#terra / i would bleed for anything if it held me right. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

eleanore-delphinium · 3 years

Text

Reciprocate II (2021 version)

DISCLAIMER: Repost with additional details and edits from same title piece found in DAMIRAE ENTRIES.

But this particular one didn’t really change much as compared to the 2021 version of part 1.

Finale: Reciprocate III: The After

Reciprocate II: Damian

In a sterile white room devoid of any color and of any indication of ownership or personalization, laid a single figure on top of a white medical bed, white sheets tucked over her sternum. The room felt bright because of the color, it was also rather lonely and rather very empty—except for the pale woman with long purple hair that laid on the bed. An empty chair on her right side and bedside tables with nothing on top, on either side of her bed. Her hands laid on her sides and her eyes closed. There was no indication of movement except for her quiet breathing.

The door opened to reveal Damian Wayne in a white button up shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black slacks and black dress shoes. Despite his neat outfit, his hair was a mess and his eyes were bloodshot with eyebags underneath. He looked as though he had not slept well at all—which was likely the case.

Afterall, he had not slept well since the day Raven got stabbed. There were good days and bad, now—today was a better day. He walked to the empty chair beside Raven’s right hand, his back facing the door. He sat on the chair and gazed longingly at the figure on the bed.

And he recalled what had transpired that night—the night that caused Raven’s current medical condition.

Raven had fallen and her eyes slowly fluttered close. He could tell that she was trying not to lose consciousness. Raven lifted a hand towards Damian and Garfield’s general direction making Damian wonder if she was trying to reach out to him or Garfield.

‘It had to be Garfield.’, He thought because it would not make sense if Raven was trying to reach out to him. Damian couldn’t help but feel very bitter inside. She would never choose him. She would unlikely want to hold him with her dying breath.

At this moment the creature was distracted by Tim who was on the other side, seeing this—Damian took the opportunity to run to Raven. He took note of the footsteps that followed behind him, Garfield was right behind him as they ran toward Raven.

Her raised hand was faltering and Damian felt as though his heart was about to jump out of his throat-- out of fear.

No. You cannot close your eyes. I will not allow it!

Damian ran faster towards Raven and as her hand fell to the ground, he finally reached her side. But her eyes had also closed, and Damian held his breath as he-- so very gently, held her in his arms.

“Raven! Raven!” He called to her frantically. “No. No. No. Don’t close your eyes, please come back, stay conscious!” His breathing was ragged, his heart beating loudly in his ears. Damian bit his lip and held his breath in a conscious manner, as he tried to calm himself, and think. He had to think.

“Raven! Oh god no.” Garfield stood hovering above Raven, and the next second he was reaching out to Raven. But Damian pulled her closer to him and gave Garfield the darkest and cruelest glare Garfield had ever seen. And Garfield froze, he took a deep breath and gulped down his fear.

“Gar…” Terra came running towards Garfield, and her eyes laid on Raven. “No, if-if she didn’t try to protect me—” Damian gave Terra the same glare Garfield received, making her unable to finish her thought. She froze in fear too.

“We have to stop her bleeding.” Damian absent-mindedly said, his voice cold, and as he scanned Raven’s wound, his eye twitched. Raven had a gaping hole on her chest, Damian did not want to think about it—but the situation was truly grim.

“How are you going to—” Garfield received another glare from Damian.

Damian was not asking or seeking their help to stop Raven’s bleeding, he had said what he had said to inform them only. He will deal with Raven’s injury, no one else is suitable.

Damian reached for something in his utility belt, and he pulled out three silver balls. His facial expression seemingly frozen in a cold and uncaring manner as he placed the one-inch sized ball strategically on her gaping wound. He placed one on top and two at the bottom, forming a triangle. It beeped and glowed a faint blue and from it came out a purple like foam.

Damian’s right eye twitched, his lips pressed together so much that his lips became pale and his brows drawn so closely together, that he looked like he would punch the next person who would touch him.

He had no choice. This was the only way to ‘plug’ Raven’s gaping hole. She was losing too much blood because of it.

Damian clenched his teeth even more, if that was even possible. He leaned Raven on his right arm as his hands clenched tightly. If he had not had gloves on, then anyone would be able to see how white his fist had become. His brows still tightly knit together, it looked painful to watch his brows like that.

And to Garfield and Terra, he looked like the scariest man on earth. They seemed to fear Damian more than the unbeatable monster that had stabbed Raven into this state.

Damian hated what he had to do. He hated that he had to plug Raven like this. He hated that he knew he had to put her down now. Now.

There was a moment of hesitance, but Damian bit his lip till it bled to keep his focus.

“We need to put Raven in a safe spot,” He said in a clipped manner as he picked Raven up in his arms in a princess carry, “Distract that thing and keep him far away from her.” He continued absent-mindedly as his eyes quickly analyzed the best spot to hide her away.

And at the same time, he recalled her injury. There were no organs that were damaged, that at least is a good thing. And he hoped and prayed-- at that same moment-- that Raven can survive this.

With Damian standing on his full length, Garfield snapped out from his frozen state and had begun to reach out for Raven once again.

“Don’t you dare touch her!” Damian snarled in such an unsightly manner that Garfield remembered the initial fear Damian gave him. Terra did not feel the fear again because she was looking at Garfield with worry and realization. Terra missed to see Damian’s expression and his words did not register in her mind because she knew at that moment while looking at Garfield—that Raven and Garfield will always have history.

Of course, she knew of Raven and Garfield’s relationship and didn’t mind it. Raven was simply his past. Garfield told her that he loves her, and that he would never go back to Raven—if that was something Terra worried about. And he must have kept his word. But the years Raven and him shared was something that could never be erased. And emotions built up throughout those years was something that couldn’t be replaced so easily. To realize such a thing now of all places—

Damian had accidentally hit Terra as he started moving, cutting Terra’s thoughts. For a second her eyes laid on the boy wonder—and to her, she did not see a hero protecting or saving someone. She saw a man holding someone in a way that showed he was too afraid to hold any tighter in fear of losing her. A man refusing to blink, too afraid that it would be his last sight of her and that she would turn into dust any moment now. He held her in such a cautious manner—that it hurt to see him so forlorn like that.

That was something she thought she would never see in Damian Wayne. His body—every cell seemed to radiate a want to not let go of the woman in his arms. A conflict of holding her so tightly so he can remember how it feels to hold her and yet—still, he was a man of responsibility. Despite his desire to just be with her—he knew where he stands—the monster was still there.

Terra quickly turned, refusing to see Garfield’s expression—it was something she did not want to see right now.

“I will cover for you, Damian.” She told him firmly not waiting for a response and simply initiated her suggestion.

Damian sighed loudly in the white room, his forehead resting on his hands that was propped up on the bed beside Raven’s right hand. When they finally got to neutralize the enemy, the first thing Damian did was run to where Raven was. He was so afraid that when he got there, she would be cold and blue.

But she held on.

She held on.

He sighed again, as he turned his head that was resting on his right hand towards Raven.

He begged his father to help him keep her alive, and the first few months—God those were awful. When they arrived to have her healed, nothing was working. Whatever that creature was and what he did, messed with her. He begged his father to do anything—anything. Somehow, they found a way to stabilize her and close the gaping hole in her chest—of course every step was a struggle.

Seeing her with so many tubes and monitors, some advanced tech and some actual alien tech, hurt Damian in a way that a bullet shot could not compare. And he felt so helpless. It was probably the helplessness that hit him even worse than a bullet wound.

Damian Wayne—son of Batman, son of Bruce Wayne, a robin—a boy wonder—an assassin at some point, still a man seen as the heir of the Demon’s Head—felt so powerless despite all the titles and honor and glory those titles held. He still felt powerless.

He held the woman he had loved for years in his arms, and had to leave her in her injured state to defend the world of the very same creature that injured her in the first place. He left her all alone in a corner—not even knowing if she would be alive when he returned. He knew that having someone guard her would be a waste of manpower. He had to think of the bigger picture—because it is his responsibility, he couldn’t put her over that. And a small part of him hates himself for it.

He had seen her struggle to survive day after day, and night after night since then. The rejection her body faced—and his selfishness, thinking—hoping that she would survive it.

And she did.

She survived everything. And most of the tubes and monitors were finally taken away. Of course, she still had an IV drip and a monitor checking her vitals, just in case. Still, it was fifteen less tubes and monitors—and doctors and scientists.

Damian reached out for Raven’s right hand with his left, his palm resting on the back of her hand. He had gotten so used to all the tubes and monitors, that the first week without them was so unfamiliar to him.

Every time he visited her, he expected the tubes and monitors to multiply and revert back to when they couldn’t seem to cure her. Up until just a few weeks ago, he expected that they would return because she would become unstable again. But it never happened. He was so thankful it never happened. He slipped his right hand under hers, his worries just seemed like paranoia.

“Raven, won’t you wake up already?” He muttered as he had gotten used to talking to himself whenever he visited her.

“I still planned to confess to you,” He chuckled emptily “Won’t you at least let me do that?” He brought her hand to his forehead. “Let me be selfish…”

~.~.~.~.~

The door to Raven’s personal room opened, revealing Damian in his robin uniform, his mask off. He walked to her in a slightly slump manner and he took her hands on his and sighed.

“I’m sorry Raven, it appears that I can’t visit you for the unforeseeable future. Something came up.” He looked at her sleeping face sadly.

“Don’t be angry, I try to visit you every day after all, even if it’s just for a couple of minutes, but I never missed a day since you got injured.” He paused a vacant look on his face. “If you ask me, I’m pretty sure they were lenient on my lack of participation in missions recently because I looked as if I had lost a lover.” He laughed in a broken manner.

“It’s funny-- how I am reacting as if I had lost a lover—when we never really got to be together. It would be nice if you wake up—at least let me confess to you clearly. And you can put a rest to my pining.” He didn’t know why, but he felt that he had to rearrange her hair before he left and so he did.

“I will come back, I promise you.” He said as he reluctantly let go of her hand. He refused to look back as he left the room, and took his mask from his utility belt and puts it on.

~.~.~.~.~

The door opened gently again as Damian Wayne in an all-black outfit walked in. He was in his signature black turtleneck. He had on a thin black framed eyeglass on his nose and held a book on his left hand. He had gotten used to opening the door slowly and gently, out of the fear that when he opened the door she wouldn’t be there anymore.

At first, he thought that it was an unreasonable fear, but clearly it was not. He was afraid that the time he wasn’t with her, she would have long been gone. And when he comes to visit, he would be greeted with an empty bed. And he would not be able to even say his farewells.

He closed the door even more gently—because when the door is closed this time was theirs—well his. Because she was still unconscious—still very unaware of his presence.

“Hey Raven, I brought the book I last read to you—I have enough time today to read to you just a few chapters.” He said as he walked to his position beside her. He took a seat on the chair and held her right hand with his right hand. “It would be nice if you woke up soon.” He smiled grimly, the words have started becoming something he said out of habit.

Damian gave her a little recap of what he had read to her before as he held her hand. After that, he continued where he left off, holding her hand when he wasn’t flipping through pages. He read in a slow manner; his mind more aware of the fact that her hand felt so very right against his, instead of the words he was saying aloud.

~.~.~.~.~

Raven was still lying unconscious in the white room, on her white bed. Everything was quiet inside.

“Damian it’s been almost eight months!” Came a voice from outside the room.

“So, what Grayson!” Yelled back the voice of Damian Wayne. He was in an argument right outside of Raven’s room with Dick Grayson, his adopted brother—also known as Nightwing.

“Are you serious Dami?” A pause. “At least let others see her!”

“By others you mean Garfield, right?” A loud bang was heard from inside the room.

“Well—shit, yes! Why won’t you let Gar see her? He has been asking about her or where she is.”

“Don’t you dare bring Garfield to see her—don’t you dare!” A furious reply from Damian as shuffling footsteps were heard.

“Look man, I get it. I really do. But Damian, you can’t just hide her away from her teammates.” Dick said in a tone of anxiousness.

“You see her too.” Was Damian’s quiet response.

“You know that’s not what I mean.” A louder bang entered Raven’s room ending Dick’s words.

“She planned to leave anyway.” Damian said defensively. There was silence for a few seconds and a frustrated humph could be heard from outside the room.

“I—I didn’t think anyone would be able to deal with seeing her in that way—I” Damian paused. “I don’t think they’d want to see her in a coma—I thought it was for the best. I—I’m sorry Grayson, I will let them see her—but—just not Garfield, Grayson. That is all I am asking from you, just not him. He caused her enough pain.” And the door to Raven’s room opened. She still laid there asleep. Damian did not wait for Dick’s reply and he slowly closed the door behind him.

He was in a black button up polo shirt tucked into his black slacks, that was held into place by a black belt with a silver metal piece and he wore his black leather shoes. He looked tired but there was no hint of anger from what had transpired outside Raven’s bedroom.

“You must have heard our little argument, huh?” He said approaching the familiar chair he always sat on when visiting her. “I’m sorry to have disturbed your sleep.” He continued as he sat down on the chair and took her hand in his again. “Of course, I didn’t disturb your sleep, after all you're still unconscious.” A hollow chuckle soon followed.

Damian placed the back of Raven’s hand against his forehead. “You can wake up now. Scold me for being so selfish. For not allowing Garfield to visit you. In fact, for not letting anyone else visit you aside from a select few. But—mostly Garfield. I will not allow him in here too— in this space-- so why don’t you wake up and just tell me how selfish I am.” He tilted his head to look at Raven while her hand was still pressed on the temple of his head.

But as usual there was no response, he was so used to talking to himself by now. At this point, Damian was very convinced that Raven had tried to reach out for Garfield, one last time, before she fainted. And the thought was something that caused him bitterness.

Even in her near-death, Garfield was the last in her mind.

~.~.~.~.~

Damian was sitting on the same chair holding Raven’s hand. Three months have passed since Damian and Dick’s heated argument outside of Raven’s bedroom. He wore a red hoodie with black pants and black shoes. This time around, for the first time, he looked less tired since this whole ordeal happened.

“It looks like you had a lot of visitors this month too.” He glanced at the flowers on both bedside tables, pictures in frames of Raven with the team and other things. Now the room seemed to have a little bit of a personality.

“I think it’s great that you have some visitors. Though I admit, I think that eventually they will come to visit less and less, so I think you should wake up soon. Everyone misses you a lot. I think the longer you stay asleep people would forget about you. Everyone you know is a hero Raven, and even though you stay asleep—we still have to defend the people. Everyone’s priorities will shift and they would have less time to see you. And because they have started settling with your absence, for sure the visits will lessen. But I promise, I will visit you every day until you wake up.” Damian placed a gentle kiss on the back of her hand and he froze.

His lips hovering over her hand. He wiped the spot he kissed her at, with his thumb.

“I’m sorry, I should be asking permission. I didn’t—” He stared at the back of her hand. “I’m sorry I don’t know since when I started doing that, but I’m sorry. I overstepped.” He gently placed her hand back on the bed and stood up. “Let’s see what’s in the drawers, shall we?” He muttered to himself and surveyed every nook and cranny and objects in her room, keeping a mental inventory.

“We will be starting a new book soon. I no longer keep track of the books we’ve read.” He said after finishing his inspection of the room and went to sit back on the chair and crossed his arms across his chest.

“Well—I mean I keep track of the titles but no longer itemize them…” He added quietly, he used to count them but stopped at around the fifth book because it seemed like the list would continue to grow. And seeing the number rise would just be another reminder of the fact that the days waiting for Raven to wake was stretching to impossibility.

~.~.~.~.~

It was a little over a year since Raven has been in her comatose state. The room felt heavy and she stirred because of it. Her breathing a little louder—a little labored. Her eyes fluttered open—her vision a blur. She saw two figures at the foot of her bed. The taller one looking at the shorter man. The shorter one was looking at her startled—he seemed to have an odd skin color. She could almost swear it was green. Raven’s eyes started to roll back to unconsciousness.

“Dick, she’s awake!” It was a familiar voice; Raven couldn’t help but think.

“What?” Dick turned to look at Raven, her eyelids slowly closing, her labored breathing slowly quieting down.

“I saw her eyes open; I swear it!” She recognized the voice as Garfield, but knowing who it was did not give her any extra motivation to fight her sleepiness.

“What the fuck is going on here!” Another familiar voice furiously entered Raven’s faltering consciousness. She wanted to wake up—to fight the tiredness she was feeling. But it was simply too late now.

The door had banged open when Damian entered. Damian was still wearing his black outer coat, his shoes dirty as he had just arrived from outside. He had no time to freshen up to visit Raven because he found out what Dick was up to.

When his eyes laid on Garfield who was looking at Raven, he wanted to rip Garfield’s head off. Damian Wayne looked like he was going to pop a vein on his neck. He glared at Dick with such open hostility that Dick was taken aback, and Garfield beside him recalled the fear Damian instilled in him that night Raven got injured.

“Her eyes opened; I saw it!” Garfield said frantically, hoping that would ease Damian’s anger. Damian stole a glance at Raven—but she was at the same state he had last seen her in.

Comatose.

“I asked you one thing, Grayson!” He growled as he slowly stomped his way to Dick whose hands were up in a ‘I surrender’ way. Damian grabbed Dick’s coat collar and pulled him close. “One thing Grayson!” He shoved Dick and pointed at Garfield.

“Look—you can’t continue denying someone who wants to visit a friend.” Dick tried to calm his brother down as he straightened his coat.

“Friend?” Damian snorted in response.

“Look, Damian I begged Dick to bring me to her.” Garfield said and he received Damian’s angry glare.

“Get. Out.” Damian simply said, he looked as though he would kill either of them any second now. For some weird reason Garfield got a little more courage at that moment, he began to open his mouth. Dick seeing Garfield’s lips open—quickly intercepted by pulling Garfield by the arm and pulling him towards the door.

“I’m sorry little D, we will talk about it outside.” Dick said as he draggedGarfield out, giving Garfield a stern look to ensure Garfield’s silence. Garfield wasn’t happy but he understood that Dick was looking out for him.

Damian stood where he was, glaring at Raven as he waited for the door to close behind Dick and Garfield. He was stiff in his spot and his fists clenched so tightly. He was still very much angry. He stood like that for five more minutes before he tried to calm himself down. His fist unclenched and his brows unfurrow.

“So—well, stop pretending then—he's gone now—so wake up.” He demanded in a low voice as he hovered beside Raven near the chair. She did not move. And Damian laughed brokenly as he fell on his knees. He reached out for her right hand absentmindedly and rested his nose on the back of her palm.

“So, it turns out you just needed him to visit you to wake up?” Damian whispered as tears fell on her hand. “So why aren’t you awake already?” He sobbed.

It was never him—she never chose him.

~.~.~.~.~

It had been four months since Garfield had been regularly visiting Raven, and at times he would also bring Terra with him. Damian had conceded Garfield's wish to allow him visitation rights to see Raven. Damian could not stay angry at Dick for over two weeks, and the pair reconciled, despite Dick undermining Damian’s wishes. Damian understood that Dick was looking out for him.

Damian’s family was very much worried over him since Raven’s fall. He acted more detached and unapproachable. He wasn’t sleeping well and every second he could spare he was always hovering over Raven. In fact, he slept well hunched by Raven’s bedside with Raven’s hand against his hands and forehead. Damian was even unwilling to celebrate his twenty-second birthday with Raven still unconscious. And they could see the toll it was taking on Damian.

His family knew he needed a little push to try and let Raven’s state go and pushing Damian to allow Garfield entry was the way to do it. Damian needed to move on.

But here he was again, in the white room he specifically prepared for her. Her accommodations are all arranged by him, and his visits are always a constant. But the past four months were difficult, as he was also actively avoiding having to meet Garfield when Garfield was visiting Raven.

When Damian was able to take a step back from his anger at what Dick did—he knew that his family did it to distract Damian—to keep him away from lurking around Raven. He understood it was made of good intentions. Damian reached out for Raven’s hand, a habit he has come to develop long ago.

He wore a plain white shirt with jeans. His hair was not as neat as it usually was, and there were eyebags under his eyes yet again.

“But I guess I am a man who will only love one person in their lifetime.” He muttered, placing Raven’s hand against his right cheek. “I’ve come to wonder sometimes if I am unfortunate to be such a man—or to fall for you—” he studied her face; he has memorized every detail about her. How could he not when he was here, beside her so frequently.

“I’ve come to learn that loving you is not something to be regretful about. In fact, I am rather thankful for it. But you really got me pining over you, Raven.” He sighed, his eyes not capturing even the smallest of movement from Raven. “I love you.” He whispered and brushed his lips against the skin on the back of her hand.

A week and a half after, Damian paced at the foot of Raven’s bed, very much frustrated. He paused and glared at Raven, running his hands through his head, a sign of his developing anger. He stomped towards his spot as he glared at Raven again.

His hair was a mess, his eyebags had gotten darker. His clothes that was a plain black shirt with jeans had creases, very uncharacteristic of him.

“I don’t get it!” He said, containing most of his anger. “You obviously woke up the first time Garfield visited you! Tsk, as it turns out, all you need was for him to visit you-- for you to wake up. So why did you go back to sleep!” His tone louder now and he sighed to try and dispel a little of his anger. His hand at his side clenched into balls.

Damian was seething in anger, and he exhaled and inhaled in air as if he was palpitating. Finally, the anger he had dissipated. But it was replaced by raw hopelessness, anyone who would see him in such a state, would feel their hearts knot.

“You really—really got me pining over you.” Damian said as he knelt on the floor with a hunched back as he took her right hand in between his palms. “It’s funny how you pined over someone else as I pined over you—it seems that you're making me pine over you just as long as you pined over him.”

The chair he usually sat on was across the room, toppled down. A droplet of water falls in front of Damian’s right knee.

~.~.~.~.~

Two months passed just like that. Raven’s friends had long since stopped visiting her as frequently as they did the first three months. Asking them to take so much time off of their busy hero life was too much to ask for. But Damian always made time for her, and at almost a year and a half the toll of doing so had fully manifested.

He looked so tired, his eye bags are in the darkest shade it had been since the accident. He looked thinner, not scarily thin, but it was obvious he had lost some weight. His clothes were as neat as it could be. His white button up shirt crisp and so is his black slacks. His black leather shoes are very shiny. He placed a lot of effort in his appearance because even he could tell that his health has waned, and he was compensating with his clothes.

When Raven was in ICU for the first three months, he was in such a bad state. When she finally got relatively cured but was in comatose, he looked better-- more relaxed. Then a little after, he had to continue with his responsibilities, particularly as a hero and somehow, he managed. The weight he had initially lost, he had regained and now he had shed perhaps even more than he did at that time.

But now at almost a year and a half of juggling hero life, personal and family life. Being with Raven almost every day since the night she got hurt. To actively avoid Garfield while Garfield was visiting and arranging his own visits to go around Garfield’s visitation, but also keeping to his schedule and preference of seeing Raven on a very regular basis. And Raven still not waking up—Damian was quite spent.

He was sitting on his chair facing Raven’s right hand. His head propped onto his hands which were propped up on his knees. He was looking at Raven’s face blankly, dark circles under his eyes. He didn’t know how much longer he could do this.

Raven’s state was always at the forefront of his mind. And when he was on a mission, he tried to put it as a lesser priority. But when he is near to death his first thought is: If I die who will look after Raven? And so, he fights with every screaming fiber he had, even when he was in such excruciating pain. After all, he still had to see her wake up.

One would think a year and a half wasn’t really a long time—but it did not feel like it has been just over a year for Damian—it felt like he has been waiting for her to wake up for five years.

He had just realized quite recently, just exactly how much stress he had gotten due to all this. And it was taking a major toll on him. He now completely understood why his family was worried about it—about him. Hindsight after all is 20/20 and he now clearly saw exactly how concerning his state was.

There was only one solution. His eyes flickered to Raven—he had not noticed that his gaze had drifted off of her and was surprised when his eyes laid on her again. He sighed and suddenly stood up, and picked up a lock of her hair.

“Raven, your hair has grown quite a bit—it's already at waist length. I thought of having it cut—but I think that should be your decision.” He placed it back down. “If you don’t wake up any time soon—I’m afraid I would have to let you go.” He mumbled to himself as he turned around to lean on the bed and gaze at the ceiling blankly.

Two weeks after, Damian was back in her room, looking even worse. This time he was just standing beside Raven with a very empty gaze. He had been standing there in his black slacks, black dress shoes and a green button up polo shirt for fifteen minutes already.

“I give up Rae.” He looked down on the ground. His words were so soft because he was very much afraid of the implications himself. He knew he had to let her go.

“I—I don’t think I can visit you like this.” He fought the tears as he said his words a little louder. And there was nothing left to say, he just softly touched her hand for a second and pulled away and then looked at her blankly.

A month after Damian’s decision to let Raven go, he realized getting to the conclusion and acknowledging what had to be done and executing his decisions were two completely different things. He was still visiting her in the same consistency that he always had. And he knew he had to fight to break the habit that he had already formed. Seeing her was second nature to him, and he simply had to break it.

~.~.~.~.~

Two months after, Damian was finally able to decrease his visits. And had even met Garfield a few times and actually didn’t mind it. His visit reduction was not really significant but the fact he was able to decrease it at all, was a win for him.

He was in jeans and a red shirt, looking very casual and he looked more unbothered and not so tired. His hands in his pockets as he just stood. For the first time, he looked genuinely relaxed. His gaze at her was soft and the eyebags he had been sporting in different shades, for almost two years, were significantly less dark this time.

“I know I don’t visit often anymore—and you probably can’t tell—aside from the obvious,” A small twinkle in his eyes at the little joke. The fact that he could make a joke like that, spoke volumes of how far he had come. “You really made me pine over you for the duration you pined over Garfield. Nine years—you really made this whole thing come into full circle. You pined for him for nine years and decided to move on completely—but this happens.” He gestured at her generally.

“Now I have pined for you for the same duration, and I have decided to move on too.” He said grimly and the hint of playfulness he had prior was gone. “It really came full circle.”

He just stood to her right with a small smile. He tried his best not to stay so long to visit her nowadays. Damian found that standing was the best option in order for him not to stay longer than he intended.

Damian puts his hand atop Raven’s, he has also avoided holding her hand properly or else he’d find himself sitting on his spot and just holding her hand. He would then talk to her and the intended short visit would become like his regular visits from before.

“I have decided. I am moving on—I am letting you go.” And he pulled his hand away a little too quickly, afraid of the temptation that was the familiarity of her hand against his—or maybe it was his hand against hers. After all, it was always him holding onto her.

His head had looked away to look at the flowers on her bedside tables. He has been talking to her about visiting her less, and letting her go for a few months now. At first it was just a passing thought. But the last two months, it seemed Damian had to tell her every time he visited. He was unaware of how frequent he was telling her that. But in retrospect, he could tell now that he had been dropping hints.

It started from hints, to telling her absentmindedly, to repeatedly telling her every time he visits—until finally he was able to visit less. And because Damian turned his head, he missed the small twitch of Raven’s hand when he pulled his hand away, to look at her bedside tables.

There was silence, as he looked down and closed his eyes. He squeezed his eyes for a moment then sighed as he looked at Raven, a faint smile on his lips. He took a step back, feeling as though he was leaving his heart on this spot. He then turned feeling lonely yet strong and regretful at the same time.

When he was gone, Raven’s eyebrow twitched.

The next day when Damian decided to check on Raven’s condition, he was frozen in fear to see the scientist and doctors hovering over Raven who was attached to so many monitors and tubes.

It was like he had stepped into the time she was brought in to close up her wound. He was unfrozen when she saw her spasming. He ran towards her, as her chest lifted and she was choking, black almost slime like blood came out from her mouth and spilled from her oxygen mask.

“Sir—we need you out of the way.” A doctor pulled Damian away. “Who let this one in!” The doctor added and a nurse took Damian away, trying to console him.

“This is odd—there seems to be no traces of the compound we found last time. But her body is rejecting something.” Damian heard the doctor say, at that moment Raven’s eyes opened and her line of sight fell on Damian’s instantly. Her hand lifted slowly to his direction; her eyes wet as her face slowly turned red from the lack of oxygen. A doctor had already punctured her lungs to assist her in breathing, but black blood was oozing out from it.

“Let me, the fuck go!” Damian yelled as he strongly shoved the nurse off of him. He was normally someone who didn’t do this, but seeing Raven’s face slowly contort to fear and resignation, he actually went against the nurse. He remembered when she was in ICU for the first few months he observed quietly from the distance, but he couldn’t now.

“Raven!” He called out as he knelt on the floor and held her right hand that she had stretched out. “I promise, I will not leave you. So, you have to fight this!”

She squeezed his hand in hers as best as she could as her eyes closed and a tear slipped from her eye.

“Sir—I’m sorry but you are being a distraction.” A bulky man approached Damian, giving him no choice but to let go of Raven’s hand and put his hands up as he slowly left the room.

“She’s—I heard the subject has powers—” A person in a lab gown said, perhaps a scientist.

“Patient.” A doctor cuts off the scientist.

Before Damian was shoved out of the room, he stole a glance of Raven, her hand was glowing a faint purple black hue. And it seemed that she could breathe.

“Sir—there seems to be something appearing—” And that was the last thing Damian heard before the door was shut close in front of him.

Two weeks later Raven was finally stable but still in a coma. They were fighting with her condition for those two weeks—cross referencing and analyzing data, finding and testing out new information. And everything has now calmed down. He was only allowed entry today after the stunt that he pulled.

Damian was sitting on his chair, holding her hand. He wore a white t-shirt with many creases. His hair is a slightly better case compared to his shirt. And the outfit was complete with a plain pair of jeans and casual shoes. And to top it all off, his eyebags had become darker again.

”You really scared me. God, I forgot how afraid I was of losing you recently—you really know how to make someone remember, huh?” He muttered as he put her hand against his forehead, he was shaking a bit, as he fought his tears. And he felt her hand twitch against his—and he choked as he looked at her face.

Her eyes were still close but for the first time, he actually felt her react. In two years, she finally moved. He smiled tightly and nodded his head. He brought her hand against his lips and softly kissed her hand.

“You reached out to me that night, didn’t you?” He put her hand against his cheek as he turned his head towards her again. “You have to wake up and clarify that to me.” And he heard her loudly inhale.

For the first time in months, he finally had hope that she would wake up. “I promise you; I will wait for you to wake up. This time, I will not break this promise.”

~.~.~.~.~

The door suddenly opened with a panic stricken Damian. He was unable to take off his outer coat and change into cleaner shoes because he heard a crash from generally where Raven’s room was located, on the second floor, when he had just entered the building.

