frighten you, watching carefully as you try to tug your hands away, but he holds on tight.

His eyes scan over your face, looking for any tells other than you biting your lip and blushing even more each time you meet his eyes or see his name on your hand, and that’s when it hits, and Damian can feel his own face turning red at the implication.

“It’s not—it was my cousin’s idea, not mine,” you begin to explain, still not looking at him, looking at anything but him like you can’t bear to see his face as you say it. “It’s just a little wedding tradition in our culture, where the bride has mehndi applied, and then her future husband’s name or initials are hidden somewhere in the patterns and—”

“And then the groom tries to find it,” Damian finishes your sentence, unable to meet your eyes for fear of you running away after seeing the look in his eyes, the want, the desire to someday take part in this tradition with you.

It scares him, how much he wants of you. With you. But it thrills him too.

“If I’d known beforehand, I wouldn’t have let her do it, I promise,” you swear, and as hard as you might try to hide it, your voice is definitely trembling. “I only noticed afterwards, and if I’d tried to get rid of it, that would’ve just ruined the artist’s hard work and the rest of the design.”

Damian looks up at that, blinking. “Why?” is all he can get out, throat tight. His voice comes out sounding like he’s being strangled because of all that he’s holding back.

You frown, still looking down at your hands. Your cheeks are still red, and Damian wants to kiss you so badly, until they’re a rosy pink instead. “Because it’s all very intricate and close together, so trying to wipe if off would just smudge it all,” you say, clearly misunderstanding what he’s asking you.

“That’s not what—Y/N,” Damian starts, pulse racing. He’s pretty sure he’s sweating a little. He hopes that you can’t smell it. “Why would you want to get rid of it?” Damian asks, irrationally terrified that maybe you don’t want the same things he does. That you don’t want him as much as he wants you.

You finally look up at Damian with wide eyes. “I—we’re not—I guess I just assumed that it would be a bad idea to keep it there,” you say slowly as your eyes flicker over his face, hesitating on the last few words like you’re not sure that you actually want to say them to him.

He should say something. Anything.

You assumed wrong. It wouldn’t be a bad idea. I want this. I want you.

I love you. Always.

But instead, all that comes out is, “You know how to apply mehndi yourself, yes?”

You frown and nod, a confused look on your face at the sudden change of subject.

“I want you to put some on me. Please,” he remembers to add onto the end, and you reward him with a gentle smile, even though Damian can tell that you still don’t understand what he’s thinking.

“You’ll have to fetch me a pair of scissors then, and a few tissues. Maybe a ball pin too, if you have any,” you say as you turn away to fetch a mehndi cone, bag rustling.

Damian takes that as a dismissal and goes to follow your instructions, coming back to find you waiting for him with one of his pillows on your lap, the back of it facing up. You take the scissors from him and snip off a tiny section from the cone, then use the sharp end of the pin to pry it open slightly before holding it near the top and applying gentle pressure until a steady flow of mehndi flows from the open end of it onto a tissue.

“Right or left?” Damian looks away from your hands and into your eyes. You must be able to tell that he doesn’t know what you’re talking about, because you grin as you clarify that you’re asking which hand he wants it on. He places his left hand on the pillow.

He may have trained himself to be ambidextrous, but he uses his right hand more out of habit, and would like the stain, your stain, to last as long as possible.

“You want it on your palm or the outside of your hand?” You say as you wipe the tip of the mehndi cone off and lift his hand into your own, studying it like you could find the secrets of the universe within the lines of his palm.

“Outside,” he says.

You look up at Damian with a quirked eyebrow. “Sure? What if I mess it up?”

“I trust you,” he says.

Damian swears his heart skips a beat when your mouth curls into a fond smile as you press a kiss to the centre of his palm before flipping his hand back over and placing it onto the pillow again, fingertips tracing over his scarred knuckles. “Any type of design in particular? I can freestyle or we can look up pictures on the internet if you’d like.”

“I trust you,” he repeats, and settles down to just watch as you trace out the lines of an intricate flower onto his skin, stopping in between to rub the feeling back into his hand once it starts to feel cold and a little numb. The designs on his fingers are a little simpler but no less beautiful, and each and every dot and swirl is practically perfect.

Somehow, you’ve managed to get a little bit of mehndi on your own finger. But you don’t know this, so it smudges onto your skin when you reach up to scratch the side of your nose, leaving a dark little smear on your cheek. Damian rushes to pick up a tissue and wipe it off so that the stain left behind is as faint as possible, a light orange in colour.

He ends up just looking at your face as you finish off the design, nose wrinkled in concentration, so doesn’t realise you’re done with him until he hears his name being called. Damian looks up to see you smiling at him as you wave your hands with a flourish over his.

“All done. You like it?”

“I—it’s beautiful.” He struggles to meet your eyes. “You’re very talented, beloved.”

You blush and smile even wider until your eyes are crinkling at the corners. “Thank you. Just leave it on for a while now and take it off in the evening, maybe even tomorrow morning if you’d like it to be darker. If you leave it on overnight, you’ll need to wrap your hand in cling wrap, then scrape it off in the sink, but don’t use any water.”

“But—”

“Oh, and if you want it to be darker, once you’re sure it’s completely dry, you can use a cotton ball to dab a mixture of lemon juice and sugar over it, then once it’s scraped off, rub mustard oil on your hand,” you remind Damian as you place the mehndi cone down, not even realising you just cut him off.

“Y/N, it’s not done just yet,” Damian says, breathing in deep and summoning the courage he seems to have lost after looking into your eyes.

“Oh?” You’re frowning, a quizzical little smile playing on your lips. “I’m pretty sure it is.”

