#elani Grayson

[robbinghisdick]

Putting a pause to hero work didn't help Dick get more rest like he thought it would. With no financial backing from Bruce, Dick was left working as many hours as he could to afford rent and time off once the baby came. He was exhausted beyond belief and sore all over. His due date was still a solid month away and it might as well have been an eternity. He was done.

Once home, he cooked and told himself he'd worry about the dishes later. As he went to the couch, something moved in his peripheral vision. His reaction time was slow, body jerking and tripping over his own feet. The bowl fell from his hands as he prioritized catching himself on the counter. The porcelain bowl shattered as it hit the ground.

Dick glanced to his side to see Slade staring at him and his head hung with a heavy sigh. Of course he invited himself over. Why not. Looking at the broken remains of his dinner, the only thing he could currently stomach, he felt his eyes burn with incoming tears. He should've been able to catch that.

Don't be ridiculous, Dick scolded himself, it's just some noodles and a bowl. Getting angry at himself only served to make his eyes water more. He straightened up and swallowed hard.

"It's not spilt milk, but are we really going to cry over this, Grayson?" Slade asked.

Dick squeezed his hands into fists, eyes closing and taking in a deep breath. "I'm not in the mood, Slade." He hadn't been in the mood for Slade's taunts for a while now.

"No kidding."

Something in Dick snaps. "Oh fuck you!" He snarled. "Get out!

Slade seemed taken aback, hands half raised. "As ease-"

"NO! Get the fuck out of my apartment!" Dick started to storm forward, ready throw Slade out by force. "How many times do I have to tell you-"

Slade's eye narrowed and rushed forward, grabbing Dick by the shoulder. He forced the other man back a step and Dick heard the crunch of Slade's boot against broken porcelain.

Dick stared down at the floor, at the remains of his dinner and how close he had been to stepping in it bare footed.

The anger deflates into a sob.

Once the tears spill he couldn't stop them, defeated and exhausted.

"Please just go," Dick begged, hating himself for crying in front of Slade, hating the way the man was looking at him.

Unsurprisingly, Slade didn't listen. He moved Dick around the broken plate and gently pushed him towards the couch. "Go sit down. I'll clean this up."

With his breath hiccuping with sobs, Dick wasn't in the place to argue, and he really didn't feel like bending down to clean up the mess himself. He sat on the couch but continued to watch Slade as he went to open up the pantry and grabbed a broom and dustpan.

"Your due date must be getting close if you're getting this worked up over nothing," Slade unhelpfully commented as he began to sweep.

Through tears, Dick glared at him. "Well maybe I'm just tired of some weird old man not listening to me when I tell him to leave me alone."

Slade gave Dick an unimpressed look. "You've sought me out before, don't give me that." The dustpan is emptied in a trashcan before a rag was grabbed, wiping up the remainder of the mess. "Did you really just make yourself plain boiled noodles?"

"They had butter and salt..." Dick said, tensing at the judgement he felt coming from Slade. "Listen, right now I will throw up if anything has too strong of a taste or a smell." He sighed heavily, fresh tears welling up in his eyes. "And I'm out of butter." So great. Couldn't even remake the meal Slade startled him into dropping.

He could hear Slade approaching, but didn't look up at him.

"Do you want me to go to the store or pick something up?"

Dick buried his face into his hands. "I want you to leave."

"Not one of the options I just gave you," Slade said, unbothered.

One of the last things Dick wanted to do was rely on Slade. He didn't want to owe him anything, he didn't want Slade to think he was needed. But Dick knew he wouldn't be able to drag himself to the store. Shame coiled heavy in his chest at the thought of reaching out to his friends for something so dumb. Slade was already here and couldn't think any lower of him.

Shoulders drooping and hands dropping away from his face, Dick relented. "Okay."

"Store?" Slade asked, continuing when Dick nodded, "Do you need anything else?"

Dick shook his head.

"The corner store is on a few minutes walk away, go ahead and boil the noodles, I won't take long."

///

Dick had calmed down by the time Slade returned and he finally got to eat. He was too tired to shrug Slade off as he joined him on the couch. Whether he liked to admit it or not, Slade was warm and was so easy to melt into.

