#instead of literally everything that he and Kon have been through . look at them look at their history | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dairy-farmer · 1 month

Note

Young Justice Fuck Up AU? Tim is Robin, well into it. Not a rookie by any means.

But! Magic users, man. They stumble upon a mad scientist. Who is CONVINCED he can make sense of Magic. Instead it drove him crazy, as it tends too. The duke it out. Good ol punch fest.

But oh no! Perv man has been eyeing Cassie in a way none of them like, this whole fight. Makes a Comment as he levels a ray gun! "More agreeable"?! Oh HELL no!

Tim is closest. Bart still elbows deep, trying to stop some poor harpy woman from bleeding out in front of her kid. Tim pulls that Classic Hero Move(tm) and dives in front of his friend. Takes the beam.

Hits the ground. Feeling like he's on FIRE.

Terror Furious is a SCARY look on Amazons. Cassie breaks his damn near EVERYTHING before Kon can pull her off. Tim's not moving. Ray guns busted to hell. They take it anyway. Free everyone they can, take the "research" to try and make sense of it, burn that nightmare pit to the GROUND.

Tim wakes up with... weirdly nice hair and skin. Like? His complexion? Usually pale and half dead looking. His hair a birds nest. But he looks? Dewey. Ready for a photo shoot. He's also kinda hungry.

But? Nothing touchs it. Not coffee. Not toast. Not even when he breaks down and eats a "real" breakfast. He just feels kinda bloated.

And he notices.

That press ready complexion and such? Slowly gets duller as he gets hungrier. He's not stupid. Far from it. He's a god damned ROBIN. The ray DID something.

He testes his DNA.

It's no longer a match. Fuck. He tears apart the Creeps "research" looking for blueprints of that gun. It takes hours to find it. The missing Model? A young succubus. It's HER DNA in the gun.

He's literally gonna starve.

Obviously, he tells his team. And Obviously they swear not to let that happen. Everyone splits up. Kon flying him back to Gotham. They stop by his safe house. So he can get supplies. And Kon? Well he spent the flight THINKING. Stacks everything to the side, ready to go, and crowds his bro back up against a wall.

Hugs him real close. Fingertips touched to those bits of skin he can find, cheek pressed against cheek as he sucks in air. As he jacks it. Tim wide eyed and frozen, full body pressed against him, staring unseeing over his shoulder from where Kon tucked him close.

It's crazy. Kon knows he should be doing this. But he let's himself get into it anyway. Feel as much lust as he can. Feel as GOOD as he can. Because Tim needs it.

And Tim tries not to think about how it feels like perfection. When Kon cums on this thigh. How he can feel it even through his armor in a way he shouldn't be ABLE too. How he DOES, actually, feel so much better. Because he's going to "fix this". Turn back.

Except...

Except it doesn't seem to be working. Even with the awesome power of the Batcomputer and the advanced labs he has at his disposal in the cave? Everything pointing to his body not being able to HANDLE two full DNA changes back to back. Maybe in a DECADE... but...

No. He's running out of time!

And he IS. The other Bats have noticed he's not eating. Worse, they're clearing noting his physical decline. Digging for answers.

Finding them.

Dick storms up to him looking like murder Very Much is an option on the table. Doesn't so much slap the printout down as rest it like a death warrant on top of his keyboard. It's a print out of the ray gun. Fuck. He knows.

A second page. Print out of a conversation with with Zatara. How long can Succubus go with out eating? He passed "medically advisable" two days ago.

He refuses to look at Dick. The disappointment and no doubt disgust. That's why he doesn't see the arm coming to sweep him up and out of his seat. Barely has the strength to object and struggle. Dick ignores him. Carries him up stairs.

To his room.

Does he want Tim to rest? Conserve strength? But then why is he taking off his shirt? Tugging off Tim's sweats? The thought is so wild, so unimaginable and out of reach, it doesn't register until Dick has him pushed back and by the legs. Is leaning forward towards the hem of Tim's baggy sweater.

His entire body JOLTS.

He feels like he's been holding his breath too long and suddenly sucked in air. It doesn't JUST feel good, he feels light-headed with how hard it hits him. Dicks hands have slid up. Seized him by the hips so he can't escape. Now he's being devoured.

Dick is mad at him. Has to be. It goes beyond just being careful with a virgin. Wet, teasing, and relentless. It takes forever for there to be fingers. Then they're overwhelming and GOOD but not ENOUGH. It could only be on purpose. It's too deliberate.

Maybe he decides Tim's is gushing wet enough, or maybe it's the whimpering, like Tim's going to cry. But Dick decides to eventually take pity of him. Too shush and sooth. Scoop up and pull close, as he lines up and starts rocking DEEP.

And it's fizzing in Tim's veins. Fuller and fuller, closer and CONNECTED in a way that feels like he can KEEP. And Dick? Feels closer then he has in years. To anyone. He never wants to pull out. Wants to stay like this, rocking lazily in and out, riding the afterglow, FOREVER.

Wants to take him hard and deep, slow and sweet, bent in half and gasping for air. His, his, his~.

But? Guess who forgot to grab those papers? Dick. Guess who is Worried About His Son(tm)? Bruce. He snoops. He finds them. He has his moral panic and brooding session on a gargoyle in the rain. He does the mental gymnastics necessary to live with himself.

He tracks down Tim.

Because really, who else could they TRUST with this? And yes. Bruce has not been... the best mentor. But he has been trying to be better. Will be better! And he is not about to let some Creeps lay their filthy hands on his boy.

So Tim gets to live out his teenage hormone dreams~☆

Pulled into Batmans lap. Kissed as gentle, powerful, and calloused hands slide down his pants. Between his legs. To tease and rub. To slide deeper then in. Filling him, fucking him, stretching him in preparation for something BIGGER. All while his mouth is plundered by that commanding mouth. All while he squirms in his lap, feeling the thickness of what's going to be buried DEEP pressed against him.

Clothes discarded. Being lifted up. And pulled down onto something that feels like it can't possibly fit. Whining and breathing through it. Leaning forward and just breathing in the scent of Bruce's aftershave, concentrating on the beat of his heart. Being pulled all the way down to the root. Listening to him GROAN and rock Tim's body just to FEEL it.

Up and down, up and down. Lifted and dragged, like a sleeve. Held like a TREASURE. Listening to Bruce rumble out praise in a way he NEVER does. It drags against every good spot inside him. How could he not come apart? Over and over until his bones feel like goo and his head full of honey? Drooling and twitching against Bruce's chest.

At least he's not hungry when he wakes up.

The problem? BRUCE left those damn papers in the cave, too. And both Jason AND Damian found them. Independently of each other.

AND no one in this family TALKS to each other. So EVERYONE thinks that Only They(tm) can prevent him from starving to death.

He... he should tell them. Honestly, he's ABOUT too.

But then? The little nightmare is... not NICE, so much as civil to him? Something about a victory being meaningless if Tim starves thanks to his team mates slow reaction time. Tim likes to think NOT punching him for that remark is being rather mature, on his part. Still, it's nice he's largely backed off.

Only THEN? Tim finds out he backed off because he was going on some weird, DEFINITELY Bruce's Son, "journey of soul searching" about whether or not to fuck him to save his life? Did it never occer to EITHER of these two, to FIND him someone trustworthy? No? HAS to be done by their own two hands, huh?

Is control-freak a genetic trait? Asking for a friend. Who is Tim.

The answer was apparently "yes, he will do it", by the way. And was apparently Preparing himself mentally. How does Tim find out? He finds out in the showers, completely naked. Leg bruised to heck and back, trying to balance on wet tiles, when hot hands too small to be Dick or Bruce, steady him.

It's Damian.

Who is flushed and refusing to look at him. Embarrassed scowl all but carved onto his face. Helping wash with the same efficient but careful method he lovingly washs Titus. Crowding close to him. Sliding an arm around his waist to keep Tim upright. A bold but fumbling hand down and down, like he has a right to what he'll find.

Spreading and curling, under the sprays of water, everything slick. Pin pricks of water hitting his skin, as everything starts to feel so SENSITIVE. Damian pressing against his back like he wants to hide how badly he WANTS, even though Tim can FEEL how hard he is against his back. How greedy his hand is, as it explores.

Sliding to their knees, then the floor. Because Damian's legs have gone weak and Tim can't bear to put pressure on one of his. Damian scrambling forward, eyes almost manic, as he finally learns what all the FUSS is about. His Rival so magnificent beneath him.

Hands tracing scars. Rutting, slick and desperate, under the pouring showerheads. Clawing at those strong hips, to finally put theory into practice. Whining like he's WOUNDED against drenched skin. So HOT. So good.

No technique or skill.

Just frantic pounding. Deep. Again and again. Hips trapped in a desperate hold, as Damian throws everything he HAS into fucking the hot body beneath him. Overwhelmed by the need to milk himself DRY into the perfect vice around his young cock.

Tim not only isn't hungry the next few days, the little gremlin? A doting, if stabby, little shadow. Dick is thrilled they've "become friends". Tim wonders if this is what Talia was like with Bruce. Tries to keep track of his DNA.

Goes to Jason, because honestly, he's probably MET some Succubus before. What with his "Scew You, Dad!" World tour. Might know something. Problem is? The SECOND he climbs in the window? Jason just puts down his guns, turns, and pulls him into a kiss that melts his brain.

Tim's not even sure HOW he loses his clothes. Jason doesn't give him time to think. Next thing he knows, he's bent in half, being held still by his hair, as Jason both sucks the air out of his lungs and pounds him through the mattress. Grinding some little vibe he got from SOMEWHERE against his clit, like Tim isn't ALREADY losing his damn mind.

He absolutely loses time, after the second earth shattering orgasm.

All Tim knows is he wakes up with a drool and tear stained face, bones made if jello, and the bruises like he went a round with Bane. He's practically GLOWING with how well fed he is. Is bordering dangerously close to... to PERKY and Cheerful! In the MORNING!

If he could move, he would accuse Jason of some sort of dick based witchcraft.

Instead he's pulled close like some sort of lover and Jason mumbles something about breakfast after he wakes up. It BETTER include coffee. Tim can't move. Well, the healing ability is kicking in. But he gets to complain anyway!

He does not, in fact, remember to tell anyone.

They NEVER fucking communicate because of course they don't.

So each one of them, Secretly of course, keeps Tim's Super Secret Succubus Secret from the other's. And helps him feed. Secretly.

Tim is extremely well fed. And never DOES figure out how to change back... not that he tries too hard.

-🐼🐼🐼

tim being magically turned into a succubus and his family all independently deciding they will take on the oh so hard task of "helping" him and keeping him fed 👀👀! and then tim being in absolutely no rush to change back because he's well fed and taken care of so it's not like he's on a time crunch or anything 👀👀👀

#answered asks #asks #anonymous

57 notes · View notes

respectthepetty · 2 months

Note

I am back to once again stir up discussion regarding color in Cutie Pie, and I'm doubling down on what I said about Kuea last time. KUEA KEERATI IS A BI-COLORED BOY.

Without a doubt, his primary color is red, and he's even pulling Lian's blue as early as episode one - but I started counting the number of times Kuea has worn yellow in the first 7 episodes. It's at least once an episode, sometimes the bulk of the episode. The lights in his Dragon's Lair house are both red and yellow. The car that Lian gets for him to drive in episode 7 is also yellow. At first, I wondered if he might be wearing yellow as a nod to Kon-Diao and their friendship, but the bulk of the scenes he wears yellow, he is with Lian or by himself. Lian even wears a tie with yellow and blue stripes. I'm gonna watch more episodes and keep track of the yellow a bit further, but I think 7 episodes with at one yellow shirt per episode is enough for me to declare Kuea both a red rascal and a yellow-orange oddity.

Thoughts, lol?

Kitty, you know what my thoughts are because we have been through this, but now I'm thinking that I'm going to fight you in a Texas Chicken parking lot! (I kid, I kid . . . or do I?)

Just because I wrote I'm finally getting on this bi-colored train due to how well I think To Be Continued is doing it does not mean I'm going to flip on Kuea too. Cutie Pie JUST got out of Petty Prison. And do you know why it was in Petty Prison? Because Kuea IS F*CKING RIDICULOUS!

He was lying and sneaking around when there was no need. He was coming up with these elaborate plans to hide shit when HE COULD'VE JUST COMMUNICATED! Which is funny because Yellow/Orange Oddities communicate. Sometimes too much. Like "telling people they need to poop" level of communication.

But you know who lies, sneaks, schemes, and stays on their bullshit? Red Rascals!

Which is probably why Kuea and Yi don't like each other.

THEY ARE THE SAME BRAND OF STUPID!

So instead of these two being honest with their partners, they hide their true colors because THEY ARE STUPID!

So this pendejo decides that Lian won't love him if he knows he wants to be a Korean Idol or whatever.

And he thinks Lian won't love him if he knew what Kuea's real major is.

And he thinks Lian definitely won't love him if he is speed racing Love-in-the-Air style.

But instead of this dum-dum actually giving up those things, or, I don't know, confessing to them, he decides to LIE, LIKE A LIAR!

So while Lian is trying to figure out exactly what version of Kuea he is about to marry, Kuea is hiding his real self which, ironically, reinforces his true colors since his scheming makes him even more of a Red Rascal. His color is literally always staring us in the face!

It's the red flag (or folder) that constantly comes between them.

Oh look! It's the other red flag between them!

And what's funny about this is Kuea gets mad at Lian for being cold to him when he is ACTIVELY LYING, so he runs off to his SECRET house where he has neon signs of his SECRET persona!

So the pot keeps talking shit about the kettle!

And the kettle has to figure out how to deal with a lying pot.

Which is to go along with his bullshit since Lian loves the idiot!

THEN CATCH HIM IN THE ACT!

Because Lian has always known who Kuea is.

He has known Kuea since that liar was a damn baby. Day one. Fresh from the womb!

The childhood merch wasn't for nothing!

So he knows the yellow isn't Kuea's. Because it's LIAN'S FAMILY'S!

You remember that great party that was happening for Lian's dad? The one where Kuea rejected Lian's proposal in front of God and all his guests?!

Look at that! The merging of two families!

But wait?! Why does Kuea wear so much yellow?

BECAUSE HE THINKS IT PLEASES HIS BLUE BOY AND HIS FAMILY!

This Slut for Christ could've been married to Lian YEARS AGO, but mentiroso had to keep lying and didn't realize that Lian loved HIM. Lian was doing everything for HIM! The story was about families, traditions, and old money versus new money, but when it boiled down to it, it was about loving Kuea for who he is, not because Lian was told to but because he genuinely loved that Red Rascal's lying ass.

So thank goodness Lian knows another ridiculous Red Rascal who he loves dearly, but also has learned how to fight a Red Rascal and their stupidity from.

So these two could FINALLY get together at the end wearing their true colors because it mattered who they were and not who their families were or wanted them to be. And that's also why there is still a little yellow in Lian's tie.

/\ <- This is a hill.

And I'm dying on it.

#Kuea is a RED RASCAL!#the colors mean things #and it means Kuea is a RED RASCAL #color coded boys in love #cutie pie #cutie pie the series #I'm dying on this hill

36 notes · View notes

unnecessary-dinosaurs · 2 years

Text

SEASON FIVE SPOILERS

final full thoughts on s5

i went into this season excited, but not expectant of the quality of seasons 1-3. i knew it was gonna be better than s4 but i wasn’t sure by how much. that being said i was completely blown away by this season. it was everything i could’ve wanted from a final season and more.

this shows biggest strength has always been its characters. and this season is an exemplar of that. every character is so well written this season, especially kenji. kenji’s arc through this season just proves why he’s one of my favorites. he can be obnoxious and entitled, but even when he has everything he’s ever wanted, he chooses the camp fam. i love that he also didn’t come to his senses on his own. he needed help from mae, bumpy, ben, like a real person would.

i loved the dynamics between the nublar six this time around. wether it was focusing on established relationships like brooklynn and darius, or new ones like ben and yaz, it always felt very genuine and there was a very real sense of love present.

obviously the most important thing that happened this season was YASAMMY CANON. literally this blew my mind. the best relationship in the show finally payed off after five seasons in the most satisfying way possible. the kiss was amazing and i’m really glad we got to see them just being girlfriends for a bit. a lot of endgame ships just build up for the whole show and then end with them becoming canon. but i loved that we got to see them dating for a little bit.

also reintroducing brand, dave, and roxie was a great choice and their dynamic added so much to this season. i literally missed them so much.

i’m not going to analyze each specific character because i’m lazy but every character had their time to shine. sammy’s scene with mr kon at the end, ben being yaz’s wingman, ben freeing bumpy, brooklynn and darius’ scene, kenji and mae looking out for each other. everyone was great.

now i’m gonna talk about the plot. at first i was worried about the dinosaurs being controlled thing, and it’s honestly still not my favorite, but the action and emotion behind said action made everything work. i loved the two separate plots. the camp fam trying to stop mr kon from mantah corp island, and kenji and his dad on nublar.

i never would have guessed that we would go back to nublar, or that we would spend so much time there, but i absolutely loved it. it brought back so many memories from earlier seasons and tied together some loose ends, like the drone and distress beacon.

the final stand between the watering hole dinos and mantah dino’s was seriously so cool. i know it was ridiculous but that’s kind of why i loved it. it was like completely nonsensical dinosaur battle royale and it was a blast to watch. the spino got some cool moments and the eaties got their happy ending. some awesome action and an all around great climax.

one of the best parts of season 5 was daniel kon as the villain. so easy to hate. he was great not only for the plot but he was more involved with the characters than any other villain. i don’t think it’ll be too controversial for me to say he’s the best villain in the jurassic franchise.

and my final compliment to this season is that it was very true to itself, despite backlash to season 4. i’m really glad they didn’t shy away from any of the concepts introduced in s4 that were disliked. it would’ve felt out of place to just immediately drop brookenji, the brads, and kash. but instead s5 found a way to make them more believable/likeable, or ease them out. like how kash was killed off pretty early, but in a believable way that still developed his character.

anyways this season was a blast and just such a beautiful end. these characters have been begging for resolution since day one, and finally giving it to them was immensely gratifying. this show will always have a special place in my heart. i’ve been obsessed with it for two years, and so i’m understandably very nervous to fall out of love with it, but i’m happy it ended so well.

CampFam4Life!

#jwcc #camp cretaceous #jwcc s5 #camp cretaceous spoilers #SEASON FIVE

26 notes · View notes

bi-bats · 11 months

Note

for the asks game, i wanted to ask something weirder, so, maribat? (if you know what that is) or timkon or damitim if those haven’t been asked yet

ooh okay I see you! This is the first one someone has sent me that I don't ship!

Maribat: Don’t Ship It

Why don't you ship it?

Because I honestly just dislike crossovers of any kind. It's been a thing for me in every fandom I've ever been in. Not for me 🤷‍♂️

What would have made you like it?

Yeah, given the whole I don't enjoy crossovers thing, there probably isn't anything that would make me like it.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

Sure! I can totally understand how people started doing crossovers between miraculous and DC. I've seen some of miraculous (I'm just really really terrible at watching TV) and I think the characters are really amazing, and the way the world would blend with the DC universe has a lot of potential for interesting stories. I honestly don't even have anything negative to say about it, it's just not my thing.

Gonna do another cause I feel like it and I want to talk about something I do ship!!

Timkon: Ship It

What made you ship it?

I think it was another one that the person who suggested jayroy suggested to me? And then also everything that was ever written by Ididloveyou_once.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

ugh I love the enemies to friends to lovers. Also the sunshine one and the stoic one trope. And also, because I'm me, I love the tragedy of it. I just adore the whole thing where Kon sacrifices himself and Tim tries to get him back and ends up giving up because it's for the best and then he gets him back anyways but nothing is the same because Kon's death was something that happened to Tim. But Kon loves him anyways because he's still Tim and 😭😭😭 I'm making myself emotional. Alexa, play Hyacinthus by Aidoneus. (everyone fucking listen to that song or at least read the lyrics if you ship Timkon okay? @ me when you cry)

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Not necessarily. But I have an opinion that I don't see discussed a lot which is that I think Kon would feel really, really conflicted about the cloning thing. It's important to point out that this idea DOES NOT WORK in most fics where Timkon is endgame, so I get why it doesn't come up a lot, but like. he'd be so offended because if it had worked, that clone was going to be an individual person, not a copy of him. And after everything he's been through in regards to his identity, Tim should understand that. He should have known that. But also, he can't even really be mad because 1) Tim didn't actually go through with it, and 2) Tim was literally not in his right mind at the time. But I also think Kon is the kind of person who wouldn't be able to rationalize his anger away successfully, so I feel like he'd end up leaping down Tim's throat a lot of the time instead of just being angry at him, because even with all of his feelings about it, he's not just going to quit on Tim. I don't know, I just think it would be really deeply upsetting if anyone ever told Kon more than "Tim tried to bring you back to life." It would put a really heavy strain on their relationship.

Yeah honestly, Timkon is my number one ship right after Jaytim. I love them so much. I have so many thoughts about them and also a few fic ideas rotting in my drafts that maybe I'll post someday (but probably not cause then I'll have to stop looking at jaytim for five seconds)

Send me a ship and I'll answer some questions about it! I've already done jaytim, jayroy, birdflash, timkon, and maribat

#☁️ eidoloony #bibatrambles #batsasks #ask games

4 notes · View notes

catxsnow · 4 years

Text

BROTHERLY DISTURBANCES W.W

Request: can i request a wally and batsis!reader trying to make out in peace but keep getting interrupted by her brothers?

Warning: fluff, kissing, implied smut

A/N: I love Wally West with my whole heart okay. He deserves better and I hope he comes back in season four of YJ 😩

Word count: 2.2k

It was great that your boyfriend and your brothers got a long. Wally and Dick were best friends long before you even met him. Jason liked the speedster too - you were sure it was because he reminded him of Roy a little bit. Even Tim liked Wally - mostly because Bart was one of his best friends.

Least to say, they were all happy that it was Wally that you were dating, not some asshole. You were glad that you didn't have to go through that awkward stage of your brothers intimidatingly asking your boyfriend what he wanted with you. Wally already knew them all, they knew exactly what kind of person he was.

Dick the most. Their time together on the Young Justice team proved a friendship that would never end. Having him basically be part of the family with dating you was even better.

You and Wally started dating after his endless flirting with you. At first, it had just been a joke to piss Dick off, before he realized that he genuinely had feelings for you. He was trying to spend as much time with you as he could get - and as a speedster it seemed that he had all the time in the world.

It took you a long time to cave to his pleads of asking you on a date. The second you did, it was like your whole world changed. Your brothers got closer to you, Wally was more loving than ever, you were happier. Dating Wally made you a better sister, and a better person.

The downside of them all being friends, was that you were often interrupted by them. Dick was always stopping by your apartment to hang out with Wally or you. It was nice to see him, but there were times that you wanted to get into a classic sibling throw-down with him as well.

Today, was one of those days.

For the first time in a long time, you and Wally both were free of university classes and missions. You got the chance to laze around in your apartment and just enjoy the presence of one another. Wally always complained about how slowly the days passed, but you knew that these were his guilty pleasure days.

The smell of fresh cookies filled your apartment, upon Wally's request. Rain pattered against the window, filling the empty noise. Wally sat in the arm chair in your small living room with you on his lap. His hand grasped your thigh as he met your lips. His favourite part about days like these? Getting to kiss you as much as he wanted.

Wally dragged out his kisses for as long as he possible could. It was one of the few times he despised speed. You smiled into the kiss, wishing that you could spend every day like this. Hands tugging through Wally's messy hair, the heat of his body radiating to yours. Nothing could ruin this moment.

Except for Dick Grayson.

You regretted giving your brother a key to your apartment. Especially right now, when he barged in without knocking. You nearly jumped off of Wally's lap, startled from his sudden entrance. Your fear turned to disappointment very quickly, and it seemed like Wally's did too.

"Cookies," Dick grinned, grabbing one off the plate and shoving nearly the entire thing into his mouth. He finally noticed that you and Wally were sitting on the chair, and awkwardly smiled at your angered look. "Bad timing?" It didn't take being a detective to realize what you were previously doing.

