#but Wayne not approving of Steve makes sense

[withacapitalp]

75 or 25 with Steddie for the writing prompts?

Me, chanting to myself: Write something short, Write something short, Write something short

Myself @ Me: Lol bet

Read it on ao3 here

25. “When you love someone, you don’t just stop. Ever. Even when people roll their eyes or call you crazy… even then. Especially then!”

“I love getting to show people my favorite movie, but I have to admit, I’m much much happier to have your pretty face all to myself,” Eddie chuckled, shutting the door of the trailer behind the last of the kids. He leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath in and closing his eyes. The whole place was warm in the best way possible, and the smell of fresh baked sweets was still hanging in the air. 

Movie night was his favorite.  

They had a very strict schedule for biweekly movie nights, a structured routine that Nancy had come up with to keep any and all arguments at bay. With the system working, everyone got to pick once every six weeks. Not ideal, but the closest to fair that things would get. 

The best part was, Steve had decided to make a whole evening of it when he realized it was finally Eddie’s turn to choose. He spent hours cooking a nice meal for everyone, finishing it off with Labyrinth themed cupcakes for them to enjoy. He even used glass marbles as decorations, making the frosting look just like Sarah’s infamous dress. 

Sure, Steve had fallen asleep halfway through, completely tuckered out from all the work he put into making things perfect, but somehow that only added to the charm of the moment. Eddie couldn’t think of anything more wonderful than having his boyfriend’s head in his lap while they watched a movie surrounded by their family. He had been excited for Steve to finally see his favorite movie, but things were best this way. 

Well, he could think of one or two things that might make the night even better. 

However, any intentions Eddie had of moving things to the bedroom died the second he got a good look at Steve. 

His boyfriend didn’t just look tired, he was exhausted. Steve’s face was drawn in a stressed frown, and he was leaning his elbows heavily against his knees as he stared vacantly at the floor between his feet. 

“What’s goin’ on, Sunshine? Still tired?” Eddie hummed, walking over and leaning down to press a kiss to Steve’s forehead. 

But the second Eddie got close, Steve took a sharp breath in, pulling away like he had just been electrocuted. He got up and began to pace, running his hands anxiously through his hair and avoiding looking in his boyfriend’s direction. 

“Steve?” Eddie said softly, watching him with wide nervous eyes. All of the happiness that had been filling him was leaking out like a balloon, a foreboding worry sliding into its place. 

Steve paused, his entire body growing stiffer the longer he stayed silent. The tension was killing him, but just as Eddie went to break it, his boyfriend spoke first. 

“I think we should break up,” Steve said in a rush, keeping his body turned away from Eddie. 

“Hilarious, Harrington,” Eddie replied with a roll of his eyes, ignoring the stone that was starting to sink his stomach into the ground, “What’s actually going on?”

“We need to break up,” Steve repeated sternly, whipping around so they were face to face. His eyes were sparking and his jaw was set, but Eddie could see the growing shine in his eyes, and the way Steve’s hands were shaking. 

He looked two seconds from completely falling apart, and Eddie didn’t have a single clue why. 

“You’re serious,” Eddie stated.

“Yes,” Steve said, crossing his arms and clenching his fists to hide the tremors that Eddie had already seen.  

Eddie had never been very good at school, but that didn’t really mean a damn when it came to being intelligent. He sucked at sitting still, and he couldn’t care less about subjects that weren’t interesting, but Eddie was smart as a whip when he wanted to be. 

When it was something he cared about, Eddie made a point to know anything and everything he could, and he cared about Steve more than he had ever cared about anything in his life. 

Shaking hands. Glassy eyes. ‘Need to’ instead of ‘want to’. 

Hm. 

Well, wasn't that interesting? 

“Need to,” Eddie scoffed, striding past Steve. He flipped his hair casually, yanking the fridge open and rooting around in it, “Do you have some sort of explanation as to why?”

He heard Steve take a breath in, but Eddie interrupted it by throwing a beer can behind him, listening to Steve fumble with it for a second. 

“Because this morning you were telling me that you’ve never been happier,” Eddie growled, cracking open his own beer with a hiss and gulping down half the can, “and now you’re saying you want to break up. Oh, no, I’m sorry- you’re saying that we need to break up.” 

Steve was back to avoiding eye contact, but Eddie wasn’t having that. He crossed the room in three steps, getting in Steve’s face and practically losing it when Steve brushed past him and went to walk away. Steve knew that Eddie hated when people walked away from him. He knew that. 

“I- I just wanna, okay?” Steve stammered, putting the can on the table by the door and reaching for the handle, “Look it was fun but-”

“No,” Eddie snapped, shutting the door just as Steve began to open it. 

“No?” Steve said.

“No,” Eddie agreed, putting his foot down metaphorically and his back against the door literally. “Not unless you tell me why,”

Tell me why you’re doing this when you don’t want to? 

Tell me what happened to make you think this was okay? 

…Tell me why I’m not good enough?

“Because I fell asleep,” Steve muttered, self-hatred oozing from every word. 

What?! 

That was the big reason? That made no sense. They fell asleep watching movies all the time. Eddie had fallen asleep watching a movie two days ago. 

“You fell asleep watching Labyrinth…and you want to break up over that?” Eddie sneered. 

“That’s only part of it,” Steve sighed, “You wouldn’t understand,” 

“Then please, enlighten me oh great King Steve,” Eddie snarled, hating the way Steve flinched away from him, “What exactly did I do?”

“It’s not you, it’s me,” Steve instantly shot back, both of them cringing at his word choice, “No I- god that sounds stupid. I’m-”

Steve cut himself off with a groan, hands back in his hair, pulling in a way that couldn’t have felt good. It took everything Eddie had to not reach over and take Steve’s hands in his own to stop him. 

“I’m not good enough for you! Okay?” Steve exploded, his voice cracking even as he continued to try and mask his pain with anger. “I’m not good enough for you, and so I want to break up. That’s it.”

“I can’t believe this,” Eddie said, scoffing, “Steve Harrington, the golden boy of Hawkins is saying that he isn’t good enough for drug dealing trailer park trash Eddie Munson?”

“Don’t call yourself that,” Steve snapped automatically. 

“In what world are you not good enough for me?!” Eddie shouted, grabbing Steve’s wrists in an iron grip and tugging his boyfriend close. They were nose to nose, and Steve, who had always been an open book, was telling Eddie everything. 

The anger was gone, resignation taking its place. Steve tugged ever so slightly against Eddie, and he let him go, following the other boy as he walked towards the couch. 

“In what world? This one,” Steve said softly, practically collapsing against the cushions. “Eddie, no one thinks I’m right for you. Your bandmates, Wayne… not even the kids,” 

The kids? 

Eddie’s brain was flying in a million different directions, and he couldn’t remember anything that anyone had said no matter how hard he tried. Steve hadn’t even been awake for most of it, he only woke up at the end to say goodbye to everyone. The kids had teased him a little for falling asleep, maybe joked that Steve must have thought the movie wasn’t that good, but nothing out of the ordinary. 

Nothing that should have caused Steve to go this off the rails. 

“Steve-” 

“And they’re right, Eddie. They’re right,” Steve said, laughing incredulously, “I mean, why do you even wanna be with me? I can’t go to your shows-”

“Because you have PTSD from saving the world four times,” Eddie interrupted. 

“-And I can’t listen to your music-” Steve continued. 

“-because you have tinnitus from, oh yeah, saving the world four times!” Eddie pushed. 

“Don’t use that as an excuse! Just- let me talk. Please?” Steve said, his eyes glistening as he begged Eddie to stop. 

“Fine,” Eddie said, crossing his arms and sitting back, staring at Steve. The younger boy took a steadying breath, gathering both his thoughts and his courage. 

“It’s everything,” Steve said, shrugging helplessly as he looked down, “I don’t understand dungeons and dragons, I get bored reading Lord of the Rings, and tonight I fell asleep watching your favorite movie. The kids were just being little assholes, but they’re right. It was crazy for us to think this was ever going to work. Why are we even together if we don’t like any of the same things? Why do you want to be with someone who doesn’t care enough about the things you love?” 

“Stevie,” Eddie breathed, unable to understand how things had gotten this twisted in his boy’s mind, “Baby,” 

“You said you’d let me talk.” Steve said over him, stopping Eddie’s protest in its tracks, “It’s just… Eventually you’re gonna realize that we have nothing in common. And when the novelty wears off, you’ll be bored,” 

Bored? 

Bored of the most wonderful person Eddie had ever gotten the pleasure of knowing? 

“You’re gonna get tired of explaining things to me and you’re gonna find someone who your friends can actually stand being around without rolling their eyes every two minutes. You’re going to find someone better and- and you deserve that. You deserve a person who can cheer you on at your shows, who can scream along to your music when you’re driving. Someone who your uncle approves of,” Steve said, intentionally treading right on one of the sorest spots in their relationship. 

Wayne was still wary of Steve, still overprotective. Eddie had thought that his boyfriend understood that it wasn't really about him, that Wayne just needed more time to figure out what Eddie already knew- Steve would never hurt him. Never. 

Well, except for right now. Right now he was breaking Eddie’s heart right in half. 

“You’re gonna figure out what everyone else already gets,” Steve whispered, his voice barely audible as his arms squeezed tight around his middle. 

“And what’s that?” Eddie muttered dully, feeling a hollow ache start to grow in his chest. Steve’s lip curled in the worst smile Eddie had ever seen, wobbling as he began to blink rapidly. 

“You’re gonna realize that beyond being a pretty face with a fancy house, and a nice car, and a hard head, I don’t bring anything to the table,” Steve admitted, with a tiny shrug, “I’m not really anything special, and you deserve someone special. So why don’t we both just cut our losses, huh? Before either of us gets too deep,” 

Before they got too deep. 

Eddie was already in the Marianas fucking Trench. 

He was drowning in Steve Harrington, surrounded by icy black water that was burning his eyes and making it impossible to breathe. There was no way to come up for air, no rope to tug to be pulled up. Eddie was as deep as he could go, and he was finally seeing the Kraken that was looming over both of them. 

Steve didn’t want to break up. 

He wanted to be noble. 

And that thought was the thing that pissed Eddie off more than anything. 

“Nothing,” Eddie spat out, the word feeling poisonous just sitting on his tongue, too bitter to be spoken, “You think that you’re nothing?” 

Steve dragged a breath in, the first few tears managing to slip past his defenses. He hadn’t said those exact words, but Eddie had, and they sat in the air and cut them both to the core. 

“If that’s really all you were, then you’re right. We should break up,” Eddie said. 

Steve let out the softest pain-filled noise Eddie had ever heard, moving to stand up, to walk out of Eddie’s life without so much as a goodbye.

Unfathomable. Unimaginable. Unacceptable. 

Eddie latched his hand around Steve’s bicep, not just pulling him down, but also pulling him in. Their foreheads nearly knocked together as Eddie’s dark almost jet black eyes locked onto Steve’s. 

“But you are not nothing, Steve Harrington. You are everything,” Eddie whispered harshly, his breath ghosting over Steve’s lips. He raised one hand and cupped Steve’s cheek, watching his fingers as they shook in anger. 

“Eddie,” Steve pleaded, but Eddie just shook his head. 

“No. I let you talk. Now it’s your turn to listen,” He ordered, keeping a tight grip on Steve, making sure there was no way he could wriggle away or look down. 

“You really think that I give a single fuck what everyone else thinks?” Eddie asked rhetorically, barking out a harsh laugh, “I have spent my entire life bucking tradition and spitting in the face of what society says I should want. Dating you might be the most metal thing I’ve ever done, Sweetheart,”

A brief barely there smile flitted across Steve’s face, and a jagged part of Eddie’s soul smoothed out. His boy was still there, his sunshine, his sweetheart. He was just hiding, trying to protect himself in the worst way possible. 

“I adore getting to explain things to you. Do you even get how much fun it is to tell you every single thing and know that you’re listening? You always ask me the coolest questions, give me the best ideas for potential plot holes.” 

Eddie let his eyes slip shut, seeing the two of them in his mind. They were sitting together in Steve’s plaid monstrosity of a bedroom. Eddie was lying flat on his back on the floor, and Steve was on his stomach on the bed, listening with a look of pure adoration, holding his chin up on his palm as he watched Eddie’s arms swing to and fro in the air while he described the plan for the next Hellfire campaign. 

“You think I’m gonna get bored of you? Stevie, we could spend a thousand years together, and I’d still say I didn’t get enough time. I don’t get how you don’t see everything you do for me. No, you don’t come to my shows, but you make me snacks before every rehearsal, and stay up late to listen to me talk about the gig after. You can’t listen to my music, but you got me the new Dio album the day it came out just because you knew I’d like it.”

Dream Evil. It was sitting in the case just across the room, proudly displayed next to a dozen other albums Steve had gotten for him, Just because. He was always doing that, getting Eddie little gifts just because. 

“You try so damn hard. Wayne’s still scared you’re gonna hurt me, and I know that’s upsetting, but you still don’t stop trying to get him to see how much you care.” Eddie breathed, knocking their foreheads together. 

Eddie knew he was going to have to talk to Wayne. Rather, he was going to have to argue with Wayne, because this really couldn’t go on anymore. The first few weeks it had been understandable, but they had been dating for almost three months now, and Steve was still getting the cold shoulder. Steve had said he was fine, that he understood, but Eddie could see how he let things go too far. He was not going to lose Steve just because his uncle was afraid. 

But that wasn’t something he could fix now. Now he just had to keep talking. Eddie wasn’t good at much, but he was good at running his mouth, and he would talk for as long as it took to get this through his boyfriend’s beautiful thick skull. 

“I think that might be the thing I adore most about you, you know? You never stop trying. No matter what happens, no matter how many times you get knocked down, you keep trying,” A smooth stone slid down Eddie’s throat, blocking the river of words. He swallowed around it, forcing himself to keep going. 

“You brought me back from the fucking dead, Steve,” Eddie whispered, feeling the scars on his sides practically sing in harmony, “Everyone else gave up, and you kept going. They were trying to drag you off of me, and you kept going. You barely even knew me.”

Steve jerked away, moving just enough so he could bury his face in Eddie’s shoulder, wrapping his arms tight around Eddie’s middle and digging his fingers into his shirt. 

“Couldn’t. Couldn’t leave you there,” Steve managed to choke out, practically in Eddie’s lap, “Not there. Not like that,”

“I know. I know,” Eddie soothed, holding his boyfriend close, “See? That’s you. That’s always been you. You saved my life because you’re you, and you never give up.” 

Eddie lowered his voice bringing his mouth right next to Steve’s ear and loving the shiver that he could feel running down Steve’s spine. 

“You never give up. So why the fuck are you giving up on me right now, Baby?” 

Steve let out a strangled little gasp at that, clinging onto Eddie even tighter. He shook, silently falling apart in Eddie’s arms. 

“Oh, angel,” Eddie murmured, holding them both together. Steve had done this for him a thousand times, soothed every nightmare, eased every panic attack. It was finally Eddie’s turn to do the same. 

He had never realized how much it hurt to be on this side of things. 

“Steve?” Eddie said, grabbing the other boy’s attention when he thought the worst of it was over, “You aren’t perfect. Not by a longshot. You get distracted easily, you can’t remember to turn on the dishwasher, you are stubborn as the day is long, you have a tendency to only listen to people who don’t care about you, and you’re forcing me to have this god awful conversation,”

Steve let out a soft breath of laughter at this and Eddie responded with his own indulgent little smile, rubbing his cheek against the top of Steve’s head. 

“You’re a melodramatic fucking brat, Stevie. But. You are my melodramatic fucking brat,” Eddie said. 

He leaned back, cupping Steve’s face in both his hands and marveling at the boy in front of him. Somehow even now with puffy red eyes and chewed on lips, Steve was still completely gorgeous. 

Maybe Eddie was just drunk on how much he loved Steve.. 

“You’re mine. You have been mine since day one, Baby. I’m not just going to wake up one day and decide I don’t want you anymore. You seem to have decided that I will, and so you wanna get it over with, and I get that, okay? I get it, but I need you to hear me when I say this.” 

Eddie waited until Steve’s eyes were lifted before taking a deep breath and biting the bullet. 

“I am not Nancy Wheeler,” Eddie stated bluntly, ripping the bandaid right off Steve’s deepest wound. “And I am not your parents. I’m not Tommy fucking Hagan or Carol fucking Perkins or any of the other jackasses in this town who didn’t care enough to realize how absolutely fucking precious you are,”

“Eddie-” Steve started. 

“Precious.” Eddie repeated, his eyes sparkling, “After everything you are still kind. You’re still kind, and you still let people in, even though so many people have hurt you. You let all of us in, even though that scares you more than anything.” 

“I’m gonna promise you something now. I promise that I am never going to wake up and just decide one day that you aren’t enough for me anymore. I’m not going to turn on a dime and decide you aren’t worth enough to stick around, because I seem to know something you still don’t get.”

Eddie pulled him in close, kissing Steve’s forehead and swiping both of his thumbs against his cheeks. 

“I know that when you love someone, when you really love someone, you don’t just stop. Ever. Even when people roll their eyes or call you crazy. Even then. Especially then!”

“You love me?” Steve croaked. Eddie’s eyes grew wide and he stiffened up. 

Fuck. 

The word had just slipped out. It was way too early to be saying that, way too fast to mean real genuine love. If Eddie wasn’t such a motor mouth he would have taken two fricken seconds to think about what he said without jumping too far too fast and ruining everything. 

If he was smart he would say something, try to take it back. If he was smart he would do that. 

But Steve was looking up at him like Eddie was holding the sun, the moon, and all of the stars, and there was no way he could backtrack. Eddie would throw himself into the Quarry before he did anything to make that look fade away. 

“I just poured my heart and goddamn soul out onto the floor, and all you heard was the ‘I love you,’” Eddie said with a breathless laugh, “You also heard the part where I called you a melodramatic fucking brat, right?!” 

Steve giggled. Honest to god giggled, reaching up and threading his fingers through Eddie’s where his hands were still cupping his cheeks. 

“You love me,” Steve said again, grinning from ear to ear. Eddie shook his head, trying to hide his own extremely stupid smile. 

“Yes, angel, I love you. I can’t remember loving anything or anyone the way I love you.” Eddie admitted.

In for a penny, in for an entire goddamn ton. 

Steve hummed happily, surging forward and locking their lips together. Eddie immediately deepened the kiss, letting his hands slide backwards. He tangled the left in Steve’s hair, using his right to pull Steve properly into his lap. Once they were properly situated, Eddie let himself get lost in the kiss, slipping and sliding into Steve and the blooming bursting love that was growing around them. 

“Still wanna break up?” Eddie joked when they broke away for air. Steve blushed, shyly shaking his head once, and Eddie grinned, nipping at Steve’s jaw. 

“Good. Because next time you try, I’ll make a wish for the goblins to come and take you!” He threatened, tickling Steve’s ribs and making the younger boy squirm away from him. 

“Goblins?” Steve asked once he was a safe distance away, raising a brow. 

Right. Steve had fallen asleep. That was what started this whole thing. 

“Okay we’re having a redo,” Eddie declared, jumping off of the couch and scampering over to the VCR to begin rewinding the tape, “You and I are going to sit here, and watch this movie. And when you fall asleep halfway through, you are going to put your head in my lap so I can play with your gorgeous perfect hair that I love so so much. You got it, Buster?”

Steve snickered, settling back into the cushions. 

“Got it,” He called back, pulling his legs up so they were at his side on the couch. 

Setting up the movie took barely any time, and before he knew it, Eddie was back on the couch, his boyfriend happily snuggled in his arms. 

“Oh, and Eds?” Steve said quietly as the opening credits began. 

“Yeah, Baby?”

“I love you too.”

[strangersteddierthings]

Good People

Part One🦇Part Two🦇Final Part

Wayne knows eavesdropping isn't the done thing. He's definitely old enough to know better, and he wasn't going to. He had a plan. He was going to walk directly into the living room, so they'd know he was awake, and after he'd fixed his cup of coffee, he'd plopped into his perfectly worn in recliner and subtly glare at the Harrington boy until he squirmed.

Mostly because it amused Wayne, but also just a little sliver of it was because he wanted the Harrington boy to know Wayne didn't think he was good enough for his boy. But only a little! Lord knows that Wayne couldn't do anything to make Eddie change his mind about Steve Harrington, short of Harrington proving Wayne right. Which he doesn't actually want because he doesn't want Eddie hurt.

He's just... He expects it to happen. That's what boys like Harrington do to boys like Eddie. He's seen it enough times to know that this song and dance leave no room for improvisation. Boys like Harrington play around, get their kicks with the devotion Eddie shows them, and then when they've had their fill, they leave.

Boys like Harrington will never be good enough for Eddie, but they always leave with Eddie feeling like he's not enough. Wayne hates it.

Anyway, his plan wasn't to eavesdrop. It's just that Harrington said his name and Wayne found himself standing still instead of continuing.

"Why doesn't Wayne like me?" Harrington asks.

