#what was the conclusion wayne came to i hear you ask?

[strangersteddierthings]

No Regrets - Part Three

This one got longer than I expected, so it's only about Spring Break. We return to the apocalypse next part.

Part One🦇 Part Two🦇Part Three🦇Part Four🦇Part Five🦇Part Six

"-eve?"

Waking up again is disorienting. His head aches like the beginning of a migraine. There was something he was thinking about but it's fading quickly. A conversation in a boathouse...? That's not right. The boathouse was empty. The police had beat them there.

"Steve?"

No. No conversation in a boathouse. But there was a phone call. He knows he remembers that. Joyce had called last night. Her and Murray sharing a phone between them as Steve- Oh! Right. Steve told them he knew about Hopper in Russia.

"You have to go, though. Hopper is alive and waiting. And there's a demogorgon. Demodogs, too. You have to kill them all. Any connection to the Upside Down left alive helps Vecna. It's like having a tether to here makes him stronger."

"I can't just abandon El," Joyce sounds conflicted, and Steve gets it. He does.

"You aren't. You're going to be giving her back her dad. She's got Jonathan and Will and Mike. Argyle, too, if he wants to be there. Just. Just get them on the road and back here as soon as you can. If they don't leave soon than Brenner will-"

"Brenner? What do you mean Brenner? He's dead. Right? He's supposed to be dead."

"Yeah, well, he's not. He- I don't know the full details, just. I was just given an overview because, y'know, other shit was going down. But he makes El relive a lot of traumatic shit from her past and yeah, it gets her back her powers, but she's just a kid. She's just a kid."

"Her abilities, they aren't gone?" It's Murray who asks.

"No. She's just traumatized, in a different way. It was... it was Jonathan who said this, actually, to me. I mean, he hasn't said it yet, and if everything goes the way I want, he won't need to say it ever, but that's- sorry, that's not important. He said he thinks El blocked her abilities because she lost Hopper. An internal block, you know? 'Cause she couldn't save him with them, so what was the point of having them?"

"And you think bringing Hopper back will free her of that block?" Murray asks.

Steve can't help it. He laughs. "Hell no. I think years of therapy might, but having her dad will help. There's no way it hurts, right? Also, uh, you're the parent here, Joyce, so I'll let you decide what to tell her, but the big, awful thing that Brenner made her relive? It was a massacre. At the lab, when she was there. Another guy, another number, killed a bunch of the people there. It was El who saved the remainder. She stopped him from killing anyone else by opening the first gate to the Upside Down. She tossed him in and closed it. She's not a monster. Oh, that part you have to tell her. She's not a monster."

"Steve!"

There's more to the phone call, Steve knows he knows that but there's yelling and it's distracting.

"Steve!!"

"What?" Steve snaps, both with his shout and back into himself. He's sitting at the picnic in Forest Hills. Everyone is looking at him with varying degrees of concern.

"You okay?" Robin asks, "we've been trying to get your attention for a while now."

"What? Yeah, sorry," Steve says, distracted, standing up and looking around. Eddie's trailer is right there, and Wayne's truck is parked in front. He knows Wayne. Knew Wayne? He's in charge of the gardens at home base. A real green thumb, not that you can tell by looking at the trailer now. "You think that with Fred's death, they'll stop suspecting Eddie?"

"What? We don't know that they suspect Eddie," Dustin is quick to say, "I know he didn't do it, and so do you so-"

"Yeah, I know! I do know that, but Chrissy died in his home and then he ran. Of course, he's a suspect. But he was in jail last night. So. They can't suspect him still, right?"

Nancy purses her lips, giving Steve a look he knows isn't good. "Well, it will depend on when they apprehended Eddie, which we don't even know they did. How do you know he was in jail last night?"

"Good point. I don't, not for sure. But Wayne might," Steve says as he starts walking away. He can hear everyone at the picnic table shouting for him and scrambling to follow. Steve picks up speed, dashing up the steps and pounding on the door before anyone catches up.

"Steve, what are you doing," Max hisses, because she's the fastest and therefore the closest.

"I just gotta-"

"Can I help you?" Wayne Munson greets, voice even. Steve watches as his eyes sweep the group, pausing on Nancy before coming back to Steve.

"Hopefully. Uh, I'm a friend of- well, no that's a lie. I don't want to lie to you. I'm not Eddie's friend, but I want to be, and Dustin here is, so we just wanted to know if you could tell us if Eddie's okay?" Steve says. "You already talked to Nancy yesterday, but she didn't know that we, like, knew him. Have you heard from Eddie?"

Wayne eyes him with suspicion, which is fair, "I ain't heard from him."

"Please," Steve says, because he's got to try one more time. Either Wayne doesn't know for real, or he's lying because he doesn't trust Steve. He's not sure he'll be able to tell which is which, but he has to ask again, "I swear that we just want to help Eddie. Whatever happened to Chrissy wasn't his fault, I know that. I just need. I need to know he's not- not out there, alone and scared. Please."

Wayne stares him down and Steve refuses to look away. Wayne's eyes flick away from him to the single police cruiser still stationed nearby, then back. "Get in here."

He doesn't need told twice. Wayne retreats into the trailer and Steve follows. Immediately his eyes jump to where the gate will form. Currently it just looks like water damage on the ceiling, but Steve knows. No gate yet, but it'll be there tomorrow. Probably fully formed by the time Vecna tries to take Max.

Robin, the last one in, shuts the door behind her gently.

"I told her yesterday that Eddie didn't do this," Wayne nods his head towards Nancy but he never takes his eyes off Steve. "Didn't stop them from arresting him."

"Thank God," Steve breaths out, which is the wrong thing to say, given how quickly Wayne's face morphs to anger, so he quickly adds, "shit, I mean, that means, he was in police custody when they found another victim last night, right? That'll prove he's innocent."

Wayne doesn't respond right away. Instead, he takes his time looking at each and every one of them, lingering on Nancy before settling on Max. "You live 'cross the way, don't ya?"

Max looks surprised to be recognized. "Yeah."

"Did you see anything?"

"I saw..." she trails off, brows furrowing as she thinks. She looks from Wayne to Steve. He doesn't know what she sees on his face, but he watches as she steels herself, a decidion made, before looking back to Wayne and saying, "What I saw is whatever I'll need to have seen to help Eddie."

"You'd lie to the police for Eddie?"

Max and Wayne have a silent conversation following the question, judging by their stare down and raising and following brow lines. When Max does speak, she says, "I've lied to police for worse people."

"Huh," is all Wayne says as he settles back against the counter behind him.

"Thank you," Steve says, even as his mind starts to calculate. They'll probably keep him the full 48 hours, since there isn't evidence enough to charge him. Right? There isn't really any evidence. Except, perhaps, what Eddie might have told them. Shit. Would Eddie say anything? "Can you let me know when they release him? Whatever happened, whatever he saw, probably freaked him out. I don't want him to feel alone. I mean, we don't."

Dustin is looking at him now like he's grown a second head but Wayne. Wayne is looking at him like he's made a realization. Drawn some unknown conclusion that he must approve of because he nods. "Sure, son."

"You got pen and paper? I'll write down my number."

The silence from his friends is deafening and does not bode well for Steve. He just knows they're going to bombard him as soon as they leave the trailer.

Which is exactly what happens. They wait until they're back by their cars before starting in, though.

"Steve, what the fuck was that?" Dustin says.

"How did you know he got arrested?" Max demands.

"Steve, you are acting so strange right now," Robin says, worry painted across her face.

"Explain," is all Nancy says, crossing her arms.

Should he? Does he even know what's happening? No. Not really. He's got memories of a future that's bleak and dark and terrible and he doesn't want it to come true. Are they even memories? Did those events even happen? He doesn't know for sure. All he does know if he wants to do everything in his power to prevent it from happening though. He doesn't want to have regrets about.... about something.

"We don't win," he says. "We don't win this one. Or, we didn't? We might now. Things are different this time."

"What?" Robin asks.

Steve ignores the question, giving instead more of the information he knows, "Hopper's alive. Joyce and Murray are on their way to Russia to save him."

"WHAT?" he's not sure who asked. Maybe all of them.

"And El is- I don't know. On her way, I hope. But she won't have her powers when she gets here. Or maybe she will? If she believes she's not a monster and really is the hero."

"Steve, you are not making any sense!"

"I know!" Steve shouts and drops into a squat. "I know! I'm not the- the figure it out guy, or the plans guy, or whatever. I'm just the guy who knows things he shouldn't, and I can't tell if it's because I actually lived it, or if I was just given knowledge about it somehow. I know the Upside Down has a red storm that never ends, more democreatures that just gorgons or dogs, and that Vecna slash Henry slash One is a goddamn monster who opens a giant hell gate and causes the apocalypse."

"Whoa, whoa," Dustin sooths, and when Steve looks up, Dustin's got both hands up and approaching like Steve's a wild animal. He kind of feels like one right now. "Slow down and explain."

There's a lot Steve could say. Should say. Steve is kind and soft, even in the face of the end of the world, but he's also learning that he's a little ruthless. Not heartless, but enough that he can see where they are, where they need to be, and how to get there in the easiest way possible. His eyes flick to Max. "Chrissy and Fred. They were both seeing the guidance counselor. You've seen them both there, right Max?"

"I- yeah. Yeah, I have."

"And Nancy, you've got a hunch, right? You need to go to the library to check it out?"

She narrows her eyes at him but nods.

"Okay. So, uh, let's use that as proof. You and Robin go check out your hunch, and I'll stick with Dustin and Max. Take Max to see Ms. Kelley and see if she'll tell Max anything that connects them?"

"You already know what we'll find, don't you?" Nancy asks, and Steve shrugs. "You're right. I won't believe you. Not without this proof. So, we'll go, Robin and me. And when we meet up, I expect you to tell me what we learned."

Max is completely silent the entire drive, an exact opposite of Dustin who shoots off so many questions in a row that Steve can barely remember the first by the time he's onto the next. Not that it would matter, because Dustin doesn't pause between any of his questions or comments to let Steve answer anyway.

Max launches herself from car almost as soon as Steve pulls up to the curb with a loudly groaned, "finally" before she slams the door and bounds across the street.

"Steve! Are you even listening to me!?" Dustin has finally lost steam or ran out of breath or something.

"Are you done yelling at me?" Steve retorts.

Dustin lets out a really big sigh then says, "For now. I just- Let's start with this. How do you know that Hopper's alive?"

"Joyce and Murray confirmed it when I talked to them on the phone. They're supposed to be getting El and crew heading back this way while they go to rescue him, but I don't really know how that's going."

Dustin squints at him. "I thought you could see the future now."

"No. I saw the future, so like, lived it or something. And it's like... You watch Back to the Future yet?"

"Yes."

"Okay, so like, the part where his family starts to vanish from the picture? Because he made his mom want to bang him-?"

"That is a disgusting oversimplification of the plotline, Steve."

"-it's like that. Except I want to change the events because we definitely end up in the bad timeline."

"Okay. Say I believe you. You said we don't win this time. Explain that."

Steve sighs. "Can that wait for like, everyone? Explain it all at once?"

"What made it so bad you have to alter the course of all of human existence?" Dustin demands.

"The Upside Down breaks through, man," Steve says, "Like, toxic air and no more sunlight or blue skies kinda bad. Full on, end of the world apocalypse type shit."

"Shit. We, like, lose lose," Dustin says in a small voice Steve doesn't think he's ever heard Dustin use before he huffs and falls out of view with a click and the sound of squeaking leather. Steve watches as Dustin reclines his seat back so he can stare up at the ceiling of the BMW.

"Yeah," Steve says before they fall into silence until Max sprints back, screaming for him to drive before she's even got the door closed behind her and certainly isn't wearing her seatbelt yet.

They all converge at the school, and Steve tells them what Nancy and Robin learned at the library, then Max puts together the thread that connected Chrissy and Fred, and he has to watch, again, as she accepts she's going to die. She even looks to him, as if he'll confirm that with a shake of his head or a nod.

He just blinks back at her until she looks away.

They want answers he isn't ready to give. Not until tomorrow, after Vecna tries to take Max. Given how today has gone, tomorrow shouldn't be much of a change. Nancy and Robin will still go the Pennhurst, and Steve will take Max everywhere she wants to go, but this time he'll be ready. It's not too late, so the little music store down from Melvald's will still be open. Hopefully they have Kate Bush handy. He'll make sure Lucas has a backup cassette player and-

"Wait. Lucas should be told. He should be here. Why isn't he..." Steve trails off, trying to remember why Lucas would be here. He went to party with the basketball team and- and what? There's something he's missing. Something changed. His head hurts and the white noise is back, and it hits him so suddenly he sways and stumbles backwards until he hits a wall.

"Steve!" Robin gasps his name and rushes to hold him up. Dustin is at his other side just as quick.

"I'm ok," Steve says with eyes closed. He can't explain it, but he's changed something. He knows he has. Lucas is with them tomorrow, he remembers that, and there's this feeling that he should be here now. That he should have shown up at the school, but the reason eludes him. Slips from his grasp like he's trying to hold water. "It's- there was something that was supposed to happen. Something that made Lucas find us here at the school. I remember that. I- I almost hit him with a lamp. But he's not here. He didn't- something's changed. Whatever happened before didn't happen again."

"What, like, you changed the past?" Dustin asks.

The laugh Steve lets out is manic, even to his own ears. "I don't know! I can't remember! It's there, the why, but I can't reach it. It's faded, man, like the picture. It's faded."

"Okay, I think it's time we get some rest," Nancy says. "Dustin, you'll radio Lucas tonight and fill him in. Tell him Steve or I will pick him up tomorrow morning to join us. Let's go everyone, before someone does show up."

Nancy takes Dustin and Max, and Robin sticks with Steve. She doesn't even question his detour to the music store, just helps him find the Kate Bush tape. Doesn't even raise an eyebrow when he buys two cassette players, five blank tapes, and a tape recorder.

"Who is the mix tape for?" Robin asks him only once they're at Steve's house and settled in for the night in front of the fancy stereo in Steve's living room. Robin's called her parents already and told them she was staying with a friend, and they had leftovers for dinner from.

"Just in case. Now, shh," Steve says, and once Robin has properly quieted, he pressed record on the tape recorder and play on the stereo. He's already found the track he wants, so it's just a matter of waiting the song out, pausing the tape recorder quickly, then rewinding the tape. He goes too far back, so his finger just hovers over the record button until Running Up That Hill comes back on, and he repeats the process. Over and over again, until the hour long tape is filled with nothing but one song.

Robin watches him do it in complete silence. She doesn't move or shuffle until after he's paused the recording, stilling again once he hits record. He knows she doesn't understand why, but also that she doesn't need to understand. He knows that she knows he'll explain as soon as he's able.

He's just afraid to say too much right now. He can remember tomorrow; the Pennhurst plan, how it is supposed to go based on what remembers Nancy and Robin saying. Max will bully him into driving her around, and they'll end up at Billy's grave. He'll be ready this time, he already knows the answers they're seeking but he doesn't want to risk too much.

He has a plan. And it'll work. It has too.

Because he can't remember what happens after. Patrick dies, and there's... water? A lake? But why is Patrick at a lake in the dark? He isn't, is the thing. It's like there are two memories overlapping in Steve's mind and he doesn't know which is real. Or if either of them are.

There's a memory of... of Eddie? Eddie talking about Patrick floating but there's also a memory of hearing it on the news, Patrick found dead in his room, murdered the same way as Chrissy and Fred with no sign of forced entry in his house. Both memories feel real, but Steve doesn't know, can't tell, which is.

Robin and he falls sleep wrapped around each other that night.

-

@i-less-than-three-you @nburkhardt @afewproblems @skepsiss @apomaro-mellow @eddie-munsons-lunchbox @sirsnacksalot @livelifeliketheresnotomorrow @sageclipse @schnukiputz @mbloggotdeletedsothisismybackup @lumoschildextra @juleswashere3 @yet-still-more-banched @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @yearningagain @starlight-archer @chaosgremlinmunson @aol19 @goodolefashionedloverboi @gutterflower77 @moomkin77 @wonderland-girl143-blog @krazyperson @sevenmerrymagpies

[gay-dorito-dust]

Hi this is my first time making a request \~•~/

Anyways I recently came to know Jason Todd's middle name is Peter. I started to wonder how all the bat boys would react to being called by their government names.

Thank you :)

Jason

Shits himself when he hears you calling him by his first, middle and last name instead of your sweet nicknames like jay birdie or jay jay, as he quickly learned from a young age that nothing good ever came from someone exclaiming his full name.

He thought that he and Roy may have rough housed a little too much and potentially broke something of yours or something and now you were upset over it.

‘Whatever it was I didn’t do it.’ He’d say almost automatically.

You could be mad at him for bleeding out on the carpet you’ve just cleaned and he’d be stood there holding his wounds like ‘I swear it wasn’t me this time.’

And you’d be like ‘so I’m meant to believe that you’re not currently staining our carpet with blood?’ Jason would look down, see that he was indeed bleeding all over the carpet but still found it within himself to look you dead in the eyes and say, ‘it’s not all mine.’ As if that was going to get him out of any more trouble then he was already in to begin with.

You presume it was the blood loss talking.

Needless to say Jason dreads whenever you call him by his full name, he may be an intimidating man in stature alone and could hand anyone their asses in a fight, but he was a secret softie with you and hated it whenever he got in trouble with you but is adult enough to have a conversation about it and come to a conclusion beneficial for the both of you.

Damian

He’s the least phased out of the boys upon hearing you call his full name, if anything he goes to greet you like you were the one he was annoyed with.

He’d stand in the doorway with his arms crossed as an impatient and unamused look spread across his face.

‘What is it?’ He’d ask as though you were wasting his precious time.

His grandfather often calls him by his full name, so Damian was more use to his full name or even just Damian Wayne being said rather then a sweet pet name. If anything if you had called him by a nickname then he’d be skeptical and slightly on edge as to what it was that you wanted.

At least when your relationship is still fresh that is, later on as the relationship grew serious then Damian might be more accustomed to your nicknames but for the sake of the fic he’s more use to being called forth by his full name.

He doesn’t show any signs of fear or anything like that, just plain annoyance. If anything he calls you by your full name also in retaliation for whenever you did something wrong.

Dick

Would say some stupid shit like ‘that’s not my name’ or ‘who’s Richard Grayson? I only go by Dick, dickie bird, fat ass-‘

He’s the type to look at you as though you’ve said something that went completely over his head, he would much rather that you never call him by his full name ever again and go back to using the cute pet names you’ve chosen for one another.

He acts as though you’ve just talked about another man in his presence. The dramatic twat.

