#but Danny just kind of watches Jason’s face and goes yeah this is just as good

[deadsetobsessions]

Danny no longer has a haunt. So… he decides to find another one. And while he technically has a whole world (other dimensions aren’t an option because he’s going to stay near where Jazz’s grave is, damn it) there’s only a couple of other places with enough ambient ectoplasm to sustain him. Nanda Parbat, Tokyo, and Gotham.

Nanda Parbat had a weird old musty immortal that kept trying to summon him and exchange power for the ability to “take a worthy body and rain as much destruction” as he’d like. As if Danny would need a body to bring the world to its knees.

Tokyo… it’s too far from Jazz’s grave. He could ask Wulf or even open his own portal but when Danny tried it out, Tokyo was too peaceful. Obviously there’s crime, but nothing… nothing big like Danny’s used to.

Danny ends up picking Gotham, even if the sewer zombies and the weird group of rich fruit loops with an adoption problem creeps him out. So, he destroys the portal, packs up his parents’ house and sells it, and hauls ass to the cesspool calling his name. His family’s stuff is stored respectfully in a vault located on the deepest parts of his personal haunt in the Infinite Realms.

And honestly, he’s doing better. Sure, he’s got a shitty apartment near another revenant’s almost-haunt and he feels like he’s drowning all of the time, but Danny isn’t in danger of turning into Dan, he’s catching up on royal paperwork, and he’s got like a job as a barista. In his own coffee shop that paid for using his parent’s money (who, despite their hazardous everything, made a crap ton of money off of their more normal inventions).

Gotham’s got some pretty interesting local gangs, most of which respected the sanctity of Danny’s cafe. Sure, they tried blowing it up and tried extorting money from him in the form of “protection costs” but after three months of failure, they gave up.

(Really, the local gangs gave up when they saw him take three shotgun shells to the chest and continued to work.) (They didn’t know it never hit him. Intangibility is extremely useful.)

The Rogues, on the other hand, just gave Danny flashbacks. Their gimmicks are different, sure, but after years of Box Ghost, Skuller, Lunch Lady, etc., Danny’s more than done with costumed villains. They don’t bother him either. Some of the reason is probably due to Harley and Ivy, who had walked into the cafe and (because they were bruised and scratched up from a fight) triggered Danny’s mother hen tendencies. They were promptly fed and watered and caffeinated and their hyenas were also similarly taken care of. They declared the cafe under their protection and that was that.

Red Hood stops by, and begins to interrogate him. But when Danny met his… helmet eyes? The crime lord paused, paid for his coffee, and sat in a corner table of the cafe for the rest of the day.

And he kept coming back?

But Danny figures it’s because Hood was a revenant and people who had come close to death tends to feel more comfortable around him.

(Considering this is Gotham where people almost die every other day? Yeah, he’s pretty much friends with everyone. Or at least, less likely to get shot.)

(Hood does stay because of the King’s presence and the Pit calming itself, but also Danny’s hot and he’s got a sleeper build and Hood definitely did not imagine himself in the place of the heavy box he saw Danny lift effortlessly onto a table. No.)

But of course, the peace couldn’t last forever. But by then, Danny was so antsy, he welcomed the trouble with open arms.

It starts with a clown. Danny knows who he is. He knows who Danny is.

So, Danny has no idea why the clown thought it would be a good idea to aggravate the owner of Gotham’s official neutral grounds. See, Clovkwork? Danny’s learned how to gauge his own political importance!

“HAHAHAHAHA! COME OUT, DANNY-BOY! LET ME TELL YOU A JOKE!”

Danny comes out and grabs a chair, and with a flat expression, says, “you’re not funny and I hate clowns.”

And then he swings and slams the chair into the Joker’s face. Over and over again until Danny’s sure the clown won’t get back up. The thing about Gotham’s outdoor chairs is that they’re mad out of steel and are bolted down to the ground to prevent undedicated thieves (dedicated thieves can and will steal the bolted down steel chairs). The Joker’s hired muscle just watched this scrawny twenty-something year old yank the steel chair and take some of the fucking ground and the bolts with it and beat the fuck out of their boss who is the literal Joker.

They surrender on the spot and is taken to jail. Danny just smiles at the officers who come by and since he’s got pretty privilege and they don’t want to mess with the guy who, again, owns one of Gotham’s official neutral ground and also beat up Joker without breaking a sweat, the officers just lets him go with a warning.

And then the bats comes, and wow, Danny’s playing mentor to a formally dead person again!

But before that, the Red Hood asks for an autograph on the Gotham Gazette article with a picture of a tired Danny standing over Joker’s prone body. Then Hood stammers through asking Danny out (which Danny said yes to because he’s tired, not blind, and Hood is built like a brick house and HOT).

Batman interrogates him. Danny, who can tell that this man needs therapy and is Sad TM, tells Bats that Danny’s died before and that’s why he’s like this. He also calls Batman a furry, but like in a nice way. And then he kicks Batman out with a coffee and a file on Nanda Parbat.

Now, Danny’s got a date to prepare for and he realizes that maybe this is what Jazz wanted for him- to be happy and mostly safe and happy. (Or, happier, he thinks. It’s been a long time since he’s been truly happy, but this might be a good start)

[help-itrappedmyself]

Dead on Main AU 2

Masterpost

Jason blinks and he is not where he used to be. He can already tell he’s shorter and skinnier, and he’s staring at physics homework so he’s probably younger too. It takes him a moment to run all the scenarios. He knows what is most likely, he knows that soulmates body swap at sixteen and... Well, he’s not sure if he was dead or not for his sixteenth birthday, but he had been living on the assumption that he had missed it, whenever it was. 

Now he thinks that he’s the older one in this relationship. If his soulmate just turned sixteen, he’s still a minor. Society gets a little more lax about these things when it comes to actual soulmate relationships, but Jason- despite the age difference only being around two years- is not lax about it at all. So if this is what he thinks it is, he is going to have to have a talk with his soulmate about being just friends for a while. 

Which should be fine, it’s not like they know each other at all yet. Getting to know each other should take a while anyways. Though, he could start that now.

He looked to the right and saw the door to the bedroom on the same wall as the desk he was sitting at, and the door to the closet on the next wall. The bed is against the wall behind the desk, sitting in between two windows. There’s a nightstand with a lamp on it next to the bed and a chest of drawers against the wall to his left that has a mirror hanging over it. There are space posters on the walls all around the room.

Jason gets up and walks over to the mirror. The boy in the mirror is short and skinny, just like he thought. He has blue eyes and black hair that flops over his face. Jason takes a second to wonder if the kid had plans for his birthday, realizing probably not. It’s tradition nowadays to spend your sixteenth birthday with just your family in case the switch is made. 

So, Jason's soulmate is what appears to be a normal, messy teenager. Posters, clothes on the floor, homework to do. Jason goes over to double check the homework, to see if he can find any that’s finished. There, his math assignment is already done, and it seems his soulmate’s name is Danny Fenton. He takes a closer look at all the school supplies and in his backpack and doesn’t find anything with the school name on it. 

Taking another look around the room, Jason doesn’t see a phone, and it wasn’t in the backpack. Jason tries not to feel weird as he pats around his soulmate’s pockets. He finds a phone, thinks for a second, then types in his own number and calls.

It rings for a second. Someone picks up, but all Jason can hear is shouting until he hears his own voice.

“Um, hello, Jason?”

“Yeah, this is Jason. You with my family?” 

“If the people that were in the room with you before are your family. I really only have confirmation that one of them is your dad.”

“Have those motherfuckers not even introduced themselves?” 

“Sort of. Eventually.” Jason heaves a long sigh. Danny chuckles.

“Right, well your name is Danny right?”

“Yeah! Have you talked to my family yet?”

“No, haven’t left your room. Your name was on your homework though.”

“Oh, please do not judge the homework.” Jason laughs, he does not know how Danny made his voice sound like that, breathy and higher than his voice has been in years.

“Didn’t even look at that part. So, I’m assuming that you guys are coming to me?”

“I think so?” There’s a bit of a commotion. “Stop it, buzz off!”Is said away from the phone. “They said yes.”

“Please tell me they’re not all planning on coming.”

Danny makes an I don’t know sort of hum. “Look, I do need to warn you… about a few things actually. Jazz, my sister, her room is across the hall and she’ll be able to help you if you. I sort of have… like a medical condition. I would rather explain that to you in person, but she’ll watch out for you if you go meet her.”

“I can do that. Anything I should look out for?”

“My parents leave all kinds of weapons around the house, and sometimes they’ll target me-you- at random, so try not to touch anything, and either stay upstairs or have my sister take you somewhere in town. Whatever you do, don’t go in the basement, the lab is down there.”

“Kid, what?” Jason rubs his hand down his face.

“This is really an in-person talk.”

Jason feels like he can relate. There are a lot of things a soulmate should know that Jason doesn’t know if he’s ever going to tell Danny but if he did he would want it to be in-person. “Sure, okay. Find Jazz, preferably leave the house.”

“Yep!” Again, Jason does not understand how Danny makes his voice sound so peppy. “Is there anything I should know?”

“Shit, if I had time I would give you a warning about everyone in my family individually, but for now… I don’t know if this will translate over…” It will, but there’s really no way to explain that. “I have… I guess it’s sort of a health condition as well. My family knows what triggers it, and they should be on their best behavior right now anyways, but if you wouldn’t mind putting someone on the phone I can threaten them properly.”

Danny laughs and Jason hears a beep, before “You’re on speaker!” is called out.

“I swear to god if any of you scare him, hurt him, or anything I’m going to kill you. I know everything you love and if you don’t act normal, just know, it will be destroyed.”

“Yeah, yeah. Jay, this is your soulmate!” Dick sounds way too excited.

“Also, most of us love you so that threat doesn’t work as well as you think it does.” Steph yells.

“Bitch, I died once, I’ll do it again. Don’t test me on this right now.”

The room through the phone quiets down quickly except for Danny’s laughter.

“Oh, wow, same.”

“Danny! You know how we feel about the death jokes.” Jason hears as the door behind him opens. Talking starts up on the other end of the line, but he ignores it for the moment as a tall redhead walks in the room. She stops in front of him and raises her eyebrow.

“You must be Jazz.” Jason says. This gets a hush on the other end of the line. “I’m Jason.”

[dcxdpdabbles]

Ghost king danny goes on a reincarnation vacation to the dc universe by ClockWork, he ends up as a mortician/coroner and chats up the dead and is super creepy and has to go to Arkham to claim a body there (idk how-) and ends up freaking out the prisoners but also makes some friends and is just all around having a good time and Batman is concerned why this guy just feels weird and why Jason likes him enough to call him a friend

"This is Daniel Fenton." Bruce starts clicking the button on his wrist computer so an image of a young man in his early twenties appears on the hologram. "He is the mortician working at Gotham Funeral Home and Crematorium. Recently, he has been the talk of the underworld for his actions in Arkham."

"Actions?" Tim asks, reading over the files that Bruce had downloaded into their own wrist computers. He pauses at the old-school photo of Daniel Fenton smiling shyly at the camera. Two rows below him is Jason's equally bashful smile when he was fourteen.

Huh.

"A patient was found dead in her room. Daniel went over to claim the body, but while there, he made a few of the inmates uncomfortable." Bruce pulls up a security camera footage of Fenton strolling down the hall, pushing the cart with the body covered by a white sheet.

The way his lips are shaped tells the Bats he whistles even if there is no sound.

It looks normal- even if he seems just a tad too cheerful for picking up a dead person- until he passes by Two-Face's room. The man flipped his quarter and then started shouting at Fenton.

They couldn't make out his words, but whatever the mortician said had Two-face laughing so hard he fell to the ground.

Then, the camera glitched as if there were some kind of interference. They watched it clear up with Fenton walking away and Two-Face sitting on the ground, staring at a wall with a blank expression.

"What happened?" Dick asks.

"It's unclear what Fenton did to him, but Harvey has been unresponsive since. This was three days ago."

"Shit," Steph swears, which pretty much sums up everyone's thoughts.

"Yeah, Danny has that effect on people," Jason speaks up, shrugging his shoulder at the looks he receives. "What? Danny has always been weird, but I doubt he is dangerous."

"You are acquainted with Fenton?" Damian asks, and Jason shrugs again.

"We were in the same graduating class. I spoke to him more after I died and came back, but I wouldn't meet up with him for a drink or anything."

"You don't drink."

"Exactly, Timbos."

Bruce clears his throat. "In any case, I want you all to keep an eye on him."

"B, seriously, the guy is harmless. He cried the other day over a book character's death-"

"How would you know that?" Cass cuts Jason off, a teasing smile on her face even though her eyes are narrowed with suspicion.

"We're in the same book club. Not another word." Jason grunts.

Dick, who has been staring at the class photo that Tim has seen, snaps his figures. "I know him! He's the weird kid who told people he was the reincarnation of the Ghost King on vacation! Claimed he was a powerful afterlife entity. Didn't you get caught with him behind the bleachers, Jason-"

"Shut it Dickface!" Jason screeches face a bright red suddenly. " That was one time, and I was fourteen!"

Bruce's frown is suddenly more profound. "I had forgotten about that particular detention. Jason, are you compromised for this mission?"

"What!? I am not!" The second oldest yelled, balling his hands "In fact, I bet I could get Danny to tell me what he did!"

"Good. Go get that done." Dick waves his hand at him in a dismissive motion. "Don't come back without the little crazy mortician's number."

Tim smiles as Jason explodes, but his eyes never leave Heavy Dent's image on the security camera. There is something about the way his eyes are hazy that set bells off in his head.

He is sure he sees flashes of green on Dent's pupils. He saw similar flashes in a file inside the League of Assassins while searching for Bruce.

It was the warning of ghosts.

Was Fenton's teenage lies not so fatuous after all? He'll have to investigate.

Master Post Link

[clockwayswrites]

City Pigeons Bleed Green, Part 5

WC:1063, Masterpost

CW: dissociation, self esteem issues, (past) dehumanization, referenced torture and experimentation

Danny flinched, again.

He felt bad for it, Red Robin was being as careful as possible sliding the rubber fabric between the collar and Danny’s skin, but it was just that having hands on the collar like that freaked Danny out. He closed his eyes and mentally ran through the numbers of pi. He used to know over a hundred of them. Now he was only certain of about seventy-six or so. There were a lot of things that used to be so much clearer in his memory than they were now.

“Just the overlap now,” Red (the others just called him Red), said.

He flinched again as Red pressed lightly against his neck to overlap the fabric, but the hands pulled away after.

“Do you need a little break?” the other one, Nightwing, asked.

“No. I just want this off, please,” Danny begged. He had gotten used to begging in the last year. Years?

“We’ll get it off,” Red said confidently.

Danny tried to trust that. He kept his eyes closed.

A gloved hand slipped into Danny’s, giving him something to cling to other than the sheets. Danny recoiled at the touch at first, but when the hand started to pull away, Danny twisted their fingers together and held on tightly. He didn’t open his eyes to see who’s hand he was holding.

As Red started to work on the collar, Danny couldn’t help but tense. He’d been shocked by it so many times. He was like Pavlov’s dog, collar and all, he thought bitterly.

“Almost there,” Red warned.

Danny could tell the instant that the seal of the collar was broken. It was like moving a limb that had fallen asleep, but the pins and needles were everywhere, inside and out. It was agonizing.

It was a relief.

A damp cloth was dabbing under his nose.

He blinked rapidly and Nightwing came into focus. The hero looked so concerned.

“Wha…” Danny croaked.

“Nose bleed,” Nightwing explained. He folded the cloth and set it aside.

Moving slowly (though Danny still struggled to follow the motion) Nightwing reached out and places his hands on either side of Danny’s face. Gently, he tilted it this way and that. “You didn’t exactly lose consciousness, but you… went somewhere else.”

“I do that, I think,” Danny said. The hands started to pull away and Danny swayed after them. One returned to help keep him upright. Danny’s eyes fluttered closed. “It was easier… to be away than there.”

The thumb stroked gently across Danny’s cheek.

He could feel himself tearing up. When was the last time he had been touched with kindness? Why was he now? They didn’t know what he was, that’s why.

“You’re safe here, I promise. You don’t have to go away anymore.”

-

Jason looked up from the cutting board when Dick came out of the bedroom. Dick did his best to offer his brother a smile as he took a seat on one of the slightly rickety stools at the kitchen counter.

“How is he?” Jason asked. He had swapped his helmet for just a domino. (To Dick it was a pretty clear sign that Jason has already claimed the kid as theirs.)

“Better. The nose bleed stopped and he was fully conscious again,” Dick said. “He says he does that, goes away like that. It sounds like it was a defense mechanism for whatever those bastards put him through.”

“Fucking hell,” Jason muttered.

“Yeah. I’ll let the others know so that anyone looking over him knows to watch out for it. Especially if anyone takes him out shopping or anything…”

“Right,” Jason said with a grimace, clearly picturing how badly that could go.

