#like the author gets it Jason is haunted about coming back not his death

[azurendays]

Who would’ve thought a Furry Event is how we get good Jason Todd writing??

[deliriumsdelight7]

Okay so I'm too afraid to watch Stranger Things (I have on good authority that it would actually break me) but I feel like I Need to know about hellcheer, what are the most important things to know xD

You, my friend, are in luck, because Hellcheer has all of, like, five minutes of interactions. I’ll only show you the video for the good one so as not to break you. This scene OOZES chemistry:

As for things to know, I will do my best to stick with strictly canon material and avoid headcanons (of which there are many).

For Chrissy Cunningham:

1.) She is a senior in high school, head cheerleader.

2.) She is dating the captain of the basketball team, Jason Carver.

3.) She is being plagued by visions from an otherworldly creature who is essentially feeding off of her trauma. That’s why she’s so jumpy in the clip.

4.) She has an eating disorder. This manifests in her visions as a table full of food that is rotting and fly-infested.

5.) Her mother is abusive. This manifests in her visions with her mother at a sewing machine altering Chrissy’s clothes to fit. Additionally, in the vision, her father is sewn to his recliner, his eyes and mouth sewn shut - implying that he has been violently blinded, immobilized, and silenced by his wife.

6.) Later in the night the same day as the above scene, Chrissy goes to Eddie’s trailer so he can sell her ketamine to try to ignore her visions. The creature haunting her takes this opportunity to kill her brutally in front of Eddie.

For Eddie Munson:

1.) Eddie is loud and abrasive. Compare the scene where he’s introduced to how soft he is with Chrissy:

2.) Eddie lives in a trailer with his uncle. According to the prequel book, his mother is dead and his father is in jail. His father taught him to hotwire cars when he was a kid.

3.) Eddie has been held back twice. His goal is to graduate high school, flip off the principal, and get out of Hawkins, Indiana.

4.) He is not the same person after Chrissy dies. He is deeply traumatized, and blames himself for running away and leaving her in his trailer (even though she was already dead).

5.) Eddie’s uncle, Wayne, is Eddie’s number one supporter. This guy is continuing to shelter his twenty-year-old drug dealer metalhead nephew when he has no obligation to. When he comes home from work to see a dead cheerleader in his trailer, he is 100% positive Eddie didn’t do it. We would all die for Uncle Wayne.

6.) In the last episode of the season, Eddie goes into the alternate dimension where the evil creature lurks and plays Master of Puppets by Metallica as a distraction. Now, people take this as Eddie being a guitar prodigy because that song came out only WEEKS before the events of this season. But more importantly: he dedicates his performance to Chrissy.

(Only the first few seconds of this are relevant)

7.) Chrissy’s death affects Eddie right up to his own. He successfully distracts the creatures in the alternate dimension. He’s in the process of returning to his own when he stops, turns around, and sacrifices himself in order to keep the monsters at bay a little longer. As he’s dying, he says, “I didn’t run away this time.”

Jason Carver (because no Beauty and the Beast style ship is complete without a Gaston):

1.) Jason is Chrissy’s boyfriend and the captain of the basketball team. He is handsome and well-liked, but very self-centered. One of the first times we see him, he takes a town tragedy - a “mall fire” that killed dozens - and makes it about his upcoming basketball game.

2.) When Chrissy dies, he goes off the rails. He gathers his teammates, packs his trunk full of weapons, and goes hunting for Eddie.

3.) We never really see Jason sad about Chrissy’s death. He’s only angry. There’s a scene where a classmate offers her condolences to Jason. He changes the subject.

4.) When someone tells Jason that Chrissy went to Eddie because she was scared, he grows angry and says that she would have come to him. Kinda says a lot about the relationship.

5.) Fun fact: the actor who played Jason based his personality off of Tom Cruise and mega church leaders. Yikes.

Parallels:

1.) ‘86: Chrissy wears a 1986 necklace, and Eddie says that ‘86 is going to be his year.

2.) We never see either character out of their “uniform” - her cheerleading outfit and his Hellfire Club t-shirt (his DnD club).

3.) Both characters were victims of the town’s perception of them. Chrissy didn’t get the help she needed because her life seemed so perfect. Eddie was pursued by a literal mob because the town succumbed to Satanic Panic.

4.) Both had parents who put unfair expectations on them: Chrissy’s mother put the burden of beauty on her, and Eddie’s dad made him help steal cars.

Hopefully that’s a good jumping off point! If anybody else wants to chime in with anything I missed, feel free!

Let me know if you want popular headcanons to go with it!

[glitter-stained]

Idea: for his first time coming back to Crime Alley during his revenge plot, before establishing himself as a crime lord, Jason saves a kid. The kid asks him his name then informs him that it's ridiculous, and that a fairy tale name isn't scary at all so he should change it if he wants to scare the bad guys and also that his helmet isn't even a hood so it's stupid. Jason goes home in a daze, has a crisis, and brainstorms ideas.

Here is the list he comes up with, based on the fact he's a dramatic nerd, and ranked from my personal least favourite to top favourite.

The Creature : I feel like Jason would be the type of person to scream at people who call the Creature Frankenstein, but also argues that the real monster in the story is indeed Frankenstein; that name is thus a book accurate reference, while simultaneously highlighting and rubbing in Bruce's face that he created the villain by making himself his father and then abandoning him. My issue with this is that I associate the concept of cryptid vigilant creature with Cass so much giving the name to Jason feels wrong.

Rhapsody : Rhapsody of a Windy Night (by TS Eliot ofc) is THE poem I think of when I think about Jason in relation to Crime Alley, so this is a cool looking name cementing his identity as a crime lord/ vigilante as linked to this place. Unfortunately, most people would think either music themed villain or Queen reference and nobody would get the reference which would piss Jason off.

The Dead Poet: That idea is not mine, I unfortunately lost the post that suggested it so feel free to link it if you do. I absolutely love it, 100% nerd and batman villain, only reason it's low is I like the others more.

Antigonish: That's the title of a creepy poem/nursery rhyme by Mearns about a ghost haunting a house (yesterday upon the stairs/i saw a man who wasn't there...) very leaning in the creepy, undead, haunting the narrative vibe, and I think he'd fuck with the aesthetic so much, I think he'd wage psychological warfare against Batman with references to Jason's death.

Prometheus: A classic, the curse of non consensual immortality while also being a protector and enlightener of the people, defying the authority and saying I will break your rule in the name of what I think matters more. I think he'd like the way it lets him simultaneously say fuck you to Bruce and keep in mind who he's supposed to protect. Yes, I know Prometheus is a pre existing villain and I hate him, let's just ignore that.

Chrysothemis: this one is such a smartass reference he's such a little shit I think he'd love it. A classic myth from the trojan war is Agamemnon sacrificing his daughter Iphigenia to Artemis in order to be able to go on his mission (wage war against Troy), and when he comes back from Troy, Clytemnestra kills him in revenge, and then the family hunts eachother for sports (see the Oresteia). In Sophocles's Electra, Chrysothemis is the name of the daughter of Clytemnestra who, unlike Electra, doesn't condemn/ protest against their mother for killing Agamemnon to avenge Iphigenia. I think it's particularly funny because Chrysothemis literally means "golden law". Maybe not the most badass sounding but god would it be so funny.

Lightbearer : (the title of Lucifer). Again, maybe not the most badass but Jason is a nerd and he'd fuck with it. "But isn't Jason the christic equivalent of the Bruce/Jason/Joker trinity?" I hear you ask and the answer is yes, but on a meta level, this is what the reader is allowed to see. Jason? He's read Paradise Lost and agrees Satan/Lucifer was right, projected Bruce on God, and made it his whole personality. I think Lightbearer!Jason would quote Paradise Lost/make references to it all the time during their arguments, denouncing Batman's abandonment of Crime Alley and say "I'd rather rule in hell than serve in heaven", tell him that he has no obligation to play by his rules because "just because you were here first doesn't make you the rightful ruler of this city". This also goes well with my hcs about Crime Alley being a little fucked up and loving their local crime lord/vigilant, with graffitis and nicknames treating him like the Alley's Angel/guardian angel but in a fucked up, fallen angel way, like that's our patron saint and he's made of the same shit that we are, he's not holier-than-though cause he's not holy but he's ours.

Anyway feel free to share which ones you prefer and add ideas!!!

[thecruellestmonth]

Spooky Jason Todd fic recs

Some of the best Jason Todd fics featuring the supernatural and the unsettling, the dark and the dreadful, in the spirit of the Halloween season. Reminder: read warnings and author's notes carefully.

"Six of Swords" by campitor https://archiveofourown.org/works/37046005 - Six of swords: upright, symbolic of a rite of passage, of change and transition; reversed, a symbol of unfinished business. Six vignettes detailing the birth of the Red Hood and the deaths of sons, from UTH to Lost Days.

"The Hollow Man" by sister_wolf https://archiveofourown.org/works/121473 - He didn't even know that it existed until it showed up in Gotham one night, this-- this thing that's wearing Jason's body like a costume. But not his body as it was when he died-- older, no scars, no marks at all. How is that even possible? (Or, the one where Red Hood meets the ghost of his fifteen-year-old self.) This story was written back in 2005, when Under the Hood was the one and only Red Hood Jason storyline, and fans were still speculating about how Jason came back to life and transformed from Robin to Red Hood.

"Bloodstains Won't Make It Matter" by skylarkblue https://archiveofourown.org/works/40999275 - Jason returns to Gotham to find another dead Robin. He steals away with the body and resurrects her, but there begs the question: what will they do? Destroy Gotham. That's what they'll do. It's ALIIIIVE! In which the second Robin resurrects the fourth. This is a story about friendship and tender acts of care, and this is a story about revenge and destruction and being fabulously unhinged. Come for the spooky resurrection horror, stay for the Dead Robins toxic friendship. [dark fic, graphic violence CW, resurrection horror]

"Ghost Story" by InsaneTrollLogic https://archiveofourown.org/works/14624928 It starts with the phantom sound of laughter, glimpses of motion just out of sight, a boy in a tattered Robin suit, and the sneaking suspicion that not all of Jason made it back from the dead. Maybe the real monsters are the family we made along the way... [graphic violence, depressing family dynamics, extreme supernatural harm inflicted on a child]

"No Lazarus" by join_the_conga https://archiveofourown.org/works/11307267 - Jason Todd is the second Robin to Batman. He was savagely beaten and killed by the Joker, and was subsequently replaced by Timothy Drake, the third Robin. Jason comes back from the dead and regains his faculties with the aid of Batman’s enemies abroad. This is a version of that story where Jason has nothing to bring his mind back to his body but Bruce Wayne—and the figment of the Robin that Jason once was. Every detail is unsettling and hostile to human life. Everyone hurts, and everything is awful. [content warning for some medical horror, canon-typical Gothic horror sensationalism about insanity and disfigurement]

"The Daughter of the Water" by chucklesbuckles https://archiveofourown.org/works/46605205 - “To walk the world!” it croons, bright gold spilling over its cheeks, highlighting the springy white curls crowning its head. It bends, cold wet hands cradling Talia’s face, wiping her tears away. It places a soft kiss to her forehead, tucking a loose curl of hair behind her ear, torchlight eyes burning. “Thank you for the body.” Creepy and wet!

"Haunting" by the_authors_exploits https://archiveofourown.org/works/7392994 - It makes a strange juxtaposition, the Batman so dark and frightening, crying over a dead boy behind a dumpster. An alternative scenario in which Jason meets his extremely sweet, extremely creepy Batdad. Obvious horror elements, but somehow the atmosphere is soothing instead of horrifying.

"promises" by sunspikes https://archiveofourown.org/works/40731531 - After a nightmare Jason's on the hunt for tea to soothe his sore throat. It turns out to be with Bruce, and he finds comfort in more than the just the tea. You've heard of hurt/comfort, now get ready for comfort/hurt!

★ "Rise Up With The Sun" by blacklettered https://archiveofourown.org/works/19053271 - His son came home on a Wednesday evening and Bruce did not call for the slaughter of the fattened calf but it was a close thing. A quiet and heartwarming reconciliation between father and son. (Also there’s a bunch of freaky Edgar Allan Poe shit happening in the background because lowkey Jason Todd walks the earth as if living and yet remains irrevocably connected to the forces of death and decay—but that’s not as important. Happy yet creepy ending!) ★

"Sealing the deal" by orphan_account - In which Bruce Wayne is kidnapped and it’s somehow not the most difficult part of anyone’s day. Or, in which Jason Todd is a selkie. One of the few really upbeat stories on this list!

"Down to Dust" by Sparkypants https://archiveofourown.org/works/47407291 - It's not the warehouse that Jason has nightmares about. It's Bruce. Bruce deciding to cremate him instead of bury him. Because if he had, what would Jason be now? An infinite number of pieces, cast into the wind. Smoke hanging in the air and never whole or home again, part of him always missing.

"bird of winter" by knowsphere https://archiveofourown.org/works/4992139 - There is a ghost in the manor. Damian meets a friendly ghost, who has returned in a new form to the world of the living. Based on Batman: Gotham Knights #34. This little story is soft and wintry, like a spoonful of mint ice cream. Damian is a sweetheart, and Jason gets a happy ending. A nice cleanser after reading too much horror.

"oh, just hangin' out" by mikkal https://archiveofourown.org/works/42365103 - Jason doesn't remember agreeing to imitate a dead butterfly, but here he is. | No. 3 A HAIR’S BREADTH FROM DEATH | Impaled - A Whumptober special, featuring gruesome gore and spooky Lazarus Pit side effects. And also an adorable Damian. Happy ending.

"Confessional" by Temeritous https://archiveofourown.org/works/45307363 - The woman grabbed him by the arm and snarled nastily, “A nice boy like you deserves to know what everyone thinks of him.” Then her eyes pulsed from dark brown to bright purple and she disappeared between one blink and the next. There is a witch here, so this story counts for Halloween. [content warning for a random bystander frankly confessing an extreme sexual fantasy while under the effects of a truth spell]

"Ghostgirl and Zomboy" by shauds https://archiveofourown.org/works/16476446 - "You don't make demands of the ghost, asshole, the ghost makes demands of you." He should have known better than to make his big comeback in October. Perfect time to read a mostly upbeat ghost story set during Halloween.

"(No Sense of) Preservation" by crying_jaybird https://archiveofourown.org/works/26959063 - Sometimes, Jason thinks about how if Bruce had made a slightly different choice, he would have been embalmed. [content warnings for trauma including obsessive thinking and death idealization]

"One Foot in the Grave" by samiraxlula https://archiveofourown.org/works/25047856 - Dying can be the birth of something new and awful, to make the worst of the living wish they weren't. But what happens when you steal from the dead? There are forces in this world that are unknowable and unstoppable.

"Osiris" by Sparkypants - The Joker killed him once, but Jason Todd had died over and over again, waiting for Batman to save him. Resurrection or not, Jason's death still haunts the corridors of Wayne Manor. It waits in the shadows, threatening his entire family. Bruce would go to hell and back to his protect children. This time, that may not be enough. Love can transcend everything, even if it can't overcome everything.

"between heaves of storm" by pendulum_north https://archiveofourown.org/works/49817317 - There were unnatural changes happening to him, he has no idea when it started, or how long it's been occurring. The opposite of life is not death, but a state somewhere torn between the two falsely-erected poles.

"suicide is the highest form of self love" by XanthosSamurai https://archiveofourown.org/works/30094071 - Every single night, Jason Todd dies. Every single night, Red Hood kills him.

"Never Come Back" by Wisetypewriter https://archiveofourown.org/works/32436694 - Bruce Wayne wakes up in Arkham Asylum. [RHatO (2016) #25, psychological suspense]

"Mask Of Blood" by Kieron_ODuibhir https://archiveofourown.org/works/20964923 - “Jason!” Batman had shouted, arm desperately outstretched as if to catch what was no longer there. He’d sounded wrenched apart. As though having experience losing this one of his several sons made no difference at all to the shock and pain of it, or even made it worse. Desperate to save his son, Batman consults Gotham's resident occult expert, Jason.

"two headed calf." by feliform https://archiveofourown.org/works/35118601 - Based on the "Two-Headed Calf" poem by Laura Gilpin. The Lazarus Pit heals Jason incorrectly, but at least he gets to die loved by a mother. [body horror, child redeath]

"Satin in a Coffin" by InsaneTrollLogic https://archiveofourown.org/works/24745558/chapters/59825830 - At the behest of several dead Robins, Stephanie Brown kidnaps a Robin. Steph sees dead people; Steph-centric.

[stephstars08]

Monster ~ Chapter Three

Jason Todd x Reader

Warnings: Adult Language, Mention of Death, Angst, Fluff, Past Trauma, Anger Issues, Mention of Murder, Murderous Rage, Dark Themes, and Possible Grammar Errors.

Word Count: 2,032

Author’s Note: Hi everyone! So sorry for the late post! I’ve been so busy today so I totally forgot to post till now! SORRY, HOPE YOU ENJOY!

It was the next night, and it was a little pasted midnight when Y/N finished her shift at the diner. Lately she’s been having the closing shift. As she was walking home it started to rain which made her curse. She put up her hood that was attached to the zip up jacket she was wearing.

Before Y/N could walk past this one alley way she hit the brakes when she heard yelling coming from it. She was going to turn around and take another way, but she let her curiosity get the best of her. She peaked her head into the alleyway to see a man wearing a red helmet that hid his face, blue jeans, a gray under armor shirt with a brown leather jacket over top it. Y/N could see a red symbol on the masked man’s shirt but since he was holding a smaller guy by the shirt up against the wet brick wall, she couldn’t see what the symbol was.

“I should be blowing out your fucking brains for disobeying my orders!” The masked man hissed as he pushed the drug dealer further into the wall if that was even possible. “I’m sorry boss. I promise it won’t happen again!” The drug dealer sad in a frightened tone. “You’re damn fucking right about that!” The mask man snapped throwing the drug dealer down onto the cold and wet ground.

“Because if you do sell drugs to another kid.” The masked man started to say as he grabbed the drug dealer's hair with his gloved hand. He pulled the drug dealers head up, so he was looking at him. “I will haunt your fucking ass down and kill you!” The masked man told him which made a shiver go down the drug dealer's spine. “Do I make myself clear?” The masked man hissed with warning in his voice. “Yes sir!” The drug dealer answered with some pain in his tone because of the tight grip on his hair. “Good!” The masked man hissed letting go of the drug dealer's hair which earned a sigh of relief from the shaky drug dealer. “Now get the fuck out of here!” The masked man ordered in a strict tone.

The drug dealer quickly got up into his feet and ran out of the alley way taking Y/N by surprise. She tried to get out of the way, but she wasn’t fast enough since the drug dealer knocked into her knocking her onto her ass on the cold and wet cement sidewalk. “Hey.” She heard someone say. When she looked up, she saw a gloved hand offering to help her up. She noticed that the hand belonged to the masked man. She finally was able to see the symbol on his shirt. She put her hand in his and let him help her up off the ground.

 “You’re the Red Hood.” Y/N said letting go of his hand. “Surprised you’ve heard about me.” Red Hood said. He went to walk away but she called him back. “You were pretty rough with that drug dealer.” Y/N said to him. “It’s the only way those prices of shits will learn.” Red Hood told her in a stern tone. “You should get home. A pretty girl like you shouldn’t be out here this late.” Red Hood told her walking back into the alley way. She watched him use the fire escape connected to one of the buildings to get to the roof top. Y/N’s heart fluttered when he called her pretty.

 She let out a little sigh and made her way back down the sidewalk. Even though he was out of her sight, she wasn’t out of his sight. He followed her from the roof tops to make sure she makes it back to her apartment building safely.

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

It was the next night and Y/N again was working a late shift at the diner, but she was working with Jennifer which made her feel better since Jennifer is her only other friend besides Jason in this town. It was a little after ten o clock at night, so not many costumers were in the diner.

Y/N was wiping up the counter when Jennifer walked up to her with a tray of empty saltshakers. “So?” Jennifer asked her in a curious tone putting the tray down on the counter. “Huh?” Y/N asked in confusion as she stopped wiping the counter and looked over at Jennifer. “How are things going between you and Jason!” Jennifer asked her. “Oh, um okay I guess.” Y/N answered with a shrug. “Just, okay?” Jennifer asked with a frown. “I mean we’ve texted, but I don’t know he just seems busy since it takes him awhile to answer back.” Y/N explain to her. “Does he have a job?” Jennifer asked her. “I think so, when we caught up the other night, he didn’t talk much about himself.” Y/N told her. “Don’t worry Y/N, he probably has a job and is just busy with it.” Jennifer reassured her as she grabbed the big container of salt from under the counter. “Yeah.” Y/N said in a soft tone and went back to wiping down the counter.

 Silent went between the girls since Y/N was cleaning the counter and Jennifer was refilling the saltshakers. When Y/N finished wiping down the whole counter she put away all of the cleaning products.

“Hey Jen.” Y/N said breaking the silence. “Hm.” Jennifer hummed as finished filling up the last saltshaker. “You’ve heard of the new vigilante named Red Hood, right?” Y/N asked her in a curious tone. “Uh yeah! He’s been all over the news.” Jennifer told her putting container of salt back under the counter. “What do you think about him?” Y/N asked her. “I think he’s good I mean he’s actually doing something about these dumbass drug dealers.” Jennifer told her putting the lid back onto the saltshaker. “Also, the suit he wears is so badass. I bet he’s got a good body under it.” Jennifer said in a flustered tone putting the saltshaker back down on the tray.

 “Right um well I ran into him last night when I was walking home.” Y/N said looking down at the floor ignoring Jennifer’s last comment. “You did? What is he like?” Jennifer asked in a surprised tone as her eyes went wide. “I don’t know I mean it was only a thirty second conversation.” Y/N said with a shrug. “This is going to sound strange, but I feel like I know him.” Y/N added looking back up at her friend. “I don’t know Y/N, he seems like a loner.” Jennifer told her picking up the tray of saltshakers and walking away.

Y/N let out a heavy sigh since she knows he seems familiar to her, but she can’t disagree with what Jennifer just said.

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

The past couple of days Jason has been gathering information about the Joker. He was in his bedroom taping a bunch of newspaper articles about the Joker and his many crimes onto the wall. He doesn’t give a shit if Bruce gets pissed about him going after that clown. If Batman won’t stop the fucking madness, Red Hood will stop it.

As Jason went through the different newspapers, he came across one that immediately made his blood boil. In bold black letters it read ‘JOKER KILLS ROBIN’. Jason let out a growl as he ripped up the article into shreds. He thought ripping the article up would calm him down, but it didn’t.

Every time he thinks back to that night, he hears these voices in his head telling him to kill the Joker. He feels like when he hears those voices, he’s losing control of himself, but he eventually gains control back. However, he doesn’t know how long he’s going to be able to stay in control.

He heard his phone ring on his bed which made the voices stop. He walked over to his bed, picked up the phone and answered the call without looking at the caller ID. “What!” Jason snapped into the phone. “Jason.” He heard that familiar sweet voice which made him quickly cool down. “Y/N, um hey. Sorry for snapping.” Jason apologized as he ran his other hand through his hair. “It’s okay.” He heard her tell him in a reassuring tone. “Is this a bad time?” He heard her ask. “No, of course not.” Jason reassured her. “Are you sure? I can call you some time tomorrow.” He heard Y/N asked her with concern in her voice. “Y/N, I promise I’m fine. Just been a stressful day.” Jason said into the phone. “Yeah, I know that feeling.” He heard her say with a sigh.

