#I drafted this BEFORE I read about quinn sleeping on the floor and now I have to sit down <3

[wolves-in-the-world]

early qwat au thought: eliot plating up food properly for quinn because it's his Art and it's Something and he's doing something Good with his hands again to remind himself he can, and because quinn's… bewildering, but he stands watch for eliot and kills the people sent after him without even being asked, and sometimes when eliot's fuzzy with stress and sleep deprivation quinn inspires in him such a desire to squish his cheeks that it loops right back around to wanting to punch him again—

—but at least at first, before quinn sees enough of it to figure out it's a thing and poke at it a bit, eliot plates quinn's food properly and eats his own straight from the pan.

(sometimes shame doesn't show in big dramatic ways. sometimes it's eating scrambled egg out of a frying pan and pretending not to notice that your buddy's watching you with the intensity of someone planning a hit.)

[rayewriting]

I’m Already Broken

Fandom: Batman, and heavily draws from Teen Titians (2016)

This is the extended piece of my earlier post “Something I’m working on”.

And a HHHUUUUUGGGGGEEEEEE shoutout for the beta reader @cdelphiki​ !!! They dealt with all the mistakes for the first draft and pitched in some amazing ideas too! They are an incredible beta, writer, and person to talk with!!! So if you have not heard of them or read anything by them, you are TOTALLY missing out on some AMAZING fics!! (I know, “Raye, what’s with all the caps?” THEY ARE JUST SO NICE AND AMAZING. I JUST- I JUST LOVE THEM, OKAY?)

Robin was rarely called into Gotham anymore after starting his new Teen Titians team in Brooklynn. So, when Batman called Damian to go on regular patrol in his city, he was a little worried. But while Robin was investing somethings that Emiko needed to look into for some of the Titans’ upcoming missions a few days ago, Batman broke his ankle while fighting Killer Crock and Batgirl got a major concussion after Harley Quinn knocked her out a couple of days after Bruce was put on medical rest. That led to Robin patrolling Gotham with the help of Spoiler and technical support of Oracle for a week, starting Saturday night.

“Oracle, send an anonymous tip to the GCPD on the corner of 15th and Carter street,” Robin reported as he tied up an unconscious man that Robin found, assaulting a teenager, then he turned toward the victim and asked softly, “Are you alright?”

The teen was shaking but tried to pull himself together and nodded slightly.

“The police are on their way. You can either stay here or head to the police station that is five blocks down,” Robin said slowly, knowing the victim was trying to process what he was saying. The teen nodded his head again, then slowly slides down the wall he was leaning on. As Robin grappled up to the roof his mask blinded him with an alert of Scarecrow and Poison Ivy escaping Arkham.

Then he heard over the open comm line, “Oh shit.” Robin just grunted in agreement.

However, nothing happened over the next couple of days. From experience, that usually meant disaster was about to strike. Which is exactly what happened on Thursday as Scarecrow was reported raiding a chemical facility earlier in the day and Robinson Park was growing unnaturally quick during the last couple of hours.

“Robin, Spoiler, head to the cave, we will come up with a plan here,” Batman commands over the comms from the cave.

“On my way B-man. Besides, I have a class tomorrow and need sleep,” Spoiler pipes up, jumping on her cycle and enters a secret passage that leads to the cave.

“ETA ten minutes,” Robin reports, adjusting his grapple to swing towards his own cycle.

“Looks like I’ll beat you there, D, I’m in the tunnels.” Steph says. Robin acknowledges her with an uninterested grunt and begins to pull out of an alley.

“Hold on…,” Oracle pipes up, “I’ve caught Scarecrow down at the Dixon Docks in Chinatown, Robin, head there. Spoiler, Ivy was seen at Gotham’s Natural Museum in the Burnley district. We can coordinate plans while you two head to your new locations.”

“There goes my precious four hours,” Spoiler grumbles.

“Damian, I’ll head down there soon, Scarecrow is not to be taken lightly—” Bruce was saying before Damian cut him off.

