#you could go FURTHER. jason has no grave at ALL. he just woke up in Ethiopia one day

[daisybell-on-a-carousel]

When Superboy Prime accidentally resurrected Jason Todd, it was described something like the universe righting itself. And, from a purely physical point of view, Jason never died. It brought his body back to it's state before his death, his injuries there but with just enough he could still survive

So, now I'm imagining like. What if there was an au where it was more than Jason just physically "never dying," but it affected memories of those around as well

Joker not remembering killing him, Dick not remembering hearing the news, Batman and Gotham not remembering the 6 months between Jason's death and resurrection, but not thinking much if it

Its all as if Jason never died

[what-if-i-imagine]

Days to be Remembered (Fourth)

(4/5) Five birthdays Jason and Alfred remembered the most throughout their lives.

Ao3

(Jason)

“Jaylad,” his dad’s voice called, gradually pulling Jason from his sleep. “Jaylad, it’s time to get up.”

“Dun’ wanna,” Jason slurred, pulling the blanket farther over his head.

His dad chuckled, the sound vibrating across Jason’s skin, and gently pulled the blanket down again. Before Jason could try and pull the second blanket over his head, there was movement under him followed by the feeling of weightlessness.

Which is when he realized he wasn’t in bed at all, and what he was pulling on hadn’t been a blanket. He had fallen asleep on Bruce’s lap at the batcomputer, both his own and his dad’s cape pulled over him for warmth. The feeling of weightlessness had been caused by Bruce standing to carry him up the stairs and into the house.

Jason caught a glimpse of the time on the grandfather clock as it closed behind them and saw that it was around 5 a.m..

He had slept for five hours then.

“Happy birthday Jaylad,” Bruce whispered as he carried him through the halls,

“Thank you Dad,” Jason mumbled, curling more into Bruce’s chest.

“Alfred is going to have my head for letting you sleep in the cave the night before your birthday,” Bruce said.

“That I will,” Alfred’s voice startled Bruce based on his jolt. Bruce turned and Alfred was there, still in his pajamas, with his arms crossed over his chest. It was rare that Jason saw the man outside of his butler uniform, but it was one of Bruce’s rules as master of the house that Alfred couldn’t work on his birthday—a rule Jason had learned over the past two years to hate just as much as Alfred as Bruce didn’t let him go out as Robin all twenty four hours of August 16th.

“Happy birthday Alfie,” Jason mumbled, giving Alfred a sleepy smile.

“Happy birthday my dear boy,” Alfred smiled in return. He uncrossed his arms and held them out expectantly. His dad hesitated, his grip on Jason tightening for just a second, before he pressed a kiss to his temple and handed him over to his grandfather.

Alfred ran a hand through Jason’s hair and held him close, and Jason could feel all of his tension drain away. Jason smiled a little wider and snuggled into Alfred’s arms when he carried him to his room and laid down in his bed with him.

He had been trying for three years to break Jason of his co sleeping habits caused by being raised in a studio apartment with a pull out bed. He had been partly successful, with Jason now being able to fall asleep in a room alone, but he still tended to have panic attacks when he woke up alone in the middle of the night, and often seeked out Bruce when they got too bad. Their birthday happened to be the only day of the year Alfred would sleep in bed with him.

It was also the one day of the year Alfred was willing to sleep in later than 5:30 a.m. which meant Jason got to sleep in later with him.

Alfred fell back asleep first, but Jason wasn’t far behind. When he felt the strings of his consciousness slip away, he made a wish, even though he knew that was supposed to be saved for candles. He wished for this to never change.

(Alfred)

“I would like to request tomorrow off,” Alfred said.

Bruce looked up from his newspaper, eyebrows furrowed when he spoke, “Alfred, you always have your birthday off. You don’t have to request it.”

“I am aware,” Alfred nodded. “But I wanted to be sure you knew I would not be in the manor for the entire day. I will return before dinner with Master Dick though.”

“Thank you for telling me,” Bruce said. ”Will you be going out with Commissioner Gordon?”

“We will be meeting for breakfast.”

“It’s been a long time since you two had alone time,” Brcue said, his expression softening by a bit. “Have fun.”

“We will try,” Alfred gave a slight bow, and left the dining room.

Bruce never had to know that Alfred had not gone to his bedroom, but to Jason’s.

Alfred had enjoyed their shared birthday for a multitude of reasons. He would never admit that one of those reasons was that he always slept better on those two nights in those twenty four hours when he allowed Jason to indulge in his co sleeping habits.

When Alfred woke around 8 a.m. he quickly dressed and left for his breakfast with Jim.

Their breakfast was held at a cafe not far from the GCPD station, where they chose to sit outside at a table in the slightly chilled air. Jim carried most of the conversation, knowing Alfred was too emotionally tired to do so at the moment. When they parted, Jim surprised him with a ghost of a kiss and a soft smile.

“We need to go out together more often,” Jim said.

“We do,” Alfred agreed. They didn't speak of further plans, or make promises they couldn’t keep. That had been the issue with their first attempt at a relationship, not emntioning the act of being a same sex couple in that time. They were both busy men, but they would always find a way to make time for each other, even if that time was months and years apart.

Jim walked Alfred to his car, and kissed him one last time before Alfred drove away.

He stopped by the bookstore first. He needed to pick out a birthday present for Jason, and had waited until the last minute, something very unlike him. He ended up buying copies of Persuasion and Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, and the Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear editions of No Fear Shakespeare. He of course knew Jason loved to read the shakespearean plays in their original form, and was intelligent enough to have understood everything that happened in them without the modern english adaptations, but he also knew Jason had been eyeing these editions for months.

Alfred then took a stop at a flower stand, grabbing a bouquet of white lilies and whire roses, then took a stop by a chili dog stand. He carefully wrapped his chili dog to save for lunch, and drove across Gotham to his true destination.

Jason Todd-Wayne. Loving son, grandson, and friend. May you rest in the light.

Alfred took a seat in the grass in front of the four month old grave. He first laid the books down, then the flowers, and smiled.

“My dear, sweet boy,” Alfred said. No one was there to see it, so he let the tears silently fall down his cheeks and into the grass. “Happy birthday. Fifteen is quite the special year. Master Dick has told me sophmore year was his favorite. I’m not sure you would enjoy your reading list, so I brought you some books to read on the side to keep your wits about you.”

How Alfred wished he were spending his birthday in a park like he had his thirty third, and not in a graveyard where his grandson had been buried next to a woman he had only known for a day.

[alonely-dreamer]

The Valuable Sun | Chapter 5

Summary: Brooklynne Stackhouse is Sookie and Jason Stackhouse’s little sister. Like her older sibling, she is a telepath, but her powers are far more stronger and far more uncontrollable than her sister’s. After a series of murders in Bon Temps, Sookie takes it upon herself to investigate, taking her younger sister with her in a club called Fangtasia, where they meet vampire and sheriff Eric Northman.

Pairing: Eric x OC

Warnings: 18+ (language, violence, blood)

A/N: Please, note that I am French so there might be some mistakes here and there.

Words: 2458

Schedule: A new chapter will be posted every Monday. Chapter 6 to 9 are available on my Patreon for early and instant access.

Masterlist

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

Eric found an air mattress in his office which Doctor Ludwig used as an operation table. Brooklynne paced around as Bill and Eric watched the fifty-year-old dwarf take her tools out. Sookie was lying on her stomach, three giant scratches bleeding across her back. The blonde slowly woke up, though maybe it would have been better if she hadn’t.

Brooklynne started to make her way towards her sister but Eric stopped her as she walked past him. He took her hand and invited her to sit next to him.

“Let her work,” he said, and she hesitated, giving a look to her injured sister, but then taking a seat next to the vampire.

“What kind of doctor are you?” Sookie asked as she saw Patricia putting surgical gloves on.

“The healing kind,” she replied. “I’m Doctor Ludwig, what’s your name?” she asked, bringing a hand to one of the three scratches on Sookie’s back, making the telepath scream in pain.

Her screams made both Bill and Brooke jump. The vampire was standing behind the doctor, watching her every move carefully.

“Sookie. Sookie Stackhouse,” she managed to reply despite the pain. “Am I dying?”

“Yes.”

“No!” both Bill and Brooke said in unison.

“She cannot die,” Bill continued. “You will save her!”

“Back off, vampire. Let me do my job!”

“Forgive him,” Eric said. “Bill is abnormally attached to this human.”

Brooke frowned, wondering what was abnormal about caring about another person.

“Well, we don’t have a lot of choices. She’s been poisoned. You ever heard of Komodo dragons? Their mouths are teeming with bacteria. After one has bitten you, it will track you for hours, days, just waiting for the toxins to slowly eat away at your nervous system till you’re good and helpless, then it will devour you alive.”

“I was… scratched by a dragon?”

“No, but this poison is similar, but way more efficient. Don’t think I’ve seen it. It’s hard to tell without further testing and we don’t have that kind of time.”

Sookie’s breathing was getting worse and her eyes eventually found her sister, sitting not far from her, on a chair next to Eric. She’d probably have asked her what she was doing here if she had been able to.

“Give us some privacy. I need to remove her clothing. The sister can stay and assist.”

Bill reluctantly left with Eric, leaving Brooklynne alone with her dying sister. She helped the doctor remove Sookie’s shirt and held her to the mattress as she started pouring a liquid on her wounds. Sookie started screaming in pain, the smell was horrible, a mix of burning flesh and something else Brooklynne couldn’t describe. Bill came back as soon as he heard her scream and helped Brooke hold her down. The liquid might have been some kind of alcohol or magic potion, but it cleaned the wounds efficiently. Doctor Ludwig dragged her fingers inside each scratch, removing whatever substance the creature had left inside to poison Sookie. At some point during the treatment, Sookie passed out, which was for the best as the doctor wasn’t anywhere near finished.

It took about two hours for the poison to be completely out of her body. Doctor Ludwig cleaned the blood from her back with a cloth and inspected the wounds one last time before instructing Bill to feed Sookie his blood to finish the healing process.

Brooklynne was sitting on the ground, her back against the bar, exhausted by her exercises from earlier, and the memory of her sister’s screams. She saw a pair of black sneakers stop before her and she looked up to find Eric holding a hand out to her. She took it and he helped her get up. Pam and another vampire neither Brooklynne nor Sookie had ever met came back inside the club at the same time. Pam looked pissed.

“The area has been scanned,” she said as she rolled her eyes.

“Tracks were human, but the smell was distinctly animal.”

“What kind?” Eric asked.

“A filthy one,” Pam answered.

“We didn’t recognize it.”

“How intriguing… Send an alert through the appropriate channels. Find out what the neighbors know.”

The two vampires nodded before they left. Brooklynne could feel her sister’s eyes on her, and she could already hear her scold her for being here. She turned slowly and saw it on her face that she wasn’t happy. She was nodding at whatever Bill was saying but wouldn’t look away from her.

“Would it be okay if we stayed here for the day?” Bill asked. “I don’t want to move her.”

“Of course. I’ll make sure she’s taken care of.”

“I don’t want to leave her.”

“Longshadow kept a coffin out back. I’ll make it available to you.”

“I thank you for your hospitality, Eric.”

“No problem. I’m sure you two will find a way to repay me,” the vampire smirked. He winked at Brooklynne before he left the room through the ‘Personnel Only’ door.

“What are you doing here, Brooke?” Sookie asked from where she was lying on the black air mattress.

“I…” the youngest Stackhouse looked down at her hands. “Eric came by the house. Brought me here,” she shrugged.

“And you went with him?”

“I was bored at the house. And he helped me control myself! I blocked the voices tonight, I’ll let you know!”

Sookie frowned. “I told you to stay away from him.”

“And I told you not to tell me what to do!”

Sookie rolled her eyes, then sighed. Her eyes landed on Bill, like she was asking him for help. The vampire raised his hands, silently telling her he wasn’t going to get involved in this fight.

“What do you mean you blocked the voices?”

“I… Well, I can control myself now. Like you.”

“Is that why you’ve been ignoring me?” she asked with an impressed tone. “You can’t hear me, can you?”

“No. I can’t.”

“That’s… that’s great, Brooke!” Sookie breathed out a laugh.

“Maybe, if I had been allowed to leave the house, I’d have controlled it earlier.”

“That’s not fair,” Sookie told her. “You never could control it. Gran kept you inside for a reason.”

“Yeah, well now I’m tired to be kept inside.”

Bill cleared his throat, interrupted them. “Sookie should rest, she’s been through a lot,” he told Brooklynne. “And you look like you could use some help too.”

“Go,” Sookie told him. “Go rest, we’ll be fine.”

Bill gave her a small smile, then nodded, before he followed Eric’s footsteps and left them alone. Sookie was about to say something but Brooklynne stopped her before she got the chance to open her mouth.

“Save it. I don’t want to hear it,” she said before she walked out.

***

When Brooke got out of the bathroom ten minutes after she walked in, Sookie was already asleep. She made her way to the couch in the corner and laid down, facing her sister. She fell asleep almost instantly, which was to be expected. Brooklynne tired easily.

Sookie woke up in the middle of the afternoon. She was wearing a red shirt from Fangtasia. She had nothing else to wear since her shirt had been torn to pieces by a giant bull-headed creature. She was greeted by Ginger who was cleaning up the club. It was Ginger’s scream that woke up Brooklynne. She jumped awake to see her big sister pointing a gun at the waitress, or whatever Ginger’s job was.

“What…” she breathed out. “Sookie!”

“Eric’s been keeping Lafayette in the basement,” she explained. “Take me to him!” she ordered Ginger.

The two sisters followed her down the dark and cold basement where they found their friend sitting in a corner at the other end of the room.

“Oh my God,” Brooke breathed out as she saw the chains around his neck.

“Give me the key!”

“I don’t have it, I swear!”

“Lafayette,” Sookie called as she crouched down near him. “Lafayette are you okay?”

“Sookie? Is that really you?”

“What happened to his leg?” Brooke asked Ginger.

“I… I… I shot him.”

“You what?!”

“He was trying to escape! Eric would have killed me!”

Brooklynne felt like she was going to be sick. The smell, the view… it was all too much. I can’t believe Eric would do that, she thought. But then, she realized, she could indeed believe it. She could almost hear Sookie say I told you so.

***

Sookie waited patiently for the night to fall. Brooklynne avoided her gaze for the rest of the afternoon. She had returned to the couch where she had fallen asleep and started to regret having told Eric she’d go to Dallas with him. When she got the courage to tell her sister about what she had done, Sookie had said she wouldn’t be going anywhere with Eric, especially not to Dallas, and especially not alone.

Bill woke up first and was relieved to see Sookie awake and in good health. Sookie wasn’t as happy to see him, but she hugged him back when he took her into his arms. He frowned when she didn’t smile back at him.

“Are you still angry about our fight? Sookie, none of that matters now…”

“You’re right. I’m alive and in once piece, unlike my friend Lafayette who Eric chained up like an animal and left to bleed to death!”

“What?”

“You better not have known anything about this, Bill Compton, because if you did, I don’t think I could ever forgive you.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“She’s referring to the human in my basement,” Eric said as he joined them into the room. Brooke looked up at him but then looked away when he looked back. “The human that traded sexual services with a vampire in order to sell his blood. Which, as you know, is a grave offense.”

“His name is Lafayette,” Sookie snarled at him as she went his way, “and you ought to be ashamed of yourself for what you’ve done to him!” she said before she slapped him as hard as she could. Eric barely budged.

“Sookie!” Bill reprimanded her, worried as to how Eric was going to react.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” he told her with a smile. “And may I add, that color suits you very well.”

“Go to Hell!”

“Sookie, enough!” Bill stopped her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Oh, it’s not nearly enough! They’ve tortured him and bitten him and shot him and kept him down there in his own filth for weeks!”

She paused, waiting for an answer from the vampire, but it’s Bill who spoke up first.

“Is this true?”

“There are others who would have done far worse, and you know it.”

“You’re gonna let him go right now or I swear I’m going to the police!”

Eric instantly growled at her, showing his fangs, his face inches from hers, the sudden movement making Sookie jump. Brooklynne jumped on her feet, worried the vampire would hurt her sister.

“I do not respond well to threats,” he told her.

She swallowed but didn’t move. Eric’s pupils moved to the corner of his eyes where they found Brooklynne a few feet away. He then looked back at Sookie as he stepped away.

“But perhaps we can come to some sort of arrangement,” he smiled. “Please,” he gestured for her to follow him. “You too,” he told Brooklynne.

The young telepath hesitated but knew she didn’t really have a choice. She looked at him warily as she approached, making sure she stayed close to her sister as they walked out of the club and into Eric’s office.

It was a small room, big enough for a desk, two chairs, a couch and a few shelves where he had stocked boxes of Tru Blood. He leaned against his desk and started to explain what it would take for him to let Lafayette go.

“Your sister already agreed to come with me to Dallas.”

“Brooklynne isn’t going anywhere alone with you. You took advantage of her!”

“I did no such thing,” the vampire said, and he sounded almost offended. Not for him, but for Brooklynne. “I asked and she said yes.”

“She didn’t know any better!”

Brooklynne would have felt insulted if she didn’t think her sister had a point. She should have listened to her sibling. The fact that she was surprised he had kidnapped and tortured Lafayette for weeks proved that she wasn’t ready to make decisions for herself, not when it came to Eric anyway. She should have known better. He was a vampire, after all. But then again, so was Bill. And Bill would never do such a thing, or else Sookie wouldn’t be with him.

“You can come too, if you want. Two telepaths is better than one, I suppose.”

Sookie frowned. “If I go to Dallas and help you find your friend, then you’ll let Lafayette go?”

“You are not going to Dallas,” Bill protested. “You almost died last night!”

“I am old enough to make my own decisions, Bill.”

“I will pay all of your expenses, of course,” Eric interrupted the couple. “And, yes, I will release your friend.”

“And I want $5000. For both of us,” she said, looking at Brooklynne who feared it wasn’t a good idea to be bargaining with Eric right now. Bill gave her a reproving look to which she responded: “What? I’ve missed a lot of work and I need a driveway. And Brooke’s never worked a day in her life, she could use the money.”

Brooke chose to stay silent and avoided Eric’s gaze when he turned to look at her. She felt stupid for trusting him. For spending the night on his lap while Lafayette was suffering in the basement. She was ashamed of herself.

“Your human is getting cocky,” Eric said silently. He obviously didn’t appreciate her negotiating with him.

“They will take $10000 each, and I will escort them,” was Bill’s response.

“I don’t think so, no.”

“Yes,” Sookie insisted. “Ten thousand and Bill comes with me or it’s a deal breaker.”

Eric considered it. She gave another look at Brooklynne who was still looking at her feet, looking like she had just been caught doing something bad.

“You surprise me,” he told Sookie. “And that is a rare quality in a breather.”

“You disgust me,” Sookie merely replied.

“Perhaps I’ll grow on you,” he said, as his eyes fell on Brooklynne once more.

“I’d prefer cancer.”

Bill tried hard not to smile too much at the exchange.

“You need to leave immediately,” Eric told the vampire.

“I will make the travel arrangements. But I will need your credit-card number.”

Eric nodded. “See you in Dallas.”

**********

Tags: @thepoet1975 @nerdysandwichqueen @catchmeupimgettingoutofhere @raegan-hale @colie87

[violetsmoak]

Appetence [1/?]

AO3 Link:https://archiveofourown.org/works/20251420/chapters/47997634

Blanket Disclaimer

Summary: Red Robin is investigating the disappearance of a friend and stumbles into a spot of supernatural trouble. He doesn't expect to be saved by Jason Todd, miraculously alive five years after his death and now with the inexplicable ability to commune with the dead. Meanwhile, when Jason returned to Gotham he meant to maintain a low profile and not get involved with Bat business. That was before he found out how hot his Replacement is.