“No,” he says, and his voice must be harsher than he’d expected because you just blink at him before frowning even harder, smile completely gone. It makes Damian’s heart hurt.

“Why not?”

Damian looks down at his hand, at your hard work, and notices that the centre of the flower is blank, which gives him an idea. “I want your name on me too,” he says, and it’s almost painful for Damian to be so honest, even though the truth never comes to him more easily than it does when he’s with you.

You stare at him for a while, not understanding. “I want your name on my hand,” Damian clarifies, using his free hand to turn yours over and trace over the letters of his name as he looks straight into your eyes.

“Damian,” you splutter as you try to take your hand back. He lets you this time. “This isn’t a joke. You doing this. I can’t—”

“Please,” he says softly, begs. Damian doesn’t usually beg for things. “It doesn’t have to be your whole name. It can just be your initials,” he tries to bargain.

“There’s nowhere to—”

“You can do it here,” Damian says, eagerly pointing to the empty centre of the flower. “Please, beloved,” he says once more in the hope that you’ll give in to his pleas.

You swallow thickly and pick up the cone again, holding his hand steady as your own fingers tremble their way through tracing your initials onto his skin, and then you let go of him like you’ve burnt yourself as he stares down at his hand, fingers hovering just above it.

“Is that okay?” You ask, uncertainty evident in your voice. He doesn’t answer, too mesmerised by what you’ve just done.

“Damian.”

Still no answer.

“Damian—”

“It’s perfect,” he cuts you off. “I love you.” Your head snaps up and Damian immediately realises his mistake. “It. I love it.”

Fuck.

Fuck.

That didn’t come out right, but... fuck it.

“I love you,” Damian confesses, and he’s not going to look away from you now that the truth is out. He refuses to hide it any longer. Your eyes are wider than he’s ever seen them, and his heart is about to leap out of his throat.

“You... love me?” You repeat, and for some reason, you look shocked. Like it’s a surprise to you that Damian ended up falling in love with you, though it shouldn’t be. Damian’s quite certain that it was basically inevitable.

“I love you,” he confirms, and your face softens.

“You love me,” you repeat, with the softest of smiles. “And I love you. That’s quite convenient, isn’t it?”

Damian’s breath catches in his throat. “You love me?” He asks, just to be sure. He’d be embarrassed by the way his voice cracks if it weren’t for the fact that he’s waiting for you to say those words again, to reassure him that this isn’t just some dream of his destined to turn into a nightmare—it’s reality.

“I do,” you reassure him, and Damian’s heart swells until it feels like it’s almost too big for his chest, far too full of love to be contained by something so very small.

“I see,” he breathes out shakily, and you snort at him, eyes shining with laughter and—and love.

“You’re such a dork,” you murmur, fond. You lift a hand to cup his cheek and Damian leans into it, eyes fluttering closed for just a moment before opening again. “I basically took part in a wedding tradition for you. What about that says I don’t love you?”

“Nothing. I was just... being silly, I suppose,” Damian whispers as he leans in close enough for your noses to brush, making sure to move his hand out of the way so nothing smudges. Your eyes close as you smile, bright enough that Damian has no choice other than to smile back at you, even if you can’t see it.

His fingers come up to circle your wrist, his own eyes closing as the two of you gently press your foreheads together, and then his hand is moving to keep your palm pressed to his face, fingers tangling together.

You both sit there in a comfortable silence, just existing together for a while. Damian can’t stop smiling every time he opens his eyes to peek at your face and finds you looking right back at him. His love for you makes him feel giddy with happiness, as it should.

Soon enough, his siblings come to bother the two of you. First, it’s Richard, coming to coo at how cute you both are and almost forgetting that Damian’s hand is still wet when he pulls you into a hug. And then it’s Cassandra, silently waiting for you to attend to her too with a pleased smile on her face as she notices the way you’re both looking at each other, unwilling to be parted.

Eventually you give in though, pulling Damian to his feet and opening the door for him even though he has a free hand. Perhaps it’s because you know that he wants to hold yours. Perhaps it’s because you want to hold his too.

You all gather in the kitchen, where Timothy is already waiting with a mug of steaming coffee in one hand and a tablet in the other. He lets go of both though to greet you with a hug, complimenting your own mehndi. It’s as you and Cassandra are settling into chairs and scrolling through designs on your phone for ideas that Timothy notices Damian’s hand, attentive as always.

“Is that—?” He starts to ask, looking down at your initials. Damian looks over to you, laughing at something Richard has just said as you check how much mehndi you have left in your open cone, probably wondering if you’ll have to use another one.

It might have been unintentional on your part, but you unabashedly wear Damian’s name on your hand like you don’t care about the possible consequences, if there are any, of showing people that you’re his.

“Yes,” Damian answers, turning back to face his older brother.

He’s not afraid of letting the world know that he’s yours either.

[bestworstcase]

I like your thoughts on how Rapunzel was handling things wrong in “Rapunzel: Day One.” The episode tries to imply that Cassandra is wrong for not sharing her feelings with Rapunzel, but is a Rapunzel really the person Cassandra should be opening up to? Rapunzel never respects Cassandra’s boundaries. Cassandra’s a private person. Rapunzel doesn’t respect that. And just because Cassandra doesn’t want to open up to everyone doesn’t mean that she’s bottling things up.

ok so this is gonna be a long one bc tbh i like. fundamentally disagree that RDO, the narrative of RDO, in any way positions cassandra as the one at fault for the emotional conflict between her and raps.

to digress a bit - while tts is not immune to Aesop Episodes (e.g. rapunzel's enemy or you're kidding me) wherein the characters close out the story by talking about What They've Learned, ultimately i don't think tts can or should be read as a morality play. it's a story where sometimes characters just... fuck up and the narrative doesn't waste its time on hand-holding or spoon-feeding us the moral.

anyway, i submit that RDO is what i'll call a False Aesop Episode. it follows the basic structure of an Aesop Episode (protagonist acts badly -> protagonist learns a lesson) but the lesson rapunzel learns is a bad one. it's like if you took... say, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" as an aesop, the False Aesop here is rapunzel confidently eating a rotten apple and then being blindsided a few months later when the doctor who kept begging her not to eat food with maggots in it steals the moonstone from under her nose and runs off into the night with her new demon pal--

and that metaphor got away from me a little bit but you get the idea.