 “What’s been going on with you? Sorry I haven’t been texting back much.” Jason said. “Don’t worry about it.” She reassured him. “I was calling to see when you are free to hang out.” He heard her say which made his heart flutter in his chest. “Oh, um when are you free?” He asked into the phone trying to keep his nerves under control. “Im free Friday night. You can meet me at my apartment.” He heard her say which made his lips curve into a small smile. “Sounds perfect.” Jason said into the phone.

“I get off at six thirty so does seven sound good?” He heard her asked in a curious tone. “Sounds good.” Jason agreed into the phone. “Great! I’ll see you Friday!” He heard her say. He could hear the excitement in her voice. “I’ll see you Friday.” Jason said to her.

Fingers crossed that nothing Joker related happens Friday night.

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

It was finally Friday night and right when the clock stuck six thirty Y/N clocked out of work. She was in the back room grabbing her purse and keys from her locker. She’s so excited to get out of these nasty clothes and get ready for her night out with Jason.

Right before she could walk out, she heard someone call her name. When she turned around, she saw it was Jennifer. “Hey Jen.” Y/N said. “Hey, are you doing anything tonight? A couple of the other waitresses and I are going to go see a movie and they were wondering if you wanted to tag along with us?” Jennifer said with curiousness in her voice. “I would but I have plans with Jason tonight.” Y/N told her which made Jennifer’s lips curve into a smirk. “Ooo, is this a date?” Jennifer asked her. “No, it’s just two friends hanging out like old times.” Y/N told her with a stern look in her eyes. “Okay, have fun.” Jennifer said with a wink which made Y/N roll her eyes. She said her goodbye to Jennifer and made her way out of the diner.

It was almost eight and Jason still hasn’t shown up to Y/N’s apartment. Y/N was sitting in her living room when saw her phone light up on the coffee because of a phone call. It was Jason so she picked it up and answered the call.

“You’re not coming.” Y/N said into the phone before he could say anything. “I’m so sorry Y/N.” He heard her say in a sad tone. “Something came up that I thought would only take a couple of hours but turns out it’s going to take me all night.” He explained to her. “It’s okay Jason. Don’t worry about it, shit happens.” Y/N reassured him.

 “I promise I’ll make it up to you.” She heard him say which made her smile. “I’m free Sunday if you are.” Y/N suggested to him. “I’ll pick you up Sunday night at eight.” She heard him tell her. “That’s good for me.” Y/N said trying to hide her excitement but failed since she heard him let out a light laugh. “I’ll see you Sunday, Y/N.” She heard him say which made her heart skip a beat.

After they said their goodbyes, she ended the call and decided to call Jennifer seeing if her and the girls are already seeing the movie. It’s been weeks since she’s had a Friday night off, so she knew she has to take advantage of it.

🏷️ @calicocat45 @deimks @k0m0rixminttea @greeniegreengreen

[castrian-amore]

Bitter, had the Heart

Dead Tired(Danny Fenton x Tim Drake), Tim Drake Centric, unfinished, the author is plotting, temporary Character death, please check out ao3 for full Tags list

2/46 chapters | Chapter Length: 4676 words

TWS FOR THIS CHAPTER: Cannon-Typical violence, mild gore, graphic depictions of injury and fixing said injury, trauma

Chapter 2: The time Jason Todd Accidentally Adopted a puppy

Jason had met Distortion in an interesting way. Anyone who had met or interacted with the guy could say that. He himself was an interesting person. Mysterious mostly.

Another person infected by the pits. 

Distortion was young. Younger and more skilled than even most who worked for him on the streets. He held himself like a king with smirks and sarcasm hiding his true emotions. He was silly and he was fun and it gave Jason’s heart a ping through the years they had known each other. 

Distortion first showed up in Jason’s life 3 years ago sitting the stupidest way on his chair. Head hanging. Goggles covering his eyes on a cracked and broken iPhone. Feet draped over the top. He was also bleeding… a lot. 

Blood mixed with the murky pit water green that haunted his vision. He was delirious having given himself apparently the remains of a morphine shot to deal with the pain so he could even get there. 

He looked so young and helpless even as he sat up walking over to talk to the gang leader, and promptly dropped in front of Jason unable to hold himself up any longer. 

“I need your help…” he whispered. He didn’t have a mask on then… his teeth stained with blood as he weakly smiled in Jason’s arms. “You’re the only one who could ever help me… another Revenant.” 

The aching pool of anger in his soul had been quiet that day. It was quiet a lot of the days Distortion was around . Whatever pit waters flowing through Distortion’s veins existed thick enough to Calm Jason’s torrential waves. Jason didn’t mind when he was around because of this. 

“Kid you’re…”

“Dying? Tell me about it, if we can,”a wet cough escapes his lips as the blood hits Jason’s shirt. “If we can cauterize the wound I can explain it better but—“

“You need to live first.” 

Cue a shaky nod.

And Distortion did explain. He explained a lot. 

“What you and I are? Different but similar made from two different types of the same substance. You were made from stuff that’s been far too corrupted. An unfiltered and dirty substance and I was made from the stuff straight from the tap, pure, filtered.” 

He had promptly passed out though and Jason left him on his couch. His employees wouldn’t ask about the ungodly screams they heard in his office as they cauterize the wound. Or the amount of water and snacks he would bring up in the following days and weeks of Jason slowly forming an attachment to the kid. He healed faster than most would have, only proving his point of them being two sides of the same coin. Opposites but the same really. Both pit children. Distortion never said the word pit. He didn’t like to talk about it too much except when it became necessary too. 

At first their relationship was simple. Distortion owed Jason for saving him, and hiding him. Jason, for once, insisted it was fine, but the masked man stuck around. It was a slow thing at first. Dis insisted on supervising deliveries when Jason was busy. Then keeping an eye out for members he saw on Jason’s desk reporting to him when he saw them. He soon became a consistent part of his daily life and operations. 

It came at a cost for Dis though, and Jason knew it. When the bats came around he disappeared only coming back two days later exactly. He kept under the radar. His smiley bright personality was a beacon of good in Jason’s life for the first 6 months of their partnership. He turned a blind eye to Jason’s murdering and questionable actions at times. Not that he did it too much any more. It was partly a deal for keeping Bruce off of his back. 

“Don’t you have school?”Jason finally had asked after month six of the teen always hanging around. The kid was laying at the very top of a huge stack of crates and boxes in Jason’s main warehouse and office. Most of it was mundane supplies. Dis was reading a novel. One namely Jason had given him to read to get the kid to leave him alone for a few hours knowing the kid would eventually get bored. 

“Nope,”Dis popped his P on his words and rolled over to look down at him setting the book off to the side. “I don’t exist. I died.” 

“Right..”Jason had sighed and rubbed his forehead. Mask on his face. He opted for the mask rather than the helmet when doing  mundane tasks around his office. If he needed to go out with the bats he could more than likely end up having to put it on. 

“Do you want too? You know? Finish school. Go to college?” Jason asked, looking up at the kid who climbed down with far more speed than a normal human jumping and doing a flip to get off the last bit. He was fast, even comparatively to Damian or Dick. 

“I like doing this. Keeping an eye out on things that I need too.” 

“You never told me what you’re keeping an eye out for Dis. If you tell me, I can help you.” 

A solid frown settling into his face. 

“I can’t bother you with it.” 

“Kid, yes you can. You and I have to stick together, you know that.”

“I don’t have too. I could leave at any time I wanted too.” A frown settling across his face slowly. 

“You can and you do. You know I never ask questions. I never press you for anything you never wanna tell me, but you’re a fucking teenage. You should be going to school and studying. I have a program you can join. I can get you a fake identity. No one will be any the wiser.” Except the bats, but he would do anything to make sure Dis stayed far far under their radar. He’d been managing it for months, and he could continue doing it as long as necessary.

“But I should be here to help you. Keep an eye out for you. To-to look out for the entire reason I can’t leave!” 

“You can leave Dis. You can leave anytime you want to.” 

“I don’t- I can’t!”The kid exclaimed. Now Jason was confused. The kid couldn’t leave despite just saying he could. Maybe he knew he could leave Jason, but when where couldn’t he leave from? 

“I would much prefer you stay close Dis.. if I’m being honest.” A quiet moment of realness. It wasn’t that much of a surprise that Jason had gotten attached. It seemed to trigger something in Distortion that night though.  

“I don’t have a choice in that matter, Hood!” He had exclaimed back and looking back on that night two and a half years ago maybe Dis had been revealing so much to him but he couldn’t see it. He was trying to help Dis and all Dis was giving him was attitude. 

“I can’t just leave Gotham like you! I can’t just go off and do research in this city. All my answers lie in this cursed city, her streets winding and painful and blood soaked and never giving me anything useful!” 

“She gave you me..” Jason had admitted whole heartedly maybe more sentimental than he had meant for it too. ‘She gave you this friendship we share. Our connection. Only we can relate to each other. If we separate, where does that leave us, alone? Again?”

“I’ve been operating alone, Hood, for longer than you know.” 

“And so have I?! I enjoy your company. Is that too much to ask that I want to make sure you’re cared for and have all the options for success? I’ve always treated you as a fucking equal, yet now I see you’re nothing more than a child.”  

“And you’re nothing more than a fool who can’t see the obvious in front of him.” 

“Fine. You don’t want to take up my offer of school, you don’t want to talk to me? Like an adult? I want to help you Dis. You know I do. I want to see you succeed and find whatever it is you’re looking for. Whatever it is you’re patiently waiting for it to happen, but if you’re not going to treat me as an equal back then we have nothing more to say to each other Dis.” Hood had gone too far and even he had realized that. He had been a mentor to this kid. He had let the kid look up to him and now that kid was seeing his mentor betray him. A feeling far too reminiscent of his own past for his liking. 

It re-awoke the pit lingering in his soul again. That anger was back. 

“Good bye, Hood.” 

“Dis… I’m sorry.” 

“No. You’re right. I’m a child.” Dis looked up at Hood. For a second the man thought he could see piercing angry and broken blue eyes behind his goggles. A familiar look. And he left the building the door slamming behind him. He cared far more for that kid than he cared to admit.  

Even the bats had noticed his anger return. They had questioned him about it but he had explained he had it handled and not to worry. Dick had confronted him about away from everyone too asking if he had been in a relationship but even he couldn’t hide everything from his eldest brother. Dick could see through him. Even if he saw it the wrong way. Jason moved on. He had no choice. 

But the thing with Dis was that he had shitty timing. Shitty and meaningly timing lined up with stupid puns that made you snort and sarcasm that left you unable to breath from laughter. So as Jason stepped into one of his safehouses mask off completely having just gotten out from a fight that for sure broke one of his ribs and even had the bats called. He called them and then bolted. Let the batman and the demon handle that one. Not under his supervision. They didn’t have to know he had even been there at all. 

He had realized he was not alone. Met with the heart wrenching scene of a much more worn Dis. The man was pale. Paler than last time which he hadn’t even known was possible. The man leaned against the wall with a tray in front of him a few bullets sitting neatly in it. Hands shaking pretty badly blood pooling around him. 

“Shit,”he whispers out with a smile across his face. “Hiya Hood.”

And Jason’s heart shatters. He goes on autopilot running to his bathroom and grabbing the rest of his emergency first aid kneeling next to Dis. The man pulls his goggles off of his head and throws them to the side and Jason could feel his heart drop. He was so tired. Deep circles sat under Dis’ eyes. An all too familiar blue staring back at Jason. 

“What, you had your mask off it’s only fair.” If Dis hadn’t had that stupid ability to calm the Pit inside of him he would already be wanting to go off and kill whatever or whoever it was that decided to fuck with one of his own. His Dis. His bro-- 

“Have I ever told you about my past at all?”A nervous chuckle escapes from his lips. 

“Dis, I swear to fucking god you’re not dying today.”He hisses getting the others familair branded jacket off of him and lifting the black shirt up a bit to see the extent of the damage. This was not good. 4 bullet holes. He leaned him forwards. Only one exit wound. Dis had managed to get one out by himself but that left two more inside of him. 

“I know… maybe. I don’t even know if I can die, right?” A slow deep breath from the kid as he seemed to debate on taking another. On if he wanted to take another or if he wanted to just give up then and there. 

“Trust me your pulse says otherwise kid,”Jason hisses and moved to lay Dis on the floor grabbing a pillow from his couch to put under his couch. “Talk to me. What about your past did you want to tell me?”

“I died by electrocution, you know? I have the lichtenberg scars and everything. It was a lab accident.” 

“Sounds not much more pleasant than mine. I was beaten to death with a crowbar,”Jason admits just trying to keep him talking. His shirt rolled up, he poured the disinfectant alcohol over a pair of tweezers. “Keep talking Distortion.” 

“I was 13 about to turn 14 when my parents-- their experiment failed and fuck I was so dumb and my friends convinced me to go inside of it, and it turned on with me inside,”A sob escaped his lips as Jason forced the tweezers in his abdomen and Danny grit his teeth letting out a cry. “And now I can’t even go home to tell them how much I was sorry I was gone for so long.” 

“You never left Gotham.” 

“I can’t.” 

“Dis…” 

“If I’m going to die someone needs to know my name. The ancients will come for me eventually right? I’ll be a ghost… i'm in their hands at that point.”

“You’re not going to die Dis--”

“My name is Danny.” 

Jason found the bullet pulling it out and setting it in the tray. The kid was crying. Jason moved to get the other one out. Talking. Wait yes. Talking. Keep the kid talking. 

“Nice to meet you Danny… I’m Jason.” 

He went to the other bullet causing the other to cry out in pain again ice spreading around them catching him off guard. He barely had time to get the bullet out before things wanted to ice over. The temperature in the room plummeted. Even for a meta Danny’s pain tolerance was high. It showed just how much he had grown accustomed to the streets. 

“You’re a meta?” Jason asks softly making sure there was no malice in his voice. A weak laugh escaped Danny’s lips panting in pain. A tear slipping down his cheek.  

“Yeah, sorry. Forgot to mention that, I got cold feet you know?” 

Jason snorted. There he was. There was his kid. He was bad at puns ,but… Danny needed something to cling too. He continued to talk, and the more he did, the more his heart broke. Danny apparently had had two friends named Sam and Tucker. They were his ride or die. He told Jason of his sister who protected him and practically raised him amongst their household of neglectful and abusive parents who barely fed or paid them any mind. Jason was glad he had gotten away. When Jason had asked about that Danny had gone quiet. He stitched Danny up and had him drink water and have a snack. He treated Danny’s smaller wounds. A broken rid or two and his arm had been fractured from what Jason could tell. 

Their relationship had gotten much better… 

Jason had nursed his own broken ribs as he spent the next few weeks taking care of the kid. The man being in and out of consciousness for the next week and a half. A few times Jason wasn’t sure he was going to make it. 

Even as he healed though Jason realized just how sickly he looked. Those dark circles never went away. His skin remained pale. He remained looking sickly. Jason had asked him about that too but he brushed it off like it was nothing. 

The two lived separately as the next year passed. Jason privately funding Danny’s college at Gotham U. The man acting on his own and doing what he wanted. 

“You’re getting too close Danny.”

“You’re being overbearing again Jason,”Danny stuck his tongue out at the older man reading a text book while laying on the couch. The TV on going on about something from space. Jason threw his phone on top of the book. 

“Okay so I got seen I got caught! They didn’t track me. They’re not going to find me. I won’t let them.” 

Jason tried not to notice how sickly he had grown. Lessened appetite. Sunken in cheeks. Dark circles, always tired. Always just exhausted. The young adult was pushing himself and he was getting sicker. Prone to getting fevers that were especially dangerous for the ice meta. One time Jason had to throw Danny in the river to get him to cool down enough in the middle of winter because he couldn’t get ice to the apartment much faster. It was what worked, he guessed. 

“You’re my underling to them Danny! I’ve kept you under their radar for 3 fucking years!” Jason poked fun at him as he moved to make food for them both. They had a habit of forgetting but Jason and Danny had dinner once a month at the very least. More common than Jason would go see his actual family. They tended to stop by unannounced which was why Jason and Danny always had their dinners at Danny’s place which was right past Crime Alley. Leaving was the main thing he normally had to keep an eye out for. 

Jason’s eyes scanned across Danny’s apartment. College textbooks scattered around the area. The TV didn’t work so he had gotten rid of it ages ago replacing it with a desk with his laptop on top. Maps of the stars were painted on the walls haphazardly. A topic Danny seemed to enjoy and he enjoyed listening to him talk about in the first place. It was like watching the kid light up. 

“Taking your medicine?”Jason asked despite knowing the answer as he opened the medicine cabinet where the mostly filled container sat. 

“Uhhh… yeah. I did.” 

“Liar.” 

“Nosey bitch.” 

“Says you.” 

Danny flipped him off as  he caught the container that was thrown at him giving him a final sticking out of his tongue. Danny opened the container pulling out the pill making eye contact with Jason before popping it into his mouth and swallowing. 

“You’re like trying to get a child to take their vitamins I swear to god,”Jason rolled his eyes as Danny threw the container back at him. Jason had convinced the man to take some sort of medicine for his shitty body. Danny refused a doctor and all of those tests so they had to make due. Danny took a lot of medicine overall. Some anti-anxiety medication, depression meds(that jason may or may not have been supposed to be taking), as well as some medicine to help with his heart. His heart acted up a lot and it gave Danny a lot of issues in school. Jason swore it wasn’t just his meta powers affecting the man. His heart also didn’t help his already naturally cold body. 

“Nah this is easier than you trying to get me to read a classic novel.” 

“They’re good Danny.” 

“They’re old Jason,”Danny replied snapping his own textbook shut. Jason catching glimpse of the cover. 

“Reading up on the transdimensional portal theory?”he chuckles. 

“It’s interesting, okay! Didn’t that one dude, what’s his name apart of the super hero girl scout club thingy? He runs really fast?” God did Jason love this kid. 

“You mean Flash.” 

“YEAH HIM! Didn’t he manage to do it once?” Maybe one day Jason could introduce Danny to his family. One day when Danny wasn’t investigating a very serious murder. One day when he wasn’t so sickly. He also just wanted Danny to look the justice league in the face and mis-name them all. The kid recognized no one. Even now he’d never been out of the city and rather didn’t care for anything outside of it anyways. Jason tried to take him  to Bludhaven once and still, to no avail. 

“I think so,”Jason grabbed a pan and began to cook the impossible meat for their tacos. He moved to cut some tacos and other vegetables. Was that a fucking batarang?

“Did you get attacked by one of the Bats?!?”Jason exclaimed looking over at Danny. 

“Uhhhhh… no?”

“Danny!” 

“I’m fine just hit me in the leg!” 

“Let me see it you dumb fuck.” 

“Bitch.” 

“I’m the one taking care of you!”

“Ancients your worse than Jazz,”he groaned moving to set his hand on the table rolling up his pants to show a neatly wrapped wound that was bleeding through. Cue a groan from Jason as he walked over sitting on the coffee table and moving Danny’s leg into his lap as he unwrapped it to double check the wound. He knew Danny could take care of himself. That was an unspoken rule with how injured he constantly got. Like he was used to fighting a different way than he currently did. 

The wound was clean, all of the bats kept their batarangs sharp so he was thankfully for that. “This needs stitches Danny…”

“It’s not that bad,”Danny tried to move to rewrap the wound but Jason stopped him giving him a dangerous look and Danny’s hands went up. 

“Okay fine.” He leaned back arms crossed. Jason could tell he was a little upset. He got up being gentle with his leg setting it off to the side going for Danny’s first aid kit and moving to get to work on sewing the wound shut. Danny flinched and occasionally made a small noise of discomfort but he handled it well. 

“Wanna talk about that case of yours since I’m going to be covering your ass until forever if you don’t lay the fuck, low.” A mild threat. 

“15 bodies! 15! The oldest dating back to when we first met in Gotham. They were slow at first you know? Only 2 murders the first year, each one more gruesome than the last. 5 the second year and now on year 3 and we have 8 within the first 6 months. These numbers? They’re only going to grow.” 

“Each one with the same traits. Missing heart. Tortured victims. Ghost Speak on the walls.” A defining indifference between when. Danny constantly joked he was far closer to being dead than alive with Jason. He just a ‘hop skip and a jump’ away or really Danny’s favorite line he just had to jump 2 times ‘till he was among the dead and maybe do a little cha cha real smooth on his way over. Danny knew ghost speak. Was fluent in reading, writing, and speaking it but he wasn’t far enough over to the dead side to automatically know it. Danny’d been teaching him though.

“And an occasional missing kidney that someone wanted for a snack,” Jason clarified having heard the details of this case 20 times over.

“The ghost speak is the same every time,”he groaned as Jason hit a particularly harsh part of the stitching. “Belong, to live, to die, again, trust not the living friend.” 

“That’s so cryptic.” 

“You’re telling me I’ve been staring at it in my notes for 3 years.” 

“You can’t leave the city until you solve the case?” 

“I refuse to leave the city until I solve this case,”Danny clarified. 

“Then you’ll continue to work on college, besides I like our monthly dinners.” 

“You’re acting like I wouldn’t come back?” 

“Wouldn’t you? You’ve known this place and only this place for a while. I wouldn’t shame you for not wanting to spend a second more here.”

“I don’t think I could stay away from Gotham even if I tired,”Danny shrugged. “She has a way of drawing people who need to be here back.”  

“So any hints on who’s doing these murders?”

“Someone who knows Ghost Speech?” 

“Wow, what a lead.” 

“They’re leaving trace amounts of ectoplasm around so they’re either a revenant like you and I,”a lie. He had known the kid had been lying saying he was a revenant. He was something more really. Even Jason could pick that up, but if the kid didn’t wanna tell him he sure as hell wasn’t going to pry. “Or they’re a full ghost but Gotham only has so much ectoplasm to go around you know? And I mean I—“he cut himself off. 

“And you?” 

“And I know that getting the pure shit is hard as fuck. This shit is pure,”he reaches across to grab a vile on the table. Uncorking it and giving it a swirl. “Hard to find in this area especially. So he must have either a portal or something to keep himself together, he’ll need something to sustain himself with especially with how powerful he is if he’s showing up and doing this much damage.” 

“And your final theory?”

“It’s a ghost. A powerful one that’s making Gotham it’s haunt.” 

“Can you take care of it alone?” 

“In this state? No.” 

“Do you want to take a risk?” 

“… what is it.” Jason finished wrapping his leg going to to check on the food. 

“What if we finally make you known to the bats. It’ll drive Red Robin insane he hadn’t noticed you sneaking around for such a long time and on top of that you knowing more about his case than he does.” 

“You just want to see my entire existence fuck with the bats don’t you?” 

“Maybe, besides.. they have resources maybe we can talk to them about your condition Danny.” 

“No. I’ll work with them. They do not get to know about my heart. It isn’t a problem in the field.” 

“Admit it, your heart is dying you fucking need surgery Danny!” 

“I’m fine,” a low growl escaped Danny’s throat. 

“No you’re not! We are just praying this medicine is working and the more you use your abilities the more strain it puts on you as a whole let alone on your heart! You keep using them and you’ll be dead.”The cold green eyes glare caught his attention and Jason knew to back off as he finished their food. Push Danny too far and it would trigger his abilities even more and while Jason wouldn’t be affected who knows how thick the ice would be across the apartment. He set tacos in front of him to distract them as they put on some cheesy book movie, Pride and prejudice. Well Jason didn’t have think it was cheesy, Danny on the other hand? Thought it was dumb as all hell. He put up with it because Jason asked him too. A sign He wasn’t that mad at the elder. 

The night was quiet after that. Maybe Jason had pushed a little too far. He opened his phone after Danny had passed out on his shoulder shooting a text to the group chat between him, Dick and Tim. 

Little Wing is Online🟢

Little Wing: I have a friend who says he’s willing to finally meet you guys

Tim’s reply was almost instantaneous. 

