#damian is like 'she can knock me on my ass she is clearly the perfect woman'

[ew-selfish-art]

Dp x Dc AU: Dani has a too many break-ups for Danny’s heart to handle as an older brother- So he gives her a criteria that her next boyfriend needs to fit for Danny to approve of their relationship. 

Dani was really excited about her new boyfriend. He was witty, and charming, knew how to sword fight and was absolutely stunning. He loved his family, was passionate about animals and social justice causes, and he was an artist! She had a thing for green eyes, and hey, he was actually super chill about them having flexible schedules to see each other (she had vigilante shit to do that she couldn’t explain)! It’s been going on for a few months and she’s honestly ready for him to meet Danny & Jazz but... 

The last time she was home it was for a broken heart and Danny was beside himself with worry over her. He made the guys recently deceased ancestors come forward to speak on his behalf and it was Mortifying- Danny was ready to throw down. And Dani had to admit, it was super sweet that her big brother cared so much. He’d happily given a shovel talk to each of her partners when she brought them home and he’d happily tried to bond with them and integrate into their lives. Danny always allowed her to make mistakes but respected her choices to only ever ask two questions when a new partner came into the picture: Do they make you happy? Do they treat you well? 

This last time he made a simple request, just could they please fit this one criteria? 

The thought comes to her unfortunately when she’s making out with her perfect match, her soul mate, this beautifully stabby man Damian Wayne, that she should bring up the deal breaker. Her brother gave her literally one request for her next partner, and by the ancients she didn’t want to disappoint Danny. 

Pulling away from her boyfriends kiss for just a moment, Dani quickly asks “Sorry, Sorry, it’s just...Have you ever died before?” 

Damian’s look of confusion and then concern grew on his normally collected face, which told her more than enough. 

“Okay great!” And she leaned back in, only to realize that he’s pulled back. 

“Would... Would you care to explain why you just asked me that?” Damian was doing his best to not jump to conclusions.

“Sorry, I just got in my head a bit about how you’re like, the light of my life and I want you to meet my family and then my brain wandered, before you did that thing with your teeth, to the fact that my brother kind of requested... um, well, he just asked that my next partner be, uh, don’t freak out if this sounds weird, but uh, be dead.” 

“He...He wants your partner to be dead.” 

“Well, Dead adjacent is perfectly normal in my family! It’s not like a whole thing! You’ve died before, so he’ll absolutely love you! And he’ll love you even more because you love me!” She smiles as brilliantly as the stars.

Damian isn’t sure for a second, but eventually asks: “Your family is ‘dead adjacent’ and you want me to meet them?” to which she happily confirms. 

“Do you... Wish to know how I-” Damian begins but she cuts him off “No! Never, I would never ask that of you. He won’t ask either! He actually has a better vision for these things so it probably won’t even come up! How does next Tuesday work?” 

“That should be fine, however, well...On the subject of family expectations ... Is it even possible that you might be a vigilante?” Damian’s worries melt away when his girlfriend smiles and lunges forward to kiss him. 

Families could have such weird expectations, you know? 

[pl-panda]

The vines that bind us - Chapter 9

Chapter 1 || Previous || Next

------

She opened the window and picked a pencil. With deadly precision she tossed it. The wooden tool sailed through the air until it hit the binoculars and broke one side of them. She huffed and closed the window before pulling the curtains closed. How rude.

Jason cursed under his breath. Any other day he would probably avoid the projectile, but it caught him completely by surprise. By all accounts, it was physically impossible to use a pencil with such precision and force to destroy military-grade night-vision binoculars. At least the memory card was safe so he could give it to replacement later on for analysis.

Still in bad mood after having his gear ruined, Jason zipped to Dupain-Cheng’s window and gave a light knock. No response. Another knock. Still no response. Finally, after the third knock, the blinders opened and the window itself followed, revealing a very angry girl. Jason finally had a chance to get a better look at her. She did, in fact, have blue hair and now that he’d seen it close, he would bet half his paycheque that it was somehow a natural color. The purple too. She must have had her hair dyed for the first day of work. Her eyes were another part that he memorized. They were blue and iridescent green at the same time, giving a slight unnatural aura. Or maybe it was just that she looked ready to murder him.

“Are you done staring?” She asked, clearly annoyed. “You are not my type and much too old. And the stalker routine is plain creepy. Get lost old guy.”

She was about to close the window when he started speaking.

“I actually came to apologize. I did not ‘stalk’ you, thank you very much. I was just checking on you, miss. You do realize that you single-handedly kicked Riddler’s ass and got quite a bit of publicity.”

“Suuure. You do that for every brave citizen?” She asked with a raised eyebrow and a small grin. “You would be really short-staffed. I hope that overgrown furry does pay you for the overtime.” Any traces of amusement disappeared from her face. “Now get lost before I sic Chloe on you. She recently started dating Damian Wayne and the two seem to bond over ruining people. I’m sure you would make a decent target.” Without further ado, Mari closed the window and put the blinders back in place, completely cutting him off. 

Jason didn’t protest. He was too busy processing the fact that Demon Spawn apparently started dating someone. Oh, he would have so much fun teasing the little menace. 

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

When the motorbike entered the Batcave, Jason expected to meet perhaps the Replacement or Demon Spawn. He definitely did not expect to see the entire family sans B and Alfred. 

“Do you want to perhaps explain why dad received an angry call about ‘some idiot in red bucket’ stalking her through the window?” Barbara asked. frowning deeply. 

“Or at least why were you stalking her?” Dick added.

“Or where you hid my coffee?” Tim joined.

“Timothy!” Several of them shouted.

“What? It’s important!”

“Back to the matter at hand.” Dick turned back to Jason. “What exactly were you thinking?!” He screamed.

“Geez. You thought about joining some opera?”

“Tt. Answer the question.” Damian interrupted.

“That reminds me. Did you know Demon Spawn got himself a girlfriend?” Jason asked, trying to deflect. He really did not like how they jumped at him.

“Not… important.” Cass stared daggers at him. “Talk.”

“Fine!” he threw hands in the air. “I followed a hunch. And I was right. She is a meta!” He procured his destroyed binoculars. “There is no human way to destroy military-grade equipment like that with just a pencil.”

Tim picked it up and quickly tossed it onto the table nearby. A blue light scanned the products and the bat-computer started to display the scan plus introductory analysis.

“Well, he is right. There is no way that a simple pencil could destroy it.” He pressed some buttons and recording from the last seconds of the item’s life played. They could clearly see her throw a pencil at it and then everything went black. “Or I was wrong.” Tim started to do a series of calculations. 

“Bucket-head might be onto something. With her muscle mass, it would be impossible to throw a pen with enough force. Actually, it’s almost impossible to make that throw. Not with human muscle density…”

Barbara rolled over to him and the two started to work side by side. “But that’s also not probable since the body is not…” 

“She would probably…” 

“Plant fibers have a similar structure, but she would…” 

“Maybe… Unless she is not strong and instead…”

“Um… earth to nerd corner. Can you explain?”

“Jason might have hit the bullseye.” Tim grinned and several groans could’ve been heard. “She is definitely a meta. It still doesn’t explain why you stalked her.”

“Is that not reason enough?” Red Hood asked. He immediately regretted it when Duke stared daggers at him. 

“You do realize, that metahumans are not as rare as it was believed at the beginning?” Tim asked.

“What?”

“Roughly ten percent of humans are born with dormant meta-gene and the number is increasing each year. And about one in twenty people have an active meta-gene. They just don’t go around wrecking everything or don a cape and run around beating people.” Tim spoke in a matter-of-factly tone. 

“What?”

“Yeah. Eidetic memory, or perfect recall for our uneducated bucket-head,” Tim snickered while Jason grumbled.

“I hate that name.”

“I think it will stay for a while.” Stephanie was smiling. “She does have a way with nicknames. First an overgrown furry, then red Buckethead…” She was on the verge of laughing. “I wonder what she does next?”

“As I was saying,” Tim regained the control of the conversation, “eidetic memory is actually one of the earliest forms of registered active meta-ability.”

“What?”

“The gene tends to activate under extreme duress, but, as we learned, the definition of extreme duress varies from person to person.”

“So what? A guy afraid of failing an exam might accidentally unlock super memory?” Jason dismissed it.

“More like if someone lived in years under pressure and is about to crack.” Dick pointed. “I mean there was even this large awareness campaign about four years ago led by Beast Boy. Where were you?”

“Dead.” Jason deadpanned. “I was dead.”

“Oh… I guess you didn’t see Garfield’s movies then?” Steph asked, being the first to break through the heavy atmosphere.

“She is still a meta.” Jason tried to fight, but his arguments were wavering. 

“Which changes nothing. You will go to her tomorrow and apologize.” Tim said categorically. 

“Ugh! Fine. But I got one more interesting fact: Demon Spawn got himself a girlfriend.” He grinned and turned to Damian. Everyone followed his gaze.

“Tt. I have no idea what you are talking about Todd.” 

“That blonde! Charlie saw you two sitting and eating pastries together! She is the new intern!” Dick had a big fat smile on his face and his eyes were almost glittering. “Who is she? How did you two meet?”

“Blonde?” Tim suddenly paled considerably. “There is only one blonde intern. Please tell me you aren’t dating Chloe Bourgeoise of all people!” He squeaked.

Damian wanted to deny it further, but seeing the Replacement’s reaction he changed his mind. The grin that formed on his face was borderline malicious before turning back to the emotionless mask he wore every day. “Yes. She finally admitted that I was not at fault for the cake incident. She is actually tolerable now.” 

“What cake incident?” Steph asked, smelling some juicy story about her ex. That kind of story was the best.

“Tt. When we were at this gala in Paris two years ago, Replacement attacked me and we fell into the birthday cake.”

“It doesn’t sound…” Dick started, but Damian interrupted him.

“The cake had six levels and was about as tall as I am now. Mayor Bourgeoise was not happy that we ruined his precious princess’s birthday.”

“So that’s why we no longer go to Paris?”

“Tt. No. That’s because Jason almost trashed the Louvre.” 

“Right…” Tim mumbled while his eyes closed. In just a moment, he was snoring away on the chair.

“Damn. I thought it would work faster.” Barbara complained while peeling the near-invisible sticker away from his neck. 

-----

Thursday actually passed without any trouble for Marinette. The class finally got it through their collective single brain cell that she had the power to end their trip with two words. She was slowly getting the grip on the work and after some talk with Penny, where the woman practically forced Mari to listen to some additional advice. She was actually offended that the girl didn’t call her immediately. 

She did have to practically drag her barely conscious boss to a meeting in the afternoon, but he didn’t put up much of a fight after she gave him a Tikki Special Coffee. The small goddess giggled inside her pocket the entire time as the boy begged on his knees.

After work, she and Chloe went to the Gotham Zoological Garden. At first, she wanted to go to the Botanic Garden first, but their class was supposed to visit there after work, so the girls went to Zoo instead. Gotham had a much broader collection of birds than Paris did. And the less chance of running into their classmates, the better.

“...He did what?” Chloe asked louder than necessary, but nobody paid the two girls in smart outfits any attention.

“Yeah. But don’t worry. I gave him a piece of my mind.” Mari dismissed it.

“It’s still creepy.”

“I know. That’s why I sicced the police at him.”

“That’s my girl!” 

“Well, I threatened to send you and Damian after him, but I decided it would be too cruel.” She smiled. “Besides, I’ve seen that Red Buckethead is trending already.” She pulled out her phone and showed a post there was a picture of Red Hood next to a reversed red bucket.

FashionMari @QueenGoldie Someone in a red bucket was stalking me. I was torn between calling the police and criticizing their fashion choice. In the end, I did both. 

“Only you Goldie. Only you…”

--------

Friday was press conference day. For once, Mari woke up earlier and got dressed in record time. Chloe watched from the side-lines as the girl moved around like a tornado, preparing everything and triple-checking all arrangements. She changed outfits four times before finally the blonde grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to sit down. 

“Goldie! You know I love you and I would kill for you,” She started, “but if you don’t calm down I will tie you up and leave you here for the day.”

“But…!” Bluenette tried to protest, but Chloe cut her off.

“No buts. We are only sixteen. I for one came here to learn a bit and maybe meet someone. You are supposed to be learning. Nobody said anything about getting a full-time job.”

“The deal…”

“So what if they fire you?” Chloe raised her hands over her head. “Ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous! You have Gabriel Agreste and Audrey Bourgeoise fighting over who will get you while Jagged Stone is willing to fly over half the world just to give your references in person. You run a very successful flower shop and even more successful boutique.”

“But…” She tried to muster a weak protest, but Chloe’s angry gaze made her wither. 

“I will not let you run yourself dry!” The blonde stated firmly. “So either you take a step back and breathe or I will call your uncle.”

“Not uncle Jagged! he already banned me from drinking coffee!”

“So you will behave?” Chloe asked with a smirk. 

“Fiiiinneee!” Mari couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, Queenie. I needed this. I’m glad I have you as my friend. And sister.” 

“Well of course you needed me! Everyone needs me!” She huffed before her expression became more gentle and she pulled Mari into a hug. 

Downstairs the class was waiting for them. Probably they finally gathered the courage to confront her about Alya’s fate. The girl shouldn’t have lied while filing for promotion. Mari and Chloe stormed past them not even sparing them a glance. Outside, Adrien was already waiting inside the limousine with Gerard at the driver’s seat. 

“I’m glad your driver is finally here.”

“Me too!” The blond boy was practically beaming. “I’m free from Lila’s clutches.”

“Could you drop us at… No. 2 Twine Street?” Mari asked the gorilla, who only grunted in response.

“Um… We should be going to Wayne Tower.”

“Nope.” Mari popped the ‘p’. “You,” she pointed at Adrien, “are an intern in PR. I asked for you to be present at the press conference to help move stuff around and so on.” 

“And me?” Chloe asked. “If you expect me to…” 

“You’re there to support your boyfriend. He was the one that practically demanded that I get you there. He hates publicity.”

“Oh… Good then. Let’s go.”

“Boyfriend?” Adrien asked curiously. “You mean Wayne?”

“Yeah. Apparently Chloe found herself a partner in scheming.”

“I bet that their dates are filled with planning to take over the world.”

“We could’ve taken the world over by lunch if we wanted.” Chloe looked almost offended. “The question is what way would be the most suitable one.” 

All three of them broke into laughter as the car rode through the city of crime.

----

About fifteen minutes before the press conference was scheduled to start, Tim Drake was still not there. None of the Waynes were there in fact. She sent about fifteen angry messages to Mr. Drake and he was still not here, which only fueled her stress and anger. 

The press had no idea so far and they were eagerly awaiting whatever news the company wanted to present. She bit her lower lips. Chloe was on the phone, trying to reach her boyfriend.

“If that idiot doesn’t get here in the next ten minutes, I’m going to consider stabbing him.” 

“Damian?!” Chloe shouted into her phone. 

“Tt. What do you want?”

“First of all, that’s not how you talk to your girlfriend. Second of all, where in the world is your excuse of a brother?! Mari is an inch from going ballistic!”

“Tt. He’s asleep.” Damian answered in an impassionate tone.

Mari leaped over and wrestled the phone from Chloe. “You go to him right this moment or I swear to all that’s holy and…”

“I get it.” He interrupted her, showing signs of irritation. There were some static and the camera blurred for a moment from the fast motion. When it returned, she saw barely awake Tim Drake wearing blue onesies. 

“wah…”

“Get yourself cleaned up and into a suit in the next three minutes!” She shouted. God bless the soundproof backstage.

“Um… But I will never make…”

“I’m certain you have a great webcam somewhere in this big mansion of yours. Set it in the library and call me in the next few minutes. I so hope you were not supposed to be the model because gods help me…” She took a look at his terrified face. “Of course you were…” 

“In my defense…”

“Shut up. Get going!” She hanged up and turned to Adrien and Chloe, who were looking at her with a mixture of fear and awe. “What are you waiting for?!” She tossed a package to the boy. “You get dressed in the new product.” She pushed him outside and into the janitor’s closet on the other side. “And you’re coming with me!” She dragged Chloe toward the main room. The blonde was sent to the technics room to get the feed started while Mari stepped on the scene. The chatter died quickly and all reporters turned to her.

“Hi. Please forgive us for the slight delay. We have minor technical difficulties that are being solved as we speak. In the meantime, you are free to take the seats. The conference is about to start.” 

Behind her, a screen slowly descended. She saw Adrien leaning from the doors leading backstage and smiling at her. 

“Without further ado, I present you Tim Drake, CEO of Wayne Enterprises.”

The image of the teen with black hair appeared on the screen and he waved everyone. He was holding a red cup of coffee with black polka dots, the same Tikki summoned for him the first time. 

Satisfied with herself, Marinette allowed herself a moment of rest. The conference was going well and after a minute of silence for the dead in the recent attack, the presentation began. Adrien was a natural model so it all went great. Wayne Tech in co-operation with Gabriel brand was introducing a new line of ‘smart’ fabric that could withstand medium stress and was almost impossible to dirty or stain. She had to admit it was quite amazing. Apparently, it was partially how Mr. Agreste got her class internship. Granted, Adrien was not supposed to be the model but you don’t look a gifted horse in the mouth. 

Everything was going great until the doors to the room were kicked open and several goons barged in, followed by none other than Two-face. Everyone immediately fell onto the floor. Mari couldn’t help but sigh exasperatedly. Why did it have to go wrong at every turn?

Ignoring the terrified stares, she stormed toward the intruders. “Excuse me, sir?” She asked with an emotionless face.

“What?” The man looked clearly irritated.

“I don’t see your name on the guest list. Did you remember to call in advance?”

“Of course not! Do I look like…” The criminal was clearly angry. 

“Then I apologize, but I must ask you to leave now.” 

“Do you have any idea who I am?” Two-face pulled his gun.

“I’m sorry, sir, but if you are not on on the list, I can’t let you stay.” She said in an emotionless voice. Mari was honestly too tired to care at this point. Maybe at least the evening would be better.

“I’m not sure you get the situation, miss. I’m not here for the interviews. Everyone pull out your wallets and drop them in the sacks!” He shouted while his men started to walk around.

“Hm… That won’t do.” She said. After muttering something under her breath, Mari tossed her clipboard. The spinning board hit one of the mooks in the head, knocking him cold, before bouncing and hitting the next one. After that, it returned to her hand. 

That was enough for Two-Face. He aimed his gun at her, but she moved faster than he anticipated. Within seconds, she grabbed his wrist and pushed it up so he was aiming at the ceiling. She squeezed it hard enough to make him drop the gun right into her other waiting hand. The girl let go of his wrist and disassembled the gun into pieces in what could become record time. 

Now irritated, Mari grabbed Two-face by his tie and pulled him down until they were at the same eye-level. 

“I was trying to do it peacefully sir. I am now ordering you to leave. Otherwise, I will actually have to hurt you.” She leaned closer until she was able to whisper. “And don’t make mistakes, Dent. I can and will hurt you.” For a moment her eyes lost the blue coloring and became entirely iridescent green, glowing slightly. 

Harvey Dent rarely felt fear. His life was more often than not guided by the toss of a coin. Now though, he stared in the eyes of Poison Ivy, except ten times scarier. He was already afraid of that woman after she almost fed him to her ‘precious’.

