#chapter 12

[nature-nerd-sarah]

This was in the most recent chapter of the Kikuri side story manga. SPLIT-TONGUE PA-SAN CONFIRMED!!!

#bocchi the rock! #kikuri gaiden #manga #spoilers #bocchi spoilers #chapter 12 #pa-san

[manga-meow]

#The Walking Cat - A Cats-Eye View of the Zombie Apocalypse #cat #chapter 12 #seinen #manga #manga cap #my edits #monochrome #mangacap #manga panel #popular #1k

[thoselovelythings]

#december #december 1st #first day of December #winter #Christmas #the last month of the year #chapter 12 #holidays #goodbye November #hello december

[artistheworld]

@centuryberry

CHAPTER 12

Don’t cry you idiot, you’re going to smudge your makeup

#queen of the mountain #rea moots #rea’s little sketches #THE WEDDING HANFUS #TOOK #SO MUCH PLANNING #AND SO MUCH TIME #AND IT’S SO WORTH IT #anddd tumblr keeps eating my quality #BUT NEVER MIND THAT #THE WEDDINGGGGG #Chapter 12 #shadowpeach #lmk wukong #lmk macaque #six eared macaque #sun wukong

[paynomindtotheinsanity]

Chapter 12: Dark Passage

I love these boys so much, I'mma throw them in a hole together

#invader zim #invader zim fanart #invader zim au #vampire dib #dib #invader zim fanfiction #zadr #invader zim zadr #your eyes are red #doodle #next chapter #chapter 12 #spooky

[invisibleanonymousmonsters]

chapter xii - gust & flame

Eris Vanserra x Reader

Eris Vanserra has been a prisoner in his own home since the day he was born. He has done what he had to in order to survive and protect the few he loves. And he is playing the long game. Waiting, waiting, and waiting for the right time to make his move, to usurp his wicked father and become High Lord of Autumn Court. But things become even more complicated when a human girl drops into his life. Perhaps Eris can wait no longer to take his throne.

Word Count: 2,600+

Warnings: spoilers for entire ACOTAR series

masterlist

Wax leaked off the tables and onto the floor of the war room in the Forest House. It was late in the evening, but there was always work to be done.

“We should move our forces to the south east borders.” Eris pointed to the precise area. “The mortal queen, Briallyn, is still not to be underestimated. And our pathetic High Lord of Spring cannot be trusted with protecting his own borders from any movement in the mortal lands.” 

His comrades nodded in understanding. 

Before Eris could continue his orders, he was struck with a distant feeling. 

It was Y/N, that he was sure of.

But it wasn’t fear or panic that he had experienced in the past. Y/N wasn’t in danger.

No.

She was…She was sad.

The feel from the bond was lower, sitting in his gut and almost making him feel somewhat nauseous. His body felt like it had been filled with sand.

“Anything else, Lord Eris?” One of captains asked. 

Eris cleared his throat, pushing down Y/N’s feeling. “No. I require daily updates on the movement of each infantry.”

All the captains replied in unison with, “Yes, General Eris.” And with a bow of each their heads, they left the war room, leaving the heir of Autumn Court alone once again. 

Eris started pacing the room now that he had no observers. 

He wanted to go to her. It was almost more jarring than knowing she was hurt. Placing Y/N in Night Court was out of protection for her, but Eris had also always hoped she’d be happy there. 

If anyone in Rhysand’s court has done anything to upset her… He thought angrily. 

Then he remembered the gifts he had gathered for her. 

After Y/N had freely given Eris all of her merchandise of witchcraft, it had given him her promised effects. The candles actually brought him a full-night’s sleep. And even on his most stressful and tiring days, the eucalyptus eased his mind as he took his nightly baths. His mate took care of him even when she did not know the truth of their connection. 

So, Eris couldn’t help but return the favor. Perhaps it was foolish, but he couldn't help himself.

Go to her. Go to her later tonight, his heart sang to him.  

It would be easy to sneak away at this time of night. The servants and courtiers of the Forest House were familiar enough with his routine that they expected him to retire to his bedchambers for the evening. No one would come looking for him unless there was some kind of an emergency. And even then, no one would dare question his absence out of mere fear. 

–🍁–🍁–🍁–

Through their bond, Eris somehow knew to go to the House of Wind instead of Y/N’s shop. It would be long closed anyway. 

“Where are you?” Eris muttered lowly to himself. 

But someone answered. 

Not someone. Something. 

Torches of faelight started igniting, clearly pointing him in a direction. 

Eris looked up to the ceiling. “Sentient are we?” He almost sounded annoyed by the revelation.

Magic he was blindsided by always made him uneasy and irritated with himself for not being fully prepared for any and all situations. 

But he followed the directions still. 

The faelights didn’t stop until he had gone up a staircase that brought him outdoors. He quickly realized he was on the roof and what lay before him was a training ring. 

Eris quickly remembered what Lucien had mentioned about Y/N training with the Valkyries. Her scent lingered here – along with other various females. This had to be where the group of female warriors trained. 

Then he spotted her. 

Y/N was on the other side of the training ring – alone – shooting arrow after arrow at an impressive distance. Every shot hit true, landing in the bullseyes of various targets. 

Yet Eris felt no pride or relief or contentment coming from his mate. 

He stepped out of the shadows of the stairway, and started to slowly clap. 

Y/N whipped around, an arrow already knocked as if he were her foe. 

But as soon as she recognized Eris, she lowered her bow and let out the breath she was holding. 

“Eris,” she gasped. “What are you doing here?” 

When Y/N started walking toward him, she also walked out of shadow and underneath the moonlight. And that’s when Eris was able to see that Y/N’s eyes were somewhat bloodshot and the skin below was puffy. 

She’d been crying. 

Eris’ nostrils flared. Who had made his mate cry?

“What’s happened?” He asked firmly. 

“N-Nothing,” Y/ stuttered. “I was just practicing…”

“You’ve been crying,” Eris pointed out, tilting his head as if daring her to challenge him like he were some fool. 

So Y/N just looked at him and swallowed; she’d given up on lying to the male, yet also refused to confess what had made her so upset. 

And Eris wasn’t going to push her. 

Why would he expect her to open up to him?

It wasn’t as if he were anyone to Y/N. To her, he was just a stuck up High Fae, heir to a monster, a male all of her friends openly disliked. 

So...Eris decided to take a different route. 

He nodded to the bow in her grasp. “Can you use a sword or do you only excel at archery?”

Y/N narrowed her eyes in challenge. 

She walked over to a row of training equipment, and grabbed two practice swords. They were made of wood – less dangerous than a real blade, but it could still seriously bruise and even concuss one’s training partner if there was a strong blow to the head. 

Y/N tossed one to Eris, who caught it smoothly. 

“Have these Illyrian’s been teaching you to fight like a brute?” He taunted, getting into proper fighting stance. 

Something flickered in Y/N’s gaze as he said ‘Illyrian,’ and it didn’t go amiss by him. 

Without giving her warning, Eris lunged for Y/N. 

She managed to block his swing – but it was almost too late. 

Eris took it easy on her, but he almost didn’t have to. He was over five centuries older than her – and a general. The fight wasn’t exactly fair. Though he hated to admit, the Illyrians had trained Y/N well. It was clear they had taught her tactics to hold her own with a fae, while she was mortal. But with this training and her witchcraft, she would be a challenging foe for most fae warriors. 

The longer they fought and Y/N held her own, the more light returned to her gaze. The sadness she had greeted Eris with almost completely gone. 

But Eris still wanted to know what had upset her in the first place. 

And he could also see that her energy was nearing its end. Her blocks were weaker and her attacks were slower. 

So, he finally took out her footing, forcing her to fall onto her back and he leaned before her, wooden sword at her throat. 

“How’d I do?” Y/N asked him between heavy gasps. She was incapable of stopping her beaming smile. 

In return, Eris couldn’t stop his amused grin. “You have much to learn still.”

Y/N seemed to be expecting such a retort and wasn’t offended in the least. Instead, she merely laughed. 

“Well, I don’t have centuries of training, do I?” She pointed out and raised her brows. 

Her gaze flicked from his eyes to his lips. 

“Plan on releasing me, Lord Eris? Or shall I play dead for the rest of the evening?” 

Eris swore his heart skipped a beat. 

He frowned to save his pride and stood back up, offering her a hand. 

She took it with a smile. 

Eris looked around at the training ring just to stop himself from getting lost in her gaze again. “Why do you train with them? The Valkyries.”

Y/N’s amusement disappeared as she took looked around the ring. “The females here…some train to regain their power. But others…others like Nesta wish for more.”

Eris locked eyes with her once more. “I didn’t ask about them. I asked about you.” 

Y/N’s eyes glazed over as she whispered, “I wish to survive. I don’t ever want to feel helpless again.” 

Eris caught a shiver go through her body. The temperature had already been cold upon his arrival and it was only getting colder. 

Without saying anything, he took off his cloak and draped it over her shoulders. 

She seemed taken aback by the gesture and gaped at him. 

“You mortals are fickle things, catching illnesses so easily.” Eris stated coldly. “It is astounding you haven’t gone completely extinct because of it…”

Y/N laughed. “You know...you don’t have to say something cruel after every good deed, Eris.”

The sound of her laughter alone struck Eris’ heart like lightning. 

“Tell me why you were crying earlier tonight,” he demanded. 

Her smile dropped. Y/N hadn’t expected him to truly care. 

She looked at the ground as she softly replied, “You will laugh.”

“I would never laugh at anything that brought you to tears.” 

And there she was again, shocked by his words. 

“I saw someone tonight who I thought might have…” She hesitated. “Who I thought might have cared for me – as more than just a friend, that is.” 

Eris merely waited for her to continue.

“Earlier tonight, one of them was meant to take me home, like they always do. But he never showed up. No one did. So, I just went to a pub after I closed the shop – alone." She visually winced. "Then I saw him there…with her. It was so clear from the way they looked at each other…”

Y/N needn’t say more. 

She shook her head and huffed out a laugh. “It’s silly when I say it aloud. I shouldn’t have allowed myself to get so upset by it.”

Eris had managed to accept the idea of Y/N loving another male. Though he knew it wouldn’t be easy, it was the best choice for her. 

However, Eris had never considered her loving a man who was beneath her. It was silly that such an outcome had never occurred to him. He knew the evils of males more than most. Why had he just assumed Y/N would end up with a male who was worthy? 

Learning that Y/N’s past lovers were less than sufficient, bordering on male chauvinists, made Eris want to hunt each one of them down and make them beg for mercy from Y/N on their knees. 

And he would teach them a thing or two about courting…

But to see her mistreated, ignored, pushed aside from another female in real time was not something Eris could’ve ever prepared himself for. 

Azriel had blatantly forgotten about Y/N. And it only made worse that he'd done so because he was sneaking around with Elain.

Eris stepped to her with a stern look. “Never lessen your emotions. What is the point of stopping yourself from feeling them?”

Though his words still came through his harsh mask, they hit Y/N’s heart. 

“Shall I kill him?” Eris suddenly asked him. 

Y/N’s widened in horror. “W-W-What?!”

“It is the Spymaster you speak of, no?” 

“H-How did you…” Then she blinked rapidly. “Please do not kill anyone!” 

“I truly would not mind,” Eris continued as he dug out nonexistent dirt from beneath his flawless fingernails. “It would be my pleasure.” 

“Is it so obvious, my infatuation for him?” Y/N muttered in embarrassment. 

“The Illyrian is beneath you. Why dwell on such questions? He would rather chase after my brother’s mate. Perhaps one day Lucien will grow a backbone and invoke the blood duel…”

Y/N stiffened. “Blood duel? What is that?”

“An Autumn Court tradition,” Eris answered, almost sounding bored. “If a male tries to even so much as court a female who has a waiting mate, the male mate can challenge him to a blood duel. It is a battle to the death. It is part of the old ways, and rarely is it ever invoked.”

Y/N’s expression was utterly horrified. “B-But Lucien would never do such a thing.” 

Eris shrugged. “How can you be so certain?” 

Though he knew she was right: Lucien was cunning and dangerous when he wanted to be. But he would never inflict such pain onto anyone for such petty reasons. 

“Because despite Elain ignoring their bond, Lucien would never take away any form of happiness she has found,” Y/N answered with confidence. 

The sincerity of her response made it impossible for Eris to continue to tease her or belittle his youngest brother. 

Then he asked, "How did you get back to the House of Wind?"

This court was meant to be taking care of his mate. Not forgetting in her the streets, unable to return home at the end of the night.

"I practically ran out of the pub and back to my store. I was planning on just sleeping there for the night. But I ran into Rhysand – quite literally. I think he knew I was upset. But he was kind enough not to ask. I would've lied to him anyway..."

But Y/N had enough of the topic and looked at Eris with determination now.

“I have told you my secret of the night,” she began. “In return, I think sharing why you are in Night Court is fair enough.” 

“I had something to give you,” he replied easily. 

Her brows shut up. “Oh?” 

“It seems the rumors of your talents were not exaggerated. You remedied my restlessness with mere candles.”

“Enchanted candles,” she corrected. “It involves spells. Not just wax.” 

Eris gave her an irritated look before waving his hand. In the blink of an eye, a dagger and bow appeared in his grasp. 

Immediately, the craftsmanship of both was not missed by Y/N. 

When she didn’t take them from him instantly, Eris stepped forward, almost shoving the gifts toward her. 

The dagger was sheathed in Autumn Court red. The handle was gold with red and green gemstones decorating it.

When Y/N finally grasped it, the weight was almost nothing, yet it still felt like a strong and deadly weapon. 

The bow was a rich gold and chestnut, almost perfectly fitting the Autumn Court aesthetic.

Y/N flicked the string to try it out, and smiled at its aptitude. This was like no bow she had ever owned. 

Eris could no longer handle her silence and stiffly said, “I hope they are to your liking.” 

He spoke as if this were a business transaction. 

“To my liking?” Y/N repeated. “These are the finest weapons I’ve ever touched in my life – let alone merely seen.” Then her eyes shot up to his. “I cannot except such grandiose gifts.” 

She even tried handing them back to Eris. But he shook his head and grasped his hands behind his back.

“I am the son of a High Lord, it was no inconvenience.” 

“It is not an equal trade,” Y/N argued, growing more exasperated. 

Eris ignored her pleas. “Lucien mentioned that you were talented with the bow. I am glad I was able to see it for myself tonight.” 

Then something shifted with Y/N.

“I don’t understand…” She muttered slowly and quietly. “Why are you so short and insolent to everyone, yet all you’ve ever shown me is kindness?” 

“Don’t misinterpret my recompense as kindness. Now we are even.”

“Hardly…” Y/N scoffed, looking down at her gifts again. 

"I simply do not like owing favors," he added for good measure.

"Is that how you view everything?" Y/N sounded sad. "If someone is kind to you, you think they will eventually use it against you?"

Eris didn't have the heart to tell her that was exactly how he viewed everything. It was what came with power – and it was how his father had conditioned him to live. Perhaps he didn't realize how truly difficult it would've been for him to unlearn.

So he ignored her question. And luckily Y/N didn't push.

Eris looked around as if some imaginary person was waiting for him to leave. “I should probably be going.”

But really there was a warmth that had formed in his chest since he helped Y/N off the ground. And it was starting to panic him. The bond made Eris want to be near Y/N at every moment. But he knew he was starting to play a risky game. 

“Wait,” Y/N stepped forward hurriedly, expecting him to winnow the next second. 

With her rush, she hadn’t realized how close she had brought the two of them. 

Her face heated from their closeness. And she looked at the ground for a moment before whispering, “Thank you. For the bow and dagger.” She gave him a sad smile before softly adding, “And for making me feel…less alone.” 

And before Eris could try to muster up a harsh reply or belittle his gift to her, Y/N leaned in and placed a soft kiss against his right cheek. 

It was so innocent. So pure. 

Yet, Eris swore his world stopped. 

His old self would ridicule him for how he was reacting to a kiss on the cheek. You have had countless harems of women, you fool, Eris could hear himself chiding. Pull yourself together before you embarrass yourself. 

Y/N didn’t seem to regret her innocent kiss. But she did add with a smirk, “I promise I won’t tell the others how kind you are to me."

“They would never believe you anyway,” Eris returned. 

"But more more importantly, Eris..." Her eyes darkened with sincerity. "I will never use your kindness against you."

Her finally statement knocked the breath from Eris.

And with it, he windowed from the Night Court and away from his mate. 

When he returned to the Forest House, Eris couldn’t ignore that his heart had never beat harder in his centuries of living.

––––––––

Thank you of much for your patience. My life got a little crazy with traveling and work.

Please let me know if you liked the chapter 🥺👉🏻👈🏻

chapter xiii

#eris acotar #gust & flame #eris x reader #eris vanserra x reader #autumn court #acotar #a court of thorns & roses #night court #inner circle #eris reader insert #chapter xii #chapter 12 #eris vanserra #eris

[damn-stark]

Chapter 12 Fallen Angel

Chapter 12 of Sugar

A/N- Enjoy :)

Warning- Swearing, Sweet toothing rotting FLUFF, BUT THERE'S ALSO ANGST, spoilers, long chapter, violence and mentions of blood.