“You have not finished healing, Father, and, as much as I find it ironic, you will not be in the field till Dr. Tompkins and Penny-One approve of this move. You being in the field would be more of a hindrance than any help. Do not worry, I will use caution. We do need a plan; however, and that is paramount for any successful mission.”

Oracle jumps into the conversation by adding, “I just got intercepted a 911 call saying that a few men in ‘potato sack masks’ abducted a group of people from Cameron Street.”

“Hack the cameras, Oracle, I want numbers and names; how many people were taken, who they are, and how many perpetrators. See if they lead us to Crane’s location by tracking the hostages’ phones or other devices, or if they put the hostages somewhere else. Maybe Crane is trying to fool us by driving to a different location,” Bruce demands gruffly. “Spoiler any…”

Robin tuned out the conversation as he as he was driving to the docks. As he pulls up to the waterfront warehouse area, he waits for Spoiler to finish her report of the museum, finding nothing amiss there, Robin reports quietly, “I am here, have you figured out a certain warehouse or a group at least?”

“Close, Robin, I’m almost…,” Oracle trails off, the sound of keys clacking rang through, “Got it, the fifth warehouse on your left. I’m pulling up blueprints now.”

Robin starts sneaking over toward the appropriate building, looking through windows on the bottom floors while Oracle begins to hack to find the correct blueprints, “Okay… okay... ah-ha. The building was built with two floors, first floor has no rooms, just a place to stock over-produced goods and the second just a perimeter catwalk with a room at the opposite side of the entry doors. There are ten hostages, three women, four children, and three men. Looks like at least eight muscle-for-hires, I can’t do a facial recognition search of them because of the masks but most have a heavy build body type.”

Robin takes all of this into consideration when he looks into the window of the first floor, “The hostages are bound, gagged, and spread into three different groups, each group has a man, woman, and child. The groups are separated by metal containers or wooden crates, I do not have visual conformation on the last child. I can see five of Scarecrow’s thugs. I’m going to draw their attention towards the alley behind the warehouse and take them down. Hopefully that will spark majority of the hostages to get out while they can.”

Once Batman gives his approval, Robin slowly made his way towards the back doorway, picking up a dark-colored glass bottle along the way, and entering the building. The door closes loudly then after a couple of seconds he throws the alcohol-scented bottle- smashing it against the wall gaining the attention of the closest guards to the back of the building.

“What the hell is that?” Robin hears, most likely coming from the guard closest to the hostages.

“How am I suppose to know? I don’t have x-ray vison.”

“Don’t talk to me like that, idiot.”

“Excuse me—”

“Hey! Knock it off you two, it’s probably a local drunk. You four, go check it out. Report in when you know.”

The henchmen are dressed in all black and have burlap masks around their eyes, all different ethnicities, but their builds are similar to each other. When they reach the end of the warehouse they spread out. The two closest thugs to him, Robin puts in a headlock and holds tightly until they go limp and drags them behind a large crate and ties their hands together. The third one is drawing closer and Robin walks behind him, picking up a metal pipe that was sticking out a crate, and hits him across the head- enough to knock out, then ties him as well. Which leaves the last one—

“Hey!”

Shit.

The last thug saw him and reaches for his radio, but Robin grabs the gun that is in face and breaks the hand and pistol whips him across the head.

“Peter? What happened?”

Robin quickly hides in the shadows of a metal container by the time another goon shows up, which Robin jumps behind him and puts him the same headlock, slightly trickier than the first one but he still passes out. After tying the two men together, Robin makes his way to the catwalk silently walking across till he is as close as he can to the remaining gunman around the hostages.

“What is taking them so long?” the lone criminal asks himself angrily, then into the radio, “What’s happening? Report in!”

“Your associates will not be contacting you anytime soon.” Robin makes his presence known, making the other male turn quickly and aiming his weapon at the costumed hero. In turn Robin throws himself off the catwalk and lands on the man’s shoulders and knocks him out with a well place nerve strike, making the thug slump to the ground.