"This again?" Eddie says dismissively, which has Wayne agreeing. His opinion shouldn't have bearing on their friendship.

A deep sigh from Harrington before, "I just. It's- he means so much to you. And, like, I- nevermind. It's stupid. I'm stupid."

"Hey," Eddie sounds a type of serious that Wayne rarely hears from him, "you're not stupid. And you gotta quit fucking saying that. You say it enough and you'll start to believe it and it's not true."

"Hard to quit feeling stupid when people dismiss my concerns like they are stupid," Harrington snaps back, bitchy as can be. The tone makes Wayne bristle on behalf of Eddie. His boy doesn't reply immediately, though. Doesn't bite back like Wayne's used to hearing. Huh. Maybe he's growing up, just a little.

"You're right, Steve," Eddie says when he finally speaks. "That was dismissive. I'm sorry. Explain it to me. Why does it matter to you whether Wayne likes you or not?"

"Well, because he's your family."

"Yeah," Eddie agrees, "he is. But that doesn't explain why it matters. I don't care if your parents like me or not."

"That's different!"

"How?" Eddie asks, soft but firm.

"Because their opinion doesn't matter. It's not- It's irrelevant. What they think."

"That makes no sense. Wayne's opinion matters because he's my family, but your parents' opinion doesn't even though they're your family?"

"Yes!"

"But why?" Eddie presses.

"Because they're bad people!" Steve bursts, not quite shouting but close. "Because when bad people don't think highly of you, it's not a fault in you. Their disproval is, like, a compliment. They don't like you because you're too different from them. And that's great! You shouldn't want their approval. It's different, because your uncle is a good person. And when a good person doesn't like you, it is your fault. It's something- it's..." Harrington loses steam here, voice dropping low and defeated, "there's something wrong with me. Something in me that- that he just knows. Senses about me or whatever. Something wrong or rotten or-"

"Steve! That's bullshit. Sure, Wayne's been standoffish, but he'll come around. You're not wrong, or rotten, or whatever else you think you are."

"How do you know that? I was an asshole most of life and what if that's just the real me? What if that's who I'll always be deep down. 'Cause I'm trying so damn hard, man. I'm giving it my all trying to be a better person and it's not enough! Everyone still talks about who I was in high school and even you-" Harrington snaps his mouth closed so hard that Wayne hears the clack of his teeth from his position in the hallway. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to- I'm sorry."

"Steve. This is about more than just my uncle's opinion of you, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

"I want you, too. I want to know if I've ever done anything to make you feel like you aren't enough."

Wayne really shouldn't be listening. He should back down the hall and into his room. Give them time to talk.

"No, Eddie, you don't make me feel like- that's not what I meant. I just. I'm...."

"Hey, Stevie, you can tell me."

"I'm just so afraid that... That one day everyone will wake up and realize what Wayne already knows. That I'm not good enough for them. For you."

Oh. Wayne really shouldn't be listening.

"I'll admit that Wayne's opinion is important to me, for a lot of things. But not about you. What I feel about you, how I feel about you, isn't dictated by Wayne."

"Sure. I mean, I know that, like, logically or whatever. But it's. I can't convince my brain that you won't just. Hate me one day. And I- fuck, Eddie, I'm already halfway in love with you and-"

"You're in love with me?" Eddie interrupts, sounding awed, starstruck, and Wayne cannot be listening anymore. He backs down the hall silently and back into his room.

Steve Harrington seems to think that he's a good person, but he's not feeling like a good person at the moment.

He's got some thinking to do.

[steddieas-shegoes]

Request: Wayne & Steve bonding. Can be 5+1 with the party members seeing it & then the +1 can be Steve realizing that Wayne is his safe adult & that he is included by both Wayne & Eddie (his partner) as a Munson

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY PLATONIC LOVE!!!! ALSO HAPPY 100TH WORK ON AO3 FOR ME!!!! I had started another request but then realized my 100th work needed to have Wayne. Like, it was a no brainer. I love Wayne Munson with my entire heart. He loves Steve with his entire heart. Here we are! - Mickala ❤️

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one

It started out pretty awkward.

Eddie had suggested the fishing trip, said it would be great for them to bond and get to know each other.

“Steve’s not goin’ anywhere, and Wayne’s approval is more important to me than anything else, so you might as well find some common ground,” he said to them both over dinner.

So Steve agreed to this fishing trip, and he agreed to let Wayne pick the place and drive them there and provide all the necessary tools.

He didn’t know how to fish so it made sense that he didn’t make any of the decisions.

Of course, Wayne didn’t know he didn’t know how to fish. He’d maybe made it sound like he used to go when he was younger, before his dad stopped showing any interest in spending time with him.

But his dad wasn’t really ever around, and certainly didn’t do anything to bond with him, so here he was.

Trying to pretend he knew how a worm went on a hook.

Wayne hadn’t said much, though Eddie had already warned him that it didn’t mean he didn’t like him, he just didn’t usually say much unless he knew you well.

He was pretty focused on baiting his own hook, or that’s what Steve thought it was called, and Steve didn’t really think it would go well if he interrupted to ask stupid questions.

“You’ve never done this before, have ya?” Wayne suddenly asked, not looking up from his hook.

“Um. No sir?” Steve replied.

No point in lying when it was so obvious he had no clue what he was doing.

Wayne finally looked at him, his eyes squinted as he searched his face.

“You want some help with that?” he finally asked Steve.

“Please.”

Wayne didn’t take the hook and worm from him though. Instead, he gently scooted closer and started showing Steve how to do it himself.

“There ya go! Now, professionals use different bait and hooks and all kindsa stuff I don’t have the patience for. We just use worms cuz they’re cheap and work just fine. You ever cast your own line or you need me to show ya?”

“I can watch you and then try,” Steve replied.

This was going…well. Wayne seemed eager to help instead of annoyed like Steve thought he would be.

He watched Wayne cast his line out, reeling it in just a bit once the bobber hit the water.

“Why do you reel it in like that?” Steve asked, genuinely curious.

“Keeps the line tight so you can see any movement. If the bait ain’t on there good, a fish might be able to wiggle it off, but if you see the line moving, you might be able to still catch him,” Wayne said quietly. “Think you can do it?”

Steve didn’t think he could, but he wanted to impress Wayne.

And then he did it.

“I did it!” he said, maybe a bit too loud for the environment.

“You did! Proud of ya!” Wayne said back, big smile on his face.

He didn’t seem to care that Steve was so loud he probably scared all the damn fish away, or that it was such a simple task that Steve accomplished.

He was just proud.

And when Steve caught his first fish 20 minutes later, he could have sworn he saw Wayne wipe a tear from his eye.

—---

two

“Invite him over,” Wayne suggested.

“To your house?” Steve said as he stopped putting his shoes on.

“Yeah. We got plenty of snacks. Lucas seems like a nice kid. He puts up with Eddie and that Max girl. Must be an angel actually,” Wayne snorted.

Steve looked at him, and at the tv that was already tuned in to the channel the basketball game would be on.

“If you’re sure…” Steve said, removing his shoes again to go call Lucas.

“Tell him to bring his ball and we can practice after! Only if you promise to go easy on me, I’m an old man,” Wayne added as he sipped on his beer.

Steve was quick on the phone, smiling to himself when Lucas seemed so excited about getting to hang out with Steve and Wayne.

Lucas made it just as the game started, sweating from the bike ride over.

“Grab a pop from the fridge and take a seat, kiddo,” Wayne said from his armchair.

“Is Eddie here?” Lucas asked as he did what Wayne said and sat down on the couch next to Steve.

“Nope. Had physical therapy and then band practice. Won’t see that boy until near midnight, I’d say.”

Steve nodded in agreement.

Eddie always got distracted at band practice, especially if they started smoking. Wayne always told him to call if he needed a ride, but not if he needed bail.

The game was intense, and all of them ended up standing on their feet pacing for the last two minutes of it. It was so back and forth, so close, they were almost certain it would go to overtime.

It didn’t though, and Wayne hugged both Steve and Lucas excitedly.

“Alright, who wants to go shoot some hoops?”

Steve knew for a fact the Munsons didn’t have a basketball net. Eddie wasn’t a sports guy and Wayne didn’t have time until pretty recently to have any hobbies.

But Steve and Lucas followed him onto the back porch and Steve stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the small cement pad now had a basketball net.

“When did you get that?”

“Well, when Eddie mentioned you still liked to play for fun, I figured it’d be nice to have. Not a lot of space out here for a real game, but it’s somethin’.”

Wayne looked shy, almost nervous, which was something he never was.

“You got this for Steve?” Lucas asked him.

“Yeah. You’re welcome to come over and practice anytime, too,” he said to Lucas with a smile.

“Seriously? This is awesome!” Lucas took his ball and ran down the porch steps to start shooting at the net.

“You got this for me?” Steve asked Wayne, still slightly surprised by the gesture.

“Yeah, kid. Want you to feel like this is your home too, ya know?”

“Oh.”

Steve wasn’t gonna cry, he wasn’t.

He hugged Wayne quickly, then joined Lucas. Wayne sat on the porch and watched for a bit, cheering when Lucas managed to score on him three times in a row.

Surprisingly, Eddie came home in the midst of an intense one on one match.

He took one look at Steve and Lucas, and turned to Wayne.

“Since when do we support jockhood in this house?” he asked him, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Since you fell in love with one,” Wayne smirked.

“I’m not- we haven’t- Wayne!” Eddie sputtered before going back inside.

Wayne shook his head, but continued watching Steve and Lucas competing against each other, hopefully for the first of many times.

—------

three

Max should go home. She couldn’t just hide at the Munson trailer every single time her mom had to work late.

She had to face her fears and just stay home alone.

But Eddie was here having a mini-session with Mike, Will, and Lucas, and she felt better being around all of them than being in her house.

Plus, Wayne had made her hot chocolate and let her taste test the cookies he made.

She wasn’t playing, but she watched the entire time, sipping on her hot chocolate and watching Wayne out of the corner of her eye.

He was in the kitchen baking something new, but had told her she couldn’t try this one yet.

It looked like a cake, but it had a lot of steps to it and she couldn’t be quite sure when he kept moving things from counter to counter and then counter to oven.

At exactly 7:00, Eddie clapped his hands, thanked everyone for coming, and told them to get out.

“How’s the cake comin’ old man? Steve’s gonna be here in 20 minutes!” Eddie said as he started frantically cleaning up.

Max watched as they both seemed to rush through their tasks, ignoring her entirely, maybe even forgetting she was still on the couch.

And then it hit her.

“Shit! It’s Steve’s birthday, isn’t it?” she asked.

Wayne and Eddie both stood in the doorway of the kitchen looking at her.

“Have you been here this whole time?” Eddie asked.

“Ed, I forgot the powdered sugar,” Wayne said suddenly.

“Fuck!” Eddie said, exasperated.

“Language!” Wayne huffed out, turning back to his cake. “I think my Ma used to just blend regular sugar to make it so she didn’t have to pay for it. Let me see how much sugar we got.”

“Max, let me walk you home,” Eddie said, forcing a smile.

But just as she was getting up to let him, not wanting to push him too much when he was so obviously stressed, the front door opened and Steve walked in.

“You will never believe what this woman did at closing time tonight. I thought Robin was going to have to go to jail. Oh. Hey Max.”

Steve paused as he took in the looks of panic on Max and Eddie’s face and the chaos happening in the kitchen.

“Is everything okay?” Steve asked, suddenly worried.

“Everything’s great! Actually, can you walk Max home?”

“Is that Steve?” Wayne asked from the kitchen, peeking around the doorway. “Dammit, I need 10 minutes!”

Eddie shooed Steve back out the door and Max followed without being asked.

When the door shut behind them, Steve looked at Max with a confused look.

“Happy birthday, I guess?” she shrugged.

“Oh. Is that today?” he asked.

“Apparently. I don’t think the Munsons understand the idea behind not celebrating birthdays.”

Steve laughed, smiling fondly at the closed front door.

“Alright, well. Let’s get you home so they can embarrass me without an audience.”

They walked down the road to Max’s trailer in silence. Max didn’t mind it with Steve, it felt like they both needed it.

But when they arrived at her house, she turned to Steve and hugged him.

“All good, red?” he asked as he hugged her back.

“Yeah. Just glad we have them.”

“Who? The Munsons?”

“Yeah. They’re pretty great.”

Steve smiled down at her.

“Yeah, they’re alright.”

—----------

four

Nancy spent a lot of time at the library. Probably more than anyone else in Hawkins.

She’d seen it all.

The nerds using it to study, the old people reading the newspaper, the kids being brought by their moms for storytime.

She’d never once seen a Munson.

Until today.

Wayne Munson was standing in the aisle of books that held books about gardening.

He looked lost, and she wanted to help.

“Hey, Wayne right?” she whispered.

He jumped, but then relaxed when he saw it was just a young woman.

“Yes, and you are?”

“Nancy. You probably don’t remember, but I was with everyone when Eddie was brought into the hospital,” she said, hating to bring up bad memories, but needing him to know that she knew Eddie.

“Ah, yes. Mike’s sister?”

“That’s me.” She cleared her throat. “You look like you need some help. I’m basically a librarian for how often I’m here, so maybe I can help?”

“Yeah. I’m lookin’ for a book about trees that can grow here easily. All these seem to be about tropical plants.”

He was right. For some reason, most of the books available were about tropical plants or encyclopedias about flowers.

“There is one…hold on.” Nancy walked a few feet away and looked at the one book she knew would have the information he needed. “Here it is!” She handed it to him. “Any specific tree you’re looking for?”

“Well, I’m gonna plant a tulip tree in the backyard, but I need to know what it needs.”

Nancy smiled.

“You a fan of tulip trees?”

“Ah can’t say I care either way. But Steve likes ‘em and he’s been feelin’ a bit down lately, so figured it might make him smile.”

Nancy frowned.

“He’s been down?” she asked.

Admittedly, she hadn’t seen him much lately, but that was because he was busy working with Robin and spending his free time with Eddie or the kids.

“Well, it ain’t my business to say, but his parents came to town last week and he ain’t been the same since. He won’t talk about it, not even with Ed,” Wayne sounded sad, but also angry.

She placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I know they’re frustrating to say the least. But he’ll be alright. I’m glad he has you to cheer him up,” she smiled at him.

“Me too. You won’t tell him about this yet, right?”

“Your secret is safe with me.”

—-------------

five

Robin was hot.

“Steve, there is no way this pool takes this long to clean,” she said from her chair.

“Maybe it wouldn’t if I had help,” Steve said with a sigh.

“I think he’s expecting us to help him,” Eddie said from his chair next to her, not opening his eyes to actually look.

“It’s not as hot in the pool,” he tried to bribe them.

“As if we would get in that untreated dirty water!” Eddie exclaimed.

“We have all literally been covered in Upside Down dust and demo-creature blood.”

“Against our will!” Robin exclaimed.

“Alright, I’m calling Wayne,” Steve said as he got out of the pool.

Not even 20 minutes later, Steve was walking back outside, Wayne trailing behind him in a bathing suit.

“I’m scraping the bottom first so I can scoop any debris out before I treat it,” Steve explained to him. “I think that last storm we got just got a lot of heavier limbs in it so there’s more than I expected.”

“And these two are just watching?”

“We’re supervising. Here for emergencies and getting him drinks when needed,” Eddie said.

“Right. So I’ll take a cold beer,” Wayne said with a smirk.

Eddie moved his sunglasses off his face and glared at him.

“You just came from inside.”

“And now I’m hot. Get me a beer or go home.”

Robin watched the exchange like a tennis match, then turned to Steve who was getting back in the pool like he was used to this kind of thing happening all the time.

“I’m so glad he called you,” she said to Wayne as Eddie grumbled his way inside.

“Me too,” Wayne said, no hint of sarcasm in his tone.

Robin watched them work, taking in the way Wayne explained the best way to treat the pool (“shock it, but then focus on the filter itself, not just the actual pool”) and how long it should sit.

An hour later, they were finishing up the main part of the treatment, and Wayne knocked Steve’s shoulder.

“Great job, kid. Probably wanna let it sit overnight so no one’s skin is burnin’ though.”

“What?! We can’t even swim today?” Eddie shrieked.

“Go swim in the bathtub. Better yet, a puddle in the road,” Wayne yelled back at him. He turned back to Steve. “You comin’ for dinner tonight?”

“Yeah, let me clean up first. Want me to bring anything?”

“Just yourself, you know that.”

Wayne turned to go, and grabbed Eddie’s ear.

“Ow!”

“You’re comin’ with me. You got some stuff to do around the trailer before I let you come over here and swim.”

“I’m a grown man!”

“And grown men clean up before their boyfriends come over. Let’s go.”

Wayne walked away, knowing Eddie would follow him.

Robin couldn’t help the loud laugh she let out as Eddie scrambled to follow, nearly tripping over his own feet when he stopped to kiss Steve quickly before leaving the back patio.

“They’re a blast,” Robin said when they were gone.

“They’re the best,” Steve said fondly.

—----------

plus one

It was too late for someone to be knocking on the door, but Wayne knew better than to ignore it.

Too many late night knocks had been because of emergencies.

“Go back to bed, Ed,” he said to Eddie when he saw him coming out of his bedroom, half asleep and half naked.

But he knew Eddie would be curious and wasn’t surprised when he followed him to the front door.

“Steve?”

He had an armful of Steve as soon as he said his name, wrapping his arms around him protectively.

It was damn near two in the morning, why the hell was he here?

“Are you hurt, son?”

He heard Steve let out a loud sob against his chest and he quickly pulled him inside all the way, closing the door so the neighbors wouldn’t hear and get nosy.

“Stevie?” Eddie asked from behind Wayne.

“Go get some water for him, Ed,” Wayne said over his shoulder. “Steve? What happened?”

“They kicked me out. They found out about Eddie and kicked me out,” Steve said between sobs and panting breaths.

“Alright. Let’s sit down for a minute,” Wayne tried to stay calm, but anger was coursing through his body.

Who could kick out their own son? Especially over something so small?

He shouldn’t be surprised that the Harringtons would, but it still felt like someone poured cold water over him.

“I don’t know what to do. I have nowhere to go,” Steve whimpered.

“Now that right there is nonsense, son. You got us right here, don’t ya? You think we’d let you be homeless when Ed’s got a perfectly good bed for you to sleep in? Hell, ya sleep in it most nights a week anyway.” Wayne sighed, running his hands up and down Steve’s back as they sat on the couch. “You belong here with us. It’s their loss and someday they’ll have to live with the regret of hurtin’ you. But you’re my kid, and you ain’t gonna be livin’ on the streets. Understand me?”

Steve nodded against his chest.

Eddie walked in silently with a glass of water, fear in his eyes.

Wayne gave him a look and hoped he was communicating that he shouldn’t ask right now.

“You wanna have some water for me? Maybe a nice hot shower and then bed?” Wayne asked.

Steve nodded.

“Look at me, Steve.” He waited for Steve to look at him. “You’re my son. I love you and I want you to be here. You deserve to be loved just as you are.”

Steve sniffled, trying to hold back another sob as he nodded.

Wayne watched him sip on the water for a few minutes, and watched as Eddie walked him to the bathroom to make sure he had everything he needed for a shower.

He never understood how parents could look at their children and feel anything but the purest form of love.

Steve may not be his biologically, but he was practically a Munson since the day he carried Eddie out of Hell.

If Wayne had to help him out his own version of Hell, then he’d do it with a smile on his face and praise on his tongue.

[ladykailitha]

Royal Pain Part 21

Hello! We're back with more Royal Pain. For the person(s) that thought the kiss meant the nearing of the end of the story: NOPE! We still have a bit to get through plot wise. Plus I don't usually go through past them getting together, and wanted to explore that a little before the end.

Also, where have my commenters gone? I used to get 10 or so comments a post and the last part of "Well Met By Moonlight" only had one. My usual commenters just didn't. If I have suggested in anyway that I don't like comments or don't appreciate them, know that I really, really do! And I miss it when people who used comment don't anymore. I'm not going to name names because this isn't a callout post, just a concern, I guess.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20

Today we have a replay reaction to the kiss by the Royal Pain crew, Wayne being wise (and mention of a ring that has always been a thing in the story, I just forgot to put it in before this oops!) and Chrissy getting some advice.

***

To say that Steve was practically squealing from joy when he got to his car would be an understatement. He put his bluetooth earpiece in his right ear and immediately called Robin.

“Are you okay?” she asked as soon as she picked up.

“Eddie kissed me!” he giggled excitedly.

“No fucking way!” she gasped.

“Not yet anyway,” he said slyly, pulling into traffic.

“Steven Joseph Harrington!” Robin squeaked. “You don’t get to make dirty puns like that unless I’m in hitting distance.”

Steve laughed. “Joseph isn’t my middle name.”

He could hear her snap her fingers. “I’ll guess it eventually.”

“It’s been nearly a decade and you still haven’t guessed it,” he reminded her. “I can make it harder though...”

“Don’t you dare!” she hissed. There was silence for a moment. “You can’t make it harder, can you?”