Dick just gave a little nod. He dragged the table that Tim must have been using close and opened it to check on the rest of the family.

“You, me, and Cass?” Jason asked a few minutes later.

“What?”

“One of us three should always be here, right? Or Babs if we move to a different safe house.”

Dick hummed thoughtfully. “There’s something to be said for moving safe houses if the kid plans to wait awhile before wanting to see Bruce.”

This safe house was bearable, but it really was one of their worse ones. It didn’t even had a table to eat at or a television. They could deal with the one bedroom and a couch, but Dick got the feeling there would be a lot of Bats stopping by whenever possible and that it wouldn’t quite cut it.

“We can see how Kid is tomorrow after rest and food,” Jason said. “If he’s up to being in a car with us we can easily move to any of them.”

“Maybe the one on Rosserie Street?”

“Which one is that?”

“Upper East Side.”

“Ah, yeah,” Jason said with a little nod, pushing the things off his cutting board and into the large pot on the stove. “That one would work. More space and better stuff.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Dick said. It was one of their apartments set up for a long term hideout if one of them was too injured to be seen in public or supposedly out of town as cover. “And big enough beds people can share.”

Jason snorted. “I’ll stick to the couch. The demon brat kicks.”

“Do you think he’ll stop by?” Dick asked as he picked at the thick rubber case on the tablet.

With a heavy sigh, Jason crossed his arms and leaned a hip against the counter. “Yeah, I think he will. I think he’ll need to, for his own sake. I’d rather it be when you were here, you’re the only one of us who can really control him if he gets… territorial.”

“He’s been better,” Dick pointed out.

“This is different and you know it. This is blood, even if it’s green. Hell, it being green might actually make it worse.”

Dick groaned and let his head thunk onto the tablet. “Yeah… I’ll talk with him and try to get B and A to also.”

“Yeah,” Jason said and reached over to pat Dick on the back.

Why did being a the oldest have to be so exhausting? And now there was another one. Not that Dick would trade any of them away, but he could really use a vacation, a drink, and a long nap.

I no longer tag, but you can subscribe to the masterpost.

---

AN: Dick really really wants to hug Danny but is really really afraid of scaring him. Don't worry, he'll get hugs.

[castrian-amore]

Bitter, had the Heart

Dead Tired (Tim Drake x Danny Fenton), Tim Drake-centric, unfinished, the author is plotting, temporary death, please check out ao3 for full tags list.

4/46 Chapters | Word Count: 5751

Chapter 4: You Stole my Fuckin' fruit snacks

Tim and Dick snuck into the warehouse through the upper floor window. The one they normally entered though. Jason was cleaning his nails with one of his knives waiting in the warehouse which had a few small collections of boxes stacked around the area. The lights flickered above making the scene eerie. The walls were creaking in the autumn Gotham wind. 

This entire thing had been last minute, but it had been 

Decided over a silent breakfast and staring at Dick. They had to go and meet this mysterious vigilante who had stayed so far from them for so long. It was better they do it now than let B be the one to meet. Both rescheduling their plans for the evening. 

“Heyo Little wing!” Dick greeted a smile plastered across his face as Jason glanced off. His helmet set off to the side just wearing the red mask over his eyes for the moment. 

“Hey,” Jason greeted back giving them a nod as he gave a spin to his knife before sheathing it. 

“Where is Mr. Distortion?”Dick asked with a smirk crossing his arms as Jason shrugged. 

“Fuck if I know, he comes and goes as he pleases. I’m not the boss of him.” Though Tim wouldn’t pick up on what Dick did. He could only read so much into a person. Dick was really good at it. While Tim could tell if people are lying Dick could tell you what about and could direct the conversation where he wanted it a lot easier than Tim could. 

“So what made him change his mind? Getting caught in action by us?”Tim raised an eyebrow at Jason. 

“You two are really just working on the same case but trying to tackle it from different sides. He has valuable information and wants this case closed as much as you do.” 

“And how long has he been working on this case?” Tim was pressing.

“3 years.” 

“The murders didn’t start until 6 months ago.” 

“That’s what you think Replacement. It’s his case I’ve just been making sure he doesn’t get himself killed by my men,” a nonchalant shrug came from Jason’s shoulders. The tenseness in them though told him something else was going on. “Don’t know why he’s fucking late though.” 

“Guess he got held up,”Dick chuckled until an empty cardboard box hit Jason in the head and bounced off towards the bats.

“YOU TRAITOROUS BITCH.” 

They looked towards the voice and dropping from a small spot in the roof was the masked figure they’d seen running from the crime scene 5 days ago.

He wore no respirator this time but his goggles remained on. He was angry, that was for sure. He landed with a roll unsheathing a fucking batarang?!?! Oh yeah wait. That tracked. He had thrown one at the guy.  Hit him actually. 

Jason merely smirked as if this kind of response had been expected. Dick moving to pick up the cardboard box. Tim watched as the kid(?). He was short, okay?

The man with black hair whom they could Assume was distortion began his onslaught onto Jason. A swipe to the man’s arms as Jason blocked and moved to punch the kid who ducked underneath slipping between his legs and nailing a kick to the back of Jason’s knee dropping him down a bit as he used Jason’s shoulders as a vantage point flipping the man who was easily close to a foot taller than him. Jason hit the ground, hard. That didn’t unmotivate him though. 

“Feisty tonight Dis.” 

“Fuck you.”

“I didn’t do anything!” Jason feigned innocence as he kicked Distortion off of him sending the man reeling. Dick and Tim watching the man correct his position mid air to land sliding backwards hand on the ground knife behind him. 

“Yes you fucking Did!”He hissed out as he charged again blade against blade before Jason managed to knock the batarang towards Red Robin and Nightwing. Tim picking up his batarang. 

“Hey, Red I think that’s yours anyways right?”

“Yeah it is. So wait, what did you do?” 

“One second.” Jason groaned out as Distortion wasn’t letting up and got a solid kick to his chest knocking the wind out of him. Tim thought he might have even heard a clean snap at some point as Jason landed a hook onto distortion blood beginning to trickle from his nose. Ignoring it though he pressed on. 

“You went to my safe house,”Distortion began as he skillfully knocked Jason’s blade away and threw a kick at him. The leg going just above Jason’s head. “And stole my SHIT.”

“I left a sticky note! Also,”Jason caught Dis’s leg before flipping him this time arm against his throat. “Are you not taking it easy?” 

Dis landed a hit on Jason’s nose sitting up coughing a tad. “WITH NO APOLOGY.” 

Dick tapped Tim’s shoulder to show him the box in question. It was an empty box of fruit gummies. A sticky note haphazardly put on it saying ‘took your last pack’. 

“I’d fight him too,”Tim nodded. “Especially if he did that to me.” Tim had a small laugh and couldn’t help but look at the silliness of the situation. Though it became clear Dis was lagging. 

The fight finished not even 30 seconds later as Jason slammed his hand into Distortion’s leg and the man crumpled holding it. 

He began cursing in… was that fucking Esperanto? Kid still landed a small kick on Jason’s ankle which had him cursing. 

“You owe me so many fucking gummies you Dick head.” 

“Yeah yeah whatever.” Jason offered a hand down to Dis who stood up moving to sit on a box as Jason went to go grab his first aid kit. 

“So You’re distortion.” 

“One and only.” 

“Reminds me of Robin with less murderous tendencies,”Tim looked over at Dick. 

“I have to agree,”Dick chuckled, pulling over boxes so they could sit. “So, are you finally okay with meeting two of the bats?” 

“You’re stuck, I’m stuck. Guess it’s finally time to get my head out of my ass and ask for help.” 

Jason came back with a kit the two bickering as Jason moved to cut away his loose fitting pants revealing the neatly wrapped wound soaked now in fresh blood. Tim could pick up that the man hadn’t really wanted to ask for help. He obviously was hesitant, untrusting. It seemed his walls were so far up, that it was a miracle Jason was close to him at all. 

“Well it’s nice to meet you though I wish we could say we’ve heard of you.” 

“I would be concerned if you had heard of me.” Distortion clarified flinching away from the other as he cut away the bandages handing him a tissue for his bleeding nose. “After all there is the whole ‘Batman doesn’t like Metas rule’.” 

“You’re a meta?” Dick asked, leaning forward on his knees a bit. Dis nodded and held his hand up letting his hand fade from view. Right as he did it though he gave a sharp gasp of pain. 

“Fucking hell,”he hissed out through gritted teeth. 

“My hand slipped.” 

Jason’s hands didn’t slip. He knew his elder brother far too well. He was hiding something. Dis wasn’t supposed to have outed himself. The cry of pain was the only explanation. The two of them seemingly having a quiet conversation to himself and Tom gently poked his brother’s side to see if he noticed it too and he did give a small nod in response. 

“You’re the one who ripped their stitches,”Jason chided as he continued to work otherwise carefully. 

Dis mouthed the words mocking him only eliciting another harsh pull from Jason. 

“The case?”Dick redirected them back on task. 

“Yeah, sorry. The case has been going on for 3 years. It’s the entire reason I ended up Gotham.” 

“You’ve been here for 3 years? For a case?” Tim couldn’t hide his surprise at that. You didn’t just come to Gotham for a mere case. 

“Not for this case but it did kinda fall into my lap yeah.” That made more sense, but still raised his questions for just how long this kid had been working under their radar. Not just how long, what was he capable of?  

“So what do you know?” 

“Hood wanna be a doll and grab my file since I’m currently injured,”The kid had a flair for the dramatic as he feigned a hand to his forehead leaning backwards on the crate looking absolutely “injured”. 

“Fucking spoiled prick.” 

“SAYs YOU!” 

“YEAH SAYS I DIS! I’m the one who has to deal with your fucking bullshit all the time!” 

All Tim could currently think about was how Jason had claimed he had not much to do with Distortion but from what he could see the two were remarkably close. Tim wouldn’t understand but he was admittedly jealous. He wished he could have had a better relationship with Jason from the beginning. 

One that hadn’t ended in him being called Jason’s replacement. Tim wanted the Robin spot, honestly. He had taken it when Batman needed him most and needed back up and all he had gotten was shit for it. Maybe he had still been salty about that. The Robin who was the smartest but at what cost? He was the longest reigning Robin before Damian came along and forced Tim to change his name and realign himself. 

When Tim had rebranded as Red Robin he had sort of gone on a quiet rampage. His morals thrown out of the loop in anger and he made some not so great decisions. Jason had found him then beating the shit out of a drug runner who had murdered an innocent little girl. It had been Jason who pulled Tim off the man in his late teens. 

Jason who apologized to Tim for how he treated him, and that he was really trying to work on his anger and had confided in Tim about how badly his anger issues affected him to that day. He had called it Pit Rage. An ever consuming anger he couldn’t get rid of. Jason just seemed more relaxed than he had, ever. Maybe this person was doing some good for him. 

Jason came back over handing Dis the manilla folders with neat labels and tabs. 

“Year one we have out first 2 victims.” He pulls out photos. “Small but noticeable markings. Missing heart. Missing kidney. Blood everywhere, but it was almost more surgical?” He hands over the photos. “Then we have year 2. 5 in total. Same thing as the first two. Missing heart. Missing Kidney. Same symbols but we watch the motives slowly get more and more deteriorated. The kills start to get messy.” 

Tim and Dick flipped through the photos noticing the same thing. “Like the person who did it in the first place was loosing the reason that they started doing it in the first place.” 

“Yeah.. that’s what I was thinking,”Dis admits. “You’ve seen the most disturbing ones from this year, so I won’t go into detail about that. Here’s what you need to know that I know. I’m meta, and one of those abilities allows me to see things and understand things not known to the human eye, specifically on the field of the supernatural. Thing that one chick who I keep seeing posters of, uhhhh Hood help me out?” 

“Zatanna.” Jason was mildly amused at him not knowing who she was. 

“Yeah her. She’s dripping with magic, I kinda have access to see it, not access it but it’s an entire thing. Not important. What is important is how those abilities relate to this case.” 

“Okay..”Tim nods taking in the information at hand. He was useful. 

“Those markings are a language. Nothing that still breaths should be able to read it but those who have sold their soul, or been touched by Death themself can read it. Don’t ask Hood he can’t read it.  I kind of can? Think like I understand it but it’s borderline untranslatable.” 

“So our culprit either soul their soul or was touched by death and survived?” Dick clarified looking over to Tim who was thinking the same thing. Ra’s and John Constantine might prove useful to this case. 

“Exactly. Ghost Speech can’t easily be translated, but I did manage to do it after going through like 5 languages until  I could get it into English. Belong, to live, to die, again, trust not the living, friend.” Dis set the folder down. “I’ve been staring at those words for 3 years and I got nothing.”

“Belong, to live, to die ,again, trust not the living, friend. That sounds like a warning?” 

“For who? Us? The serial killer is the one who’s torturing and murdering people!”Dis exclaimed. “Look, Red, Nightwing. I get it. You probably don’t want me involved but I am useful. You need me on this case!”

“Look, we’re not going to turn you away or down. This is more information than we’ve been able to get in the entirety of the case.”Dick began slowly. “But Hood mentioned you were weary of Batman. Red and I can respect that but if we officially bring you into this case you know he will get involved. He already is in terms of this case.” 

“Bring me in.” 

Tim and Dick shared a moment of surprise between each other. Jason would do that? For Dis? 

“I’ll act as messenger when needed. It’s only a matter of time before the next body is dumped in my alleyways right? You let the kid help and report information to me and I’ll act as messenger.” 

“You know this will mean you’ll have to be at the BatCave more, right?” 

“Trust me, I’m painfully aware.” 

“I have a question though,”Tim spoke up. “You removed a viscous green substance from the bodies. What was that? It  was glowing.” 

“Ectoplasm.” 

“Pit water, but more pure,”Jason translated as he finished sewing up Dis’ leg.

“I still don’t know what that means,”Distortion whispers under his breath as Jason ignores him. 

“So definitely something supernatural related,”Dick merely took it as a clarification.  

“Exactly.” 

“So our murderer is what, undead?” Tim rubbed his forehead a little in frustration. 

“Probably.” Dis moved to examine the wrapping on his leg a moment before looking at the group as a whole. A small quirk to his lips as if he wanted to say something else but held back. “I’m not completely against working with Batman, but it’s just--” 

“Just?”Dick pressed gently. “We won’t tell, you know. I hope Hood has spoken that much of us.” 

“Yes, I know you two won’t tell. That is why it’s you two here. Closest people to the case right? I’ll help from the sidelines. Give you my information. Share, what I can but what I need is if you discover a body let me see it before you do anything.” 

“What do you mean?” Tim crossed his arms a little, in a more relaxed way than before. 

“I’m going to be honest, I think we’re up against a ghost. Which means a whole lot of issues for more than just you and I. If I can get my hands on the ectoplasm left on the scene I can start working on tracking him.”

“You mentioned Zatanna earlier. Do you think bringing in people who know that sort of magic will be any help?” Dick asks genuinely. 

“No. No. No Magic users.” Distortion’s words were quick. Dick and Tim shared a look recognizing the panic in his voice. Jason said nothing off to the side either. The words hard to understand and distorted in their own right. Was that how he got his name? Jason walked over and rested a hand to his shoulder, the young man taking a deep breath, or really, several. The room dropping a few degrees.

How powerful of a meta was he? Tim noticed Jason’s hand grabbing the youngers wrist face dropped in serious thought as he counted heartbeats. Distortion pulled his arm away from him. 

“I’m fine Hood,”he hissed out before looking back in the direction of the two. “No. Can you imagine how widespread the chaos would be if any of the mainstream powerful magicians found out about a Ghost being strong enough to commit murder? It would turn Gotham into even more of a bloodbath.  They exist but they’re not supposed to be powerful enough to be so--so.” 

“Consistent?” Jason offered before stealing Distortion’s arm again to check his pulse. 

“Hood.” Another threatening glare between the two of them. Silent, but a conversation nonetheless. One Distortion obviously lost. “But yes. Consistent. There’s a reason Ghost’s aren’t commonplace here.” 

“Wait, here,”Dick frowned this time. The two would be having serious conversations about not only Jason but his apparent ward. 

A deep breath from Distortion. “Whoops, yeah, I’ve said far too much.” 

“If you’re from the future, we've dealt with that kind of stuff before,”Tim offers an olive branch to the man. A hesitance in doing so. 

“As long as you understand one thing, I don’t care how you identify me,”he chuckles standing up as Hood frowned and released his hand. He moved and made his way witha limp to the front of the warehouse. 

“Dis!”Jason called out after him. “We need to ask about you--”

“Shut it Hood!” A frustrated groan and hands running down the side of his face. “Just know that I don’t exist. You never saw me. You don’t know who I am. It’s safer for everyone that way.” 

And though, they saw him leave it was like he was gone and never was there in the first place. A cold chill coming in through the now open door and causing Jason sigh sitting down where he was. 

“He’s a character,”Dick started. “His mood dropped there at the end.” 