Baby Bird is Online 🟢

Baby Bird: Is it distortion?

Little Wing: The one and only. 

Big Bird: Who is that?

Baby Bird: Do you ever go offline Greyson?

Big Bird: Bold of you to assume I sleep

Baby Bird: And you think I do?

Big Bird: Touchè; anyways who are we meeting?

Baby Bird: A new vigilante

Big Bird: ohhhh, when and where Little Wing!

Little Wing: Friday. Midnight, my warehouse. Bats doesn’t find out yet. He’s hesitant about even meeting you.

Big Bird: Wait who is Distortion exactly and why are we meeting him?

Baby Bird: How were you ever a Robin?

Big Bird: My charms 💅💅💅💅

Little Wing has gone Offline 🔴

Big Bird: NOOOOOOO BABY BRO COME BACK I NEED TO GET A GOOD A ROAST IN BEFORE YOU LEAVE

Baby Bird: You’ll get him next time old man. 

Big Bird: YOU LITTLE 

Baby Bird has gone Offline 🔴

Big Bird: ALL ALONEEEEEEEEEE

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[cryptid-intraining]

More Jason Todd Headcanons:

He refuses to take opiod painkillers no matter how bad he is hurting because he is terrified of getting an addiction like his mother.

To this day, Jason is the only one Alfred allows to help in the kitchen.

He never takes elevators. Self explanatory.

The other Bats have seen and heard him have nightmares before and they always assumed they were all about the Joker or maybe the League until one night when Jason ended up crashing at the Manor, Dick and Tim find him crying from the couch in his sleep and he calls out Bruce's name, begging and pleading until he wakes with a choked scream with a hand pressed tightly to the scar at his throat. They never ask but after that point both Dick and Tim struggle to look at Bruce in the eyes.

Related to that, Jason never told anyone about how Bruce cut his throat with a batarang because he always assumed none of them would believe him, that they'd just accuse him of lying.

Damian once threatened him with a crowbar and Dick had to physically restrain Jason from going after the small child with his knives. Dick had a serious talk with Damian after about not trying to re-traumatised your brothers just because they're retelling embarrassing baby stories your mother told them.

Edit because I'm bad at wording things and I've stopped caring about pissing Batman fanboys off: Jason is absolutely one of the best, if not the most formidable fighter in the Batfam. He has trained with Bruce since he was a kid, then the League, and was the only human to train with and survive the All Caste. He is fucking scary. But more than his physical prowess is his ability to get into people's heads, he studies people's flaws and weakness and uses that against them. He isn't just a great fighter, he's a intelligent fighter. One of his listed strengths on his Wiki page is literally 'tactican'.

His style of detective work isn't like Bruce's or Dick's. He grew up in Crime Alley, surrounded by crime since he was a kid, he understands how it works and how to use it to his advantage and he has resources and connections that none of the others have. He's less about the forensics and science and more about the people. What makes them tick and how he can use that to get what he needs.

Related to that, he also is insanely stubborn. He has grit, sure, but he is also afraid. He isn't afraid of death but he is so fucking scared of the possibility that if he dies again he might come back. In his words "the worse part of about his death was that it wasn't permanent." As such he will go further than most to prevent it from happening again. Even if that means enduring the worst pain imaginable because still to this day the thing that haunts him most, more than the warehouse and crowbar and Joker, was waking up in that coffin and realising no one was coming for him. That he was alone.

He hoarded food when he was first adopted by Bruce. And slept with a chair jammed under the handle of his door.

It took months for Jason to let Bruce or Alfred touch him as a kid. His only male authority figure had been Willis and it had instilled a strong distrust of older men in him.

Him and Stephanie both volunteer at shelters and food banks in their free time. Steph once invited Cass because she wanted her to see that Jason was more than just a killer.

Tim still flinches from him when he gets too close and it breaks Jason's heart a little. He's hurt people but it has always been him in control, his decision. The Pit Madness took that away from him, or at least it twisted his betrayal and hurt into rage and he still hasn't quite figured out how to apologize for that.

[disco-troy]

Duke and Jason

The interesting thing about Duke’s relationship with Jason is that though he is a part of the family, he wasn’t really there for a lot of the divisive things that happened when Jason came back. Duke also never knew Jason beforehand or encountered the ghost of previous Jason; Dick, Babs and Bruce knew Jason before, Tim, Cass, Steph, and almost everyone else had to live with the ghost of Jason’s death haunting their moves and their relationships with Bruce, before Jason came back. Duke, meanwhile, joined after Jason’s return, and for him the status quo has always been what it is. To Jason, having someone who never thought of him as different than the Jason he is would be very important to him. Despite Duke’s knowledge of the past, sometimes distance makes the biggest difference - and Duke has the luxury of not having any emotional entanglements into who Jason was.

In addition, Duke comes at a time where Jason is able to openly admit he has brothers - and very much considers him to be one.

Artemis: Honestly? It was like kissing my brother. If I had one. Jason: Thank god! I was thinking the same thing. And I have four.

On Jason’s side, he seems to have decided to take a sort of mentorship role for Duke. The main instance is in the Roll Call short story in which Jason and Duke do a fight simulation on a very high level and Jason shares his hard-won wisdom.

Panel One -  Jason: Lesson number one: quips and retorts should only be used for distraction.

Panel Two- Jason: Find your own way. Because following in the Batman’s footsteps and being something that you’re not -- is the fastest way to get killed

Panel Three- Jason: No. That’s a given. Lesson number four? No matter how you feel or what you think... you’re never alone

Jason makes sure to tell Duke that no matter what, he’s never alone. Jason wants Duke to know that no matter what, he will always have his back but it means more than that. Jason had long periods of time where he thought he was abandoned, and he lashed out as a result; hurting himself and others. A lot of the advice Jason gives Duke is not only useful things, but things Jason wished that he knew when he was younger. It seems to imply that Jason might see a bit of himself in Duke, and that he sees it as his responsibility to help Duke become something better.

Jason: -- How many times are you planning to die, Duke?

Roll call also has a scene that drives me insane in which Jason recreates being beaten to death by the Joker in front of Duke. It's pretty ambiguous whether or not this was on purpose. If it was on purpose, was it to show Duke what happened to him, was it to confront his fears on his own terms with his brother next to him? If it was by accident, did he brush it off to make Duke feel safe, or was he okay with Duke seeing him like that because he trusts Duke? Either way, Jason is comfortable enough around Duke to feel safe with him seeing one of his biggest traumas.

Joker (standing over Jason with a crowbar): I guess it’s over your dead body

And, after they finish the simulation (and Duke of course jumps right in to help Jason), Jason's right back to joking with Duke.

Jason: Heads up Narrows, more clay bastards on the horizon. Batwoman and her crew usually warm up in the mud room on a level four practive setting.

Duke continues to help save Jason, notably in the Cheer’s story arc.

Jason: ... Have your back (urban legends 6)

(Although, it equally drives me insane that despite Duke helping Jason and Bruce in this arc, he’s the only member of the family to not be in both Jason and Bruce’s dream worlds which drives a lot of questions - do they not want Duke to have been a vigilante and thus part of the family? Has Duke's entrance into the family been too recent for them to add them to their fairy dream worlds? Is the author simply forgetting to mention Duke being there even though Duke is in the comic saving Jason and Bruce? My personal interpretation is because Cheer deals very much with Jason wanting the Joker dead, a dead joker means that Duke’s parents were never Jokerized, and thus Duke couldn't be a part of the family in a dream world where Joker was dead.)

Their relationship with what the Joker did to them is another huge parallel between Duke and Jason. When the Joker killed Jason, and when Duke’s parents were Jokerized mark a difference in both of their lives - now divided in the before Joker touched their lives and after. It's interesting to see how both Jason and Duke expected Batman to save them initially, and ended up needing to take their lives into their own hands, though there are huge differences in the way Jason fought for revenge, when Duke’s feelings were expended on fixing his parents and not towards the joker. Of course, the two situations are not completely comparable, but it is a similarity that impacts their lives.

Duke (to Batman): I know you can save them. My parents. All of them. Just like you always do.

They also have nicknames for each other! Jason calls Duke “Narrows”, which is a pretty outspoken acknowledgment of some of their similarities, being children from Gotham. 

Panel One - Jason: Narrows, meet crime alley. we do things differently. Find a functional outfit.

Panel Two - Duke: Need help? Jason: No, narrows, I don’t

It is important to note that Duke and Jason’s living situation are not identical, though they are similar - the Narrows is often neglected in Gotham.

Jim Gordon (about the Narrows) : Its Gotham’s poorest neighborhood. Made up of nearly a dozen diverse communities. Its been let down over and over by the mechanisms put in place in order to protect it. Under-protected. Under-represented. It’s been burned so many times you are practically feel the embers everywhere.

However, as opposed to Jason, Duke did have a stable family as a child, his mom was a social worker and his dad was a construction worker. After his parents were jokerized, Duke had to live in a series of foster homes, so both Jason and Duke (along with Dick) were impacted by the childcare system in Gotham.

In addition to Jason being comfortable sharing himself with Duke, Duke is able to get by with a lot of jokes about sensitive topics in Jason’s life.

Duke (about Batman): And he’s not my boss. Or the the target of my daddy issues.

Jason: you’re the latest robin. You’re supposed to... whatever. Brighten his dark side. All that crap. So he doesn’t propose to a villain and then run off and do... This! Duke: Jay, what? Dude, when you were robin you got dead then came back as a vigilante villain! And you’re telling me to “brighten his dark side”. (Batman 33 (2016))

Duke: Question. Didn’t you die already?

If that had been anyone else, I don't think Jason would have brushed it aside that easily! Anyways, Duke and Jason have a super interesting relationship and I hope more people keep exploring it!

[cielrouge]

YA SFF Books by Black Authors 

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow: About the strength of black sisterhood set in Portland, OR, best friends Tavi and Effie discover their true supernatural identity when Effie starts being haunted by demons from her past, and Tavia accidentally lets out her magical siren voice during a police stop.

A Chorus Rises (A Song Below Water #2) by Bethany C. Morrow: Teen influencer Naema Bradshaw is an Eloko, a person who’s gifted with a song that woos anyone who hears it. Everyone loves her — well, until she's cast as the awful person who exposed Tavia’s secret siren powers. When a new, flourishing segment of Naema’s online supporters start targeting black girls, however, Naema must discover the true purpose of her magical voice.

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown: Inspired by West African folklore in which a grieving crown princess, Karina, and a desperate refugee, Malik, find themselves on a collision course to murder each other, despite their growing attraction.

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor: Sunny Nwazue, an American-born albino child of Nigerian parents, moves with her family back to Nigeria, where she learns that she has latent magical powers which she and three similarly gifted friends use to catch a serial killer.

Akata Warrior (Akata Witch #2) by Nnedi Okorafor: Now stronger, feistier, and a bit older, Sunny Nwazue, along with her friends from the the Leopard Society, travel through worlds, both visible and invisible, to the mysterious town of Osisi, where they fight in a climactic battle to save humanity.

Bad Witch Burning by Jessica Lewis: For fans of Us and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comes a witchy story full of black girl magic as one girl’s dark ability to summon the dead offers her a chance at a new life, while revealing to her an even darker future.

Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi: After he eats the sin of a royal, Taj, a talented aki, or sin-eater who consumes the guilt of others whose transgressions are exorcised from them by powerful but corrupt Mages, is drawn into a plot to destroy the city, and he must fight to save the princess he loves and his own life.

Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray: Two Black teenagers, talented Beastkeeper Koffi and warrior-in-training Ekon, must trek into a magical jungle to take down an ancient creature menacing the city of Lkossa, before they become the hunted.

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton: In the opulent world of Orléans, where Beauty is a commodity only a few control, Belle Camellia Beauregard will learn the dark secrets behind her powers, and rise up to change the world. 

A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney: A whimsical and butt-kicking Alice in Wonderland retelling featuring a black teen heroine who battles Nightmares in the dark and terrifying dream realm known as Wonderland. 

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves: 16-year-old Hanna reunites with her estranged mother in an East Texas town that is haunted with doors to dimensions of the dead and protected by demon hunters called Mortmaine.

Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury: Set in near-future Toronto in which, after failing to come into her powers, 16-year-old Black witch Voya Thomas must choose between losing her family’s magic forever or murdering her first love.

The Bones of Ruin by Sarah Raughley: Set in Victorian England, African tightrope walker Iris cannot die; but soon gets drafted in the fight-to-the-death tournament of freaks where she learns the terrible truth of who and what she really is.

The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris: A gripping, evocative novel about Black teen Alex Rufus, who has the power to see into the future, and whose life turns upside down when he foresees his younger brother’s imminent death.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi: 17-year-old Zélie and companions journey to a mythic island seeking a chance to bring back magic to the land of Orïsha, in a fantasy world infused with the textures of West Africa.

Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Legacy of Orïsha #2) by Tomi Adeyemi: After battling the impossible, Zélie and Amari have finally succeeded in bringing magic back to the land of Orïsha. But with civil war looming on the horizon, Zélie finds herself at a breaking point: she must discover a way to bring the kingdom together or watch as Orïsha tears itself apart.

Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron: 16-year-old Sophia would much rather marry Erin, her childhood best friend, than parade in front of suitors. At the ball, Sophia flees, hiding in Cinderella’s mausoleum. There, she meets Constance, the last known descendant of Cinderella and her step sisters. Together they vow to bring down the king once and for all.

The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris: A gripping, evocative novel about Black teen Alex Rufus, who has the power to see into the future, and whose life turns upside down when he foresees his younger brother’s imminent death.

Crown of Thunder (Beasts Made of Night #2) by Tochi Onyebuchi: Taj has escaped Kos, but Queen Karima will go to any means necessary--including using the most deadly magic--to track him down. 

A Crown So Cursed (Nightmare Verse #3) by L.L. McKinney: Alice is ready to jump into battle when she learns that someone is building an army of Nightmares to attack the mortal world, before she learns of a personal connection to Wonderland.

Daughters of Jubilation by Kara Lee Corthron: In Jim Crow South, black teen Evalene Deschamps finds her place among a family of women gifted with magical abilities, known as jubilation - a gift passed down from generations of black women since the time of slavery.

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland: The Civil War is over, but mostly because the dead rose at Gettysburg—and then started rising everywhere else. Fighting the undead is a breeze for Jane McKenne, an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. But the fight for freedom? That’s a different story.

Deathless Divide (Dread Nation #2) by Justina Ireland: After the fall of Summerland, Jane McKeene hoped her life would get simpler. But nothing is easy when you’re a girl trained in putting down the restless dead, and a devastating loss on the road to Nicodermus has Jane questioning everything she thought she knew about surviving in 1880’s America.

A Dream So Dark (Nightmare Verse #2) by L.L. McKinney: Still reeling from her recent battle (and grounded until she graduates) Alice must cross the Veil to rescue her friends and stop the Black Knight once and for all in Wonderland.

Early Departures by Justin A. Reynolds: Jamal’s best friend Q is brought back to life after a freak accident … but they only have a short time together before he will die again.  How can Jamal fix his friendship without the truth?

Fate of Flames by Sarah Raughley:  Before they can save the world from the monstrous phantoms, four girls who have the power to control the classical elements: earth, air, fire, and water must first try to figure out how to work together. 

For All Time by Shanna Miles: Tamar and Fayard, two Black teens, are fated to repeat their love story across hundreds of lifetimes, from 14th-century Mali to the distant future, as they struggle to break the cycle.

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna: Inspired by the culture of West Africa, a feminist fantasy debut traces the experiences of 16-year-old Deka, who is invited to leave her discriminatory village to join the emperor’s army of near-immortal women warriors.

The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis: The country of Arketta calls them Good Luck Girls--they know their luck is anything but. Sold to a "welcome house" as children and branded with cursed markings. When Clementine accidentally kills a man, the girls risk a dangerous escape to find freedom, justice, and revenge.

Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron: Set in a West African-inspired fantasy kingdom, Arrah comes from a long line of powerful witchdoctors, yet fails at magic. When Arrah trade years off her life for magic to stop the Demon King from destroying the world—that is if it doesn’t kill her first.

Legacy of Light (The Effgies #3) by Sarah Raughley: After Saul’s strike on Oslo—one seemingly led by Maia herself—the Effigies’ reputation is in shambles. Belle has gone rogue, Chae Rin and Lake have disappeared, and the Sect is being dismantled and replaced by a terrifying new world order helmed by Blackwell. If the Effigies can’t put the pieces together soon, there may not be much left of the world they’ve fought so desperately to save.

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn: In this King Arthur retelling, Black teen Bree Matthews infiltrates a secret society of powerful magic wielders to find out the truth behind her mother’s untimely death.

Mem by Bethany C. Morrow: In alternate reality Montreal (1925), a young woman’s personality is the result of a startling experimental procedure, leaving her to struggle with the question of who she really is.

Miles Morales, Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds: But Miles Morales accidentally discovers a villainous teacher's plan to turn good kids bad, he will need to come to terms with his own destiny as the new Spider-man. 

Oh My Gods by Alexandra Sheppard: Half-mortal teenager Helen Thomas goes to live with her father—who is Zeus, masquerading as a university professor—and must do her best to keep the family secret intact.

The Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds: After falling for Kate, her unexpected death sends Jack back in time to the moment they first met, but he soon learns that his actions have consequences when someone else close to him dies.

Orleans by Sherri L. Smith: Set in a futuristic, hostile Orleans landscape, Fen de la Guerre must deliver her tribe leader's baby over the Wall into the Outer States before her blood becomes tainted with Delta Fever. 

Nubia: Real One by L.L. McKinney & Robyn Smith: When Nubia’s best friend, Quisha, is threatened by a boy who thinks he owns the town, Nubia will risk it all—her safety, her home, and her crush on that cute kid in English class—to become the hero society tells her she isn’t.

A Phoenix First Must Burn: 16 Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope edited by Patrice Caldwell: Filled with stories of love and betrayal, strength and resistance, this collection contains an array of complex and true-to-life characters in which you cannot help but see yourself reflected. Witches and scientists, sisters and lovers, priestesses and rebels.

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron: In this contemporary fantasy inspired by The Secret Garden, Black teen Briseis has a gift: she can grow plants with a single touch. Up against a centuries-old curse and the deadliest plant on earth, Bri must harness her gift to protect herself and her family, when a nefarious group comes after her in search of a rare and dangerous immortality elixir.

A Psalm of Storm and Silence (A Song of Wraiths and Ruin #2) by Roseanne A. Brown: As the fabric holding Sonande together begins to tear, Malik and Karina once again find themselves torn between their duties and their desires.

A Queen of Gilded Horns (A River of Royal Blood #2) by Amanda Joy: After learning the truth of her heritage, Eva is on the run with her sister Isa as her captive, but with the Queendom of Myre on the brink of revolution, Eva and Isa must make peace with each other to save their kingdom.

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko: In a West African-inspired empire, Tarisai is raised by The Lady and sent to kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust. Tarisai won’t stand by and become someone’s pawn—but is she strong enough to choose a different path for herself?

Redemptor (Raybearer #2) by Jordan Ifueko: For the first time, an Empress Redemptor sits on Aritsar's throne. To appease the sinister spirits of the dead, Tarisai must now anoint a council of her own, coming into her full power as a Raybearer.

The Ravens by Danielle Page & Kass Morgan: The sisters of Kappu Rho Nu share a secret: they’re a coven of witches. For Vivi Deveraux, being one of Kappa Rho Nu’s Ravens means getting a chance to redefine herself. For Scarlett Winters, a bonafide Raven and daughter of a legacy Raven. When Vivi and Scarlett are paired as big and little for initiation, they find themselves sinking into the sinister world of blood oaths and betrayals.

Rebel Sisters (War Girls #2) by Tochi Onyebuchi: Though they are working toward common goals of helping those who suffered, Ify and Uzo are worlds apart. But when a mysterious virus breaks out among the children in the Space Colonies, their paths collide.

Reaper of Souls (Kingdom of Souls #2) by Rena Barron: After so many years yearning for the gift of magic, Arrah has the one thing she’s always wanted—at a terrible price. But the Demon King’s shadow looms closer than she thinks. And as Arrah struggles to unravel her connection to him, defeating him begins to seem more and more impossible.

A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy: A North African-inspired feminist fantasy in which two sisters, Eva and Isa must compete in a magical duel to the death for the right to inherit the queendom of Myre.  

Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves: In Portero, Texas, teens Kit and Fancy Cordelle, daughters of the infamous Bonesaw Killer, bring two boys with similar tendencies to a world of endless possibilities they have discovered behind a mysterious door.

Siege of Shadows (The Effigies #2) by Sarah Raughley:  After Saul reappears with an army of soldiers with Effigy-like abilities, threatening to unleash the monstrous Phantoms, e-year-old Maia and the other Effigies hope to defeat him by discovering the source of their power over the four classical elements, but they are betrayed by the Sect and bogged down by questions about the previous Fire Effigy's murder.

The Sisters of Reckoning (The Good Luck Girls #2) by Charlotte Nicole Davis: The blockbuster sequel to an alternate Old West-set commercial fantasy adventure.

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow: Set in the near-future, in which a captive teen human and a young alien leader—bonded by their love of forbidden books and music—embark on a desperate road trip as they attempt to overturn alien rule and save humankind. 

War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi: Set in a futuristic, Black Panther-inspired Nigeria, sisters Onyii and Ify, separated by a devastating civil war, must fight their way back to each other against all odds.

Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst: When the goddess Bayla fails to take over Liyana's body, Liyana's people abandon her in the desert to find a more worthy vessel, but she soon meets Korbyn, who says the souls of seven deities have been stolen and he needs Liyana's help to find them.

The Weight of Stars by K. Ancrum: After a horrific accident brings loners Ryann and Alexandria together, Ryann learns that Alexandria's mother is an astronaut who volunteered for a one-way trip to the edge of the solar system.

White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson: Black teen Marigold and her blended family move into a newly renovated, picture-perfect home in a dilapidated Midwestern city, and are haunted by what she thinks are ghosts, but might be far worse.

Wings of Ebony by J. Elle: Black teen Rue, from a poor neighborhood who, after learning she is half-human, half-goddess, must embrace both sides of her heritage to unlock her magic and destroy the racist gods poisoning her neighborhood with violence, drugs, and crime.

Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Thomas: In this Jamaican-inspired fantasy debut, two witches from enemy castes—one seeking power, and one seeking revenge—will stop at nothing to overthrow the witch queen, even if it means forming an alliance with each other and unleashing chaos on their island nation.

Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood: An Ethiopian-inspired Jane Eyre retelling in which an unlicensed debtera, or exorcist, Andromeda, is hired to rid a castle of its dangerous curses, only to fall in love with Magnus Rochester, a boy whose life hangs in the balance.

Yesterday Is History by Kosoko Jackson: Black teen Andre Cobb undergoes a liver transplant and as a side effect winds up slipping through time from present-day Boston to 1969 NYC on the eve of the Stonewall riots, delivering a story that is part romance, part gay history, and part time-travel drama, exploring how far we have and haven't come. 

[arty-shadow-morningstar]

Graveyard Siblings (4)

I am sorry for not posting in a while. School is a total bitch. Here is part 4 of a fic that is not a fic.

[Masterlist]

(Part 1)(Part 2)(Part 3)

-------

Tall Marinette.(I admit I might be projecting a little here.)

One day, she took out something from someplace high and the whole family realized that ‘holy shit when did you get so tall?’

Bonus if Jason comes back from a long mission and had a wtf moment because she was wearing 6-inch-heels and met his eyes with them on.

“Pixie?!”

------

You know how Bruce has the identity of Matches Malone to infiltrate the Gotham Underground.