He doesn’t like it at all and will purposefully ignore you until you called him those cute nicknames again and then maybe he’ll talk. Pouts and all.

You’re meant to be in a relationship with him so drop the full name and go back to calling him Dickie bird for his sake. Plz.

[thesuperiorrobin]

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬~

Pairing: Husband!Damian Wayne x Wife!Reader

Word count: 1.2k

Warning: reader has bad thought about her marriage with Damian, maybe slight cursing, marriage problems? Not proofread

(Requested!)

He doesn’t love you.

That’s why he doesn’t wear his ring as often anymore.

He found someone else that’s why he’s so distant with you now.

A groan leaves past your lips, fixing your position on your bed, moving from your side to laying on your back. Eyes adjusting to the dark as you stare up at the white ceiling. Another thoughtful night, ones that you hated the most were also the ones where Damian spends most of the night hours cooped up in his study hall—finishing up paper for Wayne Enterprises. It seems that all he’s been doing since Bruce passed it down to him after the old man’s retirement.

You really couldn’t blame anyone, that’s what owning a big company is about, but you would have never thought that it would take time away from each other. It’s a selfish thought, but all you really want to do is spend time with your husband. Sometimes it feels like he’s doing it to get away from you. That’s what you think.

Maybe confronting him would put you at ease for a while. You debated whether or not you should go now or wait until he wasn’t busy burying his nose in his paperwork, but with much arguing with yourself and your thoughts you came to a conclusion to just get up and go ask.

“Oh what the hell”

The master bed creeks slightly as you get up and slide yourself up. Slipping your feet into your fluffy slippers that were always placed beside your side of the bed, you push yourself up from the mattress. You pick up a thinner blanket that was draped over a chair in your room and draped it over your shoulders before leave to go find Damian. Which wasn’t very hard to find considering he’s been in his study, which was Bruce’s old study, since early this afternoon.

Now it’s past midnight, and you are in front of the door of the room, hand hovering over the door knob wondering if it was the right time to talk about it. With a soft sigh you grasp the knob gently pushing the door open as you walk in. Your eyes catch a glimpse of Damian’s figure hunched over his desk scribbling down on paper as quickly as he can.

“Damian?” You call out, the sound of pen against paper stops as Damian’s eyes catch yours humming at you indicating you’ve got his attention. “You should come to bed” you bite back your tongue “it’s late” Damian smiles at you, a very genuine one

“in a minute. I’m almost done here. Carry on and go back to sleep Habibti'' well, He didn’t exactly specify that you had to go back to your room and sleep, so it caught him by surprise when he catches you getting you comfortable on the big L shape couch in the room that sets a few feet away from his desk. He can’t help but chuckle. “What are you doing?”

He questions and you shrug innocently “you said I should go back to sleep so that’s what I’m doing. Wake me up when you’re finished so we can go back to our bedroom. Together” you close your eyes, and listen as the sound of pen and paper continue. But you can’t fall back asleep—the sound has nothing to do with it, you actually enjoy the sound but the thoughts are what keep you awake. Troubling you as you lay on your back, eyes wide open as you stare up at the ceiling much like earlier.

Too deep in thought you never hear the sounds stop, the chair squeaking against the wooden floor as Damian gets up from his seat, his footsteps quiet. You don’t notice him until he’s sitting right beside your head, his warm hand gently creasing down your cheek.

“What seems to be troubling you, zawjati?” You stay quiet for a moment before answering

“it’s Nothing”

“it’s clearly something if it’s keeping you up at this hour” he says, staring down at your lying form. You grab hold of his hand—keeping it from creasing your face any further. You pull yourself up so your back is fully up against the cushions, knees pulled up against your chest. Damian watches your every move closely. You keep your eyes low—away from his gaze as you bite the side of your cheek.

“Do….” You sigh out for what seemed to be the nth time today. Finally, you have the courage to look him in the eye “Do you still love me?” Searching, your eyes linger in his eyes for a sign. But you couldn’t find anything, but then again he was always good at hiding his emotions for people—even from you. The silence from him gave you a bad feeling as tears were pricking at the corner of your eyes—you don’t have the courage to look him in the eyes anymore “Seems like I’ve got my answer then huh'' Damian doesn’t register anything until your shuffling yourself off from the couch. He’s quick to reach out to you before you can take another step away from him, pulling you back down as you sit beside him—close with your hips touching. He starts to wipe the tears that threaten to fall down your cheek.

“Where on earth did you get that idea from?” He questions, you shrug your lips turning into a straight as you answer

“It doesn’t matter—“

“it does if these thoughts are poisoning yours” he gently taps against your forehead. You nod slowly, throat dry as you try to explain.

“you’ve been so distant— and I know it’s because of work but sometimes it feels like it’s not” he doesn’t interrupt—no matter how many times he wants to deny it, it’s best to hear you out first. As you continue his strong arm wraps around your shoulder softly—bringing you closer to his side, his free arm reaching over and placing your head on his shoulder, you don’t fight it back as you make yourself comfortable “it’s selfish I know but—I don’t know. I barely see you anymore. It’s frustrating” by the end of it you're fidgeting around with his fingers on your lap.

Damian’s head is laying on top of yours “wanting my love is never selfish” he speaks up “I’m sorry for neglecting my duties as your husband”

You shake your head “you don’t have to apologize, I should be the one apologizing seeing as I was the one that jumped to conclusions”

Damian grips your hand tightly— but not too tight where it hurts. “You should have said something, if I had known sooner I would have pushed my work aside and came to your aid” now you were starting to feel bad—it was clear it wasn’t his intention to do so but you couldn’t help it.

Your groans had Damian staring at you as you laid your head in your hands “Now I feel bad” there’s a soft gaze in his eyes

“Don’t be” Damian gets up from his spot beside you and grasps your hand in his—thumb grazing over your knuckles “come, let’s go to bed shall we? I believe I have a tired wife who needs her beauty sleep?” Rolling your eyes he pulls you to your feet and before you knew it you were yelping as he lifted you up in the air as carried you in a bridal position. “I will move my plans so that I can spend the next few days with you, zawjati” he leans his head done and kisses your forehead “how does that sound’ giving him a soft smile your response

“I actually like the sound of that”

[daddysfangirls-dc]

The Arrangement

Ch 1 Old Habit

Damian Wayne x OC!Female

Next

Damian sighed, and she began to move, unlatching herself from him and moving away. He looked at her, confused. " I know that sigh. It's your 'I have to leave' sigh." Despite her thoughts and feelings, she moved away, allowing him to begin his departure.

"I didn't realize I had become habitual."

"No, I've just known you long enough to see the small tell." She watches him as he puts on his mask and heads for her window.  " Robin?" he turns back towards her. " Thank you, and Good Luck." And he vanishes into the night. 

-

"Looks like you're falling back into old habits," Tim flinched so hard that he swore his heart stopped. He blamed his sleep deprivation on why Jason got so close without being noticed. He needed sleep. 

"Stop," Tim whined as he tried to swat Jason's hands away from his laptop. 

"Stalking Robin truly is a pastime for you," Jason teased as he scrolled through the pictures of Robin, aka Damian.

"What a minute, go back!" Tim was sure his heart stopped this time as he flinched so hard he fell out of his chair. Fortunately, Dick caught him and sat him up straight. Tim was going to bed after this.  

"Who is that?" Dick asked. Tim rubbed his face before looking. Robin stood next to a girl in a red and black Kimono with the League of Assassins insignia. 

"I don't know"

"When did you take this picture?"

"I don't know"

"How-"

"I haven't slept for 73 hours. I am surviving on power naps, energy drinks, and caffeine. I don't remember everything. Forgive me if I miss a few details."  While complaining, Tim worked to get the details of that photo and other similar photos. He knew that things could slip past him with his lack of sleep and had programs to back up his work on such occasions. He pulled up the dates and locations on each photo.

"All of these took place within the last week or so," Dick said, scrolling through the details. 

"I didn't get my first clear picture of her until today. Haven't run it through any database yet."

"We'll take it from here. Got to bed," Jason said, pushing Tim out of his seat. 

"But-"

"Nope, time for bed," Dick said as he pulled Tim away and towards the door. Jason could hear Tim's weak protest down the hall as they went. " Tim is snug as a bug," Dick said smugly when he returned. Tim was too tired to fight Dick's swattling. A Win in his book.

"Nobody," Jason said as Dick sat down at the counter next to him. " Every database, every agency, this chick doesn't exist."

"Not a surprise," Dick said " It is the league. Does he know when or why she came into town? What's her relationship to Damian?" 

"I don't know; there are no notes. All I got was pictures, nothing else. At least not that I can find."

"We'll have to talk to Tim when he wakes up. And look into her. We'll also keep a closer eye on Robin during patrol. " 

It was obvious from the body language that Damian not only knew the girl but was comfortable with her. While Dick was suspicious and cautious, especially with the league, in the case of Damian, he did not wish to jump to conclusions that might get him hurt. They'd wait. Damian was home now and in bed; they'd wait until they had more information and more people. They'd wait. 

-

"We can't keep meeting like this," Robin said as he walked up to her, as she tied up the unconscious men. She wore her usual black and red kimono and mask but was bare of any weapons aside from her grabbing hook. She tried never to carry a weapon in Gotham at Robin's request. She looked at him, confused. " Almost every time we meet, it is surrounded by unconscious thugs. It's the standard now."

He didn't say anything, instead calling Oracle to tell her that he had come upon a drug bust and handled it on his own. He'd take the lecture later. He listens for the chorus of disapproval for a bit, then mutes his comm again. She hung her catch, and the two left before the police arrived.

"has my mother contacted you?"

"Not yet. Then again, she thinks I'm still in South America. I finished my mission earlier and didn't tell," she said, leaning back against the wall. He looked over the edge, watching down below.

"How many days do you have left?"

"Three, not including tonight."

"Time is in our favor then."

"Only if you let it be. Do you have plans after this?" she asked, leaning on his waist as he leaned over the edge. 

"No"

"Do you want to come over? Watch a movie? and have late-night snacks. Just spend a late night together."

"Acceptable"

"Come to my place when you're done," she said as she saluted him and then disappeared into the shadows. He'd go back to her safe house later on. And spending some alone time together without beating up thugs. He'd like a light of peace or semi-peace. If only for an hour or even 30 minutes. Just time with her. 

[ragnarokhound]

omg sweetie pie don’t talk about chains I’ll BLUSH. definitely never been into that…

How do you think the rest of the Batfam reacts to Jaytim finally happening (something along the lines of your secretary fic) ?

I think Cass knew how they felt before them, Damian is disgusted (but secretly pleased), Dick found out by walking in on them at Tim’s apartment, and Bruce had no idea and has none until Jason tells him point blank. Alfred? Somehow orchestrated the whole thing.

I'll keep that in mind babe ;) (*adds 'Spicy Hardware' to the budget)

Ohoho, that is a fun question, and one that I often have trouble answering because I am like a horse with blinders on when it comes to my hyperfixations and my ships OTL Jason and Tim usually get the brunt of my obsessive analysis, leaving only minimal room for other characters to squeeze their way in. RIPeroni you two ❤️

That being said, I'm a huge liar because I do actually have some Thoughts lol

It largely depends on the state of the verse we're in and how involved the others were in watching their courtship go down, so without further adieu, here's how I think the batfam would react to finding out about jaytim's newly minted relationship in my secretary!au fic:

So in Secretary!AU in particular, the others weren't involved to an almost suspicious degree 😳 Tim is losing his mind for a month over Jason daylighting as his secretary, and he never finds out anything resembling the truth from anyone? What??

Which of course means some of them were simply unaware because they don't give a shit or assume Tim isn't suffering (Damian, Duke, Bruce) and some ARE aware to some degree that this is unusual and came to their own conclusions. And promptly decided to stay out of it (Dick, Babs, Steph, Cass, Alfred - Duke might actually be here, it depends lol)

In particular, Steph hears Tim's mini rant/breakdown Day 1 and is simply too amused. Because she watched him suddenly start deflecting Jason's attention 3 months ago, and oh boy does this feel like a comeuppance. She's got popcorn and is asking things like, 'i dunno Tim, why do you think Jason followed you to the office where you have to reliably be?' and after all of it, when he shows up with a hickey after patrolling with Jason that night, she golf claps at him

Cass shrugs at Tim when he vents where she can hear, because she's been waiting for them to figure this out for like. A year now. She is surprised when Tim had his Jason-shaped epiphany because she knows that Tim has been Into Jason ever since that time in the park with Poison Ivy, and Jason called him a princess for getting particular about decon. (Similarly, Cass also knew that Jason has been low-key into Tim since the time before that, when Tim ugly laughed so hard at a joke Jason made at Dick's expense that he nearly inhaled a french fry). When they get together, she is standing next to Steph, also golf clapping because Steph told her it would be funny

Dick had to listen to Jason complain about Tim ghosting him a month or two into it (Jason and Dick were in each other's vicinity and Jason asked how Tim was doing. Dick said he was 'fine, why?' And Jason scowled and muttered, 'No reason. Feel like he's been dodging me, is all' and a tiny red alert pinged in the back of Dick's head) so when he hears that Jason is at Wayne Tower and that Tim is having vent sessions about it with Steph, his eyebrows shoot waaaay up. He kind of hopes that the Tower is still standing after Jason's done getting whatever vengeance he has in mind (Jason's prank war game is both legendary and unhinged). When he finds out what actually transpires (or rather, guesses what transpired), he has a small moment of relief because 'oh phew, is that all?' and then immediately BSODs because 'WAIT WHAT, IS THAT WHY YOU GUYS ARE CLAPPING--'

Babs quietly figured out why Tim was panicking pretty early because no one ghosts someone for having a good, fun, tbh flirty relationship for literally any other reason. She wondered vaguely if Jason was going to a) clock it and then b) do anything about it, and then equally quietly paused auto-uploads on Wayne Tower office footage so that she could make Tim review it instead. She simply Will Not be the one to log the data from Monday morning, thanks.

Damian did not and does not give a fuck. He briefly questions Todd's sanity. Then immediately discards that thought because it's Todd. He would like Grayson to quit yelling at that octave though, because his 'i'm secretly happy for you but also hurt that you didn't confide in me' shouting is very grating and makes Damian nervous.

Duke I'm on the fence about, but I lean towards 'i was sitting over on the bench' for him. He was so busy Staying In His Lane that he simply did not notice that this was happening. 'Uh, congrats, I guess?'

Bruce was keeping tabs on the situation. He does not plan to review the footage either. He has ten more gray hairs than he did yesterday, and is pondering how their relationship might affect their performance in the field, but trusts that Tim has likely thought through the ramifications and likely scenarios that should need to be compensated for. (Being involved with your teammate can be frightening and stressful; it could lead to strain between the two of you, and opens new vulnerabilities up for exploitation. But it can also be deeply, deeply rewarding. Hm.) (also shout-out to the one commenter who theorized that Bruce was the one on the other end of the phone call that Jason yanked the cord on. LMAO. ROFL, even.)

Alfred defuses the tension in the cave by reminding everyone to please finish their reports, and that there are refreshments in the dining room upstairs when they are finished, should anyone be joining the household for dinner tonight. He is very pointedly looking at Jason and Tim when he says this, because they Will be joining the household for dinner tonight, because it is the duty and privilege of a grandfather to tease his grandson (Jason) for having a boyfriend (Tim). Idk if Alfred called it in quite the same way as Cass, but he knew there was something interpersonal they needed to work out, and also that Tim has had a crush on Robin for his Entire Life, so he's not exactly surprised.

...aaaand sorry if I skipped anyone, but that's my list lol

[murmeloni]

Thinking about an AU of your Jason and Bruce (maybe even from the 5 times verse) where Jason gets shot in the head ala dicks ric arc, and just straight up does NOT remember being in a relationship with Bruce or anything post his moms OD. The sweet amnesiac angst of him discovering all these scars esp the autopsy scars and Bruce coming face to face with the Horrors~ afresh. Especially the batarang scar. Your penchant for writing internal conflict and high stakes emotion would make me RABID

Oh that idea is going straight into the wip folder!!!! I absolutely LOVE that!!!!

Just imagine the despair Jason feels when he tries to piece together what his life was like since he was 12 and coming to all the wrong conclusions (at least in some regards). Like, that while he was taken in by a rich guy who apparently loved him, that love wasn't enough. In fact it might have been precisely that love that ultimately and irreversibly tied his life to violence and death and blood. That he hasn't been able to escape any of it, that it's etched into his very bones. Even his love has teeth now. He knows because of the way Bruce acts around him.

Because of course Bruce, after witnessing Jason's first reaction to seeing himself, seeing his body, the scars etc. (and maybe even witnessing the shot to the head that started it all) is going through it. He's walking on egg-shells around Jason, shutting him out like only Bruce Wayne can and Jason, who doesn't know Bruce like he did before, thinks it's due to him being a horrible person. Maybe he's become like his father. Maybe he's been abusive and violent? He asks about his own scars and where they come from, he asks about Bruce's, of course he does, but no one will tell him, they won't even meet his eyes. He must be a fucking monster for them to do that, to be so scared of him (he doesn't know it's shame that keeps them silent). So he tries hard to gentle himself, to be soft, but it only seems to make things even worse. He is a stranger in his own skin, in his own home and he doesn't know what to do. He feels isolated.

Just Jason and Bruce in their own ways coming to terms with the heartbreaking realization that none of the hopes they'd harbored for their future, for Jason's future in particular, came to bear. The boy didn't even get to go to college, for fucks sake, which was his biggest dream growing up.

Just *chef's kiss*! You are a genius, anon. The mental anguish is delicious and I am kissing you on the mouth (if you're comfortable with that. Otherwise I'm high-fiving you so hard)

Also, you might be pleased to hear that the drugged Bruce fic is coming very soon 👀 I couldn't resist. It sits at 4k words now and it's probably getting at least 2k more. Not sure how long exactly it'll be and how long it'll take to finish but I'm certain I can upload it this month ❤️ loads of angst and pining and just typical Brujay emotions.

Thank you so much for this pre-birthday (it's tomorrow) surprise! I absolutely love your asks!

[munson-blurbs]

@corrodedcoffinfest Day 27: You'll Be In My Heart

Word Count: 729/Rating: M/Pairing: None/CW: canon-compliant, Eddie's funeral, dead dove!!!/Tags: Eddie Munson, Gareth, Grant, Jeff, Jeff's POV, Metallica, Corroded Coffin, funeral, death

Divider credit to @silkholland

Life, it seems, will fade away Drifting further every day

Today was the second time Jeff had stood in as Corroded Coffin’s frontman.

The first time was two years ago. Eddie had gotten laryngitis right before a gig and asked Jeff to take over rather than cancel the show altogether.