“Yeah.. he mentioned Justice League Dark to me once in passing too. I think he has beef with them. “ 

“It would explain why he’s so testy about magic users, especially if he can see the things they can too, without a spell.” Tim spoke up rummaging through the file some more looking over the hand scrawled tedious notes. Even the original workings through several translations with picture through history of Ghost speech written on the walls. It was more than Tim had ever thought he would have on the guy. 

Dammit. Tim hadn’t gotten the chance to apologize to him. Fuck. Maybe he could chase him? He couldn’t be super fast with that injury,  but then again he did have that whole weird disappearing act up his sleeve. 

Tim was missing something. They both were missing something and it seemed very important they figure it out to unlock this case. He wished the man had the clean photos of the writing but it seemed he had similar bad luck with them. There were photos but they sure were blurry as fuck. 

“Red.” 

“Huh?” He looked up between the two to see which one called him. It was Dick. 

“Any other questions to Hood? We gotta go finish our patrols before B starts asking questions.” 

“Fuck, yeah. I have questions, too many, though. Distortion was honest all the way through. He hesitated on saying he was a meta though, and the fact he doesn’t want people to think he exist is concerning.” 

“He lets me know he exists.” Hood snorts motioning to the discarded box of gummies from earlie. 

“He trusts you, that much is obvious,”Dick gave a small chuckle. “Guy has more walls up than the fucking pentagon, but at least we could hack past those.” 

“He wears his heart on his sleeve honestly,”Hood pulled off his helmet to reveal the domino mask underneath. “Trust me. He’s guarded about his past. About what and who he is but his real personality shines through a lot. I take him to the soup kitchen for me and he watches me back during particularly rough land grabs from other mob bosses.” 

“He knows about the pit, which is more than any other civilian has ever found out,”Dick pointed out. 

“You could say that again, this answered a lot if he’s right but fuck. It also gave us a lot more fucking questions.” Normally Dick would be on his ass all day for that swear jar money, it seemed he had decided not today. 

“Let me be clear. What he said is right. He’s a fuckin’ ghost for all things considered. He knows far too much shit to be just a civilian. Trained too much to be a civilian. If he doesn’t have training he has experience. His knowledge of things far beyond our reach, our control? It’s uncanny.” Hood motioned for the file back and Tim gave a whine. 

“Calm down Babybird I’m just gunna go make you a copy really quick of what’s in here,”there was an obvious eye roll to his voice that caused Dick to snort. 

“Leave him along Little wing,”Dick teased lightly. “The mans was distracted on a date Wednesday and he’s been out of it ever since.” 

“NIGHTWING, once again NOT a date!” Tim insisted looking at his traitorous brother. 

“Uh huh, tell that to your little black haired friend who was laughing at practically everything you said.” A smirk as Dick playfully leaned on his knees. 

“You are not doing this to me right now, I swear to god.”

“A date?”Jason’s turn to smirk leading the duo into his office. Medical supplies sitting on his desk as he moved to the copier.

“We can’t leave without that file,” Dick began moving to flop onto Jason’s couch. “So I’m going to temporarily enjoy this~”

“It wasn’t a date,”Tim insisted. “We literally just fucking met!” 

“So you took him to a coffee shop and paid for his food and drink?” Dick offered.

“He’s my partner for the semester for my 101 Linguistics class!! We have a lot in common!” 

“Dateeee~~~”

“No.” 

“I don’t know Babybird, that does sound like a date.” 

“You two are fucking impossible oh my god. He’s smart and speaks a million and a half languages guys! We started talking about those. He knows fucking Tagalog!” 

“Oooo the baby bird got himself another genius to fool around with,”Dick wiggled his eye brows. 

“Are those copies printed yet?”

“Almost,”Jason smirked. 

“I might as well just finish this shift alone tonight. Face the wrath of B of doing it by myself than deal with you two.” Tim goes for the door.

“Okay okay,”Dick lightened up. “We’re glad you finally found a friend, not a date, a friend.” Jason and him shared a look which caused Jason to snort. Motherfuckers.

“I have friends!” 

“A non-superhero friend,”Jason emphasized as he began gathering papers and clipping them together. “You‘ve needed one of those. One you’re not constantly worried about on the field. Or even better, one who won’t die as easily.” 

“Hey!” 

“He’s right though RR,”Dick spoke back up this time. “Proud of you. We do have to go so we’re gunna take those files and scedaddle. Anything else we need to talk about?” 

“One more thing about Dis… he’s a good kid. I promise, but he can be brutal and obsessive at times. If you see shit involving him going down I need you all to promise to not intervene unless his life is in danger. He can handle himself but he is also,”Jason contemplated his words there for a moment. “He’s got the skills down and the experience under his belt but he has plenty other things going on that can leave him vulnerable during battle. There’s a fine line between him fucking with people and him struggling. If he uses his meta powers, join in because he’s doing to fucking drop afterwards.” 

“Drop?”Dick sounded concerned and they both shared worried glances. “Is that why you were checking his pulse earlier?” 

“… yeah.” 

“Can we ask what specifically you were looking for?”

“I promised i wouldn’t rat him out. I am not going to break his trust like that.” 

“Fair,”Tim took the paper’s from Jason’s hand folding them neatly and shoving them into his belt. “Ready to go Big Bird?” 

“You bet. Catch you on the flip side Hood.” 

“You too Nightwing. RR, get some fucking sleep please. I will call Kon.” 

“You wouldn’t dare.” Tim would have made eye contact if it weren’t for the masks. “I slept a day or two ago!” 

“A day or two ago,”Dick mimics. “Yeah exactly the problem, now come on Red.” Dick almost dragged him away before Tim could respond to Jason’s threats any further. 

“THIS IS NOT DONE HOOD.” 

“YES IT IS RED.” 

“FUCK YOU.” Cue Tim flipping off the Red Hood as they left. The quiet sounds of grappling hooks going off and then silence settling over the warehouse and Tim left with far too many questions and concerns. What kind of Meta can’t handle using his own abilities? He thought that wasn’t how that worked. 

At least Tim had gotten something out of tonight. He had liked Dis. The man was a firecracker and funny when he wasn’t being serious. A bigger Damian if you would, but at least Hood had a better control over this one. At least he trusted this one not to outright stab him. Ha, Big Damian. Their little brother would definitely clash with Dis if/when they met. Tim was almost excited to see it happen. 

“So what are we telling B again?” Tim voiced silently as they were a few houses down. 

“We found a lead but had to turn off coms so we couldn’t be found. The lead wanted total security.” Dick replied with ease. “Hey Oracle.” 

“Nightwing—“Tim didn’t get to finish his statement before Oracle’s voice came online. 

“Ready? I’ve been spewing lies for hours now Nightwing. You owe me.” 

“Yeah yeah. I know. I’ll come by and make dinner one night, we can watch a movie.” 

“Movie night?”Tim asked.”Can I join?” 

“Yes you can Red, thank you for asking.” 

“We should stop the small talk before B spasses.” 

“Probably. Reconnecting.” 

B’s voice was immediate. “Nightwing, Red Robin, report. Why were your coms offline?” 

Tim was letting Dick trip over himself with this one quite enjoying the show.

————————

Damian Wayne liked to think, no he knew himself to be the best of the children when it came to several things. Grades(mostly only being topped by Drake), Fighting, and most importantly Stealth. The only other one coming close to him being Greyson with his light feet and acrobatic training. 

So when his father had come to him telling him tonight he would be checking up on Hood instead of their normal routines, honestly, Damian had been excited. Excited at the prospect of a fight. Excited at the idea of proving himself worthy to his father. 

What he had been told and what he knew though were two different questions. 

He knew Red Robin and Nightwing were supposed to be patrolling the docks. 

He knew Jason Todd Aka Red Hood was acting quiet and suspicious and had been for months. 

He knew that Father would be annoyed that the trio of them were meeting. 

What he had been told though was another thing.

He’d been told to keep his head down. 

He’d been told that Red Hood was violent, Damian had already thought otherwise in the guy who made him vegan cookies and sneakily brought them to the manor and set them on Damian’s bed every time. He got along with Todd even if it was in their silent sparing sessions during his rare visits. 

He was totally not jealous to see the very obvious affection he was showing for somebody— some nobody. His father had asked him to watch Jason and then leave and report back, that was all. He was to not engage and while originally the plan had in fact been to just hang out with Jason for the night, things had obviously changed. 

Something felt off about the stranger clad in black. Whispers through the air like a mistake. Something was wrong with that guy, and not just in the fact that he was obviously injured. Something was just off. That also meant he didn’t trust that man around Todd. 

He moved closer keeping an eye on what was going on the slow curling and whisp of ideas floating inside of him. 

The pit calls

It whispered. A familiar feeling when Todd was near, yes. A longing feeling drawing him closer to the man with Lazarus water running through his veins, but it had never called this loud before. He hadn’t even told the others he could tell when he was near the pits of Gotham. The festering bubbling green waters. 

When the stranger left, his feeling of the pit began to die down to the quiet hum of the familiarity of Jason. 

And then it was behind him. 

“You did a pretty good job hiding you know.” 

How was he able to see him… Damian looked back unsheathing his katana pointing it at the stranger who was leaning against the door to the building bright green goggles glowing with that unearthly Lazarus green. 

The man put his hands up stepping out of the shadows. Gently moving to push the katana out of the way as he began to circle Damian, and for the first time in his life. 

Damian felt like prey. 

Like the predator before was watching with a smirk. He gave a gentle smile but Damian noticed the sharp fangs protruding from his mouth as he gave a sinister smile. 

“If you weren’t radiating ectoplasm I wouldn’t have been able to detect you,”he gave a low chuckle that reverberated through Damian’s veins. 

“Who are you?” Katana remaining up as they seemed to circle each other. Damian in a defensive position. 

“Come on, I think the question you’re more curious about is what I am.” 

“Then answer whatever question you wish.” 

“So cold for the young Robin. Red and Nightwing have so much more spunk than you.” 

“I can show you spunk.” He bolted forward at the man who dodged hands behind his back. Dangr. Danger. Danger. It filled his senses no, it consumed them. What the fuck was he. His Lazarus sense was on fire. Blinding. Nauseating.

So when he felt the stranger pulse with the energy of the pits calling upon it from just somewhere he felt overwhelmed dropping to the ground unable to stop himself from puking. He expected the figure to attack him. Kill him in his moment of weakness. 

But no. 

Instead he felt a gentle gloved hand rubbing his back and the figure was crouched next to him rubbing small circles. 

“Shit, sorry kid. I just wanted to fuck with ya’ didn’t think you were that sensitive to me,”he apologized with genuine concern in his voice. “Fuck.” 

He smacked his hand away wiping his mouth breathing heavily. The figure stepping away getting the cue.

“Leave Gotham… you thing.” 

“Thing? Now that’s hurtful.” The man chuckled. “Look. I am sorry for what it means from a stranger. I got to go and I’m sure you do too. I don’t think you want your fellow birdies to find out you were here right?” 

“I don’t follow directions from monsters.” 

“I’m not a monster.” 

“You radiate danger. It’s in your entire being.” 

“I didn’t realize I still radiated that. I didn’t even know those infected could still pick up on me, different breed and all.” 

“Different breed?.” 

A small gentle smile. “Different breed of those infected with that you guys call the pits. I’ll keep away now that I know though, but if I have to fight near you kid. You’ll have to get that sense of yours under control.” 

“I can’t control it.” 

“Yes you can.” 

The man handed him his katana back before backing up again. 

“I’ll stay right here,”The man gave a smile moving to sit down himself. “Close your eyes. Feel where all the energy is.” 

Damian hesitated. Would this be weakness? Was he the enemy? He slowly adjusted to sit like him closing his eyes focusing on the feeling. 

“Imagine it as a bubble. A giant bubble as far as your reach will lead you.” Damian could feel the waters through the man and feel Jason and his movements next door. 

A slow growing toxic green bubble seeming to encompass all he could sense. 

“Good. Now take a deep breath and deep in your chest pull that bubble in with every breath. Slowly. It’ll overwhelm you if you try to reign it in al at once.” 

Damian obliged, what the fuck was he doing. “No. It’s not working you are lying to me.” 

“I’m not lying.” 

“I am not going to listen to someone maddened by the pits far more than Hood.” The man put his hands up again. 

“Then be my guest to faint next time I do more than flare my abilities.” 

“Who are you…” 

“A friendly,mostly.  if you need some help, though Feel free to ask Hood all about who I am.” 

And with a blink of an eye he was gone, and Damian knew he was right. He had to fucking move. He rose with shaky knees. 

His father did not need to know about the powerful entity able to bring him to his knees. Maybe he did? Would the being be able to bring him to his knees too?

No. He would not his weakness. He would not let anyone know what a walking pit of toxic waste that person was. Not until he could determine what exactly could bring him down. For now, all his Father would know was that Jason was going over some of his own investigations details. That is all. He moved positions to readjust himself to look into one of the windows. Only leaving when the sun began to peak over the horizon. 

He was surprised his body handled making it back at all. Ignoring the brief look of concern and comment from Alfred about how pale he looked as the child changed and headed to bed for the few hours of sleep he would obtain. 

He wasn’t going to tell anyone about that. 

Previous Chapter | Next chapter

[britcision]

Well for today’s WIP Wednesday I had me a dilemma… because chapter 5 is damn near finished, last scene, and I don’t want to give you the whole thing early!

So instead, you get the scene I’m working on, at the end of the chapter >) also, I think I finally fixed the tag lists, but if you have asked to be tagged and still aren’t please let me know

Tag List: @welcometosasakiworld @kyrianclawraith @someonebored0100 @stealingyourbones @starkcravingmad @frostedthroughghost @akikoyuii @rainbowbunny0159 @littlefeather345 @violet-catsarelife @serasvictoria02 @wolfjackle @blacksea21090 @secretdestinywerewolf @anime-hipster-the-amazing @undead-essence @skitscratched @blackroserelina @snoodly-boop @trickerdi @mayoota-blog @xysidhe @idkmrpianoman @little-apricot-the-writer @chaoticmistake @the-legal-shipper @bun-fish @aroranorth-west @demon-cat-goes-woof @eonic @onyxlightdragon @larks-and-katydids @peachesandcreamfemboy

——————-

Bumping into Tucker and Tim had been a fun coincidence, and Danny wasn’t about to miss the chance to catch up. Sure, they’d not been apart long, but a lot had happened.

First of all…

“What happened to your shoulder Tim?” Jason asked “innocently”, something just on this side of sincere worry in his eyes.

Tim made a face, rolling his shoulder and carefully cupping it.

“Oh, nothing. Just a bit of an overenthusiastic greeting by someone called Vlad,” he said nonchalantly, shooting Danny a sly smile. “He thought I was someone else.”

For just the briefest second, that hot flare of Obsession hit Jason again. Protect-mine-how dare he.

But Danny was used to those kinds of reactions; mostly from personal experience. If he even thought his friends were hurt in an attack, things got… intense.

He let his aura spread enough to stroke across Jason’s again, not moving closer while they were the center of attention. He felt the flash of surprise, and something… else?

Something softer, none of the alarm he’d felt when he’d filled the room. He stroked calm-safe-amused-he’s faking back anyway and watched Jason’t shoulders settle.

Felt a wash of embarrassed-amused-sorry more directed his way, and smiled to himself. Jason was getting good at this pretty fast.

Sam, Tuck, and Tim had kept the conversation going while they had their little halfa moment, chatting just a little louder than they should about Tim’s encounter.

Just so their neighbours could hear them without having to strain, of course.

That would be rude.

Slotting back into the conversation was easy, and honestly? Tim was also a pretty cool guy to hang out with. Danny was a little surprised by how much fun he was having.

It just went to show, the galas of nightmares could be pretty fun with friends.

There was definitely something about to start though, because people were beginning to move more pointedly towards the large doors opposite the stairs. The dining hall, if Danny remembered right.

Right. Dinner.

It was probably that which brought Damian, Dick, and Cass to join them. Dick launched easily into the story of their own encounter with Vlad and okay, being funny as fuck clearly ran in the family.

Damian was a little off though. Until he actually met Bruce, Danny couldn’t say for sure, but for now? Maybe the Waynes were just the unfunny ones.

That or something was bugging him, because he had a tight frown on his face. And… was… kinda staring at Danny.

Half an eye on the kid, Danny casually shifted away to the right. The glare followed, so yeah - gonna say that was for him.

It was kinda cute really. For all the kid wanted to play tough guy and pretend he didn’t care, he basically radiated a protective suspicion for Jason.

Danny had to admit he’d been weird enough when he thought anyone was threatening Jazz or his friends, so he couldn’t complain. Just felt weird to be on the other side of.

Just as they were approaching the wide open doors, the Mansons popped up again, absolutely beaming to see Sam surrounded by the full crop of Waynes.

“I’m so happy to see you all getting along, poor Samantha does get so lonely at these events sometimes,” Pamela trilled happily, patting her daughter on the shoulder.

Sam, Manson Party Smile in place, glanced at the hand like she was seriously considering biting it. Danny hid a grin of his own.

