#yes one armed people can drive it's just another thing goldie can do that john can't

[jesncin]

freaky friday but it's the Constantine twins brain swap

I thought it would be funny don't ask questions

[megalony]

Sweetheart- Part 12

Here’s another part of my latest bodyguard! Ben Hardy series which I hope you are all enjoying so far.

Taglist: @lunaticspoem @butlegendsneverdie @langdonzvoid @jennyggggrrr @rogmeddows @radiob-l-a-hblah @rogertaylorsbitontheside @chlobo6 @rogertaylors-lipgloss @sj-thefan @omgitsearly @luckytrashgooprebel @scarsout @deaky-with-a-c @killer-queen-ofrhye @bluutac @vousmemanqueez @jonesyaddiction

Series taglist: @anikatcmh @sillyscissorsnerdsoul

Series masterlist

Enjoy.

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Raking a hand through his hair, Ben started his descent down the corridor to get back to (Y/n). He was starting to get worried about her because she hadn't slept much at all last night and she was increasingly agitated because the trial was this afternoon. He knew that she was nervous because without her testimony there would essentially be no trial because nothing would stick and her father and brothers would get away with it.

They would be back on the streets in no time and then they wouldn't be safe.

The trial would have been a bit too much for her anyway, walking wasn't that easy due to the stitches (Y/n) had and she wasn't one hundred percent better either. She should be able to be discharged in two or three days and then they would just be coming in to focus on Goldie getting better.

Ben had just been sitting with Goldie for a while, they had given her steroids last night and they said she was responding well and not having a reaction which was a very good thing. She was monitored every few hours so Ben thought he would just sit and watch over for a while, he couldn't do much else but keep watch and check on her and he couldn't sit and do nothing. Looking over her and holding her hand was the only thing keeping him going.

Making his way down the corridor, Ben headed into (Y/n)'s hospital room but froze in the doorway at the argument taking place between her and Joe who Ben didn't know had arrived yet.

"Going somewhere?" Ben questioned with a small sigh when he looked (Y/n) over, seeing she was wearing trousers and a plain shirt rather than her pyjamas that she had been in when he went to go and see Goldie. He wasn't stupid, she was getting ready to go to court and Joe was obviously here to give her the evidence that he had kept for safekeeping.

Ben wasn't mad or upset that she was going to court, this is what she wanted to do in the first place, it was the reason all of these events had unfolded and now that she wasn't pregnant and her family knew about Goldie it did seem fine to go. But they had already beaten her up and the worst part was her brother didn't have to do very much to hurt her. He had to fight Ben, sure but all he did to (Y/n) was kick her once and then throw her down. This time he could do a lot worse because it was the day of the trial and her family was going to be agitated and running out of ideas if she turned up.

(Y/n) was injured, she was battered, bruised and had stitches. They could easily hurt her and her injuries would give them a big advantage. Even with Ben there they could surround them, it had taken two of them last time and he would put money on there being more of them today.

"Tell her she can't go." Joe sounded defeated and like this argument had been going on for a while.

Ben gave Joe a look that clearly stated he couldn't do that. Ben was her boyfriend and her protector, he wasn't her keeper and if she wanted to do something he held no rights to tell her she couldn't do it. He could advise and try to get her to see things differently but he couldn't just tell her she wasn't going and make her stay.

"You're kidding me, right?" Joe almost shouted, stretching his hands out to try and release the tension in them as he tried to stay calm. Watching Ben shut the door behind himself before folding his arms over his chest. "All those times you take charge and say 'don't do this' and now you don't say anything?" Joe held his arms out at his sides as he couldn't get his head around this.

He had agreed to look after the logbook for (Y/n) and he understood her wanting to go to court, he completely supported that decision. When she became pregnant Joe was cut in two minds, half still wanting her to go but the other half wanted her to stay safe. Now she had been hurt and she was going to put herself in more danger if she went and although she would be putting her family away, Joe wasn't sure it was worth it. A beating just to give them what they deserved, she could get hurt a lot worse than she already had been.

"It's not my decision Joe, I can't tell her what to do." Even if Ben desired to tell (Y/n) what to do he couldn't because he knew it wasn't ethical and it wasn't fair. He didn't own her and she had the right to her own mind and decisions, all he could do was accept them and support her.