He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “I can actually, but you told me not to.”

He could feel her narrow her eyes from across town as she weighed her options.

“Go ahead,” she said haughtily. “I don’t think you can.”

Steve grinned. “I have two middle names and you’ve never guessed either one.”

“You do not!” Robin hissed. “There is no way!”

“My parents were super traditional,” he told her. “My middle names come from each of my grandfathers.”

“Oh my god,” she said, “that makes so much sense.”

Steve licked his lips and waited. Five, four, three, two–

“Don’t you change the subject, Steven!” Robin came back. “Eddie kissed you.”

“He did indeed,” Steve said, “and I will tell you all about it when I get back to the shop. I’m like three minutes away.”

“I want to know everything!”

“I promise.”

*

Steve got to the shop and everyone was standing around the front counter, chins propped up on their hands, blinking at him expectantly.

He shook his head. “Menaces, the lot of you.”

Erica batted her eyelashes. “Yeah, but you like menaces.”

Steve tilted his head to the side and then nodded. “Yeah, yeah. But first I have to tell about my lunch with Wayne.”

Erica and Chrissy groaned, pushing off the counter and rolling their eyes. Robin and Argyle stayed in position though.

“Trust me,” Steve said holding his hands up, “it’s relevant to the story.”

“This better be good, Harrington,” Chrissy snarked.

“Oh it will be,” he said with a smile, “I promise.”

He started telling them everything. Wayne’s approval, the confrontation with Quinn, Eddie coming to the rescue, the kiss.

“Lunch was definitely relevant, dude,” Argyle said. “Getting parental approval is super important in a relationship. Especially if they’re close.”

Steve nodded. “So does the story live up the hype?” he asked the girls.

Robin rolled her eyes. “I suppose.”

Chrissy giggled. “It was so cute, Stevie. I’m happy for you!”

Steve waited for Erica, who sat there tapping her lips for a moment. She cocked her head. “Ehhh...it was all right.”

Everyone protested, talking over each other.

She burst out laughing. “God, you guys so easy. Of course it was awesome. Super sweet, too.”

Steve opened his mouth to say something when the bell over the door sounded, announcing the arrival of his next client.

He turned to greet them as everyone but Robin scattered. As much as he would love to gossip about his newly minted love life, he had clients that wanted tattoos.

*

Eddie kept licking his lips the whole way to his apartment.

“What made you change your mind?” Wayne asked. “About dating Steve? Him saying ‘I love you’?”

Eddie bit his lip and shook his head. “I had made the decision before that. It was just with Seth stalking me, I didn’t want to get Steve hurt if Seth thought we were together.”

Wayne nodded. “If Seth would threaten Steve over being your friend and tattoo artist, I shudder to think what he would have done if your relationship was more serious.”

“In fact I was going to tell him before Seth threatened him,” Eddie said with a sigh. “We had plans to have dinner at his place and I was going to tell him then.”

“But then Seth showed up?” Wayne asked.

Eddie nodded. “And then that night, I was going to at least let him know that after the whole thing with Seth got resolved, I was going to kiss the hell out him, but that didn’t work out either.”

Wayne tilted his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“That was the night he ran into an ex,” Eddie explained. “The ex. The one that broke his heart. Found out a whole bunch of other shit that night, too. I spent most of the night trying to console him.”

“So the stars finally aligned today, then?” Wayne asked.

“About god damned time, too,” Eddie agreed fiercely.

Wayne hummed. “He’s good for ya, Ed. I don’t think I’ve seen you this happy in a long time. Even when Seth was breathing down your neck, you were more solid. You had your friends, but with Steve standing beside you, you looked like you could handle whatever the world threw at you as long as you had him.”

Eddie blushed, annoyed that driving kept him from ducking his head or shoving hair in his mouth to cover the flush on his cheeks. “He makes me feel brave, because he’s been through shit too and he’s still standing. Still moving forward each day. I love that about him.”

“Good.”

They drove the rest of the trip in silence. When they got back to the apartment they chatted as Eddie helped Wayne pack for his journey back to Hawkins.

“I want to see you both come Labor Day,” Wayne growled. “No excuses, you hear?”

Eddie nodded. “Yes, sir.” He gave him a jaunty salute.

It looked absolutely ridiculous coming from a long haired metalhead and Wayne’s snort cinched it.

Eddie grinned but gave him a gentle shove. “Steve wasn’t lying when he said that was the plan, by the way. We had been talking about taking him down to meet you since the first week of us becoming friends.”

Wayne nodded sagely. “I understand that he’s not close with his parents.”

“It was big ole mess,” Eddie said softly. “His parents are very recently divorced, like it was finalized last month, recent.”

Wayne hummed. “I remember you saying something about that,” he said. “At least you had an uncle who cared when your parents decided to be shit, it doesn’t seem like Steve had that option.”

“He was close to his grandpa though,” Eddie murmured. “On his mom’s side. He was really broken up when the man died.”

Wayne zipped up his suitcase. “How old was Steve?”

Eddie shrugged. “Young. Eight or nine. His grandfather got cancer before his mom met his dad. His grandpa had struggled with the disease before it finally took him. Steve said that it had ravaged so much of his body that his death certificate was like a laundry list of possible causes of death. Heart failure, kidney failure, cancer...you name it, it was probably on the damn thing.”

“That ring he wears all the time,” Wayne asked, “that his grandfather’s?”

Eddie nodded. “His dad tried to take it for years, saying it inappropriate to leave to a little boy.”

“Only he wasn’t going to stay a little boy forever,” Wayne said. “I guessing that since he still has it, his mom interfered?”

“Maureen Harrington wasn’t going to be winning any best mom awards at any point in Steve’s life,” Eddie scoffed, “but she did do some shit and hiding that ring was one of them.”

“I’m glad he had someone looking out for him,” Wayne said. “I’m sorry it wasn’t all the time. But he at least had something some of the time.”

“He’s not jealous of me or Robin,” Eddie said, “Or anyone of his friends that have a good home life. He’s happy with his found family. He loves them as though they are blood.”

Wayne smiled. “I’m happy for you, Ed. You’ve got something real special with Steve.”

Eddie blushed. “I love him.”

“I think the whole world knows it’s mutual at this point,” Wayne said with a small shake of his head.

Eddie just grinned.

*

Steve grinned as Chrissy wandered out of her room for the third time today. The first time was that she forgot her purse in her car. The second time it was because she had a question for Robin (completely made up and not something that was essential at all to her job). The third time it was because she wanted to ask Robin if she wanted anything from the deli on the corner for lunch.

Could you tell that Vickie was being trained by Robin today?

Vickie put her hand on Robin’s arm to get her to slow down in her nervous and very rapid fire explanation of the phone system and Steve thought Chrissy was going to explode.

Chrissy was wearing a pink blouse with spaghetti straps and white lacy cardigan over the tightest jeans Steve had ever seen and he’s been to a lot of Corroded Coffin shows. Her hair was up in an artfully messy ponytail and her makeup was tasteful and very pink.

Steve was just grateful she hadn’t paired the outfit with anything high heeled and instead chose white ballet flats. He was always worried someone was going to sprain their ankles in high heels walking on their hardwood floors.

He winced as Chrissy’s poor attempt at flirting fell flat.

“Oh,” Robin said, “Steve already ordered him and me Chinese, sorry.”

“I’d love something though,” Vickie said brightly. “Do they have a turkey club?”

Chrissy sputtered for a moment before she nodded meekly. “Yeah.”

“Great!” Vickie continued. “Just let me know how much and I’ll wire you the funds.”

Chrissy nodded again and with a squeak, dashed back into her room. Steve watched as Vickie’s smile turned knowing.

He shook his head and went to go talk to his apprentice.

“Someone’s got a crush,” he said, leaning against the door frame, with his arms folded.

Chrissy threw her arms in the air. “At least you noticed. I don’t think she has.”

Steve chuckled and made his way over to her, swinging the door shut behind him.

“I love her,” he said sitting down on her client lounger, “but she absolutely loses her head when a pretty girl is around. Gay, straight, bi. Doesn’t matter she becomes an absolute mess.”

“I’ve noticed,” Chrissy said bitterly. She thought about Vickie and Mandy and how Robin was just goo around them.

He hummed, knowing exactly what she was thinking. “Here’s the thing though, you are one hundred percent ahead of the game compared to the other two girls.”

Chrissy scoffed. “What makes you think that?”

Steve grinned. “Mandy has a boyfriend, soon to be fiance and Vickie could be bisexual. But she could also be straight. Robin knows you’re a lesbian. You have the advantage of her knowing where she stands with you.”

Chrissy blinked. “Oh.”

“You want to get the girl?” Steve asked. She nodded. “Then you’ve got to step up your game. Time to woo her and not just flirt with her.”

Chrissy chewed on her lip. “But how do I do that?”

Steve shook his head. “Well for starters, paying attention. Robin and I always get Chinese on Fridays.”

She blinked for a moment, pulled out her phone and then the light bulb went off above her head. “Oops.”

“Yeah...”

She took a deep breath. “Do you think I have a chance?”

“She thinks the cheerleading thing is scary hot, so...”

Chrissy grinned. “It’s short skirt, isn’t it?”

Steve shrugged. “And the cute little socks.”

Chrissy laughed. “Can’t forget those.”

He turned to walk away, but she stopped him. “Thanks for this, Steve. I know you didn’t have to.”

Steve just smiled softly and then walked out of the room, leaving her alone with her thoughts. Thoughts on how to get the girl of her dreams.

***

Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Epilogue

Tag List: @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk ​ @renaissan-vvitch @goodolefashionedloverboi @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @plyerice27 @thedragonsaunt @sapphirecobalt-1 @a-little-unsteddie @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @itsall-taken @justforthedead89 @emly03 @bookworm0690 @aizawa-emma @redfreckledwolf @thesuninyaface @bookbinderbitch @yikes-a-bee @littlewildflowerkitten @scheodingers-muppet @archermightbegay @hallucinatedjosten @ellietheasexylibrarian @anne-bennett-cosplayer @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @bestwifehaver @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @oldwitcheshat @nightmareglitter @tinyplanet95 @novelnovella

[annachronisme]

It could be worse, right ? Part 3

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

@kodaik97 @flustratedcas @didntwant2come @dreamlandforever @bidisastersworld @grtwdsmwhr

They had started to bicker right after. Apparently, his way of announcing bad news was not the best. Wayne never had any complains but for some reason Harrington didn’t seem to approve his methode.

“What do you mean locked?” spitted Gareth through gritted teeth.

They exchanged a glance. Which one was gonna sacrifice himself to the wolf. Steve sensing a lost battle here, rolled his eyes at him.

“Someone locked the door behind me.” He said, passing a hand nervously in his hair. 

“So this is your fault !" Accused Gareth, slapping his hand on the table, making Steve flinch back with a sour face. 

“Leave Steve out of this, shithead !” shouted Lucas, jumping at Steve's defense. “Steve wouldn’t do that!”

“Oh because you know him so much, right !?” Gareth shouted right back. 

“Better than you do, fucking asshole. What’s your problem!?” Shouted Mike. It was kind of endearing how much the kids were ready to defend the ex-jock like that, even little Mike Wheeler who always seemed to hold a kind of grudge against the dude he still defended the man.

He wondered what could have happened for some nerd kids to be saddled with Harrington of all people and to be so attached to him. Even weirder was that Harrington was even more than them.

While he was busy studying Steve's character like some carefully crafted characther, the other had started to fight. While no fist were flying -thanks whatever deity was ot there he really didn't want to break a fisht fight today- it had developed into a ‘who scream the loudest’ fight, creating a cacophony of shouts. Harrington still had not said a word, shoulders drawn up into his ears. Everytime someone managed to be louder than the rest, he would frown even harder, like he was in pain or something. 

“ENOUGH.” He shouted, slappin both hands on the table. He saw Steve jump from the corner of his eyes, clearly not expecting him to shout.

“All of you. Shut. The fuck. Up. I'm not above killing all of your character off for the shit you just pulled. ” He tried his best to say calm but it was realy hard. The situation was already not ideal, he didn't need a fight now.  

“But-” Wheelers started to interject.

“I said shut up, Wheelers, you’re all on thin ice as it is. Now put your ass down and listen.”

They all sat back down, slowly , still throwing glare at each other, clearly not over that argument. 

“Munson …”

“ That." He took a deep breath, no need to get snippy with Harrington he didn't do anything. "Goes for you too, Stevie.”  he said more softly, sitting back down. He will panic later -way later, once he's safe in his room- about how he called Steve fucking Harrington 'Stevie' and didn't get pounded.

“ As we were going to explain. Someone, that is not Steve,- he said glaring meaningfully at Gareth seeking down in his chair. “ locked us in the Drama room. Steve went to check the emergency exit in the back and it is also locked, clearly the assholes who did this thought really hard about it but not hard enought to think about the fucking fire hazard it meant. Anyway, Harrington, you’re the last one who came maybe you saw something ?” 

“I- I don’t think so ? I did feel like someone was following me but I thought it was just my paranoïa acting up again. ” He noticed Dustin had turned a worried look at Steve, Mike and Lucas too but it was way more subtle. Harrington smiled reassuringly at the kid who did not look convinced at all. There was something going on there he was definitely not aware of. 

“Okay. It’s fine. We’re fine,,, Uncle Wayne is not going to look for me until tomorrow night, at the very last. Gareth, Jeff ?”

Both shook their heads. No one, on their side, not tonight at least. Maybe tomorrow morning when they wouldn't find them home. Turning toward the kids, he saw that they wore a similar grimace on their faces. 

“None of their parents are going to look for them until Monday, if even that.” added Steve. “ They were supposed to sleepover at my house and it’s not unusual for them to stay more than one night, so there’s no luck on that front.” 

“Fuck. What about you Harrington ?”

“No… I have the weekend off and Robin is out with her family for the weekend.” 

Who in hell is Robin?

“Double fuck.” He mumbled into his hand. “There’s nothing left but to wait I guess.”

Time passed. Dustin and Steve seemed to have an entire conversation with their eyes. Steve huffed before turning his back to them, walking away. 

“I’m going to look around for something useful.” Steve mumbled out. He was quickly followed by the three freshmen, following him like ducklings. 

“ This is so bad.” whispered Jeff. 

“It could be worse. At least, we have food.” he awkwardly laughed. 

“We’re gonna have to sleep there. And with Harrington of all people. What a fucking nightmare.” scorned Gareth.

Soon after Steve came back, arms full of blankets he found, followed by the other three carrying pillows. Apparently the Drama club had a lot of accessories stacked somewhere in the back. He threw the blankets in a pile. He was talking in a hushed tone to the kid, they looked unconvinced at best, whatever the older boys was sayings was not taken seriously by them. They sat on the floor near the blankets, all four in a circle. Deciding he really didn’t want to stay all night on a chair, he got up and flopped down into the blankets pile, startling the kids. The blankets smelled weird, not bad pursue but it definitely needed a wash. He heard a faint laugh to his left, turning his head he saw Harrington himself hiding a smile behind his hand.  

“Dramatic much?” he smirked. Oh god. He was cute, the asshole.

“If you’re asking me this, you've never seen me in your life before, and I know it's not possible because we shared classes together at some point.” he said rolling on his back. Gareth and Jeff were moving down toward them, a bit wary in the presence of an old jock like Steve Harrington. 

“Yeah I remember Mrs.Chapman's litterature class. I always liked those lessons. Not that Chapman was any good at making her books interesting, she was suck a bore but you made it bearable so there's that.” He said, smiling softly. The kids were exchanging weird looks between them not saying a things. Eddie's brain however at went completely blank, gaping like a fish out of water.

So that happened.

Henderson, thank god, turned the discussion to DnD. They opened a few bags of chips at some point when they started to get hungry. They talked, filling silence with nonsense, mostly about the campaign they just finished and about the one they did before. Apparently baby Byers was part of the three freshmen group and he was really good, they couldn't stop praising the kid.

And in that time, he once again saw something in Harrington he had not seen before. 

Harrington. Steve 'the King' 'The Hair' Harrington was worse than a fucking Mom.

“ Do not wipe your hands on your clothes, that’s disgusting. You’re not the one who's going to do the laudry later, I am.” He fussed over Henderson who had wiped his filthy hand on his shirt. 

“ Yes, Mom… ” snarkily said Henderson. He had felt himself tense. He may not know Harrington and even though he was starting to believe what the kids said about him and could see how he cared about them, he didn't know he would react to that kind of jab. 

The kid had a death wish or something ? Easiest way to anger a jock even a retired one was to put in danger their fucking masculinity. 

And he was surprised once again, when Harrington not only sighed completely exasperated and turned to him to say ‘you see what I’m dealing with?’ while the tree shithead just laughed at him. When Steve returned his attention to the kids, he leaned into Gareth. 

“Am I still high ?” he whispered. Gareth just looked at him like he was the dumbest person he had ever seen. 

[steddieficfind]

There was a fic I had been reading last year and then lost the tab before I could ever finish. I kind of remember it being long or long-ish but not if it was chaptered or not. I really think it was still a WIP at the time? But I could be wrong and it have been completed instead. I want to say it was on ao3 but it could have been tumblr (would explain losing it), but definitely not a twt thread. I can't remember the rating at all but I don't remember anything "happening" between Steddie during what parts I did get to read.

The only things I can remember in any kind of detail (bear with me here, this isn't gonna make sense until it does 😂) was that Eddie and Chrissy dated in highschool, the relationship itself wasn't necessarily GOOD for either of them but they loved each other a lot, Chrissy started dressing more like Eddie and liking his interests and they spent ALL their time together, she moved in with him and Wayne and I think Wayne didn't approve of how fast they moved or how serious they were or something, I want to say Eddie quit school to get a job to support them? Chrissy had some mental health issues throughout the relationship also, and she really wanted a baby (I think because she felt like that's what would save their relationship?) But eddie was too scared to turn out like his own dad. I think I remember something about him looking at himself in the mirror and spiraling about how he wasn't gonna be a good dad because he didnt have a good example growing up of how to be one or something. So he turned her down for a while, but she ended up ?convincing? him I think? Because he knew she wanted it so bad and to try to make her happy. They do get pregnant but maybe something happens? Chrissy ends up having an extremely depressive episode. She may have died maybe???? I cant remember what happens to her. All the stuff Eddie went through really made me feel for him, it was very sad to me.

But the POINT was lol Everything he had went through in his relationship with Chrissy effects how Eddie is with Steve, like he was really guarded or cautious? And i don't think Eddie knew he liked guys yet? Like Steve was more open to the idea than Eddie was for a while, I think.

I don't believe Steddie were together yet, or maybe had JUST barely gotten together when I lost the fic. I want to say the last scene I read was something about them being in the woods or outside walking or something (maybe the group was planning a mission?) and I think lightly flirting with each other. Or like, being pretty shy with each other during conversation or something. I could have that bit mixed up with another fic but I dont think I do.

Lately this has been REALLY itching my brain HARD to know how the boys ended up in this plot, so my whole entire kingdom for anyone who might know this even though I have practically no Steddie details at all 😂

Request 1047! Send us an ask if you recognize this fic!

[lillie98]

Using the new Casting Announcement and website, I compiled Family Trees for the Stranger Things families. Some things I noticed:

1) Bob Newby’s sister is Black. His mother is not mentioned, but his father is white. Maybe she was adopted? Why is she never brought up in the show? Was there a contentious relationship between Patty and Bob?

2) Bob Newby’s father was a Priest. They call him Father Newby. We know religion plays a huge part in this story, so I’m interested to see how this storyline plays out. Makes Joyce and Bob’s relationship that much more interesting. There’s a promo shot of a little girl seemingly trapped inside a church, placing her hand on a window. Maybe it’s Patty (Bob’s sister) or Alice Creel? Did Father Newby have something to do with the Upside Down? Did he know Brenner? What happened to him? I had no idea they were going to focus so much on this family. Makes me so angry they killed off Bob!

3) Eddie’s father’s name was Allen, but his mother is not mentioned. How did an abusive, neglectful man end up alone with his son? Did Eddie’s mother die or leave them? Was Eddie trafficked across state lines? We know Allen is incarcerated, but Eddie doesn’t elaborate on why. Did he kill his wife, leaving Eddie and him on the run until he was eventually found and charged? Is that when Wayne stepped up?We know Wayne is not fond of his brother so, whatever Allen did must have been awful.

4) Claudia Henderson and Virginia Creel are both listed with their married names, whereas Sue (Anderson) Sinclair, Karen (Childress) Wheeler, and Joyce (Maldonado) Byers are listed with their maiden names. Did the church (Father Newby) not approve of their marriages. What does it mean?!

5) Hopper is a Junior and his father was also Police Chief. Was he killed in the line of duty? We know from Hopper’s monologue in Russia that his father was verbally abusive and made Hopper feel he had to prove himself, thus he ended up in Vietnam. Is that why Hopper took over the Chief position, to continue his father’s legacy? Maybe if he became Chief, his father would be proud? Also, his wife, Diane, is not mentioned. They had Sarah together before she died. We don’t know what happened to Diane or where she went/came from. Sarah’s life and death are such crucial parts of Hopper’s life, it would make sense to include them. Unless Diane and Sarah never existed—another case of falsified memories. This is getting trippy.