“Raven!” He called out his fear practically at the base of his throat.

When he heard the loud crash, he feared for the worst. His eyes at first saw an empty bed, and his heart almost jumped out of his chest. The vase on her right bedside table with flowers had shattered on the floor. He quickly searched for Raven, and exhaled deeply when he spotted her at the foot of her bed. She was holding onto her bed with great difficulty. Her eyes observed Damian wearily.

He approached her, thinking that maybe this was a dream.

“Raven.” He whispered when he was two feet away, her violet eyes did not show any recognition at seeing Damian. He picked her up and carried her in his arms, and despite not recognizing him at first, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Damian.” She whispered and he squeezed him back. She rested her forehead on his shoulder, as he carried her back to her bed. He set her down gently as he pulled away, she grabbed his right hand.

“It feels so perfect.” She gently told him, and Damian was startled by her words. A smile slowly formed and he found himself chuckling.

“I’ve been here almost every day, holding your hand. Maybe your hand molded into mine—” He shook his head. "Or maybe the other way around.”

“I—my memory is kind of fuzzy,” Raven said as she laid back in bed. “But I know you, I remember you. I heard you so often. It became scary when you weren’t there.” Her eyes started to flutter, she seemed a little bit too tired. But she continued to hold his hand until she fully fell into slumber, to which her grip loosened.

Damian took the opportunity to call the doctors and scientist to inform them of her condition.

When she awoke again the doctors, scientists and Damian were talking.

~.~.~.~.~

A month after, Raven was already walking by herself inside her room. She started walking around the villa quite recently. But she has not been able to walk outside yet. She found that once the door to go outside the villa was opened, her knees would buckle. So, for the past month she was mostly roaming indoors.

She had found out that this was one of Bruce Wayne’s properties, and Damian had asked for the property. Damian was someone who would never ask anything of anyone if he could do it himself, so it was surprising to everyone that Damian had asked for this villa. And because of that Bruce granted Damian the property, if not for that, in the very least to give Damian some peace of mind. At least then Damian would know Raven had a place to stay and would not be kicked out if he so much as vanished.

She also found out that Damian did not spare any expense in her recuperation and that her situation was quite odd. The creature’s origin could not be quite narrowed down, thus its effects on her were up on the air. But that was where the doctors and scientists and all the tech was for, alien tech included. With the collective resources provided, they were able to make something to assist Raven’s condition.

“Raven, I think you should really try to get out.” Damian said as he walked in. He looked so happy seeing her, just standing by the window gazing out. She turned her head to smile at him.

He looked better—in fact the happiest and relaxed he had ever been in two years. His clothes were pressed well, it was a casual attire, and he had no hint of any kind of weariness. No more eyebags, and his eyes no longer looked so dead.

“If you go with me, I can try.” She responded, she had not seen him in two weeks due to his busy schedule, with the team and talking to her doctors and scientists. Him learning and relearning everything about her condition since she got attacked, and he also had family matters, he didn’t really have time to be with Raven recently and she understood.

She kept herself busy by building her physical strength through walking within the walls of Damian’s villa. She also used the time to comb through her thoughts.

“Okay.” He agreed as he offered her his right hand and she accepted it with both her hands. Until now he couldn’t believe that she was awake.

“I really thought I was dreaming when you woke up a month ago.” He confessed again as he sighed and led her to the door.

“I’m here. Everything is still a bit fuzzy. But I know you—I trust you. Your Damian.” Raven responded unhurriedly as she placed a hand on his arm.

Fifteen minutes later, Damian came in with Raven in his arms weeping.

“I—I can’t… it—it…” And she wept.

“I’m sorry, we will take it step by step. I will be here if you ever want to try and go outside.” He comforted her as he placed her on her bed. She nodded as he wiped away her tears.

“I thought I was going to die—” She sobbed. “There was something I wanted to do… I don’t—” Another sob, “I don’t recall what.”

He held her hands and then she suddenly froze on the spot. She looked at him in the eyes, and she blinked as the tears fell. “I didn’t want to leave you.”

And this time it was his time to freeze on the spot. Raven pulled her hands away from his, and she placed her fingertips on either side of his face.

“I was afraid that I didn’t have enough time with you. I wanted to know you more.” Her vision seemed to go back to that night. “I wanted to be with you.” She absent-mindedly brushed her lips against his. And when the pressure registered in her brain, she pulled away, an apology at the tip of her tongue.

Raven was surprised to feel an even heavier pressure against her lips. And she returned the kiss as well as deepened it. She noted how she was reacting very naturally over the situation, and how inexperienced Damian was. And she pulled away.

“Is this your first kiss?” She asked him. And he looked away with a small blush on his face.

“It’s—I’m very inexperienced with dating…” He admitted, and she observed him as she wiped her tears.

“I’m assuming, I have dated before.” She replied impartially.

“Yes, Garfield.” He responded blankly, and when the name came off Damian’s mouth, he saw her expression soften. His eye twitched as he looked away. He suddenly felt her hands against his, making him turn to look at her again.

“Gar… field…” She muttered, his hand clenching at the way she called his name. “Was he the only one I dated?” Damian nodded in response.

“I see…” She said with furrowed brows. “My head is aching a bit. I think I should rest…” Raven lets go of Damian’s hands.

“Can we try going outside again tomorrow?” Damian was pulled out from his reverie with the inquiry, surprise in his eyes.

“Of course, I would love that.” She smiled at his response.

“Can you—” She looked at him hesitatingly. “Can you hold my hand when we do?”

He was even more shocked to hear those words, and he smiled as he placed a hand on her cheek. “Of course, Raven.”

“I would like to date you, Damian.” Raven stared at Damian, who just pulled his hand away from her cheek and straightened his posture as he looked away.

“Your memory isn’t like what it was Raven, I think it’s too early to say that.” His response wasn’t something she enjoyed but Raven pressed her lips together and did not push him.

She didn’t recall her love for Garfield at the moment and assuming she would choose Damian when she does recall, would be too much of wishful thinking on Damian's part.

~.~.~.~.~

The sun was setting and the white room was filled with an orange hue from the setting sun outside. Raven and Damian had just arrived from walking outside. This time around she was able to stay outside longer without having flashbacks of the night she got stabbed. It was great progress. But she always held Damian as if he was the only remaining lifeboat in an open, turbulent ocean.

Damian and Raven were continuing a pleasant conversation they had outside in her bedroom, when suddenly the door opened.

“Raven!” Garfield came in with such a relieved look on his face, his eyes expectant as he searched for her. Damian and Raven’s happy conversation grew stale as they turned their head to the door.

“Raven!” He called out again when his eyes landed on her but Raven remained in place. “Of course, you wouldn’t tell me she is awake!” Garfield added with a glare to Damian, whose head was casted down.

“Tsk, Greyson.” He muttered, Greyson right behind Garfield but was hidden from Damian’s line of sight. Despite Damian’s head casted down, he took note of Raven’s reaction.

She was still, she stood in place, but Damian could tell, she was so close to running to Garfield and hugging him. And all Damian could do was squeeze his eyes shut, as he inhaled softly while clenching his fists.

Seeing Garfield, Raven felt like her soul from inside her was vibrating with excitement. And yet, at the same time it felt as though a thin layer of frost blanketed her entire body, and it was enough to render her frozen. Despite her deep desire to hug Garfield, her feet were so heavily planted on the floor, that she didn’t even move an inch. Her breathing was shallow and unhurriedly soft, and she just focused on that.

The days had passed so pleasantly after Raven woke up that Damian had thought that he had a place in her heart. But seeing her like this, he knew—Garfield still outweighs him.

“Get out.” Raven said, to which Damian snapped his head to Raven’s direction, who had simply turned her back and walked to the window. “All of you.”

Damian wanted to say something, his fists curling and uncurling by his sides, but he saw her stiff figure with crossed arms as she stubbornly looked outside. He was the last to leave.

He came back a few hours later, to see Raven sitting by the windowsill looking outside.

“He hasn’t left has he?” She whispered hoarsely not looking at who entered. Damian shook his head as he replied, even though she would not see it.

“His downstairs, hoping you’d at least see him.” He got no response, but she tilted her head.

“I didn’t see him leave.” She muttered vacantly.

“I’m here to convince you to eat dinner.” And Raven turned to look at him, a frown on her face.

“Okay,” She sighed. “But you are eating with me.”

Damian was startled at hearing this, a second passed before the words sunk in.

“Alright.” He blinked at her.

“Here.” She added and he told her that he would be back, as he left for a moment to get them their dinner.

When he arrived with food, they sat on a pub table that was added a little after Raven woke up. It could only sit two people, and it was made of some nice honey brown wood. The cushions of the chair are red and its frame is made of the same wood as the table. It was rather small for two people, but they made do.

Raven was vacantly playing with her food while Damian observed her with a frown. He had not yet scolded her for not eating, as he was giving her just a little more time.

With a sigh she said, “It’s odd, when I saw him, it felt like I just realized the world was a puzzle with missing pieces, and his presence just made all the missing pieces appear on it’s designated places. He was familiar, he was someone I knew—love, maybe even… but something didn’t sit well with me. I didn’t want to approach him. And I didn’t want him to approach me.” Damian just listened as she said her piece.

The two were enveloped in a tranquility that evidently belonged to them, and them alone. They felt secured in each other’s presence and there was no response needed.

~.~.~.~.~

It took Raven three days to be able to even meet Garfield. The sun was setting, and from Raven’s window, one could see Raven talking with Garfield. They were sitting on a bench facing the sunset, their backs facing the window in Raven’s room.

So, it was a given that the two did not see Damian observing them from the window. He did not look upset nor joyful with the scene he was seeing. But once Garfield placed a hand on Raven’s hand, and she tilted her head a bit towards Garfield, you could see Damian’s face slowly turn into unpleasantness.

When the minutes passed, and Garfield nor Raven had not pulled away from one another, his face contorted to wanting to storm out from Raven’s room to standing still and just holding his breath—just hoping and wishing—that she had not chosen Garfield.

But the minutes continued to pass, and Garfield’s hand continued to rest on Raven’s hand. And Raven glanced at him with a smile forming on her lips. And Damian couldn’t help but think that despite Raven having difficulties in leaving the building with him, if it was Garfield with her—of course it would be easier for her to be outside with him-- with Garfield.

And Raven started closing in on the space between her and Garfield, and Damian did not want to see that. So, he turned around quickly, and he stood with his back against them, as he flexed his fists, and sighed. He had hurried to see her; he had gone through the garage so he was unable to see them in the yard. Once he got into her room, and she wasn’t there, Damian absentmindedly walked to the window. That was when he saw her and Garfield together on a bench, looking like lovers.

He wondered how long he stood by the window looking at them. He closed his eyes and sighed again, by the end of the day it was never him. He walked to the door without looking back.

A few days later, Raven is pacing her room anxiously. She had not seen Damian in days, she worried he saw her and Garfield the other day and that was why he was nowhere to be seen. But she wanted to explain to him what he had seen wasn’t what he thought. She had to tell him.

And she could feel the panic go up onto her throat. She sat on her bed, facing the door. She had refused to step out of her room after she talked to Garfield—not without Damian. She could not find the strength to go out of her room after her chat with Garfield.

Raven buried her hands on her face as the tears started to stream from her eyes. All she could see under her closed eyes, was the time—that night, when she reached out for Damian. The pain when that black spike hit her sternum.

She recalled her desire to be with Damian, but right now she felt it so very intensely that she was afraid. She was so afraid that she had lost that chance. And the door opened, and in an instant she was up on her feet with wide eyes. Seeing that it was Damian, she sobbed as she ran towards Damian and tackled him with a hug.

He was startled and it took a moment for him to realize that she was hugging him so tightly. He gently returned her hug.

“I thought you wouldn’t come back. I was so scared.” She wept on the nook of his shoulder, her feet not even touching the floor.

“I’m sorry for worrying you.” He replied softly, and tightened his hold on her as he set her down a bit so that she could touch the floor. They stood like that for a moment.

Raven eventually pulled away and tried to collect her bearings. She wiped her tears and looked at Damian in the eyes. On the other hand, he was wishing she hadn’t pulled away-- maybe that was the only time he could hold her like that. And she reached for his hands and it felt so right.

“When Gar came, and guided me outside, I couldn’t find the strength to step through the door. All I could think about was that I need you. I need you to hold my hand as I step outside. While that night kept flashing through my mind. But he held my hand—and it felt so familiar. And all my fears just vanished.” She looked down on their feet. “And I found myself outside—with him.” There was guilt in her face and on the tone of her voice. And Damian honestly did not want to hear what she had to say next. But she held his hands tighter, making him decide to just keep quiet. A small smile formed on her lips as tears fell and splatter on the floor.

“I forgot the time I was injured, till the time before he held my hands. It felt like I could breathe again.” Damian’s right eye twitched, he wondered what was her point. She suddenly flicked her head to look at him, and he was startled.

“He will always be someone that matters to me, we will always have history. I have loved him for nine years, we shared so many memories—so many firsts. But I do not want to be with him. I want to be with you. And I know I am asking a lot, but if all these don't bother you—I would love it, if you would date me.” But she was greeted with silence. “I want you. I want to be with you.” She softly added, her confidence fading.

“I don’t mind.” He said so softly, but Raven didn’t hear it.

“If that is an issue for you, then I completely understand.” She continued on.

“I don’t mind.” He repeated.

“I know it’s been two years, and that there must have been someone you became interested in. Or maybe you’ve even dated a bit. I know we don’t talk about it, but I get that—” She squeezed her eyes, her tone ready to break in a sob.

“Raven, I want to be with you.” He cupped her cheek and tilted her head towards him. She looked at him with the slightest hint of distrust. “I’ve always wanted to be with you—I waited for you.” He said, being able to say those words felt like such a relief to Damian. And the tears started falling from Raven’s eyes as the distrust was washed away.

“I almost gave up, I admit that.” He couldn’t bring himself to look at her anymore. She cupped both of his cheeks.

“If I were in your place, even I would waver.” She told him, trying to catch his dodging eyes. When she finally was able to lock her eyes with his, she added. “Garfield will always have some meaning to me—his all I have known for nine years, even before sleeping for two years—my history with him is half of my life. I was afraid. I thought he was the only one who could possibly love someone like me—I was wrong. I was so, so wrong. I want my next memories and moments-- with you. And slowly those memories I had, and my history with him, will just be a fraction of my life. I want you. I want every possible milestone with you, Damian.”

He slowly nodded, and when Raven’s eyes registered the nod, he couldn’t help but smile and chuckle. But she looked like she was going to cry out of happiness and disbelieve. This time she has chosen him.

“I never thought this day would happen.” He leaned in to rest his forehead against hers, and a soft smile formed on her lips. And they shared the moment in silence. After a while, Damian talks.

“I was afraid to ask, or open up about this, especially since you were still recuperating—and your memories are fuzzy. But who would have thought you would catch me by surprise and open up the topic yourself?” Raven took the opportunity to plant a kiss on his lips, and he conservatively kissed back to which she deepened the kiss. And she pulled away recalling Damian’s inexperience last time.

“We will take it step by step. I might still remember more about Garfield, and I might get a little confused. But remind me that I chose you since that night.” She leaned her forehead against his, eyes locked with one another. Damian’s eyes flickered with surprise and the confirmation that she chose him that night, made his eyes soften with the acknowledgement. He caressed her face with his thumb.

“I finally caught up to you.” He whispered, a giggle bubbling up on the base of Raven’s throat.

~.~.~.~.~

A few months later, the white sterile room was no longer white nor empty. Raven had flipped the room with Damian’s help and approval. Its walls were now a soft lilac color. The room’s furniture was either accented with white, glass or silver metals. And the ceiling was littered with little crystals, that once the lights were off, would illuminate like stars in different colors. The medical bed swapped for a king sized bed. Her sheets were navy blue and white.

“Raven, are you ready?” Damian’s voice came from outside her open door. She turned in her white fitted dress with the thinnest spaghetti straps. Her long hair that passed her waist was tied into a fishtail braid.

“Of course!” She replied happily, as she ran towards the door, and tackled Damian with a hug and giggled.

“Excited for our brunch?” He teased.

“Absolutely!” She replied without missing a second.

Later that night they were in her bedroom. Damian sat on her bed and she was kneeling over his lap. Raven’s hair slowly unravelling from its braid. Their lips have been intertwined with one another for minutes now. He had one hand on her waist and the other on her thigh, a bit too afraid to rest it on her bum. While her hands were on his neck and on his chest.

Raven broke off the kiss, and started kissing his neck.

“If we’re going too fast, you can tell me.” She muttered in between kisses. But when she did not hear any response, she pulled away to look at him.

“I know Garfield and I had a lot of firsts together, if that bothers you…” Damian broke away from his dazed state and looked at her questioningly.

“I admit, at first it did,” His eyes followed his hand as it traveled from her thigh to her waist which he caressed. “Thinking of how he knows how to please you…” He looked back at her conflicted eyes. “But that just means I have to learn how to please you my way. You two were together for so long—it would be a given that I’m not your first. That is alright. But you are mine.” He admitted a small blush on his face. And she smiled as she kissed his eye and trailed kisses to his jawline. He was being brought back to his dazed state.

“I feel honored.” She whispered in between her kisses. And she playfully bit his ear after. Damian was startled and grabbed her butt and she gasped.

“Then I will take the lead then.” She whispered alluringly by his ear, as her hands travelled under his shirt. Her braid was completely undone at this point, soft black wavy waist length hair cascading down her head.

FIN.

Bonus Scene:

Garfield and Raven were outside on the yard and they had been talking for hours that the sun had finally begun to set.

“You know, when I woke up, I couldn’t find myself to walk out of my room. Eventually, I was able to overcome it. But I found that it was so difficult to step outside the villa. All I could see was that night and being stabbed, and the last person I saw.” Raven confessed and Garfield placed a hand on hers to comfort her.

“But Damian was there, he guided me and stayed with me as we walked outside.” A small smile on her lips. “I always held him like I was in open water and he was the lifeboat. I was afraid of losing him. I mean, I still am. I still hold him so tightly, because I’m afraid that it would be my last chance with him. I thought I was going to die that night, Gar.”

“But when you offered your hand and held me, after you said you knew of my condition—my fear outside.” She glanced at the open area. “I forgot how afraid I was of going outside. It was like my fears these few months were nothing but a phantom. You were always associated with love and happy memories for me. But you and I both know, Gar, we were imperfect. We were destructive. We had become unhappy together for a very long time.” And she glanced at him fully.

“I want to say goodbye.” She finally said, and Garfield looked at her gently as Raven extended her arms to hug him. “I want to start a new romance—with Damian.” She whispered as they embraced one another.

“I wish you two happiness.” Garfield said as he pulled away.

“Yes, thank you.” She looked back at Damian’s villa. “I was so afraid I would lose him, I still do now, it's why I always hold him tightly whenever we go outside.” She looked back at the sunset that was facing them.

“I held on because of him—I’m sure it was him, I could feel his hand and hear him every now and then, until all I knew was his presence.” She mumbled mostly to herself.

Alternate (timeline) Ending:

Damian was asleep on the table, and had woken up with a jolt, all teary eyed.

“Damian, what’s wrong?” Raven said as she approached the table.

“I had a dream, you got injured and you were in a coma.” He replied. And he tells her what happened in his dream.

Alternate’s Alternate Ending: (Reciprocate timeline)

“I had a dream, you got injured and you were in a coma.” He replied as Raven sat down beside him. She gently places a hand on his, as she smiles softly.

“Damian, that did happen.” She replied unhurriedly.

35 notes · View notes

snowe-zolynn-rogers · 3 years

Text

Pairings: Bumblebee (Blake x Yang)

Word Count: 1,923 Words

Summary: Discussion and go time.

Warnings: Fighting Mention, Cursing, Weapon Mention, Death Mention, Blood Mention, Amputation Mention, let me know if I should tag anything else.

Shadows Are Made Of Light: Chapter 5

Dinner was lively to say the least. Terra and Saphron seemingly decided that eating at the table in their kitchen was their best bet while the group was discussing. Terra and Saphron had long since gone up to their bedroom to sleep.

The plans were talked through and they were about to wrap up the conversation when Mercury sighed. Now was a better time than ever for the little plans he'd overheard details from.

"I actually have something to say." Mercury didn't like all this attention once all their eyes were on him.

"What's wrong?" Jaune asked, looking over his tension-filled expression.

"There were some things Salem would relay through Cinder. There was always a plan behind the fall of Beacon. Salem's plans are to create a divide and unrest amongst the people of Remnant and gather the relics so, when the gods come back, they'll destroy Remnant, everyone on it, and she will no longer be immortal. Salem's goal is to free herself from eternity by taking everyone with her." Mercury told them.

"So she'll be looking for the Lamp." Oscar asked, though it sounded more like a statement.

"For all the relics. Last I heard, Emerald told me that Ozpin had apparently hidden the Crown even better than the other three and Cinder still hadn't found it. Now that we have the Lamp, they know they need to get the others before we can so our goal is a ticking clock." Mercury took a deep breath, hoping nobody was disappointed.

"A time crunch isn't anything new. We can still do this." Ruby assured him.

"We should get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be interesting." Maria laughed on her way upstairs. Mercury was going to end up asleep on the couch again because Oscar was half asleep against him again.

"I have a feeling Nora is taking pictures." Mercury told them.

"Good instincts." Nora told him, obviously taking another picture. "I've never passed up an opportunity for Cute Farm Son pictures." Nora alerted him.

"Good to know, crop me out of them." Mercury told her.

"Ehhh, I think I'll leave you in since you're looking particularly Dad-like." Mercury laughed while frowning at her.

"I hate you." Mercury smiled at her.

"Yeah, sure, Dad-cury." Nora snorted.

"Go sleep or something." He laughed, smiling as everyone filed from the room and shut the lights off. Mercury's heart stopped at the darkness. As childish as it may be, the dark was something he couldn't deal with.

"Nora?" He asked, she'd been the last one to go up the stairs due to her need for pictures of Mercury and Oscar.

"What's up Dad-cury?" Nora asked, coming downstairs and turning the lights on.

"Could you leave a light on?" Mercury asked.

"Oh yeah, sure. You scared of the dark too?" She asked.

"More of an instinct. Can't sleep with lights off. My dad told me too many stories of monsters in the dark." Mercury admitted.

"You're good, I'll leave the lamp over here on." She told him and patted the lamp before turning it on and turning the main light off. "Night, Dad-cury." She told him.

"Night, Nora." He called after her as she went upstairs. Mercury sighed at Oscar asleep on him.

"I hope you realize I'm not a pillow." He told the sleeping boy only to receive a small snore. "Fine, but it's because you're a kid and you remind me of Chrome." Mercury grumbled.

He went about pulling Oscar's excess clothing off as well as his own. They didn't need to wake up in puddles of sweat in warm, heavy clothing meant for much colder weather than this.

Then he laid down and then he smiled holding the bear from inside his jacket that he had kept, Chrome's favorite teddy bear. It was the piece of her he had left. He had kept it with him since he left his father's house. He fell asleep holding it close, Oscar deciding to cuddle up against him and he smiled. He guessed he would be a father figure to a pre-teen now too.

In the morning, the plan was running smoothly, Weiss was on the Atlesian aircraft to Atlas with Maria in her luggage as the only small person who could fit who could also fly a plane with Saphron and Adrian as her distraction to get Maria onboard. It was up to him and Blake to turn off the radar for Weiss.

Mercury was sure that three people riding on a two person motorcycle probably wasn't safe, he was aware. He was acutely aware of the conversation Blake and Terra were having about the comms equipment for the city versus the radar box.

"Are you two sure I shouldn't come with?" Yang asked as the bike stopped about a half mile from the tower.

"More intruders means we're more likely to be seen." Blake told her. "Besides, stealth isn't exactly your, um...I mean, you're great and we'll hurry back!" Blake told her.

"Go." Yang smiled at her. They went running off toward the tower together, Mercury feeling that bear close in his jacket, snuggly secured to his front so he couldn't possibly lose it.

"Heading in on foot, won't be long." Blake told the others on the comms.

"You know, you two flirting couldn't be more apparent." He told her.

"Hey!" She snapped.

"I just say what I see." He smirked.

"Sure, 'Dad-cury'." Blake teased.

"I won't deny my fatherly title. And don't make me adopt you all." He taunted back.

Their run to the tower was largely uneventful until they got to the tower itself. When they got there, there was a red-haired man he vaguely recognized as having maybe met once or possibly twice. Adam Taurus, a White Fang operative whom Emerald had informed him about two weeks ago that he'd taken reigns as the head of the organization before its eventual fall at Haven not long after.

"Blake. And you. Salem heard of your betrayal at Beacon, Mercury Black." Mercury felt a rush of both helpless and rage. This guy had the guts to practically threaten him?

"Merc, don't rush him." She warned quietly.

"Protecting your friend? Or are you travelling with an enemy, Belladonna? He could betray any of you at any moment while claiming to be a friend. He's probably not even with you to help, he's just running away like he ran away from his dear old daughter two years ago." Adam taunted.

"Don't you talk about my daughter!" Mercury snapped at him.

"Is Dad mad I brought up his abandoned baby? Mad because I'm right or because you're sad she won't have a Dad after I'm done with you?" Adam asked.

"I'm mad because some asshole is talking shit about me protecting my daughter!" Mercury shot at him with the gun-scythe, which he'd named Caduceus, Qrow got him that morning.

"Merc!" Blake snapped, pulling him away.

"Get to the radar." He whispered to her, rushing into the fight with Adam and distracted him while Blake tried to get up the relay tower. Unfortunately, that fight didn't quite favor Mercury as Adam grabbed his leg during a kick and pulled. Hard, so much Mercury went flying to the ground. The lock popped from the pin and he felt the lock break as the pin wasn't undone properly.

"Looks like Silver Black did a good job making his son easily controlled." Adam snapped. Mercury couldn't move, he knew Adam was looming over him, he knew it was so easy for him to die like this if he didn't attack but he felt a crushing weight of shock hit him that he would never see Chrome again.

She would never have a Dad, at least not one that was him. He'd never see her grow up. It made the breath catch in his lungs and tears build in his eyes. But the strike never came and, when he opened his eyes, Adam was gone, going after Blake.

He had to had to help Blake. He heard them tumbling in the trees, he shoved a twig into the the broken lock and put the pin back in. The stupid thing didn't move his stupid knee. Thankfully, he didn't need the use of it, he had a weapon still and another leg.

He could do this. He wouldn't stop fighting until he at least saw Chrome again. Blake was fighting Adam. He could hear it. he followed them to a waterfall nearby. he could tell by the sound of their swords clashing.

"You're delusional." Blake sounded shaken as he stood hidden in the forest before the opening. He saw their blades clash once more as he ran forward to save her. He wouldn't let him kill her.

Gambol Shroud was broken in half and his ears rang with Blake's scream as Mercury saw the blood on her wrist and was now getting on the ground. Her hand still on the grip of Gambol Shroud as it skittered away from her.

Adam simply shoved Mercury down and went about his bullshit speech about how she hurt him, showing off a brand on his left eye, one of the Schnee Dust Company's for their mineworkers. Blake's ears tuned back.

"I don't fucking care much for your pity me speech." Mercury spat and took him onto the ground, knocking Wilt from his hand and bringing the staff of Caduceus down on the bastard's head to try to just knock him out but he got kicked off and landed on top of Blake.

"Tell me, how does it feel to be alone?" Adam was picking up Wilt. He was holding that blade up, yelling as his intent was to bring it down but the blade didn't come a second time, Blake had taken him as she used her semblance to shadow them a few feet away.

"I'm not alone." She grit out as she held her holster for Gambol Shroud in her left hand.

"Yang." Blake grunted, holding her bleeding right wrist.

"It's okay, Blake, catch your breath for a second. Me and Merc can hold him off." Yang assured her.

"She's right, Blake. It's okay, we have unfinished business." And man if he actually needed to help her, he would have but Yang was amazing fighting him. He aided helping Blake stem the blood flow before she bled out by having grabbed her jacket, which he tied part of around her forearm and made a makeshift tourniquet.

"You'll be okay. Don't let yourself get dizzy and don't fall asleep, it might be severe blood loss." He warned her.

"His semblance is like yours! He absorbs energy through his sword, stores it up, and then sends it back when he's ready." Blake told Yang.

"He gets to dish out damage without having to feel it? That's just cheap." Yang scoffed before going after him again. Before he knew it, Blake was yelling for Yang and he was grabbing for her.

"Leave us alone. This is your last chance." Yang told Adam.

"Do you really believe that? Or are you just trying to scare me away so you won't have to die to protect her? Like your good metal buddy, Mercury over there, tried to." Adam asked.

"She's not protecting me, Adam. Neither is Mercury." He felt Blake's stump in his hand, she put it there. She was holding Yang's hand and trying to hold his in the only way she could with her right hand now gone. "And I'm not protecting them. We're protecting each other."

6 notes · View notes

feel199x · 4 years

Text

in love with a ghost; ch. 01- somethings in between

soul eater!au, ghost!au, witch!au, apocalypse!au, gods of olympus!au (YEAH I SAID IT. ALL OF THEM)

MASTERLIST

summary: jisung’s a ghost- well, sort of. it’s not your fault. shenanigans are going on to get back to live!

warning: uhh none except lots of swearing ‘cause reader’s FEISTY!

You remember the night it happened.

And there is nothing, absolutely nothing in this world that you want to remember less. But you can’t. You sit up at night, and you can’t help but remember. And it’s killing you, it’s kill you painfully and slowly and you don’t think you can take it anymore. It doesn’t help that he’s all you have left and that he’s a ghost.

A fucking ghost.

Well, sort of.

“What the fuck was that, _____? You had him!”

But boy, he could still get on your nerves.

“I’d like to see your bitch ass try!”

Your eyes snapped open and you swung your scythe at the demon, and missed. The debris under you flew everywhere as you tried to stabilize yourself for the upcoming attack. Breathing deeply, you stuck your scythe’s staff into the ground and jumped. It was a risky move, you knew, but it was worth a shot. Fate turned to rule in your favor. Your thighs wrapped around the demon’s neck and your scythe turned into a dagger, where you then plunged the blade into the demon’s eye repeatedly. Because of the close proximity, however, the demon pulled at your leg and towards his mouth. In a swift movement, you snapped his neck and used your weapon- which had since turned back into a scythe- to launch yourself off the demon’s back.

The landing was unsuccessful and you rolled on the ground, earning cuts and bruises everywhere. Fuck! Why did you choose to wear a skirt today of all days?