He jolts slightly as Slade's hand touched his swollen stomach.

"When's your due date?"

Dick sighed heavily, not lifting his head from Slade's shoulder. "She's not yours," he said instead of answering the question. To be fair, there was a nearly non-existant chance that the father was a man Dick hooked up with for a one-night stand. They used protection, but that was never 100%. However... Dick knew she was Slade's. It was barely a doubt in his mind. All he could do was pray that she'd have dark hair and look nothing like Slade. Maybe if Dick kept telling him that the baby wasn't his, he'd loose interest.

"So it's a girl?"

Dick finally lifted his head to give Slade a stern look. "Whatever the baby is doesn't concern you."

Slade met Dick's gaze unwaveringly, reaching up to brush some hair out of Dick's face. "You keep telling yourself that, kid."

Dick grimaced. "Don't call me kid."

With a muttered, half-hearted apology, his hand cupped Dick's cheek and he pulled him close. Dick knew he should push Slade away, but leaned into the kiss.

More than he liked to admit, he missed being kissed. Dating and hook-ups were obviously off the table, but Dick wanted to feel the press of another body against his own. The stroke of a hand through his hair, the warm press of lips, and the caress of calloused fingers against him.

The guilt in indulging himself and Slade caught up a couple minutes later and he broke the kiss with a sigh and a turn of his head.

"Why are you here?"

"It doesn't seem like you and the Bat have made up and you're, what, seven? Eight months pregnant?" Slade tilted his head slightly. "And I imagine you haven't told many, if any, of your friends about me, so you've likely cut yourself off from them. Someone has to check on you."

At times like this, Dick was reminded how much he hated that Slade knew him, at least just enough to be entirely correct. The only people who knew about Slade were Roy and Donna. Things were already in a rough patch with Bruce before he got pregnant.

"Do you have a contract in Blüdhaven?" Dick asked, deciding to ignore what Slade said.

"No. I'm not taking contracts in Blüdhaven or surrounding cities right now."

Dick blinked, baffled. "Why?"

"You're pregnant, you can't be Nightwing," Slade answered.

For a moment, Dick stared at Slade as if waiting for the man to realize how ridiculous he sounded. Right now was literally the perfect time to take advantage of the fact that Dick physically couldn't stop him.

But there it was. With what Slade lacked in respecting boundaries, he made up for in respecting Dick as a hero. A thorn in his side he'd never actually try to take out for reasons Dick couldn't entirely understand.

"What?"

Dick felt the urge to cry again, but this time his eyes didn't water. "Why are doing this?"

Slade huffed. "You could just say thank you." He doesn't seem particularly annoyed.

You make it hard to hate you, are the words that don't leave Dick's mouth. Slade had done unforgivable things. He's hurt him, he's hurt his friends. But they've also worked together, he's seen Slade draw lines and do good. If he were a full blooded monster, it'd be easy for Dick to hate him enough to shut him out. Maybe then Slade would take him seriously when he asked him to stay away.

It wasn't love... so why was this so hard?

[euripidesredux]

Extended credits for Museum at Tomorrow episode 5

Below the cut are all of the folks who I used (and asked to be credited) for recordings in Museum at Tomorrow episode 5- specifically, the "This is not for You" recordings.

(The list was too long for podcast episode descriptions)

These recordings were mixed into the soundscape of the show, heavily processed- so you may or may not be able to pick out your voice. Each unique recording is preserved as rhythem, timber, and shape within the episode.

Thank you for your work in creating the canvas of this piece.

Kate Bullen

K R Forsyth

Vega Jacobsen

Charlie

Rovi

Grace Gamble 

Wesley Lee Balete

Charlie Sloykowski

JC Hendry

Courtney Brothers

Arabella McDonald

Hanc Finestra

Katie H

Galacticguppy 

Beck Smith

GreenHeronHive

Micheal Vee

Mira Singer

Laurent J.L. Hall

Carley Mothersell

woaaah

cmt

November_Clouds

Elliott Neptune

Enrica Jossi

Ace

Jahan Shah 

Morgan Galagher

Niall LG

  Bates

Caroline Mincks

Daniel Kurtz

AJ Fidalgo

Tani

Shura

Zedek H

Halebop

Malia Northstar

Greg Ruddick

Solstice Hannan

Jessamy Thomison 

Cassie A.