While Jason does the drug deals more street crime stuff, Maria uses an excuse of being the representative for Red Hood excuse to mingle with the rich people who does crime on the side (Penguin), she uses it to go to black market auctions and buy some of the lost miraculouses which got into the hands of black market dealers.

Jason knows about it and acts as her ‘bodyguard’ anytime he can or sends one of his henchmen to be one with a death threat if she gets a single scratch on her.

Bruce is unaware of this. Or is he?

------

Mari helps with running WE since she is a little less busy with the vigilante side of things.

It started with Tim panicking about deadlines and Mari offering to help, to Bruce and Tim bullying the board to have her as co-CEO.

She has to be that and head of Afterlife. So she is very busy. Doesn’t know about what comes next….

------

Somehow the class comes to Gotham for a trip. It has been 3 years since her death.

Mari has changed her appearance since the day she left Paris. She has highlights in her hair after a ‘sibling bonding day’ with Jason. Her hair is kept short for convenience and not in pigtails. Along with her tall height and more confident aura, she is almost unrecognizable.

She rides a motorcycle too.

The class waits in the lobby for the tour and in walks this badass woman with aviator sunglasses, leather jacket and designer clothes which was all MT brand, making a lot of people swoon.

She takes off her glasses and walks past the class. Checking stuff on her phone and sipping coffee in her other hand.

She seems familiar but they couldn’t figure out why. (All except Chloe, Alix and Felix who are snickering in the background.)

Lila sees her and comments on how she must be a criminal with the way she dresses. (Lila internally freaks out because were her eyes messing with her? Because she looked a little like Marinette. Also jealous of the new arrival for stealing all the attention.) Alya takes the bait and calls security to ‘arrest’ her.

They just laugh. The class doesn’t understand, speaking in confused French.

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

“I am Maria Todd-Wayne, also known as designer MT. CEO of Afterlife and co-CEO of the very company you are in. I am allowed in here. Don’t judge a book by its cover.” she said in perfect French.

“But Lila told us you can’t speak French.”

“Who?”

“Lila Rossi, your friend. She told us that you and MT were dating.”

“Me dating myself. Okay I love myself because self-love is a thing but that is a whole other level. MT are my initials. Anyone who has a brain could have figured that out or at the very least do a Google search. I am not sure where your friend got that notion.”

“Hey, Bean, come on. We have a long day ahead of us.” Tim reminded her.

“Goodbye but cease the rumours or you would be escorted off the premises.”

As they rode up the elevator, “Tim, why are they here?”

“They are the lucky winners of the Wayne Enterprise Young Prodigies Contest. Why, Maria?”

“Lucky, huh.” She muttered under her breath. She might as well tell him. They are the Bats and they will find out anyway. “They are from my old class, the one you know…”

“Oh. Want me to send them back? I can do that if they are making you uncomfortable.”

“Nah. Too much to deal with. And it is unfair to send them back over a petty grudge. Besides, I could have some fun.”

“Anything that Bruce and I should be worried about?”

“I swear no killing. Just because Jason came back from the dead, hell-bent on killing. Doesn’t mean I am too.”

“Cool, just don’t do any property damage or traumatize our employees.”

“I might need you to erase some footage later and tell Bruce about this.”

“Some brownies, my favourite coffee cake, the ‘special’ brew and you have yourself a deal.”

-----

So basically she just showed up around where the class was ‘by coincidence’.

Talk to a few people and take them out of earshot of the rest of the class.

End the conversation by saying a few things only they and her would know. Insides jokes and secrets. (I pick her old childhood friends like, Nino, Kim and maybe Sabrina)

Uses Trixx to turn into a walking dead version of her 15-year old self and disappears as they freak out about how she knew that secret/story.

Freaks them out further by appearing again in front of the whole class and pretending not to know their previous conversation.

Mari manages to get Lila alone.

I should also say that Lila thought that her curse was making her see MT as Marinette.

It terrifies Lila when she finds out that MT is actually Marinette, not dead but alive after all this time and apparently living the high life she wanted. This fact made the Italian swell up with jealousy.

“I hope you are not lying about me again, Lila Rossi. Like you always do.”

“What do you want with me? I swear I didn’t say anything else about you.”

“Aw, Lila. Don’t recognize me?”

Maria flickers and Ladybug is in her place and later, the Marinette that appeared in her bedroom and back to normal.

“You! How? Why are you here? Why can’t you leave me alone?”

“Why not? I mean you did take away nearly all my friends, my parents and made my life a living hell. If you think about it, I am just repaying you the same favor. How are the others? Treating you well?”

“What did you do to me, you bitch?”

“I just put a curse on you. The ghosts of your past will haunt you until you stop.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop Lying, Liar. They all feed and grow in power from your lies. I wonder what would happen in a few years if you kept this up.”

“You think you can get away with this. This is war and I have already beaten you once.”

“Oh Rossi. This isn’t a war. It’s a death sentence.” With that she disappears.

Lila tries to tell her class that MT is actually Marinette. She is met with crazy looks. Some of them look like they want to believe her but don't because they don’t want to look crazy too.

Oh. Adrien wasn’t on the trip because his mother didn’t want him to go to the crime capital of America although the crime rate has gone down a little due to Hellbat curing some of the city’s bad energy..

Right after Lila told the class about MT, Scarecrow came to steal some Wayne tech and the class got caught in the crossfire. So later, it was brushed off as Lila seeing things due to the fear toxins.

-----

Joker made the mistake of kidnapping her. Once was enough to never try that again.

(It involved the use of nearly all of the Miraculouses, old and new. He was thoroughly humiliated at the end of it and his picture by the time Hellbat was done with him was on the Batfam’s Christmas Card. Like I said she doesn’t kill but making them beg for death was okay.)

It coincided with Jason’s Birthday and the video of the incident was ‘the best birthday present ever.’ The uncensored version was watched at the next undead siblings bonding day. Damian included.

After hearing a few rumours about what happened, most criminals were glad for Hellbat’s rare appearances. (which happens once a month and during really busy time of the year)

There was a time where Penguin was carrying out one of their plans and when Hellbat showed up, all of their thugs surrendered instantly. (No Batman did not pout at the fact that this French girl was more imitating than him.)

Scarecrow used his newest batch of fear toxin on her during the first year after she died.

He was astounded to see her still standing and she later proceeded to beat the crap out of him while being under the toxin’s influences.

He has tried to stay out of her way since then.

She saw Scarecrow as Hawkmoth and said a lot of things in French which scared everyone because she said it with so much hate, anger and in a very menacing tone that everyone is like ‘I am not touching this.’

It took Red Hood and Nightwing to restrain her from further beating Scarecrow up.

He was one of the people who sympathised with the Joker after the Incident.

The next was Riddler being so arrogant in his plans and managed to get Hellbat and Spoiler into a death trap.

“You know I have a few regrets in life. And my final one is that I got captured and am now going to get killed by a walking fashion disaster.”

“Hey! I made this myself. I will have, you know.”

“You have a brilliant mind but no sense of fashion at all. When I get out of here, I am going to burn that thing with you in it, for your crimes against fashion.”

“What is wrong with it?”

Cue a lot of roasting of Riddler’s costume and Spoiler adding more fuel to the fire.

They manage to escape while Riddler is crying on the floor, having an existential crisis.

The thing was no one knows why Riddler was silent the entire week after encountering Hellbat and crying when anyone mentions it.

They now think Hellbat is the scariest one in the Batfamily, second to Batman and tied with Black Bat/Orphan.

The few who find out what really happened in the warehouse that night. Blackmail material on the Riddler.

Three ( four if you count Penguin) of Gotham’s biggest villains of the Rogues Gallery scared of Bats’ newest addition. Hellbat was not someone they wanted to mess with.

---------

Magic crisis stuff. Like a world ending event thing. Dr. Fate says they need the Miraculous jewels but the last mention of them had been in Paris a few years ago and had vanished since then.

Costantine looked at Batman. “You know who you have to call.”

Batman calls Hellbat. Who hasn’t been introduced yet to the JL.

“Ah. Bats. Not that I question your authority or anything but how can your newest ‘ward’ help us?”

She takes off her helmet and reveals her face and more importantly, her earrings.

Tikki comes out of her hiding place.

“I am the current Guardian of the Miracle Box and wielder of the Ladybug miraculous during Hawkmoth’s reign in Paris a few years ago. Any other Questions?”

“Oh great Guardian. Tikki. It is an honour to meet you.”-Wonder Woman, who else.

“You too, Princess Diana. Pass on my regards to your mother.”-Tikki

A huge face-off and the big evil is defeated.

WW asks abt HM and gives a horrified face at the end of her story. Nearly everyone who eavesdropped on the conversation was.

"Forgive me, Guardian for not aiding you in your hour of need.”

“It’s okay. I understand that there are other crises, world-ending ones that JL have to take care of. I am better now. Mostly.”

“I doubt it with those revenge schemes I found lying around. But she is getting there with her therapist.”-Batman

“I hate you, Dad.”

“Did you just call him Dad?”

“No….”

“Do you see me as a father figure?”

“I see you as a nuisance with how nosy you are with my personal business. So you are more of a bother figure.”

“I see you as part of the family too, Daughter.” (Got that reference anyone?)

“Jason was the one who adopted me.”

“Legally you are adopted by me.”

Maria with Pikachu surprised face because nobody told her that. “My life is a lie.”

-------

(Part 5)

[samuel-de-champagne-problems]

I Will Stay

Summary: Spencer returns home after leaving Gideon's cabin, but is haunted by the ghosts of his past and the finicky fate of his future.

Content Warnings: Spoilers for a major character death (canon in season 10), Spencer is very sad/heartbroken, but reader helps to mend him, abandonment issues galore

Author’s Note: Based on The Archer (the most Spencer song) & this is for the fantastic, lovely, and wonderful @shemarmooresfedora 1K celebration! I remember first reading Rebuilding Family on Ao3 and completely fell in love with it. I absolutely adore everything you come up with and love interacting with you on here. You can find her masterlist, here! My personal favorites are Rebuilding Family, Home, and It's A Love Story!

Prompt: “I’m still here, I always will be.”

Navigation: Masterlist | Ask Box (Send Me Feedback) | Taglist Form

I Will Stay

Spencer is numb.

He’s numb to the car lights that would normally blind his eyes. He’s numb to the cars honking for him to go faster. He’s numb to people that flip him off as they pass him angrily in their cars. All Spencer can think about is the body bag that covered his mentor’s face. Everything in the little cabin was frozen in time, like Gideon was expecting to wake up the next morning and enjoy his quiet life. Nothing, no amount of FBI training or brain tricks could ever prepare Spencer for the way his blood went cold when he walked into the cabin. He came to peace with Gideon being gone a long time ago, but watching him being wheeled out in a body bag….

Spencer grips the steering wheel, as if it’s the only thing keeping him tethered to the Earth. He glances at the clock, wondering if it’s too late to show up there. Spencer thinks about what Gideon would do, he’s done that from time to time on cases where it seems like there is no end in sight. Jason Gideon is the closest thing he’ll ever get to a father. There’s something almost ironic about both of Spencer’s fathers, his biological one and figure, leaving him with nothing but a paragraph scribbled ink on crumpled piece of paper. Strangely, they are both ghosts of the man Spencer can become: consumed by his job or terrified of reality.

Spencer grits his teeth, thinking that it’s too late to bother her. It’s always too late to bother her with his problems, he thinks. The last thing that Y/N deserves is him crying on her shoulder about how his hero died all alone. Spencer has to choke back another sob, because he knows that once he lets go there’s no point of return.

He’s so tired of being left in the dust. First his father, and that blow, Spencer suspects set off a chain reaction of events in Spencer’s life. He can sit there until he’s blue in the face, trying to convince himself that if his father was actually a father, his life would have been more full. Then there was Ethan. They were so young and Spencer licked his wounds till he no longer felt empty and alone. But he soon learned that it seemed like he was fated to be alone.

And his found family, Derek, Hotch, JJ, Penelope, and Emily, all, in their own ways will leave him. Some might come back, but the scars of absence left him empty and vulnerable. Everything is temporary and nothing is forever.

And then came Y/N, in all her wonderful, sensitive, and kind glory. Spencer knew he loved Y/N from the moment she showed up at his apartment dressed in a pair worn overalls and a bandana tied in her hair. Looking at her standing there in his doorway, Spencer was breathless. He knows it’s a little absurd to fall in love so fast, but he swears that even the most hardened person on Earth would fall fast for Y/N. It’s too bad for Spencer though, it’s hard to love someone when all you’re anticipating is them leaving you.

As Spencer speeds down the highway, he thinks about the countless blind dates he’s been on before he opened his eyes and realized what was right in front of him. The dates where the people seemed to be annoyed whenever he opened his mouth or frustrated that he didn’t invite them in something a little more intimate than a nightcap. He figured those were just meaningless dates to fill the void of what could never be. Spencer considers himself to be a smart man and he’s smart enough to know that it isn’t logical for a person like Y/N to love a man as painfully broken as him. Even though she tells it to time everyday. She tells it to him when he’s exhausted and she’ll run her fingers through his hair. Her sweet affections seem to be the only thing that’s able to glue him back together again.

Spencer looks into the rearview mirror, his eyes are bloodshot from crying. He brings up a sleeve to mop up some stray tears that make their way down his cheeks. Spencer drums his fingers against his steering wheel. He closes his eyes and thinks that he never wants to open them again. He never thought that living could be so exhausting, but it sure as hell is. It’s exhausting when all you do is watch the backs of the people you love fade into the distance. It’s all consuming to know that that day when it’s Y/N’s turn is just around the corner.

Spencer pulls into the gas station, his hands are shaking and his eyes cloud up. The calm before the storm is over and the winds are here with a vengeance. Spencer mangages to dial Y/N’s number on his phone as the sobs take over his body.

“Spencer, are you alright?” Y/N asks, her voice full of concern.

“I-I need you to get me. I’m at Sunoco off Exit 18,” Spencer starts, hating the desperate way he pleads with Y/N, “I need you. Come and get me. I can’t drive anymore, I can’t do this anymore, Y/N.”

“Hey everything’s gonna be fine, darling. Stay where you are, I’m on my way,” she says, Spencer focuses on her voice. Every part of her being, every fiber that makes her her, is his anchor, but sitting there in his car, Spencer can only hear her voice. He supposes that will have to be enough.

“Spencer, I’m going to stay on the phone with you, okay? You don’t have to talk, but just please stay with me,” Y/N says. Spencer’s ears are numbing her voice and it’s like he’s underwater. He doesn’t notice the waiver in her voice. It takes seconds for his brain to think about how dim and dark the world without her would be.

***

Spencer sees the headlights pull into the parking lot. Y/N parks her car next to his, and turns off the soft music and the engine. Spencer watches her as if she’s a booey out at sea and his the only thing that’s keeping him floating in the vast emptiness of the ocean. Y/N slams her door shut and walks over to Spencer’s side of the car. For a profiler, Spencer should be able to read the expression on her face. But maybe he’s too tired, or thinking about body language pains him too much because it reminds him of his past-- of Gideon.

“Spencer, baby. I’m here now, why don’t you get out of the car,” Y/N says, she sounds like she’s talking to a wounded animal. Spencer, like always, wants to wrap himself up in her voice. She sounds safe. She sounds like home.

Spencer doesn’t say anything as he gets out of his car. Y/N doesn’t try to coax it out of him either. She just perfectly reads his body language when she wraps her arms around Spencer’s torso and squeezes. The pressure is comforting. It’s reassuring in a way that Spencer is sure he’s never quite felt before. He could stand in this parking lot for the rest of his life, as long as Y/N was there to pick up the shattered pieces of his soul.

Slowly, like she’s handling a wounded animal, Y/N takes Spencer’s soft hand into her’s. She squeezes tightly, so tightly that if Spencer’s chest didn’t feel like it was about to explode, he'd have winced in pain.

“Spence, I need your keys,” Y/N says softly, reaching into Spencer’s coat pocket for his car keys.

“You can’t leave your car here, Y/N,” Spencer says. He can’t bear to look Y/N in the eyes, because he knows, deep down, that if she’s what a broken shell of a man he is, she’d get in her car and never look back. All he’d be left with is the ghostly touch of her skin against his, like a flickering tattoo that’s just waiting to be blown out.

“Don’t worry about that, Derek and I will come and get it tomorrow. Okay, baby, please don’t worry about that. I need you to just get in your car,”

Spencer nods, not wanting to talk just yet. He knows that if he tries to talk, he’d cry and there would be no stopping him. If he cries in front of Y/N, she’d see right through him. She’d see his broken heart, his weak soul, his dark side. She’s always been the person that can see right through him, despite his attempts at patching up those peepholes. Secretly, Spencer knows he wouldn’t have it any other way. After all, her mending hand seems to sew him back together with the softest, sweetest thread.

“Okay,” Spencer says, sounding broken and dull. He doesn’t feel like himself, yet he thinks that this must be his reality— and he’s tired of it, “thank you,” he manages as he sinks down in the passenger seat of his Volvo.

“Let’s get you home,” she says, turning the engine on as she drives out of the parking spot and back onto the highway

It’s strange driving in the passenger seat of your own car. Seeing the street and other drivers from a different perspective makes you look at things differently, you notice more and everything feels like it’s moving in slow motion. When you’re in the driver’s seat, you’re in control, but when you’re in the passenger's seat, you’re at the mercy of the person sitting next to you. It’s like life, you’re either gripping onto the wheel as you speed past others or digging your nails into seat cushions as others pass you.

The sound of the road and Y/N’s quiet hum mixes with each other in the background as Spencer digs his nails in the passenger seat cushion.

***

“We’re here, Spence,” Y/N says quietly, leaning over and squeezing his hand, “let’s get inside, baby,” she suggests, letting go of his hand to slide out of her seat.

Spencer plants his feet on the ground, but he feels nothing close to grounded. Everytime he tries to ground himself, he feels his head floating above the trees. Is the cure to pretend like this never happened? Will he fool himself that he’s whole if he twists his numb face into a sickly smile? His feet are on the ground, yet Spencer’s never felt further away from Earth.

She must have realized that, because the next thing Spencer feels is an arm around his. Y/N’s tight grip guides him up the three stairs to her apartment. Her blue door is a dark gray in the nighttime. Everything looks more haunted at night, Spencer thinks. He wonders, by daybreak, maybe the gray hue to the world will be lifted. Or, maybe, the world will just be a little grayer from now on.

“Do you want to shower? Maybe get changed?,” Y/N asks him, slipping off her shoes and jacket as she locks the door behind her, “you want some tea?” she asks, taking his coat and stuffing it in the messy closet that’s filled with mostly her things.

“No, no thanks,” Spencer says, “I, uh, I just want you to hold me,?” Spencer says, sounding awkward. He leaves off while I still get you, because she can’t know he’s thinking about the last time she’ll kiss him.

He’s never awkward around Y/N. The conversation usually flows without end. But it’s hard keeping a conversation going when all you’re doing is imagining the last time you’ll talk. It’s all he can think about. He wonders if it’s all in his head, if he’s cooked up some impossible scenario in his mind, but he knows it’s bound to happen. The odds, it seems, have never been in Spencer Reid’s favor.

“On the couch or the bed?” Y/N asks, not missing a beat and looking at Spencer, not like he’s broken, but like he needs to be healed.

“The bed,” Spencer says, thinking that maybe there’s a slim chance he’ll get some sleep tonight. He knows that consistent sleep is one of the healthiest things you can do for your body, yet, for him, it continues to be the most challenging.

“Let’s go,” Y/N says, holding out her hand for Spencer to grab. He links their hands together, thinking that he never wants to let go. Her hand is soft in his and he can feel every bump and scar on her hand. He can feel the healed scab from a couple weeks ago when they made homemade pasta. He knows she can feel his scars too. Their hands are a tapestry of their experiences and joining them, without the intention to let go, is a testament to their love.

His bed seems softer than normal. Y/N must have washed his bedding because as he buries his face into his pillow he can smell the clean detergent. His hands, the have broken their link from Y/N, search for her in the bed. He can feel the bed dip as she slips in bed with him.

“I know that must have been hard, Spence. Gideon was very important to you,” Y/N says, running her hand over his back, feeling the texture of his cardigan as he breathes slowly, “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. Sometimes, Spence, sometimes it makes you feel better to just cry it out,” Y/N tells him, her voice low in the dark bedroom. A room that once seemed so lonely, so barren isn’t anymore.

“I-he left me,” Spencer says, trying to regain the composure he lost the moment he drove up to the cabin, “just like my dad did,” Spencer tells her, his voice muffled. He moved so his face is tucked into Y/N’s neck. Her legs wrap around his; she knows the surrounding pressure is a comfort for him. It makes him feel less alone.

“Spence, it’s okay. Please don’t hold back for my sake. This is something you’ve been carrying on your shoulders for a really long time,” Y/N says, moving so she can see his face. His angular face and soulful eyes look even more haunting in the moonlight.

“I don’t want you to have to bear my burdens, Y/N. I can’t have you do that. Not for me,” Spencer says, tears streaking his face and glistening his cheeks. He’s tired of the combat and having the world move on while he’s stuck.

“Spencer, you’re not a burden. You’re not a burden, darling. You’re the best man I know. And we all got our baggage, but you’ve been dealt a hand-”

“For years and years,” Spencer starts, sounding stronger than he did before, “I hated my reflection. All I saw was the little boy that was too much for my dad to stick around. And the whole thing with Ethan left me thinking that I’d never find anyone else that would tolerate me,” Spencer tells Y/N, mumbling as he draws patterns on her arm.

“Spence-” Y/N says, seemingly ready to cut him off and kiss away all his worries.

“Please, let me finish, Y/N,” Spencer says, “I did a lot of things to spite myself. I never particularly liked myself. Gideon saw that I could be good in the BAU, so it became my life. It gets old, but it feels like I’m still 23 and I’d wake up in these crappy hotels and wonder if I was doing enough? Who’d be the next person to leave me?”

There’s a beat of silence when he stops. He knows it’s a lot for Y/N to hear, but saying it for the first time gives him a sense of comfort that he never thought he’d get.

“And then he dies. He dies alone. And I-I can’t help thinking that’s gonna be me one day. It’s gonna be me when you realize that you can do better,” Spencer says, his voice, finally, breaking.

“Spence,” Y/N says, sounding broken and lost. There aren't mirrors for voices, but if there was, hearing her would be like looking at your reflection.

“Please, just help me hold on to you,” Spencer pleads, tugging on her shirt and burying his head back into her neck. He can feel his hot tears against her skin. She leaves a quick, sweet, reassuring kiss on his head. He wishes magic was real, because if it was, he’d be all better by now.

“Of course, we don’t need to talk anymore. You can just sleep right here. I’m not going anywhere,” Y/N says, holding him tighter than he’s ever been held, “You don’t need to fight anymore, darling. You’re not alone anymore,” she whispers, kissing his forehead sweetly.

***

When Spencer wakes up the other side of the bed is cold. Y/N, at some point in the night, left him. He doesn’t want to let his mind venture into the worst, yet he can feel his neck heat and his heart tighten. Spencer slowly feels himself think that the inevitable was finally here.

Part of him, a naive, trusting part, thought that maybe he had found his chance. Yet, he stares at the calling fan, thinking he’s alone. Again. It’s probably too much for her. Spencer’s too much for any sane person to want to handle. He’s too anxious, his job is too time consuming, and there’s that looming threat that one day he’ll wake up and forget the person he loves most in the world. And that— forgetting her when she’s still here, that’s too much for him.

He doesn’t want to go into his living room that still smells like her linen cleaner. Or see their smiling faces shoved in photographs that litter the entire apartment. He can’t bear that, especially after last night.