“____, get up! Now’s the perfect time!”

“I know that, Jisung! Just give me a second!”

“You don’t have a second!”

You grumbled a string of curses at him, but got up anyway. It was time for a spell. Spinning your scythe like a baton, you started chanting.

“Fera impurus vis te cadent in gladio et in sæcula fecisti dolorem,” your scythe trembled slightly, a heat climbing up your body, and you felt the light envelop you completely, “nomine terrae et aquae, opiferque mortis visitabo vos!”

The earth beneath you trembled, and you could feel your soul eating you up, but you couldn’t stop- not until he was nothing but demon guts. For Jisung.

“____! Stop! You’re going to destroy everything! He’s dead, ____! He’s dead!”

You stopped suddenly, collapsing on the ground. Demons couldn’t die. You knew that. What Jisung meant was that the demon was efficiently blown up.

You groaned as the smell finally hit you. Demon guts smelled awful. Oh, and all the destruction you meant a bunch of trees uproot themselves and splashed everything everywhere.

“You can unmanifest now, Jisung.”

“No way! What if something happens?”

You shrugged, “I’ll cause the end of the world. Whatever. But I know it’s not your favorite shape to be in.”

The scythe you still somehow had a grip on disappeared, and in its place was a hollow image of Jisung.

“Get up.”

“No.”

“_____, get up.”

“No.”

“_____,” Jisung crouched down, and you knew his hand was on your head even though you couldn’t feel it. “we need to get you home.”

“Home isn’t going anywhere.”

“Pretty soon the cops are going to show up and wonder why a kid is all bruised up and laying in the middle of the wreckage. You got any alibis handy?”

You stuck your middle finger up, but you knew he was right. Hell, you could practically hear the sirens.

“Well, I guess we better get biking.”

“Why don’t you get a car?”

“Because they’re death traps, and they leave you vulnerable.”

“At least you would get places quicker.”

“You are literally a ghost, Jisung. Just, teleport.”

He shrugged, “Then I’d be alone. I’d rather be with you.”

Your face grew hot and you turned away from him, “I’ll think about it. But we can always just bike.”

In the distance, the sound of sirens started to grow louder. “Fuck! Jisung c’mon.”

“I told you!”

You ran towards your bike and scrambled onto it, pedaling as fast as you could. The ride was anything but smooth. Why weren’t you blessed with teleportation powers? All you had were these pesky psychic powers, and they were totally out of control- you couldn’t do anything without destroying the surrounding ecosystem. But damn you if you couldn’t pedal fast. Cops were never good news. Ever.

Fuck!

You forgot to collect the demon’s blood.

Something appeared in the distance and you closed your eyes to better sense it. It was a strange aura, and an entirely odd shaped soul. Oh! Oh. You turned your bike around, but the turn was too sharp and you ended up falling off- further scraping your body. And Jisung, of course, had the audacity to laugh. Somehow, you had the self restraint to ignore him.

God knew you’d be too powerful if you could teleport.

You moved slowly, distributing the weight of your body and listening to the earth. You outstretched your hand, hoping he would get the hint- and he did.

The dagger’s handle filled the grip of your hand and you held it tightly, until you could feel Jisung’s soul latch onto yours. It was like holding his hand again. His soul felt like hot chocolate. You shook your head, trying to clear your mind.

The unidentified object started to move, you could feel the earth underneath you shake slightly- the roots of trees ache slightly, the wild flowers and mushrooms sending out warning signals to you.

You felt it come up, and instinctively, you slashed at it. The smell, however, was familiar. Now, how does that work? How could a demon regenerate that fast? And now his soul- or what would be his soul is all fucked up.

The sirens- siren? There was only one cop car, which was pretty lucky for you. That’s okay, you can multitask.

“_____, this isn’t a good idea. We need to make a break for it.”

“I’ll be fine, Jisung. This isn’t anything we haven’t done before.”

“It’s too much of a risk. I’m unmanifesting.”

“I’m doing this for you!”

Jisung didn’t answer. The demon made a swipe for your leg, and you felt his nails scratch a long line down your leg and then you felt the dagger dissolve. But that’s fine. You could handle yourself.

“Et oblita es qui es. a quo factum est. tibi perdidit.”

The demon, frantic in it’s amnesia, tried to make a pass at you. Too much was going on. You felt like your insides were melting. You turned towards the demon- and you don’t even remember casting a spell- but you felt him explode- the demon blood splattering across your face.

The cop was coming closer, you could feel his footfall in the earth. You didn’t care, and more importantly, you didn’t have time. You could feel the light burning through you, your soul bleeding out. You snapped the necklace that was around your neck, and collected the blood on your face to drop into the vial that was attached to it.

Recklessly, you let the cop watch you. You could feel him stop in his tracks, afraid. He was stunned, and so you just walked past him, limping. You looked at him, looking at you. But you didn’t care. He wasn’t going to do anything. That much you knew.

And Jisung wasn’t having it.

“You could’ve died.”

“Maybe, but I didn’t. I’m powerful enough to keep myself alive. And I didn’t hurt anyone.”

“_____, aren’t you listening? You could’ve died- you’re just getting stronger and you don’t have any control over yourself-.”

“I know! I know, Jisung! But atleast I would’ve ended up with you again! That’s all I want.” you choked on your tears, “I know you’re worried about me. I don’t mean to do it. I just want you back. I just want to be with you again. I don’t care how it happens.”

“Oh, ______.”

“I’m sorry, Jisung. I don’t mean to be an asshole.”

“Hey,” he tried to grab your hand, and you swear you could’ve burst into tears, “we’re gonna figure it out. It’s gonna be okay.”

The rest of the walk was spent in a silence. Finally, you and Jisung got home. And the first thing you wanted to do was eat. Thankful you had stopped bleeding some time ago. Even better, you lived in the absolute middle of nowhere, so no one came across your bloody self. And even if they did, it would just become another one of the forest’s ghost stories.

The reputation helped people keep away.

“Shouldn’t you shower?”

“Nah.”

Jisung had disappeared for a bit as you made your ramen. Well, making was a bit of an exaggeration. All you had to do was boil water. Normally, you would chef it up, but the using of your powers made you feel absolutely exhausted. You sighed, the water in the kettle finally boiling, and began pouring the water into the noodle cup

“_____.”

You jumped, almost spilling the cup all over yourself.

“Yes, Jisung?”

“Can I possess you?”

“For what reason?”

“Oh, I have several. One, I really want some of that ramen you’re eating and two, you love me.”

You sighed, rolling your shoulder and staring at him, “If you do laundry.”

“You’re cruel.”

“And you’re a ghost. Care to spew any other obvious facts?”

He huffed, crossing his arms, “I could do it without your permission, I’m doing it because I’m a nice person.”

“Yeah, you’re a real casper. Very friendly.”

“So,” he dragged his o’s, “is that a yes?”

“Fine.”

Jisung clapped his hands, and sprinted into you. He still had a soul, somehow, and it mixed in with yours. It wasn’t so much an uncomfortable feeling so much as it was plain strange. You could feel your consciousness slipping and you let it. You didn’t mind sharing your consciousness so much. It was comforting, in a sense. You could feel his soul in it’s entirety again. You fell, hitting the floor. You were in the half space again.

Atleast, that’s what you called it. Half conscious, half not. Sharing it, basically. You could still see what was going on, but not in the same way. It was like watching a movie in the theaters, except the screen is small and you’re so far away.

Jisung?

_____, this ramen is so, so good.

I’m glad you like it. I’m gonna let you take control for a while.

Jisung hummed in response.

You walked in the empty space. To anyone else, you think the nothingness would be overwhelming, but to you it was silent. With someone else driving your body, you could organize your thoughts. In the half space, you were truly alone. This was also the time you could plan out spells to help materialize Jisung for good. You breathed deeply, put your index finger and thumb over your nose, and plunged. The water was quite cold, but, at least in your mind, memory was stored in the water.

Turmeric.

Graveyard dirt.

Blood of the assailant.

A vision came to you, suddenly. It was vague and fast, mostly colors that didn’t make sense. And then, it started to clear. It was Jisung. Well- not quite, it was Jisung’s chest you were against. He was crying and breathing hard. You felt your body convulse, white spiking in your vision, and you felt like molten ocean water and tree roots breaking out of you.

Suddenly, you came back to.

You breathed hard.

There are two things that you’ve learned about your visions: one being that there was nothing you could do to change the outcome, and two, that it will always happen. No matter what. You learned those two the day Jisung-

No, you wouldn’t say it. But the vision meant that Jisung would come back to life. That was good. But you couldn’t tell him- not until you were sure of what would lead up to it. You didn’t want to get his hopes up.

Sometimes you wished that you hadn’t quit school. Yeah, maybe they thought you were going to bring about the end of the world and completely isolated you from the rest of the school’s population, but at least they could help you maintain your powers.

You shook your head, floating up in the water.

Jesus, just when you thought things couldn’t get more complicated.

You can have your body back.

I don’t really want to, I kind of like it here.

We don’t really know how this works, ____. We don’t even know how you can still use me as a scyth.

You sighed, Yes, I suppose you’re right.

Getting out of the half space, however, was never as easy as getting into it. You were flung into the real world, your insides being stretched out and then compressed back into your body. Dazed, the realms hadn’t separated yet. The human, the spirit, and the earth realm was all present and it made your brain hurt. Evidently, you had spent too much time in the half space.

Right when you were about to pass out, the door opened, and the cop stood in the door frame.

Damn, could you catch a break?

31 notes · View notes

themurphyzone · 4 years

Text

Nova Ch 3

Ch 3: Planet

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to Earth we go!

New Selenian Date 3015.4.13

After several months of grueling labor, the Conquistador is finally complete! We’re proud to consider it our magnum opus for now. Of course, taking over Terra will replace it as the crown jewel of our achievements later.

Currently, we’re in the process of loading the vessel with a two-week supply of sustenance. We won’t have to ration food, considering our projected route is only a one-week journey. I imagine we’ll get tired of canned maza pods rather quickly though. It’s nutritious, but the flavor is lacking.

Good riddance to this barren rock. Unlike the spineless, cowardly Selenians, we’re leaving for the right reasons and with an objective in our brilliant minds.

You won’t have to wait much longer, Terra. We’ll be arriving soon enough.

Signing off for now, the Brain.

o-o-o-o-o

Despite the excitement of leaving behind his old life of a lowly mos on a failing colony, he also felt some unwanted trepidation at leaving Penumbra Lab completely. He wouldn’t have the thrum of the holographic projector under his fingertips, the hidden pathways he traversed to avoid the non-enhanced mos, and most importantly, the sight of Terra through the large, weakening glass windows.

Terra wouldn’t appear as a colorful marble in a black void once he was on the planet. He’d have an entirely new perspective.

Exciting, yet daunting.

There was also the small matter of domination, of course.

“My, somebody’s ready to depart from this miserable rock,” Snowball chuckled, flicking Brain’s ear. It twitched against his will and wrecked his concentration. Did Snowball really think the magnet gun was going to work on its own? Somebody had to keep a constant electromagnetic field going so they wouldn’t have to manually load the canned maza into the ship’s pantry!

Brain batted Snowball’s hand away with the handle of the magnet gun and ignored the reproachful glare he was given. “I’m always ready to depart from miserable rocks, condemned labs, and irritating aisam who can’t keep their hands to themselves,” he said, regaining control of the magnet gun and bringing the last of the canned maza into storage.

“You wound me, Brain.” Snowball clutched his chest with his non-bruised hand. “Your barbed words are tearing me apart from the inside. The internal bleeding is quite agonizing.”

Brain rolled his eyes at the theatrics, turning the gun off and storing it inside a hidden panel on the wall. There were four similar panels with weapons aboard the Conquistador, courtesy of Snowball. He’d acquired the parts from other labs and cobbled them together in his spare time, much to Brain’s disapproval.

Snowball argued that they needed self-defense measures in case Terrans tried to attack as soon as the Conquistador landed. Brain had created a hypnotizing belt to cover that particular issue, but Snowball didn’t think it was effective enough.

There was a cold gleam in Snowball’s eyes when they had that particular argument. Brain relented because he’d assumed the constant solitude was affecting Snowball’s mind and he’d back to normal soon enough.

However, the normality was still missing.

But he couldn’t dwell on that now. There were many preparations ahead, and he needed to focus.

“We have plenty of maza pods. The overabundance worked to our advantage,” Brain said. “And all important files have been transferred to the Conquistador for our perusal. There isn’t anything else we require, unless you believe we neglected something.”

“You’ve covered the essentials,” Snowball shrugged. “Sadly, I seem to lack…ah, how do you say it—a certain personal attachment to our current location.”

Brain bristled at the mere suggestion of having an attachment to this bleak prison. Terra just happened to be visible from his usual haunts and peripheral vision, and the holographic projector was an extremely useful device, but Snowball clicked his tongue before Brain could protest.

“If you’d allow me to finish, Brain. Penumbra Lab’s stocks of certain items were never replenished after its abandonment. I can’t blame you for being somewhat embittered about it. Rather a confusing paradox, don’t you think?”

“I’m above such pettiness, Snowball,” Brain scowled.

“Of course. I never meant to insinuate such a thing.” Snowball held his hands in what was meant to be a placating gesture, though it was more smug than true appeasement. “Now, while you were busy with the necessities, I took the liberty of leaving a surprise in your private room. I know, I’ve heard the ‘I hate surprises’ spiel a hundred times, but it wouldn’t hurt you to humor me every once in a while.”

“Forgive me for not indulging your odd sense of humor more often,” Brain said dryly, but he allowed Snowball to lead him through the corridor into Brain’s expanded room at the back of the Conquistador.

The door to his quarters automatically slid open as they approached, which Brain was grateful for. Brain expended far too much energy trying to crack open Penumbra’s heavy titanium doors. Motion detector lights illuminated the left, providing just enough light for his work without disrupting the sleeping area on the right. A monitor was linked to the systems in the control room, which would alert him if anything that required his urgent attention cropped up. The earpiece and filter for his transmissions rested on a computer that contained important files related to Terra.

But what really caught his eye were the ten packets of blue, star-shaped seeds on his bed. Brain picked the nearest one up, the seeds crunching against his hand as he thumbed the plastic lining. He hadn’t eaten these since he was a child, though his mind had retained the memory of a sweet flavor mixed in with the blandness of a lab creature’s usual fare.

He popped a seed in his mouth, the sweetness exploding across his palate and reminding him of a bygone time before his enhancements enabled him to recognize the lab for what it was truly was.

“Snowball, how did you find rusuphri?” Brain asked. He’d meant to demand, but his voice sounded more breathless instead, much to his dismay. “Penumbra doesn’t carry these anymore. I’ve searched.”

“Oh, just a chance finding during one of my supply runs to Eclipse,” Snowball replied. “Only the best for a dear friend. Wouldn’t you agree, Brain?”

But Brain’s antennae receptors only sensed cold electricity, and if there was an undercurrent of warm electrons flowing through Snowball’s neurons, it vanished before he could pick up on it. He was used to this sort of output from Snowball though.

Meddling receptors. Brain flicked them out of annoyance, the red orbs bobbing in and out of his vision. He loathed Eclipse Lab. It wasn’t a secret. Snowball must’ve known that his gift could’ve been rejected because of where it came from.

A risky gamble on Snowball’s part, but Brain couldn’t bring himself to hate the rusuphri at all.

He and Snowball had eaten these seeds all the time as children. Before everything became complicated and machinery and silence. Perhaps it was the nostalgia factor, but Brain only felt a rush of gratitude.

“Thank you, Snowball.” Brain held the rusuphri to his chest like a lifeline, unable to stop his lips from quirking up at the corners.

If Snowball was surprised at the rare show of appreciation, his mask of nonchalance hid it well.

o-o-o-o-o

New Selenian Date 3015.4.14

Snowball and I are departing New Selene at last! We have no reasons that shall keep us from leaving this forsaken abyss!

I will continue sending transmissions from my private quarters on the Conquistador until our triumphant arrival on Terra.

Signing off for now, the Brain.

o-o-o-o-o

“Thrusters are warming up. A little light on your feet today, Brain?” Snowball smirked as Brain buckled himself into his cushioned seat in the control room. He’d just finished securing his transmission equipment so they wouldn’t float away and accumulate damage. It took him several minutes longer than he would’ve liked since there weren’t many handholds available to keep himself from knocking into the ceiling.

Brain’s patience wore thin from all this disorienting levitation, and he punched the buttons on his side of the control panel to work off his frayed nerves. “Keep practicing and you’ll be a showstopper for comedy night.”

Every lab contained an artificial gravity field to counteract New Selene’s weak pull, which was child’s play to duplicate into the engineering of the Conquistador. It was necessary to disengage the fields for the ship and lab to avoid overworking the engines during departure.

Brain couldn’t wait to get out into space. The Conquistador would operate on autopilot for most of the journey, they’d have their artificial gravity back, and Terra beckoned for them to come and save it from slow-minded ignoramuses. His thoughts were much clearer when his two feet were firmly planted on the ground.

“Oh please. I wouldn’t provide nearly as much entertainment as those simpletons during a Lor Altal.” Snowball wrinkled his nose in disdain, mist trailing from his claws. He pulled a lever and brought the supporting systems online. “Swapping hearts indeed. Bah!”

“Yes. A true disappointment. We won’t ever have the pleasant sight of Selenians exchanging a dripping yellow mass of cardiac tissue with each other,” Brain said.

He kept his tone neutral, but Snowball was too preoccupied with inputting their takeoff trajectory into the computer to notice Brain’s ears and antennae falling limp. Brain was painfully aware of the sensation, how his appendages dangled uselessly, and the nonverbal signs of weakness they screamed to the world.

Lor Altal was an intriguing ritual, purely from a scientific standpoint. How Selenians valued science and discovery, yet held their sentimental stories in high esteem was beyond Brain.

Hypocrites. They were hypocrites and if Brain had to listen to one more fictional sordid affair between royalty of warring planets...

Well, he could hardly share his opinion on how to improve those particular plotlines with Snowball. He’d believe Brain actually derived enjoyment from those sorry excuses of storytelling.

Brain punched a button with more force than necessary. A gauge flickered to life, signaling that all power was being diverted to the thrusters. The floor trembled, the engine’s roar overwhelming his eardrums.

Snowball bared his sharp teeth in determination, gripping the launch controller at his station with both hands. He made an impatient noise in the back of his throat, and Brain glared back. Abandoning a deserted colony wasn’t something a mos did in a typical day. Brain’s hands nearly slid off his own launch controller, his palms slick with a thin layer of sweat.

This wasn’t a crazy dream. It was reality, the payoff from months of backbreaking labor. Snowball’s salvaging trips provided the materials. Brain’s engineering skills transformed them into a vessel that would carry them beyond the confines of New Selene and into territories unknown.

With the Conquistador as their trusted ship, they would conquer Terra and raise humanity to new heights!

“NOW!” Snowball bellowed.

They yanked the controllers toward their bodies, their heads shoved against the backs of their seats as the thrusters propelled them into the black void above New Selene. For one brief moment, Brain thought his internal organs were being scrambled inside his body, and he was pretty sure his stomach had dropped to lower intestine level and his lungs had somehow taken up residence in his cranium. Snowball wasn’t faring much better, though he was obviously in denial about needing the vomit bag under his seat.

With one final boost, the Conquistador straightened out, Brain and Snowball sliding forward as much as their straps and buckles would allow. Then they were snapped back, and everything went still.

Leaving New Selene orbit. Engage artificial gravity? a program asked.

“Still…catching my…breath…” Snowball wheezed. His limbs hung off each side of the seat, completely limp from the thrill. He slumped against the headrest, pink eyes wide and tilted to the ceiling. His chest heaved with every quick, frantic breath.

Brain’s throat was far too dry and tight to work properly. With some effort, he reached over and tapped a key, confirming the program’s request.

Artificial gravity engaged.

The weightless feeling vanished, and they sank into the cushions in relief. Brain undid his straps and slid to the edge of his seat, carefully testing his weight on one foot while gripping the chair.

Once he was sure he wasn’t in danger of floating away, he hurried to a side window. New Selene was just a dusty, barren pebble in the distance. Had New Selene truly been that small the entire time? The landscape seemed so endless on the surface.

But there was no use dwelling on it. Their life on New Selene was an artifact of the past.

Ahead of them stood Terra, welcoming and ripe for the taking.

Anticipation flooded through him, and his excitement was so overwhelming that he forgot himself entirely and embraced Snowball. The aisam pawed at Brain’s head in a vain attempt to get him off. But Snowball’s needlelike claws couldn’t pierce through Brain’s newfound sense of purpose.

“I hope you’re amused, Brain,” Snowball muttered. “This bombastic display is ridiculous for any rational being.”

But it was the liveliest electrical current Brain had ever picked from Snowball.

Later on, Brain would agree with him. Yet they’d accomplished their daring escape together. Now they would achieve the impossible through their combined intellect.

And he let himself revel in the triumph.

o-o-o-o-o

New Selenian Date 3015.4.18

Four days since we’ve left New Selene. We’ve placed the Conquistador in autopilot mode for the most part, though Snowball and I take the helm every few hours to make sure everything’s in order.

The Selenians have plotted many theoretical routes to Terra, and our programs are currently synthesizing that information for the fastest path there.

In less than a week, it will be worth it.

Signing off for now, the Brain.

o-o-o-o-o

Transmissions were easy to complete and send now that the lab’s structure wasn’t here to obstruct his frequencies. True, he’d never received a reply, and the vacuum of space was still a hindrance, but at least he didn’t have to cart his equipment around and hope the non-enhanced mos left him alone.

From the information he’d gathered about Terra, transmissions would be even simpler on the planet’s surface. An atmosphere composed of a mixture of gases would enable sound to carry without the need for a voice-to-radio-wave filter. Communication mediums that sent messages in the blink of an eye.

He was feeling generous enough to give credit to the Selenians. They selected their topics of study well.

The door opened as Brain secured his equipment to the floor. Snowball strolled in, helping himself to several rusuphri seeds and snacking on them while he skimmed over the file left open on Brain’s computer.

“Research going well, I presume?” Snowball asked. He clicked through the pictures of various Terran landmarks and surrounding areas from a satellite’s view. “Huh. Are we sure there’s no official authority in charge of the entire planet? These images are incredibly thorough.”

“Perhaps if you’d knock first and not touch my things, I’d be more inclined to share my findings,” Brain scowled. He was willing to let the rusuprhi slide because Snowball put in the effort to locate it, but Brain had been reviewing the images of a structure aptly named the Great Wall of China and he didn’t appreciate losing his place.

Snowball pouted. “Come now. Is that any way to treat your colleagues, Brain?”

“If they pride themselves on being a nuisance, then yes.” Brain shoved Snowball aside, then held down the arrow key until he found the number of the image he’d been on. “Now, if you’re finished being an irritating scrik, I might be willing to share some details.”

“Oh, alright,” Snowball sighed. “But if any of this involves locating precious metals for certain accessories…“

Brain minimized the satellite image and brought up a surveillance report on the Terran global structure. He held a preference towards this particular author, since she had the most useful information by far. Her coworkers only put in the bare minimum, which consisted of observations about shiny buildings and how colorful everything appeared.

Selenians had low standards for scientist qualifications.

“According to this report, there isn’t a formal power invested in any particular being or organization for authority on the entire world, but Terra is divided into many countries and territories with complex local and international political structures. Some areas have more land, resources, or people, which leads them into conflicts with others.”

“And what about this…Google?” Snowball’s brow furrowed at being forced to say an unfamiliar, nonsensical word. “I’ve seen that name on many of the images you’ve found.”

“A major corporation,” Brain replied. “They have considerable influence in Terran politics and communications, including surveillance.”

He scrolled the report, skipping over the sections about various affiliates. Snowball’s eyes darted back and forth, gleaming with interest.

“Technology capable of reading one’s mind in their own homes,” Snowball mused after reading through a section that outlined other forms of Google’s technology. “How fascinating.”

“If such speculation is true, it’s creepy and a complete invasion of privacy,” Brain retorted, shuddering at the mere idea of his thoughts being broadcasted with just the push of a button. “Terrans are not only squandering their potential, they’re also using it for sinister purposes.”

“It’s a resource. If it’s there, it’s beneficial to us,” Snowball said with a long-suffering expression, like he was explaining a basic addition problem. His eyes widened in mock surprise. “Don’t tell me you regret our little voyage, Brain?”

Brain hated the condescension. He wasn’t a child tottering around on unsteady legs. And his name seemed like an oxymoron whenever Snowball pronounced it.

“In case you’ve forgotten, Snowball,” Brain growled, pacing around the room and making his displeasure known with every step, “I spent many sleepless nights pondering, researching, and building. This vessel was built out of dedication to our goal. I want to rule Terra just as much as you, and I refuse to let my effort be wasted!”

Brain pounded the wall with his fist to emphasize his point, a strange, hollow clang echoing from the section he struck. Just to be sure he wasn’t hearing things, he gave it another experimental knock. Then he noticed the thin, rectangular lines indented in the wall that indicated a hidden panel, one that wasn’t accounted for in the blueprints.

Brain pushed the panel aside, revealing a green blaster strapped to the inside wall. Its yellow handle was polished, and the trigger invited any weapon enthusiast to give it a test run. The sleek design promised swift and deadly force, the barrel spiraling into two sharp, triangular points with a red plasma knob in the center to focus its threatening beams on anyone foolish enough to be on the receiving end.

The blaster was small, but that only meant its power was concentrated tenfold.

Several orange plasma cartridges laid underneath the weapon, the fluids swishing lazily in their containers as if they weren’t waiting to be loaded.

“Why?” Brain asked, his mouth dry.

While his mind struggled to process the plasma blaster’s existence, Snowball sauntered up to him, hands clasped behind his back while he awaited Brain’s judgment.

“Your counterarguments aren’t rooted in logic, Brain,” Snowball explained with that condescending patience Brain hated so much. “We have to be prepared to conquer through force if necessary. Or suppose we need to defend ourselves? If a Terran attempts to kill you, do you truly think asking nicely will convince them otherwise?”

“How naïve do you believe me to be?” Brain snapped. “I told you before that a hypnotizing belt will suit our purposes just fine. You underestimate the power of suggestion.”

Snowball jabbed a claw into Brain’s chest. He stumbled back as white mist coated Snowball’s claw and left spiraling trails of frost across Brain’s jumpsuit, its insulation doing nothing to stop the chill creeping through his body.

“I believe you are being so incredibly, foolishly naïve,” Snowball growled. Brain tried to look Snowball in the eye and challenge him back, but his receptors were numb and the electron current was frigid. “Suggestion won’t guarantee results.”

It felt wrong. Movement generated heat. It was a basic principle of science. But Snowball’s electrons were sluggish even though his neurons were always firing with new ideas and cold where they should be warm.

“You self-sabotage your desires with your burdening attachments.” Snowball’s pink eyes narrowed. “I’m only trying to help you overcome that weakness. Why can’t you understand that?”

Brain latched onto that tiny amount of heat in the current. Enough fuel to burn away the cold, enough outrage at the implied lack of comprehension to break free of his daze.

“I have no want or need for your so-called help, Snowball!” Brain snarled, slapping Snowball’s hand away. A chill shot through Brain’s palm, but he gritted his teeth and bore the pain as best he could. “If you have nothing remotely intelligent to contribute, then leave!”

Snowball’s face became an impassive mask.

“Very well, Brain,” he said with no inflection in his voice. He turned on his heel and walked out.

And Brain was left alone with the lingering frost, the blaster, and several packages of rusuphri that no longer tasted as sweet as they once did.

o-o-o-o-o

New Selenian Date 3015.4.21

Though our voyage through space was more volatile than I expected, we’ve successfully approached Terra’s exosphere. Under other circumstances, it would be cause for celebration, but…

Well, Snowball has only spoken to me for essentials during the past few days. Usually so he can update me while he raids the pantry for maza or to catch up on sleep.

Our argument has only served as a reminder that we’re not…as united in our mutual goal as much I want to believe.

It must the length of the journey. Access to only four rooms in a one week period can give anyone a serious case of cabin fever. He’ll get better once we land on Terra’s surface, I’m sure.

Signing off for now, the Brain.

o-o-o-o-o

Terra was absolutely impressive up close. Long white swirls decorated the blue oceans and greenish-brown continents far below, and Brain committed the sight to his memory forever. On New Selene, Terra was just a strange marble floating in a dark abyss. Not even the only marble. Just one of billions of celestial bodies out there.

And it would soon be their world to rule, to mold, to improve.

Selenian files claimed that Terra had explored more of space than the depths of their own planet, and since Terra hadn’t progressed far enough to send humans past the moon, then that lack of drive to discover was something Brain sorely needed to fix.

“Are you seeing this, Snowball?” Brain asked, pressing himself up to the window so he could drink in the wonderful view surrounding them.

But Snowball only yawned without bothering to stifle it. Then he typed commands into a computer, only looking up to watch a satellite drift past the Conquistador.

Brain saw his reflection’s ears droop. Scowling, he reached over his shoulder and tugged his left ear up, holding it in place until it stayed upright. He looked ridiculous, but the only one who could take notice never said anything, not even a sarcastic quip.

Terra-gazing suddenly didn’t hold much appeal anymore.

Sighing, Brain shuffled over to his computer and brought up a program that would chart a landing course for them. The program locked onto their current position, somewhere above a continent called North America. Brain only tapped keys when a command prompt appeared, finding it difficult to concentrate on where they’d end up landing, but he quickly sat up and shook himself out of his stupor.

If he wasn’t careful, he could send them plunging straight into the depths of Ohio. Before the colony’s abandonment, some hapless sociologist in Zenith Lab went stir-crazy from being assigned Ohio for a research thesis. After that, he became the topic of all conversations after his little stunt with the maza can and screwdriver was recorded for all of New Selene’s viewing pleasure. Brain had no desire to end up like that poor sap.

So he typed away, flicking his left wrist to get rid of the cramping sensation that was starting to build up. Coordinates, relative position, and preferred angle of descent all factored in to selecting their destination. He inputted the numbers he’d memorized back in Penumbra, hit enter, and let the program do the rest of the work.

It would take several minutes to run the numbers and configure the best trajectory, so Brain reclined in his chair and watched Terra while he waited.

Funny how the planet appealed to him again after he’d finally turned his attention elsewhere. He just couldn’t stay away from its ethereal glow.

“Brain.”

Brain startled at the sound of his name. It had been a while since Snowball pronounced it without a sneer. Snowball approached, casually slinging an arm across the back of Brain’s chair as green slowly inched across the progress bar on the computer.

