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eternallyyoungjustice · 3 years

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Wherever the Winds Take You: Chapter 12

A/N: Another chapter! Yay! Thank you to those of you who read/liked the last chapter! This is definitely just a fun little thing I like to write in my free time for brainrot reasons, so knowing that even a couple of you read and enjoy this, genuinely makes me so incredibly happy! So thank you! Anyways, not much else to report! Hope y’all enjoy!

Star City

July 22

07:50

The sun was already risen by the time Roy Harper swung his body through his window and into his apartment. His new black, grey, and red uniform stretched awkwardly as the material hadn’t yet been fully worn in, but it was still much easier for agility compared to the old tunic.

When the ginger looked around his apartment, however, he was shocked to find it much cleaner than it had been when he left for patrol. The dishes he had left out in the living room were gone, everything looked as if it had been dusted and vacuumed, and the room smelled faintly of citrus. For a moment, the archer thought that perhaps he had swung through the wrong window. But then he looked to his old, mishappenly stitched, leather couch and all became clear when he found the sleeping form of a familiar young brunette. She was curled up under a threadbare blanket and wearing a pair of sleeping pants that he was pretty sure were his, so he assumed she must have been here for a while.

Walking towards the sleeping girl, Roy rid himself of his mask and weapon, placing both on the coffee table as he knelt down beside her.

“Lin’?” He spoke softly, grasping her arm and running his thumb along her skin. For a moment, she did nothing. But when Roy spoke her name again, her nose twitched and a small groan emanated from her throat as Lina’s face rolled into the pillow underneath her head. Roy smirked and gently shook her arm. “Come on Frenchie, time to get up. It’s almost…” he checked the clock on the opposite wall, “4 in the afternoon in France, you should be up and at’em.”

Another moan, followed by a muffled. “Que sont les fuseaux horaires? Je ne sais pas!”

Roy stopped, hesitated, then said “yea...you know I barely passed sophomore year French by the skin of my teeth, right? I can say ‘I’m a baguette' and that’s pretty much it.”

Lina sighed and sat up slowly, her eyes drooping as she tried to run the sleep out of them. “Good morning, Roy.” She smiled sleepily.

Roy smiled back at her, rubbing her matted hair before plopping down on the couch. “Good morning to you too, Lina.”

“Sorry for coming in while you were on patrol, I needed a quiet place to sleep.”

“Trust me kiddo, I’m pretty used to it at this point.” Roy shrugged. “Everything alright?”

Lina nodded, “Kaldur and I were on patrol in Gotham until two a.m. Eastern last night...I don’t know how you guys do it. Patrols are very much not for me, I have learned.” She explained. “But then, after all that, my brother came home drunk and started very loudly talking about a party he went to last night.”

“Oh Calvin, you bastard.” Roy gave her a sympathetic look. “And I take it the, uh, ‘Cave’ you guys called it, wasn’t any good?”

Lina yawned as she stretched her arms up to arch her back, “Superboy doesn’t sleep very well, so he gets up early and watches static on the TV, and since my bedroom is right next to the living area…”

Roy nodded, looking around his apartment to study the unfamiliar cleanliness, “Well you know you’re welcome here anytime, even though the cleaning wasn’t expected.”

As Lina dropped her arms, she gave Roy a look. “The room was dirty, I didn’t feel like sleeping next to a bunch of dirty dishes.”

Roy couldn’t help but chuckle. “I swear sometimes you’re like if Dinah and Nanny McPhee had a lesbian lovechild…”

“Nanny McPhee? I do not know this woman...” Lina asked with a raised eyebrow, and she leaned over to look into a bag that was sitting on the floor by her head. Roy watched as she rummaged through her bag, before pulling out her uniform. Her hands went to the thigh of the clothing, identifying one of the hidden utility pouches, and opened it to reveal a compartment fitted to house an emergency dose of her medication.

“It’s a movie, don’t worry about it.”

Lina hummed, pulling her medication out. As she injected herself with it, her eyes shut and she focused on the feeling of cool ice flooding her veins. Once the syringe was empty, Lina took it out of her arm and placed it back in its case. Then she looked around, suddenly appearing much less sleepy.

“What time is it? I will make us food.”

“It’s about 8, I think.” Roy hummed and then got up. “But don’t worry, I got it. You’re a guest.”

Lina sprang up from the couch, waving his words off. “No no no silly, I’ve got it. Please, you know I love preparing food. Plus, you need to shower and get out of your uniform…”

Then she looked down and noticed the red and black fabric. Her eyes widened.

“You changed your uniform!”

Roy chuckled and nodded. “I thought it would help separate myself from GA, I’m also still workshopping a new alias. What do you think?”

Lina poked and prodded at the material covering his chest, studying the design and fabric. “Very cool, I bet this is much easier for stealth missions. What did you use? Where did you get it?”

“Cotton-spandex hybrid fabric, coated in CNTs with some leather reinforcements here and there.” He explained. “I got it from a guy.”

“...so the same idea as mine and Robin’s?” Lina asked with a raised eyebrow.

“How do you think I knew it would be good for agility?” Roy smirked, and Lina smiled back before pulling away.

“Well, it’s good to know you’re at least trying to be safe. But don’t think I won’t stop worrying just because you’re smart with gear.”

“I would never expect you to stop worrying, Frenchie, I’m smarter than that.”

“Good,” Lina smirked. “Now then...I will start on breakfast. I hope you have some decent food I can use...may I borrow a sweater?”

“You know where they are.” Roy gestured to the hallway that leads to his bedroom, and Lina flew off. The archer watched her fly away, then turned to pick up his weapons and put them away in the chesterfield beside the couch. Not the best hiding place, but he didn’t exactly have his own secret stash of warehouses quite yet.

“So how is the Junior Justice League?” Roy called out.

“Not the Junior Justice League, first of all,” Lina called back. “You know, you really hurt the guys’ feelings by brushing them off.”

Roy sighed, letting her comment sting him. “I’m sorry Lin’, but you know I was just stating my opinion.”

“We’re allowed to choose our own loyalties, Roy.” Lina said, walking back into the living room; now clad in one of Roy’s sweaters. “Just as you have chosen yours.”

Roy shrugged. “Ouch...but I guess I deserve that. I’ll send them all an apology text or something…”

“‘Apology text’, bah! Ce qui s'a passé à parlant dans vraie vie, là?” Lina sighed and walked into the kitchen. “We’re good though! We fought an evil air-manipulating robot named Mr. Twister the other day.” At the mention of the air-manipulating robot’s name, Lina had to tune out the sounds of angry Winds.

“Okay, that’s a terrible name.”

“Right?!” Lina exclaimed. “And I know from personal experience that air-related names can be hard to come up with but I mean...that just sounds so foolish, non?”

“Definitely.” Roy nodded. “You think there’s any relation to RT? We still don’t know where Morrow is, last I checked.”

Lina was silent for a moment, then answered. “Perhaps...he did seem to have a personal vendetta against him. And you’re right about Morrow...it doesn’t help that Red was off after the whole thing. But we defeated Twister, right? So I’m sure it won’t be any issue.”

“Your call.” Roy nodded and sat back down on the couch; deciding not to shower and change quite yet. “So...have you guys chosen a leader yet?”

Lina was, once again, silent. For a second, Roy didn’t know if she had heard him or not. Just as he was about to repeat himself, Lina replied, “no, we haven’t...I wonder if Batman will assign one before our first real mission…”

“He kind of seems the type to let you figure that out by yourselves, doesn’t he? Who do you think should be leader?”

Without even a moment’s hesitation, Lina knew her answer.

"Who do you think?"

“Yeah, figured as much. He definitely has the makings of one. But are you sure the others will be okay with that? Robin may want a seat at that table, and personally, I think you’d be a decent leader.”

Lina hummed in thought but didn’t respond so Roy decided to drop it. An unspoken agreement was made between the two, both knew that Lina wouldn’t be elected as the leader and wouldn’t try to force herself onto the position. Robin, however…

“So how is Kal? I haven’t seen him in a while.”

“You would know if you reached out to him...” Lina said in an almost sing-song voice, and Roy sent her a look through the wall. Even though she couldn’t see his look, she knew it was there. “You guys are best friends, right? You should at least try and act like it. He may not admit it because he’s all stoic and calm most of the time, but trust me; he’s worried about you! To an extent we all are, but he’s not like me and the boys. He won’t drop in unannounced to check up on you.”

“That’s only you, Lina.”

“Bah! You know what I mean.” Lina exclaimed. “Obviously you can’t reach him right now because he’s in Atlantis with his parents but...just try to call him and invite him over every once in a while, okay?”

“He’s in Atlantis? Didn’t you say you were on patrol together last night?”

“He said he felt that he needed to be there or something.”

Roy let out a low chuckle. “What do you want to bet he just really wanted to see Tula?”

Although they had never officially met, Lina practically knew enough about Tula to write a small book about her. The pretty Atlantean girl who was Kaldur’s peer, friend, and crush. In the early days of her and the Atlantean’s friendship, Lina had asked him if he had someone special at home; and he had happily gone into a half-hour tangent about how Tula was not only one of the best friends he had ever had (along with his other childhood friend, Garth) but also one of the strongest, smartest, and most beautiful people he had ever known.

It was admittedly very cute, watching the usually very reserved man blush as he spoke about the young Atlantean girl. The one time that Lina actually saw Tula, when Kaldur showed a magic-infused picture of the trio of friends, she agreed that she was indeed a sight to behold. After one of his long tangents about Tula, Lina had once asked Kaldur why he didn’t just confess his feelings towards her. He replied that he had always wanted to, especially before he started splitting his time between land and sea. But for a multitude of reasons, he never had.

“You’re changing the subject,” Lina spoke sternly.

Roy let out a loud sigh at having been called out.

“Yes, I’ll reach out to him.”

“You promise?”

“Yea...but don’t tell GA alright?”

Even though he couldn’t see it, Lina rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect your stupid masculine ego.” And with that, she collected the bowls of yogurt and freshly cut fruit she had prepared and brought them out to the living room.

“My stupid masculine ego thanks you.”

Mount Justice

July 22

19:00

“Isla Santa Prisca.” Batman spoke clearly and loudly, as he stood in front of the team of 6 supernatural teenagers. Behind him shone a holographic map of an island that sat in the heart of the Caribbean. “This island nation is the primary source of a dangerous neo-steroid, a strength-enhancing drug, sold on the streets under the name Venom."

The screens flashed with images of factory blueprints.

"Infrared heat signatures indicate their factory is still operating at full capacity, but all shipments of Venom have been inexplicably cut off. That's where the team comes in." The Bat turned to face the eager-faced teenagers standing around him.

"This is a covert recon mission only. Observe and report. If the Justice League needs to intervene, it will." The leader of the Justice League turned back to the screens. "The plan requires two dropzones."

"So who's in charge?" Robin piped up, not at all hiding his excitement.

Batman and Red Tornado exchanged glances before the former said sternly,

"Work that out between yourselves."

Caribbean Sea

July 22

20:08

As everyone sat around the bio-ship, stale tension filled the air. Nobody dared to break the silence, if they were even aware of it. Most of the team stared ahead through the window at the sprawling sea, their thoughts locked away in their own mind. For Lina, her thoughts lingered with anxiety. The fact that they were going into their first mission without a clear chain of command made her innards tie themselves into tight knots. But instead of trying to make small talk, Lina cast her eyes up to the moon above them (trying very hard to not think about the flying contraption she was sitting in) and thought about the small bit of dialogue she and Roy had shared over the topic of team leadership…

There was no way she could be team leader.

Being responsible for the success or failure of six powerful teenagers? No, thank you. Sure, she could look after her family and Roy. But that was small stuff; making sure they ate and were hygienic, healing any minor injuries, giving them advice and making sure they were happy. But in battle? When one wrong decision could lead to real consequences…

She shivered at the mere thought of it.

Not to mention her sheer inexperience was enough to disqualify her from the discussion on its own. Just three years ago she had been a simple circus girl, a civilian, and she barely had a year of field experience under her belt. She didn't know the first thing about tactics or battle strategy. Running a hand through her hair, Lina let out a long sigh, and began mentally preparing for a mission she hoped wouldn’t go terribly wrong.

“Approaching Santa Prisca.” Miss Martian announced, snapping everyone out of their trances. “Dropzone A in thirty.”

Almost in unison, Kaldur and Lina stood from their seats. As their chairs sank back into the ship’s floor, the two teens reached for their insignias and gently pressed them. Black began to pulse from the letters on either of their waists, and slowly the darkness began to cover the entirety of their uniforms. Aqualad’s red and Zephyr’s white and gold all turned to the colour of the Caribbean night sky, leaving nothing but the metallic gold-tinting of their respective symbols.

As Lina pulled up her hood and looked down at the new look, she grimaced.

“I feel so…angsty.” The girl muttered, but then looked back up at Kaldur. Their eyes connected, silently communicating before the taller of the two looked to M’gann.

“Ready.”

“Putting bioship in camouflage mode,” M’gann replied, and the cabin’s air pressure changed as they descended from the clouds and closer to the water. The two teammates nodded at one another. “Go.”

As a hole opened up under the hero’s feet, they both fell down and into the saltwater below. Just as her body was about to breach the surface, Lina circled her hands and formed a bubble of air around her form. Then, once the two had fully submerged, the two rocketed off towards the shore. The darkness of the water made Zephyr’s human eyes strain, barely able to make out Aqualad’s form as she followed behind him, but the water was thankfully clear of any obstacles. Or rather, almost clear. After a moment, the two came across a long, large wall of netting, but Kaldur was able to promptly slash it open with a swipe of his sword, creating a hole big enough to swim through.

Not long after, they breached the surface. Kaldur poked his head out of the water for a moment, then dove back under.

“I’ve located the security sensors, are you ready?” He asked, used to speaking underwater. Lina nodded, then with one sweep of her hands, blasted them both through the water, breaking her protective bubble and lifting them into the air and over to the heat and motion sensors. When they landed, Lina pulled out a USB drive from one of the hidden compartments on her upper arm and plugged it into the large, boxy machine. After a moment, the USB began to blink a blue light.

“Heat and motion sensors have been patched. Data is now on a continuous loop. Move in.” Kaldur spoke into his earpiece.

“Acknowledged.” Robin spoke back.

As Zephyr and Kaldur made their way over to the end of the beach, they were met with a tall cliff. Overhead, they could see trees, foliage, and other signs of a jungle peaking over the surface, the jungle that housed the Venom warehouse. Kaldur turned to face Lina.

“If you please.” The young man leads as he placed a firm hand on his partner’s shoulder, and with a small nod, Lina summoned her Winds and began lifting them as slowly and as quietly as possible. About halfway up, however, they were interrupted with their com’s sparking to life yet again.

“Aqualad, Zephyr; dropzone B is a go.” Robin’s voice came through.

Kaldur lifted his finger to his ear. “Head to the factory. We’ll track your GPS coordinates and rendezvous ASAP.”

Once they landed, Lina lifted one hand to her ear and pressed her com. “Be careful, and let us know if you need assistance.”

“Copy.” Robin responded.

And with that, the two teenagers began sprinting/flying in the direction of the factory. Partway through, however, movement caught Kaldur’s eye and he slid to a stop. Lina had to quickly drop her Winds to avoid flying into him.

“What is it?” Lina whispered as she stood, and Kaldur motioned silently over to where the movement was coming from. Stepping over a little to get a better look, they were able to make out a slow procession of armed men a few meters away...and headed in the direction of the four younger team member’s coordinates.

“Superboy, KF.” Kaldur spoke as the two partners began their sprint yet again. “Switch to infrared, see if you are being tracked.”

A moment later, Wally replied. “Got a band of armed bozos incoming.”

“Two squads, but they’ll reach each other before they find us.” Superboy added.

“Sweep wide and steer clear.” Kaldur instructed, but apparently, his words fell on deaf ears as hardly a minute later, the sound of loud gunfire rang through the forest.

“Those miscreants always find a way to bring chaos to nature, so much disruption.” A voice sighed into Zephyr’s ear.

Almost in unison, the two heroes let out whispered curses in their respective mother tongues and picked up their speed.

Once the two had reached the source of the gunshots, a large clearing amongst thick greenery; Kaldur and Lina found their teammates fighting groups of men. Some were in long, dark red coats with black face masks, and others wore typical dark street clothes. Two of the red-clad individuals caught Aqualad and Zephyr’s attention and they jumped to action; the former leaping in front of the first goon, placing his hand just over the man’s heart and lighting up his tattoos to send a surge of electricity into it, and the latter using her Winds to pick up the other cloaked man, sending him flying into a nearby tree.

The last of the men fallen and unconscious, the team turned to look at one another.

“Nice of you to join us.” Wally smiled bashfully.

Santa Prisca

July 22

20:20

“I recognize those uniforms,” Robin spoke up once the last of the men were hogtied and safely incapacitated. “The Cult of the Kobra…”

“I am certain Batman would have mentioned it if he knew a dangerous extremist was running Santa Prisca’s Venom operation.” Said Aqualad.

“Agreed.” Robin nodded. “And since there’s clearly no love lost between the cultists and those goons...I’m betting Kobra came in and tossed them out. That’s why normal supply lines have been cut off.”

“We get it, Kobra wanted super cultists: mystery solved.” Wally piped in. “Radio Bats and we’ll be home in time for-” He was quickly cut off by Robin.

“These cultists aren’t on Venom! Kobra’s hoarding the stuff. We don’t leave...not until I know why.”

“Until you know why?” Kid Flash spoke, frowning.

“This team needs a leader.”

“And it’s you? Dude, you’re a thirteen-year-old kid who ducked out on us without a word.”

“And here we go…” Lina sighed, just loud enough that Superboy, the closest to her, was the only one that could hear her.

Robin let out a cackling laugh. “And you’re a mature fifteen? You broke our cover the first chance you got!”

“Don’t you want to lead?” M’gann asked, tilting her head towards Superboy.

Superboy scoffed, obviously not fond of the idea. “You?”

“After the Mister Twister fiasco..?” M’gann cringed, raising her hand up in rejection.

Superboy gave her a shadow of a smile. “You did alright.”

M'gann face lit up with pink as her eyes grew wide. She quickly caught Lina’s amused gaze and the French girl gave the Martian an approving nod and thumbs-up behind Superboy’s back. Turning her attention back to Kaldur, Lina saw that he was carefully watching Robin and Wally bicker with a look of mild annoyance on his face. After a moment of trying to find the right words, Lina leaned in closer towards the Atlantean so that she wouldn’t be overheard.

“Being a leader is a very important burden.” She said. “It’s important to have the one bearing it be cool-tempered, reliable, patient, and level-headed.”

Her hinting wasn’t meant to be subtle.

“A good leader must also care deeply for their team, always have their best interests at heart, and have a good moral compass.” Kaldur countered.

“Fair enough.” She nodded but then turned to look directly at her Atlantean friend. “Although one could argue that some people on the team embody all these traits, while also having real experience with combat and strategy.”

Kaldur didn’t respond, but it didn’t much matter as not a moment later Lina’s attention was diverted by her overhearing someone muttering in Spanish. In her peripherals, she saw Superboy turn towards the sounds as well.

“Look at them argue.” One man spoke in Spanish. “Free yourself now and take them while they’re distracted!”

“Quiet!” Another man, this one larger and wearing black and white face paint. “For now I play along, they’ll give me what I need.”

Superboy and Zephyr exchanged looks.

“Yeah? You don’t even have superpowers!” Wally screamed, drawing the attention back to the young arguing boys.

“Neither does Batman!” Robin exclaimed.

“Duh,” Wally scoffed, “you’re not Batman.”

“Duh,” Robin mocked, “closest thing we’ve got!”

The two’s bickering was interrupted by the man from before, the one with the painted face, laughing.

“Such clever ninos.” The man spoke. “But you only know half the story. Let me show you the rest, get you into the factory via my secret entrance.”

M’gann knelt down to the man and began focusing, channelling her telepathy. “There is a secret entrance, but he’s also hiding something.” Her eyes began to glow white as she attempted to dig deeper.

“Ah ah ah chica,” Bane tutted, “Bane is not that easy.”

After a pregnant pause, M’gann let go of her telepathic connection and groaned. “He’s mentally reciting football scores en Espanol...this could take a while.”

“I can try and translate.” Zephyr voiced. “Mi Español debe ser satisfactorio.”

“Suffocation is an effective means of interrogation.” A deep, dark voice whispered in Zephyr’s ear, causing her to jump, straighten her back, and wave off the sadistic Wind.

“It’s not that complicated.” The man, Bane, said. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

The team exchanged unsure looks.

Santa Prisca

July 22

20:39

As the team hiked through the forest, led by Bane, each and every one of them felt uneasy. Even Miss Martian, arguably the most naive and inexperienced of the group, knew that their guide wasn’t trustworthy. It was like a ringing feeling in all of their heads, telling them that they shouldn’t be doing what they were doing. Eventually, however, they came to a cliff, and Bane silently motioned towards a large industrial compound. Robin took out his binoculars and began to scout.

“Look at all that product…” Robin whispered. “A buy is going down. But if Kobra’s not selling to the usual suspects, then-””We need to identify that buyer.” Kaldur finished.

“Just what I was thinking.” Wally nodded.

Robin scoffed. “Yeah, you’re the thinker!”

The look Wally gave his friend was the most unimpressed anyone had ever seen him. “Sarcasm? Dude, a real leader would focus on getting answers.”

A loud grunt, followed by a crashing sound made all of them turn to see Bane removing a large boulder to reveal a hidden passageway.

“Answers are this way.”

“So now El Lucador is our leader?” KF exclaimed, only to be smacked by Robin. “Ow!”

The passageway led to a gate, which-with Bane’s thumbprint-led to the factory’s interior. Bane poked his head through but was nudged to the side by Robin. After a moment, the young boy gave the all clear and ran out. When the others caught up, however, he was gone.

“Has that little fool already been captured?” Bane grunted.

“No...he just does that.” Kaldur spoke, disappointment evident in his face and voice.

“Stay put.” Wally whispered, slipping his goggles over his eyes. “I’ll get our intel and be back before the Boy Wonder!”

“Kid, wait-“

But Kaldur was too late, and the ginger had already sped off.

“Great chain of command.” Bane spoke, which to everyone’s surprise, earned him a deadpan remark from Zephyr.

“Bueno trabajo manejando tu fábrica.” Bane cast the girl a dirty look.