“You know all the chords and the lyrics,” he’d croaked into the phone. Jeff could hear the smile in his voice. “Go out there and kick ass.”

With abundant trepidation, Jeff took center stage that night, his nerves easing and confidence growing with each note he played. The sound wasn’t as full with only one guitar, and his voice wasn’t as powerful as Eddie’s, but he was good. Good enough to warrant praise from the band’s fearless leader.

Getting lost within myself Nothing matters, no one else

“Don’t let this go to your head, now,” Eddie had teased, clapping a hand on Jeff’s back, “but you made me damn proud. Not just the way you played–Grant and Gareth told me you were a total fuckin’ rockstar, by the way–but for stepping up when we needed you.”

That first time was a celebration. The second time was agony.

Jeff stood behind the microphone at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, feeling Gareth staring at him from where he sat at his drum set. Grant kept his gaze on the strings of his bass, eyes shiny with the threat of tears. If he made eye contact with either of the other two young men beside him, he’d almost certainly begin sobbing.

I have lost the will to live Simply nothing more to give There is nothing more for me Need the end to set me free

Despite having sung the Metallica cover hundreds of times, the lyrics felt foreign coming out of Jeff’s mouth. His voice was warped in his own ears the way a well-loved cassette sounds when the tape unspools.

The crowd was tiny but mighty, if not confusing. Among the expected attendees was Eddie’s Uncle Wayne, who had been the one to ask Corroded Coffin’s three remaining members to play at his nephew’s funeral. It seemed macabre to have a band with the word ‘coffin’ in its name to play such an occasion, but Wayne had insisted upon it.

“It’s what Eddie would’ve wanted,” he’d said, his whiskered jaw trembling the same way it was now.

Things not what they used to be Missing one inside of me Deathly lost, this can't be real Cannot stand this hell I feel

Dustin Henderson sat beside him, lips tucked into his mouth as he swallowed back tears. A running joke among the Hellfire Club was that Dustin hadn’t shut up since the moment he learned to talk, but he’d barely spoken a word since that godforsaken earthquake hit. 

Behind them sat the Sinclairs. Jeff couldn’t help but notice the way Lucas and Erica’s fingers intertwined, eyes stained with the harsh redness that only came from nonstop crying. The whole Wheeler family was situated next to them, along with Mike’s girlfriend from California, her buzzed hair just like Eddie’s back in junior high.

Emptiness is filling me To the point of agony Growing darkness taking dawn I was me, but now he's gone

The most surprising guests were Steve Harrington and Robin Buckley. Jeff watched a mascara-tinged tear trail down the awkward band geek’s freckled cheek, the former King of Hawkins High digging into his suit jacket and offering her a Kleenex. He hadn’t been aware that those two were friends nor that they were close enough to Eddie to attend his funeral, but he lacked the energy to question it.

No one but me can save myself, but it's too late Now I can't think, think why I should even try

A calming presence enveloped Jeff as the song neared its conclusion, bringing the same tingle of joy that he’d had when Eddie had lauded him after his first foray into lead guitarist. He wasn’t sure how he’d go on–how the band would go on–without Eddie’s guidance, but he’d solve that problem when his world hadn’t been turned on its head. His job now was simply to be the leader that Grant and Gareth needed. The leader that Eddie had taught him to be.

Yesterday seems as though it never existed Death greets me warm, now I will just say goodbye Goodbye

--

[shesinchargeareyoukidding]

Stir crazy Chapter 4

“Do you know what it´s like being a trailer park kid?” Max asked Hopper as soon as they stepped outside.

“What?”

“Do you. Know what it’s like. To be a trailer part kid?” She blinked at him with fake patience, like she was talking to a toddler. Hopper looked to Lucas for some form of help, but he pointedly looked the other way and went to sit on the steps with his back turned to them. You’re on you own. He seemed to say.

“No, Mayfield, I don’t.” Hopper grumbled.

“People treat you like dogshit on the bottom of their shoe.” Max said in a deadpan voice.

Hopper sighed. “Max-“

“They assume you´re not going to make anything of your life. If your parents ended up at a trailer park, what good could come of their offspring, right?” Max huffed, playing with the red cast on her arm.

“And whenever something happens,” she continued,  “they assume you probably had something to do with it. Despite being Billy Hargrove’s sister, nobody ever thought I could do any wrong. But since we moved to the trailer park that all changed. Now when someone fucks around during class while the teacher’s back is turned, the teacher always immediately looks at me. Like I’m somehow a different person now. A bad person.” She trailed off, looking into the dark forest.

Hopper waited silently for Max to continue. It took her a moment to gather her thoughts. Eventually she started talking again.

“You know the gas station near the trailer park?” Hopper nodded, even though Max wasn’t looking at him.

“A lot of us like to go there to buy booze and cigarettes. Two months ago, someone stole two sixpacks from that store. The police followed the trail of empty crushed beer cans to the trailer park and immediately drew their conclusions. They promptly knocked on the door of the Munson’s trailer and arrested Eddie. His uncle wasn’t home, and Eddie knew better than to resist. That would only make things worse.” She sounded so bitter. But Hopper couldn’t help but think it likely for Eddie to steal some beers. I mean, it wouldn’t be the first time he-

“It was my mom.” It was said so quietly that he almost didn’t hear her.

“What?”

“My mom did it. I know, because she made me go with her. Made me distract the cashier as she left without paying. She drank half of them on the way back home. Eddie waved at us from the porch as we walked by. He knew. He knew it was us.” Max took a deep breath, trying to keep a level head as she relived the moment.

“When they- when they arrested Eddie my mom was already passed out, but I peeked through the window as they were dragging him out. Eddie looked confused, like he had no idea what he had done this time. Then one of the officers pointed at a beer can on the ground and Eddies eyes immediately snapped to our trailer.  I thought: This is it. The only way for him to get out of this is to tell them what he saw. They’ll arrest my mom and I’ll be-“ She forcefully blinked her eyes and turned away from Hopper.

“I’ll be alone.” It was confessed to the trees, who seemed to be silently listening in, bowing towards her in the wind.

“But he found my eyes, and he winked at me with this… this smirk. The cops took him away and  I stayed up all night waiting for the moment that the cops would come back to take us. But they never did.” Max shook her head.

“You know what the worst part was? The next day when I came back from school he wasn’t even back yet. He came home a couple of hours later, they didn’t even give him a ride. I could hear Wayne ask him where he’d been. He had been worried sick, going round to all the trailers and asking if they’d seen his nephew. I couldn’t hear what Eddie said, but I could see how he looked. He looked so tired, like he had been questioned all night. I don’t think he confessed to anything, but that didn’t matter. Talk in the trailer park was how ‘the Munson kid’ had been arrested again. ‘Oh he’s just so much trouble, I don’t see why his uncle even bothers with him anymore.’” Max mocked in a high pitched voice and scoffed.

“I wanted to thank him… or apologise maybe, but my mom didn’t let me near him. As if he was the bad influence in my life, as if it she didn’t just make me an accomplice to fucking theft.” She brushed away an angry tear that was trailing down her cheek.

“But he was used to it I guess. That’s what he told me when I asked him about it. He got over it. But still…” She shrugged, looking for the right words to express her anger at the injustice.

“He had missed school, probably got detention because of that, was questioned all night and then had to walk all the way home and he didn’t do anything wrong. Yet there was nothing he could do or say to prove his innocence and he knew it. As far as everyone’s concerned he did steal those sixpacks. He was… he was marked.” Max finally turned to Hopper again, not even trying to contain her anger anymore as she told him exactly what she was thinking.

“Eddie is an easy scapegoat. He lives in a trailer park, his dad is awful, he sells drugs to get by, but most importantly, he can’t defend himself. He can’t defend himself without making things worse for himself. And don’t people like you just love that.” She rounded on him.

“I bet it felt good. Did you feel better about yourself when you were yelling at him? To have your own personal villain to beat up on? Nice and easy isn’t it? When it’s not Demogorgons or secret labs with the entire government backing them? Just a scared kid, hurt and defenceless in your home.”

“Woah! Max, it’s not like that.” Hopper exclaimed in shock.

“Isn’t it?”

“No! That’s not- I wasn’t- I didn’t even…“

“Then what was it?”

“I just- with him- and-and you- with the drugs-“

“Oh, so you can binge drink around us and then throw back a handful of painkillers when you’re hungover, but Eddie can’t sell some weed to rich kids to make ends meet?”

“I-…” Hopper didn’t know what to say to that. “I- You’re right.” He sagged in defeat. “God, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologise to me, apologise to him.” Max pointed to the door.

 As Hopper walked back inside, he was surprised at the quiet atmosphere, considering the chaos that had been there not so long ago. Eddie was still sat up on the couch, now only in his boxers. Hopper was shocked to see even more wounds on the kids legs. Nancy was carefully running a cloth over one just above his knee that looked especially painful. Joyce and Steve were both carefully cleaning the various re-opened wounds at Eddies sides. The smell of blood hit him and made him a little nauseous. He could tell Eddie felt the same. He was taking measured breaths and had his jaw clenched. Faint drops of sweat dotted his brow and his fingers were clenched in the couch cushions.

Hopper stood at the door, just watching the scene. He wasn’t sure if he would be wanted, so he waited. Nancy finished cleaning Eddies leg wounds and stood up. She grabbed the first aid kit and started to prepare her needle and thread. Upon hearing the first aid kit click open, Eddies eyes snapped open too. He watched as Nancy thread her needle and his face turn grey with fear. It would feel awful, Hopper knew this from experience, and it would take a long time... Maybe there was something he could do.

“Eddie? Do you have any pain medication laying around?” he asked. Big brown eyes met his.

“n-no...” Eddie looked confused at the question.

So all this time the kid had been walking around with those wounds and no pain relief. Goddamn it.

“Alright. one sec.” Hopper replied as apathetically as he could.

Hopper disappeared into the bathroom for a second and came back with a glass of water and an orange pill bottle. He opened it, took out two and handed them and the glass of water over to Steve, who had just finished up cleaning Eddies left side.

“Here, these should help a bit.”

“What are they?” Steve asked suspiciously.

“Just some painkillers, I take them for my headaches.”

“won’t you need ‘em?” Eddie chimed in, brows furrowed. Hopper gave him a rare smile.

“Nah kid, they’re mostly for my hangovers anyway.”

Eddie laughed and immediately tensed up as it pulled on his wounds. The smile didn’t leave his eyes though as he looked up at Hopper. He held out a shaking hand to Steve, silently asking for the pills. Steve caved and gave them to him.

“Drink the whole glass, alright? You’ll need it after all the blood you’ve lost.” Hopper added. Eddie nodded. Knocking back the pills one by one and then kept sipping on the water.

“Thank you. Now leave.” Steve sneered.

“steve…“

“No Eddie, he doesn’t get to just do that after everything that’s happened.”

“ ‘s okay.”

“No it’s not!”

“wher- where’s he gonna go, man?” Eddie shakily gestured to the tiny space they were in.

“It’s alright, I’ll keep my distance.” Hopper backed up a couple of steps until his back hit a wall. “But I would like an opportunity to apologise to Eddie when he’s feeling better.”

“y-you already did.” Eddie frowned. Hopper didn’t really remember saying sorry, but he supposed he could’ve said it at some point while they were getting the kid back. That sure as hell didn’t count though.

“Not properly.”

“oh.” Eddie said awkwardly, fidgeting in his spot on the couch.

“Let’s get you laying down and wait for those painkillers to kick in, okay honey?” Joyce suggested helpfully. Eddie nodded and stiffly moved to lay down, Joyce and Steve supporting him on the way down. Together they had him lying on his back, with his head in Steve’s lap, his left hand clutching Steve’s. They locked eyes and Eddie smiled tightly.

“this feels familiar…” His smile wobbled a little bit. Steve firmly shook his head, his thumb tracing patterns into the back of Eddies hand.

“It won´t be like that this time.”

Joyce sat down by Eddies head and ran her hand through his hair.

“What happened last time?” She asked softly. Steve swallowed heavily, his hand joining Joyce’s in Eddies hair. Eddie sunk into the touch with a shaky sigh.

“When we dragged him out of the upside down, Eddie-… he was barely conscious. He didn’t know what was going on and he was bleeding everywhere so we had to act fast…” Steve twisted a dark curl around his index finger as he worked through his jumbled memories of that night.

“Robin took Dustin out of there. To the hospital for his leg. I had to hold Eddie down as Nancy tried to stop the bleeding. It was- it didn’t-…” Steve’s eyes searched Eddies face, looking for the right words and trying to keep his emotions under control.

Eddie squeezed Steve’s hand and gave him another tense smile. “i wasn’t very helpful, huh.” His eyes drifted towards the ceiling, trying to think back. “d-don’t remember much, but i guess i started to panic… i-it was too much like…”

“Like being attacked.” Steve quietly filled in, his fingers brushing a curl off Eddies forehead.

“yeah…” Eddie blinked sadly up at Steve. They only had eyes for each other, so they missed the heartbroken look Joyce was giving them. The moment stretched out as both of them seemed to be reading something in each other’s gaze. A silent connection that seemed very, very strong. Joyce wondered how close they had become over such a short period of time. Then Steve seemed to come back to himself. His eyes snapped to Joyce, then back to Eddie as he remembered where they had left off.

“So uhm… Basically I… I had to hold him still while Nancy was stitching him up. He was screaming and begging us to stop. But we had to keep going. We had to.” Steve blinked rapidly and looked away. Joyce’s heart was breaking for these boys. The things they went through were horrific for anyone, but they were still so young.

“We cauterized this one.” Steve gestured to a long burn mark on Eddies right side that had thankfully stayed closed. “We couldn’t join the skin, there was too much missing. And the blood-… it-it wouldn’t stop bleeding.” Steve rubbed a shaky hand over his face.

“So Nancy heated up a knife at the stove and-and…” Steve made a vague gesture that looked like he was pressing something down. Joyce flinched despite herself and from the corner of her eye she saw Nancy do the same. Steve’s hand lowered back into Eddies curls. “Thankfully Eddie passed out after that.”

“Oh that’s awful, Steve. I’m so sorry.” Joyce cupped both the boy’s faces and held their gaze. “Steve’s right though Eddie, it won’t be like that this time. We have some pain relief and you’ll know what’s happening.” She added.

Eddie nodded. He knew Joyce was right, even though he still dreaded it. “I- I think they’re working now…”

“huh?”

“the painkillers.” Eddie clarified.

“Yeah?” Joyce looked at him intently. Eddie nodded.

“How do you feel sweetheart?”

“fuzzy… like the pain’s still kinda there but f-far away…”

“That does sound like they’re kicking in. Do you feel up to this Nancy? I could give it a go if you’re not…” She turned to the young woman, who was nervously disinfecting the needle and thread.

“No, no. I’ll do it.” She said distractedly. As everything was ready, she walked over to the couch and locked eyes with Eddie.

“Where do you want me to begin? I can do the most painful ones first, if that helps.” She asked softly.

“i-i don’t know nancy. i guess that makes sense…” Eddie said miserably.

“Alright, then I’ll start with your sides.” Nancy hated that she knew from experience that this was the area that had made Eddie howl in pain before. “Steady breaths, Eddie.”

Eddie looked up at Steve with so much trust and vulnerability. It made Steve wonder what he had done to deserve it. He brought Steve’s hand to lay flat on his chest and pressed it down, silently telling him that he could hold him down if he had to. It devastated Steve more than he could comprehend.

A painful silence filled the room. None of them wanted to be in this moment. Nancy was plagued by memories of the time before, where she’d had to forcefully grab at Eddies shivering skin to be able to stick the needle through, doing her best to ignore the screams. Eddie tried desperately to control his spiralling thoughts of: ohgodohgodohgodohgodicanticanticanticant

The second Nancy had willed herself to touch Eddies side to pinch the edges of a large wound together, Eddie jumped and instinctively tried to twist out of the way, making Nancy jump too. Nancy clenched her hand in frustration and released a stressed breath through her nose. Eddie couldn’t meet her eyes.

“sorry nance, ‘m just scared.” He admitted. Nancy’s gaze softened.

“I know, Eddie. I know. You trust me, right?” Nancy asked softly. Eddies eyes met hers.

“with m’fucking life, wheeler.” He said firmly. Nancy held his gaze as she leaned closer to him.

“I’m going to be as careful as possible. We’re not desperate this time and I won’t do anything without you knowing. I promise.” Eddie breathed out as he took those words in.  

“If it becomes too much, we will take a break. So just tell me, yeah?” Nancy added.

“alright…” Eddie took another steadying breath as he mentally prepared himself. “do your worst, wheeler.” He added with a shaky grin.

The instant the needle pierced his flesh, all his awareness zeroed in on the pain. The horrible tugging sensation of the thread made his stomach turn. He took harsh breaths through clenched teeth and tried with all his might to stay as still as possible. He had to make things as easy as possible for Wheeler. The needle slid through a particularly sensitive spot and Eddie jerked involuntarily at the prolonged agony. Steve’s hand on his chest pressed down immediately, anchoring him in a strangely comforting way. Eddie managed to choke out an apology and Nancy continued.

Nancy zoned in on the task in front of her. She knew the only way to get through this was to not allow her mind to think about anything else but the next stitch. And then the one after that. And then the next one. That’s what she had done a couple of weeks ago when Eddie had been sobbing and begging and fighting them with every stitch she made. She couldn’t lose her resolve back then, because it would have meant losing her friend. She could not think about the person that she was doing this to, the pain she was causing him, the messed up nature of what she was actually doing. She couldn’t think about the blood that soaked the thread and needle, making them slippery. She had to keep going. It was going well. Eddies torso was almost done. Now for the next stitch, and the next, and the next.

Meanwhile Eddie was trying. Really trying to hold still for Nancy. All he could feel now was the awful sensation of the thread tugging his skin together and his wounds being squeezed closed again. As time passed on it was becoming more and more difficult to control his movements. Despite himself he had started to shake. He squeezed his eyes closed and tried to keep his breathing as steady as possible. The pressure from squeezing his eyes shut turned the darkness behind his eyelids red. God, why did everything remind him of the goddamn upside down?

The next tug felt just like the demobat’s teeth tearing at his skin. Nononononono. He was not going to panic again. Please, please, please not again. He felt so lightheaded and all he felt was pain. Pain and fear. A demobat was gnawing on his side, eating towards his organs, hot blood pouring down his body. He couldn’t move away. He was dying. He was dying.