Rachel Spokony

miss mr meow

Arti Richardson

Mattie J.

Geddy Cary-Avery,

 Ophelia Cary-Avery

Sophie Kaplan

X Speaks

Devin

Craux

Cap

Joe R

Ray Goldberg

Mog

The Marble System

Tina Case

Kate Bullen

Marionette

LD

Maddy Searle

Remi P

Meg Taylor

Beth

Evan Tess Murray

Amanda Jones

Amanda Ehrhardt

Nathan Fisentzou-Haji-Leonti

Johanna Andersson

Tess Huth

@faeriebullshit

Olivia Lion

Ange

Bridget M. Mueting

Wil Williams

Katie Utke

aceofgames

Savy Stay

Graham Rowat

Meredith

spaceacebreakface 

Molly Walsh

Belinda Parker

Erin Celovsky

liz

Caden Osojnak

Danniac 

Ray Schrader

Atlas Byrd

AJ. S.

JayseHasNoGrace

Fay Blackmore

Sharon Peterson

Katharina Abschlag 

Izzy

Ace Tayloe

kat B

Siz Hart

moth

Kathryn Cox

G. Honnigford

Pine Gonzalez

sisyphus

Essay

artie eigengrau

Rook Davis

Izzi Mata

grayson

Tamara Jones

Willow

G.F.

Leigh sharpe

Zelda MacFarland

Arkyn Wolf

Elany

Elaine Wiley

Mary Lewis-Phillipps

Claudia Elvidge

Kei Burke

Katie Vargas

Karleen Preator

Alicia Babich

Jonathan Sciance

Étoile

Hayden Laver

Barrett Vann

S Kramer

Maya Hiers-Lairson

judas

Archer Hickerson

Malinda

Nicole Liang

LF Haye

Louis Carroll

Stefanie K.

Autumn Wang 

jayvin

Badger Merriweather

Aiden

Sender Paulson

vexxervee

Rob Weiner

Peril

Lotte Schmidt 

fynn

Lor

Josie D. 

Jaryn Tyson

Common Blue Icarus

resplendeo

Claire Alpern

skelejor

Matt Weiss

M Zemlock

Kay Eileen

Callisto Holmes

Rhys

Noah Quinn

Sarah Elizabeth

Willow Belden

Amanda McCormack

Esrah Del Carlo

sunny

the Hartmans

Lee Ann Eden

Bob Proctor

Clueless

deda eliensis

Ohallo

Tara Schile

Marzi 

Flameheart Dryad

Sarah Lambrix 

JB Segal 

Ellis C

Ash

Autumn

Jaime Tamar

Haze Peers

Moose

Erin Bevan

Luci Tomich

Bryn

Michael W.

Kim Fukawa

Amy Strieter

Petra Hall

Mal

Charlie Rayshich

Susan Weiner

Everett Blackthorne

Vergess

Tor

ArionWind

M. Alti

N. B. Green

Aiden Nicholson

Jacky Rubou

Nura Lawrence

Gwen Clancy

Ollie M.

Caroline

Duo

Iris

ML Beck

Ray Makowski

Eljay Rich

MV8

Michelle Pigott

Rachel Pfennigwerth

Janika

Jamie Gump

Mason J Miller

Ella Watts

Cole

Mady Oswald

Valerie "ShinyHappyGoth" Kaplan

Anne Baird

Emily Ricotta

el-draco-bizarro

Ansel Burch

Nathan Sowell

LM Heß

Cy

Richard Peers

[lazyrp]

MUSES + PLAYLISTS

[waveofstars]

angie. 28. she/her. selective. oc indie rp. multi-muse. cst. aries. infp. mun of this blog along with some others in the past.

GENERAL

rules

about me

ooc posts

open starters

CHARACTERS

all muses - summaries, bios, stats, & photos included of all CURRENT muses. click here for the tws.

muse connections - a list of my muses who have connections to my other muses.

more below ...