Pairing- Suguru Geto x Gojo!fem-reader, (future) Choso x fem!reader

Takes place during- Jjk 0 movie

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

“…and they lived happily ever after. The end,” you finish reading and close the book.

Satori yawns and rubs her eyes from her exhaustion but instead of closing her eyes, she interjects. “Mommy, are you and Daddy happy like the woman and the man in the book?”

You blink in confusion, but smile all the same as you tuck her stray hair behind her ear. “Yes,” you assure her. “We’re very happy. Why do you ask?”

Satori shrugs. “Because,” she mumbles as her eyes droop. “Mikael from down the street says his mom and dad say that they hate each other.”

You sit back in disbelief, even though she’s always telling you the crazy things she hears the other kids say. “Well,” you mutter. “You have nothing to worry about, your dad and I love each other so much.”

Satori flashes you a tired smile, letting you lean over and press a kiss on her forehead before you stand up. “Okay now,” you whisper and turn off the lamp. “Go to sleep. Goodnight, chipmunk.”

“Goodnight mama, I love you,” she mutters.

You grin. “I love you too, to the moon and never back,” you redirect, making her giggle.

Once you step outside of her room you see Suguru push himself off the wall, and you make sure to close the door first before you pick on the matter that just happened. “Did you hear what she said?” You ask as you walk away with him at your side.

Suguru nods as he slides his hair tie off to let his long hair fall over his shoulders. “Yeah,” he says. “I heard it.”

You snicker softly before you burst out laughing over the matter your daughter told you.

“It’s not funny,” Suguru counters to try and scold you, but you can see he wants to laugh too. “We should really…” he trails off and begins to laugh as you continue to chuckle.

“Stop,” you scold him in between laughs. “It’s not funny. It’s very serious.”

“You stop,” he says and nudges you. “You’re making me laugh.”

You shake your head and stop to catch your breath. Suguru stops a bit ahead of you and turns around to look at you with a wobbly smile as he manages to calm down, but he then begins to laugh again as he sees you. Which then turns to you laughing again because he can’t stop, so the subject you were laughing about is completely forgotten.

It’s not until a bit later when Nanako and Mimiko come and find you that you finally stop.

“What are you guys doing?” Nanako blurts with annoyance. “Hurry up, we’re all still waiting!”

You both clear your throat and nod in comprehension.

“Right,” Suguru says as he breaks away from his spot. “Sorry.”

You quickly follow him to the parlor room and immediately get questioned. “What were you guys laughing about anyway?” Mimiko asks.

You draw in a deep breath and shake your head with a smile. “I don’t even remember anymore,” you say honestly.

“Hm.”

When you reach the parlor room Suguru immediately addresses your tardiness. “Sorry to keep everyone waiting, this conversation is not for children so we had to put Satori to bed. Darling, if you could please,” he refers to the board.

You pull the board out of the cabinet and show off the maps of Shinjuku, Kyoto, and the school. All of which have been marked according to how Suguru and you have planned the battle strategy.

“First,” Miguel cuts in as he stands up. “Let’s serve ourselves some drinks. I’ve brought this sweet concoction from Fiji.”

“Concoction?” You whisper to Mananmi as she takes a seat by you.

“Sounds like some kind of witch brew if you ask me,” she whispers back.

“Hey!” You actually exclaim. “Yeah, Manami’s right. The last time I tried one of your concoctions I threw up and had a hangover for over two days!” You complain.

“Wait yeah,” Nanako speaks up. “It wasn’t easy to clean up either.”

Miguel walks up to you first and hands you a glass of some kind of dark red drink. “Just drink it,” he insists.

You pull the drink up to your nose and get a hint of sweetness, so you slowly bring it to your lips and take a sip. Luckily for you, it’s not bad at all! It’s very sweet and smooth.

“Taste,” you tell Suguru as you push the cup towards him.

He looks at you with concern considering he was the one who had to take care of you last time you tried alcohol Miguel brought over to try. “It’s okay,” you assure him. “I’ll take care of you this time.”

“It’s really not that,” he says as he takes the cup. “I don’t want to die yet.”

You laugh softly. “You won’t, it’s good.”

“You said that last time, you almost got alcohol poisoning,” he rebuttals.

You roll your eyes and push the cup up as he has it between his lips. He groans and swats your hand away so you snicker and turn to face your family. “Anyway! Did you guys like the dumplings I made? I tried some new stuff this time,” you add smugly.

“Yeah, they were very good,” Larue mentions as he takes a glass from Miguel. “Except I only had one because someone finished them,” he mutters and points his glare at Toshihisa.

The young guy sees and looks at Larue offended. “I only grabbed five,” he defends himself.

“Yeah,” Mimiko interjects. “That was basically half to the plate.”

You smile proudly through the discussion since it means that your meal was very well-liked.

“Yeah, she only made ten!” Nanako snaps. “I didn’t even get to try one.”

“Too slow,” Toshihisa taunts, causing Nanako to stand off her seat and turn her phone to point her camera at him.

Toshihisa begins to snicker, but before she can try anything, Suguru grabs her shoulder and pushes her back down to her seat. “Okay, let’s focus,” he cuts everyone off, causing Miguel to walk to the bar with his concoction in hand.

“Y/N and I have planned out most of the strategy,” Suguru continues and gives you your drink back as he points at the board. “But of course, anyone is welcome to rebuttal and suggest a change. As of now though,” he exhales deeply and points to Kyoto. “Larue and Toshihisa will go to Kyoto, keeping the sorcerers appointed there distracted.”

Toshihisa sighs and cuts in. “Distracted for what exactly?”

“We’ll get there,” you let him know and let Suguru continue.

“As for who you'll have to face, the students of Kyoto,” Suguru says. “The staff as well, but none are much to be concerned about.”

“It doesn’t mean that you should let your guard down though,” you quickly add. “Understand?” You direct mostly to Toshihisa since he is the youngest of the two going there.

“Yes,” he sighs.

You were young once too, you wanted to prove yourself so you know how much it sucks having to be reminded. You can also sense the annoyance in his tone.

“Next Shinjaku,” Suguru continues and points to the map. “Now that’s where most of the higher grade sorcerers will be. Manami, Nanako, and Mimiko will stall the sorcerers there, while Miguel engages with Satoru Gojo in combat.”

Everyone looks at Suguru and then at Miguel with concern since they've all heard how insanely strong your brother is.

“Now listen,” you interject and sit down to cross your foot over the other. “Satoru is strong. As you all know he has the Limitless technique, which interferes on an atomic level controlling space-time with precise manipulation of cursed energy,” you explain what you know. “And what makes it all possible and him even stronger is his six eyes. Your rope will disrupt his techniques, but it won’t stop him completely, he will counter and he will continue to try and use his infinity to block your moves, so be very careful. All you have to do is stall him, so counter and avoid if that’s what you want.”

Miguel nods and doesn’t argue. “Understood, now will you explain what you two special grades will be doing?”

Suguru and you share a knowing look before he goes on this time. “They know we’ll be after Okkotsu so they’ll keep him at the school thinking I’ll be in Kyoto or Shinkaju—”

“Of course,” you cut in. “Someone will figure out that something is up when neither of us are fighting in the front lines, and my best bet is Satoru, so that’s why we need you all to stall them…”

“While we go to the school so I can kill Okkotsu,” Suguru finishes your sentence, making you smirk softly. “And so y/n can steal all 9 Cursed Womb Death Paintings kept within the school warehouse, and hidden behind Tengens barrier,” he continues to say. “We’ll need their help in the battles still to come.”

You nod. “Plus,” you add. “They don’t deserve to be stuck there. We’ll welcome them into our family.”

“Curses?” Larue queries.

Suguru shakes his head. “Half,” he corrects him. “From what I’ve read they’re half human and half curse. We’ll still need to use vessels to reincarnate them of course. But they’ve been incarnated too long, we'll help them.”

You nod in agreement and look around the group. “Any questions?” You ask.

“Yes,” Manami interjects. “How exactly will you get to the warehouse? Isn’t Tengen’s place protected by a bunch of doors?”

You nod. “Yes, but hopefully with my new technique it won’t be much of a problem,” you let her know.

“And about the stalling,” Nanako says. “Why can’t we just have a dummy to go for the both of you so the sorcerers stay there longer,” she wonders.

Suguru nods in comprehension. “Good question, and there’s a simple answer, it’ll make too much of a mess. I won’t risk that.”

The room falls silent, but there’s still one piece of doubt that adds tension. No one dares to speak it though, not out of fear that Suguru or you would get upset, but out of fear that you’d jink this entire plan.

Yet it needed to be discussed, so you bring it up quietly. “If all goes to hell and we lose, then we run. Hide. There’s nothing wrong with that,” you assure them. “Nanako, Mimiko, you guys come back home, as do you, Larue. We’ve all made sure to keep our lives wiped off any database, but keep your heads low nevertheless.”

“But,” Suguru says softly. “I have faith in all of you. We both do.”

You offer them a soft smile to reassure Suguru’s comment. And they all do look comforted by the comment, but there’s still that sliver of tension left. This time Miguel addresses it. “And if Satoru Gojo goes to you two, then what?”

You sigh deeply and let your eyes flicker to the ground before you meet Suguru’s gaze.

“Then,” Suguru says and drifts his eyes back to your family so they can see the confidence he’s trying to make you see. “We will fight him.”

That’s easier said than done. No matter what animosity there’s been neither you nor Suguru have had to actually fight against Satoru. So if it happens will your anger actually be enough to confront him?

——

*THE NEXT DAY*

“Suguru?” You call out softly as you slide the door open and peek your head inside the empty room.

“Yeah, I’m in here,” he calls out softly.

You walk in and see him sitting on the windowsill that leads to the balcony. He then turns his head and meets your gaze, making the blazing sunset behind him glow around him so beautifully.

“Looking for some time alone?” You ask as you walk past the door.

Suguru shakes his head. “You’re welcome to join me, darling.”

You offer him a soft smile and walk over to him to sit on the balcony to let the sun kiss your skin and bask in the little warmth it provides during December. “Beautiful sunset, huh?” You muse as you fold your hands on the railing and rest your chin on your hands to watch the sunset over the horizon. “Makes me miss spring and summer.”

Suguru hums and then stays quiet, letting you close your eyes to just take in the soft feeling of the sun's rays on your flesh. You enjoy the silence since you know your children aren’t home to have you worried that it’s too silent. You enjoy Suguru’s presence, and bask in the comfort and peace it brings you by just being nearby.

Yet it’s his silence that soon begins to worry you. Ever since he saw Satoru, and since he declared war, he’s been quieter than usual. You’ve found him alone just pondering and it’s never worried you until now.

“Penny for your thoughts?” You probe softly as you drift your eyes to him.

Suguru blinks and lets his eyes fall on you, he then sighs and averts his gaze before he speaks up quietly. “Have you ever thought about what your life would be like if you had stayed at the school?” He asks, making you slowly sit up.

“Well,” you sigh and see him meet your gaze with a curious look. “Sometimes,” you admit. “When I’m feeling nostalgic really. But honestly, there isn’t much to think about, I was going to leave regardless, whether it be after graduation or before. My place wasn’t at that school.”

Suguru hums softly and smiles. “Really? I think you would’ve made a pretty cool teacher.”

You laugh softly. “Yeah, I don’t think so. My attachment to them would’ve gotten in the way if I had lost one,” you say as you shake your head.”

“So what would’ve changed then?” Suguru asks.

You draw in a deep breath and look out at the dimming sky. “Well this,” you exhale. “I wouldn’t have this house, my career, this family, the girls or you.”

“You really think we wouldn’t have worked out if I stayed in that school?” He probes softly.

You look over at him and answer genuinely. “No. I honestly think we wouldn't have worked out. I mean I think we would’ve stayed together until I graduated, but I would’ve left with Yuki. I would’ve come back after maybe a couple of years and started my community. Our lives would’ve taken different directions.”

Suguru nods softly in comprehension. “Yeah,” he whispers. “You’re right.”

You tilt your head and redirect his question back to him. “What about you? Do you think you would have stayed there and become a teacher? Because I think you would have made a pretty damn good teacher. A hot one too. If you were my teacher I would have always paid attention.” You laugh, making him scoff in amusement and turn his head away to hide his smile.

“Well,” he says and draws out a deep breath. “I don’t think I would have stayed as a teacher, or at Jujutsu high for that matter,” he says and loses his smile, making you lose yours. “If it wasn’t that village then it would’ve been something else that made me drift away. I don’t think I could’ve stayed knowing that what we did didn’t really matter. And after Haibara I don’t know if I could have seen any more of our other friends on that same table.”

You swallow back nervously and nod. “I know what you mean,” you whisper.

Suguru holds your gaze for a moment and sighs before he goes on. “I don’t know what would have become of me exactly, perhaps I was always meant to be this, or not. I don’t know, but I know that I wouldn’t have stayed…so hey, maybe we would’ve reunited down the line.”

You hum. “You really think so?” You ask with amusement. “I don't know, I don’t think Satoru would’ve let you.”

Suguru chuckles. “What is that supposed to mean?” He queries.

“Well…you guys had some weird special bond, so I think he would’ve left with you and I don’t think he would have let you join me,” you let him know.

Suguru smiles at you. “Jealous?” He teases.

You shrug. “Just a little,” you admit and look down, immediately feeling that smile fade. “So what brought all this on? Feeling nostalgic? Regrets?”

“No,” he says immediately. “No regrets. I’m satisfied with my life and with the path I chose. I love you and the girls, you guys are the best things that have happened to me.”

You smile softly and keep looking down.

“I guess,” he continues a lot quieter this time. “I’m just pondering over what could’ve been.”

“It’s this upcoming fight isn’t it?” You ask since you’ve been wrapped around in your mind like him too.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “I think it is.”

You exhale and sit in silence to let what you talked about sink in, and to feel grateful that you have him to spill your heart to. It’s not always easy, but you’re glad it’s easy with him. And it’s because of that thought, along with the others that leads you to think about what you have been debating.

And when you look up to quietly admire Suguru as the last rays of the sun kiss his face, as they cling onto his dark eyes and turn them even more beautiful as they blaze against the light, it's all clear. You can’t look past your anger, especially not after what you’re going to do. Plus this, what you’ve built depends on you giving it your all even if it’s against your brother.

And if it comes to Suguru versus Satoru…then you know what side you’ll take. It’s doubtful they’ll ever come to the point of having to kill one or other though. They’ll fight, sure, it’s a fight that’s been waiting to happen, but it’s doubtful that they could ever make a choice like that. They’re too bonded to ever make that choice, even if they’re apart.

“I have something I’ve been meaning to give you,” Suguru interjects, causing your attention to drift back to him. “I wanted to give it to you for our anniversary, but I thought it would be better now.”

You lean over and watch him pull out a small and thin book from his pocket. “What is that?” You probe excitedly.

Suguru sighs and hands you the book, and when you look down at the title you beam out of pure joy. “Wow,” you muse. “The pun book I was missing from my collection…” you trail off and chuckle before you throw yourself on him. “It’s your funeral, so I don’t want to see any eye rolls,” you point out.

Suguru returns your embrace and mutters, “yeah, yeah.”

You press a kiss on his cheek before you whisper, “thank you so much. I love it.”

“Good.”

You shift and sit on his lap now to open the book and skim through the pages. “This is amazing,” you mumble. “I love it and I expect at least a fake laugh—no one laughs at my jokes,” you grumble.

“They’re cheesy,” he rebuttals.

“That’s the point! Puns are meant to be silly, they’re puns!” You grin and go back to a page where you read a funny joke. “Okay, okay, Ladies, if he can’t appreciate your fruit jokes, let that mango.” You snort and then laugh to yourself.

Suguru scoffs. “Okay, I get it,” he assures you with an amused smile and then the fakest laugh you’ve heard.

“Aw, you suck,” you grumble and slide off his lap to walk away. “I’ll find someone who appreciates my jokes one day.”

Suguru slides off the window frame and follows after you. “Baby, you said a fake laugh was enough. I did it,” he actually laughs this time.

You peer over and stick your tongue out at him.

He rolls his eyes. “Mature,” he mutters before he quickens his pace and throws his arms around your waist.

You stop moving and begin to slide down. “No! Let go of me,” you complain as you try not to laugh. “Suguru!” You squeal as he begins to pull you up.

“I laughed,” he says between his own laughs. “Besides, who are you going to find that’s better than me?”

You stop moving and scoff. “Ew, why would you say that?”

“Yeah, I heard it and it was too late to take it back,” he mumbles before he picks you up bridal style. “The girls aren’t here, we should take advantage of that before they return.”

You smirk as you wrap your arm around his neck. “Oh? What do you have in mind? Maybe a bath, with wine to the side! Or you can help me paint my nails while we do face masks together!” You suggest excitedly.

