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downthe-f4ndom-rabbith0le · 2 months

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Always Been You (Dick Grayson x Reader) - Chapter 1

Always Been You (Dick Grayson x Reader)Reader Insert: she/her pronouns Word Count: 3631 Warnings: death, violence, fighting, bloody wounds, angst, infuriatingly oblivious love interest, slowburn Spoilers: Young Justice Seasons 1-3 plot partially, but it ended in 2022 so catch up.

Y/N Prince - miracle daughter of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor - and Dick Grayson - first adoptive son of the Batman himself - have been best friends since day one. They went to school together, trained together, kept each other's alter ego secret from everyone else, and they founded the Young Justice alongside their friends together.

But as time progressed, Y/N and Dick grew up and Y/N found herself wanting more than friendship with Dick. But he never seemed to indicate that he reciprocated her feelings. And when Wally died and Dick abandoned the team, Y/N realised he never would. So she heads to the one place she knows will help her become a stronger warrior so that one day she can take her mother's place: Themyscira.

Two years after his leave, Dick reaches out to his old friends to help him with a mission. But when he finds out Y/N left too, he chases after her in the hopes to bring her back.

However, when the two finally reunite, it isn't as warm as he hopes. Not to mention Themyscira becomes under siege as they go to war against Echidna, the Mother of Monsters in Greek Mythology, and her army of monstrous children.

Will Dick and Y/N be able to put their past behind them and save the Amazonians' homeland? Or will they fall, unable to tell one another their true feelings?

~~~

(21 years old)

'All right, team,' Y/N Prince addressed her small group of young heroes. 'Good work today. Now go hit the showers and enjoy a nice quiet night in. You've earned it.'

'So crash!' Bart cried with an energetic jump. If anyone were to guess how the team's week had been solely based on Bart's energy, they would've said it had been cruisy. Not that Y/N had led a covert task force over the past week into Bialya to take down meta-human trafficking outposts.

Y/N watched with pride as Bart and Jaime bantered on their way out, followed by Stephanie and Cassie chatting excitedly about something, all the while Tim and Cassie held hands quietly. It had surprised the team a little how, out of the blue, the two of them were dating. But if Wally's death had taught them all anything, it was that time was too precious to waste in their line of work. They'd been together ever since.

Two years, Y/N mentally noted, and suddenly the adrenaline she'd been running on for the past week died as the last of the team exited the entrance chamber of the Watchtower. Exhaustion weighed down on her spent body, but an extra weight now sat in heart. Has it really been that long already?

So much had changed in that time. Like how the Young Justice began working out of the Watchtower alongside the Justice League, having both the Hall of Justice and Mount Justice destroyed by the Reach and the Light respectively. M'gann and Connor were back together, having finally gotten over their differences and accepted their mistakes. Also, Kaldur had been offered a position in the Justice League following the retirement of his king, and so Kaldur took his place as the new Aquaman in the Justice League. M'gann was promoted to new team leader, with Connor and Y/N assisting her as senior members of the team.

Some things had remained the same, however. Like the team's energy and slight dysfunction that always made Y/N feel at home. They weren't perfect, but what family ever is?

Dick was still gone. So was Artemis. She'd, understandably, retired as Green Arrow's protégé immediately after Wally's death, assuming her undercover identity Tigress instead and going off on her own. Neither had stayed in touch with anyone on the team.

You're my best friend. Always have been, always will be...

'Yeah right,' Y/N mumbled bitterly as she made her way to the conference room. No doubt that'd be where M'gann and Connor were waiting for her to debrief the mission.

Upon entering the room with the long table, she was immediately embraced by M'gann. 'Welcome back,' she said, squeezing Y/N tighter. 'We're so glad you're okay.'

Y/N smiled softly as she embraced M'gann in return. 'You ever doubted me?'

'No,' Connor answered, 'but you can never be too cautious right?'

Y/N let go of M'gann to hug Connor as well. Since getting back together, Connor wasn't as emotionally suppressed as he'd initially been. It was nice seeing him this way, more happy and free. The same effect had happened to M'gann, who (only around the team and the Justice League) revealed her white martian self proudly instead of pretending to be something she wasn't.

'You're right,' Y/N said as she released him, then the three of them took a seat to discuss the mission.

The debrief didn't take long, there wasn't much to report on as all out-posts had been hit successfully, putting Queen Bee's meta-human trafficking at least a little behind.

'It's not much, but it's the best we could do with the little information we got,' Y/N admitted. 'I dislike Queen Bee and her minions as much as the next person, but I've got to give it to her, she knows how to keep things under wraps.'

M'gann reached across from where she sat and closed her hand over Y/N's. 'Y/N, the mission was a success,' M'gann insisted. 'And what's most important is that you brought everyone home. Alive.'

Y/N heard the underlying fear in her words, the memory she was thinking of as she spoke them. Y/N twisted her hand over to clasp M'gann's in return. 'I know,' she said softly. 'But I just... we haven't so much as put a dent into the underbelly of meta-human trafficking in the two years it's been running. Somedays... Somedays I just feel so useless.'

'I know, Y/N,' Connor reassured. 'But we've just got to trust that our hard work will pay off eventually. I know it doesn't seem like much now, but every mission counts. Don't be so hard on yourself.'

Y/N withdrew her hand at the comment, hastily standing up. 'Don't be hard on myself? My mother is Wonder Woman, is the Champion of Themyscira, a World War II hero, and had already saved the world once by my age now. My father was a fighter pilot in the Iran-Iraq war and died fighting for his country,' she said angrily. 'And what am I doing? Hiding under the protection of darkness, taking out small outposts that will just be rebuilt elsewhere just as quickly? How can I not be hard on myself?'

At M'gann's taken aback expression, Y/N felt slightly guilty for raising her voice. But they just didn't understand. All her life, she'd been training and fighting for her supposed "destiny". Surely this wasn't it.

'I'm sorry,' Y/N said, forcing herself to calm down. 'I just...'

'You don't have to a apologise,' M'gann interrupted, standing and walking over to Y/N to clasp their hands together. 'After all we've done together, I understand that what we do now doesn't seem like enough. But I can tell you were made for more.'

Y/N offered her a grateful smile and M'gann let their hands drop. 'I should go. Mother and I have patrol in Washington DC tonight.'

'Already?' M'gann asked, face dropping with disappointment. 'But you just got back. Surely she knows that.'

'Unfortunately, even in the country's capital, crime never sleeps. I'm just grateful it's nothing like Gotham,' Y/N said.

'I agree,' Connor said. 'Visited there once with-' He paused for a moment, eyes growing wary as he looked between Y/N and M'gann. But Y/N already knew what he was going to say and gave him a slight nod to continue anyway. 'With Dick. We did patrol once there together. To put it simply, they're all nutcases there.'

Y/N managed an amused half-smile. 'You're not wrong there,' she said, then made her way to the door. Before she reached the doorknob, M'gann called out.

'Maybe when you're free next, you can join us for dinner at home,' she offered, her eyes hopeful as she waited Y/N's answer.

'Yeah,' she eventually answered though it wasn't as enthusiastic as she should've been. 'Yeah, that'd be nice. I'll talk to you guys soon. Don't stay up here too late.'

It had to be close to 7pm in Washington DC at least, so there weren't many people still left in the Watchtower. Just those from the League and her team that were rostered for overnight supervision. Y/N made sure to greet each person she walked by on the way to the Zeta-tubes. But just as she was about to dial in her code to leave, a resounding voice made her pause.

'Wonderess,' Kaldur called. 'Not even a hello before you head off for another mission?'

Y/N smirked as she turned back around to face the new hero of Atlantis. 'I'm sorry, Aquaman,' she said in an exaggerated tone. 'Not all of us can sit around having team parties with our Justice League buddies.'

To anyone else, it would've been taken as an insult. But Kaldur saw her humour and smiled. 'Oh is that what this is about? You know the League do more than just chit chat.'

Y/N shook her head. 'I don't know. The mess you guys left behind in the conference room before I left tells another story.'

As Kaldur approached Y/N, the sarcastic banter dropped as they both embraced each other. Kaldur had grown into a fit, muscular man, and now stood a good head taller than Y/N. His uniform was more or less the same as it had always been, except now both his arms were covered from shoulder-to-finger in gold armour. He certainly was no longer just a young lad, but the man his predecessor saw he could become.

'It is good to see you, Y/N,' Kaldur said softly as he pulled away.

'And you, old friend,' Y/N replied, a genuine smile splitting her lips.

'I heard you went into Bialyan territory,' Kaldur continued. 'I am glad to see you and the rest of the team are unharmed.'

'Well, the team are no longer just children' Y/N said, 'but it was a simple enough mission too. Nothing too dangerous.'

Kaldur's brows furrowed together as he looked over Y/N. 'I sense you are not happy with something. Wasn't the mission successful as I have heard?'

Y/N let out a soft sigh. 'It's not that I'm not happy with the mission's success. Of course I'm happy we all got home okay. I just...' She didn't really feel like explaining herself again, but Kaldur nodded in understanding.

'You feel stuck,' he finished, to which Y/N nodded in confirmation. Kaldur turned so he could look to the giant windows of the Watchtower's entrance chamber. They framed Earth in a way that made it seem both ginormous and insignificant at the same time. 'The League is in a similar position, I am afraid to admit. Some days there is progress. Other days, it feels like I wait so much I am afraid I will freeze in one spot.'

'How do you combat that?' Y/N asked.

Kaldur turned back to Y/N, his face softened with a small smile. 'I train.'

'That's it?' Y/N asked, not quite believing her friend.

He shrugged his shoulders. 'Amongst other things, yes. I train, I go home, I see my family, I laugh with my friends. I do all these things to remind myself why I am here. Why I do what I do. It sounds to me like you need to remind yourself why you are here.'

'Because of the team,' she said without hesitation. He hadn't asked a question, but she felt she needed to justify herself. 'Because I can't just desert them, not when they're working so hard.'

'And yet you feel you are not doing enough,' Kaldur countered, his teal eyes gazing hard at her. 'Why?'

Y/N opened her mouth to answer but no answer came.

'Y/N,' Kaldur continued. 'Why do you feel the need to stay when you don't want to be there?'

'I do want to stay-'

'Don't lie to me, Y/N,' Kaldur interrupted.

Y/N swallowed thickly as she looked from Kaldur, to the conference room door where M'gann and Connor still were, and back to Kaldur. Seeing no escape from his fierce questioning, she caved.

'It's not that I don't want to stay,' she admitted quietly. 'I love the kids, I love the team. I'm just... so tired, Kaldur. Of doing the same thing week in and week out and getting nowhere. But if I leave, I don't want the team to think I'm abandoning them. Not like-'

Y/N bit her lip at the thought of him. No, she wouldn't leave. She just wouldn't.

Kaldur pressed his lips into a firm line. 'Dick needed to reforge his own path. He was grieving in his own way.'

'Well I was grieving, too,' Y/N countered, a sudden surge of anger flaring up inside her. How dare Kaldur defend Dick. 'And I had to get on with my life because the team needed me. We needed him, Kaldur. I needed him, and he just left.'

Y/N bowed her head to collect her thoughts and calm down. That's two friends she had yelled at for no reason. Before she could apologise though, Kaldur placed a hand on her shoulder, and she raised her head to find him looking directly into her eyes.

'I cannot say I am not also disappointed in our friend,' Kaldur admitted sadly. 'I did not expect him to become so closed off for so long. But you've helped rebuild this team from the grief and pain it experienced when Wally died. I think you've earned the right to decide where you go from here, Y/N, without feeling guilty or selfish if your wish is not to stay with the team. In my opinion, you were made for more than this.'

'That's funny,' Y/N said in a flat voice. 'You're the second person today to tell me that.'

'Maybe because it is true,' Kaldur said sincerely. 'You know you still have a place in the Justice League whenever you'd like to join us. I would be honoured and happy to fight alongside a warrior such as yourself again. It would be like old times.'

Y/N offered a grateful smile as she patted Kaldur's hand that still rested on her shoulder. 'Thanks Kaldur, but I'm not ready for that just yet. Besides, you don't need two Amazonians running the show. And let's be real, we would so be in charge of you boys.'

The two shared quiet laughter as Kaldur's hand retuned to his side. 'Very well, then. So what will your decision be, Wonderess?'

Y/N looked to the Earth and space beyond it once more. Her heart and head were tearing her in two. She truly loved being a part of the team, but something inside her agreed with M'gann and Kaldur. Surely she was meant for more. But what exactly that was, she had to go find out.

'I think you're right, Kaldur,' she finally said, turning back to face her friend. 'I think I need to remind myself why I am here in the first place. And that comes from knowing who I am to begin with.'

Kaldur's face pinched in slight confusion. 'I'm sorry, but I do not follow.'

Y/N didn't answer straight away. Instead, she turned to dial in her code to exit the Watchtower. 'B-00: Wonderess,' the computer announced as the Zeta-tube activated.

She then finally turned back to Kaldur. 'I need to know where I've been to then know where I will go,' she said. 'I need to go back to where it all started.'

'And where's that?' Kaldur asked.

'With my mother,' she answered, then spared him one last sweet smile. 'Tell M'gann and Connor and the team I'm sorry.'

Kaldur looked as if he wanted to say something, ask more questions. But Kaldur was always more insightful than the rest of their group. He didn't always need an explanation. He just somehow knew, and so Y/N was grateful when he accepted her words with a simple nod of his head.

'Be safe, dear friend,' he said in farewell. 'May destiny be kind to you, wherever it leads you.'

Y/N nodded her appreciation and entered the Zeta-tube. It was always a weird sensation travelling by Zeta-tube, like a million light pricks into every part of the body. Thankfully the trip was quick to the Zeta tube depot in Washington DC, with Y/N walking out of an abandoned janitor's closest in the post office down the road from her apartment.

She smiled and waved down to civilians as she flew over the busy streets, but she flew as fast as she could to the meeting point.

Her mother casually sat atop the Washington Monument as Y/N approached, floating just in front of her. 'I was starting to worry you had gotten caught in Bialya,' Diana joked as she stood to greet her daughter. 'Welcome home, my daughter.'

'Good to see you, Mother,' Y/N said, and the two briefly embraced.

'Now that you're here,' Diana said, prepping to take off for the usual patrol, 'why don't we get going.'

'Actually, Mother, there is something I wanted to talk to you about first,' Y/N interrupted.

Diana raised an eyebrow. 'Really? And what would that be?'

Y/N took a deep breath in before she spoke the words. But when she did, she had never been more sure. 'I want you to take me back to your home. To Themyscira.'