ROLEPLAYING

plot wishlist 

ship inspo

open starters

PINTEREST BOARDS (current and past) * not updated

chey johnson aesthetic

luna young aesthetic

elani levine aesthetic

rory white aesthetic

iris mason aesthetic

penny mason aesthetic

connor rose aesthetic

jenn summers aesthetic

renee o'reilly aesthetic

jacob hart aesthetic

jude sommer aesthetic

sloane lin aesthetic

matilda myers aesthetic 

CHARACTER PLAYLISTS (current and past) * not updated

chey johnson playlist

chey johnson’s band “SWELL” playlist

grayson cox playlist 

luna young playlist

cohen smalls playlist

jacob hart playlist

elani levine playlist

luke morrow-edwards playlist 

rory white playlist

connor rose playlist

roslyn smoak playlist

chase carter playlist

claire carter playlist

renee o’reilly playlist

marley mccabe playlist

sloane lin playlist

rox ross playlist

nora jones playlist

penny mason playist

finn sullivan playlist

[ladyknightofhollyrose]

Tagged by @kromze and @youremarvelous~

Rules:  Answer the questions and tag 10 blogs you’d like to know better. 

Nicknames: I don’t think I actually have any at the moment? My sister calls me a little shit on the regular though, and I was once called ‘Meeracat’ by my old manager lol

Star Sign: Capricorn

Height: 5′5″ish

Time right now: 22:23

Last thing you googled: Vegetarian Paella (cause that’s what I made or dinner this evening lol)

Favorite music artist: I don’t have a favourite artist... My usuals would probably be Enter Shikar, Foo Fighters, PVRIS, Issues and Slaves, but if we’re talking about who I’ve been listening to most recently? Probably Gallant, EDEN (WHO I LOVE SO MUCH OMG) and Bishop Briggs. Oh actually I’ve also been listening to Don Broco since I saw they’ll be at Slam Dunk this year and I’m loving their album too ^^b

Last TV show watched: Legion! I’ve also been watching Agents of Shield since the Ghost Rider plot started, and still watch Supergirl ^^b

What am I wearing right now: My Batman pjs and gown XD But I was wearing my holo-kitty skirt, leggings and Star Wars top earlier :3

When did I create my blog: Boxing Day 2011 omg

What kind of stuff do I post about:  Hmmm bits of anime (YOI, Haikyuu!!, Free! etc.), comics, cartoons (mainly Voltron and Miraculous Ladybug) and a couple of other fandoms (like All for the Game, Star Wars and Kingdom Hearts)... Also just things I think look pretty, quotes, posts I agree with and a bit of politics here and there. Tends to be a pretty mixed bag depending on my mood, though more recently there’ve been RL posts and my face on occasion

Do I have any other blogs: *looks guiltily at fic blog that hasn’t been touched in forever* I also have a couple of other blogs including one where I post more personal stuff when I need to let off some steam, a Makoto-centric blog that hasn’t been updated in forever (cause my own anal tagging system makes me too lazy to update) and a Fic Rec blog that I haven’t gotten around to putting together properly yet

orz

Do I get asks regularly: AHAHAHA. no.

Why did I choose my url: It tends to be my standard handle everywhere these days, and its kind of a part of my online identity now XD It’s from back in year 9 (holy shit that was like, over a decade ago now) when I was suuuuuper into Tamora Pierce’s Tortall universe (<3333) and Merric of Hollyrose was my favourite character ^^b

Gender: female

Pokemon Team: Valour

Hogwarts House: Honestly this seems to vary as much as my Myers-Briggs personality type lol. If we’re going on what Pottermore sorted me into, I got Gryffindor the first time, and Slytherin the second

Favorite colors: green, black, turquoise, silver, burgundy

Average hours of sleep: Tends to vary - Somewhere between 6 and 7 hours on a weekday, and somewhere between 4 and 8 on a weekend XD

Favorite Characters: Hmmmmmm. Difficult! Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne, Tachibana Makoto, Matsuoka Rin, Kuroo Tetsurou, Phichit Chulanont, Yuri Plisetsky, Hunk (Voltron), Chris Chow... I’m sure there are a tonne of others that I’m just not thinking of atm though.

