#red hood PLEASE call your dad before he puts us in the hospital again

[captainkirkk]

Everytime Batman and Red Hood see each other they end up shouting across the streets of Gotham emotional shit like JUST COME HOME SON and YOU'RE NOT IN CHARGE OF ME ANYMORE OLD MAN and it's just Not Subtle in the slightest

No one knows that Jason is an ex Robin so everyone comes to the very logical conclusion that the Red Hood is Batman's rebellious blood son that ran away from home to pursue a life of crime and they're not even fucking wrong

[volturi-stuff]

Blood Moon P2

Demetri Volturi x fem!Swan!reader

A/N: I- welp.. This is long overdue, I apologize. But enjoy lovelies!!

You woke up in a very uncomfortable hospital bed, and you had a killer headache.

You turned your head slightly to take in your surroundings. As your eyes scanned the room, you noticed no one was there, no surprise there. You sat up a bit and groaned in pain, everything hurt. There was no people, however there was something that caught your eye, laying at the end of your bed. A black and red cloak, neatly folded and layed there. You slightly tilted your head and picked up the cloak analyzing it. It was very soft, and it gave you a sense of home that made you feel comfort. It smelled like cologne, and cinnamon, the most intoxicating scent you've ever smelled. You smiled slightly and noticed something on it, Inside were the initials D.V. you traced over that with your finger and sighed.

You had remembered everything that had happened, but very faintly. You cuddled into it because you knew it was his. The vampire that saved you from getting slaughtered. You were grateful to him, but you felt a pain as your chest tightened as you thought about him. You knew exactly what was happening, Bella went through the same thing. This so called vampire was your mate...

You layed back down as you were lost in thought. So that means, you would finally have someone? That you weren't gonna be totally alone forever.. Your thoughts were interrupted by the door opening. Still frightened from getting attacked, you jumped on instinct. You looked to see who it was, as you ever so slightly perked your head up from the white pillow to find Carlisle standing at the end of your bed. He was staring at the cloak you had in your arms, staring like it was a virus he, oh so desperately wanted to kill. Then he opened his mouth to speak, "Where.. Where did you get that?" He asked, trying to sound as sympathetic as possible, but you could hear the concern in his voice.

You moved it closer as his hands went to take it. You gripped it as tightly to your chest as you possibly could, "Carlisle.. A n-newborn... Attacked me. Which you probably know, someone saved me.. Sucked the venom out of my leg, as weird as it sounds.. He was wearing this.. Carlisle do you know anything?" You said in a raspy hoarse voice from not speaking for so long, and you narrowed your eyes at Carlisle as he closed the door, and ran a hand through his short golden locks, as he began speaking, "May I..? I'll give it back, I promise.." Carlisle asked as he moved closer and held his hand out. Contemplating for a second, you looked at it, then back at him. You sighed and nodded. You trusted Carlisle. You handed it over to him and felt your chest tighten again, like the missing puzzle piece was ripped from your chest again.

Carlisle examined it, and checked the inside, at the initials. His eyes scanned it as he thought for a second. He then set it down next to you, and sighed heavily. "Y/N.. You know about the Volturi, from when Bella went to italy..?" Carlisle trailed off and sat on the end of your bed. You nodded and furrowed your eyebrows waiting for him to continue. He looked at the floor and sighed again, "Well, the one who saved you.. Was Demetri Volturi, their tracker... He was probably here, because of the army... Or to see if Bella was still human. Listen, please." Carlisle said in his stern tone, but he was softer. He then looked up in your eyes to make sure you understood, he could see the way your face lit up at the mention of his name. He knew you were mates. "They feed on humans..." he continued.

You stopped him with a sigh, "Carlisle, thank you.. So much, for letting me know... But I know for a fact, Demetri will not hurt me... The way he acted last night-" Carlisle stopped you, and gave you kind eyes, "It wasn't last night dear... It was five days ago..." Carlisle said in a soft like tone he'd just used. You blinked at him a few times and covered your mouth with a sigh. You couldn't register what he had just said, "Where's Dad and Bella?" You asked with tears in your eyes, Carlisle got up to check your vitals as he spoke, "Charlie is at work, and Bella is.. With Edward." He said refilling your fluid bag.

You layed back down with the cloak cuddled tightly to your chest, holding it, as hot tears fell on the pillow, "Thanks, Carlisle. For everything..." You whispered in a raspy voice, Carlisle nodded and smiled that comforting smile. "Of course. If you have anymore questions about the Volturi, don't hesitate to let me know." Carlisle said as he walked out the door.

As the door closed you broke down in tears. Why did this have to happen to you? Why now? You cried yourself back to sleep, as you tightly held the cloak closer to you, oh so wishing you were in his arms again.

Demetri's POV:

I somehow managed to get away from, Jane and Alec, to go to the hospital. What would I say? What would I do? I had no idea, the only thing that mattered was knowing she was safe, and that I got there in time to save her life.

I walked into the hospital with my hood up, and my sunglasses on. I obviously couldn't walk into a public establishment, looking like I was from a different decade, so as much as I hated it, I went on a shopping spree and bought casual clothes to wear. It was ripped Jean's and a black hoodie. Definitely wasn't my style.

I walked up to Carlisle, and whispered. "Carlisle, what room? We both know why I'm here..." I whisper, Carlisle sighed and looked at the papers in his hands, "Room, one-forty nine. Be careful, I mean it." Carlisle warned me in his stern father like voice. I simply rolled my eyes, not like he could see through my black tinted glasses. I walked to her room in 'human' speed. Being surrounded by all the blood was absolutely driving me insane. My throat burned and I clenched my jaw as I desperately needed to feed.

I got to her room, and I was suddenly very nervous. What on earth would I say to her? I turned the silver door nob and walked in quietly closing the door behind me. As I turned back around I saw her laying there on the white hospital bed, unconscious? I sighed in relief at the fact I could hear her steady heart beat. It seems I'd forgotten, humans need sleep.

I sat in the uncomfortable green chair next to her bed, and took in her features. She had a giant gash on her forehead, and a busted bottom lip. That made me very angry. All I wanted to do was take away her pain and wounds. I very gently held her hand in my gloved one. "Everything's okay, Love." I said with a sigh. I didn't wanna think about what would have happened if I hadn't come when I did.

As I looked at her, I felt a very strong pull. It was like she was my everything, I wanted to be her everything. I felt everything else that mattered to me, suddenly slip away as it was only her and I. Like I was living for her.

She looked so... Weak, so drained. It broke my unbeating heart that my mate was in this condition. I looked over at her again and saw she was cuddling my cloak, it was pressed to her cheek as she held it to her chest. That brought a comforting warm feeling to me, I had never experienced this before. It was like my heart would beat again. How did this tiny human mean so much to me? I couldn't get my head wrapped around it.

I gently moved her hair away from her wound, someone should have pulled it up, to keep the gash from getting an infection. I got up to close the curtains too. Excuse me, what was Carlisle trying to do? My amore was sleeping, she didn't need the stupid sun in her tired eyes. I pulled the blanket back up, and smiled. "Sleep well, sweetheart." I whisper, but right as I went to leave, she moved, and put her leg out of the covers and turned over.

I saw the bandage on her leg and sighed sadly. I once again fixed her covers so she wasn't cold, and then I put the cloak around her. I was in no hurry to take it back, and Carlisle told me it was keeping her content, so she needed it more then me. After a metal debate I decided to stay. I sat down and waited for her to wake up, as I read some random book on the end table. I silently hoped she would wake up before I had to go.

Taglist: @kpopgirlbtssvt @ssa-volturi @raindancer2004 @heartsarecompatible @ansellalexandra @megaprincesscakes @tomatana @volturidoll13 @stormbornsvalkyrie

[dccomicsimagines]

What’s Lost is Found - Batfamily Imagine - Part Nine

Warning - Depressive Thoughts, Angst Content

Part One  Part Two  Part Three Part Four  Part Five  Part Six  Part Six.Five  Part Seven  Part Eight   Part Ten  Part Eleven

Requested by Anon -  I really love the batdad concept,it's so cute! I was just wondering,are we going to have some flashbacks of Bruce being a dad to (y/n) in What's Lost is Found?

***

“We’re here,” Jon whispered as he dropped out of the clouds to fly low. Your heart skipped a beat when you took your face out of his neck to see the manor again. A wave of joy and relief washed over you. Home.

“You know the secret entrance to the cave, right?” You pointed down at a rock by the lake. 

Jon hummed, flying toward it. “Yeah, it’s how I met Damian back when we used to hang out.” You tightened your arms around his neck as he hit the rock at full speed. The two of you went through it and flew down a dark tunnel. “I remember when Damian first told me about the holographic rock. I didn’t believe him.” 

“Oh, I know.” You laughed despite everything. “We made fun of you through the camera as you poked at it before you toppled down the tunnel.” 

Jon smiled for the first time since you left prom. “I figured.” He sobered once he got to the end of the tunnel and flew into the cave. Much to your surprise, the lights were on. The batcomputer running data. Someone sat in the batcomputer’s chair. Your heart went into your throat, thinking it was your dad for a moment before you told yourself it wasn’t. 

The person in the chair turned when Jon landed behind them. “Oh, Mx. Wayne,” Lucius said, blinking in surprise. He frowned at Jon. You tried to get out of Jon’s arms, but he wouldn’t let you go.

“Jon, it’s Lucius. It’s fine,” you whispered in his ear. He relaxed and set you on your feet. “Hi, Lucius. What’s happening?” You went over to the computer, frowning at the footage from across the city. 

Lucius turned back to the computer. “Well, the city is under siege.” He brought up security video from Wayne Tower. A figure you knew led in a group of mercenaries. Your heart stopped at the sight. 

“Is that Bane?” Jon caught you before your knees gave out. 

“We’re not sure. Batgirl is working to get a confirmation.” Lucius gave you a look of concern. “I was under the impression you were retired, Mx. Wayne.” 

“Not now.” You swallowed hard. “Did you call in the Justice League?” 

Lucius pursed his lips. “No, there appears to be a number of disasters around the world. The Justice League has their hands full.” You pulled away from Jon and went to the computer. 

“This was set up.” You frowned, accessing the second keyboard on the batcomputer. “There is no way all this could happen at once.” 

Jon pressed close to your back, hovering rather protectively. “You don’t know that.” 

You glared at him to back off, but he stayed where he was. “There was a breakout at Stryker's Island and Blackgate. An earthquake in Peru and Japan. Plus there is a terrorist attack in Atlantis. All this on top of Gotham under siege. This is not a coincidence.”

Lucius hummed. “You are very much like your father, Mx. Wayne.” He frowned at the computer, bringing up footage of Gotham General Hospital. A tank-like batmobile crashed through the soldiers’ blockade around the hospital. Damian jumped out of one of the hospital’s windows and glided down into the batmobile. You relaxed, knowing he was safe.

“Your design?” You pointed at the batmobile.

“Yes, your father requested it before...well.” Lucius folded his hands, smiling as Damian drove off. Jon breathed down your neck. His arm wrapped around your waist. Irritation build up inside, but you ignored it. 

“I’m surprised you’re here in the cave, Lucius. We closed it up.” You flipped through the other footage, trying to get a better view of Bane-looking figure. Jon’s arm tightened enough to hurt. You put your hand on his. He relaxed.

“I was evacuated here along with some of our...more sensitive projects when we received intelligence about the siege.” Lucius frowned, bringing up the police scanner. “Oh dear.” 

“We got 10-71 on 45th and 3rd. Gotham Gazette is on fire.” The police scanner beeped as another voice cut off the first. “10-72. Firefighters are trapped in the building by a 10-32.”

You pulled away from Jon. “Is anyone able to help them?” 

Lucius shook his head. “No, Batman, Red Hood, and Batwoman are on the docks stopping more soldiers from entering the city. Red Robin and Spoiler are defending the police station. Batgirl is trailing the Bane lookalike. Orphan, Bluebird, and Signal are preventing Two Face’s bank robberies. Huntress, Batwing, Starfire, and Nightwing are MIA.” 

“What?” Your blood ran cold. Jon’s arm tightened around your waist again. “Dick and Kori are here?!” 

Lucius nodded. “Yes, we lost track of them two hours ago after they went to stop the Penguin’s gun smuggling ring.” He got to his feet. 

“We have to go.” You turned to look at Jon. Jon’s eyes were wide. He shook his head. “Jon, we have to go. They need us.” 

“No, this is too dangerous. We know this is all because of you. They’re doing this to get you.” Jon cupped your cheek, looking you in the eye. He was more serious than you ever seen him before. For the first time, you couldn’t see the puppy dog elements that you loved about him. 

You shook your head, pulling away from him. “So what? People need help.” You headed over to the display case that held Jason’s Robin suit. “I’ll use this since my suit doesn’t fit anymore.” 

“You won’t have to do that, Mx. Wayne,” Lucius said. You looked back at him in surprise. He smiled and gestured over to a huge case next to the batcomputer. The Wayne Tech logo made your heart skip a beat. “I have something for you. Consider it a graduation gift if you will.” 

“(Y/N).” Jon grabbed your arm as you headed over to the case. “Please. We have to stay out of this.” 

“Do you know something I don’t?” You spun to him. Rage sparked in your heart again. “Because my family is out there in danger! We have to help them!” 

Jon sighed deeply. “Fine.” He closed his eyes. You pulled your arm away from him, wondering if your relationship with Jon will ever be the same again. Tears burned your eyes, but you focused on what was important. You pressed your hand against the bioreader of the case. It beeped, registering your name and opening to reveal a brand new high tech Robin suit. 

It took your breath away. “Oh my.” 

Lucius chuckled. “Get ready, Mx. Wayne. We need you out there.” You timidly took the suit out, feeling the armor and tech. It was the suit you always dreamed of. You turned to go to the changing area, brushing against Jon as you past him. 

“(Y/N).” Jon followed you into the changing room. You sighed, undressing even though he was there. He fell silent, blushing and turning his back to you.  He took off his shirt, revealing his Superboy suit underneath. 

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about anything of this,” you hissed, slipping on the suit. It was like a second skin. The tech turned on at your biological signature. You put the mask on, finding it suddenly connected to the batcomputer.

Jon groaned, spinning to face you in his full Superboy suit. “I couldn’t. This is so much bigger than we thought. I didn’t even know about all this until just before prom and that’s only because it was decided you would stay with us longer.” 

Your hands clenched into fists. Rage ate you alive along with the worry for your family. Dick and Kori were MIA. You knew they could take care of themselves, but why did you have to cause all this? Why did you kill Bane? Why did your father have to die? “I can’t talk about this now. We have to go. Those firefighters need our help.” You marched out of the changing room. 

“As you can tell, the suit is connected to the batcomputer. It also increases your strength and agility.” Lucius smiled at you in the suit with pride. “I would give you more detailed instructions, but we need you to learn as you go.” 

You nodded. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.” You turned to Jon. He pursed his lips and picked you up in his arms. 

“Keep your comlink on, Mx. Wayne.” A trace of concern crossed Lucius’ face. “We can’t lose contact with anyone else.” 

“They won’t,” Jon answered for you as he flew into the air. You stayed tense in his arms, wondering if you should have trusted Jon. A lump formed in your throat. You pushed that aside. Jon flew out of the cave and straight toward the war-torn city.

***

You helped the firefighter to his feet. “Robin, where have you been?” he gasped as flames ate up the floor below you. 

“Around.” You half-carried him to the window. Jon appeared, taking the firefighter from you.

“Get out of the building. It’s not stable.” Lucius’ voice filled your ear. Jon floated the firefighter down after giving you a warning look. 

“Can’t. One more inside.” You looked up, seeing the heartbeat through your mask’s bio-vision. The suit was amazing. You felt more alive than you had in a long time. 

Rolling out of the way of falling debris, you flipped your way up through the hole in the ceiling. “Help.” A weak voice came from the stairwell. You wandered over, putting in your rebreather to help with the smoke. It was thicker up here. 

You opened the door to the stairwell only to see a blast of flames hurling toward you. Jumping out of the way, you heard a chilling laugh. “Come on out, Robin,” a male voice shouted. Your mask identified the voice as the Human Flame. “Let me burn you up. Give me that million.” You took out a freeze grenade and threw it around the corner.  

“Don’t you hate Martian Manhunter? Why are you even in Gotham?” You smiled when you heard him howl. Moving so fast to the point where you thought you were flying, you ran around the corner and kicked him hard in the face. He grunted. The ice that formed around him shattered. He slammed into the wall. “Woah.” You laughed, flexing your arm in the suit. “This is so cool.” 

Suddenly, an arm wrapped around your waist and you really were flying. “The building is coming down and you are just hanging out in here?” Jon grumbled in your ear. He picked up the Human Flame by the scruff of his costume and carried you both outside. He dropped the Human Flame by one of the cop cars. 

“I thought it was another firefighter.” You wrapped your arms around his neck. “That was exhilarating.” 

“Mx. Wayne, we lost contact with Batman. His last location was at northeast end of the docks,” Lucius said. Your blood ran cold. 

“Are you sure we’re ready to let Damian know we’re here?” Jon looked nervous as he flew toward the docks when you pointed in the right direction.

You snorted, pretending your hands weren’t shaking. “He probably already knows we’re here.” A high pitch whistle filled the air. You looked over Jon’s shoulder to see a missile coming toward you. “Jon!” 

Jon dropped you, taking the hit. The explosion sent you soaring to the ground. You pulled out your grapple gun, flipping through the air before firing it at a nearby roof. It took the impact as you rolled into your landing. Jon went flying, crashing into the street a block away. 

You sprinted down the street toward Jon only for bright headlights to suddenly beam from behind you. Going off instinct, you rolled into an alleyway as brakes squealed to a stop. You blinked at the tank-like batmoblie. Batman hopped out. You felt sick, reminding yourself that wasn’t your father.

“TT.” He marched to you. “This is not the time for some simpleton to dress like Robin.”

“I’m not a simpleton and I can’t believe you talk like that when you’re Batman. Who will be scared of you?” you retorted, smiling at the shock on his face.

“(Y/N), go home.” He grabbed your arm. “This is a big enough disaster without you making it worse.” 

You yanked your arm out of his grasp. “Shut up.” He narrowed his eyes at you. “I made this mess, so I have to help clean it up.” 

“Ouch,” Jon groaned, appearing at the opening of the alleyway with a limp. “You okay, Robin?” He came to your side. Damian eyed him.

“You brought them here, Superboy?” Damian snarled. It was almost like they were never friends in the first place. Jon bit his lip nervously, keeping his eyes on you. “You idiot, don’t you understand?! This is what they want! You think that missile was a mistake!” 

You swallowed hard. “Why was your comlink off?” You crossed your arms, pushing aside your anger and frustration. “We were sent to look for you.” 

“Fox.” Damian growled. “He gave you that suit too, didn’t he?” Damian tried to grab your arm again. You stepped out of his reach.

“He said Nightwing and Starfire are MIA.” Jon wrapped an arm around your waist. Damian stared at Jon’s arm before glaring darkly at Jon. To his credit, Jon scowled right back at him.

“Yes, I was about to investigate before you dropped in front of my car.” Damian  yanked you away from Jon. “Keep your hands to yourself, Superboy.” 

Jon growled. “Robin and I have been dating for quite some time. I have a right to touch them if they want me to.” 

The pure fury on Damian’s face was priceless. If this wasn’t happening in the middle of a war-zone, you would have enjoyed it more. “Nightwing and Starfire,” you said, stepping between the two men. “We have to go find them now.” 

“Fine.” Damian’s grip tightened on your arm. He pulled you toward the tank-like batmobile. “You’re coming with me and you’re going to stay in the batmobile. Do you understand?” 

Jon trailed behind you before flying into the air. You hopped into the batmobile. “I’m not staying in here. You need backup, Damian.” The comlink button was off. You switched it back on. 

“Oh good, Mr. Wayne. Welcome back into the fold,” Lucius said sarcastically. Damian hopped in beside you. 

“TT, some people don’t need your sarcasm, Fox.” Damian glared at you as the batmobile sealed and took off toward the Iceberg lounge. 

Lucius hummed. “Mr. Pennyworth called. He is in Smallville and discovered Mx. Wayne and Mr. Kent have disappeared from their prom. I informed him that they were here.” 

Damian’s eyes shot to you at the word ‘prom’. You did your best not to look at him. “Tell him we’re sorry, but this is something I have to do,” you said, pursing your lips. You glanced up to see Jon flying above the batmobile. 

“Of course.” Lucius’ voice clicked off. 

“Prom? You went to prom with him?” Damian glanced at you. His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. “Are you dating him?”

“Yes, if you must know.” You crossed your arms. 

Damian frowned. “Has he...have you and him....?” 

You snorted. “Why do you care? I’m just the one who tarnished our father’s legacy.” 

Damian slammed on the batmobile’s brakes, sliding to a stop. “You did.” He glared at you. “I will let you back me up, but you have to do everything I say and you are to go home with Grayson once we find him.” 

You nodded, not trusting yourself to answer out loud. A tear slipped out of your mask. You quickly wiped it away with your hand. Damian noticed. He grunted, hopping out of the batmobile. 

Jon landed beside the car, offering you a hand. “You okay?” Jon whispered, eyeing Damian. 

“It’s fine.” You let Jon take your hand as you both trailed after Damian. Damian glared up at the Iceberg Lounge. 

“Why is (Y/N) here?” Tim demanded, landing next to Damian with Steph behind him. 

“It’s going to be like this all night, isn’t it?” you said to Jon. Jon nodded, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. Steph raised an eyebrow at the sight. Tim just frowned. 

Someone landed behind you. “All I know is that Dick is going to kill us all, and Superboy is going to get castrated for sure,” Jason chuckled, walking up to join the others. 

Jon shifted uncomfortably. “Stop it.” You glared at the others. “Can we just focus on saving Nightwing and Starfire please?” 

“Huntress and Batwing escaped and reported in. Apparently, the Penguin hired Deathstroke.” Tim worked on his wrist computer. “And they’re waiting for us to take the bait.” 

“Then we go.” You started toward the building, but Jon held you back. 

“No, you don’t.” Damian gripped your shoulder, pulling you away from Jon. “This is a trap for you. I bet they’re trying to collect the bounty on your head.” 

You narrowed your eyes, swallowing the rock in your throat. “That’s Dick in there, Damian.” 

Damian glared back at you. “No, you’re not going in,” Tim said, stepping up to glower at you too. “You caused this mess. Stay out of it and let us fix it.” Your heart ached when you saw the strain Tim was under. Guilt dropped your stomach to your feet. He never used to be this stressed or mean.

“(Y/N) stays.” Jason stepped between you and Tim. “They have to do this.” 

“Jason, I know you’re the reason they’re here. You texted them that you left, knowing they would follow.” Tim leaned in close, staring straight into the lenses of Jason’s helmet. “I hacked your phone, because I knew you’d pull some shit like this.” 

“Watch it, Timbo.” Jason’s hands clenched into fists. “I can still beat you within a inch of your life.” 

You were going to push your way between them, but Steph beat you to it. “Enough. Oh my god, stop this stupid pissing contest. We got family in danger in there.” She scowled at Jason then Tim. Tim blushed, looking away. Jason snorted. “Let’s shape up. Make a plan. Get them out alive and then we’ll argue.” Steph looked at you and Jon. Damian’s hand tightened on your shoulder. “Robin and Superboy come with us.” Steph looked at each of your brothers. “Is that understood?” 

All three grumbled. “Wow,” Jon mumbled, sneaking back to your side when Damian wasn’t looking. “She’s tough.” 

“She was Robin once too, you know.” You tensed as Tim went into a plan to rescue Dick and Kori. 

***

“Irresponsible,” Tim grumbled as he crawled in the vent ahead of you. “Dumb. Childish.” You wished Steph had been sent with you to shut him up. However, it was just you and Tim.

Jason and Jon were going through the front door, creating a distraction and taking down whatever goons the Penguin had ready. Damian and Steph were coming up from under the Iceberg Lounge. You and Tim got stuck with the vents. Your worry for Dick and Kori plus Tim’s verbal abuse made you want to scream and break a few bones. However, you decided to be the bigger person your father would want you to be. 

“This is all Dick’s fault. His stupid hardheadedness had to rub off on you. He refused to put you into stasis like I told him.” Tim kept mumbling. You froze at the stasis part. He was an completely different person than the Tim you remembered. Did you really force him to change that much?

“Wow, thanks Tim. I didn’t realize how much you and Damian were alike.” Tim flinched at your words. You smiled sadly, missing the brother who showed you cartoons and always listened to you. Your heart broke at the fact you did this. By killing Bane, you made Tim into this malicious man.

Tim slipped out of the vent into a store room. He held his arms up to help you down, but you ignore him, dropping down on your own. Tim sighed. “You don’t understand,” Tim said, guilt flashed in his eyes. “(Y/N), you started a war. You broke Batman’s code and it started a chain reaction. I mean we would have had some conflict due to Batman’s...” He swallowed hard, unable to say death. You wondered if Tim hadn’t processed your father’s death yet. Poor Tim, maybe he didn’t have a chance to grieve yet because of the mess you made. “But we wouldn’t have had this if you didn’t kill Bane.”

“But Bane might still be alive. I saw him in the cameras.” You brought up the footage on your wrist computer. Tim blinked at the footage. 

“That’s not him.” Tim turned away. He hooked up his wrist computer to the computer panel next to the door and hacked it.  

“How do you know? Mr. Fox said Batgirl was investigating it.” You followed, taking in everything he did. A boom sounded somewhere in the building. You flinched, hoping that it was just part of Jon and Jason’s distraction. 

Tim fixed you with a icy glare. “I’ve been gathering intel for almost a year. I know who it is.” You nodded for him to keep talking, but he fell silent. 

“Seriously?” You punched his arm. 

“What?” Tim hacked away on his wrist computer. 

“Who is it?” Your voice became dangerously low. Tim looked back at you.

“You don’t need to know.” He caught your fist before you could hit him again. “You’re only here to help us rescue Nightwing and Starfire, then you’re out of this. I’ll put you in stasis if I have to. I don’t care what Dick says.” 

A frown pulled at your lips. Your eyes filled with tears. You quickly turned away from him, so he wouldn’t see. Curse your emotions, probably another thing that Dick rubbed off on you. A stony silence fell between you and Tim as he hacked away.  

“I should have known I’d find you two here,” Dick’s voice said from behind you. You and Tim jumped in surprise. Tim grabbed your arm and stepped in front of you protectively. 

Your heart skipped a beat as you studied Dick in his Nightwing costume. Tim tensed. “I thought you were being held in the Penguin's office?” Tim asked, squeezing your arm in a secret signal your father had taught you. ‘Danger.’

“Escaped. It’s what I do best.” Dick leaned over to peek at you. “Hey Robbie, nice to see you.” It felt wrong. A shiver ran up your spine. 

“Right, I forgot.” Tim forced a smile on his face. He squeezed your arm again, another signal. ‘Dodge and run.’ “Hey, just so I know, when did we first meet?” 

The wrong Dick frowned. “Why are you asking me that? Don’t you know me, Red?” 

“No reason.” In one quick motion, you dived out of the way as Tim threw a electrified batarang at the wrong Dick. Dick screamed before dissolving into a pile of clay on the floor. Clayface emerged into his true form. You dashed out of the room, barely avoiding Clayface’s arm that tried to grab at you.

You sprinted down the hall, sliding to trip a guard when he burst out of one of the doors. Clayface and Tim crashed out into the hallway. “Robin, run,” Tim ordered, dodging Clayface’s foot. 

“Going.” You kept running, bursting through the door onto the main stage of the iceberg lounge. It was dark. Your mask switched to night vision. You avoided the instruments. Suddenly, a spotlight clicked on and you were blinded. Something hit you from behind. You fell to the ground, all the breath forced out of you.

“There you are.” Your mask rebooted itself and identified the voice as Deathstroke. A foot pressed on your back, holding you down. “So easy. Your father would be disappointed.” 

A ice cold shiver went down your spine. Hot, blistering rage filled you. “Shut up.” You used your suit’s increased strength to throw his foot off your back and rolled to your feet. 

Deathstroke grunted in surprise before pulling out his sword. “Let’s see how much of a disappointment you are.” 

You narrowed your eyes. Taking a deep breath, you relaxed into a fighting stance. Deathstroke zoomed toward you.

It was a long, hard fight. He got you several times with his sword, but you got a few hits in to startle him away before the sword could sink into you. You knew you wouldn’t last long.

Deathstroke kicked you off the stage. You landed hard on your arm. The bone snapped. You screamed, rolling away as Deathstroke jumped to stab you. The sword missed you by inches. 

“You’re good, but not good enough.” Deathstroke laughed, suddenly kneeling on your chest. You gasped, crushed beneath him. Your good arm smacked at him, but he didn’t react. “I could use you. Train you to be better.” He reached down to run a hand through your hair. “Like I did to Terra.” 

“Fuck you.” You choked. Deathstroke snarled, slapping your face hard. Blood filled your mouth. 

You prepared yourself for the worse, remembering everything your father told you about Deathstroke. 

A sharp cry of rage echoed through the room. Deathstroke was slammed off your chest by a black and blue blur. You took a deep breath, wincing at the pain in your ribs. Some of them were broken. 

You forced yourself up to see Nightwing punching Deathstroke over and over again. “Never ever touch my kid! You hear me!” 

“Di...Nightwing, stop,” you whispered, unable to breathe enough air. “You’re going to kill him.” 

Dick stopped. Deathstroke laid on the floor limply. Dick got to his feet and ran to your side. “Hush, baby. I’m here.” His hand ran through your hair, inspecting you. “I don’t know how you’re here and why you are in a Robin suit, but we’ll talk about that later.” You tried to relax, but you were in too much pain. “Your arm’s broken. God, those cuts are going to need stitches.” 

A wave of suspicious came over you. Clayface’s version of Dick flashed before your eyes. “When did I first taste popcorn?” 

He frowned slightly. “Honey, how hard did you hit your head?” 

“Answer me.” You growled.

Dick sighed, glancing around. “It was the first time you went to the movies. I took you.” He smiled. “You were so cute, licking it first before finally putting it in your mouth.” 

You relaxed. “Oh, it’s you for real this time.” Dick helped you to your feet. “Where’s Kori?” 

Dick frowned. “I don’t know. I was looking for her when I heard you scream.” He wrapped his arm around your shoulders. You held your arm, hissing from the pain. “This was a setup. The whole thing.” 

“It’s all my fault.” You shivered. Dick led you out of the main lounge. 

“No, it’s not. Let’s just get you out of here.” Dick threw a batarang at a goon that came around the corner. “Are you alone here?” 

Almost on cue, the wall in front of the two of you exploded. Dick knocked you down as Jon flew past you and crashed back into the main lounge. You groaned, black swarmed your vision as you struggled to breathe. Your ribs and arm were on fire from Dick’s weight. 

“Of course, Superboy brought you. I’ll kill him,” Dick grumbled, getting off you quickly. “Sorry, honey. Just hold on for me.” 

“(Y/N).” Jon crawled to your side. Blood ran down his face from a cut on his forehead. 

“What happened to you?” You forgot about your own pain, reaching up to wipe some of the blood out of his eyes. 

Jon winced. “Metallo.” 

Dick glared at Jon. “Get Robin out of here.” He looked you in the eye. “Stay at the cave with Jon. We’ll see you soon.” Dick kissed your forehead before going to join the fight. Jon picked you up.

“We can’t go. Kori.” You panted. Jon’s arms put painful pressure on your broken ribs. “Damn it.” 

“Sorry.” Jon set you on your feet. “(Y/N), you’re in no shape to stay.” 

You narrowed your eyes at him. “Neither are you.” 

He sighed. His shoulders slumped. “I can never win against you, can I?”

A weak smile pulled on your lips. “No.” 