But he does, because he knows that he has to get out of this bed at some point. With his feet on the cold floor, Spencer picks up a cardigan to wrap around his shoulders.

Strangely, he hears a noise in the living room. Lively music plays from the Alexa that Y/N bought him. Spencer turns around into the kitchen and is greeted by Y/N, who is covered in flour.

“You’re awake!” she says, wiping her hands off on her pajama pants, “I didn’t want to wake you up. You were sleeping so peacefully. You’re rather cute when you sleep-,” she says, stepping back slightly when Spencer launches himself towards her.

His mouth is dry and he knows that he can’t find the right words to say. He hates that for even a second he thought he was alone. Spencer tightens his grip on her, joining his hands behind her back as he buries his face into the crook of her neck. She smells like pancakes and fresh coffee. The music in the background still booms, but it’s nothing but a quiet murmur compared to the sound of his beating heart.

“You’re still here?” Spencer says, whispering into her shoulder. He knows he sounds pitiful, maybe even pathetic, but he needs to hear it from Y/N herself.

“I’m still here. I always will be.” Y/N says, rubbing his back soothingly, “even when we wake up halfway across the country or in separate apartments or whenever. I’m always gonna be here, Spencer,” Y/N tells him, emphasizing her point as she kisses each side of his cheek and then his forehead. He wants nothing more, but to bask in their shared love forever.

He’s far from okay, but tomorrow is another day. He’s far from okay, but when he wakes up tomorrow he’ll roll over and bump into Y/N. He’s far from okay, but he’s not alone.

He’s paper thin and fragile, but it’s okay when he has Y/N to tape him back together again. Spencer’s done with the thousand of thrown out speeches he never said to her. He’s ready to step out into the daylight holding Y/N’s hand. He sees the daylight and doesn’t want to turn back.

Spencer isn’t numb, but buzzing with hope.

***

Thank you for reading! I appreciate any feedback :)

***

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[youwerenevermeanttofeelalone]

A Heartbeat Away | Damian Wayne

✦ pairing — older!Damian Wayne x gender neutral!Plus Size Reader

✦ word count — 2.7k

✦ based off the song I Should’ve Kissed You by One Direction

✦ summary — Damian is haunted by the fact that he only said good night when he should have kissed you.

✦ warnings — light angst, mentions of pregnancy (a minor character is pregnant), mentions of food and beverages, fluff.

✦ author's note i — randomly remembered my obsession with this song and couldn’t get it out of my head.

✦ author's note ii — the parts in italics are flashbacks.

════════════════════════

Ever since he started living with Jason, Damian found himself straying away from the things that held him back.

His life would never be normal, but in hindsight, he could admit things weren’t as bad.

The fallout with his father came crashing down in the worst moment possible — Dick was dead and his relationship with Tim wasn’t the best.

As little as he knew Jason, he was sure he could trust him so he asked for his help instead of somebody else’s.

And Jason didn’t say no. Whether he had the heart to do it or not was irrelevant because he still took Damian in and helped him find a job.

He hated said job.

‘It’s a job,’ you had told him, ‘you’re not supposed to like it.’

You.

Damian rarely stopped thinking about you. Calling it infatuation felt like an understatement, and yet he couldn’t find a better word to describe the whirlwind of emotions you gave him.

He still remembered the day he met you for the first time.

Jason paced in the living room, perking up every time he heard a noise outside the apartment.

You’re driving me insane,” Damian said from the small dining table.

”Roy’s late.”

”Why are you surprised?”

Jason glared at him.

Both of them heard somebody stand on the other side of the door. Their steps didn’t sound like Roy’s.

Pulling the door open, Jason was ready to snap at whoever had knocked.

“You ordered something and gave my apartment number instead of yours. Again.”

Damian didn’t recognize the voice so he slanted his body to the side to see who it was. He couldn’t stop staring.

”I’ll make it up to you.”

”Jay,” you sighed. “I’ve told you before, you just need to tell me beforehand if you don’t want things to arrive to your apartment. My roommate could have opened it.”

Damian chuckled, a single elbow resting on the table.

Jason craned his neck. “You think this is funny?”

”I think you’re a moron.”

”Shut up and come meet our neighbor.”

Damian didn’t have to be told twice. He stood up with an eagerness he hadn’t felt since Jason texted him to let him know he had found the materials so he could build a suit and go back to patrol.

”This is my brother Damian.” Jason turned around to place the package under the table next to the door.

He knew you’d either seen him before or heard about him the moment his eyes landed on you. People always had a visceral reaction when they met him, some found him attractive, others attempted to ask for favors, and some recoiled in fear.

But you didn’t. You held his gaze and stood in the same spot you had been since you knocked on the door.

And whether it had been in a newspaper or a gossip forum, he was glad you knew something about him. There was something about the way you stared at him that screamed for him to trust you. Wishful thinking, perhaps.

“Nice to meet you,” you politely said, smiling at him.

Stunned by the fact that you hadn’t mocked him, and now assuming it wasn’t wishful thinking after all, he tilted his head. Most people did mock now that he wasn’t under his father’s wing.

Still, he said, “Likewise.”

Your smile became warmer. “I live three doors down the hallway in case you need anything.”

He felt a pang in his chest at the gesture. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

Weird sensations in his chest were normal when he was around you. Befriending you was easier than he’d ever admit and talking to you became the highlight of his day.

The pangs in his chest turned into a fluttering sensation in a heartbeat. You’d make him feel breathless when you did the smallest things — when you smiled at him, when you complained about other neighbors with him, when you asked about his day.

He felt special. For once in his life for being the closest he had ever been to resemble a normal person.

And he also remembered, quite painfully, that night he let you walk away without mustering the courage to tell you —or show you— the way you made him feel.

The deserted hallway was yet another proof of how easy it was to lose track of time around you.

Damian hadn’t expected to get back home past midnight or to skip patrol, but 1:00 AM turned into 2:00 and he couldn’t part from you no matter how many times he tried to remind himself to do it.

He hadn’t even expected to enjoy the state fair as an adult, yet he couldn’t remember a time he had more fun than that evening.

You gazed up at him, waiting for him to either do or say something. Anything other than stare at you in the middle of the hallway.

You had already thanked him for making you company, there was no way you’d say anything. And he froze.

“Good night,” he sputtered.

Your brow twitched. “Night.”

He watched you unlock your door and get inside your apartment with a heavy heart.

You moved out a couple months ago and he hadn’t seen you since then. The texts the two of you exchanged were sporadic and they bordered in formal.

He should have kissed you, he was aware of that. And to make matters worse, Jason chewed him out when he found out.

He still looked for you every morning he left the apartment as though you’d remember you had forgotten something. That you had forgotten him.

Jon said it was for the best, that somebody as sweet as you didn’t deserve to carry with his baggage.

Damian knew his best friend to be right, but how could he let go of you that easily when you made him see he was more than his mistakes and regrets?

He didn’t need anybody to carry him, he could drag himself anywhere if needed.

He simply hated the hole in the pit of his stomach every time he entertained the possibility of having to see you one day with somebody else because he wasn’t brave enough to say what he needed to let out.

The idea of being out of time was killing him slowly, so naturally, he’d sought a quick death.

════════════════════════

You gasped upon opening the door. You weren’t expecting anybody to be outside — much less Damian Wayne.

“Oh!”

“Hi,” he softly greeted.

You blinked rapidly. “Did you need anything?”

“I wanted to... Are you on your way out?”

“I’m just dropping this off for my mom.” You momentarily lifted the bags you were carrying in one hand. “She lives nearby.”

He spared a look to the reusable bags in your grasp. “Is she sick?”

“Pregnant,” you explained, playing with your keys. “It’s high risk due to her age so we take as much care of her as we can.”

Damian walked backward, allowing you to come out of the apartment and lock the door.

As you pushed the door to make sure it was locked, he asked, “Would you care for some company?”

Turning around, you gave him a small smile. “That would be lovely.”

He reached over. “Let me help.”

“They’re not heavy.”

“I insist.”

”Okay.” You handed him the bags and took the initiative to lead the way.

He reached your side immediately.

Not knowing what else to do, aware you’d let something slip if you didn’t find something, you made small talk. “How’s Jason?”

“As annoying as always.”

You still remembered when he meant those words, when he complained about Jason and how often they butted heads. His tone was different now, lighter, almost playful.

“Good to know some things never change.”

You walked the streets with an ease you hadn’t been able to in years. Growing up in that neighborhood meant which streets to avoid, and sadly, most of them were unsafe.

There were many things you could have asked or said, perhaps apologize for being cold while texting.

You were in your right to be cold and you could have just not answered, but you wanted to keep contact even though you were hurt.

Damian was great company. It was a shame you misread the entire situation and couldn’t go back to chat with him like before.

It took you a few attempts to get them to talk comfortably, but once he was able to, he didn’t look back. He even gossiped with you.

Stopping in front of the house, you looked around to make sure your mom had the windows open. Once sure, you walked up the front steps.

You withdrew a single key from your back pocket and extended your other hand so Damian would give you the bags.

The floors were recently mopped which meant your aunt had visited that day.

“It’s me,” you yelled so your mom wouldn’t get up. It was her time to be watching TV in the living room.

Carrying the bags towards the kitchen, you caught the jingle from a commercial.

You filled a glass with water and added a couple of ice cubes.

Your mom was comfortably sat on a recliner, feet up and remote control on her thigh. “Hurry back before it gets dark.”

“Don’t worry, a friend of mine walked me here.” You handed her the glass. “Do you need anything else?”

She ignored your question as she took the glass. “Who is it?”

“You don’t know him.”

“Him?” She lifted an eyebrow.

You hadn’t mentioned a guy to her in almost two years now, her surprise was understandable. “Not now.”

“Oh, so it is like that?”

Maybe it was and maybe that was the issue. She wouldn’t blame you if she knew him like you did, if she heard him laugh or saw him change his demeanor to accommodate to somebody else’s sensibilities.

You didn’t think you’d witness anything remotely close to that when you met him for the first time, but you learned really quickly that Damian was full of surprises.

“I’ll call in the morning in case you need something. I’m working ’til 3:00 PM tomorrow.”

“It’s okay.” She took a sip of water. “Did you bring anything sweet?”

“Homemade muffins and a few chocolate bars. Do you want one now?”

She shook her head. “I’ll wait after dinner.”

You kissed her cheek. “Call me, please.”

“Go, go.” She ushered you to go with a gesture of her hand. “Don’t make your friend wait.”

It was your time to ignore her comment.

Damian was sat on the front steps when you came out, looking up at the darkening sky.

“Is everything alright?” you asked in a whisper as to not scare him.

“No.” He shook his head and stood up. “I mean, yes. How’s your mother?”

“She’s good. Having fun watching reality TV.”

Damian squinted. “Is reality TV really that entertaining?”

“It’s mindless stuff, but it’s fun sometimes. You get to judge other people’s lives without feeling remorse because it’s most likely fake.”

The walk back was way shorter and you didn’t want to part. It was time to swallow your pride and your feelings for him.

He didn’t part ways with you at the building entrance. He walked beside you until you reached the elevator — Damian extended his arm to keep the doors open and allowed you to get in first. He followed suit.

You turned the lights on with Damian on your tail. He did wait for you to invite him in, but you were sure both of you knew there was no way you wouldn’t.

“I made muffins. Do you want one?”

Damian nodded.

You guided him to the dining table where a trippy vase in pastel colors rested with flowers.

He looked around the apartment as he walked towards the table. As he sat down, he fixed his eyes on the vase.

“Green or black?”

“Mmh?”

“Your tea.”

You could swear you saw him smile to himself.

“Black.” He placed his cellphone on the table. “You still have that thing,” he said, referring to the trippy vase.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

He huffed a laugh. “Jason said it was ugly.”

“Jason doesn’t have the best taste in the world,” you lightheartedly retorted.

The vase was precious to you, a gift from Damian who spooked you in the middle of a rainy night and made you knock your favorite vase.

You set a plate in front of him and placed the muffin there. “Your tea’s almost ready.”

“No roommate this time?”

“Nope. I miss Lou, but I don’t miss having a roommate that much.”

“I thought the move was temporary just so you could be close to your mother...”

“It is, but there’s still a long way to go. The baby should be here next month and she’ll need help around the house.” You disappeared for a moment as you looked for a mug.

Having found one, you dropped the teabag and poured the boiling water in.

“Sugar.” You put the sugar bowl down just in front of the mug. Feeling his eyes on the side of your face, you gazed at him. “It’s brown, don’t worry.”

He relaxed and uncovered the sugar bowl. “Is the father of your mother’s child around?”

“Yeah.” You sat down on the chair closest to his. “She remarried last year and her husband tries to help, but you know, work gets in the way.”

“Tell me if I can help with anything.”

“Don’t worry, you have enough things to juggle with already.”

“What’s one more? At least let me make you company or walk you home. These streets are dangerous.”

You softly nodded. From the day you met him you knew you would never be able to tell him no — and having his company after a long day sounded nice.

“So...”

“So,” you encouraged him to go on.

“Are you seeing anybody?”

“No. I thought I was a little while ago, but...” You hoped he’d understand what you were getting at. “I guess something got lost in translation.”

“Did it? Or was he too much of a coward to show the way he felt?”

“Don’t.” You hated hearing him talk like that about himself.

“You don’t know how much I regret not kissing you that night. I—“ He sighed, twisting his mouth as he frowned. “I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“At least now I know you did think about doing it.”

“I did. Many times throughout the night.” He turned to the side to fully look at you. “I wanted to find the perfect moment and became overwhelmed. Sounds like a bad excuse, but I swear it’s the truth.”

“I believe you.”

Damian scooted closer and reached over to place his hand on your face. Softly, he caressed your cheek. “I’ve missed you.”

You leaned onto his touch, tilting your head. “Me too. Sorry for being such an ass.”

“It’s fine. I would have reacted similarly.”

“Similarly or worse?”

“Worse.”

You laughed, making him smile.

“May I?”

“Thought you’d never ask.”

Damian leaned in, placing his free hand on the back of your chair as his nose brushed yours.

His lips softly connected with yours, but the slow pace didn’t last. The two of you had wasted too much time, thrown away too many opportunities to be this close —or closer— and patience wasn’t a virtue Damian possessed.

The chair was now balancing itself in two legs, making you interrupt the kiss with a squeal.

Damian then made you stand up and wrapped his arms around your waist. His lips were immediately back on yours.

Your hands went up to rest on his biceps as he kissed you again. His arms tightened around you as he deepened the kiss and you melted.

You melted into the kiss, onto his warmth, due to the fact that he wanted this as much as you did.

Kissing him had become a mere fantasy for you, and there he was, not only making it a reality but exceeding your expectations.

Grabbing him by the neck, you broke the kiss in search of air. His breath was barely ragged and you remembered he told you he could hold it in for a long time.

You needed him to teach you just to be able to kiss him for longer.

“That was nice,” you said, still breathless.

“Yeah, really nice. We should do it more often.”

“Are you asking me out?”

“I’m telling you I want you to be mine.”

All in or nothing, of course. Jason had warned you that Damian didn’t take things lightly.

But you were okay with that.

[zazzander]

You can really tell the person who wrote the wiki hates Octavian

Like, if you need a reminder of what the vast majority see - it's a good source. But, so much of it's just false.

So, I figured I put my take on Octavian's personality & character traits here. Basically a summary of my longer posts:

best skills are seeing into the future (prophecy) & strategy

refuses to back down from a fight

cares deeply for New Rome and the legion & will do anything in his power to protect them, even when they hate him

someone who is haunted by visions of the future (often of death, doom & destruction)

disobeys the rules & Reyna's order only when he can see no other option

loyal to the gods (but he's not a zealot; he openly questions Mars after all)

has a close connection with Jupiter & Apollo

wants peace for New Rome

"no one dies on my watch" mentality, likely because of his experiences in the Titan War

is super awkward most of the time

he never wins but he tries anyway

he never gives up

only kind of a jerk (as oppossed to the full blown narc)

100% unadultered bravado

king of loopholes

Fatal Flaw: WRATH

hurt his friends or threaten his home? he will destory you

quick to anger

probably burns all his bridges when upset

Things Octavian Got Right (/might have known about)

the incoming giant army

the Sibylline books (perhaps even their location)

that they would be saved in the end, "by an unexpected hero"

that the Argo II would attack them

[possibly] the attack on New Rome in ToA (though not necessarily the culprits)

[possibly] that he had to die to save the world & bring peace to New Rome

Coded / Canon

is autistic coded

is schizophrenic coded (so I've heard, I don't know enough to say either way)

is anaemic and therefore, disabled; canonically mocked for this to his face, and mocked behind his back in various POV character's thoughts. "Scarecrow" "ghoulish" "straw" coloured hair, etc.

What he is NOT:

power-hungry or excessively ambitious (only decided to become praetor after Jason disappeared, despite being at the camp for 6-7 years prior to that)

stoically arrogant (literally the opposite of stoic most of the time; he knows no chill)

a coward (see: won't back down from a fight)

or a fool

"slimy" or a "slimeball"

charismatic or a "perfect orator"

a zealot (he literally questions Mars in SoN, because he saw himself as more of an authority on the topic of prophecies; only stopped because he didn't want to get pulverised)

blood-thirsty (is willing to come to the table several times, but that offer is thrown back in his face / the dining scene ruined any chance of him trusting them while Piper or Annabeth were around)

There's probably more. But this is long enough.

[toomanyfandoms02]

Halloween // Matthew Gray Gubler x Reader

Another Story based on a gif/picture! (Hope this is kinda what you were thinking @aberrant-annie )

Summary - It's the first year that y/n and Matthew are a couple, and he insists that they have a couples costume for an upcoming party.

Word count - 2.5k

Gif courtesy of @nationgubler

It was that time of year again. The time where Matthew got impossibly excited, wore tremendously weird costumes, and snuck up behind me an ungodly amount of times.

Halloween.

Now you may be thinking, 'Halloween is a fun and *normal* time of year for many families!' But you only think that because you haven't met my boyfriend Matthew.

Now let's give a little background on the weirdo that is my best friend.

Matthew Gray Gubler is an actor, author, filmmaker, illustrator, fashion model, and painter. But what they don't put on his google search profile is that, before all, he is a Halloween Enthusiast.

He and I have been best friends for over 8 years, and every single one of those years he has effortlessly dragged me into any kind of spooky shenanigan that he could. This was the first year of the 8 that we are a couple, so he decided, in a fit of glory as he put it, that we *needed* a couple's costume this year for the Criminal Minds cast Halloween party. I was 100% down for this idea, but boy, I really didn't know what I was getting myself into by agreeing to it so easily. So let's go back to where this whole ordeal began.

The day was October 15th, and I was sitting blindfolded in the passengers seat of Matthew's car.

"Where the hell are we going?" I giggled, flailing my arms around the car, blindly looking for the trail mix I left in his car the day before. He grabbed my wrist, leading it down to the cupholder and putting my hand on the bag. He knew me too well.

"It's a surprise, obviously, just know it has to do with Halloween." He grabbed my hand and placed a gentle kiss to the top of it.

"Doesn't everything have to do with Halloween with you?"

"Maybe." He laughed.

We were in the car for around 15 minutes, all the while I jammed out to a mix of songs I loved and goofy Halloween themed songs. Matthew had made a playlist of the two as a compromise.

I heard the car click into park and listened as Matthew left the car and walked to my side, opening the door and leading me out.

"When will I be able to see again? This whole blind thing is not for me." He laughed at my remark, looping his arm through mine so he could lead me to what I could only assume was my death. That's when I heard it, the all too familiar laugh of a clown.

Here we go.

Without the notice of my lovely boyfriend I whipped my hand up to my head, removing the black cloth that covered my eyes, I only heard a squeak of protest from him before I saw 'The Haunted Jail' before me.

"Of course." I rolled my eyes in a playful manner, unhooking myself from his arm. "So, why are we here."

"Well, I was thinking that maybe we could get some couple costume ideas from here. It's the jails doubles night so two workers tag team on a costume." He gestured wildly with his hands towards the sign that read *Doubles night! Couples get a 15% discount tonight*. I shook my head in amusement.

"Alright, let's go."

After walking through the 3 story building, we came out with a nice list of ideas for scary couples costumes. This consisted of :

•Beetlejuice

•Pupetmaster and puppet

•Purge

•Wedding gone wrong

•Twisted Alice and Mad Hatter

Then we just had to come to a decision, and soon.

We then sat in the car on our way home to dig out more decorations from the attic. Our house from the inside looked like someone had gotten murdered. There were giant floor and window stickers that resembled blood, fake knives everywhere, and caution tape. This all paired with the tape in the shape of a body on the ground near our fridge. But Matthew had so graciously pointed out that we needed to decorate the outside like we were a haunted house.

He was currently up in our creepy ass attic as I stood with crossed arms at the end of the rickety ladder that led up there. He popped his head out of the little square hole, wearing a jason mask. I narrowed my eyes and shook my head with the smallest smile.

"I'm gonna hand some boxes down to you." I heard him say behind the muffling mask.

The first box held large organized strings of orange LEDs and hooks to set them up on. The next box was filled with fake webs and the next was a huge box. I set it on the ground, prying it open to reveal giant spiders with tacky red eyes and long fangs.

"Are we gonna have these bad boys climbing the ivy outside?" He popped from the attic in a new, mask. A werewolf one I assumed.

"Yep!" He lightly set another box in my hands. "I hate the smell of these masks," He ripped the mask off, revealing his unruly hair and squinting eyes from the new amount of light. "why do I keep buying them?" It made my heart melt, messy hair Gubler was my favorite Gubler.

We dragged all of the boxes outside and decorated for what seemed like 6 hours, it was way harder work than what you would expect. We ended up with 2 giant spiders hung on the ivy, 1 crawling up the porch, and 2 more on the roof. The webs we had were strung everywhere, but the 'main web', as Matthew called it, was across the porch. We had LEDs lighting up most of the outside of our house, it made it look like a constant sunset, or constantly living in a horror movie. Whatever floats your boat. And lastly, we had bloody tomb stones scattered in the yard with fake hands reaching up at the sky through the ground.

Then it was October 16th. I had woken up groggily, feeling the bed beside me for Matthew, but only touching the soft white sheets. The time was 9:47 am and the sun was bleeding through the curtains. My legs hung over the bed as my limbs stretched, pulling down a shirt that was much to large for me *probably because it wasn't mine*. As soon as I stepped out of my bedroom I was met with a scream mask.

"**Morning!**" This made me scream.

"Damnit Matthew Gray! Christ, will the scaring ever end?" I say this but of course, it was really one of my favorite things about him.

"Not until Christmas." He replied with a cocky smile, kissing me softly. I grabbed the back of his neck, deepening the kiss and trying to make him take the hint. He pulled away swiftly. "I would *love* to continue doing this." He ran his hands down my arms and to my hips. "But I made you breakfast and eggs are better warm." He squeezed my hip and gently pushed me toward the kitchen.

Over breakfast we discussed what we were going to go as for the party. We came to the conclusion that doing purge killers would be the most fun. Now all we had to do was get the costumes.

So we left around 1 for Party City. The place had a surprisingly small amount of people, considering the time of year. However there was one girl in there that kept sneaking looks at Matthew. She was standing near some children's costumes. I quickly found out why when a kid came running up with an Alice and Wonderland costume. Shaking it profusely at her mom. The woman kneeled down to her size and gestured towards Matthew. I scrunched my face up.

*What was she telling her?*

Matthew had kept walking and I swiftly caught up with him in the mask aisle. As soon as I got there, the small girl I had just saw was tugging at his orange pumpkin T-Shirt.