“What’s that?” Superboy piped up, and motioned to a nearby opening. It was a large garage door, littered with tall piles of crates with a forklift moving some out. The group moved to kneel behind the crates.

“It’s a massive shipment.” Kaldur muttered.

“Yea, but they’re only taking new product outside. They’re not touching this Venom.” Superboy noted.

“Maybe...freshness counts?” M’gann tried.

Suddenly, almost like a dog, Superboy’s head jutted upwards at attention.

“Helicopter’s coming.”

But of course, to everyone else, there was utter silence.

Santa Prisca

July 22

20:45

Kid Flash zipped into the control room where his best friend sat. The older boy munched on one of the energy bars he kept in the hidden compartments in his suit as the Boy Wonder sat above a knocked out Kobra cultist. The sight of the limp body on the group didn't even phase the snacking speedster, however, as he walked over to peer over the Boy Wonder’s shoulder.

"What'cha got?" Kid Flash asked.

"Chemical formulas." Robin explained, not even looking away from the monitors. "I'd say it involves Venom but…"

Robin pulled up two pictures of molecular makeups and their chemical formulas as the ginger's eyes squinted in focus. Not even after a second of thinking, Wally's granola-holding hand extended to motion to one of the pictures. "That one's Venom", then to the other, "and that one's...Woah, the Blockbuster formula from CADMUS."

In a simulated diagram, the two images formed together to create a new compound.

"Mixed correctly, Kobra's new juice would be three times as strong as Venom...and permanent." Wally turned to Robin. "But how did Kobra get access to Project Blockbuster?"

"Our mystery buyer must also be Kobra's supplier!" Robin exclaimed. "Using the cult to create a Venom-Blockbuster superformula!" Robin raised a hand to his com. "Robin to Aqualad, we got-" He was cut off. Static.

Meanwhile, back at the loading dock. The helicopter Superboy predicted had finally landed. A blonde man wearing a hockey goalie mask walked out of the flying machine, met by an awaiting Kobra and two of his goons; a tall punk girl with orange hair, and an inhumanly bulky male with skin akin to that of a post-Blockbuster Desmond. The two men spoke, discussing business. But unbeknownst to either of them, an invisible force watched them from above. The camouflaged martian watched closely, barely being able to hear the words they were exchanging in soft tones. But she could clearly see when the cult leader, Kobra, opened a silver briefcase. Furthermore, she could make out the several vials of purple liquid that lay inside. Quickly, Miss Martian opened a telepathic link.

"Aqualad," She mentally spoke, focusing her gaze intently on the masked man. "Sending a mental image of the buyer now."

Back inside the factory, Kaldur focused on the image of the blonde man that flashed in his brain. Once he had, he opened his eyes to the other people sitting with him on the raised catwalk Bane had taken them to.

"Sportsmaster? He is the buyer?" He muttered to nobody in particular.

Lina knew very little about 'Sportsmaster', never having run into him herself. But she recalled reading his file at one point. An average man, Lawrence “Crusher” Crock, but apparently some sort of sadist that was affiliated with the League of Shadows. He was trained in more than a few martial arts and was known to have access to an arsenal of dangerous weapons. Basically a glorified goon-for-hire, but a dangerous man nonetheless.

Kaldur raised a hand to his com. "Aqualad to Red Tornado, do you read?"

Upon only receiving static, he attempted other channels with very much the same degree of success.

"I cannot reach Robin, the League, or Kid. We need a plan. Now."

Bane gave a smile, an eery one that shot straight through Zephyr's spine. "I have a suggestion." And then he leapt right off the catwalk and straight into two armed cultists, quickly taking them down, but not before getting them to open fire at their attacker. The sounds of the gunfire quickly notified the rest of the security forces around the warehouse, who all rushed over to zero in on their intruders.

"What is he-" Kaldur didn't get the chance to finish his question, as the Blockbuster-esk Kobra goon (a previously normal man who went by the name of Mammoth) leapt through a nearby window and crashed straight into the catwalk. This caused the three members to fall or haphazardly fly down onto the floor, ridding them of any sense of safety.

“There goes our cover.” Superboy huffed.

Mammoth ran straight at the heroes, and the clone charged back at him, causing a resulting force strong enough to shake the whole building. As the two tanks went head-on with one another, a few dozen cultists began shooting at the two remaining young heroes. Aqualad knelt down, using his water-bearers to form a shield that protected both him and Zephyr from oncoming fire. Meanwhile, the young air manipulator lifted her hands, targetting the closest cultists she could see as her Winds picked them up and sent them all flying into metal walls.

“Where did Bane go?” Zephyr asked once she had realized that, once the shooting had started, the Spanish man had seemed to disappear into thin air.

“I’m not sure.” Aqualad shook his head as he lifted his other water-bearer to begin shooting cultists. “But I’m afraid we have more pressing matters.”

The fighting was a blur, with the members of the team very obviously outnumbered and confused, all of them internally reeling at how the mission was playing out. The large, open area of the warehouse floor made for little cover, and the sounds of repeated and multiple bouts of gunfire made it difficult for the team to get their bearings. At some point in the chaos, Miss Martian and Kid Flash had returned, only for the former to be blasted into a nearby wall by a rocketed projectile.

To put it simply, they were losing. And there was still no sign of Robin.

“Miss Martian, radio is jammed! Link us up!” Kaldur shouted.

A moment later, a sharp ringing entered each team member’s mind. Zephyr winced a little, but noted that the link didn’t hurt nearly as bad as it did during the initial cave tour.

“Everyone online?” The Martian girl’s voice rang into each member’s mind.

Superboy’s mental voice growled, but reluctantly spoke, “Yeah.”

“You know it, beautiful.” Kid Flash said from his place behind another support beam.

“Present,” Lina spoke, creating her own shield and blasted more cultists that were aiming at M'gann.

“Good. We need to regroup.” Kaldur’s voice rang.

Robin’s voice came through, rushed and chaotic. “Busy now!”

“Busy? What does he mean busy?!” Kid Flash’s actual voice sounded over the gunfire.

“Where did he go anyway?” Lina asked, but then spotted another cultist aiming straight at Kid Flash from around a corner. She delivered a quick air-strike to him, but in doing so, opened herself up. A sharp blast sliced at her arm and with a loud yelp of pain, she flew back behind the support beam for cover. “Putain!”

“Are you okay?” Kaldur asked, eyes darting to her injury.

Zephyr examined her arm, finding a tear just below her shoulder. Crimson blood seeped into her uniform, and the girl was suddenly grateful her costume was no longer white. “Just a graze, I’m fine.”

“Robin!” Aqualad called over the telepathic link. “Now!” After giving the order, Kaldur ran out, forming his weapons into water-whips and taking out as many cultists as he could.

“Strategic retreat! Kid, clear a path.”

A dark blue zig-zagged across the warehouse floor at top speeds, sending cultists down onto the ground as the remaining team member followed close behind and into a side door. Superboy lagged behind, having to wrestle Mammoth. But after a moment, the clone was able to leverage his strength into gripping Mammoth’s hands and send him flying into a group of armed men. Once the clone was able to enter into the side-passage way with the others, he and Aqualad promptly closed the door and resumed running. This only granted them a short reprieve, however, as Mammoth busted down the metal and was quickly followed by shooting cultists who open fired into the cramped walls of the hidden passage.

“Superboy! The support beams!” Aqualad exclaimed, and the clone delivered quick, strong strikes to the wooden support beams around him. Not a moment after, the rocky passage began to collapse, and with a rattling ‘boom’, all surroundings went dark.

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queerbutstillhere-writes · 4 years

Text

Fantasy(Medieval) AU

The day Kon had been knighted had been probably the proudest moment of his life. Sure, the long ass prayer hadn’t exactly been the highlight of his evening, but he’d gone from a squire, being called boy or just Conner, to Sir Kent and honestly that was pretty cool, even if he now got mixed up with Clark a lot. It didn’t help that they looked nearly identical, Kon was just younger.

He couldn’t wait for the day Jon was also a knight. Having three Sir Kent’s would be so worth it, just to watch Clark twitch.

He had two blissful weeks of being freshly knighted, running around, partying and causing havoc, while also following the knight code, and then he had been contacted. By the King, no less. He had been summoned to the royal castle - which was admittedly, only in the next town over - to receive a royal assignment. He didn’t know what the hell it was going to be, but it must’ve been important. Why he, a brand new knight, and just 18 at that, was chosen, he had no idea, except for maybe his relation to Clark.

So he had packed up his things, said goodbye to his family for the foreseeable future, and saddled up his horse, heading up to the castle, Krypto trotting or running alongside him as they rode. It was stupid hot, and of course he had to chose to set out in the middle of the afternoon. Between the hot sun beating down on him and the fact that he had worn his armor - don’t ask him why - he was a sweaty mess by the time he reached Gotham Castle.

He wasn’t given any time to wait, just had his horse snatched from him by a stable boy and then was led deep into the castle, to what appeared to be an office waiting room. He was deposited by the servant girl, who he may have been flirting with, inside the waiting room in front of a desk with a middle aged, grumpy looking man.

“Who are you?” He grumbled, barely glancing up from where he was scratching away at a ledger.

“Sir Conner Kent, I have summons from the king.”

Conner held out the envelope. The man glanced at it, the broken seal on the back and then up at Conner. He grunted, pointing at a chair with his quill.

“Go sit down, I’ll let him know you’re here.”

Conner turned and sat down in one of the two wooden chairs against the wall, letting his bag thump to the floor beside him. The old man gave him a grumpy look, writing for another moment before putting down his quill and standing, slipping through the doors. Conner tapped his fingers on his knees as he waited, looking out the open window, out into the castle courtyard.

Gotham Castle was a huge, beautiful, but intimidating structure. She was built out of fairly dark stone, and stood at an impressive height, but judging from how high all the ceilings seemed to be, there likely wasn’t that many floors inside the castle itself. There were, of course, the towers, which stood several floors taller than the main structure, with their high peaked roofs and rippling flags. There were huge courtyards and gardens in the middle of everything, and turn out pastures for the horses, still within the castle walls. Just down the hill from the huge castle was Gotham proper, the sprawling city in better shape now, under King Bruce’s rule, then it had ever been before in history.

“Sir Kent, he’s waiting.”

Kon hopped up and started to grab his bag.

"You can leave that there," the attendant said, waving his hand to dismiss Kon's current course of action. "And the dog will have to stay."

He dropped the bag, ordered Krypto to stay, and headed to the door, his thumbs in his sword belt, armor clinking uncomfortably as he walked. He paused at the door and let the attendant step in and announce him.

"Your royal highness, Sir Conner Kent."

Conner stepped the rest of the way into the office and looked around, noting it to be an alarmingly cluttered space. The windows were open, allowing a soft breeze in. The office was crammed with book shelves, cushioned benches, a dining table that was stacked with papers and scrolls. There was a rather large fireplace against one wall, the mantel overflowing with paintings and knickknacks and other assorted items.

At the large wooden desk, which was shoved back towards one corner also covered in papers and books, was an older gentleman, his black hair streaked with white, and his beard nearing more grey than black. He was wearing an off gray linen shirt, the sleeves pushed up past his elbows, and black breeches. A golden crown had been plopped down onto his desk, and he glanced up, dark blue eyes meeting Kon's, and a tired smile slid onto his features.

Sitting on one of the cushioned benches, curled up against the armrest was a younger man, reading from a book. Kon noted a permanent ink stain on his right hand between his middle and ring fingers. His hair was longer than the older man's, nearly down to his shoulders, and was currently half pulled back, so it was out of his eyes at least. He was wearing a red shirt, black pants, and brown riding boots.

"Sir Kent," the older man said, standing, and Kon knew this to be King Bruce Wayne.

"Your majesty."

Conner immediately bowed, keeping in his low bow for a few seconds.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Bruce stepped around the desk and held out his hand. "I swear Clark talks about you almost as much as he talks about Jon."

"I think that's impossible, your majesty. I swear he never shuts up about that kid."

Bruce just grinned, moving to lean against the desk once they had shaken hands.

"Sir Kent, my son, Tim."

Conner turned to the Prince behind him and bowed again. He knew quite a bit about the royal family, due to his attachment to Clark, but he'd never met them. Timothy Drake-Wayne was Bruce's second youngest, and apparently a dashing young man. The prince smiled tiredly and waved, before looking back at his book. Conner turned back to Bruce.

"Well, I suppose we should get to business." Bruce walked around the desk again and sat down. "I called you out here because I have a bit of a job, that I feel like you'll be perfect for."

"What is it, your majesty? I'm happy to serve."

Bruce smiled lightly. "I figured as much. I need you to act as a protection detail for young Tim there."

Conner glanced behind him again, and caught Tim looking at him. The Prince quickly looked away again.

"Of course, your majesty. . . Might I ask what I'm protecting him from?"

"Let's call it an old family enemy, of his parents, and of myself, has decided to specifically target Tim after he refused an offer of an alliance with this man. He's tried multiple assassinations, and almost been successful more times than I'm comfortable with. The normal castle guards aren't trained for this, and as much as I appreciate our knights, they're not quite as spry as they once were."

"Of course. What will all my duties be?"

They spent the next five minutes going over every single aspect of Conner's new job, and by the end of it, he was a knight in the employment of the Royal Family.

He was shown a set of rooms by a servant, got to freshen up, and then headed to diner with the Wayne's.

......

After a week of tailing Prince Timothy Drake-Wayne around, Kon had gotten settled with the Wayne's. But mostly Tim. He was a fairly quiet guy, not because he didn't have anything to say or was too shy to say it, but because he spent most of his time observing his surroundings. Originally it had creeped Kon out, because Tim had spent most of his free time watching Kon, but now he almost appreciated it, having watched Tim work as an advisor to Bruce, and having witnessed him helping quite a few village people just because he had observed a situation and been able to stop it.

When he wasn't doing this mildly creepy observation thing, Tim was generally reading or writing. He had this huge book that he was about two-thirds through, and nearly always had it in hand. He was wildly creative, and while Kon had only had the pleasure of hearing a few of his writings, he was pretty damn good at it.

One thing he had not been expecting, was Tim's servant boy. This little ginger teenager, who ended up actually being Tim's age, was almost always with Tim. He was a little ball of energy and chaos and happiness. He was like sunshine, and Kon found himself being eager to spend time with him whenever possible, laughing and grinning with him. The boy, Bart Allen, was a whole head shorter than Kon, he had wild, auburn hair, that was more poof then not, and hazel eyes that were so light they looked golden.

For the first week, Kon had spent nights in his own set of rooms, attended to by some of the castle maids. And then on his ninth night there, there was an attack. Kon had just been leaving Tim's rooms for the night, when he heard a crash from the room behind him, and then shouting. He spun on his heel and sprinted back to Tim’s room, bursting through the door, which luckily was not locked yet, and found Tim pinned to the floor, a dark figure over the top of him, holding a knife. Kon had easily fought off that attacker, but the incident had led them to their current situation, which was Kon, moving all his bags to Tim’s room.

The room itself was fairly big, as big as Lois and Clark’s downstairs, but it was separated into two parts by a dividing wall, Tim’s bed hidden away behind the wall, the door to the privy tucked away, out of view unless you were really looking for it. Most of the room was filled with bookshelves, and there was a table that mostly served as a writing desk. There was a small, connected servants quarters, that was Bart’s strangely neat living space, though he seemed to spend a lot of his freetime hanging out with Tim, for whatever reason. But Kon, since he was Tim’s protection detail, had a bed set up in the corner of the main room, opposite Tim’s, though most of his things were being stored in the servants quarters, or at least, he assumed that’s why Bart had snatched them away unceremoniously the second he had set them down.

Tim didn’t seem bothered by this new development, just vaguely waved his hand around the room and said “Make yourself at home” and then returned to his book. So Kon did, set up a nice little miniature living space around his bed with what supplies he had, and settled in. Krypto had quite happily made himself at home on Kon's bed as well.

“Sir Kent.”

Kon jolted slightly, looking up from the sock he had been attempting to mend.

“Uh, Yes?”

“Why don’t you let me do that,” Bart offered, holding out his hand.

Kon hesitated. He wasn’t useless, Lois taught him how to mend his own things, and he was perfectly capable of doing so. Granted, he wasn’t the best at it, his big hands made it a little less neat then Lois could sew, but he got by. But this cute servant boy was holding out his hands expectantly, so Kon shrugged and passed it over. Bart plopped down beside him on the bed, tucked his feet up under his legs, and started sewing away, fingers practically flying over the hole in the sock, fixing it faster then Kon could have ever done. He looked up and found Tim fully invested in a book.

“So, how long have you been a servant for him?” Kon asked softly, turning to face Bart a little better.

“Oh, the past three or four years? I don’t remember really.”

“Wow. How old were you when you started?”

“Uh. . . Thirteen.”

“That’s a while.”

Bart looked up and smiled, then looked back down at the sock. But Kon, Kon was absolutely floored by that gorgeous smile. Bart gave it away so freely, to everyone, but this specific smile had felt . . . special. Which was odd, considering the reason for it. Krypto looked up from the floor and whined.

“There you go!” Bart quickly tied off the string and cut it, holding the mended sock out to Kon. “In the future, just bring me anything that needs repaired, and I’ll fix it right up!”

“Thank you!”

Bart flashed that blinding, beautiful smile at him again.

“Of course!” He hopped up and twirled to Tim. “I’m gonna go get lunch!”

“Okay, Bart,” The Prince replied without looking up.

“Any special requests?”

“I’m not terribly hungry.”

“Okaay dokeeey! Sir Kent?”

“For you to just call me Kon?” Kon asked, with a bit of a flirtier smile then he had intended. . . . or, well, maybe he had intended it.

Bart blinked at him, then grinned sheepishly. “Okay. Kon it is.”

Bart slipped on a pair of shoes and then disappeared out the door.

“He’s quite the bundle of energy.”

Tim looked up from his book finally, just looking at Kon for a moment before responding. “He’s a good person. And a very loyal friend. I’m lucky to have him.”

“You two do seem awful close.”

“I’ve known him since we were little, so I should hope so.”

“How’d he end up as your servant then?”

“His Uncle, Barry, is one of Bruce’s servants, so he sometimes ended up tagging along for whatever reason, and we became friends that way. He needed a job for personal reasons, and I happily offered."

“That’s kind of you.”

Tim tilted his head. “What did you want me to do? Let him go panhandling or working in the fields?”

“No. I’m just saying, not many nobility I’ve met would do something like that for someone like him.”

“What is that supposed to mean, Sir Kent?” Tim’s voice was clipped and defensive, and he had fully set his book down.

“. . . I think that came across wrong. I’m meaning. . . not many nobility would help a peasant like that.”

Tim’s eyes narrowed, and then he shrugged. “Maybe not. But I’m not most nobility, am I?”

“No. In many ways.”

They went silent, and Kon had this distinct feeling that he may have edged a little further onto Tim’s bad side.

That evening, when Tim was at dinner with his family - a safe time in which Kon didn’t have to be around him - he found himself in Tim’s rooms with Bart, who was humming to himself as he picked up, organizing books and papers, refilling Tim’s inkpot, changing linens, those types of things. And then they just started chatting, about anything and everything. Kon found out that Bart had lived with these two elderly farmers named Jay and Joan Garrick for most of his childhood, sometimes living with his uncle, Barry Allen, as his parents had both died when he was little. His trips to the castle with Barry, was indeed how he befriended Tim, and they were actually really close. Kon actually ended up finding out more about Tim through Bart, then he ever did from Tim himself.

By the time Tim returned from dinner, Bart had plopped himself down on Kon’s bed, his knees touching Kon’s thigh as they chatted animatedly.

“Good to know you two get along, this certainly won’t cause troubles for me,” Tim said, with a tired, but fond smile.

“Aww, Timmmm, we’re just getting to know each other a little better,” Bart said, looking up at him and grinning.

Tim walked over and plopped down on the bed, leaning forwards so he was leaning against Bart’s back, causing the smaller teen to groan and lean into Kon, who just chuckled and held them both up.

“I’m exhausted. Damian was being a little shit again and Dick wouldn’t shut up,” Tim groaned, moving so his head was on Bart’s shoulder, and he could look up at Kon as well.

“Aw, I’m sorry. I thought he was doing better?”

“He was. And then he saw Talia this weekend and it’s like someones stuck nails in his ass.”

Bart giggled, reaching around to wrap Tim’s arms around his stomach, rocking them slightly.

“Hmm, sometimes I wonder why your dad lets him go visit her.”

“Because she’s not with Ra’s anymore, that’s why. And because he’s still weak as hell for her.”

Bart was grinning at Tim, and Tim had his eyes closed as he laid against Bart’s back, practically plastered against him. They looked comfortable and natural like that. They looked . . . happy. Then something clicked for Kon.

“Wait. Ra’s? Like the maniac who’s trying to kill you?”

Tim looked up, frowning. Bart also frowned, but down at his lap.

“Yeah. . .”

“And . . . who’s this Talia lady?”

“Damian’s mom.”

Kon scowled. Something here wasn’t adding up. Tim sighed and closed his eyes once more, putting his head against Bart’s.

“Damian is Ra’s grandson. Bruce and Talia fell in love long ago, and I don’t think I need to give you the Talk , but not long after they split, Damian was born. We- Bruce only got custody of him a few years back. And I know what you’re thinking, but Damian is a good kid, and he doesn’t like Ra’s. He hates his grandfather.”

Kon just looked at Bart, who shrugged faintly, causing Tim’s head to shift. Kon stayed silent, digesting this information. It was certainly a lot to take in.

“You wanna go to bed early then?” Bart asked quietly, finally breaking the awkward silence.

“No, I want to go for a ride. Do you want to come with me?” Tim answered softly.

“Of course!” Bart exclaimed, grinning.

Tim opened his eyes and looked up at Kon again. “I’d ask, but it seems you don’t have a choice whether you come or not.”

Kon chuckled, pushing Bart off of him so he could stand. “It does appear that way, doesn’t it?”

After three weeks of tailing Tim and, consequently, Bart around, Kon had settled into their way of life quite easily. They had a pretty steady pattern to their days, and soon Kon had figured out times when he was needed and when he could go do things like train or nap or have a little bit of personal time. There were still the occasional attempts on Tim, though usually they were fairly random and small, and there hadn’t been any direct attacks in his living quarters since the first one after Kon arrived. But he wasn’t relaxing his guard yet, not until they were sure Tim was safe. Not that Tim couldn’t defend himself, Kon had seen him training with his older brother, Richard, but he had been hired for a job and intended to fulfill it.