“Nancy, stop stop. We need to take a break.” Joyce’s voice made Nancy’s head snap up to acknowledge all of Eddie. Not just his wounds. Eddies face was a mask of pain and panic. His eyes were squeezed shut and his jaw was clenched tightly. His entire body was drawn tight and tense, shaking with the strain of it. Sweat was dripping down his face and the shallow breaths he was taking were making his shoulders spasm. It looked like he wasn’t getting enough air. Nancy quickly tied off her final stitch. There. His torso was done. And just in time, so it seemed.

Steve was trying to get through to Eddie. “Eddie come on, open you eyes for me. You’re not there. You’re safe. Please, look at me…” With a gasp Eddies eyes opened and wildly looked around the room. As soon as he saw Steve and Joyce tears flooded his eyes and a sob ripped from his throat.

“Eddie sssh, it´s okay. Deep breaths, honey. Can you tell me three things you can see?” Joyce said. Just like uncle Wayne. Eddie just broke down. Sobs shook his entire body and strained his new stitches. The pain only making him hyperventilate more.

“Oh honey, sssh, sssh, what’s wrong? Is it something I said?” Joyce carefully gathered Eddies head in her arms, running her hands through his hair and trying desperately to soothe the distraught boy.

“i-i w-w-want ‘m uncle.” Eddie hated how pathetic he sounded, but he couldn’t help it.

“Ssh, I know, honey, I know. You need to calm down Eddie, you’re gonna rip your stitches again.” Joyce pleaded softly. Eddie was desperately gripping her shirt, he made a wounded noise as he tried to stop sobbing. Thick tears dripped from his tired eyes.

“d-don’ even know if he’s a-alive…” He whispered shakily to her. Joyce’s heart shattered.

“Oh sweetheart. Of course he is.” Joyce felt two tears of her own slide down her cheeks. Eddie buried his face into her arm as another couple of painful sobs forced their way out of him.

“he’s all i have.” Eddie hiccupped. Joyce continued to run her hands through his hair, quietly shushing him.

“That’s not true Eddie, you have all of us. We’re here Eddie. We love you so much and we’re here.”

As she said this, Joyce heard shuffling behind her. Soon enough they were joined by Robin, Dustin, Eleven, Mike and Erica.

“Guys! You can’t be here, get back to El’s room.” Steve fussed.

“Calm down mom, we just… well, we wanna help.” Robin responded, crossing her arms.

“That’s sweet of you, but there’s not a lot you can do right now. We can’t have you standing around breathing your germs onto Eddies wounds. Furthermore I really don’t want you to have to see this.” Nancy stressed as she fidgeted in her place, waiting for Eddie to gather himself. She couldn’t even reach out to comfort him, as it might contaminate her hands.

“Like I haven’t seen his wounds before. He needs to know that he has us!” Dustin pressed. “Eddie. I told you in the upside down that I love you. I meant that okay? You’re my brother. Always!”

Eddies wet, unfocused eyes looked to Dustin. “I…” He started, frowning at the scratchiness of his voice. “i know. loveyatoo…”

Dustin tentatively walked forward and sat next to Joyce, eyes daring Steve to send him away. He reached out and took Eddies hand that was still white knuckling Joyce’s shirt. Eddies grip released and he was able to relax just a little bit more. Steve rolled his eyes, but could not help the warm smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth.

“Fine. You can stay.” He told Dustin. “The rest of you can come see Eddie when we’re done alright? you can say all your sappy things then.”

“th’sappier th’better…” Eddie slurred with a comforting twinkle in his eyes and the tension in the cabin was released with a collective chuckle. From his place leaning against the wall, Hopper marvelled at the impact this strange kid had on everybody in the room.

Next Chapter

Chapter 1

[sofiiel]

Dial Tone Ch.5 | Duality

Chapter Theme | Previous | Masterlist | Next

You sat at the police station with a small paper cup in your hands, gazing at the water within. Your fingers felt numb even against the warmth seeping through the paper. Chewing your lip, you pulled dead skin from it. Your panicked eyes cried themselves dry.

Nancy left you some time ago, to investigate further and to go with the police, she wanted to help as much as she could, maybe they needed more information, she also to be there when they brought the news to Fred's parents.

Your eyelids fluttering as your thoughts took you back and forth between two terrible conclusions. "Someone has him" and "he's already gone."

"Eddie would have come to me by now, he would have." Your mind reels. "Me and my wanting to fix things, stupid quater-life crisis," you pull too hard on the dead skin on your lip, ripping up a healthy layer and tasting the blood in your mouth, "and I took it out on Eddie, I freaked him out, It ended everything we had now he - my chance to ever fix it or tell i'm I'm sorry for being a basketcase might be gone."

The door to the police station swung open as Wayne rushed in, tired eyes shinning with concern. "Where is she/he?" He asked, his eyes falling on Flo.

Flo pointed in your direction, she'd given you water and tried her best to make you comfortable. But nothing helped the state you were in.

Wayne's steps slow as he calmly takes a seat next to you. "Hey kiddo," He said. You sucked in your lips and shook your head, turning to look at him. " Let's get you home." said Wayne, as he helped you to your feet.

"They haven't questioned her/him yet," Flo says.

"Look at 'em," Wayne said, "does she/he look like hours of interrogation is a good idea?" He asked. Flo fell silent and sighed, "I'll let Powell know you came bye and got her/him." He said. "Thanks." Wayne said, walking you out of the station.

The ride back to your apartment was a quiet one.

Wayne rolled out his foldout bed, and you locked yourself away in your room. On hands and knees, you dig around under your bed, pulling out articles of clothing and chucking them across the floor. Reaching for a box.

Pulling the box out from under the bed and onto your lap, you sniffle and rummage through it. Old doodles drawn on cigarette pack foil and gum wrappers, from another phase Eddie went through of 'cute things' during your third year together. "Eddie, this is trash," you remember telling him.

"And now we're recycling, babe. Saving the earth and being cute as hell while doing it. Look, it's you in my clothes." You could almost hear his reply as if he'd been beside you again, showing you that miniscule drawing.

You give a sniffle, and pull out a short brown braid.

"Eddie, wh-what is this?"

"I cut off some of my hair. It's easy to keep track of this way and carry around."

"Y-you want to carry around, Eddie there is hair on your head!"

"It's not for me, it's for you, babe. I hear it's lucky...in some places to gift a lock of hair to your lover."

You chuckle at the memory, he'd gotten the idea after being in trouble for being late for your date, "why're you so good at making sure I'm not mad at you?" you question, gazing down at the braided lock.

Old bandanas, a heart shaped rock he'd gotten stuck in his shoe, handmade valentines cards, a friendship bracelet from middle school.

"There you are." you whisper with a smile, holding up a tape. "Because I won't say it right, please play this and listen closely." was scrawled in tiny writing across a strip of packing tap. Popping it in the stereo, it brought back the memory in a flood.

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

Spring of 1982

Eddie opened the front door, you were greeted by a wide smile as he leaned against the doorway. "You're late." He hummed, "A wizard is never late, she/he arrives precisely when she/he means to." You said.

"Yeah, only I'm the wizard, and you're the knight." Eddie pointed out. You roll your eyes, "last campaign I was the wizard." You said as he let you inside. Sniffing the air, you laugh, "You bathed in that fragrance didn't you?" You asked him in a small laugh.

Eddie rubbed the back of his neck, "um...the thing broke on it and," He stammered. It was the scent you said you liked after sitting close to Keven Saunders in 3rd period, and Eddie was hoping for some brownie points with his endeavor today. Too bad he didn't know how Cologne worked.

Eddie cleared his throat and lead you to his bedroom, "where's Wayne? It's his off day, isn't it?" You asked. "Uuuuhhhh, yeah, he um...had things to do....you know," Eddie lulled as he sat at the edge of his bed.

You took his desk chair, "huh, damn all that stuff getting in the way of relaxation. Poor Uncle." You say. Eddie riffled with something in his vest pocket.

"Why are you being so weird?" You asked him cautiously.

"I just..." Eddie sighed, "alright, this isn't working." he muttered. His eyes flickered into your gaze as Eddie got to his feet, taking both your hands he guided you to sit in his place on the bed. You watch in confusion while Eddie goes to his stereo and pops in a tape from his pocket.

It clicks in place, Eddie's shoulders rise and fall as he takes a deep breath in and out.

"Ok, I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to tell you this, or explain it so - I made you something." Eddie explained slowly, he takes a seat next to you, one leg tucked under him as the other dangled off the edge. The seriousness in his eyes ripped the butterflies in your stomach from their safe cocoons.

"You can talk to be about anything. You know that." You remind him. Eddie smiles at you, "this is harder, scary, I guess. Just, please listen." he said. You give a nod, heart beating fast, you didn't know what you expected.

"Yeah so um...." Eddie's voice spoke on the tape. "Hand picked with love, enjoy?" it said with a question, it causes you to giggle, and Eddie fights off blushing.

"For many hours and days that pass ever soon, the tides have caused the flame to dim. At last the arm is straight, the hand to the loom, Is this to end or just begin?"

Your breath got caught in your throat, and your jaw clenched. Your heart is hammering away like a handyman. You find it's impossible to look at Eddie, though he sits nervously, wringing his hands. He knows you knew this song.

"All of my love, all of my love. All of my love to you, oh"

Your frozen eyes trapped to the stereo. "Um, the other songs...they aren't shit I listen to, but..." Eddie muttered as the song came to an end.

"I need you to love me, I need you today. Give to me your leather take from me my lace"

Spoke the next song.

"But just between you and me, baby I know our love will be"

"Oh you make my world, a summer day. Are you just a dream to fade away?"

"I say, I want you to try to understand. That I, I want to be your lovin' man, babe"

You exhale and close your eyes, each of the following three songs dragging a smile clutched between the legs of the butterflies fluttering in your stomach.

"It's getting hotter, it's a burning love, and I just can't seem to get enough"

You hopped up and turned the volume down before your chest burst open. Eddie bit his lip behind you. "so..." he hummed. "s-say something?" He murmured.

You turned to face him, Eddie looked down at his hand plucking at the frayed string of his ripped jeans, twirling his hair around his finger.

Silently walking towards him, your hands slip under Eddie's chin, and tilting your head, you bring him into a timid kiss. Eddie's hands hold your arms as he leans in. "You know the tape is nice but-"

"I've liked you, I've always like you, and now I'm pretty sure I love you. Because you're ok with all my....me. Your you makes my me more and..."

You giggled as he rambled in a daze. "I told you I'd mess up the words." he muttered.

"No, no, it's perfect. Keep going." you say.

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

The memory fades, and you're left alone in your room, silently crying to a mix of music that both is and isn't your flavor. Crushed under the weight of the bad thoughts, the unasked for mental pictures of Eddie, his bones twisted like a broken pretzel at the bottom of the bag.

Wayne lingered on the other side of the door for a moment, your sniffles slipping past the quieter places within the songs. He remembered the day Eddie pieced that tape together.

Knocking with the knuckle of his finger, Wayne made his presence known. "You ok in there, kid?" He asked.

Getting up, you trudge to the door and open in, "no." you admit. "What if what happened to Fred and Chrissy-"

"Neither of us is gon' think about that. Not right now." Wayne stated firmly. "Not until they've got proof. Same as their thoughts that Eddie did it. Nothing happened until they prove it to us. Alright?" Wayne asked.

You wipe your eyes, and nodd. "Right, right, I'm sorry." You said. " Don't be, I had my moment too." Wayne sighed. "Try and get some sleep, you'll have to deal with them asking questions at some point." He said.

"Not that I don't feel bad about this, but I really should be getting home." Robin said. They'd spent hours debriefing Eddie about the upside down, Demogorons, Demodogs, and the gate. Though there was still much to tell, mainly Eleven, the lab, the Russians, and what really happened last summer.

"You weren't kidding when you said it would be hard to take, but after tonight... I'd believe grass is naturally neon pink." Eddie muttered.

"Don't feel bad, I get it." He added, looking over the four sleepy faces lingering in the boathouse with him. "And you know...thanks, man." Eddie said, turning to Dustin.

"Of course." Dustin said, a small smile then came to his face, "I'll be sure to call Y/n and tell her/him-"

Eddie pointed to Dustin, "no," Eddie said with a frown, "you don't tell her/him anything." He said quickly.

"Why not?" Dustin asked, "She/he's losing their mind over everything that's going on."

Eddie's gaze hardened, "because if you guys are right, I don't want Y/n in this shit. Fjora wasn't around when the party fought Vecna in the final battle, and took a hit that nearly killed her/him when that party fought him the first time. If we're dealing with our own personal real life Vecna, I don't Y/n there either." Eddie said.

"She/he's a fighter, but always get roughed up somewhere along the way." Eddie sighed.

"You can't protect me this time." he thought.

"But she/he was crying on the phone, that's bullshit." Steve said. "It's not, you didn't see what this thing did to Chrissy." Eddie protested sharply, he then rubbed his eyes and forehead. "S-she/H-he was crying?" he asked softly, stammering.

"Yeah." Dustin said.

Eddie closed his eyes, "if you call her/him, Y/n will be down here somehow in no time flat. and while that would be pretty damn great. It's the worst idea." Eddie tried to convince himself in his thoughts. He sighed, "no," Eddie looked between Dustin and Steve, "still don't tell her/him, not a word from anyone." He said.

"Fine, we're going to head out, is there anything you need?" asked Dustin, "We'll come back as early as we can." Max jumped in. Eddie fumbled with the note between his fingers. "They've already seen you cry, what's a little more embarrassment." Eddie thought.

"Yeah, Yardley, and if you can actually get in my house. There's a-" Eddie cleared his throat, a rose hue taking over his cheeks in the dim light. "This little stuffed frog, about," He held out his hands to measure, "this big, has an ugly little knitted top hat..." Eddie said.

Steve laughed, "what, like Michigan J. Frog?" He asked.

Eddie looked up at him, "who else?" He asked Steve.

"So soap and Michigan J. Frog knock off. Right." Robin said making a mental note. "You don't move, don't stick your head out of anywhere, we'll be back." Dustin warned Eddie.

"It might be my first rodeo, but I'm not that stupid, Henderson." Eddie said. "I'm just saying, sometimes, when in the fire, you don't think straight." said Dustin.

"Yeah, like peeing in an elevator shaft and then trying to hide when now the room clearly smells like-"

Steve cleared his throat, "We don't need to rehash that, Robin." he said, shaking his head.

"I mean, if you have to go..." Eddie said. "See." Steve called.

"From the top, though?" Robin asked. "Ew, god wait that's different, that means it like...ran down." Eddie said.

Max and Dustin watched the three in silence. "Sorry to break this...fascinating conversation. But we still need to be going." Max said. Dustin shook his head, "what's wrong with you." He asked. Eddie rose his head, "not you." Dustin groaned. "Hello, ambushed and assaulted with a busted bottle," Steve said.

"He does have a reason, that's pretty jarring." Robin chimed.

"Yeah, sorry about that too." Eddie muttered.

"Alright, everybody but Eddie, out!" Dustin called out as he turned to Eddie, "you-"

Eddie nodded his head, "stay here, I know."

Eddie watched the little group leave out the boathouse doors, and once they closed he released a long breath. "Someone believes you," He thought, "but holy shit." Eddie sighed. Eddie could picture your face in his head, "hopefully I can get back soon." he murmured.

Eddie didn't get much sleep, he'd refused to venture back into the house just yet either. It didn't help that his dreams were plagued with nightmares. Visions of anyone and everyone that mattered to him, sharing Chrissy's fate, and eventually him too.

He isn't the only one.

Rolling out of bed, you hit the floor screaming. Motley has puffed up in the corner of your room a ball of spiked fur. He does not appreciate you waking him up in such a manner.

"It's a dream." You gasp, "shit." Your eyes fix to the popcorn ceiling, "Wayne says, we don't know until something is proven." You tell yourself, "so if the big pink ball of zombie spaghetti could please stop ruining my sleep with horrible scenes," you thought getting up to your feet, "that would be nice." you sighed.

Looking at your clock, you realize that Wayne most likely headed out already. He needed the rest, having late shifts at the plant. However, there was little of that to go around for the man who lived with the police's main suspect.

You glare at the carpet, "no doubt I'll be seeing Callahan and Powell again as well." You thought. "Let's just get dressed, one step at a time, Y/n" you told yourself trying to motivate your mind for the day it would have to face.

A hot shower can fix a lot, but nothing shocks your system into being alert like freezing cold water rinsing away the haze of a night of tortured sleep.

Dressed, you sit before the TV watching the news. "So they're not mentioning names yet, but have given up that they have a suspect in mind." you sigh, "small favors I guess."

"Not that it'll stop Jason or change his mind." you thought.

A knock came to your door.

The house was a mess, between Wayne's duffles bags, the floor pillow, and an unmade rollout bed. You try not to think about the state of your kitchen as you gorged on every junk food item you owned for breakfast.

Nonetheless, you open the door.

"Nancy?"

She stood at your door, peering at you with eyes that had seen about as much sleep as your own. "Yeah, hi. um, the police are investigating the area where you found Fred this morning. Powell wants to ask us some more questions, and I figured maybe you needed a ride." Nancy explained, holding up her car keys.

"It also seemed like it would be better not to hearing it from them that you needed to go back to that place in the road, only to be grilled like patty and possibly annoyed." she added.

You crack a smile. "Starting to remember why we were almost friends?" Nancy asked, offering a smile herself.

"Maybe," you hum, "thanks," you grab your house keys hanging on the wall and follow Nancy out, locking up.

Eddie looked between Robin, Dustin and Steve; he hadn't been this level of lost since he learned about 'lady parts' in sex education, at least that was fun for a while.

"- mine was more human-flesh based and theirs was more, smoke-related. But, bottom line - collectively, I think we've got this." Robin rambled.

"We usually have this girl with supper powers, but those kinda went away so uh, -"

"We're technically more in an um...."

"a kind of a..."

Max listened to Robin and Steve struggle to find words as they tried their best to ease Eddie's mind as his expression mimicked that of a cat who'd unexpectably had water dumped onto it.

"Brainstorming phase." Max said, leaving Robin and Steve looking relieved.

"Ther-there's nothing to worry about, or anything." Dustin said. Eddie raised his brows, "then why is everyone falling over their words." Eddie thought, box of honeycombs hugged to his chest. Behind it, a frog peering over the opening with a fixed smile. It wasn't his frog, he'd gotten the bad news of his trailer being locked down, but the group pulled together to buy him a little frog they'd found in the thrift store.

Sirens echoed loudly, tearing down the nearbye road. "Shit" Eddie whispered. "get under the tarp." Robin urged as the little group headed for the windows.

Your stomach purged itself, as it caught a glimpse of Fred's uncovered body. Taking a few deep breaths at the roadside before loosing the rest of what you'd eaten that morning. Chief Powell sighed and decided it would be better if he came to you.

