#one of these two stinks and it's not danny

[blueboybot]

Look At This Cute Cat- SIKE BITCH, IT'S A RACCOON!

Cat Danny this, fish Danny that. Give me my fucked up little trash panda thank you very much.

________

It was just there, lying on the floor, staring at him.

Damian's newest pet installment came in the form of a raccoon, except the damn thing was unlike any raccoon Jason has ever seen. It was mostly white with the most expressive eyes no raccoon should have.

Jason didn't like it. The little fuck always looked like it was judging him whenever he came by the manor and he could've swore that it gave him the middle finger at one point. If it didn't count as animal cruelty he would've chucked the thing out the nearest window right now and relish in its surprised scream. He wouldn't really do that of course but the thought was tempting.

"Todd stop pestering him," Damian walked in, picking up the lazy ringed bastard from off the floor as if that thing wasn't heavy from all the food it was eating.

"I didn't even do nothing."

As Damian turned his back and began walking away with the raccoon it looked him straight in the eyes and gave him two of its best middle fingers.

Yup! Jason hated that thing.

[flwrkid14]

Ghosts of Gotham: Tim Drake is a Halfa

Danny wasn’t exactly sure what he expected when he met Gotham’s infamous vigilantes, but “Red Hood smells like death and swamp water had a baby” definitely wasn’t on the list. The moment he stepped into the room, Danny gagged so hard he nearly fell out of the air.

“Holy Ancients,” he wheezed, covering his nose. “What in the name of all things unholy is that?”

Jason, already not thrilled about the random glowing stranger showing up, tilted his helmeted head. “What’s what?”

“That! You! You smell like—oh, man. I can’t even describe it.” Danny waved his hand in front of his face like it might help. “It’s like if ectoplasm went rancid and then you rolled in it for three days straight. Dude, do you know what’s going on with your ecto-situation?”

Jason took a threatening step forward. “You wanna say that again?”

Danny floated higher, clearly not intimidated. “Oh, I’ll say it again. You stink. And not just like regular stink. Like ghost stink. Like, ‘this is a health code violation, and the Ghost Zone is going to fine you’ stink. How are you even standing there right now? Anyone from Amity Park would be side-eyeing you so hard you’d feel it in your soul—what’s left of it, anyway.”

Jason stared, his body language radiating murderous intent. “You are two seconds away from eating pavement, Casper.”

Danny, unbothered, pointed at his own chest. “Excuse me, Phantom. Casper wishes he could pull this look off.”

“Phantom,” Dick interrupted, trying and failing not to laugh, “maybe we could focus on the introductions first?”

Danny gave Jason one last look of pity and floated down. “Fine, fine. But seriously, Big Red, we’re going to have to talk about that. I’ll fix it later. No need to thank me.”

Jason looked ready to commit murder, but Bruce’s glare cut him off before he could say anything.

Once the chaos settled, introductions were exchanged, and things calmed down—relatively speaking. Danny, as it turned out, was impossible to fully calm down. He buzzed around the room like he had endless energy, chatting and throwing out quips that seemed to simultaneously amuse and irritate everyone.

Then Danny’s gaze landed on Red Robin, and everything shifted.

Danny tilted his head, his glowing green eyes narrowing slightly. For a moment, his usual chaos quieted, curiosity taking over. “Huh,” he said softly, almost to himself.

Tim stiffened, his body going taut as though preparing for impact.

Danny floated closer, peering at him with an unnervingly intense expression. “You’re like me.”

Tim’s heart skipped a beat, and he immediately stepped back, his movements sharp and jerky. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, you do,” Danny said, and his tone was too soft for the others to hear the shift in it. “You’re like me. You’re—”

Tim’s hand twitched at his side, as though debating whether to reach for something or retreat entirely. “Don’t,” he said sharply, his voice low.

Danny blinked, then realization dawned on his face. “Wait… they don’t know, do they?”

“What don’t we know?” Bruce cut in, his voice sharp with suspicion.

Danny ignored him, his gaze locked on Tim. “Oh, man. I’m sorry. I didn’t—”

Tim’s eyes darted toward Danny, his frown deepening as uncertainty clouded his features. He shifted his weight, his fingers twitching at his sides as if fighting the urge to bolt.

He took a step back, then another, his movements slow and almost imperceptible. His breathing quickened, shallow and uneven, as though the air itself had grown heavier. The space around him seemed to shimmer faintly, a distortion that matched the anxiety rippling across his face.

Danny reached out, concern etched in his expression, but Tim flinched. His lips parted as if to say something, but no words came. Instead, the shimmering intensified, and with each passing second, Tim grew more translucent, his form fading like a mirage under the moon.

By the time Danny blinked, Tim was gone, leaving only a faint disturbance in the air where he had been.

The bats froze, their eyes darting around the room.

“What the hell just happened?” Jason demanded, reaching for his guns. “Where’d he go?”

“Did you do something?” Damian snapped at Danny, his hand already on his katana.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Danny held up his hands, his eyes wide with excitement. “Not me! That was all him! Holy Ancients—he can turn invisible?!” A grin split his face as he practically vibrated in place. “This is awesome! Wait—does he shoot ecto-beams too? Or, oh, what if he’s got some crazy transformation I’ve never even seen before? This just keeps getting better!”

Bruce’s expression darkened. “You need to explain. Now.”

Danny sighed, his excitement fading as realization set in. “Okay, but first, I need to go find him. Because if he’s anything like me, he’s probably freaking out right now. So… bye!”

He phased through the floor before anyone could stop him.

———

Danny found Tim perched on the edge of Wayne Industries, staring out at the Gotham skyline. He floated over cautiously, his boots touching down softly on the rooftop.

“Hey,” Danny said, his voice quiet. “Mind if I sit?”

Tim didn’t respond, but he didn’t tell him to leave either, so Danny took that as permission. He sat down cross-legged, giving Tim some space.

They stayed like that for a while, the silence heavy but not unbearable.

Finally, Danny broke it. “Okay, so… not to ruin the moment, but can we talk about how you've had to endure Jason’s ecto-stench this entire time? Because seriously, that’s gotta be a health violation. I mean, I'm half-dead, and even I think it’s concerning. Someone needs to dunk him in a pool of purified ectoplasm or something. I’m gonna file a complaint with—”

Tim laughed. It was soft and brief, but it was real.

Danny grinned, leaning back on his hands. “There it is. I knew you had a laugh in there somewhere.”

Tim sighed, his shoulders loosening slightly. “You’re… a lot,” he admitted.

“I know,” Danny said proudly. “But I grow on people. Like mold. Or fungus.”

Tim huffed another laugh, shaking his head. For a moment, the tension eased, and Danny let the silence settle again before speaking more seriously.

“Look,” Danny said, his voice softer, “I’m sorry I outed you like that. I didn’t know. And if they give you crap about it, I’ll personally make their lives miserable. But… you’re not alone in this, okay? I mean, yeah, it sucks. A lot. But you’ve got me now, because there’s no way we’re not becoming best friends now, and I get it.”

Tim looked at him, his eyes glassy but steady. “Thanks,” he said quietly. He hesitated, his gaze dropping to the floor. “Do you really get it? I mean, you know what it’s like to…” His voice trailed off, thick with hesitation.

Danny tilted his head, his tone softer now. “Yeah. I know what it’s like.”

Tim let out a breath, shaky but determined. “I died.. a few months ago.”

Danny blinked but didn’t say anything, giving Tim space to continue.

“Harley—she caught me. Took me, actually. I was gone for weeks. They—she—handed me over to Joker. It was like a… gift. She thought it’d fix their relationship or something, I don’t know.” Tim’s voice faltered, his gaze flickering to the floor as if the memories were too much to hold. “I held out as long as I could. I kept fighting, kept trying to survive, but…”

He shook his head, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. “Weeks of it. Beatings. Electrocutions. I don’t even remember the exact moment my heart stopped. I just… wasn’t there anymore.”

Danny stayed quiet, his face a mix of empathy and understanding.

“Harley panicked,” Tim continued, his words tumbling out like a confession. “She thought she’d gone too far, that Joker would kill her next. So she tried shocking me back. Guess she half-suceeded? I only came back halfway.” He gestured at himself vaguely, his hands trembling. “I’m not the same. I’m not… whole.”

Danny nodded slowly. "You’re stuck between," he said, offering the words with quiet reassurance.

Tim nodded, biting his lip. “Yeah. Between.” He paused, looking up at Danny. “I haven’t told anyone because… how do you tell them something like that? How do you tell your family you’re not really alive? That their search was all in vain? That I still died, even though they looked so hard for me? I can’t make them think they failed.” His voice wavered. “They were so scared when they found me…”

Danny stayed with him in the silence, his presence a steady comfort.

Tim exhaled slowly, rubbing his face. “I thought I was weak. I thought if I told them what really happened, they’d think I was broken. And I didn’t want to be a burden.” He looked up at Danny. “I’m still not used to this. Not used to being… like this. I don’t even know how to control it—sometimes I phase through walls, other times I get stuck halfway. And the invisibility thing… I can’t even make it work without disappearing when I get too emotional.”

Danny’s gaze softened with understanding as he leaned in slightly, his voice steady but gentle. He hummed thoughtfully, “It’s a lot to handle all at once.”

Tim's shoulders slumped as he leaned closer to Danny, “I’ve been trying to figure out how to control it, but every time I get close, something goes wrong. And I didn’t want anyone to think I was weak or… freakish, so I kept pretending everything was fine. It was easier that way. Easier than explaining… all this.” He exhaled slowly, the exhaustion in his voice evident. “At least it was… until you showed up.”

Danny reached out, resting a hand on Tim’s arm in a quiet gesture of comfort. “I don’t think you’re a freak. You’re just different, like me. But that doesn’t make you broken. You’re still you.” He paused, meeting Tim’s gaze. “I know what it’s like.. to feel different, freakish, the whole nine yards. For what it’s worth? You're handling it a lot better than I did.”

Tim gave him a tight smile, the first real one in a while. “Thanks. It helps. More than you know.”

———

When they returned to the Batcave, Tim sat down with the others, Danny sticking close by his side. Tim took a deep breath and told them everything—about being captured by Harley, the weeks of torture at the Joker’s hands, the electrocutions that had stopped his heart. About how Harley had panicked and shocked him back to life, halfway. How he wasn’t entirely human anymore.

The family listened, their expressions ranging from horror to guilt to anger. Jason looked ready to kill someone, and Bruce’s usually stoic face betrayed a crack of regret. Tim hesitated as he explained why he hadn’t told them sooner, his voice faltering but honest.

Tim’s voice cracked slightly as he spoke, “I didn’t want you to think you failed… that you searched for me for nothing,"

Danny stayed quiet but stayed close, resting a hand on Tim’s shoulder. “For the record,” he said, glaring at the others, “if any of you give him crap about this, you’re gonna have to deal with me. And trust me, I will make your lives miserable.”

Tim gave him a small, grateful smile. For the first time, he didn’t feel quite so alone.

[emacrow]

The hunt continues

This was the second weirdest collecting every single toddler that was a danny since Riddler has 100s of ? Statues hidden all over Arkham.

But the batfam was doing well collecting, as they saw the ugly picture each danny had.

7 of them were being bandaged up in the hidden doctor office with a gang of teenage gothamites from crime city protecting them.

The red hood had 6 who merged into 1 skitty crying paranoid danny who wouldn't leave red alone after saying he died again and again.

Poison ivy and Harley had four n poison ivy base, one who was mumbling about how Undergrowth would love this if he wasn't trying to bury the town in green, two making snow flowers, and one having a smack talking to a giant man eating flower.

Two pairs of danny were comforting the overly emotional crying giant henchmen of the penguin outside the club, talking how meemaw mindy wouldn't want this type of lifestyle for him and how he should go back to doing what he used to love, making toys even if it was hard, it better then being killed by a arrogant penguin man with short height issue.

So far, the rogues were investing in the little stinking kid.

the shocking part was Riddler, who actually was a distant cousin, three times removed from Aunty's Greta, who had a jarring 59 danny eating triple decker smore fudge in his secret base.

How the hell is what Tim wanted to voice out but riddler beat him to it.

No fenton alive or dead can resist Great Great Grandma Judy Special S'more fudge Surprise, it was one at first But then I saw it was Danny and immediately made fudge and opened all the window and turn on the fan and they came in through the fucking walls.

Part 2 here <-

[redflagshipwriter]

Mamabat Chapter 11: the trap snaps shut

masterpost

Five vans peeled into view, rocketing around the curved road fast enough that they visibly tilted through the turn. They all bristled with weaponry.

Cass felt her lips press into a faint line. She glanced at Dannybaby: scared. I knew it. Here they are.

They didn’t have to talk about it. The three adults stepped out and put their backs to ring Danny, facing outwards to the threat.

“Shoot the racks,” she commanded. The mounted weapons. She didn’t like that. She pulled out a batarang herself and squinted to find her aim. The construction? Sloppy. Exposed wires. Weakness.

A gun cocked. “Aye aye, captain.” Jason hefted a gun in each hand and started shooting as the vans screeched to a stop in a circle around them. Bang! Sparks flew where he hit. Cass and Dickiebird did the same with quieter precision, slicing wires and leaving projectiles sticking into the metal monstrosities. Electricity sparked. Just in time: machines whined as they were powered on. One gave out with a huge bang!  The van attached to it jolted as the machine punched a huge dent into the roof. White smoke floated away, clouding the nighttime scene with a chemical stink.

“Whoa,” Danny breathed.

She felt a twinge of satisfaction.

Jason hit the last set-up with a bang! Bang! Then his foot scuffed across the pavement to knock against Danny’s. Check, you’re here, you’re safe, you’re little.

“They’ll come out!” Danny warned.

He was right. Doors clicked unlocked all around them and men in white suits piled out, futuristic looking guns aimed at the little group. 