~~~

Since she was a little girl, Y/N had heard hundreds of stories from her mother about the homeland of the Amazons. How beautiful it was with its architecture, its nature, and the women who ruled the island. She'd always dreamed of someday going there, but her mother said it was impossible to find it.

Except she failed to mention that despite leaving the island and forgetting where it was located, Diana had been gifted a compass that would always lead her back home, but only if she used it. It would not work without Amazonian hands.

So after all the storytelling and all the dreaming, nothing came close to actually witnessing Themyscira in the flesh.

Y/N stood speechless on the beach, looking up at the steps that led up to the first level of the city that seemed to climb higher and higher towards the sky. It was something out of the Ancient Greek text books Diana used to make Y/N read as a child, but even more fantastical and wondrous.

It wasn't just the visuals, though. Since the Invisible Jet broke through the barrier that hid Themyscira, Y/N had felt a pull of sorts towards the island. Now that she stood on its soil, she felt a warm energy wash over her, strengthen her, pull her into its embrace as if to say, Welcome home at last.

An entourage of women in red leather slitted skirts, plated tops, and armour while holding spears followed behind a woman dressed in white and purple robes. Ebony hair billowed out behind her golden leaf crown, the grey strands in between looking more silver as they caught the midday sun.

Y/N knew immediately who she was. Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Her grandmother.

As Hippolyta approached Y/N and Diana, she opened her arms to take her daughter's face into her hands. 'Diana,' she said, bringing her lips to her daughter's forehead in a simple kiss. 'Welcome home.'

'Thank you, Mother,' Diana said, and Y/N could tell by her mother's smile that she was joyous to be home. 'I'm sorry it took me so long.'

'Do not worry about that, child,' Hippolyta reassured. 'You are here now.'

She then looked over to Y/N, and for some reason Y/N straightened up, flattened out her Wonderess uniform, made sure her hair was tucked behind her headband. Y/N was briefly taken back to the time she (consciously) remembered meeting her grandparents on her father's side. All dressed up so as to make a good impression.

Y/N held her breath as Hippolyta walked slowly over to her, grey eyes scanning every inch of Y/N's figure in silence. When she'd done a cursory glance, she then stepped closer and took Y/N's face into her hands. Y/N was unable to look away from Hippolyta as the older woman caressed and poked and prodded at her features.

At last, Hippolyta stopped and her hands dropped to Y/N's shoulders. A kind, joyous smile graced the older woman's features. 'You have my daughter's eyes,' she said quietly, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. 'So kind and forthright. What is your name child?'

'Y/N Prince,' Y/N managed to get out once she caught her breath. 'Daughter of Steve Trevor...' Her gaze flickered to her mother, and the two shared a smile. '...and Diana Prince, Princess of Themyscira.'

Y/N looked back to see Hippolyta tearing up as realisation finally hit her. 'I have a granddaughter,' she said as she finally embraced Y/N completely, to which Y/N reciprocated and the entourage of Amazonians cheered and smashed their shields with their spears in celebration.

Hippolyta let go of Y/N to clasp one of her hands as she went to grab her daughter's hand. She then turned the three of them to face the crowd. 'My daughter and your champion, and my granddaughter have come home!'

More cheers erupted.

'Let us prepare a feast in their honour,' Hippolyta continued, and when the crowd began to disperse, she turned to Diana and Y/N to speak more quietly. 'I am sure you have both come here for a reason, and not just to say hello.'

'You are correct, Mother,' Diana said. 'It seems as though I have neglected our origins as Amazonians for too long and can no longer teach Y/N our ways.'

'I wish to learn who I am,' Y/N added. 'I wish to know where I come from, so that I may know where I must go next.'

'And how long do you believe that will take?' Hippolyta asked.

'As long as it takes,' Y/N answered, more certain than ever before. 'I don't care what I must do, Your Majesty. I will follow your guidance, as my mother once did.'

Hippolyta considered Y/N for a moment, then spared Diana an impressed smirk. 'Well, you taught her one thing, Diana.'

'What's that mother?' Diana asked.

'Your steadfast stubbornness.' Hippolyta looked back to Y/N. 'Very well, granddaughter. You will train among the other warriors. I just hope you know it won't be as easy as you might think.'

'Trust me,' Y/N replied, 'I'm hoping it isn't.'

Hippolyta's smile widened and her eyes sparkled with excitement. 'That attitude is already a good start. Come, we will talk of this later. First, let us celebrate this homecoming.'

That night Y/N ate and drank and danced among women like her, some older, some younger, some taller, some stronger. And she had never felt more at home, more recognised and celebrated. She'd had her doubts if she had made the right decision, but now she had no doubt.

She was where she belonged.

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mysadcorner · 4 months

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Can I please request Wally West, Batman, Aqualad and Jason todd dating a grunge/Goth reader pls

DC Characters x Alt!Reader Headcanons

-Credit to the gifs owner - Please be specific about characters wanted in headcanons -

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Wally west

Wally would be very supportive of someone who dressed alternatively or goth, especially as it doesn't bother him in the slightest. He's friendly to everyone as much as he can be and for you, he isn't going to behave any differently, except if you start to make your style your whole personality and start to push it on others.

Wally wouldn't be bothered at all by the way you dress and would even encourage it on days you might not feel very confident. If you wanted him to join in and try dressing in a similar style that you do then he will try it out a little bit but he probably wouldn't go all the way and would stick to being subtle in his style change.

More than anything, he would end up wearing accessories due to your influence, maybe some rings, maybe even some other types of jewellery if you encouraged him enough. He wouldn't wear anything that would get in the way too much, but he's the type of guy who would match items with you once he does start trying them out.

When the two of you go shopping together he will happily follow you around and look at all of the new stores or places you drag him too, and you know for certain that he'll volunteer to carry as many bags as he can while you look around. He doesn't complain about how long you're taking unless he's doing it on purpose to be sarcastic, but this is only if you keep him happy with some food on the way.

Wally will instantly defend you from anyone who has anything negative to say about the style of clothes you wear. You'll never have to worry about him not taking your side, but you may need to calm him down due to him getting a bit too loud at times.

Bruce Wayne

We all know what Bruce's type is, so he definitely isn't going to be put off by the way you dress. He will however, try his best to stay professional, so you won't see a noticeable reaction from him at first when you meet him.

Bruce really doesn’t care about lot about different types of fashion, and he won’t really bother knowing much about different types or keeping up to date with trends unless they’re for business or publicity reasons, so don’t expect him to know places that you can get any accessories or clothes himself. He will have plenty of people he can get in contact with though if you are looking to experiment with anything or get deeper into a style.

He naturally leans towards the darker side of things, but outside of being Batman he usually keeps himself pretty simple and clean cut, so you won’t really see him trying anything you usually wear. He may own a few band shirts for his extremely lazy days from when he was younger, but nothing he really keeps up with and is rare you’ll see him wear them.

He isn’t embarrassed to be seen with you, so he’ll have no problem with following you around on shopping trips, and when he’s comfortable with you he can be quite outspoken so he’ll definitely give you his opinion on items if you ask for it. If you don’t want his opinion then he’ll keep his mouth shut and accept anything you like, although you may be able to tell when he seriously hates something by the look in his eyes.

Bruce always knows what to say and how to say it in the heat of the moment, no matter who it is he’s talking to, so he’s always pretty good at defending you before the situation gets out if hand. He always prefers not to use violence, but he can certainly defends you if any idiots try to pull something on you.

Jason Todd

Our sweet boy Jason definitely likes them a little scary or mysterious so having a darker vibe to your outfits or personality will be something he happily accepts just as much as any other style. It may even give him more of a reason to pay attention to you when you first meet him if you don’t immediately express an interest similar to his own, so it’s a good way to get his attention if you don’t have anything to talk about at first.

He understand that you like certain things, but he my really like it when people take too long to get ready or too long to settle down with at the end of the day, so having a long routine while getting ready for the day or getting ready to bed might bother him slightly, although not too much for him to complain a lot about it. He doesn’t really care what you wear in general as long as you like it.

He’ll definitely take an interest in rings when he isn’t out on patrol, and it definitely helps make his already attention drawing hands become more noticeable. He’s only become more inclined to dress the way you do after a long time, but he’ll still keep to his own style mostly, more so taking tiny bits of inspiration from you whenever he feels like changing things up a bit.

Jason doesn’t like long shopping trips, but he does like to spoil you whenever he can, so he’ll go shopping with you but he won’t enjoy it the majority of the time. Not that he would outwardly complain, he’d just sulk behind you and make sarcastic comments until you got the hint that he can’t be bothered to tail around any more stores. Maybe shopping trips in small bursts would be better for Jason to tag along to.

Any comment about you from someone who doesn’t really have a nice thing to say Will get a reaction out of Jason immediately. He isn’t that good at holding him self back when someone says something bad or insults you about how you dress, so he will snap at first. Holding himself back from seriously hurting the person in public will be slightly easier to prevent himself from doing, but that is something he’ll wish he did do for a while afterwards.

Aqualad

He’ll be corps about the way you dress, after all it’s not exactly how the majority of people are seen to dress, so he will look you over and look at the different aspects of your outfit. Overall though he wont give a huge reaction to how you dress, but he’s certainly respectful of it.

Fashion isn’t something he really pays attention to, so you can tell him about as much as you want about the way you dress and different aspects of your style and it’s probably going to be the first time he’s hearing about those things. He will remember everything you say though, and always keeps an eye out for anything you might be interested in just because he knows you like that kind of thing.

He probably would have an interest in dressing like you do, but there’s no problem with that. He’s more than fine with the two of you being completely different people. As long as you’re okay with it too, and don’t try to convince him to change what he wears then there will be absolutely no problem.

If he ends up going shopping with you then he’s going to be looking very closely at all the stuff he sees, usually brace he doesn’t go to the places you buy your clothes so it’s a new experience seeing all the different types of clothes or things related to your style. You may have to drag him away from something after a while if he doesn’t have any intention of going to the next store.

He’s typically a pretty calm person so he won’t be too rowdy if someone makes a negative comment about the way you dress, but he will do his best to defend you and have that person leave you alone before too much trouble can be caused. He may even just lead you away from that person because it isn’t worth the time to deal with meaningless comments from someone you may not even know out in public.

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shadowsndaisies · 7 months

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codename: nightingale - usual suspects

Reference: Young Justice Season 1 Episode 25

WC: 7.4k

synopsis: fuck cadmus tbh, robin needs to work on his timing, kaldur’s got birdy’s back, and roy finally gets what he wanted

main masterlist

codename: nightingale series masterlist

a/n: guys, there's only one more in the season after this. i cannot belive my little hyperfixation fic of pure self-indulgence has come this far. i love you all so much and your support means so much, especially when i know that i go months without posting but you all come back so excited with each update! xoxo

WASHINTON, D.C.December 30th, 09:16 EST

You were all in the Hall. The mega screen before you shows the official Justice League Induction and announcement playing on every news channel. Wally and Dick were standing on either side of you, and all of you had your eyes glued to the screen.

“The Justice League was formed for two reasons: first, as an acknowledgment that no single individual, no matter how powerful, can solve all the world's problems alone. And second, to uphold the values of truth, liberty, and justice,” Superman was making the announcement this year. Usually, it was him or Wonder Woman, seeing as the Bat didn’t exactly exude charming. “That, uh, last one's even in the name,” Superman muses, gaining a few laughs from the crowd before him. “These five heroes have sworn to uphold those values,” he continues, and the camera pans over Doctor Fate, Plastic Man, the Atom, Icon, and finally, Red Arrow.

Your lip quirks a bit as you stare at Roy. he had sent you a message this morning, reminding you that you could be standing with him today, but you had just laughed and mused that with how badly he’d wanted this, it’s surprising anyone else can stand up there with him, never mind you, who would undoubtedly steal the spotlight. You were happy for him, you were, but you were also bummed. You all had just gotten into a groove with Roy on the Team, even if it was only for a few missions, and once again, he was gone.

“You are watching live coverage of the Justice League's induction of its five newest members,” Cat Grant’s voice pulls your focus back to the News. “Looks like the entire League has shown up to welcome the new blood. Everyone from Batman to Captain Marvel!” she exclaims.

“I’m glad they didn't kick Billy out,” Wally decides, and you can’t help but nod. Dinah had mentioned briefly that there had been a chance he wouldn’t be. “And I love the fact there's a ten-year-old on the League,” he says, taking a bite of his apple.

Dick hangs his head, and you see Kaldur turn toward your redheaded best friend while the new girl, Raquel, turns to you all, “There is?” she asks.

You elbow Wally squarely between his ribs, and he hunches over, “Ow, Birdy!” he groans.

“Way to keep a secret, genius,” you scoff, glaring at him through your blacked-out lenses.

“Hey, she's on the Team now, right?” Wally defends, one arm rubbing at his side while he eats his apple.

“Is this going to be a regular thing, you just blurt out secrets whenever we get new people?” you ask.

Wally has the audacity to look affronted, “I don’t-“

“You told me about the Watchtower,” Zatanna cuts in before he can say anything else, and you snort.