"When do you ever have good timing?" You glared. Wally tapped your leg, gesturing for you to get off of his lap, to which you complied to. Your arms were crossed over your chest as the two friends dabbed it up. In all your time together, it seemed like Wally was never mad at Dick for something like this, always you.

"What're you doing here, Rob?" Wally asked, using Dick's old nickname. His mouth was full of a half eaten cookie and you were sure the plate was going to be gone within the hour. As much as you loved Wally, he was a lot to cook for.

"Was in the neighborhood, thought I'd stop by," Dick shrugged. He swung his arm over your shoulder and when you didn't return his hug, he tightened his grip and completely messed up your hair. Of course, both boys thought it was hilarious to see you so frustrated about a simple fix.

Your peaceful day had come to an end as Wally and Dick settled on the couch and chatted about everything and anything. Their friendship had come first for longer than you were dating Wally and longer than you were siblings with Dick. It was often times hard to compete with that and over the years, you had just accepted it.

It was hours that Dick had stayed over, him and Wally laughing and having fun like the good old days. You loved seeing them happy like this, but you also just wanted your alone time with Wally again. Finally, Dick had decided that he used up his time and that it was time to head back to his own home.

The second that Dick left, Wally sped over to you and latched onto your waist. His lips crashed onto yours, missing your taste just as much as you had missed his. At that moment, your bed - even the couch - seemed too far away. Wally settled with setting you up on the kitchen counter, standing between your legs.

You trapped him in his place, legs wrapped around his waist. Wally's hands rested below your shirt, gently rubbing the pads of his fingers on your skin. He pulled his lips away, just long enough to utter, "I love you."

"As much as you love my brother?" You teased. Wally playfully glared at you, you always teased him about how close he and Dick were. He grabbed the bottom of your thighs, carrying you to your bedroom. You laughed the whole way there, even more so as he literally threw you on the bed.

Wally didn't hesitate to join you. He hovered over you, legs entangled as he kissed you again. His hair tickled the underside of your chin as he trailed down your neck. Hands grasping at your shirt, but not wanting to pull away long enough to tug it off of you. Finally, he pulled away the material.

"Babe, I don't think I'll ever stop admiring you," Wally grinned. He took every chance he got to flirt with you, and you had to admit that you loved it. This time, you rolled your eyes at him, and pulled him back down to meet your lips. He didn't seem to complain about that either.

A sudden, familiar gush of wind made you freeze. You were well accustomed to Wally speeding in and out of a room, along with the mess of loose items that followed. However, with Wally hovering over you, there was only one other person that would be speeding in and out of your room at that speed.

"Please don't tell me..." You trailed off, already knowing the answer. Wally sighed, handing you back your shirt that he had just removed. The two of you straightened up your clothes before leaving your room and back into the kitchen.

Bart was raiding your fridge, food already shoved in his mouth while none other than Tim was sitting in your favourite chair.

"You look great in red (Y/N)!" Bart complimented while still chewing. You could feel Wally's glare, and before he could do anything to his relative, you grasped his hand. You hoped that he hadn't noticed you shirtless, but of course being a speedster he easily noticed everything in a room before you could blink.

"What do you want, Tim?" You asked, looking over at your younger brother. "Bart if you take that last slice of pizza I'll personally send you back to your timeline myself," you snapped. Bart wearily looked between the pizza in his hand and you before setting it back in the fridge and closing the door.

"Haven't seen Kon in a while, thought he might have come here," Tim explained. It wouldn't have been the first time one of your super friends came and crashed at your apartment for a couple nights. Tim looked up at Wally's ruffled hair and your shirt that was on inside-out. "Sorry for the bad timing." Just like Dick.

"Kon isn't here," Wally answered the obvious.

"A simple text would have sufficed instead of showing up," You snapped. It seemed like everyone was making the effort to ruin your day with Wally. However, family was family and as much as you hated them you couldn't be annoyed for long. They all meant their best, even if it wasn't valuing you in the moment.

"Am I not allowed to come visit?" Tim asked. Of course he was. Just like Dick, you did enjoy Tim's visits to your home as well. Also like Dick, you weren't in the mood for anyone else to come by your home. The hours of the day were ticking down and you knew that by the next day, you weren't going to get the option of peace again for a while.

"Hi, Tim. Thanks for stopping by, great catching up. You too, Bart. Really great visit, missed you both, bye!" You sarcastically vote as you ushered both the men towards your front door. They tried to complain as you did so, but you had slammed the door right in their faces, followed by an obvious click of your lock.

"Really, babe?" Wally chuckled at you. "Just can't get enough of me today, huh?"

"Do you want me to invite them back in? Stay for dinner? Less time that you get to see me nak-"

"Nope!" Wally changed his attitude very quickly. He sped over to you, hoisting you up in his arms and raced back into your bedroom, this time closing and locking the door in case you had any more visitors. The tension between the two of you escalated dramatically throughout the day and it was killing you not to break it.

Wally's finger's danced along your skin. They roamed up your thighs, under your shirt, anywhere that he could reach. All day he had been waiting for his and all day he had been denied. It wasn't just you who was craving his kisses, he was craving yours as well. He needed this moment with you, otherwise he was sure he was going to explode.

Your kisses were no longer slow and tender, they were rushed, needy. Both of you were petrified that someone else was going to come along and ruin your moment. The perfect day that you had envisioned was no more, the last few hours of the night were fading just as you had dreaded.

You were right to fear as well. Wally barely had his belt undone when yet another knock came from your front door. His eyes filled with dread at the sound. "Think we can ignore them?" Wally asked, still kissing along your jaw. You didn't answer, just tilted his chin so you could kiss his lips.

However, the knock didn't stop. It got louder, and louder until you couldn't bare the sound of it anymore. Whoever it was, they had no patience in the slightest. "Fuck," You muttered. You grabbed the closest shirt on the floor and shoved it over your half naked body. Wally flopped against the bed, rubbing his eyes in frustration.

You whipped open your front door, fire in your eyes at getting interrupted once more. Just as you had dreaded - and expected - it was Jason at your door. His arms were crossed and he had a duffel bag over his shoulder, one that held his Red Hood suit.

"Patrol?" Jason asked. There were several times that he came to you asking if you wanted to scour the city with him. Most times, you wanted to. This time, you barely gave him notice.

"No," you deadpanned. The door was maybe a little too harshly slammed in his face. There was no way that you were going to waste the last bit of time with Wally to go out in this city to fight criminals. You wanted this night to yourself and you had even gone out of your way to tell Jason that you were taking the night off. He must have forgotten.

"Babe, I know I've said it before but you look so good in my clothes," Wally complimented as you walked back into your room. You hadn't noticed that it was his shirt that you picked up rather than your own. "Another one of your brothers?"

"Jason," you scowled.

"I thought I had a big family," Wally joked. He pulled you back into your bed so your legs straddled his thighs. Both hands were intertwined as he stared up at you. "How many more interruptions can we expect? My body can only handle so much more."

"Well, if you include Bruce, there's still a chance of five more," You shuddered at the thought. "I don't care what's happening out there. I'm not leaving this bed again. Even if it's Beyonce that comes at my door."

"Babe, I like the way you think."

#wally west #wally west imagine #wally west x fem!reader #young justice #young justice imagine #dc imagine #dc one shot #dc #fluff #kid flash #kid flash imagine #kid flash x reader #wally west x reader

736 notes · View notes

suzukiblu · 3 years

Note

I wish you would write a fic where there's age regression, and possibly more Kon/Conner. How do you age-regress a quick-aged genetic experiment? Or, conversely, Conner takes care of an age-regressed teammate (and has no idea what he's doing)!

I LOVE age regression but I like neeeeever write it, it's such a weird oversight on my part. I actually even HAVE an unfinished YJ fic about the whole team getting de-aged that's just, like, chilling in my docs. I never figured out where it was going aside from "making things weird for Superman", though, although I really liked it at the time.

So hey, you know what, have a read more:

There's some kind of fuss going on around Young Justice, although Clark isn't sure what. He overhears Hal and Dinah bickering about something to do with Artemis and Speedy—Red Arrow, although “Speedy” is so much clearer a memory—but they don't go into detail. Something about mad science and a mission gone wrong and . . . Lunchables?

Clark very rarely mishears things, but that he is CERTAIN he did.

It isn't his business, though, so he doesn't ask for clarification. If the League needs his help, they'll ask him; otherwise it has nothing to do with him.

Unfortunately, then Bruce actually asks for his help.

There's no excuse good enough to get by Batman, and so Clark finds himself materializing inside Mount Justice with the halfhearted hope that they just need something improbably heavy moved—ANYTHING that will just take a moment, in and out. Oddly, there's no one waiting to meet him, although he can hear arguing and laughter and running water and a dozen other sounds of life from different corners of the mountain.

Closer, and more concerning, he can hear tears.

Clark ignores the other voices and Bruce's distant, Kevlar-muffled heartbeat to follow the tiny, hitched breaths down the hall. He doesn't have to go far.

There's a little boy curled up in a shadowed alcove not even big enough to be a broom closet, five years old if he's a day and wearing a black T-shirt and cargo pants and oddly heavy-looking boots. He looks wounded and small and brokenhearted from the lie of his shoulders alone.

Clark stares in bemusement for a moment—a child THIS young in Mount Justice?—but another muffled sob takes immediate precedence and he drops into a crouch just outside the boy's personal space.

“Are you alright?” he asks gently, and the boy jumps in surprise and jerks his head up. He has the most ENORMOUS blue eyes Clark thinks he's ever seen, and also the most horrified.

“I wasn't crying!” the boy blurts, still crying, and scrubs the tears away frantically.

“It's fine if you were,” Clark tells him, gentling his voice even more, and the boy looks at him like the world just ended. Blue eyes, black hair, broken heart; he remembers Dick four years ago, remembers what happened to make Dick ROBIN. Wonders what Bruce is doing, exactly, and if THIS is the emergency he is supposed to help with.

“YOU wouldn't,” the boy says, hiccuping around another sob, and Clark just smiles reassuringly at him.

“Everyone does,” he says, and fresh tears well in the boy's eyes and he turns his face into the corner, huddled up so small it actually HURTS to see. Clark is used to misery, he has seen more of it than he can stand to remember, but that doesn't make it any easier to watch.

He could ask what happened, what is so upsetting, but doesn't want the boy to have to think about what's making him cry like that, so devastated and LONELY in a place full of people, and so instead reaches out and rests a hand on his shoulder, carefully. The boy freezes, sobs and breath and HEART all stopping, and Clark lightens the contact, but doesn't quite withdraw.

“Are you hurt?” he asks with all the gentleness he would usually reserve for restraining the full scope of Superman's strength down into catching a falling body, embracing a victim, kissing a loved one. The boy SHUDDERS and starts back up again, tears falling faster and his attempts to respond all breaking up too much to finish. Finally he just shakes his head, HARD, and buries his face back in his arms.

He is so small.

“Is there something I can do for you?” Clark asks, and the boy just cries HARDER, somehow, and now he's concerned because how can every attempt to do something for the boy make him that much more UPSET? All the power in the world means nothing when he can't help a person who's in pieces.

There's a shriek somewhere in the base, loud and childish and startlingly giddy in comparison to this moment, and Clark startles slightly and looks towards it, automatically dropping the hand on the boy's shoulder to touch his earpiece, meaning to call Bruce and ask what, exactly, is going on here—but then the boy whimpers.

But no. “Whimper” is not enough of a word, “whimper” cannot possibly contain the pain and DESPAIR in that sound, the way it TEARS out of the boy and through Clark worse than any other kind of hit, worse than perhaps ANYTHING.

“It's alright,” he says, fast, forgetting about the communicator altogether and reaching out again. “Shhh, it's alright, it's alright, son—”

The boy SOBS.

Clark has never in his life heard a worse sound than that sob.

Something like panic flits through him, he doesn't even know where from, and he barely keeps himself from grabbing the boy and yanking him to his chest—it would be too hard, too sudden, too frightening for an already distraught child. The moment it takes him to force down the driving NEED to is literally painful, and when it passes it still doesn't really pass.

Clark takes off his cape, carefully, and wraps the boy up in it—hides him in it, he admits to himself, but it's not hard to admit when the boy himself seems to welcome the idea of vanishing inside its folds. He picks him up in one arm, cradles him in the crook of it, and the boy curls up as tight as if he really COULD disappear. The sobbing dies down into almost-silence, barely more than hitched breath again, and Clark holds him close and heads towards the sound of people. He can't help the child if he doesn't know what's wrong, and clearly the boy's in no condition to explain what's happened to him for himself.

He thinks of plenty of awful possibilities on the way, but doesn't get halfway there before a sudden blur of black and red and yellow tears down the hall and skids to a stop in front of him, solidifying into two more small boys, although not as small as the one in his arms.

Infinitely more recognizable, though.

Clark blinks, and looks down at a brightly grinning nine-year old Robin riding piggyback on a beaming Kid Flash . . . that IS Kid Flash, isn't it, he thinks, except he can't be a day past nine himself, and Kid Flash DEFINITELY never wore that suit or ran like that when he was nine.

NEITHER of them should be nine.

“What . . .” he starts, slowly, and the boy in his arms peers out from underneath his cape and sniffles, once.

“Found him!” Kid Flash yells back down the hall, and Robin throws both hands up in the air with a crow of triumph, falling off Kid Flash's back into an effortless back walkover in the process.

“We win!” he says gleefully. “Go Team Batflash, suck it, Team Aquamartian and Double-Arrow!”

“'BATflash'? Why isn't it FlashBAT?” Kid Flash demands indignantly, and Robin just laughs condescendingly and reaches up to give his head a little pat.

“Oh please, it is SO Batflash,” he says. Clark stares down at both of them with a certain sinking feeling, and the boy in his arms scrubs at his tear-streaked face again, and the cape slips lower and for the first time he sees the front of the boy's shirt.

Sees the symbol on the front of the boy's shirt.

He hears a Kevlar-muffled heartbeat and then Bruce is there, staring evenly at him. For a moment Clark is . . . shaken, that is the only word for it, and then Bruce's arms are up and then he's completely bemused, because it LOOKS like Bruce wants him to give him . . .

“Superboy,” Bruce says, and the boy fumbles out of his cape and his arms and into BRUCE'S and latches on, latches on so hard Bruce's body armor audibly CREAKS. Clark feels a sudden irrational rush of frustration—Superboy did anything BUT hold onto him—and then everything actually sinks in.

“What happened?” he manages, or mostly manages, still holding his empty cape and feeling . . . feeling very strange for it. Kid Flash starts babbling at super-speed, Robin too busy scowling sulkily up at Superboy to properly contribute, and it's not very different from overhearing Hal and Dinah—mad science and a mission gone wrong and Black Canary totally bought them all Lunchables she is the AWESOMEST EVER—except this time Clark is actually listening.

This time it has something to DO with him.

“I see,” Clark says when Kid Flash finally runs out of air and falls over gasping, taking Robin down with him. Robin yelps, and Kid Flash laughs breathlessly, and they scuffle for no apparent reason. Superboy is still hiding against Bruce, holding on with that Kevlar-creaking grip.

Then it occurs to Clark that he's been too busy staring at Superboy to pay attention to Bruce, and his eyes flick to the other man's.

It . . . takes a lot of distraction to not notice Bruce has been glaring at you.

To not notice BATMAN has been glaring at you.

“You're late,” Bruce says, sharply.

“You only called ten minutes ago,” Clark reminds him, and Bruce's lips thin and even without the X-ray vision Clark can read the look the other is sending him: you could've been here in two. It's not that he . . . he didn't mean to AVOID . . .

He didn't want to come, Clark admits to himself, and his eyes trail back down to Superboy like all the weight of creation is calling them down. If he has ever, ever held that weight, this is that moment. But why should it be, he wonders, why NOW—

What a stupid question, he thinks, watching the closest thing he will ever have to blood hide from him in such obvious shame and fear.

“Superboy,” he says, slowly, and Superboy flinches. Kevlar creaks, and Bruce's lips go even thinner; Clark doesn't have to be Superman to know that HURT. But Bruce doesn't say a word or change his grip at all, and . . . and Clark remembers being a child, remembers running into Pa's arms crying and covered in mud and Pa hadn't cared about getting his good suit dirty; remembers Ma wrapping her arms around him when he slipped in shivering from sleet and rain, not minding the icy meltwater soaking into her dress. Remembers growing older, watching other families, and thinking that parents who did things like that were the best anyone could hope for.

Remembers finding out he would never BE a parent, because he wasn't human. Because Kryptonians and humans couldn't crossbreed. Because he was the last and would ALWAYS be, because he was going to die someday and so would EVERYTHING of his people, everything his birth parents had wanted to SAVE—

Clark is aware, very suddenly, that he is responsible for Superboy's existence. He is the one who decided to put on the cape. He is the one who decided to BE the cape.

He made Superman, and no one would ever have made Superboy if he hadn't.

He made a choice.

He made a choice, and that means . . .

Bruce inhales, a little stiffly with the way Superboy is crushing his body armor, and turns on his heel and walks away. Robin and Kid Flash tear after him, Robin grabbing the edge of his cape like a little . . . like a child, of course, Clark thinks, and follows as well.

Superboy is still hiding from him.

“Batman,” he starts, but doesn't know where to go from there. Bruce ignores him, and Clark struggles for words, for SOMETHING that will . . . for something. Robin disappears under Bruce's cape, Kid Flash bolts restlessly from place to place in the hall, almost fast enough to blur to even Clark's vision, and Superboy never releases his grip on Bruce's armor or lifts his head.

They come to the end of the hall, and it opens into a common room; Dinah looks up, her face flushed and upset and a boy who can't be more than one or two sniffling in her arms, chubby little hands covering his masked face. Red Arrow, Clark recognizes immediately, because Dinah could not possibly look like that for anyone else, and that armored and forbidding costume looks so ODD on a child so small—as odd as Superboy's steel-toed boots. Artemis is scowling angrily, arms crossed in a defensive posture, and she is all skinny limbs and knobby knees, twelve years old if she's a day. Kid Flash and Robin immediately fix her with matching scowls.

“What'd you do to Speedy?” they demand in near-perfect indignant unison, and Artemis GLOWERS.

“Nothing!” she snaps. “He just wants Green Arrow and Green Arrow's still in Star City, it's not MY fault he's too stupid to understand, y'know!”

“I bet you were a jerk to him again!” Kid Flash accuses, pointing at her.

“I was NOT!” Artemis fumes.

“Then how come he always ends up cryin' whenever we leave him with you?” Robin asks grumpily, foot tap-tap-tapping erratically against the floor and fingers fisting tighter in Bruce's cape. He keeps sneaking glances that are closer to glares up at Superboy, and Clark, irrationally, wants to scold him for it—as if that were even his place, in regards to either boy.

“'Cause he's STUPID, I told you!” Artemis snaps back, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder, and Dinah grits her teeth.

“That's ENOUGH,” she says sharply, cradling Red Arrow tighter to herself, and he sniffles again and grabs at her hair with his sticky little tear and snot-stained gloves, burying his equally sticky little face in it. Dinah's expression turns pained, but she doesn't shoo him away. “I'm going to kill Ollie,” she says, in a surprisingly sweet tone, and pats Red Arrow's back soothingly.

“Wan' OWWY!” Red Arrow wails, and the children all cringe at the volume, clapping their hands over their ears. Clark barely represses the urge to do the same.

“There, there, darling, Ollie's coming,” Dinah croons, swaying gently and stroking a hand through Red Arrow's hair. “And he'll probably bring a camera and NEVER let you live this down, oh no he won't. And blubber all over you, that too, yes!”

Clark considers asking what Red Arrow was even DOING with Young Justice and also if anyone in the room even slightly cares about Green Arrow's secret identity, but decides there's not much point. He's more curious about the fact that the kids have somehow all turned out vastly different ages despite apparently having been hit with the same still-unidentified ray—with the exception of Robin and Kid Flash, that is, but even that's strange considering they were different ages to start with, and the gaps between one and eighteen and twelve and fifteen are MILES more than that. As for Superboy . . .

Clark's not even sure Superboy ever actually WAS five years old, and if he was it probably didn't last this long.

“Is Red Tornado still with Aqualad and Miss Martian?” Bruce asks, and Dinah nods, looking weary but almost amused despite that.

“Aqualad INSISTED on checking the pool and showers for Superboy,” she says. “He seemed pretty convinced no one could possibly want to hide anywhere dry if they were feeling sad.”

“Well, we HAVE found him holed up in the showers before,” Artemis says, tugging absently at the bottom of her ponytail. “They kinda remind him of his pod, y'know? But they're, y'know, probably too big now.” Bruce grunts assent, and Clark remembers how tight the alcove he found Superboy tucked into was, and feels . . . strange about it.

He should have the whole SKY, something whispers in the back of his head. He should have wide open fields and miles and miles where the only buildings are barns and silos and little houses and there aren't even trees or planes overhead, where everything is flat and bright and clear and ENDLESS.

“Contact Miss Martian and inform her we've found Superboy,” Bruce tells the—currently—older children, and they all nod and squeeze their eyes shut tight with extremely concentrated expressions. Clark wonders when Bruce is going to put Superboy down. That can't be COMFORTABLE, being held onto that tightly for so long; the merciless grip of Superboy's small arms probably feels like being slowly crushed.

Clark isn't sure how strong the boy actually is, of course, because Superboy wasn't holding onto him at all when he carried him, much less holding on that hard. Much stronger than he was at that age, he knows, just like Kid Flash is much faster than he should be and Robin and Artemis both a little too graceful.

He should say something, he thinks in the silence, but then Red Arrow starts sniffling again and Dinah starts singing him a lilty little Irish lullaby and Robin and Kid Flash immediately swarm her while Artemis pretends not to be perking up curiously, and Superboy lifts his face just a little, just for a moment.

Then he sees Clark, and hides it again.

That's . . .

“We're here, we're here!” a loud, childish voice shouts, and Miss Martian darts into the room on chubby little-girl legs, huffing and puffing excitedly and with her cape all tangled up around her shoulders. She looks five or six, and Aqualad who's right on her heels with a worried expression and attempting to untangle her might be seven. Red Tornado follows them in, apparently unconcerned about the clothing issue, and Miss Martian hops up into the air and starts tugging at Superboy's shirt. “Superboy, don't be—don't be scared, you're not lost anymore! We found you!”

“WE found him!” Robin protests indignantly, scowling up at her.

“Superman found him,” Batman corrects, visibly unimpressed, and it's the most acknowledgment Clark's had from anyone in the conversation since they left the hall. He tries to take it as reason to speak, but the right words won't come—they never do, when it's about Superboy.

“Superman doesn't count,” Kid Flash says, glowering with startling vehemence, more startling for the way Robin and Artemis match it. Even Miss Martian frowns, although on her it looks closer to a pout, and Aqualad just sighs and reaches up to tug lightly at the bottom of Superboy's shirt, so small and so serious.

“Superboy, do you want to come play with us?” he asks, the picture of a too-responsible and too-concerned little boy. “It is your turn to pick the game.”

“I don't know any games,” Superboy mumbles, still hiding against Bruce. “Just the ones you guys taught me today.”

“Which was your favorite? We can play that one again,” Aqualad suggests, and Superboy finally peers down at him. He still looks uncomfortable and unhappy, but not so upset anymore—thirty seconds, and Aqualad has calmed and comforted Superboy in a way Clark hadn't even come CLOSE to when he'd tried.

Annnnnd that's as far as I ever got, alas. But I did really enjoy writing it, so I'm all for an excuse to share it, haha.

#percygranger #rintalk

28 notes · View notes

internalsealpanic · 3 years

Text

Love Through the Ages (Tim Drake)

Summary: Love like baggage needs to be declared.

a/n: This is part two of a series that is a fic rec list disguised as a fic. For these fics, most of the characters will be speaking different languages, so unless specified otherwise assume that the characters are speaking in the first language I mention. They’re all vampires with centuries under their belt. Why wouldn’t I make them all polyglots. Also, thank you to the proof reading gang for putting up with my shenanigans. I will have links to the fics I recommend in the fic itself.

Warnings: Everyone is dramatic.

Masterlist

Series Masterlist.

You watch the rusty green of the warehouse wall disappear behind a spray of orange paint. There is nothing more satisfying than watching paint make old things new.