She felt a twinge of disbelief. “Can’t shoot,” Cass said. No way. So dumb. They were in a circle. Friendly fire, new concept to losers??

They shot. She hit the ground in a roll and trusted that everyone else would. They did. She turned her head to see that one agent was down from friendly fire. There was no blood as he was lifted off his feet and blasted backwards against the van he came out of.

“Ghost scum!” howled one of the suits.

“We knew it!” 

The victory in their voices set her blood boiling. Cass launched herself to the closest opponent and took him down with a nasty hit. She whirled on the next one, two mean hits. Go, go, clear the area! She heard feet scuffling and weapons whining as they fired, fired, fired on the boys.

She took number 4 down as the smoke was starting to clear. She heard a pained oof from the center, where Jason and Dickiebird were blocking Danny.

“Jason!” Danny said. He sounded very young. “Oh, shit.” Cass cast a frantic glance over at his posture and sucked in a breath even as she bulleted towards the next opponent. Determined. I have to do this. Here we go! 

No, no!

Jason was down. Dickiebird was darting between Jason and the man actively firing. Danny was pale. He opened his mouth. He put his palms out. He flashbanged. 

She blinked away stars and slammed a man’s head into a van before he could aim at her. Slam, slam, drop. She stole another glance. Danny was- Danny had white hair now and he was flashing green light at their enemies. Hm. She couldn’t afford to watch. Cass bared her teeth, angry. 

Air sizzled: GIW firing wildly. Guns fired: Jason was still conscious. Danny yelped: what? 

Cass didn’t dare look more. She moved faster than Batman could ever, brutally taking down these criminals with disdainful ease. They had nothing but numbers and lasers. 

Green shot past her vision. She traced it back: Danny! Her eyes went wide. Wow. He had some kind of organic blast, like Starfire. Very useful! 

 It wasn’t enough. Danny screamed. She heard him hit the ground. Sizzling.

She howled, wordless with fury. She tackled the next agent and cracked his head against the pavement. Only two more. She flung a batarang down the barrel aimed at her and then yanked the weapon away to brutally jab the air out of the agent’s diaphragm. Cass tossed it at him as he fell. Solid thunk. It hit his head.

The last man tried to say something, white teeth flashing in the gloom. Her ears were closed to it. The only language she spoke right now was violence. She used it to get him down and wrench him into zip ties. She could hear Dickiebird talking his soothing sounds at Danny baby. Cass wanted to go there. Cass wanted to soothe him. She wanted to see his hurts. 

But she had to secure the area. She rushed around to the groaning and crying men she had put down. She immobilized them. The foolish ones tried to get up as she approached. The smart one (and there was only one) held his hands out, eyes wide in the night. He talked at her. Beseeching, reasoning, she just doesn’t understand. You’re like me. Not like them.

Cass snarled. She understood just fine. She pressed his face into the ground harshly, fingers digging into his jaw. “Shut up,” she gritted out. She left him with effort, ignoring the mean impulse to smack him. 

All the boys were on the ground. There was no blood. Eyes open. Not dead.

Something in her gun unclenched.

Dickiebird looked up at her from where he was supporting Jason, sitting halfway with a grimace as he holstered his guns. Hands shaking. “He’ll be fine!” Danny pressed his body against Jason like he was trying to absorb his body heat. His hair was black again and his eyes looked tired. “He, uh, it’s shock,” Dannybaby babbled. She knelt to rub at his back, silently encouraging the explanation. “They basically zapped his ecto, stopped circulation. It should start up again in a few minutes and he’ll feel fine.”

“Get off,” Jason grunted. He shoved at Dickiebird. Weak. “I feel fine.”

Lie.

“I feel drained,” he admitted. “But fine. Just weak. I can stand.” He struggled to stand, biting his lip. He swayed only slightly. “Man,” he cursed under his breath. Jason cast an unhappy look at the 14 agents groaning on the ground, on their bellies like the worms they were with hands ziptied at their backs. “Not my best showing.”

“Next time, you could dodge,” Dickiebird suggested lightly. 

“You’re lucky it got him and not you,” Danny snapped. “Didn’t you see that guy go flying?”

Tense. Dickiebird paused. Smile. Soothe. “I’m only teasing,” he said. “It’s fine, Danny.”

“None of this is fine!” Cass swiveled her head to make sweltering eye contact with the scumbag who was cutting in. He was bold, for someone with his cheek digging into the rocks and cement. “By the authority of the US Government, you are required to submit these ecto-entities for testing and capture into our custody. Release us, or face dire consequences!”

Cass looked at him. She felt hate. Disdain. You’re nothing, you’re a worm to me. 

“They’re telling the truth,” Danny whispered. “It’s, uh, it’s legal.” He looked haunted. He rubbed at his chest: some memory of sharp pain.

Dickiebird snorted and slung an arm over Danny’s narrow shoulders. “Maybe by US laws, but Oa has jurisdiction that supersedes. This was a clear case of assault.” He gave an unpleasant smile. Big brother. Big angry. Guard dog at the door. “I’ll make a call.” 

The next minutes felt very long. Cass pressed Danny’s face into her shoulder so that he didn’t have to make eye contact with the fallen agents. She stroked his hair with her free hand, boiling inside with fury. 

Dickiebird called. A Green Lantern answered: coming.

They waited. Jason said he felt better. His body said: mostly better. But strange. They ignored the threats and complaints from the GIW men on the ground.

Hal Jordan came, with one more Green Lantern that Cass didn’t know. He gathered up prisoners in a green veil. He talked with Dickiebird. He nodded, and left.

“I wanna go home,” Danny said quietly. “But I think that we need to get Jason to my doctor. He’s really not right. It’s… It might be time sensitive.”

[a2remedy]

Ride or Die and Beyond

Jason Todd, at 15, panicked and tired, didn't know what to make of the situation he was in.

Jason Todd, at 13, was oblivious to his best friend, who was, by all means, just as much of a medical professional as Leslie. That totally wasn't concerning.

Oblivious to how he'd always have a copy of Pride and Prejudice on hand whenever Jason was feeling stressed. Oblivious to dancing shadows and tricks of the light that lead him to hidden clues at crime scenes. But he was aware of the promise to be each other's ride or die when they had to beat up older Gotham Academy students that tried bashing them for not being from rich families.

Jason Todd, at 15, was aware that changed when it was his turn to tend to his friend who got a high fever. He had Alfred rush them to Leslie's and stuck by his side because he knew his friend was afraid of hospitals and needles. He held his friend's hand tight and squeezed to remind him that he was there.

They made jokes about how they couldn't avoid each other even in death. That's when it becomes Ride or Die and Beyond. Then he died. Screaming for his friend and for his dad. Jason Todd, at 15, has never failed to grasp that he couldn't get rid of his friend even if he wanted to. It was fucking annoying... and endearing.

----

Danny Fen Nightingale, at 15, never thought he'd be fighting back an assassin lady with a shovel in front of his best friend's grave. He's been feeling off for months. His grief over his friend felt... wrong? Something was happening. No, something was bound to happen. He couldn't explain it until a green sticky note told him to take a little walk down memory lane within Gotham. He dug up some flowers he was growing and stopped by a tool shop to get a bigger shovel to get the flowers closer to his best friend. As close as they could. But someone beat him there. Someone new? No, he knew this feeling. The unknown, the feeling that someone was watching whenever he visited. He failed to crack her upside the head for attending without flowers. But he felt the shift, somethi- time, time decided to set things right. ---- Talia was caught between a sense of shock and pride that the friend of her beloved's ward nearly got the jump on her. She wouldn't deny that it was within her expectation, though. The boy's steps were so light, she would've been hit if he wielded with less drag, something lighter. With the way the boy dodged and weave from her blows, she was ecstatic to see a dagger in his hands. Is this how the boy felt when he slipped out of here mentioning a 2 for one deal? It was only after her beloved's ward crawled out of his grave that the boy let his guard down so slightly while blocking her off from him. The boy lasted without her training. She was sure he had training of some kind, and yet his form was lax. So nimble, so adaptable.

Of course, she made quick work of the two and covered their tracks before making her escape.

Were her maternal instincts activating again? ----

She wasn't sure how to define her relationship with Danyal. The boy has finally seen the effort to correct her and Damien as pointless after months of being here. Yet, he's displayed a strength she hasn't seen in knocking down her father and dragging him through a brighter glowing Lazarus pit for "paperwork". She may not be sure of what or where her father was, but Danyal has ensured his good health with a devilish grin and that he never laid another hand on him. She was positive he was being tortured in a way the soft-hearted boy deemed fitting. But was he another son? He didn't seem opposed to the idea after her insistence to be trained and grimaced at being in a room with them for too long as he said they stink. He visits 3-4 times a week to ensure her beloved's war- Jason was good in his recovery.

She found herself agreeing with Jason less and less as the boy began turning red after they shared the night he was first back in his right mind crying and holding the other close. But Jason assures her that he's just his best friend... Maybe Danyal couldn't be her son. But he could be her son-in-law.

She wasn't against that.

She also wasn't against the glances she shared more often with Damien as two interacted. They grew closer in discussion of how Danyal fell first, but Jason was falling harder. Then there was this Roy character she's been hearing about more. She couldn't wait to take pleasure in Jason's reaction of his love interests assassinating the so-called Prince of Crime. It warmed her heart that they involved her in strategizing and cleaning up. They also seemed to be reaching a similar affection.

Now she and Damien just need to get Jason to realize he has two boyfriends. Oh, the struggle of motherhood.

[flamingpudding]

I have a new prompt idea and it's dark

So the Nightingale / Fentons are a pretty curse family and one of the curses is one where any Nightingale that tries to leave behind the family name will either greatly disappoint their family or Die because of being curious

It's a long curse starting all the way back to there great great great uncle Kingsley (Klarion) Nightingale because he was the sibling of the original Nightingale it started the The witch Hunt because he didn't get magic but Klarion he started killing which is one of them curses entire family not knowing that the rest of them were witches

Which cost to chain reaction to every Nightingale that tries to walk away from a family suffering a terrible fate like Thomas Fenton Nightingale who ran away and change his names in Thomas Wayne and was able to rebrand his entire but died with his wife after they got too curious of the Court Of Owls

Cursing his family for always being on the bad side of History cuz a few of his cousins were working with the court of owls

So when the original Nightingale started to finally pick off his family that was trying to run away from The Nightingales Kingsley was burned alive cursing the Nightingale Fenton name

Or Danny Fenton who died in the portal accident came back alive and disappointed his parents were setting with the ghost instead of hunting them

How this is all figured out is Constantine is checking over Batman for curses when he's like oh you have a family named curse and I like oh the lame one he's like no your father's real name he ends up finding out all of this information

Can you even affect Jason because he was adopted by Bruce making him technicality a nightingale and he died being mad at Bruce for not saving him and came back still cursing Bruce

So this could be a crack prompt or a really angsty one depending on how you view it because Batman is finding out that he's really into all of these people but he somewhat knows or realizing that he definitely affected all of his robins due to a family person to give no he actually had

Which continued

Interesting Idea... I like some of the premises... here and many ideas are really interesting!

> So i took a spin at this throughout several weeks. yes this has been sitting in my drafts for a long time and i added things slowly but in the end it still is a pretty short piece... sorry... writing really has been hard for me lately again...

Though I think i might have gone a little astray from what you originally had here though or didn't include it enough.

Hope you will still enjoy the following!

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

John Constantine sometimes really hated having to work with the Bat and not just because he was one of these spandex wearing goody two shoes heroes. Okay maybe goody two shoes was a stretch but Bats was one of the heroes that annoyed him still. There was also another reason. Something he had slightly noticed since the first time he had meet the man. But back then he had ignored it.

Like hell was he going to get involved more than necessary with the bat suit wearing hero.

Well with the passing years it more and more became something he couldn't ignore any more. Especially since whatever it was had a certain stink to it that John really hated right now. Not just because he was forced to sit in one of these many Boy Scout meetings because Zatana was busy. It tickled his mage senses, but not in a good way. No it was the way that really made him want to take a swing of his flask, he would take one if he wasn't running the risk of his flask getting taken away from him by one of these heroes.

"Yre fucking cursed to hell and back, mate." John decided to speak up instead anyway with a dead-stare at Batman and interrupting whatever else Sups was going on about. Okay so maybe in reconsideration, John should have waited until after the meeting to say anything at all, really. But in his defense, Batmans curse was stinking even more now. Like it had been freshly activated by something.

Great thing, whatever the meeting had been about before got completely forgotten as everyone focused on the fact that THE Batman apparently had managed to get cursed given his history with magic. Bad thing, Batman pressured John into investigating what kind of freaking curse stuck to Batman. And boy, can he say that explaining to Batman that he was stuck with a centuries old course that was pretty much affecting anyone he sees as family was not fun, nore was explaining that this wasn't a recent curse but one he had very much inherited from his father.

"Nightingale, the name ringing any bells Batsie? Curse is tied to that name apparently." Was what he ended is explanation with only to get a stoic stare and a grunt as answer. Sometimes John really wanted to wrangle that hero in particular.

"Can you trace it back?" John side eyed Sups who looked worriedly between him and Batman.

"Can you trace it back..." He repeated with a mocking mutter, who did they think he was? Of course John could trace it back, he wouldn't even need to sell his souls for the x-time to do that. Not like he would for Bats of all people, but then again, he had sold his souls for less before. "Of course I can trace it back, mate."

John took just a little bit of pleasure in the fact that he was in a position to demand something from Batman when he pestered the man for a bit of his hair or fingernail clippings to use as a medium to trace the origin back. It wasn't nice anymore when he traced it back to an area that was the magical equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle. Ground Zero. A No-Go. Do not Touch with a ten foot pole. The Do Not Enter of the magical world.