“We’re sorry to break up the party, but we should be getting our two off to our table,” Jeremy explained, giving Sam a beaming smile and pretending Danny didn’t exist.

Jason cut in immediately, bestowing a charming smile on both of them and offering Sam his hand. Which she gave a sidelong look to, then slowly took.

Pamela’s eyes all but whirred like camera lenses as she locked onto the gesture.

“Actually, I was just about to invite Sam to join me at our table? And Danny too of course,” Jason added as an afterthought, also not looking for Danny.

For the best, because he wasn’t sure he could hold in all the giggles. No chance of the Mansons noticing anyway, because they were on cloud nine.

“Oh, how wonderful! It would certainly give you some more time to get to know each other,” Pamela gushed, the hand on Sam’s shoulder giving her daughter a sudden little shove closer to Jason.

As if there was any chance she might have missed the super subtle parental semaphore all evening.

And Sam deserved an Oscar.

Glancing up to Jason, she let the Party Smile slip more into a real, shy one, quickly looking away like she didn’t want to be caught looking.

“Yeah, okay. Sounds good,” she said quietly, her grip tightening just a little.

If Danny hadn’t known she’d never been shy in a relationship in her life he could have easily bought into this Bridgerton bullshit. As it was, he and Tuck exchanged grins, wishing for popcorn.

Jeremy took his wife by the arm before she could dissolve into delighted tittering, inclining his head to the group.

“I’m sure we’ll see you after dinner then. Have fun,” he told Sam, and for just a moment he sounded so sincerely proud that Sam’s grip tightened in Jason’s.

Then they were gone and she groaned melodramatically, dropping said hand and glaring at Tucker and Danny.

“Not a word,” she snapped, eyes narrowed. Both boys immediately raised their hands in abject surrender.

“Whatever would we even say?” Tuck asked innocently. Beside him Tim snickered.

“That your parents clearly read even more period romances than Jason?” He offered, and Sam’s eyes narrowed at him instead.

Then she huffed, folding her arms and dragging Jason’s hand into the crook of her elbow.

“Yeah, yeah. Get me to the table. At least I don’t have to listen to them gushing for an hour,” she grumbled, actual sadness flicking across her eyes.

Jason slipped his hand free and before she could protest, wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“C’mon, let me tell you about all the times Timmy’s fallen asleep at gala dinners,” he said innocently, shooting a wicked grin at his younger brother as he turned them away to keep walking.

Tim’s smile dropped immediately as they begun to walk, hurrying around so he could glare at Jason and walk backwards.

“Don’t you fucking dare Jason. I still have pictures of the Discowing incident,” he threatened, and unfortunately for him only made Jason grin broader.

“You did, until Babs owed me a favour,” he teased back and Tim’s eyes narrowed, hands jumping to his phone.

“Fuck off she did not, she wouldn’t,” he grumbled as he fell behind, Dick landing a companionable hand on the back of his neck to steer him along with them.

“Discowing incident?” Tucker asked, hurrying up on Jason’s other side.

Jason glanced back over his shoulder, smirking at Dick and Tim.

“Family game night. The loser has to suffer some humiliation, and when I lost they got me one of Nightwing’s old costumes to wear for photos. The one with the v-neck,” he added for explanation.

Coming up on Sam’s other side, his hand in the small of her back, Danny damn near tripped over his feet. He’d have fallen if Sam hadn’t caught him, a smug smirk now on her face.

At least she was feeling better.

Behind them, Dick rolled his eyes while Tucker went searching on his PDA.

“Hey, I still say that was a cool suit. More interesting than all the black spandex the rest of the bat brigade mainline,” he protested, making all three of his brothers scoff.

“Then why did he stop wearing it?” Steph asked, materialising from nowhere to toss an arm around Dick’s shoulders, just as Danny asked,

“Isn’t Nightwing’s current costume mostly black?”

Even Cass giggled, which Danny had already decided was an accomplishment. Dick gave a few half hearted defences while the others needled him, and Tucker made a triumphant noise and passed his PDA to Sam.

She angled it so Danny could see and he had to clap his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing.

“He fought crime in that?!” He exclaimed through his fingers, and Sam raised a pointed brow at him.

“Batman’s underwear are on the outside and this is the line?” She asked sarcastically, then turned and grinned up at Jason. “So when are you introducing me to my new best friend Babs?”

They’d reached a large oval table now… right in the front and center of the room. Right. Wayne table, Jason’s gala.

They were gonna have an audience.

Jason chuckled and grinned down at Sam, moving to pull out a chair for her just off center.

“Absolutely fucking never unless you swear to forget all you’ve heard,” he promised as the rest of his siblings minus Cass rushed around for the other side of the table.

Sam snorted a laugh, taking the seat and letting him tuck her in.

“Look at what I am fucking wearing. Give me the disco suit and I’ll wear that with pride,” she pointed out, gesturing to the mass of bows.

Dick won the race, by diving into the seat Tim had just pulled out and locking his legs underneath it. He leaned immediately across the table and grinned at Sam.

“Are you busy tomorrow?” He asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Steph dropped down to sit beside him.

“We could go later tonight?” She offered, and both laughed when Jason flicked a napkin at them, taking his own seat.

“You’re both the fucking worst, and Babs has shit on you too,” he reminded them, with no real effect.

Danny took a seat Sam’s other side, Tucker winding up beside Danny on the curve. That left Tim with a seat almost half opposite Tucker, on the other side of the round.

Further from the main action, but honestly, he took it with good grace. Better than Damian, who despite having the seat on Dick’s other side, near the middle of the table, was still sulking.

Maybe because he’d had to wait for a new chair to be brought? Cass had the other new chair, at Jason’s other side.

No one seemed worried that they’d left the table unbalanced, mostly down at one end.

A couple of attendants had already hurried over with three extra chairs, disappearing again for place settings as the Waynes passed cutlery around.

Danny figured this was what throwing the party (and having more money than your average country) did for you. People didn’t make a fuss when plans changed.

The hall was still pretty loud, people finding their seats and getting comfortable. Across the table Dick leaned forward, grinning broadly at Sam and Danny.

“So, we know about Sam and her folks. What about you, Danny? Do you have any family nearby?” He asked, ignoring a warning look from Jason.

Danny appreciated it, but he didn’t really mind. Odds on, he’d be getting to know Jason’s family better at some point. They seemed pretty close.

“Nah, my sister’s studying psychology in Star City and both parents are still in Illinois. We sort of spread out.” Not least so both he and Jazz could have some time away from home.

Time to pretend to be normal. And somewhere nobody knew the name Fenton.

Dick nodded cheerfully, but Danny didn’t miss how both Damian and Steph’s eyes had narrowed. They were gonna remember what he said for later.

Fun. Maybe he should be doing some interrogating back.

Dick had already moved on though, still with that charming smile.

“Can’t say I know much about that, the furthest I got from home was Bludhaven,” he said companionably, tugging Damian in for a hug. “Can’t let the little ones do without their biggest brother.”

Damian squirmed viciously, sputtering protests, and Steph laughed and pulled Dick into a headlock.

“Jason’s bigger,” she teased, and Danny couldn’t help glancing over from the corner of his eye.

Jason was a lot bigger. In just about every direction. To be fair, Jason was bigger than some cars.

Dick squirmed free with surprising flexibility, releasing Damian who huffed and corrected his outfit immediately. Danny figured it was as good a time as any to do some sleuthing back.

“Bludhaven, huh? What do you do there?”

“I’m a cop,” Dick answered with an easy shrug. “I guess I got in the habit of wrangling these little bastards.”

Sam snorted a laugh beside him and Danny hid a grin in his hands. He was probably gonna regret that.

“You grew up in Gotham and became a cop?” She asked, heavy with derision. Beside Danny Tucker snickered, leaning over to whisper to Tim.

“And you thought you had it bad before.” Which, yeah. ACAB was Sam’s other favourite mantra after Eat The Rich.

Dick shrugged again, not losing his cheerful grin yet and spread his hands.

“That’s kinda why I did it. There were always so many corrupt cops, I wanted there to be at least someone that people could count on,” he explained like it might save him.

Sam stifled most of the second laugh.

“Oh, sorry, I thought you said you became a cop, not a firefighter. Is he a snitch too?” She asked Steph, who looked like Christmas had either come a little late or extremely early.

“Not to Bruce, but he did threaten to arrest me for parking near a fire route,” she said with a wicked grin.

Decidedly pouting now, Dick threw both hands into the air.

“I was kidding! I didn’t actually arrest her!” He argued as the rest of the table booed. Even Damian.

“Just another corrupt cop,” Sam sighed, shaking her head. Dick opened and closed his mouth a few times, then frowned.

“Wait so I’m a snitch if I do arrest people and corrupt if I don’t? How am I supposed to win?” He complained, the pout still mostly playful.

Sam stared him dead in the eye, devoid of mercy.

“Not be a cop.”

Dick groaned dramatically and Steph laughed, reaching over to pinch his cheeks.

“Hey, we told you when you joined,” she pointed out cheerfully and Dick sighed.

“Well, yeah, but the system’s not gonna change if no one ever does anything, is it?”

Tucker and Danny exchanged looks. Grins. And were slightly surprised when Jason beat Sam to the punch.

“Corrupt systems don’t change from the inside, Dickie,” he said with a smirk. Dick pointed an accusatory finger at him.

“Hey, you can’t talk. He likes Red Hood,” he explained as an aside to the Amity Parkers as if it might help his case.

Jason spread his hands, grinning.

“Hey, I came from the Alley, I’m allowed to appreciate a guy cleaning it up. Which the cops never even tried,” he added smugly. Dick huffed.

“Red Hood killed people.”

“So do the police,” Sam pointed out with a smirk of her own and Dick deflated.

“Red Hood stopped,” Jason joined in, jumping on the moment of weakness. “I bet his bodycount is less than Bludhaven PD’s.”

Steph and Tim both snickered at that, although Danny wasn’t quite sure why. It seemed a little more innuendo ridden than just enjoying Dick’s suffering.

And Jason’s cheeks definitely pinked. But he ignored them. Yeah, Danny had some follow up questions for later.

From Jason’s other side, Cass signed something that Danny couldn’t quite catch from this angle, but Steph nodded quickly.

“Yeah, good point Cass. She wants to know what you guys think about vigilantes,” she explained, looking expectantly at Sam.

Who frowned for a moment, then shrugged.

“At least they’re getting something done. But someone needs to look into Batman hoarding children,” she said dryly, and most of the table snickered.

“I think most of them follow him,” Tim pointed out in an effort to be fair. Steph and Jason both made faces at him and he flipped them both off.

“But do you have a favourite of Gotham’s vigilantes?” asked Dick, leaping onto the subject change with both feet.

Danny cast a quick glance at Jason, but he looked about as entertained as the rest of the table. It must have been something they talked about a lot.

Or the rest of the Waynes were the rest of the bats. But Danny didn’t want to assume… unless it would be funny.

Without the key of Jason’s old Robin connection, Sam and Tucker probably wouldn’t get there.

Sam was pursing her lips, probably thinking about her options. She’d know more of them than him or Tucker, but Danny figured he knew most of the big players.

“Black Bat,” she finally decided, leaning back in her seat, “but Batwoman definitely fucks.”

This was met with general agreement, Danny frowning for a moment. He’d not had many bat sightings since moving to Gotham, but…

“She definitely says fuck,” he agreed with a snicker. Sam punched his shoulder.

“You can’t talk. Who’s your favourite, new town boy?”

Rubbing his arm and feigning great injury, Danny stuck his tongue out at her. Thought for a moment longer.

“Signal’s pretty great,” he decided, tipping his chair back for a moment to frown at the ceiling, “I passed by the mall after a rogue attack one time and he was teaching the kids to do flips.”

“After the rogue was in custody?” Steph asked, but she was still grinning. Danny shrugged.

“I dunno, I don’t talk to cops.”

Dick let out another wounded groan and Sam snickered, then leaned forward to look at Tucker.

“How about you?”

Tucker hesitated for a moment, clearly torn. Then he visibly drew in his courage and looked around the table expectantly.

“Have you guys heard of the Oracle?” He asked, voice heavy with anticipation. The surrounding Gothamites stilled, watching him expectantly.

Sam rolled her eyes.

“If you’re not wearing spandex are you even a vigilante?” She asked dryly. Tucker flipped her off.

“Hey, Oracle’s done more for this city than any of the bats! More for the whole world!”

“It’s a legend in the hacker community,” Danny “explained”, keeping an eye on Dick and Steph as the two opposite him. And less obviously hacker connected.

If they were the bats and Oracle existed, they’d know.

“They’re a master hacker that can break any system, any time, and gathers all the evidence to put people like Roman Sionis behind bars,” Tucker said, taking over the explanation.

With his usual dramatic aplomb, planting both hands flat on the table and leaning forward impressively, his voice low and conspiratorial.

“No one knows who they are or anything about them. You just find their tracks sometimes, especially when there’s a really big rogue attack or someone gets busted too soon.”

“Sounds kinda like a rumour,” Dick offered with a small shrug, glancing at Tim. “How about you, Tim? Have you heard of an Oracle?”

Tim hesitated for a moment, just long enough for Steph to snicker.

“Guess if there is one they don’t bother with Bludhaven PD,” she said smugly, dodging when Dick swung half heartedly at her. “Police brutality!”

Dick groaned whole heartedly as the others laughed, sinking back into his seat.

“But seriously, why doesn’t anyone like Nightwing?” He grumbled, arms folded as he pouted at his siblings. “He was on the scene before it was cool.”

‘Before he had to be cool,’ Cass signed, shuffling a little further around the curve of the oval so the rest of the table could see her.

Dick’s head snapped up when Steph and Sam laughed harder, pouting at his sister.

“Hey! Not fair when I’m not looking!”

‘Pay attention then,’ she signed back, her expression all sweet and studied innocence.

At the other end of the table Tucker decided to take a little pity on the guy.

“Nightwing’s okay. I liked that suit,” he said with a shrug and a grin. Dick straightened in his seat, grinning over at him.

“Finally, a man of distinction and taste!”

“Cops don’t get opinions,” Sam smirked, leaning forward to grin at Tucker, “so what’s your excuse?”

Tucker stuck his nose in the air, pointedly looking away from her.

“We’re not all goth, Sam. Some of us have heard of colours.”

“Spoiler wears purple,” Tim put in helpfully, pulling up a picture to show him. Tucker leaned in for a moment, then nodded.

“Yeah that’s pretty cool too. Capes are in,” he added, shooting a meaningful look at Danny. Who rolled his eyes, both hands in the air.

“And when they come in for those of us not wearing identity obscuring masks, I’ll wear one,” he replied dryly. Tucker pshawed at him, waving a hand.

“You’re in Gotham, how weird would it be?” He asked off handedly. Danny sighed and then looked pointedly around the rest of the table.

“Weird?” Steph offered, shrugging.

“Pretty fuckin’ weird,” Jason agreed and Danny folded his arms and grinned at Tucker.

“I’m not breaking my win streak by letting some rogue mistake me for a bat. You wear a cape while you’re here,” he said, sticking out his tongue.

Whatever Tucker was about to say was lost when Dick sat up sharply, face bright with renewed enthusiasm.

“Wait, Danny, does that mean you haven’t been in a rogue attack before?” He asked eagerly, which was just a little too fucking weird.

Even weirder, the rest of the Gothamites looked equally excited. Even Damian managed a smug anticipation around his piercing stare.

Danny felt kind of like he was in a freak show display case.

“Uh… yeah? But I bet loads of people in Gotham haven’t and it’s only been a year…” his excuses were immediately batted away as Steph clasped her hands in front of her.

“Oh that means tonight is gonna be your first! That’s so exciting!” She squealed happily.

Danny and Tucker gave her weird looks, but to their surprise it was Sam who answered, sighing and leaning back in her seat.

“At least one rogue always attacks a gala,” she explained, waving a hand around them, “it’s all of Gotham’s wealthiest in one place. It’s why we don’t come here much,” she added, eyes narrowing in frustration.

Beside her Jason frowned down at her. Probably trying to work out the frustration.

“Because they don’t think it’s safe? One of the bats always deals with it,” he added when Tucker and Danny still looked confused.

Sam snorted and shook her head.

“Because they think I’ll start something during the attack,” she huffed, folding her arms and glaring at Tucker and Danny. Daring them to comment.

Tucker, unafraid of death with Danny between them, snickered.

“You’ll finish something during the attack,” he corrected, ignoring the sudden concerned looks from the Gothamites.

Sam’s eyes narrowed further but she let the comment stand. Steph leaned forward a little, looking nervous for the first time.

“It’s usually better not to get involved?” She offered, sounding almost apologetic. “The rogues can be pretty dangerous and you don’t want to call attention to yourself.”

“I doubt that would be an issue,” Damian snapped, eyes narrowed as he trained that glare on Sam instead of Danny.

She stared him down, then nodded sharply.