Rating: PG-13 (rating may change later)

JayTimBingo Prompts This Chapter: #cemetery #haunting #relics

Canon-Compliance: Alternate Universe; Jason still died but was not found by Talia when he was resurrected. All other events mostly follow the same chronology as New Earth continuity, with mentions made to events in New 52

Author’s Note(s): My attention span was really terrible today and I couldn't focus on either of my two other fics even though the next chapters of both are completely planned out. So I'm posting the start of the third (and final) story that I'm doing for the JayTimWeek/Month challenge. Also, I'm really excited about this one. I spent more time planning this than either of the other two and I can't wait to hear what you guys think!I've got work stuff to do tomorrow so there may not be anything updated until Friday.

Beta Reader: I’ll get back to you on that.

________________________________________________________________

The Bat-Signal cuts through the dark and hazy clouds lingering above Gotham City, and for a split-second, Jason Todd has the urge to drop everything and race for the roof of the GCPD Headquarters. It’s hard to ignore the nervous jump of excitement in his stomach, the phantom sensation of a domino mask on his face and the heavy drag of a cape at his shoulders.

Which makes no sense, since it’s been at least five years since I even wore that shit.

Taking a drag of his cigarette, the smoke mixing with the familiar summer smog, Jason turns his back on Gotham’s literal beacon of hope and steels himself against nocturnal threats of his own. The city is for the caped crew—because apparently, the Bat has a posse now, he thinks with only a hint of a bitter sneer—and Jason has been fighting in a different arena for quite some time now.

He takes a final drag of the cigarette, and then grinds it beneath his boots, and shoves his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. It’s a weathered and worn thing that reminds him of one Willis Todd wore in one of the few memories Jason has of him that doesn’t involve alcohol or fists. He thinks it’s less pretentious looking than a trench coat and probably gives off fewer ‘creepy motherfucker’ vibes like the sartorial choices of certain other people. It’s also less likely to snag on things when he needs to make a quick exit while digging up graves.

Yeah, it’s a thing in his line of work.

Gotham Cemetery is a sprawling necropolis, as dark and forbidding now as it was the night he dug himself out of his own grave. Half a decade of Gotham-style tender, loving negligence has left the somber green hills overgrown and the majority of the old tombstones fallen or rotting.

You’d think in a city with the highest homicide rate in the country, the mayor would spring for better maintenance. Then again, it’s Gotham. The dead don’t pay taxes, so fuck ‘em.

Which…enough said.

Gotham and the world think Jason Todd-Wayne is dead and has been for five years now; in a way, it’s the truth. He’s no longer anything like the boy that was beaten to death by a psychotic clown, no longer the shrimp who fastidiously dyed his hair black and jumped into someone else’s cape and pixie boots just so he didn’t have to be his own screwup self anymore. He outgrew wanting to be Dick a long time ago, outgrew wanting to be Bruce, too, and embraced a whole new other set of skills to put him apart from them.

Most occultists and even homo magi need to put conscious effort and intent into calling up or even seeing a spirit. Ever since Jason died and then mysteriously got better, the dead appear to him as blatantly and a solid as the living.

John told him he was a fool to come back here.

“Someone with your gifts, they’ll drive you bloody mad,” his mentor warned him when he left London. “And I ain’t talking about the dead ones, neither.”

“You’re just saying that because Batman wouldn’t hold your hand that one time,” Jason retorted, shrugging off the concern. He is Gotham born and bred, his blood is in those streets, and he has always wanted to come home, even if it wasn’t necessarily to a stately manor or its inhabitants.

He clenches his fists.

Inhabitants that wasted no time in replacing him after he died. Jason was rotting away in fucking Arkham, and Bruce was shoving another kid into the tights.

If it didn’t involve seeing him, I would hunt him down and break his jaw.

He surveys the graveyard proper. The everyday observer considers cemeteries to be places of peace and eternal rest; quiet, if a little bit spooky. To Jason, they’re as gruesome as any major battlefield.

Spirits pack the way before him; some of them look relatively normal if dated by their clothes; many others are disfigured and bloody from whatever killed them, whether natural or unnatural. They clamor and crowd, eternally shouting to be heard, or screaming as they relive their deaths in their own personal purgatories.

In the beginning, that din almost drove Jason insane. Bruce’s teachings kept him rational as long as it could in the months after he woke up, and then John’s training helped him temper his own awareness further. By now, he can function almost normally, automatically filtering the voices out as he goes about his daily business; it’s only in places like this, where the dead outnumber the living, where it’s harder.

Jason reaches up, adjusting the noise filters in his ears—mechanical devices that need regular winding but are still more reliable than anything running on electricity of batteries. They’re like steampunk hearing aids, only instead of magnifying sound, they drown out the constant moan of the ghosts when he can’t do it himself. Just one of many methods of protection he’s learned over the years. Some are physical, like the prayer beads wrapped around his wrist or the bottle of holy water in his pocket; others—spells and symbols and mantras—are carved all over his body in tattoos and blood writing. Anything to keep the otherworld away.

“Personal space is a key to a medium’s sanity,” John told him once. “That and a good bottle of single malt scotch.”  

Jason ignores the moss-covered path that winds through the larger and more prominent mausoleums. He deliberately doesn’t search out the one in the distance bearing the Wayne crest—

(Still remembers the feel of his fingernails splitting against the wood of the coffin, choking on clumps of soil and insects.)

—and instead seeks a small structure much farther away. It’s in the furthest part of the cemetery, the shabby section almost hidden by overgrown willows. Half of the name above the doorway is obscured by vines, but it’s easy for him to make out the name etched into the stone with bold letters.

HAYWOOD.

According to the public record, Sheila Haywood’s body was returned to Gotham at the same time as Jason Todd’s. Bruce paid for her funeral and internment, which was just as well since she had no other family, and then she was promptly forgotten about.

By everyone except Jason, it seems.

It took some doing and a few weeks tracking down everyone that had worked at the same refugee camp as his mother, but he’d finally managed to collect what possessions she left behind. A colleague of hers had put them aside when there appeared to be nothing of actual monetary value in them.

A gold coin, small bone carvings of stylized animals, dainty trinkets of garnets, amber and lapis lazuli, a compact mirror, some seashells, a decorative fan, quartz paperweight, and a brightly colored feather. There was a picture of Willis in there, too, young and almost Jason’s double. No picture of Jason, though, but he hadn’t expected it.

He kept the picture but left the rest in the small wooden box, which he now removes from his messenger bag and sets down in front of the stone bearing his mother’s name. He follows that with various tools and ingredients. Black candles arranged in a star shape around the box, a chalice, a jar of detritus—teff seeds, driftwood and soil, all from the place where she died—that he sprinkles around in a circle, a handful of smooth obsidian stones to mark a pentagram joining the candles, the dagger John gave him for his last birthday, vials of oil and holy water.

Murmuring a few protection oaths, he shrugs off his jacket, leaving his arms bare, and then digs out a pack of matches to light the candles; flickering shadows dance across the mausoleum walls. He takes up the chalice to combine the water and oil, and then reaches for the dagger.

Hate this part.

Training to ignore pain doesn’t mean it goes away, and he grits his teeth a little as he draws his blade across his forearm, not deep enough to nick anything vital, but enough that the blood runs easily into the chalice. Without bothering to bandage the wound, Jason holds up the chalice in front of him and centers himself.

“Phantasma inrequietum, te voco,” he intones. “Eloguiorum mei audi: Sheila Haywood, te nominas!“ The stagnant air in the mausoleum starts to pick up. “In nominee creatricis, te impero, hic locum decede.” Hand over the top of the chalice, he swirls the liquid within, and then tips it into the open keepsake box. “Per sanguinem hominis et per sanguinem filii tui, non remane et apage! ”He strikes a match and lobs it into the box, not even flinching as the whole thing flares into flame; he intends to watch it until it burns to nothing.

“That’s not going to work, you know.”

“Jesus fuck!” Jason explodes, whirling to the right and glaring at the interrupter. “What did I say about sneaking up on me? Or just—showing up around me in general?”

The apparition in front of him doesn’t look impressed.

Sheila is still beautiful—or, at least, the side of her body that isn’t covered with third-degree burns and sections of pulverized bone—and still sharp. Cold, untouchable and self-interested.

But unlike the way she was before, she’s all-too present in Jason’s life now.

“Goddamn it,” he snarls, and against every lesson John has ever given him, lashes out and knocks the candles and detritus hard enough to send it skidding across the floor. “What the hell. I’ve done everything. You had last rites, your body was cremated, I just torched the things that had any value to you, why the hell won’t you just move on?”

“You’re asking the wrong questions,” Sheila replies, as always.

Jason scowls. “And of course, you can’t just tell me.”

She gazes at him balefully, and he runs a frustrated hand through his hair.

“Sheila, we’ve been over this. You can’t stay here. One, you know spirits that stick around past their time go Dark Side, and I really don’t want to have to exorcise your spectral ass. Two, it’s fucking creepy for a twenty-year-old guy to be followed around by his mother wherever he goes. What the hell is keeping you here? What more do you want from me?”

“Your forgiveness,” she tells him patiently.

“I already forgave you. Years ago.”

“You still call me Sheila.”

“That’s your name.”

“I’m your mother.”

“Who sold me out and got me murdered.”

“See? You haven’t forgiven me.”

“I have. I’m just stating a fact, Jesus…”

“Apparently the cosmic balance doesn’t agree enough to let me move on,” the ghost says dryly. “And to think, I used to be an atheist.”

“This is total bullshit,” Jason snaps, grabbing his jacket and stalking out of the mausoleum in frustration.

Three years of this mediumship crap, and neither he nor John have ever been able to figure out why the ghost of Jason’s dead mother won’t stop haunting him. Wards and sutras that keep even the nastiest spirits away from Jason don’t even phase her, and she’s inexplicably coherent.

And persistent.

As Jason stalks back through the cemetery, he can sense her in his periphery, gliding along beside him, unconcerned with his irritation.

“Can you just…stay away from me? Like you did in the beginning?” he grumbles.

“You were just learning how to communicate without going insane. I wasn’t about to disrupt that.”

“How considerate of you.”

“I try.”

“Look, I’ve had enough of the ghost-stalker thing for today. I went out of my way for this, you know. I didn’t even want to come back here. And now I’m back to the fucking drawing board.”

“It may not have been a waste of a trip,” she replies and vanishes.

“Oh, you can fuck off when it’s convenient for you,” he grumbles, though he already senses what she was speaking of.

Several yards away, a small boy, maybe eight, is clinging forlornly to an angel headstone. Translucent tears stream down his cheeks, but every now and again his face shifts, like a television caught between two channels, and his mouth widens into an unnatural smile.

Jason could have gone the rest of his life without seeing that smile again.

Still, he sighs and heads toward the kid.

“Hey,” he says, keeping his voice low and maintaining a safe distance from the boy, whose head whips up to stare at Jason in sudden fear.

“Who are you?” he asks, voice thick with tears.

“I’m Jason. You okay, kid?”

“I can’t find my mom,” the boy murmurs, wiping at his face. “I keep going looking, but I forget the way home. And then…I always end up back here.”

He sounds on the verge of tears again; it’s something Jason can understand.

With the puzzling exception of Sheila, who appears to come and go as she pleases, most ghosts are stuck in certain patterns and paths when they die, frozen in an infinite loop until they break themselves out of it or until some arbitrary higher power decides they’ve suffered enough. And for some reason, Jason can break them out of it.

“You could always try again,” he suggests. “I think you’ll manage it this time.”

The boy shudders. “There’s scary people here.”

No arguing with that.

“I know. I see them, too.” Jason glances at the headstone, scanning the name and dates. “Your name’s Cole?”

“Yeah.”

“If you’re missing, there are probably people looking for you. They might have posted something online about it. I’ll check it out, but it could take a bit.” He holds up his phone, glad to see it’s at full charge and bars; that’s hit or miss around so many ghosts. “Can you hang around here until I’m done?”

The boy nods, silent, face flicking back and forth between sadness and the unnatural smile.

Fucking Joker…

Jason does a quick search of the kid’s name, pulling up obituaries in the Gotham Gazette in the past year. It doesn’t take long for an article to pop up concerning the Joker’s latest escape and a list of the dead.

He narrows his eyes, startling the kid.

“It’s fine,” he lies. “The internet is just really slow.”

“Or our phone is really bad,” Cole tells him with the blunt honesty of a kid that grew up constantly surrounded by functional technology.

“Everyone’s a critic…”

Another quick search for the parents, phone lists and social media, and he’s got an address. Crime Alley, of course. He brings it up on his map and enables a view of the street, holding the phone out to the boy. “Is this your house?”

Relief settles and settles over his face. “Yeah.”

“What if I helped you find your way home?”

Cole makes a suspicious face. “I’m not supposed to go anywhere with strangers.”

“Which is really smart. But you see, I’m not really a stranger.”

“Oh yeah? Why not?”

“Well, I’ll let you in on a secret.” Jason bends down, conspiratorial, and Cole’s eyes gleam the way any kid gets when hearing a secret. “When I was a little older than you…I was Robin.”

The boy gapes. “Like…Batman and Robin?”

“Exactly.”

“No way!”

“Way,” Jason smirks, crossing his arms. “And I’ll tell you all about it on the way to your house. Including the time that I stole the wheels off the Batmobile.”

“No way!”

Despite his scandalized disbelief, the kid is obviously hooked.

Jason’s heart clenches a bit at the open curiosity on Cole’s face, the reality hitting him that this boy will never have a chance to do anything mischievous or fun ever again.

From one dead boy to another, this sucks…

As he leads him out of the cemetery, Jason starts to tell the little ghost about his life. He edits out the less pleasant bits, like dying and returning to life half brain dead with the ability to see and hear ghosts.

He figures a good story is the least he can do for the boy.

⁂⁂⁂

Next Chapter

[emotionalcello-makefanfics]

Until Then... (JayDami?Fanfic)

Summary :

There are near death moments in Jason's life where he put his last energy on his limbs to get back up and screamed, “Not today Satan!”, then suddenly he escaped death yet once again.

Not anymore.

This time it came painfully slow.

Warnings : slight description of panic attack.

Word Count : 6k

---

Created based on these prompts/headcanon (If you know the original tumblr post plz tell me) : https://www.instagram.com/p/BuyZDfInfBg/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Keep Reading to read more~

++++

He can’t breathe. The fact that he’s in a closed space of an old and decaying warehouse only makes it worse. Even so, the world doesn’t wait up on him. He’s in a position where he can’t stop running. His opponent doesn’t hold back. So, he uses his emergency tranquilizers. Shooting them up across the room until the men on his trails finally decrease.

He tried to calm himself, remembering the breathing practice all the Robins was taught by the big bat in case of panic attacks and trauma. He kicks the door open and runs away from the damp warehouse. The cold air feels nice in his lungs. It feels colder than usual, just a few hours ago the cold was bearable. Though his breathing already on an even pace, his head still spins, there's almost no energy left in his body. He feels tired.

He pulls his last bit of energy, to run and hide from the mob that’s chasing him. He almost blacked out mid running, his knees gave up and dips into the snow. He punches himself in the face, trying to get his adrenaline up.

A snap of awakening hits Jason, he’s moving again, and he get backs up running. He rushes to his safehouse, doing a physical check as thorough as he can. Despite feeling fine, his heartbeat is low. He feels cold even though the heater is already on for 30 minutes. Jason knows what might cause this, and it might not be just one. It might not be that one thing that Jason had fretted.

But Jason can’t leave it to chance.

This is a sign, this is time.

With gritted teeth and guilt,

Jason picks up a dusted plan.

+++++++++

Jason has been away for a month now, and Damian knows his mission supposed to be done last week. Prolonged mission is common in their family business of vigilante, but it is worrying.

Damian didn’t doubt Jason’s skills to pull him out from whatever he’s dealing with, most of the time. Still, it can’t stop Damian from being restless, no matter how many bags he punched and how long he meditate. Titus has been tailing him all day, so is Alfred the cat, they know that Damian is worked up. They’re the only one who know it seems.

He wanted to call Jason. Damian is one of the privileged ones to have Jason’s phone number, along with Alfred. But Damian understands that it was for emergencies only, like panic attacks, or nightmares. Not to be used as something as petty as just checking up.

The options are that Damian uses the Batcomputer to find him, but his father would know, and Damian’s intention would be compromised. Damian has another base, Superson’s base, but even that computer is hacked by his father. The only option left for him is to convince himself that everything is fine.

Everything will be fine.

Jason will be back.

He has to.

++++++

Entering three weeks and there’s no sign of Jason. Damian waits by the phone the entire time, he even took them on patrol this time. He slept with his phone in his hand. Yet nothing came in. Oftenly his phone would ring just from Jon pestering him.

It takes him a nightmare until he finally calls Jason, it’s always is. The dreading fear of his sickening realistic nightmare made his hand automatically dial the only contact saved in his phone. He just needs to hear his voice, Damian just needs to know.

“Damian? What’s up?” the familiar awaited deep voice resonates, sending waves of relief down to his body and soul. Damian breathes so hard that words can’t even come out.

“Breath Damian, follow me, in.” Jason guides, and Damian follows. He didn’t even realize he was hyperventilating. He thought the dizziness of his vision was because he quickly got up.

“You wanna tell me what happen?” Jason asked after a few breathing until Damian is calm.

“A nightmare.”

“Glad you called me, you wanna--”

“I didn’t dream of my death this time,” Damian cuts in, a few years ago he would rather jump off without a grappling hook than sound this needy, but he had learned to lean on Jason. In return that Jason would lean on him too. Yet Jason hasn’t come back without a word, and something just feels wrong.

“I dreamt of yours, Jason.”

There’s a pause on the other line, Jason didn’t make a single sound except for his slow and languid breathing.

“I was... anxious, that you haven’t returned.” Damian bites his lips, even after all these years, talking about his feelings is a thorn on the tongue. “Are you well?”

“Yes, I’m fine, I’m still here... I... shit, I’m sorry, I’ll tell you when I’m late next time.” His voice lack in pity, just genuine worry. His voice is deep with a hint of gruff, it made Damian feels safe and not judged. That voice will not hide true intentions, or even cover the words spoken with sweet lies.

“Are you really fine? Don’t lie to me, Jason.”

“I’m okay, Damian... Look, I’ll get things done here, and I’ll drop by in.... a week from now, sound good?”

“Yes, that’ll be good. If you’re still unable to attend, I would understand, but...” Damian gulped, he really doesn’t like sounding needy, or clingy. Jason isn’t his, yet. “Please tell me.”

“I will, pinky promise.” Jason sang, and Damian holds back an amused chuckle at the playful tone. “So, wanna talk? Or do you want me to talk?”

“Yes for the latter, I have Alfred here wide awake after hearing your voice.”

“God I miss that cat. So, I just tried one of the recipes you told me about...” then Jason went on a ramble about absolutely unimportant and blissfully irrelevant topics.

Damian just leans into the phone, listening to Jason talk while occasionally replying him with single passive words to let him know Damian is still listening.

The way he talks, the way he laughs, it’s definitely Jason. He’s alive and well. It was just a dream. The dreading fear died down, with Jason’s voice in his ear, ever lovingly soothe him, Damian falls right back to sleep.

++++++++++

It felt like he’s dying but he did it. Jason finally did it. He didn’t get to rejoice for his success because right now, there’s a very angry bat tailing him with intent to kill. It’s pathetic how Jason is already winded after 30 minutes parkour through the roof and run between the alleys. The slash on his leg also didn’t help.

It feels like old times, Batman chasing him like he wanted to kill him. Takes him back when he shot Penguin in the face. Jason bet if Bruce caught him, he’ll get beat down for sure, and Jason wasn’t sure if he could survive that. Bruce would be unaware how much his jabs did to Jason, unconcerned until it’s too late. It could be Jason’s end. An ultimate revenge against Batman, to hold his dead robin again. Unfortunately, Jason still loves him enough to not just stop and let it happen.

His legs burns, his chest is clenching down on his lungs and it’s hard to breathe. He reached the end of his rope when he landed on the rooftop on his knees and not being able to get up. Batman landed on top of him, the collar of his leather jacket clenched tight by a gloved fist. With an angry gritted teeth, Batman raised a fist. His helmet shattered a few blocks away, the only thing that protects his face from Batman’s armor enforced fist is this flimsy domino mask. This one is going to hurt like hell.