Jon snorted. “Come on, my x-ray vision picked up some activity in the basement.” You nodded, holding your arm to your chest as you led Jon to the staircase. 

***

The two of you found a metal freezer in the basement. There was a lot of damage outside of the freezer along with unconscious soldiers. “Batman and Spoiler came through here,” you said, eyeing the wounds on the soldiers. 

Jon stared at the freezer for a long moment. “Oh no.” He quickly ripped off the door and Kori fell to the floor. You gasped, rushing to her side. Your ribs and arm throbbed, but you ignored it. 

She was cold as death. Her orange skin tinted blue. “Please be okay.” You checked for a pulse. It was faint, but still there. You glanced at Kori’s baby bump nervously. “Jon, you have to warm her up now.” 

“How?” Jon glanced around in a panic. 

You pointed at your eyes. “Heat vision.” 

“But I’d burn through her.” Jon shook his head. His eyes were on Kori’s baby bump too.

“You can control it. Warm up the floor around her.” You moved away. Jon nodded. His eyes glowed red as the beams shot out of his eyes and into the floor. The heat soaked into your feet. Your suit sent you a warning, and immediately started cooling you off. 

Slowly, Kori’s skin lost the blue tint. She stirred, but didn’t wake up. “Kori,” you whispered. Jon turned off his heat vision. You approached, kneeling down beside her. “Please wake up.” Your eyes filled with tears. “Please.” 

Jon’s hand touched your shoulder, making you flinch. Pain racked through your body at the sudden movement. “We have to get her help.” 

“Take her to the cave.” You nodded to Kori, getting up. Your broken arm burned in agony. Every breath hurt. 

“I’m not leaving you here.” Jon shook his head. 

“Jon, we can’t leave Kori here. She’ll be defenseless.” You glared at him. “Take her to the cave.” 

Jon sighed. “They’ll kill me for leaving you here. I mean they’re already going to kill me for bringing you here and for not taking you home.” 

You grabbed his arm with your good arm. “Please.” Jon looked into your eyes.

“Okay.” He bent down to pick up Kori with some difficulty. “You better be here when I get back.” 

“I can’t really move that fast to not be.” You waved for him to fly off. Jon gave you one last look before bursting up through the ceiling until he was out of the building and in the open air. 

Alone, you glanced around at the unconscious soldiers. You studied their uniforms. They were mercenaries, but you recognized some of them. Some of them were League of Assassins, others were military trained soldiers. Whoever was wearing the Bane mask pulled a lot of weight. You swallowed hard. Why did you have to cause all this?

The hallway’s temperature dropped suddenly. You heard heavy footsteps coming down the hall. Kneeling behind the freezer, you held your breath. Your mask identified the footsteps as Mr. Freeze. 

Staying quiet, you heard him wander around the room. Stupid Deathstroke for breaking your arm. You could take him if you had your arm and ribs intact. 

When it finally sounded like he was leaving, you took a deep breath. You hissed in pain at your lungs expanding into your ribs. Suddenly, Mr. Freeze’s footsteps stopped. You cursed yourself. The freezer you hid behind was pushed aside and you came face to face with Mr. Freeze’s freeze gun.

“Robin,” Mr. Freeze said in his robotic voice.  He looked at you with a curious expression. You frowned, ready to dodge. “I did not expect you to be here.”

“Where else would I be?” You stayed where you were, waiting.

Mr. Freeze hummed. He glanced over his shoulder. “Freeze them and we’ll split the reward,” the Penguin said, waddling into the room with his bodyguards behind him. 

Dick was going to be so upset. You hoped Jon wouldn’t feel guilty for leaving you here. Closing your eyes, you let go. The end would come. At least you would be with your father. Tears filled your eyes. He’d be so mad you joined him so soon.

The freeze gun went off. However, you didn’t feel the ice overtake you. You opened your eyes to see the Penguin and his bodyguards frozen in a block of ice. “I never did like you,” Mr. Freeze said to the Penguin before turning to you. “I never liked Bane either.” He walked out of the room. You stayed where you were, shocked. 

After a few long minutes, you forced yourself to your feet and went upstairs to find the others. The battle had been won. You found the others in the main lounge, handcuffing people and tending to the wounded. Dick frowned when he saw you. 

“You’re supposed to be at the cave.” He hurried over to you, taking the first aid kit from Tim and started to splint your arm. 

“We found Kori.” Dick froze. “Jon took her back to the cave. She needed help.” You swallowed past a rock in your throat. “I’m so sorry.” 

“None of this is your fault, okay?” Dick’s voice trembled. His hands shook. 

Tim came over to take over as Dick couldn’t finish the splint. “This is a mess.” He studied you. “I heard you took on Deathstroke.” 

“It wasn’t my choice. He jumped me.” You shivered. Tim finished the splint. Sun peeked through the holes of the building. It was already morning. 

“The police and National Guard should be here soon. We need to go,” Tim said. 

Dick nodded, shaken. “I need to get to Kori.” 

“We’ll all regroup at the cave,” Damian said, taking your good arm to pull you with him. “Nightwing, come along.” 

You stumbled on debris, falling against Damian. He growled, jerking you upright. Your arm and ribs burned at the movement. Dick followed. He reached over to remove Damian’s hand from your arm. “Stop it.” 

“TT.” Damian called the batmobile to him. It drove and stopped in front of him. He hopped in the driver’s seat. Dick helped you into the backseat before taking the passenger’s seat. 

“Hang on. I’ll ride with you,” Jason said, running over. He crawled over Dick like a little kid, which was an hilarious sight given that Jason was taller and broader than him. Jason sat down beside you. Tim called over his bike and him and Steph climbed on. 

Damian grumbled, driving off. The sunrise was beautiful, but the city was damaged. No people were around. Buildings crumbled, holes in the street, streets signs knocked over, street lights blown up. It was a combat zone. You leaned your head against Jason’s arm. Jason hummed. You closed your eyes, hating that you destroyed everything your father cared about with one choice that you couldn’t even remember making.

***

You laid next to Jon in your old bed at the manor. Alfred had arrived, reopening bedrooms for everyone get to a few hours of rest. Jon wasn’t supposed to be in here, but he slipped in when everyone else was asleep. Now he snored softly with his hand on your arm. There was a bandage on his forehead for the cut he gotten during the fight.

Your body ached. Every breath still hurt even with the pain pills Alfred had forced you to take. Your arm, now in a cast, throbbed away. The cuts from Deathstroke’s sword were stitched up, stinging. 

Dick was still in the cave with Kori. He went silent when he saw her under the sun lamp in the cave. She hadn’t woken up yet. No one would tell you if the baby was okay or not. 

Unable to stand it any longer, you rolled to your feet. The pain intensified, but you pushed through. You wandered out of your room. A rock formed in your throat when you reached your father’s room. Slowly, you pushed open the door, frowning at it’s lifeless quiet state. Alfred had covered everything in sheets, but that’s it. Your father’s belongings hadn’t been moved. 

You pulled off the sheet on the dresser and opened the top drawer. His shirts were neatly folded inside. You picked up a dark blue one and pressed your face into it. It still smelled like him. You relaxed, letting yourself float back into your memories if only for a moment.

***

You were packing your suitcase, knowing the flight back to Gotham was in the morning. Currently, you were in the Wayne Tech’s penthouse located in Paris. Your father and you had traced Magpie there where she had attempted to steal the Regent Diamond from the Louvre. Using the excuse of a business trip, Batman and Robin stopped Magpie while Bruce and (Y/N) supposedly attended business meetings. 

“(Y/N)?” Your father appeared in the doorway of your bedroom. He was wearing sweatpants and t-shirt. You remembered he got a phone call from Alfred, who had stayed behind in Gotham. From the tension in your father’s shoulders, Alfred must have scolded him about something.

“Yeah?” You sat down on your bed, swinging your legs playfully. 

He sighed. “I forgot again, didn’t I?” He sat down beside you on the bed. 

You eyed him, shrugging. “It’s not a big deal, Dad.” 

“Yes, it is. Fathers aren’t supposed to forget their kids’ birthday.” Bruce shifted uncomfortably. “Alfred made a suggestion.” 

“What? I don’t need anything, Dad. Being in Paris was a nice enough birthday for me.” You smiled, looking out the window at the beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower. 

Bruce cleared his throat. “Well, then you’ll be happy to know we’ll be spending an extra two days here then.” Your jaw dropped in shock. Bruce chuckled at the sight. “No patrol, no Batman or Robin. Just you and me and whatever you want to do.” 

“Are you serious?” Your heart skipped a beat in excitement. You thought about going to the Louvre and actually getting to look around this time instead of just stopping Magpie. All the food you could try. You licked your lips before hugging Bruce tightly. “Thank you, Dad. This is going to be great!” 

“You’re welcome. Happy birthday, (Y/N).” He hugged you back in his strong arms. You felt so loved, so safe.

***

You sobbed, burying your face into the shirt as you sank to your knees. Your body ached, but the pain in your heart was too great for you to stop. Deep down, you knew you would never get to feel that loved and safe again. 

Thin, strong arms suddenly hugged you from behind. You tensed as a sharp chin rested on the top of your head. It took you a moment to catch your breath. “Cass?” 

She hummed, hugging you tighter. You didn’t know she had come to the manor too. More sobs racked out of your body, hurting your ribs. Cass held you for a long time. Eventually, you stopped crying, exhaustion soaking into your bones. Your father’s shirt was soaked with your tears and snot. Cass guided you to your feet and led you back to your room. She clucked her tongue at Jon in your bed, but ignored him to tuck you in. Your father’s shirt stayed in your hands. 

“Sleep.” She patted your cheek before silently leaving the room. Jon’s arm wrapped around your waist to pull you close. His body heat permeated you like sunlight. Your pain faded as you let yourself fall into the blissfulness of sleep.

***

“This is only going to get worst!” Tim’s voice echoed throughout the cave. He, Damian, Jason, Barbara, Steph, Cass, and Duke were in the meeting area. Their debate grew more heated by the second. You shivered on the medbed as Alfred changed the bandages on your cuts.

Alfred frowned. You sighed, wincing when it hurt your ribs. Jon and Lois were having a very tense discussion in the corner. You felt bad for him, but you didn’t regret coming here. 

“Mx. (Y/N), take it easy. You are not going out tonight,” Alfred said firmly once he finished.

“Yes, Alfred.” You swallowed hard, getting off the medbed to wander over to the ICU area. Kori was still unconscious and under the sun lamp. Dick sat as close to her as he dared, staring at her with an empty expression. The monitors showed a steady heartbeat. A faint smile crossed your lips when you noticed two heartbeats on the monitors. 

You came to Dick’s side. He blinked, wrapped an arm around you. “Hey kiddo,” he whispered. His hand rubbed your side gently. It hurt your ribs, but you didn’t want to say anything.

“Is she okay?” You trembled.

“Her vitals and the baby’s are good, but she hasn’t woken up.” Dick ran his free hand through his hair only to wince from the movement. He had been hurt too. Your stomach twisted, threatening to lose the little food you managed to eat. “This isn’t your fault, honey. I don’t want to hear that from you.” You pursed your lips, tears threatening to fall. Dick kissed your cheek. “I didn’t want you to be part of this.” You wanted to scream. If you hadn’t come, you would be hearing about Kori’s injury about now if not more terrible news. It was three in the afternoon. You probably would have had fun at prom, fell asleep only to wake up to this horror that you caused. How could he be so dumb to try to keep you out of this?

“Shouldn’t you be with the others?” you asked. Dick pulled you to sit in his lap, hugging you tightly. You let him.

“No.” Dick squeezed you, hurting you. You bit your lip to keep from gasping. “We’re not going to be here for much longer.” 

“What?” Your jaw dropped, heart skipping a beat.

Dick sighed. “We’re leaving, going home.” He frowned when you pulled away from him. “Don’t fight me on this, sweetheart.” 

“We can’t leave.” You choked. The guilt ate you alive. “I caused this. I can’t leave them to deal with this. Tim already hates me, Damian too. I can’t do this to them.” 

“I’m not arguing with you on this.” Dick snarled in a way he never had to you before. “We’re going home.” His tone softened. “I have more to lose now.” He patted your arm, but you jerked away from him. “(Y/N).” You left the room, shocked beyond belief. Dick wasn’t who you thought he was. 

You stopped outside of the meeting room, listening in. “They said they will stop the siege if we turn Robin over to them,” Barbara said sharply. “Obviously, we’re not going to do that, but maybe we can set up a decoy.” 

“TT, no one is small enough to be convincing,” Damian said. A fist slammed into the table.

“Don’t even think about saying we just hand them over! Damn it!” Jason’s voice echoed throughout the cave. You quickly walked away. Your mind swirled, trying to think of a way to fix this. 

“You are grounded for life, you hear me,” Lois snapped at Jon as you passed them. Jon looked at the ground, not noticing you. 

Going upstairs to the manor, you exited into your father’s study only to be taken back by his giant self portrait on the wall. He hated it, but it was all part of the Brucie image. 

“Daddy, I broke everything.” You looked at his eyes, imaging the disappointment that would be there. “I know you said it wasn’t my fault, but everything is going to hell.” You took a deep breath. Your ribs on fire. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I killed Bane because Bane killed you.” 

Silence followed. You kept staring into his eyes. “What would you do?” Your heart broke. Deep down in your soul, you knew what he would do. Your father was selfless to the upmost degree. Closing your eyes, you let out the breath you didn’t know you were holding. “Okay. It’s time anyway.” You opened your eyes to meet your father’s painted ones. “I have to fix this.” You went over to the desk and got out some paper to write notes for everyone. A final goodbye.

***

It was easy to slip out of the manor. You wore civvies and a plain domino mask, not wanting the high tech suit to fall into the wrong hands. No one noticed you left. 

You rode a motorcycle into the city, zipping along. Everything was brighter, more clear than it ever been. You enjoyed everything for the last time. 

The Bane lookalike’s headquarters was at Wayne Tower. You parked your bike outside, looking up at it. It took several long moments before the Bane lookalike came out and stood in front of you. Up close, you knew instantly this wasn’t the Bane you killed. He was not tall enough and he didn’t have the grace of a street fighter that Bane had.

“Welcome Robin.” The Bane lookalike smiled. “Finally.” 

“Is the deal on?” You narrowed your eyes at him, getting off the bike. Entering the code, you rigged it to explode in two minutes. “If I hand myself over, you’ll leave Gotham alone?” 

The Bane lookalike studied you carefully. “Yes.” He gestured for you to come to him. You took a deep breath, your ribs burning. Slowly, you walked over to him. “Good child.” A sharp prick in your neck left you dizzy. You turned to see a ninja with a needle. Your legs gave out. The Bane lookalike caught you. “Now you will pay for what you’ve done.” The last thing you heard was his laughter.

[hermits-that-craft]

Powers Au - Nature

TW - fighting, blood, past abuse, betrayal

Dream hides under the blankets, his eyes screwed shut. The sound of his father screaming in pain echoes through his head. He might only be nine, but he knows that his father is a bad man. He knows that the man hurts people, thinks that he’s a god. He knows that his father uses him to force people to stay in his territory. Dream knows, prime, Dream knows that this was a long time coming.

But the scream echoes in his head, and in his heart the boy knows his father is dead. He mourns the man, prime only knows that he mourns, but he doesn’t leave the safety of the blankets. Heroes could be here - Dream helped the monster who fashioned himself Dream’s ‘father’ - and they’ll kill him. His father hurt people, but he never lied. Lying is worse than killing, in his father’s eyes.

“Hey,” A soft voice says, suddenly in the room with Dream. “My name’s Puffy, but my heroes name is Captain. Are you injured?”

Dream shakes his head, trembling under the blankets. She’s going to kill him, she’s going to cut him up and eat him, she’s going to-

He sticks his head out from under the blankets, looking at her. She has dark, chocolate brown eyes and fuzzy brown hair that looks like - is it wool? It looks so soft, and there’s a strip of it thats rainbow. She isn’t wearing a mask, he can see it discarded on the floor besides his bed, with a hairtie next to it, and her hood is down. She is covered in blood, and red footprints trail out of the room towards her.

“Hey buddy,” she says. “What’s your name?”

“Dream.” He mumbles, fear wracking his small frame again. The heroine - Puffy - smiles at him brightly.

“That’s a lovely name.” She says, and she reaches her hand out to him. “Why don’t you come with me, we’ll take you to a hospital to make sure you don’t have any injuries.”

Dream frowns, pulling his blanket tighter around his shoulders. He can feel the blood on his back drying, feel the way his foot throbs in pain every time a muscle twitches. He knows its broken. He knows his injured. But this woman could hurt him, could lie to him, and-

“You can keep your blanket, if you want.” She offers, the kindness never wavering.

“My foot hurts.” He mumbles pathetically, tears springing in his eyes.

“Then I guess i have to carry you.” She spreads her arms, and Dream pathetically throws himself into her embrace. 

Puffy picks him up, holding him as though he’s worth something, as though he’s not made everything that she is supposed to defeat. As though his father hadn’t forced him to kill so many people. As though he’s made of gold, and his blood flows with rubies and gemstones.

Dream falls asleep in her careful hold, letting the soft wool of her hair become a pillow.

---

“When will my nephew return from the war.” Schlatt complains as Puffy stacks her dishwasher, rolling her eyes. “It’s been 48 years!”

“School isn’t a war, Schlatt.” Puffy says simply, carefully placing the cutlery into the little bucket made for them. “And if my memory serves me right, you’re still in university.”

“Poli-sci is different to fifth grade, Puffy. Ten year olds are evil.”

“Mum! I’m home!” Dream calls, and Puffy can hear a crash as he throws his bag into the wall. 

“Speak of the devil.” Schlatt mumbles under his breath, a fond smile on his face.

“How was school?” Puffy yells back at him.

“I made a new friend! His name is George!” Dream says, walking into the kitchen. “Uncle Schlatt!”

“Come give your favourite uncle a hug, kid.” Schlatt smirks.

“Oh, is Uncle Sam over?” Dream says, and Schlatt gasps in mock horror.

“Oh you’ve wounded me!” Schlatt says, dramatically falling to the ground. “The horror! The pain! How could you?”

“And you say that Wilbur hasn’t rubbed off on you.” Puffy laughs, putting the last plates into the dish washer. 

“Hey, he hasn’t.” Schlatt says from where he lies, Dream standing triumphantly over his ‘dead body’. “Just cause that theatre nerd is my friend, doesn’t mean that he’s rubbed off on me.”

“Sure thing.” Puffy laughs, turning the dish washer on. “C’mon now, lets see what homework you have so that you and Uncle Schlatt can hang out for longer.”

---

“Dream.” The teen pauses, halfway out of the window. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing.” Dream’s voice cracks, and he blushes slightly. 

“So, if I came into your room, you wouldn’t be halfway out of your window, in vigilante gear?” Puffy’s voice is light, but he can tell that she’s worried.

“Nope!” Dream smiles brightly. His vigilante gear is kept at George’s house since, well, the other teens parent’s don’t care about what George, Sapnap and Dream do as long as they aren’t too injured.

Puffy sticks her head in, shaking her head when she see’s Dream, still halfway out of the window. She gestures for him to go to bed, sighing.

“You know, when I let your uncle buy us this house I thought that you’d like the yard, not the easy to escape windows.” She smiles, though he can see the nervousness in her eyes. 

“You alright, Mum?”

“There was these two kids, when I was out on patrol.” Puffy says, patting the bed besides her. “I’m worried for them.”

“Why?” Dream asks, slowly pulling himself from the window. “They get mugged or something?”

“They were following the syndicate.” Puffy leans back on the wall, and Dream lets her hug him. “They can’t be older than you, as well. I’m just worried.”

“You weren’t older than me when you adopted me.” Dream points out. 

“I was seventeen. You’re fourteen.”

“Three years.”

“Still makes a difference.” Puffy ruffles his hair. “Now, who were you sneaking out to see. A girl?”

“Primse, Mum! No! I wasn’t.”

---

Puffy watches from another room as Dream and Foolish meet. Foolish flinches away from Dream, who sits down at a distance. Puffy makes herself busy as she looks around the kitchen. Eret may have been adopted by Callahan, but Foolish is her newest son, and she forgot to even warn Dream, the teen’s going to hate this.

“Did Mum pick you up from a villains base as well?” Dream asks after a moment, getting a startled laugh from Foolish.

“Yeah?” The other teen affirms after a moment. “Does she do that a lot?”

“Well, she did it with me. I’m starting to sense a pattern.” Dream jokes, and Puffy relaxes, pulling out some spaghetti. Easy dinner, for tonight, it sounds like.

A few quiet whispers are exchanged by the pair, and then raucous laughter erupts from the lounge room. Yeah, this is home.

---

Dream leans against a tree, pressing bandages into his side. Sapnap stands besides him, nervously looking around to see if any villains or heroes show up. No one does, not even George, who’s probably still sleeping. 

“What did they do to Dad?” Sapnap mumbles weakly after a moment. “Why was he all-”

“Infected?” Dream offers after Sapnap trails off, his eyes a thousand yards away. “He looks like the egg got him.”

“But isn’t Pa enough? Why’d he have to take Dad as well?” Tears pour down Sapnaps face, and Dream winces. “I want my family back.”

“I know.” Dream says, sinking to the ground. “We’ll fix them. We’ll save them. The heroes-”

“The heroes are killing them! They kill anyone who gets possessed!” Sapnap protests. “They’ll kill them.”

“Then I guess we need to oppose the heroes.” Dream says, looking over at the small, dilapidated cottage in the forest. Dream, Sapnap and George had been using it to research how the egg works, and if you can save someone from it’s possession.

“Yeah.” Sapnap help’s Dream up, carrying the seventeen year old to the cottage. “I suppose we have to.”

“The ends will justify the means.” Dream promises. “We’ll be forgiven. Promise.”

---

“Dream?” Puffy can hear Foolish on the phone, trying to call his brother. “Please pick up. We’re not mad at you. Please just come home.”

Puffy can hear Foolish sigh as the phone hangs up, and Schlatt rubs her back supportively. Eret gives Foolish a hug, and Sam contacts the SMP, trying to see if there’s been any sightings of the three missing teens.

“You’ve reached Dream Taken, if you’re my Mum I’m sorry for being late home, I’ll be home soon, if you aren’t my Mum leave a message. Call you back soon!” The automated response hasn’t changed, but Puffy sobs quietly as she hears her sons voice.

“Please, Dream. Come home.” She begs, tears rolling down her face. “Or at least call me back.”

---

People scream in the streets below, Sapnap and Dream razing the city to the ground. The red vines that crept up the buildings wither and decay under the fire, and the pair of them laugh. They’re saving the city, one contained fire at a time.

Those people were probably possessed anyways. They would have died eventually, the so called “heroes” have no morals. Not like Dream and Sapnap and George. At least these three are trying to cure them.

“Stop!” Dread fill’s Dream and Sapnap’s chests as they hear Puffy yell after them. “You are under arrest for arson and-”

“We won’t be going with you.” Dream says, spinning around. He stands protectively in front of Sapnap. “Sorry, Mum, but we’re busy trying to save the cuty.”

“Dream.” He hears Puff gasp, her hands over her mouth. “You’re alive.”

“Don’t sound so shocked.” He growls, taking out a sword.

“Miss Puffy, please. You could join us.” Sapnap offers, his hand on Dream’s arm, calming the other teen. “We’re trying to cure the egg!”

Dream and Puffy both wince, hearing the smile on Sapnap’s voice. That naive, hopeful, pathetic smile that screams ‘we’re doing the right thing’.

“Sap,” Puffy begins, nervously, “Burning the buildings and killing people won’t save anyone.”

“The ends justify the means.” Dream snap, before Sapnap can change his mind. “Are you with us, or are you going to kill us.”

It’s not a question.

“I can’t agree with this.” Puffy says. “But I could never hurt you.”

“You killed my father.” Dream snaps, glaring at the woman he once called mother. “You’ve already broken me beyond repair.”

---

Puffy sits in the hospital bed, staring out of the window. She wasn’t able to fight them, how could she? She raised Dream since he was nine, and she was ‘aunt Puffy’ to Sapnap since he was a baby. How could she hurt these kids she swore to protect, to keep safe?

Foolish sleeps on the chair besides her bed, Eret sleeping on the floor besides him. The pair refused to leave after visiting hours, and Puffy said that it was alright for them to spend the night. How could she send out her son, and the child she considers family?

She stares out the window, watching the sky turn from a dark indigo to a bright orange. Tears drip down her face as phantom fire races up her arms, and she remembers. She doesn’t know why she remembers this poem, this miserable sad poem that she hadn’t thought of since she dropped out of highschool to persue full time heroism.

The notion of some infinitely gentle, infinitely suffering thing.

If that didn’t describe her family, she doesn’t know what does.

[hateswifi]

Sweet Lullaby

So remember not too long ago when I asked you if you wanted to see a Jason singing fic? Well here it is, I hope you enjoy This short story. Sibling Jasonette. (Just under 3,000)

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

For as long as Jason Peter Todd could remember, he had always been the main caregiver to his little sister Marianne Jiayang Todd, well his half-sister.  His mother was working as a full-time doctor to help support their small family. Most days it was hard to quiet the poor little Mari, as Jason called her because all she wanted was her mother, but he quickly learned that the Spanish lullabies his abuela used to sing helped her calm down. 

This is the trick he used when Marianne was two and their stepfather was sent to jail. Mari loved her dad but didn’t get to spend much time with him because her dad hadn’t wanted Mari. She was a mistake in her parents’ eyes, but to Jason, she was his foundation. 

She kept him centered when their mother died when Marianne was just eight. Jason helped repay her by singing Abuela’s lullabies. He helped raise a bit of money by singing on the corner or train station during the day and when they couldn’t reach ends meet, he would take the rest. Mari didn’t like it when Jay-Jay stole, but she knew they needed to survive somehow. 

On one particular night, Jason had gone too big, he tried to steal the Batmobile’s tires. He was caught and took into the care of Bruce Wayne. There was one problem, Bruce called GPD on Marianne. She was taken away and Jason never heard about her again, so he thought the worst had happened. He became depressed and reckless on patrol and almost got himself killed multiple times. 

“Bruce do you know what happened to Marianne?” Jason had asked one day almost two years after he was adopted. He was now fifteen with Marianne being ten. 

“From what I was told, GPD found her hurt and I don’t know anything after that, I’m sorry Jason, but you can ask if there was a different outtake,” Bruce says, patting Jason’s shoulder as Bruce walks past him out of the room to give him time. 

Jason started doing something he hadn’t done since he had found out his sister wasn’t coming with him, he cried. Not just cried, sobbed. He fell to his knees and sobbed into his hands. Not too long after he runs down to the police department. “Please tell me you have news on Marianne Todd.”

“And you are?” an officer says, raising an eyebrow. 

“I’m her brother, Jason Todd, I really need to know what happened to her,” Jason pleads. 

“Do you have proof of your relationship with her?” 

“Here’s my student ID,” Jason says, taking out his wallet. 

“Where’s your guardian?” 

“He’s in a meeting. Please I need to know what happened to her.”

“Come back with your guardian then we’ll talk.” The officer said, leaving Jason alone. Little did that officer know that Jason would sneak back into the police station later that night. “Let’s see, let’s see,” he mutters, flipping through a file cabinet with a flashlight in his mouth. “Ah-Ha!” He says, quietly pulling out the file. Marianne Jiayang Todd, badly injured, sent to the hospital to heal, later adopted by a family in Paris. Jason ran back to the manor and packed a bag including money, clothes, and the picture he had with him and his Mari. The was a problem along the way to the airport, he ran into the Joker. Batman tried to save him, but it was too late and Jason had died. 

He was brought back to life six months later by Talia Ra’ Ghul in hopes of taking down the legacy of the Bat Clan. Talia suppressed his memories of everything from Red Hood to where Marianne was living and also him into thinking Marianne was dead. Not thinking Jason had anything to live for decided to help Talia on her mission.

Marianne missed her brother, he hadn’t come home since his last job. He had become worried about Jay-Jay’s safety so she decided to look for him. She made it a couple of blocks away from their shelter before she was attacked, she had a broken arm from being pushed down along with a concussion. She got up a tried to walk back to the shelter so Jay-Jay would find her but she got kicked in the ankle and it was snapped. After that, the little couple of coins she had and was left for dead.

She was surrounded by a wash of red and blue lights. She felt herself being lifted but didn't have the energy to fight. “Jay-Jay, where are you?” she mutters.

“Miss, can you tell me your name? Where are your parents?”

“Marianne Todd, Mom is dead, Dad is in jail have you seen Jay-Jay?”

“Can you tell me what hurts Anne?”

“My ankle, hand, and head. Where’s Jay-Jay? I want Jay-Jay!”

“Anne you need to calm down, we’re going to take you to the hospital.”

She doesn’t remember much after that. She wakes up, what she is told the next day, with two casts and the lights dimmed.

“Miss, we were unable to locate your brother, and do to the fact you have no guardian, we found a family who would love to adopt you,” the social worker said. “The only problem is that the family lives in Paris, but they happen to be here on vacation.” (I realize there are many steps to adoption but this is just fiction).

“B--bu...but my brother, Jay-Jay, can’t I can’t leave him,” Marinette stutters out, her breathing becoming faster.

“Anne you need to calm down, you need to breathe,” the doctor says. “Can you breath with me?”

“Nam- My my name is no not Anne, it its Marianne,” she stutters out, catching her breath.

“Ok Marianne would you like to get some fresh air?”

“Th- that wou- would be fine.” she says.

“I can not stress how important it is that we discuss this,” the social working stresses, as the doctor leaves the room, dragging the social worker along.

“Can’t you see that she is in no condition to talk about that right now?!” the doctor yells. “She needs to be calm before she accepts the fact that she’s moving to a different continent.”

“I’ll be back in a half-hour,” the social worker said, walking the hall.

“C- can sing umm you sing to me?” Marianne asks, sitting down on the bench.

“I’m not too good, but I can try,” the doctor laughs. 

Marianne sits quietly listening to the song, wind, and the world around them. She starting to calm down.

“Thank you. Jay-Jay sings to me, sometimes even in Spanish,” Marianne says. “Just like Abuela did.”

“Would you be able to talk to the social worker now?” Marianne hesitates, looking up at the doctor. “Don’t worry Marianne, we can take a break if you need it.”

“Ok then,” Marianne sighs, reluctantly.

“Perfect! Times up,” the social worker says, approaching the bench. “So during that half-hour, the parents go there!”

“Hello, Marianne, my name is Sabine, this is my husband, Tom,” the short Asian woman, Sabine, said, squeezing the giant man’s arm.

“Are you ready to head to your new home?” Tom asks, smiling. Marianne nods, standing up.

“She has to have a check-up in a week for her concussion, as her doctor has said,” the doctor said, standing up.

“Wait, I thought you were her doctor?” the social worker says.

“No, I’m an on-call psychiatrist,” the doctor answers, crouching down to Marianne’s height. “Marianne, you ever need anything, call me here.” 

Marianne looks at the card. “Harleen Quinzel?”

“Yep, that’s me! Call me if you need anything ok,” Dr. Quizel said, standing up. “You can call me, Harley, ok?”

“Thank you, Harley,” Marianne says, hugging her waist.

“Bye, Marianne,” Dr. Quinzel waves as Marianne walks off with Tom, Sabine, and the jerk social worker.

Two years later, Marianne Jiayang Todd turned Marinette Jiayang Anne Dupain-Cheng loved living in France even though Jay-Jay wasn’t with her. Her new Mama and Papa were great and treated her like the Princesita that Jay-Jay told she deserved to be. If someone brings up Jason, without Marinette initiating the conversation, she has a panic attack. She doesn’t bring up Gotham much, but when she does she smiles at the good memories and sings along to the sweet lullabies Jason used to sing. Marinette took Dr. Quinzel up on her offer to talk, so once a month they have an hour conversation about life among other things, even after she became Harley Quin, their phonecalls continued like clock-work.