6) Alice Creel is not mentioned in the cast, but I added her because she’s a part of Henry’s story. Did she not exist? Is Karen Wheeler the actual Alice Creel as some have speculated? Is that why she had her own Season 4 poster?

7) Steve’s parents are not mentioned, though I really wish they were! I want to know more about this boy and his family. Is his father really a loser? Did he abuse Steve? What do they do for a living? Tell me!!!

8) Terry Ives (Eleven’s supposed birth mother) is not mentioned. She and Becky (Terry’s sister) were always an interesting duo to me. Why not include her if she birthed one of the most important people to our story…unless she didn’t. I’ve always said Terry is not El’s mother, but I won’t get into all that right now. This only solidified my theory that El and Will were twins separated at birth, but the memories were changed. They look too much alike. If that’s true, it adds a whole new layer to the story. The real Wonder Twins.

Overall, I think these small findings will have major implications for the story, especially Bob’s family. I’m excited to finish out this incredible story and learn the truth about Hawkins!

[dadr0ckmusic]

stranger things headcanons because i said so part 2 (the kids)

max mayfield

only eats green skittles

billy has told her multiple times that she needs to improve her taste in men

tried to get will to be treasurer of the mike wheeler hate club she founded. he said no

"are you ready to fucking rage?" "max we're only going to the dollar store."

she definitely takes those 6-hour, sweaty, bed-lined naps like everyday

makes those jokes like "why'd you turn the lamp on? to look at men? cause you're gay?" to mike

avid girl in red listener. "i thought you'd swing the other way since..." "WHAT THE FUCK BILLY"

"my bisexual bf and i in our straight passing relationship"

doesn't know how to spell courious,,,,, couiours,,,,, the thing george the monkey is

has zero school spirit. i don't blame her i would hate that school too

this girl LOVES hot wings and will murder everyone if they don't order wings when they get pizza

she got drugged REALLY BAD one year on halloween in cali. like girl was in third grade watching the wallpaper melt while being lectured for staying out late

would totally beat your ass if you went thrifting and found something cooler than her

she would totally get into metal/glam rock for approval from eddie and billy. eddie def took her to metallica's fort wayne concert in '86

i know this gal has a wagon full of ice and water balloons and she skates around hawkins and fucking hurls these water balloons at people she knows

dustin henderson

likes mint chocolate chip ice cream

he tried to learn a cool bike trick when he was in 4th grade and ended up breaking his arm and the bike. he never tried it again

his collection of hats is so dear to him you have no clue

takes care of a fake plant and doesn't know it. steve made robin and eddie vow to not tell him. dustin named it kevin

if he likes you enough absolutely NOTHING will get him to change his opinion on you. you killed a man? that's sick as hell. you beat steve's ass at some point? he needed sense knocked into him. you're cool as hell no matter what.

is a literal SLUT for gummi worms

call him 'casanova' or 'hot shot' and he'll be your best friend. his self-esteem would go through the roof

confuses people with facts and logic

total animal lover. he tried to be vegetarian once and gave up after like three days but its the thought that counts

him and eddie have an elaborate handshake (kind of like his and steve's in s3) and its so out of wack sometimes but always ends perfectly

he has a little photo album he hides in his closet and lucas found it one time and STILL gives him shit for it and blackmails him. "remember what i found in your closet dustin? it'd be a shame if someone were to know about it..." "okay FINE here's $20"

he cries wayyy more often than he wants to admit

he would have a crush on any steve-aged girl that ends up in the group. and when he met suzie he told the steve-aged girl that he was sorry he was off the market

he has so much gaydar its actually baffling.

will byers

he's just.... the sweetest kid on the planet

if you're apart of the lgbtq+ community, he'd be so understanding because he's gay (obvi) and he loves you! so much!

i know this mf would've made eddie postpone hellfire to go to lucas's game and watch him make the winning shot

he gets the most bitches in the party despite being gay. i do not make the rules.

he would be on the track team in high school

brings a camera with him EVERYWHERE and documents everything and makes a photo book for each person in the group

always always always worrying about your well-being especially after any upside down madness

him and max are BEST BUDS and it terrifies the party.

he would spend HOURS on a drawing for you and the meaning will make you cry. "it took a little while... but it's worth it because you mean a lot to me :)" tears ensue. "WILL BYERS YOU MEAN THE UNIVERSE TO ME"

talks to eddie for hours upon hours about lord of the rings/the hobbit. HOURS

always rides shotgun. he totally has the widest taste in music and it actually shocks people sometimes

THE. BEST. HUGGER. let me tell you. if you've been through it and he hugs you? the goddamn waterworks. no doubt about it.

makes mixtapes for everyone in the party. mixes in some prog rock for taste to 'widen their musical knowledge'

he's ticklish. but if you tickle him he's beating you to a pulp

sometimes he's SUCH a little shit and gets away with it so often

lucas sinclair

will made him a friendship bracelet and he hasn't removed it in three years.

he has really weird dreams. like when the party all stay at someone's house they always wake him up early and ask him what he dreamed about.

he likes apple juice and is very ashamed of it

if they ever go to a waterpark, lucas is FORCING mike to get on the biggest slides with him just to see him freak out

can't look at a waffle without thinking of el

threatened to sell mike to the commies once and mike didn't speak to him for a week

when max was in lucas's arms after vecna attacked her he remembered the "do you accept the risk" conversation and he broke.

one time during d&d he missed an attack against a dragon and punched the table so hard he fractured his wrist

when he shot billy in the face with the slingshot he was actually so proud of himself that he looked to see if anyone was watching and then he remembered the situation they were in

would listen the SHIT out of frank ocean.

is the opposite of "no homo" this fucker says "full homo bro" and leans in to kiss dustin lmfaooo

just so confused 24/7

him and will are absolute menaces. like they'll be getting yelled at by steve and they make eye contact with each other and fucking lose it

eleven

lesbian el ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

she loooves watching will do anything art-related

just so curious (i know how to spell curious i was joking earlier) about everything! wants to know everything about everything and will spend hours reading library books about a subject

had will braid her hair when it was long

has girls nights with max, nancy, and robin

learned about the concept of death later than normal and she sometimes says "i'm gonna miss you when you die" to someone in the party and it freaks them out

the party taught her how to ride a bike and now she BEGS them to go on bike rides even when its snowing

collects LOADS of funky socks cause she's a funky little lesbian

love love loves writing letters!! when she lived in lenora she sent soooo many letters to everyone, even steve

after the first time max painted her nails, it became her favorite color over time

keeps candy in her pockets ALL THE TIME just in case someone needs cheering up

remembers specific times and dates like when she got to california, when she met robin officially, and when joyce told her to trust her and that she's safe

gets everyone out of trouble at school because all the teachers love her

loves perfume so much. she's always asking max which ones she likes best so she can try them

mike wheeler

him and nancy fought over who got to name holly

i just KNOW this mf uses axe body spray like deodorant and its probably the reason el breaks up with him (besides the fact he's totally in love with will)

prefers coke over pepsi

eddie always compares mike to a spider and calls him skinny and gross and lanky and it sometimes makes mike sad but eddie truly doesn't mean it

scared of ladybugs

fucker hates pickles

he cried when xxxtentacion died when he really never listened to him before he died. mike even made him his lockscreen he was that devoted to being a fake fan

an asshole towards anyone he isn't friends with. even if someone in the party really likes this person he is NOT giving in

this little fucker needs his mommy to cut the crust off his sandwiches cause he's a BABY. he needs his mommy to tuck him into bed cause he's a BABY.

i know this dude's middle name is anthony or some shit

i know s2 mike would beat the FUCK out of s4 mike

his favorite animals are frogs and lizards cause he reminds me of a lizard

[captinsteveharrington]

Beards: The Things Steve would do for Robin

Okay, so Robin is gay, clearly. She also madly in love with Nancy.

Steve is Bi, and infatuated with Eddie, right?

So, what if Robin and Steve get married. After Rob and Eddie graduate.

Eddie moves the hell out of Hawkins, he gets a job at a mechanic shop or record store. He still plays in his band. Wayne supports him and Steve’s romance. They’ve been DL dating since spring break. They’re like really in love, probably faster then it should have happened, but it just makes sense.

On the same note, Rob and Nance have been dating since Spring Break. Robin has always had a thing for Nancy bc she’s beautiful and smart and a total badass. It works. They work.

Robins parents don’t approve of her going to school outside of Hawkins but they don’t know what really goes down in Hawkins. She NEEDS to get out.

Steve offers her an out. They’re best friends, soulmates even, he says let’s get married. I date Eddie you date Nance. We work at shit jobs and you go to school. No one has to know the truth and we can all be safe.

The four of them are truly happy. They see the kids every other weekend up until the kids graduate, Rob and Steve have a court house wedding with Eddie and Nance as witnesses. They get a little apartment and they move in together, eventually the kids move around the country and they finally leave Indianan.

I just love the idea of Robin and Steve Harrington, doing gay shit and having the world convinced they’re a traditional couple but at night they go home to their very queer partners and share this incredible monster-leas life together. Maybe they have a kid together (turkey baster style)? Dustin and Mike are the best uncles ever and eventually when American drinks it’s smart bitch juice Steve and Rob get divorced and Nance and Rob get married, Steve and Eddie get married. Nance takes Buckley-Harrington and Steve takes Munson, becoming Mr Steve Harrington-Munson and they raise their baby as a quad and they grow old like that.

Steve is, Dad

Eddie is, Pops

Nancy is, Ma

Robin is, Mama

They deserve this!

[peppersonironi]

Batfam/Avengers Crossover Chapter One: Arrival

Yo, this has been on Ao3 for a while and people seem to really love it, So I thought I’d post it here! Chapter below the cut.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Category: Gen Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types Relationships: Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne, Natasha Romanov & Damian Wayne, Clint Barton & Cassandra Cain, Tim Drake & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tim Drake & Duke Thomas, Pamela Isley/Harleen Quinzel, Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Dick Grayson/Wally West, Roy Harper/Koriand'r/Jason Todd, Characters: Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Barbara Gordon, Justice League (DCU), Alfred Pennyworth, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Clint Barton, Thor (Marvel), Bruce Banner, Peter Parker, Alfred the Cat (DCU), Bat-Cow (DCU), Goliath (DCU), Selina Kyle's Cat Isis, Kate Kane (DCU), Duke Thomas, Additional Tags: Batbrothers (DCU), Avengers Meet The Batfam, MCU/Batfam crossover, Crossover, no beta we die like robins, rated T for Jason's language, I bleeped it out though. Just to be safe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, canon? What's canon?, Deaf Clint Barton,Deaf Character, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Happy Batfamily (DCU), Birdflash and joyfire are implied/referenced,

Summary:

The Avengers find themselves in an alternate universe where none of them exist. Instead, there is a different group of heroes: The Justice League. They decide to work together to get the Avengers home. But not not everything is instantaneous, so the Avengers need a place to stay. The only place available is Wayne Manor.

Que Batfamily shenanigans!

Multi-chapter fanfic, with some one shots that go along with the plot thrown in.

Notes:

This is my first time writing anything with the Avengers - especially a deaf!clint - and the Batfam, so I apologize if anything is doc. Constructive criticism is appreciated!

This is mainly comic DCU with Movie Avengers (Set after the first avengers movie, plus Spiderman, cause I can ;-)

Crack! Bang! There was a flash of blindingly bright light, followed by a huge explosion.

"Wha- where are we?"

Tony Stark looked over to Peter who had been the first to speak. Crap, the kid had come here too. But wherever here was, he did not know.

Tony, Steve, Hulk, Thor, Clint, Peter, and Natasha stood in a loose clump at the center of a smoking crater. The sky was cloudy  and dark, and they appeared to be at least five miles outside of a big city, judging from the buildings in the distance. There was also a highway filled with streaming cars a couple of miles to Tony’s right.

“This isn’t right,” He muttered, opening his faceplate. Where were the sunny tropical trees that housed the compound of Anagnorisis - weird name, he knew - who was some D-list villain who thought some slightly advanced tech made them a world-conqueror. But Tony was beginning to think that those guns were a bit stranger and more advanced than he had previously believed.

“Tell me about it,” replied Steve. “Any idea where we are? Was it some sort of teleportation gun that was shot at us? This looks nothing like the Amazon.”

Before anyone could speak, Tony received a notification. Multiple incoming objects were approaching, fast . With the exception of the second fastest, they seemed to be airborne. “Multiple incomings, perhaps hostile. Most are flying. And they aren’t missiles. I think people ? But -”

“Who are you?”

Suddenly the first object arrived, and Stark was right. It was a black haired man in a blue skin tight suit with a red “S” on it and a flowing red cape. It would look ridiculous if he wasn’t glaring daggers at the group while flying .

He was joined almost immediately by another man, this time wearing an all red bodysuit with a lightning bolt on the chest and cowl. He was not flying though. He stopped in front of them swinging his arms as lightning dissipated. He had run there.

Next came a woman dressed in the colors of the american flag, with golden cuffs, tiara, and lasso by her side. She came with a man in a green, white, and black skin tight suit with some sort of symbol - perhaps a lantern? - on his chest. He also wore a green ring and black domino mask with white lenses on his face. They were both joined by another, a split second later. This was by far the strangest arrival. He was completely bald, with green skin and red eyes. He wore navy blue pants and cape, with only a red “X” over his chest. All three were floating.

“Who are you?” The blue and red man repeated.

Tony scoffed. Was this guy serious? “We’re the Avengers, obviously.”

The group shared a look. “Is that some new kind of villain group? I swear to all that is good and holy if I need to deal with another group who think they can rule the world, I. Will. Quit.” This time the man who spoke was the runner.

Steve replied, confusion clear on his face. “We’re not villains! We’re the Avengers; Earth’s mightiest heroes!”

Instead of coming to their senses, the strangely dressed newcomers laughed .

“You do realize you are speaking to members of the Justice League?” The woman spoke, her lips pursed.

“The who now?”

“Be quiet Kid, we don’t know what we’re dealing with.” Tony spoke to Peter. He was getting more worried by the second. Something was seriously wrong.

“Dealing with?” The green dressed man frowned, clearly suspicious of the Avengers. He started to fidget with his ring. “Well, since you don’t seem to know, let me enlighten you.” He gestured to each of his companions. “Superman, son of Krypton. Wonder Woman, Amazonian Princess. The Flash, fastest man alive. Martian Manhunter, well, a martian. And Me, Green Lantern. Member of the Green Lantern Core.”

Well, that explained everything. Not.

“We do not know you, strangers.” Thor spoke this time. “Perhaps you leave us be, our green friend over here gets frustrated easily.” He pointed to Hulk, who was breathing heavily.

The green man - martian, apparently - spoke for the first time. “Not until you tell us who you are and why you are in a smoking crater near His city.”

“His?” Clint clearly did not like the way the martian spoke of this character. To be honest, Stark didn’t either.

This got the most surprised reactions from the five. They looked at each other, and Tony could have sworn there was a hint of fear in their faces.

“Oh, He is so not going to like that.” Green Lantern said.

“Combined with the fact that we ditched Him.” The Flash cringed. Then looked worried again. “Yo, green grape, you okay.

The Hulk’s breathing was growing heavier, his face contorted into that of utter rage.

“Uh-oh,” Steve said.

“I . . . Not . . . GRAPE!” Hulk roared as he charged the The Flash who nimbly dodged. Superman went down to intercede, and just got punched by the Hulk. Though it did not seem to physically bother him, he was clearly angry.

Tony shut his face plate and moved forward, intending to stop the fight, but he only got attacked by the martian. Peter jumped forward to help, and soon everyone was fighting.

Thor was pitted against the Wonder Woman, and they seemed evenly matched.  Black Widow was against The flash, and despite his incredible speed she seemed to be almost winning. Both Hawkeye and Captain America were battling Green Lantern.

No one seemed to have the upper hand, which worried Tony. These people were tough. If they couldn’t beat them . . . he didn’t know what would happen.

Peter didn’t seem to share his worry though. He instead seemed to be having fun. Tony could tell the kid was smiling beneath his mask, and his body language screamed hyper and happy. He seemed to get that way whenever they fought together, and a small part of Tony was filled with a sense of parental pride.

The fight seemed endless, no one gaining traction. Until something incredible happened. Thor threw Mjolnir directly at his opponent, and instead of being knocked down like everyone else, she caught the hammer. Every Avenger - even the Hulk - immediately froze, catching the attention of the newcomers.

“This is a very well crafted weapon, though a bit clunky,” Wonder Woman said as she tossed the hammer from one hand to the other. She paused, seeing their reactions.

“You are worthy.” Thor spoke with disbelief and a tint of resignation in his voice.

“Pardon?” Superman spoke, his frown apparent.

“Only those worthy can lift Mjolnir - my hammer. She clearly can, which means that you are trustworthy.”

*****

Five minutes of somewhat confused conversation later, they had reached an uneasy truce. Neither spoke much at first, but they soon began to compare notes. Apparently They both believed themselves to be the protectors of Earth, which brought on a bout of argument before Peter stepped in.

“Woah hold on, calm down. Something is clearly up, so there’s no need to argue!”

Wonder Woman looked contemplative. “How old are you boy, you seem young.”

Peter bristled. “I’m 15, and I’ve been a superhero for a while now, so I’m not inexperienced!”

Green Lantern laughed. “That’s not what she met, kid. We aren’t going to tell you how old you need to be to fight crime. The amount of we work with, and some even younger than you . . .” He shook his head and laughed. Then he realised how he had sounded. “I mean, we don’t force them, it's up to each individual to make that choice for themselves. Well, with the mentor’s approval of course.”

Natasha furrowed her brows. “How young are some of these kids?” Tony knew she had a thing against child soldiers, so he wasn’t surprised she was disapproving.

Green Lantern looks to the Flash. “How old is Robin at this point? 9?”

Flash laughed. “Naw, that little devil is 11. He was very adamant on that fact when he threatened me with his katana.” He shook his head.

Green Lantern laughed. “Yeah, most of the others are teenagers. Robin is the youngest, and I’d say most deadly, but Red Hood . . .”

“The Dark Knight really does have a problem,” Flash said.

His last comment made Green Lantern freeze. They both looked at each other then turned to Peter.

“Kid, stay away from The Dark Knight.” Green Lantern says.

“Yeah, if He sees you, there’s no way you’ll ever leave.”

“He’s the most dangerous man on earth,” Green Lantern adds.

“Guys, stop. You’re scaring him.” Superman looks disappointedly at the two heroes who Tony pegged as the trouble makers of the group. This idea was further cemented in Tony when they started laughing. Despite this, he decided to keep Peter as far away from this supposed Dark Knight as possible.

“Speak of the devil, he’s on his way.” Superman says this with a smile, then he cringes. “And we’re going to get an earful alright. Ten minutes ahead of him is a big deal apparently.”

In a moment. Tony got an alert that something was approaching. Fast. Soon he saw a large black military type armoured car fly down the highway from the city and off the road. It zoomed toward them.

It was a sight indeed to see the menacing black car swerve and expertly stop a few yards from the group. The top opened and a dark form shot straight up before landing in a kneeling position in front of them. The figure rose, and Tony got the first good look at him. He was a tall man with a broad chest and shoulders, dresses in complete black. There was a bat-like symbol on his chest, also in black. He wore a cape that flowed around menacingly. His face was covered by a cowl with pointed ears, like that of an owl, or perhaps a bat. The only part of his costume that was not black was the dark gold utility belt at his waist. Altogether, he was utterly frightening.

Tony took a step forward, effectively blocking Peter, who scoffed.

“Batman,” Superman said, a smile on his face.

Batman fixed the most impressive and terrifying glare upon the man that Stark had ever seen. “You broke protocol by going ahead of me. You are in my territory Superman. And you know that I cannot fly or run at the speed of sound.” He fixed his glare on the rest of his group who all reacted with either flinches or sheepish shrugs.

Batman grunted before looking at the Avengers. He sized each of them up, staying longest on Stark. Tony felt as if his entire being was being stripped away under the scrutiny.

“Alternate Dimension jumpers, not by choice I’m assuming.”

He spoke so simply that it took a minute for Tony to react. Even then, the man was already on his way back to his car.

“We’re near Gotham, let’s regroup at the Cave.”

Tony didn’t know what this Cave was, but he wasn’t sure he liked it. “Are you the Dark Knight?” He asked, before he lost his nerve.

The man looked immediately at the Flash and Green Lantern, who looked both scared and amused. Their sheepish smirks and chuckles dissipated when Batman looked away and back to Tony.

“The Dark Knight, The World’s Greatest Detective, The Caped Crusader, The Batman. All are titles I have earned. See you at the cave.”

And with that he hopped in his car and sped off back toward the gloomy city beyond.

[confrontingbabble-on]

Imagine...