To say the heroes weren't impressed when they saw him taking a very needed swing from his flask was an understatement. Because seriously John needed a stronger Whiskey for this shit.

"What the hell do you have to do with Amity Park!?"

Danny meanwhile felt a shiver going down his spine, but he shock it off as he souped Skulker for the 3rd time this month. His eyes surveyed the area for a moment wondering what was going on before he once again choose to shrug it off. His legs turning into his ghostly tail as he flew back towards Fenton Works. Unaware of the storm brewing far away, while Clockwork was cackling in his tower contemplating if he should give his ghost child a heads up or not.

[weeniscoool]

A fart story for @kipercrow

Out on the open plains

It follows two cowboys, both idly traveling through the western frontier. They're hopping on trains, rangling horses, and staying at whatever towns hotel they just so happened to be in that night. They aren't eating the best diets, surviving souly on jerky, beans, and little bits of bread. So, to say they're gassy most of the time would be an understatement. And, the story starts in one of those gas filled days.

"Goodness gracious, Benjamin, could you stop with that." A voice cut through the silent night air, well, somewhat silent. Benjamin and Daniel were currently riding on a train, the cool night air flooding their senses through the small crack in the box-cars sliding doors. The crashes of lightening and the light rolls of thunder kept them occupied, along with the chugging of the wheels on metal track. But, something else, something more distant, was also accompanying all the noise.

Benjamin would let out a small chuckle, rolling on his side in the little makeshift bed he had set up with stray quilts and blankets they had stolen from a hotel a couple of towns back. He stared at Daniel, those sharp dirt brown eyes of his narrowing as he hiked up his leg under the blankets. A dangerously wet gurgle followed mere seconds later, about three seconds in length, simple, but the smell certainly made up for it. The smell was horrendous, like rotten eggs and days spent gorging on nothing but tin cans filled with baked beans. And, that smell had been hanging in the air practically all week.

"Oh, come on, don't be a baby about it, darlin'. Whenever you get all filled with gas, you just let it out whenever, but when I do it, all of a sudden, it's some kinda unholy sin." Benjamin responded with a sly tone in his voice. He slowly shifted his body up, back gliding against the metal of the box car. And, with every little movement, of course, Benjamin couldn't help but let out small toot after small toot, sputtering the more he sat up. "Excuse me, goodness, now I'm really starting to smell it. Guess the blankets kinda trapped the stink in, huh?" Benjamin had asked with another chuckle that was quickly cut short as his ears caught the sound of a groan. Or, at least he thought it was a groan. It didn't take long until Benjamin found out what it was.

Daniel had pressed his clad ass against one of the walls of the box car, hands wrapped around his abdomen, eyes shut as he pushed out a rather long bout of gas. He would sigh once finished, rubbing his bottom up and down the metal, a hand reaching down to take hold of one of his ass cheeks. Another long rumble of gas escaped passed his now parted cheeks, the sound rattling inside the box car.

"There we go. Might as well let some gas out myself. I gotta assert my dominance as the real farter here. Yours don't smell as bad as mine, but I guess that doesn't matter any." Daniel cooed, grabbed, and massaged his bottom as he continued to slip more gurgly and airy farts out. Benjamin couldn't help but roll his eyes. He knew he couldn't beat out Daniel from just smell alone, I mean, that would be like fighting off a bunch of robbers with a plastic knife. But, one thing Benjamin knew about his farts were their sound. Sound was better, yeah? Daniel's were usually airy and long, sometimes gurgly and bassy, depending on what he had eaten that day, like now. But, Benjamins were usually shorter, but wet and bubbly, always loud and overpowering.

"Yeah, go ahead and fart your heart out, Danny -" Benjamin started, grunting as he pushed out another bubbler, dampening the sheets he was still sitting on. "If I pass out from all that smell, it's gonna be your fault."

"I'll wear the badge with pride." Daniel had responded with nothing but another fart. Benjamin had laughed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes once again.

The rest of their ride had been filled with more gas. There wasn't a second that passed by when one of them, or even both of them, weren't farting. As the night went on, their gas got wetter, shorter, more sporadic. Daniel ended up having to finish their little fart-off early, claiming he felt something other than gas come out of him.

"Now you know why they have hay in these cars." Benjamin had said, back to laying comfortably within the sheets, now coated in a thick stench of gas and sweat. Daniel was crouched over a pile of hay, relieving himself best he could.

"Oh, shut up. You'd be in this exact position right now if you had eaten that jello. I swear it had gone bad." Daniel whisper-shouted as he strained, a slight moan falling from his lips as some stool slipped into the hay.

"Jello doesn't go bad, baby. Your belly just can't handle it, unlike mine. I have guts of steal." Benjamin retorted, rather proud, his sentence ending with a rather large fart, like a car trying to start. It then ended with a sickening splat. Benjamins face flushed up, body immediately straightening up from the place he was laying. His eyes, now worried slowly, drifted over to Daniel, who was still hovering over the hay.

"Try to hurry up. I might need to go to."

"Guts of steel, right?"

[siren07tucker]

El Tigre head cannons

I’ve been re-watching the show so I have information for when I write a fic

Manny when he gets older has a mild reaction to jug bands, because his father is allergic to them.  but when I mean, mild, I mean normal allergic reaction not whatever happens to his father.

His El Tigre tail isn’t actually sensitive because it would be impossible to do half the stuff he does with it if it was.

He enjoys doing art. (there will be a massive portrait of Danny somewhere in his home when they start dating) 

Speaking of Danny, he thinks Manny has died before because he stinks of death. (it’s from when he visited the land of the dead)

Manny becomes an antihero, he mainly uses villainy tactics in crime fighting. He’s still not allowed at hero con, at least not through the front door he still gets in because of the one year he saves everybody. 

Sometimes his eyes glow green outside of his superhero form.

And since he’s been using it for so long, the powers have kind of rubbed off on him. Manny can definitely use some of the super strength and agility outside of the suit even without the belt. it’s not much but it still freaks people out when he does it. 

Every magical artifact in the family is cursed with the flaw of its first wearer. The Ll Tigre belt is possibly the worst cursed but they genuinely don’t know the actual curse? They think it might be the fact whoever wears it can’t choose between good or evil.

Maybe the actual curses, the reputation it has and the pressure that puts on the person who wears it.

Raul is genuinely like Manny‘s older brother. Like he comes to family dinners after his police job. He’s there at Manny‘s wedding as one of the groomsmen.

Danny: you know what this isn’t the weirdest thing that’s happened to me… and somehow my family still weirder?

Miracle city is ecto contaminated. Like their skeletons walking in the streets, mustaches that come to life and so many deaths have occurred here!! 

like yeah, the whole world canonically has super villains and superheroes, but miracle city has two superheroes and that’s it!

All of them got eaten by a massive guy! No other superhero touches that place unless it’s for superhero con.

When Manny is older, he definitely tries to get more superheroes to move in though, and there are a few that spring up, but it’s still mainly just him and his dad who really should retire.

Here’s a funny picture that I took of him when his belt didn’t fully spin… 

Manny is the type of person to say the same thing his dad said to him as a kid. 

Ellie: i’m so bored Manny, please can I have some money to go to the arcade!!!

Manny doing the dishes and not thinking about what he saying: Miha, you don’t need money to have fun when me and Frida were younger we would dig in the trashcan…(stops washing dishes) here’s 50 bucks. Don’t talk to me for the rest of the day.

He then goes and cries in the shower for three hours straight because he’s just like his dad. It’s not a bad thing, It’s just a pride thing.

Him and Frida definitely have a packed where if one of them turns out to have the bad parts of their parents, they will be put down by the Other.

Manny definitely takes antianxiety medication. Points at his mother, anxiety is actually hereditary.

Manny actually has a really nice singing voice. His mother used to teach him how to it was their bonding activity. He even shows up in a couple of her songs as background vocals.

I’m only on episode 12 so I’m definitely gonna make more of these. I might actually write a fic because this is usually how I warm up to do something like that. 

[f1-disaster-bi]

I love both versions of platonic carlando 🤩🤩🤩 lando stinking of another alpha infront of martin is absolut cinema and he wouldn't even notice because he is so used to smelling like carlos all the time💀💀💀 and maybe danny telling lando that he saw carlos because he can't keep it to himself and lando is just like yeah i know they have been together for ages you muppet 🙄🙄🙄

I honestly cannot decide between the two because I love both ideas. I do have one I might be leaning towards but how about a little tumblr poll? I haven't done one in a while.

A/B/O - Everyone thinks Carlos and Lando are dating because Lando constantly smells like the alpha, but really, Lando has a crush on someone who is sure Lando is close to being bonded with Carlos.

[mitochondriaandbunnies]

Miami Vice S2E1&2: The Prodigal Son

The DEA asks Sonny and Rico to track down a family of Colombian drug dealers, leading them New York City. (This is a long one-- be warned.)

I have officially made it to Season 2! Much like with Evan, I got a little stuck on this one because I feel like I've already said a lot about it (and giffed a lot of it.)

The episode opens in Bogota (doubled for by, I believe, a state park in New York), which I forget every time I watch it. It's an episode very grounded in New York City, so the Bogota part feels like a surprise every time.

Fucking love the panflute music, though. Damn Jan, damn.

The DEA agent who orchestrates the whole thing is played by Bill Smitrovich, who uh. Was also Crockett's ex-partner Scottie Wheeler in the pilot. Vice likes to repeat actors, but this one feels especially "wait we 100% know that guy." (He is also Danny Krycheck in Crime Story, so Mann and/or Bonnie Timmermann must just really like the guy.)

While I don't recommend actually putting your entire cast in a swamp at night, the scene where they bust Revilla looks so damn good, so I guess I won't argue with results.

There's a series of comments and conversations starting with the swamp bust-- Sonny says the entire thing reminds him of Vietnam-- another agent calls the whole thing a mess and says there are no wins-- Sonny calls drug busting a "cold war" and Rico points out the he has the "Vice Cop Blues;" given that ultimately, the theme of this two-parter is "the system is corrupt and no matter how much you push back you'll always be fucked in the face of money and power," no one here is really wrong. Rico's implication that ultimately, it's just a job, will have later echoes as well-- while Rico starts to consider his options outside of Vice in later seasons, Sonny remains focused on his idea of justice and spirals out of control and into depression.

The scene before Gina gets shot is incredibly unsettling and very proto-Twin-Peaks. Later, when Sonny sees she's been shot, he delicately touches her shoulder like she's a porcelain doll-- very much in opposition to the way, a few episodes later, he will throw himself over Rico when he's been poisoned. There's a sense of caution between Sonny and Gina-- it's like, given their history, he's afraid even under these circumstances to be too hands on, lest it be taken the wrong way or hurt her emotionally on top of her physical pain.

No one on Gene Simmons' Sex Boat knows how to dance

In NYC, Rico refers to his city as "the core of civilization" and Sonny says it's just "gridlock-- as much fun as watching paint dry." They then walk around grinning like children and gently touching one another, set to music. I hate them

When Rico tries to pull the "I used to be an NYC cop" card the sergeant they speak to says that "rape season is in full swing," which goes unremarked upon but has to be one of the most jarring things I've ever heard on television. There is... a season? For sexual assault?? What the everloving fuck?

Rico calls Val while the sergeant complains about not wanting to babysit him and Sonny; I wonder if the fact that both Rico and Val have their badges still is supposed to be commentary (cops love a bad egg and both of them did crime in the service of "justice") or just bad writing (what are they going to do, not bring Pam Grier back when they have the opportunity?)

Rico spells Tubbs by saying he is "Tough, Unique, Bad, Bold, and Sassy." Rico baby are you secretly a drag queen

Quoth Sonny Crockett, coolest man in the world, "Bolivian nasal dust." THAT'S NOT EVEN A EUPHEMISM

So much second hand embarrassment at Rico and Val meeting at Club Delirious. Val just looks SO disappointed and inconvenienced by his presence, and he gives her the WORST stink-eye and whines about her not returning his calls. They are so bad for each other. The most toxic on-and-off-again-cowboy-cop-exes ever.

The drug buyer is ridiculously racist; he clearly only wants to talk to Sonny, calls Tubbs and Val "nice bookends," and orders them to go dance together. This leads to a deeply insincere exchanging of "I missed yous" on the dance floor, and Val vaguely referencing that "Sonny helped her after what happened down in Miami." Why does Sonny have the power to convince the NYPD to magically erase murder

Rico, eternal suggester of threesomes, suggests to Sonny that the three of them "party together," and Sonny is like "weird, bye"

The music choices in Prodigal Son are so fucking good. The lyric "do you believe in love" plays during Sonny and Maggie's meet-cute scene, and abruptly cuts off before the word love and the visual cut to naked morning-after meat-platter Sonny being heckled by a bunch of gay photographers

Then, we cut immediately from Sonny muttering to himself that he doesn't even know Maggie's name to Tubbs creepily stalking Val and watching her kiss the drug dealer man. I wonder if maybe Paul Michael Glaser had something to say about the bad relationship choices Sonny and Rico were making in NY or something

Sonny's little smile at Rico in the mirror over the cigarette machine followed by the intensity of him yelling TUBBS (breaking cover) will never not kill me

I am so serious about Rico and Val being the absolute worst for each other. Tubbs asks Val if she "forgot how to use the phone" and then says "at least your sister was upfront about turning tricks" to her. Like. BROSKI. What. The fuck. Is wrong with you. You just called your ex-girlfriend AND HER DEAD LITTLE SISTER a whore?? And that's, what, your plan for getting her to get back together with you??? Like, Tubbs is not always nice-- I've said before I think he has to work at being a good person, and his calm, affable demeanor is often a put-on. But this goes beyond bitchy into downright cruel, something he really only ever does in Val's company. Rightly, she slaps him.