#1: constructing the conflict

the episode opens with cassandra. she's training; we see the sword fly out of her injured hand; lance suggests she take a break, and she answers, "thanks to rapunzel's little trick at the great tree, i have to relearn everything using this hand, so breaks aren't really an option."

she isn't harsh about it. her demeanor isn't all that different from her normal self—she even segues into a very typical concern (that the woods are dangerous and they should all be on their guard) and banters with lance a bit.

what this communicates, immediately and succinctly, is that:

1. cassandra's injury is severe. it's disabling. she's either in immense pain or she's lost all the strength in that hand or both.

2. cass is really upset about this, and not happy with rapunzel.

3. nevertheless cass is keeping her feelings more or less in check; the worst anyone could say about her is she's being a bit more curt than normal.

which is to say, she's acting quite reasonable. she's not taking out her hurt feelings on anyone else or being mean or lashing out, and she's not hiding her injury either. the most concerning thing about her behavior here is actually that she's focused on training so she can do her job instead of on healing or resting or taking care of herself.

then there's a pan over to rapunzel, who is angrily watching this play out while venting to pascal. "i get why cass is mad at me," she says. "she told me—" huge disdainful rolling of eyes here "—not to use the decay spell back and the tree, and i did, and she hurt her hand. but if she had just listened to me and stayed out of it, this all could have been avoided! and i feel like we could work things out, but she refuses to talk about it!!"

line this up against cassandra's behavior and spot the differences.

cass is focused on her injured hand. cass is upset because rapunzel accidentally mutilated her in the great tree. that's what this conflict is about for cass; her injury, and how she feels about being injured.

by contrast, rapunzel thinks the conflict is about them not listening to each other. she does acknowledge that cass was injured, but 1. she puts the blame on cass, and 2. has shoved the fact of the injury to the periphery of the conflict. it's not important, it's just a natural consequence of the real conflict, which is cass being mad and petty and refusing to talk to her about how she's unfairly blaming rapunzel for something that wasn't rapunzel's fault.

[i will add here that this behavior from rapunzel is 100% not knowing how to handle guilt and externalizing it as anger, and this thread of rapunzel burying her guilt gets picked up again in rapunzeltopia; it isn't that rapunzel doesn't care that cass is hurt, so much as she's just not emotionally equipped to process these feelings in a healthy way so it mutates into...this.]

and where cass handles her feelings in a pretty reasonable way, rapunzel rants and raves and draws cass as a literal monster with fangs and claws—she's stewing in her out of control emotions and concludes that she just has to find a way to force cass talk to her, which she does shortly thereafter by ordering—not asking—cass to come with her to search for parts to fix the caravan.

#2: the breakdown of communication

i've said it before but it bears repeating: cassandra might not be perfect, but she's a good communicator. in s1 and the front half of s2, she shares her feelings with rapunzel readily and frequently. when she tries to set boundaries with rapunzel, she's able to be clear and specific about what she needs. when she expresses frustration with eugene or her dad or rapunzel, she's very articulate about exactly what she's frustrated about. she can recognize when politer, softer refusals are being ignored and become blunter and more specific to ensure the message is getting across.

the moments when cass struggles to communicate are noteworthy because they're not normal. they signal that she's in acute crisis. think of how her unhinged rant about adira in RATGT heralded a complete emotional breakdown. she clams up in RDO because it's the only thing she can do to protect herself. because rapunzel is an inexperienced nineteen year old who learned all her social "skills" from a manipulative, egotistical abuser and nowhere in the series does that show more than in RDO.

rapunzel knows cass doesn't want to talk about the great tree, so she isolates cass from the rest of the group with the intention of forcing her to talk about it anyway. she's passive aggressive at first: chattering about inanities and trying to bait cass into 'opening up,' and acting vexed and guilt-trippy when she finds out cass brought owl along. she broaches the subject by going "too bad there's not an open-up-to-your-best-friend-about-the-thing-you-guys-are-fighting-about wand, huh?"

then she leads with "i know you're mad at me, but i did the right thing. i didn't have a choice," which... what can cass even say to that? she acknowledged cassandra's anger in one breath and followed up with "but you're wrong tho" in the next. that statement makes cassandra's feelings about her debilitating injury into an argument about Who Was Right.

this is a game that cass tries very hard not to play. "look, if you feel that way, then it's fine. we're good," she says, which is a statement that is not true at all on its face but - what it means is that if rapunzel wants to turn this into a debate about Who Was Right, cass will concede because that's not an argument she's invested in. cass does not want to put her feelings on trial so rapunzel can pick them apart and decide whether she deserves to have them or not.

so she disengages. the sun sets. they camp. rapunzel pokes her again, this time with a more direct approach: "cass, i need to talk about what we both know is going on between us."

and that's when cass throws up a WALL. prior to RDO, when cass is pressed on her feelings, she either: 1. opens up and explains to the extent that she's able (e.g. under raps or RATGT), or 2. flatly shuts the conversation down (e.g. cassandra vs eugene). but in RDO?

"there's nothing to talk about."

"i never said i was upset."