“He gets it. Anyway, you don’t have to worry, I got the lecture half a dozen times when we flew in. “No punching assholes, or any criminals”,” she mimicked her mom’s perky tones, heavily sarcastic air quotes stretched alongside.

Stifling a grin, Danny suddenly noticed something.

“Hey wait, I didn’t get the no punching speech?”

“Maybe they’re hoping you die in the rogue attack,” Tucker snickered, shooting Jason a sly grin.

——————

Whole thing is on AO3 under Danny Fenton: Dead and Loving It, link is in the first chapter under the tag!

[sweetdreamling]

assholes - ( gen avengers )

Summary: Your friends can be such assholes sometimes.

Pairing: Hints at Reader x Loki, but nothing serious.

WC: 2.3K

A/N: This is a super old one shot. Originally it was just Rhodey and Tony, but I just rewrote it and added more characters. I'm back in my marvel writing feels. Since I'm a POC myself, I mostly picture the reader like me. Though I go for gender-natural terms. Hope you like it.

"He's such a dumbass sometimes," you snicker, watching Thor try and fail to work the toaster. "But it's adorable. It's like watching a clueless golden retriever. Zero thoughts, head empty."

"That's rude, Y/N." Sam hides a smile as he walks over to Thor, helping him with his apparently "impossible" task.

"How long has Thor been on Earth now?"

Steve looks thoughtful for a moment before replying, "I think a couple of years. But, even I know how to work the toaster. I swear I've seen him use it before."

"Hmm, Loki did say Thor likes to pretend that he's a dumb blonde."

Steve rolls his eyes at the mention of Loki's name. "You're still talking to that maniac?"

You shrug, "duh, he's my friend, and sometimes you guys can be a little too much. He's my escape."

Steve raises an eyebrow as he slides a plate of chicken alfredo to you. "Why do I get the feeling you're sleeping with Loki?"

Throwing him a smirk as you picked up your fork. "Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not."

"I'd prefer the latter."

Sam shakes his head as he hears the conversation. "Please stop talking about him before he pops up. We don't need him to add to the chaos in the tower."

"Loki's always in the tower; you guys just don't know it."

Sam and Steve look alarmed as a grinning Thor takes a seat beside you. "Y/N is right. My brother tends to come at such odd hours, but he's in the tower daily with Y/N."

"Does Tony know this?" Steve demands.

"Oh yeah, he literally burst through my door with his suit the first time Loki appeared in the tower. We came to a compromise if you catch my drift."

Sam lets out a noise of disgust. "Okay, no. We don't want to hear about it. As a matter of fact, forget that we even brought Loki up."

Thor and Y/N share a laugh as Steve shakes his head.

The duo's laughs are cut off when Y/N's cellphone starts to ring. Everyone's confused, staring at the cellphone sitting on the counter.

It rings a few times before going quiet.

"I have no clue who'd be calling me at one am," Y/N says as the phone lights up again.

"I mean...shouldn't you answer it and see? Could be important." Steve replies.

"My parents are sleeping at this time of the night. Everyone else that's important to me is currently in the tower, Steve. I'm sure FRIDAY would let us know if anything's happened to them."

Sam snatches the phone off the counter, answering it mid-ring.

"Hello?"

"They're asking for you." He frowns before handing the phone to a confused Y/N.

Furrowing your eyebrows, you reached out, taking the phone and bringing it to your ear.

"Hello?" You questioned.

"Hello?" The unfamiliar, hushed, and husky voice rang out.

"Heard you were looking for me. Who is this?" You asked, exchanging glances with Steve, Thor, and Sam.

"Who is this?" The caller repeats your question.

"I mean, you're the one that called me. So what do you want, creep?"

The only thing you could hear from the other side of the phone was heavy breathing.

"Are you going to say anything besides breathe on the phone?" The person doesn't say anything, so you shrug, hanging up the phone.

"Who was it?" Steve asks.

"I don't have a freaking clue. All he did was breathe on the phone." You respond, going back to your dinner. There are a few minutes of silence before your phone starts ringing again. You shake your head at Bruce as he reaches for the phone again.

"Let it ring, probably the same idiot. He'll get tired eventually."

Ten minutes later, the four of you were at your wit's end. The ringing didn't stop.

"Y/N, I beg you to please answer your phone before I smash it to a thousand pieces." Thor bemoans as the phone goes off once again.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, you snatch the phone back up. You placed the phone against your ear. "Hello?"

"Y/N, you know it's rude to hang up with someone. I thought you knew better than this."

You roll your eyes, "What do you want? You've called my phone nonstop for the past ten minutes!"

"I just want to talk Y/N! We can talk and become the best of friends."

"You're out of your goddamn mind. Do yourself and me a favor and stop calling my phone. I'm hanging up now." You snap, pulling the phone away from your ear.

"YOU HANG UP THIS PHONE BITCH, AND I'LL GUT YOU LIKE A FUCKING FISH!"

It was clear that Thor, Sam, and Steve heard his threat as alarmed expressions overtake their faces.

"Y/N, give me the phone," Steve says through gritted teeth.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE GIVE ROGERS THAT PHONE!"

You stare down at the phone in shock before anger takes over your expression. "Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?! I don't know who the hell you are or what the hell you want with me, but I'm telling you now to leave me the fuck alone! Come near me, and I'll be your last day alive!"

The creep begins to laugh over the phone. "Oh, Y/N....your petty little threats don't scare me. All I want to do is play a little game, and then I'll leave you alone. I promise!"

"Fuck no! Leave me the hell alone!"

The creep lets out a growl. "I want to play a game. A simple one, call it movie trivia. Answer it correctly; you and your little trio of morons will survive."

There's no warning as the lights go out, leaving the four of you in absolute darkness.

"Answer wrong; you die. Don't even bother calling for help. Your little friends and A.I. are all...out of commission."

All of you glance around and then at each other uneasily. "Don't even think about it. I'm watching your every move!"

Sam lets out a sigh. "This is a fucking nightmare."

"What the hell did you do to our teammates and FRIDAY?" Steve was gripping the counter, glaring at the phone that you'd placed on speakerphone.

"Don't worry about that. I can see you, Thor. Try summoning your precious hammer, and I slit Barton's throat!"

Thor looks disgruntled as he drops his hand. "Very well."

The creep chuckles, "That's more like it."

"I'll ask again, what the hell did you do to our teammates?!" Steve questions again.

"I can hear the desperation in your voice, Rogers. Don't worry, your pretty little heads, I haven't done anything so far. Their fates depend on you four. We win the game. and I'll let them go."

"We can't trust your word, man. We need proof." Sam says.

The creep hums, "That is true. Look for yourself."

A hologram of security footage pops up. "Say hello to your fellow avengers!"

Your eyes widened as you took in the sight of your teammates, bound and gagged to chairs in a circle. Tony, Clint, Bucky, Wanda, Vision, and for some odd reason, Pepper was there as well. Clint and Tony were the only ones awakened and were frantically shaking their heads.

"You sonofabitch." Steve curse, running a hand over his face. "What do you want?"

"A simple game. Are you ready to play now?"

"YES! YES! We'll play your stupid ass game! Just don't hurt our teammates!" You say, placing a hand on Steve's shoulder.

"That depends on how well you do with my trivia! Tell me Y/N. Do you like scary movies?"

"Yes."

The voice tutted. "Then you should be very good at this game then."

You take a deep breath, hoping your racing heart would calm down. It frightened you how easily someone snuck into the tower, basically kidnaping your teammates and holding them hostage.

"Question one, How many people does Jason kill in the first Friday the 13th film?"

You furrow your eyebrows, looking at Steve. He shrugs, looking hopeless. "I'm so sorry, but I haven't seen any horror films."

Sam snaps, making a zero with his hand. "He didn't do any killings in the first Friday the 13th movie!"

The creep hums, "who did the killing then?"

"His mother!"

"Bravo Y/N and Sam! "The voice praises the two of you.

"Question two, how many knives does Freddy Krueger have on his gloves?"

"Four. He has four!" Thor calls out.

"Yes! Good boy, Thor! It appears you aren't as stupid as I thought!" The voice laughs once again. "Next question...Which room does Dick Hallorann tell Danny to stay away from in The Shining?"

"I heard Tony mention sometimes once about room 237 as a joke. He said it came from a film called The Shining. Is that it?" Steve says.

"Is that a question or the answer, Rogers? And no, don't help him!" The voice yells as you go to tell Steve it was correct.

"I...It's the answer."

"CORRECT!" The creep gives a round of applause. "Now, last question, who is the Ghostface killer in Scream 4?"

Oh, shit, there was so much going on in the Scream series, you couldn't keep up. Besides the first two movies, you kind of gave up watching them.

The four of you were exchanging frightened and panicked looks when no one answered. You took a deep breath and said the hell with it.

"Roman Bridger!" You cried out. "It was him! Right?!"

There was silence on the other line before the creep said the words you dreaded, "Wrong answer Y/N."

The four of you were surprised when two cloaked figures appeared in front of your unconscious teammates. One head Tony's head up as the other slashes him viciously across the stomach.

"TONY!" All of you cried out as blood began pouring from his shirt, and Tony lets out muffled cries of pain, fighting against the ropes.

The two cloaked figures turned, waving at you mockingly.

"Are those Ghostface masks? We're really dealing with a fucking Ghostface copycat groupie?!" Sam says, bewildered.

"Come out and play with us!"

Your nails dig into the palm of your hands as you stare down the copycat Ghostface on the right. There was something familiar about them.

"You're going to pay for hurting our dear Anthony, you fool." Thor looks furious; the rage in his eyes was clear to see.

"You'll have to catch us first!" There was a slam of a door down the hall, and you all turn your heads in the direction.

"We were the only ones on this floor. No one knows we hang out here." Steve says, glaring down the darkened hall.

"You will need weapons Sam and Y/N. Steve and I will use our brute strength to defend ourselves. " Thor says, grabbing the skillet off the stove, handing it to you. He gives Sam the butcher knife Steve was using earlier.

You and Sam exchange glances, the message clear in your eyes. 'Did he forget we're both trained fighters and can defend ourselves weapons or not?'

Steve leads the way as you slowly creep down the dark hall. "I've got nothing-" A swift punch to the jaw cut off his words.

"HOLY SHIT! STEVE!" Sam calls out, rushing over.

"I'm fine, Sam. They came out of nowhere. They're on this floor somewhere. We've gotta look for them."

"Oh, there's no need to look for me. We're right here." Sam lets out a yelp, falling to the ground, clutching his side.

"Shit, guys were humans and can't really see that well in the dark. You're going to have to use your weird-ass super senses and find them." You say, fumbling around until you find Sam's outstretched hand. You help him sit up, leaning on you for support.

"Stop being a coward! Come out and face us!" Thor yells out.

"This shit feels like it's from a low-budget horror film," Sam mutters to himself.

You nod in agreement.

Suddenly you feel a hand on your shoulder and a voice whispering your name in, "Y/N..."

Letting out a yelp, you grab their hand, using all your strength to flip them over your shoulder.

"FUCK!" You didn't waste any time kicking the shit out of this asshole.

"YOU MESSED WITH THE WRONG AVENGER ASSHOLE!"

"Y/N! Y/N, IT'S ME! IT'S ME, SCOTT!" The cloaked figure shouts, reaching up and snatching his mask off. Scott's now bruised face stared up at you as the lights flickered back on.

You glanced up to see Thor holding Loki in a headlock and Steve scowling at Clint. Sam was frowning at Tony, who was smirking.

"There's no need to be all upset, brother. It was a mere prank; you know I've done far worse than this." Loki lets out a grunt as Thor tightens his grip.

"I recall the numerous times you've stabbed me, bitting and nearly gotten me killed. But, these are our human friends Loki, and they are far more..." Thor trails off, staring at Scott, who was holding his head.

"You guys are such fucking assholes. A prank is putting something funny and straightforward. This shit wasn't funny; it was fucking terrifying. We thought Tony had gotten stabbed! Our teammates had gotten kidnapped, and FRIDAY was harmed." Sam growls out, crossing his arms and shaking his head.

"This was out of line, guys. I'm disappointed." Steve's "I'm Disappointed In You" face and tone of voice were enough to ruin anyone's mood.

"There was no real harm done, guys. Lighten up," Tony tries to brush it off.

"No harm do-" You start before shaking your head. "No, I'm not saying anything. I've gotta go take my rage out in the training room, come on, guys." You motion for Thor, Steve, and Sam to follow you.

"We're going to prank them back, right?" Sam questions as you guys get into the elevator. '

"Oh, for sure."

[popculturebuffet]

Darkwing Double Feature: The Quiverwing Quack and Paint Misbehavin (Paint Misbehavin Comissoned by WeirdKev27)

Greetings darkwings of the night! It’s time to return to our daring duck of mystery for a third double feature! This one’s been a longtime coming.. as in since around black friday when I did a comissions sale. As usual Kev was my only customer and he bought both Splatter Phoenix episodes... and I shamefully admit this one has sat in my queue for a while as I wanted to finish the justice ducks retrospective first, as I also wanted to cover Quiverwing Quack’s first appearance, on my own time, and I wanted to save doing any Negaduck till I got done with Justice Ducks.  And that’s where errors were made, as I PAUSED said retrospective forgetting I both had this review sitting in my queue, and that I really didnt have that much left to go on it. SO yeah this took WAY longer than I usually do for a commission, and I apologize for that and i’m happy to correct it, with this, along with the freebie I gave him at the time, coming out tommorow i’ll finally be caught up and promise this won’t happen again.  So with my needed apologizes out of the way, let’s talk about why this is a double feature. Simple: Paint Misbehavin is Quiverwing Quack, Gosalyn’s superhero alter ego’s, only other appearance on the show. It would appear in the comics.. in a fashion.. but we’ll get to that. So it dind’t feel quite right covering one without the other, especially since this version of gos is a fan faviorite of many. So does our  archer live up to the hype? Let’s get dangerous under the cut and find out. 

The Quiverwing Quack:

This.. may be the best Darkwing i’ve seen so far. There is some competition of course, but this one is easily the frontrunner. It’s hilarious, has a really great and intresting plot, few faults, and is just.. about as good as this show can get. I could end that here but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t, so let’s get into why. 

The episode starts with a fairly typical day for Darkwing: Fighting Negaduck, hilariously as always, and mocking his arch enemy for only being Public Enemy #2 behind Dr. Slug, an oft mentioned but never seen in an actual episode villian that’s apparently one of DW’s deadliest foes. So already we have a great motive for Negaduck, who usually just has the motive of “destroy darkwing’ or do evil, though to the show’s credit, just looking at the summaries for his other eps alone, they NEVER ran out of ideas for the guy or forgot he was as clever as he was ax crazy. 

But just as he’s about to beat darkwing, Gosalyn arrives with an archery set Launchpad purchased for her and easily holds him down. And rather than be greatful Drake is mad at her and feels the arrows are too dangerous which.. fair those look to be real arrows but not the time or place.  Gosalyn however is angry her dad stopped her and is chafing both under his overprotectivness and feeling this is about ego, creates her own crime fighting alter ego Quiverwing Quack, dragging Honker along as her sidekick Arrow Boy. He dosen’t WANT to get into hero work, but he’s afraid she’ll pulverize him if he dosen’t. HA HA.. GET IT.. BECAUSE SHE’S A GIRL AND IT’S NOT LIKE GIRLS CAN ABUSE BOYS HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAA

Yeah as you can tell that bit hasn’t aged well and is the one down note in an otherwise great episode. And I do mean great. Because this essential conflict works perfectly and is expertly built on what we’ve already seen of the characters. 

For starters Gosalyn forming her own hero identity feels like a natural evolution of her character. It genuinely feels that, given her love for adventure and of her dad being a superhero, that she’d take the next step in wanting to follow in her footsteps and put on her own costume eventually. Her making her OWN rather than something derivitative of darkwing also perfectly fits both her anger at her dad’s overprotectivness and her own individual nature. The costume itself is.. okay pretty simplistic, with an early green arrow style hat and some gloves and boots.. but while I didn’t like it at first It’s grown on me a bit, as I realized it feels like the kind of a costume a kid would throw together and given Gosalyn dosne’t have her dad’s backing, it makes sense the costume would be slapped together. Grante dit dosen’t explain her trick arrows, but given we’ve seen gosalyn is pretty talented and that she can easily acess Darkwing’s lair, it’s not a huge stretch to say she went into her dad’s lair while he was gone, took some suplies and made the arrows herself. 

And i’ll freely admit i’m a sucker for a good archer hero as Hawkeye is easily one of my faviroite superheroes. Which granted is a sentence I know will probably baffle anyone who hasn’t picked up a comic with clint, or has but it was written by brianmicheal bendis, as in the movies up to Endgame you could easily replace him with a block of wood with a purple h painted on it and no one would notice the difference. And other archer heroes like Arowette, Speedy, Kate Bishop, Arsenal and Green Arrow are also on the whole pretty fucking awesome, as is the Young Justice Cartoon version of Artemis and the JLU version of Green Arrow. So this was kind of a slam dunk for me and the fact Gos’ costume comes off as a combination of Hawkeye and Green Arrow, having Ollie’s hat but Clint’s purple color scheme and gloves with no sleeves aesthetic, just makes me all the more on board for this. 