“I… I am deeply sorry madame.” He spoke carefully. “Men! We are moving out. Leave the bags!” And with that, they were all gone. 

Most of the reporters gave Mari big applause. There was only one angry old man that stared daggers at the girl. 

“You let that scum go away!” He shouted. “He was a criminal.”

“Sir. You are free to go after him if that’s your wish. I’m at work and my job description never included chasing after criminals.”

“But… But…” 

“Anyway, we were in the middle of the press conference if I’m not mistaken.”

-------

NEXT

[justcourttee]

So you are one of my favorite writers for the Maribat Fandom and this is litterally like just on the edge getting ready to dive into barely there territory. . . but imagine Chloe "Queen B" Bourgeois deciding that Roy Harper is her future husband because he is the only one her age with the potential to even hyphenate Queen. She /will/ get her title in her civilian life if she has to drag Roy to the courthouse herself. Cue shenanigans and chaos friends to lovers lol

You’re so sweet and I hope I did your prompt justice. I love the Roy X Chloe energy and this is just something I could picture cannon Chloe trying. I hope you enjoy! @risaxtitan

The Future Mrs. Queen

The day Oliver Queen announced to the world in that fated press conference that he was adopting Roy Harper, the younger boy had no idea how much his life was about to change.

He was still floating on Cloud 9 as he stepped off of the stage and into the crowd where his friends awaited him.

“Dude, congrats! It’s like all official now!” Adrien clapped him on the back, causing him to stumble forward a little.

“It still feels unreal.”

“Tt, it’s not like your his blood son, but I suppose this will be a good opportunity for you.”

Roy cocked his head to the side as he tried to debate if Damian was congratulating him or not. A small smack echoed following an ‘oof’ as Marinette’s bright smile entered his view.

“I’m so happy for you Roy! Conner, Jon, and Wally wanted to come with us, but you know how it goes. Always a mission somewhere.”

Roy shook his head, the smile still plastered across his face.

“It’s fine Mari, it’s not like today was the real thing. This was just a press conference. They were there when we officially signed the papers and that’s what matters in my book.”

“So, like, is your last name officially Queen now?”

Roy’s attention snapped to his left where a familiar blonde stepped out from behind Adrien. She fiddled with the ends of her curled hair, her mischievous blue eyes locked onto his. Certainly if a beautiful girl like her had told him her name, he wouldn’t have forgotten it.

“I suppose so. It’s officially Roy William Harper-Queen.”

Her smile was blinding as he nervously reached back to rub the back of his very warm neck.

“Oh Gods, we are so dense! I’m sorry Roy! This is my friend Chloe Bourgeois! Adrien was supposed to introduce you two earlier, but we all got separated in the crowd. She’s a big fan of Oliver Queen, so when she heard my dear friend was getting adopted by him-”

“I just had to come.” She stepped in front of Marinette, reaching forward to grab his hand. “Did you know that I tried to legally change my name to Queen? But my mother wouldn’t let me! She’s ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. Something about it wouldn’t be good for my modeling career or whatever. But now, you can help me with that! Can’t be bad if it’s my husband’s last name.”

Roy stumbled out of her grasps, his entire face matching the red on his head.

“Hu-husband? Girl, we just met. You can’t go around saying things like that!”

Chloe waved off his embarrassment as her blinding smile pulled into a mischievous smirk.

“Like it or not Roy Harper-Queen, you will be my husband, even if I have to drag you to the courthouse myself!”

“Yeah right blondie.” He couldn’t help the stutter in his voice as he hid behind Damian’s chuckling figure.

There was no denying how attractive she was, but he would be damned if he let a pretty blonde step in and seal his fate.

“Maybe not today, but you’re going to love me Roy Harper-Queen, just you wait.”

The flip of her hair felt like a slap across his face as he watched her retreating figure dragging Marinette with her.

“So like, Can I be your best man? I know that you’ve known the other’s longer and all, but like we are always hanging out together! That has to count for something.”

Adrien’s wide eyes and pout earned a slight chuckle from the redhead as his eyes trailed back to where his friends stood.

“Sure Agreste, I’m sure everyone won’t mind one bit. You might have to fight Tim-”

“Tt, is that supposed to be a threat?”

Adrien and Roy shared a look before bursting into laughter. Roy slung his arms around the two boys as they headed off into the crowd. He wouldn’t see Chloe for another couple of weeks, but that didn’t stop the blonde from monopolizing his every thought.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“C’mon Arsenal, you really going to let your ass get beat by a little girl?”

Roy sneered as he pushed himself off the matt for the third time that day.

When Dick asked if he wanted to train with the Batclan, Roy was over the moon. Batman hardly let anyone into his special training spot without him being there. He didn’t think twice when he put the motorcycle in park outside of Wayne Manor. He already knew what to expect, Dick’s flexibility, Stephanie’s strategy, Damian’s rage. What he wasn’t expecting was to see a certain blonde and his two friends.

“She’s not beating my ass Stephanie, I just don’t want to hurt her.”

Dick had a hard time holding back his laugh as he leaned on Marinette for support. A hand shot into his line of view as he accepted Chloe’s helping pull him the rest of the way to his feet.

“C’mon mon chéri, your face is pretty too, but it’s not going to make me pull my punches. Give it to me, cherry.” She sent a wink in his direction as she set up for another spar.

If you asked Roy later, the red in his cheeks was from the anger at being called a cherry, but anyone could see the blush betraying him.

Chloe darted forward, dodging his first swing before smacking his butt.

“HEY!”

Roy pushed himself out of her reach as Stephanie and her shared a fist bump. There was no way he was getting out of training alive. He needed a way to finish this as quickly as possible.

“Blondie, what if we make a bet?”

Chloe raised her eyebrow at him, encouraging him to continue as she set herself back up in the circle.

“The next one of us to pin the other gets to pick the next hang out spot. I know it’s your turn in the rotation, so if you win, nobody will put a restriction on your choice.”

Her eyes glistened dangerously as a collective gasp sounded behind them.

“Hey, Roy, are you sure you want to do that? She-”

“Shut it Agreste. The boy has named his terms, no restrictions for me, or he gets to steal my turn. I’ll gladly accept Ginger.”

A sudden shift in the atmosphere was easily noticeable. Inadvertently, a shiver went down his back as every hair on his body stood in high alert. Her first strike was quick, he barely lifted his arms up in time to block it before she had hopped backwards, ready to hit again.

He thought he was the one holding back before, but clearly he was underestimating. Here she was, no longer holding back, toying with him as if he was nothing more than her prey. It was a bit terrifying.

Just as he extended his arm to try and make contact, Roy suddenly found himself on his back, her knee at his throat.

“God, when did you even knock my feet out?”

Her eyes were dancing with humor as she slowly stood, offering her hand to the boy below.

“We tried to warn you, my friend. Chloe doesn’t do competition, she destroys them.”

Adrien offered his hand as well and together the two blondes heaved him to his feet. Marnette shook her head solemnly as she and Dick mock prayed for Roy’s fate.

“So, no restrictions huh? That means overseas is fair game.” Chloe placed a hand gently on Roy’s shoulder sending a chill down his spine. “Guess tomorrow, we are going to Paris, France. Richard, is there a Zeta-Tube that does overseas?”

Dick finished his mock prayer before sending a nod in her direction.

“Perfect. Marinette, tell your little gloomy boyfriend and Timothy that we will be taking a day trip tomorrow, to the city of love.”

She sent a wink to Roy as she stepped out of the rink to grab her towel. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t ignore the racing in his heart all from one little comment.

“You are falling so hard, my friend!” Roy flinched as Dick threw his arm over his shoulder, sharing a fist bump with Adrien.

“I am not! I barely know her! We’re like acquaintances, at most she’s just a friend.”

Adrien stiffened as he bit back his laughter.

“Just you wait, after tomorrow, you’ll be questioning everything you know.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Roy was indeed questioning everything, like his sanity, as he stepped out of the tube and onto the tallest platform of the Eiffel Tower. Taking a quick step back from the edge, he found himself pressed against the cool metal.

“Isn’t it like illegal to be this high up?”

Chloe’s giggle filled the air as she smacked his arm lightly.

“Of course it is, for normal people that is. We can’t just have everyone using the Zeta tubes ginger.” Her fingers curled into his hair as she gave it a light ruffle.

“Tt, man up Harper. Even if you fall, it’s not like you’d hit the ground before someone here saved your sorry ass.”

A small ‘oof’ echoed from where Damian stood as Marinette stepped out of the tube.

“You didn’t even hear what I said!”

“True,” she shrugged, a smug smile pulling at her lips. “But I assume you were making fun of Roy.”

Damian huffed under his breath as he snaked his arm around her waist, drawing her into his side. Roy was never sure how someone like Damian could have landed a sweet angel like Marinette, but if it meant he had a constant guardian angel, he could care less.

“Where’s Adrikins?”

“He said, and I quote, ‘I don’t want to be a third wheel and neither does Tim.’”

Chloe rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t hide the sparkle from the new information.

“Looks like it’s a double date!” She gripped Roy’s arm pulling him from his safety. “You wouldn’t leave me alone to those two annoying lovebirds would you Harper?”

Roy gulped nervously as his eyes darted between the couple and the blonde hanging off of him. With a sigh of defeat, he nodded, allowing her to pull him closer to the edge.

“I hope you’re ready Harper because if you survive today, there’s no way you won’t fall for me.”

Without warning, Chloe used all her strength to push him off the platform. The scream caught in his throat as the wind rushed past him. Some first date! Here she was trying to kill him within the first five minutes!

A flash of yellow flew past him, catching his attention briefly before an arm yanked him out of midair. This time, the scream managed to slip out, but instead of fear, he felt instant relief as he flew through the air pinned to Queen Bee’s side.

“There was an easier way of doing this Chloe!” He tried to shout over the wind but it felt useless. The only indication that she might have heard his pleas came from the sideways smile she flashed him as the came to a halt in an alleyway.

As his feet touched to ground, his legs instantly gave out. On his hands and knees, Roy reassured himself that this was safe, in solid ground. Moments later, a flash of pink blinded him as Marinette and Damian landed in front of him.

“What’s wrong Harper? You look a little green. I thought that was Oliver’s color.”

Roy’s middle finger only seemed to fuel the egotistical smirk Damian bestowed on him.

“If that was too much, I can’t wait to see how you handle the rest of the day.”

His eyes widened as he tried to imagine what could be worse than freefalling a few hundred feet from the highest structure in Paris. Little did he know, he would soon get his answer.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Bourgeois.” He tried to keep his voice steady as he offered his hand to her, but the condescending stare made him want to crumble.

“What do you expect me to do? Shake your hand? Honey, you may have been adopted into money, but you are not money. I do not touch any person that is worth less than I am.”

She turned her back briskly as Roy slowly dropped his hand, unsure of whether to be insulted or not.

“Mom, Roy is my friend, can’t you be nice?”

Her mother’s cold glare rested on Chloe. Roy had no idea how she managed to stand her ground. He wanted to crumble for her.

“You are lucky I let you into my workshop after you have missed the past three fittings. When I said you could move to America with the Marianne kid, I expected you to still make time for the business. Should I begin looking for your replacement?”

The tension between the two of them was deadly. Roy wanted to step in, tell her mother to back off, that Chloe was a hero who didn’t always have time for fashion, but somehow, he figured it would only make it worse.

“No mother, I am here now am I not? Let us work quickly so that I can return home.”

Her tone was icy as she stepped forward, holding out her arms for her mother to remeasure. Roy shifted from foot to foot as he held back his tongue. Her mother commented on her weight gain, complained that she was going to begin to fat to be her model anymore. She commented on her studies, or lack of, and on her being a class d hero compared to Superman.

It was to quietest he had ever seen Chloe Bourgeois.

“If that will be all mother, Roy and I have to meet up with Damian and Marinette.”

Her mother waved her off. Not a single love you, not even a real goodbye. Roy was sure his face matched his hair by the time they had set foot back into the streets.

“So, Mari’s parent's house isn’t too far from here. Wanna swing over?”

It was as if a switch flipped. Back was the flirty social butterfly that he had gotten to know over the past couple of weeks.

“Chloe.”

“C’mon carrot top, swinging really isn’t a bad way to transport. It’s quick and effective.”

“Chloe.”

“Don’t be a chicke-”

“Chloe.”

He hadn’t meant to raise his voice, but he knew what she was trying to do.

“Chloe, why do you let her treat you like that?”

Her lips were pressed into a tight line as she turned, taking a step away from the building.

“Chloe, you don’t have to pretend that it didn’t happen. I’m not going to tell anyone, it’s just, the Chloe I saw in there is nothing like the one I’ve come to know.”

“Well, maybe all you know is a lie.”

Her voice was quiet as she took off at a brisk pace down the street. It took Roy a second to process before he took off after her. Gently, he pulled her arm until she came to a stop once more.

“Then let me get to know the real Chloe. After all, I can’t marry someone I don’t know!”

She laughed half-heartedly at his joke, her smile weak.

“She isn’t very good with her emotions and neither am I. I know that she cares, hell, she wouldn’t let me explore this hero side of me if she didn’t think I had potential. But she always puts business first. I never wanted to go into business with her because she can’t separate family and employees. But I need the money. Daddy won’t let me touch my trust fund until I am secure on my own.”

Roy nodded, a number of things falling into place.

“Why don’t you work for Oliver or Bruce like the rest of us?”

Chloe shrugged, her fingers absentmindedly reaching for his.

“They have offered before, but I really feel like the way to her heart is through the family business. I know she wants to leave it to me one day and if I abandon it now, she might reconsider, and honestly, that would hurt her more than me. She’ll never say it to my face, but it would mean the world to me if I could be her legacy.”

A moment of silence passed, and then two as Roy admired the determination that crossed her face. Somehow, it made her more beautiful than she already was. He hadn’t even noticed how close they had gotten until a soft cough snapped him back to reality.

“Well, we only left you for like two hours. Is this a new development?”

Marinette and Damian shared a smirk as Chloe dropped his hand as if it was burning her. She tried to pull up her scarf, but it was too late. The red on her cheeks were burning, matching his he was sure.

“I don’t know what you are referring to Dupain-Cheng. Let’s head back to the tower. A certain blonde must feel my wrath.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

As Roy laid in bed that night, his thoughts kept wandering back to that moment.

She was so close, her lips were so close, so full, so red. They were drawing him in and if Marinette hadn’t stopped them..

“Ughh,” he buried his red face into his pillow, willing his pounding heart to still.

He rolled over to where his phone sat, the dark screen bugging him. Not a single text from her after they returned, not even one from Marinette or Damian teasing him. Reaching out, he lifted the phone toward his face.

Clicking on his photos, the most recent one lit up his entire screen, sending his heart into another fury. Chloe had borrowed his phone, leaving several adorable selfies that he only found a couple hours later.

Not that he wanted to admit it to anyone, but maybe he could admit to himself that just maybe, he was already head over heels for Chloe Bourgeois.

Just as he moved to place it back onto his charger, a text message pinged.

‘Still awake carrot top?’

Roy couldn’t help the smile that tore across his face.

‘Depends. Whose asking blondie?’

‘You’re ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. Now open your window, my arm is getting tired.’

Instantly, Roy shot up as he opened his window. Looking around, he couldn’t find her. He was ready to close it when his instinct told him to look up. Sure enough, Queen Bee sat dangling, motioning for him to move out her way.

With one great heave, Chloe swung into his room, dropping her transformation before her feet even touched the ground.

“Miss me that much?”

The sound of his own voice was foreign as his wide smile was certain to leave his cheeks sore in the morning.

“Oh don’t get full of yourself Harper. I just wanted to thank you for today.”

“Mhmm, this seems mighty personal for a thank you.” He took a step forward, his stomach flipping multiple times.

“I may have also wanted to see you. After all, no text, no call. How is a girl supposed to feel after you almost kiss her?”

She stepped forward closing the gap between them, the smirk on her face as graceful as ever.

“I could say the same thing about you. Running off to another man after spending a day in the city of love with me?”

Hestitanly, he raised his hand to cup her cheek, basking in the feeling of how soft her skin felt against his palm.

“Harper, I want to be to future Mrs.Queen, so what do you say? The courthouse is still open in Paris, we can go right now.”

Roy couldn’t help the laugh that escaped. Gently, he stroked the side of her cheek, admiring her every feature. Leaning forward, he heard her breath hitch in her throat right as their lips were a mere inch apart.

“How about we start with a first date? A real date?”

Chloe’s warm breath tickled his lips as his pounding heart awaited her answer.

“I suppose Mrs. Queen will have to wait, I’ll pick you up, tomorrow Harper. Be ready.”

Just as quickly as he leaned in, she lept back, already calling her transformation. Racing to the window, she looked over her shoulder, blowing him a kiss before slinging away. Hesitantly, he approached the window, watching her retreating figure, his heart still racing a million miles a minute.

It started off a soft chuckle, but it soon grew. With a grand smile, Roy returned to his bed, his thoughts all centered around one blonde. Marriage was sounding less and less like the scary thought he had when he first met her. He wasn’t sure the exact moment that it sounded so good, but he didn’t care.

After all, Chloe Harper-Queen had a nice ring to it.

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[delos-mio]

First Thing To Go - THE BEFORE

First thing to go was the sound of his voice...

The Before

The condo was dead silent- a knife with a jagged blade cutting through your very existence. But you hadn’t found it in yourself to play anything. Not the tv, not a movie. In fact, the record you’d loved so much and used to dance around to, smiling like everything was good, practicing for your first dance as husband and wife, lied broken on the floor. It was just another casualty of the night before. 

Damian had been very calm when he told you it was over. His face was stone and if he was hurting deep down inside, his eyes gave nothing away. It was just a fucking transaction for him. You knew he could be cold- you’d experienced that plenty- but you never knew he could be so cruel. All he said was that he was sorry as he left you crying on the couch, the first piece of furniture you’d purchased together. No tears, no kiss goodbye, not even a sigh. Then it was just silence. Echoing, never ending silence.

Once you’d regained your breath and managed to dry your eyes enough to see again, you quickly texted your mother and your maid of honor, letting them know there would be no need to show up to the rehearsal dinner tomorrow as there was no longer going to be a wedding. Before either of them could get a single question out, you’d turned off your phone, tossing it somewhere in the bed. You hadn’t stepped foot into the bedroom, much less slept in the bed you used to share, since that night either. 

Everything you looked at was a stinging reminder of the life you were supposed to share together. The life you’d already started to build. The condo was outfitted with art and furniture and media you’d picked out together. Shit, even some of the gifts off your registry had already shown up to the condo. He was woven into every fucking surface, into every fiber and space of the home you once shared together. It was really starting to make you sick. 

With rage turning in your stomach, making you ill and angry, you looked around for anything Damian might have left behind. First thing was that stupid record. The one with the song that would have been your first dance as husband and wife. You went over and tore it off the shelf. You ripped it from the sleeve and promptly lifted your knee and cracked it over the top without a second thought. From there, it was an Easter egg hunt- finding and destroying, finding and destroying. By the end of your rampage, you were in full blown hysterics, the tears seemingly never ending. That night, you fell asleep on the floor, exhausted and broken. 

It had now been a full 24 hours since Damian left his key on the counter and shut the door behind him. Tomorrow, you were supposed to become Mrs. Langford. What a difference a day makes. 