"what makes you so sure that you know how i'm feeling?"

this is cass falling off the end of her rope. this is a cass who spent the last year and a half with rapunzel running roughshod over every boundary cass exhausted herself trying to set. this is cass maybe a few weeks out from rapunzel screaming at her in front of all their mutual friends and then telling her "i am going to make decisions you don't agree with and i need you to be okay with that" when cass tried to open up about her deepest insecurities. this is cass spiraling into despair because she's seen that her best friend cares more about assuaging her own guilt and exerting her authority as a princess than she does about cassandra's feelings.

this is the moment when the friendship dies.

#3: the memory wipe, cassandra's apology, and the false aesop

the details of the tangled-but-cass shenanigans are not super important for the purposes of this discussion. suffice it to say that cassandra lashes out in the heat of the moment, seriously harms rapunzel by mistake, and spends the rest of the episode trying to repair the damage, then apologizes to rapunzel for hurting her. this is, obviously, the correct thing to do when you hurt someone, even if it was an accident.

you see the parallel here, yeah?

rapunzel hurt cass with magic by accident, and then made cass's hurt feelings all about her, blamed cass for the injury, twisted the facts to justify her own indignation, picked a fight about Who Was Right and invalidated cassandra's feelings, and pushed and pushed and pushed until cass blew up and lashed out at her.

cassandra also hurt rapunzel with magic by accident, and then she set aside her own hurt feelings from the argument they were having before to focus one hundred percent of her energy on brewing a cure and keeping amnesiac rapunzel safe, readily admitted her fault, and offered an earnest apology for losing her temper as soon as she could reasonably do so.

if RDO were a true Aesop Episode, this would be the lesson, and rapunzel would of course learn from cassandra's good example and reciprocate by apologizing for the accident in the great tree and her abysmal behavior afterwards—and in a reflection of how cass shared how bottling up her anger allowed it to erupt in a catastrophic way, rapunzel would probably confess that her demanding, selfish behavior came from a place of feeling awful about what happened and terrified that it would ruin their friendship.

but RDO is a False Aesop Episode. rapunzel isn't emotionally equipped to handle the intensity of her guilt, and she lacks the social insight and empathy to draw comparisons between what she did to cass and what cass did to her, so she can't connect the two situations in her head to understand what she's doing wrong. the true aesop flies right over her head, and instead what she learns is this:

1. she was right about cass being upset

2. backing cass into a corner fixed the problem

3. friends really do "just know"

4. being pushy and forceful was the right thing to do.

because the thing is, when cass apologizes for the accidental memory wipe, she truthfully explains why she acted the way she did—she's furious and she didn't want to talk about it, so she held it in as long as she could and then exploded when the pressure became too much—and for rapunzel, i think the explanation and the actual apology get conflated. meaning, cass says "i'm sorry for what i did out of anger" and what rapunzel hears is "i'm sorry for being angry."

and because of that misunderstanding, from rapunzel's perspective her own indignation has been validated and her behavior justified, because she was right all along and cass shouldn't have been angry with her in the first place and now everything is fine--

but it's not fine.

we're not supposed to share rapunzel's perspective here, because she's flat out wrong. nothing is really better and nothing has really changed, except that rapunzel got the talk she wanted and stops putting this intense pressure on cass. so as we enter the house of yesterday's tomorrow, rapunzel is taking it for granted that things are fine with cass, and meanwhile cass is still injured, still angry, still as aloof as she can be without getting rapunzel breathing down her neck again... and then she meets zhan tiri, who gives her everything she needed and couldn't get from rapunzel.

like, to my mind, this is the entire point of RDO, that rapunzel makes this catastrophic mess of trying to patch things up after RATGT and comes out of that mess wrongly thinking she succeeded. the episode is presented through the lens of rapunzel's perspective, but the lines are very wide and i absolutely think the intention is for the audience to read between them and understand the reality that rapunzel has sort of blinded herself to.

[pl-panda]

To Marry a Vigilante: Part 2

MASTERLIST || First || Previous || Next

Disclaimer: Masterlist

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The day before Christmas… was a nightmare. Marinette had to admit that Damian was right. Her parents volunteered to help Alfred in the kitchen. The butler tried to argue, but his fighting with Sabine was an unstoppable force meeting an unmovable object. In the end, they got a compromise that the baker couple would help that day, but would be banned from the kitchen for the rest of Christmas. 

The boys meanwhile were ordered to decorate the house and prepare the formal dining room. And it was a mess. First, Dick and Jason spent almost an hour arguing over the decorations, only to then see that Mari and Damian already decorated the room with the merchandise Damian somehow got imported from Paris without their knowledge. Jason tried to dismantle the decorations that were put up without a warning, but it ended with Damian chasing him with a sword… again. It didn’t help that Todd kept riling the youngest Wayne up. Technically second-youngest since he was older than Marinette by a few months, but that’s beyond the point.

Then, when Jason ended up with a slight limp after he crashed into a cupboard when trying to cut the corner and Damian’s bloodthirst got satisfied, it was time for decorating the Christmas tree. When Mari saw the tree, she almost toppled over. It was put in the hall before the stairway to the second floor. It was tall enough to almost reach the ceiling. 

“That’s your tree?”

“In my defense, I tried to order a smaller one. It’s not my fault they gave size in the metric system.” Tim argued. 

“If you cut on coffee and instead got some sleep once in a while, maybe you would’ve noticed.” Jason snickered. 

Dick took the opportunity to climb upstairs and start decoration, only to be caught by Steph, who proceeded to decorate on the other side. Seeing the two already started, the three other boys also raced to start putting decorations. It was a mess, but somehow Marinette found it endearing. It felt… homey. Then she grabbed some decorations and joined Damian. Then she teamed up with Steph to make a large bat symbol on one side out of gold tinsel garland. Then she made a red ‘R’ inside it.