"Why is he still just out here, like, like that?" you asked, accepting the paper towel offered by Chief Powell. "Can't be moved until forensics have properly investigated the scene, then we take it to the coroner's." Powell explained.

You spit a few more times before standing up.

"You ok?" Powell asked. "Everyone keeps asking that, and I think the answers always obvious." your words crackle out dryly.

"Well, so, you say you heard a crackling sound and a thud before seeing Fred like this?" Powell asked.

"mhm, It was loud. I was pretty far away at the time. I didn't see a person. Not in the trees or, or running away. But when I got to Fred, he was still warm and the blood a-around his eyes was....fresh." You could feel your stomach start to bubble again.

"But there was no one there, no one around. Nobody's that fast....nobody." you whispered.

"Maybe it was just too dark to see, maybe they had on black. Like a black jacket." Powell pushed. Your eyes thin as you scowl, "What, like a black leather jacket?" You snapped.

"Easy, just doing my job." Powell stated calmly.

"I....right." you whisper. "We don't know, ok. That's why there's no name in the media, yet. For now, I'm on your boyfriend's-"

"Ex-Boyfriend" you correct in a whisper.

"- side. Ok?" Powell asked.

He then spoke with extreme caution, "Now I have to ask what's coming next. I need you to understand that going in."

You give a nod of your head, but your defenses raised all the same. "What were you doing last night before finding Fred? Can anyone place you with them?" Powell asked.

A cold sweat swept across your palms and forehead, and Powell could see the urge to rage in your eyes. "I have to ask these questions." He warns again. It doesn't help, but you try to understand.

"I was with Nancy and Wayne, and then I was talking to some visitors in the woods. Three of." You said.

"Visitors?" Powell asked.

"Yeah, they're stranded in Hawkins because their van is totaled. Harvey down at Thatcher's is currently trying to figure out how to work on it. I'd seen the guy before. Rude lanky s.o.b was trying my patience in front of Barry's Big Buy." You explain.

"And did they seem suspicious at all?" Powell asked.

You remembered the gun Mick carried, and the bullet dents in the van. "But the fact is you don't know." You think to yourself. You give a simple shake of your head. "No, nothing other than they were from the city, for sure. And I mean, they're punks, so...to you and every other bland Hawkins denizen, probably looked a little 'spooky' but they weren't bad, offered to help me look for Eddie."

Powell crossed his arms, "they offered to help you?" He asked.

You nodded, "You know, often the suspect will be the closest one to the investigation." He said. "Then looks like you, me, Wayne and Nancy need to be at the top of the possible perp list, don't you think?" the hollow irony of your words nearly echoed.

"I'm just trying to help you help Eddie." Powell said.

"Yeah? Then find him." You shot, "find him. And give him a chance when you do."

You sigh, "can I go now? It's day two which means, I need to make flyers." your words sound small and Powell caves, "alright, you're free to go." He said, "I can have Callahan give you a ride."

After saying goodbye to Nancy, you begrudgingly go with Officer Callahan.

"Actually, Callahan can you drop me off at a friend's place instead?" You ask during the car ride.

Jeff, Gareth and Nick rushed out of Jeff's garage the moment you stepped out of the police car. "What did you do?" Gareth asked quickly, the boy's eyes following as Callahan rode away.

"Nothing." You sighed. "He just gave me a ride."

"Bullshit," Nick murmured. You groan, "alright, but if I tell you, not a word about it. It's going to hit the news anyway." you warned.

"We swear," said Jeff.

"Whoever got Chrissy," You whispered, "They got Fred Benson too. Last night, out on the road not far from Forest Hills."

The boy glanced at each other, "did you see it happen?" asked Gareth. You give a feeble shake of your head, "no. But by the time I got to him, who ever did it shouldn't have gotten far." You said.

"Maybe he got hit by a car or something?" Nick asked. "Since when is the road out there traveled at night?" asked Jeff.

"Something, sucked in his eyes, there was blood all over his face. Even if you can talk away the broken bones...the eyes. That's got to be a signature, right?" You asked them.

The three boy look at each other, they can hear your nerves on edge. "Have you every heard the legend of the Creel family?" Gareth whispered. "Yeah, the dad snapped and killed his wife and kids. That sort of thing happens all the time." You say with a shrug.

"And he's ancient now." You add.

"You know what else happens all the time, Copycat killers." Jeff reasons.

Your mouth snaps shut, "See, knew it was a bad idea to bring it up." Gareth muttered. "Look, Y/n, it's probably not that bad." Nick said quickly, "Yeah, you know how Eddie is. He's probably just lying low for a while, when things calm down he'll call and -"

Jeff's words faded as water leaked into your eyes. "I do know, and he would have been at my door, that night." Your voice shivered. "Come on, don't try. You're working yourself up." Nick urged gently. "And freaking me out... I'm trying not to think about what could have happened." Jeff muttered.

"We were just in the middle of practicing a set to get our minds off of things. You can stay and listen for a bit. Give yourself a rest." Gareth offered. "Yeah, you look terrible." Nick added.

"Gee, thanks Nick." You said, while Jeff wacked Nick's shoulder. "But if you guys don't mind, please? I won't bother you."

"Oh, of course, come on." Gareth and the boys lead you into the garage and find you a chair to sit down on. You listen to two of their songs and realize you've never heard them before.

"Are those new?" You ask, the guys grin with pride, "Yeah, Eddie wrote them recently." Jeff said. "Worked with Nick to get the sound down."

"It's good." You praise. "Got lots of practice in on them since he had all the extra time on his hands after the....well never mind..." Gareth caught himself, though a little too late.

"Man, you're just on a roll with those screw-ups, aren't you?" Nick asked him. "I'm not doing on purpose." Gareth sighed.

"Uh...guys" Jeff murmured as a car slowed before his house. "Shit, it's Carver." you murmur. The boys stopped playing and Gareth stood up from his drums, As a group of guy sporting the Hawkins' Tigers lettermans strolled up.

"Fellas, sorry to say, but you're early. Show don't start til next week." Gareth called with a sour smile. Corroded met the team at the garage entrance.

"Oh, was that music?" asked Andy.

"Please, Anderson, you wouldn't know music if it crawled up your craw and died." You said drawing his attention. "It's easy to talk shit when you're hiding behind others, isn't it?" Andy shot back.

"She/he isn't hiding from you the likes of you, Andy." Nick said.

Jason sighed, "We're just looking for Eddie Munson. He’s in the band, if you can all it that." he said. Instantly offended, the guy became as still as a wall, "What do you care?" Gareth asked with a tilt of his head.

"They can't fight." you thought, and if you were honest neither could you, not well. You could scrap, but not alone, and not against three. Usually if the boy had to fight, they had Eddie.

You stepped forward, trying to support the boys as best you could. You also knew, the tired mess that you were, wasn't all that intimidating. "Fuck off Jason. If they did know where he was, why the hell would they tell you." You lulled, through a flat gaze.

"Funny how you seem to be everywhere. Trying to get your alibis straight?" Jason questioned. "Are you? Won't look good, boyfriend on a rampage. You might come off as having anger issues." You hum, "tsk tsk tsk, you know they always look at the boyfriend with anger problems." you said, wagging for finger.

Gareth squinted at the figure hiding behind Jason. "Lucas?" he asked.

"I'd never hurt Chris." Jason growled. "If they don't believe me about Eddie, why would they believe you?" You asked him. "Because I'm not a freak who sells drugs, or some loser with a record." Jason barked at you.

"No, you're just a golden boy who's hard of hearing. I wouldn't be here if I knew where he was." You said.

"But this is exactly where you'd be if he was here." said Patrick.

"Lucas, what are you doing with these douchebags?" Gareth asked, ignoring the back and forth. Jason's eyes slowly widened as he turned to face Lucas, who seemed to be shrinking in place.

"You know these freaks, Sinclair?" He asked. You close your eyes and shake your head. Lucas looked about nervously, "They know my sister, they tried to recruit me to their club? Cult? It was after Y/n left. They were desperate." Lucas said. "You didn't, Lu." You thought.

"Lucas, what the hell?" Jeff asked with a sneer of disbelief. Gareth and Nick quietly seethed. "But look what side he's on," you study Lucas carefully. "He's scared, and he still thinks he can salvage this," You thought.

"We're just trying to find Eddie, man." Lucas said to Jeff.

"Only you're on the wrong team, Lu." You sighed, crossing your arms. "And you have eyes, don't you? He's not here." Gareth said with a scowl. Jason nodded, and though you saw it coming, his swing flew faster than your warning would have.

Gareth took the punch to the jaw. "Hey!" Jeff called, rushing to help, and Andy honed on him, Patrick closing in on Nick. "Carver!" You called out, as he took another swing. "Where is he!" Jason yelled, grabbing Gareth by the collar. Andy held Jeff back by the arms, and Nick stood glaring into Patrick's eyes in a stand-off.

"I said, where is he!"

"I don't know!"

"Carver, get bent and go home! Alright!" You shouted. Jason swings again, it's enough to make you cringe, "screw it-" you whispered, Gareth holds out his arm to you. "Y/n, no." he said. "Get off him!" Jeff shouted as Jason hooked his arm around Gareth's neck. Lucas watched the scuffle stunned.

Gareth is flung into his drum set and with a loud crash it fell apart. "Yep, 6th grade, Jimmy fucking Gatsby all over again." You thought, drawing in a breath and moving forward, "Hey Jason!" Patrick called out in warning, But your foot stomped down into Jason's shin, causing him to stumble.

With a growl he looked up at you glaring. "Leave him alone and call off your stupid goonies, Carver." You said. He stands and gives you a hard shove, with the lack of sleep and stress it's more than enough and you stumbled backward.

"Damn it." you curse yourself.

Jason, grabbing Gareth by the collar, mashed his hand under his sneaker, "Gonna be hard to play drums when your hands broken!" Jason raged as Gareth screamed.

"That's enough!" You shout.

"Dustin Henderson! He was calling around looking for Eddie! M-maybe he found him." Gareth caved. You and Lucas look equally mortified. Jason smirked and looked around, "see, that wasn't that hard, was it?" He asked, but Gareth looked as if he wanted to cry. "Now where can we find this, Dustin?" He asked.

You managed to push yourself off the ground and lunged, arms wrapping around Jason's neck. "Shit she/he leaped!" Andy called out. "Get off him, Carver, that's assault! Strike two against the angry boyfriend!" You yell tauntingly in his ear, hoping to cause pain, bust his ear drum something.

"Yeah, and how is this gonna look for you?" He asked, struggling against you. "Like I'm helping the kid whose hand you're trying to break. Go home, Carver, let the police handle it!" Jason stands up and Gareth cradled his hand.

Your arms are latched tight as he tries to throw you off. "Damn, she/he's like a leech or something!" Patrick cried out.

"Chrissy would hate this, and you know it. You know it." you whisper, trying to get under his skin, and it quickly gets you thrown to the ground. You can feel your back crack, and groan. "Y/n!" Lucas gasped. "betcha that hurt." Andy snickered.

"What the hell's going on here? A party?" A familiar voice chimed.

Tilting your head back to look up, you spotted two displeased faces. "Seems like it." Mick mused, dropping her cigarette on the ground and stomping it out.

Jason and his boys turned to look towards the two new combers. "Can we come and play?" Axel asked, a vicious smile coming to his face as from his pocket with a spin for flare he pulled out a switch knife.

Jason's eyes fell on the blade, "more freaks?" Andy asked. "Don't piss these guys off, Andy, look at them." Patrick whispered. Axel held the group still while Mick helped you to your feet. You wince. "Easy. The jackass was right, that did look painful." She said.

"Beat it, go on, get lost." Axel said, glaring down at Jason. "Or do I need to teach you a lesson or two?" Axel asked, poking the H on Jason's jacket. "Come on, we're done here." Jason muttered.

Andy and Patrick were quick to follow, Andy pushing Jeff to the ground. "W-wait, wait! You leave Henderson alone!" You call after them. Lucas reluctantly follows, giving the four of you a guilty glance.

"Heard there was another death, Kali sent us looking for you." Mick explained. Kneeling, you check over Gareth, "let me see," you offer, but he just gazed down at his shoes. "It's ok, Gareth." You try your best to console him, but the guilt won't leave his eyes.

You sigh, letting Nick and Jeff take over. Standing, you turn to Mick, "who were the assholes?" Axel asked. "The first victim's boyfriend and his friends. They're looking for Eddie." You explain.

"Looks like we'd better find some wheels and get to looking then." said Axel. "At this rate, if the killer doesn't have him, it won't matter." He said. "They didn't have that, let's have a chat. Look about them." said Mick.

"I need to speak to Chief Powell and let him know Jason's gone mental." you sighed, but as you went to walk, a sharp pain shot through your back. "Whoa, maybe you ought to sit a minute first." called Nick.

"Maybe you're right." you whisper, heading back for the chair they'd given you earlier.

Previous | Masterlist | Next

[ailithnight]

In his defense, it's not Danny's fault.

He and his bleeding heart just couldn't walk away or turn a blind eye when someone was in danger.

He and his 3 brain cells just couldn't help but panic when he realized the civilians were staring at him.

No one should stare at him. No one should look at him. He needs to keep his head down. Draw no attention. Stay hidden. They're looking for him. They'll find him. They'll put him back on the table.

Okay, he panicked. But it's not his fault!

And then people jumped to their own conclusions.

And now Danny is impersonating a dead kid. Er, a different dead kid. A dead rich kid. Maybe dead kid?

It's a maybe because Danny is here, standing at the very humble grave of one Jason Peter Todd-Wayne. Once he learned about the public theory, he wanted to apologize. So he did some digging (heh) and found the right grave and came to do just that.

But the grave is empty.

Danny doesn't know how he knows that, but it's intrinsic. There is no body in this grave.

But he also, somehow, knows it belongs to someone. Not in an abstract sense like 'every grave must belong to someone'.

No, Danny can feel that this is some ghost's final resting place. It's not a memorial or a shrine either. Not just some symbolic thing. Danny has seen those. Felt those. They're different. This is a grave. Kinda like that metal hole in the wall is his own.

And ghosts don't get attached to graves that aren't theirs. It's a faux pas. So the ghost attached to this grave is definitely Jason Peter Todd-Wayne. And therefore this is where his body should be. But it's not here. And something about the ghost attached to it feels different. Almost an ache familiar. And Danny doesn't understand why. He wants to understand.

If this was Amity, if Danny could still go home (his thoughts stutter over the idea of home, not quite knowing anymore which side of the swirling green vortex home is supposed to be on) he'd just go ask one of the ghosts about it. Pandora knew almost everything. Before, they'd been doing bi-weekly get together for various forms of training. Everything from fighting to ghost society. It was cool and fun and helpful. Danny misses it.

And what Pandora didn't know, Frostbite usually did. Danny had still been having monthly check ups with him to keep an eye on his "young and still developing core".

And if all else failed, Danny could always go to Clockwork for answers. Or at least puzzles, riddles, or sometimes errands, that would lead him to answers. That's just how Clockwork ticked.

But Danny couldn't go home right now. Unless he spontaneously developed portal powers- unlikely given the new, ever present ache in his core- he might never see the Infinite Realms again. Never see Pandora or Frostbite or Clockwork or Skulker or Ember or Youngblood or Boxy or...

This train of thought was not helping anything. Danny had been standing at this grave for several minutes now. And as much as he wanted to understand this weird grave situation, he had no way of getting answers and it's not what he came here for anyway.

He came here to apologize to the dead kid for kind of accidentally impersonating him. Then he was gonna dip. He'd let himself stay in Gotham for far too long already. Let himself get attached. And now he'd drawn attention to himself. If they caught wind of his recent heroics... its time to run again. They have plenty of heros anyway. Danny shouldn't feel too bad about ghosting them.

But first, he came here to apologize.

"Hey." The word comes out a breathy whisper. Danny clears his throat and tries again. "Umm, listen man," he winced at how his voices cracks and fails, falling back to that whisper of disuse, but pushes on. He needs to say this. He needs to apologize. And warn him.

"I... I don't know if you can hear me. Usually, any ghost can hear what goes on at their graves." Danny can still hear the gentle electric hum of his.

"But, you seem like a special case I guess, so... I hope you can hear me. Cause I owe you an apology. I've kinda been impersonating you for a few weeks. I didn't mean to, I swear! I just, some people needed help and I couldn't leave them be. So I helped them. And then I panicked and, uh, ghosted them. And now people think I'm you. And, honest, I know what it's like to have someone do things in your name without your knowledge or consent." Amorpho comes to mind.

"It sucks. And I... may have drawn some attention here. There are probably hunters coming. I'm really sorry about that. I can... maybe bait them back away. They're really after me, not you. So just, stay hidden for a while I guess. Don't get anywhere near the guys in white suits or the teal and orange jumpsuits. S'long as you don't get too close, you should be fine. Gotham's got enough ambient ecto to keep their long range sensors scrambled." It's the only reason Danny stayed this long. He'd hoped, for a while, maybe he could settle in here, have a halfa normal life. He should have known better.

"Anyway, just... stay safe, m'kay? And if you know any other ghosts, maybe pass the message about the hunters. And, sorry again. I'll leave you now. Should be outta Gotham within the hour. And like I said, I'll try to bait the hunters away. Least I can do for kind of impersonating g you and bringing them here anyway. Sorry."

His piece said, Danny starts to walk away, shoving his hands into the pockets of the threadbare hoodie he'd stolen from a dumpster. He pauses. After a brief moment of contemplation, he steps back. Ignoring the sharp stab in his core he's grown quite accustomed to lately, he focuses his energy into forming and molding ice on his palm. It's very draining, Danny can practically feel even more of the nonexistent fat left on his body melt away as he burns the extra energy. But it feels right to leave a little gift and the little ice ducky also just feels correct.

Apology offered, warning given, and gift left; Danny lets the cool and buzzing sensations of invisibility and intangibility slide over him. At least these abilities are so basic, they barely throb in his chest. Best not to fly though, that one still stings like a hundred angry hornets. So Danny, invisible and intangible, walks away from the grave of Jason Peter Todd-Wayne. Time to find a new city to haunt for a while.

Across the graveyard, a bat stares, suspicious and uncharacteristically dumbfounded at where the young, sickly, frail, scared, endangered strange teen had vanished.

Across the city, a crime lord is having a crisis about the voice in his head and everything it said.

…. More dp x dc because brain rot

So Danny ends up homeless in Gotham after a revival to his parents gone wrong and is trying his best to stay out of the bats way. Unfortunately the kid has the worst luck and an even worst hero complex so when he stumbles across a mugging he can’t help but jump in.