A punch didn’t get to land when a flash of red green and yellow knock him back. Jason lands on his ass, and standing between him and Bat, is Robin.

“Father, for once in your life, just stay there and listen to me before you make a grave mistake.” Damian hissed, fist clenched tightly.

“You know I don’t tolerate this behavior, this is the final straw, I need to lock him up.” Batman didn’t raise his voice, but man was he angry.

“No.”

“You don’t have any say in this.”

Before Batman can step any further, Orphan swoops in, punching Batman under the jaw and he drops on the same level as Jason, completely out, just like that. Jason doesn’t know what the fuck is going on, but he’s really glad that happened.

“Thank you Orphan.” Damian nods, before finally turning around to face Jason. There’s a frown on his half face.

Orphan kneels beside him, giving him a hug out of nowhere. She goes as far as kissing him on the cheek and gave him a deep stare before picking Batman up and leave.

“Let’s get you away from here.” Damian leans down, Jason’s arm around his smaler and slender shoulder. Despite being way heavier than Damian, he’s being picked up pretty effortlessly, Jason doesn’t know what to feel about this.

Jason is beginning to think he has a concussion. He didn’t remember being carried to his safe house, or stripping his top, or stitching his wounds. When he woke up, it’s already noon and he’s covered in a blanket, laying on his bed. He didn’t remember doing anything that made him in this half-naked but very comfortable state. So, the only one he could accuse is the teenager sitting at the foot of the bed, staring at him silently with arms crossed on his chest.

Damian just sits there as he waits for Jason to gather his consciousness. He’s dressed in Jason’s hoodie and pants, one that he always wears whenever he’s staying over. Jason felt like his head in pounding against his skull, and at times like this, he’s grateful of Damian’s patient silence. He had grown a lot, back then Damian would demand what happen immediately. Though he knew even right now, Damian is fuming.

“Aspirin on your left.” Is Damian’s first word of the day, bless him.

“Thanks,” Jason nods, two pills already by the nightstand and a glass of water, he downed them in a less swift move.

Again, Damian waits patiently until Jason feels better. The cold stare turned into a thoughtful frown.

“What are you thinking?” Jason asked.

“Are you sure you want to hear it now?”

The pain in his head already reduced, and he’s fully awake. No better time than now. Jason nods.

“Don’t do it.” Damian’s voice as soft as a whisper, induced in loud and clear anger. “I will resent you wholly if you did.” Then Damian glares.

It was not what Jason had expected. Jason sigs, he props himself to sit up and lay his back against the headboard. He pats the space beside him, and Damian scoots so he can sits closer to Jason.

Jason sighs once again, bracing himself for the topic.

“What do you think was I about to do?”

“You’re giving up. Now that you’ve reached your goals, and you finally believe that your nightmares are dreams, not reality. It feels like an abundant wave of relief and you just let go. You forgot I used to kill too Jason.” Damian looks a little winded, there's a fire in his eyes as he spits each word.

This isn’t what he expected of Damian, but he was right, partially.

“Do you remember when I said that I’m living on borrowed time?”

Damian’s eyes blown wide. That sure don’t take long. He’s not enjoying what unfolds in front of him though. Even after years getting closer to Damian, even after consoling each other nightmares upon nightmares, he had never seen Damian this torn apart. Lips trembling as the glistening green jades hide beneath tightly shut lids.

Damian shook his head, “Still, you must not give up, there has to be a way to...” then he stops himself. Taking one deep breath before finally sighing and opens his eyes. Showing a calmer expression, but his lips pressed tight as if trying to keep something inside.

“Have you looked for... a solution? A cure?” The tone is flat but the words comes out of desperation, while Jason had made peace with it, he can’t say the same when he sees Damian like this.

“There’re none, you know that.”

Damian gulps, “I’ve predicted this, though I’m not sure, I had hoped that you’ll just live. I thought you would be eternal, since Grandfather seems so.”

Jason had thought of that too and was horrified by that, but now it seems the effect runs out on him a little faster than predicted. Whether it’s a blessing or not, the result is still the same. Jason picks death 10 times over eternal.

“I know it’s hard, but I’ve made peace with it Dami, so--”

“But I haven’t made peace with it. I’m scared, fuck sake Todd, don’t you know that some people care about your life?” Damian admits, and Jason is once again speechless.

No, Jason doesn’t know, but for the sake of his life, he won’t tell the angry Damian that.

Damian glared down on his lap, his breath shortens. A low sob escaped before he shut his mouth and eyelids tight. Without a sound, tears fall down his face. The boy is not a crier, anyone be damned if they see him with any other expression but expressionless, or brood, or occasionally a smile when you caught him with his pets. But tears? Jason has seen a lot of.

The difference is, these tears are for Jason, not the nightmares. Jason doesn’t know what to feel about that.

What could Jason do at this point? He can’t do anything but hold Damian’s hand through it. He wishes he can make things better, but his time is his time, and frankly, it’s not a bad reason to go.

“If only I had known, I would’ve helped.” Damian’s voice filled with regret.

Jason shakes his head, “there’s nothing to--”

“I meant help you killing the Joker, I would’ve helped you obtain your life goal if I knew it would be your last.”

And damn Damian meant it. His jade eyes almost like they’re lit on fire because of daylight, yet still glisten by the leftover tears.

“No, I have to do that alone, and If you help me, your dad’s gonna be mad, you guys been chummy finally. And don’t think that this is my last heist, I’m still going to go back in action,” Jason tried to sound playful.

Damian sighs, wiping away his tears.

“I disagree, but I expect nothing less from you.” The teen chuckles, finally smiling.

“Damn right.”

“But I demand to be informed every time you’re in Gotham. You also can’t reject my help when I choose to assist you.”

Yeah... this is Jason least favorite part. Making people worry and have to check in with everyone. Maybe not everyone, just Damian, and Jason doesn’t mind that too much.

“I won’t tell anyone, but I think Cain already know,” Damian informed after seeing the look on Jason’s face.

“Cass knows everything, that’s inevitable.... speaking of everyone, where is everyone? Not that I don’t like being just with you, but this is out of character of them.”

“Oh, they were all here. The last of them were just out 3 hours ago. Don’t worry, I destroy all the bugs they left.”

Jason pressed his eyelids shut, cringing, gradually gaining a headache. As quiet as it is now, he’s gonna deal with everyone’s unwanted opinion about him killing Joker later.

“I wouldn’t have cared,” Damian stated out of nowhere.

“About what?”

“If they disagree with me assisting you in killing Joker. You’re... more important than them.” Damian looks down, pink dusted on his face. Cute as it seems, Jason appreciates the sincerity of his tone more. It’s still hard to live down how much his well being affects Damian, and how the teen really cares for him. It’s a weight, but a nice one, like a big doberman that sits on you out of love.

“You would’ve cared, they’re family, don’t be such a stubborn ass.” Jason chuckled, ruffling Damian’s silky satin black hair.

Damian grabs his hand, “Maybe you’re the one underestimating my feelings for you.”

Oh shit. Damian finally said it. Jason had braced himself for this the moment he realized what Damian’s curious side glances meant. After two years of the tension, he’s still not ready.

“Now, Damian...” Jason lifts his hand defensively, trying to calm the eager teenager.

“No.” Damian knit his eyebrows, in a flash his face leans close with his hands' roots firmly on either side of Jason’s face. They feel each other’s breath, Damian still has his eyes nailed to Jason’s, while Jason is too dumbfounded to look away.

“I had wanted to wait until I’m a legal age so you won't restrain, but now the circumstances have changed, and I’m not waiting.” Damian gets dangerously close, yet not as stoic as Jason had thought.

There’s hesitation there, shyness. Damian is being painfully cute, and for once he looked like a 17-year-old boy. Jason can’t really lean away. First, because he was trapped. Second, how can he say no to that face?

Their lips almost brushed, but Damian pulls away and lands his lips on the roots of Jason’s hairline instead. The gentle touch sends earthquakes to Jason’s chest, catching his breath for a second.

“I will be making my advances from now on, be ready for me Jason,” Damian smirked. Jason didn’t think it was possible. There's hunger in Damian’s eyes that intimidates the living hell out of Jason.

One thing Damian predicts wrong, is that he thinks Jason would resist. Bring it on.

+++++++

Damian didn’t give up. So, here he is halfway across the world, by the helicopter rooftop in Dubai with his mother.

“I never would’ve thought you wanted to see me again, not after you killed half of my men trying to take you back.”

“You’re misinformed, I didn’t want to be forcefully dipped into that pit of madness, I would like to keep my sanity.”

“My child, as foolish as ever, when I’m being so generous to give you power and infinity.”

“The Lazarus pit didn’t give you eternal life.”

His mother curled up her red painted lips into a knowing smirk.

“This is about that man, isn’t it? The dead Robin, is he dying?”

Damian didn’t say anything.

“You’re asking me for a way to fix him.”

Hands clenched and gritted teeth. His mother steps closer, the sound of her heels is probing through his skull

“You love him.”

“If you have no offer to give me I suggest you quit wasting my time before I kill the other half of your men and then you.” Damian hissed. Stepping forward to tower over his mother. Years without seeing her, and when he does, he already gains inches over her.

Damian is proud of his genes, not as filled in as Jason like he wanted to, but he finally gains his heights.

“My poor child.” Talia sighed, ghosting her hand over Damian’s face, before placing it at his jaw. Eyes just as cold even though her voice tenderly moans.

“I would love to bind you to be by my side, to save your loved ones, and excellent choice of lover. You’re my son after all.”

“Mother,” Damian warns, he is running out of patience.

“The only way is to put him back to Lazarus Pit, gain him more years from his impending death, and I would allow it of course, for a price.”

Damian didn’t even look like he’s considering it.

+++++++++

They didn’t really know when Jason’s end date really is, but they have established that Jason wanted everything to just go normally. But Jason is getting weaker even though blissfully slow. Jason knows this makes Damian restless, but he compromises it by making really bold advances. If Jason had drunk one more shot the other night, Damian might have succeeded in stripping him naked and touch him all over. Though the next day, after some talk and argument, Jason let Damian do just that.

Dealing with every bat after killing Joker has been painful, and annoying because they keep insisting like they know everything. They still didn’t know about Jason’s condition, and hopefully, it stays that way.

It’s getting hard to see everyone eye to eye after Jason had touched Damian, but it’s actually more like Damian that has touched him. The teen was eager to please, and Jason was starstruck. He didn’t know how Damian learn the things he does.

Then it got even bolder.

Some of the bats were patrolling near Jason’s location. Red hood is tailing a drug lord by the docks. Jason took off his helmet as he stakes out. Nightwing, Orphan and Spoiler had dropped by to assist since it’s a pretty big bust. They were talking over how to make the bust as neat as possible and Robin rings to his com.

“Hood, I’m in the area, do you need my help?”

“Got 3 of the bats here already Robin, it’s cool.”

A flash of green red and yellow landed beside him, “You sure?” Robin said again, now eye to eye.

“I’m sure kid, go on, the rest of Gotham needs you.” Jason nods to the faraway city.

Damian didn’t reply immediately. Jason knows if Damian insists on assisting, he can’t say no. He promised that to Damian, and Jason wouldn’t mind. The more the merrier.

“I see.” Then Damian clenched Jason’s jacket, pulled him closer and kisses him deeply. Jason froze in place, he stops his hand before instinctively hold on to Damian’s waist.

“I’ll be dropping over tonight,” he said before he grapples away.

Jason froze. So does Dick, Cass, and Steph who definitely sees that the teen just kissed him on the fucking mouth, which means everyone’s gonna know. Fuck. Dick already had his jaw hanging, Cass doesn't seem surprised, which is unsurprising.

“Bruce’s gonna come at you tonight just so you know,” Steph stating the obvious.

“I bet, but he’s not just gonna deal with me.”

++++++++++

Damian just had a fight with his Father. He had predicted this the moment he kissed Jason in front of them. Damian had wished nothing of his father’s blessing, he knew he would never have them. It didn’t matter anyway because Jason will...

By then Jason will already...

“Hey Baby bat, nasty frown you got there, what’s up?”

As he promised, Damian is in Jason’s safe house, and in Jason’s clothes. When Jason finally arrived from his mission, the swirling dread of impending doom is still there. Damian is afraid of regrets, afraid of things he didn’t get to do.

“Will you go on a date with me?” Damian blurts out

Jason visibly froze mid pouring hot water for his tea.

“Uh, sure? The Carnaval still in town, wanna go now?”

“No, I will plan on our date, tomorrow will be good.”

Jason raises an eyebrow, must’ve sensed that Damian is thinking about something. Not every day that the teen has impulsive plans. They're supposed to chill today, Jason’s about to educate him about Parks and Rec, and maybe cuddle to sleep. Damian hates that he has to miss that tonight.

“As much as I like going on a date, that’s not why you’re frowning is it?”

“It is. I was horrified after I realized I haven’t taken you to some mandatory courting.”

“Courting huh? Feeling like a blushing bride already.” He sits across Damian on the dining table, smiling warmly as his body relaxes in Damian’s presence, as it should be forever.

“You don’t mind? I do remember you don’t like a mundane romantic getaway.”

Jason just shrugs. “For image sake, lately I’ve been letting myself liking things I do like, as ridiculous is it is.”

“As for it should be beloved.”

Jason chocked on his tea, “what did you say?”

“You hear me,” Damian leaned in to kiss Jason’s earl grey flavored lips. Chapped but warm, fragrant to the taste.

“I’m sorry to say that I’ll be taking my leave tonight, I have to plan our date tomorrow.”

Before Jason could stop him, Damian already flew out the window with Jason’s clothes still on him. This might be or might not be Damian’s attempt to steal Jason’s clothes, one sleep over at a time.

++++++++++++++

“Where are you going this early in the day Master Damian?”

Early in the Wayne Manor is before brunch. Everyone won't wake up before that because of the nightlife. That’s why Damian is right now, taking the bread pudding he made earlier today to impress Jason and step one of courting.

He’s not worried about Alfred holding him back, it’s the others. He knows they have opinions on him dating Jason.

“Going on a date with Jason today, I made this bread pudding for him yesterday, what do you think?”

Alfred gave it a thorough check, “it looks rather nice, probably will be nicer to eat if warm.”

“Thank you Alfred, I’ll get going.”

“Before you leave, I’d like to inform you that we’re having a family dinner next week.”

“What’s the occasion?”

“Me.”

Fair enough. If Alfred didn’t make demands on family dinners, none of them would meet each other at all, not on non-vigilante related purposes at least. And no one can reject Alfred on his indulgent family dinners, not even Damian.

“I also want you to ask Jason to come, he was absent for a few months and I’m not taking another no for an answer.”

Damian knows exactly why Jason doesn’t want to come, and he still thinks Jason doesn’t want to.

“I’ll tell him but I can’t guarantee...”

Alfred put a hand on his shoulder, eyes soften knowingly, “Please.”

Shock would be an understatement, but if Alfred knew, then his father must’ve too. That explains why his father hasn’t barged into the two of them.

“Since when?” Damian asked.

“Since the two of you fought, and he talked to Talia.”

“Who else knew?”

“None that I knew of.”

Damian just smiled, now conflicted. It’s only fair for Alfred to meet one of his children, he must’ve missed Jason too. He wonders if his father shares the same sentiment.

“If father knew I met mother, does it means he’s looking for a cure too?”

Alfred didn’t reply to that.

“Or he’s leaving Jason to die, as punishment.”

“Master Damian, Master Bruce might have been a complicated man, but he loved his children, though it hardly shows. I can tell you that he’s just as devastated as you and me, and just as hopeless.”

Damian wished he can believe that. Years living with this family and Alfred, he knew the old butler has a soft spot for his father, protecting him like his own son. Damian could relate to that feeling. But that’s not the answer Damian had wanted.

“I’ll talk to Jason about dinner, thank you.”

++++++++++++++++++++

Damian went all out. Jason had been impressed by the bread pudding, accusing him that he stole it from Alfred. Then they teleported to France (Damian pulled some strings of his superhero friends.). They ate lunch there, anything that Jason wanted to see or eat. Then they teleported to London. Sightseeing all the places in Jason’s favorite book. The look of Jason’s starstruck eyes is the most precious thing Damian didn’t know he needed.

To think that the vigilante spent his years traveling around the world with the outlaws, but still has some places he missed along the way.

“Guess we stop trouble before they make it to the tourist spots,” or so the man said.

They only had a day, if only there aren’t more pressing matters catching up to them, Damian would’ve taken his sweet time to pamper Jason. Though the whole day made coming to Gotham’s Carnaval at the end of the day pretty basic, Jason still seems happy.

“Today’s been great, though I still can’t believe you made that bread pudding.”

“Really? We’ve teleported to France to eat lunch and that’s the one blowing your mind the most?” Damian scoffed.

Both of them looks away to the night sky as the Ferris wheel took them to the top.

“Yeah, because I know you didn’t like to cook, but you did anyway, for me.”

Damian only then realized what Jason had meant. Why he was so mind-blown, and why his face was smiling the whole time he eats a half pan of the pudding. He had been so stupid, what’s the use of teleporting dates to impress Jason? When what Jason had wanted has been clear.

He links his hands to Jason’s, leaning his head on Jason’s shoulder.

“I’ll do anything for you Jason, you must know that.”

“I know, I know today is for me. It’s a great date, really. I can’t thank you enough.” Jason leaned down and kissed the top of his head. Damian buries his face on the crook of his neck, feeling giddy at what he’s about to do.

They’re reaching the top of the Ferris wheel, and Damian pulls back a little. Looking at those blue-green eyes he adores, and those eyes look back at him lovingly. A surge of emotions filled him to the brim with confidence.

“I love you, Jason,” and he leans forward, placing his lips softly against Jason’s. Feeling his racing heartbeat after his confession, fear that Jason would pull back because of the same reason.

He didn’t. The Ferris wheel pauses, and Jason pulls him by the waist and kisses him deeper. Damian reached out to Jason’s neck, his slender fingers raking up to the back of Jason’s head, combing the hair there and pulls him even closer as he nibbled on his lips. His other hand is on Jason’s chest, feeling it beats as hard as Damian’s.

“A little something aren’t you Dami?” Jason said between kisses with amusement in his tone.

The Ferris wheel moves again, and they pull away before people on land can see them. They didn’t pull apart too far, not wanting to the warmth they just shared.

“I must admit, top of the Ferris wheel kisses didn’t add to the moment as I had anticipated.”

Jason burst out a breathless laugh, but still holding Damian’s shoulder. Though just kissing Jason feels good, he just thought being on the sky will make it something more. Like a dramatic confession, or something.

“What romantic comedy were you taking reference from?” Jason said between chuckle.

“None, Steph has told me about it, I’m so disappointed in her.” Damian huffed, folding his arms.

“I’m not surprised, don’t trust Steph on romantic getaways, besides, if we want to kiss on the sky, we can just grapple our way to the tallest building easily.”

“Hmmm, that’s a good idea.”

They looked at each other with a mischievous smile.

+++++++++++++++

“I should’ve known that you’d pick this building.” Damian dropped by the rooftop, seeing the Gargoyle statue looks away to the city below, “Though it’s nice to finally meet your childhood friend.”

“Yup, this is him, this is my favorite view.” Jason pat’s the Gargoyle’s head, looking where his friend is looking while Damian waits patiently.

Jason looks up, shooting his grapple hook to the absolute top of the building where a pole shoots to the dim sky. His other hand reaches out to Damian, waiting for the taking.

“What are you doing?” Damian questioned, but he still gives himself to Jason, holding onto his shoulder as Jason wraps his waist tightly.

“What do you mean? We’re kissing on the sky, hold on.” The hook retracted, and they shoot up to the top.

There’s barely any space to put their feet on, this part of the building in only there as decoration, a morbid and bland decoration. Damian slips from the narrow crook of the pole’s base, but he didn’t budge at all. He’s holding onto Jason just as firm as Jason holds on to him. He looks down, to the glittering lights of Gotham’s life in the night. Damian remembered his loathe of the ugly city and Jason’s nightmare in living here through his childhood, yet from up here, it’s beautiful, as most cities looked from afar.