After three more weeks of tailing Tim, Kon had become pretty certain of one thing. And that one thing was that he was pretty sure Tim and Bart were romantically involved with each other, dating, whatever the word for it was. It was pretty obvious, in Kon’s opinion. Hell, a lot of nights, they slept in the same bed together. They walked around holding hands and leaning on each other and grinning at each other, and just acting cute and coupley. And he was totally fine with this.

So fine with it.

He wasn’t sad about it all.

Except he was.

Because he may have fallen for Bart a bit. And Tim was really pretty and Kon also really liked him. And he was screwed because of this. Because they were probably dating each other, and Kon was just the bodyguard, third wheeling his way through life.

An interesting fact, Kon had learned over the past few weeks, was that Tim got nightmares, pretty frequently. And somehow, Bart had like this sixth sense about when Tim was having these nightmares, and would just appear at his bed and wake him up out of it, and then they would lie there, Bart softly singing until Tim drifted back to sleep. That was another thing about Bart. He sang and played the lute. And he was amazing at it. Kon could sit there and listen to him sing for hours. Bart the Bard, Tim called him occasionally, and Bart would just giggle and give him a lovesick smile and continue on playing.

Kon wasn’t going to say anything to either of them, after all, he’d either get over it, or be dismissed from his guard duties eventually, so why was it worth bringing up? It wasn’t. He was fine leaving it be. After all, it wasn’t the first time he’d fallen for someone he couldn’t have, but he was mature enough to know to not pursue someone.

But one day, he was sitting in Tim’s room with Bart and Krypto while Tim was off with his family. Bart was tuning his lute, humming softly as he worked, and Kon had been reading, but had given up after a while, to just stare vaguely in Bart’s direction, listening to the plucking as he made sure it was in proper tune.

“What’s got your head in the clouds, oh brave Knight?”

“Huh? Oh.” Kon fully focused on the bard, and found him leaning on his lute slightly, grinning at him. “Nothing. Lost in thought?”

Bart chuckled. “What were you thinking about?”

Quick! Come up with a lie!

“Home, I guess. Wasn’t really thinking about anything in particular.”

A soft hum came from Bart, and he walked over, sitting next to Kon, Krypto immediately stretched his big white head over Kon’s lap to receive pets.

“Got anyone special back home, Sir Kent?”

“Dating wise? No. . . My little brothers are back home though.”

“Oh? Are you the oldest?”

“Kind of? It’s a weird situation.”

“Trust me, if anyone understands that, it’s me,” Bart said with a smile.

Kon chuckled. “What about you? Got anyone special?” he asked, lightly nudging Bart.

“Oh. . .Uh, No.”

Kon raised an eyebrow. “Really, I thought you and. . .” He gestured vaguely around the room.

“Tim?” Bart asked, eyes going huge. “No. Nonono, we’re not- . . . no it’s not like that.”

“Huh. . . interesting, you guys just kind of act like you’re together.”

“No, I mean, it’s not that I wouldn’t-” Bart stopped and sighed. “It’s complicated.”

Kon frowned softly and put a hand on Bart’s knee. “It’s okay, I’ve been there.”

Bart looked up at him with a scowl. “I don’t need your pity, Kon.”

“It’s not- No, I didn’t mean it like that.”

Bart just shrugged and looked down at his lute. Kon let silence hang for a bit. Should he? I mean, his obstacle had just been removed, why not shoot his shot?

“Do you wanna go out for dinner or drinks or something tonight, while Tim is with his family?”

Bart stopped playing, and sat there for a moment before looking up at Kon, blinking. Then he grinned.

“Sir Kent, are you asking me out on a date?”

Conner smiled and shrugged. “And what if I am?”

“Well then, I might just have to say yes. But only if it’s a date.”

“Well it’s a good thing it was a date, then, isn’t it.”

Bart giggled. “We’ll have to make sure Tim really is going to be eating with his family, but probably yes.”

Kon grinned. “Fantastic.”

That evening, once they were excused by Tim, they got dressed and headed down into Gotham proper, chatting and laughing the whole way down. They found an inn that was serving some good stew for dinner and wasn’t terribly full, and spent a little bit of time there, just enjoying themselves. And when they got back to the castle, with time still to spare, Kon whisked Bart away to the gardens, finding a little secluded spot so they could sit down in private. They just talked for a while longer, Bart sitting on the back of their bench so he could play with Kon’s hair. And then he leaned down and kissed Kon.

Kon didn’t hesitate to push up against him, hand on his knee to help support himself, due to the slightly awkward angle.

"There they are, Timothy."

"You two having fun?"

Bart yanked away from Kon and tumbled backwards, right off of the bench. Kon yelped and dove after him, but only managed to snag his ankles, unable to prevent him from falling into the bush behind them. He looked up to find Tim and his youngest brother, Damian, standing nearby with a couple of guards. Damian looked annoyed, but Tim had this mildly amused, mostly closed off look.

"Uh, hi," Kon said, then turned back to Bart, reaching down and grabbing him by the arms, hauling him back up over the back of the bench.

Bart tumbled into Kon, giggling, even as his face turned bright red. They quickly picked leaves off of him, and then Bart sat up, looking at Tim.

"You startled me."

"I noticed."

Bart hopped up, brushing a few more leaves off.

"Are you okay?" Kon asked, standing as well, eyeing Bart.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Didn't hit your head?"

"Nope!"

"Now that you have your . . . " Damian trailed off, giving them a look of contempt. "Whatever. I'll be going."

Damian spun on his heel and walked away, followed by the guards. Tim just looked at them, shook his head and turned to walk away. Bart scurried after him, and Kon? Kon just sighed softly and followed, feeling a little annoyed that they had been interrupted.

But it was fine. At least now he knew how Bart felt.

......

After another two weeks, Kon was finding himself with another issue. See he had been dating Bart this whole time, and was quite happy with it. He and Bart got along amazingly, and Bart was . . . hot damn. Bart was something else. Kon could spend hours kissing him without complaint. Well, he actually couldn’t, because they both had jobs to do, and Bart wasn’t comfortable with kissing around Tim, which was understandable. And frankly, neither was Kon.

Because he was still crushing on Tim, even though he was pretty much dating Bart.

So yeah. He had a problem. Because he wasn’t about cheating on Bart, but at the same time. . . Tim. Tim was gorgeous and kind and smart. He and Kon had become fairly good friends, over the time he had spent as his bodyguard, and it was nice, because they could now just sit and chat or be together in comfortable silence, unlike in the past, when they would sit there in awkward silence, trying to figure out what to say to the other. And Kon wasn’t dumb, he could see Tim eyeing him, watching him, zoning out while staring at him. But he knew Tim would also never try anything as long as he was with Bart. Tim was too loyal for that.

“Bart.”

“Hmm?”

Kon rolled onto his back, looking over at Bart, who was in the middle of folding laundry. It was one of those odd days that Kon got off, as Tim was completely surrounded by his family and their various bodyguards.

“I need to tell you something,” Kon said with a sigh.

He decided it was best if he was just honest with Bart. Then at least Bart could keep him accountable or something. . . . Hopefully he wouldn’t be too upset.

“What’s up?”

“Would you come sit down?”

Kon pushed up into a sitting position, and Bart set down the pair of trousers he had just folded, turning and walking over, sitting on Kon’s lap, arm around his shoulders.

“What’s wrong?” Bart asked, tilting his head, looking concerned.

“I . . . Don’t want to hurt you, but I think you should know?”

Bart pulled back some, his scowl becoming even more concerned.

“I think . . . I think I have feelings for Tim,” Kon said softly, then rushed to continue. “But I don’t intend to do anything about it! I like you! I like being with yo-”

“Wait,” Bart said, holding up a hand, effectively silencing Kon.

Kon blinked at him, feeling worry rising in him in the form of bile in his throat. Bart was silent for a moment, then he started grinning.

“Kon. Kon. Conner!”

“Uh, What?”

“Do you realize what this means!?”

“Uh? No?”

“I’ve had a crush on Tim since I was like, eight! And I’m almost completely sure that Tim has had a crush on me for nearly that long, and that he has one on you now!!!”

“Bart-”

“I can work with this!” Bart exclaimed cheerfully and jumped up.

“Bart, what are you planning?!” Kon exclaimed, feeling more panicked now.

“I’m gonna ask him if he wants to date both of us!”

Bart had already returned to folding clothes, and Kon was left there, staring at Bart’s ass.

“Wait, you’re going to what? ”

“I mean, if you’re okay with it, I suppose? Sorry I should have asked first. . .”

“No it’s-” Kon hesitated, taking a moment to think about it.

He wasn’t . . . Not okay with it? But it was a strange concept to him. . . dating two people at once. A lot of people would consider that to be cheating. Hell, normally Kon would even consider that cheating, but. . .

“Wait so. . . all three of us? Dating each other?” Like I’m dating you and him, and you're dating him and me, and he’s dating you and I?”

“Yeah!”

“And that’s not . . . cheating?”

“Nope, it’s just like dating normally, but this time there’s two people you’re dating, instead of just one.” Bart stopped folding and looked back at Kon. “It’s not a terribly popular thing, and I know why. . . but, it can be the best thing on the planet.”

Kon didn’t respond, so Bart returned to his folding. And they sat there in silence for ten minutes until Bart finished folding and climbed into Kon’s lap so they could start kissing.

“I think . . . If you wanna ask him,” Kon said, after pulling back a bit. “Then ask him. But please don’t make him uncomfortable.”

Bart just grinned and immediately leaned in to kiss him again. “I’ll ask him, privately, later.”

Kon could tell the moment Bart had asked. He had been bathing, and when he got back, they were yelling at each other. Bart and Tim never yelled at each other. . . Okay well it was mostly Tim yelling, and Bart was trying to reason with him. It was clearly not going well, and the moment Kon closed the door, Tim whirled on him.

“And you!” Tim all but thundered. “How could you put him up to this!? Is this some kind of joke to you!? Does your relationship with him really mean that little!?”

“Uhhh,” Kon wisely said, and looked from Tim to Bart. Bart just sighed and shrugged.

“I can’t believe the both of you! I was fine with you two dating! I was willing to live with that, but now this?! Am I a joke to you!?”

Tim was putting on boots as he ranted.

“I’m guessing that’s a no, then?”

“Of course it’s a fucking no!! Gods!” Tim snatched up a cloak and then stormed out the door.

Kon looked at Bart, slowly moving to set down his dirty clothes. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m. . . he’s never yelled like that before.”

“I’m gonna go after him, he can’t be wandering around alone. Are you going to be okay here?”

Bart nodded numbly. Kon quickly strapped on his sword and then walked over to Bart, gently grabbing his chin and tilting his head up.

“It’ll be okay,” he said softly, kissed him, and then hurried out the door.

He found Tim twenty minutes later, sulking in the library. Tim looked up from the books he was glaring murder at and saw Kon, and his face immediately hardened further.

“What do you want?”

“To do my job? I’m supposed to make sure you don’t die, remember?”

Tim just scoffed. He glared at him for a moment, then looked away, sighing. Kon stood nearby, hands on his sword belt, waiting for a good moment to talk.

“Bart didn’t mean to upset you that bad. And he’s pretty shook up that you yelled at him.”

Tim sighed again, shoulders falling a bit. “I know. I shouldn’t have. . . But it was just-”

“Startling?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, I understand. I was pretty taken off guard too.”

Tim leaned against the bookshelf and looked up at him.

“It just won’t work, Conner, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t . . . You don’t need to apologize to me for this. I understand, and honestly didn’t expect it to go well. But. . . “

“Yeah, I’ll talk to him later.”

Tim went silent, and Kon let him, looking around the library. It was fairly empty, except for the old librarian, and Kon was perfectly okay with this. They stayed in there for twenty minutes before Tim decided to leave, slowly walking around the castle, Kon just trailing him lightly.

“Can I ask why you’re so against it?” Kon asked randomly, after a while of walking.

“I just. . . With me being a prince. . . the whole view on homosexuality. I know it’s not . . . bad, but it’s not great either, and this? A relationship between three people? It's unheard of, and for royalty to get involved in one. . . “ Tim just shook his head.

Kon was silent for a bit. “Did you know Bruce and Hal are totally sleeping together?”

“I beg your pardon!?”

“Bruce and his one guard, Hal Jordan, awesome dude, by the way. But they're totally sleeping together.”

Tim slammed on the breaks and turned back to Kon, crossing his arms. “And why do you say this?”

“Because I’m friends with one of Dick’s guards, Kyle, and he told me that Hal mentioned it to him.”

Tim just blinked at him. “Wow okay. Information I didn’t need to know today.”

“Do you wanna know about Dick?”

“Of course.”

“He’s totally sleeping with Wally.”

Tim scoffed. “Everyone knows that, Conner, that’s old news, get with the times.”

“I’m just saying. . . Nearly everyone in your family seems to be into guys. It’s not like any of them are gonna judge you for anything,” Conner said with a shrug, returning to tailing Tim as they started walking again.

Tim didn’t respond, just led Kon back to his room. When they got inside, they found Bart missing.

“He’s probably just finishing a chore,” Kon said softly, shrugging and tugging off his sword and boots, collapsing in bed. Then he looked around. “Wait, Krypto is gone. He probably took him out to pee.”

“Yeah. . . You’re probably right,” Tim said, after having stuck his head in Bart’s room. He walked back and sat on his bed, grabbing at a book and settling in to read.

Bart returned a few minutes later, Krypto on his heels, and glanced between the two, looking a little nervous. He just disappeared into the servants quarters. Tim gave a heavy sigh and stood, following him in. Kon just smiled to himself and waited patiently.

After Bart and Tim had a little talk, things settled, mostly back to normal within the next day or so. There was still some awkwardness, and Bart seemed very timid with showing affection to Kon around Tim, but it was manageable, and they were all still pretty friendly.

Kon assumed the topic had just been dropped, and wasn’t planning to ever bring it up again.

But he wasn’t the one who brought it up, so it was fine.

In fact, Tim was.

There had been an attempt, the other night. It had been peaceful for a long time, and then when they had been out riding, someone had attempted to shoot Tim off his horse. The arrow had barely missed his head and grazed his ear instead, and the second Kon realized what had happened, he had yanked Tim to the ground and covered him with his own body. Tim had been fairly shook up about it, and hadn’t been sleeping well because of it.

But tonight, he woke up screaming, and both Kon and Bart rushed to his bed, Bart immediately throwing himself under the covers to pull Tim in tight, quietly shushing him and trying to calm him. Kon awkwardly sat on the edge of the bed, watching them in the dim moonlight.

“It’s okay, Tim, you’re okay. You’re safe,” Bart reassured, humming his words softly.

Tim let out a shaky sob and buried his face into Bart’s chest, body shaking slightly as he took ragged breaths. Bart looked up at Kon and pointedly looked down at Tim, signalling him to come closer. So Kon did, pushing back the blankets enough that he could slip under them, and then scooted over until he could pull both Tim and Bart against him. Tim tensed for a moment, then relaxed back into him, hips pressing into Kon’s thighs.

It took a bit for Tim’s crying to stop enough that he could talk, and even then he barely pulled his face away from Bart, desperately hugging the ginger.

“What’s wrong, Tim?” Bart asked softly, eyebrows knit together in concern.

“I dreamt. . . “ Tim took another deep, shaky breath, then rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. “I dreamt that Ra’s got a hold of you two, that he was using you against me. . . that he was going to kill you, and then me.”

Bart looked at Kon over Tim, reaching up to lightly push his long black hair back out of his face.

“He’s not going to get you, Tim. Not while I’m still here,” Kon reassured, instinctively putting an arm over Tim’s stomach. Tim grabbed onto it tightly, like it was a lifeline.

“You don’t know that,” Tim breathed out, looking up at him.

“Yes I do. I’m here to protect you, and that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to protect you, even if it means I lose my own life.”

“But why?” Tim asked. “Why would you do that for me?”

“Because I care about you,” Kon answered without hesitating.

Tim blinked up at him, and then suddenly he was surging up, pressing his lips to Kon’s. Kon made a muffled noise of surprise, eyes going wide for a second before they slid close and he lightly pressed back into the kiss, arm tightening over Tim’s stomach. He felt a hand squeeze his forearm and pulled back, looking up at Bart, who was grinning slightly.

“Tim-” Kon breathed out, looking down at him.

“I thought-” Tim squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. “I thought I could get over both of you. I thought I would be fine. . . “

He looked over at Bart next, just looking at him quietly for a moment. Bart grinned back.

“But, damn was I wrong.”

Kon watched him lightly kiss Bart, pulling away from Kon as he pushed a little harder into Bart.

“So this means-” Bart immediately asked, once they had pulled away.

“Yes, I want to try it.”

Bart made a little squeal noise of excitement and grinned at Kon. Kon smiled down, then looked at Tim, who still looked a little shook up.

“Hey. . . Tim, you know I meant what I said, right? I’m here to protect you. You’re safe with me. With us.”

Tim just nodded vaguely, looking at Bart. “Will you sing me a song?”

“Of course!”

Tim settled back against Kon’s chest, while Bart sat up so he could properly sing to them, some soft love song that had Kon drifting off, arm wrapped protectively around Tim. He dozed off to Bart soft singing, and Tim’s gentle breaths. He vaguely remembered Bart slipping underneath one of his arms as well, but then he was out of it, waking up the next morning to just Tim in bed, and Bart already up and working. And Kon couldn’t help but grin to himself as he tucked Tim up against his chest.

This was good.

@core-disaster-week-2020

#timkonbart week #core disaster week #timkonbart #core disaster #tim drake #conner kent #bart allen #queerbutstillhere writes #queerbutstillhere

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headfulloffantasies · 4 years

Text

Birds Fly the Nest

Read on Ao3

Jim Gordon faces the unquenchable interest of the Gotham’s rogues into the romantic life of his daughter

Jim Gordon heard that the Batmobile had soundproofing. That once a villain sat secured in the backseat, Batman drove in brooding silence. Gordon’s police cruiser was not the Batmobile.

Harley Quinn warbled into her hundredth verse of “One Million Bottles of Beer on the Wall” as the car sped towards Arkham at increasing speed. Montoya had a lead foot at the best of times. With a crazy clown singing off key in the back? She became a NASCAR racer.

Gordon twisted in his seat. “Can you please stop?” He ground out at Quinn.

The clown grinned manically. “You’re no fun. I’m entertaining myself.”

Gordon rubbed his aching temples. “If I tell you a story, will you be entertained enough to shut up?”

“Yippee!” Harley bounced and clanked her handcuffs together. “Story time!”

Gordon cast his mind for anything at all to chatter about. “So, my daughter,” he starts. “Brought a new boy home last weekend.”

Montoya met his eye in the mirror. Gordon grimaced.

He continued. “This kid is perfect. Like a glossy magazine, you know? Firm handshake, scholarship awards, good job, good family. But something about him felt odd. You know when you meet someone and you know they aren’t being genuine? And I think I’ve met him somewhere before. So I look him up. He’s a circus freak. Used to perform trapeze with his parents until they got murdered.”

Montoya raised an eyebrow. Harley gripped the caging between her and Gordon, utterly rapt.

Gordon swallowed and went on. “I like the kid, really. But what kind of guy can go through his parents’ murders and still be okay? Something has to be wrong with him, right? How can I let my girl keep seeing a guy like that?”

Harley hummed. “D’you want my professional opinion?”

Gordon faltered, forgetting that Harley had once been a renowned psychiatrist.

“I think,” Harley said. “That Papa Bear is too protective of his little girl. You gotta let a gal have her space. My daddy didn’t let me date. Not one boy ever looked at me my whole life living under daddy’s roof ‘cause they knew what daddy’d do to them if they tried.” Harley sighed. “I ran away from home, did you know that? I wasn’t there when mama died. And I missed daddy’s passing too. You gotta keep those ties if you don’t want to regret them.”

Gordon suddenly viscerally remembered that Harley’s father had killed his wife and gotten the electric chair for it. He swallowed hard. “Right. Thank you, Doctor Quinzel.”

“Oh sugar, call me Harley,” the clown laughed. She rattled the caging. “Are we there yet? Nine hundred thousand ninety- nine bottles of beer on the wall-,”

Gordon groaned and buried his head in his hands.

As the arresting officer, it fell to Gordon to interrogate Harvey Dent once he’d been cuffed to the table in police headquarters.

Gordon set a cup of horrid cop coffee in front of Dent and took his seat across from the gangster.

“Harley says your daughter’s stepping out with some circus freak,” Two Face sneered.

Gordon slumped in his seat. What had possessed him to tell Harley Quinn, gossip extraordinaire, about Barbara and Richard?

“I remember your little girl,” Dent said. “You still keep her photo on your desk?”

“Of course,” Gordon snapped.

“You ever lie to her, Jim?” Dent asked in a low growl. “She ever lie to you?”

A shiver ran down Gordon’s spine. His mind flashed to purple bruises and shoddy excuses. “I don’t want to talk to you about Barbara, Harvey. Let’s talk about your attempted robbery.”

Dent grunted. He leaned his elbows on the table. “You gotta be two-faced about men seeing your girl,” Dent advised. “Smile when she’s in the room and give him the what for when she’s not around.”

“Thank you, Harvey,” Gordon said. “That’s very insightful.”

“If you don’t, he’ll get the idea no one’s watching,” Two Face went on. “Think he can get up to something, if you catch my drift.”

“Harvey,” Gordon forced his voice to remain even. “My daughter is a grown woman. I’m not sabotaging her relationships just because the guy is a freeloader.”

“Freeloader?” Two Face laughed. The sound rasped between the halves of his ruined face. “You let your girl go out with a tramp?”

“No,” Gordon corrected himself. “His family has money. He doesn’t work. He has a trust fund or something.”

“That’s worse,” Two Face hissed. “Nepotism. Elitists!”

Gordon abandoned Dent to his rant. He got up and walked out of the interview room. The door shut on Dent’s shouting.

Honestly, it was Gordon’s own fault. He leaned against the side of the police cruiser while he and Montoya waited for the arresting officer to bring Catwoman out of the museum. He complained to Montoya while they waited, not taking note of the approaching feline criminal with her escort.

“This is the third time we’ve scheduled dinner with Richard, and he bailed every time. Last time, he got called into work. Tonight it was a family emergency. What did I say the first time was?”

“Food poisoning,” Montoya responded automatically.

“Sounds like a jerk,” Catwoman purred.