I've written at length about the Sonny/Maggie business, but jesus he is dumb about her. They've known each other for what, two days? And he's like "if only I could tell you the truth about myself..."

Sonny.

You've known loaves of bread longer than Maggie.

It's fine, just let it be a fling, baby. Not everyone is a future wife, even if you ARE mostly doing this because you're upset that you think your partner is back with his ex

After a silent (except for an obvious single overdubbed line that definitely wasn't in the original script), mooning car ride, Sonny asks Rico if he's "been thinking about staying in New York after we're done here, haven't you?" He is pained here; even if you don't interpret it with a romantic undertone, it's clear that he is not prepared to lose another partner. Rico's response, vague, is simply "I've been thinking about a lot of things."

Rico kills a man in Val's house and Val pulls a gun on him. Were they like this before Rafael died and Tubbs moved???

When confronted, Maggie cries and says she didn't expect to fall in love with Sonny. I do not for one second believe her; she is absolutely doing the "burst into tears in the principal's office" thing because she got caught and it's scary now.

When she says she's in Public Relations Sonny says "is that me? Like a public park? A public toilet?" Honey bunches you need so much therapy. You have the self-esteem of a moldy welcome mat.

Johnston, the evil old man who runs America, a) appears to actually be dead, and b) says Rico has $600 to his name. WHAT ARE YOU BUYING WITH YOUR SALARY, RICARDO. Because it's certainly not a house, given that you don't have one.

Rico responds to Johnston's threats with, frankly, impotent joking. He gets what's happening here-- says to the man that he knows he can just make "some call to an ivy league friend, and two Dade County cops become tin ducks." Sonny, on the other hand, responds as if he and Johnston are remotely in the same league of power-- threatens him, states that he's "patient" and will eventually figure out how to take him down. It's difficult for one man to be "patient" enough to dismantle capitalism, the drug trade, and the entire justice system; Sonny's insistence that with enough elbow grease he can is part of why he burns out so badly.

Sonny and Rico sit in silence in their hotel room after the meeting with Johnston and implication they are going to be murdered; in contrast to the finale, where they try (and mostly fail) to talk to each other about the danger and what this all means, here they simply cannot summon the words.

They are saved in the final shootout by Val coming in guns blazing, which raises a number of fascinating questions like "how did she know about this meeting"

Rico watches Sonny run after the helicopter and does not look at or make eye contact with Val as he somewhat emptily consoles her

Sonny shoots down a helicopter. It appears to be full of paper. I don't know.

OH the weird feet-rubbing shots in the final Rico and Val sex scene. I would argue that it's actually a fairly well-done and genuinely sexy scene up until that point, and then it's just like. Are you a pair of crickets? And then we get a shot of Val's like, dead-eyed stare into the distance as Rico is kissing her, and any remaining eroticism is drowned out back in a bucket of dingy water.

The Sonny/Rico Airport Meet Up is still literally the most romantic ending to anything ever, to the point that I'm always like "wait, there's another minute left in the episode?"

The last minute is in fact dedicated to reminding us that no one has brought up poor Gina since she was shot. She is in a sling and has an awkward exchange with Sonny in which she lends him a pencil and he picks up the phone and ignores her while Rico puts his hand around her like "oh baby don't go chasing the white boy again"

I am so sorry, Gina

Rico is right and you deserve someone who will not ignore you for a work phone call after not seeing you since you were SHOT

There's something to be said for the thematic resonance of ending on "Sonny casually dismisses his friends because he only cares about the job" but like. Maybe we could've just stopped at the airport

[neverwanttofallasleep]

A Need That Goes Unspoken - Chapter 3

Word count: 4,797

For pairings, warnings, and disclaimer - see Masterpost

thank you again @writingcold for your support x

a/n: please bear with me if the next few chapters take a bit longer to get out. life is happening - sorry! i will definitely finish this story and i'm still writing as we speak. just gotta make more time x

(this chapter contains explicit sexual content!)

You stare at yourself in the mirror for a long while. You turn to view every angle of your body, just to double-check you haven't got anything twisted or any strings tucked in. Although you and Sam are seemingly in some kind of ceasefire, you’re reluctant to give him any ammunition to tease you. You think you know where you stand, but one wrong look, or in this case one nip-slip, and you might be back to being the recipient of his juvenile bullying again.

Last night, Alex had practically force-fed you some grilled salmon and vegetables, and fussed over how much water you were drinking, before Eloise had given him the stink-eye and told him to back off. As you tried to help clear the plates, Josh shooed you away. Everyone was at your disposal, offering you cups of tea or medicine or shoulder rubs, which you bashfully declined. The only offer you did take up was a cigarette with Jake, which you held between your shaky fingers as the two of you hid sneakily around the side of the house.

You’d decided that after this, a shower would do you some good. Relax your muscles, wash your hair. Rinse the adrenaline and sweat from the accident off of you. Jake had agreed.

“I think a shower is a good idea.” He’d hummed, plucking the smoke from your fingers and taking a drag. “Ellie always encourages hot water after a sickness or injury.” He smiled dreamily. “She’s gonna be such a good nurse.”

You grinned. “Of course she is. You picked a good one, Jake.”

He smirked, looking you dead in the eyes as he handed you back the cigarette. “Honestly, I still can’t believe she picked me, y’know. Three years later and I still feel like the luckiest guy on the planet.”

You shook your head as you exhaled the smoke. “She’s as lucky as you are. You two were meant for each other.”

He frowned. “It’s gonna be harder this year. She was only like half an hour away when I was at home. Now I’m gonna be all over the place while she’s stuck in Saginaw.”

You petted his arm reassuringly. “You’ll visit each other. And you’re both living your dreams. At least she’s not dropping out like Alex.”

He huffed a laugh. “God, yeah. I’d never want her to do that. I’ll just miss her.”

You felt so warm for Jake. When you were around him and Eloise, you could feel the love rolling off them in literal waves. It was like watching a romance novel come to life.

Jake had taken the smoke from you again. “Stop hogging. Alex’ll have my balls if he catches us.”

You’d giggled.

He’d stomped on the butt a minute or so later, and peeped his head around the corner to check for your aforementioned brother before waving at you to follow him back into the house.

Josh, who was washing the dishes, had given you a ridiculously obvious stage wink as you both returned inside, but luckily, Alex was back in the garden with Danny and Ellie.

Phoebe gave you a soft smile from her post by the sink, dish towel in hand. “How are you feeling now, Y/N? Better now that you’ve had something to eat?”

Phoebe is the sweetest living creature. Like an angel, or a faerie, plucked from the sky and put onto earth. She looks like one too. Long, golden curls flowing down her back, always jingling with sparkly jewelry and radiant in floaty summer dresses. She definitely doesn’t act like she’s 17. You believe she was surely reincarnated from an old soul, ridiculously wise beyond her years.

She and Josh have a special relationship, which is unsurprising for three reasons. One, everyone loves Josh. Two, everyone loves Phoebe. And three, Josh, despite his chaotic theatricality and the fact that his head is often stuck in the clouds, is a fierce protector of his brothers, Danny included. Anyone that enters the Kiszka orbit must first go through Josh, and he can be a force to be reckoned with, when he wants to be. 

This is true for Jake, too, in a different way. He’s a quiet observer, and he’s too kind to ever really show contempt for anyone. Despite his shyness, he’s extremely attentive, always noticing things that others miss. He’s the calm to Josh’s storm, which makes perfect sense, when you think about it.

Both twins (and you assume Sam, although you weren’t paying any attention to him) took a shine to Phoebe the moment they met her, which was, coincidentally, the night Danny met her, too. You knew that for a fact, because you’d been there. It was at one of the band’s gigs in a dive bar, about eight months ago. Alex had dragged you along, sneaking you both through the back, much to your dismay. Once you heard them play properly, though, you had to admit they were quite good. Phoebe had been twirling around to the music like some sort of Stevie Nicks-esque goddess, and Danny couldn’t keep his eyes off her. He’d offered her a drink and introduced her to his brothers, to their great delight, and the rest is history.

Despite your being estranged from Danny and the Kiszkas and not getting to see much of her, the times you have spent with Phoebs are imprinted on your brain like a tattoo. She is endlessly kind, creative, sweet, and smart. You envy her, but you love her.

You’d nodded in response. “Yeah, dinner definitely helped.”

She’d smiled sweetly at you. “Let me know if I can do anything for you, babe.” 

“Thanks, Phoebs. Still sore, but, you know. I’m actually about to have a shower, so hopefully that’ll help.”

Josh had gestured his head toward the bathroom as he pulled the plug from the sink. “Sam’s in there now. But we’re gonna head back outside, so it’s all yours next.”

You’d nodded.

Jake grabbed a couple of seltzers from the fridge and Josh followed him outside like a little puppy. Twins, you’d smiled to yourself. Like magnets. 

Phoebe dried the last plate and stacked it next to the sink, hanging up the towel neatly, humming to herself. Not a care in the world. As she went to follow the boys outside, she turned back to face you, where you were still standing dumbly in the middle of the kitchen, off in your daydreams.

“Things still tense with you-know-who?” She’d asked you. Her voice is lilty, like a wind chime.

You shrugged. “Yeah, think so. Who knows, maybe we’ve trauma-bonded.”

She’d giggled. “Nothing brings people together like fear.”

You heard some semblance of truth in her words. Knowing Phoebe, she probably wasn’t being sarcastic. She has a very optimistic view of the world.

“I’ll be outside if you need me.” She’d smiled, and flitted out the door.

You’d sat in your room until you heard the sound of the bathroom door open, and the door to the bunk room close. You grabbed some fresh pajamas and strode across the living room, reenergised from your food, and anxious for the steam to relax your aching muscles. 

As you went to grab the bathroom door handle, the door next to it opened, too. You saw Sam properly for the first time since he left the truck. His hair was wet, once again, and he was wearing pajama shorts and a white t-shirt. He didn’t look great, if you were honest. He had circles under his eyes he was moving very stiffly, as you imagined you were, too. You made steady eye contact, and held it for a moment, unsure how to proceed.

“Are you okay?” You’d whispered.

“Been better. But I’ll live.” He turned his body further toward you and gave a weird, small smile. “You?”

“I’m fine. Alex has been fussing over me but I’m really okay. Just a headache and sore all over.” You gestured to the back of your head. You were word-vomiting, because you didn’t know how to navigate this. This might have been the first civil conversation you and Sam had shared in three years, if you didn’t count the one in the truck earlier. 

You’d looked him up and down. “Did you get hurt?”

He gave an extremely small, reluctant nod. Barely a tip of his chin. “There wasn’t a headrest on my side.”

You’d felt your face drain of color, and you gasped. “Your neck! Sam, I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you tell me?”

He frowned. “Couldn’t really feel it at the time.”

You were feeling so, so guilty. “I’m so fucking sorry.” You’d had to hold back the urge to place your hand on the side of his neck, to soothe him in some way.

“It’s alright, Y/N. Wasn’t your fault. Could’ve happened to anyone.”

You’d shaken your head. “I know. But I should’ve been paying more attention. Braked earlier. Checked to make sure you were alright after. I was so useless.” You felt a tear beginning to slide down your cheek, and now you had another emotion to contend with. On top of feeling like the worst person on the planet, being the one person Sam disliked so much, and also getting him into a car accident and giving him whiplash, now you were embarrassed for crying in front of him.

“We’ll be fine.” He’d tried to smile at you, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

He’d padded away to the fridge to get himself some water as you quickly shut yourself in the bathroom. You were so conflicted. There was a part of you that wanted to scold yourself for worrying about Sam. He was going to be fine, just like you. No blood, no permanent injuries. Just a shitty thing you went through together, and that didn’t change the fact that he was a dick to you. But another part of you wanted to comfort him, share his pain. You did, after all, go through it together. And you did, unfortunately, still care about him, and want for his safety and happiness. You hated that. He obviously didn’t give a fuck about you, so why did you give a fuck about him?

You’re thinking the same thing now, as you stand in the same bathroom, staring at yourself in your bathing suit. Yesterday was horrible, but it’s over. You’re still sore, but it’s starting to fade. Would you and Sam go back to being mortal enemies now that a new sun has risen? You hope not, but at the same time, why wouldn’t you? Would it feel more normal if he started picking on you again? It’s not like you’ve made any kind of incredible, emotional breakthrough. You checked on each other last night, did your due diligence. Maybe that’s all it was.

A moment later, you get your answer.

“Can you hurry the fuck up in there? Some of us also need to use the bathroom.”

Your face immediately drops into a sneer. “Can’t you go upstairs?”

“No,” comes the reply, affronted.

You huff, pulling your dress back over your bathing suit, and swing open the door.

“You need to learn some patience.” You spit at Sam. God, maybe the prospect of a truce and then having it pulled out from under your feet was making you more fiery than normal.

“You need to learn how to be faster in the goddamn bathroom.” He fires back, looking you up and down with a nasty smirk. “This isn’t a fucking sorority.”

“Fuck you, Sam.” You growl and push past him, back to the safety of the sunroom.

Christ. Ceasefire over. This is war.

You get a hard ‘no’ from Alex as you begin to pull the cooler out of the back of Jake’s Jeep.

“Don’t you dare. You’re not carrying anything.” He scolds you, attempting to pry your fingers from the handle.

“I’m fine.” You groan. “Sam’s carrying a chair.” You add under your breath, not wanting to draw his attention.

“Sam’s not my sister.” Alex clips back. “If he wants to end up in a neck brace, that’s his prerogative.”

You smirk at that, finding the image of Sam in a neck brace crudely satisfying.

You relent, dropping your hand, and begin the short trek through the grass onto the sand.

You fucking love the beach. Like, insanely love it. If you had to pick your top three places on earth, it would be, in order: the beach, the Eiffel Tower (having never been, but you’ve always wanted to), and the Frankenmuth library.