"These people nearly kill your daughter and now you're giving them free access to your girlfriend-"

"You're on thin ice so I suggest you shut it right there." Ben snapped, his eyes darkening as he pointed a finger at Joe to show him not to even dare carrying on with that sentence. He wasn't letting them hurt (Y/n) he would do everything in his power to keep her safe and he hadn't had a choice when it came to Goldie almost dying. (Y/n) could have been stabbed, Goldie could have been stabbed in the shop and died. Ben had a choice and he made it.

"If I do this they won't be able to get to me anymore." (Y/n) interrupted, trying to stop the argument she knew wouldn't end well if they each carried on. If her family were put away she would be safe. Her father wouldn't have the means to even attempt to get her hurt when he was in prison and it would take time for him to even get someone who used to work for him to hurt her. She would be safe when the trial was over if she went and gave evidence.

"Yeah, and if they see you before you testify they will kill you." Joe almost spat his snide response that made (Y/n) drop her gaze to her hands.

She had to take the risk, she had to be careful and do this for Goldie and for herself and for safety for them all. This had to be done because they would be on the run or living in danger for the rest of their lives if her family didn't get put away. (Y/n) had evidence and she had her statement and what she had seen which would put her family away. If she dropped this now she could be deemed as unreliable if she ever tried to go up against her family again.

It was now or never.

"If she goes I go with her-"

"Look what happened when you were with her! Open your eyes Ben, you can't do shit when they're involved. You're the reason Goldie almost died." As soon as the words passed through his lips Joe knew he had taken it a step too far. All he wanted was for (Y/n) to be safe because she was a sister to him and Ben was one of his closest friends. He couldn't see them get hurt any more than they already had been.

His breath was stolen when Ben suddenly lunged at him, grabbing his shirt in his fists before he launched Joe against the nearest wall. Pinning him against the wall almost lifting his feet from the ground as he felt dangerously close to punching him.

"Ben!" He didn't spare a glance to (Y/n) who tried pulling him back to no avail. He wasn't letting Joe say that and then think it was either okay or that it was true. Joe hadn't been there when it happened, he hadn't been there when Ben had to make the choice of who was more dangerous and he knew he had made the right call. Although John had clearly hurt both (Y/n) and Goldie, the other man could have easily killed them with the knife he had and Ben had to stop him as he had been more dangerous.

"I made a choice." Ben sneered the words quietly but he slammed Joe back against the wall to let out some of the anger bubbling in his veins. "And that choice ensured that neither of my girls got stabbed. Don't you dare say anything like that again."

Ben took a step back as he let go of Joe, watching him slump against the wall before gaining his composure again.

"I don't want you to get hurt." Joe stated quietly, his eyes locking with (Y/n)'s before he bypassed Ben and left the room. The logbook he brought with him resting untouched on the chair by the bed. He didn't mean to upset them he just didn't want either of them to get hurt because they almost paid the price last time with Goldie's life. This was a dangerous game and they were playing with fire, there was no way they weren't going to get burned by doing this.

Ben seemed to stay staring at the wall even after Joe left the room, only snapping out of his trance when (Y/n) pressed her face into his arm, wrapping her hands around his bicep as she really didn't want to fight with him. She called Joe to bring in the logbook and was then going to talk to Ben about it. She would never have the nerve to leave on her own she needed him to protect her because even if he couldn't do very much he could do more than she could on her own.

"Are you sure you want to go?" Ben kept his tone neutral and calm as he slowly turned around so he was facing her. He wouldn't stop her but he had to be sure that she really wanted this. If there was one single doubt in her head about going then he didn't want her to take the risk.

"There isn't another option." (Y/n) couldn't live in hiding or in fear of what her family would do. If she bowed down to them they would forever hold it over her and she had to keep Goldie safe. Their girl was her priority now and forever and that meant going to trial.

"Yes there is. We can leave, when Goldie's better we can disappear somewhere, I don't give a fuck where we go as long as your both safe. They won't find us, they won't even bother because they won't have any reason to want to hunt you down." In a few weeks Goldie would be well enough to leave the hospital altogether and when that happened they could go. They could drive somewhere different like Scotland or somewhere up North or they could just get on a plane and randomly go anywhere they wanted.

Her father would have no reason to try and find (Y/n) because she would have done what he asked. She would have kept quiet and not gone to court and he would know he was in the clear to keep doing what he was doing. If no one saw them around or heard from them he would just cut (Y/n) out of his life completely and forget about her.

"If John didn't hurt me I would have said yes but he can't get away with this. He can't hurt me and Goldie and get away with it, I can't live in fear any more."