Robin runs to the closest group of hostages, pulling a knife out to cut into the ropes of the closest adults, an African-American man in his early thirties and a Latina woman in her late twenties. Once he reaches the group, he begins to inform them, “The criminals on this floor are gone, and the other ones are most likely upstairs. I am going to cut you out of your bounds, then you need to help the others out and contact the police. Do you understand?” They both nod quickly and Robin walks to the man’s back, noticing his hands are shaking, “Please try to keep your hands as still as possible, this knife is quite sharp,” Robin says softly, placing his hand on the man’s shoulder.

After the man’s hands slow, he cuts off the rope and repeats the process to the woman while the man unties the pale skin child, “Though I have taken care of the criminals on this level, please do not make more noise than necessary, there is a child unaccounted for and I need to save them.”

The woman speaks up hesitantly, “The criminals grabbed too many kids, according to Scarecrow, so he took her up there,” she points to the offices upstairs.

Robin bristles silently at the information but quits when he looks at the woman, “Thank you for the information.”

The child the man just finished untying, runs to Robin legs and grasps his shirt crying out, “She is my sister! Her name is Opal! You have to save her!”

Robin kneels to reach the child and shushes him, “I am going to try my best, but in order to do that I need everyone out of the building, that includes you, your sister, and everyone else here.” The child nods then begins to walk towards the adults and follows them to the other groups.

Robin starts up the stairs swiftly and silently. “Oracle, I have secured all but one of the hostages. Six men are unconscious, leaving at least two more and Scarecrow.”

“Okay, Robin. I’ll have GCPD parked outside ready for pick up soon.”

“How are things with Poison Ivy?”

“Spoiler is taking care of it at the moment, pretty well. Only a few hiccups, but they smoothed out nicely. Ivy will need pick up soon as well.”

“Very well.”

Robin takes out the two gunmen guarding one of the doors hastily but noisily when one of them got a shot off into Robin’s arm. The sound of the gunshot causes Bruce to loudly worry over the comm device in his ear. Grunting in assurance, Robin engages grappling with the last thugs. He breaks one of older men’s arm and slams him into the wall. Then, he pushes the other one off the catwalk and bolas him while the thug was in mid-air.

The sleeve of his uniform is torn off and blood is leaking into his gauntlet, leaving a few inches of his brown skin vulnerable. Robin opens the office doors slightly taking note of the layout, three wooden desks are situated in the room, and each had one wooden chair in front and a swivel chair behind. The little girl, Opal, was seated on the chair in front of the desk that was opposite of the door, tied and gagged, but seemingly unharmed. He quickly rolls into the room, hiding underneath the closest desk and opens his comm for everyone to listen to Scarecrow’s plan. Then, as quietly as he can he sneaks over to Opal when Scarecrow isn’t looking and unties her hands and feet, then puts his index finger to his lips in a shushing gesture, then unties her gag.

Scarecrow, when threatened, was akin to a rabid dog- jumping at every noise and quick to act- needless to say, very dangerous. His gun was full of needles of fear toxin, aim jumping to all the shadows in the room. After Robin was finished untying the child, Scarecrow sing-songs “Robin, come out, come out wherever you are! Or this little one gets it.”

Robin stands up and walks forward into the light coming from the overhead bulb in the middle of the room, “What is your plan, Crane? Throwing Gotham into chaos and reign the madness? Or something even more asinine?”

“How dare you! My plan was marvelous! City wide madness is always a pleasure! But since you, bats, always seem to ruin it, let’s see what you your actions cost you!” Scarecrow cries as he pulls the trigger that is still pointing at the small child.

Robin shouts out a loud, “Run!” and without hesitation, jumps in front of Opal, the needle harmlessly hitting his armor plate, then bouncing off and landing on the floor. “I do not think I am the one needing to pay my dues, Crane,” Robin quips as he launches himself into an attack, causing Scarecrow to go on the defensive. He hears the door be thrown open and little feet make loud footfalls as she leaves the warehouse.

“Hold still, you little—”

“Shut up, Crane.”