Following a public shooting...a private health professional, with primitive hateful bigotries* revives an unconscious member of the public...to quiz them on their sexual orientation...and then walks away as they bleed to death...

A security guard, with primitive hateful bigotries*...leaves the scene of a rape in progress...because he knows the victim is gay...

A bank officer, with primitive hateful bigotries*...refuses to allow a client to access their savings account...as soon as he learns of their contrary but lawful lifestyle...

A private fire fighter walks away from a house on fire...because he sees a poster on the wall...expressing love for another adult...that he claims contravenes his primitive hateful bigotries*...despite others in his group claiming that those primitive hateful bigotries* are no longer in effect...  

Conversely, imagine society with no government endorsed primitive hateful bigotries*...  John Lennon (amplified...)

“For the last four years, Bailey Brazzel has gone to Carter Tax Service in Russiaville to have her taxes done by Nancy Fivecoate, who runs the business.

That changed this year when Brazzel showed up with her wife, Samantha, on Tuesday. The two were married in Peru in July and were filing their taxes jointly for the first time.

When Fivecoate realized they were a gay married couple, she refused to do their taxes – civilly and matter-of-factly – citing her religious beliefs, and recommended another tax service business which would work with them.

“At first we thought she was kidding,” Brazzel said. “But when she started talking about the Bible, we knew she was serious – and I was completely shocked.”

Brazzel, who works at the FCA plant in Tipton, said she’s been openly gay for years and never felt discriminated against because of her sexual orientation. That held true after she married Samantha last year.

But that all changed on Tuesday.

“You hear about it all the time, but nothing like this has happened to us before,” Brazzel said. “She had done my taxes with no issues before, but now that we were married and she didn’t agree with my life choices, she wouldn’t.”

So the couple left, in shock.

“We were pretty upset,” Brazzel said. “My wife was trying to console me and I was crying.”

But for Fivecoate, she said she was simply sticking to her religious convictions.

“This year, [Brazzel] came with her wife and I declined to prepare the taxes because of my religious beliefs,” Fivecoate said in a released statement. “I am a Christian and I believe marriage is between one man and one woman. I was very respectful to them. I told them where I thought she might be able to get her taxes prepared.”

Fivecoate said she has other gay clients, and has no issues preparing their taxes. She said it becomes an issue when the couple is married.

“A few years ago, I had a couple of gay clients that married,” she said. “When it was time to prepare their taxes they called me and asked if I had a problem since they were married. I told them that as a Christian that I could not prepare their taxes. I thanked them for calling and wished them well.”

But for Brazzel’s father, William, who was with the couple on Tuesday during the incident, the decision boiled down to just one thing: discrimination.

“I told Nancy, ‘That’s flat out discrimination,’” he said. “I just think it’s wrong. I told her we all wake up and put on our pants the same way.”

In Kokomo, what Fivecoate did would have been considered discrimination and could have come with a fine up to $2,000. The city in 2016 approved legislation protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens through the city’s human rights municipal code.

But denying a gay couple service is perfectly legal in parts of Indiana that haven’t passed ordinances specifically protecting people who are LGBT. That includes Russiaville and Howard County.

Indiana law makes it illegal to deny services to people based on their race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, sex, familial status (having children under 18) and disability – but not sexual orientation.

Steve Sanders, an associate professor of law at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law, said the state’s lack of LGBT protections has led to a glaring incongruity.

Since 2015, gay couples have been able to legally marry anywhere in the country following a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. But it’s still legal to deny those couples services because of their sexual orientation in Indiana – and more than half of other states.

Sanders called it an “odd anomaly” that leaves gay couples, who feel discriminated against, powerless to do anything to defend themselves.

“The only recourse is good-old fashioned shaming – going on Facebook and telling their friends this is a discriminatory business and people might want to think twice about visiting,” he said.

Most major metropolitan areas in Indiana have approved legislation protecting residents based on their sexual orientation, including Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Bloomington and South Bend.

But in most rural areas of the state, along with smaller cities and towns, those protections don’t exist.

For Brazzel, being denied service anywhere in Indiana because she’s married to a woman just doesn’t make sense.

“For me, it’s one thing to have an opinion,” she said. “I don’t need you to agree with me, but you should be respectful of other people’s decisions. What do taxes have to do with my marriage?”

For her father, William, denying gay couples services seems like a slippery slope that could put his daughter and daughter-in-law in danger.

“What’s next? Are they going to be discriminated against when they go to the grocery store and want to buy food? Where’s it going to stop?” he said...”

http://www.kokomotribune.com/news/tax-business-denies-service-to-local-gay-couple-citing-religion/article_eaa6c228-3153-11e9-96ca-039ea787a33c.html

* religion...!

[ellana-ravenwood]

The New Trinity - Damian Wayne x Reader (xplatonic!Jon Kent)

Well, here it is. Damian is a bit older than he is currently in the comics (seventeen instead of fourteen) by the way. Hope you’ll like it :-) : 

You can find my masterlist here : @ella-ravenwood-archives

__________________________________________________

The New Trinity.

That’s how everyone started to call you guys.

“You guys”. Damian, Jon and you. The Bat’s son, The Superman’s son and...You, the mighty Wonder Woman’s daughter. 

The New Trinity. 

It made sense really, because of who your parents were. The actual Trinity. Three of the mightiest hero in the World, forming the perfect team. And you were their children. Three. 

The New Trinity. 

That’s how everyone started to call you guys, as your friendship grew.

And it royally pissed you off.

Ever since you were born, everyone (and by everyone you meant your mom’s friends of course, the others...the others couldn’t know) always constantly compared you to your mother. All. The freaking. TIME !

And sure, you loved her to death, and she was the coolest and most badass woman you ever met...but you were you.

Your own being.

You weren’t all like her. Sure, you had her eyes, and sometimes, her mannerisms. And her powers. But your personality wasn’t the same (except for the part of you that was stubborn and that had to help those in need).

Besides, it annoyed you that everyone always compared you to the great “Wonder Woman” and never to your father, who was a goddamn war hero !

Of course...you never met him.

None of them ever met him.

Steve Trevor was dead long ago.

************

Before he died, almost a hundred years ago now, your mother and your father had plenty of times to get to know each other, to become best friends, to learn about each other’s culture...To fall helplessly in love.

One night of passion. Of pure bliss and love.

It’s all it took for you to exist. One night of passion, finally, after a long time playing a game of cat and mouth together...And it had to be the day before your father’s death.

Before he sacrificed himself to save many. Before your mother lost him forever...

And here you were.

But your mom’s pain wasn’t ending there.

You were born with a heart defect, and the technology of the time in the Human World couldn’t save you. The amazons couldn’t do much either...

You were dying, and that would have been the end but...Your grandmother couldn’t bear to see her precious daughter in such pain, and as Diana, panicked, arrived with you back to her homeland desperate for help...Your grandma did something she wasn’t suppose to do.

She used ancient Greek powers that the gods left behind after they disappeared, allowing her to freeze you in time, to stop you from growing a second older, hoping that one day, someone could fix your disease...Hoping that someday, she could unfreeze you and someone would be able to save you. 

How ironic, really, that you were born with this particular part of your body being deficient. Right after your father’s death...almost as if to symbolize your mom’s pain ! A literal broken heart...

It took long agonizing years for the technology in the Men’s World to finally be able to save you. And so your mother brought you with her, a little baby, a little bundle that knew already too much what pain was...Bruce Wayne is the one that paid for the very expensive surgery, and you were safe. 

You were finally able to live your life. Your mother decided that it would be more fit for you to grow up in your father’s world, and though it was totally different from when he was still alive...Diana could finally see an exit to all her pain. 

Especially since she had just made new friends. Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne. And they were building a team together, to protect the World...Diana Prince was done hiding. Diana Prince was done trying to forget. 

It was over. Just like you, she wasn’t frozen in time anymore, she needed to move on. And so a new life began for her, and your life finally started, years after your actual birth. 

************

Your mom told you all about your father, and though you never met him and never would, you greatly admired him. For so many reasons...and it actually really bothered you that no one ever compared you to him. 

You were brave, you were courageous...And sure your mom was too, but your dad was even more ! He sacrificed himself !! An he...

-What are you brooding about (Y/N) ? 

You were in the Justice League Watchtower, sitting on a couch in one of the common room, thinking about how it was unfair that everyone always forgot about your dad, when Jon sat in front of you and Damian next to you and took your mind off of it all. 

You smile at Jon (not noticing how Damian’s eyebrows furrow). That boy’s always been great to take your mind off of things, with his good nature and jokes. And Damian...Well, Damian...He was Damian. Jon was two years younger than you (technically, you were almost 90 years older than him but, since you only grew old afterward...you were his age). Damian was your age (a few months older...well, if we ignored the actual year you were born in). 

-I was just thinking about what Flash said earlier. 

You answer. Damian sightly smirks but says nothing, as Jon smiles at you some more and, putting his hand under his chin, takes a thoughtful expression and says : 

-Which things ? Because like, Flash talks a lot. Both Flashes talks a lot. Was it Uncle Barry or Cousin Wally ? 

You smile slightly at the “uncle” and “cousin” thing, realizing that...yes, all those people are your family. Truly. 

-Uncle Barry. And about how we are the...new “Trinity”. 

Jon’s smile widens even more, and you instantly knows he doesn’t feel like you on that matter. You turn your gaze a bit away from him (and he doesn’t even realize it), and your eyes cross Damian’s. Oh. Him. Him he understands. He always does and...Jon’s voice, once more, takes you away from your daydreaming : 

-I know right ? It’s great ! We’ve entered the great hero pantheon ! 

You can’t help but chuckle at your best friend’s words, and how cute it is that he’s trying to put some greek words in there (you taught him what “pantheon” was a few weeks ago). 

Not wanting to ruin his good mood, you decide to not talk about how annoyed you are at this name. The New Trinity. You wanted to be the new...your own thing. Damian, Jon and (Y/N). Your own selves ! But something was telling you that Jon wouldn’t understand. 

Sure, he was your best friend, but he couldn’t...He was so proud to be like his father. Maybe because everyone was telling him that he was very much like his mother mentally ? Like he took more after her than him ? So he was happy to feel connected to him in that way ? 

Yes. That’s something you could understand. And so, instead of saying what you really think, and though you hate to lie to him, you say : 

-Yeah, it’s pretty cool right ? 

Jon nods and his attention is suddenly caught by a sound neither you nor Damian can hear. He stands up and after a “be right back”, leaves the two of you for some unknown location. 

Damian grumbles something and shakes his head, which makes you smile. 

-I knew I wasn’t the only broody one. 

You say, a mischievous look on your face. You know it’s going to annoy him. A bit like you, he dislikes being constantly compared to his father (even more to his mother, for obvious reasons), and just the word “broody” is sensitive with him, as it’s the word everyone uses to qualify his dad’s daily mood. 

But your smile...The way your eyes squeezes because of it, and your nose wrinkles...He can’t help but smile back at you. 

You’ve always had that effect on him. 

You guys met years ago, before you even met Jon. 

Ever since you were a child, you spend a lot of time at the Wayne household as it seems like your mother and Damian’s father just really got along, and needed each others often for emotional support. There wasn’t any ambiguity between them, they really were just friends, very closed ones. 

You spend a lot of time there, bonding with Dick, Jason and Tim...The day Damian arrived, you remembered as if it was yesterday, even though it was over seven years ago. 

You could have hated him, because he really was a disrespectful brat at the time...And yet, yet you never did. 

He was awful to you at first, but unlike everyone around him, instead of getting mad and such...you talked back, you stood your ground, or sometimes, downright ignored him. 

You never hated him though, no matter how harsh he was with you. And just like that...You were the first one that ever broke his shell. The first one to ever see the true Damian, the insecure and full of self-doubts little boy who just really wanted his father’s approval. 

This is probably what attracted him to you irrevocably. What made him want to be with you all the time. Of course, at the time, you two were merely children, and there were no romance there, only a very strong friendship. But as the years passed...his feelings changed. He’d never admit it though, as he was pretty sure you had a crush on Jon, not him. And oh, how wrong he was. 

But that wasn’t the story right now. Nop’. Right now wasn’t about how he felt about you, or rather, wether he liked you that way or not..But about what bothered you in that instant. 

He could see you weren’t happy. He hated to see you like that...And so, casually, as if he was just starting yet another conversation, he smiles slightly at your remark on him being broody (knowing perfectly that you were trying to annoy him so you guys wouldn’t talk about yourself) and say :

-I know what you’re doing. 

You give him a half-smile and plunge your (E/C) eyes into his green ones. 

His heart skips a beat..

-Oh yeah ? And what am I doing then, Robin ? 

He’s overly aware of how close you are from him right now, as you leaned towards him, your lips so. Damn. Close. His heart skips another beat, and to his own amazement, when he speaks again, his voice doesn’t even falters or shakes : 

-You’re trying to make fun of me, to annoy me, so that we don’t talk about why you’re bothered that everyone calls us the “new Trinity”. You know, I’m not ten anymore, those old tricks don’t work. 

Your smile disappear and he feels his heart tightens this time. He hates thinking it’d be his fault if you...But your smile is back in an instant, as you regain countenance over yourself. You look at him intently and say, suddenly looking away : 

-You know why it bothers me. 

For a second, you’re afraid he’ll make you say it out loud. 

He’ve already done it before, forcing you to open up to him, knowing it’ll make you feel better. But this time...This time you really don’t wanna talk about it. Because it’ll make you talk about your father and you can never talk about him without wanting to cry... 

Damian tries to decipher the expression of your face, and...He thinks he understands. And he truly does. 

-Yes. I do know why it bothers you. 

You’re wrong, to worry about him forcing you to talk today. He understands that it’s not the time. And so, instead, with gentle movements, he takes your hand in his and squeezes it slightly. 

You’re startled by his sudden touch, but don’t pull away. You smile weakly at him and...yes. Yes he understands why you’re bothered about being called “the New Trinity”. 

He lets you put your head on his shoulder, and you stay like that for a moment. It’s comfortable. It’s nice. It’s what friendship looks like, two people always being there for each others. But it’s also...Something more ? 

From the corner of the room, Jon, who came back after checking something out, looks at you, an enigmatic smile on his face. 

He knew it. He knew that that damn stubborn Damian felt something for you too ! Or he would have never let him touch you like that. It was common knowledge he wasn’t such a fan of public display of affection like that, and yet, in front of all the heroes present in the common room...He let you put your head on his shoulder. 

************

It was oh so frustrating, to know that your best friends were in love with each others, but that they were both too proud and stubborn to ever say it out loud.

It was oh so frustrating, to see your best friends get jealous whenever the other one would talk to a girl/boy, or even go on dates, and yet doing nothing. 

It was oh so frustrating, and heart breaking, to see your best friends sad and getting sick over the other one dating someone else, but still not admitting their feelings...

Jon have had enough. 

Enough of seeing you and Damian turning around each other without ever doing anything. Enough of seeing your almost kisses and soft touches in the midst of battles. Enough of seeing you hurt to see the other ones with others. Enough of seeing you two fight for no reasons, trying to avoid talking about your feelings for each others ! 

Jon had to do something. But what ? 

************

Making them go on a date without their knowledge worked brilliantly. 

It also was an easy plan to make really. He just had to tell you guys to meet him at Gotham county Fair and not show up. At the last minute, he said he couldn’t come, and you and Damian spend the day together at the fair. 

Jon, a bit creepily, stalked you guys. 

He almost screamed out in frustration when, in the haunted mansion, a monster startled you and you jumped in Damian’s arms, your face so close to his, your lips getting closer and...the monster coming back to scare you ruining the moment. 

When he passed after you and Damian (as he followed you guys discreetly), he tripped over the actor in the monster suit. He felt a bit bad about it, but damn, almost kiss again ! 

You two were so made for each other, he knew it. After all, he was your best friend ! He could see all the looks you gave each others, all the laughs and smiles you shared. 

Only you could make him laugh so hard. 

Only him could make you smile so sweetly.  

And looking at you, going around the fun fair like that, he was just more and more sure that you were made for each other. 

You took silly pictures in the Photo Booth, you went on the ferris wheel, making the wagon you were in rock dangerously, laughing your ass off (you got banned from the ferris wheel after that..), you went to the haunted mansion and went out fingers tangled...only to realize you were holding each others hands and awkwardly apologizing and letting go (grrrroooooaaaaah !!! Jon screamed in his head). He won a teddy bear at darts for you, you won a stuffed animal (a dog of course) for him. You joked around. You talked, about anything and everything, about nothing too. 

It almost seemed like you were both just regular teenagers dating. Even though you were far from normal teenagers...That’s why Jon knew you guys were made for each other. 

You made the other one feel normal. Feel like the World wasn’t too fucked up...

************

Jon jinxed himself. He knew it. By thinking that making you guys go on an unknown-date things were going to move forward, he was oh so wrong. 

Things didn’t move at all. Not one bit. 

You guys acted like the great day you had spend together was just another friendship thing. Like you didn’t almost kiss a few times. Like, when the man to whom Damian bought a candy apple for you said : “Oh gentleman, buying things for his girlfriend ! Youngsters this days don’t do that anymore...” neither you nor Damian corrected him and said that you weren’t his girlfriend...never happened. 

It has been like that for YEARS !! Bot h of you acting as if you were “just very good friends”. 

No. 

You were more than that. 

You were good friends with Jon. You’d hug Jon, but never put your head on his shoulder. Damian would always have a good time with Jon, but he’d never laugh so full heartedly with him than he did with you. You’d smile at Jon, but you’d never give him that sweet little tender smile. Jon would tease you sometimes, but instead of blushing like you did with Damian, you’d laugh and talk back. And whenever you’d do that, Damian would literally smell like “jealousy”...

You were friends with Jon. Best friends. You’d die for him, and he would for the both of you. A strong bond linked you all, the fact that people called you the “new Trinity” wasn’t just because you were similar to your parents and such. It was also because of how strong your friendship was, how you always were there for each other etc etc...But the link that was between you and Damian was different. 

Jon noticed it from day one. The first time he met you two, you were twelve and him ten. His father had kept him away from any superhero stuffs for a while but, after realizing that his son was also a super, he just brought him in too...and that’s when he met you two. 

Already there, Jon noticed how different Damian would be around you. How softer his voice would be when talking to you. How guilty he felt whenever he was acting like a douche towards you. And you...You would be less sassy with him than with other people. 

Already there, Jon noticed that there was something special between the two of you. And he just knew he was right !! 

But his little trick, making you guys going on a “date”, made him realize something...you two were two damn stubborn to ever admit your true feelings to each other ! He had to take another offensive.

************

It was a disaster. 

For the past three months, Jon very obviously stated multiple times that you liked each other, and instead of denying it, both of you would just plainly ignore him ! Treat him like a child ! He hated that ! 

He went to sleep over at Wayne Manor once, to see how Gotham’s street were...He downright told Damian that you liked him, and Damian just turned towards him, stunned, said :

-Don’t be silly Jon, she can’t like me. 

And continued his damn patrol !! Hell even Damian’s father was surprised when only Jon was there, and not you ! So used to always see you guys together more than with anyone else ! 

When Jon told the Batman that he was sure that you and Damian liked each other, Bruce slightly smiled and said : 

-Of course they do. Don’t fret Jon, they’ll realize it one day...

Jon stopped himself from saying something about how it took years to Bruce to “realize” that he was really in love with Selina Kyle and wanted to marry her...Wasted years ! 

He couldn’t let his friends waste that much time when it was obvious you were so into each others...

When he told you Damian liked you, you had the same reaction than him, that’s how much alike you were ! How PERFECT you’d be together !! 

And when he asked both of you why you thought the other one couldn’t like you, you said the same thing again : 

-Because you idiot, he/she’s too good for me ! 

...Jon didn’t understand. He just couldn’t. 

************

You always thought that Damian was the smartest and bravest man you’ve ever met. 

He always thought you were the smartest and bravest woman he ever met. 

It was always like that, and it drove Jon crazy. You both loved (he was now sure it was not just a teenage infatuation) each other for the same reason, and yet were blind to see that the other one did too ! It baffled him, how smart and yet so daft you both could be. 

Jon tried everything he could. He tried to set you up on other “dates”, it ended up every time the same way. Just...”we’re friends”. 

He tried to tell you outright, you wouldn’t believe him. He tried to confront you with it with both of you in the same room, but you’d just turn everything into ridicule and mock him. Act as if he was going crazy. Jon knew this was some sort of...self-defence mechanism you both had...And yet. 

Jon tried everything. And he was tired. He decided to give up...at least for now. 

************

-I understand my little one. 

You sigh in relief, as your mother ruffle your hair lovingly, as she used to do when you were a child. 

You had just told her everything, about how bothered you were by this “new Trinity” thing, and about how you wished people would recognize your father more. You were afraid to hurt her feelings...Bringing your father up was never really a good idea. And telling your mother that you were tired to be compared to her ? Maybe it wasn’t the most delicate thing to do but you couldn’t lie anymore...