The beach at Oscoda, on the shore of Lake Huron, which is so expansive it could easily be mistaken for an ocean, is your absolute favorite. You must’ve really blocked it out of your memory, because looking at it now, it’s even more beautiful than you remember. Sparkling blue water, almost-white sand, the little pier stretching out into the shallows. There are small children splashing about and parents sitting under umbrellas. It’s like heaven.

You hear Josh call from behind you. He and Sam are pulling things out of the cooler onto one of the picnic tables under the trees, which must have a perfect view of the water.

“Drink, Y/N?”

“Just one!” Alex calls from the car.

You roll your eyes, and Josh winks.

“Yes, please. Did we bring seltzers?” You ask, and he grins, pulling one out and walking toward you.

He hands you the drink and you both turn back to look over the water.

“Gorgeous, isn’t she?” He muses.

“I forgot how much so.” You reply dreamily.

Josh smirks at you cheekily, tugging at the hem of his tank top. “Race you in?”

You shriek and giggle as you slide off your sandals, whip your dress over your head, dump it onto the sand and your unopened can and sunglasses on top of it, and sprint for the water. Josh is barely a hair behind you, and as you both splash deeper into the waves, he grabs your waist and pulls you under with him.

You spend an extremely pleasant moment fully submerged, the ice-cold water piercing your skin in the best way possible, before emerging and whipping your hair back out of your eyes. Josh does the same.

“Oh, it’s so much warmer today!” He exclaims.

“Warmer?” You reply, shocked. “It’s freezing!”

He shakes his head. “It’s perfect.”

You grin, splashing each other and swimming around.

In your peripheral, you see Jake and Danny running for the water. They came with the girls in Ellie’s car, while Josh drove Jake’s, and must’ve arrived minutes after you, but they’ve certainly wasted no time. They shove each other as they approach, and eventually Danny’s sheer size causes Jake to tumble forward under the waves.

You all laugh as he pops back up, performing a much more impressive hair flick than Josh.

“This is what summer’s all about!” Danny declares. He paddles up to put an arm around your shoulders. “So glad you came, Y/N. Wouldn’t have been the same without you.”

You blush. “Thanks, Danny. I’m glad I’m here too.”

You look back toward the table. You see Alex and the girls heading toward your group, their feet just barely in the water. You’ve managed to get quite far from the shore in a short amount of time, but you can still just make out Sam, sitting at the table, sunglasses on. You wonder if he’s looking at you, before shaking the thought away. Why would he? Perhaps to make a mental list of things to tease you about. You scowl.

You all spend an enjoyable amount of time splashing around in the cool water. After a few minutes, you become completely acclimatized, and it now feels like a very pleasant temperature.

Danny and Jake get Phoebe and Eloise up on their shoulders and the girls have a very impressive chicken fight, with Ellie ending up getting thrown off, laughing all the way down. As he pulls her up out of the water, Jake complains that Danny has a height advantage, to which Ellie wraps her petite arms around Jake’s neck and says, “You’re the perfect height for me, baby. Wouldn’t want you any other way.”

Jake looks absolutely smitten with that, and they begin kissing, while Danny and Alex cat-call, and Josh makes fake gagging noises.

“Okay, food and drinks time!” Phoebe proclaims, and everyone follows her, trudging back toward the shore.

You hang back, wanting to enjoy the serenity alone for just a bit longer. You lay back and float, closing your eyes, and letting the gentle current pull you around a little. You think about Sam. You try not to, but that just makes it worse.

You hate that after all these years, less than two days in his proximity has brought back all these feelings. You want to hate him, because he hates you. But you can’t. You can’t erase the memory of the boy who gave you his ice cream when yours fell out of the cone, the boy who helped you ride a bike for the first time, the boy who let you have the bottom bunk even though he was scared, too. He’s still in there, and you saw a glimpse of him yesterday, when he put his hand on your knee and waited for you to breathe normally again. You’d never admit it to anyone, hell, you can barely admit it to yourself, but you know you’d do anything for another glimpse.

You hear Alex and Josh calling your name from the table and you bring yourself upright again.

“Coming!” You call back, as you begin to wade your way back into shore.

You catch Sam’s eye as you walk through the sand, sliding your sandals back onto your feet. At least, you think you do. It’s hard to tell with his sunglasses on. He has a very strange look on his face.

“What, no snarky comment?” You snap at him. “Not gonna tell me I have a wedgie or something?”

He schools his expression into something disdainful, and does something extremely childish. He pokes his tongue out at you. 

You have to bite back the giggle that threatens to burst. You won that round.

You sit down at the table next to Danny and run your eyes over the spread in front of you. Another one of Josh’s famous cheeseboards, this one supplemented with fruit and cured meats, too. Your mouth waters. Out of the corner of your eye, you spot something, and you break out into a huge grin.

“Josh!” You exclaim, reaching for the jar of pickles. “Thank you! When did you even get these?”

Josh gives you a funny look, glancing around the table before giving you an equally enthusiastic smile.

“That’s my little secret.”

You grin as you twist the top open and pull out a spear, taking a huge, crunchy bite. You hum with contentment, your eyes slipping closed.

“Fuck, yeah.”

Everyone chuckles. Well, almost everyone.

Your little group spends a very pleasant couple of hours down at the beach. You all take another dip in the water, sunbathe a bit, and polish off the snacks. You help Danny and Phoebe build a ridiculously lopsided sand castle, before the water rises and a small wave pulls it all down.

Every time you try to sneak a glance at Sam, his eyes are on you, accompanied by a scowl. You quickly look away. He’s quiet and stays under the trees for most of the outing, and you can only assume he’s trying to behave in front of his brothers, while making his mental list of ways to torment you later. He’s impossible. 

As you help Josh pack up, you can’t help yourself. You sneakily stare at Sam as he walks, alone, down to the water and submerges himself. You try not to look as he reemerges, face to the sky, as the water streams in tiny rivulets from the tips of his hair down his golden chest. You wish he didn’t look so damn good. And you wish you didn’t feel a pang of guilt and empathy when you notice how stiffly he’s still moving.

You let yourself dry out in the sun on the back porch when you return home. The girls sit by your sides, towels splayed out underneath you, as you let the rays warm your face and body.

Alex wordlessly places a bottle of sunscreen on the decking next to you, and you give him a dirty look.

After a little while of tanning and gossiping, Jake appears at the back door, drinks in hand.

“Ladies.” He offers, holding the glasses out for the three of you.

“Did you make us cocktails, baby?” Ellie exclaims as he leans down to give her a kiss.

“Sure did.” He brushes her hair back from her face. “Anything for my girl. Girls.” He blushes.

Their love-fest would almost be nauseating, if it wasn’t so damn perfect.

After your reluctance to come on this holiday, and the traumatic events of yesterday, you’re actually surprised at how happy you feel to be here, now. Sam could sulk in his bedroom and give you dirty looks all he wanted, but you’re resolved not to let it ruin your trip.

After another late dinner and a few rounds of beer pong in the backyard, everyone starts to say their goodnights and head off to their respective rooms. There seems to be a sleepy, sunkissed aura around the house. You do your rounds, thanking everyone for a lovely day (except Sam, obviously, who’s been mysteriously absent since dinner and presumably already in bed).

You decide it’s finally time to shower and wash the sand out of your hair, so you grab your pajamas and pad quietly through the dark living room. Not a second after you’ve shut yourself in the bathroom and pulled your dress over your head, there’s a knock on the door.

“Occupied!” You call.

The door opens anyway, and Sam steps into the bathroom, closing the door behind him and leaning back against it, eyes on you.

“What the fuck are you doing?” You whisper-shout at him, covering your bathing suit with your arms.

He doesn’t reply, and you cannot, for the life of you, deduce the look on his face.

“Sam, this isn’t funny. Get the fuck out. I’m trying to shower.”

He’s silent, but he takes a step toward you, crowding in on you in the small space. You feel your pulse begin to quicken, a sneer plastered on your face. You feel… afraid? What is this?

“What are you doing?” You say again, but again he doesn’t reply. He is staring at you with so much intensity, you start to feel claustrophobic.

“Why were you staring at me at the beach? Have you been cataloging horrible things to say to me?” You smirk, mostly to yourself. You know you were right.

He doesn't respond, but you see a flicker of a smile on his mouth. He’s so close to you now. Your toes are almost touching.

“Why do you hate me, Sam? What the fuck happened to us?”

He takes a step closer to you, but he still doesn’t say anything.

You feel your heart begin to race. Is he about to hit you? Scream in your face?

“What are you doing?” You ask quietly, for a third time.

He steps even closer, his knee bumping your thigh as he plants a foot between yours.

“Sam, what’s going on?” Your voice is barely a whisper now. You feel a strange fluttering in your throat.

Sam does something completely unexpected. He places a hand on your chest, pushing you back until your ass hits the bathroom counter. You just stare at him. He lifts other his hand to your chin, ghosting his fingertips across your bottom lip. You let out a small gasp. In the millisecond that your lips are open, he crams his two middle fingers into your mouth.

“Can you just shut up for. One. Fucking. Second?”

Your eyes are wide as saucers, staring into his. You nod.

He breathes a deep sigh, as if what he’s about to tell you is physically painful for him. As if he hasn’t physically restrained you. “I was staring at you at the beach, because…” he frowns, and runs his eyes down your body. “Because you look so fucking hot in that bathing suit."

You take in a sharp breath around his fingers. You don’t know how to react to what he’s saying. He thought you were hot?

“Did you wear that just to spite me?” He’s almost growling at you.

You shake your head. Your saliva is starting to drip down your chin, but something about it is obscenely erotic. Your heart is hammering in your chest. You don’t have a single clue what is transpiring between the two of you at this current moment. All you know is that you don’t want him to remove his hand. He’s completely invading your senses. Everything is just Sam. Sam. Sam.

“I fucking hate what you do to me.” He breathes, looking down at the floor.

You just stare at the top of his head. It’s as if he’s forgotten that you can’t respond. You can feel the redness burning in your cheeks, sweat beading on your neck, heartbeat thundering under his palm. Your arms have dropped, limp by your sides.

He looks up at you again. You can see that his breathing has sped up. His pupils are blown wide. Is Sam Kiszka turned on by you?

“You are so fucking beautiful.” He says it like he’s angry about it.

You don’t even recognize the sound coming out of you when you whimper, and he withdraws his fingers from your mouth. They’re dripping with your spit, and he slides his hand down to wrap them loosely around your throat. His eyes flick between yours, and for a split second, he looks earnest.

“Do you want this?”

You don’t even take a second to think before breathing, “Yes.”

His mouth crashes down on yours, hard. It’s all teeth and tongue, and before you can even blink, you’re reciprocating. What the fuck is happening? You’re so turned on, every part of you that connects with him is tingling.

His grip on your throat becomes tighter, and his other hand slides down your stomach to grip at your hip, his long fingers digging into your skin. It hurts deliciously.

You flail your arms until one of your hands is knotted firmly in his hair, the other gripping the nape of his neck.

You make a small noise into his mouth and he hums in agreement. Roughly, and without ceremony, he slides his hand down to palm at your breast, as his lips drag across your jaw and down your neck. He bites down, hard. You whimper.

“Fuck.” He murmurs into your skin.

You can feel his erection pressing into your hipbone, and in a startling moment of clarity, you realize that you’re kissing Sam. Your Sam. This can’t be real.

He slides the hand on your hip around to grab a handful of your ass, as the other pushes into the front of your bikini bottoms. He roughly circles your clit with his fingertips as he brings his mouth back to yours, sinking his teeth into your lip. You clench your jaw to keep from whining.

You grip his forearm as he continues to touch you, sliding his fingers through you before pushing them inside. He pumps relentlessly as his thumb takes over your clit, his eyes darting between yours.

You moan, throwing your head back and lowering your arms to grip the edge of the counter. Fuck, this feels so good.

You want to touch him, too, but you can’t. You’re too wrapped up in your own bliss.

You feel yourself begin to clench around his fingers and you lean your face down into his neck, moaning breathily into his ear.

“You gonna come for me?” He grunts.

You make an affirmative noise in the form of a whine as you unravel, your limbs shaking and teeth sinking into his collarbone.

You lean against him, panting, for a few moments, before he abruptly removes his hand from you. He wipes his fingers on his jeans and steps away.

“Do you want -” You begin, but he cuts you off.

“No.” He frowns, turns, and leaves.

You lean back into the counter, pulse still racing, legs heavy, as you try to piece together what’s just happened. Sam just gave you the fastest orgasm of your life, and then walked out, with no explanation.

What the fuck was that?

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[castrian-amore]

Bitter, had the Heart

Dead Tired(Danny Fenton x Tim Drake), Tim Drake-Centric, unfinished, the author is plotting, temporary character death

1/46 chapters | Chapter Length: 3,486 words

TWS FOR THIS CHAPTER: Graphic Depictions of corpses and mutilation, Mentions of vile smells

Chapter 1: To see or to Mistake

Tim Drake was a brilliant Detective. He was a shareholder of Wayne Enterprises. Middle child of the family really. He was working on his degree in business at Gotham U, as expected. He also excelled, as expected. Nothing could have prepared him for this, though. I’m all his years of detective work nothing was quite this gruesome, this brutal. This slow.

A horrified terror filled expression struck across two gang member’s faces. Their deceased bodies had entrails splayed over the alley and he held a rag over his nose and mouth at the smell. It wasn’t just the decay setting into the bones and souls. It smelled like rotten eggs, sulfur. Mixed with the metallic scent of iron and blood and disgust.

Nightwing landed next to him.

“Oo that’s not pretty,”the man whispered. “Damn that stinks.” Time handed over a rag to his elder brother who very gladly put it over his nose.