If (Y/n) was still pregnant and she and the baby were fine she would agree, she would say that they had to leave as soon as Goldie was born. But her brother changed that. He had no reason to attack her but he did it anyway and (Y/n) was not letting him get away with putting Goldie's life in danger. She had to do something and the trial was the only thing she could do to get her brothers and her father to pay for what they had done all her life. They deserved this and then (Y/n), Ben and Goldie would be free from any threat.

"Alright, I'll take you to the trial, but I need you to do something for me." (Y/n) cocked her head to the side at Ben's words, nodding as she waited for him to explain. "You're clearly not pregnant anymore, so when they ask, play it up. Cry, shout, hit just everything to make them think you lost the baby, we can still protect Goldie in case anything goes wrong as long as they think she's dead."

Ben knew that if anything with the trial went wrong, if some secret witness working for her family turned up and ruined everything or if for some reason they managed to discredit (Y/n)'s evidence, her family would turn on her. They would do everything to find and hurt her and Goldie was a way to get to both of them.

But if (Y/n) saw John today and screamed at him, if she lashed out and cried and acted like she lost Goldie then he was likely to believe her because he didn't know any different. He clearly intended to hurt her and he must have known he could have easily made Goldie be stillborn or die when she was born. So if they acted like Goldie did die then they had some kind of insurance that she would be protected because no one would think she was alive.

"Okay."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "If you see John start to make a scene, if you see your dad let me know and we'll walk away. They're not allowed to talk to you." Ben whispered the words against the shell of (Y/n)'s ear as he kept his arm around her waist. Being careful not to add too much pressure near her stitches because she wasn't on the morphine anymore. The doctor had slowly reduced the morphine and now she was completely off it meaning some pain was bound to come back and he didn't want to make it worse.

If she saw John Ben needed her to make a scene to make sure that Goldie was protected and presumed dead. But if she saw her dad she couldn't hang around because he was the one who was most likely to say or do something and none of them were meant to talk to her because they could try and compromise what she was going to say or persuade her not to give evidence.

(Y/n) had already given the logbook to the opposing lawyer who wasn't working for her father and she knew it wasn't going to be disregarded or 'lost' which was a relief.

(Y/n) nodded at Ben's hushed words, tucking herself into his side as she kept her eyes down in fear of seeing someone who worked for her father. She didn't want to see any of them or have them try and scare her. They had five or so minutes until the trial started and (Y/n) would have to sit in a waiting room until she was called to give evidence. Ben couldn't go and watch the trial until (Y/n) gave evidence or else he wouldn't be able to talk to her until after she went in because he could be done for contempt of court. Meaning that he could try and tell (Y/n) what had been said to give her an unfair advantage.

There was no way he could leave her alone at any point until she was on the stand so he was going to sit with her and wait.

The pair of them stopped walking and stood near the toilets that were only a short ten-second walk from the courtroom they would be going into soon. (Y/n) rested her head on Ben's chest, keeping her eyes trained on the floor as she tried to stay calm. She started biting the skin of her thumb out of nervous habit, wishing it would be over and done with now rather than all the waiting around for something to happen.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" The words were hissed like a snake and spoken with a tone of fury and disbelief mixed into one.

Neither (Y/n) nor Ben had to look up to see that it was John advancing towards them, his words catching the attention of others but no one dared or even bothered to say anything. He clearly thought his attack the other day had done the trick in getting (Y/n) to stay quiet and stay away today and seeing her had rattled his cage immensely.

As soon as he got within close distance of them (Y/n) held her breath because she knew her brother would see right through a lie if she didn't make it look convincing enough. A small leap of faith overtook her system and she launched herself from Ben's arms and he didn't stop her. Ben simply watched for a second as if shocked when (Y/n) smashed her fist into her brother's jaw which took the eldest sibling by surprise and knocked him back a step.

"You murderer!" Even (Y/n) was surprised by the words that flew out of her mouth but she was suddenly fueled by rage at what he had done because this could easily have been the situation.

(Y/n) could just have easily have given birth to a stillborn baby or lost Goldie within the first few hours of her being born. Her brother knew what he was doing and she had to show him that he couldn't get away with this. She watched the confusion in his eyes as he seemed to have forgotten what he had done to her only three days ago.

"My baby! You killed my baby!" (Y/n) didn't have to force the tears to leave her eyes as she smashed her fists into John's chest. Feeling Ben quickly pulling her back and pressing himself between them when John was about to hit her. His hand stopping short before he pummelled his fist into Ben's chest, clearly not wanting a second round with Ben.