"Hi! My mommy said she's a big fan of you on crimimal minds." I giggled a bit. She waved him down to her level, and he gladly came down to listen. "I think she might have a crush on you." I could hear her whisper. He looked back at me expectantly, I just smiled with a shrug. I wasn't much of the jealous type, Matthew was *extremely* loyal, I trusted him with my life. I shooed him towards the woman. He stood and waved at her, gesturing her over and backing up to be by me. I was trying to be inconspicuous and look at the masks. But clearly my lovely boyfriend had a different idea.

"Hi! What's your name?" He asked with a famous million dollar grin.

"A-ashley." She stood for a second, silently staring at him. "I'm sorry, I obviously didn't expect to be seeing you. I'm a just huge fan of yours. And it doesn't help that you are way cuter in person." She smiled shyly, hugging her daughter to her side. Matthew smiled politely but quickly snaked his arm around my hip. I turned to her with the kindest smile I could. I could see realization dropping from her eyes to the red tips of her ears.

"Well you obviously know I'm Matthew. This is my girlfriend, y/n." I leaned into him slightly. Me and Matthew hadn't exactly gone *public*. So it was an honest mistake that she wouldn't know we were together. But to be fair, we weren't hiding it either. "Would you like a picture by the way?" That seemed to distract her enough to knock her out of her clearly petrified trance.

"Yes! A million times yes!"

"I'll take it for you." I grabbed the phone she held out with a slightly tense smile. We took a few pictures and said our goodbyes as she checked out an left. We got back to looking at masks.

"Did you see her face when I grabbed your hips? I kinda live for that look." I smacked his arm playfully.

"The poor girl, she just flirted with you in front if your *girlfriend*. You petrified her!"

"Well I think you just made her a little jealous." He came behind me, wrapping his arms around my stomach and kissing my shoulders.

"Ok Gubler," I slipped from his grip. "we are in public." He groaned a little and followed me down the aisle. I grabbed the cool LED masks with the X's for eyes and big smiles, the typical Purge ones. I got me a purple one and him a red one. Next stop was fake weapons.

I gazed at all of the weapons on the wall. Machetes, guns, bats, nunchucks, knives, all of it. I then looked over to see my boyfriend squinting and tapping his chin in fake contemplation.

"Oh just grab the knife, I know that's what you wanna get." He whipped it off the wall and gave me a serious look, pointing the sharp styrofoam at me. He tapped it to my nose and couldn't contain his laugh as I looked him in the eyes with the biggest smile I could muster.

"You really know how to break me out of character."

So he did end up buying the styrofoam knife, and I ended up buying a plastic machete. As we left the store, the masks and weapons in hand he nudged me.

"So have you thought of what we are gonna wear?"

"Oh yeah. I already have the outfit, you're gonna love it, mine at least. We still have some spare fake blood at home right?" He narrowed his eyes at me, nodding suspiciously. "Great, then I just have to decorate the shirts." Which is exactly what I did when we got home.

I laid our two white button up's on our asphalt driveway, splattering them with blood. Matthew watched me. Sitting a lawn chair as I covered my hands in the blood and put a few handprints on random parts.

"Can I see the whole outfit you have planned now?" He whined.

"Nope, you have to wait. It's not that far away."

But he had asked me to show him everyday up until today, October 31st, party day. Now here we are, on our way back from a McDonalds run that took a *bit* longer than anticipated and we had a very slight chance of being late. We stumbled into the house and ran to the room.

"Why are we rushing anyway?" I took a pause, catching my breath. "We don't have to be exactly on time anyway." He agreed and we slowed down a bit to get our things together.

"I didn't want to have to rush out after seeing you in costume anyway." He said, slyly reaching into the closet and grabbing our button up's. I grabbed the rest of my things from a plastic bag under my side of the bed. I went to the bathroom and changed. My outfit consisted of a black miniskirt, a black cropped tube top, and black knee high socks. Paired with black heeled low-top booties. Then slung over it all was ny open button up. I sheathed my machete behind me and walked out of the bathroom to see Matthew in his bloody shirt and old dress pants and shoes. His giant knife was sheathed in a holster on his side. He ogled at me for a moment, shifting on his feet.

"Holy- wow." He breathed out. I waltzed up to him, unbuttoning a few more buttons and messing his hair to fit the part a bit more. I handed him his mask, with my eyebrows raised. He set it on the bed behind him, cupping my face and bringing me in for a kiss. I ran my hands down his half bare chest and I could feel him smile into the kiss, so I did too, and boy was he a sucker for that. He deepened the kiss and pull me towards him as much as he could, leading his hands lower and lower. Eventually he grabbed my butt a little and I let a giggle slip into the kiss. I parted from him, staring into those honey brown eyes. I felt like a teenager. He had not taken his eyes off me since I left the bathroom.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer."

"Alright." He slid he phone from his pocket, snapping a picture of me. What was I gonna do with this man? I grabbed our masks and we headed out.

We were only about 20 minutes late to the party. We turned our LEDs on and entered AJs house, as her door was wide open.

"You guys look *amazing*!" Kirsten gushed. "Especially you y/n. *Damn* do you rock those socks."

"I know right?" He lifted his mask, placing a kiss on my cheek.

The whole night was filled with chugging fun Halloween themed drinks, compliments on our costumes, slipping secret kisses, and quite the photo shoot.

*And man was I in for it when I got home.*

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

@spenciereiddd said they wanted tagged in some writing, so here ya go my dude.

[your-mom-friend]

Some series I think people should read AKA Book Recs

Magonia - By Maria Dahvana Headley

Synopsis: Aza Ray is drowning in thin air.

Since she was a baby, Aza Ray Boyle has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live. So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn’t think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name. Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found by another. Magonia. Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—but as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war between Magonia and Earth is coming. In Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie?

My experience: This book is ALL sorts of weird. It’s has a strange writing style and there’s weird formatting and quirks that just add to the experience. Definitely not something you could read aloud because there’s elements that you just can’t say. The book OPERATES on the vibes you get from reading it.

Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs

Synopsis:  A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow-impossible though it seems-they may still be alive. A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

My experience: Definitely worth a read but definitely not for everyone. Uses semi-creepy images taken from auctions to illustrate a lot. More people have seen the movie than read the book. Please don’t trust the movie they couldn’t even get the names right. This fandom exists so don’t @ me it just deserves so much more love than it has. 

Legend - Marie Lu

Synopsis:  What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem. From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

My experience: I’ll admit I didn’t want to read this. More out of stubbornness than anything else because my sister forced me to. Bu it’s a REALLY good book. As the first in a trilogy it’s amazing. Marie Lu is one of my favourite authors. Which brings me to my next book

The Young Elites - Marie Lu

Synopsis:  I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside. Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites. Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all. Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen. Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her. It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.

My experience: This series had me HOOKED. If you want moral endings and noble characters you may not like this one. Adelina has every reason to be angry and bitter and she makes it known. She has such a vague moral compass and even her powers are rooted in darkness and she succumbs to it, as much as she may try to run. The series is full of POC’s and amazing world building. If you want something outside of the usual story, I recommend this with no hesitation.

Rebel of the Sands - Alwyn Hamilton 

Synopsis:  Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mythical beasts still roam the wild and remote areas, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinn still perform their magic.  For humans, it’s an unforgiving place, especially if you’re poor, orphaned, or female. Amani Al’Hiza is all three. She’s a gifted gunslinger with perfect aim, but she can’t shoot her way out of Dustwalk, the back-country town where she’s destined to wind up wed or dead. Then she meets Jin, a rakish foreigner, in a shooting contest, and sees him as the perfect escape route. But though she’s spent years dreaming of leaving Dustwalk, she never imagined she’d gallop away on mythical horse—or that it would take a foreign fugitive to show her the heart of the desert she thought she knew.

My experience: This series again is absolutely incredible. I love the use of language and the world building and the characters. A lot of the world building was really close to my heart because it’s rooted in Arabic and Islamic traditions. Amani is one of the best characters I’ve ever read about and I only WISH I could buy the rest of the books soon.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Steve’s final attack; Queen x reader

*Author’s note*

Okay so INTENSE CHAPTER HERE. PROBABLY THE DARKEST CHAPTER I’LL EVER WRITE FOR THIS SERIES! GUN VIOLENCE AND SHOOTING IS IN THIS CHAPTER SO YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. Potential death/paralysis, guns shown and spoken of, stalker themes shown (like I said this is a DARK chapter).

Again I’ve got trigger warnings below so if you want to block it out, i’ve got stalker, gun violence and shooting as my #tw:. Now to those who do wish to proceed with reading this chapter, you have been warned and proceed with caution, it’s a LOT to take in and just one more section to go with this chapter then I PROMISE from here on out it’ll be nothing as evil as this chapter. ALSO IMAGE SHOWN IN STORY IS NOT MINE. CREDIT GOES TO THE OWNER!!

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@simonedk​

@ixchel-9275​

@waddles03​

@psychosupernatural​

@queensdivas​

@queendeakyy​

@queen-paladin​

@geek-and-proud​

@wormzteef​

@starswin​

@naturalswifty89​

@bohemiansweede​

@5sos-wdw​

@labessieisallama​

@isabella-bby​

@dj-lowkey​

@onebigfangirlworld​

___________________________________________________________

*June 7th, 1993. Madison Square Garden, New York*

This was insanity.  I should’ve seen the signs earlier, maybe if I hadn’t switched to coming here to Hollywood records maybe none of this would’ve happened.  Steve Harrison has gone too far now and now I’m deathly afraid of what he’ll do next.

I had told the cops and the judge myself to expect the next call to be my dead corpse lying in wait with a bloody message saying I TOLD YOU SO.  He’s been biding his time but I’m resorted to looking over my shoulder every time I go out in public.

I was in my dressing room trying to calm my nerves down before I had to go up on stage when a knock came at my door.  I jolted and asked.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me and Jensen baby.” I sighed with relief.

“Come in.” the door opened and there stood my darling husband and cousin in law.  Jensen was all geared up in a security uniform and had his Ruger SR1911 steel gun strapped to his pouch.

“Hey kid, how you doing?” Jensen asked me.

“I’ll be better once the show’s over.”

“Hey, don’t worry. As your new head of security I’ve got every cop in NYC on your side, plus some of my boys who have been firing guns for years. We’re not gonna let that creep anywhere near you again.” he said as he placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.  I looked up at him and took his hand.

“Thank you. Are the kids safe?”

“Yeah, Danneel has them in the front row.” He said to me.

“Good.”

“Jensen can you give us a minute alone?” Jack said to him.

“Okay, sure. I’ll get into position and get the boys ready.” Jensen gave me a sideways hug and kiss to the top of my head before leaving my dressing room.  Jack came up and sat down in front of me and said.

“There’s no way I can talk you out of this, is there?”

“No, you can’t.”

“Not even if I can convince you that you could just do your show from here. I’m sure the audience would think it would be adorable if you did. Cause I could be close beside you.”

“Jack, we don’t have the tech to make all that happen and you know it.”

“I know I’m sorry. But you can’t blame me for trying right?”

“I suppose not.” I cupped his cheek and he leaned up against my touch. “This is the last show of the tour. I promise once this is all over, we can go back to England and stay there.”

“How about we go to Capri. No better place right? Isolated, peaceful, our island of paradise. And this time we can make new memories with the kids.” I smiled and said.

“That sounds fabulous.”

“All for you my love.” He kissed me softly and that’s when I heard a knock and the voice of one of the volunteers.

“Mrs. Kline. You’re up in 30 seconds.” Jack and I quickly separated and I sighed.

“I’m coming.” Jack and I stared into each other’s eyes before he silently took my hand and we left my dressing room.

I now stood backstage getting myself pumped up and trying to get rid of the fear and anxiety of Steve out of my head.

“I’ll be right here watching you baby. And promise me, if you see anything that makes you the slightest uncomfortable, you get off the stage and come to me.” Jack said as he placed his hands on my upper arms.

“I promise Jack. I love you.”

“I love you too.” He cupped my face and we kissed as the announcer’s voice proclaimed.

“AND NOW DIRECTED FROM LONDON, ENGLAND AND WHO MADE HER MARK HERE. PLEASE GIVE IT UP FOR THE ANGEL OF ROCK! (Y/N) KLINE!!!” the crowd cheered louder and I took that as my cue to race onto the stage and I posed for the crowd.

“HELLO MSG! My home away from home! Are you ready to rock and roll!?” the crowd cheered and I opened up with ‘Who I am’.

*3rd Person POV*

As soon as (Y/n) went onto the stage, Jack stared at his wife with worry but admiration as he muttered.

“So much.” Unclipping a walkie-talkie given to him by Jensen he turned the radio on and said.  “Jensen, you copy?”

‘Loud and clear kid. All security is in position.’

“Good. This. Ends. Tonight. I don’t care how long it takes us, Steve is going down tonight. Dead or alive.”

As the concert continued, Jensen who was now walking standing alongside Jack checked in with the rest of the guards.

“Sector one report in.”

‘Copy you Jensen, negative signs of him.’

“Okay Gary, but keep your eye on that door. Don’t you dare take your eyes off of it for a second. Sector 2 how you guys doing?”

‘That’s a negative of him coming in through this way either.’

“He got through the screen room last time Jason, I want two men on that door all night.” Jack said into the walkie-talkie.

“George how you doing?” there was radio silence. “Yo George come in.” Jensen said again.  But again there was radio silence. “Damnit George! Answer your radio!”

“Any nearby units we’re not getting a response from sector 3. Go and check on him!” Jack said urgently.  Jack and Jensen looked at each other worriedly before a voice said.

‘Officer down! Repeat officer down!!’

“What do you mean he’s down!?” Jensen snapped.  At this point Jack was getting real anxious.  He turned to his wife who was singing her cover of ‘Somebody to love’ at the piano.

“How the fuck did he get in?!” Jack said as he combed his hand through his hair anxiously.

“All units we have a man down in sector 3. Close all perimeters!” Jensen’s voice said.

‘This is Sam of sector six. I have eyes on him. He’s in uniform!’

“What? He’s in officer uniform!?” Jensen’s voice cried out.

‘Affirmative! SHOTS FIRED! SHOTS FIRED!’ Jack turned on his radio and said.

“Gordon! I don’t care if you make a scene get my wife off that stage immediately!” Jack snapped.  When Jack turned around back towards the stage, he would soon be forever haunted by a scene that would haunt him forever.

Almost as if in slow motion an officer making sure that his face was hidden through the jacket and hat came up onto the stage and walked towards (y/n).  

Just as she was holding out the final vibrato note like she did when he proposed to her ten years ago, the officer soon took out a 9mm pistol and fired one shot into her side.

A loud bang echoed through the stadium and as (y/n) dropped from the piano bench, people screamed in a panic.

*My POV*

I felt a sudden rush of pain as I collapsed onto the ground. There was this wetness at my side followed by pain.  I could hear people screaming but the only thing I saw were the eyes of Steve Harrison. They were soulless and empty.  It was like looking into the eyes of a true monster.

“Should’ve killed me when you had the chance bitch.” He raised the gun and I heard another loud bang before feeling pain in my stomach and then my vision went bright before I closed my eyes.

*3rd Person POV*

After shooting her, Steve looked right at Jack who was just standing there in shock at what had just happened.  Steve grinned before leaning down and actually took off (y/n)’s wedding ring before taking off running.

Jack raced over to his wife.  As much as he wanted to chase after Steve for shooting the love of his life, his first and main concern was (y/n).

“(Y/n)! (Y/n) baby! Baby please can you hear me?” Jensen came down along with the head of medical who took her pulse.

“I’m barely getting a pulse. Call 911!” Jack knew he couldn’t wait that long.

Going off pure adrenaline and desperate to save his wife, Jack picked up his bleeding wife and raced out of the concert venue.

“Jack where you going!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” As soon as Jack came out of the massive screaming crowd that was still trying to run away from the stadium, he took off down 43rd street as fast as he could.

Having been to New York loads of times with (y/n) it was like he could navigate the city with his eyes closed.

“Move! Move! Move!” he would say to crowd of people who were just going about their normal walks around the city or tourists trying to get pictures.  When some of them recognized (Y/n), they tried to ask Jack what was wrong but he told them to fuck off.

Jack raced through traffic and down a steep hill till finally after running the full 20 blocks, he reached the hospital.  He quickly raced inside through the doors and screamed out.

“HELP! HELP MY WIFE NEEDS HELP! HELP!” immediately doctors and nurses came in with a gurney and a doctor asked him.

“What happened?”

“She—she was performing on stage. She—her stalker. He shot her.”

“Gunshot wounds to the side and stomach.” A male nurse said as they got her on the bed.  The doctor shined a light into her eyes while a female nurse checked her pulse.

“I’m not getting a pulse.”

“Let’s move her!” the doctor said.  Soon she was wheeled into the ICU, all of them barking out orders hoping they could save her life.  All the while, Jack desperately tried to follow his wife but a receptionist came and stopped him.

“(Y/n). (Y/n) my baby.”

“Sir you need to stay out here. Don’t worry they’re gonna do their best to save her. It’ll be okay.”

Hours ticked by and soon the hospital waiting room was surrounded by the entire Rock Angel team.  Jack who was still covered in his wife’s blood stared down at his stained hands trembling.  Jensen turned to his little cousin and couldn’t find the words to say.  But he reached out and placed a hand to his shoulder in comfort.

Feeling the tears in his eyes, Jack rushed out of the hospital and outside into the cool New York air.  Repeatedly he kept hearing the two gunshots in his head, and the evil look on Steve’s face as he just carelessly shot another human being, a woman, his wife without a care in the world.

It was like shooting a game animal to him.  Jack collapsed to his knees and wept his heart out.

Back inside, all the news stations were covering the story of the shooting at MSG.  At this point Jensen was getting sick and tired of it.

“Hey! Can you turn that crap off!?” he snapped at the receptionist.  She looked at him and obeyed his wishes. “And while you’re at it can you go back there and tell them just what the hell is taking them so long!?”

“Sir, the doctors are doing everything they can. They’ll come out when they can stabilize Mrs. Kline.” Jensen growled and nearly punched the wall until one of his old friends Gary stopped him.

“Easy man. Easy. Don’t take it out on her. It’s best they try to see if (y/n) will make it then give us the updates.”

“DON’T YOU DARE SAY THAT WORD!” Jensen screamed at him. Jensen then collapsed back into his chair whimpering. “Not if. There can’t be an if.” Jensen clasped his hands together as his leg bounced up and down and he too felt tears prick at the corner of his eyes.

As morning came across the Big Apple, the news was literally eating the story alive.  NYPD was on a statewide manhunt for Steve Harrison, and to make matters worse, the press had found out just which hospital the Rock Angel was at.  

They were swarming outside wanting a story from the husband or any of her team members.

With the story of the Rock Angel ‘assassination’ now going worldwide, it wouldn’t be long till the story reached back to England.

It had been over 10 hours since Jack had gotten his wife to the hospital and with the situation of the press being contained outside, Jack who now had the kids with him continued to wait in the waiting room.  

Little Kelly who was the most traumatized by the whole thing, clung onto her daddy’s arm and finally spoke for the first time since the incident.

“Is mummy gonna be with uncle Freddie?” Jack looked down at his baby girl.  He could see the redness in her eyes from her crying and he said as he held his baby girl closer.

“I don’t know baby girl. I hope not. I mean—as much as I’m sure he’d love to see her, I don’t think he’d want it to happen this quickly.”

“What’s the update with our Rock Angel?” a voice soon spoke up. Jack and Kelly turned around as did some of the team members and they were surprised to see Elton John and Bernie Taupin.  Kelly raced up towards them and she hugged her uncle Elton who immediately picked her up and held her.

“Uncle Elton, an evil monster he shot……”

“I know darling, I know. Uncle Bernie and I saw it on the telly.” He said as he rubbed her back comfortingly.

“You guys came all the way from St. Louis just to be here?” asked Jack.

“Darling we came for the whole family. Besides count yourself lucky that it’s me and not the in-laws.”

“Oh God!” Jack began to realize that Brian, Deacy and Roger might’ve heard about this story by now.  He lowered his hands in his head.  Elton looked down at Jack and said.

“Bernie, why don’t you take the mini-angel and her brothers, and go out and get them some ice cream.”

“But what if mum wakes up?” Elton rubbed her back again and said.

“Then I’ll be sure to call you straight away if any news on your mother comes around. Trust me dear after the night you’ve had, you deserve an ice cream.” Kelly looked down and nodded. “That’s my little bunny.” He kissed her cheek before setting her down, “Off you pop then.” Bernie softly smiled at her and took her hand and Bernie called out to the boys.

“Georgie, Jackson, come on.” The two 3 year old’s got off their chairs and went over to the pair.  Jackson took his sister’s hand while Bernie picked up Georgie in his free arm and the four of them left the hospital.  Elton then walked up to Jack and said.

“Come with me.” Jack wiped his tearstains and stood up from his chair.  Feeling his legs falling asleep already, Elton steadied him and the two of them walked along the hallway till they came to the first boys bathroom they could find.

They entered inside and Elton locked the door giving them some privacy.

“How could I let this happen?” Jack said as he leaned against the sink. “I knew something bad was going to happen, deep down I knew. Why didn’t I try harder to convince her?”

“Because you married the most stubborn woman I have ever had the privilege of knowing. Her stubbornness rivals that to my dearest friend who was once both of yours. That’s probably why I liked her so much.” Jack shook his head feeling a slight smile come at the corner of his mouth.

“I just—I can’t lose her. What if—”

“Now don’t you go talking like that! The world already lost Freddie Mercury. I’ll be damned if we have to lose the Rock Angel too. She’s a fighter! She always has been. So don’t you dare go talking bollocks on me boy!” Elton snapped.  He walked up to Jack and tightly gripped his shoulders encouragingly.

“I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose her.” Jack whispered out in a choke.

“You won’t. But you listen and you listen good Jack Kline.” He lifted Jack’s chin up with his index finger. “You’re allowed to cry and weep, that’s not gonna make you weak. But you also need to remember this, you are not the only one affected by this. You have three innocent little eyes that had to see that gruesome sight that no child should ever, ever have to see.”

“Kelly? Jackson and Georgie. Dear god they’re never gonna recover from this.”

“In time they will. But right now they are feeling just as much fear and sadness as you are. Bernie’s buying you some time with a little bribery to make them forget for a moment. But when they get back, I want you to clean yourself up. And be the dad they need right now.” Jack looked up into Elton’s blue eyes that shone with strength.

Jack sniffled and nodded.

“Okay.”

“Good boy. That’s a boy.” Elton said as he gave Jack a comforting pat before bringing him into a tight hug.  Jack buried his face into Elton’s suit while Elton rested his head against Jack’s.  He gave him a comforting kiss on the top of his head before helping Jack clean up.

After helping him clean up, the two of them left the bathroom and walked back to the waiting room.

Another two hours have passed, making it now 12 hours since the Rock Angel had been admitted into the hospital.  Elton and Bernie remained with Jack and the kids until finally the doctor came out.

“Family of (Y/n) Kline?” at that point the entire waiting room stood up.  It was then the entire Rock Angel team stood up from the security, to the costumers, and roadies. The doctor was surprised until finally Jack came up and said.

“I’m her husband.”

“Your wife has been given a blood transfusion to replace the amount of blood she lost. She went into shock a few times during the procedure but we managed to keep her stable.”

“Is she—is she awake?” at that point the doctor sighed solemnly.

“Mr. Kline. The second bullet your wife took just barely penetrated some major organs. Any centimeter deeper would’ve killed her. We’ve put her into a coma and—I’m sorry to say that only time will tell if she’ll wake up.” This was something Jack did not want to hear.  He was desperate to hear that his wife was gonna be okay and that she was awake and alive.

“Can we at least go see her?” Jensen asked.