Wally retorts by taking another bite of his apple and glaring at you.

Everyone’s attention shifts back to the screen, “Superman is now handing out official League membership cards starting with Doctor Fate…” You and Dick both step forward briefly to squeeze Zatanna’s shoulder in solidarity, something she smiles gently in response to, and you can feel the comfort she takes from the action in the seconds you’re touching. “…The Atom, Plastic Man, and Icon.”

“You know, I was the one who convinced Icon to become a hero in the first place. I should be celebrating with him, not hidden away in here!” Raquel complains, and you bite your lip to keep from laughing.

“Welcome to our world,” Kaldur laments.

“Well, I suppose there's an upside, too,” Raquel flirts as she eyes Kaldur. Quietly to Rob, you roll your eyes and fake a gag, which gets a silent chuckle out of him.

“Finally, Green Arrow welcomes his former protege, Speedy, now known as Red Arrow, to this roster of heroes,” Cat’s voice continues, but it’s quickly drowned out by your cheers.

“Way to go, Roy!” Wally shouts, pumping a fist in the air.

“At last, he has his wish,” Kaldur nods.

“Woohoo!” you exclaim, smiling at the screen. “The first of us to make it,” you breathe.

“No one'll call him a sidekick anymore,” Dick nods.

“Wait- Since when is being a sidekick a bad thing?” Raquel demands, and you can feel the twinge in the air. “You sidekicks were my inspiration.”

“Well, see, six months ago-“ Robin explains, but he’s quickly cut off when his communicator starts to beep.

You hover over his shoulder to look at what he’s looking at and can’t help but frown. In the background, however, you can hear as Cat Grant finishes her report, “So there you have it. The world's officially a safer place!”

There are tons of questions being shot out to Superman, who was still running the press conference.

“Looks like we can’t stay,” you announce, and everyone turns to you.

“We have a mission,” Robin tacks on, and the shift is evident as we all turn to the Zeta.

SMOKEY MOUNTAINS December 30, 10:48 EST

“Are you sure it's her? I mean, are you absolutely positive?” Artemis asks, and it’s easy to pick up on her anxiety in the enclosed space of the bioship.

After the alert, you quickly got to the cave and changed before loading onto the bioship. The alert in question had been about a Cheshire spotting. After everything that’s happened in the last few months, especially in Taipei and then again in Louisiana, catching her was a top priority for the team.

“See for yourself,” Robin says, displaying the details on the screens in the bioship.

“This is the security footage from the Asheville Regional Airport. Facial recognition confirms that's Jade Nguyen,” you explain, having witnessed the details when they first came through Robin’s wrist computer. “But you've seen her without her mask. What do you think?”

Artemis stares at the screen for a second before her lips tug down, “It's Jade. Cheshire,” she confirms.

“Agreed, but focus on what she carries,” Aqualad hints. “Is that the case you saw in New Orleans? The one that got away?” He asks.

Artemis’ eyes harden, and her jaw sets, “Yes.”

“Okay, I'm guessing from the mug shot that this Cheshire's the bad guy. But what's so important about that case?” Rocket asks.

You have to bite back the urge to say you mean other than the fact that we fumbled the ball and lost it? Luckily, Robin speaks up first.

“Remember the Injustice League?” he asks, pulling up a photo of your friends from the bayou.

“And their giant evil plants? Uh, yeah,” Rocket confirms.

“Evil and Nasty plants,” you mutter lowly, glaring at the photo.

“The Team and the League put them in prison, but their allies still scheme, and whatever is in that containment case seems important to their plans,” Aqualad explains.

“We had a chance to grab it in New Orleans, but someone-“ Wally tacks on, but you interrupt him with a glare that he seems to miss as he focuses on Artemis.

“But we screwed up,” you correct. It was a team mission and the team’s attitudes and environment that culminated in what had happened. You weren’t going to place the blame squarely on Artemis.

Wally’s eyes dart to you, and you quirk a brow challengingly. He, in turn, scoffs and turns back to face the front instead.

“Approaching Cheshire's jet,” M’gann announces.

Everyone’s focus turns to the front, but when you get close enough, you let out a low gasp, and a wave of shock rolls over everyone at the scene of the downed plane. The crash had evidently been rough, but it’s a sharp note of grief that hits you that has you turning to Artemis, who is resolutely not staring at the crash anymore.

“Looks like there were no survivors,” M’gann notes, and your lips tug down as you try to assess the scene from the air.

“We need to go down,” you decide.

“NG-“ Wally’s scoff has everyone turning to you for an explanation.

“We need to check the wreckage,” you state.

“Are you serious?” Rocket asks, eyebrows raised.

“Cheshire and the case are our responsibilities, we check the wreckage,” you affirm.

It’s quiet for a moment before Kaldur speaks up, “open the hatches,” he agrees, and Wally lets out a puff of air, shaking his head, but stands up regardless.

M’gann opens a few drop hatches for those who can’t fly while the rest go ahead.

Soon enough, you’re spread out through the crash, analyzing anything you could find and looking for any indication that Cheshire was still in the plane when it went down or the case itself.

“How come Homeland Security and the N.T.S.B. Aren't all over this?” KF shouts, asking anyone.

“Cheshire's ID was a League alert,” you answer from where you’re crouched near the front of the plane, grabbing the black box and tossing it to Rob.

“Authorities didn't pick it up, and her jet didn't follow its flight plan,” Robin supplied.

“Flew under the radar, literally,” you note, standing back up.

“The Watchtower auto-tracked the jet and recorded the crash,” Robin continued.

“Then why isn't the League here?” Rocket pressed.

“Because our Boy Wonder has hacking skills and arranged to get the alert first,” Zatanna smirked. “Well that, and because Nightingale said to make it so,” she teases, gaining an eye roll from you.

“And because Cheshire and that case represent our unfinished business,” Aqualad corrects.

Superboy moves another part of the plane before asking the question that everyone had been wondering, “Where are the bodies?”

“Here's one. And it is stunning….” a voice all but purrs, grabbing everyone’s attention.

You can’t tell if you’re relieved or annoyed that Cheshire is standing tall, all in one piece, but you’re positive that this was the best outcome you could’ve hoped for, at least you were until the next voice pipped up.

“I am flora, not fauna,” the voice begins, and your gaze shifts as you spot the camouflaged ninjas along the mountainside. “I am foliage, not trees,” it continues, and your gaze keeps moving up, counting the adversaries before stopping on the man in green. “What am I?” The Riddler possesses his question, and you spot Shimmer and Mammoth behind him, too. He snaps his fingers, and suddenly, pylons are popping up from under the snow, and you groan at the realization.

Within seconds everyone is trapped underneath a green dome, “Seriously? A trap? We’re idiots,” you huff, soft enough for only Dick to hear, and he just shakes his head.

“Come on, you can get this. I am shrubbery, not grass. What am I?” The Riddler urges. “I…

“Am bush,” Robin grits, and you don’t hold back the groan that escapes this time.

“Didn't you think we'd be tipped you were on Cheshire's trail?” Riddler asked. “We're tired of your interference, kiddies. This is the end game. Ordered from above and executed by their master strategist, moi.”

You can’t help but roll your eyes. There was something about Riddler that screamed Narcissistic Personality Disorder, but that could be something you picked up from Dinah’s files.

“Miss Martian, is everyone linked?” Aqualad asks, and the second you hear him, your hands reach back to your back holster, fingers wrapping around your escrima sticks. “Yes,” she confirms, and you make brief eye contact with Dick, tilting your head slightly to indicate a direction. He responds with the same small action in confirmation. “Go!” Aqualad orders, and everyone splits up.

Zatanna makes her move first while you and Dick rush up behind and around her, “Ekahs siht ebolgwons!” (shake this snowglobe) she chants. Within your pylon-ed dome, snow flurries, creating an excellent interference from any direct attack.

The rest of the team jumps into action, using the moment of surprise and confusion to take on the ninjas.

You’ve just knocked one down when Aqualad speaks up again, “Superboy, the pylons,” he orders, and you risk a glance toward your friend with the S.

“Working on it,” he announces out loud, and you focus back on the enemies before you.

“KF-- cradle?” you inquire as you run up, behind Wally. “Ready,” he confirms, turning and dropping down, proffering his hands.

You run up and, with no hesitation, step into Wally’s grip. He’s pushing your body up a second later, giving you enough air to wail your escrima sticks down on the underprepared shadow. It’s reassuring that Wally will always have your back, even in disagreements. As he falls, knocked out, you quickly scan the rest of the battle and manage to spot as Rocket gets hit.

“Rocket’s down, she needs an assist K, and we’ve got a Shadow two tiers up, with some sort of electric disk device, looks like fatherbox tech to me,” you inform the team.

Robin quickly gets up, knocks out the Shadow, and Kaldur moves for the disk. You almost move to help him when you spot a Shadow coming up behind him, but you see M’gann moving in. You turn back to take on another Shadow, this time with Dick at your back fighting his own, but you see it when Conner launches into the air. You’re waiting for gravity to start pulling him back, but it doesn’t.

“That’s impossible,” you note as you use the electricity feature on a Shadow, who then crumples at your feet.

Robin turns his head, and his eyes widen as he stares at what you are.

“SB, you're flying!” he gasps, and your eyes widen too when you catch him using heat vision a moment later.

In his rage, he seems to miss the results of his attack. Your gaze drops, and you can see the top of Artemis’ head.

“Avalanche!” you shout into the link, hoping she’d cleared out of the way in time. You really weren’t trying to relive the Arctic in the real world. It’s silent for a moment, and then your anxiety takes over, “ARTEMIS!” you’re screaming into the link. “I’m alright!” she confirms, and you let out a breath.

Rob taps your shoulder and gestures up to where Riddler’s still standing, and you nod. The two of you make your way up, targeting Shimmer and effectively knocking her out cold with a mix of a smoke grenade, Robin’s bola, and your well-aimed punch.

With Riddler’s focus on you and Rob, Zatanna floats behind him as the smoke clears, “Tekcajtiarts!” (straightjacket!) she announces, and Riddler’s suddenly restrained, unable to get free.

“No!” he shouts. “I am not the straightjacket type! I am strictly Belle Reve not Arkham!” Riddler argues.

Zatanna huffs out a, “Gag mih!” (gag him!) effectively silencing the Riddler's little tirade.

“Hey Rob, what is broken when you name it?” you ask, a shit-eating grin on your face as you crouch down beside Riddler, who only glares at you in return.

“Silence,” Robin smirks, earning Edward Nigma’s ire.

“Hguone htiw eht ebolgwons,” (enough with the snowglobe) Zatanna’s shout echos’s across the mountain, and suddenly the snow stops.

You all quickly work on the remaining pylons before loading the bioship with Nigma and the captured Shadows.

“Cheshire?” you ask out loud.

“Gone,” Artemis confirms.

“From you? Again?” Wally challenges. “That’s like the third-“

“Enough,” Kaldur cuts in quick. “We need to drop these prisoners off at Belle Reve and return to the Cave, I imagine, the League will want a debrief and an explanation.”

“I guess it’s a good thing, I got the case, though,” Artemis adds, and you can’t help but smile at her.

MOUNT JUSTICEDecember 30, 15:45 EST

You felt like he was staring right at you. Given the whiteouts of his mask, Batman could be glaring at any of you, “Tell me if this sounds familiar. You hacked League systems, disobeyed protocol, and endangered your lives,” he pauses.

You have to fight the wince when you catch Dinah’s eye. She’s standing behind Batman with Red Tornado and Martian Man-Hunter, and she’s got an eyebrow quirked as she stares straight at you.

“And your initiative resulted in the capture of three escaped felons proving Warden Strange runs Belle Reve as a cover for criminal activity…. Well done,” he affirms, and you let out a small breath, gaze darting over to Robin, who quirks his lips in a small smile, one you match.

“And then there's this,” he adds, forcing your attention back as he and Icon approach the case that Artemis had recovered, “Bio-technology integrated with some form of nano-circuitry.”

“Though I am unfamiliar with the species, the bio-component is clearly not of Earth,” Icon confirms.

“We'll take it to the Watchtower for further study,” Batman decides, and the Leaguers head back toward the Zeta.

Canary lingers before walking over to you, mostly everyone else disperses, but you can feel Wally and Kaldur behind you, and Dick’s still at your side.

“I get the feeling that this decision was not made on your own?” she inquires, staring at you.

“I have a team,” you reply loftily. “I don’t have to make these decisions on my own.”

“No, you don’t,” she smiles gently at you, running a hand across your cheek, and then turns to the boys, “and I’m glad to know you see it too.” She says nothing but offers you a pat on the shoulder and turns to the Zeta.

As soon as Canary and Icon zeta out, you turn to the team, shoulders set, “You realize we were set up,” your tone is even, despite the worrisome nature.

“Yes,” Aqualad confirms. “Cheshire and Riddler were tipped and ready for us.”

“They knew we were looking for her, specifically,” you point out, and you can’t help the way your gut swoops.

“Not the mole thing again,” Artemis groans, and your lips turn down. How was it that Roy got to move on, but you were still battling the same demon.

“Mole thing?” Rocket asks, concerned. “Again?”

“We had intel that there was a traitor on the Team,” Wally explains, tone resigned.

“Namely, Artemis, M'gann, or me,” Conner huffs, his bravado cutting through as he steps forward with clenched fists and levels a glare at you specifically.

“It is more complicated than that,” Kaldur argues, placing a hand on Conner’s shoulder.

“And we-“ you gesture between you and Kaldur “-never said that, we only tried to look into the claim to see if it were true,” you argue.

Conner scoffs and shoves Kaldur’s hand away, turning to leave, “But your recent behavior does concern me,” Kaldur adds, following after him. “Your attack on Mammoth nearly got Artemis killed.”