It’s only after he K.O.ed the mugger that he looking up and saw the civilian he saved looking at him and in a split second of panic just faded from visibility. I mean who’s gonna believe the guy if he says his rescuer just fu/king upped and vanished.

It worked out tho. So much in fact that when Danny once again found himself jumping in to trouble before he can think he just decides to disappear after.

This happens so much that people start to take notice and the conclusion they come to? A ghost. More specifically a 13-14 y/o ghost with black hair and blue eyes. More specifically the ghost of the black haired, blue eyed, Wayne kid that died when he was 13. 

Yep! Gotham comes to the conclusion that Jason Todd has come back as a ghost to protect the streets of Gotham!!

Now obviously this gets to Bruce who knows this isn’t the case because Jason is over in crime alleys right now hopefully not going on a murder spree again so he’s gotta find out who this is and preferably before Jason hears about this.

[jdgo51]

DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR JUNE 5, 2023

Looking at the Heart

By Wayne Greenawalt (Illinois, USA)

READ 1 SAMUEL 16:1-7

The Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

1 SAMUEL 16:7 (NIV)

"'I drove to the school where my wife teaches kindergarten to deliver a package. I opened her classroom door only to find she had stepped out. As I stood in the doorway, one of the students asked, “Who are you?” My response was, “Who do you think I am?” When a student replied, “You’re her father,” I said, “No.” Then another student called out, “You’re her grandfather!” Abruptly, I responded, “I’m her husband!” The students looked bewildered. Apparently, to kindergartners anyone with gray hair is an oldster! Appearances can be misleading.

This was Samuel’s experience when the Lord sent him to Bethlehem to anoint the next king of Israel. When Samuel met Jesse’s firstborn son, Eliab, Samuel thought, based on Eliab’s appearance, Surely, the Lord’s anointed stands before me. But the Lord rejected Eliab. Then God warned Samuel about judging people by appearance alone: “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Appearance alone does not reveal an individual’s true self. God values the characteristics of integrity, faith, and dependability above a pleasing persona, and we should do the same in assessing the character of others."' Look deeper into a person and know what makes them tick. Do not base any conclusions on outward appearance or from a few words that they spoke. God definitely looks at the heart.

TODAY'S PRAYER

"O Lord, help us not to judge others by appearance alone but strive to discern their inner qualities." Amen.

1 Samuel 16:1-7

"'1 The LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to grieve over Saul? I have rejected him as king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and get going. I’m sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem because I have found my next king among his sons.” 2 “How can I do that?” Samuel asked. “When Saul hears of it he’ll kill me!” “Take a heifer with you,” the LORD replied, “and say, ‘I have come to make a sacrifice to the LORD.’ 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will make clear to you what you should do. You will anoint for me the person I point out to you.” 4 Samuel did what the LORD instructed. When he came to Bethlehem, the city elders came to meet him. They were shaking with fear. “Do you come in peace?” they asked. 5 “Yes,” Samuel answered. “I’ve come to make a sacrifice to the LORD. Now make yourselves holy, then come with me to the sacrifice.” Samuel made Jesse and his sons holy and invited them to the sacrifice as well. 6 When they arrived, Samuel looked at Eliab and thought, That must be the LORD’s anointed right in front. 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Have no regard for his appearance or stature, because I haven’t selected him. God doesn’t look at things like humans do. Humans see only what is visible to the eyes, but the LORD sees into the heart.”' God's ability to see inside of someone and know the deepest parts of their character makes Him unique. We should try to do something similar though. Look within and see the soul. Have a blessing to bestow on those in your life. Joe

[writersblockedx]

The Problem with Duality

Pairing - Pattinson!Bruce Wayne x Reader Summary - Bruce has always attempted to keep his vigilante persona hidden from Y/n. That all becomes trickier when a new killer, of which she's helping to hunt, is found going after the riches of Gotham. Warnings - Violence, death, blood, angst. Words - 3.2K

A/n - May write a possible part two to this :)

MASTERLIST

Bruce knew how dangerous it could be living two lives simultaneously. Even more dangerous when one of those lives consisted of a masked vigilante and the other a business man living under the public eye. He knew it would only be a matter of time before the balance between his two identities titled. Maybe they already had done.

While he found a certain comfort hidden behind the Batman mask, Bruce knew that Y/n wouldn't look at him the same way if she knew. In his brain, he had always separated himself, a Wayne, from this vigilante façade. Though, he could never be sure she would be able to do the same. And the thought of having her loved ripped from him, well, it worried him enough to keep one of the biggest parts of his life from her.

By now, however, he seemed to have settled into it. And by 'it', he had gotten used to the lying, to the pretending as if he hadn't been there at every killing, every murder, every attack that happened in Gotham. So when Y/n's phone had started ringing in the very early hours in the morning, he too found himself on alert. In fact, that night in particular, he found himself the one to wake her up, knowing it could only be work calling at this hour.

"Y/n," Bruce had whispered as he leaned over her, brushing her hair from her face in hopes to ease her from her sleep. Y/n had only hummed in response, eyes still tightly shut. "Y/n," He spoke again. The girl lulled at the disruption. "Y/n, you're phones ringing."

At last, her eyelids fluttered open, the first thing she was met with being Bruce's own pupils. She didn't say anything at first. She found herself taking a moment to gather her surroundings. "Dare I even ask what time it is?" She complained, the idea of dragging herself out of bed already was not something she was looking forward to.

Though, her resistance to getting up had been quick to prompt a gentle smile at Bruce's lips before he glanced to the curtains which covered the floor-to-ceiling windows. No sunlight yet having seeped through the lines in the curtains which could only suggest it was early, very early. "I wouldn't ask." He told her. "You should probably answer your phone though; they wouldn't call if it weren't urgent." That was code for the fact Bruce wanted her to go in so, thus, he could follow her and see what was so important for calling colleagues in at this time.

The man was well aware of the morals lacking in such. But he knew that, in the long term, it was for the better. Bruce got to the perpetrator before the police did and had a much better reputation when it came to stopping and arresting them than they did. Had it not been his girlfriend he sought out for information, then it would have been someone else. After many sleepless nights in his early days as Batman, he came to the same conclusion that it was for the better and that, as long as everything went to plan, it would never hurt Y/n.

So, with a huff of objection, Y/n reached for her phone. Bruce couldn't hear what was spoken on the other end of the line, only mutters of their voice. "And you're certain it's homicide?" Bruce listened intently, still lingering over the girl, watching as her expression moulded to the words which were getting fed to her. "Is there no other forensic on site...that bad huh?" At first Bruce watched as a smile graced her lips, quickly fading when a reply was given. "Shit..yeah, okay...I'll be there in 10 minutes." The phone call ended.

Bruce analysed how bad crime scenes were based on the estimated time Y/n would give to her boss.

An hour meant she could ease herself into work. Also meaning that she had probably only been called in because everyone else had declined, or were busy, ill, or on leave.

Forty minutes gave the girl time for a shower and to actually look like the professional she tried to make herself out to be. Probably meaning the scene was bad, bad enough to be under the presses eyes at least.

Half-an-hour meant she had no rush to get there but she was certainly needed. Thus suggesting not only a terrible scene, but one of which wasn't obvious.

And ten minutes. Well, they were a rarity. Ten minutes meant she got out of bed and was straight to her car. The scene had to be so horrific that how she presented herself to press and media was less secondary. And, usually, from what Bruce had gathered, the ten minutes scenes were related to active serial killers.

Still, with the clock that was now now ticking, Y/n took the time to look back at Bruce. Her hand brushing against his cheek gently. "Sounded intense." Bruce observed.

That was an understatement, the girl thought. "Yeah, every forensic that can, is going in. Me now included." She explained. "I'll let you know when I'm on my way home." Though, she doubted this job was just going to be a visit. Already she was predicating the complications, the press and their eager cameras. This certainly wasn't something she expected to be over soon.

And so she dragged herself out of bed, slipped into some more acceptable clothing that wasn't her pyjamas and made way for her car. Bruce had been lingering by their window, watching for the girl as she slipped into her car and the engine started. The moment the car left it's parking slot, Bruce was gathering his suit along with his  weapons and, of course, his mask.

As he always did, he scribbled out a note. A note of which, if he wasn't certain to get home before Y/n did, the girl would come home to. Usually it just consisted of whichever excuse came to mind first. And once that was done, he whisked himself out of the house and began trailing behind the girl's car as discreetly as he was able to.

Y/n soon entered a rather expensive estate. All seeming normal and quiet. Most houses were still sleeping through the night. Had she not been aware she was driving towards a crime scene, she would have believed that all was well. However, right at the end of this estate, in what should have been the most silent of all the houses, sat a home which was swarmed in red and blue light and flashes of camera lights.

When Y/n pulled up to that, Bruce knew he no longer needed to trail behind. Instead, he found himself hidden in the dark, watching from afar. He thought it smart to give time between when Y/n arrived and when he did. The last thing he wanted was suspicion arising.  So he lingered, watching as the girl weaved around the cop cars and the press which were all bundled together, trying to get snapshots which suggested anything of what horrors laid inside the home.

Bruce waited between five to ten minutes before he made his entrance. And suddenly, the press now had intentions of getting snapshots of the Batman rather than a house occupied by police. Many yelled for his name, instructed him to pose for this photo and that one. But Bruce never even glanced at them. He shoved his way through the crowd and made his way inside the home. And now everyone inside was well aware of the vigilante which had entered the crime scene.

He didn't need to say much. He scanned the entrance to the home and when nothing suggested to him where the real crime scene was, he looked to one of medical examiners. Her eyes had already been on Bruce. Everyone was glancing back at him. With the suit and all, he always made a dramatic entrance, even when he wished not to. The medical examiner only needed to point up the stairs before Bruce was following her indication.

The master bedroom was littered in blood. And by that, I mean as if it was all red. At least, that was all Bruce saw when he wondered in; the red which covered the walls. It covered the floor, the furniture, anything it could touch. But a few further steps into the bed room and he noted what was situated on the attached balcony. A thing of which he was sure had already sacred most of the people in this room. Even when they were all used to violence and blood.

An older man, one of which Bruce assumed had been the one asleep in the bed, had a large wooden spike shoved through his chest, pointed at the stars and balancing against the balcony fence. The man's body was limp and lifeless, yet the spike made him look as he was still alive in some way that Bruce didn't want to question. He couldn't lie, out of the many scenes of violence he had caught, this was one of the most gruesome he had come across.

"Looks like the Batman's come to save us all again." A voice came. A voice of which he recognised.

Y/n had been standing by the dresser, collecting evidence. It just so happened she couldn't help but make comment to Gordan about the masked hero which wondered the scene. "He's done some good work for us, you know that." And so the girl settled on a huff before watching Gordan wonder back off.

It was then that Bruce met the girl's eyes once again. And rather than starring back in admiration and comfort, her pupils seemed burdened in irritation. The way she looked at him was always a strong reminder as to why he had to keep his identity a secret. So rather than going to her for a briefing, Bruce sought out Gordon.

He went on with some background information about the victim. A businessman lacking a family who died alone. Then Gordon connected it to another homicide they investigated a week ago. One of the major owners of energy sources. Her and her family all murdered in the early hours of the night. They were aggressive and harsh. While they were strategic, it was obvious both murders were fuelled by emotion. "Looks to me like it's a class issue." He assumed. "I've already started considering taking Y/l/n off the case."

That was quick to peak at Bruce's interest as he tried his very best to not glance back at the girl who was currently weighing up her theories in a near by corner. "How come?" He questioned.

"She's had this thing going with the Wayne son. I don't know, she's only mentioned it a couple of times, I tend not to take interest in that sort of thing." Gordon brushed it off as if it was just mindless gossip.

Bruce hummed, giving in to his urge to glance at the girl that he longed to keep safe in this gritty world of Gotham. "You think Wayne's next?"

Gordon shrugged, "I mean, if this is about going after the riches of Gotham, I'm sure he's on the list." And with that, the man wondered off once more. Bruce didn't even try to stop himself then as he looked to Y/n. This time, she starred back. If Bruce was a target, he certainly was more worried over her safety than he ever could be his own.

Bruce made his way home after visiting the crime scene. There were no traces of the perpetrator. There was nothing he had to go after. So he took his leave while Y/n continued with her work which was needed to be carried out. After all, it was her job.

Once Bruce returned home, he threw his note of excuse back in the bin and headed to the basement. With the scene fresh in his mind, he wanted to go over it. Spot anything he hadn't spotted while he was there. The boy placed the contact which had sat in his eyes and injected them into the computer. From there, he analysed the images. Every frame. Every moment. Even when the screen that starred back at him switched to Y/n. A wave of guilt seeming to wash back over him as he looked back at the girl, now as Bruce rather than the Batman.

He didn't move from the basement until his phone pinged.

Y/n On my way back x

The boy had starred at the message a moment longer than he normally would do. Another wave of guilt. No matter how many times he had used Y/n to weave his way into crime scenes, it never got easier. But knowing that this killer could be targeting Bruce, and in term Y/n as well, the guilt felt heavier than ever.

Bruce See you soon

And so he exited and locked the basement before returning to the upper floors. The boy showered, letting the black around his eyes fade and slipped into different clothing before Y/n finally came back. Her tired eyes struck out to Bruce the moment she stepped into their living room. He hated seeing her after night shifts. He didn't need ask to know how her bones ached or how her head was pounding. All he ever needed was a glance.

"Bad case?" Bruce asked as the girl slipped out from her coat and chucked her shoes to one side.

She hummed in response, wondering over to the sofa where Bruce was laid lazily. "Something like that yeah." She muttered before joining his side, shuffling into the crook of his neck while he held her close.

While Bruce was used to the comfort he was meant to have from touch like this, all he felt was guilt, again. Even while the girl slept in his hold, all he felt was this lingering guilt, like it was taunting him. When emotions got the better of him, he turned to Y/n. But this was something he couldn't get into. He couldn't explain to her the reason for this guilt, so the boy turned to other resources to play out this guilt.

He carefully slipped out from Y/n, wrapping her sleeping body in a blanket. From there, it wasn't long until he found himself in the suit again and he was storming up to the police station, demanding to be seen by Gordon.

"What can I help you with? You know I'm busy." Gordon had started as he strolled into his office where the Batman was lurking, scanning the framed photos that sat his desk as he waited.

"I want access to the evidence from these last two cases."

Gordon scoffed. "Look I'm thankful for the help, but-"

"I can't help unless I have all the variables." Bruce argued as Gordon sighed; he already knew where this ended. "So do you want my help or not?"

The man wasn't really left with another choice. "Wait here," He said in a huff before wondering out from his office. A few moments later walking back in, box in hand.

Gordon came to the back of his desk which Batman faced opposite. There he set down the box in front of him. "All yours." He offered.

It wasn't long before the lid was pulled and Bruce was inspected everything. Every little speck that the murderer had left behind. He analysed it, ran it through his head. Any possible connection running through his thoughts. And all them thoughts focused on this evidence, were thoughts that were no longer centred around the guilt which settled in his gut. He could forget about Y/n and how terrible he felt in using her. Maybe it wouldn't last long, but it was something he supposed.

Well, it was something that ended quicker than he had imagined. Bruce was half way through inspecting the evidence when the door to Gordon's office slammed open. And there, stood shaking and drenched from the rain, was Y/n. "Y/n," Gordon spoke, standing from his desk while Bruce stood completely still. Last time he saw her, she was comforted by her dreams, snuggled tightly in a blanket. "What's going on?" The man urged.

For what seemed like the first time, the girl took no notice of the vigilante that was standing only meters from her. "I fell asleep with Bruce the moment I got in. And I just-" She fumbled over her words as both Gordon and a masked Bruce hung onto her every breath. "I just, I woke up and he was gone. He's not answering his phone, he's not left a note, he always leaves a note. I started thinking about what you said, how this killer could be after him as well and- and I panicked." She ranted, all of it rushed out from her lips.

"Okay, just erm, just calm down." Gordon told her as if she would actually be able to do so. "We can't do anything until after the first 24 hours-"

"Please." She had cut in the moment she heard that hour, that rule she knew as law enforcement she was meant to abide by. "You know Bruce has been practically hiding from the public eye for years now. There's no way he'd leave without telling me before hand."

Bruce was watching from afar. He couldn't intrude, he couldn't give any assurance while he stood dressed in this mask and suit. Yet still, he only longed to hold her as he always did, to tell her that he was literally right in front of her. "Gordon if you don't tell me that you're going to do something, I'm walking out and I'll go look for him myself." She then made as her final statement.

The man debated in his head, one side protecting the laws he too had to live by and his younger co-worker he cared for. "If you go out there, you are putting yourself at a great risk." He pointed out.

"You didn't answer me." Y/n pressed. "Will you do anything?"

The girl was met with a blank stare in return; he wasn't doing anything. With that concluded, she took off, slamming the door back shut as she had opened it. "Y/n!" Gordon yelled as he picked up his coat to follow her.

Not that he had gotten far. The moment the man glanced back, Batman was rushing after her.

Y/n was making a b-line for her exit. She wasn't thinking straight. She couldn't. The lurking idea of what Bruce could be going through right now was taunting her. "He didn't mean that," Batman called out to her. She kept walking. So he kept walking. "Come on, don't. Y/n," Nothing

Bruce huffed as he pulled his steps to a stop. It was as if, in that moment, the guilt made his decision for him. "Y/n." It wasn't his low, mumbling Batman voice he had adapted. No he was calling out to Y/n as he always did without the mask or the suit. And she did, finally, stop.

The girl turned, brows knotted as she stared at the vigilante. The same vigilante she believed she had figured out. Then the mask was pulled off and the boy she adored started back at her. But all she felt now was betrayal

[rob-nobody]

Okay, so, I've had a few mondegreens in my life. Most I knew I was getting wrong, even if I didn't know the correct lyrics and couldn't be bothered to look them up — I didn't really think Paula Cole was asking "Where is my John Wayne, where is my furry sock," or that Steve Winwood wanted you to bring him a "pie of love," though I maintain my versions are better — and I was in my 20s when I realized the Marshall Tucker Band wasn't singing about a "purdy little love song."

But my best one is this. Maybe a year ago, my wife and I were watching TV, and a commercial came on using the Tim McGraw song "I Like It, I Love It," and I said "Huh, that's a really dirty song to use in a commercial like this." My wife said something noncommittal, so I pressed on. "I mean, it's about pussy, right?"

"...what?"

"Yeah, I mean... 'Don't know what it is 'bout that little girl's oven, but I like it, I love it, I want some more of it.' That has to be about her pussy, right? I mean, he's not singing about her baking."