Suguru shrugs. “We can do both, why not?”

You grin at him and then lay your head on his shoulder. He takes you to your shared room, but you actually don’t get to do any of the two things you wanted since the girls get back home earlier. However, it turns out to be better because you all huddle around Suguru and pamper him instead. He never complains about it either so it works out great each time.

Everything always works out fine when you’re with him, so this battle will work out too. It has to—no it will!

You keep telling yourself that, you keep giving yourself hope as you train, as you count the days and the time that passes.

And there’s so much that gives you hope, more than you would have felt when you were younger. You like to think that you’re not as negative now. Yet when December 24th arrives you can’t sleep, all you can think about is the different what-if scenarios that pop into your mind.

But you have to be positive because you can win. You will. And you’ll go on living your life, your great life. You will.

You sigh deeply and try to engrave that in your brain as you lie in bed in the morning. Yet the thoughts are too overwhelming and too stressful, so you get up instead. However, you stop and smile when you see how peaceful Suguru looks sleeping with his bangs over his face, and his mouth partially opened. He then moves and you think he’s going to wake up, but he just lays on his side and stretches his arm out over the empty spot you had been lying on. So you make sure to be quiet to not wake him up as you change, and then walk out of the room to wander over to the small lake that sits by your house.

Mediating often helps so you try to do that in the serenity that being outside brings you. However, no matter how strong you’ve gotten, no matter how many other fights you’ve fought, none of it really gets easier. The stress of it, the running thoughts. And now there’s more at risk; the twins, your family, even your friends and old cherished companions on the other side…

When did it come to this? Fighting against each other.

You sigh and lay back on the shore with a lit cigarette in your mouth. You close your eyes to try and clear your mind, listen to the howling wind, and feel the cold breeze unfurling over your face.

There isn’t a moment of hesitation or regret, it just doesn’t really get easy. But after this fight, you’ll be one step closer to achieving your goal. Maybe then you can talk to Satoru again…maybe.

“No matter how hot you run you can still get sick you know!” You hear Suguru shout.

You smile and open your eyes to look back, catching him upside down with his hand behind his back as he approaches you.

“It’s cold y/n, come inside,” he tries to advise you, but you just sit up and pull the cigarette out to watch the ducks on the still water.

“I’m just,” you talk loudly so he can hear you. “Thinking.”

Suguru stops behind you and nudges your ass with his foot. “Get inside, you’ll freeze out here,” he repeats himself.

You show off your burning cigarette before putting it between your lips to draw in a drag, letting him know that you’re not out here to train or for fun. You’re stressed. You picked up the habit of stress smoking in school after he offered you a cigarette once.

“We’re going to be outside later, you know,” you remind him. “It’ll be a lot colder then.”

“Well you'll be moving then, you're not now,” he rebuttals.

You hum and stand up, but you offer him a drag. He sighs and takes the cigarette to draw in one drag before giving it back to you.

He wants to ask what’s wrong but you begin to walk around the lake. He would’ve insisted on going inside, but he sighs in defeat and has no other choice but to follow you. “You can stay, you know,” he interjects. “The Cursed Womb Death Paintings can be taken further down the line.”

You shake your head and exhale the smoke before responding. “I’m not feeling any kind of hesitation or anything, I’m just overthinking the outcome,” you mutter. “I know I shouldn’t, Yuki says I can’t. I just need to fight. Use your mind and your heart, she says. You’ll be stupid to use one or the other, but I…it’s just a part of me…worrying about what might happen, or what might not.”

Suguru exhales and nods slowly. “Think of it like water,” he says. “You raise it as you inhale when you’re practicing your different forms, right?”

You look at him and hum in agreement.

“Let the stress rise, and bring it back down like the wave of water you pick up and slowly drop,” he adds and looks over to meet your gaze with a soft smile.

“Okay,” you mumble and nod along as you throw the cigarette down and smush it with your foot.

“We’ll win,” he continues to assure you. “And we'll be one step closer to our dream.”

That’s what you said.

“If only we could achieve it now, huh?” You muse as you look at the water you’re passing by.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “But it takes time. Soon though, I promise you that.”

You reach over and take his hand. Suguru glances at you and you then stop the both of you to cup his hands, noticing now as you take his other hand that he’s holding a hibiscus flower.

You smile, but let him continue to hold it as you cup his hand and hold his dark eyes. “Just…promise me you’ll live. I can’t do this without you, you know that?”

Suguru flashes you a charming smile and pulls one hand away to tuck the beautiful red flower over your ear before he slides his hand down and caresses your cheek. “I will, don’t worry about me, okay? I worry about you.”

You scoff and shake your head. “Suguru,” you scold quietly.

Suguru cups your cheek and pulls you closer. “I’m not being selfish,” he says what you’re thinking. “I’m assuring you, stating facts…”

You giggle softly and lean towards his touch.

“It’s just a simple mission,” he adds. “Get Rika and go. No one will get hurt. We will be back home just in time to put our daughter to bed. And then we’ll count the days to celebrate eleven years of being together.”

You grin at him and can’t help but embrace him, just to relieve yourself of the stress with the warmth of his body, with the smell of his scent that clings onto every inch of him, and with the softness of his long hair that falls over your hands. He hugs you back and presses kisses on the top of your head before he rests his chin on your head.

Once a moment passes, when your mind is somewhat clear and your heart isn’t racing, you pull back and continue to smile. “Eleven years, huh?” You mumble and begin to walk back home hand in hand. “It’s fucking crazy. Who would've thought, huh?”

“Me,” Suguru says with a smirk. “Not you?”

You smirk and shrug. “I could’ve been dating Orlando Bloom, or I don’t know, maybe someone else with long hair and a charming smile.”

Suguru chuckles softly before he pulls to the side and digs in his hoodie pocket to pull something out.

“Eleven years ago,” he muses. “I gave you a Christmas present because I liked you.”

You grin before you gasp as you try and guess what he has for you. “Oh my god, Sugar, is it another engagement ring? Because maybe I got you something shiny too.” You hint.

Suguru narrows his eyes and you flash him a cocky smirk. “What is it?” He probes.

“You’ll have to wait to find out,” you tease and look down at his hands as he shows a small firefly pendant.

“I gave you two pendants before, but I haven’t given you one for Satori, so here,” he says and grabs your hand to place the pendant with the two other smaller ones that represent the twins, and then the bigger firefly pendant that came with the red string bracelet he gifted you eleven years from ago.

“Wow,” you whisper. “I love it. Your present is—”

“It’s okay I want to be surprised,” he assures you since he knows you get excited when he gets surprised by the things you get him.

“Well,” you move on. “Thank you then. I really love it.”

When Suguru ties the bracelet back around your wrist he steals one kiss from your lips before he continues to walk with you back inside.

“Now,” you mention. “Let’s hurry back inside because I am cold!” You hook your arm around his and pull him back inside with you.

When you get inside you see the twins eating breakfast as they watch TV, but you notice that Satori isn’t up. And she also didn’t come to greet you at the door either.

“Bunny,” you direct at Mimiko. “Where’s your sister?”

Mimiko drifts her gaze to you and then points to the stairs. “In her room,” she says. “She doesn’t want to get up.”

You share a concerned look with Suguru before you both head to your daughter's room. You make sure to knock first once you reach her door, but she doesn’t answer so you slowly open the door and walk in.

“Hello?” You make yourself known as you notice that her lamp light is on. “Chipmunk, is everything okay?”

You walk further inside and see her snuggled up under her blankets and with her tiger curse lying beside her.

“What’s wrong?” You ask with worry even though you’re beginning to see through her little act. After all, she knew everyone was leaving later today to do a mission, she knew she couldn’t come so she’s trying to make you stay.

“My head and tummy hurt,” she whispers in a fake hoarse voice. “And I think I’m hot too.”

Suguru and you share a knowing look, but you still crouch by her side and feel her forehead. And like you assumed it feels normal.

“Why don’t you come feel, Suguru,” you lure him over, causing her to hold her blanket tighter against her as she watches her dad crouch beside you.

When he feels her forehead and notices the same thing you did, you smile at each other before he sighs and looks at his daughter with pity. “Well maybe we should take you to the doctor, you have every sickness in the book, don’t you think, darling?” He asks you.

You nod. “Yeah. And she needs some medicine and tea too.”

“No!” Satori cuts in with her nose wrinkled in disgust. “Just…stay with me all day and I’ll feel better I promise.”

Suguru offers her a genuine smile and leans over to caress her cheek. “We won’t be gone long. We’ll make it back for bedtime,” he tries to assure her. “I’ll tuck you in and when you wake up again we’ll be here.”

Satori pouts and her eyes fill with tears, so he continues.

“And I’ll tell you what, after we come back, you get to tell us where you want to go for our trip,” he lets her know. “You pick anywhere and we’ll go.”

Satori’s lips tug to an excited smile and her eyes seem to almost glimmer. “Really?” She asks, forgetting she’s pretending to be sick. “Even Disney? Or the beach?!”

Suguru and you share a look before he nods. “Yeah, anywhere, but maybe…not with so many people, hm?”

“Daddy, no! You said anywhere.”

Suguru sighs in defeat. “Yeah, yeah.”

“Okay, I’ll think real hard all day,” she says. “And I’ll tell you when you come back.”

Suguru nods. “Yes, deal.”

Satori grins and sits up to throw her arms around his neck, making him hug her back and pick her off of bed as he gets up.

“Why don’t we go downstairs?” You suggest as you get up to head out the door. “Then again, maybe Satori can stay here. You must not feel hungry since you’re sick…” you trail off and smirk.

“Well,” she mutters. “Maybe I’m a little hungry.”

Suguru laughs softly at his daughter's antics and proceeds to spoil her all day long. And all day long she followed the both of you everywhere, like a little shadow. After a while, she forgot she was sick, but when the time came to leave, she put her act on again like a little movie star.

Nevertheless, you continue to assure her one last time.

“We’ll be back okay?” You assure her before you shoot her an assuring wink and a thumbs up.

Satori grins and winks back at you, but with both eyes and then throws a thumbs up.

You grin, and she whispers. “I’ll miss you.”

You touch your heart and then press a kiss on her head before you redirect her comment, “me too. I love you to the moon and never back.”

Satori giggles. “I love you too, mama,” she says softly.

You proceed to step away or you will feel bad and stay with her. Albeit Suguru continues to go on to say his goodbye, and your heart swells with so much joy when you see them interact that you almost want to make you both stay. But you don’t, you resist.

“I’ll make it back for bedtime,” he assures her and cups her cheeks. “And I’ll be expecting an answer for our trip, okay?”

Satori frowns and her eyes fill with tears.

“Don’t cry,” he tells her softly. “It’s okay, my little love. I’ll be back.”

Tears fall down her cheek, but she tries to act tough and wipes it away. “Okay,” her voice quivers. “Goodbye, Daddy.”

Suguru presses a kiss on her forehead and then hugs her tightly. “Bye, Satori. I’ll see you later.”

“You'll take care of mommy?” She whispers, making Suguru smile wider.

“Yeah, I’ll take care of her. We’ll be back,” he says again and pulls back to brush her bangs back. “I love you.”

Satori grins. “I love you too, Daddy,” she says happily.

Suguru gets up and begins to walk away. She waves at him, and he spares her one last glance before he turns away.

“Bye Nana, bye Mimi,” she waves at her sisters before they join their group, leaving you lingering behind alone.

“Bye, my girl,” you tell her one last time. “I’ll call when we’re on our way home. Okay?”

She nods and holds onto Belinda and her tiger curse as she watches you follow Suguru. When you climb on Suguru’s bird to fly to the school, you both wave goodbye to her one last time.

——

*LATER*

All you ever wanted when you were young was a big family, a big loving family like those you’d see in movies, those you’d see when you’d go out. A family who didn’t shame you, or turn their back for what you lacked. You wanted friends who would have your back. And you wanted a love that will always last.

It sounded so foolish then, such a simple deep desire, but you lacked it, you lacked a parent's love and a family’s warmth, you only had your brother. So when you had a taste of that sweet desire when you came to Jujutsu High as a student eleven years ago, you didn’t want to let go.

But you did, you let go and you found more, you relished in that love you so deeply wished for, you didn’t find pain, instead, you found simple moments full of joy and love. It was at the expense of others you so deeply cherished, but you can admit that it was worth it to get what you wanted. And when you got it you said you wouldn’t return to a place that reminded you of the pain you later endured in your young years, but here you are now, on a roof as you sneak in with Suguru.

Here you are now ten years later watching the happy memories of then haunting the places you would be at and the places you'd walk through, with the intent to oppose the same side you had fought with once before.

All to protect the family you formed along the way. And most importantly to accomplish a new deep desire for a better world so sorcerers like you don't have a chance to experience the pain you endured.

How odd is that?

“Emerge from darkness, blacker than darkness,” Suguru chants as he raises his hand to do the hand symbol to lower a veil. “Purify that which is impure.”

A white veil emerges and quickly surrounds the school grounds, trapping him, you, and Okkotsu.

“Besides Okkotsu we have to avoid killing any sorcerer that may be here,” Suguru reminds you as you move down the roof now that the veil is drawn.

“I know that,” you mutter, and then jump off the roof and swiftly land on the ground. When Suguru lands beside you you begin walking down the same way for now.

“Except if that Zen’in girl is here,” Suguru grumbles. “You can kill her and we'll rid ourselves of one more monkey.”

You roll your head to the side to shoot him a glare. “She’s like Toji, you know. It’ll be exciting to see how strong she gets as she keeps getting older.”

“It won’t be,” Suguru retorts as he watches out for anyone who might be after you now that you made yourselves known. “That guy was hard to kill before, I’d rather not deal with that again later down the road.”

You hum and nod. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

“But if you come across her,” he adds as he senses your hesitation. “Then you can spare her. You can’t ask me to do the same.”

You shake your head and can’t help but let your lips pull to a small smile. “I never would. Now is he near or what?”

“Okkotsu?”

“Satoru,” you correct him. “I’d rather not deal with him right now.”

Suguru scoffs. “How am I supposed to know?” He quips.

You smirk and shrug. “I don’t know, maybe you have, like, a Satoru radar. You would. You guys are weird like that.”

Suguru looks at you with a pointed look that makes you smile and snicker.

“Well,” Suguru sighs, “I don't know where he is, but knowing him he’ll probably come here late. He would’ve caught up with us otherwise. Let’s take advantage of his absence.”

You hum and yawn as you stretch your arms out. “It’s been a while since I’ve fought another sorcerer,” you mention. “This should be fun.”

“Need I remind you of your mission,” Suguru makes himself clear, causing you to sigh. “Take them and get out.”

You nod lazily. “Yeah, yeah, I remember, but there’s a chance I might run into guards, so I’m looking forward to it. And for now, I am helping you until we know there’s a clear path to the warehouse.”

Suguru exhales deeply at your persistence to not listen, but he doesn’t argue with you or force you to actually listen, so he just speaks kindly instead. “If Tengen puts up some fight to protect the warehouse, just get out.”

You smile softly. “Doubting me?” You ask even though you know that’s not it.

“No,” Suguru says immediately. “I’d rather not have you run that risk. Not without me there at least. Who knows what Tengen is capable of, you’re strong but, you’ll be in his territory. You understand that right?”

You nod. “I do, I'm just giving you a hard time…you be careful too. No matter how strong you are, you're not invincible. I want to go home with you after this is over.”

Suguru meets your gaze and offers you a kind smile. “I’m always careful.”

You mirror his smile and hold each other's gaze for a lingering minute before you enter a big empty courtyard.

You knew you wouldn’t find anyone here, no matter how big this school is, not even half of it is actually filled with people. Yet you did expect to come across some curious person. It’s almost worrying how quiet it is.

Almost though, because as you get halfway through the courtyard the Zen’in girl appears with a spear in her hand. When Suguru spots her he looks disgusted as he begins to nonchalantly rub his neck.

“You’re here?” He asks as she approaches bravely.

“Is it a problem if I am?” She retorts. “What the hell are you two doing here?” She asks and points the spear at Suguru and you.

Suguru shifts into a fighting stance, while you roll your shoulders back and just clench your hands to fists.

“Sorry,” Suguru says as he summons long and red centipede-like curses. “But we don't have time to chat with monkeys. Me or you darling?”

You step back. “Go ahead,” you encourage him.

Suguru’s smirk deepens, and with a quick mental command, the curses hurl themselves at her.

The Zen’in girl runs forward and just as one curse is going to bite her she slides down and skillfully uses her spear to slice the curses stomach. It doesn’t die though, it disappears through the ground pretending it did, while the other curse swoops back around and goes after her as she gets up to her feet and charges at the two of you.

Rather than moving out of the way, you stay where you are and wait for her to get close with a growing smirk. And once she’s close enough she jumps up and pulls her spear up.

You remain where you are, so she takes advantage of that and swings the point of her spear down to try and stab you as she gets pulled back to the ground. But you’re faster than her, so instead you swing to the side and rather than using your technique, you manage to throw your hand up to grab her by the throat harshly.