One day, two years after being adopted, she got a call, it was Harley, even though it was not her normal day, Mari still picked up. 

“Hey, Auntie, what’s the matter?” Marinette, now ten, answered.

“I’m quittin’ the villain life. My puddin’ just killed an innocent boy who reminded me too much of you. Can you put your parents on the phone?”

“Of course Auntie! Mama, Papa, Auntie Harley wants to talk to you,” Marinette said.

“Coming sweetie,” Sabine answered, her footsteps following not too long after. “Yes, Harley?”

“Can I come live with you guys for like a week or two?”

“Yes, what’s the matter?” 

“Ya know how I got dragged into bein’ a villain? Well, my boyfriend, Joker killed an innocent boy and I don’t think I’m mentally fine to be alone right now,” Harley’s voice came through the phone a bit shaky.

“It’s ok Harley, but just know that when you are living here, you’ll need to be crime-free, help out around the house, and Marinette,” Sabine said sternly.

“Ok, I promise,” Harley promised before hanging up.

“What happened to Auntie?”

“Nothing sweetie, she’s just tired, but we’ll see her soon, ok?” Marinette nods. “Ok time for bed.”

Harley came and stayed the two weeks, and later got an apartment near the bakery. Sabine and Tom hired Harley for help in the bakery and watching Marinette. Harley was first to find out that Ladybug. That lead to her parents finding out. She was great friends with her bench partner, Alya and the other girls in her class as well as Nino and Adrien. That was until Lila came and destroyed almost all of her friendships, Alya, Nino, and Adrien stayed true friends to her. Lila convinced everyone that Chloe was unsafe to be around and they bullied her until she changed schools. Marinette was on the verge of transferring especially after heritage day.

“I’m going to be talking about my mother’s heritage,” Marinette said, pulling up her slide show.

“You’re adopted though, do you mean your birth mother or Sabine?” Lila says ‘innocently.’

“I was adopted young so I don't know much about my birth parents,” Marinette defends, putting a hand on her hip.

“Well then just tell us about your life before you were adopted,” Ms. Bustier said.

“No Ms. Bustier you don’t understand--” Alya said, standing up.

“Alya, everyone has to participate,” Ms. Bustier said, shushing her. “Now you need to do as everyone else or you can go to the office.”

“Ya know what? Fine! I was born with a shitty father, who was sent to jail when I was four, a mother, who worked as a doctor so she wasn’t around. My step-brother took care of me for as long as I can remember with the help with his Abuela,” Marinette said, tears welling in her eyes. “We lived on the streets for a while after my mother’s death. My brother sang to make money. Nig-- one nigt when eig- I… I was eight, he didn’t co- come home... so I went out looking for him. I got got hurt and hospitalized where my Mama and Papa adopted me.” She finished, tears streaming down her face. 

“What’s your brother’s name?” Ms. Bustier asks.

“Th- that- that’s no-not im-imp-important,” Marinette stutters, rubbing her face. “Ummm… I got-- have to go- go.”

Marinette cried in the bathroom, Alya following closely behind her. “Girl do you want to go home?”

“N… no Ask- Mama and Papa ask-- will ask,” Marinette cried, hugging her. “Can we just stay here?”

“Of course Mari.”

“Can you sing?”

“Of course.” After a song, Marinette is calm enough to go back to class. 

“We’ll be going to Gotham for our yearly trip as planned by our class president, Lila,” Ms. Bustier announces near the end of class. A tear slipped down her face hearing this, but she decided to she missed Gotham, her home. Aunt Harley promised to come and be there just in case something happened to her.

Jason went back to Gotham after Talia finished training him. He was determined to get revenge for the Bats taking away his princesita. The Bats let her die and they were going to pay for it.

Marinette’s class was at the Museum of Gotham, then there was a problem, Joker attacked. Marinette distracted Joker and his goons so the class could getaway. She kneels down as the goons ties her arms behind her back.

“You’re pretty bold little foreign girl, but I guess that makes sense because you don’t know how dangerous I am,” Joker says, putting a finger under her chin to lift her head. “Perfect hostage, blue eyes, raven hair, just like Batsy likes. Watch her, the rest,  follow me.” He finished, walking away.

When she heard the door click she subtly turned her head to see where the goons where. She starts crying, cathing a goon’s attention. “Shut up girl.” the goon commands. When she doesn’t stop the goon approaches her so head butts him in the stomach before standing. She jumps over tied arms and swings at the goon that came over as soon as the first goon was hit. The third one tries to grab her from behind, so she kicks him the groin as he falls she kicks him in the nose.

She hears noises at the door that Joker and a couple of his goons left by. As she’s about to open it when the doorknob wiggles before being thrown open. The youngest Robin stood on the other side.

“Are you ok, miss?”

“Umm… yes, I’m ok, but you should those guys, the last guy might have a broken nose,” Marinette said, pointing with both hands towards the room. “Can you help me untie this?”

“Um sure!” He said, untying the ropes. 

“Hey! We got another in here, heavily armed, dangerous,” Red Robin called from the previous room.

Robin left the room, telling her to stay there, but Marinette being the person she is, didn’t listen. She entered the room to see a man in a tan trench coat and a red helmet. 

“You didn’t even try to help her! You left her for dead,” he screamed.

“Who? There a lot of people we can’t save but we try everything we can,” Nightwing said.

“Marianne! She’s all I had! You’re all going to pay!” He screamed.

“Marianne? Jay-Jay,” Marinette mutters to herself before raising her voice. “Jay-Jay!” Catching his attention he turns her voice. She sings softly as he approaches her. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away” He drops his guns, rips off his helmet, and envelopes her in a hug.

“Marianne, Princesita, she told me you were gone. She told me you were dead,” Jason said, letting tears fall.

“Jason I thought you were dead, you never came home that night,” Marinette said, crying into his shoulder.

“Jason I thought you were dead!” Batman says, approaching the siblings.

“How do you know him?” Marinette asks, stepping back from Batman.

“His adopted father.” 

“I was dead, Talia brought me back and told me you, Marianne was dead and it was Batman’s fault.”

“That wench did it again,” Robin sighed.

“What do ya mean?” Jason asks, breaking the hug to look at the people around him.

“I’m her son and she messed me up big time,” Robin explained.

“Sweetie! I heard what happened! Hey! Let me through!” a familiar voice came from down the hall. Not too long after the familiar face of Harley Quin entered the room. “Mari! Are you ok?” She rushed over checking for anything amiss.

“Seriously hasn’t enough happened today,” Red Robin sighs.

“Harley, where’ve been?” Batman sighs.

“I’ve been taking care of Sweetie.”

“Auntie has been very good she hasn’t done any crime!” 

“Joker bette’ not of hurt ya at all or I’ll rip off his balls,” Harley said, hugging Marinette. “Marinette is that your brother? You’re the one that Joker killed? That bastard!”

“Marinette?” Jason asked, turning to look at his little sister.

“I changed my name after moving, it hurt too much to keep my name,” Marinette explained. “But I think I could go back to Marianne now.”

“Let’s go, Sweetie, the police need to take your statement,” Harley said, grabbing Marianne’s hand.

After the statement is taken, Marianne turned to her class and says with a smile. “Lila you may be a lying sack of shit, but because of your attempts to hurt me, I found my brother. And I, Marianne Jiayang Todd couldn’t be happier. Thank you for making my life miserable so I could have a great full life with my brother and the people I care about.”

“Let’s go Princesita,” Jason said, kissing her head. Before they, Harley, and Jason, get into a cab and head to the manor to talk through everything.

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

Tag List

@sturchling @mlbchaosqueen

[batfam-rewrites]

Batfam During Quarantine: Avatar

Dick: Okay, lets try to keep the craziness to a minimum. Harper and Cullen are quarantining for two weeks so lets not do anything to make them jealous.

Duke: *Duke and Tim walk into the room* Omg, We just finished watching Avatar The Last Airbender for like the fifth time right now! I LOVE THIS SHOW SO MUCH!!! WHY DID THEY EVER TAKE IT OFF OF NETFLIX!!!

Dick: Guys, come on. I literally just said to keep the craziness to a minimum.

Tim: They have Netflix set up on their tv. They should be fine.

Damian: What is Avatar The Last Airbender

Everyone: *gasp*

Selina: Some....

Jason: Sh ta ta ta ta. *presses his finger to Selina’s lips* Don’t speak, I know just what you’re sayin’, so please stop explainin’.

Selina: Really Jason? How long have you been waiting to use that one?

Jason: *breaks into a dance* All night long, all night.

Stephanie: What is going on with you Jason? 

Tim: I know right? You don’t ever listen to Lionel Richie, let alone pop music.

Jason: It’s his fault! *points at Dick* Him and his stupid playlist!

Dick: “Don’t Speak” isn’t on my playlist though.

Jason: I ummmm...... radio.

Dick: *gasp* You listen to No Doubt!

Jason: No! Maybe!

Dick: O-M-G!

Jason: They’re a guilty pleasure! Now don’t mention it again.

Cassandra: Guys!!! What is The Last Airbender?

Duke: *starts to explain but Dick holds him back*

Jason: *to Damian and Cassandra* You poor depraved children.

Damian: I’m not a child.

Jason: Hahaha, your cute. Avatar The Last Airbender is the beautiful brain child of Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. It is a fantastic series that can not be summarized by anyone or even a movie. Anyone who tries instantly robs the person of the magic of the original series and ruins the exper.....

Damian: You know what, screw it. This isn’t worth it.

Dick: NOOOO! Come on Dami, we can watch it all together, just the nine of us.

Duke: Yeah, come on Damian.

Stephanie: It’s a really great series Dami.

Cassandra: I mean I’m interested.

Tim: *turns his head towards Cassandra* We already knew you were on board. *turns his head back to Damian*

Damian: Fine, I’ll give your stupid show a chance.

Everyone: Yaaayyyyy!!!! *they all start to head down stairs when Dick gets an alert on his phone*

Dick: Actually, this is going to need to wait. Cass and Tim, come with me. I’ll alert Babs and Kate.

Jason: Why, what’s up?

Dick: There’s been a murder at Blackgate.

Batman, Batwoman, Batgirl, Red Robin, Orphan, and Commissioner Gordon

Jim: Batman and, wow there are a lot of you!

Batman: We want to try and get this over with as soon as possible.  

Jim: Very well. Victim is Julian Gregory Day, better known as Calendar Man. The body was found at 10:15. He left his cell at 10 to meet with the D.A. to talk about getting a reduced sentence. Both of the prison guards who were escorting Julian Day were knocked out during the attack. All of the camera’s were out, too.

Batwoman: The marks on his neck suggest that he was strangled and can’t quite tell but there’s something under his fingernails. He couldn’t have saw this coming but he definitely tried to put up a fight.

Batman: Okay, Batgirl and Orphan, lets have you head to the morgue with the diener and see if they could find out what’s under his finger nails. Batwoman, question Hugo Strange. Go through the audio files and see what you can find. Red Robin, you and I will see what any of the inmates in the cell block know. Jim, order your men to check the other camera monitors for anything suspicious.

Jim: I’m not one of your......

Batman: *glares at Jim Gordon*

Jim: I could figure out your identity any time I want. 

Batman: *smirks* Is that a promise?

Jim: It’s a door I’m willing to keep closed unless you cross the line.

Batwoman

Something she didn’t mention at the crime scene was that there was traces of reddish brown hair, so that points fingers at James Gordon Jr, Clock King, Edward Nigma, and Roxanne Sutton. Kate has her suspicions, but as of right now everyone is a suspect.

Hugo Strange: Hello Batwoman. How may I assist you?

Batwoman: I need to know about a few of your patients.

Hugo Strange: You know I can not tell you much I am.....

Batwoman: I am familiar with the confidentiality agreement. I need to know about Julian Day.

Hugo Strange: Poor guy. It’s a shame what happened to him. His most recent audio files are all yours. You’ll find the information you need in there.

Batwoman walked out of the room and began listening to the files in the secret Batcave in Blackgate.

Batgirl and Orphan

Batgirl: *walks into the door* Ugh, what is that smell?

Orphan: Rotting goat sex.

Batgirl: *burst out laughing* What?

Orphan: Rotting goat sex. 

Batgirl: What made you say that?

Orphan: Red Hood told me that’s the name of the yellow squares you put on sandwiches. The ones that go bad over time and smell like this room.

Batgirl: Okay, don’t listen to Red Hood anymore. It’s called cheese Orphan.

Orphan: Cheese. Okay. Got it.

Batgirl: So, how are you enjoying quarantine in the mansion.

Orphan: It’s not bad. Been sparring a lot. 

Batgirl: Who exactly? You’re not hurting my boyfriend right?

Orphan: Nope, but I kicked Helena’s butt a few times.

Batgirl: WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY!!!

Coroner: *walks out* Hey, so the.... Sorry, am I interrupting something.

Batgirl: No. Tell us about the body.

Coroner: Okay so prior to his death it seems the victim was drugged with a depressant. Obviously slowing his reactions. Underneath his fingernails are threads from the string that was used strangle him and some dead skin cells.

Batgirl: There’s not a lot of options for strings except for shoelaces, and unless someone has a very old shoelace, that means the string had to have come from outside the prison.

Coroner: Correct, the threads are definitely not made from the same material as the shoelaces.

Orphan: Anything else.

Coroner: Yes, there was some short white hairs found on his body which is odd, but probably from facial hair or eyebrows.

Batgirl: Thanks! Let us know when you have an idea who those skin cells belong to. *both Barbara and Cassandra start walking away* Tell Red Robin what we found out.

Orphan: But we’re supposed to report to Batman.

Batgirl: Fuck Batman.

Selina, Bruce, Lucius, and Alfred

At Wayne Tower

Bruce: *starring at his computer screen* If I buy this company, then I can buy a donut, and the cosmic donut will make me live forever, plus more profits, because three coffees plus one donut equals one Tim. *Lucius Fox knocks on the door* Do you want to build a snowman?!

Lucius: Mister Wayne, we need to talk.

Bruce: What is it Lucius?

Alfred: You’re overworking yourself.

Bruce: *looks up from his computer* Dad, I mean Alfred, Selina, what are you doing here?

Selina: No simple way to say it but this is an intervention.

Bruce: I don’t need an intervention.

Selina: Bruce, it’s been a bit over two months since quarantine began. You’re company is doing just fine. Don’t you think you deserve a break?

Bruce: With a little less help from Red Tim, I need to work as much as possible to get the cosmic coffee back on track. The hacker a few weeks back did a bit of damage.

Alfred: Master Bruce, even the Batman needs a break from time to time. Isn’t that the real reason you have Master Dick running around in the Batsuit instead of you?

Bruce: No! *Bruce takes a moment to think it all over* Partially.

Lucius: You are putting to much pressure on yourself. You keep on talking nonsense and are obviously sleep deprived.

Bruce: No! I’ve haven’t put enough pressure on myself since I became Batman. Once Batman came into the picture I didn’t focus on the company any longer. And I’m not sleep deprived, I’ve slept 4 hours last night! I’m getting more than enough sleep.

Lucius: You had more of an impact on the company then you think. If it weren’t for you acting as a real CEO, we wouldn’t be doing a going green initiative, there wouldn’t be a yearly fund going out to local orphanages, you created a functioning way for employees to work from home while increasing productivity. I can go on for hours about the positive things you have done as Bruce Wayne.

Selina: You have done so much. Come home, sleep. Enjoy time with you’re family.

Bruce: I can’t do that, I can do more. I can help other companies, too.

Alfred: I remember one time, it was when you turned 5, your father was supposed to be at the hospital. However, the day before he had worked all day to make his patients feel better, so he could spend the next day with you. He wouldn’t have missed your birthday even if it would cause the end of the world. Master Thomas knew the importance of taking time off to spend time with his family. It is time that you do the same.

Bruce begins to tear up. He reflects on how often his father worked day and night, but regardless how often he worked, he always had time for him and his mother. He knew his father loved him with all his heart. Then he thought of Alfred. He wasn’t really his father but Bruce always saw him as one after his parents died. Alfred loves him as much as he loves his own family. 

Bruce: *rolls his chair back and walks over to hug Alfred* Thank you Alfred.

Alfred: Anytime sir.

Batman, Batwoman, Batgirl, Red Robin, and Orphan

*In the Blackgate Batcave*

Batman: What did we find?

Orphan: The threads under Julian’s finger nails came from a string outside of the prison meaning that it could be one of the employees who’ve killed him. Skin cells under his nails are being scanned now, and white hairs were found on his body. Also cheese is not called goat sex.

Red Robin: WHAT! *Dick and Tim start laughing hysterically* 

Batman: Why would you think that!

Batgirl: Jason told her. That’s beside the point though.

Red Robin: *whispers to Dick* What did you do?

Batman: *whispers to Tim* I don’t know.

Batgirl: Stop whispering, we can all see you!

Batman: Got it. Kate what did you find?

Batwoman: Day was in an extreme state of paranoia before he died. Talks about how he was going to tell the D.A. about corruption in Blackgate.

Batman: Interesting, did he say anyone’s name?

Batwoman: It’s not clear, but I would assume so.

Batman: That makes sense. When Red Robin and I interviewed his cellmate, Drury Walker, he said he was starting to suspect something was going to happen. He had suspicions that James Jr. was going to kill him.

Batwoman: If I had to assume, I would say the same. I noticed a large sum of reddish brown hair at the scene where the body was found.

Batgirl: There was white hair found on the body though. With Day being strangled the killer would be close enough to possibly have a few hairs fall onto his body.

Batman: Do you have a sample?

Batgirl: Obviously.

Batman: Okay, I’ll program the computer to scan it. I know it’s not ideal but we’ll find out in twelve hours. Tim, Cass, and Kate, go update Commissioner Gordon. Babs, do you mind if we talk for a moment.

Batgirl: Sure, if you feel like doing so now.

Batman: *takes off the cowl and mask* What’s wrong? 

Batgirl: How could you not tell me Helena was staying at the mansion!

Batman: I didn’t want you to overreact.

Batgirl: How could I not! One of your ex girlfriends is sleeping under the same roof you are!

Batman: Look, this conversation is a bit more complicated than I anticipated so we’ll talk more about it later.

Batgirl: You know what, do yourself one better and just don’t talk to me at all. *Barbara places her mask back on as she storms out*

Red Robin: *sneaks out from behind a door* I swear I totally wasn’t eavesdropping, but that sounded like it could have gone better.

Batman: Yeah, it could have. *Dick than walks out pulling the cowl over his head and placing his mask back on*

Batman and Batwoman

Batman: *knocks on the door*

Hugo Strange: Hello Batman, Batwoman! How may I assist you?

Batman: We have some more questions to ask you.

Hugo Strange: Please, come inside!

Batman: How has James Jr. been doing in his sessions?

Hugo Strange: He has been doing very well! Obviously he had to spend a small period in solitary for killing his cellmates but he is getting better. If he is a prime suspect you may look into his files.

Batwoman: When did you two last meet?

Hugo Strange: Yesterday.

Batman: When did you two conspire the death of Julian Day?

Hugo Strange: I’m sorry, what are you talking about?

Batwoman: *grabs Hugo Strange by the shirt and lifts him* DON’T PLAY GAMES WITH US STRANGE! ANSWER THE QUESTION!

Hugo Strange: I swear I don’t know what you’re talking about!

Batman: We saw that you transferred Day to Gordon’s cell! He has killed every cellmate he’s had! You were sentencing him to death!

Batwoman starts to shake Hugo Strange violently until a gun shot is heard from across the room. 

Batgirl, Red Robin, and Orphan

James Jr.: Hey Batgirl! I see you’re walking again, isn’t that such a neat surprise.

Red Robin: Shut up, James!

Batgirl: James, we want to know what happened?

James Jr.: ..........

Batgirl: Answer my question asshat!

James Jr.: Whoa little sis... I want to stay I was told to shut up!

Batgirl: Do you realize what’s happening?

James Jr.: I’m being interrogated.

Batgirl: You’re going to be transferred to Arkham. If you confess your time there could be reduced! 

James Jr.: Fine... I confess...... I cut open your teddy bear and filled it with razor blades when we were kids.

Batgirl flips the table and pins James to the wall, punching him in the head multiple times. Orphan then runs in, trying to help Red Robin to get Batgirl to stop punching James Jr.

Batgirl: Rot in fucking Arkham for all I care! You should have been sent there to begin with!

Batgirl, Red Robin, and Orphan begin to walk out the door before James Jr. lying on the floor yells.

James Jr.: WAIT! It wasn’t me, I promise!

Batgirl: Doubtful.

James Jr.: Red Robin, come on. I know you’re going to give me a chance. Hear me out.

Red Robin: Batgirl, let’s give him.....

Batgirl: NO! HE HAD HIS CHANCE! HE DECIDED TO WASTE IT!

Orphan: Batgirl. Please.

Batgirl: *stops in the hallway* Fine.

A few minutes later Red Robin is in the interrogation room with James Jr. with Orphan.

Red Robin: James Jr. Did you kill Julian Day?

James Jr.: No.

Off in the distance they all hear the gunshot from Hugo Strange’s office.

James Jr.: And there’s my proof.

Batman, Batwoman, Batgirl, Red Robin, and Orphan

Red lines flow down Hugo Strange’s face as blood pours from the hole in his forehead. Batman and Batwoman turn around to see who fired the shot, and are shocked to see Eduardo Flamingo. Batwoman drops the dead body of Hugo Strange as Flamingo fires three shots at both Batman and Batwoman. Both are unfazed by this and punch him in the face, causing him to fall back on the floor.

Batman: *picks up Flamingo* Who hired you?

Eduardo Flamingo: *cough* You just watched him die.

The GCPD arrives to the room and arrest Flamingo.

Commissioner Gordon: Freeze! You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you.

He had confessed to everything. The murders, the contract Hugo Strange offered him to kill Day. No details was left out. By the time they all left the prison it was 12:30 in the morning.

Batman: Batgirl, let’s talk. 

Batgirl: I don’t want to talk.

Batman: Babs, if you won’t talk, then listen, please? *tears start to fill his eyes and make their way down his mask*

Batgirl: If anything, you listen to me *tears streak down her mask as well* I don’t know where I stand in this situation, and right now I really don’t care! For the time being don’t talk to me. *she takes out her grappling hook and leaves the four other members just standing there*

Batwoman: I’m not going to get too involved in this, but you know if you need to talk Dick, let me know.

Batman: Thank you.

The two hug and then go their separate ways.

Dick and Barbara

When they got home, Dick reached for his phone and started to text Barbara. He tried to explain how he never knew Helena was going to show up. How she showed up out of nowhere. How she is his everything, his world, and he doesn’t blame her for being skeptical but he still loves her. 

Barbara doesn’t want to read a word of Dick’s excuses. This has happened before when Dick was dating Koriand’r and Zatanna. Even before they were in a relationship, she knew he at one point was seeing multiple girls at a time. She doesn’t know if he is really sleeping with Helena behind her back, but she knows that she can’t trust Dick for the time being.

After his shower he walked to his room where he saw Helena laying on his bed in her costume. She then tosses his Nightwing costume at him.

Helena: Hey Dick, how about you throw that on and we do a bit of role play.

Dick: Cool, I’m into that. I’ll be Nightwing, the guy who loves Batgirl so much, and you’ll be Huntress, who sleeps on the first floor. You’re going to leave my room and I’ll lock my door for the rest of the night.

Helena: Rough night, lover?

Dick: I told you to stop calling me that.

Helena: I know, but I love it.

Dick: Helena, please just leave.

Dick just lied on his bed staring at his phone, wishing that Barbara would text him back. Fifteen minutes later he hears a knock at his door.

Bruce: Hey Dick! Are you okay?

Dick: What is this? Am I dreaming?

Bruce: No. I heard what happened. Just know if you ever want to talk about it, you can come to me. 

Dick: Thanks Bruce!

Bruce: Want to watch Avatar as a family? Damian told me how you talked him into watching it. I think it’s a fun idea!

Dick: *smirks* Sure!

They both walk downstairs to the media room as they see everyone down there already. He noticed Helena was sitting at the far end of the room so Dick considered sitting by Tim and Stephanie who seemed to have been chatting it up, but decided against it and sat near Damian. 

Dick: *leans over towards Damian*

Damian: Don’t you even think about it Grayson!

Dick: *wraps his arms around Damian* Come on, you know you love my hugs!

Damian: I will cut off your arms in your sleep,

Dick: You’re so adorable when you think you’re threatening.

The episode begins to play and everyone fell silent. As the second one ended everyone looked at Cassandra and Damian to get their reaction.

Cassandra: That was awesome!!! Let’s watch one more!

Damian: It is surprisingly entertaining. A little silly but intriguing.

Jason: WE KNEW YOU WOULD LIKE IT SUCKER!

Tim: One of the greatest shows ever!

[nightingales-posts]

In a cat's eye, all things belong to cat (Damian Wayne x Male Reader)

Summary: Older!Damian(16) with CatLad!Male-reader. Reader has an ill sibling and was trying to survive.

Warnings: male reader, fluff, angst

A/n: Bruh(x3) Gif credits go to the author L/B/N - little brother’s name

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

Being a thief wasn't your dream.

You just had no choice. After your parents death you were the only one who could take care of your little brother.

They weren't the best parents, mom wasn't working and dad was some mobster working on mafia. But still they were your family.

And your ill sibling was the only reason you stayed at home looking after him.

He needed special treatment that your parents were paying for but after them passing away you had to find other ways to get money.

And what is better than dressing up as a cat and robberies?

You started from the bottom just getting in some rich people's houses and getting cash.

You had a credo - Steal only from rich, they won't become poor.

 And one day you broke into Wayne manor smelling easy money.

 For your surprise this place was highly protected even for billionaire-family.

 But you still managed to get in and steal some money along with fancy looking stuff.

 After this you had little robberies here and there.

 But then you met him, Robin. You were well know by that time and he was ready to arrest you.

Howecer you were really good at hiding and sneaking around, you heard it since your childhood.

You run on him a few more times after the first meeting and managed to escape every time.

Until one day when he finally got you.

 You were terrified, though that you are going to jail and L/B/N is going to be alone scared you.

 You sat on his bike hands cuff together.

 "I know about your little brother and I have an offer for you if you are interested".

You looked at him totally confused. He had an offer? For you?

"It may sound shocking but this city needs protectors and we could put your abilities in good use"

This was the day when Catlad was reborn on the side of the Bat.

Everyone was little cautious of you when Damian brought you to the Bat-Cave and Batman wasn't really pleased.

But Robin insisted on you staying with them and being a vigilante.

You honestly couldn't understand why he wanted you to be a hero because you literally shoot him every time you two met.

There was some heated debates with Batman,Nightwing, Red Robin and Robin involved.

So you were staying at the side with Red Hood that just looked at you and sighted mumbling "Like father, like son".

Finally everyone settled down and Nightwing was quick to congratulate you with joining Bat-Family.

It took time to them reveal their identities and after they did you felt really embarrassed beacuse you used to steal from them.

And it took even more time for Damian to ask you out. And when he finally did you were really surprised.

You had few dates before he officially asked you to be his boyfriend and all of his brothers were there quietly spying on you two.

Everyone was teasing Damian for taking so much time for asking you to be his lover but they were really happy for him.

He had troubles with making friends since childhood and seeing you with him was a happy sight for his family.

Damian was shy at the beginning not knowing what to do but you were ready to take everything slow and he was really grateful for it.

He paid for yor little brother's medical treatment and even changed him to the best hospital in Gotham.

You tried to stop him from it but he simply didn't listen to your complaints.

Damian and L/B/N get along really well and you were happy to know it. They even gossip about you when you are not around.

Also he loves to spoil you a lot, always leaving different gifts and notes. You tried to convince him to stop spending so much money on you but he ignored you again.

Usually calls you Habibatan in Arabic or something similar.

But sometimes he just simply refers to you as beloved like his mother.

About Talia, you thought that she would try to kill you when you two would meet because you heard stories from Damian's. But she was really nice to you which surprised you a little bit.

In general he is a soft shy bean that loves you a lot even if he doesn't say that out loud.

(Also he allows only you to call him "Dami").

[wordsfromthesol]

I’m No One’s Princess (3/3)

Author: @wordsfromthesol Pairing: Dick Grayson x Reader Summary:  You catch Dick’s eye at one of the infamous Wayne Galas, things took a turn and now he needs to find you. Warnings: The usuals aka language, violence, fluffy fluff, etc.  Word Count: 4.0k A/N: Sorry not sorry I got a little carried away with this part but there was no good point to split it up. 

Part One  Part Two

Dick turned towards Jason, “How many?”

“I counted five patrolling around the warehouse. Seems like a small team, just set up to wait for someone to pick her up. They definitely aren’t expecting anyone.”

“Have you seen her?”

“No, no one has come in or out. There’s two door entrances. I’m betting one leads to the office where she’s being held.”

“We go in through the roof. Too many unknowns going in through the doors.”

“Not if you just start shooting…”

Dick glared at his brother.

“Why do we care about this girl again?” Damian snarled.

“Because she’s an innocent, Damian.” Dick tried to reason with his youngest brother.

“We do not know this. She is the daughter of a hitman.”

“Ever heard of innocent until proven guilty?”

Damian rolled his eyes but proceeded to follow his brothers anyways.

**

Ignoring the spots in your vision, you tried to move your hands, to at least allow you to push yourself to the side. That was when an immense pain filled your arm. Great, my wrist is broken. You added another injury to the list. Injuries due to your father, your father that would and has sold you out for less than a piece of bread. The worst part was, you couldn’t even sell him out if you wanted to. You had no idea where that criminal was.

You began to hear sounds of fighting in the other room and soon you swore you heard your name. As you opened your mouth to speak, all that came out was blood. You glanced around for some way to make noise. You sucked in a breath and thrust you hips into the air, forcing the chair to move with them. The metal chair came down and clashed with the concrete. You felt the cost of your decision lingering on your already injured wrist. About to brave the risk yet again, you heard the door swing open.

“Y/N?!” You watched as Nightwing slid by your side, examining your current state. You didn’t try to respond. “Guys, she’s in here! I need an ambulance!” Your eyes widened at his words as you violently shook your head. “Y/N, look at you, you need to be in a hospital.”

“N..no.” You were able to stutter out. Nightwing hoisted the chair upright and began to cut the zip-ties. You felt a twinge of relief in your chest, now that gravity was there to help keep the blood down. “He’ll find…me. No…hospital.” He looked to the other vigilantes crowded in the room.

“Just take her back to the cave.” Red Hood waved his hand, as if that were the obvious solution. Red Robin nodded in agreement, but the youngest one just stared at you.

“Just take me…home.”

“There is no way I’m taking you home like this.”

“I’m tired…tired of masked – they always…hurt. Home. Please.” The spots in your vision were getting worse since you stood, but you refused to let them see you give into the pain. Nightwing ran his hand through his hair.

“Alright. Home. Where is that?”

Your blinking had become more animated as you tried to fake normalcy. Wait, what did he just ask me? You shifted your eyes side to side. “Home.” You began to walk towards the door, though it was less of a walk and more of a swayed stagger. Your mind didn’t even register the three men very clearly in the way of the door, and you ran directly into Red Robin. The small bump caused you to stumble backwards. Thankfully, Nightwing was close on your heels and caught you before you hit the ground.

“I’ll meet you guys, tell Alfred to get the medical equipment ready.” Nightwing picked you up as he headed for the car.

**

“Alfred?” Tim radioed from his bike.

“Master Timothy. I did not realize you were out tonight.”

“Wasn’t supposed to be. Something came up. We’re coming in hot.”

“Who is injured?”

“A girl, stab wound to the left leg, broken right wrist, broken ribs, concussion.”