Conner doesn’t respond, though he does stop for a moment. When he winces, your brow furrows, “Conner?” you call cautiously.

“There’s something I need to do,” Conner says, turning back to face you, but his tone is wholly different. “Something I need to tell you,” he admits, and you shift as you pick up the unease of everyone in the room. “Last month, on Thanksgiving, I went back to CADMUS and found a few things out.” Your eye twitches slightly at the mention of CADMUS, but you fight to keep your expression neutral. “When I was cloned, only half the DNA was Superman’s. The other half was human,” he admits, and there’s a shift from everyone else. “That's why I don't have, will never have, full Kryptonian powers.”

Your brow furrows, thinking about what you’d seen today, “You sure? Because you sure seemed to have them today,” Robin teases, voicing your thoughts.

“I've been using these,” Conner says, pulling up his sleeve and showing a patch, “Shields. They suppress my human DNA. I get the flight, the heat-vision, but I think I also get angry. Well, angrier… I’m… sorry,” he explains and only one question comes to mind.

“Conner, where did you get those?” you ask, voice lethal.

Conner winces at the question and your tone but meets your gaze. There’s an honesty there that hasn’t existed in a while, a calmness that stems from finally unloading the truth, “From my human father… Lex Luthor.”

There’s an audible intake of breath from someone behind you, and everyone’s eyes are blowing wide, but you? You’re fuming because if Lex Luthor had that much reach, it meant he must have been the silent bankroller for CADMUS, which in turn means Lex Luthor was responsible for the death of your parents, and that? That was not something you’d be letting go of, not now, not ever.

“Lex Luthor, is your dad?” Dick asks. The surprise is evident, and if not for the topic, it would’ve been a moment to commemorate, catching the Boy Wonder off guard.

“He's summoned me to Santa Prisca,” Conner continues.

The silence is deafening. Your shoulders tense as you try to gather your thoughts, and as you open your mouth to say something about Conner’s decision to keep these things secret, Artemis speaks up.

“Ahhh, listen,” she sighs. “Superboy’s not the only one suffering from bad DNA,” she admits, and you tense further, turning to look at the blond. She pulls up three IDs on the holo-computer before beginning. “My mother is Huntress, an ex-con. The rest of my family aren't even ex. My dad's Sportsmaster, and he's sending my sister, Cheshire, to fly me to Santa Prisca, too.”

You gape at the screen, but it all makes sense: her need to prove something, her secrets, her mother’s desperation, even the reason why Cheshire always seemed to escape when up against Artemis.

“That's why-“ Wally’s voice cracks, and you’re hit with a wave of understanding and regret from the speedster as he stares at the archer.

“Yeah,” she mutters. “I was so desperate to make sure none of you found out. “

“I knew you weren’t GAs niece, but-“ you mumble but stop as eyes shift to you.

“I knew,” Dick negates, and Artemis’ eyes blow wide, and you can’t help but gape at him. “Hey, I'm a detective!” he defends but quirks a smile, “But it never mattered. You aren't your family. You're one of us,” he reminds her.

“You always have been,” you manage to choke out, “nothing to prove,” you remind her, and you can see how the tension melts away from her.

Wally pushes forward and stops beside her. He hesitates on what to say but eventually settles for a small smile, propping an arm on her shoulder and jokingly asking, “So who's next?”

“I am,” comes the somber response from M’gann, and for the first time since the start of these revelations, you watch as she seems to curl up into herself.

“I swear I was kidding,” Wally says desperately, hands up in surrender.

“Queen Bee's been blackmailing me. She wants me in Santa Prisca too,” she admits.

“Blackmailing?” Kaldur repeats as if he hadn’t heard her correctly.

“How?” you press. Your voice is rough, and you notice how M’gann’s not the only one to flinch at it.

“She knows my… true… Martian form,” M’gann admits, but the way she says it makes it seem heavier than your first instinct.

“Bald M'gann? Who cares if-“ Robin wants to make a joke, to lighten the mood, but M’gann cuts him off, and before she shifts, you know why: Bald M’gann had been another cover for a secret she hadn’t been ready to share.

“No,” she interrupts, taking a deep breath before shifting.

If you thought the reactions to Luthor being Conner’s human dad were extreme, it was nothing to how almost everyone reacted to M’gann’s true form. She stood before you, a towering creature, a White Martian. While your information was limited, you had enough to assemble a theory.

You fought not to react, to stand firm and impassive beside Kaldur, just as he did. The only other person not to react was Conner.

There’s a whispered “woah” from Rocket as everyone else releases startled gasps.

“I realized you would never accept me if you saw what I really am,” M’gann tells us, and you ache for her. You struggled sometimes balancing Nightingale and (y/n) Roxo. You couldn’t imagine having kept your true self a secret from everyone, having no one to turn to. It had to have been incredibly draining and lonely… so lonely. Your anger was fading with each revelation, but there was one point where you were still stuck.

“M’gann, did we truly seem so shallow?” Kaldur inquires, and though he sounds the same, you can hear the hurt in his words, the edge you recognize as him questioning his abilities in setting the tone of his leadership.

M’gann crosses her arms, her gaze cast down. Dinah called that stance protecting by avoidance, “I couldn't take a chance,” M’gann admits. “Being a white Martian among the green on Mars, I endured constant rejection….I couldn't face that from-“

“From me?” Conner asks, carefully stepping forward and taking her hand.

The way they stare at each other is enough to tell that they are now having a more private conversation. Dick takes the opportunity to grab your shoulder, forcing you to turn to him, Kaldur doing the same.

“Now might be a good time for anyone else to share secrets regarding CADMUS,” he hints, and your lips part- he hadn’t even bothered to whisper.

“What are you talking about?” Zatanna’s question echoes from behind him, but you standing stock still, staring at him.

“You must be joking,” you hiss as you shrug out of Dick’s grip.

“C’mon, Birdy,” he urges, and you feel Kaldur’s hand on your shoulder.

You shrug off Kaldur, too, before spinning on your heel, pushing past Artemis and Wally and to the computer. Your hands shake a bit while you type, but you pull up everything you have; the news article about your parent’s death, the report on your blood from Dinah and Bruce, and the readings on the genomorphs at CADMUS. You take a deep breath before turning back to everyone now looking at you and at everything you’ve pulled up, eyes jumping between each article and report.

You sniff before reaching into a compartment of your belt and pulling out a mask adhesive dissolution wipe. When you start pulling at your mask, there are a few wide eyes, and when your glare lands on Robin, all he does is smile in return.

“My name is (y/n) Roxo, and when I was six years old, I witnessed the murder of my parents,” you begin. Everyone but Kaldur and Robin focus on you with lips parted and wide eyes. “They were Wayne Enterprises scientists, brilliant actually. They noticed some discrepancies with a project in the labs, cover-ups, and false reports. One had to do with an instance when I was in their lab and was accidentally exposed to whatever the project had been focused on,” You begin. “When we went to CADMUS on the Fourth of July, something about the genomorphs seemed familiar. I later discovered that’s because when I was young, I was exposed to a replication of their abilities, the beginnings of the research that led to the cloning capabilities. It’s what gave me the empath abilities and why J’onn thinks I could manifest further powers, just like the genomorphs have,” you explain.

“Which is why you looked like you were about to whip out some kryptonite when SB here said Luthor was his dad,” Artemis pieced, gaze jumping toward you and Conner. “Because CADMUS-“

“Because CADMUS is his project, and he funded, orchestrated- he was responsible for my parents murder,” you affirm, eyes meeting Conner’s.

“Holy shit,” Wally mumbled, and you couldn’t help but agree.

Conner was staring straight at you despite how focused he had been on M’gann only moments before. His blue eyes were wide as he stared straight at you, his lips parted but closed, and then his expression shifted as he took in the rage in your eyes and again when he saw the hurt. His shoulders sag slightly, and he slowly takes steps forward until he is right in front of you.

“I- I’m so sorry, Bir- (y/n),” he stutters over your name for a second, and you want to hold onto the anger. You want to be mad at him, but his eyes are so open and honest with you right now, and you’re reminded of the Conner who saved you from Cadmus back in July, the one who wanted to do good, to be good.

“It’s not okay, but I don’t… I don’t blame you,” the fact that your blame fell squarely on Lex Luthor went without saying.

He offers a curt nod, “a problem for later?” he adds quietly, and you give a silent nod in affirmation.

“So uh.. I know I’m new, but what now?” Rocket asked, and everyone’s eyes jumped from person to person, waiting for someone to speak up.

“We know that CADMUS has played a much larger role than any of us anticipated when we began this team six months ago, and we know that Superboy, Artemis, and Miss Martian are all expected at Santa Prisca,” Kaldur begins, and everyone’s attention shifts to him. “So we go as a team. Prepared for whatever they may throw at us. The backroom deals and secret alliances end today.”

SANTA PRISCADecember 30, 17:57 ECT

“Superboy’s about to make contact,” M’gann’s voice echoes as everyone focuses on the exchange.

You and Robin were in the bioship with M’gann. At the same time, Kaldur, Wally, Rocket, and Zatanna had taken discreet positions on the island, each of you waiting for the call.

You could feel Robin staring at the back of your head, but you ignored him instead of focusing on what was happening on the ground below you.

“Welcome, Superboy,” Lex Luthor’s voice sets you on edge the second you hear it. Still, you force yourself to watch as Suberboy dismounts the Supercycle. “I'd like to introduce you to my associate, Queen Bee.”

Even though it was expected, your heart begins to speed up a bit in reaction to the developments, “My pleasure,” she greets.

“I believe you know everyone else. Sportsmaster, Mercy, Blockbuster. And our new friend Bane, who's allowed us use of his island in exchange for certain considerations,” Luthor introduces as everyone around him steps forward.

“No one wanted to listen when I said following Bane was a bad idea, and here we are,” you huff into the link, but the rest are silent.

“So the Injustice League was just a distraction. You two have been behind everything from the start,” Conner surmises, painting his expression with shock.

“Heh, a flattering notion, son, but we have many friends,” Luthor sidesteps, and your skin crawls at the way he calls SB son.

“This one of your friends now?” Conner asks as a helicopter begins to approach and then as it lands.

“No, my boy,” Luthor smirks. “One of yours.”

Conner glares at the copter until the door slides open, “Artemis?” the name rings out with a tone of shock, and you roll your shoulders, trying to force yourself to relax.

To her credit, she plays her role well, “The hero thing wasn't working out. You get how it is. No trust,” she scoffs, seemingly indifferent to the developments around her. “This is where I belong,” she adds, and you flinch.

“You’re up, Miss M,” you announce, and she backs the bioship up a bit, making a circle around the island and de-camouflaging the bioship before parking it in the air above the group.

“It's a fast-growing club,” Queen B announces as M’gann descends to the ground.

You reach for the rope, securing yourself to the repeller in preparation for when you’ll all be making your move.

“So… you’re just going to ignore me?” he asks cautiously.

Your glare sharpens in his direction, but it’s difficult to make out with your mask back.

“I know you’re upset that I-“

“Upset? Dick, I’m furious, you pushed me into revealing things they didn’t need to know! Things I trusted you enough to share about, privately!”

“They needed to know!” he argues. “(y/n) you consistently come to the rescue, you throw your life on the line for us, you did it in the Bayou, you did it for Wally in Seattle, you did it last week for me in the Circus. You do it all the time, because you know these things about everyone, you know when they need the support, but no one- outside of Kaldur and I, even had the slightest inclination. They needed to know, because today is more than the conspiracy of the last six months. Today could be the end, of it all, for you. Today could be the answers you’ve been looking for since Dinah took you in.”

“It wasn’t your call to make,” you hiss.

“No, it wasn’t. But this team fights better, fights stronger, when it’s united, and you’ve always been able to make us get our shit together better than anyone else can,” he sighs.

You glare at him but refuse to respond, and his shoulders drop.

“Why are they here?” M’gann’s startled gasp forces you both to look back to the ground from your spots within the ship. “You promised!” she cries.

“I’ve kept your secret and my promise,” Queen B argues, tone deadly. “Now, you keep yours,” when M’gann ducks her head, the monarch smirks, “Good girl.”

“Give me more shields, and I'm in, too,” Conner decides, and your lips twitch down. Espionage was not his forte.

Luthor walks closer and stares at Conner briefly before smirking, “My boy, you're a terrible liar.”

Conner’s eyes blow wide before winding back for an attack. However, before he can, Luthor plays his card, “Red Sun.”

Conner does well with his role. His entire body relaxes, face falling flat, arms hanging limply at his side as he stands straight with a muted expression, staring at Luthor.

“What do you want us to do?” Artemis asks, stepping forward, prodding the meeting along.

Luthor nods his head once, and Sportsmaster gestures to Artemis and M’gann. “You two, follow me.”

“What about Superboy?” M’gann asks, eyes sliding to Queen B.

“He'll be fine. He simply requires a few adjustments…” she trails off.

Everyone but Superboy begins to follow after Sportsmaster, “Bring him along,” Luthor orders, and Blockbuster moves toward Conner.

Your breath catches as you wait to see what happens. You’d all agreed that it’d be Artemis, M’gann, or Conner’s call on when to move, given they were the three in the thick of it. So when Artemis starts running forward, bow in hand before shooting at Blockbuster, trapping him for the moment, before turning around and aiming at her father.

“Sorry, Dad. Wanted to play you like you tried to play me but I can't let them mess with Superboy's head!” she shouted.

“M'gann, be a dear and take Artemis down,” Queen B orders.

You look at Rob as you both step up to the drop-hole.

You let out an audible groan as you stare at the boy across from you, “After,” is all you say.

He nods in affirmation, “milkshakes?” and you nod in agreement.

M’gann lifts Artemis in the air but then uses the distraction to fling Queen B backward and into a tree. She falls to the ground unconscious, and you wait for the verbal confirmation. Artemis shoots a shot at her dad, and then M’gann lets her down.