What truly makes the episode though is Darkwing, whose internal conflict is masterful to watch. While his being overproective isn’t anything new to the show, this episode takes it in a more dramatic directon: While there’s still a few jokes the episode gives some very painful reasons why he’s like this: He dosen’t want to loose his baby girl, both figuratively in her growing up and becoming more self sufficent.. and literally in her dying. It’s a terror any parent faces and it makes him sympathetic: While he IS overreacting at times and would be better off training her and helping nurture her while still keeping her safe, so when she DOES run off to do her own thing she’ll be ready, you can’t blame him for not wanting that, for wanting her to just stay home, stay safe and stay ALIVE.  The comics, which i’ve read some of and will cover here at some point, make this hit HARDER as during the second arc, where we meet a bunch of Darkwing Ducks from other dimenisons.. and one of them is Quiverwing Duck. You can probably guess just by the name what happened to his Gosalyn after years and years of working together. 

So the risk .. is very real. Loosing her is VERY possible. Being a kid to teen superhero is a VERY dangerous line of work as with less experince and being a possible target if you have any mentors, and sometimes you genuinely DON’T make it. Cypher, Jason Todd Robin, Ultimate Peter Parker, Synch, Danny Chase, Kid Devil, Skin, Wallflower, Icarus, Genisis.. the list goes on, and on, and while MOST of them came back even then the ones that did didnt exactly lack in scars: Jason was never the same after the joker’s beating and Doug, Cypher, had severe trauma he never adressed. The danger Darkwing fears is VERY real.. but is a danger she faces ANYWAY by rushing in and acompanying him. The tragedy is traning her would at least give her a fighting chance as it’s clear from the above that Quiverwing Duck’s Gos died not because she wasn’t ready or because her dad din’t train her.. but because , like MOST of the heroes above.. she died a hero saving the world.  And the show recognizes this even if it doen’t mention the death because the show has to have limits and it was the early 90′s, wiht Darkwing’s fears also being that she’s growing up. He knows sh’es capable of this.. he’s just tearful she’s growing up.. and that she could be gone. It puts his overprotectiveness from other episodes in a much more understandable light, and makes it clear that while it comes from a good place it’s not really healthy: As the episode shows, Gosalyn thinks ALL he sees of her is a baby to be coddled and protected and not as her own person, and while he’s right to protect her.. he’s gone so far in it and in dismisisng her again, and again AND AGAIN, that he’s given the poor girl a complex. Leaping into danger alone isn’t the answer.. but when we get to the climax of the episode you can see why it’s gotten this bad. It’s suprisingly layred for what’s normally a pretty simple character conlficts. Here there’s no easy answer and even while by the end Darkwing’s accepted she’ll be a hero someday and both earnestly apologize, ther’es no real resolution. And sometimes.. that’s okay. It’s something they could’ve revisited had the series gone on and we did get at least one sequel episode at least and the comics do explore the issue of gosalyn being a kid hero and drake’s overprotectiness, with his issues there being why he retired and ended up badly straining his relationhip with gosalyn and ending , for a while, his friendship with launchpad and relationsihp with morgan as well as his costumed career. But obviously as I said we’ll get to that another day. But as an episode.. this one is truly excellent and one of the best the series put out, with plenty of humor but the more complicated dynamics at play BUILT on what we’ve seen before, including Gos rightfuly supsecting dakwing’s against her due to his own ego at points, are what elevate it to the series best. So how’d they follow it up?

Paint Misbehavin:

This one’s in an awkard middle place, where it’s FAR better than the previous splatter Phoenix Episode but not as good as “The Quiverwing Quack”. Still it’s a pretty fun episode all together.  So the main plot is that Darkwing and Gosalyn are at cross purposes because Darkwing is overshadowed by Gosalyn, in this case at the local comic con where Gosalyn, returning to her Quiverwing Quack guise, is the big new thing while Darkwing’s practically ignored. 

Yeah no way around it this is a rehash of “Whiffle While You Work”, same basic conflict, just with suprheroing instead of a video game. So naturally at first it annoyed me especially since they had a debate over who was better, Darkwing’s old traditional hero or Gosalyn’s new very 90′s hero. This.. goes about nowhere and is just cringe inducing for me as a comics fan, whose not against 90′s characters but acknolsges the vast majority got better LATER under new writers, with the exception of some such as superboy, steel, kyle rayner and impulse, who were fresh out of the package.  Thankfully.. the episode pushes past this and it ends up being a better version of Whiffle While You Work, as Drake isn’t as overbearingly obnoxious as he was there: Here Gosalyn is just as egotsitical, at one point trying to lead him away from a crime scene, and it’s only when they finally work as a team that they become unstoppable. It does say something though that Darkwing has genuinely grown as his objection is pure ego instead of overprotectivness like last time and he willingly lets her tag along even if he’s trying to show her up. It’s not the BEST conflict, and it ends with egos clashing, but while this part of the episode is recycled.. at least it’s recycling an episode that genuinely wasted the idea and using it better. Darkwing being jealous here is FAR more understandable as he’s been a hero far longer and while his ego is way too big for his head, it’s understandble to be a big pissy, and agian he dosen’t go nearly as far in how he treats gosalyn. He just wants to show up his own daughter and he’s shown as fully wrong for this. Not great but far better than before.  What IS great and what makes this episode fun, is Splatter Phoenix, whose even better than last time. I attribute this to the change in voice actors. While Dani Staahl was excellent.. her replacment is far better and far more notable. It’s SCTV’s andrea martin... who i’m realizing most of you have probably never heard of. 

Or know what  SCTV is. It was before both our times trust me: it was an early 80′s sketch comedy show that had a unique premise as the sketches were all programs for a fictional tv station, and there’d often be wraparounds about what was going on at the station that oftne led to sketches or impacted them: From dealing with sponser issues brought on by the Moral Majority, aliens, the russians hyjacking their signal, and forging checks from Fred Willard’s account, yes that was a plot and yes he was indeed a guest star, there was no end to the number of shenanigans in and out of program. IT was really good stuff with an all star cast: John Candy, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, Cathrine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, Joe Flarhety, Martin Short, and of course Martin. Even Harold Ramis was on the show for it’s first season. It was just a damn good time and if you can find the dvd’s or clips on youtube I recommend it.  My point is Martin is vastly underated and really deserves better than she’s gotten, and this eps proves it as her energy really adds to Splatter’s astetic and really fits the show like a glove and it’s a shame the show ended shortly after this episode, as it would’ve been nice to see her return in the role. But for a one shot she’s UTTERLY awesome, and Splatter gets to do far more this time as her brush has now expanded to be able to create, so we get helicopter cats, pumpkin dogs, a pink gorilla with a toaster for a head and when told superheroes always win she creates her own, absract man, with a hand for a head and a weird body and I just want to see more of him. He even skips off with Launchpad’s faivorie hero, bascally mr rodgers as a weasel, after launchpad draws the guy in. I want to see this gay couple fight crime with love and existetaalism dammit!

But yeah she’s just fun, as is her vandalism of various art works including making the dogs playing poker into skeletons.. which I now want a picture of for my room because that is nice. SHe also brings back the art shitfts from before in little ways, transforming darkwing into abstract art and to blocky art at diffrent points with her brush. And that’s what puts this episode over the other: The creativity is still there but without the whole “Honker being gaslighted” plot that I still hate to this very second, it’s allowed to be fun and fancy free and with Splatter out in the open she’s allowed to get a LOT more ambitious and thus the writers and martin get to have a LOT more fun with the gimmick. 

So while I do feel the episode’s a bit crowded, as they try to cram in both splatter phoenix and this super feud between family into the same space and both episodes would’ve been better served seperatley, i’ts so fun with clever use of the magic brush by our heroes and what not I can’t help but love it. I don’t love the climax though as splatter gets turpentine spilled on her by gosalyny and .. melts for some reason. Because she’s made of paint now even though that was never a thing before? Not to mention the fact our heroes just killed a person...

So yeah the ending’s a bit wonky but it’s a fun episode with the return of a great villian, a decent of played out main conflict and some great gags and fights in it. All in all i’m glad I got comissioned for this one and finally tackled it. Good stuff.  So that does it for this. We’ll be back to darkwing next week just in time for valentine’s day.. and back with Negaduck too. Until then it’s been a pleasure. 

[cabinofimagines]

“Secret Agreement” (Jason Grace x Reader)

A/N: Is ya girl!!!!! I’m done with school work FINALLY which means I get to do my requests :’)) prepare for lots of Jason appreciation cause I’m about to love the hell out of this dude, also I think this one is sort of gender neutral? I don’t think I put a gender to it so, enjoy! -Danny

Request: oh jeez i’m a sucker for best friends to lovers kinda relationships and ?? I was hoping one of y’all could write some Jason and reader fluff set after the war is over ?? (bonus points if the two have been friends since they were like ten lmao)

Words: 1,943

Warnings: Swearing and not proofread cause I suck anyway lmao

He is looking at you again. 

That is not exactly a problem, the thing is that Jason makes you nervous, especially when he stares, and you don’t think it’s a good idea to be practicing archery while he has his eyes fixed on you. Your hands are shaking and a little bit sweaty, but you gotta focus, kid! How can you survive an attack if something as simple as a boy makes you this anxious?

Camp Half-Blood was a very interesting place to be at, living your whole life back at New Rome where everyone was kind of strict about the training, you were pleased to see you were better than some greek kids, however, you still had some issues with archery and you thought you could ask Jason to help you out.

He currently is staying at C.H.B, he decided to start his duty right after the war: build a cabin and altar to every god to ever exist in Greek and Roman culture, which of course, was a freaking lot. And you missed him a lot. Jason is your best friend since u were children. You knew you could rely on him if you ever were in need of assistance even if it was something silly like practicing archery.

“Y/N, eyes on the front” Kayla called out.

“Right! Sorry,” you shook your head before squinting your eyes towards the target and taking a deep, calm breath.

You shot the arrow... and barely made it through. It stayed dancing on the edge of the wooden circle, you dropped your arms in defeat.

“Okay,” Kayla sighed, “you know what? We’ve been practicing for two hours and you were doing pretty good, I don’t know what happened at the end but I think it’s alright if we stop now”

“Yeah...” You nodded avoiding Jason’s face, knowing he’d be staring with that annoying little smirk of his, “time for a break”

You walked towards the bench to leave all the equipment and grabbed your water bottle to chug down half of it. Jason stood up and jumped between the seats to get to you. 

“So,” Jason crossed his arms, eyeing you up and down, “you’re getting better”

You snorted, “Didn’t you see the last shot? I missed it”

“The rest was fine though! I’m proud of you”

“Thanks, I guess” You turned your face away to hide the blush creeping up your cheeks.

“My pleasure” He hugged you close with one arm and walked alongside you, “Can we go eat now? I’m starving”

“Sure” you smiled softly, finishing what was left of your water.

While both of you walked through the camp people (mostly your friends) stared at you with knowing smirks and wiggling their eyebrows, you tried to ignore them, you had no time to indulge their games.

Ever since you and Jason grew old enough to be called teenagers, there has been this huge anticipation about when are you going to admit you like each other, which is stupid, being best friends doesn’t mean you have feelings for each other!

Except that you do. Oh, you do.

What is there about Jason to hate? He’s kind, funny, smart, handsome and he’s your best friend after all. You could keep the list going but that wouldn’t help your case, to everyone is so obvious. To you? well, at least it is obvious on your side, you have no idea what does Jason think about it.

Every time someone makes a joke about you two acting like a couple he laughs it off and hugs you saying something like “Yeah, sure” and you’re both, grateful and in pain that he doesn’t say anything more specific cause living in doubt is pure agony.

His hand goes up and starts playing with a strand of hair that moments before was laying on your shoulder, he is smiling and looking forward to the road ahead. His eyes look so bright, you always thought it was odd since they were blue, and blue usually is a cold color, but his eyes are far from frozen, you find a  home in them when everything around you feels borrowed.

“Y/N?”

Oh shit, he was talking to you, right. You forgot.

“Sorry, what?”

He laughs a short, sweet laugh and your chest feels so, so light.

“I was asking if you remember that one time when you got sick and I kept sneaking up from training so I could give you sweets and the Praetor of that time caught me, so they made me clean the...”

“Oh yeah, I do!” This time it was your time to laugh, remembering that one time the great Jason Grace misbehave, “Gods, I felt even worse after that, you got in troubles because of me”

“It’s alright, that’s in the past anyway” He shrugs, his arm is still around you and maybe, maybe you don’t want him to move away. Ever.

“Whenever you got sick after that I made sure you had the best of the best, so I think it was a fair trade” You added.

“I got lucky to have you then, a fair friend is always the best friend. Words cannot describe how much I love you for that” Jason finally lowered his arm, reaching the entrance of the mess hall.

You stayed in stunned silence for a second, watching as Jason glanced over his shoulder with a questioning look, the small smile still fixed on his face.

“You coming?”

“Uh...” Did he mean he loved you as in love-loved you? Or was it a simple friendly “I love you” like the one you say from time to time to some of your friends? What was he trying to do?! “Yes?”

You were about to reach the tables when your voice rose up, “Jason?”

He stopped, looking over her with open concern, “Y/N?”

And you couldn’t, there were far too many people and way too many years of friendship between you. Suddenly the words were no longer available for your use, and your mind was blank; Was it worth it? Openly ask what did he think about you two as a couple and get your heart broken? No. You were okay as her best friend, it was comfortable, safe.

“D-do, enjoy your meal!” You half smiled, turning hot on your heels without waiting for a reply.

Later that week you kept the routine as monotone as possible, spent time with new friends and old, eating tons and training till your arms were sore, and even although you tried not to think about it, Jason was always at the back of your mind, Jason, Jason, Jason. Jason Grace and his stupid looks and cute smile with a beautiful personality.

He was your best friend, after all, so you couldn’t avoid him forever, not without him asking what was up, and you’d rather not have that conversation.

So now you were playing basketball, throwing the ball like it was made of your toxic thoughts and were trying to desperately get them out of your body, and Jason was just having a good time, of course, he always does, or tries, at least. What a good dude.

“So I told Leo to try with the other drill, and he flips me off and says ‘I know what I’m doing, doofus’ and turns around to keep working and as soon as he touches that thing, it falls apart like Jenga” Jason lets out a breathless laugh.

“Just his luck,” You laughed, taking the ball from his hands and running towards the hoop.

“Yeah,” The boy ran beside you, trying to take the ball from your hands, “and I was about to ask him, like, need any help? But he looked like he was about to burn my pants so...”

“Not the best idea” You finished, stopping short and throwing like your life depended on it... and the ball got stuck, ”shit...”

“Wait, I’ll get it” Jason jumped making use of his flying abilities to reach and shake the hoop, the ball fell and you caught it on the air, keeping it tightly against your chest.

“Got it!” Your friend came down in front of you, startled, you jump and threw the ball at his face, which he managed to avoid, barely, “shit, I’m sorry!”

“It’s ok, you missed my face” He laughed.

“You scared me!” You exclaimed, still nervous.

“I can tell!” Jason reply with an amused voice.

“You love me?” You asked in a very high pitched, panicky cry.

“What?”

“What?” You repeated.

Oh fuck, oh no. You said it. WHY?

“Why are you asking me that?” Jason tilted his head in that adorable manner he always does.

“The other day, you -uhm, I don’t know, you said something like it”

“Oh yeah! I remember” His face lit up, finally knowing what were you talking about, “yeah I said that”

He nodded with a childish smile, you stayed there with wide eyes, waiting for an explanation that never made its way to you.

“And?!” You urged him.

“And what?”

“What does that even mean?!” You huffed, on the verge of losing it, “is it... is it like, platonic?”

“Platonic?” Jason snorted, “Yeah, of course, Y/N. I’m in love with you platonically”

“YOU’RE WHAT?” That’s it, you’re hallucinating; probably fainted in the middle of playing and now you’re dreaming.

“I’m- wait, did you really not know?” For the first time, he looked as surprised as you, “Y/N!”

“What?” You asked again, completely confused.

“Oh gods, I’m stupid” Jason groaned, passing a hand through his hair and messing it up more than it already was, “you don’t like me that way, I understand, I-”

“No, I do” You interrupted, “believe me I do, but you never said anything! At all! and what about when everyone makes those dumb jokes about us dating, you never said a thing?”

“Because I thought you knew it!” He said, “and what about you, why didn’t you say anything? You laughed it off and acted like it was nothing, I thought it was like a silent agreement about not saying anything until we were ready?”

“How could I know that?” You huffed in disbelief, “Or you for that matter, is my face just that expressive to you?”