A whistle interrupts your reverie, making the can slip from your hand. You swear, the harsh syllables echoing in the empty air. The can bounces down the scaffold and lands in someone’s hands. Tim’s face gets sprayed with a mist of orange. He makes a noise and rubs at his face. You bark out a laugh and he grimaces at you. The begrudging fondness obvious on his face.

He waves at you, eyes still stinging from the paint. Giddiness flourishes in your chest. “I knew I’d find you here!” He shouts in a dialect of Mandarin that you hadn’t heard in ages.

It takes you a moment to understand him. You’re honestly extremely rusty. It takes you another moment to realize that it made no sense for him to find you. “How?” You shout back in Romanian.

Tim shakes his head, throwing his hand over his shoulder. “Open canvas.”

You snort, looking down at him. Tim’s breath catches as he stares up at you, your smile. You’re haloed by sunlight. You look like an angel descending from heaven.

Tim’s forced to pick up his jaw when he hears your voice again. You’re tapping your watch. The words are lost to him.

“What?!”

You shake your head, strands of hair coming loose from behind your ear. “I asked...” You shout in a coarse frawl. “... Isn’t it a bit early for you to be here?”

It was.

He was only 30 minutes early. No big deal.

He shrugs. “I just wanted to watch you paint.” He says, trailing off. Oh God, Tim thinks. Does he sound lovesick? Is Cassie right? He pushes the thoughts down, opting to look at the building instead. On the side of the building was an immaculate portrait of the Red Hood rendered like a saint, haloed in golden light and surrounded by your orange marigolds. It would look at home in any grand cathedral. Your talents never ceased to amaze him.

“Should I ask why you’re defacing a building?”

You turn back to the building picking up a can of yellow paint. You tilt your head. “It’s a massive improvement, yes?”

Tim looks around. The pavement is littered with wet trash mixed. The buildings were rusted. Everything else is covered in grime. “You’re rude… but not wrong.”

You preen, electing to ignore the first half. You turn back to your canvas before Tim can get another word in. He knows he’s lost you.

“So, why *the* Red Hood?”

You look away from the portrait, setting the can of yellow spray paint. It sprays your sweatshirt and Tim laughs. You stick your tongue out at his face flushing. You liked this sweatshirt. He gave it to you the last time you had meandered into Gotham. “Why not? We’re in the Bowery. He’s like a saint here.” You snip, switching to Russian. Ok, that made sense. You toss your sweatshirt into Tim’s face. The fabric is lousy with the smell of paint and of 5-hour energy drinks. It was an improvement over the pungent odor of garbage.

He tries to rub the orange paint on his face away before he tucks your sweatshirt beneath his arm. You’re still looking down at him, wry amusement on your face. “I’ll paint your beloved Red Robin when I get to China Town. Heard he was quite popular in those parts.”

Tim’s heart flutters. He stutters out his next question. “Why are you using spray paint for this type of illustration?”

“Kon said I couldn’t do it.”

Tim snickers, “As if Kon could tell the difference.”

You frown only realizing your mistake. You curse under your breath. Tim doesn’t stop laughing at you. “Shut up!” You snarl.

Tim dodges the next paint can you throw but the next one hits him square in the face. You grin triumphantly. Tim raises a middle finger at you and you giggle in response. You feel bad, seeing him wince in pain. You’d buy him apology tea later but for now, you clasp your hands and call out to him sweetly. “Sorry, Timmers!”

Tim, equally as mature and well aware that you’re only half sorry, blows out a breath, muttering something colorful before shouting back: “we should get going if we wanna eat out after looting the museum.”

At that, you launch yourself off the scaffolding, your body feeling weightless as it falls. Tim drops your sweatshirt as he holds his arms out to catch you. He catches you easily. You two spin as you wrap your arms around him.

“You are certifiably insane.” He laughs. His nose smooshed against yours.

“And so are you.” You snort, hugging him.

He hugs you back. You hum so softly into his hair that Tim wouldn’t be able to tell it from a breath if he were human. Tim holds you close, hugging your waist tightly. He doesn’t really want to let you go. You don’t either. You and Tim stand there for a bit when you hear his cell beep.

“Why does your phone sound like a pager?”

“Because Babs told me how to.”

“That literally explains nothing.”

“I’m not taking crap from the gremlin who had ‘Baby Shark’ as their ringtone for 12 months. WILLINGLY.”

You pout at him, your face so close to his. Tim’s only half paying attention to your defense. To be fair, it basically boiled down to ‘it isn’t that bad’ and ‘Bart’s ringtone is worse’.

After a short shopping trip and a cab ride later, you arrive at the museum in fresh clothes and less paint on his face for Tim.

“All the World’s a Stage. They botched it! The nerve! The barbarity of it all. It's just like when they botched ‘Words with Friends’ or ‘In Ice We Trust’ or even ‘Tomcat’. That last one was pretty much gift wrapped for them!” You say throwing up your hands nearly hitting Tim and whatever poor bastard was unlucky enough to be behind you.

“For someone who isn't invested in modern media, you're getting fired up.” Tim chuckles, eyes flickering behind you. You had managed to miss the people behind you but you do have a rather conspicuous space behind you.

“They had such good material to work with” you say, gesticulating wildly. “And- and they butchered it.”

“You need a 5 minute breather?” Tim asks, resting a hand on your back.

“Shut up,” you laugh.

Tim grins at you as if he had no idea what this ultimate betrayal feels like.

Determined to prove him wrong, you say : “C'mon, Timothy, you ranted like this when they botched the star thingy.”

“It’s Star Wars, you heathen.”

“Star. Thingy.” You repeat, crossing your arms.

Tim squints at you. You know he’s not gonna blow up at you but somehow that’s scarier.

“You can pay for your own cab later.” He grumbles.

“Star. Thing-Y.”

Tim turns to leave. This always worked. Always without fail, you grab at his hand, lacing your fingers with his. Tim tries not to smile.

“Fine.”

“Was that so hard?”

“It was excruciating actually.”

“You're being dramatic.” He says, showing the woman behind the ticket counter your passes.

“Excuse me, I left all my drama in the Renaissance.”

“Oh really?”

“Ok not really but admit that both Andromeda and Stars, Forgive Me have better writing.“ You bite out.

“I- That’s unfair,” he says. You raise your brow in response.

“...”

“Fine,” he sighs. “But admit that Andromeda should have been named ‘Space Whores’.”

You squint at him then smile. “Oh abso-posi-tute-ly.”

“Have you seen this dirty old hockey mask?” You ask, tapping the glass as if the hockey mask would react if you just agitate it enough.

“What is that?” Tim asks, looking over your shoulder. His brows crinkles when he sees the mask. “How is that romantic?”

You hum. “Ask the curator?” You suggest, looking around. He was usually out and about. He could never sit still even if he tried. You lean down narrowing your eyes at the plaque. “Says here some dude called Jason terrorized 3 kids over summer.”

“That’s very romantic for our Jay to do.” Tim says, crossing his arms and switching to Cantonese. It was a weird habit but you knew why. Apparently for all Jason’s skill in languages he somehow could not get a handle on Cantonese.

“Not that Jason.” You say, smirking.

“You sure?” Tim asks, leaning closer to you.

You snicker, “As in character as that would be...”

“True,” he says, edging closer and closer to you. You rock on your heels nervously at the proximity. “It’s a shame, I thought there would be a machete to match too…” You can feel Tim’s breath on your cheek.

“OH LOOK AT THIS.” You say twisting away and pointing to a black and white photo. Tim’s hands leave his sides to grab for you, to pin you to his chest, but he has enough self control not to. Instead, he follows you.

“It’s just a man and a woman in business suits. Yanno something you can see in any metropolitan city.”

“Yes but,” you say, tracing a nonsensical pattern into the air, “I’ve heard a story about this, they were both extremely rich and heads of their companies, went from enemies to lovers - my all time favourite.”

Tim looks closer at the photo of the man and woman with their backs to the camera just holding hands along the NYC sidewalk. It’s cute. “I thought your favorite was lovers to enemies.”

“Well of course, it is! The drama, the absolute tragedy. It’s better than any trope in existence. But I love that this is just black and white. You don’t need anything else to indicate they’re in love with each other.”

Tim is all too tempted to point out that that likely wasn’t intentional, that it was a limitation of the time, but the look in your eyes robbed him of his breath, so he swallowed his thoughts.

Your eyes rove over the room frantically in search of something.

“So is there any reason you wanted to go to this exhibit instead of watching lavalantula 10 in theaters?” Tim says, tapping another case.

You turn to look at him, shock etched into your features.“10? We've seen lavalantula 1 through 9 in theaters? Why did I agree to that?”

“Cus you love me?”

You narrow your eyes at him. “Probably not.”

Tim gives you a hurt look.

You scowl at him. You have no idea why everyone thinks he’s the nice Wayne sibling. He is a manipulative little shit who plays you like a fiddle. And yet here you are falling for it. An absolute buffoon.

You grumble an apology under your breath before continuing. “This is more cultural Timmers and lord knows we need more culture.” You wave sarcastically.

“I think we've lived enough culture.”

“it cannot hurt to experience more Tim,” you snort. He rolls his eyes. You grab onto his arm and look up at him bright eyed. Two can play it at that game. “Please Tim....”

He scowls at you. “Fine-”

“Yes!”

“-but you owe me a movie marathon.”

“Fine. Fine,” you nod, “just don’t pick something dumb.”

“I just got the new star trek box collection.” He beams.

“You could just shove me into a grave.” You sigh dramatically.

Tim grins. “The Renaissance called-”

“Oh fuck you, Grackle.”

He snorts and you hate that you fall in love with him more every time he laughs.

You cross your arms giving him a hard look. “Fine but we have to have an intermission of my choice.” You say, offering a hand.

“Deal.” He says, shaking your outstretched hand.

“Great, you've just agreed to watch the Great British Baking Show with me.” You say smug.

Tim curses himself.

"Are you still looking for that one painting?"

You tip your body back to look at him, your eyes wide and startled. It takes no time at all for them to shift to their usual angry shape. "Yes," you say quietly. It's Tim’s turn to be startled. Your hands curl into a fist. "It wasn't done and those bastards took it."

Tim reaches out to put his hand on your shoulder.

You cast your hands up to the sky dramatically. "The barbarity of it all!"

Tim smiles, letting his hand fall to his side. You would be ok.

You two walk on as Tim rants about StarGate could have had a bigger fanbase if it hadn’t excluded so many people. You add StarGate to the list of things to not remember.

You stop.

Your heart presses a bruise in your throat.

Framed in wood laden in ivy and marigolds is a painting that was painfully familiar. Even unwashed, you can still see the bright reds of rose petals, the wild greens of the women’s skirts, the brilliant oranges of marigolds, and the blinding whites of cobble stones. The image was a practice in entropy made into perfection. The chaos of Valentine's day in a small town square reduced and captured in an infinitesimal moment.

Damian told you that people had started calling them Warsaw’s Faceless Sweethearts. You hated that. A part of you wants to scream. You want to tell them that this wasn’t for them. This painting was made for one person and one person only.

You’ve been staring at it too long. Tim looks at you. You’ve known him too long to not know that he’s worried. That he’s feeling that stupid surge of protectiveness he always does when you go quiet. It’s in the cautious way he reaches out to you, slow and steady the way you approach a spooked animal. You want to lash out at him but he’s your Tim. Besides, too much of your mind is trapped in the painting, in the white gazebo, in between the couple who’s stuck in the moment before a kiss.

Tim stands closer to you, his fingers lacing into yours with centuries worth or practice. He looks at the painting. “This painting looks familiar.” Tim says for the lack of anything better to say. It was yours. He knew that with only a few seconds of looking.

“I… I don’t think so,” you say clumsily, “that’s definitely not the painting I’ve been looking for. Yup that one looks completely finished. Yup definitely.” You tug at Tim’s arm.

He gives you a look, staying perfectly in place, before turning back to the painting. His gaze draws low. In a glass case sits scraps of paper lined with charcoal. It takes an embarrassingly long time for Tim to realize that they’re sketches the artist did. Tim recognized the baker, the blacksmith, the seamstress, and even the constable. Most glaring of all he recognizes your marigolds. His eyes drift to the sketches of the couple in the gazebo. They were numerous, haphazard and unsatisfied. You were clearly frustrated with the groom’s face. Tim wonders who the poor guy could be.

In the corner of the page in the center, he sees it. “Wait… is that me?”

“NO!”

“Is that you?” He asks, pointing to the figure next to his. In the sketch, your lips are brushing against his. Tim’s lip tingles trying to replicate the sensation.

You’re frozen stiff. You try to pull your hand away. You want to bury your face in them. Scratch that, you wanna be buried six feet under. Tim doesn’t let go of your hand.

“That’s the umbrella you lost back in London.”

“I lost a lot in London, Timmy.”

“Well...” Ok. Yeah, you did. Hence why he can’t get you to London even with the promise of letting you ‘improve’ Buckingham palace. But that isn’t the point. “(Y/n), this is gorgeous.” He says, turning to you. You look at him stunned and scared. He squeezes your hand.

You shake yourself out of his grip. Tim lets you. He knows when to back down.

You step forward leaning on the rope separating you from your work. “I told you it wasn't finished.” You say, glaring at the painting as if willing the colors to move.

“What happened?” He asks, bumping his shoulder against yours.

You bump your shoulder against his. “Warsaw.”

“I don’t follow.”

“That little town in Warsaw. It was kind of hard to finish the painting when soldiers were setting fires to houses. Ok, they didn’t do it directly but there was smoke.”

“Yeah kind of.” Tim agrees, smiling sadly. He looks back at the painting. “I want to keep it.”

“What?” You blink not quite following the shift in conversation.

“Darling, I think we should have it. It’s ours after all.” Tim says holding your hand in his. Your mind is bouncing between too many things. He called you darling. He’s holding your hand. He’s smiling so sweetly at you. You’re addicted to that look in his eyes, pure unadulterated adoration.

You cover your face with your free hand, feeling the smile on your face go uncomfortable wide. You feel something on your forehead, a kiss like a raindrop. It comes again and you feel like you’re going to collapse.

“It’s yours..” He trails off hesitantly. “..if..” You look up at Tim, waiting with bated breath. Tim squeezes your hands. “...if you’ll be mine. ”

@batarella, @anothertimdrakestan, @lucy-roo, @multifandomgirl-us, @bungunz, @birdy-bat-writes, @boosyboo9206, @americasmarauders , @l-inkage, @arestorationofbalance , @cloudie-skay, @wunderstell @hyp-oh-critical @glorified-red

#Tim Drake #tim drake x reader #tim drake imagines #vampire au

89 notes · View notes

awhitehead17 · 3 years

Text

His Tiny Person

TimKon, Soulmates AU, Canon Divergence, Mini Soulmates, Humour, that “oh” moment, Realisation of feelings, Getting together.

Summary: "Kryptonian's have something called soulmates and every single Kryptonian has one. We know who our soulmates are because mini versions of them manifest to us. To begin with you won't recognise them, or even know their name, until you actually meet them in person. You will meet, you are destined to, but whether you get along or not is another story."

When Kon finds a tiny person hanging around him he's extremely confused but comes to adore him anyway. However its still a complete shock when Kon learns that he's known his soulmate for years and has just never realised it.

Also on AO3

Enjoy! :D

No matter what anyone says, Kon believes that the freak out he has is very much warranted.

After getting out of the shower, Kon wrapped a towel around his waist before entering his bedroom and without any conscious thought he goes through his routine of getting ready for the day. The last thing he had expected to see was a tiny person perched on a pillow on his bed.

In all of his glory Kon let out a yell and scrambled backwards in surprise, his back quickly hits a wall which stops him from going anywhere. The tiny person on his bed openly stares at Kon and it feels like he’s being studied or even judged by him.

Kon stares back completely bewildered at the sight. There’s a tiny person on his bed. How did he get there? Who was he? Where did he come from? Is this some kind of prank?

“Conner, is everything alright?” Ma Kent’s voice could be heard calling him from downstairs. “We heard a yell.”

Still staring at the tiny person Kon tries to get himself together. He shuffles to his bedroom door, never taking his eyes off the person, and opens it. Over his shoulder he calls down to her. “Sorry Ma, I saw a spider. It caught me off guard that’s all. It’s all sorted now.”

“Okay dear if you’re sure. Breakfast is ready when you are.”

“Will be down in a bit, thank you.”

Kon quickly closes the door and debates on what to do. He takes a moment to observe the tiny person. The tiny person is a boy, he has messy black hair, two blue eyes, thin lips, a small body lean body covered by a red t-shirt and black sweatpants.

Kon has no idea what this is, however, weirdly enough he’s feeling a pull towards this tiny person. He can’t describe what it is but Kon feels kind of protective over him, like he wants to just wrap this tiny person up and hide him away from everything. The feeling is completely irrational because Kon knows absolutely nothing about what this could be.

The tiny person stands up and makes his way across Kon’s bed until he’s standing near the edge of it. Kon couldn’t help but find him adorable, he’s so small! He’s not much bigger than his hand in size comparison.

Kon approaches the bed carefully and crouches down so he's almost eye level with him. When they make eye contact the tiny person smiles brightly and Kon feels another pull inside of him, this time its sharp and releases a sense of warmth through him. His heart melts even more for this little thing.

“Hi, do you have name? Where did you come from?” Kon asks softly. The tiny person shakes his head and Kon frowns. “Oh okay. Well I’m Kon or Conner, its nice to meet you.”

“Conner your breakfast is getting cold!” Ma Kent’s voice comes from downstairs again and Kon knows he really should get going.

He turns back to the tiny person. Should he tell Ma Kent about this or not? How would the Kent’s react to this? Kon is still rather new to the whole family thing, he’s only recently moved in with them and is in fact still adjusting to life in Smallville, would this freak them out? Maybe he should work out what this person is doing here first before telling them anything.

With that in mind Kon sends him a small smile. “I’ve got to go have breakfast now, but once I’m done I can work out what to do with you.” He stands up and heads for the door but is stopped short when he hears a small thump.

Kon looks over to find the bed now void of the tiny person, initial panic rises up inside of him though it’s quickly diminished when he feels a tugging sensation on his jeans. Snapping his gaze down Kon finds the tiny person insistently tugging on his jeans with a panicked look on his face.

For unknown reasons, Kon’s heart breaks at the look. “Hey, I’m not leaving. I won’t be long, I promise.” The person shakes his head and without warning starts climbing up Kon’s leg, grabbing fists full of fabric to help him on his journey and he doesn’t stop climbing until he gets to the pocket and climbs inside.

Kon’s not entirely sure on what to do with the tiny person that’s now curled up inside his jeans pocket. Obviously he hadn’t wanted Kon to go, or perhaps it was more of a separation thing and had panicked when he thought Kon was leaving?

Running a hand through his hair Kon opts to leave it for the time being, he’ll work it out later on. As he once again moves towards the door, he hopes that the tiny person is comfortable enough in his pocket until he returns to his bedroom.

----

Throughout the next couple of weeks Kon learns a lot about the tiny person.

He comes to notice that he has his own personality, he has his own quirks and things he likes and dislikes. While he doesn’t speak, the tiny person makes sure his opinion is heard. He likes to train and work out and he’s wickedly smart. He also loves to be held in Kon’s palm and to have his hair stroked.

Through some misunderstandings, Kon comes to realise he actually needs to feed this tiny person, he also needs to regularly clean him, exhaustion and not sleeping enough is certainly a thing, injuries too. The first time this tiny person hurt himself Kon almost had a heart attack in concern and panic.

It’s literally like he’s looking after another human being, only this human is super tiny and can easily fit into his pocket.

Despite all of this he still hasn’t worked out how this tiny person came to be. Anything he’s looked into has come to a dead end, he’s even explored scientific possibilities but it’s all come up empty handed. He’s still completely perplexed on this person’s existence.

When an unfortunate event occurred, Kon became aware that he can’t be too far away from this tiny person either, only because the distance causes them both physical pain. That alone makes Kon believe there’s more to this whole thing, he doesn’t know what it could be but there’s definitely something.

Other than that Kon really adores him. He’s gotten used to his presence now and how he happens to be there in Kon’s everyday life. It frightens him to no ends when a mission comes up or if Kon engages in a brutal battle because he could get hurt. Nonetheless the tiny person is always there for him, its like he’s got his own cheerleader.

A few weeks after the tiny person appears, Kon is meeting with Clark on the farm to catch up. Since the man had finally accepted him as a person and has even named him as part of the family, Clark’s been trying to put effort into getting to know him. Kon appreciates the effort and knows that their relationship is slowly healing.

When Clark arrives they settle onto one of the benches outside with some food Ma Kent had baked and were generally catching up. However Kon’s focus on the man’s words instantly die when movement in his peripheral catches his attention.

Kon glances down at the ground and freezes when he spots a small woman walking around within the grass looking completely at ease observing everything around her.

“Kon?”

Blinking Kon averts his attention away from the woman and back to Clark who is now frowning at him. How long had Kon not been listening for? Instead of saying anything Clark looks in the direction Kon had been and confusion crosses his face.

“What is it Kon?”

Kon waves a hand in the direction of the small woman. “Do you not see that? There’s a tiny person in the grass Clark!”

The man continues to stare at Kon like he's crazy. It makes Kon feel insecure. He wasn’t imaging this right? He’s got his own little dude hanging around him for weeks and now there’s a small woman too.

“Yeah… that’s Mini-Louis.” Clark says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“Mini-Louis? As in your wife Louis?” Kon asks sceptically.

Clark pulls a face, clearly not understanding his confusion. “Yes Kon. My wife. She is my soulmate, therefore I have a Mini-Louis around me.”

Kon has no idea on what to say to that because what?

Realisation crosses Clark’s expression. He pulls back a bit, seeming surprised. “You don’t know about it?”

“About what Clark? What the hell are you on about?” Kon snaps.

Clark takes a deep breath and leans forward on the table using his elbows to prop himself up. “I’m sorry it must have completely slipped my mind. We as Kryptonian's have something called soulmates. Every single Kryptonian has one. We know who our soulmates are because mini versions of them manifest to us and these mini versions are attached to our souls. Once we finally meet our soulmate in person the bond between us is solidified.”

Kon blinks trying to digest that information. Soulmates. Soulmates are an actual thing and they appear in the form of tiny versions of themselves. Kon’s tiny person is in fact his soulmate. But he doesn’t know who his soulmate is, he doesn’t recognise him!

“Has your soulmate manifested Kon?” Clark questions after a long drawn out silence.

Instead of answering Kon carefully reaches into his jacket’s pocket and scoops up his tiny person. He’s been sleeping this entire time and Kon feels bad for moving and waking him up but he gently does so and places him on the table in front of him.

His tiny person looks disorientated for a moment. He sits down on the table, yawns and rubs his eyes with his fists as he wakes up. Once he notices where he is he looks alerted and sends Kon a panicked look. Kon reaches out a strokes a finger down his face. “It’s okay buddy, you’re safe. No one is going to hurt you. I’m finally learning about you properly.”

Kon glances up to find Clark watching him with warm eyes and a soft smile. Kon raises an eyebrow. “What? If you say this is my soulmate it would certainly explain why I’m protective over him. But why didn’t you tell me sooner? I don’t recognise this person, doesn’t soulmates work after you meet the one or something?”

“With Kryptonian’s, your mini-soulmate manifests when the younger one of the pair comes of age. Your situation is slightly different, thinking about it I could guess that your soulmate appeared once you were named as you were already of age.”

Kon nods to the explanation. He’s slowly understanding it. He’s still feels conflicted about it, like he’s afraid of the idea of it but he's also open to it…

“The idea is that you don’t recognise them, or even know their name, until you actually meet them in person. You will meet, you are destined to, but whether you get along or not is another story. You’re soulmates, but that bond can be either platonic, romantic, or even in some rare cases it’s a hatred bond. By the looks of it, yours is either a platonic or a romantic bond.”

Kon sighs, he guesses that’s better than it being a hatred soulmate bond. He thinks he gets on rather well with his little dude.

“As frustrating as this will sound, the main thing I can say is that only time will tell. When you meet your soulmate you’ll recognise them and then how your relationship with him progresses will depend on the two of you.”