Damian is still holding onto Jason, feet hanging in the air. Jason is the only one preventing from both of them falling to their deaths, but Damian feels safe and grounded. He doesn’t care for anything else in the world as long as he gets to stay here in his arms.

Damian smiles at the face right in front of him, eyes staring back at him filled with love and compassion, taking his breath away. Jason leans forward, warm breath ghosting over Damian’s face.

“I love you too Dami.”

Damian didn’t have the chance to process that because Jason kisses him right after. His chest filled to the brim when he felt Jason smiling under their kisses. Feet still in the air, hundreds of meters above the ground, they share their heated kisses hanging by a thread.

They’re kissing on the sky. And Jason loved him too.

+++++++++

Waking up with Jason in his arms has been his weekly occasion that he had anticipated greatly. The only difference now is that they’re skin to skin. Under the thick blanket, shielding the morning cold away, Jason’s body completely bare as well as Damian’s. The heat of last night remains, and Damian had never felt this content before.

He tucks Jason’s head to the crook of his neck, holding him protectively, yet he knew there are things Damian can’t protect him from. All he can do just cherish what he can.

Rubs on his back calmed him. Jason is awake, yet he says nothing, doesn’t move away as well. They cherish whatever this is together. Not wanting to let go all the same.

Damian shimmied down to Jason’s eye level. Seeing a tired face smile, and Damian combs away the white strands covering his perfect face. Leaving a peck on his lips then traveled down to the sexy curves of Jason’s neck. Hands going up and down Jason’s side, tracing the carving of Jason’s body. The muscles, and scars, all beautiful.

Jason left a breathy moan when Damian’s hand reached lower.

“Again.” Jason whimpers, and Damian obliges.

+++

Jason had reluctantly agreed, but once he’s here, he seems to be having fun. His face instantly lights up when he met Alfred. Damian and Jason arrived at Wayne Manor earlier than the others, and it was a good decision. Jason got his alone time with Alfred, catching up to where they left off, then everyone else came one by one as Jason warmed up to them when another came.

Jason didn’t even care that his father is here too. They barely talk, but they’re not fighting, that’s a win.

None of them mentioned about their relationship, which is odd, but Damian lets it go as long as they’re not being intrusive or annoying. Today is not about Damian, but Jason. He’s playing intensive scrabble with Tim while the rest either watch with the same intensity or playing Mario Kart.

Damian left for the kitchen to refill the pretzels and popcorns. When he slams the packets of corn kettle, he grudgingly sighed.

“I take it you wanted to share a piece of your mind,” Damian turns around, meeting the concerned face, “Dick.”

His oldest brother just smiles, as pretty as ever.

“I’m not here to judge, but you can’t blame me to have a hunch that... something is wrong.”

Damian looks away.

“Damian, is there something you’re hiding from us? What’s happening?”

Damian nibbled on his lips, it’s always harder to keep secrets from his favorite brother. “It’s not mine to tell.”

“Is it Jason’s?”

“Yes, but if you try to demand the truth out of him I will not hesitate to block you out of my life even though you are like my blood brother to me.”

Dick raises his arms defensively, chuckling nervously, “Alright alright I get it, but you still can’t blame me to worry.”

“So do I.” Damian sighed.

“You really love him, don’t you?” Dick looks at Damian with pure amusement.

“With all my soul.”

Dick visibly melt at his usually curt little brother’s confession.

“Thank you for bringing him here, contrary to his beliefs, we all do miss him, especially Cass, but she knew, didn’t she?”

“There’s no hiding from her.” Damian shrugged.

They paused.

“You know we would help, we would do anything.”

Damian wavers. He promised Jason that he’ll keep quiet, but if there’s even a pair of hand that can help, even if there’s the slightest chance...

“Anything?”

+++++++++++++

Sunday night. Jason didn’t feel like patrolling he said, and Damian sees that as an opportunity to spend the night with Jason. They play chess, cook a late night supper, and fell asleep in bed telling stories about their superhero friends' embarrassing stories.

Monday morning. Damian decided not to go to school when he wakes up with Jason. The air around them is as chaste as their first time making love. Damian didn’t want to let this feeling be over just yet, so he stayed. Jason just laughed and let him be in his safe house longer.

After breakfast, they lounge by the sofa. Damian puts on the news while Jason leans his head on Damian’s shoulder while reading a book. Damian leans his head on top of Jason’s, when not turning pages, the other hand is in Damian’s hand, locking together. With closed eyes, Damian breathes in the calming scent of Jason’s hair.  He feels how Jason smiled on his shoulders and sighs happily once in a while. They stay there until noon comes.

Damian didn’t put his attention to the tv at all. It’s set on low for a white noise of their calm moment together. He combs the black and white hair of Jason when they get too low and a hindrance to his mesmerizing eyes.

Jason hums happily at the touch, and Damian lives for that noise.

“It’s noon, what do you want for lunch?” Jason looks up, a little bit fatigued he can’t hide from his eyes, they did sleep only so little last night.

“I don’t want you to cook, let’s just order something and stay on the sofa,” Damian mewled, leaning closer to Jason, desperate to find his body warmth that’s already faint.

“Okay.” Jason takes Damian’s face in his hands that rub slowly and cold to the touch, fresh out of the shower.

“I love you, Damian,” the intense compassion that shouts from Jason’s blue-green eyes made Damian wants to melt away. Damian holds back a desperate sob behind his throat.

“I love you too Jason, you must know that I love you with all my soul,” Damian confessed, he lays his heart bare open for Jason to see, it’s what his beloved deserves.

Jason only chuckles, “Then I’m one lucky guy.”

They lean to meet their lips together, a chaste kiss. Damian holds onto Jason’s body like holding for his dear life as Jason cradles his face gently like fine china.

Jason slips away into Damian’s arm, who caught the bulky body in his embrace. He laid there with one last sigh over Damian’s lips before his body finally gives up completely onto Damian’s awaiting hold. There’s no warmth in the body Damian holds, no pulse beats against his skin.

Tucking Jason’s head to his shoulder, Damian buries his face on Jason’s hair and let his tears fall to the top of Jason’s head. There’re two bodies in the room but Damian is alone, no one to hear his mournful wails and sobs.

There is no cure, only destiny. Damian has looked for months but never found anything.

This is destiny, what’s it meant to be. What Jason had accepted, and what Damian must take.

And Damian is lucky enough to be here till the last of Jason’s life, in each other’s arms.

+++++++++++++

[teen-titans-imagines]

East of Eden pt 4

 Jason Todd & Daughter! Teenager! Reader

—

A/n: Sorry for the wait, y’all! Happy New Years! I have nobody to kiss lmao soiamjustgoingtokissmysupernaturalpillowlmaoiamsolonelyhelpme

—

Part One / Part Two  / Part Three / Part Four [Here] / Part Five / Part Six / Part Seven / Part Eight / Part Nine / Part Ten / Part Eleven [Final]

—

Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Family, Drama, Action, Fluff Rated: Mature Warning: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Blood and Gore, Swearing, Graphic Depictions of Physical Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Emotional Manipulation, Graphic Injuries, Nightmares, PTSD, Just read with caution please

—

Author: Teen-Titans-Imagines

—

-THIRD PERSON POV-

Jason was rubbing his lip anxiously as he walked with Alfred to the Batcave. It was quiet, a comfortable silence that he was familiar with but hadn’t felt in a long time. As they walked through the Batcave’s entrance, Alfred announced with a confident tone.

“Master Bruce, Master Jason has arrived.”

Bruce turned, his blue eyes looking tired, and Jason called as he walked over, crossing his arms. 

“Looks like you could use some sleep, old man.” 

“This old man just figured out a very important lead for you, so watch yourself.” 

Bruce’s tone was playful, despite his venomous words, and Jason quirked an eyebrow up. 

“Yeah. Dick called me at the ass crack of dawn to tell me. Woke up (Y/n) as well. This better be important.” 

Dick walked in, securing his gloves as he came to stand at the large computer screen. 

“Trust me, it is.” 

Jason just frowned and Bruce typed on the keyboard, bringing up a mugshot of a middle-aged looking man. His glaring, brown eyes were dark, his head clean shaven and a flower tattoo sat at the corner of his left eye, making Jason hum slightly. 

“This man was one of the men (Y/n) had detained before she was overpowered. He had gotten away after waking up approximately five minutes later. Police had been unable to locate him, but after further digging, I was able to find his location-”

“-So we had a little talk with him.” 

Dick cut in, grinning as he stood tall and proud, Jason’s eyes widening slightly. 

“Ok, so what did you get from the interrogation?”

Dick explained as Bruce brought up pictures of the man being handed money, and perhaps drugs. 

“He was just a regular thug from the street that got involved with Black Mask after a drug deal gone bad. Black Mask took him, and others, in to use them as pawns for his plan. He even paid them for helping him find and kidnap (Y/n). However, according to him, Black Mask wasn’t alone.” 

Jason became alarmed, uncrossing his arms and swallowing thickly. 

“What do you mean Black Mask wasn’t alone? You’re saying that someone helped him kidnap (Y/n)? Who?”

Bruce cut in, saying gravely. 

“That’s where it gets complicated. According to the man, Black Mask was in alliance with Scarecrow and Poison Ivy. I didn’t know if it was true, but after investigating the warehouse more thoroughly, I found some documents filled with pictures of vials, payment plans, and lots of documents that were recording (Y/n)’s every move.” 

Bruce showed a picture of the vials, the liquid glowing a disgusting and ominous dark violet.

“They were housing some sort of chemical...a more advanced fear toxin called  Nymphaesis. That’s all the man knew.” 

Jason felt his heart stop. If there were more super powered villains involved with this...then you were in complete danger.  What was this Nymphaesis? Were you tortured with that chemical as well? Jason frowned and crossed his arms, his thumb rubbing his lip. 

“If there are more villains involved with this, then (Y/n) is in more danger than we thought. Find Poison Ivy and Scarecrow. I’ll have a chat with them myself.” 

Dick smiled slightly as Jason walked out, grabbing his helmet and practically running down Tim as he passed by. 

“You know, he would make a great Batman one day, Bruce.” 

“Perhaps.” 

Alfred rolled his eyes. 

“Perhaps we should not get so hasty in deciding who shall become the next Batman after Master Bruce’s departure from this world, Master Dick. I’m sure Master Bruce still has many years beneath those feet of his.” 

Dick joked, smirking. 

“Then I guess I shouldn’t pull the rug from beneath him?”

Bruce stood up and ruffled Dick’s hair, smirking at the young vigilante. 

“Good luck trying, Richard. It would do you some good to remember who trained you.”

-JASONS POV-

Jason couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something bad happening right beneath his nose. Ever since he left the apartment, he had felt this...sudden dread and depression weigh down on him with every passing minute. It made him drive his motorcycle faster down the road, his heart pounding within his chest. 

Parking, he jumped off and practically running into the apartment, opening the door and slamming it closed behind him. Sighing, Jason shoved the red helmet off his head and let his head hit the back of the door, taking calming breaths. It’s ok. He was just paranoid. 

“(Y/n)?”

He called. When he heard no response, he became uneasy, drawing his gun from the thigh holster that was tightly snapped into place. Raising it, he did a sweep of the living room and the kitchen, pausing when his eyes trained onto a folded piece of paper. On the paper was a delicate ‘Dad~’ written in bold ink in his daughters handwriting, the ink pen since forgotten and chair still pushed out, waiting to be sat in. 

Jason was still alert, but one hand came down to the paper and opened it, his blue eyes widening with every word that he read. His gun dropped onto the table and Jason fell onto the seat, a hand coming to his mouth as his eyes filled with angry tears. This couldn’t be true. This had to be a lie. You wouldn’t walk out on him like this, even if it was for a couple days. 

You would have told him...even if the people you were with said you couldn’t. Jason shakily pulled out his phone, almost dropping it as an angered hiss escaped between his clenched teeth. 

“Hello?”

“Bruce...Bruce, she’s gone.”

“...I’m on my way.”

-READERS POV-

A gentle shaking woke you from your slumber, your eyes opening slightly to see that you were in a large archway. From your spot, you could see a runway and multiple airplanes and jets, making you bite your lip and look at who had awakened you. Hasan had opened your door and was standing over you slightly, your duffel bag strapped on his shoulder, a friendly smile on his lips. 

“Come on, Ms. Todd. We’ve arrived at the airport.” 

You stretched and rubbed the back of your neck before getting up and out of the car, looking around. There were multiple security guards and men dressed in black standing aside, awaiting for you to go with them. Behind them, there was a large private jet, black and advanced. Hasan glanced at his clock, murmuring. 

“It is 6:48 in the morning ...so we should arrive in Sana, Yemen at....approximately 2:48 in the afternoon.” 

Your eyes widened, mouth dropping. 

“I’m sorry, did you just say that we were going to Sana'a, Yemen?!”

“I forgot to mention that, didn’t I?”

Hasan gave a cheeky grin, handing you your bag, and you just watched him walk to one of the men in black, speaking Arabic to him. That man...that man was going to be the death of you. You had never been to a different state, nevertheless a different country! A man asked you. 

“Ma’am, may I take your bag?”

You glanced at him and blushed slightly at his formal tone before shaking your head, handing him your bag. 

“Don’t call me that. Just ‘(Y/n)’, ok? Thank you.” 

He quirked an eyebrow up, grinning slightly before clearing his throat and becoming stoic again, taking your beg onto the jet. You followed Hasan onto the aircraft, your jaw dropping once more. 

“Wow, this is...really nice.” 

“Of course. A top notch aircraft for a top notch woman.” 

You glared at Hasan while he gave you a shit-eating grin. 

“Shahidi, shut up.” 

-WITH THE BATFAM-THIRD POV-

Jason was sobbing into his hands, completely broken and angry as he wallowed in his room alone. Bruce, Dick, Tim, and Damian were in the kitchen, sitting at the table and inspecting the letter. Dick shrugged. 

“I did a once-over of the apartment. There was no signs of any struggle or any kind of indication that would suggest that there’s foul play here.” 

Tim nodded and added, typing into his computer. 

“There’s no video surveillance of (Y/n) being kidnapped either. Honestly, I think this is the real deal. I think she really did leave to get some more in depth help.” 

Damian was quiet, glaring at the paper as he read it over and over. Bruce was sighing, rubbing his forehead. 

“Jason isn’t going to take no for an answer. Not after the information we told him.” 

Dick suggested. 

“Do you want me to go talk to him? I’m sure that he’ll listen to me.” 

Bruce just stayed quiet, but shrugged his shoulders a little. As Dick stood up and disappeared into Jason’s room, Bruce murmured. 

“I don’t know why she would do this. I thought she was seeing a therapist-”

“-Unless the therapist wasn’t a therapist at all, but instead an attender of this temple she is going to.” 

Damian pointed out. Bruce and Tim paused, looking at each other before looking at Damian. 

“That actually makes a lot of sense.” 

“I knew there was something weird about him, but I didn’t really say anything because I was just happy (Y/n) was trying to reach out to someone.” 

Bruce and Tim stood up to go to Jason, and Damian stayed behind, rereading some of the lines. 

‘A temple that only a few know about...a High Priest...them being able to help her in ways that we can’t...why does it all sound so familiar?’

Damian growled and slammed the letter down before standing up and walking to Jason’s room. Jason was shaking, his head still in his hands, and Dick was rubbing his back. 

“I’m sorry, Jason, but I honestly think that she did this herself. There’s nothing here to suggest she was kidnapped.” 

Jason threw his hands up. 

“W-What if she was mind controlled! M-Maybe Ivy got her somehow with some type of gas or something!”

Bruce shook his head. 

“Tim and I ran every single type of test we could. There’s nothing there, Jason.” 

Jason didn’t want to believe it, but if Bruce was right, then what could he do? Jason run a hand through his hair before sniffling. Damian spoke up. 

“We did figure something out, though.” 

Jason looked up, blue eyes interested. 

“What?”

“That therapist (Y/n) was seeing? He wasn’t a therapist. At least, we think. In her letter, she said she was going to some temple far away that no one knew about to get help. The last person to speak to (Y/n) was that man.” 

Jason’s eyes widened. 

“Oh my god. What if he took her! He would be someone she would think she could trust. It’s so easy!” 

Damian held a hand up, snapping. 

“Shut up, I’m not done, Todd!” 

Jason piped down, glaring slightly at Damian. 

“You said before that the man had a name that sounded Arabic, right?”

“Yeah...I think it was...Hasan?” 

Damian paused before saying, his frown deepening. 

“I think I know where (Y/n) is going.” 

-READERS POV-

You were seated in front of Hasan, a chess board in front of you two. He was rubbing his bearded chin, his blueish green eyes concentrated. 

“Why are we going to Sana'a, Yemen?”

Hasan moved his rook, replying. 

“We have to leave for the Indian Ocean. When we arrive in Sana’a, we will travel to Sayḩūt. From there, we will commute to the Socotra Islands by boat. We will then rest there for the night, and then resume our journey again to the island to the Elder temple. It is approximately 300 miles from the shores of Socotra, but heavily glamoured thanks to the many blessings and runes placed upon the island.” 

You frowned and moved your queen, taking his rook, and Hasan cussed in Arabic, pouting slightly. 

“What do you mean the island is heavily glamoured? You mean that it’s basically invisible to those who can’t see past the glamour?” 

He nodded, smiling slightly. 

“You learn very quickly, Ms. Todd.” 

You huffed and asked. 

“So, when do I get blessed to see past the glamour?” 

“When we arrive to Socotra.” 

The jet shuddered when it experienced turbulence, causing you to slam your hands onto the armrests of your seat and hold onto it for dear life, Hasan grinning widely at you. 

“You know, for someone who is very intimidating, you seem to be scared of the littlest things.” 

“Watch yourself, Hasan. I won’t hesitate to jump over this table.” 

“I don’t doubt you would, Ms. Todd.”

-WITH THE BATFAM-

Damian crossed his arms.

“Mother spoke of a temple while of I was still with the League of Assassins. She claimed it was part of my history and geography lesson, but at the time, I didn’t care nor believe what she told me.” 

Jasons napped. 

“Get on with it, Damian!” 

Damian glared at Jason before snapping. 

“Watch yourself! I want to find her just as much as you do, Todd!” 

There was a pause before Damian continued. 

“Mother spoke of an ancient temple that was built on an island somewhere in the Indian ocean called the Elder Temple of Isaf. It was a sanctuary for the followers of Isaf and Na’ila, who were Meccan water deities among the many other gods and goddesses the people worshiped. However, it became a place for worshiping all the gods and goddesses when Islam came into action. The High Priest of that time placed very strong and ancient blessings and runes on the island, banishing it from any outsiders and it was basically wiped off the maps, never to be seen again. I didn’t really believe Mother when she told me, but she claimed that she had once been there. Now that this place has come up again, and (Y/n) is gone, I don’t think it’s an accident that this story is very similar to (Y/n)’s explanation.”

Bruce asked, frowning significantly. 

“Did she mention how you could get there?”

Damian gave Bruce a scrutinizing look.

“Didn’t you hear what I said? There’s no record of such a place existing. How do you expect to get somewhere that you don’t even know if it truly exists?”

Tim pointed out. 

“You said the Indian Ocean, right? (Y/n) would have had to go by aircraft to the Middle East. If we check Gotham Airlines, maybe we can find her on those security cameras.” 

Bruce nodded and stood up. 

“Dick, Tim, you two are going to check all of the surrounding airports and run facial recognition and analyze the security footage. Damian, you’re going to dig for more information about this temple. Jason, you and I are going to look into this Hasan character.”

They all nodded before immediately getting to work.

-READERS POV-

Hasan had essentially beat you at the chess game, and had decided to speak to someone and work on paperwork. You had decided to go back to the bedroom, your jaw dropping once again at the luxurious room. The bed was themed silver, as was the rest of the interior, with black and gold stripes and patterns lining the comforter. 