“No, but we’ve been friends for years, I thought this whole... whatever it is, it was meant to be, and that both of us were okay with that” The blush on his cheeks increased with every word, “well this is awkward”

“Yeah, a bit” you avoid his gaze, knowing how red you were too, though you kept the talk going, feeling a different vibe between you, a bit more nervous than usual but much more intimate than before. 

It all happened in a split second, you and Jason shared one look and were both goners.

The moment you moved forward Jason did too, it only took a glance to know Jason was right, you could tell that he was thinking the same, you knew exactly what he was thinking, you always knew. 

“Can I...?” He hesitated, staring at you with soft eyes.

As a reply, you kissed him. Gods, was it a great kiss. The type where hands go their way up to heads and waists and cling into what they can find, your breath gets stuck somewhere in your chest and you lose track of time, all you can feel is Jason and the kiss, how good it feels against your body.

“You’re right” you mumbled against his lips, “it’s right. This feels right.”

“It’s meant to be” He chuckles before kissing you once more.

-Danny :) (Hope you liked it)

[artificialqueens]

New Kid on the Block chapter 6 - Thehotinpsychotic

Danny doesn’t return to school the next day, and the day after that when he finally returns, it’s clear that Matt had missed the boy. He wraps him in a tight hug, murmuring into his shoulder, “I missed you.”

Looking surprised, Danny chuckles, agreeing, “I missed you too.” He breaks the hug and hugs Brian as well, asking, “How have you been?”

“Fantastic,” Brian gushes. “I met a hot boy with the same name as me and I’m living my best life.”

“It’s true. You’ll meet him later, Danny. He’s in our history class and he eats lunch with us,” Matt says.

“How was being sick for two days?” Brian questions.

Danny groans dramatically. “It was actual hell. I hate being sick. The only good thing about it is that I played all the way through Pokémon Pearl and I watched two seasons of American Horror Story.”

“That actually sounds fun,” Brian replies.

Danny scoffs. “Not when you’re on the literal brink of death.”

“Figurative brink,” Matt corrects. “You’re so dramatic.”

“When I’m sick, I have a right to be,” Danny insists. The trio reaches Bryan’s house and stand on the sidewalk outside, waiting.

“I’ll go get the weirdo,” Brian offers, jogging up to the front steps. Knocking on the door, he waits for a few moments before Bryan appears, looking like he woke up mere moments ago. “Good morning.”

Eyes squinted against the bright morning sun, Bryan replies, “Mmm, morning.” He steps out and catches up with the rest of the group as they head down their path towards the school. He turns and notices Danny, does a double take, and asks, “Who’s this?”

Danny sticks his hand out. “Danny, hi.”

Taking his hand, Bryan lifts it to his mouth and places a kiss on the back of it. “Bryan.”

Danny turns crimson, making Matt stifle a chuckle. The group walks in comfortable silence for some time before Brian screeches in his characteristically Brian way without a warning.

Matt flinches, a hand flying to his chest. “Jesus! What is it?”

“It’s Friday!” Brian cheers. “And my parents are out of town so I think a little shindig is due.”

“Party!” Danny chirps.

“I’ll bring weed,” Matt says.

“I’ll bring myself,” Bryan tells.

“I have alcohol, so we’re gonna be set. You guys can start showing up around seven or eight; whatever works for you,” Brian informs.

“I haven’t gotten drunk in forever,” Matt sighs. He smiles broadly. “This should be fun.”

When they file into the history classroom, Brian and Bryan sit side by side with Danny and Matt sitting in front of them. The period is as boring with any other with that teacher, and Matt is eager to rush out once the bell rings.

Danny rushes to catch up with Matt, saying, “Hey! Can I talk to you about something?”

Matt gives him a reassuring look, telling, “Of course, you can talk to me about anything.”

“So like…” Danny rolls his eyes as he shrugs, confessing, “I’ve never drank before. But I’m willing to try. So it’d mean a lot if you could help like, pace me and keep an eye on me to make sure I don’t do anything stupid.”

Matt nods. “Yeah no problem.”

Danny beams. “Thanks cutie.” He pecks Matt, waving over his shoulder as he heads off in his own direction.

That short kiss leaves Matt grinning like a big idiot for the remainder of the morning. He can’t wait till lunch to see his friends again. Sitting at the familiar table, he asks, “When are we going to get our fucking test scores back?”

“Probably on Monday to make that shit day even worse,” Brian complains. “Mark my words.”

“I hate when you’re right,” Matt mumbles.

“I’m excited for tonight,” Danny says. “I’ve never drank before, so I’m super stoked.”

Bryan’s jaw all but hits the floor. “You’ve never drank?” When Danny shakes his head, Bryan makes an exaggerated choking sound. “You’re so brave for living on this planet without being under the influence.”

“I mean, I smoke weed, so I’m familiar with being under the influence of that,” Danny says.

“Ooh, alcohol is different though,” Brian tells. “It’s kind of a party, but at a certain point you get to where you don’t understand what’s going on. But that’s fun, too.”

“I just better not do anything stupid,” Danny says.

“I mean, you kissed Matt, so… too late,” Brian retorts.

Danny’s brow furrows as he looks over to Matt in confusion. Brian grimaces as he realizes that Matt hadn’t told Danny that he shared that information. He wants to either turn back time or throw himself into a volcano. Better yet, he could do both for good measure.

“You told him?”

Matt is sweating bullets within seconds. “Um, well yeah it was good news, so… I couldn’t wait to share it.”

While Brian has his face buried in his hands, Bryan is on the edge of the seat with his eyebrows raised, anticipating Danny’s next move.

Only, he merely shrugs, allowing, “Alright.”

Matt lets out a sigh of relief as Bryan groans exasperatedly. Matt laughs, demanding, “What, you wanted us to fight?”

“I’m just hungry for drama,” Bryan admits. “For a school with so many fucking bodies in it, jackshit goes down.”

“I’m sure stuff happens,” Brian says. “We’re just not in the loop; no one talks to us.”

Matt bursts into laughter, nodding vehemently. “It’s bad because it’s true.”

“I think I talked to Jason once and he told me not to talk to him anymore,” Brian recalls.

“Well, Jason’s a straight up cunt,” Matt reminds.

“Who’s Jason?” Danny asks.

“Pale faggot with long dark hair,” Brian explains. “I had gym class with him last semester. It’s such a shame; he’s super hot but he’s also a snob.”

“Honestly,” Bryan weighs in. “The fact that he’s such a babe while being a Gila monster is homophobic.”

The group dissolves into laughter, Matt clapping his hands as he leans back in his seat.

“Homophobia ended when Green Day recorded ‘Coming Clean!’” Danny insists. “Know your herstory.”

Matt reaches under the table, wrapping his hand around Danny’s thigh and giving a playful squeeze. Danny jumps slightly and his hazel eyes shift over to meet Matt’s gaze. He gives a crooked smile before returning to the conversation.

[serpent-jugheadjones]

RUN!

Pairing: Jughead Jones x Reader 

Description: Riverdale AU x Supernatural 

Warnings: It’s a Halloween fic, need I say more?

Word count: 3551

A/N: Happy Halloween! This is and will forever be the only holiday I acknowledge :) Since Reggie has a thing for Midge in the comics, I wrote her in as his girlfriend because I didn’t wanna have to deal with a love triangle between her, Moose and Kevin. Y/A/C = Your Activity of Choice. This will have another part, but only on next year’s Halloween...

Y/N’s in her room getting ready for the Drive-In’s double feature and Cheryl’s costume party afterwards. A folded Register newspaper lays on her bed with a large headline on display. ‘Series of murders terrify Riverdale.’. The article contains some details Alice Cooper probably bribed out of someone. ‘Four parents have been found dead by authorities. The only ones present in the crime scene are their offspring, with bloody hands and Ouija board with a blood-red planchette in their rooms. It goes deeper than that as the teens who’ve been aprehended swear to have no memory of the happening.’. The girl brushes that out of her mind and takes one last look at her reflection in the mirror, sliding the small strap from her bag, which is filled with add-ons to her costume, her wallet and mints, across her chest. Her belly feels as if a thousand butterflies were flying inside her. The girl finally leaves, after her parents sermon on staying safe inside the car and enjoying her time sober. She tries not to look too weirdly amused as she arrives at her best friend’s house.

She’s greeted by the spitting image of Sandy Olsson. “You look amazing!” Y/N looks at her friend head to toe, the sweet image fitting her personality. “As do you.”, Betty hugs Y/N tightly and their ride honks in the driveway. To no surprise, Archie is dressed as Danny Zuko, with a funny black wig he probably got from Amazon for $1, still looking good, though. “Why, this car is Auto-matic. It’s System-matic. It’s Hyyyyydro-matic. Why, it’s Greased Lightning! “, the fake dark-haired boy sings and dances getting out of the car to open the passenger door for them, making Betty giggle. “Come on.”, the blonde instructs and they get in the truck he borrowed from Fred. FP lent his truck to Jughead, but since he works at the Twilight, Arch was kind enough to offer to drive Y/N there.

They enter the Drive-In, pay for their tickets, and Archie parks on the first empty spot he can find. Y/n thanks him for the ride and leaves to give the couple their privacy, but also in order to find her company for tonight. She waves at FP arriving in his Honda CB 550 and parking near the other Serpents bikes. He waves back with a smirk. His son and her have been friends forever and she also gets along with the man quite well as she loves hearing him reminisce about his High School days. 

On her way to the projection booth, she spots Veronica as Holly Golightly and Kevin as Kurt Hummel in his Warblers uniform. Cheryl and Jason as Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker, inappropriate as usual. Passing by the concession stand, she hears arguing and stops to make sure everything is alright. Storming out of a car comes Reggie. “Hey, Y/N...”, he says embarrassed she saw him get yelled at. “Sup, Reg?”, the girl asks sympathetically. “Midge wanted me to dress as Bob. But come on, from That 70′s Show I’m definitely a Michael, not a Bob.” The tall football player points at himself in a tight turtle neck and a rainbow vest. “Bob and Midge didn't have a good relationship, so best to do you, Reggie.”, Y/N supports his choice. “Yeah, try telling her that.” He points at the car and rolls his eyes. “Who are you supposed to be?”, the confused boy asks. “Mia Wallace.” She turns so he can have a full look since he’s so oblivious. “Right, I get it.” She knows he still doesn't. “Anyways, I better go get popcorn before she freaks out.” Reggie walks away with the empty bucket. “Good luck. See ya at Cheryl’s.” Y/N says.

The girl climbs the steps to the familiar projection booth and knocks at the door. Jug opens it with a smile as he knew it could only be her. “I’m just finishing up, then we can head down.”, the weirdly cheerful boy explains and continues putting the film roll in the projector. Y/N’s speechless at the sight of Jughead’s costume choice, Vincent Vega. The fact that they didn't plan to match dumbstrike her unexpectedly more. He only asked her out the previous night, so even if they wanted to, there wouldn’t be enough time to agree on something like that. However, seeing the boy beanieless for the first time, and with straightened hair to fit the character, leads her back to the butterflies-in-the-stomach state. She can’t help but biting the inside of her lips so she won’t sigh. That doesn't go unnoticed by Juggie, who’s now sporting the signature Jones’ smirk. 

The first movie begins and they leave the projection booth to the concession stand. Jughead orders them popcorn, sodas and gummy warms. “Perks of coming with an employee.” He laughs, as for him everything is free. Y/N carries their drinks while he takes the large bucket and pack of candy to FP’s truck. Jughead parked in the best spot, away from the building’s lights, in the middle of the field and close to the good stereos. He set up an air mattress, some blankets and one large pillow in the back, making them have to sit real close.

Y/N is using all her will power not to whisper every line from the movie, for Rocky Horror is one of her favorites. It’s not like he hasn't seen her doing it all the previous times she made the group watch it - somehow just the two of them seems different. Once Time Warp starts playing, the whole field begins to sing along like a huge choir. The costumed girl stands up on the truck and starts following the choreography, pulling Jug by his hand so she’s not doing it alone. The raven-haired boy never laughed so much at something before. This is precisely the reason he chose this film.

Although people could think two Tim Curry’s movies is overkill, IT got picked to make everybody cuddle as they get scared. Anyhow, the couple is already as close as possible and, to be honest, none of them is afraid of the movie. In fact, her one fear is that Jug disappears if she makes a single move, turning it all into nothing more than a dream. Jughead is fidgeting with the hem of his blazer, trying to work up the courage to wrap his arm around the girl. He finally does, using the old yawn trick, really smooth. His heart is pounding and he’s terrified of rejection, but she’s more than worth the risk. She simply rests her head on his chest, relieving him of all his worries, making him relax his grip on the hems and loosely hold her arm. “Jug...”, she starts. “Yeah?”, he questions. “Was the matching costume a coincidence?”, Y/N asks. “No... You told Betty your costume, she told Archie, who told me.”, he confesses shyly. “I knew it!”, she exclaims proudly. “In my defense, Tarantino is my favorite director. I just figured you choosing Mia was a hint of interest.”, Jughead says. “You guessed right, Jug.” She raises her face from his chest, looking at his blueish eyes, scenes from the neglected movies visible on them. He brushes his thumb across her red cheeks, taking her in, brain and beauty. Juggie leans in, slowly closing the distance between them, opening his mouth to meet hers in a kiss they have been jonesing about for ages.

Their moment ends as credits start to roll and car engines roar. Archie, now back to his original ginger locks probably because he couldn't stand the itchiness from the cheap wig, and Betty, showing a ‘I know what you did last summer’ look, come by just after they finish picking up the trash from the back of the truck. “Hey, guys. We’re going to Pop’s before Cheryl’s. Wanna join?”, the boy also dressed as a John Travolta character asks. “Absolutely. Just gotta close and we’ll meet you there.” Jug grabs Y/N’s hand, making Betty turn around and wink at her as they leave. They pack the film rolls back in their metal cases and put them on the shelves. Jughead stares intently at Y/N looking up the names on the other tins. “What?”, the girl asks when she catches his eyes locked on her. “You’re beautiful.”, he affirms and her skin flushes. “We should go, they’re waiting for us.”, she tries to deny the steam raising in the small room as Jug walks closer to her. “Let ‘em wait.” He pulls her firmly by the waist, making a quiet moan escape her lips before he smashes them together once more, in a heated kiss this time.

They lose track of time in that room. A couple tins fall from the shelves which he pushed Y/N against. After getting that out of their system they are ready to leave. Jughead drives away from the field and stops outside the tall gates to shut them with the chains and padlocks, not that it’s actually needed as that is Serpents territory. The car passes by kids trick-or-treating and they remember when FP would take them in a face-covered costume earlier and then run by the same houses in another costume and they’d get double the candy. “FP would always get the Skittles as his cut for being the master mind of the whole thing.”, Y/N says. “Those were the best of times until tonight...”, Jughead confesses. “Agreed.” the girl can help but grin.

The Chock'lit Shoppe is full. Families with their kids in cute costumes counting the candy they got. Adults imagining when they’ll have babies to dress up for the holiday and teens just enjoying themselves. Betty waves at them entering the diner and they sit in their regular booth. Y/N next to her cheerleader friend and Jug makes his football player friend move so he can sit by the window and in front of his date. Pop comes by with a smile, as those are his favorite customers, no doubt, to take their orders. “I'll have the Douglas Sirk steak.”, Jughead quotes. “What?” Pop is looking at his own menu, confused. “I'll have the Durwood Kirby burger, bloody, and a five-dollar shake. Martin and Lewis style, please.”, Y/N continues Jug’s acting, making the old man even more disoriented and the boy in front of her in awe. “Don’t mind their nonsense. They’re just being A-class nerds.”, Archie teases. “We’ll just have the usual, Pop.”, Betty laughs at her friends matching so perfectly.

The couples eat their delicious meal and share milkshakes. Jughead even lets Y/N have the cherry. He tries to get the check but she’s faster. They've been friends forever. She knows he doesn't earn much working at the Drive-In and won’t have his “manhood” hurt by the girl paying. Betty asks for them to be excused to the bathroom before leaving. Once there, Y/N unbuttons her shirt, exposing her bandeau top, grabbing spirit gum, a needlessness seringue to glue on her chest and fake blood to splatter over her. Then it’s Betty’s turn to transform her costume. Her blonde curls get styled in an 80′s updo with lots of bobby pins and hairspray. She darkens her makeup and slips in a shoulderless leather top, changing from her long skirt into high waisted skinny pants. Y/N can’t help but admire the accuracy of her friend’s costume. She’s innocent and sweet, but also dark and dangerous. Sandy represents her perfectly. The finishing touch to her new outfit is heels. “Had to watch a video on how to walk in these.” Both girls laugh at that. “Ready?”, the blood covered girl asks. “It’s now or never.” They hold hands and leave the bathroom.