After that they change topic of conversation, leaning more into Kryptonian heritage and ways of life as well as different battle strategies Kon could be using with his team. Meanwhile as they talk, Kon’s mini-soulmate joins Mini-Louis in exploring the wildlife together.

-----

It turns out Kon has already met his soulmate. In fact it turns out he’s best friends with his soulmate. He’s known him for a couple years.

It turns out his soulmate is Robin and he’s only finding that out now.

Young Justice, or rather the newly formed Titans, are gathered together and spending the weekend at the Tower. They were about to start their movie night when Robin tells them he has an announcement to make.

In line with their new team development he wants to clear the air and start fresh, hoping they would all forgive him for certain things in the past. Robin takes his mask off and gives them his real name.

As Kon meets Robin’s – Tim’s – eyes his heart stops. Without the mask obstructing the top half of Robin’s face, Kon clearly sees the same face that his mini-soulmate has.

Robin is his soulmate. How has he never made that connection before? The resemblance is uncanny, he’s literally been carrying around a Mini-Robin for 6 months.

He’s been on a team with Robin for a couple of years now. When he first escaped Cadmus, him, Bart and Robin made a trio team and over time the others had joined them, therefore creating Young Justice. A couple years later here they are joining the Titans and Robin is finally sharing his identity with them.

To begin with he and Robin never got on, they were always at each other’s throats and never saw eye to eye but as time went on they both mellowed out and come to accept the others presence. Their friendship became stronger as they both matured over time. Kon had moved to Smallville and began to really learn what life is about, how there’s a life outside of superheroing, while Robin had moulded the legacy he carries into his own and has found the confidence to become his own person rather than trying to be someone else.

Either way, he immediately recognises Robin’s – or Tim’s – face and not because apparently he’s famous but actually because Tim’s face is the one his mini-soulmate wears. There’s no mistaking it.

His mini-soulmate is currently hidden from view inside his jacket pocket but Kon could easily feel the excitement rolling off the tiny person, he’s practically buzzing with energy. Knowing he’s going to have to try and restrain his mini from doing anything rash, Kon brushes his telekinesis over him in attempts to calm him down.

At Tim’s announcement there’s a loud explosion from the group which lasts for some time until everyone calms down enough to settle so they can watch the films they have lined up. No matter what they put on, Kon couldn’t focus on any of them. His mind is too occupied with the thoughts of Robin being his soulmate and what that could mean.

He begins questioning his entire friendship with the bat vigilante. Reflecting on everything from the moment they met to now.

What kind of feelings does he actually have for his friend? He cares for him, they trust one another (the whole ID thing was a different matter despite how many arguments there have been on that topic) and Kon can’t imagine his life without Tim in it. Even back when he loathed him Kon wouldn’t have imagine Robin not being there.

They balance one another out. Where Kon is reckless and is hot headed, Robin thinks things through and plans accordingly. Where Robin is uptight and too hard on himself, Kon is freewheeling and helps him to relax and unwind.

When he’s with Tim he wants his friend to be happy, he wants him to feel safe and protected. When things get too much Kon reminds Robin he’s there to talk to if he needs it. When Kon’s felt overwhelmed by his powers Tim is the one he turns to because he helps Kon to understand them without making it feel like he’s being judged. There’s been numerous of nights where they’ve sat together in silent company, both of them wanting to be alone but not at the same time.

Kon thinks about his smile and his laugh when he’s genuinely happy and not wearing that stupid asshole persona. He think about how when he gets invested in something he would passionately defend it. How there’s a shy and genuine guy behind that mask despite all the confidence Robin plasters on in front of them all. He recalls when Robin would walk into a room and how Kon’s mood would improve significantly for no reason.

Well shit… there’s a lot more feelings towards Robin than he ever realised. Is this still platonic though or is it the start of something romantic? Can Kon even imagine what it would be like to be romantically involved with Tim? To hold his hand, to cuddle, to kiss and then maybe more, to be seen in public with him, to lean on one another without fear…

Kon’s heart misses a beat when he realises that yes he can imagine all that. Now he knows Tim’s name and knows what he really looks like, Kon can see himself doing those things with Tim and even getting to know him better than what’s slipped through his persona over the years.

Tim is his soulmate, they’re bound to each other in some way. Why hadn’t he ever seen it before?

What is Tim’s opinion on all of this? Kon’s mind suddenly goes into overdrive when it clicks that since Tim is his soulmate, he has a Mini-Tim with him at all times, then that means Tim would have a mini-him.

“on? Conner! Kon!”

A sharp stinging sensation gets his attention and Kon blinks, his thoughts finally residing for now. Kon looks around to find everyone in the room staring at him with concern and how Robin is standing in front of him with worry etched all over his face.

“Are you okay? You completely spaced out on us.”

Kon swallows thickly and sends Tim, and everyone else, a tight smile. “Yeah, yeah. Sorry just got lost in my thoughts.”

Tim doesn’t look convinced and now that his mask is no longer on Kon could clearly see his expressions. Despite only seeing Tim’s face for the first time moments ago, Kon can already read his facial expressions because they happen to be the exact same ones Mini-Tim wears.

Kon reaches out and pushes Tim away from him to create room so he can stand up. “Seriously I’m fine. It’s just been a long week that’s all. I’m actually going to head to bed, I’ll see you all in the morning.”

Without looking at anyone Kon flees the room, trying to get out of there as fast as possible. He doesn’t stop moving until he gets to his assigned room where he promptly barges in and slams the door shut behind him. Unable to stand still Kon begins pacing the length of the room, his mind back to working on overdrive.

Its only when something starts moving against him that he breaks out of the cycle. Kon stops in the middle of his room and gently scoops out his mini-soulmate. From the centre of his palm, Mini-Robin looks up at him and scowls. Kon winces in both guilt and embarrassment.

He places his min-soulmate onto his dresser and instantly Mini-Tim turns his back on Kon and crosses his arms over his chest. Kon frowns feeling terrible, he didn’t mean to make him upset or angry. He can’t help that he's a little incompetent when it comes to these sort of things.

Kon goes back to his pacing, now talking to his mini as he does so. “I’m sorry okay. I didn’t realise, all of this time and you’ve actually been in front of me. How many missions have we been on, how many rooms have we been in together, how many hours have we spent in close proximity of one another? After all of that its only now I’m figuring it out!”

He glances over to find that Mini-Tim is still ignoring him. Kon huffs. “Well it’s not like it’s entirely my fault! Robin is as much as to blame as I am. At least I have an excuse, I didn’t know it was him because he had half of his face covered all the time. What about him? He’s probably had a mini-me this whole time and has never approached me about the topic, it’s not like I’ve gone incognito.”

When he stops talking the silence in the room stretches out. Even though its only Kon and his mini-soulmate Kon could easily feel the tension between them. He doesn’t like feeling like this, especially with his little counterpart.

Sighing heavily, Kon shuffles over to the dresser where Mini-Tim is still standing and leans in closely. “Please don’t be annoyed. It’s a shitty situation and my emotions are everywhere. The last thing I need is for you to be annoyed at me too…”

When Mini-Tim continues to ignore him Kon frowns and carefully reaches out to him with his TTK. He gently prods his mini-soulmate, trying to encourage him to loosen up and even look at him again.

Eventually his insistence must work because Mini-Tim turns around and stares up at him with wide-eyes and a pout on his face. Kon pulls back his power and reaches out to brush a finger along his tiny cheek.

“I’m sorry,” Kon whispers softly, “I’ll sort things out, I promise but it may take some time.” The wide-eyes and pout soon turns into a glare without heat and a pointed look. Kon understands his message though. “I will talk to him, soon okay. Just not yet, I need to get my thoughts in order first.”

A knock on his bedroom door breaks his attention away from his mini-soulmate. Kon sighs and is reluctant to open the door, fearing what’s on the other side of it. When a second knock happens, Kon forces himself to walk over to the door and pull it open.

As feared, Tim stands there in the corridor looking worried and lost in thought. He notices that Kon has opened the door and snaps back to attention. “Uh hey.”

“Hey.”

“Can we talk?” Tim asks sounding unsure.

Kon sends him a tight smile. “Yeah.”

Tim enters his bedroom and Kon closes the door behind him. There's a pause between them before Tim turns around to face him wearing contemplative expression. “Your behaviour isn’t about my name and face is it?”

It sounds like he already knows the answer to that but Kon humours him by answering anyway. “No. No it isn’t, well, not the main part of it at least.” He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. How was he supposed to talk to Robin that he's his soulmate? How was he going to explain that for the last 6 months he’s been carrying around a tiny version of him but didn’t know because he never made the connection until today?

In the end he shakes his head, he’s probably way over thinking this too much. Maybe he shouldn’t use words, perhaps using actions is the way to go?

Kon moves around the room and goes back over to the dresser, when he leans in close he finds Mini-Tim hiding away behind a deodorant spray. He lifts his hand with his palm facing upwards and waits to see if his mini takes the invitation. Mini-Tim stares at him suspiciously for a moment before coming out of his hiding spot and climbing onto his hand.

Kon carefully turns around and shows Tim his mini for the first time. Surprisingly yet unsurprisingly, Tim doesn’t look shocked. His eyes widen but that’s the only reaction Kon gets. Tim wordlessly reaches down into his jacket pocket and brings something out of it, Kon could only gasp when he sees a mini version of himself on Tim’s palm.

Before he or Tim could react their mini-soulmates both make an excited sound. Mini-Kon jumps up from Tim’s palm and flies straight for Mini-Tim. In return Mini-Tim jumps up with his hands stretched out and grasps onto Mini-Kon when they collide together. Mini-Kon carries them around for a moment before they land on the bed and separate. They use their little arms and legs to wildly gesture to one another about something lost to both Kon and Tim. It’s rather adorable to watch.

“I think that answers a few questions does it not?” Tim says amusedly watching the minis with a smile.

Kon huffs. “Some of them yeah. Look dude there’s a lot to explain about this, I get you must be super confused about how a tiny version of myself just suddenly appeared one day and I understand that -”

“I’m going to stop you there Kon.” Tim says firmly raising a hand up in a stopping motion, he’s now looking at him. “I know a lot more than what you think I do. I know what this is and what it could mean. If anything I’m the one that should explain some things to you, like why didn’t I tell you sooner for example.”

Feeling rather overwhelmed Kon shakes his head and moves to sit down in his desk chair.

Tim takes it as an opportunity to keep talking. “We’ve always had a strange relationship Kon. From the moment we met until now it’s been odd, but quite frankly there’s not a thing I would change. I know those minis represent that we’re soulmates. I have to admit I was rather confused when you appeared tiny in my bathroom 6 months ago, to begin with I thought you had shrunk or something but there was something telling me there was more to it than that.

I got my answer about a month later when I ran into Louis, she had been at the Manor talking to Bruce when I saw she had a tiny Clark riding on her shoulder. After a conversation she explained that her and Clark were soulmates, it’s all to do with because he’s a Kryptonian. Of course then it made more sense.

The reason why I never approached you about it is because I didn’t know what to do. I knew it was you, it’s kind of hard not to tell y’know,” Tim sends him a knowing smirk at that comment, “but since you never said anything about it I figured you didn’t know it was me. It’s only then that it clicked that I still hadn’t revealed my face or even shared my name with you.

It wasn’t my choice not to tell you, you know that, it had been Batman’s orders. For months I debated on what to do, even going as far as arguing with Batman to share my ID at least with you. In the end Batman gave in but only after I explained why I was so insistent about it. And well, here we are.”

Tim trails off into silence and he’s looking expectantly at Kon, waiting for him to respond to his side of the story. Kon could only blink at him and repeat his story in his mind. The minis are currently sat together side by side on the edge of the bed’s footboard, they were holding hands and swinging their legs together as they share a smile.

As much as Kon would like to be frustrated at Tim for what he did, he knows he really couldn’t be. Its not his fault that Batman put him in an awkward position. Kon rationalises in his mind that’s its all done and over with now, he can’t change it but from here they can at least go forward.

He glances up at Tim. “So what do we do from here? How would you like to go forward? Also I’m sorry that I put you in this position. It was as much as a shock to me as it probably was to you.”

Tim glares at him. “Don’t apologise Kon. It’s not like you had a choice in the matter and you know what, I’m glad its you.”

That gets Kon’s attention. He stares at his best friend wondering if he heard right. “What?”

The sigh Tim lets out sounds almost resigned. “Why would I be bothered by it? You’re my best friend Kon, of course I don’t mind being soulmates with you. I know we’ve had one heck of a bumpy road in the past but we’re here now aren’t we.”

Kon grins, unable to deny what Tim had just said. He looks back up, taking in how Tim’s eyes are focused on him, how they seem to shine when the light hits them, he takes in Tim’s relaxed posture and how at ease he appears to be.

A sudden urge washes over Kon and all he wants to do is crush Tim in a hug and kiss him. He has no idea when he started thinking about Tim in that way but he finds that he doesn’t actually mind. It’s just the case of whether Tim returns them or not.

Kon stands up and steps towards Tim, standing so close to him that he could feel the others heat. “So how do you want to go forward with this? When Clark told me about soulmates, he said there are platonic, romantic and hating bonds. Is there a certain type you want to be?”

Kon wants to smack himself in the face for how bad that sounds. What the fuck is he on about. Thankfully Tim seems more amused than anything else. A glance to the side shows both minis exaggerating an eye roll each, Kon opts to ignore them.

Tim steps closer, finally pushing their chests together, he has to tilt his head up while Kon looks down to make eye contact with one another. “I don’t know… I mean to be honest if I had to say one surely it would be the hatred bond? I can’t stand you, you know? You get on my nerves too much.”

Kon snorts and shakes his head. “Maybe once upon a time. Anyway you’re just as bad, you and that neurotic brain of yours.”

They both grin at that, shaking their heads at the ridiculous turn in the conversation. Opposite him Tim opens his mouth again but this time Kon decides to cut to the chase. He ducks his head and presses his lips against Tim’s. There’s a pause on Tim’s side but after a second he’s responding to Kon and pushing back against his lips.

Some sort of spark passes between them and suddenly it’s like something inside of him has clicked into place and now he feels complete.

He presses against Tim even more and wraps his arms around him, keeping them pressed closely together. Tim goes with the movement, reaching up to wrap his arms around Kon’s neck and even buries a hand in his hair.

When they part the two of them are sharing wide smiles. Kon huffs out a laugh and rests his forehead against Tim’s.

The only thing that pulls Kon away from Tim is a light slapping against his neck. He pulls back and looks to the side to find Mini-Tim now standing on his shoulder trying to get his attention. Opposite him, Mini-Kon is floating next to Tim’s cheek also getting his attention.

Tim and Kon take a step away from each other to look at their minis. Mini-Tim is grinning wildly and Kon could just feel the excitement and warmth radiating off from him. Kon smiles back softly and reaches up to stroke a finger along Mini-Tim’s cheek, even poking his stomach for fun. It’s a pleasant contrast compared to what he was like a little while ago.

Kon turns back to Tim. “So, um, now that a few things are out the way, can I ask you out on a date? Lets give this a try?”

Tim gently nudges Mini-Kon away to stop him from prodding his cheek, he looks at Kon and nods. “Just text me the time and place and we’ll be there.”

It takes a moment but Kon quickly catches on that he means him and Mini-Kon. Of course, duh, if they’re going to be dating then by extension so are the mini versions of themselves. It probably should be weird but Kon finds that he doesn’t mind, in fact its cute and the fact that Tim doesn’t seem to mind either makes it better. He’s looking forward to the near future and what it could bring for him and Tim and their mini-soulmates.

#timkon #Tim Drake #Kon-El #clark kent #soulmates au #mini soulmates #humour #that oh moment #realisation of feelings #getting together #canon divergence #fluff #idea originally from shadowhunters fandom #i think #i absolutely love this soulmates au concept #fanfiction #the minis are adorable

55 notes · View notes

pricetagofficial · 3 years

Text

Beautiful -KK

Summary: You find out you’re pregnant with Kon’s child.

Pairing: Kon Kent x Reader

Word Count: 3496

Warnings: Language, FLUFF, birth, pregnancy related things, light-ish hints of the smut

Tag List: @kishony-the-geek @idkmanicantenglish @catxsnow

A/N: So this was a total bribe for Sara to do her work, and I did not expect it to get this long. I hope you all like it!

You stared at the tests that were laid out in front of you, all three of them had the same results. Positive. Pinching the bridge of your nose, you closed your eyes and took a deep breath. You and Kon had always been safe when it came to sex, it was something the two of you had talked about months ago. You racked your brain, trying to think up a way that it was possible when it struck you. You and Kon were safe, except…

That day replayed in your mind in slow motion, it was just a normal day for the two of you. Both of you were home for the day, you didn’t have work and there was no crisis going on that needed his attention so you spent it together doing whatever you wanted.

Kon had woken up early and made breakfast, even going as far as bringing it to you in bed as he bent to wake you with sweet, soft kisses as you held in your giggles. Sitting up in the bed, you rubbed the sleep out of your eyes.

He stood there with a tray in his hands and the goofiest smile on his face, “Morning Sunshine.”

You leaned up and pressed your lips to his once more, cupping his jaw with your hand while running your thumb over his skin. “Good morning handsome.” You replied, slowly pulling away from the kiss and glancing at the food in his hands.

“What’s all this for?” you asked, crossing your legs and looking up at him.

“It’s for the most beautiful person in the world.”

“If that’s for you, then why did you bring it here?” you grinned.

It was as if Kon mentally exploded at your words, his jaw dropped slightly and grinned as he set it aside. “You think you’re so clever, don’t you?” he asked, leaning over you as he took your chin and made you look up at him.

“As a matter of fact, I think I’m hilarious.”

Kon took your waist and pulled you closer towards him so your legs hung off the edge of the bed. “Why don’t I remind you how beautiful you are.” He grinned leaning down to capture your lips in a chaste kiss that left you wanting for more.

His hands gripped your bare thighs as his lips left yours way too quick for your liking and placed soft kisses down your jaw and throat, making you whimper under his touch. Your hand went to his hair, gripping it tightly between your fingers as you felt his hands move higher up your legs, bunching up the large shirt you wore in the process.

He could hear your heartbeat seeding up as his hands went higher up and it made him grin, knowing that he had that effect of you. You tightened the grip on his hair when you felt him drag his teeth against the skin on your neck, letting out a needy moan.

“Kon... fuck.” You muttered, leaning into him more wanting to feel him against you.

You felt him chuckle against the skin of your neck. “Don’t worry Sunshine, we will.”

It had been just a month and a half since that day and you were feeling weird for only the last week or so. You thought that you were sick at first but then you started to notice other things and took it upon yourself to grab tests and figure this out. Kon was currently out on a mission and wasn’t supposed to be back until the end of the week, and that gave you plenty of time to figure out how to tell him. Picking up the tests, you threw them into the trash and washed your hands.

The first thing you needed to do was make sure that you were actually pregnant and weren’t getting false positives, it happened way too often and you wanted to be sure of it.

By the end of the next day, you had your results and you were for sure pregnant with Kon’s child and it was nearly impossible to hide your excitement. The first thing you did was go to a store and buy various items and a gift bag. Kon was supposed to be back the next night and you were going to have it all planned out, down to the tee.

The gift bag rested on the table with curled ribbon tied onto it, while you sat there waiting for Kon to walk in the door. It was needless to say that you were nervous, the topic of kids had come up and you both wanted one but in the future. Seemed like life had other plans for you.

Hearing the doorknob turn, your head shot up and you rose to your feet as you fixed the bright blue dress you wore unable to keep the wide smile off your face. The door opened and in he walked, the look on his face was exhausted but quickly brightened up at the sight of you with dinner on the table and a gift bag set in the middle.

Dropping his back, he ran over and picked you up in his arms and swung you around making you squeal in delight. The second he set you down, his lips met yours in a passionate kiss. A week and a half away from you was way too long for him, Kon hated being away from you. You were his literal ray of sunshine that never ceased to brighten his day.

Your hands gripped the edges of his leather jacket, pulling him closer to you as you smiled against his lips. “I missed you.” You mumbled.

“I can tell Sunshine, but not as much as I missed you.” He grinned, and kept you close to him. “Dinner smells great. But what’s with the bag?”

You pulled out of his hold and held it out to him, “It’s a surprise. You can open it now or later whichever you want.”

Kon gave you a side glance as he took the bag and pulled the ribbon and tissue paper out of the bag, dropping it to the floor. Reaching in, he pulled out a small piece of cloth. It was blue, the same shade as your dress and his suit. Unfolding it, he saw that it was a onesie with the iconic ‘s’ on the front. He peeked over at you with a confused look on his face.

“Uh, Sunshine this looks to be a little too small for me.” He said.

“Conner Kent, just look at the rest of the stuff.” You scolded with a smile; you would have thought he picked up on it immediately but apparently not.

Setting the onesie aside, he pulled out an envelope that had his name on it. Setting the bag down, he opened the envelope and pulled out the card inside it. The front had the word ‘Surprise!’ on it, and when he opened it and saw what was inside his heart nearly stopped.

There, taped under your beautiful handwriting was a sonogram with a circle around what was going to be your future child.

You watched as Kon froze in his spot, looking at the onesie then back to the picture over and over as his brain tried to process it. “You’re pregnant?” he asked, looking at you finally.

Giving him a nod, the biggest smile grew on his face as he pulled you into a tight hug as he laughed. “I’m going to be a dad!” he cried and swung you around again before quickly putting you down.

“Shit, I didn’t hurt him doing that right?” he asked looking down at your still flat stomach then your eyes.

You giggled. “No, and how do you know it’s a him?”

“I just know, I have that sense.” He grinned and kissed you once more.

A couple weeks passed and you were starting to show, and it was getting hard to hide the fact that you were pregnant. You were almost into your second trimester and that was the time you and Kon had decided to tell his family along with yours and your friends.

The great thing about Kon’s family is that Clark, Lois and the others all accepted you with open arms the second they met you and were more than ecstatic to hear the news that you were expecting. Your parents however, they were not Kon’s biggest fans. It was the leather jacket and the haircut; they were worried that he would hurt you somewhere down the line.

You were their little girl, of course it was hard for them to swallow the fact that you were pregnant but they were happy none the less and even offered to help you with anything you might need financial wise.

Telling your friends was an adventure in itself, because Kon was part of the Titans you were friends with a lot of the members. When you told them, Cassie screamed in delight and ran over to hug you making the others laugh. Bart and Tim smiled and gave you both their congratulations, patting Kon on the back with a laugh.

But not everything went to plan, half way through your second trimester you were put on bed rest. Growing a super baby inside you was taking its toll on your body so you needed all the rest you could get. Of course, Kon never left your side doing anything you needed in a heartbeat. Even if it was to get up and go pee for the eighth time that night, he was up and carrying you there and back to make sure you were under the least amount of stress.

Rolling onto your side, you felt him wrap his arms around you and rested them on your now visible bump. He rubbed it softly with his thumb, as it lulled you to sleep. Peeking over Kon saw that you were out cold and smile.

He then leaned over and pressed a kiss to your bump. “I can’t wait to meet you Conner Junior, just know that mommy and daddy love you very much.” He smiled and held you close to him once more as fell asleep holding his world in his arms.

You were sitting on the couch, watching TV and eating a bowl of your favorite ice cream covered in hot sauce, tapping softly on your stomach one day when you felt it. You thought you were crazy, but you looked down and there it was. What seemed to be a little foot was pressing against your swollen belly and almost slid the bowl off of you.

“Kon! Quick get in here!” you called.

At the speed of light, he was at your side with a worried look on his face. “What is it Sunshine? Are you hurt?” he asked quickly as he knelt next to you.

You shook your head, instead you pointed down to your stomach. “Watch.” You grinned.

Kon sat there and watched as you started to tap the spot again softly, when he too saw it. The same little foot pressed against your belly and he grinned widely. “That’s so cool, but creepy as fuck.” He chuckled.

“Language Conner Kent, he can hear you.” You scolded.

“I know, I can kind of hear him too.” He smiled, placing a hand on your stomach and feeling the foot under his large hand. “I’ve been able to hear his heartbeat the whole time, it’s the coolest thing ever.” He explained.