And this time nobody got hurt. 

After that, Dick and Jason left for their respective homes. Tim and Steph left shortly after, leaving Damian and Mari alone with the adults. Technically, Cass also stayed at the manor, but unless she wanted to be seen, only Alfred (and now Sabine) could find her. 

The teens decided to stay in the Manor. Marinette was dead set on making everyone their gifts by hand. She brought several unfinished designs that could be adjusted. Damian was kind enough to collect the measurements for each family member from Alfred. 

And so Mari then spent all evening in her room, where she worked on adjusting and finishing everything. She was beyond grateful that her room was already equipped with a sewing machine and anything else she would need to make the gifts. The whole time Damian sat nearby to offer some advice. Mostly, he just enjoyed watching her work on the designs. 

“Do you think putting a Red Robin logo on this tie would be too much?” She asked, showing a red tie with black accents. It had a meticulous black stitch going through the narrow part. It spelled MDC over and over.

“Maybe put it inside, so that it only shows when he put it upside-down,” Damian answered. 

“But then nobody will see it.”

“There is a bigger chance someone sees it than if it’s on the front.” The boy deadpanned. 

“Don’t be mean.” She scolded him, but her pearly laughter kinda ruined it. She put the tie away and reached for the sunglasses she was working on. They used to be black, but she tinted the glass deep-red and then added details at the side. Now, there was a small silver bullet-shaped decoration where they would fold. She had a case ready where she stitched the shape of a red handgun at the top of black leather. 

“And this?”

“Habibti. They will definitely love your gifts.” He gave her a soft smile. “If not, I will introduce them to my sword” He muttered, hoping she would not hear it.

“Damian!” She shouted. His hopes went in flames. “No murdering people!”

“Can I at least maim?” He asked with a hopeful voice.

“Hm… only if you ask me before.” She giggled at his expression. 

“I think it is high time I retreat to my bedroom. It’s almost midnight, Angel. Go to sleep.” He stood up and walked outside, only to be met with Sabine’s judging eyes. She watched him carefully before smiling slightly. 

“Good. You can go. I will tuck her in.” 

After she passed him, Damian let out a breath he didn’t know he held. That woman was scary.

--------

The next morning was still hectic, but no longer so chaotic. Mari spent half of it locked in her room giving the designs final touches. She did not let Damian or her parents in since she focused on their gifts and didn’t want to spoil the surprise. Alfred was the only one who got a peek inside and he didn’t even fear Sabine, so the chances he would tell anything to anyone were less than Joker genuinely apologizing to everyone he ever hurt. 

Finally, around midday, Marinette finally revealed herself. The room was a mess of cut fabric, loose papers, and Kwami knows what else. There was also a bowl of water in the corner. 

“That was a race.” She commented before grabbing Damian’s hand and dragging him into the living room to share a tea and cookies. All adults cooed. 

“So, Habibti. Care to reveal what you made for me?” The boy asked hopefully once they were both sitting side-by-side on the two-people couch. She held a cup of steaming tea while Damian put his in a small cup holder while he was eating a cookie. 

“Nope.” She grinned. “But I can tell you that you will like it.” 

“From you? I will like any gift.” He answered smoothly.

“Stop it!” She squealed, blushing heavily. “You can’t say things like that out of the blue.”

“Why?” He asked, giving her a barely noticeable smile.

“I can’t go around blushing all the time!” 

“But you look so cute with red cheeks.” 

“You don’t look so bad either, Mi Amor,” she retorted. She wanted to get some reaction from him, but he only smiled slightly more. 

They rested, cuddled together for a bit, enjoying the silence that surrounded them. It was interrupted when suddenly Cass dropped out of the blue. Or from the ceiling, but they would’ve sworn she was not there before. 

“You… Cousin?” The girl asked. 

“Oh! You must be Cassandra!” Mari recognized her. Cass was maybe her height. She was dressed in workout clothes. “Nice to meet you. I’m Marinette.”

“Marinette,” Cass repeated. “Call me Cass. Everyone does.” 

“Um… Sure. You can call me Mari if you like?” Both Damian and Cass grinned at that, much to the french girl’s confusion. “Did I miss some joke?”

“No, Angel. It’s just that Grayson’s daughter is named Mar’i” Damian looked at his beloved’s expression. 

“Oh. Oh…” The realization dawned on her. “Well, then what about… Nettie?”

“Nettie… Like it.” Cass responded.

“Cass doesn’t speak much.” The boy took it upon himself to explain. “She first learned to communicate through body gestures.” 

“Maman told me. I can’t believe aunt Sandra left you with that monster. Maman told her some things though, so maybe next time you two meet she will apologize.” 

“Mother… Apologize… Me?” The girl asked in disbelief.

“Maman is a very persuasive person.”

Cass didn’t speak about that, but a memory of the hug two of them shared yesterday surfaced at the top of her thoughts. 

“Anyway, you wanted to get to know me? Well… um… I’m fifteen, soon to be sixteen. I love fashion and design and I make almost all of my clothes. I also practice some martial arts in my free time. I love sketching outdoors. There is this small park next to my parent’s bakery that I love to visit. In the past, I adored the works of Gabriel brand, but after the owner turned out to be a major bastard I kinda decided to just stick to my own stuff. What else… I prefer tea to coffee unless I need to pull an all-nighter, my favorite sweets are macarons and my uncle named his soup after me when he won the cooking competition.”

“Soup… good?” Cass decided to ask. 

“Oh! It’s the best. Actually, maybe we could ask uncle Wang to cook for our wedding, Dami! Can we? He would be invited anyway but then people would get to…” 

“Of course, Habibti.” Damian interrupted her.