The girl chokes and drops her spear to try and pull your hand off, but you smirk deeper and pull your other fist back before you throw it up, and punch her in the gut so hard you hurl her out of your grip and into the air.

Within seconds you counter and use her technique now to gather wind around your left foot before you shift your body. You then proceed to swiftly swing your left leg around and hurl the wind out to roughly lash her to the ground.

Nevertheless, even as she hits the ground and blood begins to leak out of her head, she slowly pushes herself up and makes you grin with pride. She then fists her hands, but she doesn’t get to move because the curse that was after her jams into her and throws her down, and then the other curse that had hidden comes out from under her and closes its jaw around her to throw her past Suguru and you.

This time she doesn't try to get up, she goes unconscious, and the blood that was leaking out begins to spill out and form a pool around her. The curses he summoned disappear and you approach the girl to check for her pulse.

“It doesn’t matter if she’s dead,” Suguru interjects. “Not her at least.”

You ignore him and when you feel a faint pulse you sigh and stand back up. “Do you want me to go or stay with you?” You break your silence and step away from the girl to turn and face him.

“Go,” he declares as he walks to you. “I don’t want to risk having more people show up and give you a hard time. The quieter you get to the warehouse the better.”

You sigh and wait for him to reach you so you can say your goodbye. Yet just as he gets close he freezes.

“Oh?” He says and grins whilst he continues walking to you. “Someone made a hole in the veil.”

You gasp softly and only think of one man. Satoru. Can it be him?

“Nothing ever goes quite as planned,” Suguru adds and steps on the pool of blood as he continues towards you. “It should take them five minutes from the point of entry to be here.”

Rather than saying your goodbye and proceeding to leave, you fall beside Suguru to stay and help him. At least until you know if it’s Satoru or if it’s someone else with reinforcements. Or until he says otherwise.

“Should we ignore them,” Suguru continues as he rubs his chin. “Or should we take care of them? It’s so hard to decide.”

You part your lips to share your suggestion, but just before you can the wall at Suguru’s side explodes and sends out a cloud of dust and a bunch of debris. And through it pops out the Panda.

He got here fast so it means he took the shortest route here.

“Not bad,” Suguru says.

The panda responds by trying to punch him, but he swiftly slides back. The panda then spots you and tries the same thing, but you mirror Suguru’s actions and move away from the panda. You then manipulate the air to gather some of the smoke together and create a screen to hide behind.

Instead of staying hidden though, you run forward to surprise him. And just as you pop out of the smoke screen you notice that the panda is distracted so you jump up, and then spin around to kick the panda towards Suguru. “Focus,” you scold the panda.

Suguru then meets the panda halfway to punch it down and crash through the ground. However, the panda quickly recovers and just as Suguru was going to throw him back to you, the panda wraps his arms around Suguru and slams him to the ground.

Your husband acts quickly and gets out of the panda's grip before hurling himself back. The panda then turns and tries to charge at you, but you manipulate the air to wrap around your fist. And just when the panda gets close you throw your fist out and send a torpedo of air that sends him flying back before he can even touch you.

Just as he’s in the air though, he lets out a loud roar and grows more muscles on his body. He even grows fangs on his bottom jaw, and his eyes glow purple as they narrow into a fierce glare. But rather than continuing to attack you, he turns and runs to Suguru, as your husband approaches. The panda then proceeds to jump up and zips towards Suguru, but he misses as Suguru jumps on the roof.

The Panda doesn’t fall behind though, he follows Suguru at a much quicker speed than before and envelops his fists with cursed energy to try and hit Suguru, but with every punch he throws, Suguru swerves with ease. You on the other hand step back and jump on the roof across from them to keep out of the way.

And this should be your chance to leave while the panda is distracted, but you sit down instead. He is a cursed corpse after all so you are curious how strong it is, so you watch and see Suguru return to the courtyard and pull out some ugly-looking leech curses.

The panda lands in the courtyard too and manages to crush the curses with ease, but they only serve as a distraction so Suguru can get around him. “Predictable,” Suguru throws at the panda.

The panda lifts his head. “Because it was a feint,” he rebuttals as he turns around and pulls his fist back. “Drumming beat!”

You smirk and lean forward, and watch Suguru pull out another one of the previous curses. However, this time the panda manages to punch through the curse and throws Suguru back, causing you to quickly stand up and cry out with concern. “Suguru!”

The panda snaps his head towards you and runs at you. Yet before he can try and actually reach you, Suguru yells out at the panda, “eyes on me!”

You look over at Suguru again and see him summon out more of those long curses to throw them at the panda. So the panda has no choice but to pay attention back to Suguru to destroy the curses after him.

You now attempt to hop off the roof, but before you can, in the distance you spot the cursed speech user approaching. He doesn’t seem to have noticed you, so you quickly hop off the roof and approach Suguru as he hurls the Zen’in girls' spear through the panda from afar.

“That was close,” Suguru tells him.

“Same to you.” The panda counters.

“Someone’s approaching,” you let Suguru know as you gather the water that’s in the air while the panda slowly goes down.

And just as you predicted, the moment the panda hits the ground, the cursed speech user appears from behind the panda and yells out, “plummel!”

You clap your hands together and quickly shield Suguru and you with a blanket of water.

The sound waves from the boy's cursed technique only cut deep through the ground around you, and just throw out a thick cloud of dust since the water you hold protects Suguru and you.

“Hey!” You yell out at the boys.

As the dust clears you see the cursed speech user on his knees, and the panda behind him holding his shoulder. And they both share the same horrified look.

“Did they not teach you anything?!” Suguru shouts out smugly, and you bounce off his comment just as smugly.

“Water absorbs sound!” You proceed to move the water that's shielding you around Suguru and you, and then gather it into an orb in front of you.

“Which means…” you trail off and shoot the orb out. The boys try to move, but the water orb hits them, and the sound trapped inside damages them instead. Not as much as it would’ve hurt Suguru and you, but it knocks them out and cuts them.

“Thank you,” Suguru interjects and makes you snap your eyes away from the students unconscious on the ground—“you really saved me just now.”

You turn and face him with a growing smile. “Don’t mention it. It’s what we do.” You brush him and flash him a wider smile.

Suguru smiles softly and nods. “I know, but still. Thank you.”

You sigh and lose your smile. “Maybe,” you interject quietly. “You need me by your side when you face Okkotsu. He won’t go down without a fight, you can use my help.”

Suguru closes the small gap that was left between each other and cups one of your cheeks. “No,” he says. “You go, do what we planned. I’ll be okay.”

You let out a shaky breath and he cups your other cheek. “Go,” he insists. “Don’t worry about me, sweetheart. I’ll meet up with you where we agreed, okay?”

You drop your head and hesitate, so he presses his knuckle under your chin to lift your head so you can meet his dark eyes. He doesn’t say anything and you don’t either, you just hold his soft and loving gaze, and as if it were magic you feel comforted by his look alone.

“Suguru,” you whisper.

He leans in and begins to kiss you softly to only deepen that comfort. You don’t kiss him back right away, you savor the sweetness of his lips and cherish the softness and warmth of them. When you slowly grab his jaw you pull him closer to finally kiss him back with more passion and with longing. He wants to pull back so you can go, but you pull him back and linger in the kiss until you want to pull away.

“Be careful,” you tell him once again.

Suguru offers you a smile and nods. “I will,” he reassures you. “You be careful too, hm?”

You brush a strand of his long hair over his shoulder and nod. “I will be,” you whisper and slide your hands off his jaw to step back before you stay. “I’ll see you later.”

“I’ll see you,” he repeats.

You let out a deep breath and hold his gaze for another lingering minute before you turn and walk away. You’re tempted to look back, but you know that if you do you’ll begin to think about staying to help him, so instead, you quicken your pace. It’s only once you’ve turned into a different path that you walk slower and realize that this damned school really hasn’t changed a bit.

The same buildings remain here, they look like they’ve been kept up to date, but besides that, there’s nothing new. How do they expect kids to learn and continue to live if they don’t change? What a pity.

Nevertheless, just like expected you don’t run into anyone either since they all should be in the city. But you would have preferred to run into obstacles, as you wander through the school grounds you remember your youth and you begin to feel all nostalgic because it really hasn’t changed…

It makes you wonder if yours and Suguru’s initials are still carved on the tree by the pond you’d like to sit by. It’d be nice to add your daughter's initials on there now too. Hopefully, once Suguru and you both are done you can do it since you did agree to meet up there.

As for now though, you really need to stop daydreaming and focus on your plan. Thus, you also try to strain your ear to try and hear if Suguru might be fighting, but you’re too far from where you left him, you can’t hear or feel a thing.

Hopefully, he’s okay though.

Nevertheless, when you reach the building that leads to the warehouse and Tengen’s tomb, of course, you come across two guards.

“Stop right there Y/N Gojo!” A guard shouts as he pulls out his metal flail and lets the metal ball fall.

You look at the both of them unamused and retort. “Fighting you two would be no challenge so don’t embarrass yourselves.”

The other guard begins to unsheath two blades, and the one with the flail points his finger at you. “We’ve been ordered to kill you,” he sneers.

You scoff and smile. “Come at me then,” you encourage him. “I’ll give you the first shot.”

The man with two swords charges at you and jumps up to swing his blades down at you, but you run forward and slide down toward the other man.

When the man with the flail sees you he tries to catch you off guard and swings the metal ball down, but you're faster than him, so you swiftly get back on your feet and stand behind him.

“Boo,” you whisper in his ear.

The man with the flail jumps. “What the hell,” he gasps, and then turns back whilst he swings his flail, but you catch the chain and wrap it around your wrist to yank him towards you.

Once he's close you fist your hand and throw him a right hook before you snatch his own flail out of his hand and swing the ball across his face, managing to knock him out, and leaving only his partner left. And just like before he charges at you and swings his blades, but you swerve each one and only get him more upset.

When he charges at you a third time he’s faster, so you let him reach you. However, when he swings this time you meet his blades with the metal ball and then use your foot to kick him back. The man drops his blades at the moment of impact, so you drop the flail and stride over to kick his face and knock him out.

Just like you told them that was no challenge. The real challenge is when you get inside the building and find a thousand doors.

Only one leads to where the warehouse will be. And you’ve prepared, but you don’t know the consequences that destroying the doors could lead to. The last time you came here you were allowed here when you were hoping to find Suguru and Satoru, so the correct door was open. This time they’re all closed, they’re around you, above you, below you, it’s like being in some dark abyss and only doors keep you company.

But you can do this. You can.

You roll your shoulders back and tap into your fire, causing the dragon around your arm to glow red as fire comes out of your palms.

“Cursed technique, fire dragon,” you mutter and begin to fill the dark room with the burning light of your fire-made dragon while you form its large body outward. “Cursed technique, fire snake,” you add and use your other hand to flow fire out and form a large fire-made snake.

“Now,” you sigh. “Let’s hope this works,” you mutter.

You put your hands together and combine the dragon for its fire breath ability, and the snake for its ability to burn away cursed energy, and create a large fire-made Wyrm that lights the room so bright it looks like a sun. Its body grows horns like a dragon, it grows an incredible and ferocious jaw like your fire-made dragon, it grows a tongue and a long slithering body like a snake.

It’s a new technique you discovered while training with Yuki. She helped you realize your full potential in ways the school or your family never could. She made you the sorcerer you are now, you owe a lot to her.

“Now,” you continue and smirk. “Cursed technique, Fire Wyrm!”

You send the Fire Wyrm out and it opens its jaw to blast fire out and bathe every door with bright and hot flames as it flies around the void. The fire grows so hot you begin to grow uncomfortable because unfortunately, you aren’t immune to fire. You can tolerate a lot more than the average person, but there’s a chance that you could die by fire.

Luckily though, this time isn’t the day your fire took you out. Instead, you watch in awe as the fire burns away the cursed technique that was keeping the fake doors up, leaving only one that was too strong for your technique to destroy. Just like you had theorized.

And thankfully there’s no counterattack either, so you return the fire back to you and slowly open the door. When you walk in you see the forest-like room you came across before, and this time just across the door is the warehouse.

You had not even batted an eye to the warehouse before, you had no interest in it because you were too caught up in your own worry to even pay any mind to it. Eleven years later here you are walking to it without caring about the tomb.

When you reach the warehouse though, you see a lock on the metal door.

“What to do?” You ask yourself and glance around the forest until an idea hits you.

You crouch down and wrap your hand around the lock to use your fire to burn it away. Luckily, the lock isn't immune to your fire and melts away, letting you pull the door open.

When you walk inside your breath catches as you find yourself impressed by what’s inside, by how large the warehouse really is compared to how it looks outside. And every inch of it is covered with cursed weapons and cursed objects of every grade.

In theory, you could use it all against the school, use it to win your battle, but you’re only here for one thing, the 9 Cursed Womb Death paintings.

They stand all the way in the back in glass flasks that stand on podiums that are basked by such a dim light that you can’t even shape what’s inside the flasks. When you approach them though, you gasp as you see nine fetuses, all different shapes and different sizes, but they’re all just fetuses…

Maybe it’s the intimidating name, but you expected something scarier. They’re harmless—in this state of course. When they’re incarnated in their vessels though, they’ll grow into intimidating humans with strong techniques, and hopefully, they’ll help your cause.

“You’re not so scary,” you mutter as you crouch to look at the first cursed womb death painting through the glass. “Don’t worry…” you trail off and grab the flask to turn it and read the label stuck to the glass. “…experiment number 1, Choso.” You smile softly at it. “I’ll get you out. All of you,” you add softly.

The fetus opens its little eyes and you jump up. “Fuck,” gasp out of fear. “Unexpected.” You exhale and laugh softly to yourself. “Anyway. Let’s go home, Choso.”

You tuck it in the bag you brought and move down the line to tuck the rest of them inside. And when you’re done you’re about to turn to head out, but then the sound of a familiar voice makes you freeze.

“Are things really that bad that you’re resorting to stealing now…”

Satoru.

“…Sister.”

You clench your jaw and swallow back thickly as you grow annoyed and angry at the sound of his voice, and at the feeling of his presence so close to you.

You had seen him not so long ago, but it wasn’t the same, there were people between the two of you, his attention was wavered, and neither of you had the intention to get close or attack. This time, it’s just the two of you alone and you know there's only one thing you will have to do. Something you’ve never had to do because you both know you wouldn’t just drop what you took without a fight, you wouldn’t leave without one.

Is that what fills your eyes with tears then? That knowledge? Or is it the anger that’s flowing back in as the memory of him leaving you behind ten years ago resurfaces as if it happened yesterday?

“Y/N,” he calls out your name in that same nonchalance he would always say your name so many times before. It would annoy you sometimes. But this time it’s different, he’s acting like he didn’t break your heart, as if nothing happened. This time it infuriates you.

And when you slowly peer back over your shoulder you display your anger through your furrowed eyebrows and narrowed glare, and through the angry tears that fill your eyes.

“Brother,” you mutter coldly.

.

.

.

.

.

A/N- Don’t think about how if Satori sees her dad again it’ll actually be Kenjaku

Tagged- @deniseabad1928 @secondary-character-25 @starlightanyaaa @notsaelty @d4rno

#fanfiction #damn-stark #sugar #chapter 12 #jjk fanfiction #suguru geto fanfiction #geto suguru fanfiction #choso fanfiction #choso kamo fanfiction #Geto suguru x fem!reader #geto suguru x reader #geto suguru #geto suguru x you #geto suguru x y/n #suguru geto #suguru geto x reader #suguru geto x you #choso x reader #choso x you #Choso #jjk choso #gojo satoru #Satoru Gojo #miguel jjk #nanako and mimiko #choso kamo #choso kamo x reader #panda jjk #maki zenin #inumaki toge

[retellingthehobbit]

First chapter / Previous / Next

Webtoon/A03 /Instagram/Tumblr Sideblog

At last, chapter 12! From now on I will post chapters monthly, on the 13th of each month. I'll be posting the next chapter, "The Necromancer," on July 13th! :) and again, you can get notified of updates by following on Webtoon or ao3 (the links above :3.) You might have noticed an art style evolution in this chapter-- the characters have whites in their eyes now! Since Bilbo is the one drawing this comic, we can say that Bilbo's art style is evolving over time. :3

Also a reminder that the timeline in this version is different than the timeline in Tolkien’s (as a result of our different translations of the ancient texts(tm)) so Thror is the one who was captured by the Necromancer.

(I’ve also decided to resume doing my authors notes/translator’s notes as these ordinary captions— but if you want to see them in a cute fancy letter form, they’ll be that way on Webtoon!)

We're finally getting close to the finale of this section of the comic! : D

#the hobbit #retelling the hobbit #the hobbit comic #lotr #webcomics #bilbo baggins #thorin oakenshield #chapters #chapter 12

[britcision]

Okay so… today is a little bit of a long one, so we’ll see if we’re back at Tumblr breaking length or juuuust on the right side

But! Finally, much anticipated, we have the man himself: John Constantine! Here to share secrets and save the day! (Not)

And! This chapter got us right up to the edge, next chapter is gonna push me over to one MILLION words on AO3 y’all!! I’ve been flirting with it the past couple years but finally we’re here!