Dream job: Full-time hermit plz. But lol no, I have no idea truthfully, I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do long-term

Tagging: @aroundthecoffeepot, @jacket-thief, @elany (if they want to/can be bothered) and anyone else who feels like it (in which case tag me so I can see!)

[robbinghisdick]

Slade: for the kid’s first Halloween, can she be a pumpkin?

Dick: … why do you care about was she dresses up as on Halloween?

Slade: listen, you’ve decided everything about this kid and I’ve let you, I’m just asking for one thing

/on Halloween

Roy: that’s… a lot of orange and black

Dick: yeah? It’s a pumpkin costume—wait… OOOH MOTHER FUCKER

[robbinghisdick]

I've realized that Hal and Elani's dynamic would be stupidly funny.

Elani hates change! Babies don't do much so she has no problem with Finneas, but Hal is a grown man with a voice and personality :/

Bruce: what's going on here

Hal: staring content

Bruce:

Bruce: she's nine

Hal: sounds like someone who's lost to her before

Grown man beefing with a kid. All the Bat kids actually accepted Hal pretty quick! It's Bruce's granddaughter that's giving him such a hassle lmao

Hal: I think your daughter is plotting to kill me

Dick: aw she might plot but she does believe in our no kill rule :)

Bruce: Dick you're not helping

[robbinghisdick]

Damian and Elani’s dynamic is very special to me but also they’re extremely annoying

[robbinghisdick]

The problem with having a kid with Slade Wilson is knowing what happened to his other kids. Dick doesn’t trust him and Slade knows it :)

[robbinghisdick]

Slade had rarely ever stayed the night, even before they had a kid. Dick and Slade would get tangled up for a few hours at most and go their separate ways, shame settling heavy in Dick's chest. "It's just sex" never seemed make him feel any better.

Ever since Elani had been born, they saw each other even less. Dick wasn't keen on giving her a sibling, so he often rejected any advances Slade made when he supposedly stopped by to see his daughter.

But last night he had been so tired and drained. They put Elani to bed and Slade's approach was softer than usual. Dick had mostly stopped seeing anyone, sexual or romantic, in fear of how Slade might react. He was weak for some physical contact and attention.

Slade had decided to stay that night, and Dick didn't have it in him to chase the man off.

It was nice to wake up in someone's arms. Slade was warm and stirred not too long after Dick woke up. Neither of them spoke. Faintly he could hear Slade sigh, arms slightly squeezing around Dick and pressing kisses against his shoulder and the back of his neck. Affection like this from Slade was rare, and even rarer that Dick didn't shrug him off.

They laid like that for a long while before Dick could hear the footsteps of a toddler who hadn't quite yet figured out how to walk quietly.

Elani managed to enter the room without slamming the door against the wall, quick to start dragging herself up from the foot of the bed.

She froze when she saw Slade, frowning at him.

She's never seen her parents share a bed.

"Good morning, Dove."

Elani smiled at Dick, quickly toddling across the bed and flopping down on top of the two, earning a small oof! from Slade as she forced her way in between them. She kicked until the man let go of Dick and made room for her.

Rolling over, Dick smiled as Elani quickly settled down between them. One thing he loved is that while she'd always wake him up coming into bed with him, she'd lay down quietly until Dick was ready to get up.

Curiosity over Slade seemed to override her usual quiet morning behavior.

"Why are you here?" she asks with all the bluntness of three year old.

Slade snorts, reaching over and pinching her cheek. "Because I wanna be, brat."

She giggles and reaches over to pinch him back, giggles rising to a shriek as he yanks closer.

"No! Your beard!" She pushes his face away, still laughing as he rubs his face against hers.

They settle a moment later, Slade loosening his grip on her and Elani staying snuggled against his chest.

Dick felt like he was suffocating.

Is this what other people got to wake up to? Was Slade ever like this with Grant and Joey when they were little?

Oftentimes it felt like Slade only ever interacted with Elani to make sure she liked him. He'd bring her toys and treats, idly listen as she babbled, but his attention would always turn towards Dick.

There's an expression Slade's face he's never seen before as the man sighs and kisses the top of Elani's head.

Such a sweet moment of a life Dick would never actually have, nor one he could ever give Elani.