“My, something did come up. I will prepare the medical equipment.”

**

Waking up, you looked around and noticed you were not home. You let out a deep sigh as you examined your patched-up wounds, grimacing as you noticed the cast on your wrist. You sighed again before swinging your legs over the side of the bed. I’m tired of the masks. I’m tired of the running. I didn’t sign up for this, just because my last name is Y/L/N. Pushing yourself up, you limped around the room looking for some kind of door. Where the fuck am I? Finally, you noticed a staircase. Of course it’s stairs. You looked down at your bandaged leg and prepared yourself for the pain. As you stepped up the first one, you heard someone behind you.

“Planning on going somewhere?” You turned around and saw Red Robin minus the mask, plus dark circles underneath his eyes. Not bothering to offer an explanation, you slowly lifted your leg to the next stair. “I think Nightwing may kill me if I let you leave.” You felt his hand grasp your arm.

“And how are you going to stop me exactly?’

“I’d like to think I can just reason with you.” You let out a sigh and turned around, leaning against the railing and motioning him to begin. “Well, Maroni is going to be pissed his boys lost you. Double, triple his efforts. Whatever information you have, he wants. You are safest here, recovering. Your house is the first place they will look.”

You stared blankly towards him, you should’ve known that. How could you have been so careless? “Fine. But I need clothes.” He nodded, and helped you back to the hospital bed, before heading up the same stairs himself. The young vigilante did not return, but an older one did, carrying clothes. “Nightwing?”

“The one and only, how are you?”

“Well, clearly…” you gestured around the room, “I’m doing fabulous. Though I’m not at home.”

“In my defense, you didn’t tell me where that was.”

“You found me, I think you could’ve found my address.”

“Wouldn’t be safe,” he shrugged, “plus I don’t know what medical supplies you have. And I’m going to doubt it includes plaster.” Nodding towards your encased wrist. Rolling your eyes, you held your hand out for the clothes.

“I’m so not sleeping on this, don’t you vigilantes have places that aren’t dark and creepy? And have less masks?”

Nightwing ran his hand through his hair. “I think I can find something…put those on and we’ll go.”

**

“Much less dark, though there is still some weirdo in a mask hanging around.”

“Ha, ha, very funny.” Nightwing hopped over the couch and proceeded to turn on the tv.

“Wait, you’re staying here?”

“Well, I’m not leaving you alone.”

“Why do you even care?!” You were growing more and more frustrated with the situation you had been thrust in.

“Just trying to help, calm down there princess.”

That name, why did he have to use that name? “Don’t you dare call me that!” Tears escaped from your eyes before you had a chance to stop them. You sunk to the floor, shaking. Nightwing quickly realized his mistake and was at your side in seconds.

“Hey hey, calm down. I’m sorry. I just…I saw you, at the gala. And when they took you, well I couldn’t do nothing…and not just because I’m Nightwing.”

You looked up at him, tears still looming in your eyes, “You were at the gala?”

“Yeah, more importantly though…why were you?”

“I was…looking for someone.”

“Who?” You didn’t want his judgement, so you said nothing. Dick sighed at the lack of response but didn’t press you further. “Why does Maroni want you?”

“Who knows.”

“Y/N, you gotta give me something to work with here.”

“I really don’t know. I was…I was at the gala to try and figure out. My name was beginning to pop up more than usually on the –” you stopped yourself, you were talking to one of the ‘good guys’ after all. Dick threw his hands in the air.

“For Christ’s sake Y/N, I’m not going to judge you. Just let me help you dammit.”

“Alright, calm down bird boy. My name was circling around the dark web, more than it should be. I was worried my father did something stupid again. I always seem to pay the price for him…”

“I know he’s your dad…but why protect him?”

“Protect him?!” A laugh escaped your lips. “God, I wouldn’t protect that monster. I just don’t actually know what he’s doing. Anytime I do see him…well it’s usually because he’s bargaining my life for his.” You looked down and mumbled, “To either side. Masked vigilantes, masked criminals? They all see me as one thing, I’ve got the scars to prove it.”

“I don’t.” Nightwing reached up and pulled off his mask. “I don’t see you only as his daughter.”

A small smile formed on your lips as the familiar face looked back at you, “I wish I wasn’t. I was looking for him at the gala.” A look of shock donned Dick’s face. “His next target was there.” You offered the information as an explanation.

“Do you know who it was?”

“…Dominic Nero.”

“And you didn’t warn him? Or try to stop your dad?” Now you could see Dick getting mad, you could see his image of you falter, change into the one everyone else saw. Henryk Y/L/N’s daughter. You rose from the floor, making your way to the bedroom, and saying nothing.

Dick tried to rectify himself, “Y/N I didn’t –” The words were too late, as you shut the door inches from his face and crawled into the bed. Your mind was filled with nightmares, both of memories and of what is yet to come.

**

You woke in the middle of the night in tremendous pain. Carefully, you rolled off the bed and made your way to bathroom in search of painkillers. Traipsing back into the bedroom you saw a figure in the corner of the room. You saw it, but it didn’t quite register in your mind, which only created more problems.

“What? Not even going to acknowledge your dear old dad?”

Your face contorted with confusion at the words. “Henyrk?”

“Come on princess, let’s get you out of here.”

This wasn’t right… You bolted for the bedroom door, but with your injuries, your father easily stopped you.

“Man, those boys really did a number on you. I told them not to hurt you.”

“I’m sure. I knew they were yours. Your little test failed. If I did know where you were, I would’ve given you up in a heartbeat. DICK –” Your father’s hand quickly went up to cover your mouth. Thankfully, not fast enough, and he knew it.

“He can’t protect you forever.” Henyrk turned and jumped through the window as Dick threw open the door and saw you on the floor grasping your knees to your chest.

“Y/N…” Dick surveyed the room and noticed the open window, “what happened?”

“He found me. I knew he would find me. Why would I try to go after him? I should’ve run.” You violently shook your head. “I knew I should’ve run.”

Dick sat beside you, “If he found you here, running wouldn’t have done you any good.”

“I didn’t ask for this.”

“I know.” Dick pulled you into his chest. “I’m sorry.”

Once you had fallen asleep, Dick placed you back in the bed and called his brother.

“Tim? I need everything you have on Henyrk Y/L/N. And I need you to round up Jason and Damian and be at safe house delta for a briefing. We need to end this.”

“We’ll be there at the end of the hour.”

**

You woke up to multiple voices in the living room. Looking around, you began to wonder if you dreamed the encounter with your father. I mean how would he have found he here in the first place? You sat up and looked around the room, searching for any signs of a break-in. There were none. Slowly, you got up and headed out of the room. Your eyes were met by four other pairs. Most of them gave you looks of sympathy, save for the youngest who looked at you with resentment and disgust.

“Was there a party invitation I missed?” Your words came out slightly hoarse and much less confident than you hoped.

“I was sharing the information I gathered about your father.” You recognized the boy who spoke, it was the same one who stopped you from leaving the vigilante headquarters the day before.

You let out a chuckle, “Well this will be interesting. Mind if I sit in on this meeting?”

“I don’t know if that’s a good –” Dick began, but Jason soon cut him off.

“She might have some useful information.”

“That is unlikely.” The youngest boy scoffed.

“I can tell you it looks like he’s building his own army against Maroni. Whatever shit he pulled…” your words trailed off.

“Why do you think building his own legion means he did something?” Dick questioned.

“Because I know my father. He hates working with people. And there’s one last effort move he always makes when he’s in trouble. It hasn’t failed yet.” You pushed down the horrific memories that started to stir in your mind. “For him to skip that…and go straight to amassing an army…it’s bad.”

“How do you know he skipped it?” Jason looked at you quizzically, wondering what this move was.

“Because it’s me…he trades me.”

“How do you know he didn’t? The men that grabbed you…”

“Were his,” Tim had already pieced the puzzle together and answered Jason. “Weren’t they?” He turned towards you, you nodded in confirmation.

To your surprise, the youngest boy’s face twisted as more information surfaced. “Your father let his men injure you in this way?”

“I think I found out why Maroni is after him.” Tim interjected as all eyes turned to him. “He killed Maroni’s sons.”

“I thought Holiday –” Jason started.

“We all thought it was Holiday. How did we not see this before?” Dick looked to his brother.

“Something one of the men said when we got Y/N back, about how his boss wanted the princess. And then Dick told me your reaction to the name. It had to be your father’s name for you. I started looking at all your father’s connections and there was a bystander testimony claiming they heard the killer arguing about a princess.”

“Why would he have been talking about me to the Maroni brothers?”

“That is a question only he can answer.”

You nodded, “So then boys, what’s the plan?”

“You’re going back to the Manor. It’s safer.” Dick’s tone seemed almost angry.

“The Manor? Is that the dark and creepy place I was before? Because no thanks. I don’t want to deal with any more masked people. I’ve been given enough from them as it is.”

“You know we are the good masked people, right?” Jason soon corrected his statement, “Well they are, I’m more of a neutral party.”

“I’ve never known a good person in a mask.” You watched Dick’s face twist with disappointment, just to dig the knife in further, you continued. “I have the scars to prove it.” You lifted your shirt and pointed to the mangled flesh. “That’s from an arrow from your ‘hero’ Green Arrow. Oh and we have this piece from the Wondergirl.” You pointed to a circular mark burned around your ankle. You were hoping that was enough to push them away from you. Unfortunately, it wasn’t, as you turned to go back to the bedroom Dick called out.

“Don’t think that’s going to make us give up on you. You deserve to be free from your father.”

You didn’t turn back to face him, so you didn’t see all his brothers (even Damian) nod in agreement.

A few hours later you walked out of the room and saw Tim sitting at the dining room table, his faced glued to a computer.

“How did you get stuck babysitting?”

“Dick thought I would be most convincing to get you back to the Manor. I believe I have located your father. They went back to gear up now.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“I don’t think that’s a smart idea. You’re already injured.”

“Yeah well, what’s the harm then?”

“You could slow us down and get someone else hurt?”

You huffed in annoyance. Why did this little brat have to actually make a point? “Fine.” You grumbled out, “take me to the damn Manor. Then join your brothers so they don’t all get themselves killed.”

“You knew?”

“I’m not stupid. Just like I know your dad is Bruce Wayne, which makes him Batman. Where is he anyways?”

“Helping the Justice League. Let’s go.”

**

All the vigilantes stared at you as you walked into the room. Finally, Dick made his way over to you.

“You know you’re not going, right?”

“I know. But I also knew it was pointless arguing with Tim, especially when he was right.”

“I still have to admit, I’m surprised you came here.”

“Yeah, well, my dear old dad already knew the location of that safe house. Didn’t have too many other options.” Just then Tim walked in, geared up. “Now you all go before my dad decides to move.”

“Alright…” Dick turned around reluctantly. He knew something wasn’t right. If only he really knew. You waited a few minutes and then set out yourself, you couldn’t afford to stay too long, less you wanted your father to know who the vigilantes really were. You planned to set up shop near your father’s hideout, not only to lure him out, but also so the bird boys were nearby if you needed them.

**

Dick watched as you took one of their bikes out. I fucking knew it. He radioed his brothers.

“Yeah, I was right, she just left. I’m going to follow. Don’t move on Henyrk just yet.”

He followed you to an abandoned convenience store just across the street from the supposed location of your father.

“Well, it doesn’t seem like she’s moving. Just staying across the street. Been standing in the middle of the room for nearly five minutes now.”

“I wager she’s waiting for her father.” Tim explained.

“How would he know where she is?”

“I’ve been thinking about how he knew where the safe house was. You brought her from the Manor, there’s no way he followed her. And he knew she was at the gala…I think he’s got a tracker on her.”

“Shit. How could I not have seen that?”

“Perhaps you were too distracted, Nightwing.”

“Can it, Robin. Do you see any movement?”

“People are gearing up. I’m sending the demon spawn your way. The replacement here can stay with me and follow him.”

**

It only took about ten minutes for your father to saunter in through the door.

“So where is it?” There was a chill to your words.

“Oh my dearest princess…”

“Just tell me. I can’t be your bargaining ship for this anyways.”

“I don’t know, a daughter for a son. Seems like an even trade.”

“But you killed two.”

“Hm, I did didn’t I?”

“Why couldn’t you have just left me out of this? I didn’t want to be in your world!”

“But you’ve always wanted to help people.”

“Never you.”

“Come now, princess. It’s time to go home.”

“I’m not YOUR PRINCESS and you have never been my HOME.” You pulled a pistol from your waistband. “Just leave me alone, or I will kill you.”

“I doubt my sweet little princess could even use that. Nonetheless kill her father, her king.”

You let out a disgusted laugh. “Oh, the tracker didn’t tell you all those days I spent at the range? Or how about all those hours I was locked up paying your debts? How do you think I got out? By asking nicely?” You lowered the gun and shot centimeters away from his foot. “Next time, you may lose a toe…or maybe I’ll just go straight for your crown.” You raised the gun back to his head.

“I don’t think my boys here would like that very much. Especially Ethan, I hear you gave him this lovely wound.”

“Yeah and a broken nose. Plus, I don’t think MY boys would like you threatening me very much.”

“Princess, look around. You’re alone.”

“If you’re willing to take that risk.”

Your father scoffed and as he motioned for the men at his sides to grab you, you shot directly through his raised hand.

“Remember, I warned you!” You screamed back at him as you ran into the shadows. Feeling hands grab you from behind and spin you around, you let out a small sigh of relief. “I almost thought I was hallucinating you following me.” You whispered at the black and blue clad figure.

“You shot him.”

“I didn’t kill him. Now can we get out of here. I got what I needed.”

“But you didn’t get anything.”

You gave him a smirk as you headed for the doorway. “Tell your brothers to get out.”

“We can’t let him go free.”

“Man, you gotta work on that trust thing…Nightwing. I don’t want to tell this story twice, so to your little cave and I’ll explain everything. I’m also going to need a ride.”

“What about the bike you stole?”

“Someone’s going to have to pick that up.”

Dick eyed you curiously but led you bike to his anyways. He then watched in shock as you pulled out a knife, using your broken wrist to cut into your forearm. You smiled as you pulled the tracker from the flesh and threw in to the ground.

“We could’ve done that way cleaner at the Batcave.”

“Didn’t want to take any chances…or have him that close to me any longer.”

**

“Alright Y/L/N, your wounds have been tended to. Enlighten us.”

“So impatient Damian. Well I knew the only way he could’ve found me in that safe house was a tracker. So I needed to get out of the…what did you call it? Batcave?” You looked at Dick as he nodded in confirmation, “as soon as possible so the asshole didn’t come here. I knew he would be checking up on me after Dick interrupted our conversation last night. So I went to him, that way you guys would be close by. I was surprised Dick followed me though.”

“I’d like to think I’ve gotten to know you a little after these past few days.”

“So why didn’t you kill the bastard then?” Jason piped up.

“Well, believe me I wanted to, but I just don’t know if I could cross that line.”

“What about that tale you spun to your father then?”

“It was true, Jason, I never said I killed anyone. Just that I was very good at wielding a gun.”

“So, what plan did you have, why did we let him go?” Tim grew impatient, as he worked hard building the file against Henryk.

“Well, I may have sent your file over to GCPD, Tim. And I may have recorded his confession that he killed the Maroni boys. And I may have had GCPD take down his headquarters while I was chatting with him. He walked right back into an ambush.”

“We could have just taken him in ya’know.” Dick looked at you, confused as to why you went the extra steps.

“Didn’t want him holding more of a grudge against you lot…plus I’m still not a fan of the masks.”

“And yet you donned this intricate one when we met.” He walked over and pulled the mask from the drawer.

“You kept it?”

“Alright! I’m out.” Jason turned to leave immediately acknowledging where the conversation was headed, his brothers hot on his heels.

“…”

“I suppose they do have their purposes.” You reluctantly answered his question as he made his way over to you. Gently he tied the mask around your head. “Well, does it fit?”

“Perfectly.”

[talietikasero]

Aria of the Sol

So, this is a preview (with brief context before each scene) for something I’ve been working on for a while. This is a “what if" scenario following the "Aria was revived” ending (/ original implication?). Set in the three-week gap between Revelator and Strive.

[Check it out on AO3]

Scene 1 (Chapter 1): Aria wakes up in the hospital and meets her daughter and son-in-law. [Inspired by “Ch’io mi scordi di te?” by rex101111]

[November 25. Illyrian Royal Medical Center, Patient Room 107. 11:02 am] Approximately five days had passed since she was checked in as a patient. If only she knew the collective shock from the medical staff and those who were waiting to visit their family members when they saw her unconscious form being brought into the facility by Sol nearly kicking the doors off, who had Ky and Sin trailing right behind. Those standing outside were treated to the sight of the Gullinkambi Dark acting as the group's transport, with Daryl's fleet right behind as they were all returning to Eastern Illyria.

“She gonna be alright?”

“Let’s hope so.”

“You’re good to go, Johnny. Thanks for the lift.”

“Anytime.”

“Daryl, drop the girls at my home. Dizzy will be waiting outside.”

“Understood.”

Inside her head, memories of who she was started flooding in from two clashing sources. Source A had recent memories about her days figuring out what it’s like to be human. People tracking her down, one annoyed she got away, another insisting she take off the mask so he could see her face. Source B saw nothing but death and destruction, whether it was from her hands or not. Humanity hated her for this, but she didn’t care. Those foolish “knights" who dared oppose her. That grumpy old man who, against all odds, survived fighting her on seventeen different occasions. Out of those eleven brave souls who participated in the tournament that led to her release, one stood above the rest. When she saw him, it was then that she remembered herself —who they were – before taking her final breath.

“H… How could I have forgotten you? If only we could have talked one last time… Just the three of us…”

“…Justice…? That’s right… The man who created us… our boss! I won’t rest until you lie writhing in agony before me!!”

Vision hazy, she stood alone in a void that seemed all too familiar before seeing two others in front of her. This strange woman with a halo and a pumpkin motif who mirrored her in physical appearance down to the face simply smiled, where the armored monster who she admittedly was frightened by stood idly and stared before nodding. They faced each other, joining their hands before merging as one. She saw her own reflection, still dressed in her researcher clothes. Her identity became clear.

She is Aria Hale, one of the key researchers assigned to the Gear Project.

Various figures and faces she couldn’t put names to appear one by one, two of which appeared to be her old colleagues still dressed in their white lab coats. She wanted to call out to them before refraining as they changed into strange attire. One was covered from head to toe in a hooded robe that looked more like a straitjacket than anything, where the other was clad in red, black, and white, and was the reason for her demise seven years prior. Was this truly how they were in her absence? Everything suddenly went blinding white.

Aria had regained consciousness. Nose crinkling at the sterile "lemon" scent, her eyes slowly opened to see the dimmed fluorescent light above.   "Nnnngh, where am I?"   Her sudden awakening startled the nurse who was doing her hourly check-in, causing her to rush out the door and call for one of the main physicians. Whoops. Curious about her surroundings, she saw that she was dressed in a light blue hospital gown and had been hooked up to a system that tracked her life signs. This wasn’t the project complex infirmary. Where exactly was she?

When the nurse returned following a doctor, Aria apologized for the unintended scare, to which the latter understood and said she overreacted. After a series of questions regarding any possible issues and if she had any dietary restrictions, the doctor had another staff member bring her something to eat and drink. She wasn’t listening to what they were discussing but did catch “well now that she’s up, please contact his majesty.”

[1:15 pm]

“That was unexpected.” The breakfast she ate wasn’t the subpar hospital food she recalled from back then. Rather, she was given a bowl of freshly chopped fruits, some toast and berry cream cheese, and a mug of coffee with sweet cinnamon cream and sugar mixed in. As an afternoon treat, she was also left a fruit tart, along with a kettle of hot water, a small assortment of tea, and two cups.

Aria was passing time with a copy of the local newspaper in hand while the radio played music, trying to wrap her head around what she was reading. The main story reported that there was this worldwide battle ranging from Illyria to the Japanese Colony. The article detailed various heroes fighting against someone named Ariels's forces; assassins, pirates, a doctor (with a paper bag on his head? What in the hell), some soldiers (oh my god just how large is that man with the helm?), and... is that a girl with wings? What exactly did she miss? Despite not knowing who this blue-haired girl was, she couldn't help but feel a little proud of her, reading the positive things the people were saying. "She saved my life!"

"She refused to abandon us."

"She's like an angel! No, a goddess!”

“If she were Queen, she’d make a perfect match for King Ky.” The hospital's usual noise of medical staff chatting or yelling life-saving orders, wheels on carts and beds rolling, and footsteps were present, but she heard what sounded like a group of people headed towards her room. She folded the paper and placed it on the table next to her bedside, figuring she'd finish reading it later. If there was something that caught her attention, it was the weekly news recap radio broadcast stating that the Gear Maker has turned himself in.

“The ‘Gear Maker’… Asuka’s been arrested?”

"Ah, here we are."

"Thank you."

"Thanks, doc."

"This is exciting! I can't wait to meet her." Was her head playing tricks on her? Those muffled voices on the other side of the door sound familiar yet entirely foreign. Still listening, she saw herself in the mirror the nurse had left earlier. "Well, if they come in here, I can't look disheveled." She lowly muttered as she touched up her appearance; it wasn't too bad, just a light sign of tiredness (she wanted a haircut too.) “…When did my hair become… two-tone…?”

First, she heard a soft, feminine voice. "I think it'd be best if she saw you first. I don't want to scare her. D-don't give me that look, Dad!" Scare her? How could that happen when she'd already seen the worst horrors imaginable?

"Dizzy, look at me. You're not scary. But I see what you're getting at." Whoever the second person in this conversation was, she could sense they were reassuring her of something. It sounded like they were together in some way. "I think she'd be happy to see you." Her eyes widened as the third voice caught her off guard. Is that who she thinks it is? Is it really ---?   "Incredible, Sol. Your soft side is showing." "Shut it, Ky." Dizzy? Sol? Ky? Who are these people? "I'd say it's normal to forget someone from before, but you know all three of them. Or at least I did. ~" Who the hell was that? Now there's a voice in her head? Great. She just wanted to sleep again and tell those three to come back later. Now was not the time for having to get answers for every question that may pop up. "Heh. Doctor, could you do the honor?" "Oh, of course." There was a gentle knock on the door. "Ma'am?" "Y-yes?" Aria put the mirror away and adjusted her blanket. "You have a couple of visitors. Is it okay to come in?" "Yes. Please enter." The sound of the door slowly creaking open was harsh compared to the steady beeps of her vitals monitors. She wondered who would step in first but kept her hopes at bay. A blond young man dressed in blue and white was the first to enter. Had she seen him somewhere before? He was older now but lacked the fierce and determined gaze she remembered. Neutral bordering on welcoming, this man bowed as he introduced himself. "Good afternoon, madam. My name is Ky Kiske. I'm the King of Illyria." Oh god, what did she do? How was she supposed to greet royalty, let alone the man who's in charge of everything? Unsure of how to do so, she politely nodded and smiled. "Pleased to meet you, your highness. To what do I owe the honor of a visit?" "It's been a few days but what a relief it is to see you're awake. I hope you don’t mind as my wife wanted to come along, and we brought an old ‘friend’ of yours." "I appreciate the concern." "We're sorry to show up unannounced, but we came as soon as we could." Dizzy was the second to enter the room, taking a seat close to her. "I know this may come off as a shock, but it's nice to finally meet you, Mom." Aria took a moment to study Dizzy's appearance. Features remarkably like her own, mainly in the eyes and face shape. Long blue hair tied with yellow ribbons, a tail, red eyes, and wings. The realization hit her like a freight train as this was who she had just read about. This heroine, the queen, was her daughter. How the child of two stressed-out scientists from over one hundred and seventy years ago ended up as one of the most powerful women on Earth is an answer for another time. For now, she was trying to think of a conversation starter. “Nice to meet you too.”

//

“It wasn’t until our college years that I met your father.”

“You two weren’t high school sweethearts?”

“If we knew each other back then, something might’ve come out of it. He is two years older than I am.”

“Oh. So, with that if you were a sophomore, he was a senior?” Dizzy may have the mind of a woman in her mid- to late-twenties, but she never had the chance to attend an actual school. She did have an idea about how education systems worked.

“Precisely, though I might’ve been bumped up to the same student standing now that I think about it. Though that would’ve been unlikely as I earned my PhD in my late teens. Our studies differed, with my focus on cytology, and his in magic particle physics, but the two of us were recruited to work for the same project group after graduating. He was confused as to how I could be interested in someone like him – an extrovert and an introvert, respectively. Aside from me and our mutual colleague, he didn’t have very many friends – if any at all.” Aria noticed the expression on Ky’s face, indicating that he already knew about her partner’s lack of social skills. “I guess he wanted to be around me so much that he asked to be transferred to the team I was with, rather than work on his original assignment. All jokes aside, it was really because of how much significance the project held. I think he was tasked on researching some powerful spell. Saint Oratorio, I believe it was called.”

Dizzy turned to Ky, asking something that popped into her head. “Isn’t that what they fired that day?” Ky nodded, remembering the argument on if another energy blast should’ve been used or not. Aria noticed the couple sneaking in a quick glance at the door, then exchanging a knowing look at each other.

“Excuse me for a second.” Ky rose from his seat and headed out the door. “Get in here and talk to her, you moron!”

“I told you I’d go in when I was ready!”

“And when would that be, huh?”

“When you and Dizzy left! Let go of me! AGH!”

The door swung open with Ky dragging a familiar face into the room by the lapel of his jacket. Dark brown hair, olive skin, and those bold rectangular eyes she vividly remembers. The world knew him by a nom de guerre – Sol Badguy. His real identity wasn’t common knowledge, only being known by a handful of individuals – Asuka, Paradigm, presumably Ky, Leo, and the Valentines, and her. He displayed no significant signs of aging despite the time that passed since she last saw him, still appearing to be in his mid-twenties. Aria’s grip on the blanket tightened as she murmured his name. “…Frederick?”

____________________________________

Scene 2: After being discharged from the hospital, Dizzy takes Aria out on a shopping trip. Aria meets a friendly time traveler. 

[December 2. Downtown Shopping District. 12:15 pm]

“Let’s get going. There’s more shops to browse."

Although the public started to trust her, Dizzy and Aria went out with two members of the Convict Hammer team as their escort. Thankfully, the citizens were nice enough to give the Queen her space and greeted her whenever she passed by. There were some who gave her “thank you” gifts, ranging from goody baskets filled with sweets and teas to flowers and handmade trinkets, all of which were given to their escorts to carry.

Weather today was a cool 60 degrees Fahrenheit, slightly overcast with scattered clouds. Aria recalled something regarding her accessory choice on a past date. “You gotta be some kind of eccentric to wear a hat on a day like today.” The promenade was bustling with the usual crowds, some people were getting ideas for what gifts to buy for those special in their lives as Christmas was approaching. Aria noticed a family of three walking past a toy store, seeing the child point out what was in the window to their parents. Glancing at Dizzy, who was busy meeting and greeting the people she protected during the recent attacks, she thought to herself “if only I – no, we were there for you back then. That could’ve been the three of us.” It made her chuckle that their escort had to explain everyone needed to wait their turn to speak with her daughter – she is technically a celebrity.

Aria couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. She stood still, noticing everything froze similarly to that fateful day. Out of nowhere, a man with long blond hair, wearing a blue shirt, black pants, a varsity jacket, and a black bandana appeared next to her. His sudden presence nearly made her jump out of her skin. Just like Ky, Aria vaguely remembers seeing him before too. He simply smiled and waved in a friendly manner. “You have nothin’ to worry about. Name’s Axl. I’m a friend of Fre—I mean, Sol’s.” One more person to add to the list of who knows his real name. “He asked me to check on you today. Glad to see you’re doing well.”

Aria blinked at him owlishly. “I’m sorry but did you just say check on me?”

“Yeah, he’s got other business to attend to – can’t say exactly what it is either.” He shrugged, giving her a look that she couldn’t decipher. “He told me to tell you he’s sorry for being gone, but he did add something about making it up to you. We’ll meet again sometime.” Axl raised his right hand, making a peace sign. “See ya ‘round, Ari.”

“W-wait!” Time resumed, leaving her standing in the middle of the sidewalk confused about what she just heard. She tried to find Axl, her head turning to all possible directions, and no trace of him was to be seen as if he vanished into thin air. Her motions bordered on frantic as some passersby gave her puzzled looks. “He doesn’t have the decency to see me in person, yet he sends a friend to say hi and watch over me. Sometimes, I just don’t understand you, Frederick…”

“Madam Hale, is everything alright?” One Convict Hammer asked regarding her wellbeing. “You seem like something's troubling you.”

“I’m fine, really. I spaced out for a bit.” Aria rubbed the back of her neck in attempt to brush aside what just happened. “Sorry.”

____________________________________

Scene 3: Ky takes Aria to the castle. She meets the other Kings and has something to ask one of them.

[December 3. Illyria Castle War Room, 9:45 am]

“The last time I saw this many people staring at screens and tapping away at keys was during a project crunch.” Coffee cup in hand, Aria commented on the operator crew stationed around what looked like a throne on the lower floor. “It was either from a sooner deadline or everyone just decided to make last minute changes on their data. It wasn’t odd to see at least one or two people running down the complex’s halls with a sizeable stack of papers.”

“Not too different from the crew here, but what can you do? We’re only human. Normally, civilians aren’t allowed in here, but I’ll make an exception.”

“He’s right about the ‘no civilian' policy.” A boisterous voice came from the burly man that approached them. “Ky, who is this?”

“Aria, this is Leo Whitefang, the Second King. Leo, this is Aria Hale. You know, my mother-in-law and you-know-who’s partner.”

She nervously smiled at him. “Hi?” Fitting name considering he has a hairstyle reminiscent of a lion’s mane. He towered over them, standing with a sturdy frame at six feet and five inches. She noticed the difference in the two kings’ fashion choices; Ky wore lighter clothes with his jacket placed over his shoulders, where Leo had a heavy coat with a furry lining.

“Oh, my apologies.” Leo apologizing wasn’t something anyone saw often. He gave Ky a side-eyed glare. “A heads up would’ve been nice.”

“One of the few times I decide to drop by, and the God of War's better half is here.” A man who looked to be exactly the midpoint of Ky and Leo's age gap approached the three, briefly bowing as he stood near them. “Good morning, Ms. Hale.”

"Daryl?" Kiske and Whitefang asked in unison. “What are you doing here?”

“With the G4 summit next week, I thought I’d at least consult with you two in person before I go. It’d be a terrible idea if all three of us went, wouldn’t you agree?”

Aria wondered what the Three Kings had for a planned course of action regarding the conference. At the moment, she remembered what she and Ky had discussed on the trip to the castle. She tapped his shoulder and leaned in to whisper “did you forget my idea?”

“Ah, right. That’s one of the reasons why I brought you here. Leo, Aria has something to ask.”

“And that would be?” She didn’t speak, only bumping her fists together. “You want us to do what now?" Leo asked as he crossed his arms. He had an idea of what she meant but would rather hear it from her. "Teach me how to fight. I can't be reliant on others to defend me." "Okay." Ky chimed in. "Okay!?! You're telling me that the woman who used to be Just--- OW!" Aria punched Leo in the stomach as hard as she could. "Don't call me that."

“AUGH! Was that necessary!?” Ky couldn't help but laugh at Leo's expense. "And we're off to a good start. Look at it this way, it's not like we’re placing her in a big role like Ramlethal."

"Dammit, bambino! You have a point. Fine. Report back here at 0900 tomorrow. Your training will begin then." Leo’s communicator went active. Holding a finger up to his ear, he answered and looked towards the hallway. “Hm? Yeah. Alright, I’ll be right there. I’ll get you access.” Click. “That was Ram. Did you not authorize her entry to the armory?” Ky shook his head – the task referred to was Leo’s job. “Before I go, what’s your preferred style? Sword? Shield? Bare hands?”