Your duffel bag had been set onto the comforter, ready to be rummaged through. Opening it up, you grabbed some shorts and more summer-friendly clothing, sauntering to the bathroom and sitting on the toilet seat cover. A pain in your head made you pause, and you rubbed your forehead, sighing. 

In the back of your mind, you were still ridden with guilt for walking out on your father with no notice but some letter. On the other hand, your bravery and yearn for relief made it easy to get onto the plane. As the pounding in your head got worse, you groaned and wished your father was here. 

‘Now I really do wish I had some of mom’s Sick Kitchen Chicken Soup.’ 

Taking a deep breath, you looked up and froze. 

“There’s only one person in this world that I would go through all the trouble I did for to see, Mhm. Although, who can blame a poor man like me to claim back what was stolen from him?”

-THIRD PERSON POV-

Within the mistiness of the clouds, there was a tense atmosphere within the winds that blew across the mountain side and the walls of the temple. Within, a man sat within a circle in the center of a large room hidden within the mountain itself, idols assembled in a circle, thrones at their feet. His hands were intertwined together, and he was on his knees, praying. 

A shock trembled down the old man’s spine, and his blind eyes opened, whispering to the idols. 

“There is an ancient blackness within her mind...a storm within the storms that brew within her very soul. She is troubled...very, very troubled.”

A greyish white light manifested itself in the second to largest throne, and a voice asked in a deep, female tone.

“What do you intend to do, Ar-Rā'iyu? If our assumptions are correct, there is almost nothing we can do for the child except kill her.” 

“ Manāt! We will not resort to such violence! She is just a child!” 

Another female voice screeched, a beautiful green light shining almost angrily. Another voice, this time male, disagreed.

“ Ba'lat-Mafrash, this evil that brews within her is getting stronger each minute that passes by. If we wait any longer, there is no telling what she will become!” 

“There is no reason for violence, especially when it can be avoided, ‘A’im.” 

The red light pulsed with a shock, the male voice snarling as the light approached the sun-colored light at the other side of the room. 

“Shut your mouth, Al-Mundhir! Your little conquest for justice is absurd, and quite frankly, a lost cause. There is no violence that can be avoided. She is sick! She must be killed before she infect the others!”

A booming voice screamed out, his light overtaking the room. 

“Enough of this childishness! Are we gods, or human children?!”

The light dissipated, and the voice said calmly. 

“Nuhm is watching over her as we speak. She is not lost...at least, not yet. Ar-Rā'iyu, (Y/n) Todd lies within your hands. What happens to her...and what she becomes is your responsibility. If you can’t fix this...the consequences will be dire. The power that lies within that blackening soul of hers will be catastrophic for the human world. Fix. This.”

The man nodded and bowed, replying with a submissive tone in his voice.

“Allah, you have my word. Ms. Todd will be taken care of. Once she arrives to the temple, the followers, Isaf, Na’ila, Nuhm, the others, and I will work through every crevice of her soul to banish and contain this sickness.”

“Good.” 

All of the lights disappeared, an Ar-Rā'iyu whispered to himself, rubbing his forehead as he sat up from his bowed position. 

“What have you gotten yourself into, girl?”

---

PART FIVE

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[coin-river-blog]

In an age where governments are trigger happy at censoring or shutting down networks, it is reassuring to know that Bitcoin can operate sans internet. Network censorship, after all, is not some dystopian storyline but a power exercised by many democratic governments across the world. Thankfully, there are solutions that enable people to send and receive bitcoin even in a worst case scenario. For an advanced technology, it turns out that cryptocurrency can get surprisingly low-tech.

Also read: Bitcoin and Weak Frequency Signals: Bypassing Network Censorship With Radio

Send Bitcoin by Radio and Circumvent Network Censorship

Imagine waking up one morning to find that the internet is down. Not because the wifi’s been disconnected: instead, your government has pulled the plug . You’ve no idea when it’ll be back online, and in the meantime, you’re cut off from life as you know it, ranging from contact with loved ones abroad to paying for anything by card. Since society isn’t big on keeping cash these days, and ATMs stock up on only so much paper money at a time, chances are you’ll have to sidestep – or engage in – a few fistfights if you’re to put a meal on the table.

Since bitcoin is, itself, a form of digital currency, it takes a good amount of preplanning to set up a transaction, but in theory, it could still operate even when conventional options are forcefully removed from the equation.

What do –

Greeks Cypriots Venezuelans Argentinians Brazilians Zimbabweans and Ukrainians have in common?

They all woke one day and the banks were shuttered and capital controls were put in place to avoid an economic collapse.

Bitcoin doesn't close 🚀

— Jason A. Williams 🦍 (@JWilliamsFstmed) February 12, 2019

While most of us will hopefully never experience a dystopian world of intermittent internet, the productivity sages remind us that a failure to plan is planning to fail. Knowing how to transact with cryptocurrency in a chaotic world is the sort of knowledge that might just come in handy one day, and in the meantime will make you the most interesting guest at the dinner party.

Depending on the political stability of your geographic location, learning how to send bitcoin without internet could be nothing more than a fun Saturday afternoon science project. Then again, it could provide the way out of a tight spot one day, whether it’s transferring funds to a buddy stuck in the middle of the ocean or bribing a zombie to feast on the coins stored in your brain wallet instead of devouring your brain.

Bitcoin Over Airwaves

2014 saw the earliest mentions of bitcoin being sent via the airwaves. Hamradiocoin was one of the early vanity altcoins, geared at the ham radio industry. While it wasn’t entirely clear why said niche industry needed a dedicated currency, its current $794 market cap – unchanged since May 2017 – adds to crypto’s rich historical arsenal of questionable coins.

But the idea of marrying Marconi and Satoshi was bound to lead to more useful experiments. A step in the right direction saw Finnish company Vertaisvaluutta.fi propose the creation of a P2P half-duplex CB/HAM radio cryptocurrency. Also in Finland, Kryptoradio partnered with a national broadcaster to pilot a cryptocurrency data transmission system that broadcasts bitcoin transactions, blocks, and currency exchange data via national DVB-T television networks in real time. The project failed to launch its commercial phase, with founder Joel Lehtonen explaining:

The project raised huge audience and there has been some serious commercial interest but nothing I am really interested in because they would destroy the original idea of Kryptoradio – distributing the Bitcoin ledger autonomously without internet connectivity.

Come 2018, there was a new experiment in town. Ingredients: Brooklyn-based gotenna, a mobile, long-range, off-grid consumer mesh network, and bitcoin privacy wallet Samourai Wallet. A New Zealand developer transported crypto from a distance of 12.6km away, entirely offline, using only a network-disconnected Android phone and four portable antennas. Though as his Twitter recount acknowledges, it took one heck of a prep, including setting up relay stations.

Over the weekend I sent a bitcoin transaction to a relay 12.6km away with no cell network or internet connection. Here's a tweetstorm about how I used @gotenna and @SamouraiWallet to do it

— ℭoinsure (@Coinsurenz) October 16, 2018

Fast forward to this year, and in perhaps the most simplistic effort yet, Coinkite founder Rodolfo Novak managed to move BTC some 600km away from Toronto, Canada to Openbazaar co-founder Sam Patterson in Michigan, USA. And in that moment, Bitcoin-by-sky went international.

Advocates for Bitcoin by Air

In 2017, computer scientist Nick Szabo and PhD researcher Elaine Ou delved into the topic at Stanford’s Scaling Bitcoin conference, introducing a research project that proposed tethering bitcoin to radio broadcast to secure consensus proofs using weak signal radio propagation. (View their talk, a copy of the presentation, and our coverage of the event for further information.)

With Novak and Patterson’s latest feat, crypto Twitter went wild. Szabo, showing that he’s still a firm proponent of taking bitcoin skyward, chimed in to congratulate the duo for a successful sendoff that not even a snowstorm could stop.

Bitcoin sent over national border without internet or satellite — just nature's ionosphere. https://t.co/IKCAXGs9fW

— Nick Szabo 🔑 (@NickSzabo4) February 12, 2019

How to Send Bitcoin by Radio

As Novak and Patterson have illustrated, you don’t need to overload on gear or make space for satellite storage in your backyard to send bitcoin by air. Accompanying an SDR ham on this quest was nothing more than a 40m 7Mhz antenna and the JS8call application.

While the setup seems simple enough (Google “ham radio for beginners” for a primer), in practice this is probably not something you’ll dive into unless you’re just messing around or, in real life, shit gets real.

Gearing up is as easy as H-A-M

In truth, there are restrictions aplenty when it comes to sending bitcoin by radio.

First off, legalities. To stay on the right side of the law, some countries require you to be a licensed ham operator, and even then you’re unable to send any encrypted messages or use the airwaves for commercial purposes unless so licensed. At this point, it’s not yet clear which governmental task force will join the SEC and co in clamping down on illegal apocalyptic bitcoin-via-radio transactions.

Since legal restriction is the mother of all invention, Novak and Patterson circumvented this by broadcasting their experimental, non-commercial wallet encryption sendoff via public cypher.

Then there’s prepping it all. For this to be a viable – albeit last resort – solution in an actual nail-bite situation, sender and receiver would have to set it all up in advance. Novak and Patterson were able to execute their experiment by communicating and collaborating in lieu of the transfer, using a brain wallet. (The brainwallet, which is simply storing your mnemonic recovery phrase in your brain, is not to be confused with the recent more nefarious version – the deathwallet popularized by CEO Gerald Cotten who took the keys to Quadriga’s crypto kingdom to his grave.)

Thus, if you’re going to use this as a backup plan for when stuff hits the fan, you’d better secure a right-hand wo/man and a fool-proof project management blueprint while things are still web-friendly. If this process seems as though it walked off the pages of a James Bond novel, yes. It’s decidedly more involved than a mere intra-wallet send-off.

However, if you’re gung-ho on testing out alternative bitcoin transports, don’t let the naysayers stop you. Yours might well be the next proof of concept the interweb is waiting for. The blog Better Off Bitcoin, for one, offers a run-through protocol tutorial.

Scalability Is a Big Bottleneck

Clearly, scaling is a non-issue here. For the foreseeable future, sending bitcoin by radio isn’t happening unless it absolutely has to.

According to Australian crypto trader Boss Cole, “As Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are moving into the future, it is an interesting concept to think about what would happen if we instead went into the past. It is possible and easy to transfer Bitcoin without an internet connection, but it is not convenient. There are a number of projects working on this with satellites or their own infrastructure, however at the time of this writing they are not “popular” simply because there is no real demand.” He continues:

In the case of government censorship, the infrastructure would change rapidly. If we were dealing with serious problems, the infrastructure would follow. Because it is possible. If we went into the dark ages, the main way to transfer Bitcoin would be transferring private keys between individuals. This would be simple, but not convenient.

Not even extreme weather conditions can deter the determined from sending bitcoin via radio waves

So while it’s theoretically possible to take to the skies and send crypto wallets around the world and all the way into space, DIY bitcoin ionosphere amateurs won’t be sending satoshis to the dark side of the moon any time soon.

Why Radio Wave Transmission Might Be Necessary

We tend to associate worst-case scenarios in which the main character has nothing but a walkie talkie and an old ham lying around with Hollywood’s portrayal of doomsday.

Yet for unstable regimes like Zimbabwe and Venezuela, internet blackouts were how 2019 got its start. In reality, network censorship is an all-too-common control tool for many governments around the world.

India leads the pack with 288 shutdowns between 2012 and 2019, with 134 instances in 2018 alone. The Middle East and Africa aren’t strangers to forcing citizens into offline mode, either.

Good luck stopping information across borders when all you need is 40 watts of power, a long piece of wire, a radio and a computer.

— Sam Patterson (@SamuelPatt) February 12, 2019

Under the Communications Act 2003 and the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, the U.K. has an internet kill switch, which could be enforced in light of a serious threat such as a significant cyber attack. The U.S. has had, for the past 85 years, the power to kill electronic communications under the Communications Act of 1934. And with talks of Russia considering a test run to decouple from the global internet, we risk taking a rude awakening if we assume the world’s 72,558 Google searches every second to be an unquestionable given.

Bitcoin for Every Situation

It might have taken a mini-library worth of code to get NASA astronauts to the moon, but sending bitcoin there won’t be nearly as hard. All you need is a radio. Okay, that and a moon rocket. But the point is, this new technology can be just as comfortable – or accessible – even when when the tech you’re using is decidely old school.

Peer-to-peer networks built on the internet have a special allure because of the sense of resilience they have without a central point of failure. A bit misleading: they are really built on many computers and the connections between them.

Not true with radios. True peer to peer.

— Sam Patterson (@SamuelPatt) February 16, 2019

Bitcoin might have been invented on the internet for the internet, but it can straddle both the digital and analog worlds. Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin walk the line between money under the mattress and cash in the bank. As these trailblazers show, bitcoin can straddle those worlds not only functionally, but also technically. Thanks to the efforts of the pioneers profiled here, crypto has shown it can survive in even the most challenging environments.

Sending bitcoin by radio isn’t quite carrier pigeon, but in tech terms it might as well be. Which, says crypto developer John Villar, is “probably the most low end you can get before smoke-signaling a brain wallet.”

Can you envision a situation in which you might have to send bitcoin by ham radio? What other ways could you picture cryptocurrency being transferred without the internet? Let us know in the comments below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Express yourself freely at Bitcoin.com’s user forums. We don’t censor on political grounds. Check forum.Bitcoin.com.

Tags in this story

Bitcoin, Bitcoin Radio Broadcast, brainwallet, BTC, Censorship Resistance, Data Transmission, Elaine Ou, gotenna, HAM radio, N-Technology, network censorship, Nick Szabo, Rodolfo Novak, Sam Patterson, samourai wallet, Scaling Bitcoin 2017, Stanford University, Weak Signal Radio

Nadja Bester

Nadja has been involved in the cryptocurrency industry in numerous capacities, ranging from journalist, writer, marketing and communications specialist, and speaker. She has reported on cryptocurrency since 2017.

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[rosyredlipstick]

Rental Love* (2\?)

(*Read Terms & Conditions) - Male/22/Long Island N.Y.C. Tired of showing up stag at holiday events? Want your family to stop thinking there’s something wrong with you? Just want some arm candy for a work event? Look no further. Your solution is here! I will attend holiday events with you as your paid date. Accepting all genders as applicants. Email solace.w@fastmail.com if interested. Interview & application will be set up there. - Nico di Angelo has been telling Hazel Levesque about his boyfriend for weeks. The bad part? Nico doesn’t have a boyfriend, the holidays are coming up, and not all of Jason’s ideas are horrible. They’re all a bit surprised about the last one.

Read Part One Here

The rest of the night went easily enough – Nico and Will pressed together on the couch, sharing fond smiles when they were sure the others were watching. Hades insisted on watching some terrible black and white Christmas movie, nearly beaming with glee when they all easily relented. They ate dinner – a thick, heavenly stew - on the couch, a rare tradition, and not even Persephone’s homemade ice cream could drive the bubble of warmth out of his chest.

It was nice - his hand curled in Will’s own. Sure, there wasn’t much emotion behind the emotion - mostly fading annoyance still lingering from their earlier animosity - but Will’s hand was warm in Nico’s, his thumb rubbing circles over Nico’s knuckles, and it was nice, to have that.

It wasn’t until they were all retiring to their own spaces – each in a different direction, that the familiar anxious emotion, tainted a bit by hardly lingering annoyance, returned to Nico.

Will followed him up the stairs, both of them trying to ignore the teasing eyebrows of Hades and Persephone’s soft giggles.

It wasn’t until Nico opened his bedroom door – hardly lived in, they had only spent a few years in his late teens in Chicago before it was time for college – that Nico remembered.

“Oh. Yeah.” He said, staring at his singular bed. “I can show you one of the guest bedrooms –“

“Your family will know something is up if they see that.” Will said, pulling up his bag from the ground to begin shifting through it.

“I’ll take the couch.” Nico offered, mostly because out of all the manners Hades has drilled into him as a child, only most of them were gone. And the couch wasn’t even that uncomfortable, if he was remembering it correctly. “Hazel would have my head if she found out you slept on the floor.”

Will shrugged. “Okay.”

A weird silence passed over them, Nico leaning on the couch, Will the bed, staring a bit awkwardly at each other. After their oddly soft moment in the kitchen, and their evening sharing warmth and space, the roughness of their voices seemed out of place in the air between them.

Nico cleared his throat, attempting to take on a kinder tone. He was still wide awake, and from Will’s wide eyes, he looked the same. Casual conversation couldn’t be that hard, right?”

“So, like. Spending all your holidays with strangers – that’s weird right?”

“It’s actually really cool.” Will grinned at that, and even in the dim light it was luminous. Fuck. Nico ignored the way his heart jumped in his chest at the sight, and the task was easier said than done as Will continued to speak. “I got to spend Hanukkah with a girl and her family last year, and I’ve been able to go to a few weddings as a plus one.” He fell back on the bed, still smiling a bit. “It’s a lot of cool experiences. And meeting everyone’s families is always fun, even though I know I’ll probably never see them again.”

Nico hummed at that, a beat of silence passing over them, a small grin emerging at the mention of family.  “My dad thinks you’re hot.”

Will choked, flipping over to lean over the side of the bed. Nico hadn’t yet made up the couch, choosing to flick through his phone instead.

“Is he the only one that thinks that?” Will grin was a bit suggestive, but mostly teasing. Nico looked up at that, his phone dropping to his side.

“Definitely not.” Nico told him, a purr in his voice. He leaned forward, and Will’s eyes widened just the slightest.

Just enough to form a bubble of satisfaction low in Nico’s belly.

He waited until he was so close, he could count Will’s eyelashes. Will’s breath hitched, his eyes dilating.

Nico licked his lips before speaking, and almost grinned when Will’s eyes flickered down to meet the action. “You know…Frank also think you’re pretty hot.”

The moment was broken in a second; Nico’s shaking with laughter, Will shoving him away with reddened cheeks.

“I hate you.” Will declared, falling back down on the bed.

Nico laughed under his breath, “You too Hollister.” He told him, his voice now mostly teasing.

“We have to work on peppering in more details about our relationship.” Will responded, ignoring Nico. “It’s important to help making it believable.”

Nico began pulling out the extra linens, throwing them over the couch. He’d slept there plenty of times, mostly during sleepovers when Jason and Leo managed to somehow claim his own bed despite the numerous guest bedrooms. It was comfortable enough – a bit small – but not bad. Eleven days shouldn’t be too bad.

Nico cocked his head as he turned to begin making up the couch. “Like what?”

“Like, I don’t know, dates we’ve been on or stuff we’ve done together. Stuff we know about each other.” Will shrugged, “The longest event I’ve accompanied someone was a four day holiday weekend - the first day is usually busy with introductions and the second day is when the family starts to get curious about all the details. It’s good to get ahead, you know? So then we can control what they ask.”

Nico briefly thought of the personal information packets they had on each other - stuffed deep into the backpack sticking out from under his bed - and how Nico had barely touched Will’s likes and dislikes portion. Will’s page was typed in, Nico had noticed, probably because it was easier to print off a copy instead of filling it out every time.

This was his job, Nico half-reminded himself.

He cleared his throat, finally settling down on the poorly made up couch. “Yeah, okay. I can do that.”

The next morning was a late one – thankfully. After breaking off conversation and exchanging awkward goodnights, laying on the couch the day’s exhaustion seemed to finally crash in on him, and he had slept hard and deep. Nico wasn’t anything close to a morning person, usually sleeping into the late hours of the afternoon until Jason would roll his eyes and threw a pillow at his face, forcing him to actually greet the day.

Will was already sitting up in Nico’s bed, his back against the headboard, playing on his phone when Nico finally pried his eyelids open the next late morning. He was already dressed for the day, sitting atop Nico’s bed, the sheets straight and perfectly made for the first time in probably years. Nico blinked tiredly at the other boy a few times, his mind taking its time to reboot.

“Oh gods.” Nico’s voice was a tired rasp as a realization hit him. Will glanced over, his eyes a bit confused at Nico’s words. Nico sat up, staring at Will in slight horror. “You’re a morning person, aren’t you?”