“You’ve been working,” Snowball said.

Short sentences were better than nothing. But even so, the obvious didn’t need to be stated.

“Really? What gave it away?” Brain asked.

Snowball glanced at the ceiling and tapped his chin, taking his sweet time to voice his opinions.

“Consider it a hunch. I couldn’t help but notice that you appear a little…as they say, down.” Snowball put his hand against his large cranium, then let his hand hover an inch above Brain’s head, flattening his antennae. Sadly, antennae didn’t count in accurate measurements of height.

Brain scoffed. “You have a keen sense of observation, Snowball. As anyone with half a retina can see, I’m one of those unfortunate organisms without a genetic makeup that favors height.”

“Yes, that does seem to be a…small issue,” Snowball smirked at his own joke, and Brain buried his face in his hands. Being poached and experimented on wasn’t terrible enough for the universe.

Whoever was in charge of the place just had to torture him with a terrible comedian for a companion too.

Brain hit a key in rapid succession as if it would make the progress bar fill any faster. “Are you going to do something productive or do you still insist on tormenting me for your own amusement?”

Snowball glanced at the computer. The progress bar had been halfway filled with green for the past two minutes, with no signs of progression in the foreseeable future.

“We’ve made it, Brain,” Snowball declared. “Soon Terra shall have our names emblazoned on golden banners everywhere.”

Golden banners. Parades in their honor. People bowing for miles and miles as far as the eye could see.

For such a grand vision, their arrival appeared rather lackluster.

“I was expecting this to be the grandest moment of our lives,” Brain admitted. “Yet nobody’s responded to my transmissions, and our journey was spent flitting between controlling the ship and taking care of necessary functions for life. It’s rather underwhelming.”

“Yes, there does seem to be a certain lack of fanfare,” Snowball mused. “But who said we couldn’t add a little flair of our own?”

Brain shrugged, dragging his hands down his face when the progress bar halted yet again. “Depends on your idea of flair. We never packed materials to host our own welcome party.”

“Perhaps not. But moments of imminent triumph demand food consumption. Unless you couldn’t resist the allure of delicious rusuphri, of course. We should have some before making contact with the surface,” Snowball said, poking Brain’s stomach.

“It’s rude to comment on a mos’s weight, Snowball,” Brain muttered, pushing the aisam away so he had room to stand up. “But partaking in a victorious toast with rusuphri just before we begin our descent is not without merit.”

“All of my ideas have merit,” Snowball said, following Brain to the door. Snowball waved his paw near the motion sensor, the door opening with a pneumatic hiss. There was little point to chivalry when it came to advanced technology though. “Don’t keep me waiting too long, Brain. I’m rather famished.”

Brain shook his head as he stepped into the corridor. “Yes, I’m sure you’ll be feeble and emaciated in the three minutes it’ll take me to retrieve a packet.”

Snowball only smiled in response, like he found starvation amusing. Then he sat in Brain’s chair, the door closing before Brain could yell at him to get out.

Resigned to having his designated spot occupied, Brain walked past the pantry and Snowball’s room, the latter only used for the bare essentials. After a week of limited accommodations, Brain would never again question the luxury of wide open spaces.

Once he got to his room, he dug the packets out from between the wall and his bed.

He didn’t tell Snowball that he’d only eaten two packets of rusuphri during their entire journey and left the rest untouched. The treat had become tainted after their argument, and the usual sweet flavor just hadn’t been there. Maza didn’t taste like anything, so he had to live with the lack of stimulation for his taste buds over the past few days.

As a test, he crunched one of the blue seeds between his teeth, and the sweetness coated his tongue once more.

The perfect treat for their victory.

Clutching the open packet to his chest, Brain rushed to the door, remembering belatedly that he should at least try to conduct himself with a dignity befitting a world emperor and-

He slammed into the door.

The impact left him seeing stars, and he shook his head to rid himself of the dizziness. Then he kicked it, but he was forced to abandon that after a few strikes because his heel began to throb.

It was automatic. If there had been an issue with the Selenian design for automatic doors, he would’ve caught it long before this point.

“Useless hunk of metalloids and wires,” Brain growled at the door, like it had emotions to hurt.

The lights flickered once, twice, then shut off completely, bathing the entire room in darkness. And while Terra was still visible from his small window, its azure glow only lit the window and two feet beyond that. Not nearly enough.

Clutching the packet of rusuphri to his chest, Brain hurried over to the monitor, his heart pounding wildly out of his chest.

He hadn’t come this far, spent months toiling on this project, just to succumb to a poorly timed malfunction!

Brain smacked the monitor with his palm, the screen refusing to display anything.

“Snowball!” Brain shouted. “Snowball, answer this instant! This blackout has caused our automated system to trap me in my room!”

He banged on several keys, in case there was an off-chance that audio still went through.

His channel wasn’t reaching its destination.

Snowball was still in the control room. Was their alert system for mechanical trouble still online? Was their main source of power breaking down?

This was impossible. They were destined to rule Terra. That dream had driven them through many hard nights, arguments, and impasses.

“Aren’t you supposed to be a mighty king someday? Why are you so afraid, Brain?”

Whether it was Snowball or his own voice taunting him for cowardice, he didn’t know. But he was going to prove it wrong.

The walls creaked ominously.

The orbs on his tail and antennae vibrated with nervous kinetic energy, distracting him until every last thread of logic slipped through his fingers. Brain dropped the packet, and the seeds scattered across the floor.

“Snowball?” he called, trying to sound demanding, but his voice came out weak and tiny instead.

Then he remembered the blaster he’d been so insistent on not using. Well, he wouldn’t be using it for the purpose Snowball intended, but he didn’t have many options.

Brain’s trembling fingers couldn’t grasp the panel without sliding off, and it took him several tries before he was able to shove it aside.

Focus. Load the cartridge. Shoot door. Escape room. Check controls. Find Snowball.

Brain chanted his mental checklist over and over in his mind, his hands missing the blaster’s handle as he tried to tug it free from its secure position.

There were straps. He needed to unstrap it from the wall first.

The prospect of failing was causing him to lose concentration.

He was going to lose his opportunity to rule Terra. He was going to lose the vessel he’d toiled to build.

And he was going to lose Snowball.

While they’d had plenty of disagreements, Snowball was the only companion he’d ever known. Even if Snowball wasn’t always there to be a companion with how often he traversed New Selene.

No, he wouldn’t lose Snowball to some inopportune mechanical issue.

They would be crowned co-emperors, attach their names to major establishments, let their legacies be renowned for centuries after their inevitable deaths!

With that vision spurring him forth, he undid the straps of the blaster and pulled it free, snagging a plasma cartridge with his other hand.

The Conquistador jolted.

Thrown off-balance, the cartridge slipped from his grasp and shattered on the floor, orange liquid and metal shards pooling around his feet. Brain took a step back in an attempt to right himself, crying out as a particularly sharp piece of metal cut into the sole of his right foot. He was lucky it didn’t go in all the way, his jumpsuit mitigating some of the damage, but it stung fiercely whenever he tried to move.

Outside the window, colorful Terra swallowed the black void of space. Then he was thrown against the ceiling, the metallic roof hot against his back.

Brain tried to peel himself off, but his energy was spent just trying to avoid the unsecured shards and turning his head so the plasma didn’t splash against his mouth. The blaster and rusuprhi seeds bounced uncontrollably against the monitors, his body, and the walls.

If panic hadn’t overtaken his intelligence, he might’ve remembered that the paneling was fortified to prevent them from burning up in Terra’s atmosphere.

His mind claimed otherwise.

Here lies a mos from the dilapidated colony of New Selene, intelligence and the natural properties of his species enhanced by the so-called greatest scientific minds of the century. Burning in Terra’s atmosphere to follow a grandiose dream.

If some miracle allowed his charred body to crash into the surface, perhaps someone would find the ship and his cadaver inside.

Ha. His body oh-so generously donated to science after his death without his opinion factored into the matter as it had in life. How was that for poetic injustice?

Another jolt. A sudden pitch to the left.

Falling.

A three-ounce mos falls at the rate of Terran terminal velocity from a height of six thousand miles. Calculate the rate at which his failure to achieve anything worthwhile plummets into the planet’s surface.

Just like a quantum physics equation. Brain almost laughed. A weak, rueful laugh was all he was capable of producing.

It might’ve been an eternity. Or eighteen hours. Or just a few milliseconds.

One more plunge. The metal shrieked and groaned as it impacted something solid and immovable.

Brain tumbled to the ground, pain shooting through his foot when he smacked it against the unsecured bedframe.

The blaster rolled to a stop against his left hand. The seeds stilled. The walls fell silent.

Brain gasped and caught his breath, his heartbeat roaring loudly in his ears. He tried to stand, but his back was uncomfortably hot and he couldn’t bear weight on his right foot without the harsh sting, and he was forced to lay on his stomach so the pain didn’t become completely unbearable.

He wondered if Snowball had made it out unscathed.

That was his last coherent thought before darkness crowded his vision.

AN: Brain. You’re extending the word count with your angst.

Oops. I’m sorry Brain. I love you I swear. Why doesn’t he believe me, guys?

Rusuphri: Sweet blue star-shaped seeds.

Lor Altal: Literal translation-sharing hearts. Oral storytelling between Selenians.

This chapter was a doozy. The first two were short just cause I was introducing everyone. Idk if they’re all going to be this long. I’m not aiming for word count here. They’re as long as they need to be.

#pinky and the brain #patb nova #patb snowball

12 notes · View notes

sincerlypadfoot · 4 years

Text

Maledicite Terrae (Curses 15)

Word Count-1375

Send Requests Here

I laid sitting up in my bed for a second, looking around at myself, blood dripping from every inch of me, my clean clothes were now bloody and ripping.

“What the hell is going on!” Marlene screamed walking into the room, followed by Peter and Remus. “Oh Josie oh god, shut the door!”

“What happened!” Remus asked coming to my side, I looked down at my legs scared and confused, as his hand touched my leg I flinched moving away.

“I left her for two seconds, no one else was in here, she wasn’t like this when I left,” Marlene trempled.

“The inferies,” I whispered keeping my head down. “The inferies did this to me,” I felt a tear drop down onto my leg.

“We need to get her to Madame Pomfrey, shes gonna bleed out if we don’t do anything,” Peter said causing me to look at everyone, Marlene looked afraid, Peter looked terrified and Remus was beside me with a frown.

“Your right,” Marlene said walking towards me. “Josie, take Remus and my hand, your gonna be okay,”

“The inferies, Regulas, they were going to kill him,” I whispered leaning on Marlene. “They saw me, they hurt me,”

“What is she talking about Marlene?” Remus asked as Peter opened the door, before we left the room Peter grabbed a blanket, wrapping it around my body.

“I’m not sure, she sounds delusional, James and Sirius can’t see her, she’s covered but they’ll freak,” Marlene said guiding me down the stairs, I closed before going down the steps.

“I’m not feeling so well,” I whispered to Remus looking up at him. “My legs,” as I finished my words I started falling to the ground but Marlene and Remus held me up.

“Carry her, we can distract James and Sirius, until the morning,” Marlene said looking at Remus. I felt his hands wrap around me, his face was above mine down looking distressed. Peter covered myself in a blanket then walked down the stairs with Marlene.

“Remus,” I started to say as we walked down the stairs. “I can see the future,” I paused coughing and closing my eyes as music started playing loudly.

“Is that Josie?” I heard someone say, Remus quickly left the common room, as the voice stopped.

“Please don’t tell anyone,”

“I won’t tell anyone Josie, your my best friend, but why didn’t you tell me about this?” Remus asked walking down the stairs in a rush.

“I’m scared and cold,” I whispered leaning into his chest.

“We’re almost there Josie, tell me what you saw?” Remus asked, the steps stopped and we were on a solid floor.

“I saw Regulas and the house elf of the blacks, they were in a cave,” I whispered keeping my eyes open, not wanting to fall back to sleep. “The inferies, they came out and started attacking Regulas, and they saw me, I don’t know how but I saved his life,”

“They did this to you?” Remus asked looking down at my face, I wasn’t sure what he was looking at but just nodded. “We’re here Josie,” Remus paused opening a door. “Madame Pomfrey it’s a emergency!”

“Oh dear boy what happened?” I heard Madame Pomfrey asked as Remus placed me down. I closed my eyes, unable to keep them open anymore, the sound of Remus and Pomfrey talked slowly floated away and my pain disappeared.

“She’ll be okay, some nasty scars, but McGonagall will be here to talk to her, I advice none of you to intervene,” I heard Pomfrey say as I opened my eyes, I quickly shut them realizing James was sitting beside me.

“I saw that,” He whispered in my ear, I turned my head and looked at James who was cleary crying. “What happened and why didn’t you tell me?”

“I can’t,” I whispered turning my head away from him and looking up at the roof. “I’m scared James,” His hand found its way to mine.

“Josie,” I looked up to see Sirius leaned against the wall.

“Get out of here please, James get him out of here,” I whispered closing my eyes. “Please Sirius just leave,”

“I’m sorry,” I heard him whimper, James didn’t move from my side but moved my hair out of my face.

“Your hairs black,” James said with a little laugh. “You look like mom,”

“Potter,” McGonagall said standing infront of my bed. “Are you going to tell me what happened, or will I have to call your parents,”

“I have the sight, i’m a seer,” I truthfully said giving up on myself. “I fell asleep and got attacked,”

“Josie,” James said gripping onto my hand harder.

“Mr Lupin, if you and mr Potter could go back to your common room, it would be very appreciated,” McGonagall said standing where James was.

“I’ll see you later okay Ducky,” James said planting a warm kiss on my forehead then walking out, I caught a glimpse of Remus who looked at me, the same look as when he had found me.

“Tell me about it,” McGonagall said sitting down.

“Please don’t tell my parents, they don’t know,” I whispered turning my head and looking over at her. “I’ll do anything,”

“Miss Potter, tell me what you saw,” McGonagall said nodded her head at me, grabbing my hand just like James had only a couple seconds ago.

“I saw Sirius’ brother, Reguals, he was looking for something,” I paused closing my eyes. “Inferies came out, I screamed and screamed but they saw me, they did this,”

“That’s not possible Miss Potter,” Mcgonagall said standing up and letting go of my hand.

“I’m telling the truth,” I opened my eyes and helped myself up, looking around the room, Peter was asleep on the floor, unnoticed by McGonagall.

“I’m sorry but Dumbledore will have to know about this, I wish you a nice recovery,” I watched as she walked out, then looked over at Peter who opened his eyes.

“What are you doing in here still?” I asked looking at the boy who stood up, and walked to my side as I tossed the blanket off of me.

“James asked me to stay, are you really a seer?” Peter asked taking my hand so I wouldn’t fall when I stood up. “I’ll help you back to the common room, Marlene used her magic to change your clothes,”

“I’ll have to thank her, and thank you,” I whispered as Peter tossed his hand over my shoulder. “It’s not something to praise about Peter, so if you could keep it to yourself,”

“I wouldn’t dream of telling anyone,” Peter said stopping at the stairs. “Are you okay to walk up by yourself?”

“I don’t think I wanna go back to the common room, could you bring me to the Dungeon, I have to talk to someone,” I asked frowning at Peter who looked at me confused. “Please, i’d owe you,”

“Do you think that’s wise?” Peter asked.

“I do, I have to talk to Regulas, and you can’t tell James, Sirius or anyway, it stays between you and I,” I paused closing my eyes and taking a breath, in pain. “Or I can walk there by myself,”

“No, no, I’ll walk you there, I trust what your doing is wise, come on,” Peter and I both turned around from the stairs and started walking towards the Slytherin Common room. “So you really are a seer, what have you seen?” Peter asked changing the topic.

“A lot of things, how do you think i’ve known what to do when we play quidditch,” I chuckled curling a smile a bit.

“Cheater,” Peter joked making me smile brighter.

“Nope, just a strategy,” I paused myself once more as we stood on the stairs down to the common room. “I can go from here, i’m sure i’ll be back tonight, thank you Peter,” I planted a kiss on his cheek as he moved his arm off my shoulder.

“Take care Josie, and stay safe, I won’t mention this to anyone,” Peter said walking away, I walked until he turned the corner to start walking down the stairs, I struggled a bit then go to the bottle.

“Pure-Blood,” I whispered smirking and walking into the empty Slytherin common room, it was much different than ours, the water hit the windows and everything was black and green.

“What are you doing in here?” I heard from the top of the stairs, I looked up the see Regulas standing up looking at me.

“I came to see you, can we talk?”

#marauders fanfiction #the marauders #Maraudersera #young marauders #hp marauders #SiriusBlack #RegulasBlack #RemusLupin #JosiePotter #PeterPettigrew #JamesPotter

4 notes · View notes

breaniebree · 5 years

Text

Sneak Peek 220

Here’s a sneak peek of chapter 220 of A Second Chance, the first 8 pages guys... don’t say I don’t give you anything...

Remus’ eyes landed on Harry as soon as he arrived in the amphitheatre. Pride welled up inside of him. Harry and Neville stood side by side, wands out in determination. As angry as Remus was at his son for coming here, the sight of him holding his own had him bursting with pride.

But when spells started shooting off in every direction, that pride once more returned to fear.

It was absolute madness. He’d told Harry to leave and from the corner of his eye, he could see his son dragging Neville up the steps, ducking spells as he went. They needed to get out of here, all of them. He wasn’t sure how much longer they had before Voldemort inevitably initiated the attack that Snape had warned him about.

They hadn’t seen the others, having come through one of the many doors in the amphitheatre to help out just in time to see Harry start to hand over the prophecy.

And then the fighting had begun.

He felt like he was in a haze. He could feel his body moving, see his wand slashing and repelling spell after spell, but he didn’t comprehend it. All he could think about was that the prophecy that his son was holding was in his hands — the prophecy that Voldemort was willing to kill to obtain. He needed to make sure that Harry got out of here with Neville, that they found the others, and made it back to Hogwarts before more of Voldemort’s followers showed up -- before Voldemort himself made an appearance.

He turned and shot a spell at the Death Eater moving towards his wife. The masked figure flew up into the air and backflipped into the stone wall hard enough to crack it. When he didn’t get up again, Remus turned away from him, but then his heart stopped as he saw her fall. He was at his wife’s side in seconds, helping her to her feet. Tonks only gave him a look of thanks before they were back to back, firing spells at their respective partners.

Remus’ leg was bleeding. He could smell the blood from where the last curse had hit him, feel the sharp tear when he moved -- but he wasn’t concerned about it. It was the way that the Death Eaters were duelling that he found the most interesting.

Lucius, in particular, interested him. In his attempts to get the orb from Harry, he hadn’t harmed him. He sent out jinxes and hexes, but nothing that would really harm him. In fact, he seemed to be doing his best to make sure that no one harmed the teens. Remus couldn’t decide if that was because of the deal he had made with Sirius or because he didn’t want to hurt them.

When Dumbledore came into the room, his presence was immediately known. Remus watched a masked man flip off of the parapet and crash to the ground, his wand flung from his hand like he was a puppet on a string. Dumbledore was the puppeteer as he reigned in Death Eater after Death Eater. The Death Eaters started to run, but Dumbledore twisted his wand and they seemed to gravitate towards him like he held a magnet, but not before the man fighting Tonks made a stabbing motion and she collapsed at his back.

He fell to the ground next to her, his hands immediately covering the blood coming from her shoulder.

“I’ve got you, Nymphadora.”

Her grey eyes landed on him for a moment before she promptly passed out.

Bill fell to his knees next to him. “I’ll get Harry and Neville out. Take her to St Mungo’s.”

Remus nodded and scooped her up into his arms as if she weighed nothing just as he heard Sirius say, “You can do better than that!” and he Disapparated. Tonks was immediately seen by a healer and he followed, sending a Patronus to her parents.

She’d dislocated her shoulder, broken her collarbone, and the curse had torn through an artery, meaning that she’d lost a great deal of blood. But he pushed his panic down. She was going to be all right. He knew that. He could feel it, feel her. The sound of her steady heartbeat assured him of that.

One of the healers suggested that he wait outside while they healed her broken bones and locked her shoulder back into place; he growled in response.

“She’s my wife and I’m not leaving her!”

“Let him stay,” the other healer said, moving in to help her.

They’d just finished popping her shoulder back into place and healing her collarbone when Andromeda and Ted appeared. The healer was giving Tonks blood replenishing potions along with a sleeping draught. She explained how it was better for Tonks to sleep through the healing to help deal with the loss of blood when Andromeda cried out his name.

“Remus!”

“Andy, Ted,” he said, his fingers gently brushing through his wife’s hair. She had passed out while the healer was fixing her collarbone, and the sleeping draught in her bloodstream meant that she would be out for the count. “She’s going to be all right.”

“What happened?”

“Death Eaters,” Remus said simply, making the healers look up in alarm. “The Ministry is under attack. We only contacted a few birds to see what’s what, but it’s bad. I don’t know if the Defence System managed to get anyone to the Ministry to help yet. I left with Dora.”

Andromeda nodded, bending to kiss her daughter’s forehead and making Remus sit down so that a healer could examine his leg. The wound was deep, but not bad and the healer was in the process of healing it when the cat Patronus burst through the doors.

Remus’ eyes widened at the message and Ted grabbed his shoulder.

“Go. Dora will be fine. We’ll be here when she wakes.”

And then he was off and running, ignoring the healer who yelled after him that she wasn’t finished.

He slid into the first fireplace he could find and stumbled out of the Floo in his office, running down the hall. He slammed through the doors of the hospital wing, eyes wide as he took in the surrounding beds.

McGonagall grabbed his arm. “Remus, he’s all right. Poppy gave him a calming potion and a sleeping draught.”

Remus nodded and hurried to his son’s bed, his eyes blinded by tears. Zee was sitting at Harry’s bedside, her fingers curled around Harry’s hand. The curtains were closed around four of the other beds in the wing.

“The seven of them are okay, Remus,” Zee said softly, her voice sad. “Ron and Hermione are at St Mungo’s, but Poppy says that the healers there are taking care of them. Ginny, Luna, Theo, and Neville are here in the hospital wing.”

“The bandages?”

“He was badly burned — by what I don’t know — something hit him in there. Most of it is superficial and will heal within a few days, it’s… Bellatrix, she… killed… and Harry went after her.”

Remus bent down to kiss Harry’s forehead, sitting on the side of his son’s bed and taking his hand in his. “I saw Nymphadora go down and I just… Dumbledore came and we headed straight to St Mungo’s. I knew that there were still people fighting but…”

Zee shook her head. “The Ministry fell. Voldemort attacked with Dementors and giants. We only just made it out of there.”

Remus closed his eyes. “The Minister?”

“I don’t know,” Zee told him. “Harry and I came here and that’s all that Dumbledore told us.”

Remus turned to look at McGonagall. “The students?”

“Are none the wiser just yet and with them going home on Sunday, it’s probably safer to keep them at the school unless Dumbledore agrees otherwise.”

“All right,” he said, turning back to Zee as McGonagall left the hospital wing. “We’ll get Harry better and then we’ll talk about arranging the funeral.”

“Merlin… his body! It was just lying there… in the middle of that amphitheatre… I ran off after Harry when I saw him go and I just left…”

Remus reached out to take her hand. “Sirius would have done the same thing, Zee. Harry is who’s important.”

Zee nodded. “I don’t quite know what to do. I keep thinking that I’ll ask Sirius and then I remember…”

“We’ll get there, one step at a time. We need to make sure that Harry is kept safe. If the Ministry really has fallen, who knows what that means in terms of the Defence Department or of any of the plans that they were working on… it’s a lot of questions.” Remus told her.

“And Harry?”

“His safety and well-being are at the top of that list. I need to talk to Nymphadora and see if she’d be willing to move.”

Zee raised an eyebrow. “Move?”

“Into Black Cottage,” Remus said. “I don’t want to tear Harry from his home on top of him losing Sirius.”

Zee glared at him. “You don’t need to move, Remus — he has me!”

“Zee, I know that you love him, but —“

“— but what?” she demanded. “He is my son! I was going to marry Sirius and make that official, but I don’t need it. He’s my family, my heart… I won’t leave him!”

“I didn’t think you would,” Remus said quietly. “Are you going to be all right, living there with him and… without Sirius? Nymphadora and I can move in to help out?”

“Unless that’s what Harry wants, we’ll be fine,” she insisted.

He looked up when Dumbledore stepped into the hospital wing with McGonagall.

Dumbledore’s gaze moved across the room before they landed on Remus and he marched towards them.

“What happened? Did Voldemort take over the Ministry?” Remus demanded.

Dumbledore shook his head, his eyes dark. “No, but the Ministry... the entire front of the building is damaged, as is the atrium. Fiendfyre destroyed a good portion of the floor and walls. Not to mention that Dementors and giants have wreaked havoc in London.”

“What happened?”

“He left,” Dumbledore said simply. “I don’t know why. The Ministry was his for the taking, the Defence system wasn’t as prepared as they should have been, only half of the Terra Troops showed up, the other units weren’t there. Voldemort had the upper hand and then he just… ordered them all out… in the midst of fighting me, he stopped, claimed we’d meet again, and left… I don’t know if it was the shock factor or if he just wanted to make a statement tonight… or if he just wanted to see what kind of power we had -- but he said the word… and his armies left. He left the Ministry in shambles, but he left it to us.”

Remus stared at him. “Make a statement — Albus, Sirius is fucking dead!”

Dumbledore nodded. “I know, Remus. We lost more than one life tonight.”

Remus buried his face in his hands, trying to get his breathing under control. It didn’t feel real. It felt like he was trapped in a dream and he couldn’t quite claw his way to the surface, to reality.

“And Harry... Sirius is... was the one constant, the one person that he could count on and now...”

“He has you,” Dumbledore said quietly. “He has you and Tonks and Zee. He’s far from alone.”

Remus let out a slow breath. “No, of course he has us, I just meant... Merlin.”

He reached out, gently running his fingers through his son’s hair as a small panther cub curled near Harry’s hands. Dumbledore waved his wand and Lady Godiva returned to her normal size.

“Thank you, Albus,” Zee said quietly, stroking her panther lovingly behind the ears. “I didn’t trust myself to fix her with the way…”

Dumbledore nodded. “Of course.”

Harry turned toward Remus’ hand in his sleep and Remus sighed. “Sirius’ will... everything mostly goes to Harry,” Remus told them. “I know he arranged the rest to go to Nymphadora and Draco Malfoy. Merlin, I don’t even know if he’s updated it in years…”

“Cornelius is back in his position as head of the Department of Magical Services. We’ll make sure that everything is taken care of, since Harry is still a minor.”

Remus froze, his fingers in his son’s hair still. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying, Albus?”

“Remus, we all know that he belongs with you, Tonks, and Zahira. But Harry is technically a ward of the Department of Magical Services unless Sirius expressly stated in his will that upon his death, one of you has guardianship.”

“Do not fucking joke with me over this,” Remus said, his voice full of steel. “He is MY son, not a fucking ward!”

A hand grabbed his arm and he turned to see Zee, her eyes wide in worry. “We’ll fight it, Rem. Sirius and I never married so I... we’ll fight it!”

“Harry is old enough to have an opinion on the matter as well. It will work itself out,�� Dumbledore assured them.

Remus let out a slow breath as he sat back down into the chair by Harry’s bed. He took his son’s hand in his, kissing it as he squeezed it. “I love you, little Prongs.”

Zee’s eyes met Dumbledore. “We wish to be left alone with him.”

Dumbledore nodded and said goodnight, leaving with McGonagall.

Zee took her seat in the other chair and took Harry’s other hand as Lady Godiva sprawled out across the end of Harry’s hospital bed.

“Do you know who else died tonight?” Remus asked her.

“I saw Diggle... the giants tore him apart. I don’t know the others except for... Pettigrew.”

Remus’ eyes shot to hers. “What?”

“He jumped in front of me,” Zee told him. “He saved my life.”

Remus’ eyes widened at this declaration. “Well, I guess his moral compass came back around, didn’t it?”

She nodded. “He fell through this veil thing and just vanished. But Bellatrix was the one to kill Sirius, Remus. Harry went after her. By the time I caught up with him, Dumbledore was duelling Voldemort and he had Harry trapped behind a piece of the Fountain of Magical Brethren…”

Remus nodded at her as she jumped to her feet, her hand over her mouth, and he only raised an eyebrow as she made it to the basin across the room and promptly vomited into it, wiping the back of her mouth. “Does Harry know?”

“No. You know that Sirius and I only just… oh, Merlin…” she murmured, placing her hands over her flat stomach. “I forgot…”

Remus stood up and bent over her to hug her from behind. “You’re already an amazing mum. If anyone can raise these babies, you can.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she held the arms around her shoulders as she looked at Harry’s sleeping form. “I never really saw myself as a mum. I was always focused on the animals and then I fell in love with Harry and he was mostly grown, but… they’re never going to know their father and Sirius was so excited…”

Remus kissed her cheek. “They’ll know him. I promise you — they will know him.”

Zee sniffed away her tears, pressing her fingers to her eyes. “I can’t think about this right now. I just need to focus on Harry.”

“And take care of yourself and those babies. There’s an empty bed over there, get some rest.”

“I’m fine,” Zee insisted. “It’s just… been a rather trying day.”

“And Harry will need you when he wakes. Get some sleep,” Remus insisted, tugging her to her feet. “Poppy can check you over.”

Zee looked like she was going to protest, but then she nodded, moving into one of the empty hospital beds. “I’ll just be here when he wakes…”

Remus nodded and gestured for the matron to look her over before he crawled into the bed next to his son. He sat up against the headboard and put his arm around Harry, sighing as Harry turned towards him in his sleep.

They would be okay, he told himself. But he looked up towards the ceiling of the hospital wing, blinking back tears.

“I’ll protect him,” Remus said quietly. “I’ll protect our son.”

Harry’s head shifted onto Remus’ chest in his sleep. Remus wrapped both of his arms around him as his own tears finally fell like a cascading waterfall raining down his cheeks, and he did nothing to stop them.

~ ASC ~

#a second chance #a second chance spoilers #breanie #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter #remus lupin #zahira zacarias

23 notes · View notes

lightanddarklove · 4 years

Text

Steven Universe Future - Prickling Doubt and Burnout - Chapter 2

This was written before the finale was posted and has been up on my A03 since March. I don't know if I have more to add at this point, but I definitely have more ideas to write for SUF & SU.

Another Chapter with a bit more comfort. I think In Dreams and Bismuth Casual refreshed me so I hope that you all like this chapter as much since its less angsty. Those last four before the finale though, woof. I think we could use a bit more lightness right now, with thing still being stressful in the meetspace.