“You’ll find out when you start teaching me.” Aria replied with a hint of playful snark.

“You really are Sol’s girlfriend.” As Leo walked away, Aria turned to see what looked to be a girl wearing a white body-length cape with red bandages on her left limbs waiting for him. The mysterious girl seemed to be hovering a few inches off the ground and was accompanied by two small flying creatures.

“He’s a bit of a hardass, but you learn to tolerate it.”

“I heard that! There’s a multitude of reasons you’re not as popular as us and that’s one of them!”

“See what I mean. Also, this is for you.“ Daryl handed Aria a medium sized gift bag with pink and purple tissue paper sticking out. Printed with an art nouveau floral pattern, there was a sun emblem on the lower right corner, not-so subtly hinting at who dropped it off. “I didn’t know which flavor you’d like, so I put both chocolate and strawberry desserts inside, on top of your actual gift. Don’t worry, I didn’t look.”

[Kiske Residence, Aria’s room. 5:15 pm]

“If you ever stop by, I hope you like what I picked out…” Aria placed the folded bag in the drawer and slid it shut. She looked to the closet where the other clothing she bought was stored, including a dress and hat like what she owned in the past. Hopefully, she’ll be able to wear it sometime.

“Ram, are you sure about this? We haven’t introduced ourselves yet! She might think we’re being rude.”

“I’m certain, El. At least let me try and speak with her. I’m only the messenger here.”

“Hey, are ya talking about Sol’s gal? Ya know, I was the first Valentine’s companion.”

“Ugh, stay out of this, you big balloon creep!”

“Lucifero. Self-destruct. Why must you follow me everywhere?”

“You’re getting better at this whole showing emotion thing, but you’re terrible at small talk! …okay. I’ll be waiting in our room until you’re done.”

Following the fading footsteps, a rhythmic knock-knock-knock preceded a monotone voice. “Miss Aria? May I come in?”

“It's unlocked.” Her attention was turned to the same young girl from this morning standing in the doorway. She wore a dark blue and white sailor dress with a mint green bow, had amber eyes, brown skin, and cream white hair. “I don’t think we’ve met before, but you’re Ramlethal, right?”

“Of course you two have met! Just not like this! ~”

“Correct. As you may have learned, I am a Valentine, and as such my sister and I were created from you.”

“’Valentine'? Created… from… me?”

“Mother used you as a template for our existence. I can see why now but telling you this isn’t why I’m here.”

“Then why are you? Do you… want to chat? You look like you could use someone to talk to.”

Ramlethal's blank expression shifted to a soft smile. “Perhaps another time, but there’s something I have to do first.” She walked up to Aria and hugged her. “This is from him. Thank you for returning. Sol is much happier than he was before.” She let go and left, gently closing the door behind her.

Aria stood there dumbfounded at what had just occurred. “He’s… happier?”

She took a seat at the desk where she placed her gift from earlier. Her curiosity got the best of her, and she decided to open it. “I know it’s from you, but what exactly did you get me?” Removing the tissue paper and the extra gift desserts, she pulled out a black box. Placed inside was a brown teddy bear dressed as Sol – removable headband included – holding a heart and rose, along with a card that had “to Aria” written on it. Opening it, she read the message.

“Cute plushie, isn’t he? I got this custom made just for you. Even comes with a change of clothes: a purple shirt, black slacks, and a lab coat. Hope you’re not too worried about me. I promise I’ll see you soon. Okay? 🖤”

Aria finally has friends and family, yet without Frederick, she felt alone. Opening the container with the strawberry pudding, she picked up a spoon, and placed a scoop of the sweet in her mouth. “I’ll hold you to that… Really wanted to share this with you too.”

____________________________________

Scene 4: Aria meets her other genetic copy and her grandson. Song used: “Pirates” by Caravan Palace.

[December 5. 6:30 pm]

Reorganizing her belongings, the soft melody from the song currently playing on the phonograph filled the room.

Do me, beauty. Rock me up, yup go once again. Hug me, beauty. Oop, the way this life is clearing into my brains. Fool me, beauty. Let me think of home once again. Hear me, beauty. You gotta hide away the secret of your low bone this man.

“Miss Aria. It’s me, Ram. Can I come in?”

“Of course.”

“I hope I’m not intruding on anything.” Ramlethal was carrying her puppy in her arms to keep it from barging in.

“You weren’t. I was just cleaning up. What brings you to my room?”

“I, uh, wanted to tell you I think your skills are developing nicely.” She chose her words carefully, trying not to sound off-putting. Holding a conversation is something she’s still working on. “I had some downtime and observed again.”

Aria's training today consisted of testing her agility and competence to read and react to opponents. During a brief cooldown period, she did notice the small group of people watching included more. “Who were those two standing next to you, Dizzy, and the others?”

“My younger sister and your grandson. They’re,” Ram paused for a second, “actually waiting outside because they would like to talk to you as well.”

 Aria's attention went to the open door, seeing a grey-haired girl and a blond boy with an eyepatch sticking their heads in. “Come on in, you two.”

Elphelt and Sin entered, both taking note of how grand the royal residence's guest room was designed. The younger Valentine was nowhere near as reserved as her sister when it came to talking about something – the first thing that came out of her mouth after seeing Hale was “oh, she’s even prettier in person! I see where Miss Dizzy got her looks from! And by extension, me!”

“Like looking into a mirror, isn’t it? Even more so since you got a new hairdo. ~”

“Weirdly familiar, like I’ve seen you before.” Sin poked his chin, trying to recall. “I remember now, there was the first one with the winged hat who tried to kill the Old Man! She had a freaky Gear form and managed to brainwash me for a bit too. But I can tell you aren’t her since she’s gone.” He was jabbed in the arms by the sisters. “Ouch, what was that for!?”

“You had a brain to begin with, you dope?!”

“El, don’t be rude!”

As the three were fighting amongst themselves, Aria found herself thinking “what in the hell happened.”

[7:43 pm]

“I’m glad I had the chance to speak with you. Is this what is referred to as ‘therapy'?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it that, but let’s say yes for the time being. Hey, what’s wrong? Was it something I said?”

“N-no. It wasn’t. You just seem more like a mother to me than my ‘actual' one. I am aware I’m not human, and she created me as an emotionless doll she threw away when I had no further use.” Ramlethal tried to soothe herself by smoothing out her bandages. Part of her wanted to tell Aria about what happened in Scandiva, yet she couldn’t bring herself to do so. Her magehound started snuggling next to her, sensing the mood drop. “She… she called me a failure.”

Aria grabbed a tissue and wiped the tear that ran down Ram's cheek. After disposing of it – and picking up the Sol bear – she kneeled in front of the Valentine, holding the plush in front of her own face. Using one of the bear's limbs to tap her knee, she had her attention. “Listen to me. She’s the failure, not you.”

Peeking up from behind the toy, Aria was treated to the sight of her genetic copy struggling to keep herself from giggling.

____________________________________

Scene 5 (Chapter 2): Day trip date. Aria brings up a very sensitive subject later that night. (Note: this was written with the game’s implication of a pregnancy. Also, I did some level of research and figured the stage I picked is approximately where Italy's Amalfi Coast is.)

[December 9. L'oro di Illyria. 5:45 pm]

A few hours later, they went for a leisurely trip down south, dressed in their best attempts at incognito clothing. Emphasis on attempt as the suppressor was a dead giveaway (it was worth a shot). Aria was wearing that dress and hat she purchased a week prior, paired with leggings, fuzzy boots, and a warm winter coat. A callback to how he dressed himself in the past, Frederick was wearing a black button-up shirt with a tank top underneath, dark blue jeans, and a pair of Chelsea boots. He also had a mid-long jacket that she brought along just in case, placed under the sidecar’s seat.

“Oh, I remember this place! Heaven’s Edge! It’s where we met for the first time after I left the Sanctuary to get some fresh air. Ah, memories. ~ Or am I remembering wrong? Those sword monoliths look very familiar.”

There’s that childlike voice again. It changed to a mature tone mid-sentence.

“Just who are you? And how can your voice change like that!?”

“Oops, I’m sorry. You see, I’m the previous owner of your current body. My name is J—”

Before this disembodied voice could say her name, Aria’s attention went elsewhere. “You alright?”

“Uh, yeah. This isn’t what I thought you meant by going out, but at least the trip here was fun.” The highway they took was through inner Italy and had passed through numerous towns, of which contained convenience shops to obtain refreshments here and there. “Built that bike yourself, didn’t you?”

“Designed for one so that’s why I made a sidecar for you.”

“Can it turn into a minibike if I wanted it to?”

“What? You’re psychic now? I’m still working on that part.”

“Hey, chief! Ari!”

“Axl? What are you doing here?”

“I was in the area. Thought I’d drop by and say ‘ello. Almost didn’t recognize the two of ya.” He wasn’t used to seeing Frederick, let alone anybody, in anything so casual. Aria, on the other hand, wore that dress nicely. He couldn’t help but feel a slight hint of sadness, as the last woman he saw in a similar clothing article was M— he mentally shook his head and put on a smile. “That outfit looks lovely. Ain’t you a lucky guy?”

“Thank you. Nice to see you in real time and not during a time freeze.”

“Ah, yeah. I wanted to avoid trying to talk in a crowd. My bad if you were annoyed by my choice.” Axl had the power to jump to any point in time and any dimension, yet he’s been frequently visiting for some reason only he knows. “I got something to tell you.”

“I could use a quick snack.” Aria wasn’t paying attention to Low and spotted the outdoor marketplace, noticing the large ship cruising by. “I’ll be over by that fruit vendor. Don’t be too long, alright?”

As Aria left, the two men watched her reach into her purse, taking out a few W$ to purchase an apple. It amused them as she tried to fight the kind vendor about giving her a free apple, insisting that she pay for it as it’s only fair for business. Not only did she end up with a free fruit, but she was also given a bag containing two additional and a bottle of cream soda with a straw. She didn’t look back at them; her attention went to admiring the colorful cliffside residential buildings.

“Do you think I could get a free piece of fruit and a drink too or is she a special case?”

“You might scare the living daylight out of him.”

[9:15 pm]

"So, um, about Dizzy." Aria clasped her hands together and twiddled her thumbs, avoiding eye contact while staring at the paved stone walkway.   "I was trying not to bring her up, but what about her?"   "I..." She took a deep breath and collected her thoughts. "I didn't know how to tell you." She didn't hear a response, worrying her about what Frederick was thinking. A moment later, she felt a hand rubbing her back, taking this as a sign that he's listening while trying to soothe her. "I already experienced how you reacted when I told you I was sick with that infection, but I didn't want to make that worse by telling you you're going to be a father. I don’t recall how far along I was, but you shouldn’t have had to live with knowing you’ll never see your unborn after I was gone either."   He remained quiet a bit longer before reaching to wrap his arm around and pull her closer. Not too suddenly as he didn't want to give off the wrong idea, but once he saw her ease into him, he placed a kiss on the crown of her head. “Do you remember your birthday where I showed you that programming ‘error'?”

“You mean the ring? Of course I do. I didn’t mind that you didn’t have the real one because your method was so cute. It was so… you. If neither of us killed the mood, I would’ve told you I was looking forward to changing my name to Aria Bulsara.”

“I’d be lying if I said I didn't occasionally think of some alternate time where we truly settled down. We were still scientists and met under the same circumstances, but there was no Gear project or magic, and you didn't have an illness. Or at least one you didn't tell me about near your last days."   "Wha--... really?"   "Yeah. Then all this shit happened." His voice was deceptively calm, yet she could sense the rage beneath it all. "My conversion and the resulting amnesia, your conveniently timed 'disappearance', and the destruction of the complex with countless deaths were the beginning."   "Then decades later I lost control of my mind and body and waged war against the world. That stubborn geezer never quit, but then Ky and you showed up to seal 'me' away. I don't think I felt it, but during my imprisonment, that's when I gave birth?"   "Sounds about right. We're living in one of those stories I used to read when I was bored. The reader turns out to be the hero, where someone very close to them was used as a twist villain."

____________________________________

Scene 6 (Chapter 3): Aria takes up the offer of becoming a bounty hunter, taking up the alias “Luna". Her new outfit is a blue, black, and white version of Sol's, with a pair of blue goggles in place of a headband. Song used: “Seven Seas of Rhye” by Queen.

[December 10. Somewhere in the Illyrian outskirts. Midday.]

“No targets today, so do you wanna just relax? I think there’s a beach just up ahead.”

“We’ve been on the road for a few hours, so a rest period at a beach sounds perfect right now.” She noticed what song was currently playing, having already passed the bridge. “Oh, I know this one! It’s one of my favorites.” Clearing her throat, she began singing along. “Storm the master-marathon, I’ll fly through.”

He couldn’t help but smile and continue. “By flash and thunder-fire and I'll survive (I'll survive, I'll survive).”

“Then I'll defy the laws of nature and come out alive,” she pointed a finger at him. “Then I'll get you!”

“Be gone with you, you shod and shady senators.”

“Give out the good, leave out the bad evil cries.”

He clenched his fist and held it up. “I challenge the mighty Titan and his troubadours.”

She placed her index fingers at the ends of her mouth. “And with a smile.”

He pointed towards the shore of the Tyrrhenian Sea as they sang the last line together. “I'll take you to the Seven Seas of Rhye!”

//

[Nighttime.]

A cool 55 degrees, the night sky was clear as the stars strewn throughout were in full display. They sat by a bonfire, sharing drinks and leaning back against the Firewheel Mk.2, enjoying the other's company. There was a brief squabble on whether they should find an actual motel room to stay in for the night, with Aria winning as she convinced Frederick to sleep in a bed as opposed to the ground.

Fire crackling paired with sounds from the nearby wildlife, she thought of a conversation topic. “Hey, do you wanna hear something weird?”

“Shoot.”

“Before I woke up, I saw myself, Justice, and someone else.”

“Oh yeah?”

“It was unnerving. She looked just like me but had a halo and her hair was the inverse of mine. My first day at Ky and Dizzy's, I scrounged around and found a cracked one that looked just like what I saw. Along with an iron mask, a crux ansata, black heels and gloves, and a white jumpsuit. It all fit me perfectly! I was considering wearing that instead of this.”

“Jack-O.”

“Huh?”

He took a drag of his cigarette, blowing the smoke out before continuing. “To bring you back, a special Valentine was made that contained the other half of your soul. Her name was Jack-O.” He butted the cigarette before tossing it into the fire. “Ram, Sin, and I chased her down before any additional damage could've been done. Then a few days later, she reappeared with Asuka, and struck a deal with us. Said something like ‘if you can get me close enough, I can fuse with Justice to revive, well, you.’ I thought they were full of it. Turned out they were telling the truth.”

“He's right! ~ I took off my mask and told him I was literally half of you. Nearly lost his mind right there. Sorry about the forced mind override, but you refused to accept it, and he wasn’t going to back down. ~”

“That explains the voice in my head. I wonder how her stuff got into my room though.”

“She’s still in there?” He gently poked her forehead. “I can imagine when you wear these, she also sees life through blue tinted lenses.”

“You’ve got puns now? I knew I should’ve gone with a pink color scheme.”

“Blue’s more your color.”

[all-things-skam]

Jens’ season | Chapter one

Tuesday, January 7th

Winter break had quickly gone by and school was already starting again - much to the boys' displeasure. The return to school was tough for some, their sleeping schedules being messed up from staying up late after partying all winter break.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t so cold that morning. Jens and the boys stood outside the building, chatting as they waited for the first bell to go off. Moyo was kinda falling asleep, and Robbe had this huge, bright hickey peeking out of his hoodie.

''Nine times? Don't you think that's a little bit exaggerated?'' Jens said, not quite believing Aaron’s story.

''I'm telling the truth. We fucked all night long. It was... wow. Orgasm over orgasm over orgasm ove-''

''Okay, okay. We get it,'' Robbe interrupted, putting a stop to Aaron's detailed night with Amber.

Aaron scoffed. ''You're just jealous you and Sander have never had a torrid night like us.''

Since getting together with Amber, Aaron didn’t seem to be able to stop talking about her. It was all he talked about now: her - and what they did together in bed. Jens got him. Truly. Losing your virginity is a big moment - more so when your first time was with the girl you've been after all year. However, the boys didn't need - nor want - to hear every little detail of his and Amber's sexual life. The curly haired one had always been an oversharer, but now that he was dating Amber, it was worse - if that was even possible.

Robbe's cheeks flushed, flashing back to his night at the penthouse. If only they knew...

''Girls bodies are different, Robbe.''

''Are they? I didn't notice,'' the brunet responded, light sarcasm out

Moyo laughed. ‘’And you? What’s going on with Jana? You two were quite cozy on Saturday,’’ he said, raising his eyebrows knowingly, because everyone had seen the two making out in a hallway at the party.

Jens shrugged, having not much to tell. ‘’I don't know. We're letting things flow and seeing where it'll go, I guess,’’ he replied, brushing it off. ‘’We don't want to go too fast and make the same mistakes.”

He had kinda got back together - if you could even call it that - with Jana at Robbe's Christmas party, sharing a kiss again for the first time after months of flirting and dipping toes around each other. It took them a long time to want to try again, kiss again, but they were glad to have waited.

Even though breaking up had been hard as hell, it was the right thing to do. Their relationship had become toxic; Jana's guilt and paranoia had to stop. They had reached a state where staying together was only causing pain and although it broke their hearts to come to this conclusion, sometimes, love wasn’t enough.

‘’If you and Jana get back together, we could all go on a triple date. You, me, Robbe, Sander and the girls,’’ Aaron suggested, already looking forward to the non-agreed date.

Robbe shook his head, not on board with this idea. ‘’Sander and I are not going on a date with you and Amber.’’

‘’Jana and I are taking things slow. We’re not going on a date anytime soon,’’ Jens reminded him.

Dates had never been their thing either, being barely fifteen when they started dating - and, like, very broke. The closest to a date they ever had was watching movies on a laptop. The freezing screen and adds for pornographic websites weren’t what you’d call romantic.

Aaron furrowed his eyebrows. ‘’Sander is practically a part of the Broerrrs now and Jana and Amber are friends, so why not-’’

‘’Because Sander can't stand Amber,’’ Robbe blurted out, having enough of walking on eggshells concerning the two. Sander had made it clear the day they met at Seaside that he didn’t like Amber. He found her too bossy and annoying for his taste.

Between them, Moyo made ‘oooh’ sounds, adding drama to the on-going spat.

Their conversation was drowned and ignored as Jens looked away, eyes falling on a boy with dark blond hair and a denim jacket. Jens didn’t know why, but he couldn’t help looking at him. There was something on this unknown boy that drew his attention and gave him an odd sensation he couldn’t quite explain or understand. What the fuck?

''Who is that?’’

As if on cue, the unnamed teenager looked back at him, giving Jens a good look at his face. He was all angular jaw and tousled, curly fringe.

‘’Some new kid that just moved here from the Netherlands. I think his name is Lucas,’’ Aaron responded, for once being aware of the latest gossips. ‘’Why?’’

Jens shrugged, tearing his eyes from Lucas, turning back to the boys. ‘’Curious. Hadn’t seen him here before.’’

.

Wednesday, January 8th

Hood on, Jens stood outside Lotte's school, waiting for her to get out. His mom had messaged him, asking to pick up his sister after school because she replaced someone at the hospital and couldn't pick her up. Jens didn't mind - and it helped ease his mom's mind. Lotte was only eight, still a bit young to walk by herself.

There was ten minutes left before Lotte would be released, so Jens pulled out his phone, seeing new messages from the Broerrrs group chat.

Moyo: BOYS!! We need to find an idea for the next vlog. We haven't put anything up since the start of exam week…

Robbe: The vlogs... I forgot about those

Moyo: Maybe if you’d stop sucking face with Sander for a minute

Robbe: We’re NOT always kissing…

Aaron: That’s all you two did on break! I even saw Sander wiping his mouth at a party 😏🍆💦

Robbe: WHAT?!

Jens: As if you and Amber were any better

Moyo: So? Anyone has ideas for the vlogs?

Aaron: What about a mukbangs? Can we do mukbangs?

Moyo: No mukbangs

Aaron: Why not? They’re cool to watch

Moyo: Maybe, but it’s fucking expensive, man. Do you have any idea how much food we need to buy to do mukbangs?

Jens: Yeah, you could barely afford McDonalds last friday 😂

Aaron: Fuck you!! Unlike you, I had a Christmas present to buy for my girlfriend

Moyo: We could do a twister? Have you guys seen the painful twister challenge?

Robbe: Painful twister?

Moyo: It’s like twister, but when you fall, you do a ‘painful’ challenge like eating a hot pepper or going in an ice bath or even waxing a leg

Jens: My sister has a twister mat, I’ll bring it

Moyo: We’re doing it?

Jens: Fine with me

Robbe: Same

Aaron: We’re not gonna do too painful things, right? Please no electric shock

Jens: Electric shock it is!

Moyo: Sunday 2pm at mine?

Robbe: Can’t. Sander and I are having lunch with my dad

A bell went off and the gates opened, freeing everyone. Then, a huddle of kids hurried out of the school, accompanied by a hubbub of voices and laughters. They ran toward their busses while others walked on the sidewalk, heading home by themselves.

‘’Jens!’’ a cheery voice called in the distance.

He looked up from his phone and smiled as Lotte ran in his direction, happy smile on her face. Her beanie was pulled down too much, almost covering her eyes. Jens let out an ‘oof’ as his sister collided into him, hugging him by the waist.

The brunette pushed up her beanie so she could see better. ‘’Where’s Mama?’’ Lotte asked with a frown, not seeing her around.

‘’Someone was sick and she had to replace them at the hospital. It’s gonna be just the two of us tonight.’’

Lotte pouted, her sad face tugging at Jens’ heart. ‘’She’s always working.’’

‘’I know... What do you say we watch Frozen 2 tonight?’’ Jens offered, knowing how much his sister wanted to see it since it came out in theaters.

Her eyes brightened and face lifted immediately at the mention of the Frozen sequel. ‘’For real?’’ Jens nodded. ‘’All my friends saw it during Christmas break and I’m the only one who didn’t. I have to plug my ears every time they talk about it because I don’t want to get spoiled. Mom said she’d take me, but never did.’’

Jens chuckled, easily imagining Lotte trying to block the spoilers. ‘’Well, you can tell them all about it tomorrow.’’

‘’Yes! You’re the best brother.’’ She went for a second hug, jumping excitedly.

Most siblings who are on opposite ends of the age scale have trouble getting along. Having this much of an age gap means having very different interests. Teenagers tend to need space and don't like their stuff to be touched while children are always in the mood to play and a bit invasive - or curious.

It wasn't the case for Jens and Lotte. Jens loved being an older brother. He took his role very seriously and fully embraced the protective big brother role.Sure, she was annoying at times, always asking questions about everything - but she was eight years old, what could one expect?

Despite that, Jens loved spending time with her whether it was helping with homework or watching movies in their pajamas during the weekend. Nothing made him happier than seeing a big smile on his Lotte’s face - except maybe knowing he was the one that made it appear.

.

Thursday, January 9th

''Left hand on blue,'' Robbe called, being the first to spin the wheel.

Instead of playing the classic way, they decided to all move for every spin. It was more fair to measure everyone's flexibility and endurance. So far, Aaron was losing sorely, having chosen a farther blue circle than necessary.

Jens snickered, seeing his friend's move. Had he ever played Twister?

''Right hand on red.''

This one was easy, at least when you started the right way. Now, Aaron was already struggling, thanks to Moyo, who purposely picked the red circle closer to Aaron.

''I was going to use that one!''

Moyo shrugged. The two others laughed. ''We never agreed to play fair, did we?''

Robbe spun the spinner, watching as Aaron attempted to slide his hand under Jens's chest to reach the other red circle. ''Left foot on green.''

Jens carefully elongated his leg back, putting the asked foot on a green circle, succeeding. Robbe gave him a thumbs-up, but when he turned back to the boys, Moyo's ass was right in his face. He grimaced. ''No... Move away! Get your ass out of my face, man.''

''I can't. It's Aaron's fault. He messed the whole game up when taking the wrong circle,'' Moyo justified.

Guilty, Aaron laughed. ‘’What, how am I supposed to-’’ He was cut off, losing balance when he moved his leg and ended up falling on top of Jens. ‘’Fuck.’’

Robbe snorted. ''And you said you had gotten more flexible now that you’re having so much sex.''

‘’I am. It’s just- The mat is slippery, okay? It wasn't my fault,'' he tried to defend, but it didn't matter because he had fell anyways. First loser.

“That’s what happens when you don’t take off your socks, man.” Moyo laughed, gesturing to everyone else's bare feet.

Standing from the mat, Jens went to grab the wax strips he bought for the video and held them high for the camera. ‘’Wax time!’’ he and Moyo declared at the same time.

He warmed the wax strips with his hands as Aaron rolled up one of his pant’s leg, revealing a very hairy limb. Jens shared a look with Robbe, looking forward to see their friend suffer. He put the wax strip on Aaron’s leg, smirking. There was no going back, now.

‘’Want me to pull it slowly or one shot?’’

‘’Go slow-’’ He was cut off as Jens didn’t listen and pulled it one shot, making Aaron’s leg throb in pain. ‘’Ow!’’ Aaron curled on himself, holding his - now hairless - leg as if it would lessen the pain. ‘’Holy fuck! Why do girls do that to themselves? That shit hurts.’’

Once Aaron had semi recovered from his waxed leg, Moyo took Robbe’s place and spun the spinner, going for a second round.

‘’Okay, Broerrrs, let’s start.’’ Moyo rubbed his hands together excitedly, watching as the arrow circled around and stopped on a color. ‘’Right foot on yellow.''

Again, Aaron didn’t seem to get the rules of the game and used the yellow in Jens’ part of the mat. ''Aaron, what the fuck? This was my yellow,''

Robbe and Moyo laughed as Aaron removed his foot and chose another one. Someone,please, help this child...

After a couple rounds, their asses were in the air, resembling the downward-facing dog position. While it was semi-comfortable position, the next move wasn't.

''Left hand on green.''

Jens, being taller than the other two, was able to reach the green circle. He grinned as he watched Aaron and Robbe struggling. By some miracle, they reached a green circle as well and the game continued.

The next to fall was Robbe, toppling over and causing everyone to join him on the floor. A hot pepper was presented to him and he had to take a bite. There were tears pooling in Robbe’s eyes at how spicy it was. He was not able to feel his lips for the next two rounds.

Moyo managed to crack his pants in the third round, making a move he probably shouldn't have. Despite the clothing casualty, it was gonna be good laughing content for the vlog.

Then, Robbe accidently put his foot on Jens’s hand and Aaron was caught cheating. He swore he wasn’t aware of the ‘only hands and feet are allowed on the mat’ rule, but the boys decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, not wanting to start an argument.

This was, certainly, a memory to tell.

.

Friday, January 10th

Jens’s bedroom door creaked open, pulling him from his sleep. As he woke up, the echoes of his parents' screaming match became clearer, informing him that his dad was home. It’s been like this since December. Jens’s dad had been working at the same office for over fifteen years and, when his boss felt the company’s sales going downhill, he was one of the unlucky employees who got fucking fired. Fired.

Sighing, Jens rubbed his eyes, prying them open, and saw Lotte's standing figure at the foot of his bed, waiting expectantly. It was dark, but he could see the purple giraffe plushie she was holding to her chest. He glanced at the time on his phone: almost 1am.

Sitting up, Jens scooted closer to the wall and lifted his comforter, making room for Lotte. She quickly crossed the floor and crawled under the covers.

‘’Are mama and papa getting divorced?’’ she asked in a small voice.

Jens’s heart sank at her question. He shifted and wrapped his arms around her, fuzzy pajamas tickling his skin. He didn’t know what to say, what to do - he didn’t even know where she’d learned that word. At her age Jens didn’t know what divorce was, less wonder if it was going to happen to his parents.

“Don’t worry Lotte, everything’s going to be okay.’’ His arms hugged her tighter, hoping it would reassure her a little...hoping he was right. He knew that hearing their parents fight so frequently was affecting her more than him, but he didn��t realise just how much more.

.

His skilled hands were under Jana's top, thumb grazing over her unpadded bralette, making her nipple harden. She arched her back as they kissed, trying to create friction between their bodies.

They had escaped to a free bedroom minutes ago, seeking the intimacy and proximity that they couldn't allow themselves in the middle of the party.

This bed wasn't near as comfortable as Jana's, but it did the job for their mid-party make out session. A better choice than the bathroom, at least. In here, no one would bang on the door and yell about needing to use the toilet.

A moan left Jana's lips as Jens kissed down her neck, her bitten fingernails scratching at Jens's back under his tee shirt - why was it still on? Jens smiled smugly, remembering his ex-girlfriend’s body and its reaction to his touch like they never broke up the year prior. Some things just can’t be forgotten.

The loud music echoed inside the room, Travis Scott’s latest hit playing. It wasn’t really a song to bang to, but they weren’t the ones in charge of the playlist, were they?

Jana hooked her leg around Jens’s waist, fingers grasping the sheets as he kissed his way down her stomach, knowing exactly where this was going. ‘’Jens…’’

.

Readjusting his hoodie, Jens ducked out of the bedroom he was in. His hair was probably still messy from Jana running her fingers through it. He pulled out his phone, texting Moyo to ask where they were, in the mood to smoke a joint. Nothing tasted better than a blunt after a blowjob.

At least, at the moment.

‘’Got lucky tonight?’’

Looking up, Jens recognized the new guy at school. Lucas, was it? He was standing in the hallway, red cup in his left hand, leaning against the wall as he raised his eyebrows suggestively, a smug grin on his lips.

Jens frowned. ‘’Uh?’’

‘’I saw your girl leaving the same room and adjusting her shirt a minute ago. Not that I was stalking you. I was just...there, I guess,’’ he explained, bringing his cup to his lips, taking a slow sip.

‘’Oh, you mean Jana?’’ Jens shook his head, correcting him. ‘’She’s not my girl. Not anymore.’’

Lucas hummed, interested in the new information. ‘’So, you’re the kind of guy who fuck with his ex?’’

The question took Jens by surprise. He blinked. Did he hear him right? Who was this guy to assume things about him?

‘’What? We didn’t-’’

‘’Clearly, something happened in there and, by the look of your lips and messy hair, no talking was involved,’’ he said, raising his eyebrows suggestively again before holding his hand out. ‘’I’m Lucas.’’

‘’Jens,’’ he replied, shaking the other boy’s hand.

Before they could carry on with their party small talk, someone hooked their arm around Jens’ shoulder. ‘’There you are! I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Robbe disappeared with Sander and Aaron is sucking faces with Amber.’’

“Here I am,” Jens said, laughing at Moyo’s comment about their friends. “Did you get my text?”

Moyo shook his head, a questioning look on his face. ‘’No…’’

“Do you have the weed?”

“Ah, yes.” Moyo replied, pulling a joint out of his pocket and handing it to Jens, who took it gratefully. ‘’Want some?’’ he asked, nodding at Lucas.

‘’Normally I’d say yes, but I actually should be heading home now.’’ Lucas raised his eyebrows, blue eyes on Jens. ‘’See you around, Jens.’’

Moyo was distracted by someone behind them talking and Lucas took the opportunity to wink at Jens, before walking off and leaving the other boy baffled.

What. The. Fuck.

[jus-tea]

Going to explain a little about the Miss Rhona lyrics, what inspired different aspects etc, as I’ve seen a lot of people speculating over it, and coming up with their own ideas (which I fully support!) but for those who are curious...