You were zoning out in front of the TV, not even registering what was on the screen, when there was a knock on the door. Your heart immediately leapt into your throat. Maybe Damian realized what a fucking asshole he was and came crawling back to beg for your forgiveness. It was a tall order, but you couldn’t help but get your hopes up just a little as you sat up. But then there was relentless pounding on the door and a muffled shout from the voice you knew belonged to your maid of honor. It was only a matter of time before she came to hunt you down, really.

“If you don’t open this door in 3 fucking seconds,” Kendra hollered as you slid the deadbolt and looked her in the eye. “Christ…” she mumbled to herself, her dark eyes turning soft and sad. “Baby.”

“Yeah,” you sighed, moving aside so she could come in. The place was a mess, you knew that, you just couldn’t be bothered to clean up. What was the point anymore? Kendra followed you to the couch and took a pillow in her lap, tugging at a tasseled end as she clearly tried to think of how best to approach you.

“How...Why…” Kendra took a breath to regroup. “What the hell happened?”

You let out a sad chuckle and idly spun the engagement ring still on your finger for some reason. “I don’t know. I don’t know when or how it started.” That much was true. Damian had given you only need-to-know information the other night. “I came home from work and went to go change into sweats or whatever and when I opened the closet, all his shit was gone. Then I went to the bathroom and all his stuff was out of there too. So I’m kinda freaking out at that point because Dame’s not home and like, everything is gone. He didn’t say anything about staying elsewhere before the...” You took a steadying breath. “I tried to call him and kept getting the machine. Probably on like the 10th try, I heard him come in.”

“It’s ok,” Kendra said, placing a comforting hand on your knee.

“He comes in and says ‘oh, I forgot to leave my key’ like that just explains everything!” Your voice steadily rose. “So I’m like, what the fuck where were you? Where is all your shit? And Dame looks me dead in the eye and says ‘I can’t marry you Saturday. There’s someone else. I’m sorry.” Six goddamn years and he gives me three stupid, little sentences.” Your voice broke and finally a few stray tears fell from your eyes. 

“Someone...someone else? Who!” Kendra shouted. “I swear to fucking god I’m going to cut his fucking balls out,” she added under her breath.

“I don’t know, Ken. He managed to leave that part out,” you said with a sad laugh. “He just...it’s like I never even mattered. I mean, did he ever even want me?”

Kendra was on her knees in an instant, kneeling in front of you and taking your face between her hands. “You matter so much. You are the kindest, funniest, hottest girl I know and I hope Damian fucking Langford chokes,” she said fiercely. “I’m so sorry babe,” she cooed and thumbed away your tears. 

“I don’t understand what I did wrong,” you whispered. 

“This is on him, not you. You understand that, right?”

“I mean, yeah, but…”

“No. No ‘but’. He’s a fucking piece of shit and there’s nothing in heaven or hell that could change that, ok?” Kendra moved to sit next to you. It felt good to have someone in your corner. Maybe you shouldn’t have turned off your phone so fast. “So after his bitch ass left, you destroyed what was left of his stuff?” she asked, surveying the rest of the condo. 

“Something like that,” you chuckled before sniffling. “God, what am I supposed to do?”

Kendra rubbed your back as she pondered the question in silence. She let out a little excited gasp and shook your shoulder. “We should go on your honeymoon!”

“What now?”

“You guys already paid for it, right?” You nodded. “So why don’t we get on that plane on Sunday, go hang out in a nice ass suite in Hawaii for two weeks, and charge everything to his card!”

“I don’t know, Ken,” you said. “I feel kinda weird about going, you know? I don’t know if I can stomach it.”

“Babe, you deserve it,” Kendra said, punctuating every word. “The money is spent, gone, goodbye! So if we don’t go, it’ll just sit there gathering dust when we could be drinking pina coladas and watching surfers and fucking...I don’t know! Getting massages!” Kendra took your hand in hers and squeezed. “There’s no one on earth that deserves a vacation more than you do right now.”

You sat with the idea for a moment. Kendra made a good point, after all. But could you really find it in you to sit on a plane for 12 hours, stewing over the fact that you should be flying with Damian, basking in the afterglow of a perfect wedding? The other option was to stay in Chicago and sulk in your condo still alone and still miserable.

“Ok,” you finally whispered, nodding your head. Kendra let out a breath and finally really smiled at you.

“I’m so fucking proud of you.” She kissed your temple. “Let’s get you in the shower, ‘cause clearly you haven’t even thought about one since...then. And then we’ll pack and get in bed.”

You were so grateful she came over. At least someone was keeping it together.

---

Sunday morning came and you’d made it with plenty of time to the flight out of O’Hare. Now, Kendra had her head on your shoulder, snoring only loud enough for you to hear. You had hoped you’d be able to pass out on the plane, but your brain wouldn’t quiet for long enough to let you drift off. Instead, you were stuck looking out over the Pacific, stuck on how it should have been Damian pressed up to you. But he wasn’t. Nor would he ever be again. Now all you could do was hope that the hotel would have a tray of drinks waiting for you when you arrived.

[miss-choco-chips]

From the ground up.

The road to recovery is a bumpy one, but Tim’s (reluctantly) ready for the drive. He just hopes they won’t crash and burn.

-.-.-

Tim recovers after an injury. Mending his bonds with the bats its a plus. 

Or, Tim can’t exactly run away from a conversation, and they all take advantage of it.

( @animemangasoul asked for Tim actually needing his crutches. Of course my dumb ass  brain needed to take that idea and make a whole, emotional thing of it. Threw in some family bonding cause why not. 

Babe I did my best, and if it’s bad I’m blaming exams and life stress of me being unable to properly deliver what you hoped for)

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It had been a stupid decision. Self sacrificing, reckless, idiotic. He doesn’t know Bruce’s disappointed eyes, Dick’s worried ones or Damian’s disdainful sneer to know it.

Still, it had been his choice, and he’s going to stand by it. Even if it means having Steph pose as Red Robin for some time. Even if he has to deal with M’gann’s guilty looks at failing to convince him to change places, to allow her to get shot while he took the criminal out, instead of what they actually did. Even if it means getting annoyed, nearly hysterical texts from basically everyone he knows, condemning him for his stupidity. 

The only ones he had explained himself to were Tam -who honestly deserves it after all the shit he was going to put her through, dealing with her recent trauma (courtesy of assassins) and the press going haywire at Tim’s broken engagement and then almost fatal injury-, Steph (who was going to be changing between Batgirl and Red Robin for some time to keep the whole charade up and Vale off their track) and M’gann herself, who had needed some serious explanation before she conceded to Tim getting shot in front of her for appearances sake.

The rest of the world? They could rot in curiosity, for all he cared. Bruce had probably extrapolated enough from his succinct explanation about Vicky to understand the whole plan. Dick was probably dying to know, but with their relationship strained as it was wouldn't dare to ask. Damian… who know how the devil’s mind works. Alfred was already used to the Bat’s collective shit, and would probably just sigh and make chicken soup for him.

What he wasn’t cool about was being forced to have his recovery period in the Manor. He had a perfectly funcional place for himself, thank you very much, and could wobble around in his crutches from bedroom to kitchen to his small, personal cave, no problem. But Bruce had been unmoving in his decision, going as far to physically carry Tim in his arms, like a toddler, from the hospital steps to the car. It had been humiliating, but he couldn't exactly wiggle free in front of all the reporters, could he? How to explain a nerve strike to his dad, and his own ability to withstand the pain of falling back to his feet?

(Because he totally could stand the pain. He had done it in the dessert with a ruptured spleen, he could deal with a slightly damaged spine)

He was going to have his revenge though. As soon as he was able to move freely without clenching his teeth from the pain.

He’s being deposited on the bed, when he notices Damian lingering around the door. He was looking at Bruce, a little unsure, more than a bit of envy at the care which his father bestowed on Tim. Before, those jealous eyes would have made him weary of an attack. Now, with Bruce and Dick having forced a promise of civility from the kid, he was still on guard but not ready to flee at any given second. Perpetually tensing would only dampen his recovery, after all.

It was still something to think of. The lack of fire in his eyes. He… looked like a kid. Not as much a demon as he had been when Tim went away.

Well. Only time would tell if he had truly changed.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Bruce had ordered bed rest. No work, detective or CEO. Nothing more straining (for the mind or body) than watching a movie. Eating and sleeping were his only allowed activities. Even reading was to be moderated, because Tim was known to lose himself in any topic that caught his fancy and forget everything else. 

Tim had listened to his reasoning, nodding along and adding his own helpful insight, smiling when his head was patted in response to his obedience. Waved cheerfully as Bruce left, made smalltalk with Dick when he visited hi room before heading out for patrol (theirs was a talk that he wasn’t really looking forward but knew he wouldn't be escaping for long), thanked Alfred for the food and ate half of it under his watchful eye. Even took the medicine with just mild complains.

The perfect picture of innocence and submission. Right until the butler went to the Cave to man the comms.

Then all bets were off.

Moving his bed out of the way to get the laptop hidden below the loose tile under it was impossible in his current condition, but thankfully he had been able to talk Bruce into letting him keep his phone, and his briefcase wasn’t too far to not be able to make the walk without crutches (painful as it was).

Before an hour had passed, he had the wall by his bed covered with post it notes, connected by red sting and pins here and there. A pretty evidence board, even with the lacking resources. Perrrfect for a little Tim-Time, a small bit of detective work.

Bruce would certainly bitch about him moving around so much, taping pieces of information or moving the string around, but, well. What Bruce didn’t knew…

-I thought Father ordered bed rest.

The voice, completely unexpected (he had either been in too deep thought, or the brat was getting better at stealth), made him jump so high and sudden he almost pulled his stitches. The medication, fading with each hour, had weaned enough he felt every bit of tissue, still torn from the shot, straining under the move.

It resulted in the longest, filthiest string of curses his sharp mind could come up with, partnered with gasps and a lot of hair pulling in a instinctual attempt to redirect the pain from his torso to somewhere less dire.

-No one taught you to knock and not to startle convalescent people, brat? -he spats between clenched teeth, squinting through barely-opened eyes to glare at him- And why aren’t you patrolling? 

The kid was on pijamas. Tim can’t remember the last time he saw him unarmed. Though he probably still had at least a dagger on himself that he couldn't see.

Bruce and Dick’s promise echoed in his mind, but just in case, he let one of his arms go around his middle, acting as if trying to soothe his hurt (okay, maybe it wasn’t all an act) while he palmed the three Red Robin pallets he had secured between his bandages earlier.

Damian scoffed and approached him, careful to keep a healthy distance but enough so he could properly appreciate Tim’s wall.

-Apparently, Father knows better than to trust you to behave, and he came up with a schedule to keep an eye on you. For what reason, it escapes me. Your death could only serve as a stress relief for everyone, specially if it was caused by your own stupidity. And you didn’t answer my question.

A large part of him wanted to tell him to fuck off. An even larger reminded him he was barely armed, heavily incapacitated, and that Damian had actually answered him first, so, technically, it was fair to do the same.

He sighs and leans back into the pillows, shoulder on the wall crumpling the photo of his number three suspect.

-Whatever. Bruce clearly bought when I said I’d act the part, otherwise he would have cleaned my room of anything useful. You’re probably here because paranoia is too deeply ingrained in the man, or he thinks you could use a rest too. Or both. 

Probably both, Tim thinks. He’s ready for Damian’s sneer and a declaration that he ‘didn’t need a rest’, most likely paired with an insult. 

Instead, Damian surprises him by tilting his head and looking at him with something akin to curiosity.

-You lied to Father? And he… believed you?

Feeling his petty bitch inside stirring, he smirked- What, like it’s hard?

It actually was, it required a hell of a mental preparation and careful planning. But once you learned how to pull it off and took care to polish it, it was a often used weapon.

Damian wouldn't let any positive emotion towards Tim willingly show on his face, so the amaze was most likely honest. It was… a little humbling, truth be told. 

-Tell you what -he decides, pulling his best negotiator voice, to cut the kid some slack-, you keep this little naughtiness -a nod towards the wall- between us and help me hide all proof before B comes back, and I give you some  pointers in how to lie to Batman. 

Damian seems truly torn. On one hand, Tim can guess, it's the mission his father entrusted him, and his deeply ingrained disdain to anything Tim proposed. On the other, the temptation of such a useful tactic, and the fact that he didn’t really care for Tim’s wellbeing enough to stop him from doing his thing.

-What are you working on?- he asked, likely gaining time while he mulled his options.

-Cold cases -a shrug-. It’s just a pastime of mine. I dig into Bruce’s old files, search for anything he couldn't solve, and work on it until I do. It’s really good for self esteem, and it helps a lot of people who never got closure for whatever it happened to them. 

-Father will know you disobeyed if you solve it.

-I’ll wait until he gives me permission for some light work, and then dump all my worked out cases on him at the same time.

There’s something akin to wonder fighting to make itself known above Damian’s facade of indifference.

-Can you actually solve something Father himself couldn't?

-Done it before, will do it again. What will it be, Damian? Cause if you decide to snitch on me after all, then kindly leave me to this until then. I’m about to crack this, and if its going to be the last one I’m able to work on, I’d hate to leave it halfway.

A few seconds go by, before Damian takes the last step and carefully perches at the end of the bed, eyes solely on the wall.

-I’d prefer to aid in solving this. If it’s true this is something not even the Batman could do… it’d be highly rewarding to work on it. You can teach me the arts of lying another day.

Shocked it actually worked, Tim did his best to swiftly recover. Not one to look at a gift horse in the mouth, he kept his doubts in check to dwell on them later and went back to his wall. 

Having Damian around was surprisingly useful. He could just lay there, in his pillows, and direct the brat through moving the string and adding post it notes here and there, until the whole thing mapped out in front of them, the answer staring at them as clear as the quickly approaching day. 

Satisfaction strong enough to smile despite the ever growing pain in his side, he gave into the urge to give a small pat to Damian’s shoulder before telling him to help take it all down, least Bruce came from patrol and found them on the act. High on the success and more than a little stunned about it, the younger vigilante actually complied, even going as far as to put all their mess back in Tim’s briefcase and bringing him a glass of water to wash down his meds with.

When Batman came to check on his middle son after patro, Nightwing on his shadow, they were regaled with the shocking, unbelievable sight of Damian sleeping, sitting on the ground with the back of his head resting on Tim’s bed, while the bedridden boy himself snored, a hand on top of the smaller kid’s head.

The picture Dick took of them was gonna be his most treasured possession forever.

-.-.-.-.-

-And this will make me a better detective? -questioned Damian, frown  scrunching his nose in a way that Tim couldn't help but think of as adorable. Or as adorable as it could be, in a hell spawn. Fuck, Dick was rubbing off on him.

-It helped me -he shrugs, eyes on his own screen as he makes the proper adjustments-. Long live the queen is a good place to start. You need to consider both the character’s mood when selecting the week’s classes, and the goal you aspire towards. All the while dodging assassinations attempts, commoners uprisings or noble plots depending on the choices you make, and… other stuff. And ruling a country. And getting engaged. It’s a lot of juggling, keeping in mind which skills you need for which event, and it forces you to consider how the character is doing emotionally, something you could seriously use to learn. Want me to give you a run through?

-No need -he scoffed, clicking in the start game option, dubiously reading the introduction-. It seems easy enough.

Tim just smiled, eerie, from his place behind him. 

Damian was sitting in the floor by his bed, back resting against it. The position, if slightly uncomfortable (Drake wasn’t an enemy any longer, if Grayson was to be believed, and after the other night’s joint work he agreed to help train Damian in mind schemes, but he wasn’t a complete ally either… and having such a grey person with such a clear shot at his neck made the assassin in him nervous), was the best way for Drake to watch his progress in this… game, while keeping his wound unbothered. It also kept Damian from ‘sneaking a peek’ at his own screen and ‘cheating at the game’, as he had said. Not that he planned on it, but-- well, all resources, no matter how dirty, were still fair game in the arts of war, as far as he was concerned.

Not that Damian needed the help. This was a silly game. He would probably beat this first try, high score even. Really, the main screen image had a teenager dressed in a frilly, pink, magical girl outfit. How hard could this be?

---

-My cousin just got bitten by a snake. Will she die?

-Wouldn’t you like to know, demon child. You’ll figure it out later in the game. Just keep going.

---

-Why do I keep failing this skill-checks? What am I missing? Is it even relevant? I just passed one that was completely useless about world history, but somehow missed the one that would have helped me keep this stupid girl from getting betrothed. 

-If it was relevant, you’ll know it when, not if, when it kills you.

-...I should save my game here.

-With these shitty skills you’ve built? Sure, if you want to, but at this point you’ll die no matter what.

---

-Is this woman trustworthy? Our father said it was her fault mother died, but she said…

-Hmm. I’m not giving you spoilers. Tell me when you figure it out, one way or the other.

-Well, at least we have our aunt, uncle and cousins. Surely they are on our side, as our family.

-...

-Drake, why are you laughing? 

-...

-Stop it! You are not scaring me!

---

-Look, I said I was not going to help you… but you can’t keep pissing everyone off, baby bat. You’ll never survive until coronation if you do.

-Those people deserved to get executed.

-...some of them, maybe, but you failed a lot of skill checks there, so you don’t have all the facts. Also, if you are gonna fuck with people, at least choose if you are doing it with nobles or peasants. Both of them is taking it a bit too far.

-I am the Queen. Neither would dare oppose me. I will have their heads if they do!

-..okay then. Let the record say I tried.

---

-Is this birthday party important?

-Uhm… Kinda. Your friend just turned of age, which means she gets to inherit control of her lands. There’s also a whole new route if you do go to the party, if you have the necessary abilities for it.

Tim saw the back of Damian’s head bob as he nodded. He gave it a few minutes. Then-

-YOU DIDN’T TELL ME I WOULD DIE ON MY WAY THERE!

-I did say you needed specific skills. Both for the party itself, and to get there.

He was ready for the unholy sound that escaped from Damian’s mouth, finger quickly taping at his phone to record it. That treasure was going to be his new ringtone. It would help with the pain, too. Happiness therapy or something like that, to distract the mind from the hurt. 

---

-Hey, Dami? I’m gonna go get ready for patrol. Are you com/?

-NO -he snapped, neck almost breaking from how quickly he raised his head to look at Dick at the door. Eyes red from staring at the screen for so long, hair a mess after messing it up in incalculable desperation- I’m about to win!  This time, my strategy won’t fail!

Tim, game already finished and now watching a movie (at least until Bruce and Dick left and he could go back to coding a new security system that even Babs wouldn't be able to crack)  tilted his head, examining his brother’s open game.  Week 30, no medicine knowledge, no intrigue, little to no dog training, no composure and not enough divination...yeah, Damian was gonna die again. It was the first time he had lived long enough to reach the tournament, and subsequently, the poisoned chocolates. 

Should he tell Damian? On one hand, the frustration, clear in his face, would tear him apart after yet another failure. But… this was the most fun he had in a long time, and the longest they had gone without either insulting the other. 

-Okay then -mumbled Dick under his breath, smartly retreating out of the room.

Tim waited a few beats- Let me know if you need help. 

-Leave me alone Drake! As if I’d lower myself to such tricks! The victory won’t be truly mine unless I win by my own merits!