"So you lost the bastard baby." He spoke with a devil's smirk that showed he was proud of what he thought he had done.

"Don't you dare start what you can't finish!" Ben snapped as he leaned to the right to make sure (Y/n) was blocked behind him and out of John's view. "Look at me, not her- no, don't you even try and touch her." Ben grabbed John's wrist when he tried to reach for (Y/n). He shouldn't even be talking to her and Ben was sure he knew that already but he didn't seem to care.

His bullying hadn't worked and his threats and then his acts of violence hadn't gotten him what he wanted like normal and it wasn't what he was used to. (Y/n) pressed her head in between Ben's shoulder blades to keep from looking at her brother as Ben reached a hand behind him to make sure she stayed right behind him.

"You can't talk to her and if the police weren't watching I would deck you. Now piss off before I alert someone that you're trying to compromise a witness." Ben practically threw John's wrist to the side as he waited to see whether John would risk getting pulled away by the police swarming around because it would then come up in court that he had tried to compromise and threaten a witness and it would do him no favours.

John shoved Ben's shoulder back but turned and disappeared when an officer started to approach them.

Turning around, Ben wrapped his arms around (Y/n) and quickly guided her into the toilets on their right. Checking no one else was in with them before attempting to speak. A smile on his features to show it had worked because surely someone on the defence would have heard the commotion and they would tell the court that John had just talked to a valuable witness when he wasn't allowed to.

"I think it worked. Don't bring Goldie up whatever you do, she doesn't come into this you can't tell them that he followed or hurt you because that will bring me into this and I'm not a witness so it will be deemed as irrelevant anyway. They can check records on Goldie and see you lied if you say she passed away so don't bring her up at all."

If (Y/n) said anything about John following and harassing her it could be deemed as either irrelevant or they would start to ask questions and it would bring Ben into the mix who wasn't a witness and couldn't be called on. Also if she admitted Goldie was okay it would show John she had lied and he would get riled up.

Reaching out Ben wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest as he kissed the top of her head to calm her down. She knew what she was doing, she had evidence and she would be fine when they tried to break down what she had said because she was telling the truth. They couldn't ignore what she was saying and it was the judge who gave her father a verdict and put them all away. They wouldn't get away with this.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. You'll be fine."

[paladin-of-nerd-fandom65]

Confrontation

A follow up to both “Revelations and Truths” and “A Little Bit ‘Bout Me: The Benito Zucco Diary”. All credit for helping me keeping moving forward with these stories goes to @lightdusk, @fireflyxrebel, @nightglider124, @tarisilmarwen and many others. Constructive criticism is welcome 

Have a nice read :-)  

Cigar smoke rose into the ceiling as the fan blew at its medium speed; providing some coolness in the daytime heat but really it was doing was keeping said smoke in limbo, giving the room a nasty smell of burnt tobacco. This sort of smell however didn’t bother the young man who was puffing away in the slightest as he stared outside the window the city streets outside. The streets were bustling with many people of colors and what warmed the man’s heart perhaps the most was the sight of a young father showing his son the sights while the little boy asked so many questions to him as they usually do. It was sights like this one that provided Benito Pugliese Zucco, the man looking out the window not only his primary motivator for the election campaign but also the foundation for why his life deep down had ‘misery issues’.

Basically put, his father Anthony ‘Boss’ Zucco had done the same sort of bonding with him when he was alive but since he was criminal guilty of orchestrating an ‘accident’ to a circus act resulting in their demises all due to a protection racket gone wrong, he was sent to the electric chair when his son Benito was at the fragile age of 12 years old.

Ten years after that sort of trauma, the young Zucco now had the wealth and the political drive to run for the position of Mayor in this city. The ideology of his choice was commonly referred to by more liberal media outlets as ‘Fascist in nature’, a claim he doesn’t actually dissuade given that he was raised as such from his father due to ties with Fascist Italy in his family’s past and so far it’s has actually won him a very good winning chance of the election due to the main bulk of the Jump City agreeing with his statements that promise greater job quality, stronger crime security, renovating old homes into much cheaper places for lower income people to move into; in a lot of ways, Zucco’s policies he hopes to achieve seem like the sort of goals not one single dang candidate focuses in this city given all the controversies surrounding the public sector regarding race, gender and other ‘SJW’ topics that get in the way of what really needs to be done. Zucco, on the other hand, wins over the city’s populace due not only focus but the large amount of personal honesty that comes into his interviews and politeness to rival candidates from all sides, especially in light of nasty arguments that erupt each time there’s an election around the corner. Ok, ok, the politics and promises he knows he can keep are all well off and planned but for Zucco, they honestly are more of a secondary goal compared to what he’s after: discredit and ultimate illegalization of Meta-human vigilantes, in particular the Teen Titans.