You smile weakly at her, and she shakes her head. She grabs your face between her hands and say : 

-(Y/N), my dearest one, please, don’t ever feel like you can’t tell me something alright ? I couldn’t always talk to my mother when I was young and...I just want you to know that I’ll always be there for you, not matter how...delicate a topic is. Ok ? 

You nod shyly, which was stupid, because this was your mom ! Why were you shy with her ? A soothing kiss from her on your forehead makes you forget all your worry and, just like when you were a child, you close your eyes and dive into her arms as she opens them for you. 

Her hugs were always the best. She holds you tight against her heart, and starts to sing one of those Greek lullaby you like so much...and oh you decide it’s magic, because just like that, she makes you blurt out : 

-I really like Damian and I have no idea how to deal with those feelings !

You can’t see her face, but you know your mom is smiling slightly above you. 

************

-You don’t know what to do with those feelings uh ? Have you ever told her ? 

-God no ! What if she doesn’t like me back ? 

-What if she does ?

It’s very rare, that Damian would speak so openly with his father. He wanted to talk to Dick, but his brother wasn’t around that day and...The way his dad asked him what was the matter just made him want to talk to him. 

And for one of those rare time, he did. He told his dad everything about how he felt and such. He told him his doubts, how his heart beat so much around you etc etc. 

-I don’t know father, I don’t know. 

Bruce can’t help but smile sweetly at his son. It makes his heart swell, to talk about such trivial matters with him. As if they were a normal father and son, and not just...Them. 

-Damian, my boy...What’s the worst that could happen ? 

He could loose you. That’s what the worst that could happen. He could loose you and your friendship forever. By not telling he loved you, he ensured the fact that you’d always be friend, that him telling you how he felt and you not reciprocating wouldn’t make things awkward ! By acting as if you were just friends, he would make sure you’d always be around...And even if one day, you fall in love with someone else, at least he’ll still have your friendship ! 

-Damian, you guys have been friends since forever. Let’s imagine she doesn’t feel the same way for you...It will indeed be weird for a while, but in time, things will get back to normal. It won’t...It won’t change your friendship. 

Something in his dad’s voice makes Damian flinch : 

-Are you...are you talking by experience? 

Bruce nods. 

-Way before your birth. I thought I loved Diana. Hell, I probably really did love her, though now the feelings I have for Selina makes me realize that maybe it wasn’t love with a big “L”. What I mean by that is...I told her. And you know what ? She didn’t feel the same. Her heart was still not over Steve Trevor. And she rejected me...Are we not friends anymore ? 

-...No. 

-So, Damian, my boy, tell me, knowing that this won’t destroy your friendship...If you tell her how you really feel, what’s the worst that could happen ? 

************

Loosing you. 

That’s the worst that could happen. 

Loosing you for good. 

“The New Trinity” was called for what was suppose to be an easy mission...that quickly turned into a disaster. 

Jon, you and Damian were fighting for your lives, waiting for the cavalry to arrive...

A trap. It was a trap. 

Apokolips’ troops were waiting for you. A large amount of them. Too many to be able to fight them all, even if you were “the new Trinity”. 

You were back to back, making sure you’d all protect each others’ blind side. 

Back to back. 

Protecting each others, being there for each others, as you always were. 

But that day, Bruce’s words were floating around in Damian’s head, and the advise your mom gave you were also in yours. And you weren’t focused enough for that, you weren’t ready enough ! 

This was just suppose to be a reckon mission ! 

Jon sees it. But he can’t do anything about it. 

He also sees the spear lunging towards Damian...but even though he’s fast and strong, he’s busy with his own ennemies and know he won’t be there in time to save his friend ! 

But you’re there...In the way...The spear hits you right in the heart. 

At the same time, your parents arrive, as well as the rest of the League. 

It takes a few minutes for them to annihilate Apokolips’ troop. Your mother doesn’t see you, in Damian’s arms, a spear in your heart...

Damian feels himself crying. His vision is blurry with tears, and as he looks up to Jon, he says : 

-She’ll pull through right ? Right Jon ? Tell me she’ll pull through ! 

But Jon can’t say it. He can’t say anything. A lump is stuck in this throat. He falls down on his knees, and takes his head in his hands, not able to stop himself from sobbing...He just witnessed his best friend dying, and he wasn’t able to do anything about it ! Jon took your hand and...did you just squeeze it back ? 

Damian could feel his heart slowly tearing apart, as he held your lifeless body in his arms...And all of the sudden, the words blurt out : 

-No. No. No come back please, come back (Y/N). I can’t live without you. You’re my best friend. You’re my...You’re my everything. Please come back...Come back. I’ve got so much to tell you...Please...Come back. Come back. I love you (Y/N), I love you so much...I lied, I dont’ think you’re just my friend, you’re more than that to me...You’re...you’re my everything...please...

The raging battle around you all comes to an end. 

Damian, face riddled with tears, looks up and is faced with your mother...

How could he ? How could he tell her that you died, sacrificing yourself to save him ? How could he ? 

But your mom...She...smiles ? 

-Well, if people don’t start comparing you with your father now, I don’t know when they will. 

You groan. Wait...You groan ? And you move in Damian’s arms. Laboriously. It’s difficult. You cough a bit, but not blood. 

Wait. Come to think of it, there’s no blood anywhere. What ? 

You open one eye, then the other. Your mom smiles down at you, as well as the rest of the League. They saw how you jumped in front of your friend to save him. You can see how Bruce thanks you in silence. 

And you can see Damian’s face. Tears. His confused expression, him not registering you’re not dead. A shit-eating grin spread on your face as you say : 

-I’m your everything uh ? You love me uh ? 

Your mom shakes her head, and say : 

-Oh that’s also definitely your father. Damn that man and his sometimes a bit cruel teasing, his stupid sense of humor. 

Jon looks at you and, suddenly understanding what’s going on says : 

-Oh no you didn’t just do that ! I can’t believe it ! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT (Y/N) !! 

You smile at him and winks, which makes you wince a bit...Sure, you were wearing your impossible to pierce armor that your grandmother gave you (a bit like Mithril in the Lord of the Rings you told her...she didn’t understand), and so the spear didn’t do any permanent damage but...man it was going to bruise ! 

That spear was launched with force ! 

Jon is on his feet already, and, throwing his arms in the air, he gives you his best : “WHAT THE FUCK ?!” facial expression. Your mother can’t help but laugh, and pat him on the back, an understanding look on her face. 

Damian is still stunned. What was going on ? 

And suddenly. It hits him too. Yes. The armor that can’t be pierced. It’s as if someone shot you and you were wearing a bulletproof vest. Bruised but not dead. 

He ignores your teasing, the way you said : “so you love me uh ?” and takes you in his arms, holding you tight in his arms. 

-Don’t ever do that to me again you idiot, don’t you dare do that again...

He says. You smile and hug him back, saying : 

-Becauuuuuse...You love me ? 

He doesn’t even care you’re not saying it back, as he says again : 

-Yes. I love you. 

You smile and answer : 

-Good. Cause I love you too. 

The kiss you share is a bit clumsy and shy, but it’s a good one. And when he lifts you up in his arms and helps you up on the league’s ship, you feel happier than ever. 

Jon too, is happy. And oh so finally relief. It took him months for that to finally happen ! If only he knew that the only thing that would make you guys admit to each other that you were in love was a life endangering situation, he would have found a way BEFORE that...

Your mom and Damian’s father smile at each other. They couldn’t dream of a better person for their children that those two eh ? 

In the ship, bundled against Damian, you realize that...Yeah, it wasn’t actually that difficult to say it. Because you love him. For real. You just love him. 

As simple as that. 

And he loves you and...The worst didn’t happen. He hoped the worst would never happen...He would make sure it would never happen. 

Another clumsy kiss, and...yes. As simple as that. 

___________________

This is the fucking worst. I wrote this annoyed at something and couldn’t focus totally on it. Besides, there were a lot of people talking around me and such and...yeah I really couldn’t focus. I’m still posting it though, because I know myself, I won’t ever re-write it and it’ll be lost in my drafts forever, like other finished stories are (finished stories I really hate)...So I figured, since I promised a Damian story, I’ll just post it and so be it. Anyway. The End. 

PS : Let’s be honest for a second, this might be erased because I feel really self-conscious about how bad it is. Like way more than usual. UH.

[invictus-rp]

Team C Infiltration

Setting the Scene: Team A has already begun the front assault on the large stronghold, drawing a number of the Apokolips army's forces out to the main fight. As the halls empty, Steve Rogers instructs that the goal is to search, to try to avoid engagement. Any files, databases, tech, or anything of the like is to be collected. If you must fight, the goal is to do it quietly so as not to sound up any alarms.

Steve Rogers The team was set and everything was in place. He had been half-tempted to allocate one of them over to Dinah's team, but she had promised him that she could handle herself. She had been so certain in the conversation about the mission that he didn't want to undermine her. Besides, she got people out alone. They'd make it. And if they weren't, they could signal for his squad to provide back up.

Crouching in cover, Steve was quick and succinct. "Alright. Keep tight where we can, and remember that we're hoping to avoid discovery. If it goes south, try to contain things. Ultimately, the intel is our objective. We need it at this point if we're going to make a push against Darkseid. Anything we can use, grab it. Better too much or too little."

"Is there a way to scan the area? Figure out if we're walking into virtual trip wires or things like that?" Ted Kord Teddy was more than a little nervous, but this wasn’t his first rodeo and heart condition or not he’d been deemed worth bringing along; he wasn’t going to let these people down. He’d suited up in his new combat gear, a tight fitting t-shirt with the Beetle logo on it, thick work pants with seemingly endless pockets, and a backpack in the shape of a bug that was a robot itself to assist him as needed. After all, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t fight their way out of this.

He listened to Steve go over the objective and nodded, pulling his orange-tinted goggles down. “I’ve got something for that.” He lifted a hand and tapped at a small control panel embedded in his fingerless gloves. His packsack seemed to rumble a little an several black dots flew out, “These are the Puni Possi; my beetle robots no bigger than a pin head, they have cameras and send data to a server so should be able to map the place working together and go undetected.”

“Or if other members can skills that work quicker I could focus on one section? I don’t wanna y’know… step on toes…” his brief moment of confidence gone as quickly as it came. Loki Laufeyson Ah, a team mission. How exciting. Loki had known he was going to be called upon to do things like this when he had offered his assistance to the heroes, but then they would be foolish not to want his expertise and skills. This mission was predicated on stealth and secrecy, after all, which would have been much easier for him to achieve if he had not been saddled with the group of mortals. But Loki had agreed to be (more or less) a team player, so going along with the mortals was unavoidable.

He tried not to chuckle at Rogers' typically noble speech, settling for giving the Soldier a sarcastic salute once the man's back was turned. Loki could easily scan the area with magic, but when the man in the silly bug-themed suit volunteered, he was content to step aside. "No no, you go right ahead, my good man. There is no way that I, a god, would have any more efficient means of checking for traps." Yet his sarcasm belied the real reason he was not offering to do so--his magic was still limited, so Loki thought it better if he focused what power he could on trying to keep their little team relatively concealed. He could not keep them completely hidden, but a little bit of distracting illusion could go a long way to keep anyone trying to discover them busy. "I shall merely do what little I can to offer support to you intrepid liberators." Batman The Captain was susinct in his instruction, something that Bruce found himself approving of. Time was of the essence, their window of opportunity shrinking every moment they spent standing still. His attention shifted to Ted as the man spoke and it was obvious that he was nervous about his tech from the way he backed down without any prompting. The snide remark from Loki had Batman's eyes snapping over, a sour sort of grimace settling onto his face at the unnecessary bragging.

Narcissism, while certainly annoying, was extremely unproductive in their current situation given the circumstances. The urge to check the Asgardian was there, springing up wildly, but he caught himself and held off what remark lay on the tip of his tongue. This wasn't his operation and he wasn't the one in charge. Not here and not today. Silent, he turned to Ted and gave a slight nod as a simple way of deference and turned his gaze away to watch their backs.

Rodgers could lead his team how he wished, and Batman had nothing better in his utility belt than what Ted could offer.

Damian Wayne A short inhale through his nostrils cemented his focus to the task at hand. The briefing from the man leading the charge kept his attention until he opened the conversation for potential ideas. Few served suggestions, but it was the ‘god’ who was compelled to utter a smart remark, earning a tongue click from the teenager. Urges to return the remark, while strong, would be held back by conscious thoughts reminding him of the mission.

“As Batman’s ally, I can attest that those beetles, while slightly grotesque, could prove a valuable asset to the mission,” said Robin, his gaze shifting underneath the confides of his eye mask. “If we are need in more intel, however, I am more than willing to obtain more information undetected from the computers, should they provide any use to us.” Bucky This was familiar. Not the people, necessarily, other than Steve, but a mission, Steve at the head, Bucky providing support and lending his skills. While he was skilled at attack, too, he'd basically been a ghost for decades so it made sense to have him on a stealth mission. He also pretty much insisted on being there if Steve was there so whatever team Steve was heading up, that's where Bucky could be found too.

He stayed quiet for the most part, paying attention to the group conversation but also keeping his eyes and ears open and very aware of their surroundings. He looked over to the bug guy when he mentioned robots, eyebrows raised a little but not commenting until Loki snarked about it and Bucky's eyes got a little steely. "You can do better, do it. If not? Shut up and let him." No one else seemed willing to tell him off so Bucky would, glancing at Steve but not exactly apologetic. Seemed like it needed to happen. The kid vouched for the bug robots and Bucky nodded slightly, figuring enough of them had thrown their support behind Ted for him to go ahead with the scan. Steve Rogers Steve looked up and was about to agree that Ted should scout when Loki spoke. Steve gave him a stern Look, but Bucky was the one who seemed content to call him out. The bats had both go diplomatic. He sighed. "We can kill each other later. This situation is too precarious for petty crap." Meeting Loki's eyes, he waited for an affirmative. "We're all here for a reason. Loki, your illusions can keep us hidden so no one gets a jump on us. That's what you said, right? Ted's tech'll do the scouting." Ted Kord Confidence had never been his strong suit, it only took few words from another, who was a literal god to have his shoulder’s drooping and ready to admit it was a foolish idea. Robin’s, well… somewhat backhanded compliment did make him feel a little better, as did Batman’s nod but he was more grateful than he’d admit to Barnes for standing up for him. Pity he couldn’t do it for himself. Still, not wanting to contribute to, or be the cause of, any more tension, he nodded and rapidly typed some keys to the command board built into his glove.

The tiny robots surged forward, easily finding opening’s to the compound and transmitting their data back. He pulled a small screen from one of his many pockets and a picture began to form. “Some Parademons patrolling, and security systems. These bots can’t disarm them but I could hack into them myself when we’re inside. Though there’ll be some pressure sensitive ground, laser grids and possibly more.” He narrowed his eyes, “Here,”  he held the screen up and tapped the further point of it, “My Possi have detectived a lot power going into this space; could be some kind of CPU or data storage?” He shrugged, “There’s a strong possibility what we’re looking for could be there?” Or not cause he often made mistakes and was honestly the weakest link in this mission... But he managed not to blurt that out at least.

Loki Laufeyson He might have had to go on the mission, but that did not mean Loki had to be thrilled about it, and he already had voiced his feelings on doing such a menial task. The other mortals in the strange outfits did not rise to his comment, but the other man did. From what little Loki knew of him, he recalled that he was Rogers' friend. Naturally he would rise to the Soldier's defense. "Hmm, a little testy, are we? Perhaps you might want to calm yourself. We are supposed to be quiet, after all." He did not care if the man in the bug suit performed a scan of the area; he only wanted it made clear that he was lowering himself greatly by assisting them.

Sadly Rogers was right. Despite Loki's feelings, it was not the time or place to prove his superiority. He did not wish to have to deal with Darkseid's forces any more than they did. "Yes, that is correct, Captain," he said, sighing slightly, "I merely would like a little appreciation for how benevolent I am being by assisting this endeavor." Which he was surely not going to get. Unappreciative mortals, really. It seemed the bug man could indeed scan the area, reporting back with an accurate account of what he found. Whatever the power source was, that could well be what they were after. "Oh, well done, well done." He nodded as appreciatively as he could manage, then glanced at the Soldier. "Again, I could retrieve the power source myself, but Valhalla forbid I step on any toes here a second time. Shall I just await instruction, then?" Batman It seemed that both the urge to clip the comment and the realignment of mission priorities was handled by Rodgers and Barnes, although the Asgardian didn't quite seem to grasp the concept of closing his mouth and keeping it shut. There was a tension that settled in Bruce's shoulders and he allowed his frown to edge close against the border of a grimace as he leaned towards Ted to watch the screen over his shoulder. He gave an almost absent nod at the man's assessment, working his jaw as he thought the security systems over- though, more quips caught his attention.

Batman let out a low hum as he turned to face Loki to give him the appreciation he wanted so badly, a dull and irritated frown hinted at across his face. "You showed up to help," he drawled, voice low in the monotone rumble he used so frequently on petty criminals on the streets of Gotham. "Congratulations. Your participation will be appreciated as soon as you apply it constructively. If you have a way to make this mission simpler, by all means, share. This is a team effort, after all- not a measure of individual worth."

That was something Loki needed to grasp. Especially because they were about a minute away from infiltrating an enemy base. Especially because they were about to risk their lives together for the good of the world.

Damian Wayne Alas, it would be the rest of the ‘adults’ to utter their own remarks. A nonchalant hum detracted his focus from such bickering, lest he need to hear the reprimands from the leader of the group. His olive green gaze shifted in Ted’s direction, tilting his head at a slight angle, attempting to catch a glimpse at the screen.

“Laser grids?” mumbled Robin, wrinkling his nose. “Sounds more like basic training to me. Still, I have doubts this is more than just ‘hacking the systems.’  A diversion would be too obvious. It might just be what he expects. I can only hope we’re prepared for what our next action will be.”

Bucky A slight reprimand from Steve but not just directed at him. Someone had to shut the insufferable Asgardian up, though apparently it still didn’t work. Bucky’s eyes flashed with irritation but Batman took this one so Bucky didn’t have to. So he ignored Loki as best he could and focused on the intel Ted was giving them. Sounded pretty standard and the kid seemed to think so, too. “That’ll be it, most likely. Let us know where the pressure plates are, we can take care of the demons.” He looked at Steve again, waiting for the go ahead to move in. He shifted slightly and settled in, armed to the teeth but figuring knives and the arm would be best for stealth. He wished he didn’t feel like he should be wearing a black muzzle and pushed that thought firmly aside. Steve Rogers Steve nodded at the intel that Ted brought up, trying not to roll his eyes at Loki. He knew that he was going to be difficult to work with, but he sorely wished Thor was here to tell him how best to babysit. "We all have our jobs," he said to the other. "You'll get your cookie when we get outta this in one piece."

He couldn't bite down the smirk that came with Batman's response. That was more words than Steve had heard Batman say in the entirety of their time working together. He needed to fix that. Get on making some kind of rapport. He was just so damn busy all the time that things like interpersonal connections tended to fall on the wayside. It was no excuse, though. He simply had to be better. Make time.

Looking to Damian, Steve shook his head. "We should be grateful if that's all we're up against. Things could have been a lot worse." He prayed that it stayed that easy. "Bucky and I will take point. Loki is going to keep us cloaked as best he can, Blue Beetle, Batman, and Robin, I'm relying on you to hack these systems. If we run into trouble, close ranks. We're not here for shock and awe." Setting the Scene: Steve leads the team in. As Ted's Possi picked up, there is a long corridor. A simple engagement of infrared pickups show the lasers and there is a large control panel on the other side of the room. Along the walls are a series of deep holes in the metal--intentional looking. Two corridors break away at the end of the hallway, and footsteps can be heard along each one. Beside the control panel is a door.

Ted Kord All this conflict probably wasn’t the best way to start off a stealth mission. Honestly Loki was like a sup’d up version of Guy Gardner, complete with the green theme. But he wasn’t gonna start anything, especially not without Booster there for him to riff off. But he was grateful to the others for stepping up when he was wilting. Some hero he was supposed to be. He kept his head down, the device up for them to see and let Steve decide on the course of action.

Honestly, he was relieved to be with Bruce and Damian,  letting Steve and Bucky take point while they followed in behind them. His Puni Possi were still mapping, making more detailed analysis as well as recording any sounds they heard for later use. When they arrived in the corridor he pulled two small blue beetle shaped devices from one of the many pockets in his pants and held them out, using his other hand to pull his orange goggles down.

“These are translators.” He whispered, “I loaded them up with The Bug’s language database; Kilowog sup’d it up when he visited Guy a few years back.” It should be useful if they encountered any language barriers. “Much as I love my gymnastics, who wants to go get past and hack the laser grid? I’ll head towards the power heavy room? I’ve dealt with alien tech a few times before.” He shrugged, feeling more at ease stating his skills when it was just to Batman and Robin.