Gordon spun around. The arresting officer loaded the lady in her black catsuit into Gordon’s car. Gordon shot Montoya a panicked look. She returned a face that said “You started it.”

Gordon got into the passenger’s seat hoping against hope that Catwoman wouldn’t feel up to chatting after her disastrous encounter with Nightwing.

“Tell me more about Richard,” Catwoman suggested.

Gordon groaned. “I regret every word I’ve ever spoken with Harley Quinn.”

“So do I,” Catwoman grinned. “But tell me more anyways.”

“I’m not discussing my daughter’s life with criminals,” Gordon said resolutely into the windshield.

“You’ll tell Harley, but not me?” Catwoman pouted. “I’m hurt, kitten.” She leaned forward. “I’ll tell you this for free. Any man who can’t be bothered to meet his girlfriend’s parents is a cad. Break them off now.”

“I said,” Gordon repeated. “I’m not discussing this with you.”

Catwoman hissed. If she could, Gordon bet she’d dig her claws into his neck. Instead, they drove on in silence.

Gordon placed a hand on a cuffed Edward Nygma and guided him into the back of the police cruiser.

Nygma flashed Gordon a grin over his shoulder. “Riddle me this, Commissioner. What has two sides and has everyone in Arkham talking?”

“What the hell, Ed?” Gordon rubbed his eyes. “I don’t even want to guess.”

“Spoilsport,” Nygma pouted. “I’ll tell you, but only because I am also curious about this scoop. Everyone wants to know about your sweet daughter’s trashy boyfriend.”

It’s like playing that stupid telephone game, Gordon thought. Nothing he said came out right on the other end. “He’s not trashy, Ed. He’s bougie.” Gordon preened at his correct use of the hip word Barbara had taught him.

Ed scoffed. “A classist? You allow your daughter to date a class traitor?”

Gordon leaned his head against the car door. “I don’t want to get into it, Ed. I’ve had a long night.”

“So have I,” Ed shrugged. “Batman kicked my face in and I’m going back to prison. But your little story is much more interesting.”

Transporting Poison Ivy gave Gordon the creeps. She was a literal walking biological weapon. The faster he could get her to Arkham, where they knew how to deal with her, the better. Gordon flipped the sirens on and stamped on the gas. They tore through Gotham, just Gordon and Ivy in the police cruiser.

“So,” Ivy purred from the back seat. “I hear there’s another ginger causing you trouble tonight, Jim.”

Gordon’s hands flexed on the steering wheel. “I’m not talking about it with you.”

“I would never let my daughter date someone I didn’t like.”

“You don’t have a daughter,” Gordon reminded her.

“But if I did-,”

“Heaven forbid it.”

“James, that’s unkind,” Ivy pouted.

“Shove it where the sun don’t shine,” Gordon ground between his teeth.

“Do you fear losing your daughter to another man?” The Scarecrow’s soft voice rose the hairs on the back of Gordon’s neck. Gordon gripped the steering wheel tighter. It was a long drive to Arkham. He’d rather nip this conversation in the bud.

“No,” Gordon bit out.

“Really?” Crane hummed. His handcuffs clinked together. “It would be normal for a man of your position and power to fear losing control of a loved one’s life. Especially one who has been dependent on you since her birth. You raised her. She’s your flesh. Yet she deigns to place her life in the hands of another man. Does that not scare you?”

Gordon ground his teeth. He didn’t answer.

“From what I hear,” Crane continued. “Your daughter’s new man has more money than you’d ever make. More prestige.” He paused. “And more trauma. Does it not scare you to think what kind of monster lies under his skin?”

“He’s not a monster,” Gordon insisted.

Crane chuckled. “We’re all monsters, Commissioner.”

Gordon swallowed hard.

“I’m shocked you let her date him.”

Gordon slammed on the brakes. Traffic screeched around the police cruiser. Gordon spun in his seat. He stuck his finger in Crane’s face. “Listen up. I want you to deliver a message down your Arkham grapevine. Word for word, got it? My daughter is her own woman. She makes her own choices. I am not her keeper, her warden, or her owner. And if even one of you could get it through your fat skulls that people are not puppets to control, then I would weep for joy.”

Gordon got the call just as he was leaving the office. Victor Zsasz was terrorising Nightwing and Batgirl downtown. Gordon grabbed his coat and raced for his car.

He arrived just as the ambulance pulled up. Gordon’s stomach dropped. Zsasz had a terrifying body count under his belt. If anyone needed the ambulance… Gordon shuddered. He unclipped his gun, ready to storm the building.

The door flung open. A hogtied Victor Zsasz tumbled down the stairs into the street. The other officers on the scene swarmed him, shouting and making the arrest.

Gordon looked up. Batgirl stood proudly at the top of the steps, her hands on her hips and chest puffed out. She noticed Gordon standing there watching. She waved him over.

Gordon trudged up the steps. A dark smear of blood stained Batgirl’s purple sleeve.

“Commissioner,” Batgirl saluted Gordon.

“Good work,” Gordon said.

Batgirl swallowed hard. “I need your help. Quietly.”

Gordon agreed without thinking. “What can I do?”

Batgirl grabbed his arm and pulled him with her back into the building. She led him through a series of business offices into a janitor’s closet. Even in the dark, Gordon noticed the drops of dark liquid on the floor.

Batgirl pushed aside a rack of cleaning supplies.

Nightwing slumped against the wall, his legs spread over the floor. He clutched a wound in his side bleeding all over his uniform. He didn’t look up when Batgirl knelt at his side.

Gordon cursed. “Is he-?”

“He’ll be okay,” Batgirl promised.

Gordon wasn’t so sure. The blue bird emblem on Nightwing’s chest hardly rose at all with his breathing. An overwhelming amount of blood pooled underneath him across the linoleum floor.

Gordon reached for his radio to call the EMTs in. Batgirl snagged his wrist.

“He can’t go to a hospital,” she said.

“But-,”

Batgirl interrupted. “If I can get him home, he’ll be fine. I need your help getting him to the Batmobile. Please.”

Gordon nodded. He passed a shaking hand over his brow. “Yeah, alright.”

Gordon crouched and lifted one of Nightwing’s arms over his shoulder. Batgirl kept her hands pressed against the bloody hole in his abdomen. Gordon couldn’t stop his mind from swapping the young man with Barbara. What if it was her bleeding out on the floor? Would he so callously help a vigilante sneak her out the back door to receive questionable medical assistance?

Together they half carried Nightwing out to the alley behind the building. The legendary Batmobile sat purring on the asphalt. The chrome gleamed under the streetlights. The canopy of the Batmobile slid open when Batgirl pressed her hand to it.

Gordon grunted as he helped lift Nightwing into the passenger seat. The kid roused enough to meet Gordon’s eye through his mask.

“Hey, Mister Gordon,” he said.

“It’s Commissioner to you,” Gordon grouched good naturedly.

Batgirl hopped into the driver's seat.

Gordon reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “I’m proud of you,” he said.

She quirked a smile. “Thanks Dad.”

He wished fervently he could hug her right now. But Gotham had eyes everywhere. He settled for another squeeze of her caped shoulder. “Just take care of your boy. Tell him this isn’t an excuse to miss Sunday dinner.”

Barbara’s laugh as she drove off was worth it.

#batman #batgirl #nightwing #jim gordon #commissioner gordon #arkham rogues #gotham rogues #riddler #two face #scarecrow #catwoman #poison ivy #selina kyle #barbara gordon #dick grayson #fanfic #fanfiction

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meterokinesis · 4 years

Text

Caged Birds Still Sing

Read it on AO3

Prompt: explosion, kidnapping, tearful smile

Summary: Tim's been kidnapped before. He doesn't know if he's getting out this time.

It had been three days since Tim had been kidnapped by the League of Assassins. This time was significantly less nice than the last, and then he’d been missing an organ.

He was in the same lavish rooms, with their silk sheets and gilded mirrors, but the lock on the door had been changed. Where Tim had once been allowed to come and go, he was now stuck here. The door locked from the outside, and the only other point of escape was the large balcony, where iron bars arched overhead. He was a Red Robin in a golden cage.

Meals came at regular times. A crossword puzzle came with his breakfast, and on his second day a copy of War and Peace came with lunch. He’d been stripped of all his trackers and gadgets when he got here, which had been replaced with the silks of the League.

Tim was well acquainted with kidnapping. Having been the only heir to the Drake fortune, he had been kidnapped twice as a child, once when he was three and once when he was eight. He didn’t remember much, other than the shrieks of police sirens when he’d finally been found. Once he started as Robin, the kidnappings began in earnest. He was never gone for longer than a night or two, and Bruce always saved him. He was Batman, that was what he did.

So Tim bided his time, sipping ginger tea and doing crossword puzzles and reading Tolstoy. Soon, Bruce would come.

On the fourth day, Tim received his first visitor. He was on the balcony, taking his breakfast under the bright desert sun. He looked up to see Ra’s al Ghul, the reflection of his jewelry practically blinding against the shadowy backdrop of Tim’s chambers. Tim took another bite of toast.

“Hello, Detective,” he drawled as Tim squinted up at him.

“Oh, hello,” Tim said quietly. “Have you made up your mind on whether or not you’re killing me yet?” Ra’s didn’t laugh, but Tim didn’t expect him to. He wasn’t known for his sense of humor.

“See, there’s only so many reasons you’d keep me here,” Tim continued. “You don’t need intel, because you already know everything about us. You don’t need money, because you’re richer than God. I’m either here because you want to trade me for something, you need me to code, or you still want that heir.”

A venomous smile spread on Ra’s face. “Clever boy.” The words stilled Tim, his toast abandoned on his plate. “Now, follow me.”

Ra’s swept out of the room and Tim followed, keeping sure to hold his head high. His mother would be proud. Even being led to his doom, he wouldn’t let the facade fall. As they walked through the Cradle, Tim refused to meet the eyes of the assassins that milled about. He could feel their gazes tear at him, but he let the wounds pile up.

Ra’s study was incredibly simple, but nice all the same. It looked like an older version of every board member’s home office. Tim despised it.

Ra’s gestured for him to sit in one of the stiff chairs, and Tim complied. The head assassin remained standing, his fingertips brushing over the manuscripts that lined the walls.

“I feel as if we know each other well enough by now, Detective. You spent quite a bit of time with us before you decided to defect. You know that I do not play, I win.” Tim stared ahead, trying his best to keep his face blank.

“So, here is what you will do. And you will do it, Detective. You will notify Batman that you are turning in your cape to work for me. You will tell him not to search for you.”

Tim cleared his throat. “And if I don’t?”

Ra’s smirked, as if he expected the question. “Then I will instruct the assassins following your civilian friends to put bullets in their skulls. I don’t believe Mr. Fox will appreciate losing two of his daughters in one day. I know Commissioner Gordon wouldn’t be a fan. Nor Ms. Ives.”

Tim nodded shallowly. “So it’s them or me?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Why exactly do you want me so badly? Why not Damian or Bruce?”

Ra’s laughed darkly. “Because your spirit will be so much more fun to break.”

___________

That night, when he was safely back in his beautiful cage, Tim began his letter.

Dear Bruce (and Dick and Jason and Babs and Cass and Damian and Steph),

Since my return to Gotham, something has been missing in my life. I’ve decided to come back to the League of Assassins in an attempt to solve that emptiness. This is of my own volition. Do not come looking for me, I do not want to be found. I love you all.

Always yours,

Tim

He fell asleep watching the moon shine through iron bars, wondering if this is how every criminal he ever put away felt.

___________

It took two days for Ra’s to start giving Tim tasks around the Cradle. Small ones, mostly filing. Some putting pieces together. It felt as if even with all of Ra’s power over life and death, he didn’t know much about order. Tim slogged through the work, waiting for time to tick down. He fixed small loopholes and backdoors and monitored agents in the field. It was easy work, at least when Tim forgot about the trained killer hovering just outside his door.

At night, he scratched out notes on the pages of Tolstoy. Short snippets, like “I’m sorry” and “Thank you” and “I always loved you.” They’d never see the light of day, but they made him feel better.

During his free time, he fixed the computer wiring and did odd electrical tasks around the Cradle. It was as if no one there knew how to use a soldering iron. As much as the menial tasks frustrated him, they kept his hands busy and kept Ra’s off his back.

___________

Rescue came two weeks after Tim Drake was kidnapped. He was in the main hall when the alarms of the breach sounded. Assassins streamed around him, all headed to their respectful stations. Tim headed to the control room.

The control room was small and filled with screens. A skylight gave the tiniest bit of natural light twenty feet above. Tim busied himself with the controls, monitoring the cameras and putting the last minute details on his plan.

Rapping came from the skylight, and Tim looked up to see Steph waving at him. He hesitated for half a moment, then nodded. She shattered the glass and rappelled down, landing with a quiet thud.

“Tim, here,” she whispered and pressed a comms unit into his hand. He nodded and placed it in his ear.

“I need all of you to listen to me. You need to leave,” he began, his voice hoarse from disuse.

“We’re not leaving you-” Dick butted in, but Tim cut him off.

“You have to. If you don’t, civilians die. People we love die. I-I can’t let that happen.” Stephanie placed a hand on his arm, but he shrugged it off. “I have a plan, but I can’t pull it off if you’re here.”

“We’ll let you take point on this, Red Robin.” Bruce’s low voice calmed the nerves racing through Tim’s veins. If Batman said it would be okay, it would be okay.

“You have three minutes to evacuate,” Tim finished, then slipped the comm unit out of his ear.

“Tim…” Stephanie whispered, reaching out for him. This time, he let her hold his hand, running his thumb over the seams of her gloves.

“Hey Stephie,” he murmured, trying his best to muster a smile. “You have to go, okay? You have to be a hero. For me.” She shook her head, opened her mouth to say something, but he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“Go,” he urged, and she nodded. With one last squeeze of her hand, she was grappling back through the skylight. He watched as she disappeared, and tried not to let his heart break too much.

He readied the plan, fingers flying faster than he could remember ever doing before. Hands trembling, he placed the comms unit back in his ear just as it crackled to life.

“We’re all out, Red Robin. We’re a kilometer away, in one of the nearby caves. What’s your ETA?”

Tim smiled shakily. “I’m afraid I won’t be joining you. The Cradle’s undergoing self-destruction. I set up the protocol while Ra’s thought I was doing busy work.”

“Tim, you can’t be serious.” For the first time in years, Tim thought he heard fear in Bruce’s voice. “We can still get you out.”

“Someone needs to make sure it goes through with no interference. If Ra’s wants me so bad, he can have me.” Tim suddenly became aware of the tears rolling down his cheeks. “Thank you for saving me. Thank you for loving me. Now it’s time to let me save you.”

Despite the layered protests in his ear, Tim pressed the figurative big red button. As tears stained his face, he smiled. At least he would go out saving people. That’s all he had ever wanted to do.

The numbers ticked down on the screen. 8… 7… 6…

“I love you,” Tim rasped.

3… 2… 1…

The world went white, and then there was nothing.

#whumptober 2020 #my writing #tim drake #kidnapping tw #explosion tw #ra's al ghul #bruce wayne #dick grayson #stephanie brown #batman #nightwing #batgirl #red robin

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j-diamond · 3 years

Note

Love your writing! Could I get a Gotham ship? Please. I am straight 5'0 tall ginger haired female. I love just generally having fun I have high energy. Enjoy a good laugh and making people laugh. 'the life of the party' type personality. But short tempered when people tick me off. THANK YOU SO MUCH in advance.

I originally thought Jerome, but it was probably cause of the hair. Also I think you and I could vibe.

Victor Zsasz

It was because you liked Penguin’s lounge. Well originally it was Fish’s and she loved you, who else could light up the party the way you did? Then it was Penguin’s, and he realized she was right. So you spent most your days there, paid to party and make his club looked better. A win-win-win situation. IT started with a short comment. It ended with him on the ground your hands around his throat before he could pull his gun from his holster. All that suffice to say he was into it and you, though he’d probably never admit the latter. in the end you forgave him, and he swore he’d never press your temper again (that was a lie). He loved the way your eyes lit up when you were enjoying yourself and he loved the ways that light would burn down the room when you had enough. He founds himself gravitating towards you, you were the sun to him, and he honestly wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Special Story

“Yeah but imagine if Jerome hadn’t died? Penguin would probably have pissed his pants.” you somehow managed through the laughter, “I heard he literally teamed up with Jim Gordon to try and find a way to stop him. Literal madness.” You continue to laugh as you finish your drink. You had been talking to a random customer,

“Can confirm, I saw the whole thing.” Victor said as he sat next to you. You watched as the guys smile quiver upon Victor’s arrival,

“Don’t mind him, he’s actually quite harmless.” You say, still enjoying yourself, “I’ve walked past him pretending to be Professor X in the back kitchen.” The guy snorts and you can feel Victor’s eyes on you. You hop of the stool ignoring him, “How about we-”

“You’re short.” He blurts out, and you sigh, rolling your eyes,

“Not short. Five feet tall.” you clarify, not wanting to let your mood diminish, and yet he persisted,

“Five feet IS short.” he turns to Victor, “Right? I mean five foot four is short?” Victor looks him up and down and smiles,

“and you’ve dug your own grave.” he smiles slowly forms into a smirk,

“I don’t get it it, you’re short so what? it’s not like a called you a munchkin, I mean not out loud ri-” He stops once he sees your eyes. Even without having moved a muscle he begins to cowers, and you face scrunches in disappointment.

“A waste space, not even worth it.” You say as you turn and walk in the opposite direction, Victor trailing behind you,

“How come you never stare at me like that?” He asks, and you scoff,

“Because you’d like it too much.” you joke. he pauses and you turn to face him, wondering why’d he’d stop only to find yourself face to face with him.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m hot just thinking about it.” he smirks and you can’t help but silently laugh with him.

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silver-snow-writes · 4 years

Text

The thing with Jaytim and a lot of cats

This is a not! fic campfire I did on a discord server that I’m porting over here, I hope y’all enjoy the fluff. @inkyubus and @salazarastark helped a bit towards the end

———————————————————————

Okay. Tim is canonically a cat person and it has annoyed the hell out of me that Tim never got pets but Damian gets a menagerie, so I always give him a cat when given the opportunity by plot

Tim finds a pregnant kitty on his fire escape, and takes her in. He’s calling on Selina and googling everything he can after processing that oh right this is going to be a big change, and goes out to the pet store incognito to grab supplies

But he’s at the Crime Alley theater house apartment so Jason is out doing an early evening patrol, spots him, and gets curious. What’s he doing around here in civvies?

Jason tails him to the nearest pet shop, and back to his house, where he spots him playing with soon-to-be mama cat. He wants to be mad that Tim’s in *his* territory, clearly living here, but it’s hard to get too pissed when he’s giving a happy kitty belly rubs and smiling like that.

Jason’s seen him do confident Robin grin, dangerous “I’m gonna fuck you up” battle smirk, calming civilians smile, even polite Wayne heir curve of the lips. But smiling joyfully like this, eyes uncovered, clearly laughing a little as the cat demands treats? Something goes warm in his chest

Meanwhile Tim is feeling tired and stressed bc his life is a busy exhausting and traumatizing mess lately but it’s hard to think about the bad stuff when he has mama cat and her litter to think about. She’s clearly been a pet before and is so friendly and cuddly that it breaks his heart to think someone abandoned her. He gets her to the vet to check for a chip and get her looked over, and when there’s no chip that cements his decision that fuck it, he’s keeping her

He totally names her Arwen bc there is no way in hell a kid that was a DM for DC’s D&D equivalent isn’t a fan of LoTR. Arwen has to get mites and fleas removed but once she’s flea free she’s sharing his bed

Jason. Is still keeping an eye on him, subtly. Staying out of range of Tim’s security systems and Babs’s cameras and telling himself it’s all because he can’t just let the Pretender go unsupervised in his turf. And sure that’s part of it. But Tim’s actually pretty good about sticking to patrolling his own territory and that helps somewhat

And well. Jason regrets what went down during that mess after Bruce died. Was kinda shitty of him to repay Tim letting him out of jail by stabbing him in the chest and all. He’s a big awkward goober dealing with some guilt now that he’s more settled, so he has trouble figuring out how he should approach Tim and let him know that Jason is aware that he’s holing up in Crime Alley

He’s gotta do something eventually, right? Ah well. Can’t hurt to just. Watch him, every now and then. See him through the windows being a goofy new cat dad and a disaster of a teenage vigilante

(Jason, honey, things really have come full circle)

Eventually things get set in motion. LoS assassins attack Tim’s apartment, Arwen runs away bc scared kitty, Jason jumps in to help fight the assassins and then they go track down the poor baby. And some bonding and pining bc Jason is developing such a crush and also hot damn Tim fighting and winning is a sight to see

Tim is understandably wary about Jason but willing to give him the benefit of the doubt when he’s being helpful and even offering to assist him in finding Arwen. She’s due to give birth soon!

(It’s been about a month now and she was already about midway through when Tim first found her. Domestic cats are pregnant around 57-65 days, so around two months)

They end up running around asking the ladies of the night and various others if they’ve seen a pregnant long-haired tabby cat. Eventually they go back to Tim’s apartment as dawn is breaking, only to find Arwen is on his fire escape again and in labor

They get her inside, clean up, and Tim sets her down in his bathtub, petting her soothingly and fussing over her. Jason is still helping out and he just goes with it, gratefully accepting a can of Zesti and medical supplies

I foster cats irl so I know how this tends to go pretty well. Within an hour of labor starting Arwen will finish pushing out kitten #1 and each of the rest will come around 15-20 minutes apart. She’ll clean them up and eat the placentas, which is gross but perfectly healthy, and soon enough they’ll be nursing from her while she purrs and rests

Tim looked into it and well. He’s been around human deliveries before and this was honestly so much quicker that it was a relief

(He was there when Steph gave birth and has likely helped deliver babies as Robin bc pregnant women can and will go into labor when shocked, like being held hostage or getting hurt in an accident)

He sits back with a sigh and pays his full attention to Jason now. He hasn’t been fully ignoring him persay, still keeping an eye and an ear on him just in case, but he’s been. Surprisingly nice and nothing but helpful, Tim isn’t sure what to think of it. Jason’s staring at the kittens but turns to look at Tim when he notices that the younger vigilante is assessing him

There’s a long moment of increasingly awkward silence as they stare at each other while the newborn kittens are mewling and Arwen’s drifting off to sleep. Jason is the one that finally breaks the tension, rubbing the back of his neck and looking back at the kitties.