Still at the door, feeling both a little ignored and elated at his brothers getting along so nicely, Dick decided to slowly exit the place, least Damian truly snapped and threw a dagger or something at his head.

---

The downside of the pain meds was how drowsy they made him. He didn’t know quite what to do with himself, now that the bags under his eyes were so close to disappearing. He had come so used to them… maybe he’d need to start investing in eyeliner and fake them.

Blinking himself awake, he moved a bit to look at the clock on his bedside table and immediately flinched. He kept forgetting the wound, and then moved and was painfully reminded.

A hand appeared out of nowhere, holding a familiar pill. He took it without prompting, accepting then the glass of water.

-Don’t think too much of this, Drake. I’m merely assisting Pennyworth. Since I’m already here working on my progress, I offered to make sure you don’t forgo your medicine. Again.

The disdainful voice, probably masking the smallest shadow of care, had come familiar enough in the last couple of days that he knew even without opening his eyes who it was. The question of what the hell was he still doing here, after spending the entire day at Tim’s side, remained.

-Damian? Are you still playing?

The kid seemed uncomfortable.

-The idiotic Queen wouldn't stop dying. It’s against my every principle to give up before achieving my goal, so I had to stay here until I passed this… training of yours.

Tim had to bit his check to keep from smiling. Damian was kinda decent at it, but the boy who lied to Batman wasn’t so easily fooled by a half assed attempt. The brat had actually stayed so he could make sure Tim didn’t forget his pain meds and woke the whole manor up with his groans later. 

-Well, as your teacher for this particular test, I’m telling you to call it a day. Go to sleep and come back tomorrow with fresh mind and eyes.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Rehab… sucked. There was no way around it. Sure, he could go the nice, easy way, give himself enough time to heal before starting on the recovery path. But vigilantes didn’t have the luxury of nice, and he needed to be functional again asap. Steph was running herself ragged, working on keeping Tim’s identity on the streets alive and her own territory safe, and there was a limit on how much Tam could take over in WE before collapsing.

Bruce hadn’t been happy about his decision of starting physical therapy while his stitches were still there, but when was he, ever? And the doctors had said he could do it as long as he was careful about it, now that the swelling in his back had disappeared, so he couldn't use them as counterpoints. There was also the nice plus of being emancipated, which made his medical decisions his own, and not even Bruce could just breeze by and ignore them.

Sweet, sweet independence.

Too bad he forgot a tiny detail: how fucking painful it was.

He could move around now, using the crutches, and he had a series of exercises his doc gave him to help regain movement, which he followed like religious doctrine. Two reps before lunch, one before bed. Okay, the physical therapist had said only do one per day, but he couldn't take into account Tim’s vigilante resistance and strength, so he felt safe in his small expansion of the activities.

That was, until the sharp pain on his side made him lose balance during his last rep and trip over his crutches.

A strong arm around his upper chest stopped his fall to the ground, and took the air off his lungs. It didn’t touch his wound, though, which… nice.

-If you're falling jus’ from walking, maybe you're not as ‘recovered’ as I heard.

-Ja...son -he coughs, hand (with the crutch secured to him by nice straps, courtesy of WE’s medical division) raising up to hold Jason’s arm for support. The other man shifted, coming closer, shouldering his weight without a word, his other hand going around his waist, under the wound, to help him along- This… but a scratch.

-Quoting “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” at me won’t keep you out of trouble, little shit. C’mon, I’ll take you back to your room. Which way?

Pointing him in the right direction, Tim took advantage of their closeness to examine the other man.

They weren’t on ‘kill on sight’ terms any longer, but Tim wouldn’t exactly call the man when in a pinch. What was he even doing here? He was fairly sure he and Brucer were still at that ‘mindless anger/deeply rooted guilt’ stage of their relationship, and his book club meetings with Alfred were wednesday afternoons, not friday evenings…

-Stop thinking so much, you’ll strain som’ing.

-I’m not Dick -he fires back almost in instinct, earning a deep chuckle in turn. He shifts a little, looking for a position where his trembling arms wouldn't make the crutches shake quiet so much. If Jason saw his struggle, he respected him enough to say shit about it.

-Speaking of, how’s it going with him?

-I have no idea what you’re talking about. We are fine.

-Yeah, right. And he’s sitting out of helping you with rehab because he suddenly lost one of his hundred hearts and it’s just your luck it was the one he had for you?

-Fuck… -a misstep, and his arms automatically shift to compensate, keeping him standing but paying it in pain when the movement tugs at his side. Jason tightens his grip, an unvoiced promise to keep it from happening again- you.

-Really threatening, with all the gasping and whining. 

-Shut up. Why would we be at odds?

There’s a minute of silence as one of Jason’s hands leave him long enough to open the door to his bedroom.

-I’m jus’ saying -he shrugs as he helps Tim inside and towards his bed-, I know a discarded Robin when I see one.

He’s not sure if the pained sound comes from the jostling as he’s carefully lowered into his pillows, or the strike to his most exposed nerve.

-It was… a tough situation. Dick didn’t have much choice. I -it hurts to say- I get it. 

It had also been right, by Damian. Tim can see it, in the remarkably diminished killer intent he could feel from the kid, and his actual willingness at keeping Tim company and even helping him around when needed.

Even if it was the worst for him, at least one of the two fucked up kids under Dick’s watch had benefited from it. It was… it was good enough. It had to be. Tim was fine, after all.

Jason looks at him for a moment, waiting until the pain yields a bit and he can breath again. Then, taking a seat by his feet, he lets his eyes stray to the photographs mounted on the walls, avoiding Tim’s scrutinizing gaze.

-Even if it makes logical sense, it still hurts. I know how it is.

There’s… not really something he can counter. He moves a bit to find position easier on his side, hiding the nervous twitch with the action.

-I never blamed you for it -he feels compelled to add. Jason winces, as if struck. He’s still not looking at him.

-And the brat’ll probably be the same with you, someday. Means shit now, but… small comforts.

-I guess so… I mean, we’re kinda getting along, now that he can’t try to kill me since I’m convalescente and I’m bored enough to contribute to his training.

Jason seems pained again. Tim is annoyed by how confusing this entire situation is.

-Y’er a good predecessor. He’ll/

-What is this all about? -he cuts, unable to stop himself. This attempt at deep conversation is well and good, but it’s coming out of nowhere and Tim never pictured Jason as one to go around randomly offering wisdom- Why are you here, and with me of all people?

There was a shadow of something passing through his face, before it transformed into the physical intonation of the ‘Fair enough’ feeling. 

-I heard what happened from blondie while she was takin’ care of soom goons on y’er part of town. And… well, I have some experience on getting back on your feet after a bad injury, just in the wake of loosing Robin. Figured you’d be over doing it and getting yourself hurt worse.

It… was a fair assessment of what he was doing, actually. And if there was anyone he could speak about this… it’d be Jason.

-There’s so much I have to do -he sighs, sagging into his bed, relaxing for the first time when in a room with his childhood idol-, and Steph can’t keep running all my cases for me. I keep solving them, but I need groundwork done and she has already so much on her plate by patrolling my side of town, I just… I can’t let people die because I couldn't spy on an arms deal and tore it apart before the guns made their way to the streets. 

Jason looked at him again, his emotions in check, and he seemed to think about it for a minute, before humming.

-What about this? You take it slow and easy with the physical therapy, and I help with that stuff. My territory is somewhat in order, or as much as you can have it in this hellhole of a city, so I have plenty of free time, and… I could use the atonement. After, you know, trying to kill you so many times.

It…was unexpected. Jason, helping him? In exchange of Tim’s wellbeing? It seemed absurd beyond belief, but there was no mistaking the earnestness on his face.

And, well, fuck it. Tim was somehow on speaking terms with one of his formers almost-assassins, what was one more?

...it would also be so worth it, once Dick knew. Tim could already picture his jealousy, seeing the two brothers he was at odds or uncomfortable with, speaking at each other and working together.

And having Jason at his side would keep Bruce from checking on him so often. Two birds, one crowbar. 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

This was shaping up to be the strangest week of his life. Had he entered the twilight zone?

He had gotten kinda used to Damian popping into his room before patrol, or during the nights B forced him to stay at home. He’d work Damian through one of the easiest cold cases, or aid him in his never ending game of Long Live the Queen (he was getting really close to a happy ending, though). In exchange, the kid would keep his work a secret, and help him move around if the pain was too strong, or if he wanted a glass of water and didn’t feel like getting his crutches out for the small trip to the bathroom.

Also, it was somewhat normal to have Jason swing by (morning or mid afternoon, while the vigilantes of the manor slept off their patrol), some case files in hand, informing him about a new development in whatever Tim had asked him to research. Alfred, highly approving of their newfound camaraderie, would insist Jason stayed for tea, and the three of them would dwell into a very satisfying bitch fest, with Bruce as their source material.

What he wasn’t ready for, was having both of them around at the same time.

-Drake, you need to stop lazing around and do your exercises! Father and the doctors said…!

-Chill out, Demon, he did ‘em already. Shouldn't be doin more reps than the doc said, y’know?

Acting like his nurses.

-And how do I know you’re not lying to me, Todd? Hurting Timothy could only benefit you!

-...In literally which way? He’s the ONE brother I like! And like you are any better, Mr slashed zip line.

-Who told you about/? No matter. That was before we became allies. You, on the other hand!

Had he stumbled into a different universe? It wouldn't be the first time. Just in case, he sent Bart, his time/multiverse travel expert, a quick text.

-Hey guys, what’s all this noise abou/ Damian! Drop the knife!

Oh yeah. Just what Tim needed; the awkwardness that seemed to appear whenever he and Dick were in a room together. Maybe it was time to book it back to his room.

-Grayson! Give it back, I need to/!

-Disembowel Jay? I don’t think so.

-Fuck off Dickiebird, I don’t need your protection. 

Decision made, Tim slowly moved his crutches, walking backwards without taking his eyes from the three vigilantes. If he was really, really quiet...

-I know, just/ Wait. Is that a gun?

-Well, it’s not like I’m happy to see yar ugly face.

-Excuse you?!... Here, Dami. You can have it back.

-FUCK!

-DIE!

-TIM!

The last scream came from Dick, who looked in his direction just in time to catch the moment Tim’s crutch slipped in the carpet. As it was, he was the only one who could react fast enough to prevent a painful, possibly very bad for his injury fall.

It also meant Tim was being cradled like a baby. Which- no.

The other two fell silent for  long minute, while their minds caught up to Tim’s almost accident. Then, apparently seeing him safe in Dick’s arms, they turned to fight again. Apparently, blaming the other for Tim’s misfortune. Which… okay maybe he’d been distracted watching them go at it when he tripped, but still!

-I’ll just… take him upstairs -informed them Dick, though it sounded almost like a question. Probably wondering their ability to keep the discussion verbal.

Used to the nagging, both of them raised their hands, showing them empty (which, truly, meant little in the face of two of the most weapon-inclined people he knew), without pausing their rapidly escalating exchange. 

Halfway up the stairs, he stopped wallowing in self pity about his still recovering body to remember that, for the first time in a helluva long time, he’d be alone with Dick. Which translated in Talk Time. Fuck.

By the time they reached his door, he had ready no less than six deflections and twenty conversation topics which avoided mention of all their baggage and could potentially satisfy Dick’s need for socializing with a brother.

-Wipe that look off your face, Baby Bird. You won’t be orchestrating this chat -the older hero informed him, casually as one can be, kicking the door closed behind him and softly lowering Tim on his bed. He was having serious Deja Vu’s from his first encounter with Jason-. We are going to sit in your room. We are going to hear each other out. I’m going to apologize for hurting you and give you insight on the why I acted the way I did. You’ll decide whether or not you’re ready for forgiving me. We’ll bond. Maybe cry. There’ll definetly be hugs involved -that shouldn’t sound like a threat, why did it sound like a threat, Tim felt threatened-, that’s non negotiable, don’t even try to put the ‘tender wounds’ card on me ‘cause I won’t buy it. And…

Dick’s stern voice wavered, arms still around Tim shoulders even when it was clear he didn’t need his support to sit in the bed.

-And we’ll be brothers again.

The tiny, broken sound mid-sentence was what got Tim. 

Hand a little shaky, scared for his own heart but unwilling to let the older boy (his hero and family for so long) keep hurting, he touched Dick’s cheek and smiled. Tentatively, because they were on unstable ground here, but hopeful, because god did he miss his brother.

-We never stopped being that, idiot.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was after dinner, when Bruce approached him in silence. Tim had been making his slow  but steady way to the den, where Dick had roped them all into watching a movie together. He could hear the sounds of Jason and Damian roughosing (okay, Jason was; the brat probably believed the whole affair to be a fight to the death for honor or something like that) and Dick’s chirpy voice as he ranted about The Greatest Showman from the hall.

Bruce had been making the trip by his side, hand hovering close to Tim’s elbow, in case the crutches failed him or he tripped. Tim wanted to tell him it wouldn't happen, but… he’d missed his dad’s attention a little too much to complain about independency now.

-How’s the recovery going, son?

He stopped in the door leading to where his brothers waited, turning to face  Bruce with an arched eyebrow.

-You know that better than me, Mr I’ve broken every bone in my body at some point. Also I’m dead sure you hacked my medical files and know every little detail my physical therapist wrote by heart. You can probably recite them to me verbatim.

-I didn’t mean the physical recovery. The shot in your side is not the only wound you’re carrying right now

Silence, the only noise coming from inside the room and Tim’s heavy breathing. Unable to refrain himself, he risks a glance at the tangle of limbs rolling around in the carpet (Dick’s tactic to stop the fight was to hug them into submission) and lets the tentative, frail smile tug at his lips.

-Honestly, B… That one is healing nicely. There’ll be scars but… That’ proof of what we overcame. Right?

Bruce’s smile looked kinda uncomfortable in that stony face of his, but warm all the same. His hand left Tim’s arm to tussle his hair a bit, careful to not unbalance him.

-When did you became the wisest of my children?

A crash came from inside the room, startling them both.

-TODD YOU…!

-DAMIAN NO! JASON PUT DOWN THE CHAIR! DON’T MAKE ME CALL ALFRED!

-C’ME AT ME, MIDGET!

-ALFIEEEE!!!

-Bruce…

-Yes?

-I’m the only wise child you have.

[adragonhoardingstories]

Daminette Soulmate AU Headcannons (3)

Damian was not worried. He was just going to introduce his literal soulmate to his friends and allies to the superhero community. That was the whole reason for this brunch. 

It was just that Marinette should have been here already but he hadn't heard a word from her.

Ya Amar, where are you? Jon is getting rather impatient for my surprise.

Sorry Habibi. She seemed out of breath. Emergency. Final battle. Paris. Damian didn't usually get scared, it had been trained out of him, but…

It's being covered live. She added for his benefit and that was all that he needed to bolt downstairs. 

"Out of my way." He snapped at Superman, pushing past him and making a bee line to the room with the giant television.

Jason and his friends were there. He snatched the remote out of Roy's hand just as he was about to hand it to his daughter and changed the channel. 

Normally he would get shit for this and normally he knew better than to behave like this around a kid but he felt like his behavior right then was justified. 

He ignored his father who had stormed in after him demanding he apologize to Kal-El as well as Roy insulting him.

Thankfully, Jason seemed to understand that something was wrong, he just turned his attention to the T.V. and just in time for him to find the right channel. 

"-been raging for over five hours. It has been the longest duration of time for which Hawkmoth has been sighted. It seems like our heroes are fully determined not to let him get away this time."

His father had shut up, finally understanding his behavior. He placed a hand on Damian's shoulder and another on Jason's, "She'll be alright."

"We're aware of that." Damian snapped as the room started filling in with other heroes. 

"We don't need you to tell us that." Jason was as tense as he was. 

"I'll fly to...Paris isn't it, and help." Clark said. 

Damian clenched his knuckles. 

"The fuck you will!" Jason growled. "Sit your ass down and don't move."

"You will only hinder her work. No outside help until she requests it or don't you think we'd have been there already." 

Both Jason and Damian loathed the fact that they couldn't be there fighting by her side but she had forbade it and as much as he hated it, her reasoning was sound. 

"But we can't-"

"Kal-El," His father thankfully spoke up. "Shut up before my sons make you. I've approved this. She'll be fine, I'll explain later." More people were filling into the room, curious if what they were hearing. 

The camera panned to the different heroes. "There has once again been a mass akumatization and the the battle seemed to reach a decisive point. Draka, Viperion and Queen Bee have successfully held off Hawkmoth, Mayura and Volpina as Ladybug purifies the akumatized civilians and now Lady Noir is back in the fight."

The camera shows as the teams flawless change their position so that Hawkmoth is left for Ladybug, Mayura being taken care of by Vespa and Draka and Volpina by Viperion. 

However, Volpina as always did not play fair. Somehow, all three ended up away from the fight with her while Hawkmoth found a partner in Mayura against Lady.

It was impressive, the way she shifted her fighting styles and even her alter egos, going from Lady Bug to Lady Noir in a matter of seconds to counteract their attacks. She kept up wonderfully well for having two such skilled adversaries.

But they had been fighting for hours and it was very clear to Damian that the Kwamis wouldn't be able to keep doing this. 

He was so glad at that moment that there was a bunch of superheroes in his house. If needed be, Marinette would get the whole Super community as backup if she asked. 

However, she was still outnumbered and soon she found herself in a dead end with both Hawkmoth and Mayura caging her. 

"That's it." Jason cursed. "We're going."

Damian wanted to agree with him but he felt her determination, her decisiveness and he smirked. 

"No wait." He pushed his brother back to sit. Jason turned to look at him like he was crazy which soon turned into confusion as he saw his expression. He knew Jason still had some trouble adjusting with their bond.

"She has a plan." He confided. "She has them right where she wants them."

Jason stared at him for a few more seconds before he turned back to the screen. 

"Give me your Miraculous and I won't hurt you." So predictable. Damian almost rolled his eyes. 

His soulmate slowly raised her hands up, trying to seem as a non-threat, which is why they were taken by surprise when she extended her baton so that it slammed into Mayura's stomach. 

Immediately after she vaulted over her fallen villian, letting her transformation roll off. She rolled on the ground, to hide her face and brought a hood and a mask that hid her mouth and nose up. 

"Is that your league uniform?" Jason asked Damian. 

"It's based off of it." He replied. "She liked it so she made one for herself in parallel with my new one."

"So you have a fancy costume, doesn't mean you can beat me now. It reduces your chances actually."

Even through the mask Damian could see her annoyance. 

Mayura charged at her. She was clearly the smarter one of the two villains, her doom came with the fact that she listened to Hawkmoth. 

Marinette seemed to see that too because she whipped out a gun. 

"Did you give her the gun?" Damian asked amused. 

"Of course, I did." Jason seemed smug that she was actually using it. 

Before the villians could react, she made a perfect shot, aiming at Hawkmoth's Miraculous. 

Of course, a normal weapon wouldn't hurt a transformed hero, where their skin was covered but momentum was more than enough to make his butterfly brooch fall, letting the transformation off and revealing Gabriel Agreste to the world. 

Before he could do anything else Marinette threw a bola at him, incapacitating him. It was rather funny seeing him wriggle around like a worm. 