“Wedding?” Cass had more questions.

“Oh… Um… You didn’t know?” Marinette doubled back. “Of course you didn’t know. Damian tried to keep it down and I ruined it. Please don’t tell anyone. I’m so sorry Dami! I forgot! I was just so…” 

Damian, following the usual routine when Mari started to panic, pulled her to his chest, and hugged her. He whispered something low enough for Cassandra not to hear. She did notice the couple’s body language. Devotion and love.

When Marinette finally calmed, Damian let her out of his embrace. “Thanks. I still keep some of my… less desirable habits.” 

“It’s no problem. At least I have an excuse to cuddle with you without my brothers’ merciless teasing.” 

“Wedding.” Cass urged them. Her curiosity was peaking. 

“Ah! Right. So basically Talia kidnapped me and decided I would marry her son and then we both woke up tied before the altar and she threatened to kill us and our families if we didn’t go through with it. And I was so scared back then. And T… And I had no way to do anything else.” 

Cass saw her tense and stopped herself. There was more to it, but she didn’t drill. She would learn later. Or just get it out of Tim. He knew everything. 

“Well, now we’re stuck and there is this weird spell on us that makes it impossible to cheat on one another. At least I assume it works both ways since Damian didn’t test it.” There was no doubt in her voice and her body showed complete trust. Cass was actually impressed. 

“The bitch that my mother is,” Marinette wanted to scold Damian on the language he used, but then again, he spoke about Talia so he wasn’t lying, “used some old curse on us, probably from the time my grandfather was still young. We are tied together. But we made it work.” 

“Magic… bad.” Cass scoffed. 

“No!” Mari quickly protested. “I mean not all magic is bad. It all depends on who uses it! Besides, everything turned out better than I could’ve ever hoped.” 

“Good. I… Like you.” Her cousin smiled. “Hug?” She asked.

“Sure.” Marinette nodded and before she knew it Cass tackled her into the couch, almost breaking her bones. 

“Oooh!” a new voice cooed. Damian immediately whirled around with a small dagger that he pulled from wherever he kept it. Selina Kyle was standing there, watching everything.

“Tt. I don’t like being spied upon.” Damian scowled. 

“Relax, lover-boy. I just came and I was curious where everyone went and who were the new people.” 

“Oh. That’s probably my parents. Alfred kicked them out of the kitchen today. They will probably be relaxing in the garden since they rarely have a chance to just relax. They run a bakery in Paris.” Mari smiled at the newcomer. 

“Really now? And you’re the unlucky girl that got stuck with the short, dark, and brooding?”

“Tt. I’m not short.”

“I don’t hear you arguing about the dark and brooding part.” Selina teased. 

“Angel, meet my father’s fiancée, Selina Kyle. She is also Catwoman.”

“Oh. She is in on the family business then?”

“Tt. Yes. I don’t keep things hidden from my wife.” Damian kept scowling.

“Aren’t you a dutiful husband?”

“I’m not afraid to defend my wife’s honor with a sword, thief.” The boy threatened. Selina measured him for a moment.

“Good.” She turned to Marinette. “He will do. If he is causing you trouble, you can crash at my place.” She gave her a small square paper with an address before leaving. 

“Um… What was that?”

“Tt. That was Selina for you.” Damian was still in a bad mood until Marinette snuggled closer to him. 

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

Around five, the guests started arriving. It was unanimously decided that the youngest couple would be the ones to greet their guests. And looking at the size of the table, there would be more guests than Mari assumed. Damian was now dressed in a flawless black suit with a matching bowtie and a white shirt. Mari chose to wear the red dress that she knew left Damian speechless every time he saw her. Her hair was let go and formed waves cascading down her back. 

Jason was first. He came on his bike alone. While everyone dressed in something elegant, he opted for an oil-stained t-shirt and brown leather jacket, complete with black cargo pants and heavy boots. Marinette had to admit he gave a bad-boy vibe that told her to stay away. But she’s seen this with Ivan and she was pretty sure Jason was, in fact, a big softie once one got to know him. 

Next to arrive were Tim and Stephanie. She wore a black and purple knee-length dress. It had no sleeves and hugged her form tightly. The design was several large squares of material sewn together so no two colors were the same. It was an interesting design. Tim wore a blue suit with black accents and a white shirt. They looked like a nice couple. And the boy looked almost awake, which was a success. Also, they were dragging a giant bag of gifts. 

Shortly after, a small van pulled close and five people exited. There was an older couple, a joyful boy around their age jumping around them, and two people Marinette recognized instantly. You couldn’t hang around Alya and not recognize Clark Kent and Lois Lane-Kent.

“Tt. Jon.” Damian greeted the boy.

“Sup Dames? Hello fair lady.” He greeted them, happiness almost oozing from him. Jon went as far as kissing her hand. 

“Could you stop with the flowers and rainbows?” Wayne growled.

“But it’s Christmas!”

“Tt. I know.” Damian was angry. Seeing it, his beloved grabbed his hand and squeezed it lightly.

“Hello Mr. Kent, Mrs. Lane-Kent.” Marinette greeted the adults, hoping to diffuse the situation  before Damian gets too riled up. 

“You must be Marinette. I remember Jon mentioning you when we talked about his trip to Paris.” Clark smiled. He then nodded toward the older couple. “These are my parents, Johnathan and Martha Kent.”

“It’s nice to meet ya, girl.” The man nodded toward her. 

“Hi. I’m Marinette.” She gave them a smile. Just as the Kents went inside, another car pulled in. 

This time, it was Dick with his wife, Kor’i, and daughter Mar’i. They all got out of the car.