Loki Laufeyson A team effort? Loki tried not to make a face of disgust as he glared at the gravely-voiced man in the silly bat suit. Was that supposed to be something reassuring? He disliked being saddled with the mortals; how was he supposed to be glad about having them around to hinder him? Of course Loki was currently hindered by the damper on his magic, so sadly he probably did need the mortals along to...ugh...help. Still, he did not wish to be reminded of this. "Oh forgive me. I was raised to be judged on my own worth and my own worth alone. I am still adjusting to this concept of 'team work.'" A slight lie--Loki knew how to work with a team. He just did not like it.

He wrinkled his nose at Rogers' treatment of him as a child who was begging for a reward. Yes he may have been demanding a reward, but who would not wish for some sort of reward after having to put up with a team of mortals? "Lovely, so I have to keep you all intact now? I certainly wish for something in return for that." At least the mortals all had sorted out their positions. Loki was merely required to keep them as safe as possible. A menial task, and an unsavory one, but he was perfectly capable of performing it.

Once inside the corridor, Loki observed the layout, frowning at the technological barriers. "Ugh, this primitive technology is so bothersome. But fear not, we are as concealed as possible." Upon hearing the footsteps in the distance, he made a slight face. "At least until anyone decides to come make a close inspection." Batman Nothing about Batman's expression shifted as the Asgardian met his gaze, the blank lenses in his cowl as impassive as ever. When Loki had babbled out his excuses, Batman turned to face Rodgers and nodded his head at the man's instruction. As they entered the corridor, he took one of the devices from Ted, turning it over in his hands as a brief examination before looking out across the grid with a tight frown. Potentially dangerous, definitely not to be messed with. With one final assurance from Loki as to their concealment, Batman peered at the gaps in the lasers, calculating the distance across in his head. It would be extremely dangerous to try and sneak across through the gaps- obviously, the intention -although something did catch his eye.

"Robin, lose the cape," he muttered unhooking both his grapple and its spare from his belt. He slid their backs against eachother and once they clicked he turned to his protégé, holding the device out for him to take.

"Fire them simultaneously and they'll make a line you can climb across above the grid." He glanced down the corridor, eyeing the panel and the gap above the lasers. Turning back, he gave a small nod. "I'll boost you."

Damian Wayne Being as he worked under the man’s careful eye for almost eight years, the teen was aware of the other’s calculated intentions. He glanced at the gaps himself, narrowing his gaze underneath his eye mask until he was given orders from Batman.

Confirming the orders with a nod, Robin removed his hooded cape from the front, carefully setting the article aside. He reached for the device presented to him with an acknowledged hum. Using the other’s backside as support, he followed Batman’s direction until they reached the corridor. The aforementioned device remained in his hand, referring back to Batman’s instructions as to where to fire.

“I got it,” he mumbled, paying close attention to his intended target. He kept the device close to his chest once Batman gave him the necessary boost. Soft breaths kept his composure, remembering his usual protocol. A few seconds of concentration gave him the opportunity to press the button on the device, firing the targets as instructed.

Now he needed to reach the grid. Bucky Loki just never shut up, did he? He was still going on and I even after Steve tried to put him in his place, again. “Y’know someone who was really so above all this and better than us wouldn’t have to keep saying it and would just do it.” Bucky couldn’t help at least one more comment directed at the irritating god then resolved to just shut up and do the work.

Steve laid out the plan and Bucky nodded. They all moved in, he and Steve at the front and assessed the situation. He could hear footsteps and the rest look like tech stuff for the others to figure out. Using army hand signals, he communicated with Steve that he’d take the one corridor and Steve could take the other. Best to silence those footsteps before they summoned more. Bucky slipped down his designated hallway silently, looking around a corner to find a patrolling Parademon. Ugly damn things. Waiting until it’s back was turned, Bucky crept up on it and clamped his vibranium hand over it’s mouth then quickly stabbed it in the throat with an all too practiced movement. Catching its weight to lower it slowly to the ground, he kept his hand over it’s mouth until the dying gurgles stopped. As quickly and quietly as possible, he carried it to an out of the way corner and left the body there then kept moving. Might as well make sure these surrounding hallways were clear, though he kept tight to where the team was.

“Got one. Continuing my sweep.” He muttered into the communicator he was wearing to let Steve know what had happened. Steve Rogers Steve sighed. This was going to be even more complicated than he imagined. Loki was difficult to work with, Bucky was so protective of the team, Batman was used to a certain kind of efficiency. They just... had to get things done. They had to do this. "Enough," he said to all of them, voice firm. "We can bicker after we get this done. But I want to win this war and take back our planet. And this is one of the steps to do it. So let's get it done."

He followed Bucky's hand signs, used to collaborating with him and feeling that bittersweet feeling of working with Bucky again. It was familiar, even if he felt guilty that Bucky still had to fight. But he supposed it was just a part of it at this point. They couldn't sit around, even if they might like too. They couldn't afford to avoid this fight.

Taking his hallway, Steve resisted the urge to incapacitate over kill. They couldn't arrest Parademons. He didn't know if they could rehabilitate them. And they were slaughtering countless humans and other occupants of earth. Steve was not really a full kill type of person, but he did what he had to do in war, bringing down two guards with the combination of his shield and hand to hand. "This hall is clear," he advised. "Have we cleared the laser field so Blue Beetle can get into the server room?" Ted Kord Even if he wasn’t as fit as he used to be, by far, he could’ve managed what Robin was doing; hopefully though, he wouldn’t need to and once the lasers were down he’d hack his way what he hoped was the CPU core room and steal everything he could off that mother. He’d even brought multiple of his translators just in case he ran out of space. He watched the pair work seamlessly together and tried to resist the urge to make smalltalk or bad jokes. Instead, he looked down at the small computer of his Possi, continuing to move through the building, recording sound and building a better map; the larger it was the better.

If the apokolips kept their stations half as similar as they did their Parademons, then he could hopefully provide a map for the general layout to make future missions like this easier.

Hearing Steve’s voice come through he reached for his communicator, “Negative on the field. But thirty more seconds I reckon they’ll be across. Once it’s down I’ll make a bee-tle line for the server room,” Okay one bad joke, but he’d avoided the smalltalk! “And take as much as I can.” Maybe he’d leave them with a little something too, he thought, typing more commands into the mini-computer in his glove.

Loki Laufeyson Rogers' friend was still trying to defend him and the rest of the mortals, and while bickering with them was always entertaining to Loki, sadly the Soldier was right. The quicker this was accomplished, the quicker he could be free of their bothersome prattling. "Yes, why don't we all just do our parts then, if we are supposed to be a team. I have already been doing my part in keeping us concealed, after all," he remarked, giving both of them a smug look.

The other mortals were all working at their tasks now, two of them trying to navigate across the laser grid and the one in the bug suit doing...whatever it was he was doing with his tech. And Rogers and his comrade went off to do what they did best--fight. Loki could not resist the urge to roll his eyes, but then he could not complain when someone else did the fighting and left him to do what he was much better at doing--magic and subterfuge. And condescending comments.

"Oh, is that the best line you can come up with? Clearly technology is your forte, and not witty banter." He would have criticized the need for witty banter in this situation in the first place, but then he had been bantering plenty himself, so he decided it was best to leave that out. Instead he focused on strengthening his concealment spell. See, he was doing his part. Damian Wayne The low hum of the lasers left a slight rattling in his ears. Keeping to his front side, Robin advanced forward. The edges of his boots, despite their weight, left little traces of sound, even during his quiet shuffles through the gap. His focus continued, disregarding the distant bickering with a nonchalant eyeroll.

Finally, he stopped as the aforementioned humming grew louder. Tapping the corners of his mask, he paused to further observe his surroundings. Admittedly, there was a skip in his heartbeat. One hand clenched and relaxed against the device given to him by Batman. There was a slight warmth underneath his hands and knees.

It was here.

Reaching into the back pocket of his utility belt, he took a small chip between his gloved fingers. Looking down towards the grid, he found an inconspicuous spot towards the backside. A few more seconds passed for Robin to find his position. He tossed the small chip onto the backside of the grid. The hum began to die down before fading to silence.

"The grid is down,” he mumbled into the communicator. “Keep it short. I’d take five minutes at most to keep the suspicions down.” Bucky Bucky took out one more Parademon after the first then circled back to guard the group. “Hallway clear.” He rolled his eyes at Ted’s pun but he’s take those over Loki’s arrogance and snobbery any day. Steve had put them in their place again so Bucky was just going to ignore Loki for the rest of the mission as best he could.

He’d make it back to the group when the grid went down and nodded at Ted. “You’re on.” Five minutes wasn’t a long time but they could probably get some good information if he worked quick and provided nothing went wrong. Hacking servers was pretty outside of Bucky’s realm of expertise so he’s just keep a close watch for danger and hope Ted did his thing well. Steve Rogers It was going well, meaning that the plan was working. He only hoped things out on the front were going well too. He didn't want any more casualties. Any more losses. They had been through enough, hadn't they? "Blue Beetle, let us know if you can't get in. We'll keep you covered." Ted Kord Teddy watched and tried to contain his nerves watching Robin work; he knew he was capable but he still worried seeing a kid doing something so dangerous. Not that he’d be fool enough to mention it. Once the grid was down Teddy was running forward, wasting no time he pulled another few blue-coloured contraptions from his many pocket and got to work on the door to the server room. It was alien tech to be sure, and it took him a minute to figure out which approach would work. Eventually, he placed a small beetle robot over the control pad, it clamped its legs around it and after about half a minute with Teddy typing away at the keypad on his wrist, the door opened.

“We’re in!” He said into the comm before dashing inside. The place was stacked with servers glowing slightly in the low light. He reached the mother-server and rested his hands over the top of it staring hard through his orange goggles and muttering quietly to himself, diagnosing the system, time needed for downloads and where to port his machines.

“I can hack it,” he spoke into the comms again, despite Bucky, Robin and Batman being close. He began to walk around the room, place more of his palm sized robots onto specific spots of the servers, “I’ll need eight minutes for a complete download. The data will be encrypted but I can hack it later, we don’t have time now.”

Setting the Scene: As the door opens, the back up security begins an alarm and the fixtures in the walls begin to produce a thick gas. More footsteps can be heard at a running pace down either hallway. Finding a way to plug up those holes would be advisable. Get ready for a fight to defend Blue Beetle while he works.

Loki Laufeyson

Amazingly, the mortals seemed to be performing their tasks well. Loki would give them at least that much credit. The lasers were eliminated and the bug man was doing...whatever with this technology. Loki kept the spell up, content to wait while the mortals finished. They were supposed to be about this quickly, after all.

But then an alarm went off, and suddenly there was an outpouring of gas into the space. Loki grimaced. Naturally this would not be that easy, and again naturally, he would have to protect the mortals even more. He could have cast a shield to try and keep the gas out, but that would require more magic than he could spare. Eyeing the holes the gas was pouring out of, Loki decided a quick spell to cover them would suffice to cut off the gas. Waving his hand, he conjured some glowing green disks which affixed to the holes, halting the outpouring of the gas.

"You're welcome," Loki announced, though in regards to the approaching footsteps, he remarked, "But you all better be on your guard, because I cannot protect you from everything." Batman Batman watched Robin with silent, unblinking eyes, as if he could get his son along the line safely with force of will alone. He was on Ted's heels as soon as the grid shut down, handing the cape over to Damian as they passed and giving him an approving nod. He was on edge, knowing their short window of opportunity would leave no time for delay. Ted seemed to have gotten this memo as well, the door sliding open quickly- however, the sudden alarm blaring around them made Bruce grit his teeth. His hand twitched towards the rebreather kept in his belt, though Loki's quick action left the movement unnecessary as the gas flow was staunched.

"You won't have to. Robin, assist Barnes." Batman turned to Loki for a pause before he decided better of it and moved across the room toward the hallway branches in a sprint. He spoke quickly into the comm in his ear, veering in the direction Steve had gone. "Captain, I'm on my way."

If they could hold stall in the hallways before they fell back, the laser grid could possibly be an asset to their cause when reignited. It would hopefully give Ted the time he needed to complete the download. Damian Wayne The screech of the alarms elicited a strong grimace, fighting back the urge to grit his teeth. He mumbled a curse when he was disrupted by a nearby hissing from his perimeter. Swinging his feet to the side, he propelled his body from the top of the grid, grabbing one of the corner with his gloved hand. Reaching into his belt, he grabbed his makeshift gas mask, fitting it over his mouth and nostrils.

Four minutes and fifty-four seconds shy of my prediction. What else is new?

That’s when he heard the hissing grow louder, forcing him to release his grip, using his hands and feet to carefully descend from the crevice where he had climbed from. He broke into a sprint upon hearing Batman’s voice on the other end of his communicator.

“On my way,” he responded, grinning underneath his mask. Without a moment’s hesitation, he continued to make his way towards the other when he reached into one of the crevices in his belt. Finding his Batarang, he slipped it between his fingers.

“Looks like some of us can finally make use of their new utilities.” Bucky Things were going well which meant Bucky should’ve expected something to go wrong. He tries not to be that pessimistic though and just did the work, hoping it would all go as planned. Ted got in and he only needed less than ten minutes. Fair enough…until the alarms went off. Fuck. He could hear the hissing and the footsteps, both of which were a concern. He tried to stay away from the gas only for Loki to cover it up. He gave him a look at the comment. He was just pulling his weight. “Steve, we’re about to have company.” He spoke into the comm as the kid came to join him. Their job was defense now so he stood at the hallway opening that lead to the server room, guarding it.

So much for stealth. To that end, he pulled out a gun as the enemies started appearing and it was on. Steve Rogers Nodding, Steve fell back to settle into a formation with Bucky that felt all too familiar. As they did so, both hallways produced a dozen Parademons with three juggernaut soldiers in strange helmets. Steve had never seen the helmets and he blinked. "On the ready, Batman and Robin. Keep them away from Blue Beetle. We don't need to win, we just need to buy time."

Ted Kord

Teddy was doing his utmost best to ignore all the sounds going on both outside and through their comm. His gaze was fixed on the screen in front of him, alien characters and walls of text flying across the screen and even across the small screen built into his glove. His fingers were azure blurs and he furiously typed on both his own and the Server Room's technology. The small scarab machines he'd attached began to hum as their whirled to life, each one storing more and more data. All the while he muttered to himself, no jokes, no depreciation... no fear for his safety should his team fail. For better or worse his mind was focused only on this task. Loki Laufeyson Wonderful. It seemed they would not avoid a fight after all. Loki was certain that they would have been completely invisible to any enemies if he had been able to conjure a stronger spell of concealment. But now the need for that was gone, for alien creatures and soldiers in helmets were heading their way. So Loki dropped his concealment spell and instead focused what magic he could on creating a few illusory doubles. They would not be as realistic as they normally would, but he assumed the creatures and soldiers would be too dumb to notice that his doubles had a green shimmer to them. Even if they did, hopefully they would still be occupied fighting them. And that would also perhaps give the mortals a little more time, as the Soldier was exhorting them to do.

"I can certainly do that," he said as his daggers appeared in his hands, and his doubles took shape around him, "At least I can have some decent company this time." After all, even being surrounded by illusions of himself was a sight better than all the mortals. Batman "Copy," Bruce huffed in response to Steve's words, picking the pace up. Within moments, Batman was stood to the right of the Captain with a determined set in his shoulders as he studied the adversaries before them. The three new soldiers were concerning, though taking down the Parademons flanking them would be easier seeing as the entire team was familiar with such acts.

Narrowing his eyes, Batman produced a batarang set from his belt and wordlessly hurled two of the weapons at the Parademon who had gotten the closest. The last was flung at high speeds directly into the helmet of the nearest juggernaut in an attempt to knock the thing off.

Damian Wayne From his left side, he could hear the parademons sprinting through the hallways towards his and Bucky’s location. He cast a sharp gaze where he found a few of the aforementioned enemies. With a hard flick, he stuck his Batarang towards one of the parademons. A strong jolt of electricity emitted from the weapon forced the other to his knees.

Steve’s voice on the communicator clarified the priority. Still, Robin kept a slight smirk underneath his mask. One of the larger soldiers made a strong approach towards Robin, reaching for his shoulder. The young apprentice scoffed at the attempt. With the back of the other’s neck briefly exposed, he bent his elbow at a slight angle and slammed hard against the skin.

“I can make do with both,” he said right before he reached back into his utility belt, I’ll save the fanfare until after we complete the objective.” Bucky Great. There were a lot of them because of course there were. Nothing was ever easy. But Steve was there, and Robin, and the priority was to protect Blue Beetle so that's what they'd do. Since stealth wasn't an option anymore, Bucky had his guns out and started firing as soon as the parademons got close. Those big ones with the helmets were new and after picking off a few parademons Bucky made a move on one of the big guys. He fired at it until he was too close then switched to melee, fists and knives with the intention of ripping the damn helmet off if he could. They were probably ugly underneath but at least they'd be less protected. He took some hits but he could as he tangled with one, noting peripherally that the others seems to be doing okay. Part of his attention was focused on Steve but he hardly had to even think about that he just always kept an eye out for him. Ducking under a blow from the big guy again he came up with the vibranium arm and tried to rip the helmet away. He took a body blow and grunted then backed off again. Not quite but he'd keep trying. Setting the Scene: The helmeted soldiers take the assaults which come from Batman, Robin, and the Winter Soldier. The helmet of Bruce's assaulted does not come off, but they seem to stagger back. A sharp and distinctly human sound is heard from Damian's. Bucky's opponent staggers back with the force of the gunshots, but they are not strong enough to pierce the armor accompanying the helmet. As soon as space was put between them, the helmeted opponent raises their hand and begins to murmur something. Around them, strange symbols begin to form, almost as if they are on fire. Single versions of the inscrutable glyphs fly toward Bucky and seem to affect him mentally.

Steve Rogers Watching the team work almost like a well-oiled machine, his eyes sweep the limited battlefield as he watches Batman and Robin at range. Many Lokis filled the area, engaging a number of the assailants. "God, that's a good trick," he said near what he thought was the original Trickster. He swung his shield, connecting hard with a parademon's face as his gaze sought out Bucky down the opposite hall. What he saw had his stomach lurching. Bucky. As if with tunnel vision, Steve slid under one of his attackers to try to force his way down the hall, hurling his shield as soon as he was close enough. It richocheted off the wall before impacting the helmeted assailant in the middle of the chest.

"Don't let them get range on you!" he shouted to the rest of the group. "They're doing something!" Ted Kord Teddy was both relieved and worried he wasn’t part of the madness going on outside the server room. Aside from yells, thumps and the occasional instruction one of the others spoke through the comm he felt isolated; just him and the thick slabs of technology. He typed as quickly as his fingers could go and the beetle robots hmm’d as they worked on their own entry points. Teddy spared a moment while a program was running to swiftly type a few commands into the screen on his glove and a dozen or so golf-ball sized beetle robots shot out of his backpack and zoomed into the hallway.

“I need another five minutes here, I’ve sent the Battle Possi out to help. Whatever’s in here has at least three firewalls and is encrypted to the max; keep them away from the doors so they can’t try destroying the servers.” The hacking would be worthless if they managed to destroy the technology. As he got back to it, the Battle Possi flew towards the enemy soldiers, firing small electrical charges that, despite their size, could pack a wallop if they managed to hit.

𝐋𝐎𝐊𝐈 𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐅𝐄𝐘𝐒𝐎𝐍 At Rogers' surprising compliment, Loki was unable to keep from smirking. "Only the best from a sorcerer of my caliber," he replied. His doubles were keeping several of their attackers occupied, but they would not last long due to the blasted limiting on his magic. Already one had faded away, and Loki had to step in and fight off the creature himself.

The other mortals were doing credibly, but it seemed this fight might not be as simple as it had appeared. At the Soldier's shout, Loki glanced in his direction and saw what he could only assume was some sort of magic coming from one of the helmeted attackers. It was not something he recognized, which bothered him quite a bit, and also made him doubt whether the mortals could hold up against such an attack. "Yes, do stay away," he concurred, "This might well be beyond the rest of you." In truth, Loki was not even sure he could match whatever it was.

And though he was loathe to take orders from any of them, he acquiesced to try and keep the attackers away from the server room doors, as the bug man requested, sending the few of his doubles which remained to distract the attackers in the opposite direction from the doors. "Make it a very quick five minutes, if you please," he added irritably. Batman Bruce's eyes narrowed under his cowl as his weapon glanced off the helmet of their opponent, his attention shifting as he caught sight of Steve rushing through the hall back towards Bucky and Damian. He ground his teeth and tapped out a few mechanical 'marbles' from his belt, throwing them hard at the parademons pestering Loki's magical clones. Upon impact, the small balls exploded with a force meant mainly to disorient rather than harm- hopefully enough to give Loki an advantage.

Swiftly, Batman whirled and unhooked a small, clawed harpoon gun from its spot on his belt and fired it at the parademon nearest to Rodgers, yanking back hard on it when it pierced the armor of the creature and watched as he made his way to his friend. "Beetle, is there anyway to speed it up?" he grunted into the comm, noting the assistance of his Possi with a tight grimace.