[Prev]

[robbinghisdick]

Elani Grayson! She’s my Slade/Dick fan kid and I’ve spent 5 minutes trying to type a short description and failing spectacularly lmao. Dick has her fairly young and raises her mostly by himself with help from family. She’s a good kid, but struggles with empathy and morality.

[robbinghisdick]

As Dick looked down at his white haired baby, he wondered if her genetics knew that black hair was a dominant trait and by all accounts should've trumped Slade's silver hair (which wasn't even natural to begin with).

At the hospital, he said it probably wasn't white, just a very pale blonde and would darken as Elani aged. He could tell that Bruce was mentally listing any man he could think of with white hair, even as Dick told him sternly that he didn't want to know who the father was, so let it be.

Dick doubted Bruce would listen for very long.

Roy accompanied him home from the hospital, the only person Dick had told the full truth to. Considering Lian, Roy didn't have much room to judge, though he made relentless jabs about daddy issues. Slade was Bruce's age, after all.

In some time, Dick would allow the other Titans to come over and meet Elani, but he knew they'd likely piece things together quick once they saw her. He wasn't quite ready yet for their reactions. Slade had tormented them, and here Dick had just carried and birthed his child.

Roy helped Dick settle back home, pointing to the fridge full of meals the team had prepared for him as a gift. He told Dick to get some rest and to not be afraid to reach out for help.

The loneliness was felt immediately, his apartment painfully silent and empty. Normally it was a blessing to come home to. He loved his team mates, but it was nice to have a little space just for him.

Dick mostly rested, keeping Elani in his arms as he sat on the couch and mindlessly watched TV. He was restless but exhausted, a frustrating mixture that left to overthink.

He knew despite his scathing remarks to Slade to stay away, it wouldn’t matter. The man had yet to respect a single boundary Dick had ever tried to set. It was only a matter of time.

That thought alone made it hard to put Elani down in her crib. He chose this apartment so he could make the room without windows a nursery. He didn't want access to her to be easy, and yet he was sure Slade would find a way.

It got late and exhaustion wore out. He put Elani to bed, left his bedroom door open, and cranked the baby monitor volume all the way up. He sporadically got up to feed and take care of her as the soft cries came through the baby monitor.

He had only been laying down for a few minutes when his hair stood on end and he found himself suddenly awake. For a minute he didn't move, ears pricked for any sort of sound. No noise came, but Dick got to his feet, reaching just under his bed for a bat.

Soundlessly he slipped down the hall to the nursery. It didn't matter if he immediately recognized that the man in the nursery was Slade, seeing someone hold his baby left him chilled.

He froze, but Slade noticed him a moment later.

"At ease, Grayson. We both know you're not going to hit me while I'm holding her," his voice was quiet. Dick couldn't tell if it was for the sake of the sleeping baby or if it was because he was being treated like a startled animal. Possibly both.

"I thought I said I didn't want to see you again," Dick said, relaxing his hold on the bat but not putting it down altogether as he entered the nursery.

Slade laughs, unimpressed. "You also said the baby wasn't mine." One finger flicks a white curl on Elani's head. "I know when you're lying."

Dick scowled in return.

Slade's gaze turns down to the baby in his arms. "What's her name?"

"Elani Marie Grayson."

Slade makes a small noise of acknowledgement. "Thought your mother's name was Mary?"

"Marie sounded better." Dick hated that Slade remembered that detail about him. The voice in his head that sounded like his friends told him that Slade was weird and obsessed. It wasn't because there was anything more to their fucked up dynamic.

After a beat of silence, Dick sighed. "What do you want, Slade?"

"Just wanted to see my daughter."

"You already have one," Dick reminded him. "Elani is my daughter, not yours." He closed the distance between them. "If you care for her at all, you won't be in her life. You get people killed."

Slade's eyes scan over Dick's face, cracking a smile. "I don't recall your track record being much better."

Dick's lips press into a hard line, refusing to react. Not a day has gone by since Dick got pregnant that he didn't dread all the terrible things that could happen to Elani purely because she was his daughter. He knew he was just as big of a threat to Elani as Slade was.