“So. Pretty cute cats you got here”

Jay immediately cringes inside because yeah, it’s true that the cats are cute as heck, but c’mon Todd address the scenario

Here’s inky’s contributions:

"yeah real cute when they're covered in blood and placenta" tim retorts and then wants to smack himself.

"it's ok. they're still adorable through the bodily fluids," jason's smile is so fond when he looks down at the kittens tucked tight into the curve of arwen's body that tim thinks he must be dreaming

he's never seen jason with an expression even close to fond or happy since he came back. jason is stroking arwen's tail with just the tip of a finger, smoothing down the crooked fur.

(Back to me again)

He hasn’t seen him look so happy since he was. Since he was Robin, and Tim was just a fanboy with a camera

(Inky)

"you like cats?" the question breaks jason out of his reverie.

"they were just always around. alley cats are cranky fucks, but city strays are never that afraid of humans. they'd come around and beg for scraps until someone chased them off."

tim hummed, scritching arwen between the ears. "you were pretty good with her just now."

there was a tiny flush on jason's cheeks. "might have invited one in for a few days when no one was home. chased her off before she could get too attached."

(Me)

“I always wanted a cat, but my parents hated them and Alfred said no. I found Arwen on my fire escape hiding from a stray dog and I just had to take her inside”

Eventually Tim offers Jason a cup of tea and Jason asks about the cats more. Arwen’s name comes up and leads into a talk about Lord of the Rings, bc they both read the series and loved it. And a debate comes up over something they saw differently but it’s still friendly

Maybe Tim liked the movies’ take better than Jason did and they argue the merits vs flaws of the adaption. But they both agree that the Hobbit movies are way less faithful to the book

By the time they’re done with the tea and their conversation the sun is up and Jason ducks out to go home, feeling butterflies in his stomach at the memory of Tim smiling and laughing at him. Tim is reminded why he used to have a crush, but still very watchful bc he thought things were getting better before BftC happened

He goes to sleep and wakes up to Arwen balefully glaring at him bc her breakfast is late

Tim got injured during the LoS fight and aggravated it while looking for his poor kitty, so in the end he’s not really up for patrol that night. He stays in his apartment and alternates between looking over case files on his laptop and checking on Arwen and her babies. He lets Oracle know he’s off rotation for the night and to let Cass patrol his territory bc she’s visiting, and settles in to do some hacking to find out why Ra’s sent the assassins last night and talking with Lonnie about Unternet developments

He’s in the middle of hacking a phone’s datastream to find footage taken by a teenager that noticed skulking shadows outside the windows when there’s a knock on his window, and he checks his security system expecting one of the Bats to have gotten past his sensors. It’s Jason out on the fire escape with a couple of bags in hand. Tim is confused, but decides to roll with it again. He’s just hoping that the duffle isn’t full of heads

Turns out Jason went looking and found the League’s newest base in Gotham, liberating some paper files, a couple choice weapons, several USB drives, and a laptop that had belonged to the squad leader. He offers to let Tim work with him on this because he wants “those sycophantic assassins out of my territory dammit” and obviously Tim’s involved anyway

They both check on the kittens every now and then. They’re still too little to be doing much but nursing, sleeping, and crying, but god are they precious. And Arwen is a tired but proud mama cat

Now let’s see...Arwen’s a long-haired brown tabby with green eyes (not at all based on my baby Zelda, of course *shhh*). The kittens will be named after the Hobbits—Frodo the black kitten with big blue eyes, Sam the ginger tabby, Merry is white with golden patches, and Pippin is the tiny little tabby runt that mewls loudest

At one point Jason picks them all up and makes a joke while carrying the four of them that they're taking the hobbits to Isengard. It makes Tim snort and then wince bc the injury that kept him in was to his ribs

Tim gets sick. Not like immediately but a couple days to a week or two in, and Jason ends up playing rough but sweet nurse while Tim tries to hide that he’s ill from the Bats. Maybe the ribs issue leads to him getting a cold that nearly turns nasty bc no spleen plus two incidents of death plague and numerous other things mean his immune system’s wonky

Tim’s a stubborn little shit who won’t stay in bed unless Jason picks up Arwen and the babies to put them on the bed with him. He’s not cruel enough to move the babies when they’re sleeping on him, is he? But he can still glare at Jason

Jason might sneak a few pictures. For blackmail, he tells himself. Sure Jason, we believe you. It’s certainly not because it’s adorable and makes you get the warm fuzzies

It feels significantly less adorable when Tim pukes in the trash can and drips snot everywhere but the bedhead and flushed face and some semi-coherent feverish babbling about Star Trek and ornithology helps

Jason remembers Alfred’s cooking lessons and puts them to use, Tim lets out an obscene moan when he starts eating the soup that makes Jason choke on his own spit like a dork

“Did you get this from Alfred? It tastes just like his!”

“Yeah, he taught me how to cook, before...y’know.” Jason is very proud of himself for remembering it correctly, if a bit sad that he hasn’t spoken to Alfred since before he died

“Oh.” Tim blinks owlishly at him, unsure how to respond. “Well. You did a way better job than I would have.”

Arwen chooses that moment to demand attention, meowing stridently and rubbing her face against his hand until he goes along with it and scratches lightly under her chin

———

And that’s all, folks. Will eventually turn this into a proper fic and give it an ending, but I hope y’all enjoy it as is for the moment

#Tim Drake #Jason Todd #Red Robin #Red Hood #Jaytim #slowburn #catfic #fluff #cats #DC comics #Batfamily #my writing #not!fic #fanfiction

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justfangirlthings2003 · 4 years

Text

I Loved And I Loved And I - Hanahaki AU

WARNINGS: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH

This is probably the saddest thing I’ve ever written sooo sorry.

AO3 link here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24196216

NOTES:

So Hanahaki is a very uncommon disease. Like, it was about normal in the past but it died out in the nineteenth/twentieth century. However, it is possible to get but is very very highly unlikely (like 0.00001% of the population have it) so doctors have been taught how to perform the surgery. It is still a very well-known disease.

For the sake of the plot, you can only have the surgery if you give your full consent (because Bruce seems like the type of person to have the surgery done on his son even if they don’t want it - he’ll do whatever it takes to keep them alive)

I’ve messed up the timelines a lot just so that I can have the Batboys being good bros (but it is an AU fanfic and like Thawne says in the Flash TV Series: The Timeline is malleable)

Also the Invasion happened but Wally survived because I said so.

When Wally West entered Dick Grayson’s life, he did so in a whirlwind of colour. Dick remembered it clear as day. He was standing around in the Watchtower, twitching in his place. Bruce told him beforehand that he would be meeting Kid Flash that night and as excited as he was that he was going to be meeting a potential new friend, he was filled with anxiety. The kids at school, the rich people that attended Bruce’s galas and the people at the Gotham City Juvenile Delinquent Centre all hated him - called him names like “Gypsy boy” and “Circus Freak” because of his Romani background, tanned complexion and thick accent - so why would someone with literal superpowers like him? Then it happened: the room was filled with reds and golds and oranges - lighting up like a blazing inferno - and when the colours died down, all he could see was a red haired ten year old wearing gold and scarlet and a bright grin. When their eyes met, Dick knew that Kid Flash was going to be special.

_____

Dick was fourteen years old when he realised it. He was lying on his bed, hair mussed and wearing his favourite elephant print pyjamas with mismatched canary yellow and crimson socks, telling his parents about his day. It became kind of a ritual for him to either sit cross-legged in front of the Flying Graysons poster that was pressed protectively by a bulletproof sheet of glass, clutching Zitka against his chest, or to just lay on his Egyptian cotton sheet, just staring at the ceiling as he recounted his day. He was at the part where he and Wally were sitting on a park bench, eating ice cream when he was suddenly struck by an image of his best friend smiling at him with windswept hair. How the late afternoon sun caught on the edges of his ginger hair, embroidering it with gold. How his emerald eyes, framed by amber lashes, suddenly looked much more captivating, more beautiful, and Dick wanted their green gaze on him at all times. He was suddenly struck by the urge to grab Wally’s cheeks, to trace the pads of his thumbs along his galaxy of freckles and kiss him until -

Wait, what?

Did he seriously think about Wally like that? About kissing him? Wallace Rudolph West - his best friend - the guy that ran into a wall the first time they met, the guy who makes terrible science puns and flirts with anyone that moves and thinks nine times out of ten with his stomach than his head and is smart and loyal and funny and kind and the most amazing person Dick has ever met.

Uh oh. He’s in trouble.

_____

The trouble with falling in love with your best friend is knowing that nothing would change but everything will. If they started dating, they would still have movie nights, eat terrible junk food and spend hours on end playing video games but if Dick confessed and Wally didn’t reciprocate then he ruins one of the best relationships he’s ever had just because of a few hormones. And - oh God - what if Wally feels guilty? What if Wally thought that he was leading Dick on, making him think that he liked him like that? What if he started beating himself up for breaking Dick’s heart?

No.

Dick would just have to stay silent. To just hope that his attraction with his (absolutely amazing in every way) best friend was just a silly little teenage crush and will just go away in time. After all, Batman says that the mission comes first.

___

“Hey, Dick.”

“Yeah, Wally.”

“We’re gonna be bestest friends forever and ever, right.”

“‘Course we are. Why wouldn’t we be?”

“D’ya pinky promise?”

“What’s a pinky promise?”

“It’s what the kids do at school. It’s when you put your pinky fingers together and make a promise and you must never ever break it.”

“Why? Do you die if you do?”

“No, I don’t think so. But it’s just really really bad if you do. Like stepping on a puppy’s tail bad. So do ya wanna do it.”

“‘Course I do.”

“To being bros forever.”

Dick smiled at the ten year old in front of him as he interlocked their pinkies, “Bros forever.”

___

“Yo, Dick, I need your help,” Wally said to him after the Team had completed a mission in New York where this generic mad scientist villain was using robots to terrorize the city and commit crimes. Wally managed to nab a damaged drone as a souvenir and now Dick was in the process of reassembling it and turning it into a robot that shoots out chocolate sauce. Wally was adorably confused when he looked over the acrobat’s plans but Dick told him that it was going to be asterous.

There’s another thing about falling in love with your best friend: you can’t exactly escape them. You spend time with them everyday which makes you notice things: like how their eyes crinkle at the sides when they smile, how their voice always goes up around three octaves when they’re embarrassed, how they always bite their bottom lip when they’re nervous. Dick always noticed these things about everyone, Bruce had him doing character profiles since he first started training as Robin (no, seriously. The day he met the League, he was told to give a full analysis of their characters, as well as possible strengths and weaknesses and ways to take them down, the moment he returned home. He was eight) so that he could always find out everything he needed to know about a person within ten seconds, but earlier he just noticed them - now he noticed them and it made him feel all kinds of butterflies in his stomach.

“Names, KF,” Dick chided without looking up from where he was turning a screw, regardless of the fact that they were in his room that was encased with 20 cm of lead so no one with super-hearing could figure out their identities.

“Oops, sorry, Rob. Anyway, I need your help.”

“Shoot.”

“I wanna ask out Artemis.”

Dick almost dropped his screwdriver. He looked at his best friend, who was standing by the door of his room. That red hue that covered his cheeks was so adorable that Dick barely resisted the urge of getting up and kissing the daylights out of him. But wait, no. Artemis. Right, Wally wants to ask out Artemis, not him. Honestly, he could see it. They were always trading insults with no real heat. He guessed all of that teasing was unresolved romantic attraction, a courting ritual for superheroes - Catwoman has always had a bantering relationship with Batman.

“Okay, why are you here then?”

“I don’t really know how to ask out girls.”

“You flirt with M’gann all the time.”

“Yeah, flirt. Not ask out. Or like, date.” (Date. Why does that word hurt so much?)

“Neither do I.”

“Yeah, me neither.”

“You’re the son of a playboy billionaire. You must know something.”

“Well… (Dick? Dick? What are you doing?) You could practice on me.” (What?! Why the hell would you say that, Grayson?)

“Al-alright then,” Wally let out a deep exhale and strode directly in front of Dick with a smirk on his face, “So, ughh, hey. Wanna go out for ice cream later or something? (Yes. Yes, God, yes.) Yeah, that felt right. I think I’m gonna go ask her now. Thanks, Rob. You’re the best!”

When Wally hugged him, all he wanted to do was melt into that comforting warmth and stay there forever.

___

Batman made sure to prepare him for everything - how to survive kidnapping if you’ve lost your sight, what to do if you’re stranded in the middle of nowhere with limited supplies, where to go if the League had been compromised by their evil alternate dimension counterparts (apparently something happened before he came into the picture, something about a good Lex Luthor and the Crime Syndicate?) - but he could never have been prepared for his first heartbreak.

Dick was no stranger to pain; he likes to think of pain as some sort of old friend - in a weird, twisted way - because it’s the only thing in his life that was constant. The only thing that he could rely on to always be there for him, that would never truly leave him. Yes, he knew that that mindset was unhealthy, but he held onto it because to get rid of pain was like getting rid of a shadow - impossible and only attainable in absolute darkness, when you’ve lost all sense of direction.

Dick walked into the communal area, ready to have a fun-filled day with his best bro in the universe. Ever since Wally and Artemis had gotten together, all of their bro-time had seemed to be on the back burner: afternoons spent with Dick hunched over pizza and trading pixelated blows on Barry and Iris’ TV were replaced with movie dates with Artemis, hanging out in the park with him with trips with her to the mall, playing basketball in the court in the Manor gardens with days spent at diners and cafes with her - hell, he can’t even sit next to him because everytime he entered a room where Wally was, she was snuggled up next to him with her head on his shoulder (the same shoulder Dick used to cry on after a nightmare). He longed for the days the two of them would have karaoke sessions, heads banging vigorously up and down as they strummed their air guitars like their lives depended on it and screaming old 80s bops until their throats ached but even when they were together it was like all of the red head’s attention was on her, what with him on his phone either texting her every five minutes or having hour long conversations or simply just directing every conversation to be about her (“Hey Dick, where do you think I should Artemis for date night?”, “God, why does she always talk about my eating habits? I’m a speedster - I need the extra energy for my enhanced metabolism. Girls, honestly.”, “Oh my god, Dick, you should’ve seen the look on Arty’s face when I hit her during our date at the paintball arena. You were right, she loved it.”). The more time he spent with her, the more he was pushing Dick away with a sheepish “maybe later, dude” and Dick gets it. Artemis was a brilliant fighter, a real asset to the team. She wasn’t broken and had mental breakdowns and panic attacks at inconvenient times - it’s no wonder Wally prefered to be with her. He always thought that maybe the only reason Wally was with him was because of his sad backstory - the poor orphaned circus boy who watched his parents die at eight years old - it was enough to make anyone take pity on him. So he just did what anyone would do, he smiled and nodded (he’s a performer - has been since he’s learned how to walk - acting happy is just another role he has to play, another way of keeping his audience interested), gave his advice and hoped and prayed that it was enough to make sure he wasn’t left in Wally’s dust.

“Hey, Wally,” he greeted, walking up to them. Normally, before the days of Artemis, he would leap onto the couch cushions from behind and spring into a forwards flip from his hands and land on his feet in front of Wally with a smile but the last time he did that the blonde archer got annoyed so he stopped.

“Oh, Robin. Hey there, what’s up?” Wally asked as Artemis shifted her position so that she could place an arm around his torso, pressing herself against him more firmly.

“Well, I was wondering if you were ready for our hangout.” Dick replied casually, pulling out his cool cocky Boy Wonder persona when in reality he knew he was going to be blown off again (You never used to pretend in front of him before), “I’ve got ten different Barbie movies lined up and two boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts with your name on them.”

“Uh, actually, man, I can’t make it today,” Wally said, his tone apologetic, “I already promised Arty that I’d take her to the Weapons Museum today. I was going to tell you after I bought the tickets but I guess it just slipped my mind.”

“Wait, you guys watch Barbie movies,” Artemis piped in amusement, her nose scrunched as she gave a huff of laughter, “aren’t those for like little six year old girls that wear tutus and ribbons around their pigtails and dream of being fairy princesses when they grow up.”

“Yeah, we do,” Dick didn’t mean to sound defensive but he didn’t appreciate her tone. His masculinity wasn’t so toxic and fragile that he’d deny liking something that was classed as feminine - he grew up in a travelling circus, where gender roles didn’t matter (the bearded lady back at Haly’s was one of the most awesome people eight year old Dick knew). He loved watching The Island Princess with Wally - he totally related to Rosa trying so hard to please the upper class royal families despite not fitting in and being called ‘uncivilised’. Plus it had a talking elephant, which was awesome.

Wally cocked his head and made a noise at the back of his throat, “It’s less of us watching them and more of us laughing at how cliche the plots are.”

Dick looked at him. Is that what he really thought? He remembered belting out ‘I’m just a girl like you’ with Wally as Princess and the Pauper playing on the giant IMAX screen in the Wayne Manor theatre room. Did he secretly hate it? Just pretended to have fun to spare Dick’s feelings?

“I’m really sorry, dude,” Wally said, looking uncomfortable as he rubbed the back of his neck, “We can hang out tomorrow or something, right?” Poor Wally, he sounded so genuinely sorry. Dick didn’t want to be a burden, didn’t want their hangouts to be a chore Wally must fulfil. So he just smirked.

“Seriously, bro, I get it. I’ve got some stuff to do at home as well anyways. Been meaning to touch up on my aerial skills for some time actually. Now you guys have a fun time. I’m gonna be bob bob bobbin’ along.”

He’s happy for Wally, he really is. What sort of best friend would he be if he wasn’t? When Wally is with Artemis, he seems joyful, light, giving her smiles that he only used to give him. Wally deserved to be happy and if he was happier with Artemis, even by an atom’s amount, then who was he to deny him that?

——

One of the reasons Dick was at the top of his Advanced Mathematics class and award-winning Mathlete was because he genuinely loved Maths (and being at the top of everything was one of Bruce’s expectations). Back home, at the circus, he remembered having math teachers from around the world - he was the youngest there and everyone made sure to give him an education that he found was much better than the American school system. The acrobats, tightrope walkers and unicyclists taught him about physics and forces required for balance, the plate spinners, knife throwers and cannon-blasters taught him how math was an integral part of performance. Even the musicians and dancers would explain how numbers were important in their acts. He remembered how his six year old self was sat down in front of a group of daredevils (he always loved watching them zip around in their Globe of Death) and was taught everything he needed to know about a motorcycle: how it ran, how it was assembled, all the physics and mechanics behind it. He knew from then on that he definitely liked maths. Well, he’s got to anyway - being an aerialist means that you’ve got to know all this stuff about trajectories and aerodynamics and forces and motion and stuff.

But the best thing about Maths was that it was constant, never changes. Two plus two equals four, it has always equalled four and always will equal four. Dick is certain that if he were to build a time machine and go a thousand years into the future, two plus two would still make four. That's why he loves numbers so much: they don’t lie or change or forget you. You can rely on them. With numbers and equations, you’ll always get a right answer - with people you only get a not wrong answer. He may be a dynamic performer, a world-class actor that can never sit still - always willing to contort and change for the sake of his audience - but for once he wants the comfort of permanence.

____

“Dick,” Wally said solemnly one day. The two of them were sitting on the edge of the top of Dick’s apartment building, dressed in civvies, watching the sky and the hustle and bustle of the city. It was one of the rare days Dick and Wally could hang out - what with Wally at college and Dick patrolling Bludhaven both as Nightwing and Officer Grayson - and Dick wanted to make the most of it: the two of them went to Happy Harbour and spent the two hours they had playing at the Arcade and stuffing their mouths with whatever they could get their hands on. If Dick tried really hard, he could pretend that they were 14 and 16 again and Wally was his and only his. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“What is it,” Dick asked cautiously. Wally’s expression was too serious, it looked wrong and out of place - nothing at all like the goofy kid who stuck science themed stickers on every surface he owned and covered his room in glow in the dark stars so that the two of them could pretend to be intrepid voyagers snuggled up inside their tent - a hastily made blanket fort - with a flashlight that bore the Flash symbol.

“We - well, Artemis and I - we’ve been thinking. And trust me it’s got nothing to do with you, okay, absolutely nothing. But, well, it took me a long time to get to this decision and I think that it’s the right thing to do. So, well, what I guess what I’m trying to say is I’mquittingtheteam.”

“What did you say,” Dick whispered in shock. He knew exactly what his best friend said - after knowing him since he was ten he’s become fluent in Wally-speak - but he had to make sure-

“Artemis and I,” Wally breathed out, “We’re … leaving the team.”

“What? Why?” Dick tried to mask his panic but all he could hear was ‘leavingleavingI’mleavingtheteamI’mleavingyou’ over and over again in his head.

“It’s just that, well, it’s just that I’m moving to Palo Alto so that I can go to Stanford Uni and it’s gonna be a bit of a hassle living a double life.”

“It’s alright,” Dick said quickly, feeling his eyes start to brim with water, “I’m - I’m sure that The League would understand if you wanna take a few off days. Not everyone there’s like Bruce.”

“The thing is I don’t want to be Kid Flash anymore, you know. I don’t want to live a life where I could die any time I go out on the field. I just want to be Wally West: a college student trying to get into the CSI and lead a normal life. Sure I wanted to save the world back when I was a kid, but that was just a childish dream - I, I want to just be normal. (yeah, all the way in California. Away from me). I’m not going to be going away or anything (are you sure?). You know that right (do I?). I’ll still be there for you (LIES).”

Dick smiled and lied through his teeth, ignoring the feeling of hot tears streaming down his cheeks, “Hey, I’m good (you were never there for me anyway, were you just practicing for this moment?). I get it, the superhero life isn’t for everyone. You should do what you want. If you need any help I’ll be right here in ‘Haven.”

“Thanks man, you’re the best (“Thanks, Rob. You’re the best!” a teenaged Wally West said before he ran off to ask Artemis out). You supporting me really means a lot.” Just then a ‘ding’ cut into the silence and Wally fished his phone out of his pocket, “Aww man, it’s Arty. I best get going.” and with that he was gone, leaving a whoosh of breeze in his place.

The last time he felt this abandoned was when he watched a man and woman fall to their deaths. He supposes that Wally and his parents are similar like that. They both are going to be in a better place. It just so happens that the better place in question doesn’t include him.