You jolted forward as you felt a hard kick to your stomach with a laugh. “I think he likes the sound of your voice.” You smiled. Kon lit up and kissed your belly, resting his head on it carefully as he listened to the heartbeat of your unborn child.

“He’s going to be so spoiled.”

“We haven’t even picked out names.” You commented.

“I was thinking we could name him CJ, Connor Junior.” He grinned.

You rolled your eyes. “We are not naming our baby Connor Junior.” You laughed, running your fingers through his hair. Oddly enough though, the name had stuck and you both were calling your baby CJ even though you never found out the gender. Your baby had a habit of hiding themselves from the ultrasound so you could never get a clear picture to know for sure so you and Kon decided that you would just wait until the baby was born.

When your baby shower rolled around, Kon was kicked out of the house by Lois, your mother and even Cassie and Steph. All four of them promised to take care of you and told him to go out and have fun with Bart and Tim before the baby came. The party had gone off without a hitch, everything went smoothly and you sat down the entire time so you wouldn’t strain yourself or the baby.

The entire time, everyone was dying to try and feel your stomach to see if they could feel him move but it seemed that the only person little CJ moved for was Kon, and no one else.

You were now in your third trimester and you could not be more miserable. You were fat, bloated and had to pee every ten minutes. Deep down, you knew that Kon was probably as irritated as you were but he never showed it.

Truth be told, you both were scared to be parents. It was only weeks away by this point and the reality that you were going to have a baby was hitting you hard. Nothing was going to be the same after you gave birth, but you were still excited. But no one was more excited than Kon.

Every ten minutes, he asked you if you felt like the baby was coming. You knew this was how he was handling his nerves, but it was still kind of cute. He had been so supportive of you, making sure you stayed relaxed as he rubbed your shoulders, your back and even bathed with you just so you would relax with him. Seeing you so big and carrying his child no less, it was the coolest thing in the world to him. Whenever he talked to Tim, all he mentioned was you and the baby. You never would have thought that your boyfriend would get baby fever like this, but it was adorable.

When the day came, you were not ready. At all.

You had just gotten comfortable on the bed finally when you felt a little odd. You didn’t have to pee, yet you felt like you had just gone in your pants. Slowly you sat up and saw that you were sat in a puddle of fluid, and you went into shock.

The one day Kon went to the store, to find you those chili covered mango pops, was when your water broke. You took a deep breath and grabbed your phone dialing the first number on your list.

“Hey Sunshine, I just found those mango pops of yours. Is everything okay?”

“Uh, Kon I think my water just broke.” You muttered.

There was silence on the other end, it seemed that Kon was in shock but you had no idea. “Kon? Conner?” you asked.

There was a scuffle before you heard him speak again. “I am on my way, don’t move. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

You nodded and winced as you felt the first contraction, it hurt but there was nothing you could do about it. Sitting on the bed, you tried to reach for your shoes but they were just out of your reach. With a huff, you carefully slid down to the ground and grabbed them before pulling them onto your feet.

Kon ran in to see you struggling to get your shoes on, and ran over to help you. He picked you up with ease and carried you out to the car where the overnight bag was already waiting for you and he sped to the hospital.

You gripped his hand tightly as he drove, the contractions getting more and more painful. The good news was that you didn’t live far from the hospital, and was there in no time. Once he parked, Kon picked you up and carried you in.

The doctors saw you coming and had a chair ready to take you back to prep you for labor, and Kon never left your side and never let go of your hand. You were lying in the bed, holding his hand tightly, as another contraction passed. It was a good thing he was indestructible, or you would have broken his hand by this point.

When it came time to push, Kon held you in his arms muttering how good you were doing.

“Why don’t you push a mini you out of your fucking uterus as I sit there and tell you that you’re doing a good job.” You snapped, making him chuckle.

“You can get me back for this later, just keep pushing.”

“I’ll push you out a window Conner Kent!” you screamed, “I am never having sex with you again!”

He rolled his eyes, pressing a kiss to your temple as you gave one final push and heard the small cries of your baby fill the room after 9 hours of labor.

Exhausted and covered in sweat, you leaned back against the bed as Kon pressed a kiss to your lips. “You did so good Sunshine, you did it.” He said softly, cupping your cheek.

You raised your hand and flipped him off with a grin. “Fuck you Kent.” You chuckled as the both of you looked to see a nurse stand and hand you your baby.

“Congrats, it’s a girl.” The nurse smiled as you took your child in your arms.

She had the slightest tufts of black hair, that stuck off the top of her head as she curled into your embrace. It was then the tears left your eyes as you held your baby girl for the first time. Gently, you ran a thumb over her cheek and kissed the top of her tiny head before you looked at Kon.

“She’s beautiful.”

“Well, she is half you.” He smiled, looking down at the little baby.

“She is half you as well Kon, don’t forget.” You smiled.

“We still need a name for her, Connor Junior won’t exactly work.” He chuckled, running his fingers over the black hairs on the top of her head.

“What about Ella?” you asked.

Kon smiled and watched as your little girl cried softly. He took her from your arms and held her close to his chest, the baby quieting down as she heard his voice speak softly to her. “What do you think sweetheart, do you like Ella too?” he asked, bouncing her softly.

The baby let out small coos, as if she was agreeing with him. You could see from that moment, Kon would be wrapped around her tiny little finger ready to do anything for her. You watched as the nurse took little Ella and cleaned her up before placing a pink bow on her head and wrapping her tightly in a blanket.

You had gotten cleaned up as well and was watching Kon as he walked around holding your little girl tightly in his arms, to keep her safe from the world around you. He bounced her softly, as he talked to her muttering under his breath things that you didn’t hear.

A few days later, you and Kon were able to take your little girl home and it turned out she had the biggest blue eyes to match his. Kon just about melted when he saw them for the first time, gazing up at him with curiosity.

You had made dinner that night and went to go tell Kon that it was ready when you found him asleep on the couch with Ella on his chest out cold. Your heart melted at the sight, and took a picture before sending it to Clark and Lois.

Carefully, you walked over and kissed his cheek waking him from his slumber. He looked around and smiled as he saw your face looking down at him. “Well if it isn’t the light of my life.” He grinned.

You rolled your eyes and carefully picked up the little baby and set her in the travel crib. “Food is done, come eat.” You smiled, helping him off the couch. Once he was on his feet, Kon pulled you towards him and kissed you deeply.

“I love you (Y/N),” he smiled softly, looking down at you with the same eyes your daughter had.

You smiled back and leaned into him. “I love you too Connor.”

“Did you mean what you said when you told me you’re never sleeping with me again?” he asked, only to get punched in the arm.

“Keep it up and I will.” You grinned.

#Costly Affairs #DC comics #kon el #Kon kent #kon kent x reader #Kon kent fanfiction #kon kent reader insert #superboy #90s superboy #pregnancy #baby #kon kent fic #kon kent fanfic #kon kent x reader insert #kon kent x y/n #kon kent x you #superboy x reader #superboy fanfiction #superboy fanfic

217 notes · View notes

ectonurites · 3 years

Text

Conner Kent in Suicide Squad/the Infinite Frontier era: wtf is going on

Alright lads hello I just need to type out some theories/thoughts about what’s going on with my boy Kon right now. This is more for myself than anything else (just trying to organize my thoughts) but since some of y’all like to hear me talk about comics (and some of this discussion has already been happenin in my inbox) I figured i’d format it and put it on here too! its like 4k words and written over the last few days mostly at 3am. sorry <3

this is basically just me going like

Also fair warning that like, I can be wrong and misinterpret things just as much as anyone else can, like I use panels to support why I think what I do but a lot of this stuff is subjective/complicated to understand so like... in general somethings should be taken with a grain of salt, especially because exactly what changes to the universe were made by Death Metal/Infinite Frontier haven’t been super super clearly defined yet. Also sometimes comic writers make the most random nonsensical shit happen, so I as a fan am also allowed to theorize about random nonsensical shit.

But to start: let’s backtrack!

Many months ago when Infinite Frontier was first announced they dropped some promotional art, and I remember being a little confused because. Well:

(Variant Cover spread for Justice League (2018) #59)

(Variant Cover spread for Superman (2018) #29)

Notice how Conner is back to his Teen Titans 2003 look up top, but in his YJ 2019 look at the bottom? This seemed weird to me! But then they announced that Conner would be part of the Suicide Squad ongoing title, in the T-shirt look, so I wrote this discrepancy off in my brain as ‘oh I guess that cover was just the last hurrah for punk Kon’ and moved on with life.

In Suicide Squad right away we learn he’s very much so there against his will:

(Suicide Squad (2021) #1)

Which corroborates more or less what we were also shown in Future State: Suicide Squad, although admittedly it tells... a slightly different version of the events. When I first saw both of these together I just chalked it up to being a bit inaccurate as it’s shown as a memory in Future State:

(Future State: Suicide Squad #2)

Issue 2 we saw him in action with the Squad, trying to do his best to still be a hero despite the team, but things get a little more interesting in the following issue. It starts off with an account of his history

(Suicide Squad (2021) #3)

This page gave me a few immediate red flags, mostly minor things that had to do with coloring, so more irl problems than things to take seriously in-universe (Kon’s pants are the wrong color in the first Superboy shot, and Bart’s Impulse costume is in Kid Flash colors instead of the correct Impulse ones) but then also it just bugged me the phrasing “he joined Young Justice” when he was a founder of the team, he didn’t join it he made it with Tim and Bart.

But again, chalked that stuff up to just.... writers/artists being inconsistent/unaware of things that they should be aware of, or even Nocturna just not being specific with details. But it did still strike me as a little odd considering the very accurate use of villains in those same shots, Scavenger who was a reoccurring bad guy from Kon’s solo days and showed up basically nowhere else (even holding the Spear of Lono and everything!) and Billy/Harm (Greta’s brother) from Young Justice.

But then a few pages later we got this:

(Suicide Squad (2021) #3)

Which is interesting. My first instinct was to think he’s being drugged w kryptonite or something thats leaving him hazy/out of it, but my thoughts on that have kinda changed, we’ll get there in a bit. But in general the context of ‘something’s wrong’ made the slight discrepancies on some details of his own history make more sense.

I also want to then bring up the next part to this story, the crossover issue in Teen Titans Academy.

(Teen Titans Academy #3)

So a few things. Does it feel weird to anyone else that Conner Kent, a known previous Titan who literally has a framed picture of himself in a case there, would set off alarm sensors like that? Wouldn’t he be... recognized as a Titan not an intruder by their sensors? Interesting! Anyways.

He looks really pained looking at that picture, and sad, and almost frustrated, which ya know makes sense and hurts my heart because he misses them! He misses his friends and being happy.

But, importantly for a criticism I wanna make thats less theory related and more just me bein annoyed at Tim Sheridan, that’s a picture of Conner. Right there. That’s Superboy, on display at Teen Titans Academy, so the people who frequent this building would know who he is and what he looks like and be able to recognize him, he’s even in the same outfit and everything. Alinta recognized him at the end of Suicide Squad #3.

So why does only one person during this big fight then comment on his presence?? Why doesn’t it get a bigger reaction???

(Teen Titans Academy #3)

And after the fight we don’t see any on panel moment of Wallace going up to the staff Titans (who weren’t present for the fight) and saying like “HEY NIGHTWING UHHH SUPERBOY WAS WITH THE SUICIDE SQUAD?” we just see him talking with his friends upset about Crush leaving. We see Alinta talking to them but we don’t see the exact dialogue. So I do just wanna take the writer by the shoulders and shake him a little bit and ask WHY because that just feels like... something you’d wanna address on panel! This is like the first time since joining the squad that Kon’s at all in contact with people from his life before Waller got involved, I feel like not addressing those people’s reactions to it/not discussing it at least a little bit on panel (especially when Conner CAME UP in the previous TTA issue, Dick brought him up and everything!!!) is a really odd choice. Maybe it’ll happen next issue and i’m just impatient, but who knows. Anyways, gripes with Sheridan aside, lets move on.

I wanna bring up how Conner... doesn’t really respond to Wallace’s question? At all? Except to just fight him off, not even an attempt at a ‘Sorry’ or anything? (the ‘Ha! That all you got?!’ seems to be coming from Culebra not Conner, although the placement of the bubble is vague enough it could be that it was supposed to be Conner? but it seems more like what she’d say, especially as she’s grabbing Emiko like that) That just feels weird. It feels off. In general he speaks so little in Suicide Squad #3 and this issue. Tbh it almost feels like he doesn’t really recognize Wallace which I mean I suppose they never exactly met (they would have theoretically during Death Metal, basically all past/present Titans were together for a while during that), but Kon’s been back in existing long enough he’d have a sense of who current heroes are anyways.

But right, so, lots of little things that feel weird... that gets us caught up to the most recently released comics... but in this household we look at solicits as they drop. Which gives us some info on what’s coming up a few months ahead of time, albeit without full context obviously. Issues #4 and #5 don’t mention Conner in their descriptions or show him on the covers at all, because there’s just other plot things going on, so ya know seems things will be quiet for him for a bit.

But then we got the August solicitations and oh BOY it’s a doozey for him! And some things start to kinda connect perhaps!

I want to just take a moment to look at that specific wording. “The teen calling himself Conner Kent” I’m probably reading too much into it but that feels deliberate, like why wouldn’t you just say ‘Conner Kent’? Usually these kinds of descriptions are trying to keep a low word count, not add in extra words that don’t need to be there. It makes it feel like that’s a name he’s using that... doesn’t actually belong to him.

So the theory I want to propose (that has been floating around already) is that based on these covers and the description, and how the Conner we’ve been seeing in Suicide Squad apparently talks about his own personal history like he’s ‘reading a wikipedia entry’ and had little response to people he should be aware of like Wallace and apparently isn’t recognized as a Titan through a bio-scan and also bearing in mind those initial promo arts with two separate looks at the same time for him... I think we're looking at a situation where the Conner in Suicide Squad so far has actually been a clone of original Conner (like... like he’s Match 2.0 or somethin) the whole time, that’s just not aware he’s not the original.

Now that’s the base theory I wanna work with and build off of, but there’s MANY different directions that could go in/ways that could work.

For example, one idea is that the Conner we saw in #1 who was chained up is the original Conner, and he’s been being cloned and held captive, so everything else with Conner in Suicide Squad so far has been this Match 2.0

Another idea could be the original Conner in #1 is also the Conner in #2 who Waller had then commented wasn’t ready during the mission in Arkham and had zapped with a lil Kryptonite, and after that moment she took him off the field because his spirit hadn’t been broken enough to be obedient (as he was a lot quieter in Issue #3 & the TTA crossover compared to #2, and #3 is when the Nocturna thing with the history happened)

Or it could even be original Conner in #1, then in #2 was one clone that wasn’t ‘ready’ that after that point she stopped using him, and switched to a diff clone for #3, because like that first cover did show a LOT of clones. That could be more just ‘artistic interpretation’ or something, covers sometimes do exaggerate/mislead, but it also could indicate we’re looking at a lot of clones.

(Suicide Squad (2021) #2)

With all of those in mind I also wanna bring up this little bit from Future State Suicide Squad:

(Future State: Suicide Squad #2)

Again Future State is a ‘possible future’ so stuff from it isn’t set in stone, but the idea of ‘she still has his YJ 2019 outfit somewhere’ makes me think it could be something along the lines of like, Clone!Conner finds original Conner and frees him and he gets back his YJ outfit, which could lead to like the imagery on that variant cover/the idea from my very first part of this post where I was talking about Kon being shown in both outfits in different places.

Alternatively entirely from all that, another option is that she maybe got ahold of what was needed to clone Kon, but doesn’t even have the original Kon in her possession. (again with the Future State thing, she could be lying since elsewhere in Future State we did also see a copy of YJ 2019 Kon’s costume in one of the Jon-focused Future State comics in a display case 🤷‍♂️) Which could also lead to that confrontation on the variant cover & the promo art thing... and could also explain why we have seen nothing about anyone looking for him, because in that sort of scenario he wouldn’t have even been missing in the first place.

There’s a lot of possibilities! It’s still too early to solidly know anything, but I feel pretty confident we’re entering another cloning related plot with our Clone Boy so it’s... ya know. Clone time. On the one hand it’s annoying because god we have done clone/multiple Kons plots before. We’ve done them so much.

BUT on the other hand, I think it could be interesting to use this situation to tie into some older stuff from pre-reboot that I can see some connections to, because due to Infinite Frontier altering the world and people’s memories it’s all technically fair game storytelling-wise again (and like, the use of Scavenger specifically in that flashback way above, who’s not a super well known villain in general, makes me think maaaaybe the writer did do some of their Kon homework)

Something also just dawned on me that i’m not quite sure what it means but still is worth mentioning: The Conner here in Suicide Squad is back in his Teen Titans Vol. 3 outfit, and his history as he tells it stops during Teen Titans Vol. 3. And doesn’t... mention when he died? It feels like it... stopped before that, because like I feel if he was telling his life history (even the wiki version LMAO) the part where he died and came back would be pretty important to bring up?? And Nocturna specifically says that he didn’t explain how that stuff from TT Vol. 3 then led to him in his current situation. That’s a pretty big gap (like uhhh everything from resurrection until he got lost on Gemworld + all the rest of the Young Justice 2019 stuff?) So like.. there could be something funky going on here that has to do with that.

Similarly when he flashes back in Future State: Suicide Squad to his past it also goes right from Teen Titans Vol. 3 to the current Suicide Squad run? Like I get it’s one page so they can’t show that much, but the fact that there’s now two places that flash back to that same specific time period and nothing past it until the Suicide Squad feels just... noticeable! Not concretely indicative of something, but noteworthy.

(Future State: Suicide Squad #2)

Like...this almost has me thinking maybe it could be something where like, they tampered with his dead body and cloned from that? BECAUSE, for those of you who may not be familiar with how Kon’s resurrection (during Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds) worked, when he came back there was time travel involved! He was brought back to life in the future (like. Legion of Superheroes era) because it was a process that took that thousand or so years to work/heal him (essentially because of his hybrid dna the process that healed Clark when he had died back in Death of Superman/Reign of the Supermen in the 90s just took a lot longer, but its the same Kryptonian healing chamber thing) meaning when he came back to the present alive again, his dead body was still also in the present just in it’s process of healing. Meaning especially if we’re bringing back stuff from before the reboot, Kon likely has his dead body just vibing out there while he’s goin around living life 🤷‍♂️

SO them doing something related to that could explain the choice to put him back in the T-shirt (since thats what he wore in the era his brain would be caught up to if we’re relating this to when he died) and why he’d recognize himself in a group photo with Bart, Cassie and Tim but maybe not someone like Wallace who didn’t exist back then. I don’t know, this branch of thought is still half baked. Will maybe come back and elaborate on this later. But I’m now really thinking there might be a connection to the early Teen Titans Vol. 3 era specifically because of it being referenced twice in stuff with this Suicide Squad.

ANYWAYS moving on, this is probably a shot in the dark and I only thought of it because I just was reading 90′s Superboy, but right away when thinking about ‘Amanda Waller’ and ‘Cloning Kon’ I was reminded of some stuff about the circumstances around the first clone that was made of Conner: Match.

(Superboy (1994) #35)

Match was created by an organization called ‘The Agenda’, that was after a while primarily under the control of The Contessa, Lex Luthor’s ex-wife, aided by Amanda Spence who had a personal grudge against Kon bc her dad was Paul Westfield the guy Kon was originally cloned from (before the Lex/Clark retcon). They were the big bad guys of an arc called The Evil Factory in Superboy (where Cadmus personnel got replaced with clones) which also then tied into the Sins of Youth event over in Young Justice (Remember how Match was posing as Superboy for a while there? yeah). After those plot lines finished the Agenda was pretty defeated (Amanda Spence was still out there and came back later but still) and... who got their hands on the remaining Agenda tech?

(Superboy (1994) #87)

Why none other than Amanda Waller herself!

If they re-canonized pieces of this (which also tied into Young Justice which ya know, YJ 2019 was all about re-establishing stuff from YJ even before Death Metal happened soooo) it would totally make sense for Waller to have complete access to the exact technology used to clone Conner before.

Now, a thing to consider here though is what happened to Kon after he’d been cloned that first time, where his DNA got all destabilized by the process (and he needed to go through a procedure with Roxy as a genetic template to keep him together, which was how he got stuck at age 16 for a while). This was something where he was fine for a period of time before the side effects began to kick in. Now, I think it’s worth mentioning that was also back in the days where he was not yet Lex & Clark’s clone, but still Paul Westfield’s. So there could easily be a ‘now that certain Kryptonian genes have kicked in as he got his newer powers it doesn’t destabilize him the same way’ reasoning or something along those lines to avoid this problem. Alternatively, it could be an interesting thing to embrace rather than retcon away, especially if we’ve been seeing Clone Conner in action and Original Conner hasn’t been in our focus, things could be wrong with him that we just don’t know about.

Another branch of thinking that I think is even MORE a shot in the dark but could be interesting (or again even related to what I just said, could be a combo of things) is if this somehow ended up related to those clones that were reverse engineered from the remains of Match from the very end of Teen Titans Vol. 3

(Teen Titans (2003) #99)

All of them were then taken down with Kryptonite and killed in battle (by Rose & Damian)

(Teen Titans (2003) #100)

But like... idk man if Waller got her hands on those corpses or even just the data from Dr. Caligan that he extracted from Match to make them... that could also be a potential way to make some new Conner clones, and that could be why the bio-scan thing at Titans Tower wouldn’t work properly because of the thing he says above about it not being a “complete match’

One thing I don’t think is the case, but has been brought up to me, is stuff with New 52 Kon. I’ve talked extensively about New 52 Kon in recent weeks because I read through all his stuff, but the thing that makes me shy away from him being part of this situation is the fact that... he’s not interchangeable with Kon the way I think some people think he is. He wouldn’t visually be recognized as Original Kon because he is literally on a genetic level a separate person. They’d prob look related, sure, like they’d pass for brothers because they both have Clark’s DNA, but New 52 Kon has Lois’ DNA and Original Kon has Lex’s. New 52 Kon would likely look more like Jon, rather than Kon. Lois specifically commented in an Action Comics issue that Kon had some resemblance to Lex, even. So like, things like Wallace recognizing him or him looking at his own matching reflection alongside the group picture at the Tower... those wouldn’t happen the same way if this was New 52 Kon.

Now I think it coooould theoretically be possible for Waller to have gotten her hands on that future N.O.W.H.E.R.E. cloning tech that had been used to make New 52 Kon, like I wouldn’t rule that out. Because she knows where the remains of their bases are as shown in Red Hood and the Outlaws (2016) #16-17, and like, Harvest is dead so she could easily just send teams out there to gather shit if she wanted.

Onto some other things I don’t think are actually related but that I was reminded of/wanted to address:

I feel i’d be a bad timkon fan if during all of this discussion of past stories with cloning Kon I didn’t even bring up Tim’s cloning attempt stuff, but I think it would ultimately be unrelated. His tech was stolen from Luthor, and his attempts didn’t succeed because he was trying to build from scratch without Cadmus’ the data about how they altered the DNA from the original process.

(Teen Titans Vol. 3 #34)

Then that initial cover for the annual really reminded me of part of the Hollow Men story from Superboy Vol. 5 just with like... Kon in a room full of copies of himself. I don’t think this story would be related either because it was more magic Tannarak stuff rather than regular cloning, but ya know. It’s the imagery.

(Superboy Vol. 5 #9)

It also really reminded me of the stuff from Hyper-Tension which was hypertime stuff not cloning but again just... visually.

(Superboy Vol. 4 #62)

In general I don’t think we’re EVER gonna see Black Zero or any of these multiverse Superboys again LMAO.

To try to sum up all of this in a way that might make sense here’s kinda a... flowchart of some of my main ideas for what the cloning situation could be/how the logic could work. Again this is borrowing stuff from across continuities because Infinite Frontier means theoretically anything’s fair game. (Also I don’t think I mentioned this earlier but I do mention it in the chart, but I think it’s also reasonable that Waller could get her hands on Cadmus tech if Cadmus is like properly made canon again. She just has funky government connections!)