So. Might push the next one out faster. Might slow the next one down, since we’re in heavy waters again. And, since we are in the heavy waters, Imma tag on some warnings:

1) we gonna be speculating a little more on Jason’s death in this one, from a couple of viewpoints. We’re also discussing Cass’s in particular, and its repercussions.

No gore or details, just some death themes, mostly from Jason’s perspective after he and Danny leave the manor (Jason’s second POV segment)

2) Bruce is gonna make some very bad decisions about stimulants and concussions, mostly off screen but it is mentioned at the end of our first Bruce POV segment

And now the links!

First and link to AO3:

Previous:

———————

Never Make A Promise You Can’t Keep

Constantine hadn’t been looking forward to discussing Amity Park with the Justice League. Not the first time he’d been sent, and not for a single second after.

But hours turned into days, days to weeks, weeks to years. He’d almost thought he’d gotten away with it and that they wouldn’t ask.

Which was probably what had gotten the big Bat’s fuckin’ attention, wasn’t it. Couldn’t possibly let the universe have something nice for Johnny Constantine.

Luckily it was damn hard to lose something in the House of Mystery unless the House wanted it lost. Today she was feeling merciful and gave him the book on the second try.

It’d have been nice if he needed to refresh his memory of the case. If the knowledge of Amity Park hadn’t been sitting like a weight on his awareness since before he’d been.

Honestly he could probably point to it from anywhere on Earth. Most magic users could, if they had the faintest alignment with death.

Amity Park was goddamn wrong, even if it looked like things had turned out alright for now. Still, there were types of wrong you didn’t poke at.

Going prodding around would only make things worse.

And now he had to go explain that to Captain Prod himself, and try and persuade the fuckin’ Batman that no news was good news.

At least the Superboys had listened when he told them to clear off until he could visit in person. They’d pinky sworn they were back in Metropolis, and he’d heard enough traffic to believe them.

They could just as easily fly straight back to Alaska, but they weren’t stupid. They knew how to listen.

(Possibly from trauma related to the times Young Justice hadn’t listened to him, but he’d take what he could get.)

Now he just had to persuade the Bat that he knew what he was talking about.

Constantine hated debriefings with Batman. The guy had no grasp of magic, which was perfectly fair for most folks.

He preferred that. It kept them out of his kind of trouble, meant he didn’t have to worry about them until it got bad enough they’d accept whatever snapped sentence he managed.

Batman though. Batman treated magicians like it was their fault that the world didn’t work the way he personally preferred. Like they had any say in the how and why of magic.

Asshole.

And now he wanted to scold John like a naughty child about something he had no way to understand. Well, fuck that.

For better or worse, the Justice League made Amity Park his problem. Years late or not, this was his show, and he wasn’t going to take shit from anyone.

Thumbing quickly through the book, he kinda hated how easily it fell open to the relevant page. Like he’d already spent way too long looking.

Even he didn’t fuck with the Infinite Realms. Not if he could help it.

Stuffing in his notes from the city itself he closed the book, left the House, and hurried to one of the closer zeta tubes. Didn’t matter which city he was spat out in, he could find one.

His number didn’t coax even a flicker of the usual dry amusement as he stepped out into the bat cave, scowling up at the massive screen.

League records. Great. He strode across the floor, hoping they could sort this crap out fast.

“What the fuck’s got you lookin’ into Amity Park?” He asked as the Bat turned to face him, book tucked under his arm.

None of his usual prevaricating or fucking around. No chance for the fucker to try his usual “control the conversation” shit.

If it had any effect whatsoever, it didn’t show. Damn white outs. Batman just stared at him for a moment, then turned back to the computer, pulling up another page.

Constantine didn’t look. He didn’t want to know.

“Why did you mark Amity Park as a prank?” The big Bat asked in his stupid, gravelly tones.

Constantine rolled his eyes.

“I didn’t mark it as a fuckin’ prank, I marked it as a no fly zone for your little lot, so again: what the fuck came out of Amity Park?”

Batman stilled for a moment, doing that annoying “human computer” bit again. John preferred each and every one of the actual cyborgs, even the ones that tried to kill him.

Then he turned back, swivelling the chair around to fully face John like a movie super villain. Asshole.

“Over two thousand legitimate cries for help came out of Amity Park, and were ignored. If they were marked for the Justice League Dark, you should have responded, not deleted them.”

And that sounded way too much like an accusation. And completely fuckin’ irrelevant.

Something deeply unpleasant was tugging at the edge of Constantine’s awareness, just below the irritation he scraped over the sense of impending doom he’d been ignoring for the last hour.

He pushed it down, scowling at Bruce as he crossed the last of the distance and slammed the book down on the table next to the keyboard, gesturing up at the screens.

Still not bothering to look. He didn’t want to fuckin’ know.

“Years ago, Batty. This could be time fuckin’ sensitive, so quit pissing me about an’ tell me what. Exactly. Got you looking into Amity Park.”

There was a moment of hesitance, and he just fucking hated that. Nothing that made Batman hesitate could possibly be… good.

The feeling at the back of his mind suddenly clicked. His eyes widened and he groaned, wishing he had something stronger than a cigarette. Maybe a bullet.

“Great. Just fuckin’ great. They’re here.”

Groping around behind him, he grabbed another swivel chair and folded down into it, elbows bracing on the desk and burying his face in his hands.

Well, this was the nightmare situation.

From the fucking death taint seeping into his fuckin’ skin, something extremely fuckin’ big had oozed its way out of the Realms, and settled itself in Gotham.

Batman’s attention had snapped to, the man suddenly alert and watchful as Constantine slumped.

One hand dove into a pocket for the carton of cigarettes, Bat Cave rules be damned. Not much fuckin’ point, but he wasn’t doing this sober, and his flask was too small.

For once the Bat didn’t comment as he flicked the lighter open, lit up, and took a long drag. Just focused that laser stare on Constantine’s face.

At least he’d grasped the gravity of the matter.

“What is here?” The Bat finally asked when it became clear Constantine wasn’t elaborating, sounding annoyed.

Constantine took another drag of his smoke. Some days nicotine just wasn’t enough.

“Start from the beginning, Bats. Tell me everything that led up to you lookin’ into Amity Park, and everything you found since,” he demanded, hoping there was still a point to asking.

“If this is time sensitive, Constantine, you need to tell me what is happening,” Batman growled, tensed like he wanted to leap out of his chair and loom like one of his fuckin’ gargoyles.

The bat sounded cranky. Fuck him.

Constantine fixed him with a level stare.

“Then you’d better get fuckin’ talking, hadn’t you? I need to know how fuckin’ bad it is before I know first steps.”

Batman hesitated a moment longer, then turned back to his computer.

“I can summon the League-”

“No time,” Constantine cut him off acerbically, shaking his head, “and might make shit worse. Just fuckin’… report. Gimme yer damn report.”

For all that the Bat loved paperwork, loved to bury them all in bureaucracy, he dithered another moment before nodding, pulling up…

Well lookie there, he already had a literal report typed up. Great.

Taking another long drag of his cigarette Constantine leaned back in the chair and scanned the document.

Hopefully this wouldn’t take long. Or the extra details he could already tell he’d need, that had prompted the dull and clinical report.

**

Jason had tensed as Danny did. First because of the sudden alertness he could feel in Danny’s aura, even reduced back down to conversational levels.

(And that had been fun. The more times he felt Danny’s aura wrapped around him, the longer he spent with his chest tight and Danny’s presence right down to his lungs…

He felt cold when it went away. Almost lonely, surrounded by people. Fucking ancients help him, he was getting used to it.)

Was that what it’d feel like if he felt that Danny was in danger? A rush of adrenaline?

It was a little weird being so in tune with someone, but not in a bad way. Danny didn’t seem upset, just suddenly on guard in a way that the whole table noticed.

On guard, and… amused. And then he spoke and Jason tensed again.

“So that’s John Constantine… huh.”

Danny could sense John Constantine. That was… Really not the strangest thing, but it didn’t mean Jason had to like it.

If Danny could sense Constantine, could Constantine sense Danny? Jason wasn’t sure if he should ask in public.

Tim had way less reservations.

“Wait, what do you mean? What just happened?” He asked, breaking away from Tucker for a moment. But at least Tucker also looked confused.

Danny shook his head, chuckling softly and finishing up his food.

“Oh, sorry. It’s Sad Trenchcoat Guy,” he added for Sam and Tucker’s benefit, both of whom relaxed like that actually meant something.

Sam was back in her original clothes now, although Jason hadn’t given her the thermos back yet. Once her parents arrived, maybe.

Jason stifled a snicker, along with most of the Gothamites. It was a pretty accurate description of Constantine.

“Still in the dark over here,” Duke put in, a slight frown on his face.

Danny shrugged again and grinned at him.

“It’s kinda a ghost thing. I can sense other ghosts, or certain kinds of magic users. Constantine came to Amity Park not that long after I died,” he explained casually.

Tim and Dick shared meaningful looks behind Tucker’s head, and Jason stifled another chuckle. They thought they were so discrete.

Dick leaned in again, arms folded on the table as he gave Danny his best innocent interest.

“Oh? That’s kinda weird, do you know why?” He asked casually. Not questioning where Danny thought John was now.

He wanted to try and lead them away from the topic, probably. Too bad for him, if he’d asked he might have gotten some idea of how far Danny’s power stretched.

He’d explained to Jason about his aura covering most of the city, although he hadn’t claimed it as his haunt. But if Dickie didn’t want to know, Jason wouldn’t tell.

Sam fielded the question, rolling her eyes and folding her arms.

“We thought he might have come to help, since that was around when the ghost attacks started. He didn’t though,” she added bitterly, and Danny kicked her under the table.

“We don’t actually know why he came,” he explained, giving Dick a half smile, “he never talked to us. He did talk to some of the other ghosts though.”

“Wait, you can just do that?” Steph asked, her brows furrowed. Whether she was playing civilian or actually wasn’t sure, Jason wouldn’t put a bet on.

The amount most of the bat clan knew about magic and ghosts used to be that Jason was a zombie.

Which, as it turned out, was wrong.

Danny gave her a blank look, then shrugged again.

“I mean, yeah? You literally can just go ask half the time, but he was doing some fancy stuff. Binding circles and demanding truth, that kinda shit,” he added, making a face.

“He wasn’t popular among the living either,” Tucker agreed with a snicker. “Lotta weird questions for people, and no answers. We figured he was one of those occult nuts.”

“That’d explain the binding circles and truth thing,” Duke agreed with a solemn nod, folding his own arms. Honestly, watching them all play civilian was kinda adorable.

Tucker hesitated a moment, then shrugged and nodded, conceding the point.

“I mean, you’ve got me there. But he never tried to get anywhere near the fights, and then one day he just vanished. We got a ton more weird tourists for a while, but he was the weirdest,” he finished with relish.

Sam snorted again, clearly still annoyed about the whole mess. Maybe she’d been the one who actually wanted help.

Danny hadn’t mentioned how he felt about it yet, and Jason hadn’t asked, but they’d all been abandoned. Fucking Jason wasn’t happy about it.

“He was the only one who actually knew what he was doing,” she huffed, scowling at the table. Then she sighed, shaking her head. “So if he’s in Gotham, I’m gonna call it a bad sign.”

Privately, Jason was tempted to agree with her. John Constantine was a danger magnet, and Jason was half tempted to go and have a word himself.

Word in the Bat Chat was that Constantine was why Danny had never gotten any backup before. Danny himself might not be looking to start a fight over it, but Jason had Opinions on teen heroes.

And the adults who should have been protecting them.

Not with Bruce around though. He’d have to wait and see if Constantine stayed in town.

It’d give him time to ask Danny about the suddenly constant undercurrent of suppressed laughter he could feel.

**

In the bat cave, Constantine squinted at the picture Batman had pulled up from the gala. Not exactly the best picture on earth, but it was clear enough to tell. Shaking his head, he let out a sigh of relief.

“Alright, could be worse,” he decided, tossing aside his second cigarette butt. The report had been complete, he’d give old Bats that, and he’d even been allowed to smoke through it.

But a black gloved hand covered his when he reached for the pack again.

Fucker.

Constantine let it slide for now, raising both hands in surrender and then pointing at the screen.

“Looks like you’ve got the halfa. Not bad news, as it goes. He’s at least still half human, which is probably why your precious city’s still intact.”

He didn’t even want to think about what might have happened if another ghost tried to set up a haunt in Gotham. The old girl’s Curse would have something to say about it.

Batman didn’t look noticeably reassured though.

“Enough stalling, Constantine. What is this all about? What happened in Amity Park?” He demanded roughly, and Constantine was grudgingly impressed.

Seemed like that ol’ bat hyper focus was going to win out over even a threat to his own city. Or he hadn’t been fully listening.

No bet.

Constantine sighed again, gesturing to the screen.

“You got a ley line map somewhere on this thing?” He asked, mostly just to annoy the bat a little further. Not like he wasn’t gonna give him the answers.

Batman hesitated for a moment, then set to typing. Probably… yup, going into the JL Dark files. Zatanna kept a helpful reference folder for the mundanes.

Constantine didn’t think they needed any more help than they asked for, but she’d been right this time and he owed her a beer for it. A second later the map was on screen.

Constantine nodded again, pointing to the general area of Illinois.

“Pull up Amity Park on that map,” he instructed, wheeling his chair back out of reach to pull out a third cigarette.

Both got him an annoyed frown from old Batsy.

“What is this supposed to mean?” He asked in the old gravelly growl, the map already obediently zooming in.

Constantine lit his smoke and waved at the screen again.

“Y’know what ley lines are?” He asked back, watching the map scroll around.

Not one with a search function then. Batsy’d have to find it by hand. Sucks to be him.

It kept him from focusing much attention on John anyway, so that was a win.

“I know the places they meet are magical nexus points,” Batman admitted reluctantly, like he didn’t hoard information about everything on earth.

Constantine nodded, not willing to entertain his issues.

“Amity Park’s on a dozen of them,” he said bluntly, and watched the guy stiffen.

Zoom out a bit, find the flowering spot where damn near every ley line through that part of the world crossed. Zoomed back in to find Amity Park.

The bat scowled at the screen for a while, then at John, who’d put his feet up on the desk. Tough titties, they weren’t coming down.

“But what does that mean, Constantine,” he growled, and John sighed.

Cupped his hands in front of him, paused, and shook his head.

“Alright, I’m crap at metaphors so bear with me. You know about multiple dimensions?” He asked and the bat nodded impatiently.

Like he shouldn’t have asked. Like this fucker hadn’t just asked for the fuckin’ kindergartener explanation.

Whatever.

“Yes. There’s a different dimension on the other side of the ley lines?” He asked, and Constantine did his very best not to roll his eyes.

Well. Maybe not his very best.

But he didn’t do it as hard as he could have.

“No. There’s way too many other dimensions. But what the ley lines do is weaken a place in this dimension, especially where they cross. Amity Park is a fuckin’ sieve,” he said with finality, waiting for the Bat to catch up.

And sure enough, those frown lines etched themselves deep again. This guy was gonna make John Fuckin’ Constantine look like a fresh faced baby.

“So other dimensions can cross through?” He asked again, and John sighed.

Reductive fucker.

“No. Yes. Sort of. Because some stupid motherfucker in Amity Park didn’t just use the natural portals or holes; they punched a fuckin’ permanent portal to the Infinite Realms.”

Honestly using the natural portals would have been bad enough in his opinion. Reality was basically swiss cheese in Amity, and getting anything’s attention would be beyond dangerous.

He hadn’t even liked visiting.

Batman looked more stoic, which John assumed meant he wasn’t keeping up. Scrubbing his free hand through his hair, he blew out a stream of smoke and frowned.

“So you get natural portals between our dimension other dimensions. It’s how all that “evil other self” crap keeps happening. With me?” He asked dryly.

The bat nodded without speaking, which was as close to an admission of confusion as Constantine figured he’d get.

Whatever.

“You get more portals on ley lines, and more again where two cross. About a dozen cross in Amity Park, so they get lots of natural portals. Yes?”

The bat nodded again, face pinching up like he resented John’s tone. Double tough, he’d had every chance to read Zatanna’s primers.

If John was doing Ley Lines For Dummies the dummies could keep their attitudes to themselves.

“Natural portals, they open and close on their own. Rest of the world, they don’t usually stay open for long. They need power to stop the world from… mending the hole.”

Which was the worst fucking explanation of all time and not remotely what happened, but who fucking cared. Batty wanted to weigh in again.

“So natural portals also stay open longer around Amity Park,” he growled, trying to get to the next step of the explanation.

Which, actually, John hadn’t really thought about. Pursing his lips, he let his gaze drift to the smoke swirling around the ceiling.

There were actual fucking bats up there.

