Janine waits with her sister by the bus stop, and together, side-by-almost-brushing-side, they shiver miserably in the cold.
She supposes they should both be used to it by now—(all the nights that their mom forgot to pay the power bill are far from easy to forget)—but, well, cold is cold, and when Ayesha’s breath clouds in front of her chafed lips, Janine instinctively tries to give her her own scarf.
It’s woolly and multicolored—something she picked up while thrifting a few weeks back—and her coworkers tease her about its ugliness almost every day.
But it does its job.
It keeps her warm.
That’s all that really matters in the end.
“No, no,” Ayesha shakes her head, trying to push the scarf away. “You keep it, Janine. I’m about to be on the bus anyway.”
“Nope,” Janine says firmly, all but shoving it into her sister’s palms. “I insist. It’s cold up there in the Rockies, y’know.”
“It’s cold here in Philly!”
“So?” She grins, poking her tongue out between her teeth. “I’ll manage.”
And she knows she’s won this round when Ayesha’s slender fingers finally close over the accessory.
“Stubborn as ever,” she sighs fondly, wrapping it around her neck in a few fluid motions. She’s always been graceful in that way—ever so quick to adapt.
Janine has always envied that about her sister.
Just a little.
(And maybe a whole lot.)
She feels so clumsy sometimes in comparison, painfully juggling all the responsibilities in her life like they’re glass.
“Yeah, well, one of us has to be,” she snorts softly and lightly nudges her on the arm. They both giggle then, and it’s mostly lovely, and it’s a little awkward, and it’s entirely warm all at once.
(It’s sisterhood.)
The red bus eventually comes into the view, and their shadows stretch on the pavement.
Ayesha re-grips the taped-up handle of her suitcase and places a hand on Janine’s shoulder.
“Listen, if she gets out of hand…” She bites her lip, her dark brow furrowed over her eyes, and Janine gets it.
She perfectly does.
The question is not if, but when.
And it’s a responsibility neither of them should have to shoulder, as sick of her shit as they are—but even still, that’s their mother, and don’t they owe her?
Isn’t that what she’s always said?
I’ve sacrificed so much for you two.
(That’s the only way Marsha Teagues has ever said, I love you.)
“I’ll call you—I promise,” Janine finishes, even though she knows that she won’t, despite the fight they just had about that very subject. She spent so much of her childhood between her mother and her sister that she doesn’t know where to exist anywhere else.
Ayesha nods slowly, though she doesn’t look entirely convinced. She reaches upwards and thumbs something—maybe a bit of dirt—off of Janine’s nose as the bus finally pulls up to them, the doors opening in a telltale pneumatic hiss.
“Love ya, sis,” she murmurs. “Take care, yeah?”
And Janine, with the lifelong impulsiveness that she’s never been able to shake, throws her arms around her sister’s lanky frame in response.
It surprises Ayesha, of course.
Neither of them are entirely used to such uninhibited displays of love.
But after a few tense heartbeats, she relaxes into the embrace. Her thin shoulders unbend, her breath unfurls, and she wraps her own arms around the second grade teacher. She buries her nose against Janine’s neck.
“Love you too, Aya,” Janine mumbles, the words slightly muffled against her sister’s new woolly scarf, but she knows that she’s been heard by the way her sister’s fingers twist into the fabric of her coat.
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Dcxdp prompt
I don’t see enough angst to do with Bruce, so here’s my idea.
The world is ending, and all of Bruce’s kids have been hurt in someway. Bruce is running out of options, so he said to call his final contingency plan into place.
He messages the family group chat, telling them that he loves them and is proud of them. Immediately they all start freaking out, and they have Barbara connect them onto a FaceTime with. They’re the only ones who can see what’s going on.
Bruce made a summoning circle. He transferred a few moments before that none of them can really describe appears in the circle. Later on, they all describe him differently. Damien calls him an older man older than Alfred while Tim insists he looks around Bruce’s age. Jason says that he looked older than Bruce, but younger than Alfred and Dick says they looked around his age.
The being looks at Bruce for a moment and ask him in a voice that sounded simply Eldritch
“I assume you wish to make a deal. You know what you must do if I agreed to do anything.’
Bruce nods and grunts.
The being smiles.
“Very well, I will deal with your problem. If you agree to the terms I set so long ago. Do you remember?’
Bruce grunts before saying
“My children are hurt. I want you to heal them too.’
The being laughs,
“why certainly, but you know, that means the deal be a little steeper.”
Bruce nods and takes the outstretched hand. A Crack rings through the air and the video shorts out, becoming only static. By the time they get to the Batcave, the danger is gone, their injuries are healed and Bruce is nowhere to be seen.
Meanwhile, Bruce met clockwork back when he was a teenager. He was a friend of Alfred, and they had a deal where Bruce would babysit clockwork kids or help him in the tower in exchange for Clockwork’s advice and help with tasks. Bruce figured out that clockwork was not human and was a very Eldritcg, but Alfred trusted him so so did Bruce. However, Bruce had been very busy since he adopted the kids and hadn’t made many deals in a while. However, this was important, so he didn’t mind babysitting for a while. there were more kids than usual, though. 
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