“You’re telling me. This is one of the more brutal and gruesome cases I’ve seen in a while…” Tim was trying to take in what he could from below. They had to have been tortured alive as they had their entrails removed, at least most of the other rogue’s in Gotham made their subject’s deaths quick, even if painful but these? This was a new breed of brutal and horrific.

Tim was frustrated. He was a fucking detective for gods sake.

“How many is this now?”Nightwing looked at his younger brother before back down at the bodies.

“8… I think we can classify this as a serial case right now,”he huffed. He pulled out a notepad writing things down.

Smell of sulfur.

Entrails spread out.

Claw marks on the walls.

Symbols written into the alleyway walls in the blood of the fallen.

Faces frozen in horror.

This was the 7th and 8th one and of course it was similar to the others. Smell of sulfur. Entrails spread out. Once they got the autopsy report back he high suspected the heart will have been removed and a bite being taken out of the kidney if there even was one.

“So Gotham has another mysterious serial killer whose signature is as gruesome and messy as the Joker’s entire existence.” Tim had been frustrated with this case since it started and he was beyond grateful for the help. A lot of the bats were in on the case at some point. Duke had been trying to do Daytime recon. Tim and Dick were keeping up with police investigation, namely Dick who claimed he was coming from Bludhaven to help with the case. Got them both the inside information.

Bruce and Damian were trying to track down anything and it had been all hands on deck to keep a watchful eye on the city. Cass and Steph were off-planet apparently dealing with something from the covert ops team of Young Justice. Barb was doing her best to play eyes as she kept an eye on the various cctv footage around the city, but Gotham was big and there was always crime to attend too.

Tim was stretched thin himself. He normally had shareholder meetings in the mornings at least once a week, sometimes twice, and after that it was to his college classes. Tim had college, patrols, the company. Fuck. Let alone the occasional charity galas and other events he had to go to not only as a wayne but as a head of the company as a whole.

Tim was running on fumes as this case was running him dry. That was another reason why Dick was in town to lessen the load on Tim. He liked college and he knew that he wan’t exactly the most social person let alone the most normal(look at his job?) but he did want to do things sometimes with his friends. Though, he was sure his ‘friends’ probably wouldn’t be around for super long. Having mundane friends outside of super hero life was hard, let alone a romantic relationship. He had tried with the other heroes. He had tried with civilians but the civilians just couldn’t understand the time necessary and the excuses he was going to have to make.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to pursue a romantic relationship but it just simply felt as if he had no choice but to not. Wow, he was tired if hid mind was going off on it’s own separate tangent in mind distracting him from the task at hand. Speaking of…

A small flash of one of the police’s camera’s caught him off guard. Unbeknownst to the group a man in black tech wear with white accents and a mask pulled over his nose was crouched by the body. Hands gloves and a hood up over barely visible black hair. He was taking a sample it seemed of, what was that? How did he not notice that?

There was a green viscous liquid and he just collected it, not just an incredibly small amount, but what was on the body at all. It reminded him far too much of Lazarus water for his liking, but if someone had poured gelatin in it.

“Wing,”Time stated wide-eyed at him.

“I see.”

“We have eyes on a potential suspect,”Tim called over coms.

“Do not engage, follow,”Batman’s words echoed back to him. Duh. They wanted information on the dude. The two backed into the darkness a little more as soon as the police-men turned around he was gone. Tim and Dick watched his foot catch on the ledging as he climbed onto the roof of the building pulling down his hood and looking around. Eyes covered by a pair of goggles that were a stunning and haunting green color. Then it seemed he spotted the bats even from their vantage point, and as soon as they noticed. The man took off running.

“Shit!” Tim exclaimed, moving to jump onto the roof to pursue .

“Red! No engaging!”

“I’ve been following this shit for months, I’ve never been then close to a lead Nighty!” He exclaimed moving to follow.

“Language! But, really?!?” Nightwing followed after time the two moving with ease.

“Stop!!!” He yelled at the black masked figure who merely cocked his head to the side running backwards for a moment before jumping across to the next roof doing a roll. Experienced in parkour at least as Tim and Dick followed suit. Fuck he was fast.

“We need to corner him,”Dick hissed.

“Don’t tell B…”

“Don’t tell B what?”Dick replied before Tim threw two batarangs at his target.

“Red!” Dick exclaimed as the man dropped sliding on his knees to avoid the first one but as he got up the second one hit his leg. Bullseye. The person tripped holding his leg for a moment. A small grunt of pain could be heard as he scooted away from the two of them. The way their face was covered left no idea what thoughts crossed their mind. Nightwing landed next to Red as they stared at the man backing up against the wall to the roof.

“Don’t make us hurt you anymore. Tell us what you were removing from that crime scene,”Red threatened, grabbing his bo staff off his belt and letting it unfurl. The person shook their head as they used the short wall to stand up limping heavily. They weren’t incredibly close to the ground at the moment. At minimum a solid 8 stories high.

Pretty far up Tim would say. Which made the next move shake him. The man looked at them and slowly shook his head and by the time they both realized what they were doing their hearts broke. They gave him a farewell salute with two fingers and fell backwards off the edge of the building and neither himself nor Hightwing could catch him in time. Both running desperately to the edge wide eyed with panic.

It wouldn’t have been the first time someone had committed suicide to escape them. Tim doubted it would be the last either. Fate had it out for them in that way. Fate had it out for them in a lot of ways as Tim would find out over the course of events.

Though they never heard a smack against concrete as they rushed to the side, nor a scream of terror. So when they looked into the alley way the man wasn’t there anymore. Dick and him quickly using grappling hooks to get down.

“What the…”

“Where did he—“

“Infrared?” Dick suggested they both moved to look around them. Just the coldness of the alleyways and setting mid January weather. It was freezing in this alleyway.

“Is that a bed?”Dick pointed out the small campaign at the very back of the alley. A few cardboard boxes set up as a table with a few remains set there. Messy soaked sheets sat on top a cardboard bed with a messy pillow half destroyed it seemed

“Of course it’s a bed.” voice drawing them both out from their mission. “I never thought this would be the way I finally run into Two bats. You’re in front of my sleeping spot.”

They looked up to see a young man(teenager?) he only stood about 5’3. He was bundled up with a hoodie and a black trench coat over it. A soft blue scarf wrapped around his neck, hands shoved into his pockets with piercing blue eyes and ruffled black hair being held down by the matching blue beanie. He looked cold and from the infrared sensors on him the man was abnormally cold compared to most normal humans. A metà Maybe?

He had deep tired circles under his eyes. Skin far too pale to be healthy and a guant looks to his cheeks. His clothing almost just draping off his thin frame. He looked like he was very very sick if Tim could guess.

“Sorry for intruding, then,”Dick spoke up walking in front of him. Giving him a nod that he saw it too. “Did you happen to see a man fall from what roof?”

The man shifted and looked concerned Tim’s eyes looking of his shoulders, eyes, lips. Trying to pick up any subtle mico expressions.

“I just got back from classes, man,”The man sighs rubbing his forehead. “I’m half asleep and running 3 red bulls and a pack of saltine crackers.”

“Can we ask where you’re coming from?”Dick gave a charming gentle smile.

“The library.”

“I see, well we’re looking for a man dressed in all black with goggles with bright green lenses and black hair. He was sporting tech wear. You can give the police a call if you see anything?” Tim pulled out one of Greyson’s cards after he spoke. “We’re working with Detective Greyson at the moment for any leads so you can call the precinct if you see anything.”

The man took the card tossing it over his shoulder.

“ACAB, so can I sleep now? Or are we going to be playing a fun little game of 20 questions with me being the epicenter of the bats hyperfixations.”

“Ah… no, not at all. Have good night,”Dick stated as Tim was trying not to laugh as the man grabbing him grappling them up onto the roof. It was silent as they got a few blocks away before Tim burst out laughing.

“He just…”another laugh,”YEET!” Mimicking the card being thrown over his shoulder.

“That kid is suspicious.” Dick huffed maybe a little salty his normal charms didn’t work on him.

“He’s sassy not suspicious.”

“But his body temperature was—“

“He’s probably a meta Nightwing. Don’t tell the bats that you’re a meta, remember? It’s kind of Batman’s whole reason for keeping the city the way that it is, to protect metas.”

“You’re right.”

“I know. The kid looked exhausted the only thing I picked up from him was that he was beyond annoyed that he had to wait a second longer to go to bed. It’s,”he paused to look at his wrist. “2am.” A pause. If we was a student the mostly likely place he would have been would be the library. Even if you were walking from Gotham U library or a cafe it wouldn’t have taken you two hours to get where they were.” The library and most cafes closed at 11 or midnight.

“What did you realize? You’re smile fell.”

“The university library closes at midnight.”

“Okay and?”

“And this part of town is only a 45 minute walk from the library.”

“Is he our culprit they both have black hair. Could be especially if he’s a Meta explain why he was able to get away from us so fast.”

“I doubt it, that kid looked… sickly to say the least, but he was definitively hiding something.”

“So what was he hiding that he didn’t want the bats to know?

By the time they made it back to the alleyway the mysterious kid was gone.

“Dammit!”Tim exclaimed. This case was frustrating. Everything was going wrong.

“Look we at least know one thing right?” Dick was trying to make light of the situation. “He goes to Gotham U.”

“Dick.. we’re going to find hundreds of people who fall under the broad category. Let’s search “Black hair blue eyes” into the student database and see how many we come up. Let alone the fact that black might not be his natural hair color.”

“Hood could find him…”

“No, Hood has enough on his plate with these murders finding a homeless kid is not part of the problem at hand. The dude didn’t hurt anyone.”

“But if we run into him again,”Dick stared at the quickly disassembled bed the few ratty sheets now gone. “Do you think we could get him to the hospital for some help? Meta or not his readings were… rough.”

“We can’t force people into getting help all the time. It’s one thing for rogue’s who are more than a little insane but a guy who’s sick in the alley way?” Tim shook his head with a sigh rubbing the back of his neck. “We’d be chasing after half of Gotham.”

Tim rubbed his forehead a little frustrated with the general turn of events going on right now. Why couldn’t he get a lead on this fucker. He doubted that googles person would be much help. They looked like an investigator themself but at this point it was a lead and Tim was desperate. Each murder was more gruesome than the last like they were pushing their victims and themselves every time they did it. It had to have been a beast right?

“We need to find the masked person…”

“Yeah no I agree. Whatever they pulled off the body they were looking for that. They knew it would be there.”

“Think he’s the murderer?”

“Probably not, but they seem to know more than us which is concerning in its own right.”

“Not wrong there little bird.” Dick sighed. “We should leave. Head back to the cave.”

“Best, I have too many classes in the morning.”

“You have coffee addiction, you’ll be fine.” Dick smirked as they started back towards the cave moving to write a report of what they encountered on their patrol.

“You trying to feed my coffee addiction?”

“Absolutely not, B might kill me with that one,”Dick snorted.

It wasn’t as if Tim could sleep even as they got back to the manor to crash for night after writing their reports. He remained long after Dick had gone to get some sleep. Eyes focused on the screen and then down at his drawing in front of him. A rough sketch of the new person of interest.

Those eerie glowing goggles were stained into his mind as he leaned back in his chair looking at the file they had created for him.

Name: Unknown

Age: Unknown

Height:5’3 ~

Weight: 115-130lbs~

Appearance: Black hair in black tech wear and a respirator over his mouth and glowing green lensed goggles. White motifs along the outfit with a white D symbol over the left side of the chest.

Status: Unknown

Alignment: Unknown

All these unknowns. How were they supposed to figure it out. He had to meet this person again. He had to find them. He didn’t have a choice. This person was a key in his case. He sent a text to Jason.

“Keep an eye out for a guy that roughly looks like this” He sent an attachment of the drawing he did of the rough outfit in greyscale and what he saw.

“Oh… I know that dude. The people called him Distortion.”

What?

Jason knew of him? How did?

“How?” Cue Tim’s annoyed thoughts at how Jason didn’t care to share this information with them. Any of them. “And you didn’t think a new body on the streets who has a name wasn’t something you wanted to share with the class?!?”

More little bubbles as he was typing.

“He belongs to me that’s all you need to know. He’s an associate. A valuable acquaintance.”

“Well your associate was found removing evidence from my crime scene and bolting.”

“Need to know basis, Tim.”

“Do you know his identity?”

“No.”

“Age?”

“Yes.”

“Can i have it?”

“Absolutely not. He doesn’t want to be involved with the Bats or on your radar. I’d advise deleting the file you’re creating on him. He doesn’t take well to being on record right now.”

“Why?”

“Don’t know Don’t care but he’s incredibly useful and I’d like to keep him on our side and he was very hesitant on even coming to me. He only came to me because he’s operating out of my territory.”

“At least the guy has some respect.”

“He has street smarts. Now back off Tim. You know I let you in on a lot and that’s why I’m telling you this, but him? Distortion? Let him do his thing. If he tells me anything I’ll let you know.”

“What do you get out of this?”

“An investigator.”

“You have us?”

“Not all crime is big enough to involve the bats. Not all crime I can do all the work for for myself. He helps me out locating information and in exchange I leave him the fuck alone.”

Tim stared at the texts.

More typing bubbles.

“You tell Dick, Damian, or especially Bruce about this and I will rat you out for the Yelen case.”

Tim would be silent after all…

He stared at his doodle, ripping it up. It looked like shit anyways. He rubbed his face frustrated really as he made no changes to the file. Dick didn’t have to know about what he knew. This felt wrong to him though. Not just the whole Jason apparently knowing of the guy. If Jason knew of the guy but he remained under the radar of the rest of the bats it was concerning, and even as close as he was to Jason he wouldn’t put it past that guy to keep his issues to himself.