1st Stanza

“Daddy’s at the food store” So, when this was written, myself, my partner, and seemingly everyone was spending so much time going from supermarket to supermarket trying to find the basics, the essentials. Pasta, flour, sugar etc were sold out seemingly everywhere. The weekend just before this was written he’d lined up for half an hour before Costco opened to ensure he acquired some toilet paper- which seemed impossible to get ANYWHERE. I had colleagues who sent their adult children to shops everyday (they couldn’t cause they were at work) to try to find toilet paper somewhere. We ran out at work, and ended up with tissues. People, generally, were spending so much more time trying to find essentials at supermarkets. It’s not nearly as bad now, but just over a month ago when I wrote this it felt like a big issue. Also, “food store”?! NO ONE HAS CALLED ME OUT ON THIS which I find so weird because no one actually says, “food store”?! What a weird expression! So why did I use it? Well! Initially I thought “cost-co” but didn’t use it because I wanted the rhyme to appeal more universally. And we only got a Costco in my city a few years ago and I know plenty of places in the world don’t have one so... I thought maybe supermarket? But thought maybe they didn’t call them that in other countries- market? Market sounded so strange as it’s really only fresh fruit and veggies we get in our local markets here (in my part of the world) and didnt fit with the image I was trying to create and besides all our markets were cancelled as they were too crowded.. so “food store” was initially just a place-hold. I still can’t believe literally no one has said “hey wtf is up with “food store? No one says that” but there you go. It’s in literally every version ive seen as that so... that’s what it is now. So, that line about the food store and collated with the next line, “mummy’s our of town- she’s working at the hospital” was based on news articles I’d read about doctors having to isolate themselves from their families by sleeping either at hospital or in their garage. People who couldn’t see their kids for ages, it was really sad! And then combining these lines, it’s about how these little kids for the first time really are sometimes being left home alone because their parents have stuff they *have* to do; get food or work, and lots of kids these days don’t get left home alone anymore, it was common when I was little but not for a long time! But seemingly suddenly with this pandemic it’s happening again. And I hadn’t seen that talked about but I was seeing glimpses of it and it, felt weird? I guess? So that made for the perfect beginning to a covid19 nursery rhyme- a kid getting left home alone a lot and not being really sure how to respond to that.

So, with the hide away lines, there’s 3 stanzas and in each miss Rhona gets closer. The first one is she’s “come to town”. Now I remember that feeling on that day learning that the first coronavirus case had occurred in my city. Up until then there was a bit of a sense of dread, like you knew it was everywhere else, then in the news it got closer and closer, with cases in small country towns nearby. But when it got to my city it was suddenly so real. And that’s where the story starts because Miss Rhona was HERE. She arrived in the kid’s town. The line, “she’s come to take us down” is another way of saying “she’s going to get you” and also links to the final line which reveals her success “she took us down/she’s brought us down”.

2nd stanza

So, she goes from being in town to being “at the doorstep” which represents getting closer- being in those people the child might interact with everyday- and imagined more literally in the postal worker delivering a package (actually ON the doorstep) or food delivery or anyone who they’d still have close contact with. But “I’ll keep 6 feet away” is a self reassurance that if they just do the right thing and keep their distance everything will be ok. But then the conflict! Grandma needs toilet paper, EVERYONE needs toilet paper and no one can get it anywhere! No doubt the dad is our trying to find some more while he’s at the “food store”. And I was thinking... my children’s grandmother lives in a different state to us but if we were in the same one you can bet your life id be out dropping essentials at her doorstep whenever I could- tp included. (Although, tbh the tp issue didn’t seem as bad in her state from what she told me) so in this bit I guess I imagined myself as the child because that would be something important to me, to make sure my elders had their essentials. Idk I tried to help where I could, got baby wipes when I found it for a friend with a newborn, stuff like that. So the conflict is the child’s sense of responsibility ensuring their grandmother has what she needs, while also knowing that the coronavirus, Miss Rhona, could reside in anyone they meet along the way. Kind of like a little red riding hood situation linking the dangers of strangers. So they open the door due to this sense of responsibility and, oh no, Miss Rhona was at the doorstep, remember? Now the child has it too; “Miss Rhona’s come to stay” IN THE CHILD. This line was to use the imagery of Miss Rhona coming to stay with the child at their house, like an aunt might come to visit for the weekend, but symbolises the virus coming to live within the child, they’ve caught it now, which is why they definitely, “can’t come out to play”.

Stanza 3

“But grandma needs the paper” that’s where the conflict arises again- the child’s sense of responsibility, maybe guilt even? Overshadowing their understanding of just how serious the virus would be should their grandmother catch it. They’re just a kid remember? They don’t understand. So they take her some anyway, everyone needs toilet paper! Also, I know that phrasing it as such misleads the listener to think about a newspaper. Thats how we talk, “I’ll get the paper!” My dad says ... often. But, 2 things, it rolls off the tongue easier than “grandma needs toilet paper” which would’ve messed up the rhythm anyway, and also, for anyone who’s lived it you would automatically know about the “great toilet paper shortage of 2020” 😅 there were so many memes about it and it was funny that everyone was obsessed with it but if you were one of those people who genuinely really couldn’t find any- and there were lots!- then it kind of sucked. And that’s a memory that’ll stick with you 🙈

So. The note. “And here’s a note from Rhona she wanted me to say” imagine the child at the grandmas doorstep, she’s bringing her tp (that’s nice) but the child is infected, and hands grandma a note. I imagined like a little filed up piece of paper in their back pocket they take out and hand over, to pass on the message from their aunt living in their house. As kids would do- what teacher hasn’t given their student a note and said “go tell mr x such and such” and the note is a reminder of what to say. But the note they hand over is also a metaphor. It symbolises contact between the grandmother and grandchild, and as grandma took it, she caught the virus too. And the note reads,

“Hide away, hide away, keep 6 feet away”

Which is that line repeated all the way through the rhyme. In the end, it’s what Miss Rhona was saying all along. Hide away children...

And the final line is a throwback to near the beginning, “she took us down” because earlier remember she came to “take us down” but now it’s happened and we’re in past tense. She did it. She took down the grandma, and possibly the child too, although I left that as ambiguous. To be taken down here is the symbol for death, of course. It’s pretty grim. But that was the point i suppose.

And that’s where it ends. Anything after that, while I’ve seen some adaptations made which sound really cool, doesn’t really make sense with the story, because they died in that moment. And continuing on after that seems a bit overkill, because I gues, perhaps symbolically at least, who would be able to continue singing the rhyme once they had already died?

But having said that, it’s still nice to see people get exited about it and want to contribute more lyrics too. Making up stories, songs, games, art in general, it’s a way we’ve found to cope i think? Like dark and morbid stories are a part of our culture because we respond to them. Lessons, feelings, etc. people far more articulate than I have explained before...

So. That’s Miss Rhona. This explanation was written really roughly and I apologise for that, but you get the gist. I strongly recommend for anyone who hasn’t already to check out the #miss Rhona recordings hashtag on my blog, because some of these melodies people have put to it are really beyond words. Dreamy, haunting. Peaceful. Childlike. Much more than the original chant-like skipping rhyme I originally envisaged.

Thanks for reading this far... please be safe and look after your grandmothers ❤️

[itsanerdlife]

Cruel Boy 31/33

Pairing: Howie Stark x Reader

Warning: Lies. Betrayal. Just a lot of violence. Mentions of Domestic abuse. Parental abuse. Murder Suicide. Death. Guilt. Hate. Deception. Lots and lots of anger.

Playlist!!

Two Parts Left!!!

“Y/N?!” Peter is running down the hall when he steps out.

“She’s okay. MJ too.” He assures his brother.

“MJ’s here?” Peter panics, pushing into the room.

“We’re fine.” Y/N tries.

“The fuck happened?” His dad looks from him to the room.

“Driver came back to finish it.” Howie bites out.

“Are they okay?” His dad swallows.

“Busted stitches, few cuts and scratches, but they knocked him out.” He smirks.

“How?” His dad’s eyes widen.

“A IV pole and metal tray.” He presses his lips together to not laugh.

“Such a Stark move.” His dad grins, heading into the room.

“I’m going to marry her.” Howie chuckles softly. His dad looks back, grinning at him.

“Who is this fuck?” Peter sneers, stepping away from MJ and Y/N.

“Let’s find out.” He stalks over, yanking the hood back.

“Eddie?” His dad sounds surprised. Peter and Howie exchange a look.

“Do we know him?” Peter looks back at their dad.

“He’s apart of Rhodey’s charter.” Their dad nods.

“He’s been sleeping with Emma for a few weeks.” MJ adds.

“What?” Y/N bounces to her feet.

“He’s been in the bar a few times.” His dad adds.

“That shady ass bitch.” Y/N snaps.

“Holy fuck.” MJ’s eyes widen as the three of them look back at her.

“What?” They ask.

“Emma, this was at her hand.” She bites.

“Oh, that makes a lot of sense.” Peter nods slowly.

“What car was it that you said followed you?” MJ looks over at her.

“A white, four door.” She shrugs. MJ and Howie exchange a look.

“Emma drives a white, four door.” He sighs.

“I know.” She smirks. “I saw it at the shop.”

“Y/N?” His dad watches her.

“Tell Stephan to discharge me or I’ll be back.” She kicks off the slipper boot things, and yanks on her sneakers. She yanks down the bottom of her tank top, so it meets her sweatpants.

“Where are you going?” He steps towards her.

“Don’t ask questions you already know the answer too.” She smirks at him.

“You have one arm.” He points out.

“I have two angry red heads too.” She quirks a brow at him.

“Babe.” He chews his bottom lip. 

Torn between letting her go and asking her to stay. She reaches up, pressing a kiss to his lips. It’s not quick and it warms the center of him. When she pulls back, she smiles.

“My answer is yes by the way.” She backs away. Turning she walks out with MJ, who’s grinning.

“Yes?” His brow pinches. MJ pauses in the doorway looking over at them.

“You said you’re going to marry her.” She laughs, following Y/N.

“Oh shit.” Peter laughs.

“I don’t think you said that very quiet.” His dad grins.

“Who the fuck cares. She’s mine forever now.” He grins.

“Peter call Frank, Howie call Rhodey. He’s going to answer to the club.”  His dad orders. They both grab for their phones. 

-------- 

“Emma!” Nat calls, getting the attention of the blonde coming out of the bar. 

Her cigarette between her lips, unlit as MJ decks her. Catching her off guard, Nat hits her next. Sending her collapsing into the sidewalk. You step towards her, looking down at her.

“Boy you really fucked up.” You smile, it’s cold and ruthless.

“What? What, are you, talking about?” She whimpers, pushing up on her elbow.

Your foot swings, kicking it out from under her. Slamming her down into the sidewalk again.

“I know you’re stupid, but not that stupid. Try again.” You taunt.

“How are you not fucking dead, you evil bitch.” Emma grumbles, wincing from the ground.

“Ding, ding. Looks like she knows.” Nat folds her arms over her chest, smirking.

“Really you think your pathetic ass is going to take me down? Please, I’ve been to hell.” You grin at her. “The devil sent me back and told me not to return.”

“You put a hit on the Pres’ daughter. You’re finished.” MJ smirks.

“She’s not his real daughter.” Emma hisses, pushing herself up.

“No but she’s going to be his daughter in law now.” Nat quips. Emma’s mouth pops open. Your fist connects with her jaw. MJ helps you keep your balance.

“You have one hour. Do what you need with it. After that you’re fair game to the club.” You warn her.

“But,” she panics.

“That’s fifty-eight minutes Emma.” Nat taunts her.

“Run.” MJ growls at her. She stumbles, unsteady on her feet. But she starts to leave.

“I have a killer headache and Pepper is going to have my ass for leaving the hospital.” You wince.

“We should get you back, before the club comes looking for you.” Nat smirks.

“Fuck them.” You laugh.

“Bet they send Pepper after you.” Nat laughs.

“We should go.” You nod. Both bitches laugh at you.

“I’m telling her you bitches convinced me to leave.” You smirk as you get into car with them.

“You’re fucking mean.” MJ looks over. You shrug your good shoulder.

“I know.” 

------ 

“Y/N?!” You cringe. Pepper is storming down the hall towards you.

“Shit my mom found us.” You wince.

Howie and Peter are looking worn behind her. Howie looks a little shell shocked and Peter wears exhaustion on his face. Pepper pulls you into a hug, before she fusses over you.

“Stitches again? And you just leave!?” She’s disgruntled.

“They told me too.” You look over at MJ and Nat. The two of them panic. Fear on their faces.

“Bitch.” Nat whispers.

“As bad as the boys Y/N.” Her tone stern, full mom voice. “Lying saying they don’t know where you went. Like catching you sneaking into the house again.” She huffs.

“Never thought I’d be sneaking into a hospital.” You admit quietly.

“Go to your room. You’ll wait there till Stephan checks you over.” She points towards your room. You shrink away, shuffling towards your hospital room. Howie and Peter follow.

“I gave Emma an hour. I’m calling it thirty minutes early. Bitch just got me grounded and I’m a full on adult.” You look over at Howie.

“She’ll soften up when you tell her you’re getting married.” Peter laughs. You shrug. Howie texting on his phone.

“Sending the guys out.” He assures you. You sit on the bed, kicking off your sneakers. Howie sits next to you, leaning over he kisses the side of your head.

“My head hurts.” You admit.

“I’ll find Stephan.” Peter heads out of the room.

“It’s been a long few days.” Howie sighs.

“I wasn’t around for a few of them.” You both laugh.

“What you said earlier. You serious?” He looks over at you.

“What you said, you serious?” You smirk at him.

“I meant it, if you think I’m going to let you go, let you fall in love with someone else. Let anyone else touch you. You’re an idiot.” He brushes your hair back, grinning.

“I meant it.” You lean in pressing a kiss to his lips.

“Good, I need you to stay here. Home, where you belong.” He nods, watching you with gorgeous eyes.

“Finally.” You grin, he laughs, leaning into kiss you again.

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

Everything Peaches 9/3/19 @mo320 @courtmr @avxgers @eliza-kat @irepeldirt @jordan-ia @jcc04220 @dumblani @nishanki1 @allyp1023 @joannie95 @rogvewitch @rileyloves5 @sarahp879 @sexyvixen7 @doctoranon @queentoffee @abschaffer2 @tony-stank3 @tomhardy41 @bookluver01 @drayshadow @teller258316 @wandressfox @cutekittybast @amandab-ftw @carostar2020 @thelostallycat @henrietteoaks @nea90sweetie @circusofchaos @bettercallsabs @miraclesoflove @queenkrissy11 @shield-agent78 @elite4cekalyma @sadyoungadult @destiel-artemis @isabelcrichards @iwillbeinmynest @sweet-honey15 @scooby-doodoo @chanelmadrid13 @killerbumblebee @spookygrantaire @geeksareunique @supernatural508 @itzmegaaaaaaan @optimistic-babes @elizabethaellison @rainbowkisses31 @aspiringtranslator @mariekoukie6661 @pure-princess-97 @capsheadquaters @youclickedthislink @futuremrsb-r-main @lovemarvelousfics @notyourtypicalrose @petersunderoos96 @loving-life-my-way  @itsy-bitsy-spidergirl @buckystolemyheart @booktvmoviefangirl @thatpeachybandgirl @supernatural-girl97

@abbypalmer14-blog  @thefridgeismybestie @eggingamazinglove @deathofmissjackson @awkwardfangirl2014 @muffininahandbasket @queenoftheunderdark @laneygthememequeen @writingaworldofmyown @death-unbecomes-you @shann-the-artist-moon @supernaturallover2002 @daughterofthenight117 @mcuwillbethedeathofme @verymuchclosetedfangirl @for-the-love-of-the-fandom @ocaptain-mycaptainmorgan @crazy-little-thing-called-buck @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @stupendoussciencenaturepanda @supernatural-strangerthings-1980​

Howie 'Damn Boy' Stark: @ml7010​ @gabile18​ @crayonwriting​ @callme-barnes​ @untoasted-ravioli​ @badassbeckettswan​ @andycanbeemotional​

CB: @coley0823​ @csigeoblue​ @lakamaa12​ @tomhardy41​ @ms-rogers06​ @wolfiemichele​ @eridanuswave​ @tireddork-knight​ @honey-bee-holly​ @multifandomgirl-us​ @eggingamazinglove​ @badassbeckettswan​ @fandomsstolemylife00​ @jamesbarnesappreciationclub​

[atlas-of-a-human-soul]

Hurt, pt. 13 (E.D.)

Summary: With more than one life hanging in the balance, Ethan worries he’s losing his mind all over again.

Warnings: ANGST, fluff, talk of depression and anxiety

Word Count: 3100

Hurt - Masterlist

There were three times in Ethan's life when he thought he'd die. First time was when he was in a motorcycle accident, the second time was when he lost his dad and third time was when Y/N was in a car accident. But this? Hearing her cry to him over the phone as he rushed to the ER and got into the ambulance as they went through every red light to their house...this was the moment he truly felt like he might not make it.

His heart beats fiercely against his ribcage, violently trying to break out of its bony confines. His breathing is sporadic, coming in few short and shuddered breaths. Sweat coated his forehead and rolled down the back of his neck, his hands clammy and shaky as he tried to keep the phone to his ear. Despite him feeling like he's no longer in control of his body, Ethan managed to keep his voice calm. If she felt him panic, she'd lose it. He knew that. It's always been the case. They mirrored each other way too much for him to slip up. Ethan couldn't risk making her more panicked, so by some inner strength he didn't know he possessed, he managed to keep his voice calm, reassuring and caring.

Y/N laid down on the kitchen floor, pressing her legs together. She didn't feel her legs anymore, but she pressed them together somehow, despite the searing pain that took over her. But if this was what she feared the most, she had to keep them inside by any means necessary. She couldn't lose Ethan's little asskickers. She couldn't lose what seemed to be their last hope. Had it not been for the pregnancy, Ethan and Y/N could have lost each other for good. She knew that.

''We're here, baby. We're here!“ Ethan rushed inside, his eyes going wide momentarily as he saw a puddle of blood surround her, his heart tearing like paper. Every edge of his paper heart had continued to cut everything around, making sure to leave a damaging mark.

''Ethan.“ She managed to breathe out, her lips twisting into a frown as more tears flowed from her eyes. He squatted down, his right hand brushing back her hair, his left one capturing her bloody one for comfort.

''I'm here. It's okay. Shh.“ The paramedics brought in a stretcher, preparing to lift her up, but she curled herself up to Ethan, both her arms wrapping around his neck and he knew she wanted him to do it, not some strangers.

Carefully, slowly, Ethan picked her up in his arms. She was heavier than he remembered, but Ethan didn't give a damn. Refusing to even grunt, he had carried her to the ambulance car, his chest shaking as he kept in sob after sob.

He placed her on the stretcher, feeling like his heart would explode as he watched them start pricking her with needles, plastering things all over her chest in the process.

“She doesn’t have any allergies.” He knew the ride to the hospital wouldn't be long, but logic abandoned Ethan. Time goes slow for those in agony and he had never been in agonizing pain like he was now.

Holding her hand tightly, he leaned his forehead on hers as he secured the oxygen mask one of the paramedics gave him to her pale face. They spoke so loudly around them, the siren blaring so loud it was making Ethan’s head spin.

''I'm so sorry, baby. I'm so sorry for all the times I fucked up. I'm so sorry for every tear you've let for me, for every doubt I've ever had, for every spark of yours I've put out, for not being there for you. I swear I'll be good to you. I'll be there for you. I love you so, so much.“ Ethan had to say it, just in case. He had to say it so she had no doubt about where he stands, where his heart is and always was. He had to let her know that she's his soulmate and there would never be another. He had to say something.

Struggling to pull her mask off, Y/N smiles weakly, looking up at Ethan through hooded eyes, speaking with the last bit of her strength.

''Infinity times infinity.“

That's when her eyes closed and Ethan began to unravel again. He saw her heartbeat on the monitor, and while it was a little too fast, it was there. He found comfort in knowing she was still there, with him. He had to cling to the promise of her surviving this. It was fairly evident she wasn't just in risk of losing the babies, but her own life and Ethan knew either loss would destroy him, but to lose it all? That would kill him.

Everything after that had turned into a blur. The arrival, them taking her away from him, waiting for news. It was the purest form of torture. Ethan didn't notice Grayson arrive, nor his mother who had a hard time containing herself. He felt them hug him each, but he was empty, void, his mind still with her.

''Can't believe that guy showed up.“ Grayson rolled his eyes, breaking Ethan out of his trance for a little while.

''What guy?“ Ethan turned to Grayson who didn't hide the glare sent toward a tall, blonde guy in a coat at the reception. The guy seemed oddly familiar, but Ethan couldn't quite place him in his mind. But then he turned around and Ethan instantly remembered the man who had stopped him from seeing Y/N the night he learned he would be a father. The same night Ethan would have given everything to be by her side but was denied access. But it was also a wake-up call for him – the final drop that made him decide to check himself in the psychiatric ward. In a way, he should actually thank the guy, but he couldn’t help feeling something other than gratitude - anger, resentment fit much better.

''Isn't he her first doctor? He gave her case to doctor Sonia because it was too complex, right?“ Ethan knew in his heart there was something more there, because when his warm hazel eyes met the icy flames of his blue ones, there was pure disgust and hate reflecting back. Besides, he had no business being there when he wasn’t her doctor anymore, so why was he there?

''No, bro. She's been seeing him for months now.“ And everything finally clicked. Ethan couldn't help the dry chuckle that escaped him as the doctor in question rushed behind the closed doors he was stopped at – rushed to his Y/N, the mother of his children and his wife. She's still his wife by law.

''That dick? The same guy who wouldn't even tell her I was there that night?!“ Speaking too loudly, Ethan's meltdown attracted some attention and he was trying so hard to exercise the patience and measured reactions he was taught in the past months in therapy, but how does one keep his cool when his wife may or may not be bleeding out, when his kids may or may not be dead before he even met them, when the man who had put a wedge between his wife and him is the same man who is trying to sleep with her?

''Yeah.“ Grayson placed his hands on Ethan's shoulders, putting pressure to cause some sort of physical sensation that would root him to reality, to sanity. Pain, pressure, those were all ways to get through to him and Grayson used both as he pinched him in the process.

''What matters is that all goes well now, okay? Don't start making scenes. We need to be here for her. This isn't about how we feel, it's about her.“

Nodding, Ethan sat on a chair, bowing his head down to try a breathing exercise. Grayson is right. He always is. He had to keep his senses sharp and he had to be prepared to hold her hand without losing it regardless of what happens.

Hours passed when Y/N finally came to.

Fluttering her eyes open, Y/N felt like she was floating. She didn't feel bound by her body anymore, a big part of her convinced she had died. But the pain was still there. It reminded her she did have a body, she could still hurt. And once her mind started working there were only two things on her mind: her babies and Ethan.

''Ethan?“ She croaked, blinking a few more times to clear her vision. For a moment, she was lost on who she was looking at – an angel perhaps?

''Hey. It's me. It's Ed.“ Edward smiled, slipping his hand into hers as he placed his free hand on her forehead caringly.

''There was a placental abruption, a tear of the placenta and it caused a lot of bleeding. We're assuming it's because you're carrying triplets, but we'll do more diagnostic tests when you're more stable. The babies are still safe, but you're on strict bed rest and close monitoring for a while and right here. It's too risky to send you home before the bleeding stops and we're sure it won't get worse. In case something happens, doctor Sonia and I agreed to give medication to help the babies develop a little faster. As a precaution. But you're okay. So are they.“ Y/N nodded at the news as she let out a long, heavy sigh.

''Thank you.“ She managed a smile, but that was a simple pleasantry. She was happy to know her babies are okay. It was the first thing on her mind, but knowing they’re fine had made her want the second thing on her mind - she wanted someone else by her side.

''Can you find Ethan for me? Please?“ She kept her voice sweet and curt, knowing Edward is weak for her whenever she asks something of him like that. To be perfectly honest, he was weak for her in any situation and they both knew it but chose not to acknowledge it.

''Why?“ However, she didn't expect him to scoff and ask that. In fact, she didn't expect anything but a smile and Ethan's face to be before her in less than five minutes.

''Because he's the one who brought me in. Now please, let me see him.“ She tried to keep her voice leveled, not to start a fight she was too weak to finish. She needed Ethan. That's all she could think now.

''As you wish.“ Y/N had never seen Edward so openly jealous of Ethan before. She had never heard the irritation in his voice as he spoke before. He had always been so kind, so accepting and agreeable. A part of her thought he could never be mean at all. But she felt the change in his voice so clearly and she didn't know what to make out of it.

However, he did bring her Ethan. The same Ethan who was waiting for hours on an update – an update he could have gotten at least two hours earlier had Edward wanted to give it.

Disheveled, Ethan stumbled into her room only to stop at the door. He was so relieved, so happy, so grateful to the universe that he had lost the ability to think rationally. Instead of saying something or simply hugging Y/N, Ethan took two strides before he was beside her, lowering his head and bending his neck, attaching his lips to hers.

Y/N's mind blanked. She felt like she malfunctioned, unable to form a coherent thought or a purposeful move. She couldn't move, not that she wanted to. A big part of her found comfort in the caramel coffee taste of his soft lips. But Ethan's mind was a little quicker to catch up. He went too far, he knew that. So he took a step back, breaking the kiss.

''I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking.“ He covered his mouth, hoping he could keep the sensation of her lips upon his a little longer in his memory.

''It's okay. More than okay, actually.“ Y/N giggled, placing a hand over her chest to feel her raging heart.

Settling by her side, Ethan and Y/N didn't say much about the kiss anymore or the love proclamation Ethan made in the ambulance. They talked about the babies and names they could use. Neither of the names they suggested fit, mostly because they would remember someone with the same name that they absolutely hated in life and while it was a little frustrating, it put them both at ease. It was a diversion from the possible loss they could have gone through, but Y/N had more than one thing she wanted to talk about.

''Mind if I ask you something?“ She took his hand in hers, tracing the back of his hand with her thumb as she awaited his low hum of approval that always made her smile.

''Did Edward stop you from talking to me the night you checked yourself in? The night I was in the hospital and found out I was pregnant?“ Y/N feared Ethan's response, he could tell. Whether it be because she thought so highly of Edward and he had managed to make her doubt him so quickly or because she genuinely liked him and wanted more than just friendship. Either way, Y/N feared his response and Ethan didn't quite understand why.

''True.''

Y/N drew in a deep breath, nodding to herself as she licked her lower lip. ''Do you mind giving me some time with him? It's really late and I'll probably pass out at any moment now. You should go home, shower...sleep.“ She encouraged, hoping he'd take care of himself and not ruin all the progress he's made just because she's in a hospital.

Reluctant, Ethan stood, but not before he kissed the back of her hand tenderly. It made her smile and that was rewarding enough for him. It was enough even if it killed him to leave her behind with another man who seemed to have taken his place.

Ethan watched them through the window for a few moments, noticing the way Edward strolled right to her bed and left a kiss on her forehead. They were comfortable with each other, familiar with one another. It was more than just a friendship and it hurt more than Ethan expected it would. It hurt to see someone else was good for her because Edward was. He made her happy when all Ethan caused was misery and it was a defeating thought.

Leaving, Ethan couldn't look back. He couldn't bear seeing her smile up at another guy with the same loving look in her eyes she used to give only him.

But Y/N had something else in mind. Not smiles, not loving looks, but questions she needed answers to.

''Weird question, but did you stop Ethan from seeing me that night we met?“ She kept a smile on her lips, a deceiving tactic she hoped would work.

Edward paused, the silence turning Y/N's smile into a scowl as he furrowed his eyebrows.

''The rules state family members are allowed and he was supposed to be your ex-husband. The cheating asshole of a husband as you told Jackie. You were vulnerable, with high blood pressure, panicking and I did what I thought was best for you and the babies. I made a choice and I protected you.“ Edward reasoned, unaware of what his words are truly doing. 

In her time apart from Ethan, Y/N had rediscovered independence, freedom, her own mind. She was lost, but losing Ethan had helped her find herself - the woman she used to be before he made her doubt everything about herself - the woman he fell in love with. 

''Protect me? Thank you.“ Y/N bit the inside of her lower lips as she tried to formulate her next question. ''Had I not asked for Ethan would you have let him in tonight? When did you tell him I was okay? That the babies are okay?“ Y/N turned a little more aggressive. It wasn't hard to pick up on it.

''No and he found out when you asked for him. He's your ex. Why would I tell him anything?“ And that's the last of what she could listen.

She had become far too fond of herself - the new her that was just the old her reemerging for air. Ethan had always loved and respected that part of her - her mind and her choices. It’s one of the things she loved most about him.

''Ethan isn't just some ex. Ethan is my husband. He is the father of my children and he's the love of my life regardless of the shit he's done. He has every right to be told his children and wife are alive!“ Her voice echoed around the room, forcing Edward to stand. It's one thing to assume these things to be true, but to hear her say it when all he wanted to do is protect her from someone he thinks is extremely toxic for her, it's different. The sting is different.

''I made a choice that benefited you. Both times. I won't apologize for protecting my girlfriend.“

It was Y/N's turn to be surprised by his words.

''That's the problem Edward. You made a choice that benefited you. Both times. You made a choice for me without even presenting me with the option. You made a choice to keep my husband away from me at a time where we needed each other more than anything else in the world.” Pausing for a fresh breath, she shook her head lightly.

“You made a choice for me without even thinking about what I might want. Had it ever crossed your mind that I prefer to make my own choices in life? Especially when it’s something important like that? Because I hate being deprived of the ability to make the most basic human choices. I make my own choices and I love my choices.” She could see regret wash over Edward’s features, his usually bright blue eyes losing their light as he realized his good intentions had paved a way to his own personal hell.

“I choose to believe you did this because you really did have my best interests at heart, but I won't apologize for not considering you anything more than just a good friend. I felt something for you, but it’s abundantly clear we’re not a match in a romantic sense. I never agreed to be your girlfriend. Just a friend. And that's all you'll ever be and I'm being generous right now.“ She had trouble keeping a steady breathing rhythm because even if she wasn't truly dating Edward, she grew to care for him. It's never easy to learn something bad about the person you care for, especially not in her current state.

''I have to ask you to leave now. You can't be a part of my medical team and you can't be a part of my life. I need time before I can be your friend again.“ Part of her thought Edward would cause a scene. She expected him to say or do something that would make her hate him, that would make it easier to let him go. But he didn't. He sat in the chair like a kicked puppy, his eyes glossed over as he swallowed thickly, aware that he's lost.

Edward was always aware of what he was getting himself into. He knew that falling in love with a woman as amazing and as emotionally unavailable like Y/N is would be suicide and he still jumped. He made the jump and now when he could see the bottom, Y/N wasn't there with a safety net. He'd break.

Nodding, he stood slowly, walking to the door. He stood at the door with his back turned to her, building up the courage to speak without his voice cracking in the process. Looking at her over his shoulder, he forced a smile to his lips for her benefit.

''I hope I am wrong about Ethan. I truly hope you find happiness with him. I do.“

And with those words, Edward walked out of Y/N's life for good. 

Tags: @melodiesforari​​​​​​​​ @brittttneyyyy​​​​​​​​ @beautorigin​​​​​​​​  @dolandolll​​​​​​​​ @xalayx​​​​​​​​ @godlydolans​​​​​​​​ @heyits-claire​​​​​​​ @peacedolantwins​​​​​​​ @dolanstwintuesday​​​​​​​ @accalialionheart​​​​​​​ @ethanhes​​​​​​​ @lanadeldolans​​​​​​​ @ebbach-03​​​​​​​ @dolangels​​​​​​​  @xxaamzxx​​​​​​​ @cutestdolans​​​​​​​ @yaren-ates​​​​​​​ @dolansmith​​​​​​​ @vintagebitttch​​​​​​​ @primadolangirl​​​​​​​ @caqsicle​​​​​​​ @jjustjoy​​​​​​​ @justordinaryjen​​​​​​​ @graydolan12​​​​​​​ @imaginashawnns​​​​​​​ @graysonslovie​​​​​​​ @fandomsfeministsandothershit​​​​​​​ @bdsmdolan​​​​​​​ @graysavant​​​​​​​ @ethanspillow​​​​​​​ @dopedoodes​​​​​​​ @anything-dolan​​​​​​​  @sugarfootdolan​​​​​​​ @joyrivh​​​​​​​ @reblogserpent​​​​​​​ @jonesana​​​​​​​ @emiemille  @herewegoagainandagainandagain​​​​​​​​ @adventureswithmell

[gunsxroses]

Introduction to my Ruby | This should have been the day

Wide silver eyes stared at the empty boarding platform.