He’s been tortured by the Joker, beaten to near death by Two Face, and was left in a pool of his own blood by the Penguin but none of that physical pain could ever come close to the anguish he feels when he watches Wally leave. The agony fills him up to the brim and he can’t - he can��t breathe. He races down the stairwell of the roof and slams the door of his apartment open. The sound of the handle banging against the wall is lost on him as he heaves over his bathroom sink. He looks at his red-eyed, tear-stained reflection in the mirror. In the sink, lilac petals clung onto sticky red blood.

—————

“Hanahaki Disease:” Dick’s computer screen read, “The term hanahaki comes from the Japanese words hana (花), which means "flower", and hakimasu (吐きます), which means "to throw up”. Hanahaki Disease is a disease in which the victim coughs up flower petals when they suffer from one-sided love. It ends when the beloved returns their feelings (romantic love only; strong friendship is not enough), or when the victim dies. It can be cured through surgical removal, but once surgery is undergone, the victim loses all feelings of affection (both romantic and platonic) as well as the ability to ever love again.

The victim's lungs get filled with the flowers and roots grow in their respiratory system. It often develops over months or even years, beginning with coughing up a few petals and growing in intensity (and pain) until the victim is vomiting entire flowers, by which point the disease has entered its final stages. The rate at which the disease worsens and spreads throughout the body is specific to the individual. The longest case was Danielle Chamberlain (1801 - 1834) who had it for 10 years and the shortest case was Akai Shimizu (1914 - 1931) who died after two weeks.” *

Well.

He’s screwed.

______

When he was about to go to bed after a night of patrol, he lay in bed in the darkness, staring at the ceiling. He turned on his phone and pressed the playlist he and Wally made when they were kids. ABBA came out of the speaker:

Where are those happy days, they seem so hard to find

I tried to reach for you, but you have closed your mind…

____

The love you gave me, nothing else can save me

S. O. S.

When you're gone

How can I even try to go on?

When you're gone

Though I try, how can I carry on?

___

It was Wally’s birthday party and Dick stood in the corner of the restaurant Barry had reserved for the occasion. The only people in the building were the old team, Barry, Iris, Clark and Bruce. And Roy was there too, which was nice. When Wally was egged on to do a birthday speech before he cut the cake, he spoke about how lucky he is to have so many amazing friends and such an awesome girlfriend. When the redhead gave her a peck on the cheek, Dick’s stomach gave a lurch as he could feel the inevitable cough building up his throat. He tried to excuse himself as he made way into a disabled bathroom and locked himself in there. After coughing out a cluster of chrysanthemum petals - and holy cow, that’s a lot of blood - he carefully opened the door to find himself face to face with a concerned Roy Harper.

“Everything good there, Dickie?”

“Wha- oh, yeah. I’m fine.”

Roy raised an eyebrow, “You sure? ‘Cause I heard retching and you don’t look too hot.”

“I guess I might have food poisoning. I did eat some old Ramen for lunch yesterday.”

Roy did not look convinced. He never really stopped being Dick’s older brother, even after he left the team. Sometimes the two of them would trade text messages when they’re not too busy. He loved Roy so much (not as much as Wally) and he was sure that Roy loved him. The red haired archer would always make sure to check up on him when the date of his parents death anniversary would arrive. He wondered how long it would take for Roy to get fed up with him.

“I think that you should go home and get some rest.”

“What, Roy? No, I can’t. This is Wally’s birthday and he’ll be crushed if I go (as if). What sort of friend would I be if I leave? Plus, I hardly get to see him otherwise,” noticing how high and desperate his voice sounded, he quickly added, “you know, what with him in college and me working as a police officer and everything.”

…

“Sure... Look, Dick, I’m sure Wally would understand if you go. Your health is more important than a party (no it’s not. Why would I matter to anyone?). Just go home, alright. I’ll save you a slice of cake.”

Contrary to popular belief, Dick knew a losing battle when he saw one, “Alright, Roy, I’ll head off. Just do me a favour, okay. Don’t mention me being too unwell to B. You know how he gets. I don’t want him or Alfred getting too worried.”

“Sure thing, bird brain,” Roy smirked but his eyes still had that concerned, protective look in them. He clamped his hand onto Dick’s shoulder, “just remember, though, that it’s okay to have people worrying about you.”

Dick gave a toothy smile he didn’t feel at all, “‘Course I will.”

“Yo, Goldie. Open up.” Jason yelled as he pounded on the apartment door, “C’mon Dickolas, I’m freezing out here.”

“Jason, quit yelling,” Tim whispered sharply to the older vigilante, aware of how loud his knocking is.

“Tt, I don’t see why we can’t just enter the apartment. It’s not like Grayson would be angry, he’s forever asking us to visit.”

“Yeah but the fact that he isn’t answering the door is really concerning,” Tim said, mostly to himself, “Jason - quit banging, you’re going to wake all of his neighbours - just use the spare key he gave you.”

“Alright, alright. Keep your hair on.”

And with that Jason opened the door and the boys entered the apartment.

“Big Bird?”

“Dick, are you alright. Roy called us. He said you weren’t feeling well. He sounded really worri-”

“GRAYSON!”

Jason and Tim immediately looked at each other when they heard Damian’s shout from his position outside of Dick’s bathroom before rushing to meet him. The youngest’s horrified face was pale and his terrified eyes were staring straight at something that when they followed the line of sight made them freeze.

Dick was collapsed over his commode, breathing heavily as if every breath he took caused him immense pain. Splashes of blood and petals were leading up to him like a horrific trail and his dark hair was matted against his pallid face.

“Dick!” Tim cried as he ran towards Dick and crouched beside him.

“Ti’m?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s Tim.”

“Wha’ - wh’ryu-?”

“Roy,” Jason answered, looking uncharacteristically scared himself as he sat himself down on the other side of his brother, “he called us and said that you weren’t well. We tried to call you but you weren’t answering so we came to check up on you. Why didn’t you tell us you had Hanahaki?”

“I didn’t want you guys to worry. I didn’t realise how bad it was-” he was then cut off as he retched more blood and petals into the toilet bowl as Tim rubbed circles into his back.

“Who is it?” Tim asked.

“It’s Wally, isn’t it.” Jason said. It was a statement, not a question.

“How - how did you?”

“It’s kind of obvious,” Jason shrugged, acting nonchalant but failing to get rid of that fearful look in his eye, “Even when I was Robin, I could tell you had the hots for him.”

Dick wiped away the blood dripping down his chin,“You guys can’t tell Bruce.”

“What do you mean we cannot tell Father?!” Damian cried, “We can get you cured.”

“Damian,” Dick looked at his positively shaken brother, “do you know what Hanahaki is?”

“Yes, of course -“

“Then you know why I can’t tell Bruce. If I tell him, he’ll force me to get the surgery.”

“But, Dick, you don’t need to. You could just con-”

The eldest cut Tim off, “I can’t confess Tim. He doesn’t want me. I can’t just force him to be with me.”

“Then you just need to-”

“I’m not getting the surgery either. I just can’t”

“I don’t want you to die Dick,” Tim immediately burst into tears as he roughly embraced the man. Dick held him close, whispering comforts into his little brother’s hair, when he saw that Damian had tears running down his own cheeks. He held open an arm and he youngest dived into Dick’s side and hugged him as well.

Dick looked at Jason imploringly, “You can’t tell Bruce. Please.”

Jason’s jaw was set, his eyes firm but he relented at the sight of his brother’s bloodstained face.

“Okay.”

Dick sat cross-legged in front of two identical graves, the rain pouring down heavily onto his body. He felt someone stand behind him.

“Dick?” Wally asked, “Is everything alright? Is there anything you need?”

“Could you stay here? For a bit?”

“Of course I will,” Wally sat down beside him and held him close, “I’ll always be there when you need me.”

One night, Jason decided to go visit Dick after spending his patrol taking down a drug cartel. He had called the first Robin previously but the man didn’t answer his calls. All 20 of them. After a conversation with Tim, he found that he wasn’t responding to any attempts made to contact him and that his tracker showed that he was still in his apartment. Entering Dick’s apartment through the window, he cautiously stepped into his brother’s living room and his heart dropped to his stomach.

Dick was slumped against a wall with his eyes closed. Trails of scarlet liquid dripping down his mouth and chin dropping onto the pool of blood, chrysanthemums that surrounded him. Bottles of gin were littered across the floor around him, which was what shocked him the most - Dick was not a heavy drinker. He called alcohol a trapeze artist’s worst nightmare.

(“Alcohol makes you lose focus,” Dick said, “losing focus means losing balance and grip. The moment you lose focus, you lose your life.”)

“What the hell happened here, Big Bird?” Jason asked in worry. He crouched in front of one of the strongest people he ever knew and gently shook him. Dick’s eyes were flickering open. Their baby blues were dim, misty, lacking their usual brightness and warmth - everything about them that made them Dick’s.

“Wha - Jay! What areya do-doin’ here?” Dick’s voice was garbled, confused and Jason felt a surge of protectiveness rush inside his veins. “You don’t - don’t gotta be here. I’m - I’m fi-ine.”

Jason took in his infallible older brother’s haggard form - his unusually pale face and the dark rings around his eyes) and sighed, “I need alcohol.”

______

“I just - I thought he might have cared about - about me.” Dick sniffed tearfully, words still slurring even a half hour later, “But no he only cared about her. “I’m worried about Artemis” what about me?! I - I was so sc-scared, Jason. My - my team was in danger, an-and I already lost you, I - I couldn’t - couldn’t lose anyone else. And - and I was all by myself and I - I - I just couldn’t-” he broke down crying, clutching Jason’s shirt like a lifeline. Jason’s arm immediately stroked Dick’s shaking back, making sure to pat his hair as well.

“Shh, shh. It’s okay Dickie. I’m here, just let it out,” Jason murmured soothingly.

“All I ever wanted was to be- be friends again. But no matter how hard I tried, he-he just - he just kept pushing me away. I know that I’m not good enough for- for Bruce, but I thought that - that maybe, I was enough for him.” He then started crying again, his words slipping from English into a mix of Romani, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, German and every other language he learned at Haly’s. Jason was still swiping his hand down the curve of his spine. After he composed himself somewhat, “He was my first - my first friend after my - my parents. He- he said he’d - he’d be there for me. We p-promised to be b-bros. We pink-pinkie promised an’ ev’rythin. I told him ev-evrythin: ‘bout my p-parents, my night-nightmares. I even told him ab-about that time I killed the Joker.”

Wait, hold up.

“You killed the Joker?”

“Ye-yeah,” Dick wiped his nose with his sleeve as his voice became a whisper, “I thought he killed Tim and started - started taunting me about your death and I couldn’t just stand back so I saw red. Next thing I know, I beat him to death. Batman revived him when he arrived”

“Dick..”

“When I saw him I I ju- just couldn’t help myself. You know what he said when I hit him? “I hit Jason a lot harder”.”

“God, Dick.” Jason was quiet for a second before saying, “Did you use a crowbar? Because if you did, I really would’ve appreciated the poetic justice.”

“Jay-”

“Yeah. Bad timing. I just can’t believe you killed the Joker”

“I couldn’t let him get away with what he did. No one’s allowed to hurt my little brother and gets away with it.”

Dick then coughed up more blood and petals. Jason held him close as he apologised between sobs.

————

John Grayson hissed in pain as his wife dabbed the blood stained wet cloth on the cut on his face. A few minutes ago, his cheek was sliced by a drunkard with a broken bottle that was harassing a few of the circus folk after a show. Dick sat on his father’s lap, hugging him tearfully.

“Why - why did that man do that?” He asked his parents.

“Because he didn’t like us,” Mary replied. She placed a bandage on her husband’s wounded cheek and kissed it.

“But why, Mami?”

“Because he was scared of us.”

“Why would he be scared of us?”

“Because we’re different, păsărică (little bird), and that makes him scared. People don’t like difference because it’s new, they can’t understand it and when people can’t understand anything they get scared.”

“So that’s why he hurt Tati? Because he was scared?”

“Yes, draga mea (my darling). Fear makes people do terrible things, Dick. It makes people lie, cheat and kill. Many people consider it to be the strongest force on Earth.”

“Do you think it is?”

“No. Because I know the one thing that’s stronger than fear.”

“And what’s that Mami?”

“Love. Love is the most powerful thing a person can have. It’s what stops fear from consuming you. When your heart is full of love then your life is full of light and happiness. When you feel love, you can do anything. So remember, my little Robin, to always keep love in your heart because when someone loses their ability to love, they lose their ability to be a human and their life is plunged in darkness.”

“Don’t worry Mami. I’ll never forget.”

———-

His siblings decided that enough was enough. They came clean to Bruce and forced Dick to come to the Manor. Well it was less of a force and more of tranquilising him and carrying his body to Gotham, but semantics. He awoke later in his bedroom at the Manor, hooked onto some sort of monitor. Bruce, of course, was furious.

“How could you have kept this from me?”

“Because I know how you would react. You’d make me get the surgery.”

“Of course I would. You’re my son. You are not going to die.” Bruce said the last part with such conviction.

“No, Bruce.”

“Dick, if you don’t get the surgery, you’ll die!” Tim yelled, every world laced in pain.

“Don’t you see, Tim,” Dick argued back, “if I get the surgery, I’ll die anyway. I’ll never feel love ever again. I’ll never be able to feel that comfort when I remember my parents, that pride when I find out that Dami’s won another award, that warmth in my chest every time I’m with my friends, my family. I’ll be looking straight at my family’s faces every single day but I’d never be able to tell them I love them ever again. That’s not the person my parents raised. I’ll be alive, but I won’t be living. I won’t be Dick Grayson, I’ll just be a man that looks like your brother.”

“That’s alright,” Tim replied back, his voice hysterical with desperation. If it weren’t for the fact that Dick was hooked onto the machine, he would’ve thrown his arms around his little bird, “You’ll still be our brother even if you don’t love us. We’ll still love you.”

“No, Tim.”

“So that’s it then,” Jason said bitterly, “you’re going to give up your life just because one idiot speedster doesn’t love you.”

“Listen to yourself Grayson,” Damian yelled, tears streaming down his face and oh did Dick want to get up and hug him as well, “you speak as if your love for West is worth dying for but isn’t your love for us worth living for?”

“I do love you guys, Dami. I love you all so much. That’s why I can’t get the surgery. Because you all deserve a brother that can tell you that every single day of your life. You all speak like me not loving you won’t hurt you and maybe it won’t. Maybe for the first few months it won’t. But what about in two years, three years, he’ll even ten years in the future, you mean to tell me that you won’t be able to handle it. That you won’t resent me for never being able to give you a hug, never ruffling your hair comforting you when you're sad, you’ll be able to live with me acting as if you’re nothing to me. You wouldn’t love me, you’ll tolerate me like I’m some sort of burden and I refuse to be a burden on anyone

“You won’t be a burden,” Tim whispered, as his own tears stained his shirt, “you’ll be our brother.”

That night, both Tim and Damian slept on either side of their older brother with Jason lying on a mattress beside them.

——-

“YOU CHEATED!”

“Jay-bird, how can I cheat? It’s snakes and ladders.”

“I don’t care. I still say that you cheated.”

“Oh come on-”

“Dick!”

Jason and Dick were interrupted from their good-natured bickering by the sound of a very familiar voice. They both swivelled their heads to the source of it to see a very bedraggled Wally West standing at the doorway of Dick’s room.

“Dick. I-I heard the news. I came to see- are- are you alright?”

“Wally West,” Jason stated darkly, “you’re the person that’s supposed to be his best friend.”

“What?” Wally looked confused as Dick gave him a sharp look as if to say ‘Don’t’.

Jason ignored him as he stared straight at the older man, “You heard me. I thought friends were supposed to watch out for each other. I guess the definition changed after I got put into the ground.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Jason, enough,” Dick hissed.

“What I’m talking about, Wallace, is your complete inability to be a decent human being. What I’m talking about is how you think that you can waltz in here all willy-nilly and act like you haven’t spent years pushing Dick away.”

“What? I haven’t been-”

“Oh, you haven’t. Well, silly me. It’s just that I thought ignoring someone for months on end constitutes on pushing away. Like seriously, with friends like you, who needs enemies?”

“What’s your problem?”

“I don’t like watching Dick get hurt.”

“Yet, when you guys met again the first thing you did was try to shoot him.”

“Enough!” Dick yelled, “Please. I’m going through a lot right now and the last thing I want to hear is my brother arguing with my best friend. If you’re going to argue can you please do it outside.”

“Alright then,” Jason says as he grabs Wally’s hand and drags him to his own room, “C’mon West, there’s a lot I want to say to you.”

After Jason closed the door, Wally started, “What’s your deal?”

“My deal?” Jason laughs with no humour, “My deal is that you’ve been a s***ty friend to my big brother and I don’t stand for it. He needed you and you abandoned him when he needed you the most. He loves you more than everything and you can’t spare him the time of day. You were his best friend and the first person he ever trusted after the League and Alfred and you go around for years acting like he doesn’t exist! He drops everything for you! No matter where he is or what he’s doing, he’s always been there for you. The Pit may have messed up my head but I still remember this one time back when I was Robin. We had been in a burning building and he sacrificed himself for me. The idiot pushed me away when a wall was gonna collapse on me and trapped himself under it whilst yelling at me to escape. By the time Bruce got to him he was out. Was hooked on the breathing equipment for two days. The moment he got his phone back was when you called about something to do with Artemis and he stayed on the line for two whole hours listening to you and never once mentioned about how he almost died. Well now he’s dying! My brother’s been dying for a while now but you were too busy playing happy families with your girlfriend to even notice!”

Wally just looked horrified as he whispered, “I - I didn’t mean to push him away. I’ve been so busy and-”

“Really,” Jason raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed, “you know, I always thought you never deserved him. To be honest I don’t think anyone deserves to have Dick in their life. To this day I still ask myself what good did Bruce ever do to have someone like him. He takes so much s*** from everyone and refuses to do anything about it. No matter how hurt he gets, he’ll always forgive you. He is just too good for us. Maybe that’s what this is. Maybe it’s the universe’s way of taking him back, of saving him from getting hurt again. Like it’s saying “I gave you a gift and you didn’t treat it right so now I’m taking it back. You had your chance and now it’s too late”. Tell me West, if he wasn’t lying on his deathbed, would you even be here. Or would you still be living in your happy little bubble without giving a s*** about the person that has always stood by you.”

His voice went low and quiet as he stood directly in front of the red head, using the few inches he had over him to loom over him as he clutched the front of Wally’s shirt, “The only reason that I’m not throwing you out of here is because Dick cares about you and I prioritise my brother over revenge. But listen here, if you say or do anything from this moment forth that upsets him in any way, I’ll make sure that you can’t take a step in Gotham without one of the bats going after you.”

“Understood,” Wally nodded, tears in his eyes, looking angry, aghast and ashamed at his behaviour.

____

“Dick, I’m sorry. God, I’m so so sorry.”

“Wally, it’s okay. Really.”

“No. No, it’s not okay. You’ve got to stop making excuses for everyone.”

“Wally-”

“No, Dick, please. I’ve got to say this. Ever since I started dating Artemis I’ve been a terrible friend. Don’t try to deny it, it’s the truth. I kept blowing you off and pushing you away and you just wanted to spend time with me. I was so happy to have started dating, I didn’t realise that I was hurting my best friend. And I’m so sor-”

“Wally,” Dick cut in, “it’s okay. Really. You have your own life. I couldn’t expect you to drop everything for me.”

“You drop everything for everyone.”

“Yeah, and I’m cool with that. Listen, I forgive you, alright. I got to terms with it ages ago,” Dick was smiling at him, his tone bearing no resentment and his eyes filled with warmth, “so can you please stop apologising and tell me about your life.”

______

That night, after Wally had left with promises of returning soon (“Why should you believe him?” a voice asked cynically, “he’s made promises before. He promised that he’ll always be there for you, that he’ll always have your back. Fat lot of good those promises were.”) Jason had sat beside him. Both of them were reading quietly, finding comfort in the silence and the constant beeps of the heart monitor.

“Jason?” Dick inquired after a while, not looking up from his well-worn copy of the Robin Hood novel his mother and father gifted to him on his seventh birthday.

Jason grunted in response, eyes still trained on his own book.

Dick took that as a reason to continue, “Why did you say those things to Wally?”

Jason looked him straight in the eye and replied, “Because no one hurts my big brother and gets away with it.”

The silence continued for a second before Dick spoke up, “Do you think you could read your book to me?”

The other vigilante raised an eyebrow, “You want to hear about The Reign of Terror.”

“Jay-bird, I’m an uncultured gypsy circus freak that Bruce Wayne took in as a charity case and you’re a street rat from Crime Alley that was yet another charity case. Nothing would be a better way for us to bond than to hear about anarchy and revolution against the bourgeoisie. Nothing brings together two people better than discussions of Class Warfare. Besides, it might give us ideas for Bruce’s next stupid gala.”

“True that,” Jason flipped to the front page and began, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness..”

_____

Later on, after a night of patrol, when Tim and Damian came to Dick’s room, they found him asleep with a softly snoozing Jason holding him protectively.

_____

“I love you, Dick,” Bruce whispered as he traced the back of Dick’s hand with his thumb, eyes boring into his sons, “I know that I don’t say it enough. You don’t hear it any where close to as much ass you deserve to. But I love you so much. You’re my son, my light. You were the one who pulled me out of the darkness. I can’t lose you, Robin.”

Dick’s eyes were watering and lips, trembling, “I’m not getting it, B.”

“Please. Please for me. I know I’ve already asked you for a lot, more than I should. But please consider it. For me, for your brothers, for your family. Just - please just consider it.”

Dick took a breath, “Sure, I’ll think about it.”

Bruce smiled tearfully, “Thank you, chum.”

He leaned down, cupped his son’s cheek and kissed his forehead.

____

“I have an idea,” Damian declared after removing another block from their Jenga tower. He, Jason and Tim were huddled around him on the bed. They spent the entire day playing every game they could think of - Bluff (“To enhance our body reading skills of course”), Taboo (“Jason, quit squeezing that thing before I throw my mug at you”), Uno (yeah, they had to stop three minutes in to prevent Damian from attacking Tim because of another plus four) before deciding on Jenga. When Tim got the box out, Dick proclaimed that he thought that the plain brown pieces of wood were ‘too boring’ and ‘lacked personality’ so the four of them used Damian’s art set as well as Dick’s old paints to decorate them. The end result was like something out of a Picasso painting, all conflicting colours that stuck out everywhere, but Dick thought it was the most beautiful creation on Earth.

“What is it?” Tim inquired as he removed a yellow brick that was covered with small smiley faces. He released the breath he was holding as the tower wobbled but stayed standing.