"I gave her the bola too." Jason informed the room. No one was surprised. 

That left Mayura. She leapt in front of Gabriel, intending to take him away but Marinette threw something, once again with terrifying precision that ended up with the peacock Miraculous pinned to the wall and one unveiled and frozen Natalie Sancoeur.

The camera panned to the object and showed it as a batarang. 

"I gave her that one." His father informed them, he didn't need to look over to know that he was smirking or that the other occupants of the room were staring at them in total confusion. 

Meanwhile, Marinette had already recovered both of the Miraculous. 

"How-" Natalie asked as Marinette walked to her. She didn't seem interested in fighting anymore, she seemed too shaken up.

 Marinette simply smirked, not that it was visible to anyone. "The sincerest compliments from the Batfam." Then she decked Natalie knocking her unconscious, right in time for the other heroes to land on the roof.

Dick and Stephanie whooped and Tim and Cass laughed. Damian hadn't noticed when they came in.

"Good job." Draka said, throwing Volpina down. 

"Likewise." She stepped back and out the gun back in it's holster on her thigh. 

"Spots on."

Ladybug crouched next to Volpina, and took her necklace and crushed it, a dark butterfly coming out of it. 

She made quick work of purifying it, leaving Lila Rossi there. 

The heroes each grabbed a villain and made the way to the police as Ladybug summoned her lucky charm to fix the city. 

She had a smile on her face and Damian could feel how at peace she was in that moment as she followed her teammates to the police. 

The camera went closer to her. "Ladybug." The voice that was reporting and that he had tuned out, called out.

"Hawkmoth has finally been defeated, how are you feeling?"

"Definitely relieved." She smiled before Turing serious. "But it's not over yet, Gabriel Agreste and Natalie Sancoeur will pay for their crimes."

"And what do you think of Paris' Golden Child, Adrien Agreste involvement in this affair?"

"Well now that they have been defeated, I can say this. Adrien Agreste is a hero. Our victory today has been possible because of him. After finding out who his father is, he came to me and together we decided on the safest course of action which was to send him away incognito." An outraged what could be heard in the background. "He will be returning to Paris shortly and will have a press conference to clarify everything. I ask of everyone in Paris to not judge a son for the sins of his father. Adrien is a hero in his own right and has suffered enough through this debacle."

"That is some shocking news. I understand that you have to deal with the police now, I won't hold you for much longer. We've noticed that you've used a batarang in your fight if I'm not wrong, and you mentioned the Batfam. Is there anything you'd like to say to them?"

"I suppose." Ladybug laughed, then she turned to the camera and winked. "Sorry for missing brunch. I'll be there as soon as I finish dealing with this."

"Damian." His father said and the whole room which consisted of almost all the heroes in the world turned to look at them. "Tell her to invite her teammates as well, I think they deserve a celebration."

Damian nodded his eyes turning blue, on the screen they could see Ladybug's eyes turning a familiar shade of green. 

"Uh, are you alright?" The reporter asked. "Your eyes turned...green."

 She smiled reassuringly. "Nothing to worry about, that was just my soulmate." 

"What did he say?" A voice asked and the three other heroes were seen coming back into the frame. 

Ladybug smiled that one smile that promise chaos. 

"Oh this is going to be good." Tim had become an admirer of her schemes. "That's the smile she gives before she's about to wreck havoc."

"Oh, not much" she said innocently, "Just that you've all been invited to brunch."

All three of them froze, while the red clad heroine looked like she was having the time of her life. 

"The brunch you were supposed to be at right now?" Viperion asked. 

"With the entirety of the Justice League, Young Justice, Teen Titans, the Outlaws and basically every other hero in the world." Draka continue. 

"Uh huh." She smirked. 

"I don't know what to wear." Vespa muttered. She seemed...in shock.

There was an enraged yell heard and Ladybug sighed. "Alright, break time is over. Let's go."

"B-but-" Vespa muttered. It was so different from the confident, sassy hero Paris knew. 

"You can take something of mine." Ladybug said. "That goes for both of you as well. Now shall we get to work, or else we'll never be finished in time."

They all turned to her for orders. "Viperion, Draka you are guard duty, I also need you question them all they know about Emilie's Agreste situation."

It was clear to everyone in the room that while she was talking to her team, she was fully aware of the camera still recording her and made sure to phrase her orders in a way that the people watching would have an idea of what was going to happen next. 

"I am heading to Agreste mansion to contact Adrien and find Emilie and after talking to them both I'll be reviewing the crimes Gabriel, Natalie and Lila are being charged with."

The other heroes were pleasantly surprised at how professional and organized she seemed. 

"Vespa, you are going to talking to the Mayor and the police, submitting all the evidence we have against them and liasing with the Italian Embassy about Miss Rossi. Send them the evidence we have of her willing working with Hawkmoth. Also, get her parents before you do anything, because she is ultimately still a minor."

The heroes dispersed and the reporter started giving a rundown of everything that had happened, was happening and would happen. 

Meanwhile, in Wayne Manor, Barry asked the question every other non-Batfam member was asking themselves. 

"Okay so who the hell are they and how did we not know of them before?"  

@persephonebutkore @hypnosharkrebeldreamer @satans-favorite-homo @mystery-5-5

@abrx2002 @clumsy-owl-4178 @daminett4life @18-fandoms-unite-08 @bluerosette23 @dawnwave16 @imanerddealwith @heldtogetherbysafetypins

@st0rmy-w1th1n @northernbluetongue @chez-pezeater @thebananathatwrites @black-streak

@ghostcryptid @zerotosiki @krispydefendorpolice @dur55

@weird-pale-blonde-person @casual-darkness @maude-zarella

@sonif50 @zalladane @dast218

I tried to get everyone in the tag list, sorry if I missed someone

[angelliev]

Lover Boy - JJ Maybank x OC - Part Fourteen - Spilled Tea

Word Count: 3.3K

Summary: Aria wakes up in the hospital to be greeted with drama. Secrets are spilled within the room.

Warnings: Hospitals, cursing, crying, Claude being a jerk and much more.

A/N: Here’s the piping hot tea. Hehe. (Not my GIF. I don’t own any of the characters or the show.)

Lover Boy Series Masterlist

The blinding white lights of the hospital attack my eyes that attempted to flutter open. I scan my surroundings when my eyes finally adjust. I could hear the heavy rain pattering on the windows. Outside is all gloomy and wet. I sit there confused as I try to remember what happened. I then notice someone slouched next to me. I immediately recognize the mop of blonde hair and light snores. I lightly shake his shoulder, causing him to snap his head up. His eyes light up when he sees my awaken form. “Aria! You’re awake! You scared the shit outta me.” He hugged me tightly and littered my face in kisses. “Sorry about that lover boy. Speaking of, what the hell happened?” I asked out of curiosity.

“You passed out on the boat and cracked your head open. Don’t worry, your mom said you’ll be okay.” He reassured me. It all starts to come back to me. “She must be freaking out. Does she know what caused me to faint?” I can already see my mother asking me a billion questions. “Not yet. They’re still trying to figure that part out.” He nods his head. “How long was I out?” I asked. “Since you passed out yesterday. They had to put you under anesthesia while stitching you up, so that kept you out till this morning. I stayed here all night waiting for you to wake up.” He rubs my hand. This made my heart flutter.

“They let you stay past visiting hours?” I asked surprised. “Your mom may have snuck me in.” He smirked. Why does that not surprise me? “I called your sister by the way.” He said, making my eyes widen. “What did she say?” I pushed for an answer. “She booked a flight out here as soon as I told her. She’s getting here as fast as she can.” "Thanks JJ. It’ll be nice to see her again. I just don’t know how my parents will react to seeing her pregnant.” I say nervously. Her due date is in June and its already April. She’s definitely showing.

“They still don’t know?” He asked incredulously. “No, she wanted to be the one to tell them.” “Well they’re definitely gonna know now.” I say. I felt guilty not telling my mom or brother about the pregnancy, but it’s not my story to tell. I still don’t know what the gender of the baby is. I’m really excited to be an aunt though.

The door to the room opens, revealing my mom, who smiles at my state. “Sweetheart! You scared me! How are you feeling?” She hugs me tight. “I’m okay mom really. Just a little tired and sore.” I try to calm her down. “It’s about time for you to take your prescription. I ‘m just glad you’re okay. You’re lucky to have such amazing friends and a stubborn boyfriend.” My mom teases JJ, causing him to blush. “He refused to leave your side. I had to sneak him in so he’d stop freaking out.” I giggle watching the two smile.

“Speaking of my friends, are they here?” I asked wanting to see them. “They were until visiting hours were over. They were sent home, much to their dismay. Your father should be here soon as well. He was at a business meeting in Philadelphia.” Great. Just the person I wanted to see. “What about Damian? Where’s he?” “He went home after visiting hours. I’ll give him a call and tell him you’re awake. Make sure to call your friends, they were pretty worried about you.” My mom suggested about to leave the room before turning to us.

“JJ, I never got to thank you for what you did. Not just for yesterday, but also for defending her against Rafe. I really appreciate you standing up for my daughter. It means a lot to me love.” She thanks him sincerely. “It’s no problem, really. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” His words make both of us smile. “I know you would. Thank you. I’ll be back in just a moment. Call your friends.” She leaves the two of us alone. “Now if only my dad loved you as much as my mom.” I say. “Tell me about it. He always looks like he’s ready to bury me whenever he sees me.” JJ agrees as he calls JB. “Hey man. Get down here. Aria woke up. Yeah, she’s alright. See ya later man. Bye.” He hangs up before turning his attention back to me.

“You sure you’re okay babe?” He asked once more with puppy eyes. “I’m fine really, thanks to you guys. My heroes.” I peck his lips. “Next time, if you’re feeling off, just tell me and we’ll stay home.” “Yes mom.” I tease, earning a kiss from him. The two of us just sat there scrolling through channels. Soon, the Pogues start pouring in, questioning my being and covering me in hugs. Kie, Charis and Sarah held flowers and teddy bears. My brother followed in not too long after. It just occurred to me that this was the first time he had met JJ and the Pogues.

“I want to thank you guys for what you did. Which one of you is JJ?” My brother asked. Oh boy. “That would be me.” My brother turn to the blonde, before walking up to him and holding his hand, which JJ gladly shakes. “Thanks for kicking Rafe’s ass when I wasn’t there. I appreciate you looking out for my little sister.” The two share a smile. “The pleasure’s all mine.” Looks like those two will get along just fine.

“Aria?” A familiar voice had made everyone’s head turn. There stood Jennifer, with her impressive baby bump. My eyes lit up to see her. Everyone’s eyes nearly flew out of their sockets when they saw my very pregnant sister standing there, before she waddled over to hug me. Collectively, except JJ and I, everyone had said, “What. The. Fuck???” Not holding back. “I came as soon as JJ called.” Everyone looked over at the guilty blonde with shock written all over their faces.

“Hold up. You knew two knew she was pregnant?!” Damian asked the two of us. Jennifer turned to Damian. “Surprise?” She said nervously. The awkward silence in the room had lingered for a moment, until Kie broke the silence. “Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I think we should grab some lunch and let these guys talk this out.” The Pogues, all agree and begin to leave the room, well except for Charis. “But this is some piping hot tea! I wanna hear!” The girls drag her out of the room. My mom enters not too long after.

The look of shock was written all over her face, when not only did she see Jennifer, but her gigantic baby bump. My mom and brother began questioning her. “You’re pregnant? Where have you been? Why haven’t you called?” The two asked frantically. “I’ll explain everything. I just need you guys to calm down.” She says. “What in the actual fuck?!” There in the doorway stood my father. “It’s about to go down” - Kevin Hart

“What the fuck is that?!” He points to her blown stomach. “It’s a baby bump you fucking idiot!” Jennifer snaps at him, surprising all of his. Looks like she’s had enough of his shit. “More like a slut bump!” His hateful words anger everyone. “Watch your language! This is our daughter you’re speaking to!” My mom scolds him. “You have some explaining to do! What the hell is going on?” My father yelled. “Stop yelling at her!” Damian stepped in. God, I wish I was high for this conversation. “Everyone calm down! Let her talk!” My voice breaks the chaos. “Thank you.” Says Jennifer.

It took everything in my father to sit down and let my sister explain everything. The pregnancy, moving to Boston, Andrew Coleman, who is now her fiancé. Everyone just listened as they tried to process what was going on. My dad stood up as he paced around the room. “So, you’re telling me, that you moved to Boston, pregnant with this man’s kid and now you’re marrying him?!” Claude asked astonished. “Yes.” “Why?!” His eyes were filled with anger. “Because of you and Rafe! You two were the ones who had pushed me away. Not mom, not Damian, and not Aria! You! And that’s not even the worst part! I learned that you were trying to set Rafe up with Aria! Are you fucking kidding me? You think that just because I left, means you could push you next daughter to marry him? You’re fucked in the head you know that?” Jennifer yelled angrily.

“Everything was fine, until you little pricks screwed it up! Now your mother is pressing charges against Rafe!” My father looked like he was about to pop a vein pointing at us. “I’m sorry I’m pressing charges, because he assaulted our daughter who you clearly don’t care about!” My mom shouted. “Don’t care about? Woman I left the middle of my meeting to fly out here! Don’t tell me I don’t care about her!” He talked back to my mother. “Oh really? Cause the first you did when you walked in here, was yell at Jennifer. You didn’t even ask if Aria was okay! She just cracked her bloody head open!” “She’s alive is she not?!” Fucking dad of the year right here. “Gee thanks dad. Really appreciate your concern.” I said sarcastically.

Someone knocks on the door. Housekeeping. JJ pokes his head in to see all of us staring at him. “I take it this is a bad time.” You think?! My dad’s face begins to sweat out of frustration. “What the hell is he doing here?!” He points. “Don’t be rude! He and his friends were the ones who brought here to the hospital!” My mom defended him. “What does he want? A fucking cookie?!” Jesus Christ shoot me know. Can this get any worse? A nurse peeks her head into the room.

“Dr. Prescott, you might want to take a look at this.” The woman looks between all of us. Elaine steps out with a sigh. My dad paces around the room frustrated before speaking to JJ. “This is all your fault. You know that? Aria was perfect, then you showed up and corrupted her.” Before any of us could say anything. “She’s already perfect! Always has and always will be! I know you think I’m not good enough for your daughter. I may not have fancy yachts or mansions. I may come from a shitty home life. But sir, I love your daughter with every bone in my body. I’ll do anything to make her happy. I may be young and stupid, but damn it loving her was the best decision I’ve ever made, and I’ll never stop loving her. Her name is forever inked on my body just to prove that!” JJ shouted before revealing the tattoo of my name. That’s my man. “Kill me now.” My father mutters.

The door creaks open slowly. My mom’s eyes fall on me. She looks like she had seen a ghost. This makes me scared to the core. “Mom? What’s wrong?” I asked cautiously. She doesn’t answer. “Everyone, please remove yourselves from this room.” My mom requested calmly. “Like hell,” My dad doesn’t get to finish his sentence, before my mom snaps. “Damn it Claude! This is between me and Aria! If you don’t leave, I’ll have security show you the door!” Mama’s mad - JJ. Everyone leaves the two of us alone, the door shuts on the way. “Mom, you’re scaring me. What’s this about? Please don’t tell me I have cancer.” I begin to panic. “No, it’s nothing like that.” She calms me down. “Then what is it?” I asked confused. My mom just sits there for a moment, hesitating to answer.

“We tested your blood and samples. Traces of the hCG hormone came back positive.” She explained as I sat there dumbfounded, not understanding. “What does that mean?” I asked confused. She just looks at me with sympathetic eyes. “Aria, you’re pregnant.” Her words made me freeze completely. My blood ran cold and my eyes watered. A thousand thoughts began to run through my head. This can’t be true. I must be dreaming. I’ll be waking up in a few minutes!

“We estimated that you are about three weeks pregnant.” I ran my shaky hands through my hair. “Mom, what am I going to do? What am I going to tell JJ?” I asked frantically. “We’ll figure this out sweetheart. I’ll be by your side the whole way.” She held my hand. “Can you send JJ in please? I want to see him.” I cried. She simply nodded her head before inviting him in. He rushed to my side immediately.

“Babe what’s wrong?” He asked concerned, wiping away my tears. “If I tell you, you’ll hate me.” I sob. He looks hurt by my words. He takes my face in his hands. “Baby, look at me. I could never hate you okay? I love you too much to hate you. Whatever it is, you and I will get through it together. I’m not going anywhere I promise.” He kisses my forehead. “Now, what’s the matter?” He asked. I couldn’t find the courage to find words, with my tongue tied and the lump in my throat.

“JJ, I’m pregnant.” I whisper, more tears stream down my face. The silence in the room made the situation even scarier. His eyes bulge and his hands run through his hair. “JJ please say something. You’re scaring me.” I plead. He huffs. “I’m sorry. I’m still trying to process this. We’re having a baby? Like for reals?” He asked nervously. “What else would we be having?!” My heart beats fast. “I’m sorry! I’m scared too okay. I don’t want to grow up to be like him okay!” Tears began too well in his eyes, as his insecurities poured in. His father’s words coming back to him. “I can barely give you anything! How am I supposed to give our baby anything?” He stressed. “You are nothing like your father. You’ve given me so much love and care, I know you’ll do the same for this baby. We’ll raise this baby together. You’ll be a great dad. I know it.” I hold his head in my lap.

“What are we supposed to do about housing, groceries, diapers and everything else?” He asked already worried. “You let me worry about the financial situation.” My mother steps in. “We can’t ask you to do that Mrs. Prescott.” Says JJ. “I want to. I don’t want the parents of my grand baby to be starving or homeless.” She looked at the two of us with nothing but love.

“What are we going to tell dad?” I asked nervously. She just sighs. “I don’t know. It’s honestly up to you. I didn’t think you were going to tell him. Can’t say I blame you.” My mom looked at him sympathetically.

“Tell me what?” My father’s voice interrupted us, Jennifer and Damian walk in. For a moment we all just stood there not knowing what to say. “Dad, you might want to sit down for this one.” I warn him. “Oh, for the love god, out with it!” He demands. “I’m pregnant!” I decide to let it out. What I wasn’t expecting was for him to bust out laughing. He kept laughing until he realized no one else was. “You’re serious?! Are you fucking kidding me?!” He kicks a chair making me jump. “Claude! Calm down!” My mom yells.

“How do you expect me to be calm when both of my daughters are knocked up? One’s pregnant with a man we never met, while the other is pregnant with a pogue’s kid! This is a monstrosity! We can’t allow this!” He declares, making our brows furrow. “What are you talking about?” Asked mom. “She’s getting an abortion and that’s final. We still have plenty of time.” His words made me see red. “No!” I shout. “Excuse me?!” Claude looked at me with ferocious eyes. “I am having this baby! This is our baby, not yours!” I yell grabbing JJ’s hand.

“The hell you are keeping it! It’s just a fetus!” Claude protests. “This is not your decision Claude! She’s the one who’s pregnant. Not you.” My mother takes my side. “Bullshit! She’s my kid I’ll do whatever I want with her. And if that means I have to rip the child out myself then so be it!” He grabs a hold of my arm, dragging me out of bed, while everyone tries to shove him off of me. “You monster! Get off me! Help!”