Some cat sign language and terms for you in case any of it’s confusing since Lion does make an appearance: head-butting is a sign of trust and bonding for felines, chuffing is the forceful exhale of air through a cat’s nose that sounds like a grunt or sigh but is actually a greeting, and the slow blink cats do is sometimes called a cat kiss and is another sign of trust and attachment.

3513 Words | Rating: Teen [description of an injury and swearing, self-esteem/ self-doubt and mental health issues]

Chapter 1 | My Writing Masterpost

Steven awoke from his nap only a short while after he had laid down. He didn’t have any intention to get right back up immediately, as Cactus Steven’s interruption to his sleep had broken before dawn and it was still early in the day. He had probably got about 5 hours of sleep before his nap, and based on the light coming in the room he had dozed for less than an hour. He didn’t have the urge to check his phone, it hadn’t woken him up and he was still quite tired. He found himself staring at a blank square of wall between his desk and his closet, trying to rest, but sleep would not come. He mentally debated getting up for several minutes before he heard a soft but weighty thump on his glass door. He turned over slowly. Peering at him from the balcony was Lion, looking expectantly at Steven. “Hey buddy,” Steven called, sitting up. He stretched and stood as the big cat pawed gently at the entryway. “I’m coming.” Steven crossed the room and opened the door, stepping aside for Lion to enter the room. The pink feline strode in, brushing the boy along the chest with his huge skull in an affectionate head-butt. Steven moved his hand along Lion’s mane as the big cat walked behind Steven and sat on the floor. Lion let out a friendly chuff and Steven scratched gently along Lion’s cheek and behind his ears. “You done exploring for now?” Steven asked. Lion stared down at his charge before giving a slow blink and descending slowly to the floor near the stairwell. The big cat stretched out his rear legs before tucking his front paws under himself to lie comfortably and closed his eyes.

“Aww, love you too, Lion.” Steven said, giving him a pat between the ears before moving to the other side of the room to retrieve his phone. He unlocked it and shut off his alarm, which was due to go off in 10 minutes before checking his messages. The one new text he had was not from Connie, as he had hoped, but instead from Pearl. “Garnet’s gone out but Amethyst and I are here if you need anything,” it read. When he went into his message to Connie, it noted delivered, but not read. He closed the app, disappointed. He set the phone back down to his end table and grabbed a new pair of jeans from the dresser, quickly getting dressed. After pocketing his phone, he looked around his room. Pink sandals sat near the foot of his bed from where they had been haphazardly kicked off after he had laid down for his nap. The bloody apron he had stained earlier lay in a heap on the floor. The few unused fabric strips from his attempt to deal with his injury sprawled from the edge of the bed to the floor. The corner next to his desk shone pink from the glow of his bubble where he had sent the terra cotta shard, dried blood staining its surface. The cactus flower he had sat on the floor before he began vacuuming still was left in its place next to the tv stand.

Steven ran a hand through his hair. He walked to his shoes to slip them on, picking up the fabric strips as he went and moving toward his desk. He opened his drawer that held scissors, glue and construction paper and folded the strips on the desk before putting them inside, closing the drawer softly. He picked up the bubble in the corner, holding it gently in his hands. I wonder if my blood would actually do anything to a plant. He thought. Maybe it would become like a super guardian. Steven’s voice of reason chimed in, sounding almost exactly like Garnet and Connie speaking simultaneously, don’t do it, that’s how the plague starts. He took out his phone again and searched “How to get blood out of Terra Cotta” before setting the bubble on the bed and moving toward the closet.

He retrieved his jacket, setting his phone on the tv stand before putting the letterman on, and regarded himself in the mirror. The bruise above his eye healed when he had applied the healing spit to his face, but that did not help the bags under his eyes. I need to wash my face and put on my eye cream, Steven thought. Besides the tiredness showing under his eyes, and needing to bush his hair again, he looked modestly put-together. No cuts from fighting Cactus Steven were visible and his outfit was in order. Nodding at himself, he picked up his phone, and slipped it into his pocket. He stepped around Lion who lounged comfortably near the glass door, and walked down the stairs. As he went, he noticed several bags on the landing which had a note sticking out of it. It looked like food, so he was glad Lion didn’t immediately stick his face in it and kept a mental note to listen in case Lion decided to help himself while Steven was downstairs.

On the main floor of the house, Amethyst was seated on the kitchen floor and Pearl stood by the kitchen island. Pearl was deconstructing the microwave on the empty stretch of countertop closest to the temple door, and Amethyst had a modest pile of faucets she was comparing with the sink’s pipe connection, trying to find one that would fit. Pearl turned and smiled at him as he came down the stairs. Amethyst glanced up with a nod and greeted him with a quiet “hey,” before returning to her task.

“Oh Steven,” Pearl called, “glad to see you’re up. Are you feeling ok? I went to check on you earlier and I saw you had fallen back asleep.”

“I was still kind of tired but I couldn’t sleep anymore, so I wanted to grab a drink and finish my morning routine,” Steven answered.

“Well, even though the sink is not fixed yet, there’s the water pitcher in the fridge.” Pearl replied. “That hasn’t sustained any damage, according to Garnet. She went to get glass and lumber for the repairs.” She paused and her smile shifted to something more strained as she glanced quickly to his hand and then back to his face. “How does your hand feel?” Pearl asked gently, with worry clear at the edge of her expression.

“It’s healed,” he replied, unbending his fingers and quickly showing it to Pearl. He left his palm exposed for only a few seconds and then curled his fingers closed, his hand pulled back to his side in a lose fist.

“Hmm,” she replied. “Alright. At least it’s not bleeding anymore. It still doesn’t look fully recovered.”

“Well it doesn’t hurt anymore,” Steven said, trying to keep the nerves out of his voice. “It’s not worth worrying about. I heal fast.”

“Ok, Steven.” Pearl answered. Steven approached the cabinets and retrieved a glass before walking toward the fridge. Pearl moved back to the microwave, sparing the occasional glance to Steven’s movements as she continued her task. Amethyst looked up at him from her pile of faucets as he grabbed the water pitcher from the fridge.

“How’d you get that cut on your hand anyway?” Amethyst asked, and Steven nearly spilled the water he was pouring out of surprise. He took a sharp inhale, trying not to look at her as the pink spread over his cheeks.

“I fell,” he replied. “I was cleaning in the dome and there was a piece of broken pottery on the floor. When I went to brace my fall my hand landed on it.” Amethyst winced in sympathy. He returned the pitcher to the fridge and sipped from his glass, impatient to finish the conversation.

“Ouch,” she answered, looking him over and Steven couldn’t help but feel nervous. “If you want some help with the dome-“

“It’s fine,” he interrupted with a wave of his unmarred hand. “I’ll be more careful. Just got unlucky that I happened to land on a broken pot. You don’t need to worry about it.”

“Okay,” she answered, sounding unconvinced. He gave an uneasy smile.

“If you could do one thing though,” he requested.

“Sure, what’s up?” She asked.

“I’m gonna run to the bathroom to wash my face,” he replied.

“Walk, don’t run Steven,” Pearl quipped from over her shoulder as she worked as screwdriver on the microwave.

“Peeaaarl-“ He drawled at her with an eye-roll. Amethyst chuckled quietly. Steven continued, “Anyway, Garnet left some food on the stairs and Lion just came back a few minutes ago. Do you mind making sure he doesn’t get into the bags? Also, please save me some if you have any.”

“Yeah sure,” she answered with a shrug. “I’ll wait until you have some to have a snack since it’ll probably be late until all this is fixed up.”

“And please don’t eat my soup in the fridge,” Steven said as he set his glass on the counter. “I’m saving it for later.” Amethyst gave a thumbs up as Steven walked toward the bathroom and she returned to her pile of faucets. He closed the door behind him before seeking out his face wash and eye cream from beneath the sink. He ran the tap to a warm temperature, wetted his face and applied his facial cleanser before rinsing again. With practiced and gentle taps, he put on his eye cream and grabbed his brush as he let the skincare product do its work. He ran the brush through his curls, undoing the tangles from tossing and turning in his sleep. After he was satisfied with his hair, he rubbed the eye gel into his under-eyes and rinsed the excess from his fingers. He gave himself another once-over in the mirror.

“Not too shabby, Steven,” he said quietly aloud. His stomach grumbled in response. “I should probably eat something before I brush my teeth.” He opened the bathroom door and strode out into the living area. Amethyst was affixing one of the faucets to the sink-head with a wrench and Pearl continued her work on the microwave as he moved back to the kitchen to grab his drink. As he turned to head back to his room, a familiar voice came from the steps outside.

“The front of this place looks like a couple of Topaz just barreled through it.” Bismuth said as she came through the hole in the wall. “What happened to it to make it look so Janked?”

“Bismuth, language!” Pearl shouted, and Amethyst snickered.

“Hey Bis,” Amethyst called.

“Ya’ll said it needed some fixin’ but dang,” she responded, not acknowledging Pearl’s admonishment. Bismuth’s eyes wandered around the room for another moment before focusing on Steven, who had stopped mid-way through the living area. “So what’s shaking, gems? Is whatever did this-“ She paused as her gaze fixed on a point on Steven’s person that caught him off guard. Her voice dropped in volume and rose an octave in pitch. “Is that blood?”

Immediately, he glanced down at his outfit, not noticing anything at first. He used his free hand to stretch out the fabric of his shirt and his gaze finally caught the dried speckle of dark red that dotted the black tee where his right shoulder met pectoral. The spots were barely noticeable in the distinction of color, but several of them were quarter-sized. “Oh, I hadn’t noticed it stained my shirt,” Steven replied. “I’m fine now.”

“Is the threat neutralized?” She asked darkly, shifting her fist into a mallet. Pearl approached from the kitchen.

“Yes, Bismuth,” she replied, striding past Steven and laying a hand on Bismuth’s forearm. The burly gem shifted her hand back to normal.

“How’d you even see that stain, anyway?” Steven asked quietly, straightening his shirt back.

“During the war, gems weren’t the only ones fighting for earth’s freedom.” Bismuth answered. “Rose somewhat reluctantly inspired a lot of humans to fight by her side.”

“There were many who loved her, and believed in her cause,” Pearl added. “She hated seeing them hurt but there were many that wouldn’t stay away from the fight.”

“It wasn’t pretty,” Bismuth said. “Guess my eyes just trained on it since sometimes that was the only way to tell if a human could be saved. Stood out on the aftermath of the battlefield, that’s for sure.” Bismuth got a far off look in her eye and Pearl gripped her hand, snapping her back to the present. “You sure you ok, Steven?” He managed a tense smile.

“Yeah,” he replied quickly. “I cut my hand working in the greenhouse and it made more of a mess than I thought. Don’t worry about me.”

“Alright,” she said. “Well, this house ain’t gonna fix itself. So what’s first?” Amethyst stood from kneeling at the sink and walked toward he taller gems. “Amethyst, you said you got parts in your room?”

“Yeah,” she answered. “I probably have some sink basins in the junk piles. Could be some other good stuff too. Follow me.” Amethyst and Bismuth walled toward the temple door. Pearl moved towards the kitchen and gently rested a hand on Steven’s shoulder.

“I’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything, Steven” she said as the other two gems disappeared into the temple. Steven nodded as Pearl moved away.

“Oh, ok.” He replied. He walked up the stairs and grabbed the food bags as he went with his free hand. Lion appeared to be sleeping but once Steven set the food on the bed the crinkle of plastic caused the cat’s eyes to open. Steven set his water cup on the nightstand and sat down on the bed. After changing his shirt he turned his attention back to the bag. He pulled out Garnet’s note first.

“This is all the food that doesn’t need preparation or refrigeration we have right now. If you want hot food, call Fish-stew or ask Greg to use the microwave at the car wash. Ours isn’t safe to use right now.

Love, Garnet” he sighed as he read aloud. He dug around in the bag and immediately lion was at his side. He pulled a granola bar out, sat the snack in his lap and bubbled the rest of the food.

“Not for you,” he said to the feline. “I’ll get you Lion Licker later, ok?” Steven unwrapped the packaging on his snack and forced the bubble up, drifting toward the rafters and out of Lion’s reach. Lion head-butted Steven’s side again and the boy ran his free hand through the big cat’s mane as he ate. They sat in contemplative quiet Steven finished the granola bar. With a light toss, Steven threw the wrapper in the trash and took a sip of drink. Lion regarded him as he set down his glass, before Lion turned and moved towards the door.

“Going back out?” Steven asked as he stood. The pink feline waited by the door and Steven slid it open. Lion took a few steps out, his front half on the porch and rear half still in the bedroom before stopping. He turned his head and looked back at Steven. “What is it?” Steven asked. Lion set his hind leg closer to Steven, nudging him gently and giving another slow blink. “I guess I don’t have anything I need to be doing right now, if you’re trying to tell me you want me to go with you.” Lion chuffed in response and stepped out of the doorway.

Steven stepped onto the porch and closed the door behind him. He sent a quick text to Pearl, “Going for a ride with Lion, be back later.” After returning his phone to his pocket he mounted the great cat. With a roar, Lion charged forward into a portal and the swirling blur sent the boy and his feline familiar to a dark field.

Steven’s eyes took barely any time to adjust and he recognized that he was on a floating island above the Strawberry Battlefield. Stars still shone in the sky as the moon hung overhead and below the lip of the floating isle’s edge he saw some dusting of snow on some of the unflowered strawberry plants below. Lion laid down quickly and rolled the young man off of him unceremoniously.

“Lion,” Steven scolded. The big cat adjusted himself so he had Steven’s shoulders along his flank and rested his great head on his front paws. Steven moved to sit up but Lion stretched his hind leg across Steven’s lap, preventing him from going anywhere. “If you just wanted me to lie down with you for a while we could have done that at home.”

The big cat huffed in response and closed his eyes. Steven let out a quiet groan as he realized without really pressing the issue, he likely was not going anywhere soon. He retrieved his phone from his pocket, quietly thanking his foresight to ask his father for International data as he checked his messages. Pearl had replied, “Ok, be safe.” He opened his conversation with Connie which had a timestamp as Read 8:23am, but no reply yet.

I hope she’s not mad at me, Steven thought. If she’s mad or worried because of me I don’t want it to mess up her presentation. His gaze trailed up from his phone and he looked to the stars shining overhead. He noticed many constellations he recognized, a few that he didn’t, and perhaps it was because he wasn’t usually stargazing at the right time of evening to catch these star patterns. Predawn light came in gently from the east as he watch the stars shift across the sky. The sound of Lion’s heavy breathing and the mild breeze were the only sounds as he watched stars fade and the sunrise shine onto the eastern horizon. He brought his phone back up from lap after the colors began to dance across the sky and snapped another picture for Connie. He added the caption “We should watch the sunrise sometime together when you get some free time. I didn’t even have to be up early to see this one.” After the sun crested the skyline, bathing the field in light, he began to nudge Lion’s foot with his knuckles.

“Ok, that’s enough forcing me to sit still for hours.” Steven pestered the big cat. Lion let out a huge yawn and slowly sat up, stretching his front paws beneath his chest. With one more nudge from the young man, Lion removed his foot from Steven’s lap. “Ugh, my legs fell asleep,” Steven said with a groan as he stood. Lion approached the edge of the floating island and turned back to his charge. “Let’s go, Lion.” Steven instructed, mounting the cat. Another huge roar ripped through the quiet and the pair charged through the portal returning to the beach-house.

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

Steven spent the bulk of afternoon doing more cleaning, including getting the bloodstain off the terra-cotta shard, repairing the damaged sheet with Greg’s sewing kit, and washing dirty laundry. Having a sandwich for a late lunch between his other tasks, he headed out to go grab dinner at Fish Stew Pizza. He kept up appearances, making small-talk with Kiki as he got dinner. He drove out to the edge of town to get groceries, and found himself not wanting to go home as the sun set.

Connie had messaged him earlier, letting him know her presentation was fine, and they went back and forth trying to set up a time on a future weekend to watch the sunrise over strawberry battlefield. They settled on two weeks from now, which felt far away, but he understood. Her studies were important, after all. He couldn’t whisk her away on a whim, as much as that’s what his heart desired.

On his ride back from the grocery store, he felt the pull of Brooding Hill and took the ride there to finish his meal and watch the sunset. After about an hour, Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl found him there, staring out into the ocean.

“I thought we’d find you here,” Garnet said with a warm tone.

“You hadn’t come back in a while, and you didn’t answer when I called,” Pearl murmured.

“Yeah, my phone died,” Steven replied, not looking toward the gems.

“Everything ok?” Amethyst asked. Steven hummed in response. Pearl stepped forward with a strained smile, hands fidgeting.

“Room for three more?” She asked. Steven didn’t answer immediately.

“Actually,” he said, tone quiet and hesitant, “I think I need to be alone for a bit.”

“Oh,” Garnet said, seeming caught off guard. Pearl’s smile dropped and she stepped back.

“Ok,” Amethyst said, breaking the silence, curling her hand into her hair. “We’ll be back at the temple if you need us.”

“Yeah,” Steven replied. “See you back there.” The gems retreated, expressions dejected as they left the teen by himself. He watched the sunset until the sky was dark and wandered back home.

#Steven Universe: Future #Prickly Pear #Steven Universe #su fanfic #Fanfiction #my writing #my precious gem child #Steven's Lion #steven universe spoilers

2 notes · View notes

kittyotakunoir666 · 5 years

Text

Felinette Month Day 5: Scars

In this story, they will be between 21-23 so they are adults but they still need to mature a bit. Marinette and Felix are getting there, it's just that the universe still hasn’t considered them adults and they are in university so they are away from home and with Felix’s family being rich he can afford a good apartment at his age and yes they are dating but don’t know each other’s identity.

D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 D9 D10 D11 D12 D13 D14 D15 D16 D17 D18 D19 D20 D21 D22 D23 D24 D25 D26 D27 D28 D29 D30

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In this world, there are many scars that people get for many reasons.

You get scars when your reckless an example being Ruby getting into fights

You get scars when you don’t pay attention to what you do examples being Allan and Allegra cutting themselves when trying to cook for the first time

You get scars when you don’t pay attention to your surroundings, Claude with sports not seeing the person coming at him and Terra not seeing the car thank god she only got a scar from that accident

You get emotional scars from either yourself, friends, or your family; Rosemarie and her mother manipulating her and Jake’s parents making him feel like something was wrong with him.

You get physical scars also from yourself, ex-friends, or family; Felix and Marinette from being Ladybug and Chat D'Obsidienne

Then there are the scars where they are both emotional and physical; Sébastian who was bullied when young had scars, two were from himself and three were from the bullies and Nyx who was emotionally and physically abused by her own family until the age of 16 when she finally cut off ties with them.

Yes, many scars exist in this world but people forget these scars or try to erase them from their minds. They try to move on from the scars or use them to improve their lives.

Marinette herself had tried to erase and forget the scars she got from her old class. But when she couldn’t she used those scars to move forward and put the past where it belongs instead of using it as an excuse. Felix, he needed to get used to the scars he got from being Chat D’Obsidienne and when he did he would trace his hand over them and use his knowledge to become a better Chat. As for other scars he had, he used those scars to put up walls and became uncomfortable at any touch he seemed unwelcome.

Marinette and Felix steal haven’t revealed themselves to each other as they didn’t know when or how they should do it. They didn’t think it would be an accident right after fighting an akuma where the miraculous cure could only do so much Ladybug, Marinette was also running out of time so Chat D’Obsidienne took action and took her to his apartment where no-one but Marinette had been when visiting Felix. And just as Felix landed on his balcony his and Marinettes transformations let out and they both just stared at each other. Plagga and Tikki had decided to let their holders sort themselves out so Plagg took Tikki to where she would be able to get cookies and he got some cheese.

They were interrupted by Marinette grabbing her stomach in pain as there was a slash through it. This rebooted Felix’s brain and he made his way to his room where he put Marinette on his bed and went to grab his first aid kit. When he came back into the room he instructed Marinette to remove her shirt as he would need to clean and bandage the wound. No, they haven’t gotten there in their relationship but they are comfortable with each other as they know that when they are ready they will be ready. So when Marinette removed her shirt he began to clean the wound but as he did so he let his eyes roam her body and noticing her other scars and his hand moved to touch the one under her chest.

“I remember when you got this one,” Felix said after returning to continue with the slash, Marinette stiffened as she remembered that day also, “You said that it did heal and you weren’t in pain and it wouldn’t leave a scar, now I know you lied to me”

“I’m sorry,” Marinette whispered. She faced away from Felix since she knew that she lied to him and didn’t want to face him.

Felix finished cleaning the wound and bandaged it before grabbing Marinette’s chin with his fingers and making her turn to him, he smiled at her, “Mari, you have nothing to be sorry. I know you hate liars and that you hate lying so I know you lied to stop me from worrying. You always did worry about others even when you were the one in pain.”

At this Marinette smiled and gave Felix a kiss, “You always did understand me best, Felix”

“Of course,” Felix said smugly before putting on a smile, “You also know me best, since day one”

Felix got up and grabbed one of his shirts to give to Marinette who happily took it and put it on. Felix and Marinette moved more into the bed and held each other with Felix leaning on the bed’s headboard and Marinette leaning on him. Felix grabbed his remote and put on a movie on Netflix.

“Do you have any scars from when the first Chat Noir was your partner?” asked Felix after a few minutes into the movie.

“I do,” Marinette answered she grabbed Felix’s hand to ground both of them. See Marinette had found out who the first Chat Noir was because the Master motioned for her to hide near an alleyway as the Master took away Adrien’s ring with the help of the other Miraculous holder. Marinette never told Chat D’Obsidienne or Felix as to not upset them.

“Would you tell me about them,” Felix asked holding her closer to him. He really loved Marinette and would do anything for her, “You could say no”

Marinette was quiet before answering, “I only have three and they are all on my back, the first scar I got was when Chat Noir once again put under the spell of the akuma, this akuma was named heart striker who was forcing people to attack the person they loved or had a crush on. When the akuma aimed the magical wand-like thing at me and shot at me Chat Noir threw himself in front of me and since he had a crush on me he was affected. So I ended up fighting both the akuma and my partner and while fighting, it was Chat who hurt me by clawing at my back when I was too focused on the akuma. When everything was put back to normal Chat Noir to it hard that it was he who put a scar on my back as the cure didn’t take all of it away”

Felix squeezed Marinette at the mention of how it was her supposed partner who hurt her. Marinette turned to give Felix a kiss on his forehead before continuing, “The second scar was given to me when I had yet to transform and the akuma was after me. Lila had spread a rumor yet again and it got to an Adrien fan who didn’t like what she heard. So she got akumatized and began to hunt me down as she turned to fiend-fan and wanted to make me respect Adrien instead of dragging his name through the mud or something. She found me right as I was making my escape to transform and zapped me from behind, Chat Noir arrived late and couldn’t get to me so when he did, he saw that I was zapped and the zap left me bleeding on my back. Chat Noir had to take me to my home where I told him I would see my wound so he could leave me. After the akuma and the cure, he came to check on me and saw that the scar was still there. I told him it wasn’t his fault and that the cure could only do so much.”

“You get hurt more than I can count with the akumas and I hate that some leave scars on your body,” Felix told her snuggling into her neck, “But the worst once were when your old class gave you emotional scars”

“Felix, my love” Marinette began as she hugged his arms that haven’t let go of her yet, “Those scars are in the past and I used them to better learn on who to trust and I have wonderful friends now who genuinely care for me and don’t use me”

“I love you so much, my Mari,” Felix said adorningly.

They stayed in silence before she continued with her stories, “The last and final scar I got was during a dangerous akuma and Chat Noir was off sulking about how I didn’t return his love for me, it was also the last time he was Chat Noir. As I was fighting with the akuma the akuma threw me to a wall where I got stabbed by something and before I knew it, I had a stab wound not given to me by the akuma so I knew the cure wouldn’t fully work with it and after that, the Master found out what happened and took Chat Noir’s miraculous.”

“Hmm,” Felix said thoughtfully, “If he hadn’t messed up and I wouldn’t have gotten the miraculous”

“That true though it hurt like hell afterwards at least I stopped bleeding thanks to the cure,” Marinette said ticked off. She then decided to ask Felix something, “Do you remember your first scar if you have any?”

“I do have scars Marinette and I consider two of them first scars,” Felix said before he began to explain, “The first official scar I got was when I was protecting you Marinette, It was the first akuma with me getting the miraculous and I saw you in danger and I reacted as my instinct took me to you and I took the blow of the building’s rubble and some of it landed a bt to sharply on my back”

“I remember that day, I was so surprised at seeing you in front of me I, for a second, forgot the situation we were in.” Marinette giggled, “I was also surprised at how different your outfit was from the previous Chat”

“Well, I didn’t know that my outfit would depend on what I want the most and that it also took into account my personality.” Felix defended himself with a small blush on his face but hid it by putting his face in her neck again.

“Yess well after that you took me to the school and told me to hide and then went off to fight the akuma, “Marinette said blissfully.

“Yes, well, the second time that I also consider a first time scar would be when we were dealing with normal criminals and they shot at you as Ladybug and I got in front of you and you handled the attackers after asking if I was okay as I fell down,” Felix said a little anger seeping through as he was angry at the attackers shooting at his Marinette.

“I almost had a heart attack when I saw you go down,” Marinette whimpered.

At this Felix turned her around to make her face him and held her head in his hand as he whispered reassuringly, “I’m right here Marinette, I am alive and safe her holding you, and loving you. My heart is beating and we are both safe after that. Your cure stopped me from dying and you did your best fixing me up. I am here with you now and I am alive right now”

“Okay,” Marinette whispered back with a few tears falling from her face.

“So how about you tell me about the first scar you got with me being Chat D’Obsidienne,” Felix told her trying to distract her from that experience.

“My first scar with you as the new Chat happened on your first day also” Marinette began to explain, “I didn’t know what to expect after what I went through with the first Chat. I was so used to protecting both of us from getting under the akumas attacks that I took a misstep when you tried to help me get away that I fell to the floor before I could get my yoyo. We were both lucky that the building I fell from wasn’t deadly high but I did get a scar on my side from how I fell.”

“I remember that I was so worried that I had somehow messed you up and that it was my fault you fell but you reassured me that, that wasn’t the case and instead it was having a new Chat to work with.” Felix sighed.

“You know I also remember the scar I got with protecting you, Felix” Marinette giggled remembering the memory. It was actually Marinette who protected Felix that night, “The idiot went after us since we were walking at night trying to make it to my house where we would have a sleepover. The guy didn’t know who he was messing with though I didn’t expect him to pull a knife and give me a small cut on my leg”

“Yes, well, thank god the police got to us before you actually hurt the idiot even more than you did,” Felix mused

“I would have stopped,” Marinette told him

“But would you really?” Felix asked teasingly

“Yes, I would have,” Marinette grumbled, “I’m not Nyx or Ruby”

“True, they would have continued, especially Nyx” Felix admitted

“That girl scares me sometimes,” Marinette confessed

“She also scares me but I love her anyway, after all, she is my non-related sister,” Felix said

“Want to continue watching tv?” Marinette asked.

“Sure, what do you want to watch?” Felix asked getting the remote

“Carmen Sandiego, the second season came out and I want to watch it from the beginning,” Marinette told him. Felix complied snuggled closer to Marinette.

In this world, there are many scars that people get for many reasons.

You get scars when your reckless an example being Ruby getting into fights

With these scars, Ruby learned to ask about the person first and why they want to fight and that she could help them.

You get scars when you don’t pay attention to what you do examples being Allan and Allegra cutting themselves when trying to cook for the first time

Allan learned to pay attention when cutting anything needed to be cut

Allegra also learned this lesson along with learning she actually likes finger foods

You get scars when you don’t pay attention to your surroundings, Claude with sports not seeing the person coming at him and Terra not seeing the car thank god she only got a scar from that accident

Claude learned how to be more award while playing the game and honed those skills even if he wasn’t paying full attention

Terra learned to be more careful on the streets and to pay attention to where she is

You get emotional scars from either yourself, friends, or your family; Rosemarie and her mother manipulating her and Jake’s parents making him feel like something was wrong with him.

Rosemarie learned to not let her mother control her and used the scars to move forward and not be held back by them

Jake went and found people with similar scars and they learned to help each other and be who they knew they were and knowing nothing was wrong with them

You get physical scars also from yourself, ex-friends, or family; Felix and Marinette from being Ladybug and Chat D'Obsidienne

They both learned of each other scars and whenever they got new ones they helped each other heal and become stronger

Sébastian became stronger mentally and found a group of friends who protected him and he protected them

Nyx learned to leave her scars behind and use them to better herself and was able to move on from the pain and into being happy with those around her along with talking to her blood family on occasion and forgiving them from what they did to her.

Everyone has scars in their lives of different kinds and everyone should learn that those scars don’t have to be used against you but can be used for you to move on and forward in life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 D9 D10 D11 D12 D13 D14 D15 D16 D17 D18 D19 D20 D21 D22 D23 D24 D25 D26 D27 D28 D29 D30

#felinette month #felinette #felinette month day 5 #felinettemonth #day 5 #felix is chat noir #felix culpa #marinette dupain cheng #Oc's #scars

33 notes · View notes

razorblade180 · 5 years

Text

Twin Snowflakes pt2: Warming Up

[Saph’s place]

In the guest room Summer sleeps peacefully in the bed with tons of covers to keep her warm. To the right of the bed is a night stand with a bowl of stew beef and tea. On the left sits Nicholas attentively watching over her. The room itself is pretty warm so currently he’s on in a white shirt and blue shorts.

Saph:*opens door* Pssst how is she?

Nick:Her face as gotten color back into it again. She’ll be fine with a little rest and the food you made her. Thanks for that by the way.

Saph:Ain’t no thang for my adorable niece and nephew. You know you should really get good at cooking yourself; sixteen years old and all I ever seen you cook is some eggs.

Nick:*chuckles* You would think sword skills would transfer to kitchen knife ability but it certainly does not. Maybe I should spend more time reading recipes books...

Saph:Having you two over for cooking lessons instead of secret training would be a nice change of pace. I wouldn’t have to worry about my dear baby brother yelling at me if he finds out.

Nick:Aren’t you supposed to be the older sibling that can’t be picked on?

Saph:*smirks* Doesn’t Summer pick on you?

Nick:Hey! I’m older by minutes while you have years on dad. Besides I totally let her make fun of me.

Summer:*waking up* Keep telling yourself that.

Saph:Well look who it is!?

Nick:Wow, you are awake way sooner than usual.