Damian Wayne Robin’s stance hardly swayed upon his first advancement. He relaxed his jaw, observing the other’s movements. The strange sound from his opponent, while familiar, did not loosen the tightening grip once he reached the holster of his belt. Grabbing the handle of his sai, he pulled out the blade in a swift motion.

Slow and steady breaths made every effort to keep his composure. He shifted his position to the left of the hallway, his gaze not leaving the other, suspicious of the seemingly human-like noises uttered from their lips. That’s when he heard the voice on the other end give the immediate warning over his communicator. The nearby scattering in the distance indicated another distraction, though not a threatening one on their part.

“Whatever they’re doing, only thing to do is to keep them quiet,” he mumbled, using his free hand to grab his grappling hook from his belt. He raised it over his head, aiming towards the ceiling to propel himself off the floor below them. Bucky The fight is going, which is the best thing that can be said for it. No one’s gotten through to Blue Beetle yet so at least that’s a win. They just have to hold them off a bit longer. All that disappears from Bucky’s head though as a sudden, terribly familiar feeling takes over his mind.

Love=lies, life=death, self=dark side. Freedom is obsolete. Hope has no point.

The words force themselves into his head, insistent, trying to take over and with a yell, Bucky drops. It’s not quite like HYDRA, there’s something stranger to it, but it’s sapping his will, forcing him to go blank. For a moment he’s frozen, terrified of succumbing, hands gripping his head. No, no, no, not again, not after all the work he’s done. The word repeat, insistent, blotting him out, he’s slipping…

NO!

He shouts it in his head, tries to swim against that current, fights. Terrifyingly, it feels like he’s losing but then suddenly it’s gone. Bucky gasps, shaking, unaware of where he is for the moment except that he’s on the ground, the echo of the words still pounding in his mind. Steve Rogers His palm rang with the jolt of the shield returning to his grip. Dropping down by Bucky and throwing the shield up to protect them, Steve grimaced. "I hate to add to the peanut gallery, Beetle, but anything you can do. We're getting clobbered out here." And with Bucky down, they were in just a little more trouble. Though Loki making more and more troops was certainly a hell of an asset. He'd have to talk to him after this, but right now he was worried about the mission... and about Bucky.

"What happened, Buck?" he asked over his shoulder, standing up to clash with the helmeted attacker. "Are you hurt?" Ted Kord ”Working on it.” Teddy said, voice level and he focused less on the sounds from outside and voices in his ear and more on the technology before him. Things seemed to tunnel down and his lips moved silently as he planned and calculated to himself, picking up a wire from the main console and following it around the room to a far corner. He sunk down on one knee and pulled out a small laser cutter. The room was so obviously a data bank it was almost too obvious, could their enemy be smart enough to pull a set up? Massive data that would be useless and unreadable?

He spent a minute burning a circular hole through the case of one data bank and smirked, it had connections within it going to every other bank in the room. This was the main hub of data, the other a decoy. Pulling another data storage bot from his pants he jacked it into the bank and typed away, noticing a much swifter transfer of cleaner looking information transferring. The data hasn’t been too advanced for Kilowog’s improvements to translate; it’d just been gibberish!

“They set us up. I found the real data bank. One more minute and we can get outta here, make sure the exit’s clear.” He began pulling more tech out of his backpack, “I’m gonna blow this data sky-high so they can’t tell what we found and what we didn’t.”

𝐋𝐎𝐊𝐈 𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐅𝐄𝐘𝐒𝐎𝐍 Fighting alongside the mortals was not to Loki's liking, but they did have their uses, such as when the Bat Man sent some small explosive devices to disorient the attackers coming for Loki's doubles. A useful toy, and he deigned to give the man a nod in acknowledgement before he took care of the attackers.

But it was becoming more and more apparent that the ones in the helmets wielded a disturbing amount of power. Rogers' friend was on the ground--without having been physically struck. That did not bode well. Loki did not want to take away any of his limited magical resources, but if he too fell prey to an attack, he would be of no use either. So he made one of the doubles vanish and instead cast a protective spell over himself, as well as over Rogers and his friend who were the nearest ones to him. "Those creatures appear to be using magical attacks," he informed them, "And I cannot protect any of us, not even myself, for very long. Is that bug-suited fool finished yet?"

One more minute, apparently. Loki resisted the urge to roll his eyes, instead fighting off another attacker and also keeping his doubles as near to the doors to the server room as possible. There was no need to worry for their safety in an explosion, after all. Bucky There was someone in front of him, someone familiar…Steve.  Bucky sits up slowly and where he is comes back to him but he’s still shaking. Fuck, he didn’t know they could do that. He also didn’t know it would be so damn easy for them to take him that way. “No…but it was in my head.” It’s quiet and the colour has drained from his face as he looks at Steve and belatedly answers his question. He hears that Blue Beetle still needs a minute and they’re still fighting. So Bucky gets up, numbly, puts his back to Steve’s and watches his six. Battle’s not over yet even if Bucky feels like he’s still shaking on the inside, like for a moment he was totally undone. But he puts a blank face on and fights. He’s good at that. Steve Rogers Steve continued the fight, watching the group around him as they held on as much as they could. Fortunately, a minute could seem like hours or it could see like seconds. For their benefit, the former was true today and Steve was thankful for that. He wanted Bucky off the field. He wanted all of them off the field, because he certainly didn't want to go up against these foes unprepared.

He was almost relieved to call the retreat. But now that they had what they came for, he knew the work had only just begun...

[muthur9000]

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As part of our creatives series, Wayne Haag answers some questions on Science fiction and fantasy, also giving us some insight into his work.

Clara Fei-Fei: My first encounter with your work was for The Fifth Element (which I LOVE). I always wondered what sort of design requirements did you have to meet for the movie? Did you speak to Luc Besson about what he wanted?

Wayne Haag: As a matte painter I didn’t have to meet any design requirements, that was all taken care of by the concept designers.. who were Jean-Claude Mézières and Moebius, among others. I just had to paint to their designs. Within the scope of the matte painting itself, there are mini design problems or choices and those I discussed with my supervisors and Luc a few times for the various matte painting shots I worked on.

CF: What’s your favourite Scifi movie? 

WH: Alien with Empire Strikes Back a very very close second. I know Star Wars isn’t strictly science fiction, more fantasy but for me, it’s about a sense of wonder and they both have it. I still have every Marvel Star Wars comic btw.

CF: Wow awesome! And who is your favourite character from any Scifi movie/comic/game?

Favourite character… I don’t have a favourite actually… If pushed I’d have to say Luke Skywalker, he’s the archetypal hero we all relate to.

CF: If you could enhance your body using robotics, what abilities would you choose?

WH: Eyes… Mine are going! Visibility into a much larger part of the EM spectrum – IR, UV, X-ray etc, zoom capability, heads-up display – data overlay, distance measurement, image capture…

CF: What inspired you to pursue work in concept art? For anyone wanting to pursue the same line of work, where do you suggest they start?

WH: I had always wanted to be an artist, always wanted to make images. It was never an option to not be an artist. This has encompassed professional photography, matte painting, illustration for publishing, concept art, mural painting, oil painting. Start drawing and painting, nothing more to it than that. Learn what you need to be a competent illustrator and the rest will follow.

CF: Could you give me an idea of what it’s like during production? What sort of guidelines you are given and what’s your average turn around time for the work you have done?

WH: That’s a large question. Every production is different, the vibe is different, some are relaxed some are stressful. It’s why I prefer to work from home mostly. Gigs like Alien you have to be there every day in house which is fine, can’t be a hermit all the time! Guidelines are simple – make this scene/shot look awesome – There’s the script, here’s the director’s brief now paint something that fulfils that brief. Don’t care how you do it, just get there.

Turn around time can vary from several (6 to 8) quick paintings in an afternoon to an evolving painting over several weeks. Not continuous of course, but bigger paintings I might have 3 or 4 days, it may sit around for a bit when you finally get feedback and you jump back onto that painting and off it goes into the cycle again. Some finish quickly and get approved just as quickly and you never see it again. Some hang around like bad smells!

CF: What is your favourite piece you ever created?

WH: One of my oil paintings, titled Sky Burial #2. It encapsulated everything I love about sci-fi, sense of wonder, mystery, story, history, spaceship wrecks, the desert.

SKY BURIAL #2

CF: What variant of the Xenomorph is your favourite? 

WH: The original.. because you didn’t see much of it. It was the implied cold-blooded violence that was scary, not so much the beast itself – which was scary as hell in its own right, I just preferred the implicit horror.

CF: I really loved Daniels cabin in the Covenant, what work did you do on that?

WH: The design for Daniel’s cabin evolved quite a lot for many months. A couple of concept artists had started the process, set designers etc, all working towards the final. My contribution was to bring the design language in from the other interior sets Steve Burg had designed and made it feel more modular like you would find on a ship. Then it was a matter of painting a couple of frames that illustrated the lighting and mood, which is my main area of interest.

  Daniels Cabin on the Covenant

White Room

CF: I read that the white room is inspired by 2001, what aspects of the movie did you consider when creating this set?

WH: Firstly, no one concept artists create ‘the set’, it really is an army of people that have some contribution at some point along the way, from top to bottom. The overall layout was inspired by a physical location in Sydney that they wanted to use but could not, so the decision was made to build the set at Fox. I had plans for the location and built that in 3D to scale. Then as I mentioned above, I paint the scene up for lighting, mood and composition, ie. camera position and lens choice. (which was used by Ridley on the day of the shoot).

No references to 2001 were used, not by me anyway. I approach each painting/set as a real place and try to work out how I would shoot it if I were really there, what kind of lighting situation, time of day, weather, season etc etc. Unless the director specifically references another movie, I go with my own references and ideas that I think to fulfil the script/story.

  Before

After

CF: What work did you do on the mothership in The Crossing and Alien: Covenant? What other aspects of the engineer city did you work on?

WH: I didn’t do any design work on the Mother Juggernaut, that was all Steve Messing. As we all have access to the 3D resources, I used the model he built simply as a prop within the greater scene. Again, setting up composition, lighting, mood. Although I did build the city and surrounds in 3D as one big model to scale so that everyone could see how shots would look if you were standing in the plaza. The 3D allows me to place human figures in the correct relative scale to a known real-world camera and the renders provide a basis with which to paint on.

My model of the plaza was based on Steve Messing’s original plaza layout. As the set designers finalised buildings and sets, I would incorporate them into my huge Maya file, kind of like a master file. Then I’d place 3D cameras around matching pov’s Ridley wanted.

Like all film designs, they grow, evolve and change. The final city you see in the film is quite a bit different from the city I built, so the VFX guys had further developed the city layout as per Ridley’s ongoing massaging.

  Image converted using ifftoany

Image converted using ifftoany

CF: What was the inspiration for the shower scene?

WH: T&A as far as I can tell…

CF: (lol)

CF: Do you have a list of the art pieces you infused into the movie?

WH: Not really, when you’re working on a film you don’t have time to immerse yourself in the art references and meaning, least I don’t anyway. All art choices are Ridley’s, I just create the scene as if it were really there and I shot it with a camera. The decision to not use the Francis Bacon triptych in the white room was solely due to licensing costs, nothing more than that. The Bacon estate wanted too much money. The Bugatti chair was also a licensed design and the prop was to be destroyed in front of lawyers once shooting wrapped.

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CF: What pieces of yours made it the final film? Was there anything that didn’t?

WH: What pieces had an influence you should ask, concept art never makes it into the film per se, it is a tool for solving creative visual, technical, financial problems. How will this set look? How big will it be? How much VFX will be needed for that shot, how will the DP light the set etc?

It’s an internal document that hopefully answers the director’s, art director’s and production designer’s questions. If not, try something else, or remove things from the artwork. For example, I had two statues out front of the Cathedral and was asked to remove them from the piece. If that artwork had been disseminated throughout the production, someone may have assumed those statues were to be made and start spending money making them!

There are several paintings I did that you can see as shots in the film, they aren’t exact, but the overall compositions had been faithfully translated.

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CF: What would you say has been your favourite project to work on?

WH: Fifth Element, The Wolverine, Alien Covenant, three best projects of my career.

CF: What is it like working on a large scale production such as Alien compared to smaller scale ones?

WH: Depends on who you’re working with and answering to directly, i.e. production designer. Some large-scale projects are overly corporate and anal, smaller ones are creatively easy going. It can also be the reverse too! Alien was super creative, very easy going (hard work, long hours but no BS!). Great people all around. Some tv commercial gigs can be a giant PITA, some smaller directors can sometimes want to prove themselves by having too much attitude and want to override your ideas, big directors like Ridley don’t have those insecurities and are therefore great to work with.

CF: Congratulations on winning the award for your work on Alien: Covenant.

WH: Thank you!

CF: Is there anything you are working on currently?

WH: I just finished working on a pitch project for Pixar and as I write this, doing concepts for a Chinese comedy film shot here in Australia.

CF: In future what sort of opportunities would you like to be involved in?

WH: Well I currently work freelance, for the most part, I teach part-time (at Production Art Department PAD http://www.productionartdepartment.com ), I’m starting to put out video tutorials of how to paint etc and I need to get my arse into gear and get back to oil painting my own project. As far as the future is concerned, I’d like more time to paint my own work.

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions, I look forward to having you on Yutani Podcast soon.

  Creatives: Wayne Haag As part of our creatives series, Wayne Haag answers some questions on Science fiction and fantasy, also giving us some insight into his work.

[hellyeahheroes]

The Talons - Mirror Universe Batfamily General Concept

I’ve read Batman: The White Knight because I heard it’s supposed to be a “liberal power fantasy”. And I think it doesn’t really do it well. It tries to draw parallels between Batman and police brutality but I think it goes only halfway through and it leads to some confusing moments like “Here are two TV hosts arguing. One is whining about “those damn SJWs”, the other is defending the fucking Joker.” And I’m like “who I’m supposed to side here with?” I think you can do that metaphor and “good Joker vs evil Batman” story at the same time. But you cannot have cured Joker and Batman going mad. You need to go full on Earth-3 for it. Mirror Universe, Jack Napier vs the Owlman.

Which got me thinking about it for a bit and how mirror universes work. And I started to come up with ideas of something I don’t think we’ve seen in full explored.

How would a mirror universe Batfamily look like?

Okay, so the idea with Mirror Universe characters in this is that I won’t just flip their good-evil alignment around, I also want to flip what I feel are some of their recognizable characteristics and give their mirror selves the opposite. I won’t be doing everyone, I basically have only a few ideas, but if anyone is willing to pick it up for a something or add your own, feel free to use these as guidelines.

Okay, so for the starters we need to describe this version of Owlman. There are several of him but I think that Crisis on Two Earths version is a good one to take inspiration from. But we add to this, maybe some inspiration from that article how Gotham would make more sense if it was Owlman’s origin story. This Owlman is a nihilist and a fascist. The idea is that after the death of his parents this Bruce was raised by Alfred who worked for Court of Owls and he was raised to become Owl’s champion, hence the name. 

He appeared as Owlman as an adult and simultaneously as Bruce Wayne entered politics, riding on the promises to finish of the crime in the city and supporting brutal and violent vigilante whose methods were not unlike that of Crazy Steve Batman. Once he became the mayor, he proceeded to officially approve and sponsor Owlman, who is now officially recognized a member of the police department.

 Owlman thinks nothing really matters and everyone are just pawns for his enjoyment. He enjoys breaking people, pushing them to let their worst instincts come out and take over, make them realize how clinging to old morality and values. Once the restraints are gone, they can release their full potential. And then he makes them fall in line.

His Jim Gordon is...well, basically Gotham Jim Gordon, if he was portrayed as an actually vile bastard who deludes himself into thinking he does the right thing. He thinks he cleared GCPD out of corruption, but in reality surrounded himself only with most violent cops and his police happily employs profiling and police brutality to keep citizens in line.

Owlman has military backing as well, thanks to general Kate Kane. While main verse Batwoman is about, as Margeritte Bennett pointed out, owing to your mistakes, her mirror universe has a bit of a problem with it. You see, she initially backed Owlman, thinking him to be a force of good and once she realized what a mistake it was, she made too many sacrifices for the sake of the cause. Sunken cost fallacy kicked in and now she supports this madman hoping, one day it will worth it.

And then there are the Talons. Imagine those Court of Owls had, only now their outfits look more like uniforms a bit on the Hitler’s Youth style. because Talons become a sort of youth movement orchestrated by Wayne to draw young people with great potential into his hands and twist them into his movement. There are no colorful costumes or nicknames for them, everybody is a Talon, everybody wears the same outfit., everybody is part of Owlman’s army. I’m thinking of them as trying to nail down what’s making every batfamily member unique and how terrifying would they be if you either twisted or took that part away. 

Richard Grayson is the leader of the Talons. Do not. ever. call him. Dick. When Nightwing is the happy one in the Batfam, his mirror universe counterpart is extremely serious, cruel and brooding. Where Dick is a safety net of the rest of the Batfamily, Richard is more like a leash, keeping other Talons in line.

While Batgirl was, at least originally, a Batfam member who didn’t have any scars or damage to motivate her to pick up the costume. So Mirror Universe Barbara is possibly the most messed up of the Talons. Fittingly, being raised by this world’s Jim Gordon. Imagine all creepy undertones Bruce Timm and Briana Azzarello put into the latest movie with her and add all the crap we’re all expecting Joss Whedon to give her in his movie. Yes, this is a jab at those guys.

Tim became Robin to help Bruce regain stability and he was sort of a stabilizing element to the entire Batfamily. Mirror Tim is the one who needs others for stability, being super aggressive and emotional. He doesn’t have main Tim’s knowledge or skills but is possibly best fighter - he shows how dangerous would Tim be if instead of science, strategy and everything else he pulled all his dedication into fighting.

Ras Al’Ghul was leading League of Heroes, a secret organization with the purpose of helping the world. He saw potential in Owlman and tried to redirect him towards the path of good. Owlman killed him and destroyed his organization. Talia fleed, but carrying Bruce’s child. Mirro Damian Wayne was raised and trained to defeat his evil father, but he fell under his corruptive influence and ended up becoming one of Talons. But he still carries morals instilled into him by Talia, being the most humble and restrained of them.

Mirror Cass is possible the one most different from the original. She’s a daughter of two heroes (maybe even members of League of Heroes?) whom Owlman corrupted for his sick amusement. Where main Universe Cass is a skilled fighter who has problems with communicating with people, Talon Cass actually abhors fighting and instead is a skilled manipulator who can talk herself out of almost any trouble and serves as mayor Wayne’s main spokesperson. While main Cass attaches to people, Talon Cass has her versions of Tim, Steph and Harper warped around her finger.

Duke Thomas is rising quickly in the ranks of Talons, recruiting several new members and gaining their loyalty and getting the attention of both Richard and Owlman himself. Duke is actually aware that Owlman’s supposed claims of order and law are bullshit and he saw right through what kind of nihilistic bastard he is. However, that’s okay with him. Gotham took his parents away from Duke so now he put all the drive and focus his main-universe counterpart has, to one goal - see it razed to the ground. He sees Owlman as means to do exactly that and hopes his actions will escalate.

Now, for the people opposing them, there are few superheroes fighting Owlman and Talons. Mister Freeze, Poison Ivy, Clayface (although Owlman is hatching a scheme to corrupt him recently) and Mighty Croc. That team has also included fire-powered Calamity until Owlman killed her. It’s possible her daughter, Olive Silverlock, has inherited her abilities, but she also fell under Owlman’s sway. She’s currently at Gotham Academy, secretly recruiting young people into Talons and keeping Owlman’s secret operations there as a secret. She’s bitter enemies with Maps Mizoguchi, young but a politically-minded vocal critic of Owlman and Mayor Wayne. 

Then there is Jack Napier, an FBI agent who is determined to end Owlman. He has a team of specialists - agent Selina Kyle, persecutor Harvey Dent, genius cryptologist Edward Nigma, brilliant psychologist Harleen Quinnzel and psychiatrist Hugo Strange - on the case. Owlman says he could crush them at any time, but he is fascinated by Napier’s idealism, iron will and actual, honest faith in by the book approach - he keeps them alive because he wants to see what will finally make a rare honest agent finally crack. Napier’s latest success was pushing a charge against a high-ranking member of Talons, Jason Todd, and having him get a life sentence.

The final force opposing Owlman is Bane, mysterious, leader of people’s movement that started organizing in response to Owlman’s militia. Starting from Latino-Americans it spread among all groups oppressed by mayor Wayne, cops or Owlman and his Talons. Militant in their approach, they’re willing to respond to force with force and managed to ensure few districts are currently off-limits to Talons, who know they’ll get shot the moment they set their foot in there.

And that’s it from me. If anyone wants to use it for roleplays or fanfics or ran with how would other characters from Gotham be in this Mirror Universe, be my guest. If you have any questions or criticism of some of my ideas, feel free to say it in reblogs and comments

- Admin

[yournakedseanworld-blog]

The Apple apple iphone 8 runs iOS 11.

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