“Get the fuck off her!” JJ punches Claude across the face, which seems to piss him off even more, causing him to grab JJ by the shirt. Damian is finally able to pull Claude off of me. Jennifer and my mom pull me up from the floor. “I’ll kick your ass if you ever touch her like that again!” Yelled JJ. “Fuck off! She’s my kid! I’ll do whatever the hell I please!”

“She’s not yours!” My mother’s voice echoes throughout the room. Everyone stared at her for a moment, in disbelief, unsure we heard her right. “What the hell did you just say?” Claude asked in disbelief. “She’s not yours, Claude.” My mother says softly. Her eyes full of shame, as she looks over to see me in complete utter shock. Words can’t find their way out of my mouth. “You fucking liar! You’re lying!” He denied. “Why would I lie about that?!” My mom shouted, tears in her eyes. “Okay, well if she’s not mine, then who’s the father? Tell me goddamn it! Who’s her father?!” Claude knocks over a glass. My mom doesn’t answer. She just stands there silently holding her ground.

“She’s his. Isn’t she?” All of us sat there in confusion, as to who they were talking about. “You lying whore!” Damian grabs my father by the collar of his shirt. “You watch your mouth when you talk to my mom!” “She’s a liar and a cheater!” My dad defends himself. “Like you aren’t?! We all know you’ve been cheating on mom for years now, so don’t act all innocent! You think we don’t know about your mistress? Don’t shit on mom because she was tired of being in a loveless marriage, and you refused to sign the goddamn papers. You gave her no fucking choice!” Jennifer called him out triumphantly.

“Screw you guys! You deserve each other!” He yells before turning to Jennifer. “You can go back to Boston for all I care! And you!” He points at JJ and I. “Don’t even bother coming back home.” He said heartlessly, tears began to well in my eyes. “Where am I supposed to go?!” “Why should I care? You’re not even my fucking kid!” His words stung me harshly. “Enjoy your little bundle of joy.” Claude says before leaving the room. I finally break down in the bed, not able to hold back my sobs. JJ wastes no time pull me into his strong arms, letting me cry into his shoulder.

“Just let it go, baby. I’ve got you. I’m not going anywhere. I promise. I love you and I’m gonna love this baby. I promise.” His soft words bring me comfort as I cry. I don’t know how long we laid there with him just holding me and whispering sweet nothings into my ears as I let all of emotions out. At this point, I didn’t care about what my dad, er, Claude had said. I have JJ and our beautiful creation inside me.

[ranger-jedi-knight]

A New Hero Chap 14

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20887313/chapters/59619589 Taglist: ASK AND YOU SHALL BE PUT ON~~!!!!

Ok, so here’s the next chap! Sorry about the wait, life got....interesting to say the least. At long last tho, we have Mari n Co heading to Gotham finally! Cant wait for the small reunion later this chap!! I FORGOT THE TWEETS AGAIN DAMNIT!!!!!! I am SOOOO sorry i WILL remember to keep addin them on at the ends!!!

“Your brother wants me and Lana to what?” Alya asked looking over at Dick tired.

“Stay put. Easy!” Dick replied and Alya glared at him.

“Uh, huh. He wants, me a Detective to not leave the precinct, and Lana, a college student to not move even tho she has cleanses to go to?” she repeated and Dick pressed his lips together.

“Ok, when you put it like that-” he started but got cut off by Alya putting her hand over Dick’s.

“Damian isn’t even here. Why does he care what we do since your his brother who should get his butt over to the airport since his flight should be landing in 20 or so minutes and its already 9:50. Get your ass over to that airport to give your brother a hug,” Alya said glaring and Dick yelped. “Ya, give a call when your getting back since well, you’ll see,” she said gripping his shirt and pulling him close and DIck swallowed the lump in his throat, “that Babs ain’t the only one to kick your ass into shape.”

A smirk grew on Dick’s face at that. “Is that a promise?” he teased and Alya scoffed pushing him back.

“You had your chance buddy. Now get outta here before I make you regret being late to seeing Damian arrive,” she said and Dick gave a mock salute before scurrying off, grabbing his keys as he ran while their fellow cops laugh around them.

“Did he really have a chance?” A British African American FBI agent asked as he watched Dick leave, his accent still going strong even tho he’s been in New Jersey for the last 5 years.

“Eh, possibly, Xavier. I do have eyes you know,” she said and Xavier snorted as he straightened his stack of papers. “Once maybe, until you realize he’ll only have eyes for Babs,” she continued and Xavier nodded.

“You’ll find love, I’m sure of it. If Shrek can find love as an Ogre, so can you,” Xavier said and Alya made a fake offended sound in response.

“Are you saying I look like an Ogre?” she asked and Xavier raised his hands in defense. “Not at all!” he said and some people hummed at that.

“It really sounded like it~!” the precincts secretary, Mira, hummed out with a smirk and Xavier glared over at her.

“Don’t anger the Goddess! She’ll rain down on you the wrath of almighty Zeus himself!” a different cop, Sarah she thought, shouted causing Alya to snort.

“I ain’t no Goddess, silly!” she shouted over to them. The cop in question, it was Sarah she can recognize that golden blonde ponytail anywhere, stuck her head out the break room with a look.

“No, you are a Goddess. Especially in that flowing dress, you wore for the Halloween party Dick threw,” she called and Alya rolled her eyes as some nodded agreement.

“You guys are ridiculous, get back to work,” she called and that had everyone nodding agreement while Alya chuckled to herself as she went to her desk. Xavier followed and leaned against the desk with his hip.

“Sticking a pin in that ‘Is Alya Grayson a Goddess or Not’ conversation,” he said chuckling softly, “I do hope whatever it is Dick’s brother has planned for you is nice,” he said and Alya smiled at him while nodding slowly.

“So do I. Now, isn’t Agent Fornell waiting for those documents your holding?” she asked and Xavier nodded with a smile.

“That he is. Talk to you later then. Goodbye!” he said beaming as he walked backward, waving to everyone who returned it before he left the precinct.

Alya shook her head as she pulled her phone out and texted Lana: Als: Heads up, Damian apparently wants you and I to stay put where we r

Eagle-eye: whys that???? We rnt the closest

Als: who knows. Dick was just sending the message. idk, maybe Mari wants to hug us when she arrives?

Eagle-eye: maybe. I dont got time to theorize, got a test to do

Als: GL!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mari was bouncing between Damian and Xander as they boarded the plane finally after waiting for so long. They had to deal with morning traffic which took forever it felt like before they arrived an hour and a half arrive before their flight left making sure they didn’t have to worry about security taking forever. And the whole time Mari stared at the desk with her leg bouncing.

With 30 minutes to spare, Ms. Bustier arrived, the last one too. The other students had converged in the gate slowly at different times but with enough time to not worry. But Ms. Bustier arrived with less than 30 minutes to spare causing her class to worry.

Which to say the least?

Was awkward.

Alya and the others that didn’t know sat at one side of the gate looking at Mari and the people that knew awkwardly. They felt bad but knew they messed up.

BIG time.

Like MEGA BIG TIME that a simple apology wouldn’t work. It didn’t help that Mari’s friends didn’t let them thru. Kim, Nino, Chloe, Sabrina, Max, Lila, Xan, and Adrien all glared at them while Damian focused on Mari. Meanwhile, Alya, Alix, Mylene, Ivan, and Rose all tried figuring out what they could do to earn favor back from Mari. Juleka was the only one in the pure neutral middle ground. She skimmed the email and knew a movie was being filmed.

But didn’t know Lila was lying for sure.

She could guess. When Mari tried saying that and the disagreed she figured she’d stay quiet. She didn’t need anyone else trying to make her life hell. So Mari was neutral toward the girl as she hasn’t been present at that moment. So she was silently supporting the group and offering tidbits to help them realize that they need to change themselves before trying to regain Mari’s trust and friendship.

Only Time Will Tell.

They boarded the plane and sat back for the long flight. Most of them slept during the trip. Mari and Lila included. The two leaned against each other while Xan and Damian talked. Well, Damian talked. Which was odd. But it distracted Xan from the anxiety pooling in his gut as they flew.

After some time, and some crackers, the dread settled down. Damian told him everything that’s happened in Gotham since he left. Some he didn’t like hearing. But as Damian reminded him, everything was ok. No one is hurt.

Soon after Damian finished, Mari and Lila woke up. Lila smiled as she and Damian switched seats and she took Xan’s hand into hers. “It’ll be fine. They’re going to be so happy to see you,” she said quietly and Xan nodded.

“Even knowing what happened?” he asked and Lila hummed, tracing a finger along the back of his hand in nonsensical patterns.

“Ya, I think so. I think that they’re just going to be so happy that you survived everything and came back to them. From what it sounds like, if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be here today,” Lila whispered leaning her head against his shoulder. In return, Xan lightly leaned his head against her head with a sigh.

“Ya, that’s what Damian said too. I know it’s true, but my head just keeps pushing all these doubts,” he mumbled.

“That’s fair. It’s been 8 years since you’ve seen them. Lana watched you get hit. And then, seemingly right before her eyes, you disappear. People change with time. But, those bonds? They don’t typically change. I bet they still miss you as if it was just yesterday,” she replied and Xan nodded slowly, placing his other hand over their hands, squeezing her hands.

“Thank you,” he whispered as they relaxed in their seats and played a movie for the rest of the flight.

“I hope they enjoy the surprise,” Mari whispered and Damian gave a small nod at that.

“I have no doubt that they’ll love it,” he said and Mari smiled softly at that.

“Ya, and they have you to thank for that,” she said and Damian gave a shrug.

“You did most of the work and helped him get better,” he pointed out and Mari smiled as she pressed a kiss to his cheek, a faint blush on her cheeks from doing that, not seeing Damian’s faint blush either.

“Well, I wouldn’t have been able to help if you hadn’t helped him escape. You may not have stayed, but you certainly did help,” she said softly and Damian nodded slowly at that. He remembered it clearly. Even tho it happened over a year ago, it was clear to him.

Damian had turned the GPS off the batjet and flew to Nanda Parbat. He remembered the boy that his mother kidnapped and brought back to life. He remembered training with him a couple of times to let him know he wouldn’t tolerate anything but perfection. He didn’t know what happened to the boy older than him when he left. But then he learned and regretted everything.

Xander was the little brother to Dick’s partner Alya who disappeared. He learned from Issi that Xan, or better known as Whisper in the League, was alive still and there. She had wanted to help get him out since she helped care for him, but she couldn’t without getting caught or killed for real. But now he’d fix the mistake he made.

It was quite easy to sneak into the building. He made his way to where he remembered his bedroom was. He knocked out any guard he saw and pounded on the door. Xan was wearing his training gear when he opened the door. He didn’t recognize Damian as the angry 9-year-old that beat him up when he first arrived. He was wearing all black with a hood and mask on to hide his identity. “W-who are you?” Xan asked suspiciously as he picked up the sword he kept next to the door.

“Do you want to stay here?” Damian asked and Xan looked at him confused.

“Wha-?”

“Do you want to stay here or escape? I can get you out,” he said and Xan glanced around before nodding slowly.

“I want to go back home,” he said and Damian nodded as he then started tugging Xan out. Damian was shocked he was still able to recognize Xan after all this time and all the changes. He wasn’t the same short, scrawny 11-year-old. He had filled out and was taller than Damian by quite a few inches.

“I’ll get you home then,” he said leading them out. As they ran out in the snow, Damian was behind Xan making sure he didn’t get hit. Which was a miracle in the storm, slipping on hidden ice as they ran. But he had been. So the best bet was to get him to Mari and Fu who would help him heal. So when he reached the outskirts of Paris, he cloaked and flew to an alley near the fight and helped Xan out. “This is as far as I can get you. I’m sorry,” he whispered as Xan gripped his head falling to the ground with his backed pressed to the wall.

“I just wish I could have brought him home all the way,” he whispered and Mari took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze.

“You did what you could, Dami. He was hurt and needed help. If he had been taken directly to Gotham, who knows what would have happened,” she argued and Damian nodded slowly.

“Yes, I know. I just....when he recognized me when I saw the tat on his back. I....I wasn’t prepared to see the tat on his back and I forgot he was there still. So much happened since I got him out, I forgot he was with you. And he didn’t remember me helping him out. And I told him and he was happy. Even thou I didn’t get him out safely, he was happy,” he said at length and Mari once more squeezed his hand. “Well, that’s probably because he knew you did your best. You went back to get him out of that place unprompted. You could have left him there, but you didn’t. You got him out with only a head injury that made everything fuzzy. Give yourself credit, Dami,” Mari said and Damian gave her a small smile at the end of her little speech.

“Thank you,” he whispered and Mari beamed at him.

After some time, the plane landed and they went thru the sequence to leave. Mari smiled as she watched Dick hug Damian with his brothers behind him smirking at his mock displeasure. When Xan appeared talking to Lila, the entire Wayne Family froze in shock. “Y-you-!” Jason started shocked.

“Xander?” Dick asked, a heartbroken tone in his voice. Xan froze where he was and looked up at the family. He didn’t seem to be breathing as he nodded slowly. “Your alive,” he breathed out before making his way over and setting his hands on Xan’s shoulders. Dick started looking him over while the other two made their way over. He then pulled Xan in for a bone-crushing hug causing a surprise sound to leave Xan. “I’m so glad your alive,” he continued.

“Man, this is your surprise, Pixiepop?” Jason asked and Mari nodded with a smile. “They’re going to love it,” he said messing up both Xan’s and Mari’s hair.

“I hope so,” Mari said and Tim gave Mari a reassuring look.

“Mari, they are going to love this. Dont doubt yourself, you’ll see,” Tim said as the rest of the class left the plane.

“You got him?” Mari asked and the boys nodded as they followed everyone to baggage claim.

“Ya, just meet us at the precinct in 20 minutes. I wouldn’t want you to miss the surprise,” Dick replied and Mari smiled with a nod.

Mari-aculous @MDC_Designs The BIG SURPRISE is in 20 minutes~!! Cant wait to see their faces!!! #soexcited #sosoon #almostthere #surprises Dick @ FlyingGrayson Theyre going to LOVE it! Be prepared for lots of hugs Mari!!!

Ok, so here it is!!! The next chap!!! So this was takin while to push out that I decided I wanted to give the reunion scene a proper thing by giving it its own chap. Next chap we will see the Grayson Reunion!!!!! I cant wait for you guys to see it!!! until next time!! ~Love Willa<3<3<3

[bluerene]

RobStar Week #1 - Wayne Manor

Hello friends. Please allow me to quickly and suddenly resurrect my online presence with a week of robstar goodness, followed by an onslaught of miscellaneous content + a loooot of fics that should’ve been published ages ago. The bitch is back! She is also about to board a plane and has not proofread this one bit, so please excuse the ugly errors.

As always, feedback is loved. 

Enjoy!

Wayne Manor (ft. implied BatCat justice bc it’s what we deserved)

It had been twenty-two years in the making, but finally, the day had come. 

Dick tugged at the collar of his suit and huffed, tilting his wrist upwards to check his watch. Two hours till takeoff.

That was how he had been thinking of it anyway. The whole event felt more like a formality than anything else; marriage was just the legal definition of what they already had. Often enough, he forgot they weren’t husband and wife. 

He glanced around the room and smiled; Alfred had really outdone himself this time. Dick brushed his fingers along the row of lilies that lined the entryway, admiring the splash of pink roses that stood out amid the white flora. Their saccharine smell lingered in the air as he walked on through the room, studying the impressive set-up.

They had chosen to host their wedding at Wayne Manor, which was gorgeous and private and comfortable. With graceful vaults and arches that curved into a smooth dome and made the polished marble floors gleam in the glittering sunlight, the ballroom was easily the most elegant waste of space Dick had known in his house. And, it was finally being put to use the way it deserved. 

Alfred had thrown himself into preparations the moment he’d heard. Even in his old age, he was a force to be reckoned with- he had florists ready, caterers selected, a decorating committee arranged, and invitations delivered within days. Thirty-six hours before the ceremony, he had marched in with an army of specialists and had set to work on the hall. 

It had been divided up in such a way that the service, reception, and dinner would all be hosted within a few feet of each other. From the thick maple doors of the entryway, she would walk in, fiercely beautiful as ever. She would make her way past the rows of chairs towards a trellis made of fine gold, twisted with flowers and leaves. Posts would be in line with its sides, thin gossamer curtains tied with ribbons from wall to wall, effectively cutting off access to the space behind. After they kissed, the entire party would pass through the curtains and into the garden, where they could immediately enjoy the reception, while the bride and groom snuck off to change into clothes better suited to dinner and dancing. At the end of the night, they would bid their goodbyes and steal away into the night as they had for the past twenty-two years. 

Dick had envisioned this moment for half of his life in different ways. The bride used to change, often switching between the various women in his life at the time- but as time went on, the vision became clearer and more obvious. It could only be her. She’d always been there, a shadow flitting in and out of the window, playing with fire fearlessly. 

Something probed his arm gently, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Does it remind you of ours?”

He smiled and drew her hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to her palm.

“In the best ways. Al really pulled this one together brilliantly.”

His wife sighed, intertwining their fingers.

“It is worth it. Their happy ending is long overdue.”

“Yeah,” Dick agreed, “it’s about time. How’s the bride looking?”

“Like a million of the dollar bills,” Kori replied cheekily, “truly, you may never have eyes for me again.”

He laughed and cupped her cheek, taking in her appearance. His eyes lingered on her full lips, the glimmer of happiness in her electric eyes, the slight pink flush that ran from her cheeks to her collarbone. Her hair had been pinned up into an intricate bun, stray curls framing her face. She was a vision in the soft gold gown Selina had asked her to wear as one of the bridesmaids. 

“I don’t think I could ever have eyes for anyone other than you, beautiful.” 

Kori beamed and slid her free hand to his chest, gripping the lapel of his suit jacket to pull him into a sweet kiss. Her mouth moving achingly slow against his while he fought to remind himself they were in an unconcealed, public space. 

She pulled away and giggled, smoothing out the fabric she had crumpled.

“Your restraint is impressive, my love.”

“It had better be,” a deep voice resounded from behind them, “as I recall, you two are already married, so I doubt there’s much more you can do at a wedding that you haven’t done before.”

“You’d be surprised, Dad,” Dick said cheerfully, “but I’m not looking to upstage your night, so let’s leave it at that.”

“Hello k’norfka Bruce,” Kori said eagerly, hurrying to press a kiss to her father-in-law’s cheek, “you look very handsome! How are you feeling?”

Bruce patted her shoulder affectionately, a rare smile lighting up his face, “like I should have done years ago. You look lovely, by the way.”

“I was just telling Richard to reserve judgment until after the bride has arrived. Selina is truly...indescribably wonderful.”

Dick didn’t miss the dreamy look that crossed his father’s face.  

“And the flower girl? As radiant as her mother?”

He didn’t miss the way his wife blushed at those words either.

“Provided she does not ruin her dress again, Mar’i will look perfect,” she replied with a sigh, glancing at the doors, “in fact, I believe it is time for me to check in on her. Please excuse me, k’norfka Bruce. Richard, I will see you before the ceremony.”

Bruce shoved his hands into his pockets and watched her leave.

“How are you feeling, Dick?”

 “Shouldn’t I be asking you that? It’s your wedding, after all.”