After a few minutes of grappling with the madman, Robin has Crane on the ground. Robin attempts to nerve strike him, but Scarecrow dodges, swipes the fallen needle, jabs Robin in the hole of his uniform, and injects the toxin into Robin’s bloodstream. When Robin gives a short curse, Batman immediately demands for information, but Robin doesn’t have time and jumps away from the mad scientist’s hands as they go for a choke hold.

“Robin, what is happening?” Batman shouts into his ear, and Robin grunts while going back into the fight, not waiting for the illusions to take hold.

“Impossible! That was enough to get Batman weeping! So, how are you unaffected?!” Scarecrow cries as Robin throws a barge of punches at the scientist’s side. The comm unit in Robin’s ear goes silent, obviously the other people hearing Scarecrow’s meaning.

Robin jumps takes advantage of Scarecrow’s distracted mind and throws him to the wall and hogtying his feet and hands together.

Then the teen wobbly leans into Scarecrow’s face and coldly lets out, “I am living my greatest fear every damn day I wake up, Crane. Nothing you inject me with can be worse than my life.”

Silence!

The toxin is pumping through his veins as he pours out his soul unwillingly, “My team does not trust or like me. My other allies are either dead, moved on, or ignoring me. My best friend has suddenly aged and has not even bothered to talk to me. My grandfather just wants my body to possess.”

The toxin! It’s the toxin!

His eyes grow hazy and wide as his biggest secrets flow out of him. “My mother orchestrated my death to prove that my father does not care for me. One of my brothers betrayed me for his own gain with no reason that I can see. Another one is dead and… never cared for me—I will not have the opportunity to prove that I do ever again.”

Oh please, make it stop! Just stop talking!

His heart is pounding so loud in his ears. “My oldest brother does not remember me and therefore does not care for me. My father has shown multiple times that he does not have intention of being around or caring. Any other person I could count on in this city has shown their disinterest or disappointment in either myself or my actions.”

Anything else! Anything else, but this! Please!

He tries to stop the river of words, but he can’t. “But that, that I can handle. The worst thing, the worst thing is that I have brought this all upon myself. And I cannot seem to stop or change enough for people to stop hurting me, or leaving me behind. And your fear toxin cannot hold a candle to those feelings on its best day.”

Leave! Leave now! Go anywhere else but here!

Robin knocks out the scientist, stands up, throws open the office door, walks out. He reaches to his ear to open his comm, forgetting the device had been on the whole time, and when he remembers leaving the channel open, his heart plummets when he realizes that everyone heard.

Shaking his head, Robin forces himself to speak calmly into his still quiet comm unit, “Oracle, Scarecrow is apprehended and is waiting on GCPD pick up in the second-floor office in the warehouse. I am headed to the closest safehouse for a fear toxin antidote.”

His comm unit cracks to life as Barbara quietly confirms his request, then leaves him to his thoughts.

Unknown to him, was the sniffles coming from Spoiler while she finishes up with Poison Ivy.

The tears in Barbara’s eyes while leaving an anonymous tip for GCPD.

The broken china tea cup that Alfred was laying out for Bruce.

The dent in the consoles where Bruce’s hand was laying.

[goalcaufield]

What’s Left - Quinn Hughes

Request: #131 with quinn hughes?

Prompt: “We could totally make out right now.” (#131)

Warnings: kinda sad, but other than that it’s pretty cute i think, also lowkey sucks i’m not too proud of this so read at your own risk ?

“We should head downstairs soon,” Quinn mumbled into your hair. His arm was still secured tightly around your waist, a clear indication he didn’t actually want to get up. To be fair, you didn’t want to either. Since you got back from Dallas, your time with Quinn was limited. He would be going to University of Michigan in the fall, meanwhile you would still be here in Toronto. 

“We should, doesn’t mean we have to,” You mumbled and continued to play with the hem of his shirt. You were trying to savor every moment with Quinn and rightfully so. You’ve been dating for over two years, and although you’ve had a lot of time together within the years of even just being friends, every free moment the two of you had was spent together. “Quinn,” You whined as he sat up bringing you with him.