“Queen Bee is down,” M’gann confirms. “Superboy, you're safe from her control.”

"I may not be much of a liar, but I fooled you,” Conner announced as he approached Luthor.

“And I'm so proud,” Lex states sarcastically. “I take it Miss Martian cleaned Red Sun from your mind?”

“And confirmed Nightingale, Aqualad, Robin and Kid Flash rescued me from Cadmus before you had time to install any other programming,” Conner shoots back.

Luthor sighs, “All true. Personally, I blame Dr. Desmond.”

As if verbally queued, Blockbuster frees himself from Artemis’ trap, charging at Superboy.

You observe as Bane’s goons start engaging, and the supercycle quickly lays down cover fire while SB gets busy with Blockbuster.

Artemis and M’gann alternate between defense and offense until, “Guys, reinforcement time,” the blonde calls.

Rocket and Wally are the first two to make it to everyone, and you glance at Rob, “Ready?”

“Go,” he confirms, and you both drop-down, trusting the rope and the bioship as you go. You yank the stop when you’re only a few feet off the ground, and both you and Robin stop abruptly before releasing yourselves, dropping to the ground and landing agilely on your feet.

You take a second to scan your surroundings. You spot Kaldur facing off with Luthor and his assistant, an unconscious Queen B in his arms. You turn instead to take on some of the goons. You and Rob were methodical in knocking down person after person, you hear the cocking of a gun behind you, and you turn with wide eyes,

“Ekoms dna srorrim!” (smoke and mirrors!) Zatanna chants and the gun turns to smoke, which then turns into a giant serpent, winding its way around the goon’s body. “Egnahc ekans otni sgnidnib!” (change snake into bindings); she continues, and the snake becomes a rope.

You’re frozen in surprise for a second, but that’s knocked away when Bane appears and charges at Robin, Zatanna, and you simultaneously.

“Shit!” you manage to grit out in surprise.

Your hands start moving blindly, a hand going to your hip where your grapple is. You quickly twist the cord out of the gun before whipping it and your arm out to the side in an arc. The tensile strength of the cable is enough to stop Bane as he falls forward with the three of you.

You and Rob push him off and to the side. Robin covers you while you quickly peek at Zatanna, who seems knocked out. You look up in time to see Bane get back up and start fighting with Robin. You're on your feet when he gets pushed back, facing off against Bane.

“Hola Chicita, it’s been some time,” he teases, head tilting down at you.

“Not nearly long enough, Bane,” you huff.

“Etaerc Elagnithgin Snoisulli!” (create nightingale illusions) Zatanna’s rushed chant whips through you, and you can feel the prickle of her magic as it washes over you, and suddenly, there are dozens of you all facing Bane.

Bane’s surprise is visible as he scans each and every duplicate of you. "Gotta love an army of NG,” Rob smirks as he pushes himself up.

You smirk in return and pull out your ring daggers, several duplicates doing the same or arming themselves with escrima sticks and marble bombs before you’re all running at Bane. He gets distracted by the ones jumping up at him directly and misses when the true you slip around him with one of your blades out. You cut through his tubes of Venom, weakening him. Then you turn with an escrima stick crackling with electricity and plant it firmly at the base of his neck, watching with satisfaction as it brings him to his knees and then as he collapses.

You pull back, and with the moment you have, you take in a deep lungful of air, finally able to breathe. As you look around, you realize the fighting has stopped. Artemis and KF are standing by an unconscious and tar-trapped Sportsmaster. Superboy, Miss M, and Rocket are posted up by Blockbuster. You stare down at Bane as you realize who isn’t still here, and Robin joins you a second later.

“NG?” his voice is hesitant, as he notices how you’re gripping your escrima stick and dagger, your body tense, as you stare at Bane.

“He got away,” your voice cracks as you say it, and your fists clench tighter. "Luthor-"

When Robin touches your shoulder, you both recoil quickly; his lips part as he stares at you and his hand.

“I.. I felt-“

“I’m sorry,” you whisper, tugging on all the strings threatening to burst free, trying to cram your emotions back in their place to keep them from leaking out and affecting everyone around you. You drop your weaponry, hugging yourself as you try to compact your feelings.

A different hand lands on your shoulder. When you turn your head, you see Kaldur beside you. You can feel yourself unraveling just as fast as you attempt to stuff it all down.

“Stop,” you say as you attempt to shrug him off.

“It is okay to feel angry, my friend,” he reminds you, eyes burning with the same rage you feel, and you know in that second that it is the same rage, it is your rage, that he’s taking it on, for you.

“Kaldur, stop, that’s not- you shouldn’t-“ you huff, but with each move back, he follows, until suddenly he’s holding you in a tight hug, and you can’t move anymore. “Stop,” you beg, gripping on to his arms.

“Allow us to help, epitrépste mou na sikóso aftó to város. stiríxou páno mou, chrisimopoíise ti dýnamí mou, méchri na anaktíseis ti dikí sou. Eímai statherós, paliós fílos. (let me carry this burden. lean on me, use my strength, until you regain your own. I am steady, old friend).”

His words wash over you, and you finally do that. You stop pushing against the bits that are bleeding. You can feel Kaldur stiffen when he finally feels the whole barrage of your emotions, but quickly, he tightens his hold on you. When tears start to fall from both of you, all you can do is sag into him in relief.

“Den eínai díkaio. Xéfyge. Tha éprepe na eínai edó. Tha éprepe na logodotísei gia ta enklímatá tou, ton rólo tou. Échoun fýgei kai eínai exaitías tou. Eímai tóso kourasménos kai tóso thymoménos, to niótho óli tin óra kai prospathó tóso sklirá na min to afíso éxo. Allá giatí eínai eléftheros?” (It's not fair. He got away. He should be here. He should have to answer for his crimes, his role. They're gone and it’s because of him. I am so tired and so angry, I feel it all the time, and I try so hard not to let it out. But why does he get to be free?) the words tumble from your lips in sobs of atlantean.

Part of the truth you’re admitting was too raw to admit to everyone else, none of the sidekicks had ever seen your anger, your rage— Kaldur had. Kaldur was the one who he lped you learn how to manage it. He was the one who taught you, the one who showed you how to channel it into something better.

“Thýmose, Poulí, tha diatiríso tin isorropía kai gia tous dýo,” (Be angry, Bird, I will maintain the balance for us both) he answers, his voice as calm as ever, and you can’t help but marvel at him, how he can hold your anger, your hurt, your rage, but present as calm, and keep it from seeping out when you can’t do anything but make a mess.

You know the team’s watching. You know they’re concerned and want to tell them it’s okay, that you’re okay, but you’re not. You know that. Dinah would know what to say and how to tell the team that they did a good job and that they should enjoy the win, but you can’t. You can’t tell them that you can’t enjoy it, not when the mastermind of it all managed to escape.

Quietly, Kaldur helps you back onto the Bioship. Vaguely, you hear the conversations happening around you.

“It is always like this,” Rocket scoffs, dropping into her seat.

“Told you,” Wally chimes, but you can feel his gaze on you.

“Hey, disaster averted. Feeling the aster,” Robin muses as he settles next to you but keeps a distance.

“Agreed, this has been a good day,” Kaldur nods, fists clenched as he turns to you, “but it is not the end.”

“No,” you ground out in confirmation, and you can feel the promise in his words, “it’s not.”

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lovelywritersgarden · 1 year

Text

GLITCHED

PAIRING: Dick Grayson x Fem!Reader

SYNOPSIS: Y/N L/N, codename 'Metis' has always been extremely intelligent. Because of this, she was immediately placed under the watchful eye of the big bad bat. She was recruited for a team of specialized teenagers a 'Young Justice' as their technical analyst, 'girl behind the chair' , or their 'Tech Support'- hilarious.

STATUS: In Progress

Young Justice: Season 1

Table of Contents

Chapter 00: Prologue

Chapter 01: Welcome to Happy Harbor

Chapter 02: Drop-Zone

Chapter 03: Schooled

Chapter 04: Infiltrator

Chapter 05: Denial

Chapter 06: Downtime

Chapter 07: Bereft

Chapter 08: Targets

Chapter 09: Terrors

Chapter 10: Homefront

Chapter 11: Alpha Male

Chapter 12: Revelation

Chapter 13: Humanity

Chapter 14: Failsafe

Chapter 15: Disordered

Chapter 16: Secrets

Chapter 17: Misplaced

Chapter 18: Coldhearted

Chapter 19: Image

Chapter 20: Agendas

Chapter 21: Insecurity

Chapter 22: Performance

Chapter 23: Usual Suspects

Chapter 24: Auld Acquaintances

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

A/N: Hey guys! I hope you are ready to dive right into the first season of Young Justice! I love the 'girl behind the chair' idea and can't wait to make Y/N a part of it! I will be updating soon, keep your eyes peeled! <3 Thank you!

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ynbabe · 7 months

Note

if you do requests.

Can you please do one with young justice x shy reader who can open portal. Like Claire from trolls hunter.

You can ignore this.

Hiii of course! thank you for the request! and omg i remember that show it was so good!!

Word count: 190

Genre: one-shot, request

Warnings: none

Pg rating: All

No gender specified

There was something different about the magic that you did and the magic Zatana and even Constantine did. The team couldn't place it but there was something about your magic, something dark and disturbing.

That's why M'gann never stayed in the same room as the young magician, she knew she wasn't supposed to read her team's mind but something about them made her skin crawl so she had to and never had she heard so much noise. Just utter cacophony, like the inside of a hurricane. It sounded like there were two voices screaming at each other.

But other than M'gann's aversion no one else had any problems with the kid, they did their work, wrote the reports, went back home and came back to repeat the same the next day.

The kids didn't mind him either, in Canary's sessions all they had to say about them was that their power was super cool (Kid Flash), they were hardworking(Aqualad) and they were really quiet(Robin).

All in all, they all got along together even though Y/n was shy and kept to themselves, they always had each other's back on the field.

#dc #dc x reader #dc x y/n #dick grayson #young justice x gn reader #young justice x reader #young justice x male reader #kid flash #aqualad #black canary #mgann morzz #miss martian

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am-i-obsessed---maybe · 5 months

Text

Disordered (Shadow Of A Bluejay Ch.9)

Whoooo, angst (light angst but angst) in general it's a shorter chapter because it's mostly reformatted from Shadow Of A Bluebird seeing as it covered much of the same ground.

My current plan is three more chapters (including the finale) and a few more mini chapters to cover the remaining episodes and milestones we need to hit to be ready for the finale one of which is gonna be Blue's first time meeting their fellow sidekicks!

Wordcount: 1.2k

Series masterpost

Mount Justice October 23, 17:30 EDT

It’d been a week since Batman put you and the team through a train for failure mission. A week to sit on everything that occurred in the increasingly horrifying experience where no matter what you did the situation kept getting worse. You refused to speak after the exercise. You didn’t leave the cave. You simply trained, and trained and trained while rerunning what had happened in the exercise in your mind.

Simulation Alien Mothership October 16th

Artemis was dead. Kaldur was dead. Connor was dead. Dinah was dead. Ollie was dead. Roy was probably either dead or dying and you felt anger that you haven’t felt in a very long time. You were full of rage, rage that bubbled under your skin as your friends and everyone who tried to help them died before your eyes and it bubbled until you reached the boiling point.

Once you, Robin, Kid Flash, Miss Martian and Martian Manhunter were almost out of the mothership. Almost saved the world you snapped. Not at your allies but at the aliens that surrounded you. The strange bug like creatures surrounded your and you let your anger take control and you stormed the Aliens, screaming a battle cry.

“How dare you?! You killed Artemis! You killed Dinah! You killed Ollie! You killed everyone, and I’m going to make your deaths painful!” You sneered, you jumped into action. Muscle memory took control and almost every blow you landed hit hard. Energy consumed your veins and you began zapping or electrocuting the aliens, it was unclear to you. It didn’t matter though and your rage filled alien murder spree continued. Robin forced the Martians to escape and joined your fight only for you to be zapped by an alien he was fighting.

That’s when you woke up. You looked around, you listened to the explanation and all you could do was look down at your slightly shaking hands in guilt.

You stayed away from the rest of the team after that, refusing to talk to anyone. The only person you talked to was Dinah and only to tell her you were fine and didn’t wanna talk about it.

Mount Justice October 23rd

Kaldur had gone in to see Dinah, Connor and Artemis already spoke to her and M'gann felt too bad to look any of you in the eyes. all had left the room, leaving only you, Robin and Wally sitting in the lounge.

The TV was black and silent and the three of you just sat there.

The three of you had all "died" together in the simulation. Wally was your best friend and Robin was his and leaving you three alone well...

"Blue, your floating again" Wally said. He sat on the couch opposite you.

"Sorry, my mind was drifting" You said, falling back onto the couch with a lack of grace the two had never seen before.

"This is awful" Robin said.

"Do you ever think, maybe we shouldn't be doing this?" You asked.

"What do you mean?" Wally asked.

"I know we're the good guys but maybe we're too dangerous to be so freely fighting, I mean, you saw how quickly all of us became soldiers in there" You said.

"Is this because of that weird laser thing you did on the mothership?" Wally asked.

"It's because we're dangerous! Because if we're not careful, if we don't control ourselves we could so easily hurt so many people" You said.

"I mean, Wally you could theoretically break the sound barrier, and Robin and I could kill someone with just our bare hands" Yo looked down at your hands.

"Is it really safe for the people around to us to be around us?" You asked.

"Of course it is" Robin said.

"Yeah, we'd never do anything to hurt anyone" Wally added.

"But it would be so easy for us" You said.

"Is this because of your um... meltdown in the simulation?" Robin aske.

"No, just forget it" You said, getting up and walking out.