Summer:How much time has passed?

Nick:Four hours since you clocked out in the snow.

Summer:Well that’s a full thirteen faster than last time. *rubbing her head* Makes sense, Shiva wasn’t out for too long. We should probably continue to tr- is that stew beef!!!? *grabs the bowl*

Saph:Talking one minute, stuffing your face the next. Definitely Summer talking to us.

Nick:You okay? Well rested, no fatigue, no broken bones, or bruises? How is your-

A spoon gets put in his mouth to prevent him from speaking.

Saph:Shut up and stop babying me. I’m perfectly fine okay? If anything you should be worrying about yourself it seems. *points to his side.*

He looks down to see a small red smudge. Saphron lifts his shirt to reveal a shallow cut that slightly bleeding. Nick tries to laugh off the this new discovery but is met with two pairs of highly upset cobalt eyes.

Summer:What’s the point of worrying about me if you’re not gonna take the time to make sure that everything is okay with yourself?

Nick:I only got grazed a little, plus it’s healing so it’s no big deal.

Saph:It’s totally a big deal! Just because you look like your father doesn’t mean you should be just as reckless as he is. Take care yourself and don’t take outrageous risk!

Nick:*scared* Yes Ma’am!!!

Saph:Good! Now go ask Adrian to borrow a clean shirt and get yourself some food as well.

Nick:*mumbles* But I’m not hungry....

Saph:*Death Glare*

Nick:Alright!!! I’ll make a small bowl or something. *leaving* Geez, you’re gonna give Bleiss a run for her money with that look.

Saph:I heard that!

Nick:I know! I said loud! *laughing*

Saph:*smiling* Your brother is a real piece of work.

Summer:.........

Saph:Summer?

Summer:Huh? I’m sorry, I spaced out....

Saph:Is you know who trying to speak with you.

Summer:No, I can’t even hear Shiva’s voice right now. I’m too warm and she’s too tired. Besides, anytime she decides to open her mouth it’s usually to insult me. I could go the rest of my life without hearing her. I’m just upset Nicholas is hurt because of me again.

Saph:I know we just grilled him and all over it but you shouldn’t feel too bad over a cut. Things could’ve been a lot worse.

Summer:They might be if I don’t get a handle on this fast. Six years of worrying about hurting your family is really, really stressful..... almost enough to make me feel crazier than I already am.

Saph:Hey, you are not crazy young lady.

Summer:Then what exactly would you call me? A freak of nature doesn’t sound any better, and being called “sick” isn’t comforting either.

The two quietly looked at each other blankly. Summer was waiting for some type of answer but her loving aunt couldn’t find any words that would help make her feel better about her situation. Saphron instead sat right next to the teenager and gave her a reassuring hug. Summer couldn’t help but return the embrace.

Saph:I’d be lying if I said I had a good answer to that question. However, I do know one day you’ll conquer this; all that training you put into this is bound to pay off. Even if some of it goes over my head sometimes. *smiles* One day you’ll kick Shiva’s but to the curve! Arcs and Schnees seemed to be really good at sticking up for themselves when it comes to being ordered around or bullied by someone else.

Ruby:*in the form frame* Ain’t that the truth!

Summer:You’re still here Auntie!

Ruby:Of course! I wasn’t gonna leave before I knew for a fact you were okay. Also, try not to think so negative all the time. We all believe in you so don’t go doubting yourself. More importantly, don’t try to rush progress. That’s when the worst mistakes happen.

Saph:Just ask Terra. She shut down power to all of Argus before on accident; all because she tried to finish all her work for the week without taking a break. Just to make sure she could attend Adrian’s graduation.

Terra:*down stairs* Stop telling that story! My boss still won’t let it go!

Saph:*whispers* No one is even mad at her. It was just really funny and unlike her.

Summer:*smiling* That must’ve been an eventful day.

Saph:It was a good thing Adrian was graduating. Imagine having to go to school with all the kids knowing that. Actually...he might’ve been seen as a hero when I think about it.

Ruby:Speaking of school....

Saph:Please don’t, let me enjoy winter break while it last. I only have two more days left then back to the worst place imaginable.

Ruby:Two days, some regular classes for everyone to get back into the swing of things, and then The Combat School Tournament!

Hearing that name made Summer a little anxious. They might as well change the name to Jr Vytal festival. The Combat School Tournament is where students from all over Remnant gets to strut their stuff against one another; home school or not. It’s always televised and it’s made to show that the next generation of huntsman and huntress are growing strong. Many games and side events will also be held for fun to show unity between everyone.

However, Summer won’t be partaking in those nice and simple events. She won’t even be in the regular tournament where anyone and everyone will be at arms with each other. No, She and her over eager brother will be going to be in special bracket. A bracket reserved for only the winners of their respective regionals along with the runner ups. The main attraction that’s sure to be watched in every house hold.

Summer:Ruler of the Castle......

Nick:*down stairs* Woooooo!!!!!!!!!

Ruby:Oh I’m so excited!!!!!!!

Summer:Because you’re not in it! No way I’m ready for that.

Saph:Last time I checked, your gold medal in regionals says other wise.

Summer:I only got gold in duos. Nicholas was practically the reason we one that. I got fifth place in singles while he got runner up.

Ruby:What did I just say about negativity? Nicholas’s shout tells me he’s not worried in the slightest.

Nick:*rushes in* Better believe I’m not! You and I are gonna clean up in duos and let everyone know there’s no greater tag team than us.

Summer:What makes you so sure?

Nick:Close your eyes and you’ll see.

She follows his orders while the others are a bit confused. He quietly grabs her spoon and closes his eyes as well. The boy throws the spoon right at her only for Summer to catch it. Without opening her eyes she throws it his left knee which instinctively raises up right before contact to bounce it in the air. Nick hits it back at her chest where Summer is already prepared to counter by grabbing the bowl for it to land. The entire bowl is tossed up and lands on a glyph that floats back down to the nightstand. Both of them open their eyes smiling.

Ruby:*whistles* You guys practice that little trick.

Nick:Nope! It’s a twin thing. Somehow we always know just what the other might do in a pinch.

Summer:It’s super annoying. Our snowball fights against each other always end up looking like a war where nobody got to win.

Nick:Yeah but our matches against other people always went undefeated. This isn’t gonna be any different! I got your back and you have mine; more gold medals are the only thing we’re gonna get. Duos is all about teamwork and we got that spades. *eyes shining* We’re gonna look so cool!

Summer:So it this about showing the world how skilled we are or just a way for you to look cool in front of Valerie?

Nick:*blushing* Valerie has nothing to do with this! Although if she so happened to be amazed by my- our skills and was left in complete shock then that would be nice.

Saph:Careful there tiger, she’s the reason you’re runner up in singles in the first place. Might wanna keep those hormones in cheek if by some chance both of you end up in the finals again.

Summer:Oooo imagine if she gets another gold medal off of you. Talk about embarrassing... *chuckling*

Nick:Wow! So much for the confidence. I got sucker punched last time. No way I’d lose to her again.

Ruby:I wonder how many times Jaune said that before sparring with Nora? *smiling*

Nick:All of you suck.... *red*

Adrian:*in his room* I believe in you Nick!

Nick:That’s why you’re my favorite cousin!

Saph:I’m telling the others you said that if they show up to tournament.

Nick:Please don’t.....I can’t fight my entire family tree; too many branches. Who is coming anyways?

Ruby:I’ll be there of course, Yang, Blake most likely, Veronica-

Summer:Uuuuuuggggggghhhhhhh!

Everyone:........

Summer:What?

Nick:Can you both be civil for an evening.

Summer:Can she not be such a b-

Saph:I’ll tell your mother.

Summer:Insufferable person? I’m not talking to her and hopefully she doesn’t speak to me. *mumbles* I wish she was in the tournament. I’d pay off the referee to match us up just to fight her.

Ruby:Be nice to my niece please? Maybe she’s changed a bit?

Summer:..........You think Veronica Belladonna, the girl that’s so extra that she has two faunus features, has changed?

Ruby:You know your mom is the queen of extra right? I think there’s another reason you two might be all feisty towards each other if you catch my drift.

Summer:I know what you’re implying and it has nothing to do with that! That’s not even a thing.

Nick:What’s not a thing?

Summer:Don’t worry about it!

Nick:???

Few people could get Summer worked like Veronica could. Between her and Shiva it was almost like a war on two fronts when it came to her self confidence. Though she did appreciate that at least Veronica isn’t actually trying to destroy her. It’s the small things like that which made things more tolerable at best. Now that she was fired up, Summer hoped out of bed and grabbed her twins hand.

Summer:We’re going to glyph train in the garden.

Nick:Right now!? Don’t you wanna rest a little mo-

Summer:Nope! If I’m forced to be in the same area as little miss perfect then she’s gonna see me at my absolute best! *drags him out the room*

Ruby:Poor girl must constantly feel weird about every thought and action in her life. Especially at sixteen.

Saph:It’s no different than Jaune or a couple other of our siblings. Preferences and other things tend to get all added into decision making when you have tight net families and such reliable siblings. It’s nothing to worry about. Don’t tell Jaune I told you but for awhile the girls he tried dating when we were younger sort of looked like us because he thought we were the prettiest.

Ruby:Hey I mean I fell for him hard for awhile and he looks like my dad. I think we all naturally seek out something familiar yet different. Once you accept the fact your taste is little awkward but natural, you laugh about it.

Saph:It’s going to be an hilarious day when she brings a boy home that looks vaguely like Nick and Jaune but doesn’t realize it.

Ruby:I will cackle on the floor for hours. Please don’t speak that into existence.

Saph:*snickering* Remember when she had a crush on Adrian. Telling her they weren’t blood related was the funniest thing ever.

Ruby:I guess it just shows that Arc boys are just too good. No wonder why few are born; too much power is contained in that smile.

Saph:Ain’t that the truth. I really hope Nick and Adrian don’t get into too many shenanigans. Not that I won’t get a good lecture from every woman in our family if they do.

Ruby:They’ll be fine. Then again Nick is half Schnee. That’s a double threat. Schnee’s got their own brand of charm. Just ask my uncle or Jaune.

Saph:*looking at Ruby’s wedding ring* I think you’re forgetting someone.

Ruby:*blushing and smiling* Oh I didn’t want to mention my fantastic husband but if you insist... *pulls out scroll* wanna see our vacation pictures!?

Saph:*rolls eyes playfully* I don’t know how Whitley puts up with you.

Part 1

#rwby #rwby twin snowflakes #summer schnee #nicholas schnee #ruby rose #saphron cotta arc #adrian arc #terra cotta arc #rwby whiteknight #rwby wild rose #saphron arc

34 notes · View notes

eleanore-delphinium · 4 years

Text

Reciprocate II

PART 1: Reciprocate I: Raven

PART 2: Reciprocate II: Damian (you are here)

PART 3: Finale: Reciprocate III: The After

Reciprocate II: Damian

In a sterile white room devoid of any color and of any indication of ownership or personalization from the owner of the room, laid a single figure on top of a white medical bed, white sheets tucked over her sternum. It was bright, and lonely and rather very empty—except for the pale woman with purple hair that reached just below her breast, on the bed. An empty chair on her right side and bedside tables with nothing on top, on either side of her bed. Her hands laid on her sides and her eyes close. There was no indication of movement except for her quiet breathing.

The door opens, to reveal Damian Wayne in a white button up shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black slacks and black dress shoes. Despite his neat outfit, his hair was a mess and his eyes were blood shot with eyebags underneath. He looked as though he had not slept well at all—which was likely the case.

Afterall, he had not slept well since the day Raven got stabbed. There were good days and bad. Now—today was a better day. He walks to the empty chair beside Raven’s right hand, his back facing the door. He sits on the chair and gaze longingly at the figure on the bed.

And he recalled what had transpired that night—the night that caused Raven’s current medical condition.

Raven had fallen and her eyes slowly fluttering close. He could tell that she was trying not to lose consciousness. Raven lifted a hand towards Damian and Garfield’s general direction. And Damian couldn’t help but wonder if she was trying to reach out to him or Garfield.

‘It had to be Garfield.’, he thought because it would not make sense if Raven was trying to reach out to him. Damian couldn’t help but feel very bitter inside. She would never choose him.

At this moment the creature was distracted by Tim who was on the other side, seeing this—Damian took the opportunity to run to Raven. He took note of the footsteps that followed behind him. Garfield was right behind Damian as they ran toward Raven.

Her raised hand was faltering and Damian felt as though his heart was about to jump out of his throat, out of fear.

No. You cannot close your eyes. I will not allow it! Damian ran faster towards Raven and as her hand fell to the ground, he finally reached her side. But her eyes had also closed, and Damian held his breath as he-- so very gently, held her in his arms.

“Raven! Raven!” He calls to her frantically. “No. No. No. Don’t close your eyes, please come back, stay conscious!” His breathing was ragged, his heart beating loudly in his ears. Damian bit his lip and held his breath in a conscious manner, as he tried to calm himself, and think. He had to think.

“We have to stop her bleeding.” Damian absent-mindedly say, his voice cold, and as he scanned Raven’s wound, his eye twitched. Raven had a gaping hole on her chest, Damian did not want to think about it—but the situation was truly grim.

“How are you going to—” Garfield received another glare from Damian.

Damian was not asking or seeking their help to stop Raven’s bleeding, he had said what he had said to inform them only. He will deal with Raven’s injury.

Damian reaches for something in his utility belt, and he pulls out three silver balls. His facial expression seemingly frozen into a cold and uncaring expression as he places the one-inch sized ball strategically on her gaping wound. He placed one on top and two at the bottom, forming a triangle. It beeps and glows a faint blue and came out a purple like foam.

He had no choice. This was the only way to ‘plug’ Raven’s gaping hole. She was losing too much blood because of it.

Damian clenched his teeth even more, if that was even possible. He rests Raven on his right arm as his hands clenched tightly. Underneath the gloves, one would have noticed how white his fist had become. His brows still tightly knit together, it looked painful to watch his brows like that.

And to Garfield and Terra, he looked like the scariest man on earth. They seemed to fear Damian more than the unbeatable monster that had stabbed Raven into this state.

Damian hated what he had to do. He hated that he had to plug Raven like this. He hated that he knew he had to put her down now. Now.

There was a moment of hesitance, but Damian bit his lip till it bled to keep his focus.

“We need to put Raven in a safe spot,” He says in a clipped manner as he picks Raven up in his arms in a princess carry, “distract that thing and keep him far away from her.” He continuous absent-mindedly as his eyes quickly analyze the best spot to hide her away.

And at the same time, he recalls her injury. There were no organs that were damage, that at least is a good thing. And he hoped and prayed-- at that same moment-- that Raven can survive this.

With Damian standing on his full length, Garfield snapped out from his frozen state and had begun to reach out for Raven once again.

Damian had accidentally hit Terra as he started moving, cutting Terra’s thoughts. For a second her eyes laid on the boy wonder—and to her, she did not see a hero protecting or saving someone. She saw a man holding someone in a way, that showed he was too afraid to hold any tighter in fear of losing her. A man refusing to blink, too afraid that it would be his last sight of her and that she would turn into dust any moment now. He held her in such a cautious manner—that it hurt to see him so forlorn like that.

Terra quickly turned, refusing to see Garfield’s expression—it was something she did not want to see right now.

“I will cover for you, Damian.” She tells him.

But she held on.

She held on.

He sighed again, as he turned his head that was resting on his right hand towards Raven.

Seeing her with so much tubes and monitor, some advance tech and some actual alien tech, hurt Damian in a way that a bullet shot could not compare. And he felt so helpless.

He held the woman he had loved for years in his arms, and had to leave her in her injured state to defend the world of the very same creature that injured her. He left her all alone in a corner—not even knowing if she would be alive when he returned. He knew that having someone guard her would be a waste of man power. He had to think of the bigger picture—because it is his responsibility, he couldn’t put her over that. And a small part of him hates himself for it.

He had seen her struggle to survive day after day, and night after night since then. The rejection her body faced—and his selfishness, thinking—hoping that she would survive it.

And she did.

“Raven, won’t you wake up already?” He mutters, he had gotten used to talking to himself whenever he visited her.

“I still planned to confess to you,” He chuckles emptily “Won’t you at least let me do that?” He brought her hand to his forehead. “Let me be selfish…”

~.~.~.~.~

The door to Raven’s personal room opens, revealing Damian in his robin uniform, his mask off. He walks to her in a slightly slump manner. Takes her hand on his and sighs.

“I’m sorry Raven, it appears that I can’t visit you for the unforeseeable future. Something came up.” He looks at her sleeping face sadly.

“Don’t be angry, I try to visit you every day after all, even if it’s just for a couple of minutes, but I never missed a day since you got injured.” He pauses. “If you ask me, I’m pretty sure they were lenient on my lack of participation in missions recently because I looked as if I had lost a lover.” He laughs.

“I will come back, I promise you.” He says as he reluctantly let go of her hand. He refused to look back as he left the room, and takes his mask from his utility belt and puts it on.

~.~.~.~.~

The door opens gently again as Damian Wayne in an all-black outfit walks in. He was in his signature black turtle neck. He had on a thin black framed eyeglass perched on his nose. He held a book on his left hand. He had gotten used to opening the door slowly and gently, out of the fear that when he opens the door she wouldn’t be there anymore.

At first, he thought that it was an unreasonable fear, but clearly it was not. He was afraid, that the time he wasn’t with her, she would have long been gone. And when he comes to visit, he would be greeted with an empty bed. And he would not be able to even say his farewells.

He closes the door even more gently—because when the door closes this time was theirs—well his. Because she was still unconscious—still very unaware of his presence.

“Hey Raven, I brought the book I last read to you—I have enough time today to read to you just a few chapters.” He says as he walks to his position beside her. He takes a seat on the chair and held her right hand with his right hand. “It would be nice if you woke up soon.” He smiles grimly, the words have started becoming something he said out of habit.

~.~.~.~.~

Raven was still lying unconscious in the white room, on her white bed. Everything was quiet inside.

“Damian it’s been almost eight months!” Came a voice from outside the room.

“So, what Grayson!” Yelled back the voice of Damian Wayne. He was in an argument right outside of Raven’s room with Dick Grayson, his adopted brother—also known as Nightwing.

“Are you serious Dami?” A pause. “At least let others see her!”

“By others you mean Garfield, right?” A loud bang was heard from inside the room.

“Well—shit, yes! Why won’t you let Gar see her? He has been asking about her or where she is.”

“Don’t you dare bring Garfield to see her—don’t you dare!” A furious reply from Damian as shuffling footsteps were heard.

“Look man, I get it. I really do. But Damian, you can’t just hide her away from her teammates.”

“You see her too.”

“You know that’s not what I mean.” A louder bang entered Raven’s room.

“She planned to leave anyways.” Damian says defensively. There was silence for a few seconds and a frustrated humph could be heard from outside the room.

“I—I didn’t think anyone would be able to deal with seeing her in that way—I” Damian pauses. “I don’t think they’d want to see her in a coma—I thought it was for the best. I—I’m sorry Grayson, I will let them see her—but—just not Garfield, Grayson. That is all I am asking from you, just not him. He caused her enough pain.” And the door to Raven’s room opened. She still laid there asleep. Damian did not wait for Dick’s reply. He slowly closes the door behind him.

He was in a black button up polo shirt tucked into his black slacks, that was held into place by a silver belt and his black leather shoes. He looked tired and but there was no hint of anger.

“You must have heard our little argument, huh?” He says approaching the familiar chair he always sat on when visiting her. “I’m sorry to have disturbed your sleep.” He continues as he sat down on the chair and takes her hand in his again. “Of course, I didn’t disturb your sleep, after all your still unconscious.” A hollow chuckle soon follows.

Damian places the back of Raven’s hand against his forehead. “You can wake up now. Scold me for being so selfish. For not allowing Garfield to visit you. In fact, for not letting anyone else visit you aside from a select few. But—mostly Garfield. I will not allow him in here too— in this space-- so why don’t you wake up and just tell me how selfish I am.” He tilts his head to look at Raven while her hand is still pressed on temple of his head.

But as usual there was no response. He was so used to talking to himself now. At this point, Damian was very convinced that Raven had tried to reach out for Garfield, one last time, before she fainted. And the thought was something that caused him bitterness.

Even in her near-death, Garfield was the last in her mind.

~.~.~.~.~

Damian was sitting on the same chair holding Raven’s hand. Three months has passed since Damian and Dick’s heated argument outside of Raven’s bedroom. He wore a red hoodie with black pants and black shoes. This time around, for the first time, he looked less tired since this whole ordeal happened.

“It looks like you had a lot of visitors this month too.” He glances at the flowers on both bedside tables, pictures in frames of Raven with the team and other things. Now the room seemed to have a little bit of personality.

His lips hovering over her hand. He wipes the spot he kissed her at, with this thumb.

“I’m sorry, I should be asking permission. I didn’t—” He stared at the back of her hand. “I’m sorry I don’t know since when I started doing that, but I’m sorry. I overstepped.” He gently places her hand back on the bed and stood up. “Let’s see what’s in the drawers, shall we?” He mutters to himself. And surveyed every nook and cranny and objects in her room, keeping a mental inventory.

“We will be starting a new book soon. I no longer keep track of the books we’ve read.” He says after finishing his inspection of the room and went to sit back on the chair and crossed his arms across his chest.

“Well—I mean I keep track of the titles but no longer itemize them…” He adds quietly, he used to count them but stopped at around the fifth book because it seemed like the list would continue to grow. And seeing the number rise would just be another reminder of the fact, that the days waiting for Raven to wake was stretching to impossibility.

~.~.~.~.~

It was a little over a year since Raven has been in her comatose state. The room felt heavy and she stirred because of it. Her breathing a little louder—a little labored. Her eyes fluttered opened—her vision a blur. She saw two figures at the foot of her bed. The taller one looking at the shorter man. The shorter one was looking at her startled—he seemed to have an odd skin color. She could almost swear it was green. Raven’s eyes started to roll back to unconsciousness.

“Dick, she’s awake!” It was a familiar voice; Raven couldn’t help but think.

“What?” Dick turned to look at Raven her eyelids slowly closing, her labored breathing slowly quieting down.

“I saw her eyes open; I swear it!” She recognized the voice as Garfield, but knowing who it was did not give her any extra motivation to fight her sleepiness.

“Her eyes opened; I saw it!” Garfield says frantically, hoping that would ease Damian’s anger. Damian takes a glance at Raven—but she was at the same state he had last seen her in.

Comatose.

“I asked you one thing, Grayson!” He growls as he slowly stomped his way to Dick whose hands were up in a ‘I surrender’ way. Damian grabbed Dick’s coat collar and pulled him close. “One thing Grayson!” He shoved Dick and points at Garfield.

“Look—you can’t continue denying someone who wants to visit a friend.” Dick tries to calm his brother down as he straightens his coat.

“Friend?” Damian snorts in response.

“Look, Damian I begged Dick to bring me to her.” Garfield says and he received Damian’s angry glare.

“I’m sorry little D, we will talk about it outside.” Dick says as he drags Garfield out, giving Garfield a stern look to ensure Garfield’s silence. Garfield wasn’t happy but he understood that Dick was looking out for him.

Damian stood where he was, glaring at Raven as he waits for the door to close behind Dick and Garfield. He was stiff in his spot and his fists clenched so tightly. He was still very much angry. He stood like that for five more minutes before he tried to calm himself down. His fist unclenched and his brows unfurrow.

“So—well stop pretending then—his gone now—so wake up.” He demanded in a low voice as he hovered beside Raven near the chair. She did not move. And Damian laughed brokenly as he fell on his knees. He reached out for her right hand absentmindedly and rested his nose on the back of her palm.

“So, it turns out you just needed him to visit you to wake up?” Damian whispers as tears fall on her hand. “So why aren’t you awake already?” He sobbed.

It was never him—she never chose him.

~.~.~.~.~

It had been four months since Garfield have been regularly visiting Raven, and at times he would also bring Terra with him. Damian had conceded with Garfield’s wish to allow him visitation rights to see Raven. Damian could not stay angry at Dick for over two weeks, and the pair reconciled, despite Dick undermining Damian’s wishes. Damian understood that Dick was looking out for him.

His family knew he needed a little push to try and let Raven’s state go and pushing Damian to allow Garfield entry was the way to do it. Damian needed to move on.

But here he was again, in the white room he specifically prepared for her. Her accommodations all arranged by him, and his visits always a constant. But the past four months were difficult, as he was also actively avoiding having to meet Garfield when Garfield was visiting Raven.

When Damian was able to take a step back from his anger at what Dick did—he knew that his family did it to distract Damian—to keep him away from lurking around Raven. He understood it was made of good intentions. Damian reaches out for Raven’s hand, a habit he has come to develop long ago.

He wore a plain white shirt with jeans. His hair not as neat as it usually was, and eyebags were under his eyes yet again.

“But I guess I am a man who will only love one person in their life.” He mutters placing Raven’s hand against his right cheek. “I’ve come to wonder sometimes if I am unfortunate to be such a man—or to fall for you—” he studies her face; he has memorized every detail about her. How could he not when he was here, beside her so frequently.

“I’ve come to learn that loving you is not something to be regretful about. In fact, I am rather thankful for it. But you really got me pining over you, Raven.” He sighs, his eyes not capturing even the smallest of movement from Raven. “I love you.” He whispers and brushed his lips against the skin on the back of her hand.

A week and a half after, Damian is pacing at the foot of Raven’s bed, very much frustrated. He paused and glared at Raven, running his hands through his head, a sign of his developing anger. He stomps towards his spot as he glared at Raven again.

His hair was a mess, his eyebags had gotten darker. His clothes that was a plain black shirt with jeans had creases, very uncharacteristic of him.

“I don’t get it!” He says containing most of his anger. “You obviously woke up the first time Garfield visited you! Tsk, as it turns out, all you need was for him to visit you-- for you to wake up. So why did you go back to sleep!” His tone louder now and he sighs to try and dispel a little of his anger. His hand at his side clenched into balls.

“You really—really got me pining over you.” Damian says as he knelt on the floor with a hunched back as he takes her right hand in between his palms. “It’s funny how you pined over someone else as I pined over you—it seems that your making me pine over you just as long as you pined over him.”

The chair he usually sat on was across the room, toppled down. A droplet of water falls in front of Damian’s right knee.

~.~.~.~.~

Two months passed just like that. Raven’s friends had long since stopped visiting her as frequently as they did the first three months. Asking them to take so much time off of their busy hero life, was too much to ask for. But Damian always made time for her, and at almost a year and a half the toll of doing so had fully manifested.

He looked so tired, his eye bags in the darkest shade it had been since the accident. He looked thinner, not scarily thin, but it was obvious he had lost some weight. His clothes were as neat as it could be. His white button up shirt crisp and so is his black slacks. His black leather shoes very shiny. He placed a lot of effort in his appearance because even he could tell that his health has waned, and he was compensating with his clothes.

When Raven was in ICU for the first three months, he was in such a bad state. When she finally got relatively cured but was on comatose, he looked better-- more relaxed. Then a little after, he had to continue with his responsibilities, particularly as a hero and somehow, he managed.

But now at almost a year and a half of juggling hero life, personal and family life. Being with Raven almost every day since the night she got hurt. To actively avoiding Garfield while Garfield was visiting and arranging his own visits to go around Garfield’s visitation, but also keeping to his schedule and preference of seeing Raven on a very regular basis. And Raven still not waking up—Damian was quite spent.

Raven’s state was always at the forefront of his mind. And when he was in a mission, he tried to put it as a lesser priority. But when he is near to death his first thought is: If I die who will look after Raven? And so, he fights with every screaming fiber he had, even when he was in such excruciating pain. After all, he still had to see her wake up.

One would think a year and a half wasn’t really a long time—but it did not feel like it has been just over a year for Damian—it felt like he has been waiting for her to wake up for five years.

He had just realized quite recently, just exactly how much stress he had gotten due to all this. And it was taking a major toll on him. He now completely understood why his family was worried about it—about him. Hindsight after all is 20/20. And he now clearly sees, exactly how concerning his state was.

There was only one solution. His eyes flickered to Raven—he had not noticed that his gaze had drifted off of her and was surprised when his eyes laid on her again. He sighs and suddenly stands up, and picks up a lock of her hair.

“Raven, your hair has grown quite a bit—its already at waist level. I thought of having it cut—but I think that should be your decision.” He places it back down. “If you don’t wake up any time soon—I’m afraid I would have to let you go.” He mumbles to himself as he turned around to lean on the bed and gaze at the ceiling blankly.

Two weeks after, Damian was back in her room, looking even worst. This time he was just standing beside Raven with a very empty gaze. He had been standing there in his black slacks, black dress shoes and a green button up polo shirt for fifteen minutes already.

“I give up Rae.” He looks down on the ground. His words so soft because he was very much afraid of the implications himself. He knew he had to let her go.

~.~.~.~.~

“Now I have pined for you for the same duration, and I have decided to move on too.” He said grimly and the hint of playfulness he had prior was gone. “It really came full circle.”

It started from hints, to telling her absentmindedly, to repeatedly telling her every time he visits—until finally he was able to visit less. And because Damian turned his head, he missed the small twitched of Raven’s hand when he pulled his hand away, to look at her bedside.

There was silence, as he looked down and closed his eyes. He squeezes his eyes for a moment then sighs as he looks at Raven, a faint smile on his lips. He took a step back, feeling as though he was leaving his heart on this spot. He then turns feeling lonely yet strong and regretful at the same time.

When he was gone, Raven’s eyebrow twitched.

The next day when Damian decided to check on Raven’s condition, he was frozen in fear to see the scientist and doctors hovering over Raven who was attached to so many monitors and tubes.

“Sir—we need you out of the way.” A doctor pulled Damian away. “Who let this one in!” The doctor adds and a nurse took Damian away, trying to console him.

“This is odd—there seems to be no traces of the compound we found last time. But her body is rejecting something.” Damian hears the doctor say, at that moment Raven’s eyes opened and her line of sight fell on Damian’s instantly. Her hand lifted slowly to his direction; her eyes wet as her face slowly turned red from the lack of oxygen. A doctor had already punctured her lungs to assist her in breathing, but black blood was oozing out from it.

“Raven!” He called out as he knelt on the floor and held her right hand that she had stretched out. “I promise, I will not leave you. So, you have to fight this!”

She squeezes his hand in hers as best as she could as her eyes closed and a tear slipped from her eye.

“Sir—I’m sorry but you are being a distraction.” A bulky man approaches Damian, he lets go of Raven’s hand and put his hands up. And slowly left the room.