But without further arguing, Slade pushed Elani into Dick's arms, ignoring the way Dick jerked his head away to give him a kiss.

"I'll come see you once you've recovered."

Dick didn't bother telling him not to.

[Prev]

[robbinghisdick]

Sladick baby doodles, I love my girl— Elani and Lian are a few years apart in age, so Roy and Dick did a LOT of co-parenting when it came to them. They’re close 💕

[robbinghisdick]

Jason can't help but think that Dick should really consider dying his daughter's hair to a more natural color. Elani's silver hair is easy to pick out amongst the kids at the playground. Elani would be about six now, if Jason recalls correctly. He hadn't seen her since she was a baby.

But this isn't about seeing his niece, this is about ruffling Dick's feathers.

Although Roy is watching her along with his own daughter, all it really takes is for him to become preoccupied with Lian. Just a moment of distraction, and for Elani to be off on the other side of the playground for Jason to grab her.

His car is parked right at the curb, he's tossed her into the passenger seat before the girl realizes what's going on and causes a fuss. She immediately grabs the door handle, but Jason has it slammed shut and locked before she can push her way out.

Elani looks more angry than scared as she looks at Jason. "My dad will kill you."

Jason snorts at the blunt threat, starting up the car. He glances over and see's that Roy has noticed Elani is missing. "Nice try, sweetheart, but Nightwing doesn't kill."

"I didn't say Nightwing."

Now THAT surprises Jason, but he doesn't have time to question further. He pulls away from the curb and takes off, waiting until he's sure he's not being followed.

"So, who's gonna get me then?" he asks. He never did figure out who Elani's other parent was before he died. All he knew is that it caused an explosive fight between Dick and Bruce, and he had decided to stay out of it.

Elani doesn't give him a response but gives him a withering look of a grumpy child.

"You seem very certain that he'd kill me. Just talking big or did he actually kill someone?" Jason presses, reaching over and poking her.

"I've been kidnapped before, and they were much scarier than you!" she snaps back, swatting away his hand. "He shot them, and he'll shoot you too."

Jason finds himself laughing, wondering how the perfect golden boy Dick Grayson ended up with this mouthy of a child, much less had a baby with a killer.

///

The longer they drove, the quieter they both got. Jason's thoughts settled back on Dick. Roy has probably called Dick by now, and an automatic message Jason had set up has likely reached Dick's phone. He was going to have a little fun messing with the man. Bruce would likely be made aware soon too, desperate to find his favorite kid.

When they got out of the car, Elani put up a fight, screaming and yanking against Jason's hold, but he doesn't pay it much mind. No one around would come to save her.

His grip tightens and he yanks her along as they head into an old building.

Then he freezes. Something washes over him, dulling the swarm of thoughts in his head, the rage he feels.

He feels Elani kicking his leg and he glances down to see that she's started to cry, desperately trying to pry Jason's hand off her wrist. She looks at Jason with teary eyes, a peculiar light gleaming in them.

I'm hurting her. Something twists in his chest, and he relaxes his grip on her wrist just a bit. "I don't plan on hurting you," he says, continuing to move through the old rundown building. "Just play along for a little bit, alright?"

She stops fighting against him, but he hears her still sniffling.

The plan was to leave her locked up here and move to another building to throw off Dick, but curiosity decides to nag at him.

He picks up Elani as he sits down, and she flinches as he wipes at a tear.

Jason pulls off his helmet and sets it to the side. "Do you remember me, Lani?"

Elani studies his face for a moment before shaking her head. It stings a little, even if Jason knew it was unreasonable to expect her to remember his face.

"I'm Jason."

At that, her demeanor changes, eyes lighting up. "Oh! Uncle Jay," she says immediately. "Daddy talked about you a lot."

The past tense doesn't go over Jason's head. "What'd he say?'

Too vague of a question. Elani shrugs. "He missed you a lot," she says. "And would pull out pictures sometimes. I have one in my room!"

Jason finds himself surprised to immediately know what photo she was likely talking about. Dick joked about how Jason was Elani's favorite person in the whole world and had a framed photo of Jason holding Elani up. She couldn't have looked more delighted in that photo.