This is where the Fascist allegation comes in since in the proud majority of his speeches he’s performed since his debut, Zucco often talks toward some of the more negative aspects the Teen Titans have done throughout their soon-to-be five year stewardship of the city’s protectors not limited to the amount of collateral damage ranging from city blocks needing their roads repaired or even one or two incident involving an entire skyscraper’s windows being shattered, of course not accounting for the amounts of civilians hopelessly caught in the middle of terrorist attacks from the likes of the HIVE Five and the Titans’ retaliations often ending with some innocent s hospitalized. The young boy and his father outside of his Party HQ’s window could be potential victims of the Titans’ battles if said team did not practice the ever so valuable caution they don’t exhibit all too well. In his mind, the Titans’ might never practice any sort of caution given of their status outside the law and by now being on the brink of collage, therefore not giving them any sort of discipline from adult authority from parents. Often when trying to defend civilian families in his speeches against the Titans’ lawless measures against crime, Zucco faces criticism from Pro Titan folks from all sectors of Jump city Society in which makes him weary for not exactly what he said, but rather what he can accidently say. That accident slips being his semi-reasonable dislike towards the Titans’ leader, Robin the Boy Wonder.

“Just what do you think you’re doing, Mr. Candidate?” speak of the devil.

As Zucco turns around, he sees both Robin and his Tamaranean ally and romantic partner Koriand’r (translated in English as ‘Starfire’ from what he hears)  just entering his door and giving him a questionable look that ranges from both stern to downright nearly murderous, for Star and Robin respectfully.

“So you do watch the news do ya, Gray boy?” Zucco asks while lightly taking out his cigar out of his mouth.

“Indeed we have” Star says in a rather disappointed tone, “from what we have observed within your speech patterns and dogma, you wish to antagonize us in the eyes of these humans, yes?”

“Hey, hey, now Goldie, I didn’t ‘antagonize’ anybody against you. I was just simply giving my personal thoughts on the matter of you guys wrecking everybody’s damn stuff whenever the costumed freaks popup” Zucco shrugs as he stamps his used cigar unto the ashtray, “If those votes end up going to me and giving me the right to move into the Mayor’s office, that was their choice not mine.”

Robin’s near murderous glare only tightened at that statement “Fine then. I wonder if they’ll make that choice when they hear of what your little Trade Federation actually does; mercenary hiring, naval blockades against Asian cities including Singapore, trading with rogue nations including North freaking Korea?!”

“Your point, pal?”

“Why? What do you plan to do if you are Mayor?”

“Clean up this damn city, lower the crime rate to nonexistence and basically show the folks here that your heroics just simply can’t work in an age where people want action and their just dues, not superheroes.”

Robin places his hands on the desk across from Zucco and began pointing his finger “We all made mistakes and slip ups in the past, even I had made very bad ones, but we’ve learn from them. We’re not going to be kids forever and you have to realize that, and it shouldn’t be too hard for you given that you’re almost our age and here you are acting like a spoiled, rich and smart aleck brat yourself.”

“Smart aleck?!” Zucco nearly yells “Well pardon my thick accent and bluntness here Grayson but you do realize that you haven’t even attended school for God knows how long, you live in a T shaped Tower with high tech gizmos, walling you guys outside of a world filled with crappy drivers in the streets, sh*tty sewer buildings that are ‘meant to serve the homeless in our land’, a military in need of more praise that what they get, and all you guys do whenever you’re NOT trying to help with the city’s people is just keyboard away on your fancy shmancy computers on how racism is the biggest tragedy in any country when you’re not being racist yourself towards the hard working…”

Before Zucco can go on with his political spiel, Robin grabs him by the collar of his shirt, and mercilessly tosses him into the nearest wall. Tightening his fists, Robin’s begins his approach to Zucco, who’s barely recovering from such a throw, and preparing to punch down had it not been for Star grabbing his arms.

“Friend, please...”

“Star, let go will you?”

“Not until you calm yourself. We do not wish to provoke authorities here.”

By the time Robin had calmed in Star’s arms, Zucco had gotten back up, only spitting once with blood from his jaw before taking his seat at his desk.