Mount Justice October 23, 20:03 EDT

You sat in front of her in a green chair and took off your glasses.

“I’m glad you chose to come talk to me Y/N” She said and you laughed dryly.

“As if I could ever escape it” You joked but Dinah stayed silent, waiting for you to speak. She knew you. She knows you. She knows that those dry, sarcastic jokes are a sign you’re going to open up.

“It was weird at first. I didn’t feel bad after seeing you and Ollie disintegrate but when Artemis died, or when we thought she did this feeling in my chest just appeared. Like a promise or an oath I had to uphold.” You explained and Dinah nodded. “And what was that promise?” She asked, you answered, though still didn’t look up from your hands.

“To get revenge. To painfully tear apart those who killed her… And you and Ollie.” You answered truthfully and finally looked up at her. “And I did. I killed them, so many of them.” Your voice started to shake and you looked back at your hands.

“Did you try to hurt them when you killed them?” She asked and you nodded.

“I wanted to— I did enjoy seeing them squirm as I did it. And seeing them all explode, it just felt…” A single sob escaped you. “It just felt right.” You confessed and you looked down at your rapidly shaking hands. “I promised— I said I’d never do it again. I’d never take a life like that again, but I felt good as I did it.” Warm tears began to flow down your face but you didn’t try to wipe them. You simply stared at your hands, trying to stop the shaking by tightly gripping your knees and Dinah simply sat. Waiting for you to feel good enough to continue.

"You're not at fault Y/N" Dinah said.

"Aren't I though? Four years of progress and yet all it took for me to snap was some stress" You said.

"It wasn't just stress. M'gann's mental state infected you. You thought you lost everything. In a situation like that regressing is natural" She said.

"It's not just that, between the mission in Bialiya, my mission with Roy and this, it feels like, like it's all coming back to haunt me." You told Dinah, though that wasn't the whole truth. You didn't tell Dinah about your meeting with Lady Lilith. You didn't tell anyone that.

"Is it really coming back to haunt you or are you scared it will? Your past will always be there Y/N but you have friends, close friends who care about you. Maybe it's time you told them at least some of it" Dinah said.

"No!" You yelled.

"Absolutely not. They'll hate me" You said.

"Y/N, we classified your file to keep you and everyone around you safe but it's been four years and they haven't come after you. perhaps it's time we think about declassifying some of it?" Dinah suggested.

"No. Not yet." You said and reluctantly Dinah nodded.

"Whatever you decide. You set the pace." she said.

The next week was rough, Canary let you off school and you spent a lot of time in the cave and with Roy. Ollie wasn’t joking when he said that even Roy was worried and he came by to help you try and return to normal while you coped. You were incredibly grateful for the distractions and to spend more time with him. It had been four months since he went solo and in that time you didn’t get the chance to hang out like you used to before. Unfortunately not everything was going great.

#reader insert #dc x reader #gn reader #gender neutral reader #yj x gender neutral reader #yj x reader #young justice x reader #metahuman reader #dick grayson #wally west #kid flash #aqualad #robin #dinah lance #black canary

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simpforfandoms · 1 year

Text

Bereft

The long-awaited part 3. Ima be honest I legit forgot the plot so I had to reread it and I found so many spelling mistakes and plot holes. I'll re-edit them once I have time anyways hope you like it!

word count: 4444 (wow it's an angel number)

pairing: yj!dick grayson x fem!reader

summary: Robin and reader wake up in a dessert without memories of the last 6 months. Feelings emerge.

warnings: probably a few spelling errors and maybe a slight description of feeling overwhelmed

masterlist

series masterlist

Bialya, September 4, 00:16 EEST

They say there are two things that bring people closer together. The first is marriage, for obvious reasons. The second is death. But has anyone ever taken into consideration waking up in a desert, god knows where next to the boy wonder? Yeah. That is your current predicament.

Groaning, you sit up, a splitting headache consumes you, what happened? You hear words coming from beside you but your to out of it to fully intake them.

Suddenly your being shaken and a face comes into your view. You squint, trying to make out their features but can only see tan skin and black hair.

“Dick?” You question.

The figure stops and moves back almost in shock.

“…What?” The figure murmurs

As your eyes finally adjust, you regain your vision.

“Oh you’re Robin.” He lets out a silent groan of relief, weird,. You intake your surroundings, seeing a desert and some soldiers in the distance. “Where are we?”

“Bialya.” He says

“Oh.”

“What is the last thing you remember?”

You think. You were eating lunch with your best friend, Dick, then you woke up in Bialya.

“I was eating lunch at school”

“What date was that?”

“Like March 7th or something, I don’t know” You question.

“It's September." He states.

What.

That can't be.

"No, no, no," You shake your head in disbelief. You had so many things you wanted to do. A million thoughts flood your head. If this is what it’s like being a hero maybe you weren’t cut out for it. Time travel was not on your agenda. You never thought that would happen. You become overwhelmed.

Robin seems to notice this, and puts a comforting hand on your shoulder.

“Hey It’s okay, I’m gonna figure this out. Okay?” He says in a gentle manner.

You nod your head in agreement. He stands up and offers you a hand. You gratefully take it and dust off all the sand from your uniform. Whatever emotion robin had shown previously is gone now. He is now determined to figure what the hell is going on. He pulls out his wrist watch thingy and starts pushing a lot of buttons.

“I have this place” he points towards it on his map looking back to make sure you see it, “marked on my gps. I think I should go there while you stay here. It could be dangerous.”

You laugh in disbelief, “no way. I’m going with you. It’s probably more dangerous for me to stay here,” you point to the soldiers in the distance.

“You have a canary cry though. You can protect yourself.” He says.

“No I don’t.”

“Seriously?” He raises an eyebrow.

You roll your eyes, “dead.”

“Oh..” he pauses trying to find the words, “come with me.”

You scoff, crossing your arms, “no.”

“You’d rather stay all alone, for good knows how long, then just go with me?”

You groan, “fine I’ll go. But only because I have a fear of missing out.”

He chuckles at this. He mutters a ‘c’mon’ and you gladly follow. Walking to god knows where.

…

After a little while, you get bored. No talking has happened and your feet ache.

You decide to break the silence, “What’s your secret identity?”

He turns his head to look you in the face, to see if your serious, once he got his answer he turned back continuing the journey.

“I can’t tell you that.”

You sigh, “C’mon I promise I won’t tell anyone, it will be our little secret.” You pick up your pace so you can be side by side with him.

“No.” He states.

“Fine, I’ll just use my amazing detective skills to figure it out.”

He laughs, “by all means, try.”

You stop him and turn him towards you, getting a good look at his face. You put your hand to your chin, in order to let him know that you’re thinking. Dark hair, tan skin, a dimple on the right side of his face.

“What are you doing?”

“Seeing what you look like”

Though you can’t see his eyes, you know he rolls his eyes. He then turns back and continues walking.

“You look like a Tim. Is that your name?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

A moment of silence.

“Ok that isnt gonna work, so how about I cut you a deal?”

He hums.

“I tell you mine and then you tell me yours.”

He laughs again, “you have to see the fault in that. What if I just let you tell me yours but I don’t tell you mine.”

You shrug, “that’s a chance I’m willing to take.”

He turns his head to you to raid an eyebrow, “you’re gonna tell a random stranger, you barley know, you’re most sacred secret?”

“Ehhh the truth always gets out eventually. No point in trying to prolong that.”

He turns his head back, and mumbles a “I guess”

“So we have a deal then?”

He stays silent.

“I take that as a yes.”

“Whatever you want Kid Canary.”

You roll your eyes.

“Okay prepare to be absolutely catastrophicly stunned.”

He chuckles.

“My name is Y/n Lance.”

He stops dead in his tracks.

“Wow I was joking about the being stunned part.” You laugh.

How could he not piece it together before? You were his best friend but yet he didn’t know that you were kid canary. He has spent almost every waking minute with you. What a friend he is. He’d expect you not to know he was Robin, but him? He’s the protege of the worlds greatest detective. He should’ve known. He’s suddenly over come by urge to protect you more than he ever has before. To keep you safe at any cost. He’s worried. This life isn’t for you. He doesn’t want this for you

“Robin!” You yell.

He grunts in pain.

“Did you just slap me?!?!”

“Yeah you weren’t responding. You had like a hundred mile stare. I didn’t think telling you my name would effect you THAT much.” You explain as you step back.

He pauses trying to find what to say. That he knows you? That you’re his best friend? No that would comprise his identity. Bruce would kill him. “No it’s not that” he notices it beginning to get dark, “it’s uh about to be night we should probably get some rest.”

“You sure that’s a good idea, because once it’s night in the desert temperatures dramatically drop and when you sleep your body temperature drops so we could like die?”

He sighs, “either that or we can continue walking and be to exhausted to fight any bad guys we might encounter.”

You contemplate it. “Ok. We’ll take turns sleeping, if one of us starts shaking the other one wakes them.”

“Sounds like a plan. You sleep first.” He states.

“No way I have a fear of sleeping on sand.”

He scoffs.

“You have a fear of everything don’t you?”

“Oh my god oh my god oh my god, I’m gonna die” you whisper into Robin’s chest. “Oh calm down Kid Canary you’re fine, look we’re safe on an edge,” Kid Flash says. But you’re still holding onto Robin for dear life trying not to fall off the edge. “I swear to god if we don’t get out of this elevator soon-“. Robin laughs, interrupting you, “I’ve never meant a sidekick who’s afraid of heights”. “I’m not afraid of heights I’m afraid of falling” you respond. “I figured that, as you are literally giving me a bruise by holding on to me” You mumble a quiet ‘shut up’.

You laugh.

“You’re afraid of heights.” He states, almost like a question.

“No I’m afraid of falling.” You yawn. “How did you know?”

“I don’t know. I think I just remembered something”

You sit down, patting the sand beside you as to signal him to sit down, “do tell boy wonder.”

Instinctively he sits down beside you.

“We were in a elevator shaft”

“Ooooo romantic”

He tries not to notice the blush creeping up.

“No not like that. Kid flash was there.”

“I haven’t seen that guy in forever. Miss him. Love that dude.”

He doesn’t miss the pinge of jealousy that erupts in him. “Will you just let me finish?”

“Oh yeah sorry. I’m just tired and when I’m tired I get like really talkative and bold. My friend, actually best friend, Dick, I know his name is kinda misleading because he’s not a dick he’s actually really nice, his parents kinda set him up for failure by naming him that but to be fair his full name is Richard but his parents nicknamed him Dick cause they’re old timey. But it’s okay he embraces it. anyways he always tells me how I do that when I'm tired but he doesn't know that I know that he finds it funny.” you rant

He laughs. “How about you just go to sleep and I’ll tell you later?”

You yawn, once again, and move your body to where your head is on his lap and the rest of your body is in the sand, “no I want to hear.”

“You were holding on to me for dear life because you didn’t want to fall, and I said that I never met a sidekick that’s afraid of heights. Then you said” he paused to mimic your voice, “I’m not afraid of heights I’m afraid of falling."

You sit up, appalled, "I do not sound like that!"

“Yeah yeah, just go to sleep.”

“Fine. but only because I want to not because you told me to.” You say as you lay back down.

He was about to say a snarky reply but you’re already asleep. For a girl who is afraid of falling asleep on sand you sure do fall asleep quickly. He laughs to himself.

…

You awake to someone gently calling your name. You sit up from your position and let out a grumble.

“Y/n, we gotta keep moving.”

You rub your eyes and let them adjust. Its day time, you suddenly recall the night before.

“Oh no, I’m sorry we were supposed to take turns.” You say as you stand up.

“It’s fine, I run on no sleep all the time. The only problem is that I can’t feel my legs.”

You laugh, “You could’ve moved me.” you reach out your hand.

He gratefully takes it, “Yeah but you looked peaceful.”

You roll your eyes, “Ok boy wonder lead the way.”

…

After a couple of minutes of walking you break the silence, “So you still haven’t told me your name.”

Robin laughs, “I never said I would.”

You huff, “Fine lets play truth or dare expect no dare just truth.”

He chuckles, “Thats makes no sense.”

“C’mon we got plenty of time. No follow up questions you have one ask per round”

“Fine.”

“I’ll ask first,” You pause for a moment trying to think of what to ask, “Oooo I have a juicy one.”

“Do tell”

“Alright, have you ever had a girlfriend?”

His face erupted with shock but as quickly as it came it disappeared.

“I don’t know.”

“How do you not know if you’ve ever been a relationship with someone?”

“You said no follow up question, my turn.”

You grumble, you suppose you di say that.

“Have you ever had a boyfriend?” Dick already knew the answer but robin didn’t.

“Yeah like a hundred.” You say.

His scoffs in disbelief, “That’s a lie.”

“Nuh uh, I will name them all.” You affirm.

He puts his hands up, “Alright I believe you.”

“What’s your deepest darkest secret? Other than your identity.”

He thinks, “I knew that my parents were in danger and didn’t say anything and then they died.” he says in monotone.

“It’s not your fault, their deaths” You shrug, “shit happens, no ones fault but god’s.”

“You believe in god?” He asks you.

“Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don’t. It brings me comfort knowing that there is someone looking out for you, but at the same time time if there is one they sure have a funny way of showing it.” You shrug, “I’m on the verge of creating my own religion where we worship Dr.Fate.” You laugh.

“I’d join that religion.”

“How about you?”

“What about me?” He asks.

“Do you believe in god?”

“No.”

“Fair enough.” You shrug

“How do you know black canary,” Again Dick knew how, but Robin didn’t.

“She’s my older sister, adopted me after our parents died.” You laugh and playfully hit his shoulder, “Look at us a couple of orphans.”

He laughs then looks down at his watch, “We’re almost there.”

You two walk up sandy hill, where his GPS is going off.

“Wish I could remember why I put GPS marker here,” He says.