He remembers just how excited he had been to be an uncle. He'd spend any moment where Dick was out of earshot trying to get his name to be Elani's first word just to tease Dick. Elani would refuse to smile whenever Bruce held her, but Jason could always get giggling.

It was hard to believe that Elani was only in kindergarten, but those moments felt like they happened a million years ago.

"He said you died."

Jason nods. "I did."

Elani registers that for a moment, looking very concerned. "Are you a zombie?"

Jason blinks. "I don't think so. I did come back to life, though."

"Did it hurt?"

"A lot," he confirms. It was hard to comprehend just how much pain he had been in. "Still hurts."

Elani is quiet for a moment before rubbing her bruising wrist. "Why are you doing this?"

Suddenly his reasoning didn't seem very sound, and it left him baffled. He had been so sure and convicted only moments ago. He didn't want to think about it.

He avoids the question.

///

Jason had completely forgotten the run around he was going to give Dick. He instead spent that time just talking to Elani. It was the clearest his head had felt since he was resurrected.

He hears the floor creek and glances up to see Nightwing at the door.

The man is tense and freezes when their eyes meet.

Jason glances back down at Elani who was still talking about some mean kids at school that she was dealing with.

With a sigh, Jason gestures take her. He doesn't feel like fighting Dick anymore.

That seems to startle Dick and he carefully approaches, glancing around as if there were some trap that would spring out once he got too close.

None came.

"Hey, Dove."

Elani looks over her shoulder and springs out of Jason's lap and into the arms of her father. Dick holds her tightly, body sagging with relief before he stood up with his daughter in his arms.

Neither of the two men say anything. Dick's mouth opens, hesitating, but seems to decide he doesn't want to jinx anything and quickly leaves with his daughter.

Looking over Dick's shoulder, Elani waves.

Jason waves back.

In the next hour, he'll wonder why hell he just let her go, why he didn't follow through with any of his plans. His thoughts crowd and his anger brews.

///

Maybe next time.

[Previous]

(A/n: Sadly it isn't the power of love that got to Jason, just an undiscovered meta-ability lmao. Idk if anyone is actually gonna read this, but it's been buzzing in my head for like... two weeks. I'm still familiarizing myself with Jason so like, give me a lil bit of grace if anything is too OOC. This is placed vaguely after Jason killed a bunch of people dressed like Nightwing)

[robbinghisdick]

What about the Robins? Do they have a role in Elani's life and care if Slade is her dad??

- Jason: he is 13 when Elani is born! He was NOT told who the father of Elani was. He was a little shit teen who tried very hard to get Elani to say his name before she could say "dada" lmao. As a teen boy, wasn't super interested in her, but would talk and play with her. Post-ressurection I imagine he eventually finds out/figures out who her dad is, but doesn't particularly care. I'm still learning his character as well, but I find it extremely funny at the prospect of him randomly kidnapping her to spend some time and Dick REALLY wishes he'd just be fucking normal about it oh my god, the note you left looks like a RANSOM NOTE! He doesn't have a super active role in her life, but does teach her how to shoot a gun and is her #1 defender of "this girl has never done a thing wrong in her life" whether or not it's true lmao

- Tim: this is honestly the Robin I know least about, but would be the most prominent in her life! Tim sees one weird interaction between Slade and Dick and instantly figures it out lmao. Finds it extremely weird, but also he's new here (at the time) and didn't really have much of an opinion. He's 15 and she's 4 when they meet! I think they're not noticeably close, but Tim is the one Elani tends to go to with a problem and I think they have mutual yapper and listener dynamic. Relationship dynamic to be updated as I learn more!

- Damian: this is THE Robin she has the most complex dynamic with. Elani is 7 and he's 10 when they meet and it's ON SIGHT. Mfers can't stand each other and cannot be left in the same room alone. It doesn't help that Elani has a SUPER bad jealousy streak and she does not care for how much attention Damian takes up, especially concerning her dad and grandpa. Damian doesn't learn that Slade is her dad for a good long while. The two eventually get very close, but that's a whole post in itself lmao. They are very special to me you have no idea 😭

[robbinghisdick]

Never posted this doodle of Elani. Fuck shit up baby girl 💕