“She’s—I heard the subject has powers—”

“Patient.” A doctor cuts off the scientist.

Before Damian was shoved out of the room, he stole a glance of Raven, her hand was glowing a faint purple black hue. And it seemed that she could breathe.

“Sir—there seems to be something appearing—” And that was the last thing Damian heard before the door was shut close.

Damian was sitting on his chair, holding her hand. He wore a white t-shirt with many creases. His hair a slightly better case compared to his shirt. And the outfit was complete with a plain pair of jeans and casual shoes. And to top it all off, his eyebags had become dark again.

”You really scared me. God, I forgot how afraid I was of losing you recently—you really know how to make someone remember, huh?” He mutters as he puts her hand against his forehead, he was shaking a bit, as he fought his tears. And he felt her hand twitch against his—and he choked as he looked at her face.

“You reached out to me that night, didn’t you?” He put her hand against his cheek as he turns his head towards her again. “You have to wake up and clarify that to me.” And he hears her loudly inhale.

For the first time in months, he finally had hope that she would wake up. “I promise you; I will wait for you to wake up. This time, I will not break this promise.”

~.~.~.~.~

The door suddenly opens, with a panic stricken, Damian. He was unable to take off his outer coat and change into cleaner shoes because he heard a crash from generally where Raven’s room was located on the second floor.

“Raven!” He called out his fear practically at the base of his throat.

When he heard the loud crash, he feared for the worst. His eyes at first saw an empty bed, and his heart almost jumped out of his chest. The vase on her right bedside table with flowers, had shattered on the floor. He quickly searched for Raven, and exhaled deeply when he spotted her at the foot of her bed. She was holding onto her bed with great difficulty. Her eyes observed Damian wearily.

He approached her, thinking that maybe this was a dream.

“Raven.” He whispered when he was two feet away, her violet eyes did not show any recognition at seeing Damian. He picks her up and carries her in a princess carry, and despite not recognizing him at first, she wraps her arms around his neck.

“Damian.” She whispers and he squeezes her back. She rested her forehead on his shoulder, as he carried her back to her bed. He sets her down gently as he pulls away, she grabs his right hand.

“It feels so perfect.” She gently tells him, and Damian was startled by her words. A smile slowly forms and he found himself chuckling.

“I’ve been here almost every day, holding your hand. Maybe your hand molded into mine—” He shakes his head. "Or maybe the other way around.”

“I—my memory is kind of fuzzy,” Raven says as she lays back in bed. “But I know you, I remember you. I heard you so often. It became scary when you weren’t there.” Her eyes start to flutter, she seemed a little bit too tired. But she continued to hold his hand until she fully fell into slumber, to which her grip loosened.

Damian took the opportunity to call the doctors and scientist to inform them of her condition.

When she awoke again the doctors, scientists and Damian were talking.

~.~.~.~.~

She had found out that this was one of Bruce Wayne’s property, and Damian had asked for the property. Damian was someone who would never ask anything of anyone if he could do it himself, so it was surprising to everyone that Damian had asked something. And because of that Bruce granted Damian the property, if not for that, in the very least to give Damian some peace of mind.

She also found out that Damian did not spare any expense in her recuperation. And her situation was quite odd. The creature’s origin could not be quite narrowed down, thus its effects on her was up on the air. But that was where the doctors and scientists and all the tech was for, alien tech included. With the collective resources provided, they were able to make something to assist Raven’s condition.

“Raven, I think you should really try to get out.” Damian says as he walks in. He looked so happy seeing her, just standing by the window gazing out. She turned her head to smile at him.

He looked better—in fact the happiest and relaxed he had ever been for two years. His clothes were pressed well, it was a casual attire, and he had no hint of any kind of weariness. No more eyebags, and his eyes no longer looked so dead.

“If you go with me, I can try.” She responded, she had not seen him in two weeks due to his busy schedule, with the team and talking to her doctors and scientist. Him learning and relearning everything about her condition since she got attacked, and he also had family matters, he didn’t really have time to be with Raven recently. And she understood.

She kept herself busy by building her physical strength through walking within the walls of Damian’s villa. She also used the time to comb through her thoughts.

“Okay.” He agreed as he offered her his right hand and she accepts it with both her hands. Until now he couldn’t believe that she was awake.

“I really thought I was dreaming when you woke up a month ago.” He confesses again as he sighs and lead her to the door.

“I’m here. Everything is still a bit fuzzy. But I know you—I trust you. Your Damian.” Raven responds unhurriedly as she places a hand on his arm.

Fifteen minutes later, Damian came in with Raven in his arms weeping.

“I—I can’t… it—it…” And she wept.

“I’m sorry, we will take it step by step. I will be here if you ever want to try and go outside.” He comforts her as he places her on her bed. She nods as he wipes away her tears.

“I thought I was going to die—” She sobbed. “There was something I wanted to do… I don’t—” Another sob, “I don’t recall what.”

He holds her hands and then she suddenly froze on the spot. She looks at him in the eyes, and she blinks as the tears fall. “I didn’t want to leave you.”

And this time it was his time to freeze on the spot. Raven pulled her hands away from his, and she placed her fingertips on either side of his face.

“I was afraid that I didn’t have enough time with you. I wanted to know you more.” Her vision seems to go back to that night. “I wanted to be with you.” She absent-mindedly brushed her lips against his. And when the pressure registered in her brain, she pulled away, an apology at the tip of her tongue.

Raven was surprised to feel an even heavier pressure against her lips. And she kissed back and deepened the kiss. She noted how she was reacting very naturally over the situation, and how inexperience Damian was. And she pulled away.

“Is this your first kiss?” She asks him. And he looks away with a small blush on his face.

“It’s—I’m very inexperience with dating…” He admits, and she observes him as she wipes her tears.

“I’m assuming, I have dated before.”

“Yes, Garfield.” He responds blankly, and when the name came off Damian’s mouth, he saw her expression soften. His eye twitched as he looked away. He suddenly feels her hands against his, making him turn to look at her again.

“Gar… field…” She mutters, his hand clenching at the way she called his name. “Was he the only one I dated?” Damian nods in response.

“I see…” She said with furrowed brows. “My head is aching a bit. I think I should rest…” Raven lets go of Damian’s hands.

“Can we try going outside again tomorrow?” Damian was pulled out from his reverie with the inquiry, surprise in his eyes.

“Of course, I would love that.” She smiled at his response.

“Can you—” She looks at him hesitatingly. “Can you hold my hand when we do?”

He was even more shock to hear those words, and he smiled as he placed a hand on her cheek. “Of course, Raven.”

“I would like to date you, Damian.” Raven stares at Damian, who just pulled his hand away from her cheek and straightened his posture as he looks away.

“Your memory isn’t like what it was Raven, I think it’s too early to say that.” His response wasn’t something she enjoyed. But Raven pressed her lips together and did not push him.

~.~.~.~.~

Damian and Raven was continuing a pleasant conversation they had outside, when suddenly the door opened.

“Raven!” Garfield came in with such a relieved look on his face, his eyes expectant as he searches for her. Damian and Raven’s happy conversation grew stale as they turned their head to the door.

“Raven!” He called out again when his eyes landed on her. Raven remained in place. “Of course, you wouldn’t tell me she is awake!” Garfield adds with a glare to Damian, whose head was casted down.

“Tsk, Greyson.” He mutters, Greyson right behind Garfield but was hidden from Damian’s line of sight. Despite Damian’s head casted down, he took note of Raven’s reaction.

She was still, just standing in place, but Damian could tell, she was so close to running to Garfield and hugging him. And all Damian could do was squeeze his eyes shut, as he inhales softly while clenching his fists.

The days had passed so pleasantly after Raven woke up that Damian had thought that he had a place in her heart. But seeing her like this, he knew—Garfield still outweigh him.

“Get out.” Raven says, to which Damian snapped his head to Raven’s direction, who had simply turned her back and walked to the window. “All of you.”

Damian wanted to say something, his fists curling and uncurling by his sides, but he saw her stiff figure with crossed arms as she stubbornly looked outside. He was the last to leave.

He comes back a few hours later, to see Raven sitting by the windowsill looking outside.

“He hasn’t left has he?” She whispers hoarsely not looking at who entered. Damian shook his head as he replied, even though she would not see it.

“His downstairs, hoping you’d at least see him.” He got no response, but she tilts her head.

“I didn’t see him leave.” She mutters vacantly.

“I’m here to convince you to eat dinner.” And Raven turned to look at him, a frown on her face.

“Okay,” She sighs. “But you are eating with me.”

Damian was startled hearing this, a second passes before the words sunk in.

“Alright.” He blinks at her.

“Here.” She adds and he tells her he that he would be back, as he leaves for a moment to get them their dinner.

When he arrives with food, they sat on a pub table that was added a little after Raven woke up. It could only sit two people, and it was made of some nice honey brown wood. The cushions of the chair red and its frame made of the same wood as the table. It was rather small for two people, but they made do.

Raven was vacantly playing with her food while Damian observes her with a frown. He had not yet scolded her for not eating, as he was giving her just a little more time.

With a sigh she says, “It’s odd, when I saw him, it felt like I just realized the world was a puzzle with missing pieces, and his presence just made all the missing pieces appear on it’s designated place. He was familiar, he was someone I knew—love, maybe even… but something didn’t sit well with me. I didn’t want to approach him. And I didn’t want him to approach me.”

~.~.~.~.~

When the minutes passed, and Garfield nor Raven had not pull away from one another, his face contorted to wanting to storm out from Raven’s room to staying still and just holding his breath—just hoping and wishing—that she had not chosen Garfield.

But the minutes continues to pass, and Garfield’s hand continued to rest on Raven’s hand. And Raven glances at him with a smile forming on her lips. And Damian couldn’t help but think, that despite Raven having a difficulty leaving the building with him, if it was Garfield with her—of course it would be easier for her to be outside with him.

And Raven started closing in on the space between her and Garfield, and Damian did not want to see that. So, he turned around quickly, and he stood with his back against them, as he flexes his fists, and sighed. He had hurried to see her; he had gone through the garage so he was unable to see them on the yard. Once he got into her room, and she wasn’t there, Damian absentmindedly walked to the window. That was when he saw her and Garfield together on a bench, looking like lovers.

He wondered how long he stood by the window looking at them. He closes his eyes and sighs again, by the end of the day it was never him. He walks to the door without looking back.

Raven buried her hands on her face as the tears started to stream from her eyes. All she could see under her close eyes, was the time—that night, when she reached out for Damian.

She recalled her desire to be with Damian, but right now she felt it so very intensely that she was afraid. She was so afraid that she has lost that chance. And the door opened, and she was up on her feet with wide eyes. Seeing that it was Damian, she sobbed as she ran towards Damian and tackled him with a hug.

He was startled and it took a moment for him to realize that she was hugging him so tightly. He gently returns her hug.

“I thought you wouldn’t come back. I was so scared.” She wept on the nook of his shoulder, her feet not even touching the floor.

“I’m sorry for worrying you.” He replied softly, and tightened his hold on her as he sets her down a bit so that she could touch the floor. They stood like that for a moment.

Raven eventually pulled away and tried to collect her bearings. She wipes her tears and looked at Damian in the eyes. On the other hand, he was wishing she hadn’t pulled away-- maybe that was the only time he could hold her like that. And she reaches for his hands. And it felt so right.

“I forgot the time I was injured, till the time before he held my hands. It felt like I could breath again.” Damian’s eye twitched, he wondered what was her point. She suddenly flicked her head to look at him, and he was startled.

“He will always be someone that matters to me, we will always have history. I have loved him for nine years, we shared so many memories—so many firsts. But I do not want to be with him. I want to be with you. And I know I am asking a lot, but if all these doesn’t bother you—I would love it, if you would date me.” But she was greeted with silence. “I want you. I want to be with you.” She softly added, her confidence fading.

“I don’t mind.” He said so softly, but Raven didn’t hear it.

“If that is an issue for you, then I completely understand.” She continues on.

“I don’t mind.” He repeated.

“I know it’s been two years, but there must have been someone you became interested in. Or maybe you’ve even dated a bit. I know we don’t talk about it, but I get that—” She squeezes her eyes, her tone ready to cry.

“Raven, I want to be with you.” He cups her cheek and tilted her head towards him. She looks at him with the slightest hint of distrust. “I’ve always wanted to be with you—I waited for you.” He says, being able to say those words felt like such a relief to Damian. And the tears started falling from Raven’s eyes as the distrust was washed away.

“I almost gave up, I admit that.” He couldn’t bring himself to look at her anymore. She cups both of his cheeks.

“If I were in your place, even I would waver.” She tells him, trying to catch his dodging eyes. When she finally was able to lock her eyes with his, she adds. “Garfield will always have some meaning to me—his all I have known for nine years, even before sleeping for two years—my history with him is half of my life. I was afraid. I thought he was the only one who could possibly love someone like me—I was wrong. I was so, so wrong. I want my next memories and moments-- with you. And slowly those memories I had, and my history with him, will just be a fraction of my life. I want you. I want every possible milestone with you, Damian.”

He slowly nodded, and when Raven’s eyes registered the nod, he couldn’t help but smile and chuckle.

“I never thought this day would happen.” He leans in to rest his forehead against hers, and a soft smile formed on her lips. And they shared the moment in silence. After a while, Damian talks.

“I was afraid to ask, or open up about this, especially since you were still recuperating—and your memories is fuzzy. But who would have thought you would catch me by surprise and open up the topic yourself?” Raven took the opportunity to plant a kiss on his lips, and he conservatively kissed back to which she deepened the kiss. And she pulled away recalling Damian’s inexperience last time.

“We will take it step by step. I might still remember more about Garfield, and I might get a little confused. But remind me, that I choose you since that night.” She leans her forehead against his, eyes locked with one another. Damian’s eyes flickered with surprise and the confirmation that she chose him that night, made his eyes soften with the acknowledgement. He caresses her face with his thumb.

“I finally caught up to you.” He whispers, a giggle bubbling up on the base of Raven’s throat.

~.~.~.~.~

A few months later, the white almost vacant room was no longer white nor empty. Raven had flipped the room with Damian’s help and approval. Its walls were now a soft lilac color. The room’s furniture was either accented with white, glass or silver metals. And the ceiling was littered with little crystals, that once the lights were off, would illuminate like stars in different colors. Her sheets were navy blue and white.

“Of course!” She replied happily, as she ran towards the door, and tackled Damian with a hug and giggled.

“Excited for our brunch?” He teases.

“Absolutely!” She replied without missing a second.

Later that night they were in her bedroom. Damian sitting on her bed and she was kneeling over his lap. Raven’s hair slowly unravelling from its braid. Their lips have been intertwined with one another for minutes now. He had one hand on her waist and the other on her thigh, a bit too afraid to rest it on her bum. While her hands were on his neck and on his chest.

Raven broke off the kiss, and started kissing his neck.

“If we’re going too fast, you can tell me.” She mutters in between kisses. But when she did not hear any response, she pulled away to look at him.

“I know Garfield and I had a lot of firsts together, if that bothers you…” Damian broke away from his dazed state and looked at her questioningly.

“I admit, at first it did,” His eyes follow his hand as in travels from her thigh to her waist which he caresses. “Thinking of how he knows how to please you…” He looks back at her conflicted eyes. “But that just means I have to learn how to please you my way. You two were together for so long—it would be a given that I’m not your first. That is alright. But you are mine.” He admits a small blush on his face. And she smiles as she kisses his eye and trailed kisses to his jawline. He was being brought back to his dazed state.

“I feel honored.” She whispers in between her kisses. And she playfully bit his ear after. Damian was startled and grabbed her butt and she gasped.

“Then I will take the lead then.” She whispered alluringly by his ear, as her hands travelled under his shirt. Her braid completely undone.

FIN.

(Or is it?)

Bonus Scene:

Garfield and Raven were outside, they had been talking for hours that the sun had finally began to set.

“You know, when I woke up, I couldn’t find myself to walk out my room. Eventually, I was able to overcome it. But I found that it was so difficult to step outside the villa. All I could see was that night and being stabbed, and the last person I saw.” Raven confesses and Garfield placed a hand on hers for comfort.

“But Damian was there, he guided me and stayed with me as we walk outside.” A small smile on her lips. “I always held him like I was in open water and he was the lifeboat. I was afraid of losing him. I mean, I still am. I still hold him so tightly, because I’m afraid that it would be my last chance with him. I thought I was going to die that night, Gar.”

“But when you offered your hand and held me, after you said you knew of my condition—my fear outside.” She glances at the open area. “I forgot how afraid I was of going outside. It was like my fears these few months were nothing but a phantom. You were always associated with love and happy memories with me. But you and I both know, Gar, we were imperfect. We were destructive. We had become unhappy together for a very long time.” And she glances at him fully.

“I want to say goodbye.” She finally said, and Garfield looked at her gently as Raven extended her arms to hug him. “I want to start a new romance—with Damian.” She whispers as they embrace one another.

“I wish you two happiness.” Garfield says as he pulls away.

“Yes, thank you.” She looks back at Damian’s villa. “I was so afraid I would lose him, I still do now, its why I always hold him tightly whenever we go outside.” She looks back at the sunset that was facing them.

“I held on because of him—I’m sure it was him, I could feel his hand and hear him every now and then, until all I knew was his presence.”

Alternate (timeline) Ending:

Damian was asleep on the table, and had woken up with a jolt, all teary eyed.

“Damian, what’s wrong?” Raven says as she approaches the table.

“I had a dream, you got injured and you were in a coma.” He replied. And he tells her what happened in his dream.

Alternate’s Alternate Ending: (Reciprocate timeline)

“I had a dream, you got injured and you were in a coma.” He replied as Raven sat down beside him. She gently places a hand on his as she smiles softly.

“Damian, that did happen.”

Finale: Reciprocate III: The After

#ANTIBBRAE #DAMIRAE #Damian Wayne #Raven #Robin x Raven #Teen Titans #Young Justice #alternate universe #beastboy x terra #unrequited love romance #AGE GAP of 3 years OLDER female YOUNGER male #love has many forms #demonbirds #PINING IS A SICKNESS #COMATOSE for 2 YEARS #Will wait till forever #alternate endings

92 notes · View notes

cadday · 4 years

Text

Collateral Damage- Chapter 3

t’s dark and silent and it feels like he’s drowning in it. There's a vague glimpse of light in the distance and he tries to push toward it but he feels himself being pulled further and further down. ‘You should just give up, cooperate and sleep, it’ll be easier on you if you do.’ He fights violently then at the sound of that man’s voice and wishes he could scream but he can’t. Hearts can’t scream not in a way anyone can hear. The man’s laughing at him, the speck of light is gone and Braig isn’t sure which way is up or down, he’s drowning in nothingness. No one can hear him, no one cares. They aren’t coming, he’s drowning, and..

Dilan’s grip on his arms will probably leave a bruise but right now he couldn’t care less because he’s awake and it’s bright and oh god someones here. Dilan looks shocked though and slowly loosens his grip when Braig continues to stare at him and gasp for air because thank christ he can breathe. Dilan let’s go slowly when Braig seems stable and Braig almost latches on to his arms himself. He doesn’t want him to leave. But then Dilan is sitting on the side of the bed just watching him.

“You were screaming.” And Oh that actually makes sense. He had deffinetly wanted to scream in his nightmare, dream, memory, thing he was having. It made sense that the first chance he was able to again he would. Then it occurs to him if he could scream he could maybe..

“...sss” Well he was a snake now because he had meant for that to be words of some kind but nope. His frustration must have been showing on his face because Dilan put a comforting hand on his shoulder before he stood.

“Your fine. Come on, Aeleus took guard shift today so I figured we would walk around, Even said you were cleared for that much.” He held out a glass of water to Braig and he frowned at it till he remembered the pills on the side table. Sitting up he downed that and the water and then carefully pulled himself out of bed. Dilan watched him blankly then nodded.

“Get dressed and we’ll see about breakfast too. Do you need help or…?” Braig gave him what he hoped came across as the most irritated look he could muster. Dilan laughed and shrugged. “Alright, I’m outside when you fall on your ass, just I don’t know throw something at the door when you wipe out.” Braig tried to kick him but Dilan stepped around it and didn’t comment when he stumbled slightly in the process.

The door shut behind him and Braig set about pulling open a drawer with uniforms like Dilan and Aeleus wore. He thought of another uniform with black coats and groaned as his head began to ache slightly. This had to be what he was meant to wear though, it was in his room and it was at least familiar. Once dressed though he looked in a mirror and found that something looked wrong but he didn’t know what.

Carefully he made his way to the door and swung it open to find Dilan leaning against the wall outside.

“Took you long enough, you re...ady…” Braig gave him a confused look and looked around then back to Dilan. Dilan raised a hand to his neck to mime something and then stopped.

“You're not wearing...Nevermind. It just was different.” Braig looked down at the uniform. He couldn’t remember what else he was supposed to wear. There was something else? Dilan didn’t have anything else. Was it something important?

Dilan must have seen his confusion because he stepped off the wall with a frown.

“Is it missing, maybe it had to get cleaned. We can ask Even later, I didn’t think about the fact that it probably had blood on it. You were wearing it when, well you know.” Braig just nodded too whatever Dilan was talking about. He was sure he would remember it when he saw it. The only other thing he could ever remember wearing though was a stupid black cloak.

Dilan and he wandered down to breakfast in silence.

No one else was in the kitchen when they entered and Braig glanced at the time and wasn’t surprised that it was closer to lunch than breakfast. Dilan noticed and shrugged. Braig ate quickly and Dilan didn’t really eat much of anything so he assumed the other had eaten well before then. When he was done he was practically vibrating in his skin, he wanted to go outside so bad. He knew it was crazy, technically he was outside a couple days ago, granted bleeding out in the process, but still he wasn’t some princess in a tower her whole life. But Braig had been locked up. Locked up inside himself and that had been terrifying and lonely and so dark. So standing outside the castle now in the sun and fresh air with Dilan walking quietly around familiar grounds with him he was practically beaming. They walked till he was too tired and needed to take a break.

“I’m going to check in with Aeleus, he should be nearby. You okay for a minute or do you want me to wait for you?” Braig snorted and waved him off. Dilan kicked one of his feet. “Don’t pass out while I’m gone.” Braig swung at his arm but only grazed him as Dilan laughed. He was grinning though. This felt right, more right then he had since waking up.

“I was wondering if he had actually injured you beyond usefulness but here you are lazing about.” Braig’s stomach dropped so fast that he was sure he was going to puke. Then he turned to face the voice and yeah he was going to puke. “Are you ignoring me over a petty injury, pathetic. Still I have a job for you, you have a role yet to play.”

Braig stood up and made to leave and he felt the thing get summoned. Turning he looked down at Luxu’s stupid keyblade with as much disdain as he could manage. Braig looked back at this old man with his plans, and keyblades, and just tried to convey hate with every fiber of his being. If he hadn’t shown up maybe none of this would have happened. But no Luxu would have found a way, Luxu had been here already waiting for an opportunity. He wasn’t here now though to push Braig’s heart and body to where he needed it until it was too late to fight back. He could fight back now.

“I take your silence as defiance. It can be expected, but I am afraid I need vessels and you are already in too deep.” He is pointing the stupid keyblade at him and Braig is suddenly very aware he isn’t armed. So he drops and rolls away from the lunge which surprises the old coot and is probably the only reason he is able to take off the minute the bastard misses his target. His heart feels like it’s going to bruise his insides the way it's beating so hard but that’s fine because that means it’s still there. He’s been possesed enough in his lifetime to know he isn’t doing this again. He isn’t some freaking heart hotel.

He books it down and alley and like the coward he is at the moment hides and prays the old coot decides he isn’t worth the struggle at the moment. Braig hears footsteps though and covers his mouth to hide his breathing, and he swears to god if the bastard puts a piece of his heart in him again after he just escaped Luxu he will off himself any way he can. He hears the footsteps stop then somethings grabbing him and pulling him away from the wall and he wants to scream but it’s not the old man. It’s some girl with blue hair. She’s looking at him concerned and Braig isn’t sure who the hell she is but she’s just looking at him then looking around like she was expecting, something.

“Hello, are you alright?” Braig stares at her, she stares back so without a better response he just shakes his head. She nods slowly and looks in the direction he came from. “It might sound strange but have you ran into anyone not from around here besides me?” He is starting to remember why he knows this girl. She has a keyblade. He nods to answer her question and she suddenly looks so serious. “Was it…”

“Xehanort..” Is what he chokes out and he is frustrated thats all he can say but he needs to do something because he remembers, he remembers the other kids. Terra and the twerp. They don't deserve what the old coots going to do. Aqua for her part looks murderous at the mention of Xehanort’s name and Braig likes this kid a lot. “Terra..don’t...fight...lose. Stop.” Aqua stops looking pissed long enough to look confused and concerned and Braig is cursing his life because he can barely choke out an explanation but he needs too because this is all one big trap and death wish and just this once he doesn’t want to be the freaking asshole. “Don’t..let..to..grave.” He’s cringing at his own cracking voice. At the words coming out wrong and hopes Aqua understands, god please understand. Aqua for her part puts a hand on his shoulder and nods so seriously he wants to do more laughing and crying just to get the frustration out.

“Okay, I will take care of it. Terra’s lucky to have met a friend like you.” Braig wants to laugh hysterically at that. He wonders what will happen if Terra gets out of this and Aqua tells him who saved his skin. “Do you live around here? I can walk you back just in case.” He snorts at the thought but glances back the way he came and shrugs before pointing at the castle. Aqua looks temporarily surprised then grins. “Seems I have a knack for rescuing princesses.” Braig startles and realizes he’s being mocked and well if she wants to be like that he is justified at shoving her shoulder and being slightly annoyed when she barely budges and laughs at his irritated expression. He tries not to be impressed that her arm was basically all muscle. Seriously she could probably bend press him if she wanted.

“Alright well lead the way.” Braig nods and does just that. He is thankful for Aqua’s offer. Though he realizes he probably doesn’t deserve it.

They reach the castle entrance and he turns to thank her when he hears a commotion. Then he realizes the commotion may be about him because he definitely hears Master Ansem calling his name. Turning he grimaces as Ansem, DIlan, and Aeleus are all headed their way. Aqua laughs and he looks at her confused.

“Are you sure you're not the princess?” He tries to kick her and she steps back out of the way easily still all smiles.

“Braig, what is going on? Dilan said you were gone and considering what has happened we feared much worse.” Turning Ansem looked at Aqua with a frown. She bowed slightly which Braig didn’t think was really necessary, Ansem was a king technically but he barely acted like one. Mostly he acted like an over bearing father.

“I apologize. My name is Aqua. I was passing through looking for my friends and...Braig made an attempt to assist me after he was...” Braig shot her a panicked look and Aqua frowned but continued. “After I ran into him.” Dilan was looking at him oddly but if he noticed he didn’t say anything. Ansem nodded and smiled at Aqua.

“Well you have my thanks for bringing him back. Braig was recently injured and there were concerns that whatever caused it may have come back. I’m glad it was not anything of the sort. You have my gratitude and are welcome here anytime.” Aqua had looked at Braig intently when the injuries were brought up and she had that determined I’m going to kill a person look on her face again. He wonders what she thinks caused it but determinedly stares straight ahead. She smiles at Ansem and bids a farewell to them before pausing at Braig.

“I’ll visit with everyone once we're all together again. Thanks for your help Braig.” He shrugs and she laughs at that as if he told some great joke and then she’s sprinting off. Turning back to Master Ansem he shrugs again because he’s pretty sure he wore out all his allotted talking for the day. Which is fine because it gets him out of whatever this conversation would have been. Ansem puts a hand on his shoulder and sighs.

“Next time you need to run off, leave a note, save this old man a heart attack. You may be a guard but you are injured and we still have not apprehended the culprit.” Ansem stares at him particularly longer after that comment but then continues when Braig merely shrugs again. “It is best to err on the side of caution until you can properly arm yourself again at least. Even wanted to check your depth perception first but I think practicing in the training rooms would not be harmful as long as someone assists for the time being.” Braig is relieved at that. He could work with that and honestly his depth perception hadn’t needed any getting used to all things considered in his situation. In truth it probably would have been more jarring to have two eyes again after so long. He grinned at Dilan and Aeleus who were both trying to look exasperated by his excitement to get to shoot at things again. They probably realized they had been volunteered to monitor these training sessions after all.

#braig #kingdom hearts #even #dilan #aeleus #luxu #luxu is a dick #ienzo #ansem the wise #aqua #terra #ventus #master xehanort #time travel fix it #au

2 notes · View notes

carrottheluvmachine · 6 years

Note

How about Stephen being worried of telling Tony he’s pregnant?

So, once again, this is all from Earth Child but it’ll probably be different once I write it into the actual story. Here’s a preview!

“Pete, you finish up here. I’m gonnatake the Doc back to the compound.” Tony turned back to the pileof rubble before him and began shifting rubbish out of the way insearch of Stephen. He had been knocked aside during the fight andhad hit his head while skidding into a construction site. At least,that’s what Tony thought had happened. Stephen’s comm had gone deadsince he had fallen and Tony assumed he was unconscious.

He dug a little further and finallyexposed Stephen’s cloak, which waved at him, signaling that he shouldprobably keep digging. Together, the cloak and Tony uncovered therest of Stephen, discovering that he had, indeed, hit his head. Alarge gash above his right eyebrow was leaking blood down the side ofhis face. Tony couldn’t be sure if he had a concussion and the bestcourse of action would be to take him back to the compound until hewoke up. So that was just what Tony did.

“FRIDAY, do a scan. Let me know ifStephen had a concussion, any internal bleeding, broken bones, allthat.”

“Yes, boss.”

Tony had laid Stephen out on one of thebeds in the med bay and was silently waiting for the results of themedical scan. He kept in touch with Peter, who had wrapped things upnicely (Tony was very proud) and had assured him that nothing wasseriously wrong with Stephen. He would give him the final resultslater, after they had been given to him.

Stephen looked impossibly still anddeadly beautiful. His hair appeared darker, falling against ashencolored skin. Tony had wiped away the blood and grime from earlier,leaving just Stephen behind, but the sorcerer still appeared to bemore pale than usual. Tony wondered why that might be. He didn’tappear to have lost that much blood. Perhaps Stephen wasn’t gettingenough sleep or maybe he had been sick. Tony hadn’t noticed itearlier at the Sanctum…

“Boss, the scan is complete. BothDoctor Strange and the fetus he carries are in perfectly goodhealth.”

Tony stopped dead. “The—what? FRI, baby girl, I think you might be malfunctioning. Pull up yourcoding for me and let me have a look.”