Will tipped his chin up, clicking off his phone to give Nico’s his attention “You say like it’s a bad thing. I’ve been up since seven and you’ve been sleeping the day away.”

Nico groaned, his mind still in slow-reboot, his palms coming up to rub stars into his eyes. “I - I can’t believe this, This is a deal breaker, you know?”

Will smoothed his mouth out into a thin line, more to hide his emerging smile then any annoyance. “Really? After four months of magic , this is how you decide to end it all?”

Nico sat up, pushing his blankets to the carpet, and glared at him. “This betrayal is too much.” Nico’s voice was grave, still raspy from sleep. “I can’t even trust you anymore.”

At that, Will finally snorted, climbing out of bed to grab up the abandoned blanket off the floor, beginning to fold it into neat squares. “I think Persephone is up making breakfast - Hazel and Frank have been awake for awhile, I can hear them downstairs.” Will set the folded blanket on the bed, not even noticing Nico blinking at him in tired confusion. “I was about to wake you up before you slept through the entire day.”

Nico finally came back to himself, still confused as Will continued to fold the crumpled sheets falling off the couch. “I would have killed you, probably.”

Will hummed, seeming unthrown. He smiled after a second, “Make it quick, yeah? A quick death would be heaven-sent compared to the slow agony I had to endure last night.”

Nico paused, giving him a curious look. “What?”

Will took pity on him, “Your snoring, darling. I wonder if whatever spirit I pissed off in my former life will ever forgive me. From last night’s torture, looks like it’s a long shot.”

Nico sputtered, “I - I do not snore!”

Will paused, his tan hands a pleasing contrast against the white sheets. His look of pity from earlier returned, “Oh Nico, do you not know?”

Nico huffed, “I do not snore! Jason would have told me!”

Will gave him a look, “But would he have? Because from my experience last night, he clearly wouldn’t have.”

Nico huffed again, bending down to his open duffel to grab the first outfit he could get his hands on, not bothering to check what articles of clothing he had picked up. Something nice about having an entirely black-on-darker-shades-of-black ensemble was that he hardly ever had to worry about matching.

As he fled to the bathroom to start getting ready for the late morning, he tried to ignore the pounding in his chest at Will’s ringing laughter.

Hazel bounced towards them, too excited and awake for Nico’s current state.

“You’re awake!” She beamed, “Hades made breakfast if you’re hungry.”

Nico waved her off, falling face first onto the couch. Nico hardly ever ate when he first woke up, usually choosing to just steal Jason’s morning cup of coffee before running off to class.

“Where’s everyone?” He muttered into the cushions, pushing himself up to flip over onto his side after a moment. Will sat on the end of the couch, Nico’s head propped up on his thigh, and he rested a hand on

Nico squinted at the ceiling. This casual touching might prove itself to be a lost.

Hazel plopped herself down on the carpet, swiping the remote off the coffee table. “Frank’s helping Hades hang up some of the lights outside. Wanna watch a movie? I think the new Captain America’s on Netflix.”

Will began to rub circles into Nico’s back, a strange motion considering Hazel would in no way be able to see the action. Considering that, and remembering what Will had told him last night, a quick thought popped into his head, and he turned to give his sister a soft smile.

“We saw that on our second date.” Nico told her, a bit happy he was getting the hang of it. See? He was getting better with his whole fake relationship thing. “Will loves superheroes.” Which, was true. He hadn’t gotten around to completely memorizing the other boy’s personal interests, but from the looks of Will’s Avengers pajamas pants last night, he at least had some sort of fondness for the interest.

Hazel cocked her head to the side, giving him a considering look. “Will said your second date was getting Thai food.”

Nico swallowed the moment of panic, instead focusing on keeping the emotion off his face. “Oh, that’s – that – I forgot about that one.”

Hazel narrowed her eyes at him, and thank the gods for Will.

“He always tells me he doesn’t count the Thai food date because it took place in the dormitory.” Will told her, his voice smooth and his smile wide, charming, and convincing. He gave Nico a fond look, “Of course, when I invited him over I was under the impression it was a date, whereas he simply came over, ate my food, and fell asleep on my futon.”

Nico gave the other boy a small smile, mostly out of relief, more under control now. “Even as you describe it, it’s not much of a date. Our real second date was going to the movies.”

Hazel smiled, clearly enjoying their banter. “You two are adorable.”

“We are not -” Nico was cut off from Frank’s voice yelling for Hazel from the other room.

She got up, an apologetic look on her face. "He probably needs help with the decorations - we'll watch a movie later, okay?" She told them, leaving them in favor of Frank’s returned presence at the door.

Nico waved her off, not really minding the pushing off of the movie. He waited a few moments after she left the room, the silence between them a bit thick, before looking back to Will with raised eyebrows and an impressed tone.

“You’re good at this.” Nico told him quietly, respect seeping into his words without meaning to.

Will shrugged, matching Nico’s quiet tone. “I’ve had practice. Once, I made up an entire road trip on the spot.” He shrugged, “It’s a gift I tell you.”

Nico rolled his eyes, a small crack of a smile on his face. “So you keep saying.”

“I should have told you about the second date thing.” He said, clicking his tongue. His hand was still on Nico’s back and - it was nice. “I totally forgot about it.”

Nico shrugged, sitting up. Will’s hand dropped back to his lap, and Nico tried not to feel too disappointed. “It’s fine. We recovered.” He stretched his arms, his neck popping with satisfaction, and stood, holding out his hand. "Coffee?"

Will gave him a grateful look. "Thought you'd never ask."

"Really?" Nico helped him to his feet, his voice teasing and light. You know, in case anyone overheard them. "I thought you were a morning person?"

Will gave him a glare, but considering the lack of heat behind the action, it fell flat. "Everyone needs coffee. It's like, for survival."

"Hazel doesn't drink coffee." Nico told him, pulling the other boy behind him as he made his way to the kitchen. Even from here, he could smell the thick, slightly smoky, scent of Hades's bacon omelets. God, he loved being home. “She prefers tea, I think.”

Will made a face. “Unnatural.”

Nico cracked a smile at that, leading them both into the large kitchen, a bit grateful it was empty. From what it seems, he wasn’t the best at their little act so soon after waking up.

Will paused by the table, looking through the assortment of fruit Persephone had no doubt set up, while Nico bee-lined for the coffeepot.

Will picked through their fruit bowl, a notable feat considering he was the only one who had probably done so ever. He, like a fucking Disney princess, took a moment to rub the cherry red apple against the fabric of his shirt before taking a bite, the juice making his lips shiny and wet.

Fuck.

Nico forced himself to look away, focusing on pouring the cup of coffee, passing along the full cup to the other boy after a moment. He had no idea how Will took his coffee which, crap. He really needed to read over the preferences package.

He spied a colorful box on the counter - definitely a product of Hazel’s - and grinned.

He wasn't one for heavy breakfast, but there was just something so satisfying about a cold pop tart in the morning.

He paused for a moment, considering that sentence. Maybe he had been living with Jason for too long.

Eh. Whatever.

"Want one?" Nico asked, shaking the box to draw the other boy's attention, the picture of politeness. Look at him go. Hades would be proud.

"Pop-tarts?" Will gave him, then the box, an incredulous look. "You eat those?"

Nico pulled a pack out, ripping off the silver wrapper with his teeth, and rolled his eyes at the other boy. "No, I just like to buy them by the crate and stare at them. It's a hobby, honestly."

Will ignored him, grabbing the box from Nico's hand. "What flavor are these even?" Will was now giving the box, or most likely the nutritional value printed on the side, a horrified look. "Smores? Oh my god, look at the amount of sugar in these..."

"They're good." Nico shrugged, splitting the first tart in half to stuff into his mouth. "But hey, if you're trying to be healthy or something, I think we might have some strawberry ones."

Will's horrified eyes went frozen on Nico. "Oh my god." He half-whispered, looking close to tossing the box out of the window. "Did you just imply that strawberry pop-tarts are healthy?"

"They have fruit in them."

Will’s fingernails were digging into the weak cardboard of the box, “I...I can’t believe this. You….I….”

Nico popped the other half of the pop-tart in his mouth, speaking through the mouthful so a few crumbs scattered across the counter. “It’s a hearty breakfast.” Nico taps the box, “Good source of vitamins, says right there.”

“It’s a good source of diabetes.” He muttered, finally throwing the box away from him. He glared at the box, picking back up his apple to take another bite.

“It’s nice you care.” Nico told him, his voice full of gleeful teasing.

Will rolled his eyes, “If I really cared I would toss the full box into the open fireplace. I’m simply informing you of the massive mistake you’re forcing upon your body.”

“So you totally wouldn’t care if I just grabbed another pack and started eating them?” Nico put his finger to his chin, thinking. “I think we might have a pack of the orange soda ones somewhere, and the orange makes it better for you, right?”

Will gritted his teeth. “If you go anywhere near orange soda pop-tarts -” He spat those words out like tar, “you won’t have to wait for the sugar to slowly kill you, I’ll murder you myself.”

Nico took another happy bite out of his last pop-tart, mentally noting to tell Hades to have a few more boxes delivered for tomorrow morning. “Sounds good. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Will took a deep, steadying breath, still glaring at the cardboard box like it had brutally murdered his mother. Nico resisted the urge to reach for another packet just to rile the other boy up. Despite his fondness for making that slightly crazed look show up in Will’s eyes, Nico really didn’t need that much sugar right after waking up. Jason was a credible witness to that fact.

Nico shoved the last bit of his breakfast in his mouth, swiping the crumbs off the counter, and started spooning creamer into his cup.

“What’s on the agenda for today?” Will asked after a moment, his eyes dipping over Nico’s frame as he held the coffee cup to his chest.

Nico shrugged, taking a drink of his still slightly-too-hot coffee. “I don’t think we’ve got any like, real plans today. Hades mentioned dinner tonight but we should be free till then.”

Will nodded, “What time would that be?”

Nico thought briefly of the family group chat Hazel had confirmed the plans in late last night, reaching for his pocket to confirm before sighing deeply.

“It’s upstairs.” He cast a regretful look towards the ceiling, already cursing the staircase he was dreading. Fuck. Why the hell did Hades even buy a manor with such a large staircase? They all hated it. Nico threw back the last of his coffee, setting the cup in the sink, and cast a look over his shoulder. “Coming?”

Will grabbed his cup, apple core in one hand, coffee in the other, and stood, apparently letting his actions answering for himself. He followed Nico’s example - tossing back his cup of black coffee without hesitation, and threw away the core before facing Nico.

He turned, trusting Will would follow him, and lead the other boy up the staircase - the fucking staircase, gods Nico hated stairs - to his room. He had left his phone somewhere buried in the couch cushions, probably near a dead battery. Despite the literal drawer of phone chargers he had managed to collect over the years, it was a known fact that he was absolutely horrible at actually putting them to use.

Nico dug around the cushions, knowing it was in there somewhere. “Hazel texted me - fuck -” He cursed, sucking on the edge of his finger as a rogue pen stabbed him, frowning. “She sent the dinner plans last night if I could just find my damn phone…”

He finally found it - half under the middle cushion, and held it up in victory, ignoring Will’s eyeroll.

“Speaking of Hazel,” Will fell onto Nico’s bed, bouncing a bit as he did so. “What did you get her for Christmas? I won’t tell, I’m just a sucker for this kind of stuff.”

Nico shrugged, going back to his phone. Damn, he was right. It was near death. “Some gift thing. Jason picked it out at Walmart.”

Will frowned, “What is it?”

“Some basket thing we found. It was in the Christmas aisle, I don’t know.” Nico plugged it in, tossing it to the side, and finally turned to eye Will’s frown.

Will blinked at him a few times before he took a deep, calming breath. “You got your sister a Walmart gift basket? You got her something from the gift aisle? ”

Nico shrugged, “It was pink.” Will made a face at that, “She likes pink. It has lotions and pink and stuff.”

“Does she particularly like lotions?’

Nico bit his lip, “I don’t think she particularly dislikes lotions?”

Will stared at him for a long moment. “Oh my god.” He finally said, something like realization hitting him.“You’re horrible at shopping for gifts.”

Nico threw his hands up in the air, “It’ll be fine! She’ll like anything.”

Will shook his head, standing from the bed and grabbing his coat. “That’s not the point. You’re not supposed to just get someone anything; you’re supposed to get someone something they’d like.”

Will stared down at Nico in mild disappointment. “C’mon, we’re leaving.”

Nico stood and followed, despite his confusion. “Where are we going?”

Will waved him off, leading him down the staircase. “Shopping, apparently. I had no idea you were so terrible at Christmas gifts.”

“We don’t-” Nico sighed at the glare Will shot him, grabbing his jacket out of the closet. “Whatever, fine, Jesus.”

Will looked pleased at Nico’s easy agreement, casually grabbing onto Nico’s hand - for the benefit of Persephone spying on them from the reading room, probably - he began leading him down the hall.

Nico rolled his eyes, taking the lead as Will most certainly did not have the least idea of where they were heading.

Jules-Albert would be the garage, as usual, waiting for Nico’s call if he chose to employ it. He arched an eyebrow at Nico as they arrived, Will giving him the address off his phone, and cracked a small grin as Nico rolled his eyes and nodded.

“Now,” Will settled down, buckling his seatbelt and shifting his weight. Jules-Albert, in the front, was humming softly as he pulled the car out of the driveway. “What does Hazel like?”

Nico sighed again, taking a moment to think. “Pop-tarts?” He said after a moment, teasing.

Will glared at him, amusement having no place on his face, and Nico tried again.

“She likes…art.” Nico decided, because that was easy.

Will nodded encouragingly. “That’s good! What kind of art?”

“Art, um, in general? Like, making it.” Nico nodded. This wasn’t as hard as he thought. “She likes making stuff and crafts and stuff. Painting too?”

Will was nodding slowly. “Okay. Anything else?”

Nico bit his lip. “Um. She likes chocolate? Fancy kind?”

Will sighed, his head dropping. “Any ideas, Jules?” He called to the front, his voice fond exasperation.

Jules actually seemed to be considering the question. “Lady Hazel has been interested in photography of recent, I’ve heard Sir Hades mention.”

Will perked up, “That’s good! Okay, so maybe something with art and photography? And maybe chocolate?”

Nico gave him a helpless shrug. “Sure?”

Will rolled his eyes at Nico’s answer but went silent with thought for a long moment. “Does she have a preferred favorite art brand or something?”

Nico made a face. “....probably?”

“You’re hopeless.” He observed. “Wow. Like. Wow.”

Nico fridgeted. “I don’t know! She’s my sister and I love her and stuff but I don’t know everything about her!”

“I’m not asking for everything, I’m asking for anything.”

Nico rolled his eyes, “God, you’re annoying.”

“Only for you, sweetums.” Will smirked, leaning back into the leather cushions. “Although I suppose we could head over to the nearest mall and clear out the Hot Topic clearance section, if you’d prefer. Nothing for Hazel there, no, but maybe we can restock your MCR shirt stock before you wear them threadbare. That’d be productive, yeah?”

“Is it too late to get my money back?” Nico wondered out loud, “Jules, can we drop him off at the nearest fire station?”

Will clicked his tongue, too happy in the face of Nico’s glare. “That’s no way to talk to your boyfriend, Neeks. What would Hades say?” He gaped, his face the picture of dramatic. “Or Persephone? They’d be heartbroken at your ungentlemanlike behavior.”

Nico buried his face into his palms. “I’m literally paying you to do this. Why. Why would I do this.”

Will laughed, a loose, happy sound. Fuck. “Cause you were desperate.” Will informed him, “And your sister is adorable. And you don’t want to upset your adorable sister, do you?”

“Fuck you.” Nico groaned, shoving the other boy’s shoulder. “January 2nd is going to be the best day of my life, I swear to god, for the sole fact of never having to interact with you ever again.”

“Bit overdramatic, don’t you think?”

“I’m overdramatic? Have you looked in the fucking mirror -”

“We have arrived.” Jules interrupted before they could dive further into their bickering, nodding towards the large store.

“Thanks Jules-Albert!” Will sang out, grabbing onto Nico’s arm to tug him out. Nico had to suppress his annoyance, only sharing a look with Jules that was much, much too amused on the other man’s part.

Will immediately grabbed one of those plastic shopping baskets, shoving it into Nico’s arms as he bounced ahead.

The other boy sighed happily. “I love Target.”

Nico gave him an odd look. “Why?”

Will mirrored Nico’s look. “Do you not?”

Nico shrugged, seeing Will’s slightly hostile look, and kept his shoulders loose. “I prefer Walmart. Bit better, isn’t it?”

Will huffed out an angry breath, “You’re doing this on purpose aren’t you?”

“Doing what?” Nico was the perfect picture of innocence.

“Disagreeing with everything I say you idiot.”

Nico hummed, walking ahead to examine a particularly colorful pair of boots. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Maybe you just have bad opinions, consider that?”

Will took a calming breath. He seemed to be doing that a lot. Maybe Nico should keep track.

“We’re here to find Hazel a wonderful Christmas gift because she seems very nice and cute and deserves an amazing Christmas gift.” Will was saying this to himself, mostly to calm himself down, but Nico couldn’t help but agree. She was pretty great.

Nico held up the basket, at least attempting to keep most of the sarcasm out of his voice. “Let’s go shopping.”

“This?”

“No.”

“How about this?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Okay, I really think she’d like this.”

“Nico, that’s a crayola coloring book for toddlers.”

“So, like….no?”

“I hate you.”

“Okay.” Will took a breath, his fingers pinching his nose. That was his fourth calming breath in the last hour. Nico added another tally on his Notes app. Fifth calming breath. CB? 5 CBs so far. Nico was aiming for ten.

Will finally dropped his hands, looking back up to Nico waiting gaze. His voice was perfect pitch of patience. “Nico. Sweetheart.” There was definitely a thick layer of hostility in those words, and it took everything Nico had to suppress the shit-eating grin that wanted to emerge.

“Darling?” Nico answered. “Are you not enjoying our shopping trip?”

Will gave him a dry look. “We’ve been here two hours.”

“I thought you loved Target?”

“I loved Target 1.5 hours ago.” Will spoke through clenched teeth, looking close to strangling Nico with one of the many scarves surrounding the aisle around them. Did Hazel like scarves? Who knew. Nico stuffed one of them in his basket. “Now? Target is dead to me. And it’s all your fault.”

Nico heaved a sigh, a bit of annoyance seeping through. “I don’t know what you want from me!” He frowned, “You knew I was horrible at holiday shopping. It’s why we’re here.”

“I thought you’d be better than this!”

“Sorry to disappoint, my love .”

“I am going to murder you, like, right here, in the middle of this Target.”

“Five bucks you won’t do it.”

Will stared at Nico for a long moment, Nico growing a bit uncomfortable under his gaze, before finally glancing away, his frown breaking as the sides of his lips curled up.

Nico grinned, leaning back. “Got you.”

Will sighed, more amusement than he meant creeping into the action. “Sure you did. Let’s do one more round - if all else fails you’re just getting her an IPad or something I’m so done.”

Nico shrugged. “Whatever.”

Will lead them - he seemed much more familiar with the generic layout of the too-white, bright store - both of them revealing in the much needed, tired silence. The electronics section was nothing impressive - a few aisles of random tech, a few laptops and televisions set up along the back wall. Finding Dory was playing on the numerous screens, showing Dory fighting with the red octopus. Nice. Nico loved Pixar.

Will grabbed onto his shoulder just as Nico was going to drift towards the screens, probably to hide in the middle aisle from Will’s disapproving gaze, and pulled him back, a considering look on his face. Nico gave him a curious look.

Will was paused in place, his eyes sweeping over the cameras lined up on the counter. “Jules-Albert said she was into photography, right?”

Nico came up beside him. “Yeah. But she already has some fancy Nikon one or something.”

Will cocked his head to the side, leaning down and point something out. “How about that?”

Nico looked where he was pointing, “Which one?”