"...lovin'. That little girl's lovin'."

"WHAT."

I distinctly remember hearing that song on the bus in high school and thinking "Wow, what a dirty song," and for the past twenty-five years or so, I'd been thinking that Tim McGraw was singing about how much he liked, loved, and wanted more of his girlfriend's pussy.

But here's the thing! That song helped make me aware of sexist and racist double standards in the music industry. Any time I would hear criticism (usually by white men) about the sexual content in a song by a black hip-hop artist, or by a woman, or both, I would think "Oh sure, Lizzo gets flack for singing about her WAP, but a good ol' white country boy sings about wanting more of his girl's 'oven' and nobody says a word!" Which, ultimately, is a correct conclusion to come to for completely incorrect reasons.

And of course, I can't help but wonder... what else am I still getting wrong?

[image description: Medieval portrait of a black-haired woman in green robes with gold embroidery and a red wax seal at her breast stands with her hands clasped. Behind her, a blotter-green field calligraphed with ancient gold words too faint and jumbled to be understood, save for the number 256. Text reads, “Lady Mondegreen small god of mis-heard lyrics”]

• • • • •

Oh, she’s a tricky one, that Lady Mondegreen.

She’ll tell you she’s a tuxedo.  She’ll tell you there’s a bathroom on the right.  She’ll burn the trees off every lawn, and she knows the rumor in the night.  She changes the meaning—she’s not the god of eggcorns, after all—but she doesn’t do it maliciously, and she was born within her own domain.

For once there was a man, the bonny Earl of Moray, and another believed that he conspired against the king.  To prove himself, that other conspired against the earl, until one day he killed him, ran him through and laid him on the green.  And as a king is the land, he bled into the soil, until it welcomed him home, until it loved him like a lady.

Until a girl named Sylvia Wright heard that they had slain the Earl of Moray, and the Lady Mondegreen.  She carried the lady in her heart her whole life, refusing to hear talk of other lyrics, of less romantic ends, and she spoke of her often, she spread her gospel until all misheard lyrics whose meanings changed became the domain of the Lady Mondegreen.  Her rule stretches further than the earl’s does, in this modern world; she is brighter, and better remembered.

She may not always be understood, but she is always bright, and beautiful, and beloved.  She’s very old, but her current form is very new, spoke for less than a hundred years.

Long may she rain, and wrong may she reign.

[farfromharry]

Beth [ 11 ] | Dad!Eddie Munson series

Eleven, Never again

Word count - 4853

Warnings - language? shitty mothers as usual

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September 1993

It was a unanimous decision that the best way to come to a conclusion about what to do with the Veronica situation, would be to ask your friends. Their opinions could offer some insight that you weren’t considering, or maybe just be what Eddie needed to hear to make up his mind. Though he would be coming to his own resolution, it was wiser to have such smart people– minus Steve– weigh in. 

When you called them over to the cabin they were nervous. Never did you ask them to do that so ominously, nor did you invite so many of them over at once on a whim. If you didn’t already have plans you would usually schedule them, but this time you needed them there asap. Your behavior was weird, and they didn’t know if someone died or you did something illegal. They were leaning towards the latter. 

As Steve walked through the door he was freaking out, demanding that the two of you tell him what was going on because he couldn’t take the ‘not knowing.’ You had told him to calm down, that nothing was going to be discussed until everyone was inside and sat down. 

Both he and his wife asked where Beth was, to which they got a weak response informing them she had been dropped off at Wayne’s trailer in light of this conversation. The last thing you needed when discussing this matter to try and get some help, was a wild, energetic seven year old running around the place. Although it incited more anxiety in your guests.

Even after everyone took their seats, you were still quiet. So much so that Steve said something. “I’m gonna fucking explode if you don’t tell us soon.”

Eddie exhaled. “Beth’s mom showed up at the diner, the other day,” he began, earning a few scattered gasps from around the room. As he paused you noticed the slight way his hands trembled, reaching over to take one in yours to remind him you were there. “She wants to see Beth. Originally I said no, b-but then she threatened to get a lawyer involved.” 

If you’d thought the group couldn’t get more shocked after his first statement, you were wrong. “That bitch!” Tulip muttered.

“You’re not gonna give in, right?” Dustin questioned.

“I-I was thinking about it.” There was a mix of expressions in the group, both Tulip and Dustin were clearly horrified that he would even consider that, but Steve and Robin just looked sympathetic. 

You wanted to weigh in, let them know how you felt about it before anyone else gave their say. “I-I don’t think he should go through with it,” you stated. You turned to look at him next, repeating the same thing you had been telling him for days, with as much sincerity as you could muster. “We can get a lawyer if we have to.” 

They were silent as they processed the information. Surprisingly enough, Harrington was the first one to speak up. “No, no. I think he’s right,” Steve added. The brunette beside you seemed slightly shocked, not used to the man agreeing with him when it came to anything. “He isn’t gonna lose Beth. She hasn’t been a mom for seven years and you think she’s suddenly gonna come back and be one?” 

You had to admit he did have a bit of a point. Apparently Robin thought so too. “I agree. Even if it’s just a threat, d’you really want to take the risk?” 

It was like his mind was made up already, though he hadn’t taken the time to listen to everyone’s advice they were planning on offering. Tulip could see that her best friend was leaning towards what the ‘dynamic duo’ were sprouting, and she didn’t like it one bit. “What if she fills Beth’s head with a bunch of bad things about him? Or takes him to court anyway?” the Hopper girl inputted. “She says she doesn’t want the kid and then shows up years later saying otherwise. I wouldn’t personally consider her very reliable.” 

There were a few beats of silence, just before Henderson spoke up with a bright idea. “Tulip, your mom’s a lawyer, right?” 

None of you on team ‘Eddie you’re making a huge mistake’ had thought of that valuable piece of information. You wouldn’t have to come up with the money to pay for a lawyer, if the lawyer you were hiring was basically your mother. All of you were positive if you asked Petal for her help then she would provide it with no questions asked.

“Yeah, of course. Eds, you know my mom would help you in a heartbeat.” 

It wasn’t that he thought otherwise, he just couldn’t put a stop to the looming thoughts in the back of his mind that even if she tried, it wouldn’t be enough.

“Well,” he announced, pinching the bridge of his nose as the telltale signs of a headache began to form at the back of his skull. “It’s three to three, and I have the final say. She’s my daughter, and I say we go through with it.” 

That didn’t go down well with a certain woman in the room. “You’re unbelievable, Edward,” his best friend scoffed, grabbing her stuff from off the floor and leaving without another word. There was a faint slam of the front door behind her, and the five of you sat there awkwardly. Steve had to be the one to break the silence, informing you all that he should probably go after his wife. Considering he gave both Robin and Dustin a ride, that meant they had to leave too.

You walked to the door with them to send them off, making brief conversation with the younger boy. “I hope he made the right decision,” Henderson whispered, not wanting to risk the metalhead hearing.

“Yeah, me too.”

Even with the distance, you locked eyes with Tulip in the car, noting her frown and helpless expression that you could only respond to with a shrug. You, her and Dustin were all feeling the same way, a little defeated and like the wrong choice had been made, but what were you to do? On the brightside, it didn’t take a genius to know Steve and Robin were probably going to get chewed out for what they said on their way home. 

Once they were out of sight, you pushed the door shut, letting out a sigh. “Honey?” you called. 

He hadn’t moved from his seat on the couch, his head still resting in his hands as he suffered through a silent crisis. Even when you called his name, he didn’t look up at you, didn’t even acknowledge you. You were worried he hadn’t heard you, or maybe he was ignoring you, but you really hoped the former was the case. 

With some hesitation, you moved to take a seat beside him on the couch. That was the thing that seized his attention. He had some sense about the impending judgment that he was going to have to hear. “What’s up?” he quizzed, knowing that the look on your face wasn’t one that posed full confidence in him. 

“I know you have the final say and everything, but, why aren’t you taking my input into consideration?” They definitely weren’t the right words to say. His head whipped around to look at you, his brow furrowed and a brief slither of anger flashed across his eyes. 

His tone when he spoke was defensive. “I did. I thought about all of them, what are you talking about?”

You deflated at the fact he hadn’t detected what he did. “You said she was your daughter. Not ours. Do you not see me as her mom?” you asked. That was the one thing that had hurt you more than anything. It didn’t seem like he had noticed that it slipped out, but you certainly did, and you just had to sit there and embrace it despite how it hurt your feelings.

“Y/N, I- Y’know that wasn’t what I meant. Of course you’re her mom, but…” You didn’t like that he’d trailed off. You weren’t trying to cause a fight, not at all, but clearly there was something on his mind that he wasn’t saying out loud because he knew it would hurt your feelings. That was what that look on his face meant. 

You crossed your arms over your chest, inhaling deeply. “Say it Eddie. Go on.”

“I am her mom, but..?” you started for him, egging him on. 

He squeezed his eyes shut, but went on anyway. “You are her mom, but my opinion on this matters more.” He sounded defeated, however his thoughts were now out in the open. You nodded, accepting the words loosely. You were well aware he was thinking a little irrationally, so you weren’t going to flip out exactly, but that didn’t mean you were letting this slide. 

When Eddie’s uncle arrived back at the cabin with the little girl, the two of you had to pretend as though the atmosphere in the home wasn’t tense. The first thing Beth did was run to greet you both, throwing her arms around your waist as she rambled on about all of the things her and her grandpa had spent part of their day doing. You entertained her, mirroring her excitement while trying to push the issue with your fiance to the back of your mind. 

You and Eddie didn’t get time to have a civil conversation between the two of you even hours after everyone left. After the small disagreement you had, neither of you really felt like talking for a bit, and then the topic of your fight came home and the opportunity was gone. 

As he watched Beth from the window, you tidied up a little, cleaning up the mess that had been left by your friends. Occasionally you would glance at him, subtly try and catch his attention to kick off the discussion, but he was purposely avoiding your gaze. Or you thought he was anyway.

The sound of his voice pulled you out of your little daze. “‘M not gonna lie and say I’m okay. But I am sorry for what I said.” 

“Ed,” you whispered, making your way over to him, laying a hand on his lower back.

“I have to do this, huh?” he asked, embracing the way your hand trailed over his back. It was one of the only things currently grounding him. As he gazed over at Beth, playing joyously with her grandpa outside in the rain as she tried to coax her pet cat to come on out with them. Eddie told them it was a bad idea for even them to be in the rain, nevermind Bat, that they’d catch a cold and regret it, but you encouraged them. He was confused at first, but then you explained to him how it let the two of you talk about everything that happened today.

You frowned. “You don’t have to, honey. We can still put a stop to this— Call Tulip’s mom and-“ 

“I- As much as I don’t like it, it’s the smart thing to do.” He wasn’t usually so serious, about anything. You didn’t often see this side of him, so it was unclear to you how to approach him in the correct way. Anything you said could be taken the wrong way, sending the two of you spiraling into a fight that he didn’t need to deal with right now.

It was better for you to just agree with his wishes.

So, despite your opposing thoughts about his decision, you stuck by what he wanted, offering your support to him. You would be doing that by joining the little girl in the meeting with her mother in the coming days.

When that day finally arrived after much suspense, Eddie was down in the dumps. He didn’t want it to go forward for various reasons, nor did he want it to happen without him. Scared was an understatement to describe how he was feeling. If he really had a choice in the matter, without lawyers being dragged into it, he would have refused right from the get go and put his foot down. He hated how things were unfolding. 

There were so many thoughts running through his head right as he woke up that morning. You were tucked into his side, still content in dreamworld for the time being; oh how he envied you– he’d been tossing and turning all night. All he could think was the possibility that Beth might leave him, some way or other.

What if she realized she liked her mom better than Eddie?

What if she turned her against him by fueling the child with lies?

What if Veronica did actually take her away?

There was potential that the day could finish with the dad losing the light of his life. He wasn’t prepared, he didn’t think there was any possible way to prepare for something like that. He’d seen the way her eyes lit up when he sat her down and told her what was happening with Veronica, hearing her mother wanted to see her had thrilled the girl, but only worried him more. 

He hadn’t realized he was crying until he heard your voice through his hazy thoughts. “Eddie?” you called, gently, setting your hand on his arm. “Are you okay?”

He sniffled, turning his head to look at you and you could have sworn your heart broke then and there. The usual cheery puppy eyes were drowning behind his tears, silently begging for help. You frowned, encouraging him to move into your arms where you could comfort him. One of your hands found his back, rubbing up and down, the other kept his head against your chest as he cried. “Talk to me,” you said.

Surprisingly, he was quick to open up about his concerns, how frightened he was that something was gonna go wrong, that Beth wouldn’t love him anymore. You tried to tell him he was being silly, none of that would ever happen. You were being completely honest. He was an idiot if he thought Beth would ever feel anything but love towards him. But you didn’t know how to get that through to him. 

“Honey, it’ll be okay,” you said, brushing the salty tears away from his cheeks. Usually your sweet words of reassurance would have been enough for him, but today he didn’t think anything would be. He needed to let the tears out before Beth woke up, because he refused to cry while she was here in his presence. “But what if it’s not?”

You shook your head. “Don’t think like that. It will.”

A creak barely sounded from the door as it was pushed open by the child, your attention snapping towards it after seeing the movement out of the corner of your eye. “Hey Beth. Good morning, sweetheart.”

At the sound of his daughter’s name, Eddie quickly tried to get himself together, tidying up the way his face looked so she wouldn’t suspect he had been crying. But her smart little brain could figure it out in seconds. “Is daddy okay?” she questioned, approaching your side of the bed timidly.

You faked a smile, one you hoped she couldn’t see through. “Yeah. He’s just tired, taking a little longer to wake up today,” you lied. Although she still seemed weary considering he hadn’t said anything yet, she seemed to accept the answer. “Why don’t we leave him to wake up, and we can go make breakfast?” 

She muttered an okay, rushing out of the room ahead of you. You turned to your fiancé briefly, flashing him a small smile and pressing a kiss to his forehead after you leaned in. “Take your time.” 

He didn’t make it into the kitchen until breakfast was finished, the two of you sitting at the table, a place set out for him. His voice was quiet when he thanked you, dropping a kiss to the top of your head and then Beths afterwards. You noted he looked more put together, but the redness in his eyes remained. Though there were no longer any traces of dried tears on his cheeks. 

Beth must’ve noticed too, placing a kiss on her dad's cheek in retaliation. She was smart enough not to comment on it though, allowing her touch to serve as a comfort to him. While she ran off to get ready for the day–insisting she could dress herself now, after all, she was a big girl–you sat down with Eddie, waiting patiently for him to say something. Anything. He didn’t, he simply ate the food you had laid out for him sluggishly. At one point, you had slipped your hand into his and squeezed it. He was sure you would never know how much that served to help him, even if it were for a split second. 

When the little girl joined the two of you donning a purple dress, you knew it was time to leave. You didn’t need to be told to know that Eddie had immediately felt a sense of dread at the imminent. He dragged his feet the entire way to the car, sliding into the passenger seat and staring off into the changing leaves. You didn’t say anything, focusing instead on getting everyone to their locations safely. But you couldn’t help but grab hold of Eddie’s hand, letting him know that everything would be okay without having to say a word–even if he didn’t necessarily believe you. 

Your first stop of the day surprisingly wasn’t the diner. It was widely believed that if Eddie was left alone while you took Beth to the diner to meet Veronica, he would go crazy. He would probably end up pulling out his hair by the time you got back. So, you stopped by Tulip’s flower store on the way, leaving him in the company of your two friends so they could keep him occupied and out of his dark thoughts. 

“Please make sure it goes smoothly. Don’t let her–” You settled your hands on the sides of Eddie’s face, offering him the most reassuring smile you could muster up. “She’s gonna be fine with me. I promise you.”

Tulip and Steve watched the two of you talk while half heartedly talking with Beth, keeping her busy for the few moments this was going to take. “Come on, Munson, you’ll be fine with us. We can be fun.”

He sent a dramatic longing look your way, like it pained him to even hear those words come out of Steve’s mouth. You were almost late as it was though, there was nothing you could do. Reluctantly he watched you both go.

The entire time Beth was away, Eddie couldn’t calm down. He was antsy, and he didn’t like it. She was usually always in the care of him or someone he trusted with his life, this was a completely new situation for him. He was placated in the knowledge that you were there alongside her. That the little girl wasn’t alone in this scary situation; that should have been enough to calm his nerves. Still, he would have rather it been him there holding her hand, but there was a majority vote he would have been too worked up the whole time.

Tulip was trying her best to comfort him. She and Steve had decided to stay with him in her store. It was to attempt to provide a distraction for him so he wasn’t stuck in his thoughts until you got back, but it wasn’t working. He was still pacing up and down the small shop, almost knocking over bouquet after bouquet of flowers in his path.

At one point Steve tried to lighten the mood, but it only served in getting him a glare from both his lover and Eddie. “Dude, stop pacing. You’re scaring the customers,” he teased.

If looks could kill Steve would surely be six feet under by now. He simply raised his hands in his own defense, letting Eddie fret if he wanted to. Tulip could deal with the distressed man seeing as he was only making it worse. She was probably better at it anyway, Harrington was almost useless when it came to making good out of a bad situation.

Eddie didn’t speak up until his best friend was standing in front of him. “Why is it taking so long?” he worried, rubbing at his eyes harshly with the tips of his fingers. Tulip grabbed his arms, pulling them away from his face so he wouldn’t hurt himself. 

She frowned, seeing his dark eyes clearly swimming with distress. “You need to calm down. They’re fine, Beth will be fine.” Tulip’s words were basically being drowned out by his countless thoughts. He didn’t know how he could calm down at a time like this, it felt like his heart was going to explode.

He shook his head. “How do you know? Beth could be deciding she doesn’t want to be with me anymore, right this second, or—“ He delved into another rant full of pure fear that had the married couple sharing looks of uncertainty. As much as they would try to console him, neither of them knew what exactly would do the job to help him. Everything either of them came up just seemed like it’d be rejected.

Tulip tried to take a stab at it, cutting him off mid rant, ignoring the glare that earned her. “Ed, just sit down. I’ll get you some tea, and we can relax—“ 

He scoffed, shocked that she thought any of those things were going to settle the emotions he was having. They might have kids, their beautiful twins, but they would never know the threat of them being taken away by a woman who didn’t even raise them. This was something none of his friends had gone through, understandably their help was useless, but he hated that they were even trying.

“I don’t want your tea, and I don’t want to relax, Hopper.” Rarely did she ever let people yell at her without saying something back. It was obvious this was coming from a place of strong emotion, but not ones that were directed at her. This time she wouldn’t fight back, but it was the only time he was going to get a free pass for being a douche.