Of course there were.

Dramatic bastard.

Forcing his attention back to the bastard in question, he waved a hand to dispel the last stream of smoke.

“Doesn’t matter what natural portals do. Some asshole went to the spot in reality most likely to break on its own, and decided to punch a hole. A permanent hole, into the Infinite Realms.”

Batman took a deep, even breath in, like he was trying to hold onto his temper. Yeah, well, he’d walked face first into Amity Fuckin’ Park, now he had to join John in Hell.

“What are the Infinite Realms?” He asked, sounding as patient as ever. Brownie points for trying, John wasn’t going to.

“It’s where the unclaimed dead go. Souls not ready to move on, souls that were never born, and, much worse, it occasionally pops out personifications of forces or belief,” he ground out the last words, teeth gritting in spite of himself.

The bat stilled for a long moment, drawing in another slow, steady breath. Probably counting to ten.

“What.” It wasn’t even a question really, a flat statement of dissatisfaction.

It meant not talking about Amity Park for a bit longer though, so Constantine leaned in.

“God shit. Concepts like Time, Hope, Growth. Anything that someone, somewhere, truly believes in. Well, not just anyone,” he corrected, and Did Not enjoy the way Batman’s jaw clenched.

Not even a bit.

“It takes a lot of juice, makin’ a whole entity. But the Infinite Realms are the core of all the dimensions, the intersection they all go through, and that’s where the belief settles. The more people who believe, the more clearly they believe it, and eventually you get enough to form a personality.”

He gave the bat a little time to digest that one. To really let it sink in what a fuckin’ problem the Infinite Realms could be.

And then a thought occurred to him.

“Your city’s got one, y’know?” He mentioned almost as an afterthought, and Batty Did Not like that.

His head snapped up, white outs narrowing to slits as he glared.

“What?!” He demanded sharply and Constantine waved a hand.

“Gotham. Dunno if it’s all the shit you lot go through, or the stubborn arseholes that live ‘ere, but Gotham has a city spirit.”

No need to mention the curse yet. Batsy was already having a day.

That’d be for the next time he ticked Constantine off.

This time, just that revelation seemed to have been enough to stun the bat. Constantine left him to sit in this one until he was ready though.

Processing.

He wasn’t completely heartless.

He was a little grudgingly impressed by how quickly Batman put it aside and refocused on the matter in hand.

“And that’s why the Infinite Realms are dangerous? These powerful personifications?” He asked cautiously, like he expected John to say no again.

Smart man.

Constantine gave him a dry smile.

“If fuckin’ only. There’s spirits in there, Ancients, and every one of ‘em could give Darkseid a run for his money. But even the ghosts of the Realms are a fuckin’ dangerous lot. You know Deadman?”

The bat nodded to indicate that he did, brows furrowing.

“He can’t be seen or heard without magical assistance,” he agreed, that same caution present.

At least he was a quick learner. Constantine nodded in satisfaction.

“He’s a ghost made by magic. Ghosts from the Realms don’t have anything like the same limitations. They can’t be seen or touched unless they want to, and they can damn well affect the world around ‘em.”

John shuddered, remembering some of the attacks he’d seen. Nothing stronger than a baseline demon, but the damage you could do when no one else could touch you, or stop you��

And he shook his head, locking the damage back down.

“And worse, they’re fuckin’ unpredictable. Demons, they’re easy. They all want the same shit. Realms ghosts? If one of ‘em decides fuckin’ cheese is their obsession, that’s it. They’ll drown a city in cheddar.”

The bat was staring at him again, back on that stoic “I have no idea what’s happening so I’ll look big and scary til it all makes sense again” bullshit.

Constantine sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Look. I ain’t even told ya the worst of it yet. How about we jus’ take it as read that the Infinite Realms are bad fuckin’ news, okay?” He asked as patiently as he could.

There was that little twitch, that little scrunch again. Not a happy Batty.

And he wasn’t gonna get happier while he made John teach him Magic For Dummies either.

But he nodded, folding his arms reluctantly.

“Then why did you leave the people of Amity Park to face them alone?” He asked bluntly, and… well, that was the question, wasn’t it?

Constantine stared blankly at him.

“You want Superman gettin’ body hopped by a ghostie craving all the cheddar in the mid west?” He asked in turn, and there it was.

The little indrawn breath. The fuckin’ scale of the problem.

Fuckin’ FINALLY.

“Look, Amity Park has a hero. Had. The halfa.” He waved vaguely at the screen again, the picture of Bruce’s mystery kid now buried several windows deep.

Didn’t matter.

“He’s got all the powers the ghosts do, an’ can’t be possessed. Last thing the poor little fuck needed was to face an overshadowed super.”

And yeah, the Bat still didn’t look happy (more to the better, that’d be a terrifying sight all on its own), but at least he had a reason for resting bitch face now.

Constantine sighed, waving a hand vaguely and tossing the latest butt down.

“Look, I can’t stop ya from pokin’ around. Not for lack of trying, mind. The Realms are a dangerous place, an’ Amity Park’s practically on the other side already. I dunno why the kid left, I don’t care. You though, Bats? You’re gonna do me a proper fuckin’ oath.”

He levelled his best serious stare, useless as usual against the damn white outs. It’d kill the asswipe to look human.

Batman shifted again, clearly feeling the weight of the last word.

Good.

“An oath?” He asked warily, and Constantine nodded, holding out his hand.

“On yer name, on yer blood, on yer tie to this fuckin’ city. No matter what you do lookin’ at the Infinite fuckin’ Realms. You do not. Fuck. With the Ghost King.”

The bat stared down at his hand like there was something wrong with it. John assumed anyway. The pissy face could be for anything.

And then he asked the question, because of fuckin’ course he did.

“What is the Ghost King?”

John sighed heavily, leaving his hand where it was, waiting for the oath.

“The prettiest fuckin’ princess of them all, what d’you fuckin’ think. The Ghost King rules the Infinite Realms, and by all accounts the last one was a bloody tyrant. Good news is he probably never noticed Amity Park yet, cuz America isn’t a smoking crater.”

Honestly, maybe he’d add a chapter to Zatanna’s document. Stamp it all across any reference anyone tried to make to Amity Fuckin’ Park so he never had to do this again.

He caught the Bat’s gaze again, weighting his words with enough power that every sound in the cave died around them.

“It took all the damn Ancients to seal Pariah Dark once. And someone’s beaten him, and taken his throne. I don’t fuckin’ know who, I don’t ask, but if they’re tough enough to beat Pariah, they are beyond what the League can do. Your only chance is to stay the fuck outta their way. Swear it.”

Batman stared at him for a long moment, and then down at the outstretched hand. Reached out and clasped it in his own.

“I swear. I will not knowingly upset the Ghost King.”

John gripped tighter, realized almost immediately that it was pointless against the reinforced gloves, and did it anyway.

“None of that, Batty. No bullshit. You do not fuck with the Ghost King. You hear the faintest goddamn whisper of their name, you turn tail and fuckin’ run. We will not survive their attention.”

He stared the stupid white outs down, as long as it took, and didn’t let go. Batman stared at him for a while, clearly absorbing the gravity of his words.

Constantine couldn’t remember asking a member of the League to swear to anything before. Usually he was the buyer in deals, not the keeper.

Woulda been nice to remain so, but nothing stopped the fuckin’ bat from sticking his nose in, so here was John Constantine, last condom of the universe.

Last desperate scrap of protection against a fuckin’ dick.

Finally the bat nodded, grip tightening in return.

“I swear. I will not engage with the Ghost King.”

**

Harley had gotten back just before Sam had to leave, with perfect timing to see her to the door actually.

The look on Pamela Manson’s face when Harley kissed Sam on each cheek and waved her off would keep Danny warm on cold nights.

A quick check of flight times back to Massachusetts (like Danny wasn’t going to take shortcuts) confirmed that Tucker could have one more night in Gotham.

Tim immediately offered to put him up in Wayne Manor again, clearly not allowing the chance to slip by him two nights in a row. Tucker was only too happy to accept, although Steph and Cass begged off.

Probably for their hero patrols. Danny wasn’t exactly sure how many vigilantes Gotham had, there seemed to be a new one every few months, but having eight of them at the gala last night probably meant all the rest had been out.

Obviously Red Robin wouldn’t be out tonight either, but there were enough of them to cover for each other.

Danny was kinda jealous of that. It had been just him for so long, and then him and Valerie, which hadn’t been better until she stopped hunting him too. He’d have loved a night off.

Still, their numbers meant that Jason probably wouldn’t need to go back to the night life unless he actually wanted to. He was definitely still built for it, but Danny couldn’t imagine anyone wanted to ask him to.

Most of the bats had clearly had their own run ins with death, but Jason’s had stuck in ways even Danny knew he didn’t quite get.

Jason had been so tense at just the thought of Danny being a teen hero. It wasn’t like that’d get easier when it was his little siblings swinging from rooftops.

Danny’s hero career might have started with his own death, but he personally was of the opinion that that’d be a perfectly fine reason to end one too.

So Dick, Steph, and Cass headed out not too long after Sam, and Danny wasn’t exactly surprised when Jason’s background angst jumped.

He’d stayed on edge since Danny and Bruce got back, even when Harley told them Bruce was off dealing with his own shit and probably wouldn’t be out of his room all night.

Danny’d bet fifty bucks that the arrival of Constantine actually meant Bruce was in the bat cave being suspicious, but he wasn’t gonna say it.

Tim had shown them to a games room, for all that he’d apparently also moved out. He still knew where everything was, and soon had them hooked up for Mariokart on the biggest TV Danny ever saw.

They’d played a couple rounds (Harley was expectedly devastating with red shells) and while Danny and Tucker were having fun, he could feel Jason stressing.

Like, even if he stuck his fingers in his ears and ignored the aura. The guy was tensed so tight his shoulders strained at his shirt, which woulda been visually interesting if Danny didn’t know why.

Cass was one near death experience from slipping back across the boundary for good.

Cass was off punching criminals with rocket launchers in body armour and spandex.

Duke was probably actually in bed, Signal did morning patrols, and Damian was obstinately refusing to play video games with them perched on the back of the couch, but still.

Dick and Steph had both given one life to the cause too, and for all Dick was a cop and in danger on his day job too, cops pretty famously showed up after the vigilantes ended the party.

More than half Jason’s immediate family were back in the line of fire and Danny could practically taste Jason’s Obsession eating away at him.

As much as he tried to pretend he was playing along and gave a shit about winning, the controller creaked in his hands more than a couple casual races should allow.

So, yeah, if he couldn’t get Jason to crack a smile with this one, he was gonna gently bow them both the fuck outta the manor.

He kept half an eye on Tim, who had a glass of water.

“Hey, you guys heard the theory about Batman?” He asked casually, just as another round of Mariokart started.

Jason kicked him in the ankle but otherwise ignored him, which was fair. He’d been exposed to Danny’s bullshit.

Tim stiffened and then forced himself to relax, Tucker rolled his eyes and jostled Danny from his other side, but it was Harley who answered.

Innocent as the day she was born.

“Oh? What? Is it that he’s a lizardman? Cuz I got right up on that cowl and he’s definitely a mammal,” she said casually, not even looking away from the screen.

Danny was pretty sure he heard Damian almost slip off his perch.

He was a little bit in love with Harley Quinn. He should get her number for Jazz, maybe his big sister would learn to have a little fun.

Grinning broad and only half fake, he drifted a turn to pick up a double item from under Tucker’s nose.

“Shit, yeah, you might actually know! It’s his secret identity!” He exclaimed cheerfully, and felt the tension in the room ratchet up.

From Tim and Damian. Jason… still wasn’t paying attention.

Not like he was deeply immersed in the game, for all he kept up he was nowhere near the speed demon that handed Danny his ass the night before.

Hmm. Better get his attention.

Tim and Damian had already settled again, probably remembering he was already In The Know even if Tucker wasn’t, and Harley had given him a very knowing look right before she fire flowered him.

Almost ready.

He waited until Tim had taken a hasty sip of water on a calm stretch, nudged Jason in the shins, and made sure he was louder than the music.

“So d’you think it’s possible that Markiplier’s Batman?”

Tim sprayed water across the couch, Harley fucking cackled, and Jason snapped his head around to stare at Danny so hard he cricked his neck.

Danny red shelled him for good measure, just so he wasn’t missing anything on screen.

Tucker rolled his eyes, also deeply used to Danny’s bullshit and much more interested in gaming revenge.

“Fuck off Danny, Markiplier isn’t even a Gothamite,” he said disdainfully and Danny shook his head, grinning.

“That’s why it’s the perfect cover. I mean, Batman wants to keep his secret identity a secret, right? So having an identity that very publicly “isn’t in Gotham” makes perfect sense!” He argued cheerfully.

Jason half snorted a laugh beside him, picking back up and speeding his way back into the race. Across the couch Tim wiped his face, still catching his breath.

“I fucking hate that that made sense,” he moaned, and Harley cackled again.

“Nah, he’s got a point! How does anyone know where a youtuber lives? We only see one room!” She agreed cheerfully, clearly leaning in.

It was so nice to have a true showwoman in the crowd.

Damian looked angry in the confused way now, and Danny would hazard a guess he didn’t watch youtube at all, let alone a lets player. That might have made it funnier, had there been no other concerns.

Beside him Jason huffed out another dry chuckle, shaking his head with the barest hint of a smile.

“I can’t believe Batman has an OnlyFans,” he said in a solemn, almost sorrowful voice… and dropped a blue shell.

Tim groaned like his soul had gone with it, clinging desperately to his first place lead. Harley cackled and added her own green shells to the mix, dropping all three as they came to the home stretch.

“Don’t forget the calendar of tasteful nudes! All for charity, just what Batsy would like,” she crowed with evident glee, and Tucker snorted a laugh.

“It’d explain all the surgeries,” he agreed reluctantly, and Danny had a sudden, utterly wicked idea.

“Hey… now that Batman’s on OnlyFans, d’you think he’ll convince the whole Justice League to do a pinup calendar, or just the other bats?” He asked innocently, watching said bats from the corner of his eye.

Well, Robins technically, but since only Tim was of age birds didn’t seem appropriate.

Tim himself threw his controller to the ground, abandoning the game and throwing himself over the back of the couch and almost hitting Damian on the way.

Damian definitely hissed at him like a startled cat.

No way Danny imagined that this close to the finish.

Tucker hesitated for a long moment, clearly considering his odds of winning, but when Harley blasted past Tim’s spun out corpse and across the finish line he abandoned his controller too to check on Tim.

Harley was surprisingly good at the game when flopped sideways on her chosen couch, laughing too hard to breathe. Danny breezed into an easy third behind her and Jason, giving the other man an assessing look.

A little wary of reaching out with his aura, especially when Jason was on edge. He didn’t want to make him uncomfortable.

Didn’t want to be too invasive, if he was honest. Danny had… kinda always been the one who was new to aura stuff before. And he’d gotten used to it, in the Ghost Zone.

He’d never spent this much time with another halfa before. Especially not without a single trace of punching or stabbing.

Except in Mariokart, where the Geneva Convention held no sway.

Jason had clearly noticed him looking though, and read the concern even without Danny pushing. He gave Danny’s shoulder a gentle bump, a nudge of fine-stop worrying alongside.

Danny nudged back, his own disbelief tinged with understanding-empathy-worried too.

But, that was kinda the other thing… the thing he didn’t really want to bring up around the other bats just yet.

And while Jason had smiled, Danny didn’t think he’d mind them dipping out.

Faking a yawn, he stretched, cracked his back, and looked over to where Tim had rejoined the couch.

“Honestly, I’m beat. I gotta try and get back into a better sleep schedule before classes start,” he said, pulling a face at the self-reminder.

Their break was coming to its end, and then he’d be back into university. His class schedule was flexible, more afternoons than early mornings, but he’d… miss this.

Free time to just spend the whole day hanging out with friends and catching up. Meeting Jason’s family, Jason meeting his.

Danny didn’t actually know what Jason did, whether he was working or going back to school, but it was gonna come up soon.

They had a trip to Frostbite to plan, some ecto shots from Danny’s fridge, and at some point he still had to introduce Jason to Frighty… and probably ask the guy if he wanted to be called that still.

It’d be a little weird to start calling him Halloween or whatever, but frankly him obeying Danny’s orders and calling him “my liege” was way fucking weirder so it’d be fine.

And about four more days before half of Danny’s time would be eaten by lectures, study halls, and projects. Fuck, maybe Jason would give him a hand with those too.

So long as he wasn’t sick of Danny by then.

Another quick glance showed that Jason’s face had reset into that tense almost-scowl again, staring past the TV.

At the other end of the couch, Tim gave a disgruntled huff.

“I’m gonna make you pay for that next time,” he grumbled, shifting to Tucker with an adorable moment of sudden concern. “Do you need me to show you to a room too, or…”

Tucker shook his head with a snicker, giving Danny a side eye.

“Nah, unlike that weakling I got used to the vigilante sleep schedule back in high school. I’m good for a couple more hours at least,” he bragged.