“I still don’t understand why you insist on driving this thing. I could’ve flown us here twice as fast.” The woman had distinctively orange skin and her eyes were entirely green. Marinette instantly recognized her as Starfire. She wore a white shirt with bell-like sleeves that reached to her elbows and blue jeans that ended just above her ankles. Dick had a dark-gray shirt and jeans. She would classify their outfits as smart casual. 

“Yeah, daddy! I can fly too!” To prove her point, the little girl rose a bit into the air. She was dressed in an oversized purple jumper that reached to the ground. She also wore white trainers. Her skin was less orange than her mother’s but the color was easily visible. And her eyes were also entirely green without any white. And she was flying. Her hair was black though, as opposed to her mother’s fiery red. 

“Sweety. Come here.” Kor’i reached up and grabbed the floating daughter. The girl immediately nuzzled into her and smiled victoriously. She got exactly what she wanted. Marinette couldn’t help but giggle.

“Tt. I still find her annoying.” Damian scowled. 

“I don’t know, she looks cute to me. And you already admitted that you love cute things.” To make things worse for her love, Marinette gave him puppy eyes and a bright smile. He tried to scowl, but couldn’t muster enough strength to oppose his wife.

Dick almost tripped over the car when he started laughing. 

Since they were the last to arrive, Marinette and Damian returned inside to join everyone for festivities. 

----------

Somewhere else, in a much darker place, a lone figure stood in an empty room. His clothes were dirty and torn. The light entered only through a small window. 

“So you see? It was all a set-up!” He shouted. 

From the shadows, another figure joined. 

“But of course, sweetie. Of course.” They said in a patronizing tone. “I will of course help you.”

“You understand me. And what about… Marinette?” 

“I don’t understand your obsession with her, but I can share.” 

“Whatever. She will be mine!”

----------

Masterlist // Next

[butwhyduh]

Can I request sth more fluffy? Middle of the night cuddle with my boi Tim and fem!reader (*^*). You wrote some good spice now can I ask for some sugar?

Christmas party

Tim drake x reader

Christmas series 1

It was a cold still night in Gotham. One where the moon was visible and the air was crisp. You snuggled under your blankets on your with your heaters on high but you had a bone chill that wouldn’t disappear easily. You shivered and wished Tim was there.

He had patrol. The city never slept and this was a prime night for crime. It was a perfect night. Or a Gotham perfect night anyways. He had given you a quick kiss and literally jumped off your fire escape. Your scream was caught in your throat as you watched him rappel away. It never got easier to watch. It didn’t help you sleep either.

Your eyes finally started to get tired and your comfort watch-a-hundred-times Netflix show wasn’t holding your attention anymore and you fell asleep. The street below was surprisingly quiet even.

You woke to the sounds of something or someone outside your window. You couldn’t see out because of the closed curtains. You quickly looked at your clock. It was only 2 AM. He was usually out until 4. You reached for the bat you kept by the bed and quietly stood up as the window opened. Your heart beat quickly and you clenched the bat. Tim had been very certain that you should swing on sight of an intruder. Use the element of surprise.

Legs slid into your apartment and you swung. Hard. A soft “oof” sounded and they grabbed your bat.

“Sunshine, it’s me! It’s Tim,” he whispered loudly. You relaxed. “Good hit though.” Groan.

“Sorry Timmy! Are you okay?” You asked turning on a lamp. He stood in his suit, his cowl still on. He pulled it off.

“I’m fine. I’m just glad you protected yourself,” Tim said pulling off his suit. He put it in the hamper and came up to you. He gave you a little kiss. You moved to hold his hips and he hissed and pulled away. You pulled back.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just kinda got shot today,” Tim answered lightly and you gasped. “It didn’t go through the suit though. I’m fine. Just a bruise. Not even a bone bruise. I swear.”

You looked at him in the lamp light and there was a blue bruise forming on his hip. “Timmy, what happened?”

“I didn’t duck,” he joked and you blanched. “Just some drug dealers. Red Hood was there and he took care of it. That’s why I’ve got the night off. Not the bruise. Sorta the bruise,” Tim grimaced as he climbed in bed.

“Red Hood then shot out their kneecaps and said that he’d shoot any criminals on sight if they were out tonight. Said it was ‘fucking Christmas so go the fuck home.’ So B thought it was best to have the night off of Red Robin,” Tim said laying flat. Your eyebrows rose at that one. He tried to hide a tiny groan as he adjusted to be more comfortable. You laid beside him careful not to touch him.

“Does this hurt,” you asked, gently leaning against his arm. You’d rather full on cuddle but you didn’t want to hurt him. Tim moved and pulled you close to him from the waist up.

“I’m okay. Don’t worry about me. It’s late. Let’s get some sleep,” he said rubbing his thumb on your back. You rested your head on his chest.

“Yeah, but I’m definitely worried about you because you got shot. Please, be careful,” you pleaded. He had a hard time looking you in the eyes. Guilt over making you worrying was a bitch.

“Of course, always. I’ll at least have patrol off for a few days. Give me a kiss,” Tim said hopefully. You leaned over and kissed him delicately like he was breakable. He was so strong but still only a human.

“If anything happens to you, I’ll beat Batman up myself.”

“That’s the nicest and most ridiculous thing you’ve ever said. We’ll hang out tomorrow, before the Christmas party, okay Sunshine?” Tim said with his eyes already closed. He was severely sleep deprived and wasn’t going to be up much longer.

“Sure, Tim,” you whispered as his breathing evened in sleep.

——————————————

All morning, you both laid in bed and watched tv. Tim tried to get a little handsy but his hip was in more pain than he had anticipated and one touch by your hand had him almost jumping out of the bed in pain. It really was black and blue. But this was a rare moment to just cuddle with him and you weren’t missing it for the world. Tim was on the phone most of the afternoon.