“Harrington,” Steve corrected, aimlessly.

“Not helping,” they both snapped. He backed off quickly, trying to make it so he just blended in with the background so he wouldn’t get yelled at again. It worked pretty well.

Tulip turned back to her friend, the man still visibly angry. “Look, I’ll let it slide that you just yelled at me, but don’t do it again,” she warned, very seriously. “If you don’t want our help, then we’ll all just sit here quietly until she gets back. Okay?”

Eddie nodded, agreeing that they would both just have to wait for you to make your way back with his daughter. In reality, seeing her face, knowing she was coming back to him and not leaving with that witch, would be the only thing that was going to shake him from this terrible rut. Either that or Veronica suddenly deciding to call the whole thing off. 

He practically heard her sniffles from down the street almost an hour later. He was listening that carefully. His nerves had him on his toes anyway, waiting for the very second he spotted even a glimpse of his daughter’s curly hair so he could decipher her mood. So when his Beth walked in, head tucked into your side with red eyes and a red nose, he was right there ready to make all her sadness go away.

“Beth,” he called, watching as she raised her head at the sound of the familiar voice. She hesitated, which broke his heart, before rushing to him with a quiet cry of ‘daddy’ after getting encouragement from you. 

“Oh, my baby,” he muttered, bending down to her height so he could scoop her up. It didn’t matter how big she was getting, or that she was no longer that adorable four year old. Eddie knew the little girl needed him and nothing was going to stop him from holding her close. Maybe some of it was that he needed her too. He wouldn’t have realized it all those years ago when she was handed to him, but she saved his life that day.

No one in the shop spoke as the pair reunited, all that could be heard were the quiet cries of the seven year old. You could see the relief all over his face now that she was back in his arms, but there was a lingering worry in the air that she was upset. 

A while had passed before he pulled away to look at her, bringing one of his hands up to her cheek where he wiped away some of the tears decorating her skin. “What happened? Talk to me, sweet girl.” It was a little awkward with all the eyes watching them both, but Eddie hadn’t really noticed. He was in his own little world now that Beth was safe and back in his arms. 

“Please don’t send me away. I don’t want to leave you,” she cried. 

His heart positively shattered. “I’d never send you away, Beth. I’ll never do any of this again.”

With a quiet sniffle, she held out her hand, specifically her pinky. “You promise?” she asked, ever so quietly. 

He nodded his head, taking her pinky and solidifying the fact she had no reason to worry. “I promise.” She almost visibly looked relieved and it saddened you to think the entire time you were sitting in the diner with that wretched woman, these were the thoughts she was having. You hated that this whole thing had made her believe she wasn’t loved or wanted– a child should never have to feel that way. 

“Let’s get you home, huh? You’ve had a long day,” you said, brushing some of her curly hair behind her ear. She was more than excited to make it back to her bed and have that security that she wasn’t being sent to live with this woman, or that her dad did still love her. 

Before you could leave, the Hopper daughter spoke up, hoping to make some of the situation better. “B,” Tulip called, leaning over the counter with a smile. The sniffy, unsettled, girl turned to the woman, still clinging onto her dad’s hand for dear life. “Here, sweetheart.” In her hand she was passing over a single purple coloured flower, one that matched the violet shade of her dress.

She took it with a small smile after getting the okay from Eddie. Tulips were her favorite, and who better to give them to her than the woman named after them. “Thank you, Tully.” 

The three of you left your friend’s store in lighter spirits than you had arrived with. But still, the entire way home Beth refused to let go of her dad. The pair sat in the back together, his arms around her as she stayed curled into his chest. No one spoke, not even you, no one needed to. She was sleepy by the time you arrived home, exhaustion hitting from all the tears and bother that had happened throughout the day.

He had to carry her inside, her head tucked into his neck as she drifted in and out of sleep. You left the two of them to it, allowing him some more time with her as he tucked her into her bed. She’d woken up a little bit as he made sure the blanket was snug around her.

“Can you play me my song?” she asked, quietly. His hand stilled on her hair, a grin creeping onto his lips. He hadn’t played for her in a while, but each time he did he swore his heart grew a size. If that was what his baby wanted after a long day, it was what she was going to get. 

“Yeah. Let me get my guitar.” 

He wasn’t gone long, he was in and out of the bedroom so fast you didn’t even hear him come in, despite the fact that you were in the room. He didn’t offer you a greeting or anything like that before he was gone and heading back to Beth’s room just down the hall. Only a little time passed before you heard the sound of his guitar flowing through the walls. 

As Eddie strummed the strings of his instrument, he watched Beth’s eyes get heavier and heavier, growing closer to falling into a deep sleep. It felt surreal now that Beth was safe by his side where no one could take her away, and he would never let anything like that happen again. For as long as he lived he would protect that little girl with his life, just as you would too. 

━━━━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━━━━

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(if theres a strike through it wont allow me to tag you, pls make sure your tags are on!!)

[minnesota-fats]

Also its okay that the DP x JL x MLB isn't your cup of tea, so whenever I ask about what I'll call the Halfa-Siblings au ( heh ) it'll just be in the JL x DP world.

With that out of the way, I was reading reading family reunions but at the worst time au, and I wondered about how that must had went down in the Dark Dan timeline 😬.

Because despite being willing to kill his own family and friends again to ensure his existence, I'm sure when Dan found out that his bio dad was Bruce Wayne, he was stunned because to him, Jack is his dad, full stop. And Maddie isn't the type to cheat, how how did this happen?

Also, if he found out as a late teen, then he might jump to the wrong conclusions and because of bad experiences with Vlad, thinks that Bruce could have taken advantage of Maddie, since he is a powerful rich man and then gave his family hush money, and if they complained, who will believe them?

*The part that got Vlad's intelligence thought that maybe he could be a baby from an open relationship but that thought never took root because despite being evil, there are things not even Supervillians want to think about what goes on in their parents bedroom, thank you very much*

And the JL would have tried to stop Dan at one point since he's causing so much damage and getting more powerful, so a fight had to happen( and they probably either lost horribly or even died, ) Dan finds out about Bruce being Batman because that tech is expensive and he'll need money and connected the dots, and blows up at him, revealing that he is his long lost son that he never even cared about and how he treated his mother like a used toy.

If Dan did kill Bruce with the League, the Batfam, including Damian would tried to get revenge. Dan sees they he has a younger half-brother and goes ballistic and yeah I don't see that ending well for them either.

Maybe Damian did get away and he was leading some resistance out there, and he and Dan despite knowing their blood bond, hate each others guts.

What do you think went down during that Father-Son confrontation? And what did the Dark Dan timeline Bruce think about Dan, and then finding out that's his son?

—I made a short bit of how i would write that interaction cuz I couldn’t help myself cuz I LOVE angst at the best of times!—

Dan held the man by the throat and glared up at him, teeth bared, “what do you have to say for yourself?” Bruce—even while being held like this—looked down at Dan with sad eyes. He was confused and in pain and this young man who was going to kill him was another son he knew nothing about. “I asked you a question, old man!” Dan growled, tightening his grip ever so slightly.

Bruce gargled before finding his voice, “I’m. Sorry.” He says softly, “I didn’t know about you. If I did I would have done everything in my power to have met you…” Bruce’s vision began to blur, “I failed you, son….”

Dan stares up at Bruce, eyes wide and full of dangerous human emotions. But it didn’t last long, Dan throws Bruce onto the ground and puts his foot on his head. Dan looks up at Bruce’s family and smiles wickedly before putting pressure on the man’s skull and crushing it beneath his foot. The screams of anguish that came from his so-called siblings was music to his ears.

How dare they live here and be happy while I had to suffer, how dare they call him a monster when the world made him this way! Dan stalked forward like a wild animal walking up to its corner mes prey. “Now what to do with you brats?” He asked, looking at all of them bound by his ecto energy.

Unknown to Dan however, Jason managed to free himself and was working on freeing Damien. But in typically Damien fashion, the kid jumps up and tries to attack Dan. Dan sidesteps the kid and smirks when he hears the other bat kids gasp and shout for Damien to just run away. Dan picks the kid up by the scruff of his robin suit and growls when he can’t see the kid's eyes. He rips off the kids domino mask, expecting fear. But he froze when he saw looking up at him with big green emerald eyes so much hatred. even with tears falling like waterfalls Damien glared at him. Frozen in that moment, Dan could only look at this kid. So similar to him—his human half— lost so much in a single day and it was only going to get worse from here on out.

Jason took the opportunity to rush forward and deck Dan in the face, causing him to drop Damien. In one fluid motion Jason houists Damien onto his shoulder and runs out of there. The whole time Damien cursed and demanded to go back, calling Jason a coward and screaming at how he was going to kill Dan. Dan smiled and watched them go, Dan had made a decision and he was excited to see how this would play out. But for now he turned to look at the remainder of the bat clan and smiled a fanged grin before he began ripping into them like a wild animal.

—

This whole scenario gives me JLD: Apokolips War vibes! If you haven’t seen it I recommend it! Its about the JL fighting Darkside and losing and the whole movie takes place after a two year timeskip where Constantine and the remaining JL band together to fight Darkside.

But if you dont like gore dont watch it! Its SUPER dark and there are many on screen deaths, such as: Nightwing getting impaled protecting Damien, Koriand’r getting ripped in half and so on!

(It also has Dami throwing Dick into the Lazarus Pit and it not working like it did for Jason and Dick comes back wrong and insane!)

Anyway, moving on!

—

Damien resents Jason and will call him a coward for the rest of his life.

Jason couldn’t care less, he was just glad he was able to save one of his siblings.

Damien will try and run off on his own but Jason isn’t far behind.

After the fall of humanity they are left in the wreckage until they find Amity Park the last city still standing, protected by a tall shield that northern Jason or Damien could get through.(because of the Lazarus pit)

Valerie and Damien bond over losing people they care about (he doesn’t tell her that mother he nor his brother can’t go through the shield after she explained that Dan couldn’t get in because he was a ghost)

Damien and Jason decide that they will go around the world to see if they can find any survivors and bring them back to Amity Park.

Jason becomes a better big brother and takes care of Damien (similar to how Jazz took care of Danny)

They meet Vlad who almost has a heart attack cuz Damien and Danny look so similar.

Dan appears and asks how his toys are doing (because he is creepy like that!)

Damien tries to kill him again but is yeeted into a wall and Dan leaves cackling.

Vlad tells his story

Damien nearly beats the shit out of him before Jason can stop him

Vlad believes he deserves it and moves on

Vlad offers them some weapons that work against ghosts

They take them cuz yay weapons!

Vlad helps supe up their suits with ghost tech like Valerie’s suit and makes an ecto dampener so they can go into Amity through the portal.

—10 years later—

Amity Park falls and Damien, Valerie, and Jason are all that��s really left.

Past Danny comes to the future to stop Dan and he meets Damien (who almost kills him but is stopped by Valerie when she finds out phantom is danny)

Damien explains that they are half brothers which throws Danny for a loop.

Meets Vlad again who nearly cries when he sees Danny. (Danny clocks him in the face and Jason is like, “I like this kid”)

Damien and Danny bond over fighting ghosts. Damien actually starts to like Danny as a brother

Danny finds out that he is technically the older brother and is like “I’m an older brober!” And Damien tells him to shut up and Jason and Valerie laugh! Cuz holy shit Dami is a baby!!!

When Danny is about to go back in time and Damien pulls him aside and is like “it was nice knowing you kid! But if you fail I’m gonna go back in time myself and kick your ass!”

Danny hugs him and Jason, and promises that he wouldn’t.

Then some happy bittersweet sibling banter and Damien warning Danny that if he ever meets Damien like, “bother be warned, if you ever meet me in the past, he will most likely try and kill you.”

Danny laughs thinking it’s a joke and Jason is like, “no seriously! He was raised by assassins for the first 10 years of his life.”

And Danny gets sent back to the past with SO MANY QUESTIONS! Like what the hell

Danny will have a heart to heart with his mom, calming that he just had a feeling and she will then explain everything to him (including his parents open relationship)

And Danny wanting to meet Damien and Jason again goes to meet his bio dad because he wants to be a good big brother!

(This is just a random thought but what if future Damien and Jason are brought back in time too and are tasked by clockwork to look after Dan in the GZ as the more human than ghost protector’s, just a fun thought!)

[jadedwolf18-blog]

I had to! Please enjoy my first ever snippet I’ve ever posted on anything.

💚🤍🖤💙

Tim 

Tim had noticed the Joker had been acting strange around him. It was small barely notable in the beginning. Tim had brushed it off as the Joker’s irritation with the fact that, not only had he managed to go against his ‘conditioning’ and special joker venom but had shot him killed him. How did he come back?! It was easy to ignore. 

But it’s been years three but now in the last month it’s gotten weirder. The Joker flinches when he sees him, in and out of suit sometimes even going out of his way to avoid him or out right ignoring him completely. It’s gotten to the point where even the other Bats have noticed. Tim had out right asked the Joker why he was acting this way as he was being placed in the squad car. The reaction was not what they were expecting. 

The Joker had stared at him before laughing it was not his usual laugh it was hollow and tinged with the type of hysteria that could only come from someone who wanted to deny the truth. Before he cut himself off and looked Tim dead in the eye “She only gave me one, I gave him away. Kicked one out the nest to raise the other and the man who raised you was nothing more than a fool who was tricked by a kookaburra. Perhaps you should search your old nest little bird.” 

He was shoved into the car as his cackles rang down the street. His words sending chills down Tim’s spine. Tim jump as a heavy hand came to rest on his shoulder. The weight was comforting but the chill remained. When he got back to the cave.

 Tim ignored everyone and headed straight for the board he was using to investigate the new meta, that could possibly be a clone and stared at the picture of a boy that was identical to him with three notable differences his eyes were a little to wide and alert, smile to big and a little to sharp. Lastly the almost toxic green strip of hair that streaked through his bangs that perpetually covered his right eye. Against his will, the dots began to connect.

Tim ran. He didn’t bother changing. Hadn’t Even removed his domino. He ran and ran, ignoring the shouts of his family could he still call them that. Would they still care about him? What about the other? Can he be trusted or will he join their fa-sperm donor? Tim’s mind raced faster than he ran. He grappled over the wall that separated Wayne Manor and the Drake Estate. 

Crashed through the doors and up to his mother’s study. He didn’t care if he made a mess, he tore through shelves, drawers, desks until he knocked over a bookshelf in pure rage/desperation/and fear of what? That his conclusion was true. That he’ll find proof? He looked up, there, barely noticeable but it was a clear cut square in the wallpaper, it was glued back but just skew enough to see if you were looking. 

And Tim was looking. He scrambled up and used a birdarang to tear it open. What he found froze him in place. He read though the pages over and over and collapsed to his knees as he continued to read again and again and again hoping begging anyone who could hear or would listen that it wasn’t true. 

That how his family, the bats, found him. Tears streaming down his face, near silent manic, desperate laughter slipping from his lips as he stared at the papers in his hand. 

Batman stared at the boy he came to view as a son. The same boy who was now overlapped with the image of a younger Tim in the same position, the same expression of pain, fear, desperation as has nowfrom three years ago ironically to the day after just shooting the Joker having fought past the Joker venom and conditioning torture going against the pain in order to save Batman from the Jokers machinations. 

*****

Danny

Danny looked up from his phone. The feelings of angerpainconfusionsadnessbetrayalfear was so strong he had to close his eyes to hide the flash of green and calm himself. It was coming from the one his core was leading him to. 

He didn’t know who they were or why his core was so adamant on finding them and protecting them but he new it was the same urge that guided him to Danielle when she needed help. To his friends, his family. Did he have another clone? 

Regardless he was restless. He didn’t know them and that made it difficult to find them in such a big city. He opened his eyes and stared out in the direction he could feel the emotions coming from. 

Taking a long sip of his 10th Death Wish *snort* coffee he finished it in one go. Eyes never blinking as he gathered his belongings and threw away his trash. 

He paused at the door and turned to look in the opposite direction. Something there was calling to him but this call was fainter and more a need to destroy whatever it was. With a shrug he left the cafe with a giggle, everyone shuddered at the sound, it was a little to close to a Joker laugh and a Robin’s cackle for comfort. Many moved to the other side of the street to let him pass. He paid them no mind. Lost in thought. 

Danny was close to finding the thing he needed to protect. He was excited and intrigued. There was something else in that direction too, something Ghostly but not quite, it was tainted and angry but it was also concernedanxiouslonging he could help them too, he felt them often as they seamed to hang around the one he felt the need to protect, a lot in the month he’d been in the city. 

He has a new project to focus on, something to keep his mind off his parents all of them, adoptive and otherwise. 

He whistled while he walked down the street, the sound only interrupted by a giggle every now and then, with a skip in his step. He was going to have some fun. 

The bats and birds were interesting, so were the rogues. A particular clown was owed a visit but that was for another day Danny still did’t know how to feel about that. Best to shove it in a box at the back of his mind for now. His hatred for clowns not withstanding. 

Any good feelings he could have had about THAT situation was smothered by all the badhurtbetralangerdisgust he felt towards the man. He had locked eyes with him once during one of his heists. He’d grinned at the man before walking away and disappearing into the terrified crowd. 

He continued his walk, whistling, giggling and swinging his bag on his way to work. Oh yes he was going to have fun. Play with the bats and birds, drag a clown to Justice and enjoy his vacation from his kingly duties. Yes, this is going to be his best vacation. *giggle*

Gotham as a whole felt the sudden need to to hide. None more so than the rogue’s and criminals. 

*****

Joker

The Joker broke into sudden crazed laughter, head tilted to the ceiling. Fear rushed through him and the unexplainable feeling of being hunted caused his laugh to crack and shake. It went unnoticed but he new. He did not know how but he knew. Death was in the city and he would not be able to escape it this time. 

DC/DP Crossover Idea #1:

Danny is Jokers son: Why? Because it’s funny and I can. Let’s say that he was born around the time before Joker become the Joker and he sent him off to some of his old colleagues because he still cared about him in his own way and Danny at the time was already showing signs that he was becoming like him idk

Everything happens in canon as usual for both ends: Just Danny’s just a little unhinged and laughs at shit he really shouldn’t, he got better at hiding it over the years but sometimes, sometimes it just happens like after he defeats Pariah Dark

At some point, when Batman gives a speech to Joker after Jason’s death about how he would never understand yada yada. Joker tells all too seriously that he does understand: Now Batman is on a mission to find out if a monster could truly have a child

One day, Danny goes to Gotham for whatever fucking reason you pick, and slowly meets the batfam: The funny thing is that he looks like someone’s doubleganger- Tims’ specifically

Why Tim? Well, remember JJ?