“It’s about time, don’t you think,” Bruce replied with a grin, “I made her wait twenty-two years.”

“I’m still amazed by that, y’know. Star and I tied the knot...what, six years after we started dating. I can’t believe it took you guys this long.”

“Well we’re here now, aren’t we?”

“Only because Selina was boss enough to propose.”

“I would’ve proposed when the time came!” Bruce said indignantly. 

Dick snorted, “Yeah, in 2068, when you’re too close to death to fear commitment.” He glanced around the room, gaze falling on a nearby satin pillow, “Is the ring-bearer going to show up today?”

“He’ll pitch a fit, but yes. The kid’s a fan of Selina. Plus, he misses you.”

“The devil? Inconceivable,” Dick muttered. 

Bruce cuffed him on the back of the head, “He’s your brother.”

“So is Tim, but you don’t see him slicing me up in ‘training sessions’. Speaking of, where is he? Why am I the only one here?”

“Jason plans on popping in during the reception. Tim’s bringing Stephanie so he’s at her house. Alfred is with Damian.”

“That’s not what I mean. Why am I the only one here, now?”

Bruce shifted uncomfortably, and rubbed the back of his neck, ”You’re the first, you know. I’ve always held the others up to you, even when I shouldn’t have. You were a brat, but you were also my first son. I wanted you to be here for that.”

“Dad.”

“No jokes, I’m serious.”

“I am too.”

“Well...good.” 

“Yeah.”

They stood in silence, eyes fixed on the rows of chairs and the trellis directly ahead. 

“So…”

“Hit the bar? A couple of pre-wedding drinks?” 

“Is that what Garfield and Victor did with you?”

Dick laughed as he lead his father out of the hall, “Are you kidding? They wouldn’t let me near the mini-bar. Said they would beat my ass if I was tipsy at my own wedding.”

“Clearly you’re not concerned about me.”

“Nah. First, Silena is more than capable of sobering you up with a single glance. Second, you’re Batman.”

“Ha ha, very funny. I’m pretty sure Kori would do the same if you’d stumbled down the aisle. That woman can pack a punch.”

“Do I detect a hint of fatherly pride there, Dad? Are you finally coming around to your daughter-in-law?”

Bruce rolled his eyes, nudging Dick with his elbow.

“Knock it off. You know I respect her and care about her. She’s a fine young woman. I couldn’t have chosen better for you if I’d tried.”

Dick softened, “I was kidding, but...thanks. It means a lot to hear you say that. She loves and admires you so much. And she tells Mar’i stories about you all the time. She won’t let me ruin your image even a little.”

“She gave you the home you needed, didn’t she?” Bruce said quietly, “Your relationship with me and this house and everything you had turned away from was different after she came into your life.”

“Yeah,” Dick agreed, clapping his hand on his father’s shoulder, “my home is wherever she goes. And she always seems to know what I need when I need it. That’s why she cares so much about this place.”

“I’m sorry for all the shit I gave you in the beginning, you know. I think it pushed you to be strong and decisive, but I am sorry if it hurt you.”

“Not gonna lie, I was pretty pissed for a while. But Star always understood. Always gave you the benefit of the doubt.”

“She’s a special girl.”

And Dick could have gone on about how perfect his wife was - how incomparably sweet and passionate and fiery she could be. How strongly she fought for their family. How lovingly she accepted everyone into her heart.

But he simply nodded and raised his watch to check the time, grinning at his father.

“How about that drink, old man? Push away some of those pre-wedding jitters?”

Bruce’s lips twitched in amusement, but Dick still caught the happy creases around his eyes.

“As long as Alfred doesn’t catch us, I’m game.”

“Afraid he’ll kick your ass?” Dick teased, swiftly dodging a well-aimed slap upside the head.

“It’s my wedding day, son. I get a free pass. I’m looking out for you.”

“Yeah, Dad,” Dick chuckled, “you always do.”

[xreaderfic-land]

What Lies Beneath Part 21 Red Hood (Jason Todd) X Reader

Summary: Coming back home to Gotham after several years was a tough choice, but you needed to put the past behind you. You blame yourself for Jason’s death and hope that with a medical degree you can have a second chance at saving the kids of Gotham’s streets, but the past won’t stay buried. As the Red Hood invites himself into your life and the little safe bubble of a lie you call life bursts you’re left struggling to cope. Your secret studying of toxins used by Gotham’s villains is sure to land you in hot water eventually, but you’re always up for a challenge. Life is a game of survival and it’s time you joined in.

Co-Author: @inkteller-17   Tags: @jason-todd-rh   @totallynotashieldagent   @exotiicqueen494   @dragons-of-the-usa     @shadowsndaisies   @e-equals-mcommunism-squared     @icycoldbeanieweanies   @peppermint-17   @theskytraveler   @wintersb0ner

Tags CLOSED DUE TO STORY COMPLETION Word Count: 4,162 WARNINGS: Language

A/N: @inkteller-17 both teared up while writing this. She and I both decided to try a crazy writing method that worked crazy well. She and I wrote via a Google Doc a certain scene of dialogue without any sort of contact in order to make things as on the fly and tongue in cheek for responses. Probably the most fun chapter we’ve written technique-wise. Hope you like it as much as we do!

Catch Up Here

—— —— —— —— ——-

“EVERYONE BE QUIET!” Alfred roared.

The arguing trailed off as all eyes turned towards Alfred.

“Alfred,” Bruce began.

“Be quiet Master Bruce!” Alfred snapped.

A few mouths fell open at Alfred’s attitude.

“Whoa, Alfred,” Dick began.

“All of you shut up and sit down now!” Alfred yelled at the group.

Nobody could believe that Alfred of all people snapped. Silently, everyone took a seat around the small room. Alfred turned towards Barry and Damian who were still in the corner in their own little world. He’d take care of the little shit at another time. Damian was the least of his worries. Alfred turned towards Bruce.

“I get it. You’re upset and want to fix things, but you’re a grown man, act like it. I’ve raised you better,” Alfred said coldly.

Bruce hung his head.

“And you three, we appreciate you coming in to help, but you’ve only caused more problems because the three of you refused to listen. You’re dismissed,” Alfred said.

Arthur, Diana, and Clark looked over at Bruce. Bruce gave them a look as if trying to mentally tell them not to argue and to just go. Hanging their heads the three members quickly left the room leaving Alfred to his lecture.

“You!” Alfred exclaimed pointing at Dick.

“What about me?” Dick asked.

“You’re the eldest, act like it. You’re supposed to be the role model for your brothers. Digging your own knife into their backs isn’t helping. Jumping from one side to the other is only causing more issues. Step up, believe in your team, and set the path to get everyone back together,” Alfred said.

Those words stung, Alfred could see the look on Dick’s face as his words hit home. Tim was already squirming next to Dick as Alfred turned his attention towards him.

“And you! Stop fighting with Jason about everything. Yes, this was Jason’s secret, but you’re his brother and even if you don’t agree with his decisions, you still need to support him and stop trying to cause more drama with him because you’re upset,” Alfred growled.

Tim looked away from Alfred.

“Now onto you two,” Alfred began.

“Bring it on old man,” You snarled.

Alfred set his cool deadly glare on you, but you didn’t squirm.

“She just took on the whole Justice League, do you really think she or I are scared of you?” Jason shot back.

“You both made stupid decisions. You both hid secrets,” Alfred said.

“I’d like to point out here, my secret wasn’t covering up someone’s resurrections, so you all can be mad at me for that, but I at least didn’t allow for someone to manipulate someone else’s feelings,” You interjected.

“Oh of course, you’ve got to point out that your deception isn’t as bad as ours,” Jason growled.

“Because it’s not, you idiot!” You shouted.

“Both of you shut up! I’ve had enough of the fighting,” Alfred snarled.

Jason turned his anger towards the butler.

“Do you really think I care if you chew our asses out and try to make us feel bad? Because I fucking, don’t!” Jason snarled.

“You’re going to listen because the two of you are out of control,” Alfred hissed.

“I have every right to be out of control,” You hissed between clenched teeth.

“Oh, of course, the princess gets to have her way, right?” Jason growled back.

Lunging forward with your fists flying, Barry was there to stop you. Alfred looked at Barry completely forgetting that he was still here. Electricity filled the room from his super speed. You looked back at Barry.

“Let me go,” You growled.

“You need to relax,” Barry said.

Lowering your fists, Barry put you back on your feet.

“You’re lucky,” You tossed at Jason.

Jason snorted. “Do you really think I’m scared of you?”

Barry shook you hard and quick before letting you go.

“Knock it off,” Barry said sternly.

Smoothing out your clothes you gave one last glare at everyone.

“I’m done. Fuck all of you,” You snarled before finally storming out.

As the door slammed behind Y/n, Jason turned his attention to his family.

“Thanks for nothing. Next time when I ask you to butt out, fucking butt out,” Jason growled before storming out of the room.

“So much for this intervention,” Tim scoffed before following suit and storming out of the room.

“Come on Damian, let’s go get a snack,” Barry said waving for the younger boy to follow him.

Dick looked at Alfred and then over to Bruce.

“Nice try guys,” Dick said with a smirk before leaving with a shake of his head.

Alfred and Bruce went their own separate ways to reevaluate this whole situation. Alfred entered the kitchen he froze mid-step when he saw Barry sitting on the counter next to Damian and they both had several cookies in their hands.

“Don’t you think you should be checking in on the rest of your team?” Alfred asked.

Barry shrugged, “Their all adults and can handle themselves,”

Damian shoved a cookie in his mouth. “Yeavhm whahavt he said,”

“What was that, Master Wayne?” Alfred asked.

Damian swallowed his cookies.

“Yeah, what he said,” Damian repeated.

Alfred sighed clearly annoyed.

Barry jumped off the counter.

“Listen, you just need to come up with another plan and try again,” Barry said to Alfred before turning back towards Damian.

He ruffled Damian’s hair. “Thanks for the cookies, see ya later,”

And with a flash, he was gone. Damian smoothed his hair down and looked back over to the butler.

“So now what?” Damian asked.

Alfred sighed. “I don’t know, Master Wayne,”

“Well, I think you should go and get my brothers, I have a plan,” Damian said.

Alfred cocked an eyebrow.

“I mean it, go! I have the perfect idea,” Damian said.

Damian sat still eating cookies that he really shouldn’t be eating as Alfred went to go and collect his brothers. He looked up when the door swung open only to reveal his dad coming in. Bruce gave his son one look and Damian was setting the rest of the cookies down and away from him.

Bruce made himself a mug of coffee before taking a seat in the corner. A few more minutes passed by before Alfred finally returned with Dick and Tim in tow. The brothers joined Damian on the counter.

“So what’s this plan of yours?” Dick asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Damian retorted.

“Obviously not shithead or I wouldn’t have asked,” Dick growled.

Damian rolled his eyes.

“I think we should just use the get along t-shirt,” Bruce piped up from the corner.

“Drop it old man, it’s not happening,” Tim shot back.

Bruce pouted and went back to sipping his coffee.

“What was the thing that brought Y/n and Jason together in the first place?” Damian asked returning his attention to the others.

“The toxin,” Tim said.

“Exactly,” Damian replied.

“So what?” Dick asked.

Damian let out the longest annoyed sighed possible.

“So, I fake the symptoms of the toxins to get Y/n and Jason in the same room,” Damian said.

“More lying?” Tim asked.

“Do you have a better idea?” Damian asked.

Tim said nothing.

“That’s what I thought,” Damian hissed.

“Fine, let’s say that works and we get them in the same room, then what?” Alfred asked.

“We do the classic lock them in a room together and refuse to let them out until they kiss and make up,” Damian explained.

Dick and Tim looked at each other.

“Do you think that will work?” Dick asked.

“We don’t have much of a choice, do we?” Damian replied.

His brothers shook their heads.

“Well then little boy you might as well start getting sick,” Tim said.

The five of them acted quickly. Up in Damian’s room, Damian got into his bed. Dick pressed a hot rag to Damian’s forehead to get him warm, but also to look a little sweaty. Tim dug around in his prank chest to pull out fake snot and a fake thermometer to set on the nightstand table.

“Won’t this be obvious that we are faking it?” Dick asked.

Bruce came storming into the bedroom.

“No we’ll make it look like somebody broke in and went after the family,” Bruce suggested.

“Smart,” Tim said as he smeared the fake snot under Damian’s nose with more enthusiasm than necessary.

Dick headed downstairs with Bruce. Dick watched in awe as his dad went outside and then kicked in the massive oak door to make it look like somebody kicked in the door.

“Break stuff,” Bruce said.

“Huh?” Dick said in confusion.

“Break things, make it look like a fight happened here. You know demo,” Bruce explained.

Dick looked at his father and then knocked over one of the more expensive vases. Bruce didn’t even flinch.

“Okay that’s what I meant, but it didn’t have to be the most expensive one we own,” Bruce explained.

“Right, I’ll remember that for next time,” Dick said before knocking over another artifact.

They took a few good hours to destroy the main entrance of the house, up the stairs and down the hallway. They really made it look like a group of goons had broken in and a fight had broken out.

As the two entered Damian’s room, they were both surprised at how sick Damian really looked. Tim found a fake syringe and threw it on the floor not too far from Damian’s bed.

“Which one sounds more believable?” Tim asked.

Damian did two different ragged breaths.

“Second one sounds better,” Dick said.

Alfred looked at the group.

“Are we ready to make this call?” Alfred asked.

“One last thing,” Dick said.

“What?” Tim asked.

Dick punched Bruce right across his jaw.

“Master Dick!” Alfred exclaimed.

Dick shrugged, “What? We had to make it look like we were in a fight,” Dick said. “And I also feel better,”

Tim and Damian shook their heads.

Alfred looked over at Bruce.

“Make your call,” Alfred said.

Bruce pulled out his phone and dialed Jason’s number. As the phone rang, Bruce put the call on speaker.

“What?” Jason answered harshly.

“Jay, come quick, we were attacked,” Bruce said out of breath.

“What?” Jason said.

“The Joker, he uh, sent some of his goons, they were armed with the toxin,” Bruce said.

“Is everyone okay?” Jason asked.

Bruce fell silent.

“Bruce!” Jason shouted.

“No, sorry, it’s Damian, they infected Damian,” The lie easily slipped from Bruce’s tongue.

“Fuck, call Y/n, she has the cure and I’ll be right there,” Jason said before ending the call.

Bruce waited a few beats before dialing Y/n number.

“What could you possibly want now?” Y/n answered.

“Y/n,” Bruce whispered.

“What?” She snarled.

“We were attacked,” Bruce began.

“So,” She scowled.

“It was the Joker’s goons they attacked us,” Bruce said.

“Is everyone okay?” Y/n asked.

“No, they infected one of us,” Bruce replied.

“Who? Who was it?” Y/n demanded to know.

“It was Damian, Y/n, and he’s already showing signs,” Bruce said.

“Fucking hell, I’ll be right there,” Y/n replied before hanging up.

The group got into position. Dick and Tim were waiting down in the lab in the Batcave. Alfred was waiting to answer the door while Bruce sat up with Damian in his room.

Jason got there first he raced up the stairs and down to Damian’s room. He noticed the debris that filled the hall. He found his dad sitting on the edge of Damian’s bed. Damian looked like shit and Jason’s heart sunk to his stomach.

“Dad?” Jason said.

Bruce looked up.

“It’s bad, Jay,” Bruce said.

Jason walked over to his brother. Damian looked like death.

“Is Y/n here, yet?” Jason asked.

“She’s down in the lab, can you go help her,” Bruce said.

Jason leaned over to press a kiss to Damian’s forehead before hurrying out. Bruce and Damian started to chuckle once Jason was gone. Just as Jason disappeared into the Batcave, Alfred opened the door to let Y/n in.

“Where’s Damian?” You asked.

“Down in the lab,” Alfred lied.

Keeping your bag close you sprinted through the manor and over to the hidden door that lead down to the Batcave. Dick and Tim stayed hidden in the shadows. Jason had already entered the lab and was in their looking for Y/n.

As you ran past them and into the lab the pair quickly slammed the door shut and turned the lock. You turned towards the door and Jason came out of the closet.

“There you are!” Jason said.

You turned back around, “Where’s Damian?”

“Up in his room, I was down here looking for you,” Jason said.

You shook your head, “In his room? Alfred said he was down here.”

“I was in his room, Y/n. I saw him, he looks like death,” Jason replied.

You heaved an annoyed sigh, “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”

Jason ran a hand through his hair. “It was a fucking trap, wasn’t it?”

“You think?” You snapped.

Outside of the lab, Bruce and Alfred and the boys were squished around the large screen watching the couple.

Jason walked over towards the door and pounded on it several times.

“Very funny, open up!” Jason shouted.

“Open the door Bruce or I swear to God.” You glared around the room trying to spy any way out.

Jason continued to pound and kick at the door.

“This isn’t a goddamn Hallmark movie! We’re not going to kiss and make up in here,” Jason snarled.

Crossing your arms and failing to find another route out you wandered toward one of the spare chairs littering the cave. Plopping down you sighed. They could let you rot in here because the pretty cute little movie scene they wanted was never going to happen.

Giving up on trying to knock down the door, Jason slid down to the ground. He kicked out his legs and let out a long sigh. Jason had a feeling that the two of you would be stuck in here forever. He could tell that you didn’t want to talk about it and he sure in the hell wasn’t in the mood to fight with you anymore.

As you let your bag drop to the ground the sound it made echoed off the walls highlighting the lack of other noise. If you tried hard enough you bet you could have heard each other breathing. You let your eyes slip shut. Just having to look at Jason was becoming painful enough, but being forced into his company was another level of agony.

“You can’t even bare to look at me, can you?” Jason asked harshly.

You gave a short laugh, “It’s easier to pretend I’m not stuck in here if I can’t see you.”

Jason shook his head and got to his feet. He began to pace back and forth. She couldn’t put her fucking pride to the side to just try and get them to a point of being civil.

The sound of Jason’s boots pacing eventually wore thin your nerves. Snapping your eyes back open you sighed heavily. God, you were so tired of this shit. Swallowing thickly you decided it was time to get over this.

“What do you want from me, Jason? To say?” You asked simply.

“I never meant to hurt you, Y/n. That was the last thing on my mind. And don’t be mad at my brothers. They were only doing what I asked of them, okay? I get it, now, okay? I know that I fucked up and that there is no way I can fix this. To fix us, but we make a helluva team and I can’t do this without you,” Jason explained.

Your eyes cut to the floor as you shook your head, “Well you’re going to have to try a little harder, Jason.” You rose to your feet and looked at him, “I can’t, literally cannot, do this anymore. And I will not pretend otherwise.”

“What more do you want from me, huh? I’ve admitted I was wrong. I apologized. I have fucking owned up to everything I’ve done. I shouldn’t have lied to you. I shouldn’t have dragged my brothers in this. I shouldn’t have manipulated you and let you fall for Red, but being close to you again was so comforting to me, do you understand that? God damn it, Y/n, you were the first thing I thought of when I came back. Being Red and having you not knowing that I was me was a mistake, but it allowed for me to be around you without putting you in major danger,” Jason snapped.

Your teeth clenched with dangerous force. Crossing your arms over your chest you mentally told yourself knocking his head to the side really wouldn’t do a damn thing. So instead you took a steadying breath.