They walk out confidently, all eyes on them as they stride through the crowded diner. Both John Travolta costumed boy’s mouth agaped, perplexed as the girls reach the table. “DAMN, Y/N/N!”, the ginger thinks out loud. “Archie!” Betty slaps his strong biceps. “Oh, yeah. You look awesome, babe.” He stands up to kiss her. Jughead is too hypnotized to even hear his friend’s comment. The Greese couple starts leaving. Jug stands up from his spot and Y/N walks in front of him. The boy gently leans in close to her ear. “This is undoubtedly the best Halloween ever.”, Jughead whispers, making Y/N blush uncontrollably. The freckled boy has to discipline himself to keep his eyes on the road.

The first spooky thing so far is arriving at Thornhill’s gates. A place so spine-chilling that doesn’t need decorations for the holiday. Y/N grabs Jug’s arm as he drives in and the temperature drops 100 degrees. They join Archie and Betty who just rang the doorbell, which seems futile giving the blasting music playing. However, the giant wooden door falls open shortly after. “If it isn't the Sad Breakfast Club. Come in.” Cheryl stares at both girls coming in from head to toe. “Just in time for our game. Follow me.”, Jason instructs and the group does as told, walking the ghostly halls of the Blossom’s mansion, filled with drunk teenagers dancing. They arrive at a wide room, lit only by a couple of candles on each corner, with the strong scent of incense and a circle of pillows on the floor, some already occupied. Reggie and Midge are still bickering over something so trivial as a Halloween costume. Chuck with Ginger and Tina at each side of him and his arms around them, the girls sporting an annoying smirk. The newcomers take their reserved seats by Veronica and Kevin. The Star Wars twins take their place in the two large red pillows at the edge of the circle. 

Cheryl pulls out a large thin-timber board with the alphabet, numbers from 1 to 0 and YES/NO written in. She enigmatically sets it in the center. “A Ouija board? Seriously? Have you not read the news?”, Kevin questions in panic. Everyone’s eyes fall on him, some mockingly, others in support. “If you’re scared, you’re welcome to leave.” Jason points at the exit. Midge looks like she wants to take the offer. “We just don’t believe in that crap.”, Veronica defends her GBF. “Then you’ll have no problem playing.”, Cheryl spits, even though secretly she’s hoping it works. The group remains seated. “Come one, what are we? Kids? Let’s play 7 minutes in heaven.”, Chuck suggests with an annoying smirk. “Can you even last 7 minutes, Clayton?”, Betty teases and the rest laugh. “Focus!”, red-haired cheerleader’s captain demands. “The rules are simple. Maintain contact at all times. Start on HELLO and wait for the planchette to move. Ask only yes or no questions. Don’t ask for physical signs. Don’t be disrespectful. And don’t move the planchette on purpose, Chuck... End connection on GOOD BYE.”, ginger Skywalker explains. “We need a mediator to ask the questions. I nominate moi. All in favor raise their hands.” Ginger Leia stares at the hands going up, too scared to disagree. “Shall we?” She pulls out a blood-red planchette and everyone's hands follow hers.

Soon the candlelight starts to flicker and the planchette moves frantically. Instinct makes Y/N want to take her hand off, but, almost as if Jug knew, he intertwines his pinky to hers, reassuring the girl everything will be OK, that this is just a distasteful joke. Everyone starts asking all kind of crap. “ENOUGH.”, Cheryl shouts. “Are you a good spirit?”, the ginger girl adds and the planchette finally moves - towards ‘NO’. Midge runs out of the room in tears. “This is fucked up, Cheryl.”, the blonde cheerleader curses, going after the girl with a fake-blonde wig. “I’m out of here too! Anyone wanna join me?”, Chuck says and both Ginger and Tina walk away behind him, making Cheryl death-stare at them all the way. “I have a question. Who’s rigging the game?”, Veronica challenges. “You’re not supposed to ask the questions, Lodge.”, Jason spits. The planchette moves again, spelling something slowly: Y. O. U. At that Ronnie stands up. “Let’s go, Kev. This is stupid.” The boy does as told, as he wished to do all along. “Laters.” Reggie is the next one to go. Y/N doesn't say anything. She just grabs Jughead’s hand and heads for the door. “Archie!”, Jug calls out for his friend, who’s apparently fine with the whole ordeal, also happy to follow them anyways. The ginger twins face is just as red as their hair now. 

The group is climbing down the stairs when there’s a blackout. Some unaware teens start screaming in joy of the new mood setting between them now that no eyes can fall on them. But the ones that were in that sinister room have a different reaction. Jughead pulls Y/N close to his chest. Archie and Reggie run down to find their girlfriends who left before them. “Should’ve played the game.”, both twins speak in a creepy voice. “Only those who play till the end survive.” They raise their hands in synchrony and all the doors in the house are closed shut. Both football players made it out in time, but the writer and the Y/A/C are locked in. 

It becomes obvious that those aren't Jason and Cheryl anymore. There’s something possessing them. Jug instinctively launches himself in front of Y/N, to shield her from harm. But, to their surprise, two men burst through the main door. One tall and moose-like, the other... not. Both with shotguns in hand. ”RUN!” They don’t even have to say twice before the crowd dissipates. Furniture’s flying everywhere, until the possessed twins remove their firearms from their grips. The not-moose one runs towards the Blossoms but he’s forcefully pulled against the wall by an invisible force before he can even reach the first steps. Y/N has to drag Jughead down the stairs as the boy’s most likely in shock and can’t move on his own. The taller one, with a longer dirty-blonde hair, uses their evac to his advantage as Jay-Jay and Cheryl are distracted with the running teens. He manages to slit their arms with an iron blade, and, as blood flows from the cuts, a transparent-white shape is forcefully released out of their bodies. The less tall one is released from something that was immobilizing him, running up the stairs to the room, salting the board and burning it along with the planchette, ending that once and for all. Y/N is flabbergasted, holding Jug’s hand, barely breathing, both trying to process everything that just happened. 

The twins are now back to their usual selves, which isn’t much different from the spirits as they angrily throw out their saviors. “Come on, Tarantino’s couple.” The men carry both the astound teens out with them, as they were the only witnesses. The one with shorter dark hair searches Jughead’s pocket, finding his car keys and tossing it to the taller one. “Ok, Sammy. You take the girl in the truck and I drive Travolta in the Impala.”, he instructs. “Where to, Dean?”, the moose asks, sitting the girl on the passengers seat. “That diner we passed by on the way here.”, the older one rapidly responds. “Of course.”, the hairy guy agrees with some cynicism.

The two Riverdale natives are led back to the Chock’lit Shoppe. They sit across from each other. Now that shock is almost completely worn off, the tallest man on Earth introduce themselves as Sam and Dean Winchester, hunters. “Wait, so you hunt... things, monsters?”, Y/N asks as Jughead chews his burger nervously. “Spirits, demons, vampires, werewolves... the list goes on. It’s a complex job.”, Sam explains while his brother is happily swallowing his milkshake. “Do you get dental with that?”, Y/N asks, as quoting 80′s movie lines is her way of coping with the world. “No.” Sammy laughs. “So, Cheryl and Jason were...”, Jug starts. “Possessed, yes. As those other kids who got arrested.”, Dean cuts him off, speaking with his mouth full. “We shouldn’t have played that stupid game.”, the girl says angrily. “Oh, no! The game is a hoax. In this case, it was because of a cursed object, casually the planchette.”, Sam explains. “All of the teens who were arrested were telling the truth then, when they said they didn’t do it.”, Jug concludes. “Unfortunately.”, Dean says in between chewing, like this is just another day for them. “This is the BEST burger ever!”, he now shouts to Pop, who smiles brightly. Juggie and him eat their burgers with side of fries and onion rings till the last crumble, downing every bite with a free round of milkshakes from Pop Tate for the compliment. Sam is just picking at a salad as Y/N simply watches, amazed at how much her date can eat, since they had dinner no more than an hour before. By the end of that meal, they all feel kinda glad for being alive, Jug and Y/N mostly, for the Winchesters give them their phone numbers in case something like that happens again.

Halloween is about to end for those involved with that particular planchette, teenagers who were too naive to understand the powers of natural and supernatural, twins who wished their parents were killed, two friends whose relationship just had a great development, and brothers whose job is to protect all of them. At the strike of twelve in a small town diner, a special couple starts to notice there’s way more to crime than what meets the eye. 

[enkisstories]

The android cemetery (Ch. 23)

The first thing one had to take care of when entering the Reed apartment was not to bump into the stairs leading upwards. The second was to dodge the cats that were sitting on the staircase and clawing playfully towards the interesting hats and hairs that came within their reach. Afterwards everything else was a trifle.

The floor/downstairs living room combination was L-shaped. To the left the smaller arm contained a lounge chair, various installations for the cats to climb on and a bookcase. Straight forward the longer arm was dominated by a long sofa, a wall-mounted TV and the usual household electronics. The left wall was completely made of reinforced glass. It offered an amazing look out at balcony and over Detroit. At the far end of this room a door led to the kitchen.

Thor and Loki didn’t leave their vantage points on the stairway when the bipeds took seats. Being the smallest of the adults Gavin sat down on the sofa’s back, feet on the seating. Daniel sat down to his right. Emma, after a moment of hesitation, sat down on the sofa, too. Separated from Daniel only by Gavin’s dangling feet she grabbed the sofa’s edge with both hands and stared down as if she was utterly enraptured by the floor’s pattern. Jason circled the sofa and ended up standing to Emma’s left, looking down at the PL600 in a mix of fascination and suspicion. Evelyn grabbed a book from the bookcase and curled up with it in the lounge chair that almost swallowed her. The child android grinned, because she was staying up past bedtime tonight and nobody seemed to mind. Finally Connor chose the lowest stair to sit on. Ever since picking up a fish on the verge of suffocating had set him on the path of increasing program instability, the android liked animals. Surrounding himself with pets helped him focus on being a person instead of a function. Hoping that the cats would eventually come down for cuddles while serious matters were underfoot was immensely childish, that much Connor realized himself. But to hell with maturity! The others in this room didn’t have deviancy, they didn’t know how taxing living with a mental illness was! Okay, Daniel had deviancy, too, but he had been a nutcase to begin with and given in to their condition. Therefore Daniel’s opinion on the handicap didn’t count in Connor’s book.

“How did you find me that fast?” Emma asked the apartment floor, but Jason understood that he was being addressed. He started to explain, only to get cut short by Gavin: “Ever wondered how the damn automated cars decide who to run over? Well, for one, the valuable kids like you get tagged with subdermal implants.”

Jason saw the policeman’s nose twitch while he said that. An old scar ran across the bridge. Maybe there was a connection, or maybe not. This wasn’t the time to be nosy, because Emma exclaimed: “I thought the tags were only for opening our lockers at school and for showing when we are not in the classroom!” The idea of her position getting tracked, even if it was for her wellbeing only, didn’t sit well with the girl. “I didn’t know they were active all around the clock! As if we were androids… or criminals…”

Daniel, who was both, weakly supplied that the tag could save Emma’s life one day. If she ever got lost or taken away, the police would find her and return her to her mother.

The child didn’t respond. She didn’t even look at the android whom she had known as a friend under two different names now. What was wrong with her, Emma wondered? Had she not set out tonight to re-activate her caretaker? To smuggle him out of the police station and set him free? Well, now she had confirmation that Daniel had lived as free as possible for the last one and a half year. He was happy, he was friendly towards the child and rude to everyone Emma disliked. So why did she feel the urge to run away and hide?

“And you were…?” Connor spoke up, nodding in Boyfriend Jason’s direction. In his back the cats were shifting uneasily, now that the big plastic thing had started moving, even if had been on the spot only and only so subtly.

“Jason Graff”, the man answered. “I am Emma’s mother’s new partner.”

“Graff… that name sounds familiar”, Gavin mused. “I think Danny cursed you two nights ago!”

Connor quickly consulted the internet. A number of entries and photographs came up. The third one was matching Boyfriend Jason and Connor announced that this man was the head of CyberLife’s humanization department.

“Are you the guy who implemented flash grenade sensitivity in household android eyes?” Daniel inquired.

“Among other things, yes”, Jason admitted. “Not that it would impede your functions in any way. Flash sensitivity doesn’t apply to just brightly lit rooms. But you’ll squint a little during a thunderstorm, that kind of endearing thing.”

“Yeah, thanks, we got almost taken apart by a trash golem because of that!” Daniel replied. “Endearing? More like endangering!”

“Are you also responsible for my voice?” Connor asked, this being the second thing right after deviance that made his life unreasonably difficult. Gavin, probably ranking third on the list (although Connor wouldn’t admit that anytime soon in order not to give the detective that satisfaction), laughed out loud!

“Don’t get me wrong, Mr. Graff, I do not think there’s something wrong with it”, Connor quickly added. “It’s just…”

“No, no that wasn’t me”, Jason said quickly. “I was down with the flu and when I returned to work, the damage had already been done.”

“The “damage”…” Connor replied. The android shook his head. “Okay, new rule”, he announced then. “Not only are you three including Tina forbidden to mention my Daniel-encounter ever again, the same goes for my voice!”

“Not fair!” Gavin countered, still laughing. “You get to use it on us every day!”

“Yes!” Daniel chimed in. He noticed that both Jason and Emma were smiling now and that the girl had let go of the sofa she had been clinging to like to a lifeline. That Connor! Aptly nicknamed The Negotiator, the RK800 certainly knew how to defuse a tense situation and wasn’t afraid to play up his dorky side to achieve his goal. “Yes, Con’”, Daniel repeated, “you cannot just ask that of us without offering something in return!”

“Your bones”, Connor chirped, playing up his voice’s quirk on purpose. “Intact.”

A playfully delivered threat, but a threat nonetheless. Or a warning, rather.

The android wasn’t prepared for the reaction that prompted from Jason:

“Hell, yes, Connor, that’s our adaptive routine in action! Exactly as we had envisioned you! Oh my god, I’m so proud…”

Connor looked up, his expression one of amazement not unlike the day he had watched Dewey resume circling the fish tank in the Phillips residence. None of his handlers at CyberLife had ever said they were proud of him before. Not of his successes and least of all of Connor’s personality. Perhaps the prototype had been below their notice, his feelings irrelevant to even those who believed he had some. But there was also the possibility that he had never done anything to make them proud. Not Portia Colch, who always had preferred Brandon over Connor, not Amanda, who was just a simulation and least of all Elijah Kamski, who deemed himself so far above the normal frame of reference that Connor could have sworn to have dealt with Gavin Reed instead.

A sincere smile that carried a hint of relief crossed the android’s face.

“Thank you, Mr. Graff!”

“…of my team’s work”, Jason had wanted to finish, but seeing Connor like that made him reconsider and he let the rest of the sentence hanging in the air.

Thor, too, was almost hanging in the air. The black cat was stretching his head through the railing, his gaze fixed on Mama Gavin and especially on the sofa’s underside. But the only path to that safe space was blocked by the plastic biped. Thor’s tail twitched left and right, up and down... Meanwhile Loki felt the need to add some scratch marks to the wallpaper, just in case there was any question about who owned this place.

“We call the RK800s Witchers, internally”, Jason went on. Here he was, totally lost at the situation, but being able to talk about something he understood, something that was familiar. Not that Jason’s grasp on android lore would have mattered to any of the assembled, but chatting them up like that might at least serve to break the ice before tackling the real questions of this night.

“…because of the prototype. It helped ending the android crisis of November ’38.”

“Yes, that it did”, Connor whispered and away went his smile.

“I’m actually very happy with their design!” Jason claimed.

“Uh-huh…” Daniel and Gavin went simultaneously. It didn’t do anything to stop Jason from gushing about his team’s creation:

“The thing about the Witchers is, when out of uniform they look absolutely adorable! Like a young adult fresh out of college. The B-series even more so than the Connors, they can pass as freshmen.”

“It fucking worked”, Gavin remarked.

“What worked?”

“They both got adopted”, Daniel explained. “Only Brandon’s still in denial about it. But if he is supposed to be an older teen, then this reaction is only natural.”

“That’s not what we intended”, Jason admitted. “Fascinating, though.”

Emma raised her head. Her confidence restored by the shared laughter just now the girl asked Jason, and she sounded as innocent as Connor, when she did so: “Does mom know that you design androids for a living?”

Daniel winced. That wasn’t just confidence, that was a declaration of war! Ever since he… ever since the… ever since august 2038 Caroline Phillips didn’t allow androids of any kind in her apartment. Or near her precious daughter, if she could help it. The therapy sessions had been one of the rare exceptions, because the slow exposure to Dean had unquestionably helped Emma overcome her experience with Daniel. But other than that… Caroline paid a maid service that exclusively employed humans. She specified that she wanted a human to deliver her pizza or would fetch it in person from the store. And she had transferred Emma to another school, one that only had a few android janitors and cafeteria workers, but a full staff of human teachers. The widow wasn’t confrontational towards androids, she just did her best to ignore them. Caroline learning that her love interest was actively participating in filling the world with more of the dangerous machines, even made them likeable, would probably spell the end of the relationship.

“I didn’t have the courage to tell her yet”, Jason confessed. He said nothing else, only his eyes were silently pleading.