Starfire had let go of Robin and he was able to stare down at the Mayor candidate with a simple question, “You know for the fact this is more than just helping these people Zucco, don’t you?”

Zucco had taken another cigar from black leather trench coat and began lighting it “Ok I admit. I have some minor issues against you Gray boy.”

“Against me? What did I ever do to you?” Robin asks with a questioning tone coming out.

Star back him “From what we can recall, we do not hear of a Benito Zucco amongst civilians neither of evil doers within our proximity or even of the other Titans.”

Zucco puffs out “Oh don’t play stupid with me. The name Zucco should’ve been a dead giveaway to you.”

Robin raises an eyebrow before noticing something…he knows the inside shirt Benito is wearing and he remembers that smooth looking 1930s hat he wears. He had seen them before. He had seen them, with a certain Italian speaking man and his brothers…Talking to his father John…just two nights…before the ‘accident’...

“Wait a minute…”

“Robin, is something troubling you?”

“Star, I think I know…who this guy is.” Robin then turns towards Benito “Does the name Anthony ‘Boss’ Zucco, crime lord who was eventually executed on the electric chair, ring any bells?”

A short silence follows…

    “He was my Papa.”

Robin can only bulge his eyes in utter shock.

The guy who had been bad mouthing his team, the man who created a trading company that can hire people like Slade, the one was saying the Titans needed to get out of town…he was the son of the man who got his Mama and Daddy. He knew he had a bad feeling about him since the first time he heard him speaking in the T Car’s radios. It looks like his now resurrected mother and the Court of Owls wasn’t the only thing coming from his past with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Benito Zucco was the Boss’ son and he… knows his secrets…he knows all about him…and…

“If you does you any favors, I won’t spill the beans about your identity to the public Grayson” Zucco interrupts as he puffs from his cigar “Also, don’t worry about your mom Mrs. Grayson going around axing people, my boys in the Jump PD have read all about Talon and sent guys from the FBI and Russian Spetznaz after her. They don’t know who she is either so we’re all good here.” Zucco finishes with soft smirk on his face.

Robin snaps out of his thought s and reflections upon hearing this and simply nods. “So…I guess…we’ll be heading out now.”

Starfire couldn’t help nut nod in agreement “Yes, I believe we…wish to apprehend the archfiend Mammoth attacking your financial center just now.” She wasn’t lying; they just got a text via their communicators from raven about Mammoth attack the Continental Bank

“Yeah you go do that. Just try your best NOT to get me more votes.” Zucco says, gesturing a ‘just please go away’ hand.

Within the next thirty seconds, Robin and Starfire had left the Jump Civic Authority Party’s main HQ and on their way to battle HIVE member Mammoth with their teammates.

Zucco breathed out hard; he thought he was the one with anger issues.

 Epilogue

Richard Grayson sat on his bed’s edge with some bandages wrapped around him right biceps in light of today’s battle against Mammoth and his surprise attack, being HIVE reinforcements. He just couldn’t stop reflecting on the last few weeks and the impact they can have on his teammates. Not only was his mother alive again and out there stalking God knows how many potential targets in his assassin driven mind but now his past becomes full circle for know the son of his mother’s murderer is running for Mayor of this city and who knows what sort of policies will he place that can harm his team. Maybe it can even devolve to outright illegalization, forcing his friends to go into hiding or away from the city they have defended for years.

As his bare feet were lifted from the floor and lied to the opposite side to his bed from him, Richard honestly wondered…was it really worth fighting crime and getting themselves involved in his crime fighting crusade? Now he himself didn’t want to stop, he made an oath when he was eight years old swearing to fight for Truth and Justice under a candlelight with his hand on an Old Catholic Bible. But he wonders about his friends…Cyborg only became what he was because of an automobile accident severely damaging him inside and out…Beast Boy was trained since age even younger than him and from even stricter adopted parents…Raven and Starfire were literally born for destruction (against the Mortal Realm and against the Gordanian Empire respectfully)…point being Richard MADE his choice…the others didn’t and a past that he himself lived through will affect them..Just like how his obsession with Slade had done all those years ago.

A light tickle rubbed on his feet, taking Richard out of his thoughts and looking to the left side of his bed, seeing Starfire cuddled under his blankets and her hair lightly brushing on his toes. It was seeing that innocent sight of her literally next to him that Richard realizes if Star can stay close to him after all these years and whatever challenges come up next, his other friends can do so as well. With that comfort in mind, Richard’s eyes began to shut themselves while the ceiling fan above him blew at medium speed.