As you come to the top of the hill you peer over the edge to find a weird box-looking thing.

“Guessing that’s why,” You say as you jump down.

“wait!” He yells as he jumps down next to you.

Soldiers rise from the sand. Oh crap. Robin begins to smirk and pulls out a smoke bomb. You two begin fighting the soldiers. Then Kid Flash appears and takes their guns. Two soldiers are about to attack Robin but then a green girl appears and seems to push them away with her mind. Martian Manhunter but in woman form? You raise an eyebrow at this but continue fighting. A soldier starts running from you, and you start to chase after him but then an arrow appears then explodes in a robe and ties him up. You look to where it came from and see a girl with blonde hair and a green outfit. Then all the soldiers are taken down.

Robin walks over to Kid Flash and gives a bro hug, “KF! Man, it’s good to see a familiar face.”

You yell from behind him, “Hey!”

Robin just shrugs and Wally laughs, “Hey Rob, memory loss?”

“Both of us, six months! Let’s hog-tie these creeps and compare notes.”

…

“So we’re a team?” Robin asks

The green lady, who you’ve come to known as Megan, nods, “The five of us and superboy.”

You pull out the piece of fabric from earlier, “This must be his then.” You hand it to her.

“Yes! Did you see him?”

“I think we did,” Artemis says.

Wally rubs his chin, trying to remember, “Feral boy? Some teammate. He attacked us.”

“He didn’t know who we are. I don’t know who we are!” Artemis, the voice of reason, reminds him

Robin interrupts, “I remember Batman ordering radio silence, our team must work for him!”

“You remembered that but you didn’t tell me?” You ask

He shrugs

“And how do you know we don’t work for my mentor?” Kid Flash says as he touches his chest, causing it to change colors, “Wow this is so cool”

The rest of the team starts touching their suits to see if it can do the same.

“We look ridiculous!” Artemis says, then turns to Wally, “Quit touching yourself!”

You scoff, for some reason, she’s kind of getting on your nerves. She seems to have a quick temper.

“We need our memories back!” She yells.

You roll your eyes at her outburst. She notices this and turns to you, her rage now directed toward you, “You have a problem with that?”

“I just don’t think whining is going to get us anywhere,” You say.

“You have a better idea then?”

Suddenly you, robin, wally, and artemis are taken into a weird place with shards of memories everywhere.

Megan appears, “I brought you into my mind to show you what I remember so far, but I need your help.Together our broken memories can form a whole if you open your minds to mine.”

Artemis freaks outs and backs away, “You wanna pry through our private thoughts?”

Megan defensly says, “I don’t wish to intrude but-”

Robin interrupts, “You need to hack our minds to grok what happened to us. Got it. Go.”

“My minds all yours, try not to let it’s brilliance overwhelm you,” KF says cheekily.

“Or underwhelm you. Hey, why isnt anyone just whelmed?” Robin realizes.

You laugh at that. Artemis seems hesitant, and so are you. Having someone you barely just meant go through your mind? That does not sound safe. Wally grabs her hand and she sighs.

“Last six months only. And only what you need.”

Megan nods, and everyone looks toward you. You scratch at your arm and gulp.

“I don’t know guys, doesn’t this seem a bit sketchy? I mean what is she scrabbles my brain and I’m never the same?” You let put.

Robin nudges your shoulder, “C’mon it will be fun, trust me.” He says.

You look into his face for any hint of worry but you see none, so you reluctantly nod. And so the brain voodoo begins.

…

“Aqualad!” You all yell once brought out of the trance.

“Where is he?” Robin asks

“What happened next?” You ask.

“I don’t know that’s the last thing I-we remember,” Megan explains

“We landed 24 hours ago if Kaldur’s been wandering the desert that long, well that’s not good for a guy with gils.” Wally explains.

You huff, “And here I was thinking that you were the optimistic one.” You tell him

“Aww you flatter me, but the optimism is all you babe,” Wally winks

You roll your eyes at him. Wasn’t he just buddy-buddy with Artemis? You catch the look Robin sends Wally and raise your eyebrow at it. Weird. Before you can ponder on it, Robin is pulling out his wristwatch and finds Aqualad.

“He’s close! But he’s not moving.” Robin states.

You all follow him as he runs over to Aqualad. You find him on the ground unconscious, muttering his language. Miss Martian leans down trying to restore his memories.

“I can’t restore his memories in this condition.”

Robin takes charge, “He needs immediate rehydration. Call the bioship”

“It’s out of range but you can get him there fast.” She replies looking to Kid Flash.

“He’s too heavy, and I’m too low on fuel. Right now I couldn’t even carry her” He points to Artemis.

She scoffs, “Why not just levitate him back?”

“I can’t. I have to find superboy. Six months ago he didn’t even exist, he has no memories, only animal impulses. I’m the only one that can help him.”

“He’s indescribable, just ask those tanks. It’s Aqualad that needs your help. Like now.” Wally pleads.

M’gann holds her hand in pain and screams, “No superboy’s in pain!” Then she flies off.

“M’gann wait” Artemis calls

“We still don’t know what erased our memory, It could happen again!” Robin yells as she outs at sight.

You turn around and start spitting on Aqualad. Everyone turns around at the sound of you spitting.

“Wow wow wow, what are you doing?” Robin asks.

“What does it look like? I’m trying to rehydrate him!” You scream continuing to spit.

You look back at them just staring.

“You’re just gonna stand there and start? Help!” You yell.

“There’s a better way than doing that.” Artemis says.

“Oh, you’re right. Wally, Robin get over here and start peeing in him!” You yell then turn to continue spitting.

“There’s a better way,” Robin tells you.

“Oh yeah like letting him die! I’m not letting someone I care for die! Not again!” You scream

Wally walks over to you and pulls you away from Kaldur.

“You need to calm down, he’s not gonna die.” Wally states.

Wally sets you down and walks back over to Kaldur. Surprisingly you stay put. They talk about solutions but you can’t bother to hear them, stuck in your own thoughts. Without you noticing Robin walks over and sits down.

“Hey.”

“You okay?” He asks.

“Yeah.”

“Look he’s gonna be ok, we’re gonna make a cot and take him to the bioship. I admire your quick thinking though.” He chuckles.

You don’t wanna talk about that so you change the subject, “look at them,” you say pointing to Artemis and Wally arguing, “they definitely like each other. 5 bucks to it. I can feel the romantic tension from here.” You laugh

“There’s definitely something going on. Did you see the way they were holding hands?” He asks.

You gasp and turn your head to face him, “I thought I was the only one that noticed that!”

“I also saw how she got mad when Wally tried to flirt with you!”

You scoff, “that doesn’t mean anything, you got mad too, and you don’t like me.”

A moment of silence. He never thought about liking you, well maybe once or twice but he just chalked it up to teenage hormones and nothing more. You were his friend. Nothing more. But then why did his heart stop for a minute when you said that?

“Yeah you’re right, but it’s still worth noting.” He says as he stands.

“C’mon let’s go.”

…

You hear an engine ruffling in the distance.

“Quick over there,” Robin says as he points to a rock a couple of feet in front.

You all hid behind the rock just barely making it in time. Kaldur starts speaking again but Artemis quickly shushes him. Robin assets the situation.

“We can’t risk a firefight with Aqualad KO’d like this” Robin states.

Wally takes a breath, “It’s not just him, I’m way out of juice.”

“And I’m almost out of arrows,” Just as Artemis finishes you notice that Robin is gone.

“God I forgot how much I hate it when he does the ninja thing,” He pauses and turns to Artemis, “Hey you never said why your dad would want you to–” he pauses to make a noise,”-me”.

Artemis visibly is uncomfortable, “I got confused by, uh, some old movie I saw the other night about a ninja girl whose ninja dad ordered her to kill her ninja boyfriend because he was from a rival ninja clan.” She quickly explains.

You could tell she was hiding something. But what?

Wally swoons, “Oh so I’m your ninja boyfriend”

“Hey amnesia remember, completely forgot how truly annoying you are.”

You tune out as Robin reappears beside you.

He interrupts them, “Yeesh, Get a room.”

“Dude where were you?”

Robin smirks, “Breaking radio silence”

Birdarangs go off with Robin’s laugh then explode, signaling your escape. When you finally make it to the bioship you, robin, and Artemis had to carry Aqualad up and to the med bay. Artemis prepares IV for him and you and robin walk away. You let out a sigh and sit in a chair.

“Man I am so tired.” You say to partially no one.

“You’re tired? At least you got some sleep.” Robin says as he sits next to you.

“Hey!” You say suddenly becoming more awake, “You said it was okay.”

“Yeah but still,” He laughs.

Hey, everybody, I've got Superboy. He’s back to normal and we’re on our way M’gann says in the mind link. You jump, Robin turns to you concerned.

“Never gonna get used to that” You utter

You hear Aqualad from the medbay yelling about who is everyone and where is he.

Hello, Megan. Aqualad's memories. I knew I forgot something.

Oh, man, me too. I didn’t get a souvenir. Wally says in the mind link. You roll your eyes.

Don’t worry, I got it covered M’gann says

Then they show up with a weird circle thing, you spare a glance then look out the window, and for once you can’t wait to get back home to Gotham. You don’t bother to listen to anything they say. It seems Robin doesn’t either.

“You still need to tell me your identity Robin,” You yawn and rest your head against his shoulder and doze off. He laughs to himself.

“Who needs to get a room now?” Wally yells to Robin from across the ship.

“Shut up”

…

When you finally land back at Happy Harbour your mentors are waiting for you. You spot Black Canary and run up to give her a quick hug.

She chuckles, “I missed you too”

“Being stuck in a desert with boy wonder makes you realize how much you miss home.” You say

She laughs

Batman coughs to get everyone’s attention, “We’ll debrief in five days, in the meantime go home and get some rest. You all have school tomorrow.”

You and Dinah head to the zeta pods, too tired to bid goodbyes. By the time you get home, take a shower, and get in bed its like 2 am. You check your phone for any messages, you find one from dick.

Dick Are you awake?

You reply back quickly.

Yeah Whats up?

You see three dots appear then reappear for what seems like forever.

Dick If you had like a really huge secret would you tell your best friend?

Depends on what it is Why? Dick are you gay? I’ll support you no matter what

Dick No I’m not gay It’s just that idk if I should tell someone something

Gasp You have another best friend?

Dick Yeah you’re just my side best friend

I'm offended who is he?

Dick Her It’s a her

Now you are way more interested. Dick has another girl best friend? You bet its Barbara. What is he keeping from her then? You feel kinda happy that he came to you first, it shows that you’re still his number one best friend. With your heart thumping you start to type a reply.

Ok What are you keeping from her?

Dick That I like like her

Your heart drops. Dick likes someone and its not you. Your lifelong crush. The dude you’ve spent your whole school years pinning from. Likes someone else. You let it sink in for a minute. You try to think of a reply. You honestly don’t know what to say. But you send a reply anyways.

Wow. The Dick Grayson has a crush On who?

Dick A person I just dont know if I should tell her

Well, are you 110% sure she likes you back? If you’re not then don’t tell her You don’t want to ruin a friendship

You tell him in hopes that she doesn’t like him back so you can still have Dick to yourself. A selfish reason. He deserves to be happy. You tell him the reason you don’t tell him you like him. The friendship. It’s to pure and sweet to ruin. You know that.

Dick You’re right. Alright goodnight, love you

Goodnight, love you too

You fear that his love for you will never be anything more platonic. But for now, you were fine with that fact.

...

Taglist:

@venomsvl

#dick grayson angst #dick grayson x you #dick grayson x reader #dick grayson x fem reader #dick grayson x female!reader #black canary #batman #young justice fanfiction #aqualad

178 notes · View notes

plzravagemethxxx · 2 months

Text

BLOODLUST pt. 2

BLOODLUST Masterlist

Part One Part Three

"Fine. Fine." Y/N raised her hands in surrender. "But I'm only consenting to reconnaissance. We go in, collect information, and we get out."

KF and Robin exchanged giddy smiles.

Then Robin turned to Y/N, a sly gleam in his eyes. "Ready to be whelmed?"

The fire is still burning bright when the four of them arrive at Cadmus.

The fire brigade was busily attempting to put out what flames still remained, as well as trying to rescue the scientists and workers who were in the building.

"STAY PUT," a firefighter ordered through a megaphone. "WE WILL GET YOU OUT!"

That was the last thing Y/N heard them say before suddenly the ground shook with the weight of a loud explosion from within the laboratory. She saw the impact blow two of the men in lab coats out the window and into the air.

"KF, go!" she shouted, and she didn't need to tell him twice.

In a blink of an eye, Kid Flash raced towards Cadmus and ran up the steep face of the building, catching the poor scientists before they could meet an untimely demise. His momentum led him to speeding up to the roof, where he deposited the scientists before he tripped and fell.

"Shoot!" he managed to yelp, before quickly finding purchase on the windowsill. "Oh, thank god."

"It's what's-his-name!" one of the firefighters exclaimed. "Eh... Flash Boy!"

Robin snorted.

"It's KID FLASH!" KF grumbled. "Why is that so hard?"

"He's soooo smooth, isn't he?" Robin mused as he, Aqualad, and Bloodlust ran up to the building.

"Shut it, Rob," Bloodlust snarked. She grabbed her knife and sliced her palms and the soles of her feet. Then she lunged up at the side of the building. "STICK!" Her hands and feet stuck strongly to the concrete, and she began to climb up like a spider towards KF. "Hold on, buddy."

"Yep!" KF replied. "Kinda all I can do at the moment!"

In a couple seconds, Bloodlust crossed the building and arrived just before KF's grip could falter completely. She grabbed his wrist, and he clung to her arm fast, and she hauled the two of them into Cadmus through the open window.