You weren’t ready to share Quinn with everyone that was about to be downstairs. You didn’t want to face the reality that the summer was coming to a close, and this going away party was a reality check that it was. You wanted Quinn all to yourself for the next few weeks as selfish as it was.

Quinn stood in the mirror to fix his messy hair and you readjusted your outfit. Half of your day had been spent watching classic movies like Miracle and Slap Shot, then they were followed by a nice long nap. By the time you two woke up it was nearly two in the afternoon, meaning that the barbecue for Quinn’s going away party was about to start.

“I love you, you know that right?” Quinn asked. He had taken a glance back at you. Your arms were folded across your chest and you looked like you were about to burst into tears. All you could do was nod since you didn’t exactly trust your voice. “I’m gonna be home for Thanksgiving and winter break. I’ll be home before you know it.”

“I’m just gonna miss you,” You said quietly. Quinn’s arms dropped from his hair and he turned around to hug you tightly. You rested your head against his chest and the tears began flowing. Quinn’s hand just ran up and down your back under your shirt, a gesture that always seemed to calm you when you were upset about something. 

You stood there for quite a bit of time, and it wasn’t until the door to Quinn’s room opened that you both finally moved. You turned your head to see who it was, and sure enough it was just Jack. Jack just had a sad smile on his face.

“Mom and Dad want you guys to come say hi to everyone,” He said and both you and Quinn nodded. Jack left the room which left only you and Quinn. Quinn kissed your forehead before releasing you from his hold. 

The two of you made your way downstairs and just like you assumed, as soon as Quinn stepped foot on the floor he was hauled away from you. He gave you an apologetic look but you just shrugged and headed towards the living room to find someone you knew. Luckily, some of Quinn’s cousins your age were in there so you sat down to talk with those girls.

It had to of been at least two hours later when you finally saw Quinn again. He looked absolutely exhausted and he was looking around the entire house just to find you. When he finally did, he made a b-line for you and plopped down right next to you, laying his head on your shoulder. 

“Well hello to you too,” You laughed as you looked over at him. He just looked up at you with pure exhaustion. “Tired, bud?”

“Just a little,” He mumbled. “Way too much talking and running around trying to see everybody that I could. I guess it actually hit that I’m leaving everything.”

“Quinn,” You nearly laughed at him. Your hand went to go play with his hair. “You’re playing college hockey with an amazing school, hell you just got drafted in the top ten. This is just the beginning of the rest of your life. You are going to do amazing things in both Michigan and Vancouver.”

“I love you,” Quinn said. You smiled softy and before you could answer, Quinn’s name was called from somewhere in the house. “Aaand that’s my cue.” He said before shifting, pecking your lips and then disappearing for the second time that day.

You made your rounds of saying hello to Quinn’s family who had all taken a liking to you over the past few years. You had been around even when you and Quinn were only just friends, and everyone was secretly rooting for the two of you to get together eventually. Funny how things work out sometimes.

Once the day began fading away, people started to leave one by one. By eleven you were nearly passed out on Quinn’s bed waiting for him to come back upstairs. There was no way in hell your parents would allow you to stay over for another night so you tried as hard as you could to stay awake. Eventually you heard the door creak open and you poked your head up to see Quinn.

“Hey there Superstar,” You joked. He chuckled and you sat up, rubbing the sleep away from your eyes. “I’m proud of you, Hughes.” 

Quinn smiled and sat down next to you on the bed. “You know what?” He asked.

“What?”

“We could totally make out right now.” 

You rolled your eyes playfully at Quinn who had a playful smile on his face. You knew he was half joking but he was also half serious. You leaned in and kissed him for what felt like the first time today. You had barely seen him after he was called away from you.

Quinn instantly attempted to deepen the kiss but before it could escalate too much, you pressed your hand against his chest to push him away. “I need to be home before midnight.” You said.

“Come on, I’ll drive you home.”