“We kill West.”

“What, Damian?” Dick exclaims, startled by Damian’s blunt reply. Whilst his youngest brother hasn’t made his negative feelings for the speedster unknown, it was unlike him to so casually speak of his murder - at least around him. “How could you say that.”

“The reason you are … in this condition” - they all flinched at the unheard ‘dying’ - “is due to West not reciprocating your feelings towards him. If he were no longer in the picture, there would be no reason for there to be unreciprocated feelings and you shall be cured.”

Dick’s eyes softened, “Damian, it doesn’t work like that. I won’t stop loving him even if he’s dead. And even if it did work, you can’t just kill him because it’ll save me. The reason I’m lying on this bed is because of me and me alone. None of it is his fault.”

“Why do you even love him?” Jason asked, “After all he’s done?”

“I don’t know,” Dick mused, he took out a brick near the foundation of the structure (a bright red one that had the words ‘BATMAN SUCKS’ scribbled on in black marker) - making it unstable and unable to hold up - and watched their carefully crafted tower crumble, ��I guess the one thing I’m good at is getting hurt.”

——-

That night Dick was tossing and turning, unable to sleep. He couldn’t get much rest anyway, he’d be abruptly woken up by the bloodied petals that would burst out of his mouth like a geyser. Lo and behold, his body shook as he coughed, blood splattering onto his fingertips. He stared at the red that trickled down onto his palm. He remembered reading Macbeth back in Middle School and always wondered about Lady Macbeth - how she spent night after night plagued by her own guilt, perpetually washing her hands to get rid of the imagined bloodstains. He wondered how she felt to be trapped in her own nightmare, to lose control of her own mind. How much sleep she sacrificed. What she must have thought as she climbed the steps of the tower. How she must have felt when she jumped off, knowing that her suffering would be over. Unfortunately, Shakespeare died so he won’t be getting any answers soon. His mind flashed back to two other broken, fallen bodies and his hands covered in blood that wasn’t his own, as he just lay in bed and wondered.

“Food poisoning, really,” Roy Harper said, unamused. Dick smiled weakly in response, “God, look at you. What would’ve happened if I didn’t give the Manor a call when I did. Would you have, what, just died in your apartment, waiting for someone to stumble upon your corpse?”

“I didn’t want anyone to find out this way. Or at all to be honest.”

“Dick, seriously man. I’m supposed to be your big brother. How could you hide this from me. I thought you could tell me everything.”

“Roy, Hanahaki is a disease that can only be cured in two ways. Both of them are things I’d never do.”

“Richard John Grayson, I swear-”

“The only way for the surgery to work is if I consent, right. Well, I would never consent to losing the most important part of me.”

“And you won’t confess because-?”

“I can’t force someone to be with me out of pity. Especially not when they’re with someone else already. When they’ve already pushed me out of their life.”

“You really are a piece of work Grayson, you and your stupid hero-complex. You know what happens if this continues, right? You die! You die and there’s nothing any of us can do.”

“I kind of get that, Roy,” Dick deadpanned, “seeing as I’m the one that’s dying.”

“You seriously believe that I, the League, your friends, your family would be able to live without you?”

(Wally could)

“It would hurt or be hard but I’m sure that they could. My presence is not essential for survival. Besides the League existed before me, it can exist without me.”

“Who hurt you, my little kitten,” Selina hummed as she traced the lines of his face.

“No one, Selina,” Dick replied, eyes shut as he melted into the show of affection, “I hurt myself.”

The days went by. More and more people were begging and pleading with him to take the surgery. That his life was not worth his feelings for one person. That they would still love him even if he couldn’t love them back. That having him alive and unfeeling would be much better than not having him at all. He had never seen Bruce let out so many tears in his life. The sight of the cold, calculated Batman that would make Gotham’s hardest criminals fall to their knees imploring him with a cracked, choked up voice on the verge of breaking down was something he would never forget - and he caused it.

“You are a fighter,” Diana had said one day as she sat next to him. She had spent her time telling him every story that she could think of. “You always had been. I admit that I was cautious when I heard that Batman had taken in a partner. I didn’t know if having a man like Bruce Wayne in your life would be good for you. But you were definitely good for him. You’ve changed him in ways that I couldn’t even dream of. I understand your decision, and while it’s not the one I would’ve wanted for you to take, it’s the one that suits you. For Dick Grayson without love is like the Solar System without the Sun.

Dick took her battle-hardened hand with his own week one and held it, rubbing it with his thumb.

“You are a fighter,” the warrior repeated, fire in her eyes, “so when you go down, go down with a fight.”

___

“When I die,” Dick said one day, high off of pain meds, “I don’t want anyone wearing black to my funeral okay. I see enough darkness already in my life, there shouldn’t be sadness during my death. Everyone should be wearing the brightest colours imaginable. At least have a yellow sock or something. I want music and laughter and embarrassing stories. Play Rick Astley instead of that terrible organ march. Hire a bubble machine instead of a Priest. And I don’t want any stupid roses either. It’s either sunflowers or nothing.”

___

“Why are you doing this Dick?” Wally asked tearfully. Dick was so weak now. His veins darkened as flowery vines curled around his chest and arms. He looked like a masterpiece, an untouchable work of art, “Why are you just letting yourself die.”

“Don’t start, Wally. Please.”

“Dick…”

“I’m not getting the surgery, Wally. So you should just drop it. You should know how stubborn I can be. So how’s things with you?”

“Dick...”

“Seriously, you’re my best friend. I want to know that at least your life doesn’t suck.”

“Well, Artemis and I broke up so ...”

“What?” Dick exclaimed in shock, “you guys broke up? But you were so happy together (happy enough to forget me). You loved her so much.”

“Yeah, that’s the thing. I don’t really know if I loved her or just really liked her. We just realised that we weren’t compatible, you know. She wanted more than I can give her.”

“Bro,” Dick looked at him with concern, “I’m so sorry. Are you okay.”

Wally gave him an incredulous look, “Dude, you’re literally dying but you’re asking me if I’m okay?”

“Again, you’re my best friend, it's my job to worry.”

“God, I don’t deserve you.”

“Hey,” Dick chastised, “I’m the judge of whether you deserve me or not, okay. And I say that anyone who has a breakup is entitled to at least two movies and three hours of video games.

“Is that so?” Wally raised his eyebrows.

Dick gave the gravest nod he can muster, “Of course it’s true. I got a doctorate in Best Friendology, you know. So I know what I’m talking about.”

“Well, if the doctor orders.”

——

“The spark just died out, I guess. We started to realise that we were acting less like a couple and more like roommates that occasionally made out,” Wally exclaimed as he shovelled another mouth of caramel chocolate crunch ice cream into his mouth, “It was like we were just trying to make it work but it just wasn’t catching on. It’s okay though, we’re still friends so I’m cool with living the single life.”

“Not for long though,” Dick said, smiling at him with a look of pure fondness that Wally couldn’t help but blush, “you are an amazing person Wally. I’m sure you’ll find someone.”

“Yeah, right.”

“No, really. You probably don’t think it but you’re still my best friend. No one can take that away. Having you in their life would be the greatest honour a person can receive.”

“Psssh, whatever. Let’s see if you’ll still say that once I kick your butt at Call of Duty.”

“Dick, you can’t be serious.”

“I’m really sorry, Uncle Clark,” Dick looked down, refusing to meet his idol’s disheartened gaze.

“Dick, look at you,” Dick was sure that Clark gave him a once over with his x-ray vision when he entered, if that slight wince was anything to go by, “you’re wasting away. This isn’t you.”

“If I take the surgery, I wouldn’t be me either.”

“Of course you will. I know you think that we won’t love you if you do but we will. You will always be my nephew. I’d rather have you alive and not love me than never seeing you again.”

“Uncle Clark, I understand what you’re saying and if it was anyone else but me I would be agreeing with you. Yes, I know it’s selfish to do this but it’s the only choice I have. I don’t want people to look back at me and remember me as the person who forgot how to love. For me to be the cautionary tale for what happens if you let your emotions get the best of you. All my life I wanted to catch people, to be the safety net my parents didn’t have. If I lose my love, my passion to keep the people I love safe, then I’ll lose the very reason why I exist. You may be able to live with me but I won’t.”

“I love you Dick. So so much. Ever since the day I met you, when you threw yourself into my arms and asked if I could take you flying, I knew that you would be special, that you would change everyone’s lives for the better. And I was right, even if you made it a habit to give me heart attacks ever since you put on that mask. You will always have my respect.”

“I love you too, Uncle Clark. If anyone deserves that ‘World’s Best Uncle’ mug I gave you when I was ten, it’s you. I’d do anything for you. But this is the one thing I won’t. I’m sorry.”

They sat in silence before Dick piped up, asking sheepishly, “Do you- do you suppose you could tell me a Kryptonian legend. I wouldn’t mind hearing that one about Nightwing and Flamebird again.”

Clark smiled sadly, “It would be my pleasure.”

_____

Today’s the day.

Dick knew that he wasn’t going to survive the night. So he did everything he could. When his family came to check on him, he greeted them with a smile. When the clock chimed ten o’clock, he told them to leave.

“Dick, it’s okay. We can skip patrol,” Tim said.

“No, Tim. Batman needs Robin by his side and Robin needs his older brothers to watch his back. You can’t stop protecting Gotham just for me.”

“We’d do anything for you,” Tim’s eyes were sad, it made Dick feel bad for lying to him

“I know. Trust me, I’ll be alright. Now go so when you come back I can hear all the juicy details.” Dick gave him one of his signature Grayson smiles, using his so called puppy dog eyes for extra effect (he is ashamed to say that it’s not the first time he used them on a family member but desperate times..). “I love you guys, okay. Te iubesc, fratii mei mici (I love you, my little brothers).”

“We love you too, you big idiot,” Jason replies and Dick isn’t faking the smile when he hears that.

“Alright, come on guys. Pre-patrol hug, bring it in.”

___

“I’m not going to make it Alfie,” Dick says when Alfred arrives.

“I know, dear boy.”

“You - you know?”

The Englishman raises an eyebrow, “You may be able to deceive your brothers but do not forget that I was in the army, Master Richard. I can tell the look of a man who knows when his time has come.”

“I didn't mean to lie to them,” Dick says softly, “I just- I couldn’t let them see me like that. I didn’t want them to worry. It’s probably not the right decision but…”

“My dear child, I don’t believe that there is a right way to go about these sorts of affairs. Even on your last breath you try to shield them from the horrors of this world. You are a remarkable person, Master Richard, that is for sure.”

“Do you think I’ll meet them when I- when I go?”

“I cannot say for certain. However, I know for a fact that if you do, they would feel nothing but pride for the young man you’ve grown up to be. Just as Master Bruce and I am.”

“I love you, Alfred.” Dick’s weak voice was tearful as he looked at the man that was a grandfather to him growing up.

“And I do you, Master Richard,” Alfred’s words were choked, as if he’s struggling to hold himself together. The butler wiped away a black forelock, “It’s been an honour to serve you.”

____

After the man left on Dick’s command, with tears streaming down his usually held together face,the first Robin laid down on the bed, clutching his old stuffed elephant as he stared at the ceiling with a soft smile.

“Hi Mami, hi Tati. Let me tell you about my day…”

___

When Alfred gave them the news over the comms, the residents of Wayne Manor were stunned into silence. Not one of them moved or uttered a word before they raced back home. They all entered Dick’s room in a frenzy only to pause at the sight before them.

Alfred was sitting at the foot of Dick’s bed which was enwrapped with flowery vines - originating from the former Boy Wonder’s chest - that reached the floor and curled over the soft carpet in the shape of angel wings. Dick’s hands were clasped daintily over the centre of his unmoving chest, his eyes closed like he was asleep, his mouth was slightly parted and chrysanthemums blossomed between his lips. Black hair framed his face like a halo as lilac petals covered his body, softening his edges. The stems embraced his form, like it was protecting it from the rest of the world.

He looked like a masterpiece. A work of art to forever be treasured and to never be touched. It was the picture of haunting beauty, a real-life paradox. How could something so beautiful, so captivating be so horrific. As a painting, the sight was alluring, awe-inspiring but as the harsh truth, the picture of the man’s corpse made everyone want to vomit.

Damian and Tim fell to their knees next to him; crying, screaming, pleading. Pleasewakeuppleasewakeuppleaseplease. Bruce held them close, his own tears staining his batsuit. He wanted to shout, scream, to punch something Goddamnit! This was not supposed to happen. His son, who was so full of life, who somersaulted into his life with bright eyes that would put a nebula to shame and eager-to-please smiles, can’t go. Not like this. Not by himself, in his room (he always hated the size of his room when he first came - hated how it was nothing like the compact trailer he grew up in). He could never sit still, not even during stakeout, not even as an adult. To see him just lying there, face blank, paralysed like he just saw Medusa was unnatural. Not even Scarecrow’s fear toxin could cook up an image so fearful.

And Jason. Jason just stared.

It was too late

_____

Nightwing’s memorial was put up in Mount Justice the next day. Every hero on Earth attended the service. No one said anything. They all just stood there in organised rows, silently looking at the hologram of one of the strongest, most respected heroes to ever walk the planet.

Dick would’ve hated it.

___

“He was supposed to be the best of us,” Clark said later, when everyone had returned home. Crime won’t stop because one hero had died. The world won’t stop spinning because Nightwing was no longer walking on it. No matter how many people wished it would.

______

“Who was it?” Wally asked.

“You,” Jason replied.

___

Richard John Grayson died a week later. The pneumonia he had contracted became fatal. That was the only information Bruce Wayne gave out to the press before shutting himself in his house, refusing to come out for a month.

The funeral was held two days after the announcement but no one except Dick’s closest friends and family were allowed to attend. Every person wore a sunflower on their jacket and a brightly coloured tie.

____

Wally sat cross-legged in front of three identical tombstones.

“I’m so sorry, Dick,” He wept, “I’m so so sorry.”

___

When Dick Grayson left Wally West’s life, there was no fanfare, no blinding lights or blaze of glory. He wasn’t Robin or Nightwing, a hero or civilian, the ward of a billionaire or the child of two acrobats from a circus, the brother of three grieving boys or the nephew of the mourning Justice League. When Dick Grayson left, he died only as a man who loved too much and expected too little.

*Mostly copied and pasted from Fanlore.org: https://fanlore.org/wiki/Hanahaki_Disease

#birdflash #wallydick #dickwally #wally west #dick grayson #cries for days

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dcvalentineexchange · 5 years

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Heart Shaped Chocolates

To: @shadowsndaisies

From: @angel-kissed-ginger

It is hard to pinpoint the exact moment when you became more than “just friends.” Since the fateful day when you met him at Nevermore Books, the days begin to blur together. You soon developed a crush on each other and as cheesy as it seems, his surprised you with a kiss on Valentine’s Day.

So of course the news of his death felt like the universe had ripped out your heart. You couldn’t count how many times you visited Wayne Manor and stole one of his hoodies. It wasn’t until months later, you found out that Alfred kept track of your visits and continued to wash Jason’s hoodies so they always smelled like him.

It was on one of these “visits” that you borrowed his favorite book and found a surprise that he had left for you. Tucked inside the tattered cover was a letter he had written, explaining his nightly activities as Robin. You were devastated that Bruce had lead Jason down the path to his death.

But as months turned into years, you slowly began to find yourself willing to forgive and became closer to the family than before. Instead of gathering with the others to mourn his loss, you created a tradition of celebrating the years you spent together as friends. Every year, on Valentine’s Day, you would stop by the same mom ‘n’ pop shop to pick up the silliest heart-shaped box of chocolates you could find. You would then swing by the Manor to say hello to Alfred before grabbing a book off Jay’s shelf and going to read in his favorite spot.

A year ago…

“Miss Y/N how nice it is to see you again. If there is anything I can do for you, please let me know,” Alfred says in greeting as you hug him. You have always seen the older man as a grandfather and appreciate everything he has done for you.

“Thanks Alfred. But I think I’m good for now,” you beam up at him as you show him the box of chocolates. This year you bought the one with “Bee Mine” in bubble letters with a smiling bee on it. He chuckles softly as you put the box back in your bag and head off to Jason’s old room.

You smile as you open the door and find it exactly the way he left it. Except for the fact that his hoodies have once again been washed and put away, so you could claim another one as yours for the day. Taking a couple of steps toward his bookshelf, you lightly run your fingers over the spines of all the stories you wish you could have discussed with him. Blinking the tears away, you leave his room and softly close the door behind you, before making your way outside.

The tallest tree on the Wayne property greets you like an old friend as you sit beneath its leaves. The sun smiles down as you carefully open the chocolates and pull out this year’s book. You find yourself holding your breath as you focus on the front cover. It is the book you meant to give him on his birthday, but never got the chance to. It was hard to read it without him, but you finally told yourself that this was the year.

“Why am I not surprised to find that He has yet another kid running around, getting into things their not supposed to?” a voice asked sarcastically as a young man drops to the ground on your left.

“You’re one to talk. I happen to know everyone who comes around here and I have never seen you before,” you reply as he bends down and steals one of the chocolates you were saving to give to Damien as you left. It was an unspoken rule between you two that he would leave you alone one day a year, and you would save one of the chocolates for him.

“Excuse me. You were the one who came here and interrupted my nap with your commentary on whatever you are reading.”

“Whatever,” you roll your eyes as you shove everything into your bag. You pull your feet underneath you to stand up, wanting nothing more to march away and keep this “boy’ from ruining your day. He laughs as you past him and you promise yourself that this will be the only time he gets his way.

“Wait… is that my hoodie?” he demands as his laughter dies. The words catch you off guard and you quickly turn to look back at him. “Y/N?” he asks. Before you know it, you slap his face as hard as you can and them pull him into the hug you have been longing for. His face is vaguely similar to the one that haunts your dreams. He is taller than you remember and his hair has a strange white streak in it. It is the way he smells that surprises you the most; cigarette smoke and gunpowder.

“What was that for?” he asks as he pulls away from you. It wasn’t the warmest ‘welcome back’ he has received.

“I thought that you were dead.”

“Yeah, well it obviously didn’t stick,” he softly chuckles as he takes you in.

“So you’re admitting that you let me believe for years that you were dead. You owe me an explanation mister,” you demand as you pull him to the ground.

“It’s a long story,” he drags out the words, as if he were hiding something that would change your feelings for him.

“Don’t worry, I got time,” you wink at him as you pull out another heart-shaped box of chocolates.

Now…

This Valentine’s Day was the beginning of something new, and you have yet to decide if you really want to leave your old tradition behind. Sure, it is strange to have your best friend back after years of thinking they were dead. But Jay was working hard to prove to you that things haven’t changed between you. Even when it seems like a dream between his ‘hero’ work and the fact that he will occasionally kill people.

“Hon, are you feeling well?” the owner of Nevermore Books asks, pulling you from your thoughts.

“Yeah I’m good. Thanks again for wrapping this for me,” you smile as you hold up the gift wrapped in shiny red paper. The owner just shakes her head at you as you turn to leave the store.

You still have to stop by the ma ‘n’ pa shop to pick up the heart-shaped chocolates before heading over to meet Jason. Even though it will definitely make you late, you take your time as you look over all the silly sayings and pick two of your favorites. Instead of heading to the Manor, this year you will spend the day with your best friend at one of the many safehouses he has around the city. As you leave the shop, you pull his leather jacket closer around you and you suddenly miss his large hoodies. You would never tell him, but you stole a couple of his old hoodies the last time you were at the Manor. It it silly to you to give up on the hoodies, just because he gave you one of his worn leather jackets to hold on to.

The safehouse turns out to be a regular house on a quiet street miles outside of Gotham City proper. You are almost sure it is the wrong address, when Jay meets you at the door and pulls you into a tight hug. This is the thing that you would never understand; all his brothers claim that he is worse than a cactus, but when he is around you he becomes a giant teddy bear. Except for the few days when he thinks that he will do something to hurting you, then he gets annoyingly overprotective.

After eating the meal Jay had made, you curl up on the couch and pull the heart-shaped chocolates out of your bag. After a couple of minutes he joins you on the couch and you hand him the gift. He opens it to find the book that you were trying to read a year ago. After you explain that it was supposed to be a birthday gift and you had been waiting to read it until tonight, he opens it and starts reading it out loud. You lay your head against his shoulder and lean against him to get comfortable.

You may not know where you stand between being just friends or a couple, but this Valentine’s Day is perfect and there is no place you would rather be.

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vitabenedetta-blog · 6 years

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Vita Benedetta’s Guide to Madison

MadTown. A city characterized by badger red, brats, burgers, and beer (at least that is what I used to think). Moving away from college made me realize just how much I love this city and inspired me to explore. Through downtown areas, Willy Street, and adjacent small towns I discovered an entirely new meaning to Madison. This is my guide to Madison to show you all of the grub goodness and hideaways in unfamiliar places.

The Guide

$: least expensive

$$$: most expensive

Grub Goodness

The reality today is that social settings revolve around food. Want to grab a coffee? Want to meet for drinks after work? This is practically inevitable. It is important not to settle for boring, overly pasteurized crap that will make you feel like a** in the morning. I mean really, who wants to feel gassy, post cheeseburger when on a first date? Not I. There are so many places in Madison deciding to serve up food that will make you feel bomb. This does not mean you will be eating lettuce and drinking water for a meal. Trust me. Oh and the aesthetics are totally worth the visit.

Gotham Bagels $

Bae-goals let me tell you. Gotham bagels is located directly off the square downtown Madison and is serving up some banging bagels. The line is always out the door on weekends. You can put about anything in the galaxy on your bagel and customize it just how you like it. The atmosphere is very downtown Boston like. The owner adds a little spunk to the joint since he graduated with his PhD and decided he would rather just run a bagel joint. RAD.

My go-to: YELLOW C.A.B.

Cheddar, Bacon, Avocado, Lettuce, Tomato, Mayo Add Egg & Vegetable Cream Cheese On Egg Bagel

Bowl of Heaven $$$

Bowl of Heaven is about as close to California as Madison can get. This quaint bar creates the most awe-worthy bowls and smoothies. The bowls are a bit pricy, but worth a try. It’s the only place in Madison where I have found a yummy açaí bowl. All of the ingredients are real and will make you feel good about your choice.