Will pointed it out. “One of those instant photo cameras, my younger cousin has one and loves it.” Will was pointing to the box beside it, a bit excited about their first reasonable idea since they arrived. “You can buy sets with them and make like a scrapbook with it, so it’s artsy too.”

Nico was...slightly impressed. He picked one of them up, examining the box with interest. This seemed like something Hazel would actually use – he could vaguely remember the one Piper had whipped out at their last party. Hazel had played with it for awhile. “That’s actually pretty good. I think she’d like it.”

“What color? Pink?” Will asked, his hand hovering over the display.

Nico’s glance around, his eyes catching on the one in the corner. He swiped the one in his hands - gray - for the one on the shelf. “Nah.” He held it up, “Gold’s better.”

Will nodded in approval, probably only happy that Nico knew what color Hazel would like best. It was kind of hard not to know at this point - Hazel’s wardrobe was 10% paint splattered, 70% gold covered, 20% both.

They grabbed the kit Will pointed out, along with a few fancier candy bars both for Hazel and himself (he had a problem okay? And it involved an unhealthy amount of sugar), and grabbed a spot in the self-checkout line.

“What am I gonna do with the gift basket I already bought?” Nico asked, picking up the box to look at it better.

“Burn it, hopefully. All that crappy cellophane should make an excellent fire starter.”

“You think you’re hilarious and it’s astonishing to me how wrong someone can be.” Nico only said, stepping forward to pay before Will could respond.

That, in Nico’s mind, was counted as a win.

Will wrapped up the present for him, and snuck it under the tree while Nico distracted Hazel with quick task - yes Hazel, he totally  needed help with fixing the Christmas lights in the dining room at this very instant - and shot Nico a quick thumbs up as he emerged back from the main parlor, smiling.

Nico shot him a grin, turning back to his sister just in time to miss Will’s cheeks slightly fill with color - and announced to the girl that the lights were fine now, thank you, they’re totally and completely fixed to his standards now and now would be a good time for that movie, wouldn’t it?

Hazel beamed and agreed, grabbing them both by the hand to lead them into the entertainment room, Frank an amused presence following them all.

And, just like Nico predicted, Will was a huge nerd for superheroes.

Notes: 

Christmas shopping and feelings wooooooo listen the boys are gonna go back and fourth between 'fuck he's hot' and 'fuck he's aNNOYING' for a bit sorry not sorry i had to google pop tarts for this chapter you're welcome FAMILY DINNER UP NEXT WOOOOO Yeah....I changed it from two to five chapters (a rough estimate) Sorry I took forever with this update! Balancing class and work has been a challenge, but summer break is coming up and I'm ready to WRITE.

[godamnarmsrace]

Even When I Lose My Head

I am ignoring the shit storm Emmerdale is trying to feed us at the moment.

@aarondingel has the best head canons and here is just one of them: Before they go to sleep Robert needs to show Aaron his scar of the gunshot wound and Aaron lays his head on Robert’s chest to hear his heart beating

Lyrics in Italics – Guillotine by Jon Bellion

Happy 1 Year Anniversary!!!  I hope you enjoy :)

For the first time in weeks Robert actually slept well, having Aaron home and with him made all the difference but Robert wasn’t at all surprised when he was woken in the middle of the night by his husband thrashing about in the middle of their bed.

Unsure about what to do Robert sat up in bed and switched on the light next to him. ”Aaron,” Robert called out not wanting to touch him when he was feeling vulnerable. He didn’t want to cause his husband any more pain “Aaron,” he called again when Aaron didn’t stir.

Aaron let out a whimper and it broke Robert’s, heart. He didn’t know if these were old nightmares or new ones, but demons were haunting his husband and Robert hated that he couldn’t do a damn thing to stop them.

Robert knew that Aaron had been through hell on the inside. They had both been through the wringer but Aaron was home and Robert just wanted to mend everything that was broken inside them both even though he had no clue where to start.

Against his better judgement, Robert placed a gentle hand on his husband’s face and brought his lips to Aaron’s forehead, kissing him, Robert whispered, “I love you, you’re safe here with me now, I promise. Aaron, wake up please!”

“Robert,” Aaron grabbed a hold of Robert’s wrist tightly, coming awake slowly. “I’m sorry,” he apologised loosening his grip on Robert’s arm and stroking his fingers softly over the red marks he’d left behind.

“Don’t ever apologise for needing me. I love you, Mr Sugden,” Robert said pressing another kiss to Aaron’s head.

“I love you too Mr Dingle. I just hate that I woke you because you look like you need all the sleep you can get,” said Aaron turning into Robert’s touch and pressing a kiss to the centre of his palm.

“I’ve slept better in the last few hours with you in our bed beside me than I have in over a month without you. So, don’t concern yourself with it. All I need to be at peace is you here with me, safe and sound,” Robert replied.

Sleep on me, feel the rhythm in my chest, just breathe

Robert lay down on his back and tugged on Aaron arranging him so that he laid his head on Robert’s chest. Aaron pressed a kiss to the bullet scar that almost took Robert from him before settling his ear over Robert’s heart and the sound of his heartbeat soothing Aaron in a way he didn’t realise he needed.

Robert was here. He was alive. They were alive. Here together.

“I can’t believe you stuck around after all I’ve put you through. I don’t deserve you, Robert,” Aaron’s words were like little daggers in Robert’s heart because it pained him so much that Aaron had no idea how fucking amazing he was to Robert.

If anyone wasn’t worthy…

“Trust me, we deserve each other. No one else would do. I could never leave you, Aaron, you’re my whole damn life, without you everything else seems to cease to exist and the day’s pale into nothingness. I never want to feel like that again. Fair warning, you’re never getting rid of me ever,” Robert whispered his voice gruff with emotion against the top of Aaron’s head.

I will stay so the lantern in your heart won't fade

“You know I’m here if you want to talk about it. You can tell me anything, Aaron. I promise not to judge or get mad,” Robert offered stroking his hands up and down Aaron’s naked back over the warm silky skin. It had a grounding effect on Robert the panic from earlier slowly receding from his gut. “There is nothing you can say that will ever turn me away from you.”

The secrets you tell me I'll take to my grave There's bones in my closet, but you hang stuff anyway

Aaron’s silence didn’t last long a sob escaped him and Robert held onto him tight, as the shudders that wracked Aaron’s body threatened to tear them both apart. “Is it Gordon or Jason?”

Aaron shook his head against Robert’s chest, “Yes and no,” he said. “It’s stupid. I’m home now, with you. I know I’m safe I know Gordon’s dead, that he can’t hurt me but he’s still inside Robert and sometimes I feel like I need to cut him out of me before he poisons everything good that’s left of me.”

“It’s not stupid to be scared, Aaron. I’m scared all the time. I’m terrified I’m going to hurt you or let you down. Hell, I’m scared shitless that you will wake up one day and realise I don’t deserve you, that you can do better, that I’m not worth your time, let alone your love. But Aaron please promise me when it gets to be too much that you’ll talk to me. And believe me when I say that there is nothing of him inside you. Don’t give him that kind of power and Aaron you’re all good. All your parts, every cell, every thought, every deed. You are the best person I know, even if you are a Dingle,” Robert hoped he wasn’t saying the wrong thing. He wanted Aaron to come to him, to talk to him.

Aaron’s sobs were broken by a small burst of laughter, there and then gone. “I’m sorry Robert. I just don’t know how not to feel this way and when I was inside I tried to be strong Robert I did but I was so scared. I already tried to kill myself once, what if that weakness in me is because of him? How do I get away from that?”

Robert was terrified to hear Aaron talk about hurting himself but this was good, that Aaron felt safe here with him to share how he felt was a good thing. He just had to try and remember that. “Did you want to hurt yourself this time when you were inside?”

Aaron sucked in a deep breath before answering, “No. I just wanted to come home. I knew you were here waiting for me, looking after Liv and I just wanted to be home. I held onto you. I might have been a bit of a smart ass when taunting him about how good sex with you is.”

Robert smiled without meaning to, “I bet. You have a mouth on you. It’s always been one of my favourite things about you.” Robert brought one of his hands to Aaron’s head, he used it to tilt Aaron’s face towards his so they could meet eyes. “You’re stronger than you know you are Aaron. I’m in awe of you every day. Maybe, talking to someone about some of the new stuff that is sticking with you might be a good idea?” Robert didn’t want to force the issue. Hell, he could probably use some counselling too.

“Liv said I should dance on the bed after a nightmare apparently, it helps, but the counselling thing might be a good idea…will you come with me?” Aaron asked looking unsure of himself.

“Like couples counselling?” Robert asked confused.

“No, like we both get a little help but we do it together,” Aaron answered sounding hopeful.

“Can we dance on the bed instead?” Robert joked. “I wouldn’t even know where to start Aaron but if that is what you need from me you know I’ll be there.”

“I think Jack would be a good place to start, don’t you?” Aaron said rolling so that he was laying on his stomach on top of Robert.

“Aaron, that was nothing. I…you can’t compare that with everything you’ve been through,” Robert argued shifting so that Aaron was covering him almost completely. The weight of Aaron’s body making him feel safe and protected.

Aaron cupped Robert’s face in his hands so he couldn’t look away and said, “Compare, no, but he hurt you as sure Gordon hurt me. He broke your trust and abused your body, he just used his fists. Your pain is real Robert. Your internal scars are valid as my external ones are.”

And if you have nightmares, we'll dance on the bed I know that you love me, love me Even when I lose my head Guillotine, guillotine

Robert knew he should say something but words failed him. That Aaron thought any of that even mattered floored him. Robert had never told another soul about what had happened with Jack because he honestly didn’t think anyone would believe him or care. But Aaron did. There was so much love inside Robert he didn’t even know what to do with it. He wanted to give it all to Aaron it was almost all his anyway but he didn’t know how.

Before Aaron, Robert didn’t think anyone would ever be able to love him, the real him. All of him but Aaron did. Robert felt like he should pray to some deity somewhere that he’d found Aaron, and that Aaron had loved him back. Did love him. “I love you,” he whispered bringing their lips together in a kiss.

Kiss my lips, feel the rhythm of your heart and hips I will pray so the castle that we've built won't cave

“I need you,” Robert whispered against Aaron’s mouth.

“I fucking love you, Robert Sugden. There’s only you for me,” Aaron said in between licks against Robert’s lips. ‘I need you inside me, now, please Robert please.”

“God,” Robert muttered using his fingers to test how ready Aaron actually was, his hole still loose and fluttering around his fingers from their earlier lovemaking. One finger, two then three slid in with little to no resistance.

Aaron let out a moan and hitched himself up Robert’s body a little, one knee bent and hooked up to give him the leverage he needed to thrust himself back towards where Robert’s hard cock rested twitching and leaking against his own belly.

“Wait! Just wait a second. Shit!” Robert grabbed the slick from under his pillow where he’d shoved it after the last time and poured some on his hand. Reaching between their bodies, he used it to slick himself even as Aaron pushed his hand away so he could get at Robert’s cock.

Robert swallowed his throat suddenly dry as Aaron thrust himself down onto Robert’s cock his eyes full of so much love and desire, that Robert had to force himself not to look away. The urge to run and hide still strong but he wanted Aaron to have all of him. He met Aaron’s gaze and clutched at his hips as Aaron began to thrust against him. The slow drag of Aaron’s heavy cock against his stomach made his own harden further still where it was nestled inside his husband.

You fill me up, you fill me up You set my soul ablaze You fill me up, you fill me up Your love is so amazing You fill me up, you fill me up You set my soul ablaze You fill me up even when I lose my head

Robert was almost asleep again when Aaron kissed him on his neck. “Oh, Robert…” Aaron whispered into the darkness.

“Yeah?” Robert asked, wrapping his arms tighter around his husband.

“Happy Anniversary!” Aaron exclaimed before settling down again to sleep and Robert laid there in the dark and thought about all their other anniversaries and all the ones they would have to come. Glad that this was one that Aaron wanted to acknowledge because much like the day Robert met Aaron when he really started living, this day a year ago was when Robert started breathing again.

You fill me up, you fill me up You set my soul ablaze You fill me up, you fill me up Your love is so amazing You fill me up, you fill me up You set my soul ablaze You fill me up even when I lose my head

[swipestream]

Science Fiction New Releases: 6 April, 2019

Arena mech combat, alien ugly ducklings, deep space salvage, and genetic manipulation feature in this week’s roundup of the newest releases in science fiction.

BattleTech: Not the Way The Smart Money Bets (Kell Hounds Trilogy #1) – Michael A. Stackpole

Brothers Morgan and Patrick Kell have just landed on Galatea, the mercenary planet known for its brutal arena ’Mech combat games. They intend to found their own merc unit, building it from the ground up, but there are a few obstacles in their way. The first is a corrupt general fronting for the second, a local crime lord named Haskell Blizzard who crushes anyone he sees as a threat. And the Kell boys offering lucrative contracts for the best ’Mechwarriors and techs on the planet is a definite threat to his illegal empire.

But what Blizzard doesn’t know is that the Kell brothers have faced long odds before, and come out on top every single time. And with the help of some old and new friends, they’re going to take this crime lord down using his own tactics against him.

When the chips are down, the smart money is always on the brothers Kell.

Cannon Publishing Military Sci-Fi / Fantasy Anthology: Spring 2019 – Presented by Cannon Publishing

The military experience is timeless, and echoes down from our past and into our future. Along the way, not everything is as it seems. Thirteen stories from established and new writers in the field of Military Science Fiction and Military Fantasy bring you tales of the terrors of combat and the even greater fear of the unknown in Cannon Publishing’s first Bi-Annual Military Anthology. Includes works by:

Alex Piasecki ~ During the Iraq War, a United States Marine Corps fire team goes to the rescue of a young boy and encounters an ancient evil. It will take massive firepower and violent action to get out alive, if they can. A Joint Task Force 13 story.

Lucas Marcum ~ Trapped in the hull of a badly damaged starship, a young sailor must make difficult decisions to save her ship and her crewmates. A story set in the best selling Valkyrie universe.

Jason Cordova ~ Out of time, the war for Earth rages as scientists struggle to stop two cataclysmic events from happening simultaneously, and possibly save the world while they’re at it.

Yakov Merkin ~ . Another day at the most boring, dead-end job in the Galactic Alliance’s Legion Navy turns out to be the day that you might get killed.

Do No Harm (Four Horsemen Universe: The Omega War #9) – by Robert E. Hampson , Chris Kennedy , and Sandra L. Medlock

When Todd’s critically damaged ship dropped out of hyperspace near the Human colony world of Azure, he had no memory of his past. He didn’t know who he was, or even what he was, and the Humans didn’t either. That didn’t stop the colonists of Azure—they took him in, anyway…even though they didn’t understand how he could do some of the things he could do.

Todd and his descendants consider themselves Human—eight armed and water-breathing—but Human, nonetheless. After seventy years living among Humans, Todd’s descendants are going back out into the Union to make their mark—from fifteen-year-old Verne, who’s a little short to be a mercenary, to Harryhausen, who wants to be the most famous PI in the galaxy. Eventually they learn that the rest of the Galactic Union knows them as Wrogul, intelligent octopus-like beings known for science and the ability to perform surgery like no other race can.

These Wrogul do more than just practice medicine, but they still intend to do no harm. Unfortunately, the Humans, whether they have two arms or eight, have powerful enemies… and the Wrogul may have no choice.

Don’t Call Me Ishmael (The Fallen World # 2) – Chris Kennedy

Don’t call him Ishmael. Or do; he really doesn’t care. Just don’t call him Fred.

No matter what you call him, though, he has a problem. Well, several of them. Ishmael—for want of a better name—woke up in a world that had changed. The Corporations—the wielders of power in a society not long from now—brought about the end of civilization as we know it, nuking each other to the point where it collapsed.

Ishmael doesn’t know any of this, though; in fact, he doesn’t know anything about himself when he wakes up in this shattered world. All of his autobiographical and episodic memories are gone, and along with them, any knowledge of who he was or anything in his past.

Worse, he has made enemies of some very important people, and they are after him. They are armed and he is alone and in…well, he doesn’t know where he is, either.

Can Ishmael stay alive long enough to recover his memories—to find out who he is and how he fits—or will he be just another casualty of This Fallen World?

Maledictions – Edited by Black Library

Eleven stories from the worlds of Warhammer explore the darker side of the 41st Millennium and the Mortal Realms, with tales of psychological torment, visceral horror and the supernatural from Black Library authors old and new.

Horror is no stranger to the dark worlds of Warhammer. Its very fabric is infested with the arcane, the strange and the downright terrifying. From the cold vastness of the 41st Millennium to the creeping evil at large in the Mortal Realms, this anthology of short stories explores the sinister side of Warhammer in a way it never has been before. Psychological torment, visceral horrors, harrowing tales of the supernatural and the nightmares buried within, this collection brings together a grim host of tales to chill the very blood…

READ IT BECAUSE: It’s a spine-chilling look into the dark places of the Warhammer universes, from some incredible talent, including a host of new-to-Black Library authors such as Cassandra Khaw and Lora Gray.

ReEvolution: a CRISPR Novel – Alex Grant

John Ordell, a young scientist, moves to Washington, DC and wants to work in biotechnology using the cutting-edge gene editing innovation called CRISPR. He is drawn into a money making scheme driven by greed, corporate espionage and international intrigue, all while harnessing the incredible power of CRISPR . The science is real, frightening and easily misapplied. This book scrutinizes what could go wrong when people and governments toy with CRISPR, a technology which makes Darwinian evolution obsolete and can change the nature of what it is to be human. John, his co-conspirators and other foreign actors use artificial intelligence and supercomputers, and combine it with CRISPR to great effect – but is humanity ready for this new era of ReEvolution?

This novel explores human nature and its ability to deal with this explosive technology. It examines how CRISPR works, its unlimited potential and how advances in computer technology can combine to make this period a turning point in human history. It is a must read in this day and age when the birth of healthy genetically engineered twins is announced on U-tube by a Chinese scientist instead of in respected journals. It is an exploration of the perils facing humanity at this precipitous time.

Strong and Courageous (Echoes of War # 2) – Daniel Gibbs

Colonel David Cohen has one goal: drive out the League of Sol. After a string of successful engagements, the warship Lion of Judah is ordered on a goodwill mission to assist neutral border planets long caught between both sides of the galactic conflict.

What David finds on Monrovia sends shockwaves of horror through the Terran Coalition.

Monrovian citizens of all faiths are being rounded up and sent to reeducation camps, while others are exterminated to cleanse the population as the planet seeks to join the communist League. Mass graves containing thousands of murdered men, women and children dot the landscape.

David vows to use whatever means necessary to stop the holocaust.

To face down the overwhelming brutality of the League, David will need more than the prayers of the faithful.

He’ll need a miracle.

Super-Sync – Kevin Ikenberry

Lew Armistead Holmes’ life was about to get better…much better. Part of the crew of the salvage ship Remnant, she just got a contract to go further into space than she’s ever been before, to retrieve a satellite that is so big it will take two ships to bring it back. The payday is equally large, and her share is big enough to get her off Remnant and away from her peculiar captain and his secrets.

Unfortunately, the captain of the other ship tasked to the job harbors a grudge against Remnant’s commanding officer from the last time the two worked together on a project. Separately, they are each like dynamite—ready to go off at any time. When they’re together, it’s like lighting the fuse.

But the payoff on the unknown satellite is huge, leading both crews to wonder what the satellite holds, and what they aren’t being told about it.

Both crews must work together to bring the satellite back to Earth, but there are plans within plans, and no one is exactly who the others think they are. Who will come back with the satellite at the end of the mission…and who won’t come back at all?

Tiamat’s Wrath (The Expanse #8) – James S. A. Corey

Thirteen hundred gates have opened to solar systems around the galaxy. But as humanity builds its interstellar empire in the alien ruins, the mysteries and threats grow deeper.

In the dead systems where gates lead to stranger things than alien planets, Elvi Okoye begins a desperate search to discover the nature of a genocide that happened before the first human beings existed, and to find weapons to fight a war against forces at the edge of the imaginable. But the price of that knowledge may be higher than she can pay.