The weather had changed from nice to sleet but the time you were getting ready for the party. You had changed and were finishing your look. Tim was throwing on a sweater and watch you had gotten him for his birthday. He pushed his hair back before it flopped right back in place.

“You’re beautiful,” he said suddenly like he was finally watching you. He meant it as a compliment but it came out almost like ‘who knew?’ You gave him an eyebrow. “You know what I mean. You look great tonight,” Tim said with some pink around his cheeks.

“Thanks,” you said giving him a kiss on the cheek. He groaned and wiped the lipstick off his pale skin. You smirked. He walked over to the coat rake with just the slightest stiffness to his walk to show how bruises up he was.

“Are you ready? Don’t forget your coat. It’s nasty out there. I think we might have to stay over at the manor tonight,” Tim said grimacing. “It’s okay right now but if it gets worse..”

“You sure?” You asked. You didn’t want to miss it but if the weather was awful you didn’t want to chance an accident.

“Yeah we’ll be fine. I can drive through just about any weather,” Tim said with a wink. You grabbed your coat and left.

Nude hose was a bad idea. It was frigid outside. You should have worn the fleece lined thick tights you had considered as you were shivering in Tim nice red sport coupe.

Wayne manor couldn’t come in view fast enough and you happily ran up the stairs and in the house from the parking garage. Tim chuckled and then grimaced when he tried to catch up.

“Careful on your bruise,” you reminded him. He nodded. The house was much warmer than outside. Alfred warmly invited you into the study. Bruce, and Duke were already hanging out. They were talking about movies and Tim jumped in. He didn’t get much free time but when he did, he was a huge nerd.

Damian and his friend? Girlfriend? Walked in and started playing chess.

Dinner was served in the dinning room. Alfred always made amazing food. A traditional mushroom soup. Apparently Bruce’s mother had it as a Christmas tradition and, while the boys barely touched theirs, Bruce happily enjoyed it.

You saw Jason and his date before he cleared his throat from your seat at the table. Alfred was so happy and quickly ushered them to their seat at the table. Tim held your hand as often as he could as the meal continued. His long fingers stroked the inside of your palm in a soothing way. Whether it was for you or him, you couldn’t tell.

Down at the other end of the table, Dick said something loudly and it took you a second to realize what was going on. He was proposing. Tim had a little smile as Dick stuttered his way through his words. That was new.

She looked at the box in shock. She wasn’t going to say no was she?!? You couldn’t handle the stress and you gripped Tim’s hand tightly. Dick literally pleaded for an answer and that broke the spell she seemed to be under and she said yes.

Kisses. Applause. Champagne.

Tim lightly squeezed your hand that you had relaxed and he smiled at you. You both were young enough that a proposal wasn’t an awkward thing to watch. You were seen as just too young. Dick and his new fiancé retired for the night and the party was moved to the parlor.

You sat on a stool by the billiards table. Tim and Jason immediately began playing a game while you talked to his girlfriend and Cass.

“So if I win,” Jason said a full hour later. By this time, Damian’s girlfriend had fallen asleep on his shoulder and Bruce had announced the storm too bad to travel. “I get the penthouse.”

“Sure Jay. That’s Bruce’s. But I’m willing to gamble it,” Tim said throwing his hands up at the ridiculousness.

“I accept terms,” Bruce said. Both boys looked at him surprised. “Whoever wins gets the penthouse.”

Jason narrowed his eyes at Bruce and Tim gave you a wtf look but neither questioned the decision. Jason played seriously. He was a natural. His rough upbringing had him playing pool in many hazy bars as a kid as well as the occasional trip to a bar on the weekend he enjoyed regularly. Tim just didn’t have time to play games. Plus he had a nasty bruise on his hip. Jason won the game easily.

“So the penthouse is mine?” Jason asked. Bruce nodded and shrugged. Tim softly coughed in his hand.

“If you’ll live in it,” Bruce said. Damian was carefully carrying his girlfriend upstairs.

“Deal.”

“Deal.”

“I guess, deal?” Tim said confused. “Though you should owe me. You’re the one that got me shot.”

“What?! You got him shot?” You asked loudly. Tim blanched.

“Not my fault,” Jason defended.

“Literally your fault,” Tim countered.

“What did you do?” Jason’s girlfriend asked looking at him suspiciously. He offered her a sheepish smile.

“I might have said ‘what are you gonna do, shoot us?’ I meant me. Not Tim! He also has a bulletproof suit,” Jason said.

“That’s not in the report,” Bruce said slowly and both boys flinched.

“Good night everybody. Merry Christmas,” Jason said pulling his date from the room.

“We’ll talk tomorrow,” Bruce called down the hall. Everyone else took it as a cue that the party was over.

You moved upstairs to Tim’s old bedroom. A My Chemical Romance poster and Dragon Ball Z poster hung on the back of his door as the only personal items. You smirked at him when you saw it.

“I forgot that was there,” Tim groaned reaching for it. His pale skin was flush with embarrassment. You grabbed his arm.

“Leave it. It’s cute. It’s got personality,” you said with a laugh. He rolled his eyes.

“Yeah. A complete nerd,” he said looking away.

“And you think you’ve changed since? You wear Spider-Man boxers under your suit sometimes,” you whispered in his ear.

“How do you know that?”

“When I pull them off of you..” you winked.

“Speaking of, having a hot girlfriend isn’t exactly nerdy,” Tim said getting a little handsy.

“Are you trying to get laid in your childhood bedroom?” You asked fake scandalized. He pulled you closer.

“Maybe.”

“Very nerdy to try and get in my pants right now with anime posters on the wall, Timbers,” you said pulling him towards the bed and into a kiss before he could protest.