Danny flipped him off, hauling himself to his feet and giving Jason a nudge.

“Yeah, well, this weakling fought a croc last night and needs his sleep. Mind giving me a ride back?” He asked when Jason looked up at him.

Gently offered a touch of easy out-reassurance-trust me.

The deep furrows in Jason’s brows twitched until he caught on and his expression cleared. He nodded quickly and pulled himself to his feet.

“Yeah, we can take my bike.” Then he hesitated and looked a little uncertain. “You never told me where you live.”

It took Danny a moment to realise that… no, he really hadn’t, because that just plain didn’t feel right. But no, he’d met Jason again in that coffee shop, then come to the gala with Sam.

Hadn’t gone home last night, just stopped at one of Jason’s apparently multiple places; at least he was doing better than Danny had thought from the first apartment.

He found himself chuckling at the thought, shaking his head.

“Oh yeah, we’ve only been to your place… I’m at the south dorm at Gotham U, I can give you directions as we get closer,” he offered and Jason nodded.

He felt… weird? Like he was surprised Danny had told him where he lived, and ashamed of being surprised.

Danny decided not to dig into it, offering Jason his arm and bowing like all those Shakespeare plays he knew Jason loved.

“Shall we?”

Jason’s moment of surprise was quickly swallowed by delight and he bowed back, then tucked his hand into Danny’s elbow. Almost definitely knew etiquette better than Danny did, so Danny wasn’t gonna doubt him.

“We shall. I’ll drop you off and head home,” he agreed, then paused and glanced back at Harley.

Whose giggling had completely ended and was now watching them like her favourite sitcom. Chin in hands and all.

“Did you wanna meet up here tomorrow, or…” Jason trailed off, obviously also a little put off by her intensity.

She perked up when addressed, giving him a cheery grin and a double thumbs up.

“Here or th’ station, I don’t mind! Hey, did ya wanna come too, Danny boy?” She asked sweetly, head cocked to the side and just waaaay too innocent.

Not that Danny could work out what she was up to.

“Uh… to do what?” He asked carefully, head cocking to match hers before he noticed and straightened up.

Her grin widened, so she noticed.

“Oh, Jason an’ I are gonna go check on my buddy Waylon, see if we can’t work out what he was doin’ at the gala. If youse threw down he might like ta see ya there?”

Which honestly left Danny at a loss, until Tim explained.

“Killer Croc. His actual name’s Waylon Jones, and he was Harley’s tenant in Coney Island before coming back to Gotham,” he said casually, and Danny stilled.

There was an intensity in the room that hadn’t been there before, a sudden wave that sent a chill down his spine. Something from Harley, suddenly predator sharp in a way he hadn’t felt since Skulker had been a serious threat.

For the life of him though, he couldn’t put his finger on what though, since she didn’t move. Just grinned like she had been all along.

“People called him Killer Croc cuz of his skin condition. He gave up tryin’ ta change their minds,” she said with a light shrug, completely belied by the intensity of her stare.

Danny couldn’t look away until she released him, something satisfied in the quirk of her lip. Like she could see the sudden well of memory in his chest.

He’d never actually given in to all the things his parents had called Phantom. They’d been ashamed of all of them when the truth came out, and he’d only had to put up with them for a few years.

He tried to imagine decades of it, being called a monster for things he couldn’t control. For nothing more than a weird scaly skin condition.

He couldn’t imagine going full bomb vest over it, but Danny was man enough to admit he might just be a little touchy because of Jason’s death.

Which Waylon might not even know about.

Suddenly he actually did want to know why they’d attacked the gala.

Until now it had just been inevitable, someone was going to so why not them, but… well. He’d felt it under the whole plan, every stupid step.

Jason had trusted Waylon, not Danny, to keep things from getting out of hand. To know that a tussle was part of the fun.

Danny hadn’t planned on asking, but. Yeah.

“I’d like that,” he agreed quickly, nodding, at about the same time as Tucker found his own voice.

“Wait, that’s a skin condition? He’s just like that?” The techie asked sharply, staring around at Tim and Damian to confirm.

And got a disdainful look from Damian back.

“Tt, what else would it be? Do you know many scaled people?” He asked archly.

Danny’s mind snapped directly to Dora and her asshole brother. Knew Tucker’s had gone to the same place a second later.

“More than you’d think,” he and Tucker said in unison, and they shared a grin. If there was one benefit to their fucked up ghost hunting years, it was shutting down smart ass remarks.

Damian only looked more annoyed at being corrected, and Tucker shrugged.

“I thought he mighta been a scientist and tried to fuse himself with a lizard or something, like in Spider-Man,” he elaborated, and Danny kinda hated how much their lives resembled superhero movies.

Not that he’d say that in a room full of bats.

Damian’s brows drew down even further and he sneered, displeasure evident, but Jason cut him off before he could speak.

“Before you make a comment about mad scientists I’m gonna remind you we live in a city with Viktor Fries,” he said dryly and Damian’s mouth snapped shut.

Big brother privileges.

Wouldn’t it be nice if Ellie had given Danny those?

Tucker gave Danny a confused look, and Danny just shrugged back. He didn’t pay much attention to Gotham’s various rogues; he didn’t want to tempt his Obsession.

Tim chimed in again, without actually looking at Tucker which was kinda impressive. Guess they were just very obviously new to Gotham.

“Dr Freeze. He uses a lot of liquid nitrogen and freeze rays, he’s usually after money or diamonds to try and cure his wife,” he explained with a slight shrug.

Tucker made a confused noise.

“So… couldn’t Bruce just pay him off and keep him from bothering the city?” He asked carefully, glancing around the room.

Jason actually snorted a laugh at that, shaking his head.

“If he could, he would have. What Fries wants isn’t possible yet.”

Not possible for humans. Part of Danny perked up, wondering if Frostbite might have the answers… but no. It wasn’t his job to solve every problem in the world.

Bringing healthy humans to the Zone was iffy. An already sick woman… well, she might get hastened along her journey to the afterlife.

And this was a conversation he really wanted to keep away from, honestly. Gotham’s rogues weren’t his problem. Couldn’t be his problem.

Danny fought ghosts, unkillable entities who enjoyed missile attacks as sport. He wasn’t interested in learning how squishy human rogues were; it had been bad enough with his friends in the line of fire.

Mega pass on being the firing squad.

He almost reconsidered the trip tomorrow, but… he trusted Jason. Trusted Jason knew where he was coming from, and that neither of them wanted to trip Danny’s Obsession.

So he gave the big guy a smile and an elbow nudge, nodding for the door.

“Not that rogue chat isn’t fascinating, but you were taking me to bed?” He asked hopefully, and only realised what he’d said when Harley stuffed half her fist in her mouth to laugh.

And now, now Danny had a choice. He could feel the heat threatening to build, and blushing? Blushing would make things much worse.

Jason’s cheeks had pinked and that was adorable and Danny would ectoblast anyone who gave him shit for it, but if DANNY blushed, Tucker would never let it go.

No, the better answer had to be to play it off, and what did you do to counter red in makeup? You added green.

Not that Danny had used ectoplasm as a fucking colour corrector before, but he might as well try. So he let his grin go saucy, eyebrows waggling, and tried a teeny bit of spectral ice to cool his cheeks.

It made Jason chuckle again, so he’d take it as a win, and Jason gave him another bow, hand still tucked in Danny’s arm.

“Your chariot awaits.”

Tim and Tucker mimed puking almost simultaneously. They were perfect for each other. And had no taste, so that worked out well for them.

Danny ignored them all and gave the room a last wave, heading for the door and tugging Jason along with.

“Night all, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow Harley, and Tucker just text me when you’re up and we’ll see about getting you home,” he called brightly, definitely not about to stop no matter what anyone said.

Not even when Harley hauled herself vertical and call after them,

“Oh, Danny! If the bat calendars do come out, shall I grab you a Red Hood one?” She asked saucily and Danny felt Jason’s grip spasm in his elbow.

Which. He was gonna try putting together later, but tonight he really did wanna get out of there before long.

Who even was Red Hood?

Danny’d never seen him and he hadn’t turned up at the gala, so he didn’t have a guess ready, just like Batwoman.

A couple of people in one of Danny’s classes simped constantly over his thighs, but Danny now figured it was because they hadn’t met Jason.

It was probably easiest to agree, so he gave her a thumbs up over his shoulder.

“Autographed please!”

**

The headache that had lessened as he talked to Harley was back in full swing, along with a throbbing pulse in his temples and roiling nausea in his gut.

Constantine’s damn cigarettes weren’t helping, but Bruce just didn’t feel up to wrestling them away from him.

He’d expected… well. He hadn’t expected Constantine to come through full of fire and indignation, accusing Bruce of making the fucking mess.

His bad feeling had intensified too, not in the slightest relaxed that Constantine could feel that scrungly fucking kid all the way up in the manor.

No matter what Constantine said about the “halfa”, that could not bode well. Not with the look he’d seen on the man’s fucking face.

Steph called him an occult OSHA violation in a trench coat. Anything that scared him worried Bruce.

He could put up with some smoke and some pain to get the information he needed with a minimum of fuss.

He was beginning to wish he’d gotten some sleep though. Or could have someone get him a drink of water.

He’d shown Constantine the missed call logs from Amity Park, and the magician swore in ways that made Bruce see flashes of colour.

(That might have been the concussion talking, but Bruce could remember the almost buzzing swearwords he’d heard from Sam Manson and wasn’t sure. Nothing could be trusted.)

Not at the volume of the logs, that hadn’t surprised him. No, Constantine had gotten serious when Bruce shared the logs Tim had first shown him.

‘Earth is gone. The sky is green and Earth is gone.’

“Alright, that? That’s very fuckin’ bad,” the magician grumbled, reaching into his pocket for a flask for the first time since he’d arrived.

At least it wasn’t another goddamn cigarette. Little fucking meow meow magician.

(Bruce wasn’t quite sure what that one meant, but Steph usually said it with enough derision it had to apply.)

“So I assumed,” he gritted out, jaw clenching against another pang of pain.

Constantine levelled him with a blank stare. Bruce made a conscious effort to relax his face. The tensing wasn’t helping anyway.

“No, Batman. I mean really, really not fuckin’ good. They never called again?” He asked, and the sudden gravity in his voice sunk through layers of ache and irritation.

He sounded as serious as he’d been about the oath. That definitely wasn’t good.

Bruce shook his head, scrolling demonstratively to the end of the file.

“Not after this cluster of messages, all within the same day.”

Tim had all sorts of explanations for that. Bruce fervently hoped he was right and it was just pique on the part of Amity Park; he’d take them being angry with the League over anything else.

Especially anything that made John Constantine look that serious.

“An’ the town’s still there?” He asked, like that was a reasonable question.

Except… Bruce suddenly wasn’t sure. There were alumni from Amity Park, people who’d moved away, but the sheer lack of online information about the town itself…

They hadn’t even been able to get a clear satellite image.

He should have noticed that. He should have checked that. If he hadn’t been so twisted up in his worries about Jason…

But no, that wasn’t fair.

Bruce closed his eyes a moment, calming himself down. Breathing through the sluggish throb at his temples.

None of their Amity Parkers talked about the town like it was missing, or anything out of the ordinary. His children would have flagged it.

This wasn’t an oversight, but Constantine may know something that none of his family could have assumed.

He just had to get this finished. This briefing with Constantine, his report to the League, Jason… no. Sleep first, some pain killers, a more thorough scan.

Maybe a day of recovery, as soon as he could afford one. Wait until his head cleared.

Harley was right, Jason deserved the best Bruce could give him, and trying to talk to his son now would not go well. Bruce was only barely tolerating Constantine’s presence.

For all the man was alarmingly combative about this subject, he was a pussycat compared to Jason in a mood. Jason knew far more about what would hurt Bruce most.

Jason had always been what hurt Bruce most, ever since he’d held his lifeless body. Jason, and even the thought of one of his other children following him where Bruce couldn’t go.

No. He just had to get through this.

Refocusing on John-Bloody… no, that wasn’t helping either. On Constantine.

“From what we’ve gathered from people who have left Amity Park since, they still have access to the outside world.” He wasn’t quite sure what else he could commit to now.

It didn’t seem to satisfy. It didn’t satisfy Bruce either.

“Okay, but ya remember what I said about the fabric of reality bein’ swiss fuckin’ cheese around this city?” Constantine asked, his usual drawl starkly absent.

Bruce found himself tensing again. Wishing this was something he could fight.

“Yes. We haven’t been able to receive any satellite imagery of the town, nor any footage or communication online from within.”

He could pull up all the data, all the social media, but he knew Constantine wouldn’t care. It wasn’t what he’d asked for.

And sure enough, Constantine hauled himself back to his feet, striding towards the zeta tubes.

“Right. Well, guess we’re takin’ a field trip to th’ Watchtower, B-man, because you’re really not gonna like what I’d have to do to this lovely cave to get the intel I need. We’ll need every sensor you lot have, because that?”

Constantine half turned on his walk, finger jabbing at that last message. Barely even glancing in Bruce’s direction.

It felt like an accusation.

“That’s not fuckin’ good. That sounds like the Infinite Fucking Realms,” he declared darkly, trench coat billowing around him as he stalked across the cave.

Bruce almost flinched. Like he had no control over his expressions.

He needed sleep.

He needed answers. Needed to know what had happened, and what had to happen to fix it.

Needed to know they hadn’t let a half dead child take on an entire alternate dimension alone, because no matter how little he trusted the man Danny was, the thought of the child still ached.

Needed to know if that suspicion was actually justified by anything but his own inability to accept Jason’s clear. To have an unknown factor in Jason’s life.

Constantine’s reaction was one point in Bruce’s favour.

Whatever they found about the current state of Amity Park… would tell the rest.

He forced himself out of his seat to follow Constantine, hand straying to the pocket on his belt that held his emergency stimulants.

Alfred wouldn’t be pleased, the tiny pills carried an adrenaline boost that was wearing even at full health, but he needed to be sharp. Just for a few more hours.

He could pass what they learned off to Clark and Diana, and to his children when he returned. Just for a little while. A few hours.

Amity Park had gone unnoticed for years, as little as Bruce liked that fact. He could only hope that whatever threat it presented would lie dormant just a little longer.

**

Fuck the no killing rule, Jason was gonna murder Harley Quinn. And by that, yeah, he probably actually meant “seek vengeance in some small but annoying way”, but still.

He didn’t actually have a crush on Danny. It was a bit they were putting on to fuck with his nosey brothers, and it was probably a good sign that they’d apparently fooled Harley too.

But Harley was a hopeless romantic and prone to see romance where none existed, so maybe it wasn’t that good.

More importantly, Danny didn’t fucking know he was Red Hood yet. He’d have to text Harley tonight and drill that in, since she’d definitely picked up that Danny was in on the secret.

And since apparently they were all gonna be hanging out tomorrow.

He kinda wished he hadn’t brought it up. That Harley hadn’t asked.

He’d monopolised so much of Danny’s time already over the break, three full days and they still had to make that run back to Frostbite.

Danny must have had some other plans. Something he actually wanted to do with his time instead of just following Jason around.

The gala had been fun though. And so had today, it just… Jason couldn’t help feeling he was being too needy. Too clingy, with a guy he’d known for all of a week, if you were generous.

Being around Danny made him feel like himself for the first time in fucking years, and he knew what he’d have given up for that.

He didn’t want to be too much. Too pushy. Didn’t want Danny to get sick of hanging out with him so soon, and leave him right back where he’d been; bitter, angry, and alone.

At least Danny didn’t seem to be thinking too much about Harley’s parting shot. There was definitely something on his mind, but they hadn’t actually unlinked arms.

Jason could feel his aura.

Concern-worry-worry.

Shit, they hadn’t fucking unlinked arms. Should they? Should Jason have? For fucks sake he was literally clinging to the guy, this was fucking ridiculous, he should just.

But Danny hadn’t pulled away.

It’d be weird to pull away now.

Jason managed to keep himself distracted in that little spiral all the way to the garage he’d parked his bike in. Danny waited until they left the manor’s grounds to speak again though, arms tightening around Jason’s chest.

“Pull over a sec?” He called above the wind, and Jason very firmly did not let that pitch him further. He pulled over, still firmly in the heights and far from any living souls.

Unless theirs counted. Probably not.

He dropped the kickstand and pulled off his helmet, hoping Danny just wanted to talk. Maybe ask him to make his excuses to Harley.

Ask Jason to drop him at the university and not follow him home. That’d make sense. He didn’t need a wayward puppy.

He didn’t actually get off the bike. Didn’t want to give up Danny’s arms wrapped around him, even if it was just for expedience.

And maybe realised that wasn’t a great idea when Danny rested his cheek on Jason’s back and a warm wave of relax-safe-reassurance threatened to swallow him.

“I know what you’re thinking about,” Danny admitted softly, and Jason damn near bolted. Barely heard the next words, which…

Well.