"No."

They looked back and forth, trying to find any sign of life.

"Nononono."

They trailed over to the flight schedule and nearly bulged out of her head.

"NO!"

With movement so fast that only your veteran hunter could track her, she appeared in front of the schedule, grasping it with shaky hands.

"I missed the flight to Beacon!"

It had all been going so smoothly for the young huntress. First she stopped that dastardly Torchwick from stealing dust. Okay, maybe stopped was a strong word. All he did was dance around her and then taunt her before peacing out. But that didn't mean she wasn't successful in stopping his goons! Yeah. She did a good job there. And then that Huntress showed up to help her and she got in trouble. Then came the interrogation and Professor Ozpin eating cookies in front of her. He never even offered her one. The monster. She could see him twirling his imaginary mustache right now. So evil.

And then she got invited to Beacon. She was super excited about it too! She told her Dad, her Uncle and especially her Sister, who was super stoked about it. Maybe even more than she was herself.

But as the nonexistent bullhead may point out, things didn't go her way.

She pulled her red hood over her face, wanting to hide her flushed face. She was completely and utterly embarrassed.  She had made such a big deal about this and then ended up so excited that she couldn't sleep, which resulted in her sleeping in and missing the damn flight!

She punched a nearby concrete wall. "It's not fair!" She yelled before yelping in pain, the wall being far harder than she had expected. She grabbed her wrist and blew on her now throbbing hand.

"I even made sure to wear my combat skirt." She muttered, though her black and red outfit was obscured by her long red cloak. A cloak that she went nowhere without. Her father had made it for her, in honor of her late mother. Same design, just red.

This wasn't the first time that Ruby had been hit with misfortune. While she was a talented youth who worked really hard to get where she was currently, she was far from perfect. She was awkward around new people and hated crowds. Not to mention she had only ever managed to make a few friends in Signal, with the rest of her peers labeling her a Teacher's Pet and a weapon's weirdo.

See. Ruby loved weapons more than anyone. Because she could talk to them without being judged. She could put her heart and soul into tinkering with them because they were always there for her. They never looked at her with those judgmental eyes. Those envious eyes. They were a comfort to her, as unhealthy as she knew that was. It didn't matter.

Especially when it came to her beloved Crescent Rose. It was a scythe and rifle combination. But its ability to transform wasn’t what made it special to her. No. It was the fact that the metal used in it was recycled from her mother’s old weapon. Which her Uncle had brought back to them, after a failed attempt to locate her mother after she went missing.

It was as close to closure as they could get and it only served to further prove how unforgiving the world really was. If someone as strong as her mother could be killed (?). What chance did she have? At least, that’s what she thought at the time.

But she soon became resolved to surpass her mother. To make her proud. She couldn't fail!

And yet, here she was. Clearly failing. All because she slept in.

"Dammit." She muttered, frustrated at herself more than anything. "I got into Beacon early." She said in a whiny voice, mocking her earlier self. "I totally proved that I'm great. Blah, blah, blah. Now I'm going to make a horrible first impression by arriving late and everyone is going to judge me. Again."

"I dunno about that. People can only judge you if you let them."

That voice. It caught her off guard. In fact, it was so unexpected that she actually physically jumped with an audible 'eep!' but she quickly recomposed herself and turned toward its source.

Sitting on a bench not far from her was a man with wavy white hair. He had red eyes, not unlike that of a dead fish. His outfit was rather unorthodox, to say the least. Resembling something from Mistral. A blue and white kimono. A black and red uniform was situated underneath it. By his side was a wooden sword.

He looked up at her.

And she looked at him.

She wasn't sure what to say. She had been certain she'd been alone here. But if she wasn't, does that mean he had heard her earlier outburst?! How embarrassing!

But still. She had to reply. She couldn't let him have the last word. At least new people were easier to talk to when there was just one of them.

"That's easy for you to say. You don't live my life." She replied back, hiding her gaze with her hood once more.

He looked thoughtful for a moment before replying. "You're right. I don't. So forget I said anything."

He went back to staring into the distance, as he had been doing before she looked at him. It was like . . . he was fighting a battle she couldn't see. With how serious those eyes of his were.

She bit her lip.

"Thank you, though. I feel a little lighter knowing that someone was listening."

If he acknowledged her, he didn't show it.

But she had said her peace and was content. Now the important thing was finding a way to Beacon.

She just hoped that her sister wasn't too worried about her.

---

"And that's why I'm here. So please, I'm begging you! You're the only one who I can count on!"

She was bowing in front of a man. A man who worked as a blacksmith. He was a tall man. Much taller than even her dad. He had unkempt neck-length black hair and piercing yellow eyes. He wore a blacksmith's apron with a black t-shirt and dark gray pants on underneath. Finishing up his general appearance was a pair of black boots and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

"You know as well as I do." He replied to her in a gruff voice. "That I'm in the middle of a shift right now."

She bolted upright and glared at him. "I know, but this is important to me! I'll even work here for free if that makes up for it!"

His gaze softened. "Well. You aren't normally someone to impose on others. So I guess I can let you off with reduced pay."

Ruby's eyes lit up. "You mean you're going to take me?"

"Yeah, yeah. Consider it a favor to your old man. Him bragging about the weapon I made him is the only reason people come to this damn place."

She jumped in joy, about to yell out in a triumphant nature before his tired gaze caused her to stop. She didn't want to push anymore boundaries. Not after all he had done for her.

This guy was Vulcan. He was the blacksmith who forged her father's weapon and a man she saw as her honorary Uncle. Not only did he allow her to work part-time for him starting at the age of 12, he was also the one who taught her everything she knew about metalworking. He was her idol, more or less. At least when it came to weapon crafting.

That didn't mean he was a pushover though. He had a Pro Huntsman license. That was the main reason her father felt so safe sending her to work with him, knowing that she'd be protected.

She climbed into his car which they'd be taking to a Bullhead he had managed to set up ahead of time.

"Seatbelt." He grunted.

Ruby nodded and put hers on. It was funny. Yang never made her wear one. Was that irresponsible of her? Probably. But Yang never was one to follow the rules of the road. If all those tickets she had were any indication.

She let her head clunk against the window next to her, her cheek smooshed against it as she looked at the scenery that was passing by. This wasn't exactly how she thought she'd be spending her first day at Beacon, but at least she had a way there now.

"I hope you're going to clean that window when you're done smudging it up."

She rolled her eyes. He was such a dad without being one.

Hell, in some ways, he was more of a dad than her actual dad. Since he was far more responsible and mature. When she broke her arm, her father insisted that he could mend it with his patented home remedies. But Vulcan took her to the hospital and even stayed in the waiting room all night while she got her cast put on.

"Hey." She said softly. "Do you think I'm ready for Beacon?"

There was no response for a long time, but finally, he spoke up.

"No one is ready for anything, Ruby. Not you, not me, not your peers. No one knows what life is going to throw at them. So don't worry about that. Just focus on being the best person that you can be."

"Ahhh." She replied, a soft smile appearing on her face. His company always was soothing to her. Forget him having dad energy. If he was a bit older, he'd be perfect Grandfather material.

They rode in mostly silence after that, neither of them having much to say. That is until the grizzled blacksmith pulled up to the parked Bullhead.

"The pilot will take you the rest of the way. I have to get back to the shop." He said to her as she slowly climbed out of the car. "And Ruby?"

She looked back at him. "Yeah?"

"Here." He tossed her a knife. "That was my weapon back in Beacon. It's yours now."

Her eyes widened at the weapon that now rest in her hands. "Are you sure? What if I lose it-"

She was silenced by his steely gaze.

"Your family aren't the only ones who believe in you. I believe in you as well. I taught you everything I know. And that is why I'm entrusting you with that blade. Make this old bastard proud."

Ruby could feel her eyes watering up. People had always called her a prodigy. Called her lucky. Called her amazing. But it never felt genuine. But his words . . . they were the first in a long time that felt so warm. He truly . . . believed in her.

Just like mom.

Before she knew it, she had jumped back into the car and hugged him with all her strength.

"Thank you! I'll do my best!"

He grunted in approval before pushing her away. "Easy. I'm not one for hugging you know."

She blushed as she quickly jumped back. "R-Right. Sorry. I-I'll be on my way."

She walked toward the Bullhead before stopping and looking back one time.

This time, her nervous features were replaced with a beautiful smile.

"You know. If I ever get married. I want you to be the one who walks me down the aisle." She said before turning away and heading into the ship.

She wouldn't be there to see it, but those words brought tears to the eyes of a man who had been convinced that he had cried his last tears long ago.

[winchesterbrotherstan]

SPN- The Usual Suspects (2.07)

Pairing: Olive Winchester (OC)

Summary: A case goes side-ways, Dean is left cornered, and it’s up to Sam and Olive to get him out of the mess. Olive falls fatally ill, and Sam must team up with a law enforcement officer.

Warnings: lots of coughing, blood, mentions of drug use, gun threats, uh ghosts and like... the usual??

Word Count: 8547

Baltimore, Maryland

Outside a motel room, a SWAT team gears up. It’s dark, and the few people outside have scattered. Someone stays closeby, but only their face is hidden. They’ve got their hood pulled up, one hand is in their pocket, and their other arm is in a makeshift sling. They’ve got a dog on a leash, and they do their best to stay in the shadows.

In a police station across the city, a sheriff enters an interrogation room and sits down.

“Well, first I thought you were just stepping up your game. Credit card fraud, breaking and entering, and this one…” he looks over the file with a sigh, “puzzled me. Grave desecration. But still, these are a long way from murder. Then we get a fax from St. Louis. Where you’re suspected of torturing and murdering a young woman. However, no one could prove anything, of course, because you died there. But I gotta tell you something. You look pretty healthy to me.”

The detective moves, sits on the table. “Now we know. Karen Giles isn’t the first person you’ve killed. But I guarantee you she’s the last.”

At the motel, the SWAT team stands outside a second floor room, ready. They knock the door down with a battering ram, and the person inside immediately puts their hands up. One of the detectives steps forward, keeping her gun on the person.

“Going somewhere, Sam?” She asks.

There’s a rifle ready to shoot the middle Winchester through the heart, and he swallows hard, eyes set in disgust as he looks at the woman.

In the police station, the detective shoots the prisoner a dirty look before getting up and walking out. The prisoner is Dean.

The person standing in the motel parking lot pulls their hood back, watching as Sam is dragged from the room. It’s Olive. She pulls the hood back up, turns on her heel, and walks off.

                                                               ***

The detective that cornered Sam enters his interrogation room. She places a coffee cup on the table, and Sam glances over, but continues to pace by the window.

“Thought you might be thirsty.”

“Okay, so you’re the good cop.” Sam assesses. “Where’s the bad cop?”

“Oh, he’s with your brother.”

“Okay. And you’re holding us why?”

“Well he’s being held on suspicion of murder.” The woman adjusts her sleeves and a look of shock washes over Sam’s face. “And you? Well, we’ll see.”

“Murder?” Sam repeats, leaning onto the table.

“You sound genuinely surprised. Or are you that good of an actor?” The woman smiles.

“Who is he supposed to have murdered?” Sam squints.

“We’ll get around to that.”

“Well, you can’t just hold us here without formal charges!” Sam is growing more and more upset.

“Well, actually, we can. For forty eight hours, but you, being a pre-law student, would know that. You see, I know all about you, Sam.” She picks up a file folder and opens it. “You’re twenty three years old. No job, no home address. Your mother died when you were a baby, your father’s whereabouts are unknown. And then there’s the case of your brother, Dean. Whose demise was, well, just a bit exaggerated. Feel free to jump in whenever you like.”

Sam leans against the wall and folds his arms over his chest.

“Shy?” She teases. “No problem. I’ll keep going. Your family moved around a lot when you were a kid. Despite that, you were a straight-A student. Got into Stanford with a full ride.”

Sam says nothing. They haven’t mentioned Olive, and he’s not sure whether he should be relieved or worried. His mind spins. There’s got to be a record of her somewhere out there. Sure, she wasn’t born in a hospital, and she almost never went to the doctor, and she went to school under fake names, but there’s gotta be something.

The woman closes the file. “Then about a year ago, there was a fire in your apartment. One fatality. Jessica Moore, your girlfriend. After she died, you fell off the grid. Left behind everything.”

Sam says nothing, but he looks up through his eyelashes. “I needed some time off. To deal. So I’m taking a road trip with my brother.”

“And your little sister.”

Sam’s blood runs cold.

“Don’t think we forgot about little old Olive.” She smiles. “Such a strange name.”

His nose twitches in anger. He picked that name. She smiles again, wider this time.

“Where is she? We didn’t find her in the motel room. The bathroom window was open, but she couldn’t have jumped. Two stories is too high, don’t you agree?”

Sam says nothing.

“Where is she, Sam?”

He leans further into the wall.

“How’s that road trip going for you guys?”

“Great.” Sam shrugs softly, then takes the chance to derail her. “I mean…” A smile grows on his face. “We saw the second largest ball of twine in the continental US. It was awesome.” He pulls up a chair and straddles it.

“We ran Dean’s fingerprints through AFIS.” The detective comes to the end of the table.

“Okay.”

“Got over a dozen possible hits.”

“Possible hits.” Sam repeats. “Which makes them worthless.”

“But it makes you wonder. What are we gonna find when we run your prints?”

“Well.” Sam smiles and pounds his fist on the table, every movement dripping with sarcasm. “You be sure to let me know.” He points at the cup. “May I?”

She nods. “Please.”

“Great.” He takes the cup, smells it, and then takes a sip.

She leans over him, eyes intent.

“Sam. You seem like a good kid. It’s not your fault Dean’s your brother. We can’t pick our family. Right now, detectives in St. Louis are exhuming a corpse. They’re trying to figure out how your brother faked his own death.”

There’s a scream from outside, and against all common sense, on instinct, Sam’s head snaps up. It’s Olive’s scream.

“Get off of me!” She screams, squirming.

She’s dropped Jinx off at a safe place. The Richmonds will pick her up and take care of her until this is over. Olive is being dragged through the police station, kicking and screaming. She’s managed to nail two men in the crotch, and has sent a mug full of pens to the floor.

Back in the interrogation room, Sam’s face is pale. The detective turns back to him with a smile.

“Is that baby sister Olive?”

He glares.

“She’s sixteen, isn’t she? Has been for a little less than a month now. She can be tried as an adult. Look, Dean’s a bad guy. His life is over. Yours doesn’t have to be, and neither does Olive’s.”

Sam turns with a glare. “You want us to turn against our own brother?”

“No.” She shakes her head. “We’ve already caught him cold. Red-handed at the Karen Giles murder scene. We just need you to fill in some missing pieces.”

“Why would I do that?” Olive spits from her seat in a third interrogation room.

They’ve cuffed her down, and she knows she could break them, but that would lead to another issue they couldn’t solve without making an even bigger mess.

“Because we can talk to the DA for you, kid.” The detective who had talked to Dean sits across from her. “Dean’s gone. You don’t have to be.”

She grits her teeth, composes herself, and then spits in his face.

“Go to hell.”

The man wipes the spit from his face angrily and stands.

“Fine. Just remember, I tried to help you.”

Sam begins to talk, voice quiet. “My dad and Tony Giles were old friends. They were in the service together. We’ve known him since we were kids, you know? So we came as soon as we heard about his death.”

Cafe, Before

“Here.” Sam placed three coffee cups down and slid into his chair.

Dean handed him the newspaper he had been reading. “Anthony Giles.”

“Who’s Anthony Giles?” Sam squinted.

“Baltimore lawyer. Working late in his office, check it out.” Olive pointed at the article she and Dean found.

Sam scanned over it, mumbling out loud. “Throat slit, room was clean. Huh. No DNA, no prints.”

“Keep reading.” Olive grinned. “It gets better.”

“Security cameras failed to capture footage of the assailant.” He scoffed.

“So we’re thinking either somebody messed with the tapes-”

“Or we’ve got an invisible killer on our hands.”

“My favorite kind.” Dean smiles. “What do you think, Scully? You wanna check it out?”

Sam scoffed, and Olive snorted.

“I’m not Scully, you’re Scully.”

“No, I’m Mulder.” Dean fought back. “You’re a red-headed woman.”

“Hey!” Olive whined. “Can I be Scully? I’m a girl.”

Dean and Sam shared a look, and each broke out into a smile. Dean patted her head and Sam gave her hand a squeeze.

“You’re too little to be either, bug.”

She rolled her eyes with a huff. “Fine, fine. Let’s go check this out.”

Second Interrogation Room, Present Day

“Would’ve been kind of hard for Dean to kill Tony, considering we weren’t in town at the time.” Sam is still straddling the chair, hands in his lap.

“So tell me what happened next.”

“Okay, uh, that when we went to see Karen.” Sam sighs. “She was barely holding it together. We just wanted to be there for her. You know?”

Giles House, Before

Karen sat on the couch, on the verge of tears. She flipped through the forms the siblings had handed her and sighed shakily.

“Insurance. I totally forgot about the insurance.”

“We’ve very sorry to bother you right now, but the company is required to conduct its own investigation. You understand.” Sam smiled sympathetically.

“Sure.” Karen nodded, pushing her glasses back up.

“Okay. Um, if you could just tell us anything you remember about the night your husband died.”

“Um… Tony and I were just supposed to have dinner. He called and said he was having computer troubles, and that… that he had to work late.” She sniffled again. “That was it.”

“Do you have any idea who could’ve done this to him?” Olive’s voice was sympathetic.

“No.” Karen shook her head. “No, it’s like I told the police, I… I have no idea.”

“Did Tony mention anything, you know, unusual to you? In the days before his death?” Dean asked.

“Unusual…” Karen trailed off.

“Yeah, like strange.”

“Strange?” She repeated.

“You know, weird. Weird noises, uh, visions, anything like that?”

Sam cleared his throat and glared at Dean, and Olive sent him a similar look.

Could you be any less subtle?

Karen turned to glance at Sam and Olive, who immediately switched back to the looks of concern and pity. She looked down again, and the two younger siblings shot him a look again.

“He had a nightmare the day before he died.” Karen shrugged.

“What kind of nightmare?”

“Uh, he said that he woke up in the middle of the night and there was a woman standing at the foot of the bed. He blinked and she was gone, I mean… it was just a nightmare.”

“Did he say what she looked like?”

“What the hell difference does it make what she looked like?” Karen spat.

Dean squirmed, and Olive leaned forward, voice gentle.

“Our company is just very thorough. I understand this is an upsetting process, but we just need to ask a few more questions, and we’ll be on our way.”

Karen nodded. “Okay. I’m sorry. He said she was pale, and that she… she had dark red eyes.”

The siblings nodded as they each made a note.

Second Interrogation Room, Present Day

“So I gave Karen a hug, told her to call me if she needed anything, and that was it… end of story.” Sam shrugs.

“Sam, I am trying to help you here.” The detective hisses. “But you have got to be honest with me. Now, we have an eyewitness. Someone who saw two men and a young woman fitting you and your siblings’s descriptions breaking into Gile’s office.”

“Okay.” Sam sighs. “Look, Karen called us later, said that there was some stuff that she wanted from Tony’s office. But the police weren’t letting her in. Like, a picture of the two of them in Paris, and some other stuff. Look, it was wrong to enter a crime scene, but she gave us the key!” Sam puts his hands up in protest.

Giles’ Office, Before

Dean picked the lock, and he ducked in first. Olive followed, and Sam went last, shutting the door behind themselves. Each ducked under the police tape with ease. Sam shone his flashlight on a pool of blood on the floor.

“Hey. Giles’ body was found right about here.”

He rummaged through his jacket pockets and pulled out the newspaper from earlier. “Throat slit so deep part of his spinal cord was visible.”

Dean let out a low whistle. “What do you guys think? Vengeful spirit? Underlining vengeful?” He emphasized.

“Yeah, maybe. I mean, he did see that woman at the foot of his bed.”

Dean picked a paper off the desk. “Look at this.”

Olive took the paper and held it where Sam could see it too. danashulps was written all over it, in small print.

“Dana Shulps. Name?” Sam suggested.

Dean picked another paper off the desk. “I dunno, but it’s all over the place.” A grin broke out on his face. “Well, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

Sam shone his flashlight over the glass table and paused. Olive looked up at him.

“What is it, Sams?”

“Do me a favor, breathe onto the table.”

She eyed him, but did as he asked, pulling away when she realized that danashulps was written all over it.

“What the fuck?”

“Well, I’d say we’ve officially crossed over into weird.

“Maybe Giles knew her.” Dean suggested.

“Or!” Olive perked up. “Maybe it’s the name of our pale, red-eyed mystery girl.”

“Alright, let’s just see what we can find.”

                                                              ***

Dean let out a loud groan, and Olive sighed from her spot on the couch. Sam was at the desktop computer, typing away.

“There’s not a single mention of a Dana Shulps anywhere. There’s not a D. Shulps. Or any other kind of fucking Shulps.” Dean complained.

“Great.” Olive huffed. “I can’t find anything either. Sams, what about you?”

“Nothing. No Dana Shulps has ever lived or died in Baltimore in the last fifty years at least.”

“So what now?”

“Well, I think I’m pretty close to cracking Giles’ password. Maybe there’s something in his personal files, you know?”

“By close, you mean?”

Sam shrugged. “Thirty minutes, maybe?”

Dean glanced down at his watch and sighed. “Awesome, so I guess I just get to uh… hang out.” He sighed, then grumbled something under his breath.

Olive got up from the couch and sat in the other red chair, watching as Sam worked. Dean began to click his tongue, and both younger siblings turned with similar looks of annoyance.

He paused, and once they both looked away, he started to make fart noises with his mouth. Olive stifled a giggle, and Sam sighed.

“Dude, seriously!”

“Alright, I’m gonna go talk to Karen again, see if she knows anything about this Dana Shulps, huh?”

“Great.” Sam huffed.

“Be careful.” Olive smiled at Dean as he stood.

He leaned down and kissed the top of her forehead, then shone his flashlight at Sam. “Keep going, Sparky.”

Third Interrogation Room, Present Day

“Then Dean went back to Karen’s place to check up on her. I mean, you know, she had obviously been upset earlier.” Olive huffs.

“So why didn’t you and Sam go with him?” The one from before, who Olive’s figured out is named Sheridan, asks.

Olive half shrugs. “I had to take care of some lady things. Sam came with me to the motel.” She pauses. “How did you know he was there, by the way?”

“We found the motel matchbook on Dean when he arrested him. Now-”

“How’d you know where to find me?” She questions.

“Let’s quit dicking around. Now you two were with Dean the whole time you were in Baltimore. Why separate now? Because your brother left you. To go kill Karen.”

“He didn’t kill anyone!” Olive shouts.

The anxiety is ramping, and it’s making her fractured arm hurt.

“I heard the 911 call!” Sheridan slams his fist on the table. “Karen was terrified! She said someone was in the house!”

Giles House, Before

Karen was on the couch in her pajamas, crying. The TV was on, but low. She wasn’t watching. She blew her nose, and heard something as she did. She took her glasses off to rub her eyes before quickly putting them back on. She noticed a figure in the mirror across the room.

She let out a frightened yelp and stood, turning the lights on. There was nobody there, but she turned into the bedroom and shut the door. She dialed 911 and put the phone to her ear.

“Hello, emergency services.”

“Hello? I think I saw someone in my house.”

“What’s your address?”

“It’s 421 Clinton Avenue. Please, can you-”

A click, and the call was disconnected.

“Hello?”

The printer on her desk flicked on and began to rapid-print sheets with the same thing from Tony’s office.

danashulpsdanashulpsdanashulpsdanashulps

Karen fumbled around for a flashlight, and finally turned. She turned to be face-to-face with the ghost. She screamed.

                                                              ***

Giles House, Before

Dean knocked on the door. “Karen, you in there?”

He got no answer. He looked around before bending to pick the lock. He opened the door and tried the light in the entryway. It didn’t work. He shut the door behind himself and ventured further into the house. He went up the stairs and turned into the bedroom. He pushed the door open to see Karen lying on the floor in a pool of blood. He turned and noticed the printer pages.

“Seriously, what the hell?” He grumbled.

He knelt by Karen’s body, noticing bruises on her wrists. He slowly picked up one of her hands.

“Freeze.”

Dean cursed to himself. Behind him, two cops had their guns trained on his head.

“Stay on your knees. Hands where I can see them. Now!”

He complied.

First Interrogation Room, Present Day

Sheridan sits in an observation room, where he can see Dean, who is handcuffed to a table. The detective that had been with Sam, Ballard, enters.

“You getting anywhere with him?”

“No. Just a lot of wise-ass remarks.” He grumbles.

“What about the girl?”

Sheridan rolls his eyes. “Nothing. Her story matches his down to the last detail. You?”

“Same with Sam’s.”

“Hmm. Yeah, well, these guys are good. I’ll give them that.” Sheridan crosses his arms over his chest.

Ballard sighs. “If we don’t get Sam or Olive to flip, we have nothing but a lot of circumstantial evidence.”

“Hey. We’ve got Dean at the crime scene with blood on his hands. And we caught Olive trying to steal a car. Juries have convicted for less.”

“Yeah, but…” Ballard sighs. “I mean, where’s the murder weapon? What’s the motive? You talk about reasonable doubt.”

“Diana.” Sheridan leans in and touches her face. “Do you have reasonable doubt? We keep leaning on these three, one of them will tumble. And don’t forget about St. Louis. I’m telling you. This Dean guy is our guy.”

Ballard sighs. “I know Tony Giles was a friend of yours.”

“Yeah.” Sheridan nods. “He was, he was a good friend.”

“Look, and I know you just want to clean this mess up quick, but some on. Tony knew a lot of criminal types, I mean… maybe we’re just-”

“Criminal types?” Sheridan cuts her off with a snarl. “He was a defense lawyer, for fuck’s sake. Of course he knew criminal types.”

“Alright.” Ballard sighs. “Let’s get back at them.”

“No, you know what? Let em stew in their juices for a bit.” Sheridan glances around to make sure nobody is nearby. “Come here.”

He pulls her into a kiss.

In the interrogation room, Dean huffs.

“Dana Shulps, Dana Shulps, Dana Shulps. Dana- Dana Shulps.” He mumbles to himself, eyes closed.

He’s stiff cuffed to the table, and he’s got his hands laced together as he thinks.

Sam, hands free, pulls a pad of paper and a pen to himself. He writes Dana Shulps in print, frowning as he thinks.

Olive is still cuffed to the table in her interrogation room. Her wrists are beginning to hurt, and her leg is bouncing up and down, shaking the entire table. She mutters curses as she looks around, in thought.

“It’s not a name, it’s not a name, it’s not a name.” She squeezes her eyes shut.

Sam huffed as he got to work. “Anagram, maybe?”

Dean continues to mumble to himself, looking up when there’s a knock on the door.

“Mr. Winchester?” A middle aged man pokes his head in.

“Yeah.” Dean grumbles.

“Hi, I’m Jeffrey Kraus.” The man walks in. “I’m with the public defender’s office. I’m your lawyer.”

Dean deadpans. “Oh. Thank god. I’m saved.”

Kraus sits, and Dean leans forward. “Hey, could I uh, steal a pen from you? Maybe some paper?”

“Sure.” Kraus hands the items over to Dean, who goes to town. “Uh, well, the police haven’t found a weapon yet. So that’s good. But uh, they got your prints. And well,” the man chuckles, “literally blood on your hands. And with your police record, uh…” he trails off when he notices that Dean isn’t paying attention.

“Mr. Winchester?”

Nothing.

“What are you doing?”

“I think it’s an anagram.” Dean grunts.

“A what?”

“Same letters, different words.” Dean explains as he continues to scribble.

The paper now reads:

dna shulps

dan shulpas

land pushas

supash land

push landas

plush danas

He pushes it over to Kraus. “Uh, do me a favor? See if you recognize any of these words. You know, local names, places, anything like that?”

“Do you understand how serious these charges are?”

“I’m handcuffed to a table.” Dean scoffs. “Yeah, I get it. Humor me. Take a quick look.”

Kraus sighs and pulls the pad of paper over to him. “Well, I don’t know about s-u-p, but Ashland is a street name. Not far from here.”

“A street.” Dean repeats.

He takes the pad back, tears the paper off, and begins to scribble again.

“Let’s start with where you were the night Anthony Giles died.”

“Can you get in to see my brother and sister?” Dean looks up quickly.

“Mr. Winchester, you could be facing the death penalty here.”

“Hey, thanks for the law review, Matlock. But, if you wanna help me.” Dean holds up the two scraps of paper he’s written on. “I need you to see my brother and sister.”

Third Interrogation Room, Present Day

Olive unfurls the note and snorts.

Lil,

Ashland Street

Call richies if you’re alone

-Phil

“I hope that means something. He was adamant I get that to you.” Kraus sits across from her.

Olive rolls her neck. “Yeah, thanks. How far exactly is Ashland Street from here?” She crumbles up the note and looks up, expectantly.

“Uh, maybe a ten minute drive. Miss Winchester, if you don’t mind, I’d really like to-”

“No.” Olive shakes her head. “I don’t need a lawyer to talk me through this. They think Dean’s a killer, they found me stealing a car, and they’re gonna pin Sam and I as accessories. They’re gonna bring up everything we’ve ever done, gonna bring up the fact that our dad is gone, gonna say Dean had blood on his hands, and that’s gonna be the end of it.”

Kraus sighs. “You’re sixteen-”

“They’re gonna try me as an adult, I know.” She nods again. “Look, Matlock, why don’t you go talk to Sam? He’s prelaw, full ride to Stanford. I’m sure he can help you work out a strategy for us.” She smiles a sickly sweet smile, but it’s full of anger and poison.

Krau sighs a third time before getting up and exiting the room.

Second Interrogation Room, Present Day

Sam reads over the note Dean sent.

Hilts-

It’s a street

Ashland

-McQueen

Kraus sighs. “I hope that’s meaningful. But I’d like to discuss your case now.”

Sam gestures to the chair in front of him. “Sure thing, Matlock.”

Kraus sighs again. “You three really are siblings, aren’t you?” He sits. “Now, as you know, the DA might be interested in-”

A knock on the door, and then Ballard barges in.

“We need you.” She looks at Kraus. “With the other one.”

Sam stares at the door after they close it. He huffs. Several people have crowded outside Dean’s interrogation room, watching as the digital camera is set up across from him.

“Counselor?” Sheridan grins. “Your boy decided to confess.”

“Mr. Winchester?” Kraus warns. “I’d strongly advise against that.”

“Talk directly into the camera, first stating your name for the record.”

Dean clears his throat and sits up. He leans forward and looks into the camera. “My name is Dean Michael Winchester. I’m an Aquarius.” A smile begins to creep onto his face. He knows that if Sam and Olive were to see this, they would roll their eyes and break into a cackle, respectively. “I enjoy sunsets, long walks on the beach, and frisky women. And I did not kill anyone.” His smile drops. “But I know who did. Or rather, what, did. Of course, it can’t be for sure because our investigation was interrupted. But our working theory was that we’re looking for some kind of vengeful spirit.”