“We’re setting her up in a room right now. Give us 10 minutes and you can. But three at a time.” The Doctor advised looking back at everyone.

“Okay, thank you doctor. Thank you.” The doctor nodded and walked away but he stopped and said.

“Mr. Kline.” Jack looked up at him and he continued, “Had you stayed at the stadium and waited for us, there was a great chance of her not being saved. You were really lucky this time.” The doctor then walked away leaving Jack stunned at what he had to learn.

“Who would’ve thought something like this would finally get you running.” Jensen said.  Jack glared at his older cousin and he said, “Right wrong time to be bringing up all those races we had as kids.”

After several minutes waiting, a nurse came in and said that Jack and the kids could come and see (y/n) first.  She led them to her room on the second floor and when they came to room 211, she opened the door and there she was.

Hooked up to wires, breathing tubes in her nose, and IV’s for fluids and blood transfusion was the Rock Angel, wife and mother.

“Mummy.” Georgie whimpered.

“Mummy owie.” Jackson said.

“Yeah boys she’s—mommy got hurt.” Kelly didn’t speak a word but slowly walked right up to her mom’s bed.  This young 7 year old girl was now looking at something that only her mom once experienced before long ago.  She stood at her bedside, gripped the sheets as she sniffled and whimpered.

“Mum!” she allowed her upper body to collapse on the bed as she wept into the bedsheets.  Before she soon got up onto the bed and cuddled close to her mother’s left side and continued to cry.

Jack was heartbroken at seeing his little girl so upset.  He took the boys and placed them up on the bed as well as he came down to his baby girl and rubbed her back, hoping that it would provide her some comfort.  Meanwhile the boys cuddled close to their mom and found themselves crying for their mother.

At this point Jack didn’t know just what to do, all three of his kids had to go through something so traumatic and terrifying he was afraid it’d damage them forever.

But all he could do now was be there for them like Elton had told him earlier in the bathroom.  With (y/n) in a coma, he was the only parent left to be there for them.

Hopefully, he wouldn’t be the only parent in their lives.

As each day passed, every member of the Rock Angel team got to have their time with their dearest friend and amazingly kind person to work for.  Each member of the team would bring in gifts, balloons, flowers for the room, and give the family their thoughts and prayers.

Even fans themselves were reaching out to the hospital that the Rock Angel was in and sent in letters and gifts to Jack and the family.  New York practically had the Rock Angel memorialized as a figure to the city and hoped that she would survive this horrible ordeal.

By the 4th day, with a stern telling from Elton, Jack had arrived back from his hotel showered and cleaned up and had the kids go home with Jensen for a little while to be with their grandparents and away from this whole mess.

He entered his wife’s room to see Elton and Bernie just setting down their gifts.  Bernie had bought her favorite bouquet of flowers as well as some more balloons.  

While Elton brought in a large painting of a mother lioness and her cubs don’t by a famous French artist that he had called up for a favor he owed the singer.

“There we go, now you look like your handsome self again.” Elton praised.

“It was nice to get a shower in. It’s just that—with this whole thing I—”

“We get it Jack. This…..this is even more crazier than when it happened to Lennon. But this is a wait game, but I’ve got a strong feeling she’ll pull through. She always does.” Bernie said as he clasped Jack shoulder comfortingly.

“Thank you Bernie. Thank you both. I—don’t know what I would do without you both here.” The two older men smiled at him before Jack took his seat right by his wife’s side.  The three men sat there in silence as they looked down at the beautiful young woman sleeping before them.

She almost resembled Sleeping beauty or Snow White. The machine beeping off her heartbeat and brain activity which was all normal.  She just wasn’t awake.

“Why didn’t you both call us about this!?” a voice suddenly snapped out.  Jack froze in both fear and guilt at the voice that had just spoke up.  He lowered his head in shame and he shut his eyes.

“Brian, Roger.” Elton greeted them.

“Elton, Bernie.” Brian’s voice greeted.

“Jack Kline you have got some fucking nerve about hiding this from us! We get home and we see you and (y/n). Her face plastered on the front of every fucking magazine! I tried calling her a hundred times throughout these past few months, she never answered. And now I see all of this on the news! The Rock Angel shot at by her former personal assistant!” Roger snapped at him.  Each time his voice growing angrier and angrier.

“Roger lay off him. You don’t know just what he’s been through the past few days!” Elton snapped at him.

“Elton with all due respect please stay out of this. This is a family discussion.” Brian said to him sternly.

“Well believe it or not, she’s my family too! Freddie asked me personally to keep an eye on her. So this is just as much of my problem as it is yours.” Elton challenged the curly haired rockstar.  Before another retort could be said from either rockstar, Jack choked out.

“You think I didn’t want to reach out?” the two members of Queen turned to Jack.  His head still lowered down.  Jack let out a sniffle and he said. “But she didn’t want me to. I should never have listened to her. Why didn’t I do more?” he growled at himself.  He turned to look up at his father and uncle in laws before choking out. “It was my fault.” Before he wept, but he hardly any tears came out due to his dehydration, but the emotion was all there as he leaned up against his wife’s unconscious body.

The anger and resentment the two Queen members once felt, melted away as they heard the pain in Jack’s voice.

“Jack.” Roger started off softly.  Jack gripped his wife’s hand in his as he kissed her temple. Brian and Roger turned to Elton who told them.

“They’re saying there might be a chance she may not wake up. Not only he but the kids saw the bastard shoot her right there on stage performing her favorite song of Freddie’s.” at hearing that, Brian and Roger looked down at Jack in shock.  Brian ran his hand through his curls as he exhaled heavily.

“Please……” Jack pleaded in a soft whisper as he turned to look up at them. “Please forgive me. I—I couldn’t protect her.” Brian looked down at Jack with empathy while Roger still looked at him with a harsh glare.

When Jack turned back around to weep into his wife’s shoulder. He didn’t notice Roger walking right up to him.  Roger just stood over Jack and he could’ve struck Jack in anger, sorrow whatever was racing through him.

In the end, he just placed his hand on top of Jack’s head and said four words that would resonate within Jack for the rest of his life.

“It wasn’t your fault.” Jack turned to look up at him. Behind his circular shades, Roger’s eyes were now showing only sadness.  He then immediately embraced Jack and Jack buried his face into Roger’s chest.

Just like he had done with (y/n) many times whenever she cried, Roger cupped the back of his head and allowed Jack to bury his face deeper into his chest if he needed as Jack’s arms wrapped around him and he shook with each sob her let out.  The drummer held firm but allowed a few tears to slip down his face.

Soon enough Brian joined in as he embraced Jack from behind. The two of them sandwiching their beloved girl’s husband.  Elton and Bernie took this as their cue to leave, so without a word the two of them left the hospital and decided that for now they needed to get back to the real world and let the members of Queen take over in comforting the Kline family through these dark times.

But they both promised they’d call and check up on how their beloved angel was doing.

Three weeks passed and throughout that time Jack had confessed to Brian and Roger everything that had been going on with Steve, the stalking, the threatening letters, everything.

“Where are the kids?” asked Brian.

“Jensen took them the day before you guys came here. They—they needed time away. Mom’s been calling me with updates. All of them having nightmares, especially Kelly.”

“Oh god that poor dear.” Brian exhaled.

“You think you could call and have them come back? Now that we’re here.” Asked Roger.

“I could try. Don’t know if my mom will allow it.”

“I’ll convince her if I have to.” Roger said strongly.  Jack nodded.

“I’ll try.” He then stood up and went to find a payphone while Roger went with him leaving Brian alone with (Y/n).  Brian took a seat close to her bedside and took her hand in his, his thumb gently stroking over her knuckles.

“You stubborn, stubborn girl.” He scoffed softly. “You could’ve told us. We would’ve understood. Please, please my darling star. Don’t leave us yet. Not so young.”  He squeezed her hand tightly between both of his before lifting it up and kissed the back of her hand.

“Good news, she’s gonna bring the kids over.” Roger said as he and Jack returned to the room.  “Any sign of her moving at all?” he asked Brian.

“Afraid not.” Roger then took a seat on the other side and stroked his daughter’s cheek.

“Hey lovie. Yeah it’s me. Papa lion’s here. Listen; you gotta come back to us. For the kids, for Jack, your family. We all miss you. I miss you. And…..you can’t be with your real dad. Not yet. Remember our talk on your 21st birthday? Don’t do this to your papa lion. Don’t leave him just yet my lion cub.”  He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

He stayed there for as long as he could before finally separating and allowing a couple of tears to fall down onto her cheek.  

He wiped them away as he lay his head down close to her, wrapping his arm around her body hoping that his father love would bring her back.

The next day as promised, Jack’s mom came in with the kids. When little Kelly saw her godfather and uncle, she immediately ran up to her godfather and embraced him tightly.  He felt the young child softly cry into his shoulder.

“Oh Kelly cub.” Roger cooed as he embraced his goddaughter and rocked her back and forth trying to comfort her.

“Mom, has she—” Jack asked his mom as he held Georgie in his arms while Jackson went over to his uncle Brian.

“She hasn’t spoken a word since she came to live with me and your dad. Just nightmares every night. Not even the therapist we got for her and the boys can get her to say anything.”

“And what of the boys?” asked Brian.

“We talk. It’s not fun though.” Jackson said as he fondled with his uncle’s unbuttoned shirt.

“We don’t like talking about that night every day.” Georgie said as he clung onto his dad.

“I’m sure it doesn’t buddy. Talking about stuff like that never is. Trust me I had to tell it over and over again to some police officers and detectives these past few weeks.”

“Does it hurt to talk about it? Cause I hurt when I talk about it.” Georgie said to his dad.  Jack leaned his head against his son’s and said.

“Every time.” As Roger rubbed little Kelly’s back, she then finally whispered so brokenly that it broke Roger’s heart but also surprised him because this was the first thing she had to say in over three weeks.

“She’s gonna die, isn’t she?” Roger looked down at her and tucked away her (h/c), the same color she inherited from her mother.

“Could you give Kelly-cub and I some privacy?” they all nodded and left the room, knowing what Roger had in mind.

Jack however was hesitant to leave.  He stood halfway out the door before turning back to his baby girl. He looked to Roger but the drummer just gave him a look that said to him ‘let me handle this.’  While Jack wanted to stay and talk to his daughter, maybe even try to comfort her, another part of him was saying let Roger handle this.

He was always able to comfort his wife whenever she needed it in the past long before he knew her, maybe what his daughter needed was the famed Roger Taylor “comforting charm” just like her mom always got.  With that Jack left taking Georgie with him.

Roger removed his shades and hung them over the front of his shirt while he adjusted Kelly in his lap.

“Is that what’s been on your mind lately lion cub?” she gave him a sad nod.

“All I hear is mum still not being awake. And it’s all that’s ever on tv. And now seeing her still the same I—I know I’m gonna lose her. Just like she lost her mum when she was a year older than me. I don’t wanna grow up without her!” Kelly wept.

“Hey, hey, hey Kelly-bear. Kelly lovie. Shhh, shhh. Deep breaths darling.” Roger soothed her as he cupped the side of her face.  Kelly look at her godfather and saw the gentle blue eyes staring back at her.  Those eyes that always gave her a sense of warmth and comfort when her parents were either too busy or not around.

She did exactly what her god papa told her to do as Roger stroked her cheek with his thumb.

“That’s my little cub.” He praised as he kissed her other cheek. “I know this is a very scary time love, believe me I’m terrified.”

“You are?”

“Yes. We all are.”

“But I thought grownups never got scared.” Kelly said with a tilt of her head.

“Oh trust me love. Grownups get scared a lot. I’ve been there, your uncles have been there, even your mum and dad. Fear is natural to everyone old or young. And something like this—it’s really scary.”

“Will I really grow up without a mum like she did?” hearing that question broke Roger’s heart.  He stroked the strands of hair out of her face but before he could say anything a voice spoke up from the door.

“I doubt that Kelly. She has the strength of a lioness, and that’s what you got from her.” The two of them turned towards the door and Kelly gasped out and proclaimed as she ran towards the door.

“Uncle Deacy!” Roger was surprised to see his dear friend again after two years apart.  Kelly hugged her uncle and Deacy embraced the young girl back.  He rubbed her back comfortingly before kneeling down to her height.

“Your mum’s been through many obstacles and tribulations. This is just another one to the list. She knew what it was like to grow up without a mum, and she’s always told me that she refused to let you kids grow up without one. Especially you poppet.”

“But what if she doesn’t pull through uncle Deacy? Some people are saying mum may never wake up.” Deacy sighed heavily and said.

“For now it’s still too soon to tell. Nothing is written in stone yet.”

“Your uncle Deacy’s right love. As long as these monitors keep beeping, we know that your mum is still alive. She’s just resting and trying to heal herself. And with a mighty lion soul that she has, she’ll need a lot of rest.” Roger said as he stood up and knelt down beside her, kneeling right beside John.

Kelly turned back to her mom and walked over to her.  She laid her hand on the small railing and just looked at her mum.

“She looks like Sleeping beauty.”

“She does, doesn’t she?” Roger said as both he and Deacy stood up.

“Can—can she hear us?” Kelly asked.

“I’m sure she can. I’ll bet she’d love to hear your voice.” Kelly walked closer towards her mom’s head and she said.

“Mum. It’s me, Kelly. I—I wish you’d wake up. Please, I need to know you’re gonna be okay. Seeing you get hurt like that was really scary, but papa Roger says that it’s okay to be scared. Said that you get scared sometimes too. But he also said that you need to heal your lion soul, so hopefully it’s getting better. But I wish you could wake up because I love you so much and miss you. Same with everyone else.”

The two youngest members of Queen watched with heavy hearts as this young girl was talking to her coma-induced mother.  Doing something that only a grown up should do when their parents are elderly, not when the child is still a literal child just barely the age of 10.  

“Can I have a moment alone with her?” John whispered to Roger. The drummer looked at the bass player before agreeing to Deacy’s request.

“Kelly love, why don’t we go and find your dad and head on over to the cafeteria? Maybe get a pudding cup.” Kelly looked up at him before turning back to her mum.  She kissed her mom’s cheek before racing over to Roger who picked her up in his arms. Roger held her close to him and rubbed her back comfortingly as Deacy did the same before giving her a kiss on the head.

He watched as his friend took his niece away leaving him alone with his sister.

For Deacy this was the third hardest thing he ever had to cope with.  First he had to go through the trauma of losing his dad so suddenly, then he lost his best friend Freddie to a terrible disease that literally ate him from the inside out, and now this.

John Deacon had heard about this terrible event through his daughter Laura who came in storming from school with a newspaper on hand. She showed her father the article that had read ROCK ANGEL SHOT AT MSG IN NYC.

Deacy almost lost it at this point.  It had almost been 2 years since Freddie’s death and now to hear that his sister had been shot at by some deranged psychopath, it practically destroyed him.  

Like with Freddie’s final moments, Deacy almost didn’t even want to go and see his sister in some hospital bed barely clinging to life only to be let down for the third time in his life.  He was even thinking that this would be the thing that would finally push him over the edge.

But he was stopped by the love of his wife Veronica who had managed to get through to John.  She told him that he had missed his chance with Freddie, and with the love and support he had given (y/n) throughout the 13 years he had known her, he had to go see her.  Because if he didn’t and should she be pronounced dead, he was going to regret it for the rest of his life.

So cleaning himself up, John Deacon bought his first class flight to New York City and had arrived just for her.

“Sister dear.” He started off.  “I—I don’t know if you can hear me but, I’m here. I read what happened….About the shooting, of course the media loves to exploit some details so I don’t know what exactly is true or not. But…..why you didn’t tell us what was going on? Sister you—you should’ve come to us. We could’ve protected you. I—I could’ve protected you. Please don’t go. Don’t you leave us too. Please come back to us.”

*My POV*

I don’t know where I was.  All I saw was nothing but blackness until suddenly a flash of light came at me and I was now in a—jungle? Wait why was everything a bigger? And why do I feel—different? I mean I still feel like me but not, this is confusing. I then see just ahead of my what appeared to be some sort of lake or well I guess watering hole (since this is a jungle I guess I better call it a watering hole).

I walked towards it and stood at the edge of it but when I got up to it, I was—well to put it lightly stunned. No I’m just gonna say I was freaking out.  What I saw staring right at me was a lioness.  I backed up screaming.  Hell you would scream too if a lioness was staring right back at you. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Back it up.  I approached the water again and lifted my hand but the lioness raised its paw up.

Oh. My. God. The lioness was—I was the lioness.

“Okay. This is even weirder than when Deacy and I got so drunk in Rio that we both woke up with each other’s clothes on and he had the word ANUS written on his forehead in sharpie while I had a dick drawn on mine.”

Okay so I’m a lioness. I am a freakin lioness.  The Queen of the beasts. Why? I mean I know Roger and the band always called me lioness but that’s just figuratively. But now, literally I’m a lioness.

“Maybe if I walk around I might find someone who could explain this crazy shit show.” I then began walking through the wide jungle, but as I walked I kept feeling this brush of pain on both my side and stomach but I didn’t know why.  And I know this sounds crazy, but I think something or someone is following me.

Every time I turned around, I would see this brush of a shadow before it disappeared.  I was weary and thanks to these lion instincts it made me even more aware that whatever it was, was still following me as I kept walking.  Suddenly out of nowhere I felt something land on my head and a flap of wings attacked my face.

I fell to the ground and shook whatever it was off of me before growling at it.

“Show yourself!” I soon heard a laugh and it said.

“Bout time you finally noticed me.” I turned around and there stood a peacock.

“Are—are you the thing that’s been following me?”

“I don’t know. Was I? Or am I?” he spoke in a riddle-like manner as he fanned his tail feathers.  I rolled my eyes and said.

“Well this is where you stop. Now go away.”

“Whatever for?”

“Cause you’re annoying me, and I don’t have time for games. I’m looking for someone.”

“Oh really? And just who might that be?” he came up to me and cocked his head in that bird-like manner.

“I—I don’t know. Just someone. Anyone.”

“Well I know where you can find someone.”

“You do?”

“Yes. But shh come here, it’s a secret.” I leaned down towards him and he wrapped his wing around me.  But instead of giving me a name he started speaking in bloody tongues, flaunting before prancing about away from me.

“Stop! Stop! Enough! ENOUGH! What the hell does that mean?”

“It means you’re a peacock. And I’m not.” He then began laughing at his own statement.

“No, you’re as mad as the March Hare.” I muttered angrily as I walked away.

“Wrong!” I had a feathery finger suddenly poke my nose stopping me in my tracks. “I’m not the one whose mad. Cause you don’t even know why you’re here.”

“You don’t know the first thing about me bird! Now stay out of my way before I go full predator on you!” I growled before giving him a warning roar which made him fly back scared.

“Okay! Okay, okay.” I walked past him angrily.  “No wonder why you’re a lioness my Rock Angel.” I gasped as I stopped in my tracks.  I turned towards him and he only gave a wave before saying, “Bye-bye.” And took off flying, almost turning into a shadow with how quick he suddenly took off.

“Oi wait!” I chased after the peacock.  Practically losing sight of it till I saw it now standing on top of a rock.  I trotted towards it and I asked him. “Did you just say my Rock Angel?”

“No. I said thy Rock Angel.”

“No you didn’t. I specifically heard you say My. And—” I trailed off before looking downward solemnly. “Only one person ever called me that. But he died. What felt like a long time ago.”

“Nope. Wrong again darling!” he laughed again before flying off the rock and now stood before a small entrance into a thicket-like forest. “You said you wanted someone to talk to, I can show you. But you gotta catch up with me first and I’m fast!” he then disappeared through the hole.

I trotted up to it and looked inside it.  I can’t believe I’m actually doing this, but—what other option is there? So I entered inside the thicket.

It was definitely a tight squeeze just to even go through it but somehow I managed to get inside.  I peeked through some thick brush and there sitting on a perch of a tree was the peacock.

“Don’t dottle dear, hurry up!”

“Hey wait, wait, wait!” he kept soaring and jumping from branch to branch all the while chanting and singing out words that didn’t even sound right.

“C’mon lioness!”

“Would you slow down!?” suddenly I felt myself falling down a hill but I quickly stood back up and continued to push forward.  

Getting caught in branches and vines all I kept thinking to myself was follow the peacock’s bizarre singing.  Hitting bush after bush I ran faster and faster as the thicket closed closer and closer around me.

“STOP!” the peacock suddenly said as it spread out it’s tail.  I skid to a stop and the peacock made it’s cooing sound as it’s tail tucked back in like a fan.  He then slowly strutted towards the edge of the thicket and he said. “Come here child.”

I got out of the thicket and we now stood before some kind of creek.

“Why’d you bring me here?”

“Look into the water, and you will speak to the one you most long to speak to.” I looked at him, and I was surprised to see that instead of this goofy, child-like attitude he had earlier.  He was now more serious and dead-center on me doing this.

I followed his orders and slowly approached the creek. I slowly walked towards it before looking into the water that lay beneath me.  

But all I saw was myself.  I waited and waited but still nothing happened.

“Nothing’s happening. And just who is it that I’m supposed to see?”

“Shhh! Look harder.” I then saw his feather-finger touch the water and ripples soon started to form.  I looked closer into the water and soon an image began to form. Suddenly everything around me grew darker but then something echoed through the air.

“AYE-OH!” my eyes widened and I whispered.

“Freddie?” suddenly there was a bright glow right beside me and then a bright flash.

I felt myself floating now and when I looked down at myself, I saw that I was now human again.  There was nothing but darkness before suddenly a giant bright light encompassed the darkness.  Instead of alone and frightened, there was—warmth.  And love.

The light then began to form a giant silhouette of a man (by giant I mean seriously giant. I was like an ant compared to this shadow).

However this specific silhouette was very familiar to me. It was Freddie, standing in the exact shadow position that he once did for the Bohemian Rhapsody video.

Though I couldn’t physically see his face, it was him.

“(Y/n) dear. Why are you here?” he said to me.

“I—I was…..” it then came back to me.  The concert, the pain, the gunshots, Steve. “I was shot. Steve he—killed me. At the concert.”

“Not quite my darling. You’re still clinging onto life. So I’m going to make the decision for you. Go back. Go back to our family. You still have so much more to give to the world. The world may have lost Freddie Fucking Mercury, but do not let them lost the Rock ‘Badass bitch’ Angel.”

“BUT WHY FREDDIE!? Steve he—he’s made my life hell this past year. How can I face him?” Freddie’s spirit shined brighter than the sun and encompassed around me as he said.

“You will do that by reminding him who you are. You are (Y/n) (m/n) Kline. My Rock Angel.” Feeling his light around me, it was like Freddie was actually holding me, embracing me with his confidence and giving me the strength I needed to fight.  

I looked up right where his face was at and tears poured down my face as I looked up at him in awe.

“Show him. The lioness you are.” It was then his silhouette began to disappear.

“NO! PLEASE! Don’t leave me again!” I chased after his light that was now getting further and further away from me.  No matter how fast I ran, I couldn’t reach him. “FREDDIE!”

“Show him the lioness you are.”

“Don’t go.” I gave up the run and collapsed to my knees as Fred’s final words to me were.

“The lioness you are.” I collapsed to my knees before feeling this gently wind blow across my face as Freddie’s spirit was now gone and I was once again in nothing but darkness.

Sitting there in silence, I began to realize that I couldn’t stay here.  Freddie was right, even though I would have to face Steve again if they caught him and put him on trial.  I couldn’t abandon my family.  Brian, Deacy, Roger, Elton, David, Jensen, Jared, their wives and children. Mum and dad. Jack, and my kids.

I grew up without a mother, I couldn’t let my own children go through the same thing, especially my baby girl Kelly.  Cause she’s almost the exact age I was when I lost my mum, no I refuse to leave my baby motherless! That cycle will not go on!