Also I just now thought of this now several hours after I already made the chart and I don’t wanna remake it so sorry not incorporating it there but I remembered there was also that bit during House of Kent where Clark took Kon to the Hall of Justice and they were running some tests on him, so I’m thinking it’s also possible Waller got ahold of that data/that might be how she found out about Kon in the first place for this timeline. And they indicated that there was something wrong with him there, where he might eventually lose his powers or something, so maybe she tried to do cloning stuff to be able to have a copy of Superboy in his prime or something??? before that started kicking in. I don’t know, just more things to consider:

(Action Comics (2016) #1028)

ANYWAYS in conclusion: there is clone fuckery of some sort happening, I’m curious where it’s gonna go, and I just want Kon to be okay.

If you actually read this uhm. props to you bc this probably makes no sense to anyone but me its just word vomit <3

#this is very long! and disorganized! i am sorry #this doesn't have one theory abt things it has like. many #its basically just brainstorming/spitballing ideas #i could also be entirely off base! with much of this! i just feel i need that disclaimer #grandpa max is god? i go to church now #i need a kon talk tag bc i swear i write more analysis stuff like this for him than anyone else

26 notes · View notes

thevindicativevordan · 3 years

Text

On Supergirl

Figured I should put up my thoughts about Kara in the wake of her first film appearance being announced, and the final season of her TV show fast approaching. Short version is: Kara is very cool and DC needs to stop messing with her.

My Introduction to Kara

I was introduced to Kara the way most millennials/Gen Zers were I imagine, via the Loeb Superman/Batman arc which brought the traditional Kara Zor-El Supergirl take into Post-Crisis continuity, after years of DC attempting to have a “Supergirl” without violating the editorial mandate that Kal needed to be the literal “Last Son of Krypton” (an example of one of the dumb ways DC fucked Kara over). Story goes that one day Dan Didio was in line at the Superman ride at Six Flags (I love that ride even though it’s stolen my glasses every time I’ve ridden it, even when I left them in a locker!). The ride had signs that talked about various Superman characters. Didio was reading the entry for Supergirl where it talked about her not being Clark’s cousin but instead some weird merge of alien shapeshifter, angel, and human girl, and he realized how fucking stupid that was, and he went back to the office and told Loeb to bring Kara back.

Years later I would also be standing in line at the Six Flags Superman ride (probably at a different park location but who knows?) as a youngster and would read the new Supergirl sign that trumpeted that Superman had a cousin who shared all his powers, an update reflecting the new Loeb origin. I thought she sounded pretty cool, made a note to see if my library had any Supergirl stories next time I visited, then got on the Superman ride and promptly lost my glasses like an idiot because I wanted to take them off while I was riding and pretend I was changing from my “disguise” into Superman mid flight. My dad grounded me for this afterwards, but it gave me a funny story to tell at family get togethers and isn’t that what Six Flags is all about?

A month later (and with spiffy new glasses), my mom dropped me off at a new library next to where she worked, and they had one of the best Superman collections I’ve ever seen to this day. I was in heaven and while reading every Superman book I could find (I couldn’t check them out because I didn’t have a card, my mom’s card didn’t cover the area the library was in, and my mom wouldn’t have checked them out anyway since comics were “too violent”), I found the trade collecting Kara’s new origin. I read it and I thought both she and Superman were really cool, and Batman was a punk who had to beat Darkseid by cheating, the loser. Turner’s art to my young eyes was the best I had ever seen, and the panels got engraved into my brain.

I still get downright nostalgic whenever I see Turner Superman or Supergirl stuff. I also got my parents to rent the animated movie adaption of the Superman/Batman arc from Blockbuster (remember those?), and that sealed the deal. Seeing Kara hold her own against Darkseid convinced me she was as cool as her cousin. Next time my mom dropped me off at the library next to her workplace, I went looking for Supergirl stuff to read. I found the first volume of her new volume by Joe Kelly taking place after the Loeb arc and dove in.

It was... weird. 5 years later I might have enjoyed it but at the time I was majorly put off. Kara took a secret identity for a day and then ditched it because it was “stupid” and the kids bullied her. She was always getting into fights with Kal, and there was this weird plot that I couldn’t follow about how her dad had sent her to kill Kal, maybe or maybe not? Also she could grow crystals which I thought was dumb, and said she was stronger than her cousin which I couldn’t buy for a second given he looked like he was carved out of marble, and she looked like she relied on sunlight instead of food. I put the volume back on the shelf and kinda gave up on reading the character after that for a while.

I followed her via the DC wiki updates just like I did Superman, and everything I read seemed dumb and convoluted. She was split in two, moped around a lot, made out with an alternate version of her cousin, and basically just flopped about the same way the rest of the Superfamily did during the 00s. Nothing made me think I had made a mistake dropping Kara until I read the latest update to her wiki page.

I was super into what I was reading about the Busiek/Johns era of Superman online. Lex was back and making a big revenge scheme that involved all the other Rogues! Old Superman Rogues were getting revamped and made cool again! Johns reintroduced Brainiac and made him a big threat, with Kal and Kara teaming up to fight him! Busiek was revamping Prankster and telling big ambitious Superman stories! For the first time in a long while, the consensus on the Internet was that Superman was good again. My “home” library had zero Marvel books and no Superman or Batman books, all their DC stuff was Flash or Green Lantern, mainly written by Johns. Insane to think back on now. My hopes that because Johns was involved with Superman, Superman books would show up at my library were fulfilled. They started bringing in Busiek and Johns collections, and someone there also ordered Sterling Gates’ first volume of Supergirl, and I checked everything out since I was old enough to have my own library card, and my parents were worried more about the violent video games I was playing rather than comics.

I read everything and loved it. I also really liked Gates’ take on Kara. She was still an imperfect teenager but she wasn’t insufferably angsty or constantly fighting with Kal. She was going to give the secret identity another try and Lana had “adopted” her. It’s funny remembering how I enjoyed all that given my current thoughts on how Kara should work, but it was great at the time. I liked Gates introducing new foes for Kara, some classic Superman Rogues adapted for her like Bizzarogirl, others crafted specifically for her like Reactron. Gates’ basically rekindled my enjoyment of Kara the same way Busiek & Johns rekindled my enjoyment of Superman.

Of course it ended terribly like everything Superman-related seems to.

I’ve got a whole post I want to do about New Krypton and what came after. In short that is the most blatant example of “hitting the reset button” that I’ve ever seen. All the potential got wasted, and afterwards everything except Lex’s Action Comics stuff just didn’t appeal to me. Gates got booted off Kara for Nick Spencer who ended up leaving himself later, a promising Teen Titans line-up with Kara on it didn’t happen, and the last proper Pre-Flashpoint Superfamily story was a crappy team-up with Doomsday against Bigger Doomsday (thank God for Cornell’s final Luthor/Superman confrontation at least). When news of the reboot arrived, I was honestly happy. The Superline needed an enema.

Controversial opinion time: I liked New 52 Supergirl. It’s weird because a lot of the stuff I hated about Kelly’s run was here, and a lot of the stuff I loved about the Gates’ run was not. This was angry, moody, emotional Kara again, fighting with Kal and not fond of Earth. But I was in my teens at this point, and I didn’t want happy go-lucky Superman or Supergirl. I wanted my heroes angry, scared of the future, ready to go out there and smash some cars. Morrison’s Action Comics was 100% my jam (still is once I really understood the deeper meaning beneath the work) and this Kara felt like a natural fit for this universe. Plus we got Asrar on art and that guy made it damn pretty to look at, lots of cool science fiction stuff going on, even with the dumb H’el storyline.

I loved all the new Rogues Kara got. I loved her new Fortress under the ocean. I loved how traumatized she was by the loss of Krypton, that she wanted more than anything to go home, that her cousin was like a stranger to her since they had been apart for so long. I found all of that incredibly relatable. A lot of the New 52 Supergirl stories might have been schlock but it was my type of schlock damnit, and I enjoyed it!

I kept with her New 52 series all the way through the Red Daughter Saga (which I loved). As someone who grew up on Johns GL (since that was the only comics my home library had), seeing a Supercharacter join a Lantern Corp was the hypest thing ever. I loved the finale about Kara finally letting go of her anger and losing the ring while smashing her foe into the sun, it was incredibly cathartic for me as an angry teen myself. I finally stopped following her series sometime after since I was no longer enjoying the Superline or really DC as a whole. It wasn’t until I heard that New 52 Superman died and the “old” Superman was back, that I checked back into DC.

DC Rebirth & How I Think Kara Should Work

I did not enjoy Supergirl Rebirth, and I think I’ll talk about my problems with it alongside how I think Kara as a character should work since the two are related. A pet peeve of mine that has formed over the years is this: I don’t like it when Superfamily members get turned into Clark clones. Kon wearing glasses and going to Smallville High. Kara going to high school and being involved in journalism. Jon more or less being written as a copy of his dad personality-wise. I hate that kind of stuff because it’s boring. What’s the point of a Superfamily if everyone is just copying Clark? It also doesn’t fit the characters especially in Kara’s case. Why the hell does she want to be a journalist? Were there journalists on Krypton? I don’t remember ever seeing one! Shouldn’t she want to be, I dunno, a scientist? That seems to have been the El family tradition, wouldn’t she have been groomed for that?

This one-off by Shea is honestly the only acceptable outcome for Kara going into journalism for me. She realizes she’s just copying her cousin and switches to something she wants to do. So Orlando copying the show, which already basically turned Kara into an expy of her cousin, just did not appeal to me at all. What had worked for me under Gates way back when was not clicking for me this time. I wanted to see Kara embody the principles of the S-shield in a different way than her cousin did. So I really enjoyed when Rebirth ended and we moved into the Bendis era with Andrekyo relaunching the title as Kara in space.

Kara in space has always felt like a good fit for me. Unlike Kal I’ve come to believe that Kara really shouldn’t be all that fond of Earth. For him it’s home, but for her it’s just where she ended up after her real home got destroyed. I think Kara works well as a sort of nomad, occasionally making stops back home to Earth to check on her cousin, but otherwise? She’s more comfortable out in space than she could ever be on Earth. Out in space she can be Kryptonian (which is what she should think of herself as in contrast to Clark being torn between his Kryptonian biology and human upbringing, and Jon/Kon identifying as human), be her true self, not have to pretend to be human to fit in. Kara founding a moon refuge was one of the best ideas for her that I’ve seen, I would love if DC made her Future State refugee center on the moon canon. I’m excited for more Kara adventures in space with the upcoming Tom King story.

Also love that her and Krypto are getting tied together, if they don’t want to use Krypto in Superman’s stuff, let her have him! Bring on cosmic adventurer Supergirl!

Personality & Other Traits

Kara to me should be more hot-tempered than her cousin. All the Superfamily members should have a temper in my opinion, I see that as the “Deadly Sin” of Superman and his family. But while Kal is like a simmering pot that will explode if it’s left cooking for too long, Kara is like dynamite. Light her fuse at your own peril because she will go off on you.

I also like the idea of Kara being rash. Kal’s got a maturity that came from over a decade of having to live with Lex Luthor constantly getting away with all his evil schemes. He’s patient because he’s been forced to be. Kara? If you ask for her help she’ll give it, but beware because she doesn’t really care about the long term impacts of her decisions. She’s an invulnerable teenager after all.

Really liked that Venditti Annual where Kara got tutored in history by a reincarnation of Hawkman. Kara having a passion for history is a neat trait, would be nice to see her teach Kal or Jon some Kryptonian lore, or have her lead a Kryptonian holiday celebration for the Superfamily because she’s the only one who remembers how to do it.

Sexuality wise I know a lot of people ship Kara and Lena on account of the chemistry between the two in the show. I haven’t watched the show myself but I’m fine with making Kara bisexual, the Superfamily could use some LGBT+ rep, and Lena hasn’t done anything of worth as a villain, so undo that and throw the two together. If we’re letting Harley and Ivy get away with murder I think we can let Lena off the hook too, undo the Ultrawoman weirdness and put the two together. Could be fun seeing the two building that moon refuge together.

All in all I think Kara is a great character who is a stronger embodiment of the immigrant experience than even her cousin in some ways. I hope King does a good job with her, she’s treated better than her cousin on the film side, and that overall the 20s are a better decade for Supergirl than the 10s were.

#supergirl #superman #lena luthor #krypto #dc comics

43 notes · View notes

fuckingdeadbutroyal · 4 years

Text

Jasonette July- Soulmate AU- Part 3

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

Bruce would never admit it. No, of course not. Bruce was a literal father of eight, Catwomans fiance and motherfucking Batman himself. Right then, standing in the ruins of what was once “The City of Love”? He could not handle the situation. There should have been more people coming to Paris’ rescue, more heroes offering their support and overall more attention on everything that was happening, more attention on what has been going on for years. The irritation seeped into the batfamily like some kind of mist. Everyone felt it, but each person was dealing with it in their very own, individual way.

For example there currently was a frustrated Cassandra Cain asking Tim for directions, while using a crowbar to open a door that has been sealed shut by the rubble of one of the broken buildings. She was angry, or at least that’s what she has been taught this emotion was called. The decade she has spent on the streets of Gotham have made her capable of handling all kinds of tools and left her with every necessary skill there was, if you needed to open a door or look for something any other person would not have paid any attention to. The young adult wasn’t keen on following her main mission. The villain could be caught later, but those people were dying right then and there. Tim has told them about the Miraculous Cure. Yes, all those people would come back to life if only their heroine would finally manage to catch that damn akuma.

The memories would stay though. The city would consist of traumatised citizens and be vulnerable to further attacks or, in the worst case, further manipulation. Dick could not stop thinking about what could happen afterwards. What are they going to do once the villain has been eliminated and the miraculous cure has been cast? How would the citizens of Paris react when some sociopath would raise their voice and demand power and set up rules and just overall exploit the damaged and desperate minds of the victims?

Would this emotional trauma lead to new extremists?

Would they have to fight a new Hitler or have to assassinate the next Stalin? Speaking of assassination: Damian was raging. His already bad temper was a perfect starting point, which means that now that he had mixed his constant anger with the situational rage... he felt alive.

He remembered that that was what superboy has felt like the first time he realised he could fly. Kon-Els’ emotions were always very...expressive. He loved to indulge every bit of adrenaline and excitement he could reach. Damian was glad to have him as his soulmate, though. The other boys positivity and extroverted way of acting was complementary to Damians introverted defensivness. Kon-Els’ habit of sharing his pleasent emotions and sensations through their soulmate-bond has opened the Wayne heirs eyes in several ways.

Now the youngest batfamily-members’ adrenaline and rage-filled soul was holding back from sharing that powerup with his lover, though. Instead he was focusing on Paris and subconciously hoping not to remember it in it’s current form, having planned on taking his boyfriend there for their anniversary. No, instead he was looking at those pained faces and ruins. His mind was tunneled, sure, but whatever he saw on the other end of that tube did not stand a single chance. The boy was rummaging through the streets, following each and every one of Red Robins and Batmans orders without giving it a second guess. Damian was reacting to everything colored red that came into his vision. Paired up with his oldest brother, who has taken to asking the citizens about what they have witnessed and if there was anyone who needed immediate help. Damian did not speak. He stared down anyone who didn’t answer them right away and “put on pause” whoever was causing trouble inside the shelters. He was following the “no killing policy”. (Which didn’t mean he held back.) A broken bone was a broken bone, no matter if it killed you or just immobilsed you for a few weeks. Dick did not approve of Damians actions, but the young one was careful not to leave a trace of his doings and knew for sure that there wouldn’t be anyone who would dare to tattle on him, not if they valued their oh so precious teeth.

Each and any trace that could lead them to the villains identity has been collected. Barbara paid special attention to accuracy and professionalism, no matter how difficult it was. She didn’t allow herself to loose focus, didn’t turn away from the mission. She wanted to, oh how much she wanted to just stop looking at those weird dusty footprints and butterfly themed anythings and pull the people in misery out of their ashes. Orakle couldn’t dare do it, though. Anyone else has already stopped paying attention to the mission. If she did too, there would be no one left to find the source of evil. She kept on playing the matra her father has taught her in the back of her head: “Find the criminal, save the future victims, find the criminal, save the future victims...”

The future was uncertain, even for Duke. His photokinetic skill let him see into the near future, aswell as a bit of the past. But that didn’t help because that day he just couldn’t see anything but death and destruction in both directions. His vision was clouded with blood and dust and he quite honestly felt blind and useless. They should’ve come sooner, they didn’t have the right to leave these people to their own devices. Especialy since they knew that their devices were malfunctioning. The boys heart was full of regret. If only he could have seen this coming, if only he could have showed the akumatised victim a way out! It was his job as “The Signal” after all, he didn’t wear this annoyingly bright yellow suit for no reason!

Tim was surprisingly calm. He had his coffeemashine working, Alfred keeping him comany in the batcave and several constant sources of information keeping him entertained. He hated to admit it, but for once he felt fulfilled. His brain was working at just the right pace, he was giving out orders and information without having to secondguess himself and could allow himself to just let the mission take it’s course. He saw the dots moving around on the screen, saw the battlefield growing and changing and knew when to usher his family away from, or even towards danger. Yes, the pressure was incredibly high, but oh god was it exhilarating.

Which didn’t mean he wasn’t annoyed when his orders were being ignored. Cass not listening to him he has already been counting on, she was saving the people and that was all he needed her to do. Stephanies string of fate, which was connected to Tims heart, was safe and sound and she kept him updated about her actions, so he was fine with keeping her out of the equation, for now. Jason though?

“Hood! What the fuck is up with you?”, Tim signaled his older brother, who was currently walking at the pace of an elderly zombie and, for whatever reason, constantly turning in the direction of the Saine, completly disregarding the route Tim has assigned him on. “I totally get your need for caffeine now, Red.”, Jason laughed in return, “doesn’t mean I support it though.” Having said that he went back to silently brooding in the direction that was making him even more tired than he already was.

Jason was exhausted, but he wasn’t dumb. He’d guessed that his soulmate had to be somewhere in the area and he was certain that the strenghtening bond was due to their proximity. The further he walked the more he felt them. Or in other words, felt his body succumb to their weakness. Whoever they were, Jason knew they were on the verge of dying. A soulmates bond can only do so much. Sure, if he ate and slept for two, his bonded would get their share, but it still wasn’t enough. Judging by the way he was currently about to collapse, they haven’t been taking care of themselves for a while now. Jason had to do something. He needed to find them and get them to someplace where they could recover, at least enough for Jason to be able to get back to work again.

Blinking, Red Hood realised where he was. Where there should have been water, just a few dozen meters in front of him, were...

“Red, am I hallucinating or is that river full of giant ladybugs?”

“Those are boats. Their color indicates them to be Lucky Charms, a creation of Ladybugs superpower. Batman and the others have found several other items all over the city and collected the ones they could. Apparently Ladybug has to throw them in the air in order to cast the cure. Are you capable of investigating these ones? I think they could be shelters but my drones haven’t arrived yet so we have no heatvision to investigate from abov-”

“I’m on it.”, Jason interrupted him, having gotten a grasp of the situation and, due to his tiredness, not being capable of listening for such amounts of information without succumbing to the monotone lullaby of another human beings voice.

Tim watched in wonder, as the big, scary, red hooded man stopped midtrack, made a 90° turn and climbed into a destroyed cafe. He came out of it, several minutes later, armed with what seemed like two cups of coffee, a bag full of food held between his teeth and unconcious parisians on each one of his shoulders. Jason carefully squatted, letting them down at the door of the nearby akuma-shelter and sitting crosslegged next to them. After carefully dropping his bag of baked goods in his lap and downing the probably burning hot coffee from his left hand in one go, he finally turned his com back on and just sat there, eating.

A few moments had passed before Tim mustered up the courage to speak to him. He’s been fighting evil in the streets of the most crime-ridden city their planet had to offer for years now, but never in his whole career has he seen something as terrifying as that man he considered a brother, who he knew had commited murder, died and come back to life, just sit and eat while everything around him consisted of ruins, death and destruction.

“Tho-those civilans. Did you-?”

“I knew you would ask that!”, a full mouth replied, “Of fucking course not. They were knocked out by their bloody ceiling collapsing onto their damn heads. They’re still breathing and I’m sure there’s like, first aid in those shelters. I just gotta-”, he took another bite, taking his time, again swallowing his second cup of coffee in one go and letting out an exhausted but slightly more energized breath, “I just gotta recharge, then I’ll be on my way.”

“Are you okay? Why so weak all of a sudden?”

“Who are ya calling weak, replacement?”

“I meant what I said, now spill.”

An uncharacteristical sigh escaped Jasons lips. He didn’t like speaking of his soulmate. It made him feel weak, especialy due to their bond consisting of literal suffering. Given the current situation, though, he decided to share.

“Did you know I have a soulmate?”

Tims surprise was evident but he did not dare speak up, in fear of disrupting his brothers confession.

“We’re kind of a fucked up pair, to be honest. Our bond isn’t as cute as yours and Spoilers. It’s like...very physical. Whenever she gets hurt I get the same bruise.”

Jason now knew she was female. He felt her much more intensely, recognized those physical attributes he was sensing. If felt weird and he would have to get used to it. (Only if the both of them were going to survive the next few hours, of course.)

He took another bite of the third pastry he was currently eating, before continuing: “Whenever one of us has hurt ourselves when we were little, the other did something similar in some sort of “payback”. It was dumb. Silly realy...”

Tim was only half listening. As much as he wanted to know every tiny detail of this secretive mans confessions, he still had a job to do. A shelter not far from Dukes whereabouts has been covered by more debris and was therefore in danger of collapsing on itself. He gave out orders to everyone but Jason. Red Robin had a guess considering what he was about to be told and couldn’t risk ignoring that possibly incredibly important piece of information.

Jason was finishing his seventh pastry, while explaining to Tim how he recognized Paris through his soulmate and pointed out how odd it was, that she knew what every angle looked like from above and how she has never set foot inside an akuma-shelter.

Saying it out loud made it painfully obvious. Especially when he paired the information with the fact that his wounds seemed to heal so quickly and the exhaustion the bonded pair was feeling.

Ladybugs powers include healing.

Ladybug was fighting the most difficult battle this war has ever offered.

Ladybug was Jasons soulmate and he knew where he could find her.

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

Hello!!!

I hope you are having a great day, night, morning...probably night. Nighttime is tumblrtime after all.

Thank you SO MUCH for all your feedback, it is now my fuel, my water, my blood, I love y’all.

Also, English is my third language so please, if you find any mistakes or notice a grammatical sin: please tell me! I am still learning and would love to correct my mistakes.

Part 4 is in the making and either it will be very long or I’ll make a part 5. No promises though!

P.S.: Proper Jasonette is finally happening next chapter, I’m excited ^^

I never would have thought I’d get to say that but I now have a taglist! If you want to be added just tell me in whichever way: I will find you and I will tag you *insert evil laughter*

Tag List \o/:

@maribat-is-lifeblood @lokilex @amayakans

Thanks for reading ^^

151 notes · View notes

miss-choco-chips · 4 years

Text

The dangers of sugar coating

Dick tries to give his little brother nice things (and fucks up), Tim is paranoid (and too tired to think clearly), and Damian thinks they might actually be a good team (while they plot Santa Claus’ downfall).

(Beacuse @animemangasoul and I decided we’ve been too rough with Tim lately, so I tried to give him some batfamily fluff. Somewhere along the way I fucked up and ended with this. No edit, pure crack)

-----.------

-Before I tell you anything, you need to promise me you won’t get mad.

The Bruce of ten years ago, new to parenting and oblivious to its dangers, would have done his best to emulate any ‘How to be a good Dad- guide for new, utterly lost fathers’ book. Now, though, tired after raising Dick to semi-adulthood and still hurting over Jason’s… Jason, he knew better. Life had toughtened him up.

So he didn’t raise his eyes from his newspaper, and gave into the urge of sipping his coffee before humming under his breath. Not even the slightest show of acceptance over those terms.

If Dick was asking that, instead of hiding whatever this was or dealing with it himself, it meant the situation was either out of his control, bound to make its way to Bruce eventually, or both.

Probably both.

-Come on, B, just promise you won’t get all passive aggressive bitch on me. I did it for the greater good...

Another hum.

However, Dick has spent the same amount of time learning under his guide than he had raising him, so the younger was bound to develop some of his own tactics.