He always thought of himself really. First and foremost. It had been that way since his return mostly. It wasn’t like he never tried. Birthdays and holidays he’d show up. Tim wasn’t going to like that he noticed the mans change in demeanor the past year had done for him. A decrease in murders Jason committed in Crime Alley.

It was subtle enough unless you were looking for it, it wouldn’t be noticed, but tim did. Tim did notice. It reminded him of that breakdown he had a while ago. The anger returning to his brother like it had been there all along slowly increasing. The pit madness returning with a full force nearly driving Jason away from everyone. Jason wouldn’t talk about why the pit madness hit him so hard again.

He wasn’t exactly a feelings guy. None of them were. Dick was the most open of the Bat siblings to openly talk about their emotions and hell Duke had the most normal of a life before it all. Even he was hesitant. They all saw the Black Canary at least once every 6 months and that was only after a begrudging agreement with Black Lightning and the rest of the justice league. Most of they, themselves, weren’t involved in the justice league.

It was also why Cass and Steph being asked to go seemed to set him off. It wasn’t his place.

“He belongs to me..” Tim whispered out the words with a slight possessive tome looking at their texts chewing on his lip a little. A small habit he picked up when he was lost in thought and alone. Usually only when he was relaxed and with family. He couldn’t let people read his microexpressions out in public.

“For a solitary man, that’s quite a possessive statement Jason,”he mumbled into the batcave before standing up and walking up the stairs to his room. Not that he got much sleep either.

[enigmatist17]

It's the bandage he sees first, the huge bandage that was covering more area than it should have. He doesn't see red, and the tightness in his chest that had sat there when he and Chin got the call from Max that Steve was in his apartment.

He appears to have been stabbed.

That's all that had been rotating in Danny's mind the agonizing drive over, but Steve was standing and surprised to see the two.

"What the hell is the matter with you? What is the matter with you?!"

Steve's shoulders slump at the beginning of his rant, but Danny is not concerned with that.

"Breaking outta jail, taking out a cop?! Have you lost your mind?!"

Danny knows the answer is yes, both for Steve and himself the prick.

"Why you yelling at me?" Danny can't help but internally soften at the adorable questioning face he hadn't seen for far too long, but it'll be a snowy day in Hawaii before he ever admits it.

"I'm not yelling at you!"

"Actually, you were expressing yourself in a very loud manner."

"Hey, zip it Kermit." Max blinks, unaware that one doesn't interject themselves into a Danny Williams bitching session. Well, unless you know how to that is, Kelly finally stepping in to prevent their shouting match from drawing very much unneeded attention. They aren't together for long, the man called Joe that no one trusted giving the least amount of information possible having McGarrett jumping at the bit to go.

Danny despises this, but knows right now is not the time to push too hard, so he follows his fearless leader.

The day feels like its lasted a month by the time McGarrett is proven innocent, Wo Fat is established to have been behind the Governor's murder, and the Five-0 is mostly reinstated. The sun is dipping below the horizon when Danny and Steve pile into his car, the Jersey detective cursing how far forward his seat was as Steve piled into the backseat.

"You better take those boots off, I'm not cleaning the inside of my windows again." He chided, only hearing a faint chuckle from his partner.

"I am too tired to unlace them."

"Then you're cleaning this time."

"Deal."

Seat adjusted and a rolled up sweatshirt tossed in the backseat, Danny begins the drive to his partners house. He can hear Steve pass out before he's out of the parking lot, but rambles on regardless about how life had been during the shit show of the last few weeks.

Steve wakes when he feels the car pull to its final stop, jerking up when the door at his feet opens a moment later.

"Hey, relax Rambo." Danny is positioned away from the car, giving a little wave. "C'mon, I'm not dragging your ass up the stairs and causing any stitches to pop open."

"Stitches can be replaced." Steve shrugged, slowly pulling himself up and out of the car with a grumble. "You don't have to pull a mother hen."

"Me? Mother hen? Shut up." Said stitches ached when he was up on his feet, and for once in his life, Steve doesn't notice Danny move to suddenly be a support. "Get those feet movin', we don't have all night." Steve rolled his eyes, but dutifully follows Danny up and inside his remarkably dust-free place.

"No dust?"

"Figured you have a maid service." Danny shrugs, and points to the bathroom. "Shower, and I'll get you some fresh clothes because you stink right now."

"I promise I have smelled worse." Steve chuckled softly, but is more than happy to take his first non-public shower that didn't require his head on a swivel. Max's stitches were top-notch for something done on the fly, and is amused to find it's most likely going to leave an almost lighting bolt shaped scar.

He doesn't remember much past stepping out of the shower, blinking to find himself now in bed and dressed in his loungewear. The bed is dipping slightly from someone lying next to him, and he doesn't even have to look to know who it is, the familiar scent of cheap coffee, sandalwood and a Jersey local made cologne that Danny always insisted on having shipped. He's watching something on a tablet he'd left during one of his first visits, chuckling to himself, and Steve just idly listens as the pull of sleep slowly pulls him under.

"You better be sleepin'." Danny's voice is as tender as Steve has ever heard, the detective humming as he starts another episode.

"mhm..." It's not his best response, but Danny takes mercy by running a hand through his hair.

"You're gonna need a haircut soon, but one day at a time eh? Now go back to sleep." There's another soft noise before Danny feels Steve go lax once again, the detective keeping the slow rhythm going as the hours tick by. As far as he's concerned, Steve is back where he needs to be, and all is well on this pineapple hellhole of an island.

As close to perfection as it was going to be.

[lexiepiper]

Philanthropy

Happy Christmas Truce to @purpleruletheomiverse with their prompt (Post AGIT) Vlad, Dan and Dani attempting an incredibly awkward and angst-filled family Christmas. I toed the line a bit between angst and fluff, but hopefully it worked out okay!

Ao3 link

Summary: Who knew that decorating a tree could cost so much?

Warning for AGIT spoilers.

.

“You know I hate Christmas, right?”

Vlad paused, looking up from the morning news and trying to keep his expression blank. “You know who I’m doing this for.”

Dan shoved his hands in his pockets, continuing to loiter in the doorway. “You think it’ll be any different for her?” he asked. “She’s a clone, genius. She has his memories. Or have you gone senile?”

Vlad took a calculated sip of his coffee, trying not to look at the creature stuffed into the body of a boy. “You’re the one who dragged her back into my life and told me to make amends.”

“And what, you think a stinking old tree’ll do that?” He huffed, but finally stalked into the sitting room and motioned for the ghostly servant that hovered at the peripherals. “Coffee,” he said when she turned towards him.

Vlad raised an eyebrow and clicked his tongue at the rudeness.

Dan’s eyes snapped to him, literal red flames flickering where his irises should have been. “What?”

He pressed his lips together and took a deep breath through his nose. “I hardly want to fight before I’ve finished my morning coffee.”

Dan grumbled incoherently, but slouched into one of the plush armchairs. “You’ll be lucky if I don’t burn it down by the end of the day.”

Vlad made a show of looking back at his phone and taking a long sip of coffee before answering. “She said she wanted it, you know.”

“Did she actually say that, though?”

He sent Dan a sidelong glance. “Perhaps you should talk to her about it, before deciding to burn anything. She wants the three of us to decorate it together.”

He would have sworn that he could hear the grinding of teeth from halfway across the room. “No way, old man.”

Vlad sniffed delicately, turning back to his coffee. “The deal was that we improve together, was it not?”

“I never agreed to a Christmas tree.”

“Would you really pass up the opportunity to make her happy?”

Dan snarled, pushing himself to his feet and stomping out of the room.

Vlad bit back a smirk. It wasn’t much, but a disagreement that didn’t end in violence? Maybe there was hope after all.

.

Dani had woken a while ago to the sound of a door slamming, which really wasn’t that uncommon in the Masters household. When there had been no further noise that indicated a fight she’d snuggled back into the blankets of her - her! -  giant, comfortable bed, and dozed back off.

She hadn’t fully fallen back asleep when her door was thrown open, and she groaned theatrically and pulled the duvet over her head.

“Did you really ask for a Christmas tree?” Dan snapped.

She mumbled wordlessly, pulling the blanket tighter in a clear message for him to piss off until she was more awake.

“Hey.” She heard him walk over to her bed, and then his hand gripped her elbow through the duvet. “What’s the big idea?”

Giving up on sleeping through this, Dani groaned again and pulled the blanket back, shaking him off and giving a sleepy glare.

“We hate Christmas,” he insisted.

She huffed, rolling over to face him. “No, Danny hates Christmas. We just have his bad memories.”

“So?”

She rolled her eyes. “ So, don’t you wanna be your own person? Try things for yourself instead of focusing on memories that may or may not actually be yours?” She yawned. “Isn’t starting fresh what we’re all trying to do here?”

He was standing beside her bed with his mouth wide open, hands loose at his sides. “But… with a Christmas tree?”

“Yes.” She sat up, stretching her arms above her head with another yawn. “All the two of you do is nitpick over little things, without actually doing anything good. You won’t get better if you don’t do good things, you moron.”

The way his jaw twitched was immensely satisfying. Serves him right for waking her up.

“I draw the line at a Christmas sweater,” he forced through gritted teeth.

“I’ll buy you the most sparkly one there is,” she retorted, flopping back into her pillows and closing her eyes. “Shut the door on your way out.”

He huffed and disappeared, leaving the door wide open so she’d have to get up and close it herself.

Typical.

.

Dan perched on the bannister, legs morphed into a ghostly tail that looped and wrapped around the support spokes despite being in human form as he sipped his coffee and glared at the tree. It was in the grand foyer, since the ceiling here was tall enough for the tree to reach from the ground floor up to the second story.

A team of professionals were already hard at work. He didn’t know exactly what you had to be a professional in to decorate Christmas trees, but Vlad was a billionaire, so  it made sense that he’d be able to find all kinds of strange professionals that normal people would never even dream existed.

They weren’t exactly decorating the tree. Just… putting on the lights, which looked incredibly tedious and much more difficult than Dan remembered it being. Still, as with all of Vlad’s professionals they were paid more than enough to never disclose anything they might happen to see while in his mansion, so. He just sat there. Legs morphing into a misty, somewhat-incorporeal tail as he watched them from above.

“You’re a menace,” Vlad said from behind him.

Dan didn’t bother looking. He didn't want to give him the satisfaction. “That just makes two of us.”

“Must you terrorise my contractors?”

“Yeah. You never know when one of them’ll hide in that massive thing like it’s the Trojan horse and try to assassinate you for your unethical business practices when you get close.”

Vlad said nothing, and Dan entertained himself by imagining the incredulous frustration on the man’s face.

He waited for a long moment, and when he finally glanced back, Vlad was gone.

Excellent. If he was needed to keep the peace tonight, they’d all better leave him alone to get the brooding out of his system. And if it made the workers nervous, well… Dan smiled, wide enough that the ones on the ground floor would easily see his fangs. It’s what they got, for taking stupid jobs like this.

And if their nervousness made him feel even a teensy bit better, well… it’s not like he was hurting anyone.

.

The tiny knock on his office door was almost too quiet for him to hear. “Come in,” he said without looking away from the document that had been faxed through this morning. Because clearly, these investors needed to not only fax documents, but on Christmas Eve. If anyone was going senile, it was them.

Dani walked through the closed door, a lumpy mass of red and green in her hands. “Um… this is for you.”

He raised an eyebrow, putting the document to one side. It was late in the day anyway, and the investors could wait until after the break. Their poor timing did not constitute an emergency on his part. “What is it?”

She bit her lip, shyly holding it out. “I… I got us each one, though Dan’ll probably burn his as soon as he sees it.”

Vlad took the knitted lump, forcing himself to smile as he unfurled the ugliest christmas sweater he’d ever seen. “Why, Danielle, this is truly something.”

“It even lights up!” she exclaimed, some of the shyness melting away as she bounced forward on her toes and fumbled for the box sewn into the hem. “Look!”

Sure enough, the sweater lit up with tiny flashing lights interspersed along the branches of the garish knitted tree.

“Do you like it?” she asked, eyes wide with hope as she looked up into his face.

Vlad swallowed and forced his smile wider. “Absolutely,” he said, immediately pulling it on over his business shirt. “Thank you.”

She grinned, the freckles on her cheeks and the bridge of her nose lighting up into tiny constellations. “You look amazing! I can’t wait to give Dan his!”

Vlad sat back at his desk, opening the top drawer and sweeping the papers into it. “Even if he burns it?”

Her eyes sparkled, glinting as her smile turned sly. “If it stops him from burning the tree then won’t it be worth it?”

He smirked. “That’s true.”

“Glad you agree,” she chirped, heading back for the door. “I mean, I used your credit card to buy them all anyway, so yeah. Glad you think it’s worthwhile!”

Vlad froze as she slipped out of the office, glancing down at the sweater and hoping that she got it out of some bargain bin at the local mall. Though, judging from the softness of what felt far too high quality to be plain acrylic… It was a good thing he was a billionaire, but still, someone should probably talk to her about budgeting.

Maybe.

But still, the way she’d lit up like that had warmed his soul.

…

Damn it, the kids really were turning him into a pushover.

.

She found Dan lying on a couch in the parlour adjacent to the foyer, eyes closed and looking like he was asleep.

“You’re enjoying listening to them talk about you,” she accused.

“Whatever gave you that idea?” he drawled without opening his eyes. “It’s not my fault they started talking about me as soon as I left.”

“You’re a menace.” She threw the sweater at him. “Here. Wear this tonight. If you burn it before we get a group picture, I’ll replace all your snacks with toast.”

He squinted at her. “You wouldn’t.”

“Or would you rather I invite the Fentons over for Christmas dinner tomorrow?” she asked, as sweetly as she could. “I’m sure you’d love an evening with them all, right? Jack can tell us all about Santa, and -”

He sat up, pinching the sweater between his thumbs and forefingers as he lifted it to glare at the light-up knitted tree.