“I am not malfunc–”

“Let me see.”

Tony pulled up FRIDAY’s coding andbegan searching through it like mad. He could find no errors,however. Nothing to make her say what she just had.

“She’s not malfunctioning.”Stephen’s voice came from behind him, making Tony suddenly forget thecoding and rush to his boyfriend’s side.

“Steph! You’re okay? No concussion? Broken bones?” Tony took hold of Stephen’s hand, taking a seatbeside him and staring into his eyes. When Stephen shook his head,Tony let out a sigh of relief. “Good. You took a hard hit outthere. And apparently FRIDAY did too. She just said you’re–”

“Pregnant. I know.” Stephen feltlike he was about to throw up again, but this time it certainlywasn’t due to morning sickness. This time it was purely to blame onnerves.

How could he be doing this? How couldhe let Tony know that it wasn’t a joke? How could he keep Tony byhis side and not frighten him away?

“If he wasn’t frightened by all ofthe things he has seen already, then there’s no way he would abandonyou over this.” Wong had said. And maybe he was right. Tonyhad been there with him through so much, and he had been there forTony. If the situation had been reserved, he wouldn’t hesitate tohelp Tony through this.

Gathering his courage, Stephen metTony’s eyes. He took a deep breath and spoke the words he had beendying to say for so long. “I’m pregnant, Tony.”

The only response he got was a veryslow blink and a barely audible “How?”

Stephen shifted on the uncomfortablebed and licked his lips. That probably wasn’t his best course ofaction since they tasted like antiseptic. “One of the artifactswas stolen from the Sanctum by a thief. I chased him down but beforehe would hand it over to me he smashed it on the ground. This gasescaped and I inhaled it.”

“You got pregnant…by inhaling agas?” Tony questioned, unable to follow the story. It was sooutrageous.

“The artifact was called the Orb ofTerra. Wong and I are still researching it. It’s meant to bringabout the new Earth Child, though we have no clue what that means.”Stephen continued to explain, cupping his hands together to try andcease their shaking. Nerves, it was purely nerves this time and notdue to his condition. “I’m pregnant, for real.”

Tony’s eyes fell on Stephen’s stomach,not saying anything for a long time. He had noticed a gentle curveto it when they had been fooling around in Stephen’s room. Was thatthe child? “How far along are you?”

Stephen averted his gaze, his hands nowgoing to his stomach now that he realized Tony was looking. Theslight swell was barely noticeable, but the rapid growth of the childmeant that Stephen couldn’t be sure exactly when it would be born. “It happened around a month ago.”

“A month?!” Tony blurted out,startling them both with the volume of his voice. “And you waitedthis long to tell me?”

“You haven’t exactly been around.”

“Touche.” Tony answered, poutingand crossing his arms over his chest.

A silence blanketed the entire roomuntil the two finally locked eyes once more.

“Stephen, I–”

“Tony–”

“You go first.” Tony said, perchingon the side of Stephen’s bed before he all but climbed into it. Hewrapped his arms around the sorcerer and held him close, pleased whenStephen leaned his head against Tony’s shoulder.

Stephen took Tony’s hand in his own andgave it a comforting squeeze. “Are you alright with this?”

“Mm.” Tony turned his head to kissStephen’s brow, away from his bandaged cut. “It’s not exactly likeyou could change it, babe.”

“Believe me, I know.” Stephen saidsourly. He would have done anything in his power to get rid of thischild. It was not something he wanted, nor something he couldimagine himself ever wanting. But Tony was different. Tony hadwanted children with Pepper—had had them, before the future hadbeen erased. Perhaps Tony could be the father that Stephen couldn’tbe. “You want children though, so this…”

Tony smiled at that. “I do. Even ifthey aren’t my own.” Stephen’s child would be his in his eyes. “We could raise it together. I know, we’ve both got parentalissues up the wazoo but we’ll work through it. We’ll figure it out.”

All Stephen could do was nod, his heartbeating at a normal rate once more. He watched as Tony’s handhovered over his stomach before the words met his ears. “Can I?”

It was incredibly sweet of Tony to ask,but he really didn’t need to. “Yes.”

A soft smile formed on Tony’s lips ashe reached out and gently lay his hand over where the child wasgrowing. The tiny mound was firm, protective, a temporary home. Butsoon the child would be here, in the real world, and Tony vowed togive it a home where it would feel loved and protected. “Hey,baby. It’s nice to meet you.” There was no response, except forStephen’s sharp inhale. “I know I’m not exactly your daddy, but Ipromise I’m going to love you just like a daddy should, okay? Evenif you turn out to be some weird alien, you’ll still be mine, becauseyou’re Stephen’s.”

Stephen turned and met Tony’s eyes oncemore. There were no words that could possibly convey the way he wasfeeling right now. There was only a kiss.

He covered Tony’s hand on his stomach,above where their growing child lay.

#colie writes #drabble #ironstrange #Avengers #mpreg!Stephen #mpreg #Earth Child

144 notes · View notes

imagineyoungjustice · 5 years

Text

1.5k Followers Milestone Drabbles 7/10

Sure thing! May I request a drabble for a reader who's powers come from her imagination, but she did a horror marathon reading/watching? -Anonymous

So a quick rundown of how I interpreted the Reader’s powers: Basically with their powers the Reader can make anything in their imagination a reality. This means any constructs can alter the world/physically interact with it. In the case of these horror creatures/characters, they gain all the abilities they had in their respective books/movies and can indeed kill people in the real world if they want. -Terra

Also for some clarification, this is not to be interpreted as a Dick Grayson x Reader, this is to show a platonic relationship between the two as Reader is a minor while Dick is an adult. This is meant to be more a mentor/protege interpretation.

Tags: @ljblve @loverbug1123 @aworldwideapart @wallywestie

Want to be added to our tag list? Send us and ask!

Warnings: Some mentions of death, but I don’t get into a lot of detail about it.

Your heart was pounding against your chest, your sweat beading upon your brow from the exertion and fear coursing through your veins. Your eyes were wide as you took in your surroundings in a frantic motion, your mouth agape with the attempt to bring enough oxygen to your lungs. The coast was clear for the moment, you weren’t followed. Your mind supplied a very unhelpful that you know of that you did your best to shake off. Your situation was bad enough without your thoughts further sabotaging your brief reprieve. You tried the code on the Watchtower’s zeta-tube console, your gut churning with dread as the console failed to spring to life.

There was no escape. You were stuck in here with them. You heard a rustling in the vents beneath you and froze in terror. Of course, it wouldn’t be long before you were found. The Watchtower might be big, but as a former Green Lantern base, it had a lot of open space. There weren’t many places for someone like you to hide. You gulped, and froze in your place, hoping that it wasn’t one of the creatures that could hear the beating of your heart, or pick up on your heat signature. You let your breath out (slowly) when the shuffling faded as the creature moved on.

You didn’t dare waste anymore time. You took off down the few corridors the Watchtower held, doing your best to be as discrete as you possibly could. You were all alone on an orbiting space station-asteroid-thing while your literal worst nightmares roamed the same paths in an effort to bleed you of your life. The League, the Team, all were gone on missions, and with the Zeta system to at the very least the Watchtower down, it would be hours before anyone would arrive to save you from yourself. Yes, this situation was of your own creation, and the reason why you had been left behind in the first place. Your powers were born from the limits of your own imagination. Anything you could ever dream of; you could mold into reality.

Of course, this was just as much a blessing as a curse. Fear made your abilities unstable, out of your control. You learned this the hard way at a young age. A simple thirty second add for a horror movie while watching television with your parents, and the next thing you could comprehend was screams their agony as the creature manifested itself in front of your very eyes and ended them with no mercy.

It was hours later the League had found you, and decided to take you in. You were told later on that the creature you had described was just standing there when they arrived, that somehow you had managed to deconstruct it on your own when you had first glimpsed the red and blue of Superman’s suit. You weren’t sure how, and you weren’t sure why the creature hadn’t killed you as well, and it had become your mission to find out how to master your abilities.

That was why you were left behind despite being a member of the team. You were understandably deemed too dangerous to bring out onto missions until you could control your abilities, something you had no issue with. You could kill people by losing control, you didn’t want that to happen. On the Watchtower, your creations couldn’t escape to wreak havoc on the local population like they could if you were in the cave. They were just as much stuck in here as you were.

And it was because you were alone that you had committed what was undoubtedly your worst decision yet, and you’re proud to say you’ve made quite a few in your life. You thought exposure to your worst trigger of your powers would help you, so you sat down with your laptop and played the few horror movies you had loaded onto there the night before. A lifetime of avoiding anything related to the horror category of entertainment had left you more than ill-prepared for some of the even “milder” horror-type stuff than you had thought (if some of them could even be considered horror, you weren’t exactly an expert on movie genres). So you had started with one of the Alien movies, of course then you jumped to one of the Predator ones, and worked your way up to ones like Insidious and The Ring (among a few others) and you were now suffering from it. So you had Xenomorphs, demons, predators, and -you didn’t quite know how to classify some of the other ones- you had no idea how to get rid of them. Well, you did know that the first step was to not be afraid, but it was difficult when you kept imagining your parent’s bodies and what your creations were capable of.

By the time you locked yourself in the League’s briefing room, your lungs were on fire, sweat pouring down your forehead and face from the exertion of running. You could hear some of the creatures outside the door, but they didn’t yet make an attempt at coming in. You weren’t sure how long that would last. You sat in the back corner of the room as far away from the door as you could manage, bringing your knees to your chest.

“-come in. Can you hear me?” Your comm device had you almost jumping out of your skin, but you would be lying if you didn’t feel the immense relief at hearinf your team leader’s voice right now.

“I’m here, Nightwing.”

“That’s good to hear. Listen, we can’t access the Watchtower. The whole place has been put on lockdown and the Zeta-tubes are offline. What happened?” He was concerned, and it helped soothe a bit of your fear to know that.

“I wanted to test my powers a little since no one was around… it got a little out of hand and I can’t make them go away.” You felt a small bubble of shame surface at the admission, realizing how dangerous the situation you had put yourself in was.

“The Watchtower was set to go on lockdown in case of event like this, since the League couldn’t be sure that your constructions couldn’t use your Zeta designation to leave.”

“What does that mean for me?” You were staring to get worried again, you thought that hearing his voice meant that he and The League were on their way in the bioship to take care of this like that had every time before.

“It means no one can get in, even if we fly up there, until they’re gone.”

It was at that moment you began to panic in earnest. To make matters worse, your panic attack set off your creations, and you could hear them clawing at the door to get in. The whole time, Nightwing was in your ear, trying his best to talk you down from your frenzied state and get your breathing back under control. “I… I can’t. I can’t control them.” You whispered, your voice on the verge of breaking.

“Yes, you can. You did it before. You’re stronger than you think you are, we all know it, the only one left to believe is you.”

You let out a small laugh despite yourself. “That sounds corny.” Before he could say anything else, you let out a startled scream as the Xenomorph construct crashed into the room from the vents above. Your heart was immediately thrown into a rapid frenzy as the onyx creature began to creep towards you, hissing and showing off it’s razor sharp teeth. You started backing away, and before you realized what it was doing, it had put itself between you and the corner you had been in previously, your back to the ever-weakening door that held back your other creations.

Tears were streaming from your eyes now, your heart beating with such force that it was bordering on painful. If your constructs didn’t kill you, you were sure your heart would end up giving out. You could hear Nightwing’s voice, but it sounded distant in your current state. You were trapped and there was nowhere left to run.

The Xenomorph kept coming closer, and now you could see it’s weird second jaw darting in and out as it was almost upon you. “The key isn’t getting rid of your fear!” Nightwing’s voice managed to cut back through the fog.

“What?”

“You’ve spent all this time attempting to not feel any fear when it comes to your abilities, but that’s not how you’re going to get control of them. You need to be able to act in spite of your fear! Feeling fear is natural, but you have to learn to be the one to control it, not to let it control you.”

Shaking worse than a leaf, you turned your focus back to the advancing Xenomorph, trying to pour all your frustrations about your failed attempts to control your powers to the forefront. You were still afraid, but you had been afraid back then too, and yet you still somehow lived. You squared your shoulders, and with as much force as you could muster, you shouted. “Stay back!”

The Xenomorph halted in its tracks, and you nearly collapsed from it as a result. You could still hear the others pounding on the door behind you, the metal of the door groaning from the effort. It wouldn’t be long before it finally gave way. You had to act fast. “Back up.” You tried another command, and you almost couldn’t believe you eyes when the Xenomorph did exactly as you had commanded it, going until it touched the other wall. You took a few steps forward and started to feel emboldened when it didn’t react. The final test. “Disappear.” With a hiss, the construct faded from existence. You fell to your knees, the memories from before making their way to the surface. You remembered yelling at the creature then to leave you alone and wishing the League would make it go away when you saw Superman approaching.

They were your creations, and they would do as you commanded. Not the other way around. You turned to the door just as the other constructs finally bent the metal to pour through. Though they still terrified you, you knew they wouldn’t hurt you if you didn’t want them to. Taking a deep breath, you fixed them with a determined glance. “Go away.” In an instant, they joined the Xenomorph and faded from existence.

No hostiles remaining, lockdown Terminated. Zeta-tubes are now back online.

You collapsed to your knees as you heard the Zeta tubes flaring to life, announcing members of the team as well as the League. That was how Nightwing found you a few moments later, taking deep breaths as you attempted to bring yourself down from the worked up, stressed out state you had been in for the larger part of the day.

“Thank you.” You mumbled when he knelt next to you.

“I only reminded you of what you were already capable of. You did this all on your own.”

#1.5k milestone #Young Justice #Drabble #Dick Grayson #Nightwing #platonic dick grayson x reader #platonic nightwing x reader #mentor/protege relationship #but in the sense that nightwing is just their team leader and not literal mentor

23 notes · View notes

iamwhelmed · 5 years

Text

Homesick: Chapter 6

A huge thanks to @westernfan1 for beta reading this for me! You’re the man! I was NOT ready to write this chapter, but this is what I get for not writing out the story’s skeleton first.

Read it on AO3

Read it on Fanfiction.net

Cyborg hummed as he opened his arm, started the process of inputting the codes that would activate Raven's tracking device remotely. He paused before he pressed send, muling over it before he said anything. "Robin, they made us promise not to-"

"I don't care what we promised!" Robin swung his arm out, as if to be sure everyone was keeping their distance. "Raven's in trouble! I'm not just going to stand here! We're tracking them and that's final!" Cyborg shook his head, but activated Raven's tracker.

Beast Boy, who'd been still as stone by the puddle of dried blood, pressed off the ground to stand. Terra followed him, unsure that he could, properly. He brushed her hand off. "I'm with Robin. If Raven's hurt, I'm going to find her." Terra slid around in front of him.

"Beast Boy?"

He shook his head, and she would have said more, but she didn't, because his eyes told her all she needed to know. They were set, nearly primal, more mature than the Beast Boy she'd known, though just as determined as he'd always been. His fists clenched at his sides, and he stood taller than she remembered. He was looking at her, but she knew he wasn't seeing her. "I'm not losing her…"

Maybe she'd known, even when they'd had a thing, even when he'd spent his time drooling over her at training sessions and over pizza (she could remember playfully chiding him as his saliva covered her plate "Ew, BB!"). Maybe she'd known after her first return, when she'd catch Raven stealing glances at him, when she'd see Beast Boy looking right past her shoulder. Maybe she'd known for a long time. And she had known, always knew it factored into why Raven hadn't trusted her, always knew Beast Boy's attention was fleeting, because his affections were never hers, not really. She'd seen it since joining the Titans a third time. Beast Boy had been himself, mostly, and he played video games with her and whined when she took Cyborg's side in a stankball match, but he hadn't flirted with her since she'd come home, still told her she was awesome but the hearts in his eyes were gone. When they went a few moments without talking, when they sat in silence skipping stones off the island, she could see he was still missing somebody. That somebody wasn't her, not anymore. She'd figured.

Terra smiled, reached forward and pressed her hand to his fist, lightly pulling so he unwound. "You're right, you won't," she squeezed his hand. "Let's go find your girl." He smiled back at her.

Robin flipped open his communicator. "They're at Jump City Hospital. Let's hope Red X didn't follow them." He punched his palm, the Robin Signal that told them somebody was rearing to get hurt. "Titans! Go!"

It'd been a few minutes, not a long time, but it felt like an eternity to Starfire. She paced outside the emergency room entrance, wearing a ditch in the sidewalk. She was sure somebody would make her stop, eventually, but she would burn through the soles of her shoes before she stopped worrying. Was this normal for pregnant women on this planet? The baby wasn't due for another six months, correct? She shook her head. Raven had been fine leading up to tonight, perfectly healthy, if maybe sad, but they both were. That was okay, they had each other. But what if she'd missed something? What if there'd been signs that she hadn't known to look out for? Had she failed Raven? Her heart sank into her stomach.

The doors opened, and Red X sauntered out despite the wary eyes of the hospital security. "Hey, Red, it's been fun, but I'm gonna head ou-" Starfire raised a starbolt to his face, and he raised his hands in defense.

"You thought I would forget that you had taken that which is not yours?"

A single bead of sweat rolled down his head. "Uh, kinda?" He took it out of his pocket and swung it around his finger. "Look, I'm just gonna hold onto it. Ya know, as a reward for being a good samaritan."

Starfire glared at him, but her starbolt faded. He watched with interest as her arm retreated to her side. "Got your powers back?"

"How did you-?" Red X stared back. She sighed. "No, it is merely the excitement of all of this, of Friend Raven getting hurt, of you helping us despite our numerous hostile interactions of the past?" Starfire brushed her arm with one hand, hoping to ease the bumps of goose. She wanted nothing more than to be at home in the tower, curled up under a blanket, waking up to Cyborg and Beast Boy's arguments over what foods to serve at breakfast. She longed for the familiarity. Right now she felt so out of place, like the motel room was any less a place to rest without Raven (it was, it was), like she couldn't get her thoughts together, like she was the only one feeling like her mind was about to fulminate. The momentary bliss of Red X's assistance, the joy of feeling once again like she and Raven had someone else to rely on, faded. He was an enemy, and he was leaving, and she was going to be alone again. "I wanted to thank you for your effort in assisting Raven and I. It was… kind of you."

Red X shrugged, slyly (they both knew she saw it) sticking the jewel back into his pocket. "Don't mention it. And I mean really," his voice dropped "don't mention it."

Starfire offered him a small smile. "Now go, before I can do the changing of my mind."

He seemed surprised, but he ducked back into the shadows of the early morning. "I'll be seeing you later, Red." He turned around, and she sighed. "Oh, and one more thing?" He glanced over his shoulder at her. "You should probably tell your little friends the truth. They don't look too happy." He leaped away, leaving Starfire to raise an eyebrow. What did he-?

"Starfire!"

Her heart did a somersault between her ribs, because she knew that voice. She'd missed that voice. She whipped around and he was right there, clear as day even in the darkness of 3am in Jump City. Robin, followed by the rest of the Teen Titans, eyes wide, running to her like she was the first drink of water he'd gotten in weeks. Her cheeks flushed. "Robin!" She'd missed him, missed him so badly. She wanted to cry, wanted to fly into him and swing around and feel his steady dependable hands on her. She wanted to hear him laugh, wanted him to rest his head against hers like she'd never left in the first place. But that girl was still here, not far behind him, and so Starfire blushed, but she pressed that heat down and down and down until it was buried under reality.

He skidded to a halt a few feet in front of her, and she could tell he knew that this reunion did not mean the end of this, whatever had been going on. Terra rushed forward and crushed Starfire in a hug, which she was glad to return, though she found she didn't have the strength to return the affection in full capacity. "Starfire! It's been forever!"

"Terra, you are back!"

Terra released her after a moment, stepping back to let Robin interrogate the way only Robin could. That said, he seemed unsure as their eyes met for the first time in months. "Starfire! Where's Raven?"

"She is inside. The doctors are finding what is wrong."

"Wait," Beast Boy approached, not far behind Robin and Terra. "You mean Red X didn't go all stabby stabby?"

Starfire tilted her head. "Stabby stabby? You mean you thought that he had done the puncturing of her with a sharp object, yes?" She shook her head. "That is not what happened. Red X was assisting us."

"Really?" Cyborg raised an eyebrow, crossed his arms. "Red X? Mister Mysterious only-out-to-help-himself Red X?"

"Why would he help you, what happened? Why is she bleeding?" Her heart skipped a beat, not because it was happy, but because pain seized it like a kebab, sifting straight through with the sharpness of an arrow. The girl from Robin's bed had spoken, was waiting for an answer. Starfire met her inquisitive eyes with a wounded gaze. She bulked. "Oh! Right, sorry, I'm Batgirl."

"I see…"

"Robin's friend."

"Yes," Starfire looked to Robin "I am aware."

Robin seemed perplexed by her tone, as it betrayed the neutral stance she'd held earlier, but he glossed over it. "Okay. Star? Wanna tell us what's really been going on?"

You should probably tell your little friends the truth. Starfire winced. "I am unsure if Raven would be willing to divulge such information." It wasn't her news to share, was it? A negative part of her mind, a voice that sounded suspiciously like her sister, mocked her hesitation. Why are you so worried? She probably lost the baby anyway. She shook her head to rid herself of such vile thoughts. Raven would be fine. The baby would be fine. "I am sorry."

"Starfire," Robin placed a hand on her shoulder "We're a little passed secrets now." He nodded to the emergency room. She swallowed hard and glanced at the other titans, at Beast Boy, who looked about ready to melt into a very green, vibrating mess of goo with the way his entire body seemed to tremble. He was scared, scared for his lover, for the girl who hid from him for three months, and he didn't even know why. She bit the inside of her cheek. Robin was right. She closed her eyes and solemnly nodded. Robin took a step back as the rest of the team inched closer.

"Friends," she hoped Raven would forgive her "Friend Raven is with child, and we fear it has been lost."

The group fell silent. She didn't look at any of them. She didn't want to see them process three month's worth of secrets only for it to collapse at the end. It was too soon to be sure, of course, but there'd been so much blood. Starfire cringed. Her cape, a patch had been a deep violet by the time they'd reached the hospital. Her hands clasped together in front of her, squeezing the life out of each other as she wrung them. It was over now, they knew. They all did.

"Um," Beast Boy, Starfire could hear the tremble in his voice, and it killed her. "Was it… do you know if it was- if it is?-" Starfire didn't meet his eyes, but she nodded.

"There was no other man Raven had welcomed into her bed."

There was a choking sound, and she could tell that he was crying, or about to be. He seemed to grow quiet. Nobody else made a sound. Starfire felt her own eyes welling with tears. She'd been worried, so, so worried, and Red X's calm had made it better somehow, because he was detached. It hadn't felt real. But standing in front of her friends, hearing Beast Boy's stifled sobs, reality once again played the part of a cruel sadist, and she could do nothing but watch.

Robin exhaled. "Do we know for sure that it's-?"

"No," she bit her lip, but the tears were already coming, and she didn't have the energy to repress them. "But there was so much blood, and she could hardly breath and- and-!" She covered her mouth with both hands, trying to muffle the sound at the very least.

"Hey," there was a hand at her shoulder, and she found big beautiful blue eyes staring right into her, non judgemental, just full of pity. "We don't know that she's lost the baby yet, okay? There's lots of reasons she could have bled like that, especially if you're dealing with DNA like Beast Boy's. Ask Miss Martian! I still don't think SuperBoy's recovered from that whole mess."

Starfire wiped at her eyes. "You are certain?"

Batgirl chuckled under her breath "Uh, maybe not certain per-say, but I wouldn't give up hope just yet!" Cyborg placed a hand on Beast Boy's shoulder, giving him a reassuring smile. Beast Boy shut his eyes and nodded. There was another hand on Starfire's other arm, pressing against her, squeezing her gently. Robin. He gave her a small smile, the one she'd held onto dearly in memory for all the months she'd been away.

"Let's all get to the waiting room. When Raven wakes up, we're gonna wanna be there."

Beast Boy sat with his elbows on his knees and his face buried in his hands. He hadn't moved in the last fifteen minutes, not that anybody expected him to. Terra and Cyborg sat to either side of him, Terra rubbing soothing circles into his back as Cyborg flipped through one of the several-year-old magazines, occasionally peeking over to check on Beast Boy. Starfire sat across from Beast Boy, snug between Robin's and Batgirl's seats (though Batgirl had wandered off with everybody's orders to grab snacks from the vending machine). It was every bit as uncomfortable as she'd worried it'd be, but she saw no excuse she could take to switch to a different seat- one on the other side, maybe next to Cyborg. She wrung her hands again, and Robin watched her.

The door to the waiting room opened. Everybody turned.

It was only Batgirl, pushing the door open with one foot as she cradled a haul of sweets, snacks, and sodas in her arms. She grunted and awkwardly pressed into the room. "Could I- ugh- get some help here?" Cyborg set down the magazine and made his way over, holding the door open for her as she waddled in. She dropped the full variety on the table, wiping her brow of nonexistent sweat. "Phew! Thought for sure I was gonna lose Terra's hot fries."

Terra lunged for the bag, ripping it open with a smile and a hardly audible thanks to Barbara. Robin grinned and reached for the potato chips, popping one into his mouth before saying "Thanks, Batgirl!"

"Don't mention it. Least I could do for you guys after you let me crash at the tower the last few months."

Starfire didn't reach to pick up a sweet dessert or a salty snack, and neither did Beast Boy, who had done little but move his hand to glance at the full table before stuffing his face right back into his fingers. She felt him, knew that the anticipation was killing him, was killing all of them, but she was still glad for the company. She'd missed all of them, missed this comradery. Missed what it felt like to be larger than just two people. They knew now, there was no more hiding, no more panicking about someone finding out.

But what would happen now? Would she and Raven return to the motel? Well, that may depend on whether or not they lost the baby. If they did, if all that blood had been as bad as she thought it'd been, she feared for Raven's relationship with Beast Boy, feared it would have been better if she'd never told any of them, then they could return home and only they would have known about Raven's loss. Now? Beast Boy may require the space, as would Raven, and in that case Raven may be too mad at her to share this newfound space together again. Then she'd be truly alone, unable to return home, and Raven would isolate herself from all of her friends once more (she thought of a white room and a white robe and red eyes). She wrung her hands.

But if the baby hadn't been lost? There was no way Beast Boy would let her go again, not knowing now that she was carrying his child. He'd want her to return to the tower, which meant Starfire would probably follow (because, honestly, she'd had space, she knew what she wanted to say to Robin, she was just terrified because she loved him, she loved him so much and-!); she wrung her hands. She didn't know if she could handle any of the potential ends of this situation. She was scared, scared the way she'd been when she'd sat on the bathroom floor of the tower with Raven all those months ago, trying to talk her out of leaving. There was a gloved hand on her own. "Starfire?"

She gasped, ceasing in her ministrations. Robin watched her with consideration. "Star, you're going to break your hands." Her brow furrowed, and she glanced down to find that her hands were, indeed, red with some bruising at her knuckles where she pressed the hardest. They hurt now that she was looking at them, but she hadn't felt anything earlier. She frowned. "Starfire, Raven's going to be fine. She's a fighter, you know that." She could hear Beast Boy letting out a sobering breath, and see Terra leaning her head against his as he slumped forward even further.

Raven was not the only thing she was worried about, but she'd let Robin believe that. "Yes, she is the fighter."

She thought he'd move his hand, but he didn't. He twisted her wrist instead, slowly turning her palm around so he could lace his fingers through hers. Her brain, the part that remembered talking to Raven earlier, it told her that she needed to move that hand, rip it away from him because he'd betrayed her, but she yearned for his touch, and found herself too weak to fight him.

There was a bag of cookies in front of her face, and she turned to see Batgirl offering them up with a smile. "C'mon, ya look like death. You eaten anything?"

"Only the breakfast of small cereal boxes and bountiful breads."

"Continental breakfast?"

"Yes, that."

Batgirl shook the bag in front of her face, and she took it with her free hand. Robin smiled, and she could see Batgirl watching him on her other side. She is not the nasty wrecker of homes that I had thought she was… perhaps I was correct, and Robin truly does carry the feelings of love for her? She closed her eyes and let a shaking breath cross her nose.

The door opened again, and this time a doctor strolled in, clipboard in hand. He stood on the taller side, though there was a curve in his back that must have come from age, going by the lines that framed his smile. Glasses, thick and rectangular, sat on his nose, but his grey eyes were still very visible, and very kind. Beast Boy shot out of his seat, Starfire and Robin not far behind him. The doctor smiled at them, not the kind of smile Starfire associated with bad news. "Teen Titans, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Robin stepped forward and shook his hand. "Ya know, you all saved my little girl once from that nasty oozing guy. The one with all the green?"

"Plasmus?" Robin offered.

"Yes, that guy." The doctor cleared his throat, adjusted the clipboard so it rested under his arm. "Anyway, no need to worry about your friend. She's perfectly safe and healthy, they both are."

Beast Boy tensed, and the rest of the titans stood up. "Does that mean…?"

The good doctor's smile only widened. "The baby is fine, though she'll want to go easy on using her powers. According to the tests we ran, the amount of stress it puts onto her body is-" Beast Boy was out the door, faster than any of them could blink, leaving a gust of wind to trail behind him. It nearly knocked the doctor off his feet, and thoroughly ruined the hair days of all three present super-ladies. Robin adjusted his mask back into place and the doctor adjusted his glasses. "I take it he's the father?"

"How'd ya guess."

"Very good, then" he went around, shaking the hands of the remaining titans. "My name is Doctor Thompkins. Please, if you have any other questions, do give me a call."

"Wait," Batgirl raised a hand. "Doctor Thompkins? Are you… related to a woman named Leslie by any chance?"

His eyes lit up. "Why, yes! My dear cousin Leslie! I do hope she's doing well. How do you know her?"

Robin and Batgirl blanched, skin going deathly pale. "Uhh-"

"Saved her a few times-"

"Dropped a few patients in her care-"

"You know how it is?"

He blinked. Robin grew concerned he hadn't bought their fib. Then he laughed and shook his head, turning around to leave. "Oh Leslie, Leslie, Leslie, always had a deathwish living in Gotham, that one…" The door shut behind him.

Cyborg raised an eyebrow. "Y'all wanna tell us what that was about?"

Batgirl nervously grinned and Robin shook his head. "Later. Let's go check up on Raven."

#Teen Titans #RobStar #BBRae #Starfire #Robin #Beast Boy #Raven #Cyborg #Terra #Batgirl

7 notes · View notes