"Must they always run ahead?" Aqualad muttered as he watched. He sighed. "We need a plan—"

But then he turned, and found Robin, too, had disappeared from his side. Instead, he saw the youngest of them all running up the fire truck ladder before grabbing onto an unused hose and using it like a rope to swing himself into the window as well.

Aqualad sighed. "Of course."

He hurried over to the fire trucks, right beside the firefighters still trying to hose down the fire.

"I need to borrow that!" he quickly warned, before he pulled his two Atlantean weapons from their sheaths and redirected the water from the hose to propel himself into the air, up to the roof, where the two scientists remained. "Step aboard. Now."

The men didn't hesitate. Aqualad landed first, as he set foot on the windowsill his friends had entered through, then lowered the scientists down the ground.

"Finally," Bloodlust called as Aqualad entered the building.

"I appreciate the help," he sarcastically replied.

"Hey, you handled it!" Robin protested, typing away at one of the computers he'd opened. "Besides. We're here to investigate. Poetic justice, remember?"

"Yeah," Y/N noted. "Investigate. KF," she added sternly, leveling the redhead with a look as he made shadow puppets using the light of Robin's screen.

"Sorry, sorry," Kid Flash mused in a very unapologetic tone. He glanced back to see Bloodlust was no longer looking, then resumed his shenanigans with a silent snicker.

"Robin," Bloodlust called, "found anything?"

"No, not much yet," the Boy Wonder replied. "Check some of the physical files and stuff, might be something there."

"Got it." She marched over to another desk and plucked the papers off of it, struggling to read the contents in the minimal light. She found notes on different DNA samples the lab had been given, most likely via ancestry tests and the like. One paper had, in bold red letters at the bottom, PATERNITY TEST NEGATIVE. Y/N set that paper aside and kept looking.

Suddenly, she heard the familiar ding! of an elevator, and frowned. She looked up to see Aqualad had gone off, and KF was following, and so she did the same.

She found the two boys standing at the mouth of a hall leading to an elevator shaft.

"There was something in the..." Aqualad muttered.

KF frowned. "Elevators should be locked down."

"Well, this one isn't," Bloodlust replied, stalking over to it. She heard Robin's footsteps as he followed. "That's suspicious. Rob, is this what I think it is?"

"This is wrong," he agreed, pulling up his holographic screen to search his archives for a confirmation. "Thought so. This is a high-speed express elevator. It doesn't belong in a two-story building!"

"Unless the building isn't just two stories," Bloodlust realized. She touched the doors and frowned. "Aqualad, you said you saw something enter the elevator?"

"Something that also doesn't belong here," he said.

He stepped up to the doors and gestured for Bloodlust to step aside. When she did, he placed his hands on the gap between the doors and pried them open with a shout.

The rest of them clambered beside him and gazed down at the elevator shaft. It stretched downwards for far longer than a supposed small-scale genetics laboratory should require.

"And that's why they need an express elevator," Robin quipped.

He pulled his grappling hook launcher out of his pocket and fired it into the ceiling of the shaft. Then he leapt into the shaft and continued to fall and fall until his line eventually came to an end at just around a floor labeled SB 25.

"I'm at the end of my rope," he muttered, a soft shock in his tone as he swung over to the door of the elevator. He quickly sidestepped until he found a decent spot to sit, then produced his screens again.

Aqualad came down next, followed by Bloodlust and then Kid Flash.

"I knew something was off with this place," Bloodlust hissed, touching the cold metal of the door again. "Not only is this an express elevator; these doors are heavily reinforced. They're probably not indestructible, but most definitely bulletproof. And I can feel it vibrating. Robin, these have tech behind them. Passcodes."

"On it," the Boy Wonder replied. "Bypassing security... there. Go."

Aqualad didn't miss a beat. He tore these doors open too, then the four of them slipped inside quickly. They found themselves, wide-eyed, in another enormous hallway. The lights were a deep red, the walls and ceiling and floor a murky black. Panel upon panel of black metal ran down the hall, giving the room a strange aura about it.

"Welcome to Project Cadmus," Robin announced.

Kid Flash wasted no time in rushing again. Aqualad tried to grab him to stop him, but the boy was far too fast. He sped ahead, only to severely underestimate his speed and fail to smoothly as he neared the end of the hall. He tripped and skidded across the floor, grunting in pain.

And then there was a thud. A heavy, scarily close weight dropping beside him, and KF opened his eyes as a strange, elephant-sized creature lifted its foot and began to lower it right over him.

Luckily, as per his powers, KF was more than fast enough to get out of the way of the herd of... creatures? As he stepped back and rejoined his friends, who were now in the hall with him, he struggled to understand what he was looking at.

The creatures were enormous. They had gravelly gray skin with strange red markings and pale underbellies and curved tusks emerging from the sides of their fanged mouths. Their eyes were a deep red and their faces seemed curved in permanent snarls. Bloodlust swore one of them met her gaze as it passed. They roared and blew steam from their nostrils, the heat so intense it was nearly disorienting.

"What are those?" Bloodlust asked in a hushed whisper, only for her eyes to then catch a glimpse of yet another anomaly. "Huh?!"

Seated in a sort of crouched position on the top of the monster was a tiny creature with beady red eyes and markings to match the bigger creature over its own cool gray skin. There were hard-looking lumps on their knees and curved appendages coming from the sides of its face. As the monsters passed, the tiny creature's horns began to glow a bright red.

Y/N's heart skipped such a long beat it might as well have stopped. There was this strange sensation in her body as she met the goblin-creature's gaze; a tingling which started at the top of her head and trickled pleasantly down to the tips of her bare toes. She was always aware of the blood in her body thanks to her metahuman powers but suddenly her understanding of it all was... heightened? Was that the right word? She was hyperaware of the beat of her heart, of the rush of her bloodflow, of the—

"BLOOD!"

Y/N jumped. "What?!"

Kid Flash was standing right next to her, his hand on her shoulder, a concerned look in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "You sorta zoned out for a second."

"I..." Y/N took a shaky breath, then frowned. Why was her breathing so heavy now? "Sorry, I just... I don't know." She put her hand to her chest. "My heart feels like it's going supersonic right now. It... it must be the shock, I guess."

Robin didn't look convinced. "Doubtful. Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah," Bloodlust assured him. "I'm okay. Um. What were those?"

Aqualad shook his head. "We do not know. But this is proof that Batman, Black Canary, and you were right. Cadmus is keeping far too many secrets."

"Well?" Robin prompted. "We're here now. Might as well uncover a couple more."

Y/N frowned. "Robin, I said only reconnaissance."

"C'mon!" KF protested. "Blood, we're already here. We can't exactly leave now! You can't say you're not curious."

This is a bad idea, Y/N noted. She glanced at her friends' faces, their looks of hope for her to agree with them (even in Aqualad's gaze, surprisingly). But I am intrigued by all of this. What were those things? Can we find that out? And not be caught by our mentors?

"Fine," she amended, waving KF away from her face. "Fine, fine. But if things go south, I'm calling Arrow."

"What?!" KF demanded.

"Hey, better him than Bats, right?" Y/N reminded him. "And he can help keep Canary from killing me."

"It's a deal," Robin said, cutting off Kid Flash before he could get annoyed. "If stuff hits the fan, you can call GA."

"Good." Y/N nodded. "Now. Where do we start?"

They were shocked upon opening the first vault, which really didn't bode well.

Robin found a bit of difficulty in hacking open the vault, which he was initially frustrated by.

"That's a first," he grumbled. "Hold on."

There was no need to hold on, however, because he managed to crack the code five seconds later. With a satisfying click and hiss, the vault doors slid opened.

"Okay..." Robin muttered, looking into the vault. "I am officially whelmed."

Inside the vault was column after column of cylinder-shaped semi-transparent containment chambers. Within each chamber was yet another unidentifiable organism with similar characteristics to the giants and gremlins from earlier. At the center of the room was an energy of sorts; a buzzing, bright blue ball of something, flashing rapidly as it drew power the containment chambers.

"They're... they're living batteries," Bloodlust realized.

Kid Flash marched up closer to the chambers. "This is how they hide this massive underground facility from the world! The real Cadmus isn't on the grid! It generates its own power with these... things." He placed his hands on his hips. "It must be what they're bred for."

Aqualad turned to Bloodlust. "You were right, my friend. They truly live up to the legend of their name."

Bloodlust nodded silently.

"So Cadmus creates new life," Robin noted. He marched up to the blue sphere of power, to the little control panel at the base of the structure, and connected his own monitor to the controls. "Let's find out why."

Y/N saddled up beside Robin and read his screen over his shoulder. Her eyes fell on paragraph after paragraph of scientific terminology and lab reports.

"They call them Genomorphs," Robin narrated. "Whoa! Look at the stats on these things!" He tapped on the image of the giant creatures from earlier, opening up a window with a characteristic breakdown of the organism. "Super strength, telepathy, razor claws—these things are living weapons!"

"They're engineering an army," KF muttered. "But for who?"

"Wait." Robin leaned forward and tapped on one of the files. "There's some other stuff. Project Kr and... ugh." He shook his head. "The file's triple encrypted. I can't—"

"DON'T MOVE!"

The four of them whirled around at the sudden shout, eyes wide and hands clenched into fists. Rushing towards them, a group of growling Genomorphs at his heels and shoulder, was... was that Guardian?!

"Wait!" he shouted, stopping dead in his tracks as he scanned the faces of the teenagers. Recognition flashed in his eyes. "Robin? Aqualad? Kid Flash? Bloodlust?"

"Hey, at least he got your name right," Robin teased KF before he continued trying to hack into the files.

"I know you," Aqualad spoke up. "Guardian. A hero."

"I do my best," Guardian humbly said.

"What are you doing down here?" Bloodlust demanded. "And why've you got those Genomorphs with you?"

"I'm Chief of Security," Guardian explained. "You're all trespassing. But we can call the Justice League, figure this out."

"You think the League is going to approve of you breeding weapons?!" KF fired back.

"Weapons?" Guardian questioned. "What're you... what am I..."

But he was cut off as the Genomorph on his shoulder turned to him, its horns glowing red. Y/N, too, staggered back, suddenly overcome with a strange urge; although, to do what, she was unsure.

Guardian pressed a hand to his head, groaning in discomfort. But then he opened his eyes again, a glimmer of determination in his eyes, and he looked back at the protégés. "Take them down hard! No mercy!"

Bloodlust was the first to act. She slipped her knife from its sheath and slashed at her palms, allowing the stray drops of her blood to fall.

"SMOKE!" she ordered, and her blood erupted into billowing red smoke.

Robin was quick to take advantage and produced his grappling hook launcher again. He fired it up onto the support beams overhead, then leapt up, allowing the wire to carry him to brief safety.

The Genomorphs advanced, slashing through the smoke and snarling; but their vision was obscured. Bloodlust took full control of the smoke and concentrated it around the eyes of the Genomorphs, blinding them but allowing her and her friends full visibility.

One came too close for comfort, and she lunged at the monster, letting the blood on her palms touch its skin.

"BURN!"

Instantly, the Genomorph let out a high-pitched, agonized shriek as its flesh began to burn and boil. It fell to the ground, and Y/N moved on to the next enemy combatant until she heard the electric crackling of Aqualad's weapons and followed the sound. She saw him knock down Guardian, and she ran alongside him and KF to escape the vault.

They booked it as fast as they could, staying out of reach of the Genomorphs by just a hair. Alarms began to blare, sending waves of pain through Bloodlust's head, but she kept sprinting until she found Robin, busily hacking away at the elevator. KF ran ahead, seemingly scolding him, until the elevator door opened and they rushed inside. Bloodlust quickly followed.

"You couldn't wait for us?" she panted, turning to Robin with a glare.

"You made it!" Robin grinned. "No need to complain!"

The growling of the Genomorphs grew closer, and Y/N looked up and yelped, pushing herself against the side of the elevator just in time to allow Aqualad to jump into the shaft. The doors shut behind him, trapping them inside.

"Okay, good," Bloodlust sighed. She stood and dusted herself off, then commanded her hands to heal. "Now, we leave."

But the floor level display continued to increase. They were going deeper into the sublevels.

"We're headed down?" Aqualad demanded.

"Dude!" KF turned to Robin. "Out is up!"

"Excuse me?" Robin frowned. "Project Kr? It's down, on sublevel 52."

"This is out of control," Aqualad protested. "Perhaps... perhaps we should contact the League."

"On it," Bloodlust began, but before she could reach her communications device, Robin grabbed her wrist. She leveled him with a wide-eyed glare. "Explain yourself or I will cut off your hand, Robin."

"Look, Blood, I think you're going to want to see this stuff," he implored. "Trust me."

"You promised that I could call Arrow!" Y/N reminded him. "Make good on your word!"

But then the elevator dinged open, and soon Y/N was too shocked by what she saw to even remember to call Oliver.

The hall—if it could even be called that—was strange, red, and flesh-like in appearance. Glowing blue pustule-esque structures jutted out from the wall, emanating ominous light.

"What is this place?" Bloodlust whispered.

Robin ran ahead.

"No!" Bloodlust reached for him, but he was already too far. "No, I don't like this at all, guys."

"Well, we are already here," KF tried to convince her, before quickly shutting up because Bloodlust gave him such a cold look he turned away. He elected to run after Robin.

Aqualad sighed heavily. "I will go with them. If you wish to stay back, that is your decision."

Y/N wanted to fall to her knees and kiss his feet in thanks. She hated this feeling of being here. The air was thicker, the walls looked alive, it was unnatural, unreal in all the worst ways.

But then Robin's words came back to her:

Look, Blood, I think you're going to want to see this stuff. Trust me.

"N-no." Bloodlust swallowed her nerves. "I'll come with you."

Aqualad hesitated. Then he offered her a gentle smile, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"That is quite brave of you, my friend," he assured her.

Y/N nodded. "Thanks."

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