-...and I did it because Tim obviously needed it, so…

Warning bells ringing in his mind, Bruce gave up and shoot Dick a look. He didn’t seem overly guilty, so whatever this was, it probably wasn’t irreversible. But he was also shifting his weight from one leg to the other nervously, so… there was a catch here.

-What did you do?

-You didn’t promise.

-I won’t take your allowance away, but I may yell. It depends on how convincingly you make your case -compromise, he had learned after many, many mistakes, was as good a plan as any.

-Deal -then, quickly, like ripping off a bandaid:- I might have made Tim slightly more neurotic than he was. On accident.

The bells turned into firefighter’s sirens.

-What did you do?

They have had the fifteen year old living in the mannor for a few weeks at most. They couldn't possibly have already broken him, right?

Right?

Dick winced, but sat down by Bruce’s left (the side closest to the dining room’s window), which meant this was the only issue, but a hard to explain one.

-You see… We were talking, bonding over childhood memories and stuff, and… you know how christmas is just around the corner, and I asked him about Santa. I mean, obviously he doesn’t believe in that now, but the thing is, he never did.

-He’s too smart for that -growled Bruce, impatiente to get to the point and figure out just how much damage control would he be doing.

-No, his parents were too shitty. They were never there on Christmas, so no gifts under the tree unless he put them there himself, and whenever that happened, it was because his parents sent them and he wrapped them himself. Also no surprises, because he was the one asking for specific stuff. And I got a little sad, because how can a kid never believe in Santa? Like, come on. It’s part of the concept of childhood innocence. So...

Bruce waited a few beats, but Dick didn’t follow up. See, this was the moment where his parenting books would suggest waiting until the kid was good and ready for sharing his thoughts. But, since this was his younger child at stake here, he couldn't allow himself the luxury of letting a single second go.

-And? -he prompted, as gently as he could, trying not to spook Dick into abandoning ship.

-And I sort of… convinced him that Santa was real. Like, a full out super powered meta whose purpose in life was to bring joy to all of us. I texted Barbara and she planted some old looking reports on the batcomputer about it, to give credibility to the lie. I even drew parallels with Batman being thought of as a myth outside of Gotham to support the ‘Santa is real, people just don’t believe in him’ thing. And, after some hours of convincing and with Babs’ help, he bought it. So now, if Tim approaches you about it, you better back me up, because otherwise you would be ruining the last vestige of innocence Tim might still keep. Downside, though, Tim is now holed up in his bedroom searching the deep web for any Santa related info he can get his nerdy little paws on.

Silence in the room. Dick blurted out a goodbye and jumped out of the window. Bruce didn’t get up to check if he had landed safely on the other side. He probably had.

Tired, he looked down at his coffee. Black, just like he needed it now.

He should have stopped at zero children.

----.----

Cassie watched, with no small amount of unholy glee, as Tim thoroughly convinced both Kon and Bart of Santa’s existence. One a clone with little social understanding and the other from a very dark future, they were unsurprisingly easy to convince.

This was the kind of hilarious shit that made being in a superhero team worth it. All the life and death situations were balanced out by this kind of drama-like absurdity.

Even better was Tim’s completely fucked up perspective on the matter.

-So you’re saying Santa is not only real, but a deranged psychopath? Who’s probably both a pedofile and a mind controlling scumbag? -Kon tilted his head, both confused and esceptic.

Cassie did her utmost best to keep a straight face while nodding along, as if everything Tim had laid down in front of them made perfect sense.

-I thought it was stupid, too. But Dick showed me evidence, old reports, both handwritten and digital, and I found footage of Santa sneaking into the Manor when he was still young, deeply buried in the Batcomputer mainframe.

-Couldn’t that video be, you know… made up? -Bart asked, frown unusual on him firmly in place.

-If it was anywhere else? Sure. But this is The Batcomputer we’re talking about. Why would Batman have that kind of thing there? It was too heavily protected to be placed there as decoy for anyone hacking, not like they could ever get over Oracle’s firewalls. Besides, what reason would Batman have to invent this? I’m fifteen, I don’t need the ‘Santa fantasy’. The only believable answer is that Santa is real and very dangerous, and some people have taken his name for capitalism’s sake and made a holiday out of that and some religious backing, to get more people roped up into it. The true mastermind is obviously hiding somewhere out there, and the Christmas propaganda is merely a means to get funding for his devious plots.

Both metas hummed thoughtfully, Superboy even crossing his arms as he examined the pile of photos and papers Tim had laid out in front of them. Bart was nodding, hand cupping his jaw. The looked dead serious.

Cassie wanted to excuse herself to use the toilet (lead lidden because this was Gotham, specifically Tim’s secret place, so of course it was super-proof) so she could laugh her ass off, but the temptation of seeing this trainwreck to its fiery end was too strong.

It was taking up all of her amazonian training to keep her straight face, though. Diana would be so proud.

-I even searched the deep web for Santa related crimes, and looked up his name in disturbing forums. You wouldn't believe what some people, serial killers and rapists both, do using Christmas as a theme. I couldn't sort through it all, it was that sick.

Kon looked utterly disturbed- So what do we do now? Christmas is just around the corner!

Bart got up and started pacing back and forth- We need to hunt this dude down. Christmas is about goodness and family! We can’t let this, this… psychopath ruin it! Think about the children of the world!!

Oh god, this was getting even better.

-But how? The man sounds like a velocist of some kind, I mean, running and leaving gifts everywhere in the world in the span of a few hours? How are we even gonna catch him?

-Maybe if we dress up as Elves? -Cassie couldn't stop herself from suggesting, voice choked in her effort to be serious, but most likely interpreted by the boys as clogged up on rage- From what Tim wrote here -she raised a paper from the pile, hand shaking- it looks like they are his mind-controlled slaves. If he thinks we ran from his captivity, he might take us to the North Pole with him to brainwash us again… Oh, but I probably shouldn't dress up, so you know, I can be back up if he manages to catch you three…

-That’s a great idea! -Bart’s skinny arms wrapped themselves around her neck, and she took the chance to hide her face in his mane of hair, corners of her mouth twitching up.

-Should I also record it? -she asks, almost begging- In case people don’t believe us later, when we have to explain why we imprisoned Santa.

-Yes, I think that might be wise -Tim conceded, eyes scanning his papers again.

Thank the gods. That tape was going to be Cassie’s most precious treasure forever.

-I think he has a way of controlling people’s minds too. Like, parents and stuff. And then he makes them be the ones to give his children gifts in his name, as a way of gaining their trust. Sick fucker.

-So you think it’s a kinky thing for him?

-Kon, he literally categorizes kids as ‘good’ or ‘naughty’.

-You are right, we need to stop this bastard.

Cassie loved her boys so, so much. She also owed Dick Grayson the biggest high five.

----.----

Red Hood was just lighting up a cigarette when he saw Red Robin making his way to his rooftop. Cursing, he dropped the entire thing and kicked it away. The brat knew Jason smoked, but Dick had been on his ass lately about being a good brother, and he still felt kinda bad about trying to kill the kid twice, so he was actually trying to set a good example.

Besides, out of the two possible little brothers to take under his wing, he certainly drew the lucky ticket, because while Dickie had gotten stranded with the pompous brat, Jason had the all around good kid circling his radar more often than not. Like, Tim had broken him out of prison, a little after Jason had done his best to end his life; he couldn't get more forgiving and nice than that. It certainly beat making a murder League child let go of his katana on a nightly basis.

-I need your help.

He blinked. While they certainly had worked cases together in the past, they were always preluded by some kind of smalltalk, little banter, at least a ‘hello’. Not this straight to the point bullshit.

He had the urge to take out his guns, to protect them both of any threat following Red Robin here. He refrained.

-What’s the matter, babybird? What’s wrong?

Tim looked almost frazzled. The cowl was hanging around his neck, just a domino preserving his identity, and his hair was a knotted mess. Disveleshed was too little a word for his state.

-We need to make a plan to catch Santa Claus before Christmas this year. His reign of terror must end. It’s still not too late.

Yeah, okay, he might need that cigarette after all, to hell with Dick’s bitching. Besides, how bad of a influence could that be, when this kid was obviously already on some kind of drugs? Like, Santa? Really?

-What… do you mean?

What followed was an hour long rant on the dangers of a super powered, evil version of the myth that Tim had somehow cooked up on his mind.

Was this real? The kid looked far too distraught for a joke.

-… Does Nightwing know about this? -whatever ‘this’ was- Bats?

Tim shook his hands frantically. Jason was legit getting worried.

-N was the one who told me about Santa -there, he knew this smelled like a Golden Boy trademark fuck up-, but he seems to be under his spell. Bruce as well. They tried to convince me he is some kind of good-hearted samaritan. Jason -he stated, breaking the no names during patrol rule, a show of just how deep into the rabbit hole he was- you wouldn't believe what I found on the deepweb. Joker’s yearly special seems tame in comparison.

That, Jason could believe. But he was also fairly sure you could type about any word in the darkest side of the net, and find half a dozen kinky or deranged things that matched. Santa-temed crimes? More likely than anyone would believe. Real life Santa doing the deed? Not so much.

Tim had been too young when Dick lied to his face, most likely. And nowadays, the young vigilante was running on three hours of sleep on a good week. And it wasn’t even too far fetched to believe, on their line of business, specially when dealing with metas and supervillains day in and day out.

Still…

-Kid, I don’t know how to tell you this, but… Santa isn’t real -he told him, slowly, hands raised as if to touch his shoulders but not daring to actually make contact. Tim looked so manic he might actually nerve strike him.

The icy blue eyes were hidden under his mask, but Jason knew from the way he tensed that Tim was terrified.

-He got to you, too -he whispered, almost too softly for him to hear. Then, without giving Jason the chance to inquire further, he turned tail and disappeared into the night.

....

He really needed that cigarette.

----.----

When Drake told the family he was taking Damian under his wing for a case, everyone seemed so happy he couldn't just shoot the other man down. Besides, reluctant as he was to admit it, Red Robin was the superior detective in the entirety of the team, so there would be rewards for taking the blow to his pride and working with him.

He expected to be directed through some easy case, maybe a little puzzling but not too challenging. Or be sidelined while Drake worked through things, so he could learn by example.

This, though, this he hadn’t foresaw.

This case was way more serious.

-How come Father has allowed this depravancy to continue?! -exclaimed Damian, hands gripping the sheets of information tightly- This ‘Santa’s’ influence has been permitted to cement on too many people already! And it keeps growing!

-I know. Fuck, I know. But I can’t get anyone to help me. My team knows, but sadly we aren’t enough. Bruce and Dick don’t believe me, and neither does any other hero I contacted on the matter. It’s just like when B was missing in time; they either think I’m crazy, or try to sugarcoat things, like they would with a baby.

Damian snorted, disbelieving. Whatever his opinion might be on his predecessor, he at least knew to trust his insight in a case. Grandfather himself had recognized his genius on that field.

They were on Drake’s perch, his center of operations outside of Batman’s influence. He would never admit it out loud, but if Damian ever needed his own batcave, it would be just like this one.

Now, the long table in front of him was completely covered in information, case reports, photos taken from live footage, deepweb forums’ conversations, history books…

-And you say this… monster, targets children?

-I mean, he brainwashes the parents too, but that seems like a plot to both increase his economic funds and to gain the children’s trust.

-How are you so sure they are his objective?

-The parents tell their children Santa is ‘always observing them’, and ask if they ‘have been good’ that year. If they aren’t perceived as obedient, Santa leaves them coal, which incentives them to do their best to change that by next year’s christmas.

-Maybe the coal and gifts have mind control devices, or some magic?

-My thoughts exactly.

Damian frowns even deeper. He’s glad Drake is taking his detective training seriously, but if father himself is being deceived, he wonders what can the two of them (plus Drake’s team) do.

-What about Todd? Red Hood is proclaimed as Saint Protector of Children in Crime Alley, after all. He certainly has opinions about this ‘Santa’ person.

Timothy shakes his head- He got Jason too. I suspect he’s been under his control ever since he was a child at the manor.

-So, we are alone in this.

-Essentially, yes. Thankfully, not everyone celebrates christmas. Some religions flat out forbid it, so we won’t have as much ground to cover when we lay out a trap. We could choose a close by location and plan around it.

He nods, back straight with purpose. He -and Drake, he supposes- would be freeing Father and Grayson, along with the rest of the victims, from this madman’s control. Maybe even Todd, if he has the time.

-I’m with you on this endeavor, Drake.

-Good. Remember we need to act natural in front of the family. If Santa catches wind of what we’re doing, he might focus his efforts in getting to us.

Damian wants to say to let him come, he would show him why it's a bad idea to mess with his family. But Drake is, admittedly, the superior detective, and it seems he’s been working on this for a long time now. Damian will defer to his judgement this one time.

Drake’s superior knowledge and Damian’s unrivaled training might be what’s needed to orchestrate this ‘Santa’s’ downfall.

They will be a good team, he thinks.

#My writing #Tim Drake #batfamily #Batfamily Fanfic #core four #Dick grayson #Bruce Wayne #cassie sandsmark #kon el kent #conner kent #bart allen #jason todd #Damian wayne #this is just crack guys #Tim thinks Santa is out to get everyone #he's a tired boy okay #no edit #tw: mentions of child abuse #nothing graphic just Tim doing typical comic book research

261 notes · View notes

peppersonironi · 4 years

Text

Batfam/Avengers Crossover Chapter Five: The Assassins’ Bond

Tagging: @the-fair-maiden-of-fandom

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Category: Gen

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types

Relationships: Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne, Natasha Romanov & Damian Wayne, Clint Barton & Cassandra Cain, Tim Drake & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tim Drake & Duke Thomas, Pamela Isley/Harleen Quinzel, Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Dick Grayson/Wally West, Roy Harper/Koriand'r/Jason Todd,

Characters: Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Barbara Gordon, Justice League (DCU), Alfred Pennyworth, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Clint Barton, Thor (Marvel), Bruce Banner, Peter Parker, Alfred the Cat (DCU), Bat-Cow (DCU), Goliath (DCU), Selina Kyle’s Cat Isis, Kate Kane (DCU), Duke Thomas,

Additional Tags: Batbrothers (DCU), Avengers Meet The Batfam, MCU/Batfam crossover, Crossover, no beta we die like robins, rated T for Jason’s language, I bleeped it out though. Just to be safe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, canon? What’s canon?, Deaf Clint Barton,Deaf Character, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Happy Batfamily (DCU), Birdflash and joyfire are implied/referenced,

Summary: Nat sets out on her assignment to gather information about the bats, and ends up talking with Damian.

Natasha couldn’t seem to find anyone to investigate, which was weird. Usually, when she wanted to find someone, she did. Nat hadn’t seen any of the other Avengers either, which was also strange.

So Natasha wandered the halls of the manor. She had already checked the Cave, though it was also empty.

After half an hour, Natasha turned to the gardens. She wasn’t really searching at that point, only enjoying the early afternoon breeze. But soon enough, she heard sounds of laughter.

Following it, Natsha wound through a shaded path to find a large lawn occupied by the bats, as well as Peter, Banner, and Thor.

They were in the middle of what seemed to be an extreme version of capture the flag. Nat looked for someone to talk too, but they were all invested in the game. Then she noticed Damian on the sidelines, inside a clearly marked square that must have been the ‘prison’. He looked angry, and seemed to be passing the time by doing drills with his katana. Once again, Natasha was struck by how precise he was.

"Hey kid."

Damian glanced at Natasha, clearly suspicious.

"Hello Romanoff, do you want something?''

Nat smiled. “Call me Natasha. And no, not really. You looked bored, so I thought I’d offer you some company.”

Damian scoffed and returned to his drills. Natasha sat down, and was soon joined by a large dog whom she had never seen before. "Is that your dog?" She asked.

Damian nodded stiffly. "Yes his name is Titus."

Nat looked at Titus with gentle eyes. "Hi Titus." She reached out her hand for the dog to sniff. Titus obliged, and then began to nussle her hand, quickly warming up to Nat.

Damian’s whole demeanor changed at the sight. He relaxed significantly, and even had a soft smile on his face. “He likes you," Damian said as he set his katana aside and joined Natasha on the grass.

Nat smiled right back at him as she began to pet Titus. "Titus is a great name for him. Latin right?" Damian nodded. "You know the meaning?"

Damian scoffed. "If I didn't then I wouldn't have named him Titus. An honorable dog deserves a name that literally means `title of honor’."

Nat chuckled, surprising even herself. "I like you kid, you've got spunk.” She nodded over at the now abandoned katana. Time to see what she could get out of him. “And your fighting technique is impressive."

Damian’s face became a mixture of guarded and prideful. "Of course it is, I was trained to be the best."

"Well your father sure does a good job."

Damian pursed his lips and remained silent for a moment before replying. "He didn't train me. I … was trained by my mother."

Nat looked over at him softly. “The one that Jason blames for him killing?”

Damian scowled. “Yes. My mother is responsible for bringing my brother back from the dead using the Lazarus pit which is … not quite magic. The pit induces its user with enhanced aggression, and memory loss which she utilized to manipulate Todd to her will.”

Natasha sat still for a moment. She really didn’t know what to think. On the one hand, that did partially explain Jason’s references to murder. On the other hand … the woman sounded horrible.

“Why would she do that?” Nat asked quietly.

Damian stroked Titus for a long moment before replying. “My mother is part of a group called The League of Assassins - led by my grandfather - that is dedicated to … saving the world.”

Natasha almost raised an eyebrow at that. Assassins and world-savers really didn’t seem like they would go together well.

“Not like you saved the world,” Damian continued, “But through brutal, unforgiving justice. They wish to reform civilizations across the world into total submission to my grandfather.

“So my mother took it upon herself to take in a newly raised from the dead Jason Todd, train him, and set him upon Gotham. Her point to it all was to harm my father, who is very much against League ideals.”

There was a sudden shout of triumph from the game, and the pair looked over at Tim crowing over a downed Peter Parker. They were silent for a long time, watching the game play out. Finally, Nat took it upon herself to speak.

“I never knew my parents. I grew up in a top secret Soviet-Russian training facility designed to create the perfect operatives, or assassins.” She took a breath as she looked over at Damian.

The boy had shed his smirks and scowls. His eyes were wide and innocent. There was a quality of quiet hope in his face. Like he was amazed that someone else could understand him.

“You’re like me,” he whispered. Then raised his voice slightly. “I was trained from birth. Mother and grandfather wanted me to be the heir. The perfect heir. I was taught every conceivable way to kill, to torture, to withstand any injury.” Damian was no longer looking at Natasha. His eyes showed that he was in another place. Another time.

“We were chained to the bed at night to prevent escape,” Natasha replied. “Sometimes they would make us fight to the death. To weed out the unworthy.”

“Weakness was not tolerated. The moment I made a mistake I was punished. I was to take it willingly.”

“When we trained with guns, they gave us real people to use as targets.”

“Emotions were a liability. I was to never show any, I was never to trust anyone. Not my trainors, not my servants, especially not my own mother.”

“We weren’t to trust each other either. Sometimes they would randomly order to kill your friends, and you had to. Otherwise you were killed.”

Damian sighed. “The worst part was leaving. Mother dumped me with Father - for training she said. I was to learn what I could from him. And I did, I learned a lot. But not what she wanted me to.” He looked over wistfully at his family. “I learned to trust. I had to believe I wasn’t invulnerable. I … I had to learn what it felt like to be … wanted .”

Natasha nodded at him, though he wasn’t looking at her. “Clint was sent to kill me, after I had been an operative for a while. I was the best, so people began to take notice. So S.H.I.E.L.D. sent Barton to eliminate me. But when he found me, he didn’t. He … had mercy on me. Something I had never known. He recruited me. I worked with him, and S.H.I.E.L.D. to help people instead of killing them. I had to relearn almost everything.”

They sit in a comfortable silence for a while. Neither bothering to pity the other. Just enjoying the companionship of another like them.

Then Nat spoke up again. "I'm not good with …" Natasha paused trying to find the right words. "Comfort. But, I understand"

Damian looked at her, then nodded. “I understand as well.”

They sat together for a while, looking at the game progressing. They talked about their lives, and even started to explain their families as well. Damian talked briefly about Bruce’s tragic childhood experiences, as well as Dick’s. He went into detail of Jason’s death and then resurrection. Tim’s becoming Robin. His neglectful family. Damian explained Cassandra’s past, and how Duke lost his parents. He mentioned Stephanie and Barbara, and how they joined the vigilante life as well. He didn’t go into detail, though, saying that their stories were not his to tell.

In return, Natasha talked about befriending Clint. How Steve became Captain America. How Tony built his suit. Banner’s experiments, and how he became the Hulk. How Thor found himself on Earth. What she knew of Peter, and how he became Spiderman.

“Do you trust me?” Damian asked, looking over at Nat when she had finished speaking.

Natasha smiled. “Yes. I’m assuming that’s what your goal was?”

Damian had the nerve to not look apologetic. “We may or may not have overheard your entire conversation after lunch.”

Nat nodded, she had figured as much. The Boy had been almost a bit too loose lipped in the beginning. But she could tell that as the conversation went on, he spoke freely because he wanted to, and not because he was trying to supply info.

“Did you draw the short straw?” Natasha asked.

Damian scowled. “T-t, no. Father said that if any of you were to question us or our motives, we should hold nothing back. You had the nerve to approach me first.”

Natasha laughed freely and ruffled the boy’s hair. He frowned, but didn’t push her hand away.

“Do you trust me now?” He asked, tentatively.

Natasha paused and tilted her head. “Yes, I think I do. You didn’t lie to me, I know that.” Damian rolled his eyes, and Natasha smirked a bit. “But also, you and I are similar. I don’t think I could distrust you if I tried.”

Damian nodded, seemingly satisfied. “Good, I would not want to disappoint Father.”

Natasha smiled. “I don’t think he would be disappointed if I didn’t trust you. He seems quite reasonable.”

Damian outright snorted. “Say that again when I have a slight cold and he won’t let me on patrol. He can be quite unreasonable in mother-hen mode. Not unlike Grayson, unfortunately.”

Nat chuckled. “He loves you. That’s important.” There was another shout of victory from the field, then Natasha continued. “What about me? Trust goes both ways, you know.”

Damian frowned in concentration. “Yes, I believe you have earned some trust. I don’t know about Stark though, he seems … unstable.”

Natasha couldn’t help but outright laugh at that statement. After a moment of surprise, Damian joined in.

“That,” Natasha said between huge gasps of laughter, “Is by far the best thing I have heard in a long time.”

“Do you deny it?” Damian asked.

Natasha was almost crying from laughter. “No, not in a million years.”

Damian smiled at Nat. “Thank you, Romanoff. For talking. I believe you will make a valuable ally.”

“Call me Natasha, kid. Or Nat. Or Tasha. I don’t care. But not Romanoff. Friends aren’t so formal.”

Damian furrowed his brows for a moment before relaxing. “Very well, Tasha. We are now friends?”

Natasha smiled at Damian. “If you want to be.”

The boy pet Titus for a few thoughtful moments. “Very well. I accept. Together, we shall be a formidable force.”

Nat chuckled, ruffling the kid’s hair once again. This time, he didn’t bother frowning.

Just then, a voice called from the field. They both looked over to find Dick running up to them. “Dami! I’m so sorry! I thought someone had gotten you out! Well, the game’s over. Want to join in the next round?”

“T-t. Of course you forgot. If this had been in the field, I could have been killed by now.”

Dick smiled easily at his little brother. “So, what do you say?”

Damian glanced at Nat before replying. “Very well, I shall partake once again in your childish games, Grayson.” Then he smirked. “But I demand that Tasha be on my team. Since you are clearly untrustworthy.”

Dick looked curiously over at Natasha, a small smile on his face. “Sure Lil’ D. Let’s go.”

He motioned for the pair to follow him, then turned and ran off back toward the field.

Damian looked over at Nat. “You will be on my team?” He looked like he was trying to hide how hopeful he was.

Natasha got up and offered her hand to Damian. “Together, we shall be a formidable force, right?”

Damian grinned at her and accepted her hand. “Our reign of terror shall be legendary.”