“It’ll look great on you!” she chirped, gesturing to the one she already wore.

He raised an eyebrow. “Do you feel better, then?”

“A little,” she admitted, flopping onto the couch that mirrored his over an opulent wooden coffee table. “It beats being miserable, right?”

“I’m always miserable,” he grumbled, lying back down with the sweater draped across his stomach.

“You’re really not though.” Dani turned her head, watching as he grimaced and closed his eyes. “Come on, you’re not.”

“Name one thing that makes me happy,” he said.

She smiled. “Oh, that’s easy, you idiot. Flying.”

His breath hitched, and then he snorted in a clear attempt to wipe away the smile that had touched the corners of his lips.

Spurred on by her success, Dani continued. “There’s also ice cream, coffee, lime and vinegar chips, Dumpty Humpty music, puppies when you think no one can see you…”

“Shut up,” he grumbled, turning away from her, but not before Dani saw his smile.

She laughed, pushing herself into the air and floating toward the ceiling, flipping herself so she was looking down on him. “We’ll decorate the tree at five.”

“Mmhmm.”

“You’d better be wearing the sweater,” she threatened, “or I’ll tell Jack you know how to find Santa.”

He glared at her with a flash of red. “You wouldn’t.”

Dani stuck out her tongue and phased through the ceiling, leaving him alone to wonder.

.

He traipsed into the grand foyer at five past five. They were there waiting for him, and Dan wondered if he’d be berated for his lateness, but Dani was too engrossed in flitting from one tiered display of brand new decorations to the next to care about his tardiness.

Vlad looked over at him and Dan gave him a withering glare, likely damepend by the fact that he was, indeed, wearing the same flashing sweater that they all were. “Don't you dare say anything,” he growled.

“Can we really use all of these?!” Dani shouted from across the room, hovering above a display of ornaments that glittered like crystal. Knowing Vlad, they probably were.

“Of course.” Vlad swanned over to her, gesturing for Dan to follow. “You tell us where to start.”

Dani hummed, looking between all of them with her finger to her lips before turning back to the probably-crystal ornaments. “Let’s go colour by colour,” she said. “Then it can be balanced.”

“Who cares what it looks like?” Dan huffed.

She scowled at him. “Stop being so sour. Can’t you at least try?”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s our tree, right? It just has to look how we want it to. It’s not like it’s for a competition.”

Dani sniffed and picked an ornament from the display. “Yeah, but a picture’ll be nice, and I can make a tiktok.”

“I’m not being in a tiktok,” he deadpanned.

“Not you, ” she huffed. “Just me. Going from the homeless girl barely trying to get by to the reclaimed daughter of a bachelor billionaire’s been wild for my channel, so I’m trying to do a mixture of chill ones for a while. The tree’ll be nice, and I’ll do cookies, and also maybe one at the fundraiser carols later.”

“What are you fundraising?” Vlad asked, choosing an ornament and following Dani as she moved to the tree.

“Homeless kids,” she said, hanging her ornament. “I tried to donate a hundred grand from us, and researched the best organisations, but apparently I’m not allowed to donate that much without your consent. So I figured I’d drum up interest online and at the fundraiser to get more people involved, and then announce your donation in front of everyone.”

“Sneaky,” Dan observed, crossing his arms over his chest and watching the two of them.

Vlad hung his ornament, expression pensive. “It really means that much to you?”

She shrugged, turning back to the display and examining it maybe a little too closely. “Homelessness is hell. Sure, there are a lot of other personal hells, but… not having a bed at the end of the day, or clean clothes, or enough food… Feeling like nobody cares and you could just die alone without anyone even noticing…” She wiped her eyes. “Yeah, I care about it a lot.”

Vlad stood by the tree, blinking with his mouth open.

Dan huffed when Dani sniffed. “So wouldn’t it be better if Vlad ended homelessness?”

She turned to him, eyes wide and wet. “What?”

Vlad started forwards as well. “It’s not that simple -”

“Then start small,” Dan snapped, grabbing the ornament closest to him. It was a crystal icicle, and he brandished it in a casual flourish that didn’t quite rule out a threat. “Amity Park’s a small city, but there are plenty of empty buildings. I’ve been thrown through enough to know. Pledge to clean it all up in the next year, and house the homeless. Kids and families first. Aren’t you on a self-improvement kick, Vladdie? ”

“But the social infrastructure -”

“Build it up, then.” He practically flounced over to the tree, not bothering to hide his glee at Vlad’s clear panic. “Kids needs social services if they don’t have guardians. People need health support, and money for necessities. Why don’t we fix the housing crisis and universal basic income? It’s worked overseas, after all, and you have more than enough to sponsor it for the first year. Pull some strings, see if you can’t get even more tax write-offs for it, and get the ball rolling.”

Vlad spluttered incoherently.

“You’d really do that?” Dani asked, and the sheer hope in her voice would have melted any glacier.

Vlad wilted. “I… Yes, Danielle. I’ll give it a try.”

Dani squealed, throwing herself at Vlad. He stiffened as she hugged him, hands fluttering as though uncertain of where to place them, but before he could decide she’d pulled away again, and launched herself straight at…

Dan froze as she hugged him, arms tight around his middle as she sobbed into the shoulder of his stupid ugly sweater.  “Thank you,” she wailed. “Thank you, thank you, thank you…”

He placed a hand in the small of her back, angling his chin so that her head tucked beneath it, and smirked over at Vlad. “Like I said, we’re all on a self-improvement kick. It’s about time we actually did something good.”

[hockybish]

"Duck, come on, stop it" Jamie asked his daughter when she "accidentally" smacked him the face again. It turning into one of those days were nothing was going right.

"No" Kinsley said her new favorite word as of late. She flopped in her father's arms pretended she didn't hear him.

"Can you please not do this right now?" Jamie's head was spinning with everything that has happened. The last 24hrs were crazy to say the least. He knew exactly why duck was acting out and he couldn'r help but blame himself.

He had just been dealt to Philly the day before and he had to pack enough things for the both of them to last until he could get someone to ship out the rest. In his hurry, he forgot Larry the Lobster back in California.

Of course this wouldn't have been a big deal, since out of her favorite stuffies Larry was the least loved, but today for some reason Ducky really wanted the stinking lobster. He didn't have it and she began to throw a fit.

On top of the lobster situation, they were running behind. The father and daughter arrived in Philadelphia later than expected and Jamie was supposed to be at practice with the new team right now but he didn't have anyone to watch his child. When he expressed this to management, they told him to bring her they would take care of it.

"Nooo!" Kinsley leaned backwards, trying to get out of her father's arms. The small child wasn't watching what she was doing and let go of her Wild Wing stuffy and it hit the lady passing by.

"Kinsley Jo, that wasn't very nice." Jamie lightly scolded his daughter. Duck gave him a face when he made the suggestion that she should apologize.

"It’s no problem.” The lady sincerely reassured Jamie, but it didn't stop him from feeling embarrassed and frustrated with his child.

“This must be yours. He's very adorable." She retrieved the toy from the ground, brushing the imaginary dirt off it. Holding it out for the little girl in the man's arms, she smirked when the child snatched it out of her hand.

"I'm so sorry about that. She's not normally like that. It's been a long day, and it's only 9:00 am" Jamie took the toy away from the child, if she wasn't to be nice with she couldn't have back yet. This made Duck even more frustrated and Duck became frustrated again when he wouldn't give it back.

"Oh no. It's really okay." Mia watched the father and daughter interacting. The father was not having any of the attitude his daughter was giving him.

He was handsome and looked awfully familiar. He must be the new guy. Mia knew they had acquired some player in a traded that had just happened, but she had no idea who it was since this was the first day she was returning from vacation.

She studied him a little longer when it hit her, literally because the little girl threw the stuffed animal at her again.

"That's it Kins. You can't have it back. I said no throwing it and you threw it again, so it's mine now." Jamie tucked Wild Wing in the bag he brought along. Duck stuck out her bottom lip, she was sorry now that she got the toy taken away.

"Jamie?"

"Yeah?" Jamie finally looked over at the speaking to him. It was his ex-girlfriend, former media girl for the Erie Otters way back when he was playing there. "Holy shit. Mia? Mia Lewis? What are you doing here?"

"Oh good Jamie you're here, we were starting to get a little worried, and I see you've met Mia. She's going to watch the kid today for you." Danny said plucking Kinsley out of Jamie's arms and into hers.

"Danny, I have actual work that needs to be done today. I can't watch the kid." Mia and Kinsley looked each other over sizing each other up. She readjusted the kid on her hip, and looked to the gm. This wasn't her job.

"Mia, we are a team here and we all need to help out when necessary. Okay?" Mia rolled her eyes accepting the change in plans for today.

"We'll talk later" Jamie handed over the bag of Ducks' things before he was escorted to the locker room to change for practice.

"What are you two doing for dinner? Want to come over?" She offered, Jamie shrugged agreeing, Cam probably wasn't going to be cooking up anything anyways.

[roarri]

Frozen Fire Chapter 18

The end of Part I is complete!!

The stink of death and a churning sea of carnage drenched the village of Ec’Nelis.

Dragurs roared below, while the skies teemed with a horde of phantasms. Thankfully for Danny, the horde was small this time, no doubt due to the immense mob of skeletal monsters lurching about the streets like a hemorrhaging wound. He winced as the phantasms tore at his cloak and yanked. Their frenzied cries rang loud and piercing like a siren.  He blitzed them with a charged beam of his power, then descended onto the streets, just past the Spire in the Market Circle. As he landed, a group of draugrs reeled from the three yeti they’d been engaged with to face him. One of the draugr’s jaw sagged, as if in a grin, its empty eye sockets glittering with green fire.

Like the promise of a storm riding the wind, it hissed his name. Not the name he went by, or any of the others he’d been given over the years. It was the name Written into the stones of a cave at the peak of Mount Cinomrah. The name he abhorred with every hellish fiber of his being.

And then they said, “Ourrrr kiiiiiinnng awaitssssss youuuuuu.”

His face contorted, eyes glowing bright, as he blasted the draugr with his power. The discharge of ecto-energy lit up the battlefield and the draugr exploded. “Nice try, bone bag,” he said, “but that won’t work this time.”

They’d taken him by surprise last time. It wouldn’t happen again.

The yeti—Ymira, Aksel, and Timberfrost—raised their swords in thanks, just as Timberfrost shouted, “All hail our Great One!”

Danny dipped his chin to them, before he launched back into the sky, whirled, and vaporized a swarm of draugrs that had two females and their howling cubs cornered. A pressure started to build in his chest as his core bristled, as that inner voice inside him whispered over and over and over again: Protect. Destroy. Kill.

Protect. Destroy. Kill. 

Danny thought nothing of decorum. His rage became fire as something primal in him reacted to the keening wails of the yeti—of his family. And that name. He could still hear it. It didn’t matter how loud the battlefield became; he could still hear it everywhere—that godsdamned name.

Protect. Destroy. Kill. 

The power in him thundered like a storm cloud. Waves of it churned, congregating in his clenched fists, and he fought it off with his teeth gritted. He used his ice power instead, blasting those monsters into pieces.

Protect. Destroy. Kill.

The battle of Ec’Nelis was nothing compared to the war that raged inside him. He fought it off with all his strength as he ripped draugrs apart, bone by bone, until their fire petered out and their bodies disintegrated into ectoplasmic waste.

He would bring the death, but he wouldn’t become it. He refused.

Something launched at him from behind, grappling at his cloak. He spun with his teeth bared, ectoplasma charged and roiling in his palm.

“Danny!” Dagfinnr cried.

The charge dissipated. Behind the cub he spotted a wild-eyed Finn. He grabbed them both by the scruffs of their necks and hauled them into the sky, just as the spiked end of a Morningstar whizzed past their heads. The cubs cried out as several crossbow bolts hurtled towards them. With a burst of energy, Danny turned them all intangible, and the bolts passed through them instead, though Finn still shrieked with his hands covering his eyes. He dropped the terrified cubs onto a truss of ice where two rooftops joined.

“Stay here,” he commanded. But then, as he surveyed them, realization curdled, and his insides went hollow. “Where’s Freyja?”

Dag and Finn shared a glance, their eyes wide and stricken with panic as they turned back to Danny, and Dag cried, “We got separated!”

“We—she—the draugr! It was after us! We thought . . .we thought she was right behind us!” said Finn, tears clumping the fur around his eyes. He wiped at his snotty nose and clutched at Danny’s cloak again. “We gotta find her!”

Deep seated rage boiled in Danny’s chest. The insidiousness of his power churned just below the surface of his control, waiting for him to give in; to unleash its might upon his enemies. The very air around him shimmered and the snow brightened as his aura flared.

Dag and Finn both stumbled away from him, their faces stricken.

“Where is she?” he demanded in a voice that did not sound like his own.

“W-we last saw her in the alley off the Market and Southbend,” Dag stammered.

“At the freezepop cart!” Finn added frantically.

Danny whirled midair. His hands clenched into fists that flickered with power as he scanned the streets. Bloodshed and destruction reigned, but the yeti fought valiantly, their war cries a deafening roar accentuated by the sharp clash of metal and ice and bone. Suddenly, a blur of white and the glint of twinned swords caught his attention. He squinted at the alley of Southbend where Tsuel and Frostbreath lived.

His core and the teeming well of power in him bristled with instinct. Protect. Protect them. Fight, destroy, kill. Annihilate. 

And when he spotted the draugrs his vision went white.

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Summary: In a world where humans are on the losing end of a war with ghosts, Sam Manson is about as cynical as they get. Living in an underground bunker in the ruins of Amity Park tends to have that effect on a person. When a mission to restart a fusion reactor goes haywire, Sam’s life is spared by the infamous ghost called Phantom, and then she inexplicably wakes up in a strange frozen world.