My go-to: PEANUT BUTTER BOWL

Organic Açaí, Bananas, Strawberries, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Almond Milk Topped with Organic Hemp Flax Seeds, Granola, Fresh Banana, and Honey

Novanta Pizza $

Because you cannot forget about the ZAA. This stone fired pizza is something to brag about, with all ingredients sourced from Italy. You can build your own pizza, grab a wine and sit outside on the patio (during Madison’s 3 months of warmth). You will never see much of a wait at Novanta, which makes it great for grab and go because Novanta means 90 in Italian. All of their pizzas are ready in 90 seconds. The pizzas are personally sized so you won’t feel sluggish from overeating.

My go-to: PESTO

Mozzarella, Pesto, Cherry Tomatoes, Pecorino Romano

Marigold Kitchen $$

What is better than a boozy brunch after a walk around the farmers market? Be prepared for about an hour wait. Mimosas, pancakes, breakfast sammies, oh my! Marigold Kitchen won “Best Breakfast” in Madison and your taste buds will tell you why. Even better, the customer service is phenomenal. I could not pick a favorite, so here are my best picks.

CITRUS RICOTTA BUCKWHEAT PANCAKES

Orange Almond Butter, Fresh Strawberries, Whipped Butter

MARIGOLD BREAKFAST SANDWICH

Fried Egg, Cheddar Spiked Boursin, Bacon, Tomato, Green Onion, Toasted Ciabatta

Miko Poke $

This spot is goals-AF. For someone who loves sushi as much as me, this place is a win. With the perfect location on Monroe Street you will leave wanting to come back. I am salivating just thinking about it. Poke is comprised of raw fish (tuna, salmon, scallops) on top of baby greens, topped with veggies, and all the good sauces! These bowls are truly Instagram worthy.

My go-to: HAWAII STYLE

Smashed Avocado, Cucumbers, Edamame, Poke Sauce, Spicy Aioli, Scallions, White Black Sesame Seeds

Bloom Bake Shop $$

You are what you eat, so be sweet. This cute little bakeshop is tucked away on Monroe Street. The focus is all about good food. All grub is made from locally sourced and organic ingredients. The price tag reflects this, but you are doing something good by sending dollars back into the community. Grab a coffee, some brunch, and hella baked goods and be sweet.

My go-to: WISCONSIN SANDWICH

Classic Bacon, Egg, Cheese, Stoneground Mustard, Flakey Buttermilk Biscuit

SWEET POTATO DONUT

CINNAMON ROLL

VANILLA CHAI TEA LATTE

Ancora Coffee Roasters $$$

If you are looking for some coffee to keep you awake on these food adventures, look no further. Ancora has bomb lattes and even better outdoor seating. Their mission is to serve the best beans in the world. So you can drink that amazing cup knowing you can be proud of everything that went into it.

My go-to: ICED HONEY ALMOND ZOMBIE

White Espresso, Almond, Honey, Almond Milk

Gloria’s Mexican $

Wasted away again in Margaritaville (literally). You cannot go wrong with any of Gloria’s margs! The restaurant is hella authentic; the only thing missing is sand underneath your toes. During happy hour, margs are only $2! DANGER. Just make sure you have an Uber ride home. My absolute favorite is their house margarita. ¡Olé!

Saints Juice Co. $$$

Pressed juice in Madison is hard to come by. Actually, it was impossible before Saints Juice Co. opened this year. In my favorite neighborhood of Williamson Street, you can now grab a fresh pressed juice or mylk to go! The owners are always behind the counter and are extremely passionate about what they do. Feel free to ask questions about ingredients and the process, or just pick the prettiest color drink and go at it.

My go-to: PROPHE-SEE

Carrot, Apple, Lemon, Ginger

Tastes like a Capri Sun

Also tastes like you will never get sick again

Bassett Street Brunch Club $$

Avocado toast will always text you back. Bassett Street Brunch Club is a Madison Favorite. Make sure to make a reservation!! They are known for their wild donut flavors and their famous boozy brunch. Because brunch without booze is just a sad, late breakfast. Go check them out on Instagram to see what all the hype is about.

My go-to: TOASTEST WITH THE MOSTEST

Thick Cut 8 Grain Toast, Avocado Mash, Corn, Black Bean Salsa, Queso Fresco, Pickled Red Onion, and Cilantro

Café Hollander $$

Because who doesn’t want to feel like they are drinking a bloody marry on the rooftop of a Chicago bar. VIBES. This is the #1 restaurant atmosphere in Madison, hands down. You will never want to leave and your phone battery will die from all the pictures taken. The bloody mary and mimosa selection is remarkable. It is a perfect stop for a late brunch after walking through the Hilldale farmers market. Don’t leave without ordering frites with your choice of dipping sides—basil aioli, siracha mayonnaise, Korean BBQ!!

My go-to: AMERICANA

Two Eggs, Hollander Potatoes, Multigrain Toast, Breakfast Sausage Links

BERRY BLAST MIMOSA

New Amsterdam Berry Vodka, Champagne, Pineapple Juice

Everly $$

Brussel sprouts are misunderstood—probably because people do not know how to cook them properly. Everly takes brussels to a whole new meaning. MUST TRY. This natural lit space is easily the cutest craft cocktail bar in Madison. You will feel 10x richer, classier, and straight out of New York. You might even catch your pinky in the air while sipping on a fantabulous spritzer.

My go-to: ROASTED BRUSSEL SPROUTS

Gribiche/Shallots/Lemon

HOUSE BURGER

Sharp Cheddar, Pickles, Red Onions, Butter Lettuce, Garlic Aioli

Canteen $$

Destination→Mexico. A vibrant, fast paced Mexican kitchen & bar, serving up some famous margaritas that will make you want to shake your booty. I can only vouch for the margs since I have not stayed to try the grub. It is in a great location off the square to grab a few after class or work.

Pho Nam Noodle House $

Serving up authentic Vietnamese that will make your taste buds go crazy! It does not look like much from the outside of the building, but the food is something to talk about. The prices are unbeatable.

My go-to: EGG NOODLE AND WONTON SOUP WITH BBQ PORK

Finale

I hope my guide to Madison provides you with some inspiration to get out and explore the city. The summer is the best time to do so since just about everything is in walking or biking distance. Madison has Red Bikes placed around the city that you can rent for $6 dollars/day. Get out of your comfort zone and do something extraordinary. Try something new. Eat some grub that won’t make your body want to cry the next day. I promise, you won’t regret it.

If you make it out to any of these places make sure to tag #vitabenedetta and let me know how your experience went! Hopefully your experiences will be filled with good grub, aesthetic vibes, and hella Instagram photos.

Until next time, Madison. Where are some of your favorite spots in Madison? Comment below.

#mkt400uwl

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loxbbg · 6 years

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85 Questions: Tag Game

I was tagged by @perforabuntsaggittis , thanks for tagging me,

Last

drink: ginger ale

phone call: my best friend whose like my little bro or my cousin (I’m to lazy to look)

text message: Chai (like my older bro ) or Savannah

song you listened to: Breadwinners- YBN

time you cried: July about my ex

Ever

dated someone twice: yes

kissed someone and regretted it: no

been cheated on: yes

lost someone special: yes

been depressed: yes

gotten drunk and thrown up: maybe?

In The Last Year Have You

made new friends: yes

fallen out of love: no

laughed until you cried: yes

found out someone was talking about you: yes

met someone who changed you: yes

found out who your friends are: yes

kissed someone on your Facebook friends list: no

General

how many of your Facebook friends do you know irl: only my mom because shes the only one i let friend me

do you have any pets: nope

do you want to change your name: ask me that when i was seven i would say yes but now im like no

what did you do for your last birthday: i dont celebrate mine i usually just its my birthday and do nothing maybe eat

what time did you wake up today: 5:36 am

what were you doing at midnight last night: sleeping

what is something you can’t wait for: getting married and having kids

what are you listening to right now: ilysm-gnash

have you ever talked to a person named Tom: no

something that gets on your nerves: when people try to justify cheating

most visited website: Wattpad, YouTube, Tumblr, Instagram, Spotify, Snapchat

hair color: Black

long or short hair: short when wet at my neck when flat ironed

do you have a crush on someone: Tom Holland, Damian Wayne, Jason Todd, (My ex ew ik),

what do you like about yourself: my logic.My eyes in the sun. My lips

want any piercings: cartilage, double helix

blood type: Idk

nicknames: Zee or Sky

relationship status: sadly single

zodiac: Aries

pronouns: she/her

fave tv shows: Supergirl, Riverdale, Gotham, The simpsons, South park, The Flash,Regin

tattoos: none i cant get any because or religion but if i could id get my Children name, Bible quotes, and maybe some arrows

right or left handed: right

ever had surgery: no

sport: Hockey, gymnastics and swimming

vacation: I want to go the London maybe ‘southwest london darling’ but i went Virgina this year so yeah

trainers: WhAt???

fave colors: blue, Sky blue sometimes pink , and red.

eating: grill cheese for breakfast

drinking: water

I’m about to watch: Riverdale

waiting for: a relationship

want: a nice relationship, someone I can talk to about anything, who can nerd out with me, who listens. Also kids because i love kids and there everything to me the minute i see a baby or a kid in general i feel like they are my life

get married: yes

career: I’d like to work in the government or be a stay at home mom tbh

Which is Better

Hugs or Kisses

Lips or Eyes

Shorter or Taller

Older or Younger

Nice Arms or Stomach

Hookup or Relationship

Troublemaker or Hesitant: both tbh like they know what there doing but when they know something might end bad so they hesite

Have You Ever

kissed a stranger: no

drunk hard liquor: yes

kissed a stranger: no

lost glasses: yes

turned someone down: yes

sex on first date: no

broken someone’s heart: yes, but only because i found out something so i broke up with him

had your heart broken: yes

been arrested: no

cried when someone died: yes

fallen for a friend: yes, but happy we aren't friends anymore and i didn't date him because hes a jerk now

Do You Believe In

yourself: sometimes but if its not school related

miracles: yes

love at first sight: yes

Santa Clause:never did i lost my childhood very young

kiss on a first date: no

angels: yes

Others

best friends name: Bryan, Savannha, Jessica,

eye color: brown

fave movie: Spiderman Homecoming. Avengers infinity war, Son of batman, A Girl Like Her

fave actors: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Cole Sprose , Madeline Petch, Margo Robbie, RDJ , Chris Hemsworth

I tag: @beautiful-holland @river-fics @sh000keth @kitty-and-bats-0

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cecke8 · 6 years

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Your Ginger Housemate - Part 11

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So this one took me a while to write just because of its content. I am trying to make more excitement to what happened and give Jerome a bit of a backstory. Hence the length of the story. Yes, it’s huge, but personally, I’m thrilled with this one. Please show me what you think, and requests are open!

Your eyelids were heavy, slowly drooping over your eyes, obscuring your vision and taking you to a dreamless sleep… hopefully. Although not eventful, the stress of having your parents stay inflicted over you was immense. The homicidal maniac you harboured every hour of the day was enough stress for a lifetime. Of course, even something as simple as a good nights sleep must, also, be too good to be true. Why? Well, the rain, on the one hand, had begun to pummel onto the roof - you’d never been able to sleep in the rain, yet you still chose Gotham. On the other hand, a figure at the doorway hindered the light you had come accustomed to sleeping with.

‘Wait. What?!’

You bolted upright and opened your mouth to shout, but the figure lunged at you, covering your mouth and cutting any sound short. You began to panic, making muffled sounds behind the human muzzle.

“Oh c’mon doll, quit whining. It’s me. Who else, huh?”

You smacked his hand away from your face, humiliated and your heart pounding. Of course, it was him. No one else would come up here, not like they’d be able. You felt ridiculous for overreacting.

“Jerome, why the hell are you up here? And why the hell are you in my room?” You seethed, acutely aware of how casually he had taken refuge upon your bed.

“Y/n, have you ever tried to sleep in that basement? Hmm?” He tilted his head toward you, and although calm in demeanour, his voice was filled with accusation.

“Jerome, if my parents hear anything in here, they’ll come to check on me.”

“Don’t avoid the question.” He sang, bored. He must be really sick of your parental antics. “Wait, what? You are a grown human being whose parents still check on her?”

You sighed, “It’s just… their parental instincts. But they will. Honest.” Part of you got his point though. Still, he looked at you sceptically. You huffed a sigh once again, “Well, mum anyhow.”

Jerome paused for a second and seemed to lose focus on you. He sat there for a few seconds before his attention came back to you. But it was different. Calculating.

Then it was gone. Just like that. Jerome smiled, “Well, you have to admit, that would be pretty funny.”

“No Jerome. No, it would not.” You still wondered what happened in his head to lose focus so instantly. Wondering made you remember all your other… wonderings: Tyrone.

“Hey Jerome, since you’re here -”

“Anyway, you didn’t answer my question. Have you ever slept in the basement?”

“Uh, no, but I was wondering -”

“Right. Then you would not understand how freaking cold it is down there!”

“No, but… wait. Are you whining? About the cold?”

He looked away and eyed you in his peripheral vision.

You began to play with this, finally having the upper hand.

“You mean to say, the great Jerome Valeska is complaining about not being able to sleep… because it’s cold?” You stifled to hold in your giggles after using your voice of “grandeur”.

The ginger folded his arms and scowled.

“I’m going to take that as a yes.” You struggled to stay quiet, but fits of laughter were harder to hold than you thought. Especially since you could finally direct it at Jerome!

“Oh, this… is too… good!” You struggled to get even a minimal amount of words out as sniggers and giggles escaped your throat.

Jerome looked at you with a sideways glance, quirking his eyebrow.

- Jerome’s POV -

“Right, then you would not understand how freaking cold it is down there!”

“No, but… wait. Are you whining? About the cold?”

Maybe she didn’t realise it, but it was freezing down there! I turned away from her, scowling.

“You mean to say, the great Jerome Valeska is complaining about not being able to sleep… because it’s cold?”

God, she just won’t shut up about this, will she? She even put on a, I dunno, ringmaster act? That’s the only thing I can compare it to anyhow. And the giggling! She’s gone into hysterics. Why?

“Wow doll, you feeling alright?” I haven’t seen her like this since… well, ever! I have never seen her laugh like this, even if she is trying to keep it quiet - unsuccessfully by the way. Hey, maybe her mom’ll her and come in to check it out. Oh, that would be funny. It’d sure wipe that stupid grin off her face.

“Y-yeah… I’m fine,” she huffs as she wiped tears - yeah, tears - from her eyes.

“Oh good. I’m thrilled.” Not really.

“Jerome… Are you still… cold? Hahaha!”

Seriously, how is that even funny? This is ridiculous, and she’s getting louder. I swear I heard stirring from the other room. This is getting tiresome. I may not be the most, uh, regular of people, but I do get cold. Is that so hard to understand?

“Glad you find it funny toots, but I must say, you’re a little loud dontcha’ think?”

Nothing. Y/n didn’t even pause. Okay, now I can hear mumbling. The floorboard on the left side of the parent’s bedroom creaked.

Yeah... I know which boards creak in this house and which don’t. It’s sorta, not a past time, but something I’ve done since I was around seven. I knew where every little creak and squeak was in the trailer. It helped me sneak out. Move around. Hide things and hide me. The same goes for this place. When y/n wasn’t around, or even at night - I don’t sleep much - I would find where all those loose floorboards were and which ones would creak. Pretty useful really. I mean, I’ve been out a hell of a lot more than y/n thinks.

Yep, there goes the one down the hall, in front of the bathroom maybe? That means no time at all. I sigh and turn to y/n,

“Now, quick question. What’ll Daddy do when mummy goes and spills the beans?”

Nope, there’s the creak at the bathroom door. Good, because y/n heard it and has time… sorta. Her eyes widen in horror.

“Jerome, please. She can’t!” She whispered.

I sigh, “’Okayyy sweetcheeks, but you owe me. Big time.”

Just before her mom gets to the doorway, I roll over the now blanket covered y/n and drop to the floor. It’s cold here too. Nothing I haven’t experienced before. I rolled under the bed and watch Patricia’s feet.

Mm, that’s what I thought would happen, overprotective parent checking on the daughter. She’s sitting on the covers now. Probably testing I’m not under the sheets. I hope y/n can pull this off because she’s a pretty shit liar.’

God, the floor is freaking cold. It’s gotten to my face, my hands, my knees, just my whole front now, but as I’ve said, nothing I haven’t experienced before.

~ Flashback ~

The rain pummeled onto the entourage of trailers, caravans and the large red and white tents. It turned the usual duststorm providing ground into slimey, wet sludge. Thunder rumbled across the sky and lightning revealed the silhouette of the large city. Gotham.

One trailer in particular, large silver just like the rest, contained too much movement for that time of night. Inside, a young boy with fiery red hair. He was the sort of boy who would have the most contagious grin, cheeky giggle and eyes full of curiosity. But this would rarely appear on his face. What would appear is cuts and bruises, and not just on his face, but on his arms, legs and torso. No one did anything. They didn’t help him, nor did they call anyone. Living in a circus and being one of the stragglers would cause that to happen. Even to the boy only aged nine.

He couldn’t remember when the rain started that night, but it never seemed to stop. This place liked to rain. The circus had been here twice now, and it always rained. This place, this city, liked clouds too.

Maybe the sun was nasty to the people here, so the city asked the clouds to protect it. He wished he had clouds to protect him from his mean sun. She was always mad at night. He didn’t know why, he just knew that when the big, smelly glass bottles come out, he needed to get out. But tonight he couldn’t. Tonight, the rain wouldn’t let him.

If he went outside and got wet, she would be fuming. If he got wet and muddy, she would be furious. It hurt when mummy was mad. She knew he couldn’t go out, but mummy got mad anyway.

It was worse when people were over. No, not people, men. The boy wasn’t sure why there was never the same guy. Sometimes he would remember them. This man wasn’t nice at night. Just like Mummy. He had used the big smelly bottles too. There were lots of empty one’s tonight.

“Jerome you little brat. Get out! Now!” Mummy screeched. She didn’t give Jerome enough time to escape. He was stunned instantly. I sharp backhand smacked across his face, causing him to tumble to the ground. Before he got to his feet the man kicked at his legs, causing him to fall. The man had already kicked him in the chest tonight. He wasn’t like some of the other ones that mummy would act sweet for. He was cruel.

The man thought it was funny watching something so small and pathetic tumble to the ground.

The mother just wanted him out of the way, behind the curtain. She didn’t care where he went, as long as it was away. She watched the little thing scramble away behind the curtain.

Jerome rushed to his little bed on the couch on the other side of the trailer. Usually, he’d take his pillow, blanket and a large bin bag outside under the trailer, so he didn’t have to hear everything so clearly. He was proud of the bag idea, it stopped his blanket from bringing dirt back into the trailer. It stopped mummy from hurting him. Tonight though, he couldn’t. That’s why the ginger boy didn’t like the rain and didn’t like this place. It made hiding hard. Escaping hard. Disappearing hard.

Lucky there was space under the seat. The little, fire headed boy slid his pillow and blanket into the dark area. He wriggled underneath the couch, into the hidey-hole. He pulled another sheet from on top of the hidey-hole to hang over the opening. It made it dark, and more hidden. They wouldn’t see him, they wouldn’t get mad at him, and they wouldn’t hear him cry.

The tears slid down his face, and quiet sobs escaped his throat. His ribs hurt, his face stung, his lip throbbed, and the cold wouldn’t leave him alone. It met his feet, his hands, and his back. Soon, it would meet the rest of him too, and wouldn’t leave him alone for the rest of the night. Nor would the pain.

~ End of Flashback ~

“Jerome. Jerome, it’s all good. She’s gone.”

“Yeah. She is.” I whisper, still in a daze. She’s gone, and she’s never coming back.

Y/n hissed my names a couple more times before I registered what she was saying. That it was now and not then. Y/n and not them. I thought I had forgotten that night. Obviously not.

I rolled out of the cold, confining place and jumped back onto the bed. Her door was closed now. Good.

“What’d you do, fall asleep?” She asked. I rolled my eyes.

“No dollface, I didn’t. I was thinking.” My mind is still on that night. I never fell asleep I don’t think. I don’t know. I do know that the next morning, just like any other, she coaxed me out of the hiding place, stroked my cheek and bruises and said sorry over and over again before offering some sort of object or activity we could do later to make it better. It would rarely happen, but being young and naive made me believe. Hope does that to ya’.

“Oh yeah. What about?” Y/n wasn’t gonna let up if I mentioned anything, but I knew what would.

“Sleeping arrangements. Imma’ sleep in here.” I shuffle under the blankets and put my hands behind my head.

Y/n was still for a moment. Ha, a bombshell dropped!

“But… I… you… they,” She was spluttering. I’m gonna have to fix this.

“Y/n, they’re not gonna see me. I don’t sleep much, I’ll listen out. Stress less.” She didn’t believe me. Time to change the subject.

“Hey, you had a stress attack before. Right?” She looked down.

“Yeah, I think so. Sorry, Jerome. It wasn’t nice of me to do that. You’re only human.”

“Thank you. That’s right. I am. Okay, now you sleep. It’ll all be fine. Trust me.” I smiled.

She smiled too, “You know Jerome, those words are never reassuring coming from you.”

I put my hand on my chest, mocking offence,

“Doll, how could you.”

She laughed at me.

“Get some sleep huh.”

“Yeah. M’kay.” She mumbled.

She lay down and drifted into unconsciousness. Finally. I lay there thinking about the memory. It was strange to have it back. It made me feel… helpless. I hated it. Even another memory, a more recent one, made me feel strange.

‘Well, mum anyhow.”

Hadn’t I said the exact same thing too… Barbara. The blond, snarky, crazy chick. It was… in Arkham. Hmm, that’s what it was. Dejavu. Wonder where that ill-tempered barbie is now anyway. Is she still kickin’? It’d be interesting to see…

Y/n moved closer to me, smiling in her sleep. Sleep: something I don’t come by often anymore. Being near her though, it makes me feel like I could. My eyes are heavy. You know what, being near her makes me feel like a can. Makes me feel like I will.

Okay, there you have it. I thought I’d add in the flashback to break the monotony. I’ve had quite a few ideas for Jerome’s past so there might be more where that came from. I hope it’s okay, sorry for the length, but I needed it.

For anyone who would like to know, I will now have a tag list. I will tag those who would want to be on here. Thank you for the idea guys!

Tag-list: @unicornwitch870 @sp00der-m00n

#jerome valeska #jerome valeska imagine #jerome valeska fanfic #jerome valeska xreader #lovingjerome #Cameron Monaghan #fanfiction #fanfic #gotham fanfiction #Gotham #x reader #Yourgingerhousemate

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