#Avengers Meet The Batfam #dc/marvel crossover #batfam #avengers #batfam shenanigans #Natasha Romanov & Damian Wayne #natasha romanoff #damian wayne #Titus

31 notes · View notes

iphoenixrising · 4 years

Note

hey we haven’t heard anything from you in a while. everything good? How’s life treating you? All my love for one of my favorite batfam writers!💗💗💗

Hi babe.

Ah sorry, I’ve been super busy at work and with kiddo :( I mean, I’m still writing when I can, but it’s just time and motivation. My project has really taken off (reads as: expanded) and most nights I’m chipping away at the massive amount of documentation for not only a Java-based framework, but an entire Platform *sob* So, it’s just such a huge amount of old articles and brainstorming sessions and meeting minutes and just ugh. I mean, it’s kind of interesting to try tracking all these things down and figuring out how they’re going to work together since the developers (from 12 to 50-ish, my God and now they want me to read markdown and do pull requests for comments and shit because this is my fucking life) are still working on the platform services, the development environment, and all these fucking tools I’ve never heard of (Kubernetes, wtf is this thing??) so I’m learning a foreign language almost tbh.

Did I mention *sigh*?

ANYWAY, also some of the things I’m working on that are like Batfam are a little more...I dunno, just things that a bit harder for me I guess, but even if I write just a sentence or two, I still count it as a win.

But like...I said something about a Sentinel / Guide Au, and even though I’m at what would be a good stopping point, I’m not very happy with it :/ So, if you’d like to see kind of what I’ve been doing, I’m going to throw down what I’ve got below the cut.

Warnings:

DickTim, Angst

Sentinel/Guide Au

After he brings B back from time, send the Dark Knight back to Gotham, he gives in to things long overdue, and trains with Shiva–

–to be an effective Guide.

Years of suppressants made it literally hell without them, trying to keep his shields up, trying to push out the telepathic traffic suffocating him the second he opens up just a crack.

Shiva, of course, had been her cheerfully murderous self, plying him with the full onslaught of a powerful Sentinel.

"You will be drawn to us from now on, Little Bird. You will want to protect us, bring us back from the abyss. If you choose to allow your powers as a Guide rein free, then you must learn to fight against the urges."

The fucked-up part is–

–she's right.

If he wants to stay in the life, wear the cape and cowl under the new name, go back to the Titans (since they've been looking for him again, fly-bys and searches for his tech), then he needs to learn how to deal with what he can do and how to deal with the instincts that come along for the ride.

It's not enough that Shiva is in the middle of hunting down a few former students ("They have made...the wrong choices."

"That's rich coming from you, you know."

"We all have a code, Little Bird, and I am no different.")

but they managed to run into a few other Sentinels along the way.

He'd like to say he'd taken his ass beating like a pro at this juncture in the vigilante game, but the reality is, they'd had to take shelter in a shitty lean-to, so he could be tragically, metaphysically hung-over.

He gives up the cowl and suit, utility belt and sundries. He goes as a wrecked teenage American boy, changing it up from the last time he trekked behind Lady Shiva and took on her adversaries. He tries not to think about Dick or Jason, Dami or Alfred, tries not to think about the confused look on B's face in his safe house, drying his hair after a long shower, trying to readjust to the current timeline.

("You aren't going back to Gotham?"

"I still have things to do."

"...there's something you aren't telling me."

"There's a lot I'm not telling you."

"Come to me when you're ready, Tim. No matter what, you're always going to be one of my Robins.")

Instead, he learns how to keep himself, and the Sentinels around him, safe and sane while trying to stay two steps ahead of the next fight, the next clue, the next "training."

In Shanghai a few months later, he knows it's time to move on when people part ways for the brightly clad superheroes coming en-masse down the packed street for him.

Well, moving on it is.

Going back to the Tower, away from the Bats and Gotham and the Rogue Gallery (thinking about facing the Joker this raw and open is fucking terrifying), was the best he was going to get considering the circumstances.

Those circumstances being the pointed twitch over Kon's eye and Bart's very intense gaze.

"You were supposed to call, asshole. The OG Batman has been back in Gotham for like months and you've just been, you know, chilling with Lady Shiva?"

Tim, who is so out of bullshit at this juncture, feels better after a hot shower and some old sweats with a Superboy t-shirt, throws up his fucking hands.

"All right, fine. I never told anyone. I...I've been on suppressants since I was a kid, just like my mom. Guides..."

"It's not that bad anymore!" Cassie tries helplessly, the first to actually reach across the table for his hand.

The instant connection makes them both gasp. It’s a shallow one, just a dip under her natural shield (he knows it’s Cissy, the Guide that’s been helping her until now, bringing her back whenever she hits a Zone, recognizes the touch of their Arrowette), just a skim over her immediate emotions this thing now untried and how utterly calm he makes her just by hands lightly placed.

"O-ooh," is soft while his fingers tighten, his eyes sharpen, his shields constructing around her, his instinct to protect.

"Not necessary," Gar chimes in, still leaning against the door between the kitchen and communal entertainment room, "we're all good in the Tower, T."

Is what shakes him out of it, hastily pulling away from Cassie's hand.

"Wow." Wonder Girl breathes out, eyes soft and half-mast, looking at him dreamily.

"Nope." Because he can already feel the headache coming on, how her hand tries to grab back at his.

“We could fight better together, Tim!”

“Do you even know how strong a Guide has to be to take care of four Sentinels?”

In one terribly creepy singular move, Bart, Kon, Gar, and Cassie give him that look.

You know, aimed at his face.

"No one," Bart cuts in, eyes wide at the exchange, of Tim's aura warm and inviting suddenly stronger, reaching out... "Tim, T. No one has to know."

The flash of fear, a residual from the tunic, makes him hedge back a subtle step back.

Kon pointedly grips him by the bicep, over his shirt while Bart moves enough that his shoulder bumps into Tim’s ribs, halting the possible escape attempt.

“Okay, okay, backing off. New powers are about a bitch, not like we all haven’t been there once or twice.” Kon soothes over, taking small steps and tugging until Tim is moving with him closer to the communal kitchen where his seat is empty at the island, and they can possibly get proof the guy actually eats.

“Amen,” Cassie throws up a hand and is already digging through the fridge until she finds–

–the last grape Zesti.

Tim’s eyes narrow dangerously on that singular can, his body moving before his brain can take over because he’s sliding on his old chair, the can cold against his fingers, too thirsty for caffeine that he can’t even.

Sure, it’s a trap, but with these guys, at least he knows it.

“I’m very not ready to do anything remotely Guide-like in the field,” the soft ca-saaaa as the can opens. “You want me to sleuth, fight, and strategize, then I’m all for it.”

Bart is just suddenly in Kon’s usual seat beside him, spinning around in tight, fast circles, “you mean you’re thinking about coming back? To the life?”

“Dude, that would be stellar.”

Tim side-eyes his besties, “it was never in the plan to-to stop.”

“Can’t blame us for assuming, you know,” Gar grins toothily, “no Red Robin for a while, my dude.”

Tim goes quiet, staring down at the can between his hands, shoulders hunched over.

“At least,” Raven’s voice is smooth and soft, comforting, “tell us why now, Tim?”

“Why now?”

“Why begin training as a Guide now?” She clarifies, sliding into the seat across from her, and the coolness of her aura, not a Sentinel, but something purely Raven puts his frayed nerves at ease, makes it easier for him to find the words.

“I turned 18,” and he can’t look at them while he admits to it, “and...and I figured out who my Sentinel is after Ra’s kicked me out the window.” (I was fine going out that way. It was fine. I was saving Wayne Enterprises from the League of Assassins, I was fighting the good fight. It shouldn’t have happened that way...why did it have to happen that way?)

“Oh,” and Cassie’s eyes get huge.

“Ra’s al Ghul is your Sentinel?!” Bart fairly screams.

“No dude,” Tim rolls his eyes and finds his can suddenly fascinating. “It’s...Dick. He’s...yeah. It’s him.”

“I didn’t hear that,” Kon hurries, standing shock-still, “I didn’t hear any of that.”

“Not him,” Bart is gritting his teeth because dammit, why couldn’t Tim have been his Guide? The universe was totally, wholly unfair.

A muscle in Tim’s jaw flexes, his nose pinkening along his upper cheekbones. He blinks watery eyes, takes a deep, deep breath to try and keep himself under control.

“Yeah,” and Tim sighs a little, the ache in his chest more acutely painful when he thinks about that moment waking up in the Cave, Dick in the Batsuit without the cape/cowl combo smiling down at him, still painfully unaware of the connection drawn tight between them.

(He doesn’t need me. He’s got Babs and Dami. His Guide and his Robin.)

Getting the absolute fuck out of the Manor had been his first order of business once he’d come to, just sprouting whatever placating bullshit Dick needed to hear to let him go without much of a fight (this time).

Finding Bruce and staying the hell out of Gotham hadn’t helped the pull he inexplicably felt, or the pressure of minds around him that had sent him to Shiva in the first damn place. His Guide abilities were overcoming the suppressants, so he was out of time...and out of options.

Still, even with the training, he occasionally has the dreams at night. Not the usual array of awful nightmares from his real life, Jason shooting him in the chest at point-blank to make sure the job gets done this time, Bruce dying right before his eyes, turning into that skeleton husk Superman brought to them thinking it was the real thing, Damian sneering at him with the katana held high, spitting out how it’s time the real Robin took his rightful place just before bringing the blade down–

No, no, it’s even worse than those.

It’s shadowy hands touching him, the warm wet of a mouth over his skin and scars, gentle voice in his ear telling him how beautiful he is, how much he’s needed, wanted, how it’s not just because of what he is or what tunic he used to wear, it’s all because he’s Tim. He doesn’t wake up when his dream self realizes it’s Dick over him, those blue eyes taking him in, pinning his wrists down to look over every inch of his naked body. He doesn’t wake up when Dick starts preparing him. He doesn’t wake up when Dick kisses him hard and desperate. He doesn’t wake up when the tears dry on his face and their bodies line up.

“Mine,” his dream Sentinel doesn’t even hesitate, “Don’t ever run from me again. Do you understand me, Tim?”

Just before Dick pushes, he wakes up, panting and hard, his instincts going crazy enough that he has to meditate to calm down.

Cassie gently wraps her hand around his shoulder, making sure they don’t have skin-to-skin contact this time. “I’m sorry,” she smiles gently at his frown, “I know you and Dick have had some...issues in the past few years.” But he can read the guilt in her face. Back when everyone thought Bruce was dead and his cape had been yanked out from under him, Dick had sent Cassie to try talking some “sense” into him. She still feels awful for jumping on the same train everyone else had been riding, the ‘that guy is suffering from depression’ instead of believing he might actually be right.

(It still stings though, doesn’t it?)

He doesn’t say anything back, just looks out one of the big windows and pulls out of her hold to take a drink of his Zesti.

“But,” Gar quickly jumps in, “you’ll stay in the Tower and fight on the team again, right? Like, no more trips with World’s Deadliest Assassins?”

Tim visibly hesitates, pausing with the can up to his mouth.

Slowly, he lowers it, his eyes taking on a cold calculation that is and isn’t like their old Rob. “Like I said, I can’t be a Guide for anyone, and I mean that. Second, I told you the truth in confidence, so I expect everyone to keep my secret. Third, I’m not anywhere near ready to go to Gotham or face the Bats, so for now, I’m fighting under the radar. If those aren’t acceptable stipulations, I’ll grab some of my clothes from storage and be out of your Tower.”

“Storage?” Kon glances around at the team, “Tim, buddy, why do you think we’d have your stuff in storage?”

“I assumed Dick would already approach you about making Damian part of the team,” his tone is absolutely empty, emotionless. “And there’s no way both of us could be here at the same time, so...” he lets them put it together from there.

The look of utter devastation on Kon’s face makes him feel slightly better.

Coming back when Cassie, Bart, and Kon have his back, just like they were closer to the end of their YJ run, makes the transition easier than it realistically should have been.

And it really might just be how low the dose of suppressants are now, or that he feels comfortable stepping into Robin’s role on the team, just with a different name, a different mask. It might just be how Bart has a tendency to hover with that hummingbird energy coming off him even when he’s seemingly standing still, maybe it’s Kon’s TTK pressing at his back even if the guy is across the room, maybe it’s how he and Cassie have leadership meetings where they just binge watch reruns of Gossip Girl and eat ice cream to bemoan their woes.

But maybe, it’s how he can feel them pulling at his shields unconsciously. Maybe it’s how he can sometimes push back enough, can skim just the edges to get impressions of angry, sad, depressed and gently erect a mental shield without delving deep without permission, can give them the space they need from their intense senses and powers.

Just another way he can be the regular guy on the team, working under the radar. So much a part of his role in the first damn place.

He doesn’t realize it becomes something normal until they take the good fight a little too close to Gotham for his liking, but the choices were few and Luthor is such an incredible ass hat that Tim actually plays it down, dresses up as CEO Tim Drake to divert their baddie while the team takes apart his latest weapon of mass destruction on the down-low.

What he absolutely doesn’t expect is to leave the lobby of one of the most posh restaurants in Metropolis–

And walk face-first into Dick Gryson’s chest.

(Technically, it’s Nightwing, but really, this doesn’t make the sitch any better.)

A hand, black with blue fingerstripes, covers his mouth, and the sound of a grapple retracting is a pending oh no that he doesn’t fight the vigilante pretty much kidnapping him off the street in broad daylight.

He can only thank God it isn’t skin-to-skin contact because his inner senses are flaring this close to the Sentinel, his Sentinel, that he has to grind his back teeth to keep himself in check. He pulls away the second they land it on solid rooftop, shoving his sleeve back to check the team’s status on his hidden wrist computer.

Mission success!

“Imagine my surprise,” Nightwing growls, hand on his shoulder to spin him around, “when I find you having lunch with someone like Lex Luthor instead of taking my damn calls, Timmy.”

Stepping out of that hold is subtle because Tim is looking over the side of the roof, adjusting his tie to try putting some distance between them. “I’m undercover. Those are the things people like us do when we’re running an Op, Nightwing.”

Those whiteouts narrow on him, a trick only Dick can really pull off effectively. “None of that tells me where the hell you’ve been for the last year since you left to find Bruce, found him, and didn’t come back.”

His back straightens, eyes looking away when the irritation and heat of anger hits him harder without the nice little cocktail of suppressants and stabilizers, makes his own shields tremble at the burning sear along the edges of his consciousness.

Instead of saying something he might come to regret, Tim sucks in a breath through his nose and works through the bolt of pain, gathers his shields around himself to keep the Sentinel from unerringly lashing out at him again.

“What the hell are you even doing here? Recon on Luthor? For which nefarious plot?”

A black and blue hand slashes the space between them, “not even important, Tim. So, how about you call your team and tell them you’ve got some Bat business because we? Need to talk.”

“I’m sorry, what now?”

“You heard me. I’ve been trying to get in contact with you for weeks.”

“I sent back your case files, asshole–”

“Not about cape and cowl shit, Tim!”

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about right now,” even though he does, he really does. He just doesn’t know why it has to happen now.

Nightwing, however, has had enough of the talk and with a whip of his arm has a bolo out and thrown, his natural speed as a Sentinel might be slower than someone like the Flash, but it still has Tim wrapped up tight faster than he can realistically dodge.

The sight of the vigilante Nightwing swinging through Metropolis with the CEO of Wayne Enterprises over one shoulder would be big news in the city if anyone had been bothered to really look up.

The hotel is nice Tim thinks while wiggling around on the bed where Dick pretty much dumped him. His fingers are already getting the bolo loose from around his upper body by the time Dick has the mask off and the Nightwing suit unzipped to flop around his waist.

The Gotham Knights t-shirt underneath is a new one since the old faded one got blown up in that little explosion in the ‘Haven a few years back.

Dick lifts and sets a chair down with a pointed clack, sitting down to watch Tim squirm his way up. He’s got the bolo loose enough to brace his palms.

“What part of I’m in the middle of an OP–”

“Don’t care,” Dick cuts him off ruthlessly, those blue eyes hard and jaw tense. “I honestly don’t give a crap about the Titans right now.”

“Well I sure as hell do thank-you very much,” Tim pulls the bolo off, tosses it across the room with an angry flick, facing his former mentor, former partner, former friend with those old feelings creeping up his throat to make the taste in his mouth coppery and bitter.

“The only thing I care about right now is that I finally caught up to you. The last time I even saw you was that swan dive–”

“I’m aware. Being kicked out of a window is pretty memorable, even for people like us,” he keeps it deadpan, keeps the anger and irritation, the feelings of shit like betrayal and it must have been so easy to throw me the fuck away.

“The point is, smart ass, you left the Cave and haven’t been back. You only answer my emails about cases and bad guys. But when I ask you to come back home, which I have, Tim, I don’t even know how many times, and I get nothing! We need you–”

“Why would I come back to Gotham for you?” Is what spills out of his mouth, something bitter and foul. “You’ve already got a fucking Robin to be your little brother, remember?”

Welp, there goes playing it cool.

But watching Dick jerk back like Tim had landed a physical blow was more satisfying than he wanted to admit.

“Are you kidding me right now? You’re still angry about that? I’ve explained to you exactly why–”

The irritation in Dick’s tone, obvious disgust when he leans back and crosses his arms over his chest is just about enough.

“You explained it just fine. You made your choice, so everyone just has to deal with it, right? Yeah, that’s really being my equal.”

Tim makes himself stay deadly calm and cold, moves his legs away from Dick’s to stand and take a few steps away from the seething Sentinel to adjust his tie and try to get his hands to quit trembling.

“I can’t believe you’re acting this childish, Tim. I’m really disappointed with you right now.”

“Glad we’re on the same page, Dick, disappointed in each other,” but it strikes him anyway in the small, sad place where he held on to the hope they could still work everything out somehow and at least go back to being friends. A small part that’s been slowly dying in degrees, and that last hit is enough to make it so absurdly painful.

(All those years in the R, fighting the good fight, being brothers, having each other’s backs, and it all ends here, doesn’t it?)

“What? I did everything I could do for you! I–”

“If that’s what you want to believe, then that’s fine. I don’t have any reasons to argue with you,” staring at his own reflection in the mirror, seeing the red start to creep over his cheeks, his eyes get overly shiny, Tim Drake straightens his spine and flexes his own shields.

He keeps himself together enough to turn on a heel and walk calmly to the door.

“Tim, just...okay, just wait. Let’s talk this out–”

He doesn’t even turn, hand already on the knob, just pulls open the door and takes a hasty step through. It’s only the first step, but Dick is still just suddenly there, trying to snatch at Tim’s wrist with a bare hand, managing the brush of fingertips over a pulse.

“Don’t leave like this,” Is the last thing Dick says before the electric shock slides up his spine, the pull to all his senses almost has him on his knees.

The touch has Tim lurching away, jerking his wrist up to cradle against his chest, the red burn of Dick’s emotions beating at his shields harder with just a simple graze.

It ends with Dick still in the doorway, braced against the frame, gaping, and Tim leaning heavily into the wall across the hall, a wince on his face.

Stupid metaphysical connections and shit.

The touch hadn’t been enough to, you know, like bond them or anything, but it’s widely believed True Pairs didn’t even have to touch to get impressions from one another.

“You asshole,” he seethes at that shocked expression.

“You feel like I betrayed you,” is low and thick, Dick’s eyes a little dazed with what he picked up through the momentary connection, “it hurt you so much when I made Dami my Robin because I didn’t even talk to you, I didn’t trust you. You think I just threw you out of my life. How could I ever do that to you...?”

If Tim was a better Guide, on a higher dose of suppressants, he would have been able to keep himself closed off enough that if they did manage to touch, he could have kept Dick out of his shields, wouldn’t have given him the ability to skim over shitty emotions.

If Tim was a better Guide, he wouldn’t have the urgent need to run.

But welp, here they are.

As the thought takes shape in his brain pan, that he’s in his civilian day-ware and can run down the hall while Dick –still half in Nightwing– is trapped in the doorway, his knees firm and his eyes dart wildly to the side, giving himself away.

And since Dick was Batman, is Nightwing, is a Sentinel, he sees the writing on the wall and absolutely refuses to let it happen. Dick shoves with his arms, darts out into the hallway, makes his suddenly weak knees work enough to shake up Tim’s plan, seizes the apparent Guide, his Guide, in a princess hold and get back before the door even starts to close.

“Put me–!”

But Dick folds his legs to sit with his back against the door, and wraps both arms around the struggling third Robin. He can hold onto Tim better than a bolo anyway.

The push at Tim’s shields is a pressure he isn’t used to dealing with, and it’s painful to fight against it rather than just let the tentative connection open. His hands curl into fists in his lap, trying to strain against the arms pinning him while concentrating on strengthening his shields.

He doesn’t realize he’s whispering, “no, no, no,” under his breath.

“Please,” Dick lays his forehead down on top of Timmy’s head, “please don’t go. Not now. I’m finally...Tim, I get it now. I swear, I get it.”

“...doesn’t matter. Too late.”

“That isn’t fair,” the smallest shift and Dick is breathing against his throat, making him shiver, “I just found out you’re...a Guide. My Guide. We haven’t even started yet. It can’t be too late if we haven’t had a beginning.” It gets worse when Dick breathes in his scent deeply, a noise coming out of his chest.

“We have had a beginning,” he bites out, fists tight, concentrating on keeping his shields strong but flexible, “we’ve had years–”

“And I’m not ready to throw all of that away.”

The pressure against his mental shields finally eases up as Dick raises his head, gives him a little shake to make him look up.

“You already did, remember?”

“I didn’t... I never threw you away. That’s not what I meant or wanted. Yes, I should have handled things better. I know that now, and I’m sorry I hurt you. I was sorry before, I just didn’t know how to tell you, how to make it better between us.”

Tim’s eyes narrow, and he doesn’t let up in case this is one of those diversionary tactics to put him in a false sense of security.

(They fight bad guys. Sometimes, they have to cheat, and he wouldn’t put it past Dick to do just that.)

“I don’t know what you think is going to happen here,” he finally tries, staring up into those blue, blue eyes (I trusted you once, and fuck if I’m going to let you do this to me again). “But whatever it is, you’re wrong. I’m not going to come back to Gotham and be your Guide. I’m not going to bond with you because the universe says I’m meant to be some kind of magical counterbalance.”

Dick’s expression crumples, his arms go a little slack.

“Tim, we’re...we’re a True–”

“I don’t give a fuck about True Pairs, Dick, not anymore. Babs has been your Guide since you both presented. She wants the job, she can damn well have it.”

It’s not a fight to push against Dick’s arms the second time and stand up out of his lap.

“You’ve loved me since the moment you put on the cape, Tim. I know you have.” When what he means is I know now.

“I loved you before that, you asshole, and you betrayed me. You don’t get that chance again.”

Turning away shouldn’t be this easy now that Dick knows the truth, but it is, and the very last parts of him still hoping, still craving, are just as easily–

–wiped out.

Dick’s eyes are watery when the door hisses and creaks upon opening, and it’s an automatic thing, reaching a hand up just expecting Tim to take it.

“Tim. Timmy, please.”

“Good-bye, Dick,” is already fading with rapidly retreating footsteps. At least he can keep some of his dignity because Dick will never know he falls the fuck apart as the elevator goes down.

Author’s notes:Here’s why I don’t like this: 1. I want to talk more about why Tim chose Shiva as the Sentinel to teach him how to be a good Guide. Like, I want to explore that dynamic more because I’ve never really had the time or space to write Shiva as we see her in Tim’s Robin run.2. I wanted to go more into the expanded senses of Sentinels and how to - hell, I dunno, make it seem to be a little closer to cannon maybe? Like point out some of Dick’s greatest escapes and be like part of that is due to his Sentinel power. 3. Dick says some shitty things, and I don’t give him any context. Like, at that point, he legit believes he did the right thing at the time, and look! Tim’s Red Robin so everyone wins! But yeah, once he got under those shields, the truth shakes him up. 4. I dunno, this au might not be for me. It doesn’t feel very different from some of my other angsty things I guess but meh. Who knows, I might fix it someday :D

#winter answers #with angst #and frustration #sentinel!au #Tim Drake #Dick Grayson #the titans!#my fics #my writing

171 notes · View notes