“Do you think I would have given a shit? That I do? Jesus Christ Jason, I knew about you being Robin and the whole deal with Bruce for fucking sake! That was dangerous too, but guess what I knew about it. I knew enough about it to learn self-defense right there,” You pointed toward a section of the cave, “and we had movie nights after your patrols! I was with through damn near everything, but for some reason, you felt like I didn’t deserve to know about you coming back.” You spit out.

Clenching his fist, Jason shook in anger. She wasn’t understanding what he was trying to say. Part of him wanted to shake the living shit out of her to make her understand how important she is to him, but instead, Jason took his anger out on the wall and punched a decent size hole. Pulling back his bloody first he turned back towards you.

“This time was different, Y/n. I’m sorry that you can’t see that. I’m sorry that I hurt you, but I don’t know what else to say or do. I feel like no matter what I say you’re just going to turn back around on me. It’s like I’m talking to a broken record,” Jason whispered.

You shook your head and laughed bitterly, “Broken record? Okay, how about this then Jason. You fucked me as Red Hood. Now I don’t know about you but maybe right before that would have been a good time to tell me who you were. I don’t give a shit that I was all you really remembered when you came back, because if I actually meant a damn thing like you keep saying I was you would have told me. You would have found a way.” Tears burned your eyes the longer you had to stand near him, “How dare you, Jason.”

Her words stung. Jason’s throat was thick with emotion, but he refused to cry. He refused to show her any more weakness. He couldn’t. Not now. Letting his face go dark and cold, Jason crossed his arms over his chest.

“I’m not going to argue with you about this anymore. I’m fucking done, Y/n,” Jason coldly said.

You wiped furiously at your eyes, “Now you know how I’ve felt for the last few weeks.” Inhaling deeply you stepped closer to him, “I cried over you for months. Still am and I am fucking sick of it. Sick of the fact that I still love you even after everything. But I just can’t figure it out; how after everything Jay why didn’t I deserve the right to know? Why didn’t you tell me?”

More tears fell hot down your face making you more pissed and upset as you poked at his chest, “I held on to loving you for so long after you died, and to find out you’ve been lying to me?!” Your voice cracked as you shouted the words in disbelief.

Stepping back your shoulders dropped. The fight was finally evacuated from your body and you were just so done.

Looking at the floor your voice dropped to a whisper, “ I don’t even understand why I love you anymore. Because the Jason I fell in love with is sure as hell not the one standing before me anymore.”

The urge to punch something was strong. Jason so badly wanted to drive his fists into something over and over again to drive away some of his anger, but Jason couldn’t. Not now. Now was to make his point across. Choking down the tears that threatened to fall, he turned his cold glare up at you now that you were done with your spiel.

“You’re right the Jason you fell in love with would have told you. He would have gone against his father’s advice and sought you out. He would have cried on your shoulder, told you about his death, the nightmares, how being back in his body didn’t feel right, didn’t feel whole. The old Jason would have kissed you and told you that how sorry he was and that he loved you. That the old Jason couldn’t live without you, but I’m not that Jason. That Jason didn’t come back. That Jason is long gone and he’s never coming back. And I’m not going to apologize for that.  I came back and if you can’t accept that then maybe…”

You looked steadily into his eyes as his words shattered what little bit of a heart that was still clinging on.

“Maybe what, Jason?” You probed tiredly.

Running a hand over his tired face and then through his hair, Jason sucked in a breath.

“You shouldn’t love me,” Jason harshly replied.

You sniffled and straightened at his words. The cold that had settled deep in your bones was probably all that kept you standing up anymore. Giving your best plastic smile, “It’s a good thing I don’t anymore then because I don’t even know why I fell for you to begin with.”

Jason tensed at your harsh reply. The buzzing sound of the door unlocking had both of you looking over at the door in disbelief that they were letting you out.

Bruce and the boys looked over at Alfred. He was leaning against the large gray button that unlocked the door.

“What are you doing? They didn’t work this out!” Dick shouted.

Alfred turned back towards the group.

“You were all listening to them. There was no fixing them. They were saying hurtful things to each other on purpose. I couldn’t sit back and continue watching that,” Alfred explained.

“No, fuck that! Lock the door before they leave,” Tim shouted.

As Dick and Tim both lunged forward to the lock the door, Damian and Alfred both knocked away their hands. Bruce watched as Y/n walked past his son and whipped open the door. As she stormed out of the lab her eyes settled on the large computer screen where everyone was sitting.

“Hope you’re happy,” She said through tears before running out.

“No, don’t let her go!” Dick shouted.

Damian pulled away from his brothers and shouted after Y/n. But it was too late and she was already gone. Dick and Tim were arguing with Alfred about how easily he let the two of them go. Jason slowly exited the lab. He looked over at his family. Damian took a step towards his brother but stopped when he saw the look of pain.

“Jay,” Damian called out, but Jason turned on his heel and stormed upstairs.

“How could you let them go? We were so close!” Tim shouted.

“We were far from being close,” Alfred calmly applied.

“Dad, what do you think?” Tim asked.

Bruce stood.

“I think it’s been a long day and everyone needs to go to bed,” Bruce said.

All three boys’ mouths fell open.

“Wait, what?” Dick asked.

“You’re giving up just like that?” Tim asked in disbelief.

“Alfred is right, we can’t force them to make up. They aren’t ready for that,” Bruce said as he walked over to the lab.

Damian and the boys were hot on his heels.

“You can’t just let them go,” Dick said.

“I did and I am. They need time,” Bruce said now that he finally came to the realization that he can’t force them. There were too many issues to fix in one sitting.

Damian looked at the hole in the wall.

“Can we frame this?” Tim asked.

Alfred shook his head and Dick smirked.

“Knock it off,” Bruce said.

Damian walked back over to his dad. Bruce glanced down at his youngest son.

“What now?” Damian asked.

That was it, Bruce had no idea. He never had to deal with something like this before, he was truly lost for words. Bruce feared that both of their stubbornness was going to keep them from reuniting and Bruce wasn’t sure how the hell he was going to handle this broken team. There was no parenting manual for something like this.

[bluboothalassophile]

I’m Hiding Your Brother Under My Bed

Quiet Moments

Raven had gotten very accustomed to sharing her quarters with Jason; they had given him his own room but just about every night for the past week there'd be a quiet knock on her door and he'd be there. Since Bruce's arrival Jason become rather quiet, at least when Bruce was around. And since Raven now had a lot of interactions with Bruce Wayne, discussing Jason to some degree as she explained the Lazarus Pit, and it's true nature, and what Jason's emotions were ranging from, she didn't understand Jason's meekness around his parent. Without Bruce around though Jason was a vibrant individual whom she found entertaining and fun to be around.

Which was why, after a week of having him around she'd been trying to figure out his problem with Bruce to see if perhaps she could solve that problem.

Granted, she knew that was not her place, she was merely a fourteen year old empath demon, but she would rather have her new friend happy than in the pain he radiated when Bruce or Dick were around.

"Raven," Damian's terse voice had her looking up from the book shelf she was studying for information on human psychology.

"Damian, how may I help you?" she asked as the puppy came barreling in. Raven scratched Titus' ears as she resumed inspecting the bookshelf.

"I am here to inquire about Todd," Damian stated coming to stand beside her.

"What about Jason?" Raven stressed Jason's name for Damian. For some reason Damian had taken an extreme dislike to Jason for reasons she couldn't fathom. And Garfield's laughter wasn't helping the matter since it only made her want to punch Garfield in his stupid face.

"You spend an aweful lot of time with that lunatic, I am here to demand you cease this because he is dangerous," Damian stated.

Raven stood, bringing herself to her full height; which, while not impressive brought her to Damian's eye level. The air in the room cooled as the shadows quivered to her command, Titus whimpered.

"You demand?" she said so coldly as she stepped forward to be toe to toe with her friend.

"Yes, he is dangerous, unstable, and will kill you if you are not careful. I more than anyone knows the dangers of the Pit," Damian stated firmly.

"Damian Wayne, I am the only daughter of Trigon," she stepped forward, he stepped back then. "I am the last Azarathian," she poked his chest then because by Azar she was furious now. "And I am the most powerful magic wielding creature in the realm, I have fought more demons than you, I have a connection to the Pit which far exceeds your own, and I am my own person. You cannot demand who I do and do not spend time as it is my choice. And if you dare to make such a demand of me again, make no mistake, I will blast you!"

Spinning on her heels she stalked out of the room as she summoned the entire shelf of psychology, purposely aiming it at Damian so he had to evade it. She felt a few hit him with satisfying thwacks as she walked to her room.

Stupid Damian!

She didn't know what had her friend's panties in a twist but if he didn't knock it out soon he would discover she had a full range of abilities she hadn't divulged to him.

Hopping up into the air she folded her legs as she levitated there, her powers lifted her tea pot as she started making some tea and she flicked her wrist so all the books floated open and around her as she closed her eyes and took another steadying break before she opened her four eyes and started reading everything there was to know on human psychology.

She would help Jason, a week of him being here and she would help him. she was determined to help him. For she knew what loneliness felt like. It was something that no one should banish themselves to. It was not pleasant. Not at all.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Jason had taken to slinking around the Tower; he didn't have anywhere else to go. And in the past week, Bruce had stayed, but Jason didn't want to be around him. No, it was part of why he hung out with Raven, and endured Damian's glares at him. Seriously, one would think he was stealing the demon brats woman with how Damian was glaring at him, not that Raven was a thing to be taken. No, she wasn't a thing, but that's how Damian apparently taken to her.

Not that it mattered, Raven was nice and all, but he didn't think she was going to be his friend.

Which was part of why he was sitting up on the roof looking at the map trying to plot his next move. There was just no way Bruce was going to take him back and he needed a plan as to where to go before Bruce decided to toss him in juvie or something.

He looked up when the roof of the door opened and his eyes narrowed on Dickhead as he walked out onto the roof. Quickly he folded up the map and shoved it into his pockets.

"Hey little wing," Dick smiled.

Jason scowled. "What do you want, Dickhead?"

"Just… Just to talk," Dick said uncertainly.

"Don't see why, you never wanted to before," Jason muttered.

"Jay," Dick sighed. "I know I wasn't good at the brother thing with you, but… if you're willing to, I'd like to give it a second shot."

"Why so you can kick me to the curb like B will when I fuck it up again?" he demanded. Jason knew what was going to happen to him, after probably figuring out how to fix his death certificate B would send him to a home for troubled boys and he'd be shoved into the system to never be seen again. He'd been in the system before, and he wasn't joking when he said he'd rather die than go back into the system.

"We're not kicking you to the curb," Dick said, and when Dick moved to hug him, Jason leapt out of reach. No, No hugging. He wasn't going to be suckered into this again. Never again.

"Bullshit!" he shouted.

"Jason," Dick started.

"You don't care about me, and neither does B, and clearly I don't matter as there's already a new Robin, and I'm not needed here! You never liked me anyway so what the fuck do you care!" he shouted, his eyes welling up with tears. "You got the perfect little brother now, so what do you need me for? To be you're fucked up replacement of 'don't be like him'!? You didn't care Dick! Why Care Now!?"

"Jason," Dick said his name and before Jason really knew what Dick was doing he found himself with his a faceful of Dick's chest and trapped in strong arms as fingers slipped through his hair. Jason stiffened as he stilled completely, he couldn't even breath as he stared at Dick's black sweatshirt.

"I'm sorry little wing, I'm sorry I wasn't there, I'm sorry I was a childish ass about getting a baby brother, and I'm sorry for messing all this up. But I cared, I cared a lot, I never told you because I was jealous of how proud Bruce was of you. And you mattered, you mattered a lot more than I could ever tell you, and because I was fighting with Bruce I acted like you didn't matter. But that's a lie, a big lie. You Matter Jason. You're my baby brother. And you're not a replacement for anyone, no one could replace you, and you can't replace anyone, and I should have said all this sooner but I couldn't, and you didn't listen.

"Please don't leave Jason, please don't go, I'd like to know my baby brother, and you shouldn't feel unwanted here. It's not about needing you, Jason, it's a simple matter of you're family and this is where you belong." Dick spoke softly against his hair and Jason just blinked a few times at those words. "I missed you so damn much, little wing, I thought I'd never see you again. I'm so happy you're alive and back."

"B…" he started.

"Bruce is happy too, so stop avoiding him," Dick said pulling away, but he didn't release Jason's shoulders. Jason glared up at Dick, feeling tears streak down his face against his will.

"I didn't kill that asshole," Jason stated.

"I know you didn't little wing," Dick assured him. And there was so much conviction in Dick's tone that Jason almost believed him. Almost. Jason would never take anything Dick said at face value.

"Why would you believe me? You never did before," he spat out.

"Because, little wing, you're my brother, and I'm going to be a better brother. Besides, as Dami's actually killed, I know you haven't, you don't have the look around your eyes. I just also know you wouldn't save a rapist who had driven his victim to suicide, when he's falling off the building."

"Isn't that murder in your book as well?" Jason hissed.

"Not even close," Dick said and Jason found himself enveloped in another hug. "And even if it was, I forgive you, I want my brother back. I want you back more than anything in the world."

"Bruce doesn't," Jason muttered in a broken whisper to Dick's shoulder as he now found himself clinging to the older man.

"Bruce is so happy you're alive, and here," Dick whispered. "It's just going to take him longer. But he's happy, Jaybird, he's so happy to have you back."

Jason said nothing now as he just hung on. A week of no one caring, no one but Raven acting normal around him. He just wanted a moment to feel wanted and normal, because it hurt. It hurt so bad, it all hurt not having anyone or anything here. He just…

He was tired of it all, as he gave up holding it in and clung desperately to someone he'd wanted to be his family.

[bluboothalassophile]

Hii blu! i'm glad you have a job and I hope it gets better with time. ^^ and since you said that the fics are fun, i'd like to request one where in the batcave, the batfamily watch raex / redrae interactions as if they were a movie, haha with popcorn and all haha. but of course if you want to write this one and when you have free time =), i hope you like it and have a lot of fun. have a nice day!

Hello,

I’m sorry this took so long to reply to. And my job is sort of knocking me on my ass lately because it’s just such a weird shift, but that’s alright. A job is a job. As to your request, I hope you enjoy, it was fun to write! =)

Popcorn!

Alright, so Tim had gone low in the war against Jason he wascurrently trying to win and had called in the heavy artillery to come andfinish Jason’s stubborn ass off before his big brother got himself killed.

Yes, Tim had bypassed Alfred; and Bruce, and the entirefamily, and called in Jason’s girlfriend.

Yup, that’s right, Tim had called in Raven.

Now this might seem hasty of Tim, however, after everything he’dlearned about what little he’d seen of their relationship in the past sixmonths. (He actually didn’t know much about them as a couple, they honestly appearedto be best friends rather than lovers. Then again, they had caught Jason andRaven with Jason’s hands up Raven’s shirt.) But that was beside the point, thepoint was Jason was seriously hurt, and he wasn’t staying still and he wasliable to hurt himself; again. And neither Alfred nor Bruce, nor he, could getthat through Jason’s thick head.

Which was why Tim had gone around Jason and called themysterious girlfriend.

First of all, while Raven was a dear friend to him and hisbrothers, Raven was still an unknown in the Wayne family. Sure, they all knewshe was dating Jason, and yeah, they all knew that Jason and Raven livedtogether in New York City in an actually nice apartment. But beyond what Jason andRaven had shown them they honestly didn’t know much about the pair. Which waswhy Tim had taken a gamble and called Raven.

And now, he was sitting in the library, with popcorn (he washungry, and it was about the only thing in Alfred’s kitchen he was allowed tomake) watching the security footage of Jason arguing with Dick and Damian thathe was fine. He was not fine, not fine at all, Jason had five bullet holes inhim, and had lost a lot of blood.

Suddenly on the security footage Raven walked in from theshadows, Tim flicked a piece of popcorn in the air as he tried to catch it.

“Wha’cha watchin’ Tim?” Stephanie asked as she appearedbeside him.

“Just the security footage.”

“Oooo! Jayrae!” she was in the seat, in his lap and he justblinked at her.

“Steph?”

“Shush! This is when we can see them in their naturalstated!” she smiled.

He blinked, then a smile twisted his lips up maliciously ashe looked at the screen. This was true, they had never seen anyone aside from Dickand Babs argue, and that had shattered back at the doomed wedding when Barbarahad bolted.

Now there was Jason and Raven; who had been proving to be astrong, steady pair. But it was in the fights that people saw the true strengthof a relationship. Tim was going to enjoy this; it was a test for Jason andRaven! If they passed then it would be better for them, if not, Tim would enlisthis siblings help in corrupting the relationship beyond salvation. They didn’tneed a hurt Jason. That would be counterproductive and bad.

Dick and Damian stalked up apparently furious at not winningtheir argument with Jason.

“He’s an idiot!” Dick announced.

“Shut up! We’re trying to watch!” Stephanie ordered. Cassappeared on his shoulder and swiped some of the popcorn.

Jason started shouting, they knew it from how he was holdinghimself. Raven stood perfectly still, and not a single twitch was revealed forher perfect monotoned façade. It was like a storm raging and Raven was a calm.

The argument continued, Raven clearly was the quieter of thetwo but she held her ground, stood firm. And Clearly she wasn’t pushed over by Jason,and Jason didn’t bend to her will.

Jason started pacing, the arm waving and clear agitation hehad about something appeared then as he stalked around the room and pausedbefore her. Raven said something, Jason scowled, Tim took another bite ofpopcorn.

What happened next floored them all.

And he was pretty sure that it made the demon spawn jealous,for Damian looked like he had swallowed a sour lemon.

Raven had said something, Jason had stilled, they had spokensome more; about what it was difficult to tell because of the shadows and theangle of Raven was wrong to lip read her.

But Jason hadn’t spoken a word, no.

They had all gaped when Jason grabbed Raven’s waist and hekissed her hard and passionately. There was a thud, and Tim only registered hisjaw was slack as he gaped at the monitor.

“What the hell?” Dick sputtered.

“He clearly knows what he’s doing,” Stephanie observed.

“They were… and now they’re… this can’t be normal!? Why isn’tRaven slapping him? Come on, Raven would slap any guy who did that to her!”Dick stated.

“Apparently not, and we caught Jason with his hands up hershirt!” Tim snapped.

“What are all of you watching?” Bruce appeared causing allof them to jump. Raven and Jason were no longer on the fighting part of theirconversation. Nor were they on a make out binge. But Raven and Jason were sittingside by side on the gurney and Raven was examining Jason’s latest collection ofholes and they seemed to be discussing something that was clearly private.

“Nothing!” Tim squeaked as he and Stephanie closed out thesecurity footage. Whatever was between Jason and Raven it was clearly private,and they were intruding.

Still, that argument was entertaining to watch, Jason’s clearmatch of wits and stubborn. Raven apparently was a match for him if she could matchhim in stubborn will power. Come to think of it, Tim supposed that was somethingthey’d both have in common, and an abundance of. Jason was stubborn as hell,but Raven was also stubborn as hell. Perhaps it was a really good match.

“Jason and Raven apparently are a real couple,” Stephanie announced.

“Calm and storm,” Cass stated as if this were now law andfact. “Good match.”