“I gotta get out of here. But how? How? Come on (y/n) wake up. WAKE UP!!!” I screamed.  I kept screaming at myself to wake up, I shook my head rapidly, pinched myself, even slapped my cheeks a few times telling myself to wake up but nothing was working. “No it. It’s can’t end like this. I can’t die. I don’t wanna die. Please. Please wake up. Freddie I—I don’t know what else to do.” There was dead silence. I lowered my head and felt tears come into my eyes.  I sniffled before I suddenly heard a voice.

‘Sister dear.’ Deacy? No it—it couldn’t be. ‘I—I don’t know if you can hear me but, I’m here.’ It was him.  I knew that distinct accent anywhere.  But—why was he here? I hadn’t seen him since the tribute concert two years ago.  He never called, or sent a letter, he wanted his space and I obliged by giving it to him. Now he was here.

I soon felt something take my hand, I felt a squeeze before Deacy’s voice spoke again.

‘I read what happened….About the shooting, of course the media loves to exploit some details so I don’t know what exactly is true or not. But…..why you didn’t tell us what was going on? Sister you—you should’ve come to us. We could’ve protected you. I—I could’ve protected you. Please don’t go. Don’t you leave us too. Please come back to us.’ I could hear the tremor in his voice by the end.

“Oh Deacy.” I cooed. “Please, please (y/n) wake up. They still need me. I can’t leave them now. Not like this. Please somebody, anybody, wake me up.”

It was then I felt this warmth inside my chest.  It got warmer and warmer until yet another light shined right where I got shot the second time and I was now surrounded by bright light.

*3rd Person POV*

Deacy remained there clutching his sister’s hand tightly, his eyes brimming with tears.  Suddenly he felt fingers slightly twitching in his grip.  His face quickly changed from sorrow to surprise.  Slowly for the first time in 3 weeks, (y/n) Kline was finally opening her eyes.

*My POV*

The first thing I saw was white.  White light everywhere.  Oh god please tell me I didn’t go to heaven. I wanted to go home.  But it wasn’t until my hearing came back and I could hear the sounds of machines beeping and counting off something.  I felt a hand grasping mine and when my vision became clear, there sat Deacy.

Boy did he change in the last two years.  His hair was now more grey and longer now.  It came right just the back of his neck, a few inches from growing past his shoulders.  His eyes were red and brimmed as he stared down at my in shock, almost not believing something.

“Did you seriously grow a mullet?” was the first thing I asked him.  He smiled and scoffed out as he shook his head.

“At least I still have hair unlike Roger whose slowly losing his. Of all the things to say that’s the first thing that comes out of you?” I playfully looked up at him.  He didn’t say another word but his actions spoke louder than what he could ever say.

He leaned down towards me and began kissing all over my face. Cupping my cheeks in his hands as he would press his forehead to mine and poking his sharp nose to mine, drawing in our sibling strength.

“Hey Deacy, Roger said you might want some breakfast since you—” we both looked up at the door and there stood my Jack.  Deacy stepped aside from the bed as Jack and I locked eyes with each other.  He dropped what looked like a pudding cup and stood there frozen.

“Hey Jack.” I said.  Jack didn’t say a word but crossed over to me, his bottom lip trembling as he sat down beside me and cupped my face in his hands, just like Deacy had earlier. A sad smile soon broke out across his face as tears poured down his face and he gently embraced me.

“You came back.” I leaned against his shoulder and inhaled his scent.  And yeah even though he smelled like he hadn’t showered in days, I didn’t care at this point.  It was Jack. I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed him as hard as I could.  We separated from each other and he leaned down and kissed me.  The kiss got more and more passionate and I said between our kisses.

“I’m here Jack I’m…..I promised. Till death….”

“Don’t even finish that.” We both chuckled as we now stared at each other.

“The kids! Jack where are my babies? He didn’t……”

“No, no baby. Brian and Roger have them. They’re alright. Well physically they are. They were shaken up the first several days.”

“I’ll go get them.” Deacy offered as he left the room.

“What—what happened Jack?”

“You really don’t remember?”

“All I remember was pain, a loud popping sound and Steve. Other than that nothing.”

“(Y/n). Steve he—he shot you during Somebody to love. He shot you twice in the side and stomach. I ran you all the way to the hospital.”

“You did?” he nodded. “How—how long have I been out?”

“You were in the ICU for over 12 hours before being moved here. But you’ve been in a coma for the past 3 weeks.”

“Three—three weeks?!” I shouted which made me flinch which caused some pain in my side.

“Baby are you alright?!” he asked urgently.

“Just a pain in my side. Must’ve stressed out a stitch or something.”

“I’ll call the doctor and let him know you’re awake.” As he reached over and pressed the call button on the wall, I heard the racing of footsteps coming towards the room.  Paranoid I thought it was Steve coming to finish the job, but soon three small voices eased my nerves tremendously.

“Mummy!” soon racing in were Kelly, Georgie and Jackson. All three of my kids raced over and tried to climb up on my bed.

“Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on kids. Easy. Mommy is hurting very badly. Be gentle around her.” Jack warned the kids as my boys got up by my feet while Kelly stood on the other side of me.

“Are you okay mummy?” asked Georgie as he lay on my right side.

“I will be baby.”

“Bad man hurt mummy.” Jackson said.

“Yes he did Jackson. But mummy’s gonna be okay now.”

“Are you sure you’re not gonna die mum?” I looked to my left to see my baby girl’s look of uncertainty.  I lifted my hand and wiped away her hidden tear.

“I’m sure baby. A…..very special angel told me I was gonna be okay when I woke up. I promise you, I’m gonna be just fine. A few days of rest and I’ll be right as rain again. Just you wait and see.” I poked her nose which made her smile before she got closer to me and leaned her head against my shoulder.  I smiled as I leaned my head against her and kissed the top of her head.

“You damn better well be. Cause hearing about all this on the news is not what I ever want to see from you again.” I looked up at the door and there along with Deacy were Brian and Roger.

Oh fuck.

“Dad, Brian. I—”

“We’ll discuss this later. For now we’ll let you be with your kids and husband.” Brian lectured me, that stern look in his eyes when he meant something.

“I’m afraid that won’t happen till later.  I’m gonna have to ask all of you to leave while I check Mrs. Kline’s vitals.” A male doctor around his mid-30’s possibly early 40’s with short brown hair and tan skin said as he came in.

“Why can’t we stay with her?!” Kelly demanded.

“The doctor’s gotta make sure mommy’s okay sweetie. But she needs to be alone so that she can do his tests.” Jack tried to calm her down.

“No I wanna stay with mummy! I want to stay with mummy! I want to stay with mummy!” she began to throw a tantrum.

“Kelly. Kelly. Kelly Michelle Kline!” I spoke her name in a low toned voice.  She stopped her fitting and I said as I cupped her chin.  “None of that now. You are to do as your father and the doctor tell you.”

“But what if you die?!” she whimpered.  Oh my poor baby girl.  God if I ever come face to face with Steve again, I’ll be sure to give him hell for traumatizing my little girl like he did.

“Baby these tests aren’t dangerous to me. It’s just to see if I’m gonna be okay to leave. Now I want you to go with your father and stay with him until the doctor gives the all clear to come back in. And no more tantrums, is that understood?”

“Yes mama.” She huffed solemnly.

“Good girl.” As Brian and Deacy each took the boys, Jack took our daughter’s hand and as they passed the door, Roger took her other hand and soon everyone but the doctor was out.  “I’m so sorry about that she’s never—”

“No worries Mrs. Kline. I get children who act like that all the time when their parents go into surgery or they need to get a shot. First introductions I’m Dr. Hamilton, I met your husband at the door when he brought you in.”

“Did he seriously run the full 20 blocks to get here?” I asked him.

“Oh yeah. And it was lucky for you he did. I told him based on the amount of blood loss you had, had he waited for an ambulance at the stage, you might’ve been lost to us.” Oh my god.  Jack you—you crazy, indescribable man.  “Okay now first I want to check your eyes, look right at me.”

I looked at him as he shined a light in my eyes.  He held his finger up and told me to follow it. I followed his instructions and he said,

“Okay now straight at me again.” He nodded. “Okay pupils are normal, and your ocular motility is perfect. So there’s no brain damage. Tell me do you have any discomfort? Feeling any pain around the stomach?”

“Just a sharp pain in my side when I moved around after finding out how long I had been in a coma for.”

“Alright let me take a look.” He uncovered me and lifted my shirt up so that he could see just what had been done.  My right side and the center of my stomach had been stitched up and was still stained with some dried up blood.  “Well good news is there’s no unhooked stitches. We’ll get you some morphine to dull the pain. And then I can prescribe to you the pain killers you’ll need while you recover here.”

“Thank you Dr. Hamilton.”

“You’re welcome Mrs. Kline. Are there any other concerns you wish to speak to me about?”

“Yes. As a matter of fact. How long will I need to be here for?”

“Well that depends. Cause here’s what I’d like to show you that we had found out from the first gunshot wound you had gotten.” He turned on a screen light and held up my scans of my skeleton.  “When the first bullet entered your side, it actually ended up almost right in the L3 vertebrate.”

“And what is that?”

“It’s the vertebrate that helps with the leg muscles. There—might be a chance you may not be able to walk again.” What? No it—it can’t be. “But it’s not 100%. My best guess is that there’s a 50-50 shot. It didn’t penetrate it enough to cause the L3 to break, but there was some damage to it when the bullet tried to exit out that way through your Lumbar vertebrate. If you can show us you can at least attempt to walk, we can have you transferred to our physical therapy facility in Upstate New York.”

“And if you’re wrong?” he sighed heavily and said.

“Then we can do one of two options. We can operate to try and repair any nerve damage done, but that in itself could have serious risk. Or…..you can tell us to let you go and you’ll never be able to walk again.”

Steve you selfish, cowardice, son of a bitch! You’re ruined me!

“I’m sorry miss. But don’t lose all hope just yet. We’ll give you a week of bedrest and do some minor leg tests to see how you’re doing.”

“Thank you Dr. Hamilton.” He nodded and said he call my family back in before he left my room.

I couldn’t believe this.  There is literally a 50% chance that I may never walk again.  How the hell was I gonna perform? No one would want to see a wheelchair rockstar.  Steve’s basically ruined my life now? How the hell am I ever gonna recover from this.

At that point the kids came back inside with Jack, Brian, Deacy and Roger.  The kids all cuddled up to me and we shared a brief moment until a police officer came in.

“Excuse me, Mrs. Kline. I’m Lieutenant Banks NYPD. I wanted to ask if you’d give us a statement in regard to Steve Harrison’s attack on you.”

“She’ll give you her statement when she’s well enough.” Roger snapped out.

“Dad.” I warned him.  “I’ll tell you everything.” He took out his notepad and I confessed everything, all while the guys and the kids were there.

“Okay now did anything happen after the shooting?” asked Lt. Banks.

“He uhh….he looked right at me and actually stole her wedding ring right off her finger.” Jack explained.

“He did what!?” I finally looked down at my left ring finger and was horrified to see that my ring was truly gone. “No. That—that son of a……”

“Actually Mrs. Kline. We’ve recovered the ring. In fact, I’ve got it right here.” He soon dug through his pocket and pulled out an evidence bag.  He opened it up and soon he pulled out my wedding ring.  

“How did you get it back?” asked Brian as Jack took the ring and placed it back on my finger.

“When was the last time any of you checked the news?” the Lt. asked us.  

We all stayed silent before he walked up and turned on the TV.  A female news anchor sat there at the desk and she said.

“It has been three weeks since the horrific attack at Madison Square Garden. Rockstar sensation (Y/n) Kline aka the Rock Angel was shot in cold blood in the middle of her concert. Her assailant, her former PA Steve Harrison after going on the run. Was finally apprehended. Not by police, but some loyal fans of the rockstar herself. Let’s get in touch with Bobby whose live at the scene where the assault took place. Bobby.”

The screen split to an elderly man and the name Robert “Bobby” Johnson came on the screen.

“Thank you Natalie. It was right here at the corner of 34th and 33rd street when a group of men recognized Steve Harrison from the news. Reports say that the group of 7 boys jumped Steve and proceeded to beat him till almost consciousness. It took about 5 minutes for police to finally arrive. When asked about why these men attacked him, this is what they had to say.”

The screen altered to a young black man with dreads, he had the makings of a beard starting to come around his chin, up to his face.  He looked to be about Jack’s age and he spoke in a low tone as his name read William Henderson.

“The Rock Angel is life man. She practically saved me through some tough sh*t in my life. And to hear this coward did what he did, he didn’t deserve to be walking the streets the way he did.” Another boy appeared on screen.  This time he was white with blue eyes and blonde hair and the name Harvey Davidson came up on the screen.  His accent was a heavy Bronx tonality as he said.

“Even though she’s from England, (Y/n) Kline was born and made here in New York. I remember when I saw her very first concert when she came up with Queen.”

“No a**hole messes with the Rock Angel! You mess with the Angel you mess with New York!” another black boy named Erik Woodson proclaimed.

“You mess with her, you mess with all of us!” Harvey came back on screen.

“Steve Harrison has been taken to a separate hospital from where the Rock Angel is said to recover but will be facing criminal charges. As for the gang that assaulted him, they too were arrested for assault and battery in a public place. But are they guilty? Or are they heroes? More of this to come at News4 tonight at 6pm. Back to you Natalie.”

“Thank you Bobby, coming up next—” at that point Lt. Banks turned the tv off.

“Surprisingly, one of those young gentlemen found it hanging around Steve’s neck. He recognized the ring from her last concert she did in Queens. Told us to make sure she got it back.”

“Seems we know who the real fans are.”

“Roger not now.” Brian scolded softly.

“What’s gonna happen to him now?”

“Well—those boys did a pretty bad number on him. When and if he wakes up, he’ll go to jail and be put on bail. Then of course the trial. We’ll keep in touch with you once all of this goes down.” He handed me his card and bid us a good day.  All was quiet once more before Brian looked at me and he softly said my name.  I shook my head before suddenly finding myself laughing.

“What is wrong with the world? Why did this have to happen to me? Why me? I told him I told that rich, pompous, arrogant, sexist asshole what Steve was doing but did he listen to me? No! He didn’t! Hollywood records doesn’t give a shit! They never did! They hired a fucking sociopath to be my personal assistant and to make matters worse IT WAS HIS FUCKING NEPHEW!!!!”

Tears of anger pooled in my eyes as I angrily tapped my finger against the railing.

“James did this. He didn’t care. He knew he must’ve known his nephew was like that. Why else would he easily give him the job as my personal assistant. I should never have signed up with Hollywood records. I never should’ve left EMI. I should never have come to America. I should never have become the Rock Angel!”

“Don’t say that (y/n).” Jack tried to calm me down.

“No, no, no! NOOO!! Had I never been famous this-this-this-this shhhhh SHIT! Would’ve never happened!” I stammered angrily.  He stroked down my arm comfortingly.

“Baby calm down.”

“No you don’t tell me to calm down! I may never walk again Jack! Did you know that?! Yeah Dr. Hamilton said there’s a 50-50 chance of me being paralyzed. Who in the hell would want to see a handicapped Rockstar!? HMM! Tell me that Jack Kline! In fact who would want to be married to a handicapped Rockstar!? You’ll leave me, you’ll all leave me just like everybody else in my FUCKING LIFE!!”

At this point I was going crazy.  I may not have known it then, but my kids were starting to get so scared of how I was acting, Deacy had to take my kids out of the room while Brian ran to find a nurse or doctor.  Both Jack and Roger tried to calm me down but I was literally going—well exorcism crazy.

It wasn’t until a nurse came in with a needle and poked it into my veins before I suddenly stopped my rage fit and passed out.

*3rd Person POV*

After she collapsed onto her bed, Jack took his wife’s hand and clutched it between both of his.

“The sedative should keep her asleep for the rest of the day.” She said to them as she took the needle out of her arm.

“Thank you.” Brian thanked her.  She nodded before leaving the room.

“I’m just thankful the bastard’s finally been caught.” Roger said. “I’ll agree with one of those boys.  He did not deserve to walk down the streets of New York after shooting my daughter and wearing her wedding ring around his neck like some prize he won at a fucking carnival!”

“That’s only half of good news to this whole shit show. Already the British media are just as fueled up by this just as they were when Freddie died. The same arsehole who trashed Freddie’s name as well as many others who died of AIDS calling it their form of suicide. He’s called (y/n) out as a woman looking for trouble. Like she asked for this to happen.” Brian snapped.

Jack shook his head angrily as he stared out the window before suddenly trudging out of the room.

“Jack?”

“Jack where are you going? Jack!” Roger called out.  But the young man didn’t answer.  All that was going through Jack was anger and rage.

Roger and Brian looked at each other confused but they chose to stay with (Y/n) thinking that Jack needed some air, after hearing what the British tabloids were saying about his wife.

*My POV*

I woke up the next day (at least I hoped it was the next day) and saw Roger and Brian sleeping in the hospital chairs.  I softly smiled at them and said softly.

“Morning guys.”

“Hey love, you’re awake. You okay now?” Brian asked me as he and Rog both woke up.

“Little funny. Now was I dreaming? Or did that bitch stab me in the fucking arm?” I croaked out.  The two of them laughed softly.

“No (y/n). She gave you a sedative. You—went a little bonkers last night.” Brian said as he stroked the side of my cheek.  I turned to my dad and said.

“How bad was I?”

“On a scale, I’d say you were all of Motley Crüe mixed in with 20 beers and maybe a little bit of heroine.”

“That bad huh? Were—were the kids…..” they didn’t answer me. Then again they didn’t have to, the sympathetic looks on their faces told me all. “Oh god. I—I’m sorry guys. I—I need my babies here, I need to apologize to them on my behavior. I didn’t mean to scare them.”

“We know lovie, we know.” Dad cooed as he brushed his fingers through my hair.

“Where’s Jack?” I asked.

“We don’t know. He just…..walked out and we haven’t heard from him.”

“He’s not at the hotel? With the kids?” I asked frantically.

“Calm down love I’m sure he just—needed to go on a long walk. Think this whole thing through. I’m sure he’ll be back soon.” Brian soothed me as he rubbed my shoulder.

“Mrs. Kline, we’re here with your breakfast and some medicine. Mr. May, Mr. Taylor I’m afraid I’m gonna have to ask you both to please leave the room since we had allowed you both to stay overnight.”

“We understand. Thank you for letting us stay though Nurse Williams. We greatly appreciate it.” Brian said.  She smiled and nodded.  Brian looked down at me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “He’ll come back love, just give him some time.” After he left, dad came up and cupped the side of my face.

“I’ll be back tonight to check in on you.” I thanked him and he kissed my forehead before giving me an Eskimo kiss before he followed behind Brian.

The entire day went by and the weather soon changed from cloudy to pouring down rain.  It was around 7pm and Nurse Williams had just brought in my dinner for the night and there was still no word from Jack.  I was starting to get frantic with worry, that was until the door opened and coming in dripping wet was Jack.

His face completely soulless and hard as he stood there dripping wet from his head to his soaked shoes.

“Jack? What the f—where the hell have you been?!” he looked up at me.  His trance-like state broken as he said.

“I—went for a walk. A long, long, long walk.”

“And what you just stayed out in the rain for the past seven hours?! You could get sick!”

“I’ll change and take a warm shower when I get back to the hotel. This whole thing it’s just been……” he sighed heavily as he lowered his head.  My anger at him soon faded away as I relaxed and let out a soft sigh.

“Come here my love.” He looked up at me, his broken eyes staring right into mine as I reached out to him.  He walked up to me and took my hand.  I clenched his and brought it close to my face and kissed the back of his hand, as well as his knuckles.

I then looked up at him and he slowly leaned down and captured my lips with a kiss.  The kiss slowly got deeper and more passionate as Jack cupped both sides of my face.  His tongue peeking out and asking for entrance, which I granted to him.

My heart monitor was starting to escalate as I moved my hands down from his neck, down his chest and even lower to his stomach.  Once I reached his hips I felt something.

“Jack…..are you—really this turned on now?” I asked between our kisses.  It was at that moment he stopped and turned his head away from me.  His face back to being grim and his eyes cold and harsh.

“No. That’s not it.” His voice was low, almost threatening. At this point, I was getting nervous.

“Then what is that?” I asked him.  He moved his shirt aside and I saw the familiar lining of a curved, steel handle.

“It’s a gun.”

What? He got a gun? And he brought it in here?!

“Jack are you out of your fucking mind? What are you doing bringing something like that in here!?” I snapped at him.  He separated from me and his only response was.

“For protection.” I lay my head back against the pillow as I rolled my eyes.

“Jack. What do you think it’s gonna be that easy to just go and shoot somebody?!”

“Ask Steve that question.” He told me.  He turned and slowly walked away but not before completely punching my dinner tray and knocking the stand down to the floor. The food scattered everywhere, the plates fell and the tray flew across the room as Jack pinched the edge of his nose as he now stood a few feet away from the foot of my bed.  I stared blankly at what had just happened.

“You know they only give you 2 course meals here right?”

“God everything is a damn joke to you isn’t it!?” Jack snapped at me as he breathed heavily. “Steve almost killed you! He makes you flip out and then the next minute you’re treating it like a fucking joke!?!?” he roared at me.  I adjusted myself in the bed and told Jack in a low, firm tone.

“You don’t think I’m pissed Jack, hmm? Having that 50-50 chance that I may become paralyzed. Or having to live with the fact that if you hadn’t thought fast the way you did I would be with Freddie? My parents? Letting our kids grow up with the same trauma I had to go through growing up. You don’t think that I wanna walk out of this bed and get Steve for—”

“WELL HE’S NEVER GONNA TOUCH YOU AGAIN! CAUSE IT WON’T EVER HAPPEN AGAIN! NOT TO MY FAMILY!” Jack yelled.

“Love. My darling I know you’re scared. But these are scary times. The world’s changing and becoming a lot scarier than it was when we were kids. But it’s our job as parents to ensure that our kids don’t follow down that road.”

“Well they already got involved. Steve didn’t even care that our kids were at that concert. And with this, I’m gonna ensure that people like him never go that far again with you.” he said as he showed me the gun again.

“Okay. Then you are no better than Steve or anyone else out there in the world that solves problems with only bullets.” I lectured him. Jack looked away from my gaze, he was silent for a moment before he said.

“Look I didn’t come for a lecture. I came to check on my wife and see how she was doing.” He and I had a stare off before he grumbled. “I’m outta here.”

“Jack.” I called out to him as he stood before the door. He stopped before he could even open it up but his hand was right on the handle. “If you walk out of here with that thing, consider yourself erased from this family. The kids almost lost one parent because of that thing Jack Kline. Our babies almost lost their mother I WON’T LET THEM LOSE THEIR FATHER TOO!!!” I yelled at him.

The room was dead silent between us.  Jack slowly turned towards me.

“Now give me the gun Jack.” I said as I extended my hand out. “THEY NEARLY LOST THEIR MOTHER I WON’T LET THEM LOSE THEIR FATHER TOO!!” I repeated back to him.  Slowly Jack released his hand from the door and walked up to me silently.  He stood there, his eyes harsh and cold but I looked back at him with just as much ferocity.

He lifted his shirt and took out the gun which ended up being a double action revolver.  He wordlessly placed the gun in my hand before he looked at me with a look of defeat and walking out of the room and shutting the door behind him.

As I sat there holding the revolver in my hand I brought it close shaking my head as I opened it up.  My heart broke into a million pieces as I turned it over and all six rounds of bullets came falling onto the bedsheet.  

I closed it back up and dropped the gun by my side and held my hands to my face as I softly cried.