At the heart of the empire, Teresa Duarte prepares to take on the burden of her father’s godlike ambition. The sociopathic scientist Paolo Cortázar and the Mephistophelian prisoner James Holden are only two of the dangers in a palace thick with intrigue, but Teresa has a mind of her own and secrets even her father the emperor doesn’t guess.

And throughout the wide human empire, the scattered crew of the Rocinante fights a brave rear-guard action against Duarte’s authoritarian regime. Memory of the old order falls away, and a future under Laconia’s eternal rule — and with it, a battle that humanity can only lose — seems more and more certain. Because against the terrors that lie between worlds, courage and ambition will not be enough…

Time Storm – Gordon R. Dickson

The time storm had devastated the Earth, and all but a small fraction of humankind has vanished. In the rubble of the world, three survivors had formed an unlikely trio: Marc Despard, determined to find a way to stop the time storm; a leopard, dazed by the storm and following after Despard like a kitten; and a young woman with an unbreakable bond to the leopard.

Now, Marc searches relentlessly for a clue to the nature of the storm, not guessing that the time storm threatens not just the Earth but the entire universe—and that his two companions were the only hope of reversing the distortions in the fabric of the cosmos that were about to bring an end to all of space and time . . .

A classic of post-apocalyptic science fiction from Grand Master Gordon R. Dickson.

The Ark – J. Swift

New Amerland was designed and built by survivors of the Incident.

Those were the people who, by some miracle, managed to get underground before the bombs fell; managed to lock away themselves and their families, and to survive the worst nuclear attack in history.

A lucky few would be selected by lottery and handed a ticket for free.

At least fifty per cent failed the test and were fated to die on their desolate and degraded planet…

Science Fiction New Releases: 6 April, 2019 published first on https://medium.com/@ReloadedPCGames

[cryptswahili]

No Internet, No Problem: How to Send Bitcoin by Amateur Radio

In an age where governments are trigger happy at censoring or shutting down networks, it is reassuring to know that Bitcoin can operate sans internet. Network censorship, after all, is not some dystopian storyline but a power exercised by many democratic governments across the world. Thankfully, there are solutions that enable people to send and receive bitcoin even in a worst case scenario. For an advanced technology, it turns out that cryptocurrency can get surprisingly low-tech.

Also read: Bitcoin and Weak Frequency Signals: Bypassing Network Censorship With Radio

Send Bitcoin by Radio and Circumvent Network Censorship

Imagine waking up one morning to find that the internet is down. Not because the wifi’s been disconnected: instead, your government has pulled the plug . You’ve no idea when it’ll be back online, and in the meantime, you’re cut off from life as you know it, ranging from contact with loved ones abroad to paying for anything by card. Since society isn’t big on keeping cash these days, and ATMs stock up on only so much paper money at a time, chances are you’ll have to sidestep – or engage in – a few fistfights if you’re to put a meal on the table.

Since bitcoin is, itself, a form of digital currency, it takes a good amount of preplanning to set up a transaction, but in theory, it could still operate even when conventional options are forcefully removed from the equation.

What do –

Greeks Cypriots Venezuelans Argentinians Brazilians Zimbabweans and Ukrainians have in common?

They all woke one day and the banks were shuttered and capital controls were put in place to avoid an economic collapse.

Bitcoin doesn't close

— Jason A. Williams (@JWilliamsFstmed) February 12, 2019

While most of us will hopefully never experience a dystopian world of intermittent internet, the productivity sages remind us that a failure to plan is planning to fail. Knowing how to transact with cryptocurrency in a chaotic world is the sort of knowledge that might just come in handy one day, and in the meantime will make you the most interesting guest at the dinner party.

Depending on the political stability of your geographic location, learning how to send bitcoin without internet could be nothing more than a fun Saturday afternoon science project. Then again, it could provide the way out of a tight spot one day, whether it’s transferring funds to a buddy stuck in the middle of the ocean or bribing a zombie to feast on the coins stored in your brain wallet instead of devouring your brain.

Bitcoin Over Airwaves

2014 saw the earliest mentions of bitcoin being sent via the airwaves. Hamradiocoin was one of the early vanity altcoins, geared at the ham radio industry. While it wasn’t entirely clear why said niche industry needed a dedicated currency, its current $794 market cap – unchanged since May 2017 – adds to crypto’s rich historical arsenal of questionable coins.

But the idea of marrying Marconi and Satoshi was bound to lead to more useful experiments. A step in the right direction saw Finnish company Vertaisvaluutta.fi propose the creation of a P2P half-duplex CB/HAM radio cryptocurrency. Also in Finland, Kryptoradio partnered with a national broadcaster to pilot a cryptocurrency data transmission system that broadcasts bitcoin transactions, blocks, and currency exchange data via national DVB-T television networks in real time. The project failed to launch its commercial phase, with founder Joel Lehtonen explaining:

The project raised huge audience and there has been some serious commercial interest but nothing I am really interested in because they would destroy the original idea of Kryptoradio – distributing the Bitcoin ledger autonomously without internet connectivity.

Come 2018, there was a new experiment in town. Ingredients: Brooklyn-based gotenna, a mobile, long-range, off-grid consumer mesh network, and bitcoin privacy wallet Samourai Wallet. A New Zealand developer transported crypto from a distance of 12.6km away, entirely offline, using only a network-disconnected Android phone and four portable antennas. Though as his Twitter recount acknowledges, it took one heck of a prep, including setting up relay stations.

Over the weekend I sent a bitcoin transaction to a relay 12.6km away with no cell network or internet connection. Here's a tweetstorm about how I used @gotenna and @SamouraiWallet to do it

— ℭoinsure (@Coinsurenz) October 16, 2018

Fast forward to this year, and in perhaps the most simplistic effort yet, Coinkite founder Rodolfo Novak managed to move BTC some 600km away from Toronto, Canada to Openbazaar co-founder Sam Patterson in Michigan, USA. And in that moment, Bitcoin-by-sky went international.

Advocates for Bitcoin by Air

In 2017, computer scientist Nick Szabo and PhD researcher Elaine Ou delved into the topic at Stanford’s Scaling Bitcoin conference, introducing a research project that proposed tethering bitcoin to radio broadcast to secure consensus proofs using weak signal radio propagation. (View their talk, a copy of the presentation, and our coverage of the event for further information.)

With Novak and Patterson’s latest feat, crypto Twitter went wild. Szabo, showing that he’s still a firm proponent of taking bitcoin skyward, chimed in to congratulate the duo for a successful sendoff that not even a snowstorm could stop.

Bitcoin sent over national border without internet or satellite — just nature's ionosphere. https://t.co/IKCAXGs9fW

— Nick Szabo (@NickSzabo4) February 12, 2019

How to Send Bitcoin by Radio

As Novak and Patterson have illustrated, you don’t need to overload on gear or make space for satellite storage in your backyard to send bitcoin by air. Accompanying an SDR ham on this quest was nothing more than a 40m 7Mhz antenna and the JS8call application.

While the setup seems simple enough (Google “ham radio for beginners” for a primer), in practice this is probably not something you’ll dive into unless you’re just messing around or, in real life, shit gets real.

Gearing up is as easy as H-A-M

In truth, there are restrictions aplenty when it comes to sending bitcoin by radio.

First off, legalities. To stay on the right side of the law, some countries require you to be a licensed ham operator, and even then you’re unable to send any encrypted messages or use the airwaves for commercial purposes unless so licensed. At this point, it’s not yet clear which governmental task force will join the SEC and co in clamping down on illegal apocalyptic bitcoin-via-radio transactions.

Since legal restriction is the mother of all invention, Novak and Patterson circumvented this by broadcasting their experimental, non-commercial wallet encryption sendoff via public cypher.

Then there’s prepping it all. For this to be a viable – albeit last resort – solution in an actual nail-bite situation, sender and receiver would have to set it all up in advance. Novak and Patterson were able to execute their experiment by communicating and collaborating in lieu of the transfer, using a brain wallet. (The brainwallet, which is simply storing your mnemonic recovery phrase in your brain, is not to be confused with the recent more nefarious version – the deathwallet popularized by CEO Gerald Cotten who took the keys to Quadriga’s crypto kingdom to his grave.)

Thus, if you’re going to use this as a backup plan for when stuff hits the fan, you’d better secure a right-hand wo/man and a fool-proof project management blueprint while things are still web-friendly. If this process seems as though it walked off the pages of a James Bond novel, yes. It’s decidedly more involved than a mere intra-wallet send-off.

However, if you’re gung-ho on testing out alternative bitcoin transports, don’t let the naysayers stop you. Yours might well be the next proof of concept the interweb is waiting for. The blog Better Off Bitcoin, for one, offers a run-through protocol tutorial.

Scalability Is a Big Bottleneck

Clearly, scaling is a non-issue here. For the foreseeable future, sending bitcoin by radio happening unless it absolutely has to.

According to Australian crypto trader Boss Cole, “As Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are moving into the future, it is an interesting concept to think about what would happen if we instead went into the past. It is possible and easy to transfer Bitcoin without an internet connection, but it is not convenient. There are a number of projects working on this with satellites or their own infrastructure, however at the time of this writing they are not “popular” simply because there is no real demand.” He continues:

In the case of government censorship, the infrastructure would change rapidly. If we were dealing with serious problems, the infrastructure would follow. Because it is possible. If we went into the dark ages, the main way to transfer Bitcoin would be transferring private keys between individuals. This would be simple, but not convenient.

Not even extreme weather conditions can deter the determined from sending bitcoin via radio waves

So while it’s theoretically possible to take to the skies and send crypto wallets around the world and all the way into space, DIY bitcoin ionosphere amateurs won’t soon be sending satoshis to the dark side of the moon any time soon.

Why Radio Wave Transmission Might Be Necessary

We tend to associate worst-case scenarios in which the main character has nothing but a walkie talkie and an old ham lying around with Hollywood’s portrayal of doomsday.

Yet for unstable regimes like Zimbabwe and Venezuela, internet blackouts were how 2019 got its start. In reality, network censorship is an all-too-common control tool for many governments around the world.

India leads the pack with 288 shutdowns between 2012 and 2019, with 134 instances in 2018 alone. The Middle East and Africa aren’t strangers to forcing citizens into offline mode, either.

Good luck stopping information across borders when all you need is 40 watts of power, a long piece of wire, a radio and a computer.

— Sam Patterson (@SamuelPatt) February 12, 2019

Under the Communications Act 2003 and the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, the U.K. has an internet kill switch, which could be enforced in light of a serious threat such as a significant cyber attack. The U.S. has had, for the past 85 years, the power to kill electronic communications under the Communications Act of 1934. And with talks of Russia considering a test run to decouple from the global internet, we risk taking a rude awakening if we assume the world’s 72,558 Google searches every second to be an unquestionable given.

Bitcoin for Every Situation

It might have taken a mini-library worth of code to get NASA astronauts to the moon, but sending bitcoin there won’t be nearly as hard. All you need is a radio. Okay, that and a moon rocket. But the point is, this new technology can be just as comfortable – or accessible – even when when the tech you’re using is decidely old school.

Peer-to-peer networks built on the internet have a special allure because of the sense of resilience they have without a central point of failure. A bit misleading: they are really built on many computers and the connections between them.

Not true with radios. True peer to peer.

— Sam Patterson (@SamuelPatt) February 16, 2019

Bitcoin might have been invented on the internet for the internet, but it can straddle both the digital and analog worlds. Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin walk the line between money under the mattress and cash in the bank. As these trailblazers show, bitcoin can straddle those worlds not only functionally, but also technically. Thanks to the efforts of the pioneers profiled here, crypto has shown it can survive in even the most challenging environments.

Sending bitcoin by radio isn’t quite carrier pigeon, but in tech terms it might as well be. Which, says crypto developer John Villar, is “probably the most low end you can get before smoke-signaling a brain wallet.”

Can you envision a situation in which you might have to send bitcoin by ham radio? What other ways could you picture cryptocurrency being transferred without the internet? Let us know in the comments below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Express yourself freely at Bitcoin.com’s user forums. We don’t censor on political grounds. Check forum.Bitcoin.com.

The post No Internet, No Problem: How to Send Bitcoin by Amateur Radio appeared first on Bitcoin News.

[Telegram Channel | Original Article ]

[sbknews]

New Post has been published on Superbike News

New Post has been published on http://superbike-news.co.uk/wordpress/cameron-beaubier-wins-thriller-road-america/

Cameron Beaubier Wins A Thriller At Road America

Just .153 of a second separated the top three finishers in today’s Motul Superbike race in the Dunlop Championship at Road America with Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Cameron Beaubier taking victory over Yoshimura Suzuki’s Toni Elias and Roger Hayden by just .005 of a second and .153 of a second, respectively, in the closest race of the 2017 season thus far.

he race was close and so now is the championship as Beaubier is within five points of Elias after seven races with what was his second victory of the season and his first since race one at Road Atlanta. Hayden, who was in the battle for victory for the duration, is now 15 points behind Elias in third place in the title chase.

The race was full of drama and it began on the sighting lap when four-time AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes spectacularly highsided his Yamaha R1, the bike catching fire and Hayes hobbling away, uninjured but badly beaten.

When the flag dropped, it was Hayden in the lead until Beaubier took a turn at the front on the seventh of 13 laps. Elias led for the first time on the 10th lap and he led from there until the final corner when Beaubier snuck up the inside. From there it was the high-speed run up the hill to the checkered flag and Beaubier got there first, albeit by just .005 of a second. Hayden was a shadow third.

For defending two-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Beaubier this win was number two on the season and the 21st Superbike win of his career.

“That was such a fun race, just clean, hard, fun racing between all three of us (Toni Elias and Roger Hayden),” Beaubier said. “It was awesome. Going into turn five I got my doors blown off by those guys and it really woke me up. It was a crazy race. It felt so good to stand on that top step of the podium again since it’s been quite a few races since I grabbed a win. Big thanks to my team, they’ve been working really hard, and the R1 works great here at Road America.”

Was the move in the final corner planned?

“I felt like I had some strengths and some weaknesses compared to these guys and the final corner I believe was one of my strengths, so when Toni bobbled and got close to the grass I knew that was my chance,” Beaubier said. “I was able to stay close enough to Toni in the final section and got the job done.”

Elias saw his points lead get cut in half with his sixth podium finish of the season, but he was still relatively pleased with how the day went.

“After the mistake and crash I had this morning it was nice to walk away with second today,” Elias said. “I left the door open in the final corner and got on the gas to slow, allowing Cameron (Beaubier) to come up the inside of me. We lost by nearly nothing at the finish line, but we still lost at the end of the day. If you take the right side of the track like I did, it changes to much, which causes you to lose valuable time like I did.”

For Hayden the third-place finish came just 12 days after the death of his brother Nicky and a few hours after his lap of honor kicked off a 69-second moment of silence.

“I thought maybe I could go faster when I was in the lead, it seemed like I was kind of stuck in one speed and once these guys got by me I was able to pick it up,” Hayden said. “It was just hard because everyone was breaking so deep. I tried to get close enough to them on the last lap, thinking Cameron (Beaubier) was going to go up the inside of Toni (Elias) where he did, but I hit a little bit of a neutral. All in all, it was a good race, it’s nice to be back at the race track and that race was the most fun I have had in several weeks. It felt good to just be battling at the front and going for the win.”

Hayden said his therapy comes from being on the bike.

“The only therapeutic part of being back at the track is while I am on my bike and don’t have my phone,” Hayden said. “I know everyone means well, but during the signings and pit party with the fans everyone keeps telling me they are sorry for my loss. I just want to focus and not think about, but I wish Sunday night I could just thank everyone and talk to them for all of the support I have received. It’s just how it is. Nicky [Hayden] and my family are well liked and loved by a lot of people in the sport. I was worried coming into the weekend, not knowing how I would be, but I was able to block everything out on the track and put in a good run.”

Fourth place in today’s first of two Motul Superbike races went to Helmet Sounds/Western Services/Meen Motorsports’ Josh Herrin just .451 of a second clear of fifth-placed Jake Lewis, who was the Bazzaz Superstock 1000 winner on his M4 ECSTAR Suzuki.

With his second Bazzaz Superstock 1000 win of the season, Lewis topped Quicksilver Latus Motors Kawasaki’s Bobby Fong by a tick over half a second. Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz was right on Fong at the line, finishing seventh overall and third in the Bazzaz Superstock 1000 class.

Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda’s Jake Gagne, TOBC Racing’s Danny Eslick and Helmet Sounds/Western Services/Meen Motorsports’ Bryce Prince rounded out the top 10.

Fong now leads the Bazzaz Superstock 1000 championship by 13 points over Lewis with Scholtz a further six points behind in third.

“That was my strongest race of the season for sure, just because this is the first race I’ve won straight up,” Lewis said. “I knew coming into the weekend that this is one of my favorite tracks and I went good here last year on the old bike. This bike is a lot better, so I was looking forward to the weekend. I qualified really well, which helped me a lot because I could breakaway with the fast guys. From the beginning, I just tried to stick with the Superbikes and it worked pretty well because (Josh) Herrin stayed with the front three there for a little while. Once I caught up, with him being on a Superbike, I couldn’t make the pass.”

Monster Energy/Yamalube/Y.E.S./Graves Motorsports’ Garrett Gerloff won his third Supersport race of the season, beating his teammate and championship rival JD Beach by 3.3 seconds in a race that was run on a wet but drying racetrack. The win puts Gerloff nine points clear of Beach in the championship points chase after six races.

“Tricky conditions today, the track dried out really fast, but the Dunlops worked well enough for me and JD [Beach] to break away from the field,” Gerloff said. “I’m just happy to be on the box since you never know what can happen in these conditions, but today it played out in our favor. Like JD said, I knew Nicky (Hayden) a little bit, not as well as he did, but I just want to give his family my thoughts and prayers while they’re going through this difficult time.”

Team H35 Honda’s Benny Solis finished third for the third successive race, the Californian barely holding off the Superstock 600s of Connor Blevins and New Zealander Shane Richardson. Jody Barry was fourth overall on his Supersport-spec Kawasaki with Jason Ferrell and JC Camacho giving chase. Camacho would end up third in the Superstock 600 class.

M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Valentin Debise, who sits fourth in the Superstock title chase, ended up 14th after making a bad tire choice and opting for slicks, front and rear.

It wasn’t a good day for Superstock 600 points leader Michael Gilbert or his rival in the series, Nick McFadden. McFadden suffered a broken collarbone in a crash on Saturday morning and Gilbert crashed out of the race on the first lap so neither scored championship points.

Gilbert now leads Jason Aguilar by just four points with McFadden nine points behind. Aguilar finished fourth in the Superstock 600 class today.

“It was a very difficult race, I wanted to be on a DOT in these conditions, but I think we made the right choice,” Blevins said. “Starting from the sixth row made it tough, but I was able to fight and make it work in the end. It was slippery and everything out there, but overall it turned out well. I made a lot of moves early and was able to get into the top five by the end of the first lap and slowly picked guys off.”

The KTM RC Cup ended up as a runaway victory for points leader Benjamin Smith, though it didn’t look like it. Smith battled for nearly the duration with Jackson Blackmon, but his Quarterley Racing/On Track Development teammate had jumped the start and was later penalized for speeding in pit lane. Blackmon was penalized and credited with ninth place. Alex Dumas also jumped the start and was penalized 20 seconds for failing to heed to the ride-through penalty. He ended up 14th.

“I saw a couple laps into the race that Jackson [Blackmon] had a ride-through penalty, it took a little bit for me to see it, but on the pit board they put that I was nine seconds ahead, which is when I realized what his penalty was and I was technically ahead of him,” Smith said. “Most of the race I just managed out front and tried to control the gap that Jackson (Blackmon) and I had. It was a lot of fun riding with him, we know each other really well and it was a really good time.”

Gavin Anthony ended up second on the Anthony Racing KTM, the 14-year-old earning his first career MotoAmerica podium. He barely beat Draik Beauchamp and his Quarterley Racing/On Track Development KTM. Jake Leahey and Sergio Rodriguez III rounded out the top five.