“Excuse me?” Ballard spits.

“You know,” Dean shrugs. “Casper the bloodthirsty ghost?”

People in the observation room begin to laugh.

“Tony Giles saw it. I’ll bet you cash money Karen did too. But see, the interesting thing is the word it leaves behind. For some reason, it’s trying to tell us something. But communicating across the veil, it ain’t easy.” Dean shakes his head. “You know, sometimes the spirits, they, they get things jumbled. You remember redrum. Same concept. You know, it’s uh, word fragments, sometimes it’s anagrams. See, at first we thought it was a name. Dana Shulps. But now we think it’s a street. Ashland. Whatever’s going on, I’ll bet you it started there.”

Dean spreads his hands and smiles. His part is done.

“You arrogant bastard!” Sheridan shouts. “Tony and Karen were good people, and you’re making jokes!”

“I’m not joking, Ponch.” Dean’s lip curls up.

“You murdered them in cold blood! Just like that girl in St. Louis!”

“Oh, yeah…” Dean sucks in air through his teeth. “That wasn’t me either. That was a shape-shifter creature that only looked like me.”

He smiles at the camera again, and Sheridan snaps. He picks Dean up by the collar, which is no easy task, as he’s 6’ 2” and about 170 pounds. He slams him against the wall, and although Dean is uncomfortable, he doesn’t flinch. He keeps his cold front.

“Pete, that is enough!” Ballard pulls him off.

“You asked for the truth.” Dean speaks calmly.

“Lock his ass up.” Sheridan spits, dropping Dean to his feet.

Another cop takes over and shoves Dean face-first against the wall, cuffing him. Dean grunts, but a sense of calm washes over him. He did what needed to be done. Sam and Olive would fix it from here.

Sheridan storms into Olive’s interrogation room, only to find her gone. He lets out a frustrated scream and throws a chair across the room. A breeze blows through the window, and he sticks his head out. It’s a five story drop, and the fire escape is at least six feet away. There’s no way she could’ve reached it.

“Where is she!” He shouts.

Ballard comes running. “Sam’s gone!”

She blinks, noticing that Sheridan is the only one in the room. “What?”

“What did they do? The fire escapes way over there! For both of them!”

“These fuckers.” Ballard hisses, showing Sheridan the note left on Sam’s table.

“Hilts and McQueen? Lil and Phil?” Sheridan spits.

“Hilts is Steve McQueen’s character in the Great Escape.” Ballard sighs. “And Lil and Phil are from the Rugrats.”

Sheridan lets out another scream.

                                                              ***

Dean is cuffed once more, in a smaller room. Ballard enters, looking around, nervous. Dean huffs.

“Can we make this quick? I’m a little tired, it’s been a long day, you know, with your partner assaulting me and all.”

“I want to know more about that stuff you were talking about earlier.”

Dean hums. “Time Life. Mysteries of the Unknown. Look it up.”

She circles around to stand in front of him. “Let’s pretend, for the moment, you’re not entirely insane.”

Dean hums again. “What would one of these things be doing here?”

“A vengeful spirit?”

Ballard nods, and Dean pouts as he thinks.

“Well, they’re created by violet deaths. And then they come back for a reason, usually a nasty one. Like revenge on the people that hurt em.”

“And, uh, these things… they’re capable of killing people?” She asks, rubbing her neck.

Dean smiles, lining up his next smart-ass response, when he notices deep, dark bruises on her wrists, the same he had seen on Karen’s.

“Where’d you get those?”

Ballard sighs and pulls up her sleeves, seeing the bruises for the first time.

“I don’t know. It… it wasn’t there before.”

“You’ve seen it before, haven’t you? The spirit?”

“How’d you know?”

“Cause Karen had the same bruises on her wrists. And I’m willing to bet that if you look at Giles’ autopsy photos, he’s got em too. It’s got something to do with this spirit, I… I just don’t know what.”

Ballard turns away, looking into the mirror.

“I know. You think you’re going crazy. But let’s skip that part, shall we? Because the last two people who saw this thing? Died, pretty soon after. You hear me?”

She turns back to him, face drained of color. “You think I’m going to die.”

Dean sighs. “You need to go to Sam and Olive. They’ll help.”

Ballard’s shoulders fall. “You’re giving them up.”

Dean sighs again, looking away. “Go to the first motel listed in the yellow pages. Look for Jim Rockford and Angel Martin. It’s how we find each other when we’re all separated. Now, you can arrest them if you want.” He looks up at her. “Or you can let them save your life.”

Motel Room, Present Day

Sam sits at a desk, rifling through files. Somebody knows on the door, and his head perks up. The person knocks again, and this time Sam gets up. He tucks a handgun into the back of his jeans and looks through the peephole.

He throws the door open with a sigh of relief. Olive tumbles into his arms, shaking. He holds her, then realizes that her legs have given out, and she’s relying entirely on him. He picks her up by the waist and puts her down on the bed, kicking the door shut.

“Bug, what happened?”

She coughs, and a few specks of blood fly out. “I had to jump. I wasn’t gonna make it to the fire escape, so I just went straight down.” She groans. “I landed in a dumpster, my leg broke, and my lungs hurt. I’m mostly healed now, but… it still hurts.” She leans back onto the wall with a heavy sigh.

“Fuck.” Sam mumbles under his breath.

He sees the fear in Olive’s eyes and sits next to her, pulling her to rest in his lap. “Okay. Once we get all of this fixed, I promise we’ll go straight to Bobby. Okay?” He runs a hand through her hair.

She coughs again. “We’ve gotta get Dean.”

The door opens, and Sam whips the gun out, his other hand holding Olive protectively. It’s Ballard. She eyes the gun, and Sam hesitates. She gives a soft smile, and Sam puts the gun down. Olive doesn’t move. She’s scared she’ll cough up a lung, and she’s barely breathing as is. Sam notices Ballard’s eyes on her.

“You’ll have to sit here.” He gestures to the bed.

She does so. “I saw it.”

“What?” Olive speaks, then coughs again, ending with a groan.

Ballard eyes Olive again, then shows Sam her wrists. He takes her hands in his and winces as he looks over the pink skin.

“These showed up after you saw it?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Ballard sighs.

“Alright. You’re gonna have to tell me exactly what you saw.”

Ballard hesitates. “You know, I must be losing my mind. You’re both fugitives. I should be arresting you.”

“You can arrest us later.” Olive rasps. “After we get through this.”

“She’s right.” Sam sighs. “Right now you’ve gotta talk to me.”

Ballard nods.

“Okay. The spirit, what did it look like?”

“She was… um, really pale. Her throat was cut, and her eyes… they were like, this deep dark red. It appeared like she was trying to talk to me, but she couldn’t. It was just… a lot of blood.”

“Okay. There.” Sam points to the desk, and she rises, going to it. “I’ve been researching every girl that’s ever died or gone missing from Ashland street.”

“How’d you get these?” Ballard flips through the photos. “These are from crime scenes, and booking photos.”

“You have your job, we have ours. Look through them, tell me if you recognize anyone.”

She sits down and begins to look through papers. Sam turns back to Olive and presses a soft kiss to her forehead.

“I’m gonna get you some water. Okay, bug?”

Olive mumbles an agreement and lets Sam move her out of his lap. He goes to the bathroom, wets a towel, and brings it back, placing it on her forehead. He’s seen her sick like this before, but it’s never been this bad. Panic begins to grow in his chest as he fills a glass with water. He doesn’t know what to do. He needs Dean.

“This is her. I’m sure of it.”

Sam places the cup of water down on the nightstand and goes to stand at the desk with Ballard.

“Claire Becker. Twenty eight years old, disappeared about nine months ago.”

“But I don’t even know her. I mean, why would she come after me?” Ballard’s growing exasperated.

“Well, before her death, she was arrested twice. For dealing heroin. You ever work narcotics?” Sam suggests.

“Yeah, Pete and I did. Before homicide.”

“You ever bust her?”

Ballard shakes her head. “Not that I remember.”

“It says that she was last seen entering 2911 Ashland Street. Police searched the place, didn’t find anything. Guess we gotta check it out ourselves. See if we can find her body.”

“What?” Ballard squints.

“Salt and burn em. It’s the only way to put her spirit to rest.” Olive speaks, eyes closed and voice thin and scratchy.

The panic flares in Sam’s chest once more. He needs Dean. She needs Dean.

Ballard sighs. “Of course it is.”

“Sammy, I wanna come with you. I wanna help.” She starts to sit up.

“No, no, no, Ollie. I can’t let you.” Sam rushes to her side, pushing her back down. “No, baby girl. You’re too weak, you’ve gotta stay here.”

“But I wanna help save Dean.” She whines.

“I know, babes, I know. But I need you safe, and that means you have to stay here.”

“She should be in a hospital right now.” Ballard states.

“No!” Olive jumps, then proceeds to cough, spitting blood into the crook of her elbow.

Sam rubs her back and shakes his head. “No hospitals. She can’t do hospitals.”

“Why not?”

He sighs. “Family issue.”

Olive groans, then rolls onto her side, looking up at Sam with puppy eyes. He sighs again, pushing her hair behind her ear.

“I don’t wanna be alone.” She whispers.

Healing large injuries drains her more than turning itself does. A broken leg is no small feat, and she’s definitely injured her lungs. But she had to get out of there, so she forced herself to begin to heal. Once she’s started, she can’t turn the healing process back off. It’s killing her.

She doesn’t want to be alone when she dies.

They both know it.

He helps her sit up, and they both ignore the grunt of pain that escapes her lips. He holds her tightly, but gently.

“Okay.”

2911 Ashland Street, Present Day

Sam leads them down into a creepy warehouse. Olive has her finger hooked in his belt loop, and her feet are dragging. She’s getting worse by the minute, but she refuses to let her mind slip away, not until she sees Dean.

“So what exactly are we looking for?”

“I’ll let you know when we find it.” Sam whispers.

They split up. Sam and Olive start up a flight of stairs as Ballard continues on the lower level. She turns around a corner, and sees Claire, standing by a window. She gasps, and Claire moves towards her, trying to speak.

“Sam? Sam!”

Sam and Olive share a look. Olive lets go of his belt loop and nods, and he runs back down the stairs, toward Ballard. Claire disappears.

“Hey! Hey, I’m here. What is it, what happened?” Sam looks her up and down, noticing that she’s unscatched.

“Claire…”

“Where?” Olive croaks, making her way down the stairs.

“Here. She was here.”

“Did she attack you?” Sam asks.

Ballard shakes her head. “No,” she hesitates, “No, she was just like… reaching out to me. She was over there by the window.” She points.

Sam and Olive share a look before Sam moves the shelves away from the window. Olive squints as the words printed on the glass become clear.

Ashland Supplies

She snorts. “That’s the word.”

“Well, yeah, now the extra letters make sense.” Sam fishes an EMF reader from his pocket and slowly makes his way to the wall, where the words are perfectly shadowed.

“What is that?”

Olive stumbles to follow her brother as she clears her throat. “Spirits and certain remains give off electromagnetic frequencies.”

“So, if Clarie’s body were here, it would tell you?”

“Yeah, that’s the theory.” Sam mumbles.

The EMF meter begins to purr, and Sam turns back around to a brick wall. He sighs and looks around. Olive spots a rusted crowbar and drags it behind her as she follows Sam. He plucks it from her hand and begins to break through the wall. Olive coughs as dust and debris fly through the air. She slumps down against the staircase, coughing every so often. Her head falls back when she’s not struggling to breathe, and her eyes are beginning to roll into the back of her head.

“There’s definitely something in there.” Sam grunts as he continues to break through the wall. “You know? This is bothering me.”

“Well, you are digging up a corpse.” Ballard shrugs.

“No, no, uh…” Sam chuckles. “That’s pretty par for the course, actually.”

“Then what?”

“I mean, it’s just… no vengeful spirit we’ve ever dealt with wanted to be wasted… so why the hell would Claire lead us to her own remains?”

Olive lets out another cough, this one sounding loud and wet. Sam pauses and stares at her. Her head is back against the wall, her mouth is open and bloody, and her eyes are closed. She’s pale, sweaty, and barely breathing.

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Ballard shakes her head, snapping Sam back into reality.

He shakes his head, again glancing over his shoulder at the teenager sprawled on the ground.

“Here, gimme a hand.”

Together, they pull out a body that is wrapped in shrouds of cloth, and place it on the ground. Sam fishes out a pocket knife and cuts the ropes off, revealing the body. He sighs, looking back at Olive. Her eyes are shut, and her head is falling off to the side. Her chest heaves with each breath, and Sam can hear her wheezing. Ballard puts her wrists out, above Claire’s.

“Her wrists, yeah.” Sam turns back. “They’d be bruised just like yours.”

Ballard reaches out with a shaky hand, cautiously touching a necklace on the body. Sam perks up.

“That necklace mean anything to you?”

“I’ve seen it before. It’s rare. It was custom made over on Carson street.” Ballard’s hand goes back to her own neck. “I have one just like it.” She looks up at Sam. “Pete gave it to me.”

He huffs. “Now this makes sense.”

“I’m sorry?”

“She’s a death omen, not a vengeful spirit.”

“Excuse me?”

“Claire’s not killing people.” Sam sighs. “She’s trying to warn them. You see, sometimes, spirits, they don't want revenge. They want justice.” He nods to himself. “Which is why she led us here in the first place. She wants us to know who her killer is.” He pauses, and it clicks in his head. “Detective, how much do you know about your partner?”

“Oh my god.” Ballards face falls.

“About a year ago, some heroin went missing from lockup. Obviously, it was a cop. We never found out who did it, but whoever it was would need someone to fence their product.”

Sam snorts. “Someone like a heroin dealer. Somebody like Claire.”

Olive stumbles to her feet. Her lips are dry and her skin is devoid of color. Her fangs are peeking out of her mouth, and her eyes are watery.

“Dean’s in danger.”

Armored Van on a Highway, Present Day

“So I’m being extradited to St. Louis, huh?”

Dean gets no answer, so he tries again.

“And you just decided to transfer me yourself, eight hundred miles at two in the morning?”

Again, nothing. The hairs on the back of Dean’s neck begin to rise.

“This can’t be good.”

Baltimore, Present Day

“Okay. Thanks.” Ballard snaps her phone shut.

“What is it?” Sam asks, leaning forward.

He’s in the backseat with Olive. She’s in and out of it, and she looks worse every time they pass under a street light.

“Pete just left the precinct. With Dean.”

“What?” Olive forces her eyes open as she sits up, grunting.

“He said the prisoner had to be transfered, and he just took him. Dispatch has been calling but he won’t answer the radio.”

“Radio?” Sam repeats. “He took a county vehicle?”

“Yeah.”

“Well then they should have a lo-jack. We’ve just gotta get it turned on.”

Empty stretch of road, Present Day

The van pulls off onto the side of the road. Dean pushes the rising anxiety and leans forward.

“Pee break? So soon?” He taunts. “Might wanna get your prostate checked.”

Sheridan says nothing before he gets out. Dean listens as the footsteps circle around to the back of the van.

“Son of a bitch.” He groans to himself.

Sheridan yanks the backdoors open, and Dean inches away.

“Hey, man. I’m cool in the van. You go do what you gotta do.”

Sheridan grabs him by the jacket and hauls him out of the van, throwing him onto the wet ground. Dean lands with a grunt, squirming to sit up.

“You’re a cocky son of a bitch.” Sheridan spits. “You think those people in St. Louis are gonna buy that shit you’re peddling?”

Dean makes it to his knees and pants, staring at Sheridan.

“Here’s the thing. You’re not gonna make it to St. Louis. You’re gonna die trying to escape.”

Dean blinks, and Sheridan’s gun is out, pointed between his eyes.

“Wait!” Dean pleads. “Wait, let’s talk about this. I mean, you don’t wanna do something that you’re gonna regret later.”

Sheridan only cocks the gun.

“Or maybe you do.”

Olive growls from low in her throat, holding back a cough and the load of blood in her mouth. Sheridan turns at the noise, and Ballard puts her gun up. Sam tucks Olive into his side, shielding her from the gun. She’s shaking, and Dean’s eyes are glued to her.

His stomach drops. She’s dying. He knows it.

“Pete! Put the gun down.”

“Diana? How’d you find me?” The gun goes back to Dean’s head, and Olive feels bile rise in her throat.

Sam hugs her tighter.

“I know about Claire.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Sheridan shakes his head, gun still up.

“Put the gun down!” She shouts.

Sheridan drops the act, and a smirk grows on his face. “Oh, I don’t think so. You’re fast. I’m pretty sure I’m faster.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“I didn’t do anything, Diana.” Sheridan shakes his head.

“It’s a little late for that.”

“It wasn’t my fault.” Sheridan scoots closer to Dean, and another growl rips through Olive’s throat.

She swallows what she can and spits blood onto the grass.

“Claire was trying to turn me in! I had no choice.”

“And Tony? Karen?”

Sheridan shakes his head again. “Same thing! Tony scrubbed the money, he got skittish, and then he wanted to come clean. I’m sure he told Karen everything.”

Dean’s eyes go back to his younger siblings. Sam’s holding the entirety of Olive’s weight, and he’s looking at Dean with big eyes. Dean shakes his head, and Sam looks about ready to cry. Olive lets out a weak cough.

“It was a mess. I had to clean it up. I just panicked.” Sheridan shook his head.

“How many more people are gonna die over this, Pete?”

“There’s a way out.” Sheridan looks back at Dean. “This Dean kid’s a freaking gift. We could pin the whole thing on him. Right? No trial, nothing. Just… just one more dead scumbag.”

“Hey.” Dean fronts.

Sheridan puts the gun closer, and Dean backs off, shoulders falling.

“No one will question it. Diana, please.” Sheridan begs. “I still love you.”

Ballard puts the gun down with a sigh. Dean’s eyes fill with tears as Sheridan’s gun connects with his head. A loud growl tears through the trees, and Sheridan is tackled to the ground. Dean rolls out of the way, and Sam pulls him up. Ballard tries to get a shot, but she can’t.

There’s another loud growl, and the tangle of limbs stops moving. Sheridan is down, and Olive falls to her knees, coughing loudly and violently. Blood sprays everywhere, and the second she stops coughing she begins to throw up. Sam rushes over, holding her hair back. Diana unlocks Dean’s handcuffs, and he joins his brother, watching as Olive fights to breathe.

Blood continues to drip from her mouth as she wheezes, chest heaving. Dean pulls her into his chest, and she begins to shake.

“So now what, officer?” Dean asks, cradling Olive like a baby.

“Pete did confess to me. He screwed up all your cases. Royally. I’d say there’s a good chance that we could get them dismissed.”

“You’d take care of that for us?” Sam looks up.

“Yeah. But the St. Louis murder charges? That’s another story. I can’t help you. Unless…” Ballard sighs. “I just happened to turn my back, and you walked away. I could just tell them that the suspects escaped.”

“Wait, are you sure?” Sam’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Yeah, she’s sure, Sam.” Dean hissed.

“No, it’s just… I mean, you could lose your job over something like that.”

She shakes her head. “Look, I just want you guys out there doing what you do best. Trust me, I’ll sleep better at night.”

Olive lets out another strangled cough, and Dean pushes her hair from her face.

“Is she gonna be okay?” Ballard asks.

“I don’t know.” Sam whispers, in shock.

“Where’s my car?” Dean calls.

“It’s at the impound yard down on Robertson.”

Dean groans, shooting Sam a look. “We need Dad’s journal, it could have answers.”

Ballard shakes her head. “Don’t even think about taking the car. You guys have to get out of here. I have to radio this in.”

The boys nod and Dean hoists Olive up. Coughs continue to rack her body, and she’s spitting blood everywhere. Sam takes her from him and they start down the muddy road.

“Dean, what do we do?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen her like this before.” Dean hisses back.

“We’re miles away from Dad’s journal. We’ll never make it in time.”

Olive wheezes, then coughs again, choking on her blood and spit. Dean stops, panting. He shakes his head at Sam, who is staring back with wide eyes.

“Sam, we can’t do anything.”

Olive’s stomach heaves again, and blood is the only thing to come out. Sam sighs as he stops. The brothers kneel down, and Sam places Olive between them.

She stares between the two with tears in her eyes.

I’m sorry.

Dean pushes her hair out of her face with a soft smile. “We love you.”

Sam is trembling, enraged. He picks her back up and shakes his head. Dean follows, shouting Sam’s name.

“We have to be able to do something, Dean. I’m not gonna watch her die.”

“We don’t have Dad’s journal!”

“Then we call Bobby!”

“Sam, we don’t even know if Bobby knows.”

“We have to try!”

Dean swallows the bad taste in his mouth as he yanks out his phone and dial’s Bobby’s number. Olive coughs.

He puts it on speaker. “Hello.”

“Bobby!” Sam shouts.

“What’s wrong, kids?”

“Olive’s dying, we don’t know what to do!”

“What?”

“Bobby, we’ve gotta tell you something important.”

“You sister’s part Okami. I know. What happened?”

The boys blink at each other, but a groan from Olive snaps them back into reality.

“The healing process is killing her. What do we do?”

There’s a long sigh, and Dean watches the little color left in Olive’s face drain. Her chest heaves once more, and then she stops breathing. He drops the phone, snatching Olive from Sam’s hold.

“Olive!”

“Bobby!” Sam grabs the phone, in tears.

“Blood.”

“What?”

“She needs blood. Once a day, every day. It’ll make her stronger, she won’t get sick again.”

“Bobby, we’re not-”

“Gimme your knife.” Dean interrupts.

“What?” Sam’s eyes go wide.

“Give me your fucking knife!”

Sam doesn’t move, and Dean forces Olive’s mouth open. He slices his palm against her fang and groans as blood trickles out.

It falls in droplets, staining her teeth and her tongue. The phone call is long forgotten, and Sam is on his knees by their side. Olive’s eyes begin to twitch behind her eyelids, and Dean gasps. He squeezes his hand, bleeding harder.

A second passes, and Sam stares at Dean. Dean doesn’t look up from Olive.

Her fangs begin to recede, and Dean watches, shaking. A small cough moves her body, and then she begins to wheeze. Sam drops his head to her chest. He hears her heart and he lets out a loud sigh, resting his head against her.

“Boys?”

Her voice is soft and unharmed. She sounds like she just woke up from a nap. Dean pulls her up and hugs her. She sniffs, reaching up to rub her eyes.

“How?”

Sam lets out a weak laugh and brushes her hair back. “Dean saved you.”

She leans into her oldest brother and looks up with a soft smile.

“Thanks, De.”

He laughs and kisses the top of her head before pulling her back into a second hug. “Anything for you, baby girl. Anything for you.”

Previous Ep: No Exit (2.06)

Next Ep: Crossroad Blues (2.08)

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[secondgenerationnerd]

The Day It Happened

I regret nothing! Enjoy!

It’s early afternoon when they get the call. Irey knows from the way Damian tenses that it’s time for Impulse and Robin. A studio apartment required a bit of special maneuvering when it came to hiding their uniforms, but they’re nothing if not resourceful. Her uniform’s familiar feel makes suiting up easier, even if the middle is a bit tighter than normal. She can’t help but steal a look at her boyfriend as he pulls on his tunic. The scars crisscrossing along his spine always send a painful ache into her heart. But now’s not the time for that.

         She ties one of her boots, going to that special part of her brain before a mission. They’ve done this hundreds of times before. But Damian’s never knelt in front of her, tying her other boot for her. His incredible memory allows him to tie her laces the exact way she does. She frowns at the tight lines around his mouth. He’s too young to have such deep lines.

         Her ungloved hands are so, so soft as she cups his cheeks, making him look at her. His stubble scratches her, which makes her smile a bit. “You need to shave after the fight.”

         “You didn’t complain about it last night.” Damian’s tease eases her worry a bit.

         “Well, Mr. Wayne, I was preoccupied with more important things.” She presses a loving kiss to his mouth. The familiar taste of tea and honey calms her more than anything else ever could. Damian pulls away from her first.

         “I love you, nuri.”

         “I love you too, Dames.”

         “If we make it through this—”

         “When.” She corrects.

         “When we make it through this, I want to talk to about our future. About moving forward…together.”

         Irey won’t deny the flutter of hope that her heart gives. She kisses him again, “I’d like that. Now, let’s go save the world.”

--

         Once the battle’s in full swing, there’s no way to tell who’s winning. Nightstar and Green Lantern fly through the air, providing support to their friends on the ground. Nightstar’s bright purple starbolts vaporize the monsters easily. Green Lantern uses her ring to keep them in a contained area. Little Red Hood’s perched on a building, firing arrow after trick arrow into the insanity, letting her team know where the worse parts are. Superboy slams his fist into a monster’s leathery chest while a mutated Abuse chucks another through a wall. Velocity’s a blur, running through the crowd and disabling them however he can. Impulse and Robin have separated from the group, trying to find Heretic. Robin pulls her back as a monster crashes into the wall beside them. He takes it out with one swift strike of his katana.

         “Fifty meters forward then hang a left.” Robin tells her. She nods, already moving forward. He catches her arm and pulls her to his chest. Impulse’s quick to return his burning kiss. Call it adrenaline or fear, but she just knows something’s going wrong.  Her boyfriend pulls back, eyes hidden behind that domino mask, “I love you, Irey.”

         “I love you, too, Damian.” She kisses him again before they move forward. Impulse goes ahead of him to scout. He’s just entering the room as she hits the wall across the room.  She crumples to the ground.

         “IMPULSE!” He checks her. She’s breathing and her pulse strong.

“Thought she could stop me. Tell me, brother, what do you see in the little whore?” Robin grits his teeth at the clone’s insult. After making sure she’s ok, he straightens up.

“It’s more of what she brings out in me.” He charges Heretic. They exchange quick blows. The Teen Wonder matches the speed of the strikes, but barely the fercocity of them.

“Tell me. What does it feel like to lose so much potential for such a pathetic reason?”

“Fuck you!” Robin snarls. Something goes wrong. As he brings his katana down, Heretic’s sword drives through his chest. Breath catches in his throat as he blinks. Shit. Shit. Shit.

         “Pathetic.” The clone tosses Robin to the side. Doesn’t even bother to see where he lands, Heretic presses a button on his uniform. “Fall back. Our work here is done.”

         The heroes outside have no idea why the creatures pull back. Only that they do. They regroup on the ground, covered in blood, guts, sweat, and grime.

         “Everyone ok?” Little Red Hood asks, holding her wrist.

         “As good as we can be.” Nightstar grunts, holding her bloody side. Nasty throw into a wall, but it shouldn’t scare. “Where’s Impulse and Robin?”

         “I saw them go in there early.” Abuse points to the building. “I think Rob said something about Heretic?”

         Velcoty presses on his earpiece, “Impulse? This is Velocity and the team. What’s your 20?”

         Silence.

         “Impulse? Do you copy?” Still no response from his sister. “Impulse? Sissy?”

         “Something’s wrong.” Milagro’s words send fresh fear into their hearts.

         The team gets to the top of the building as soon as they can. Maybe their leaders will be fine. Heretic got scared and ran off. That has to be what happened, right?

         Right?

         “IREY!” Jai runs to his sister’s unconscious form. Long red hair falls from her ponytail, painful bruises forming along her jaw. Mar’i kneels down and fells for Irey’s pulse. “Mar’i, tell me—”

         “She’s alive. Strong pulse and her breathing seems ok. Where’s Damian?”

         Jai stays with his sister as the group moves a bit farther into the building. They barely go fifty feet when Mar’i screams. Damian’s body stares at them. Jade green eyes glossed over, tanned skin unnaturally pale. They don’t bother to check for a pulse. The gaping hole in his chest answers that question for them. Jon’s barely able to catch Mar’i as she collapses, still screaming, barely able to see through his blurry eyes. Colin falls to his knees, staring at his friend with tears streaming down his face. Milagro doubles over, vomiting.

         “Omega?” Oracle’s voice in their ear coms doesn’t soothe them like they normally do. “Omega, do you copy?”

         “Little Red Hood here, Oracle.” Lian answers.

         “Is everyone ok? Some of your trackers are off-line.”

         Lian looks at the body before her. Her voice cracks, “No. No we’re not. We need a medic for Impulse…and a body bag.”

         “Little Red, Who’s down?” The 19-year-old struggles to find her voice. “Lian?”

         “Robin. We need the bag for Robin.”

--

         None of the young heroes can find it in themselves to leave. The League’s there in less than 20 minutes. It’s a painful sight. Nightstar cries into Nightwing’s chest as Robin’s carried away. Abuse and Superboy watch their best friend leave, silent tears cutting paths through the dirt on their faces. Green Lantern and Little Red Hood barely keep themselves together as they fill in their superiors. Velocity and Flash go with Impulse to the hospital.

         Linda Park-West meets her son and husband at the hospital. The doctors, having worked with the hero community before, get Irey to a private room before removing her uniform. The bruises from earlier are already fading from her body as they work.

         “When do you think she’ll wake up?” Linda asks her husband, holding her daughter’s hand,

         “I’m not sure, babe. I’m not sure.” Wally looks at his son, who’s refused to leave Irey’s side. “Buddy. You need to go get checked out.”

         “I’m fine, Dad.” Jai’s body is tight as he stares at his sister.

         “Jai—”

         “Mom, please.” Jai’s voice breaks. Wally puts a hand on his son’s shoulder but doesn’t say anything. Linda reaches over, caressing Jai’s cheek. They know him well enough to leave it alone.

         “Love you, sweet boy.”

         “Love you too, Mom.” The family doesn’t talk for a while, letting the steady beeping of Irey’s heart monitor fill the room. Irey’s breathing doesn’t change. Jai and Wally wonder how she’s going to feel when she wakes up.

         “Dr. and Mrs. West?” A young woman comes into the room. “I’m Dr. Sarah White. I’ll be your daughter’s physician.”

         “Nice to meet you. This our son, Jai.” His parents shake hands with the doctor. Jai nods at the doctors, still not moving his body. “Is Irey ok?”

         “So far, all the tests are showing that she’s ok. We’re going to monitor her over night to make sure she and the baby—”

         “The what?” Linda interrupts.

         “The baby. Didn’t you know she’s pregnant?”          “No. She didn’t mention it to us.” Wally looks at Jai.

         “Dad, do you think Irey would have gone into the field if she knew?” Jai looks down. Irey had been eating a bit more, but that didn’t mean anything. They’ve always eaten what they want, when they want, and as much as they want. Overactive metabolism for the win. There weren’t any other signs. This can’t be happening.

         “Is there anyway to tell how far along she is? I mean. She’s a speedster, is there a chance—”

         “We can do a full work up on her. Nothing invasive or unnecessary.” 

After discussing all possible options, his parents make him go back to the tower after Dr. White’s visit. He doesn’t want to leave his sister, but it’s not up for discussion based on his mother’s tone.

         The tower’s silent when he gets back. Not surprising. Mar’i’s probably with her family at the Manor. Jon’s open door shows empty drawers and an unmade bed. Angry music blasts from Colin’s room. He finds a note with Milagro’s neat handwriting on it, telling them she’s going to Oa for a few days. He locks the doors before heading to Star City. Lian’s at home, thankfully, sitting on their bed, face buried in her hands.

         “Hey, baby.” Jai sits next to her and stares at the wall in front of him. Lian lifts her head, staring at the wall with him. They don’t talk for a few minutes, neither really sure what to say.

         “The whole team’s out of the field until further notice.” Lian says dryly.

         “Sounds about right. I’m guessing we all have to meet with Dinah before we’re cleared?” He asks.

         “Yep. How’s Irey?”

         “Still unconscious…She’s pregnant.”

         “W-What?” Lian looks at him. He nods, tears finally filling his eyes.

         “Yeah. She’s pregnant. And Damian’s dead.” That breaks them. They hold each other as they cry. Even though the tears will do nothing to stop the pain.