He knew Danny tended to overlook things. But it turned out he could be pretty damn perceptive too.

“She’s gonna be okay, you know. Cass. I can feel her anywhere in the city if I try, and I’ll know if something happens to her.”

And just like that, the pit dropped out of Jason’s stomach.

He’d been trying not to think about it. Pretended he didn’t know what she’d be doing when she left, out in the city, one fucking accident from being like him.

Even worrying about Danny getting sick of him was better than that.

She might not even need the pit to bring her back this time. Gotham had a fuck ton of native ectoplasm even for a city; it couldn’t not.

Ectoplasm was made of and attracted to raw emotional energy. For all that people died every day in the city, more were born or moved in to join their ranks.

Gotham would be a metaphorical ghost town if they hadn’t, instead of the literal version slowly creeping across the city’s vigilantes.

From the rogues’ overdramatic schemes to the peoples’ undercurrent of rage and defiant joy, Gotham seethed with emotion. Most of the dead didn’t stay to use the ecto up, and every rogue attack brought a fresh wave.

Not clean ectoplasm like the realms, but tainted with their individual torments, the fierce glee, the desire to burn, it all churned into an ambient ectoplasm Danny swore he’d never seen in another city.

And that defiant spirit, the Gotham je ne sais quoi that made people put up with all the rogue attacks and dangers, was powerful too. Jason had known that even as a kid.

Now, it was literally the reason he was alive.

He might have a second core filling his system with pit water, but they’d both have dried up without the boundless “fuck off” energy Gotham was built on.

He’d felt it the second he returned. He was alive in Gotham in a way he hadn’t been in Nanda Parbat, anywhere but the fucking pit. It let him think clearly.

Well.

Apparently Danny let him think clearly. That still stung. But it shouldn’t have surprised him.

He’d never been much of anything that other people didn’t make him.

It was why he didn’t really mind Clockwork trying to make him Danny’s knight within a couple hours of learning he was half dead. It was kinda what he did.

People had been using him as a weapon since he swung a tire iron at Batman himself. Protecting the guy who gave him his fucking soul back?

He’d have done that anyway, for free. And he got a kickass gun and a supernatural sense of when said asshole needed him. Honestly, easiest job of his life.

The catch would come eventually, but this whole “feeling the intent of people you talk to” thing left him way less suspicious than he still kinda felt he should be.

He’d rather that than be left nebulously owing his whole self to Danny with no way to repay him and no idea where the catch would come from.

It had just… never occurred to him that the same way Danny could reach out and find Vlad, he’d be able to find Cass. Or Jason himself, probably.

Jason hadn’t realised how tightly he’d wound himself until the pressure eased.

He sucked in a breath that seemed to fill his chest for the first time in hours, folded his arms forward onto the handlebars, and let his head rest against them.

Danny followed him down, never losing contact but his face slipping lower and lower down Jason’s back. It almost made him chuckle, imagining how they must have looked.

Actually, he did. Just a moment, a soft and almost giddy sound that he choked back immediately. He sounded… well. Not like himself.

He’d been itching since the girls left to patrol, wishing he could join them. Be Cass’s backup in the field and be sure she wasn’t going in on anything big alone.

Cass was a step beyond competent, she was exceptional and she’d been doing this for years without a shadow. On a regular day, she wouldn’t need help.

But hearing how close she was to losing her humanity and not coming back right no matter what had him on edge. He wanted to shield her, protect her from what he’d gone through.

It wasn’t that he wanted her out of the fight. The idea of asking her not to go out hadn’t even occurred to him. She could make her own choices and he’d back her with all he had.

He just absolutely fucking hated the idea that she was out there alone, while he had fucking nothing on him that’d let him go after her if she did need backup.

If she needed help, he’d have to waste time gearing up before he could go out after her. The other bats would have her back, they all would, so long as they weren’t busy too.

It wasn’t like he was anyone’s first choice for backup even now, he just.

Yeah. He might kinda get what Danny meant about his Obsession being protection. Protecting the bats was a recent addition, but Jason had burned himself out on enough missing kids since he got back to suspect.

He’d have to ask what an actual capital-letter Obsession felt like, but that would wait for another time.

Just knowing that Cass would be safe, had another pair of eyes and more powers than a Kryptonian watching her back made him feel like he could breathe again.

Even knowing that though, he was glad to have left the manor. He could take Danny home, suit up, and… wait.

Danny had no choice but to move back as he straightened, half turning to frown down at the smaller man.

“Is that why you wanted to leave?” He asked quietly, gauging Danny’s face.

Had Danny worked it out on his own? Felt him stressing out about his baby sister back in the field?

Did Danny know that Jason wanted to join her, if not necessarily which costume he wore, and cut his night short?

Would Danny do that for him?

The answer was obvious in the other man’s face as Danny shrugged, even before he spoke.

“I didn’t wanna put you on the spot, and I figured you’d rather get out of there,” he explained casually, leaning just a little into Jason. Enough to feel what warmth Danny had.

Jason hesitated for a long moment, not sure what to say. If he should thank Danny. If Danny would ask, and if Jason should tell him he was the Red Hood now.

It’d be weirder the longer he didn’t mention it. Like he was keeping a secret.

The same secret Danny had kept as a teenager, so at least he’d probably understand, but Jason didn’t like how it felt. He wasn’t fucking ashamed of being the Red Hood.

He’d done shit no one else ever could have, and every inch of his territory was safer than it had ever been without him. He was proud of what he’d done, even if he wouldn’t brag about his methods.

It worked. It got him where he was today, where he didn’t need to kill anymore because people turned tail at the hint of his damn name.

He still didn’t know how Danny felt about killing. It wasn’t something that came up in conversation much. Maybe he’d find a way to ask first.

Tonight, he managed a stiff nod and leaned a little of his own weight back into Danny. Even if the guy thought he was just gonna go home and mope there instead, it was a win.

“Thanks,” he said softly, half wishing for his helmet’s voice modulator. He didn’t like hearing his own voice sound so… vulnerable.

Danny, fucking angel of mercy that he was, chuckled softly and gave him a gentle tap upside the head.

“Yeah, well. Also wasn’t sure how the others would react to “99% of you are permanently on my radar” anyway, and I wanted to make sure you knew for Cass,” he explained cheerfully.

And yeah, Jason still hadn’t really processed that yet, and wasn’t even sure how he’d react. Smart fucking call on Danny’s part.

Chuckling under his breath, Jason shook his head and flipped the kickstand back up.

“Anything else before I take you to bed?” He asked, half teasing Danny’s own unfortunate choice of words earlier.

They were absolutely still fucking with his family to think this was some kind of romantic relationship. Maybe a bit to punish Bruce, who clearly couldn’t handle the idea of Jason happy.

Danny laughed, a hint of something Jason almost identified behind it, then settled himself more firmly against Jason’s back, hanging on properly again.

“Not a damn thing. Oh, are you gonna come pick me up tomorrow or do I make my own way to the manor to join you and Harley?” He asked, snugged up tight.

Jason had almost forgotten that was happening. Apparently. And suddenly he was glad for at least the motorcycle helmet as his cheeks flushed pink.

Fuck he’d say he was trailing after Danny like a puppy, except Danny was the one going where Jason needed to be.

Another excuse to get Danny on his bike, arms around him.

Fuck off Jason Todd, Romance Heroine. It was a goddamn jailbreak, if a legal one. Not a fucking meet cute.

“If you actually want to come,” he agreed a little hesitantly, because the voice that insisted he was just a burden and Danny was only humouring him wasn’t all displacement activity after all.

Or pit related, apparently. Delightful.

He coulda tried to pretend it was, but that had been more convincing back when it was always a background grumble of anger, not the little calm pool of happiness now sitting in his gut.

Unforeseen side effect of getting his toxic sludge cleaned up: he was gonna have to own some of his own bullshit now. Work out what was his and what wasn’t.

Danny leaned back a little, grip loosening, and Jason could feel concern like a whisper soft touch.

“Yeah… I would, if you don’t mind? It seems like he’s important to you.”

Jason wasted a moment trying to work out what the hell Danny meant by that.

Did he want to meet Croc cuz he was important to Jason? Or did he think Jason wouldn’t want him to if he was important?

Cuz while yeah, Jason considered Waylon a friend (and thanks, Harley, for the new name crisis, love that. The guy introduced himself as Killer Croc but Jason knew all about controlling a narrative) it wasn’t like he was family. Not like Dick, Cass, or the others.

Except. Roy was family. Long before any of the bats made it back into Jason’s good books, Roy was one of the first people to be happy Jason was alive.

And Waylon had helped Roy get help when Ollie fucking kicked him out.

Waylon had been a restraining hand on Jason’s shoulder too, in the bad old days. Keeping him from pushing too hard, going too big, doing something he really couldn’t come back from.

Family didn’t have to mean annoying texts at four AM. Didn’t have to come around for dinner every Sunday; how often did any of them really see Harley?

Fuck, how often would they have seen each other if Alfred didn’t have them all firmly under his culinary thumb.

Waylon had to count as a reliable old uncle at least.

And that kinda made it a different question. Did Jason want Danny to meet his family?

It had been an easy “yes” with the bats, not least because the nosy bastards would muscle their way in regardless. Croc…

Waylon never judged Jason. From his highest highs to lowest lows, he never looked down on him. Not even when he was telling Jason to stop and think.

It kinda made Jason ache for what his life should have been. His, and Waylon’s if he’d never been called Killer Croc.

And maybe it’d give Jason a read on how Danny would react to the Red Hood thing. Or whether or not Danny already knew.

Jason was gonna blame Bruce for this chronic overthinking. Definitely not something he’d had on his own.

He’d thought about it long enough that he could feel Danny tensing, and he forced himself to snap out of it. In all honesty, it wasn’t his business what Danny thought he’d get out of it.

In the end, there was no point second guessing what someone else wanted to do with their time. It was Danny’s call. Not his.

And that kinda helped.

He half shrugged, leaning back into Danny for a moment and tugging him forwards again.

“I mean, we’re not “Thanksgiving at each others’ houses” close, but… he’s helped me out since I came back. More than I expected anyone to. I don’t mind if you wanna meet him,” Jason explained.

Danny obediently moved back into position to go, his aura a gentle hum of curiosity-concern-interest at Jason’s back.

“So do I make my own way, or…”

“I’ll come get you, probably around eleven?” Jason offered, definitely NOT thinking about Danny being back in this same position very soon.

He was gonna have to get another helmet for the bike. Immortal Ghost King or not, it just felt rude at this point.

**

After Danny and Jason left, Tim, Harley, and Tucker played a few more rounds of Mariokart together. Switched to a couple other games. Damian abandoned them almost immediately, disappearing half way through a round.

Probably to start a patrol of his own, or go try to spy on Danny and Jason.

Eventually Harley wished both the boys well and headed out with a cheery wave.

“Right, maybe I’ll see ya tomorrow or maybe not, have fun and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she called cheerfully, then paused and pointed at Tucker. “An’ keep an eye on Tim. Make sure he sleeps.”

Tim rolled his eyes, not looking up from their new round of SpiderHeck to wave her off. Tucker did, and Tim took advantage to swing across the map and cut him down with a lightsaber.

Amateur.

“Huh? Oh, sure! Fucking hell Tim,” Tuck complained as his attention switched back to the defeat screen.

Tim snickered, leaning back in his seat and crossing his legs.

“Hey, not my fault you can’t keep your head in the game,” he teased smugly. Tucker poked him in the face.

“Not my fault I have enough manners to look at people when they talk to me. So is Harley gonna be staying in the manor too?” He added curiously, glancing around.

They easily had the rooms for it, though Tim didn’t really wanna think about it. What might Harley get up to on a 2am snack run?

Although it wasn’t that far from 2am now.

“I don’t think so, she has a place in the city at the moment,” he mused, his mind beginning to shift.

It wasn’t that he’d been waiting for witnesses to clear out, exactly. Everyone was in on the secret, so it shouldn’t be a big deal to head down to the Bat Cave even when they had the larger group.

It was just… they’d been having fun. It’d be rude to leave their guests, and Bruce was already being cranky down in the cave.

Of course, Tim’d gotten another ping on his zeta tube monitoring program an hour or so ago. Constantine and Bruce both checking out, probably to the Watchtower.

So it’d be safe now, and they’d reached an okay stopping point. Tim had no doubt that Tucker would prefer checking out the cave over any games.

Tim couldn’t let him on the bat computer yet, but he could show Tucker a couple of Tim’s better scanning programs. Maybe even ping Babs and see how the others were doing.

See if she had time to talk to Tucker in person. Maybe he could show them both how he’d encrypted that server, which Tim suspected would involve ectoplasm.

Not like he couldn’t link the PDA to an un-networked monitor so that they could all see what he was doing though. Hell, they could record it for Bruce.

He’d love having answers to the Amity Park problem. If Tucker would let Tim run the PDA for a few minutes…

Still, it was just good manners to check in.

Alfred would be thrilled that they were learning to communicate.

Pulling out his phone, he shot Bruce a quick text.

‘Hey, we’re gonna head down to the Cave. You mind if I give a tour?’

It didn’t take long to get a reply, which was usually a good sign. It meant Bruce wasn’t hyperfocused enough to ignore his phone.

Maybe things with Constantine were going well.

The length of the reply wasn’t as reassuring, but not a surprise either. Bruce wasn’t exactly wordy in person, and only less so over text.

‘Go ahead.’

No indication of when he’d be back, but that was fine. They could compare notes whenever that turned out to be.

Tim turned to Tucker, grinning in anticipation of the other man’s reaction.

“So, wanna see something cool?” He asked, and felt gratified when Tucker’s eyes widened and a matching grin spread across his face.

But who wouldn’t be excited to see the Bat Cave?

“Hell yeah!”

**

Tucker followed Tim eagerly out of the games room, mind already buzzing with all the things the young genius might want to show him.

Did they have a tech lab in Wayne Manor? They definitely had the space for it, and it had to be safer than keeping one at Tim’s downtown apartment.

Bruce might not have been much of a techie but Tim was personally responsible for enough big developments that he was considered a prodigy even in Tucker’s circles.

Of course the guy had the advantage of near limitless money and resources, especially after Drake Industries merged with Wayne Enterprises.

With that kinda money, Tucker himself could have revolutionised the world. But, Tuck had the advantage of the Ghost Zone and ecto tech, so he wasn’t too upset.

Especially not if Tim was really going to let him see where the magic happened.

He did nearly let out an audible groan as Tim led him into an office and activated a secret elevator in a clock. Maybe Danny had a point… maybe all billionaires were dramatic assholes.

Maybe Sam had a point, and they were all evil. Maybe Tim was bringing him down to an evil lab.

Caution reluctantly seeped into Tucker’s excitement, but he fought it off sharply. Tim was a good guy, they were becoming real friends, and Tuck couldn’t believe a fellow techie would betray him.

Besides, no one in Gotham knew shit about ghost tech, or liminals. It wasn’t like Tucker would actually be in any danger from a scrawny nerd like Tim.

Even if he did have very nice shoulders. Shapely arms. An almost snatched waist that almost tipped to androgyny, but he carried it so well.

Anyway.

Tim definitely wouldn’t hurt him.

It was probably just a super secure underground tech lab, to keep anyone from stealing secrets. Tucker let himself hype up again, imagining the kind of security measures Tim could install underground.

It’d remove the chances of someone sneaking through a back window for sure. And sure, rock wouldn’t stop a ghost, but it stopped pretty much anyone else if you added seismic sensors.

It made sense, really, putting all Tim’s very coolest and most secret cutting edge tech experiments somewhere that no one would expect, and almost no one could get to.

Tucker found himself rocking forward on his toes as the elevator descended, and flushed a little when he noticed Tim smiling.

He was excited, sue him. It beat worrying that he was about to get his first go at the Danny Fenton Lab Experience.

Thankfully no one ever cared enough to capture the nerds.

Tim was quiet on the way down, clearly savouring the anticipation, and that suited Tucker fine. It wasn’t a long ride, and he all but bounced out of the doors as soon as they opened.

Stopped.

Stared around at blank stone walls, stalactites on the ceiling, and… a waterfall? A robotic dinosaur? A row of display cases?

This was not a super cool high tech research lab.

This kinda might be a supervillain cave.

Tucker’s heart sank for a moment, especially as he noticed more and more Batman themed pieces on walls and cases.

Bruce Wayne (please don’t let it be Tim’s secret project any more, Tucker couldn’t bear it) was obsessed with Batman. Collecting trophies.

Probably wanted to catch the hero himself and stuff him in a case. Rich people were all like that apparently.

Except… the locker room? Off to one side? Where a freshly laundered Red Robin uniform hung, neat and pristine?

Collector freaks never let anyone clean their stuff, especially if it might have had gross hero sweat to obsess over.

And that was the Batmobile, parked next to a large garage door. An array of motorcycles, and Tucker was no expert on Gotham’s heroes but there were at least three colour schemes.

Someone had been changing the oil on one of them.

A massive computer screen, surrounded by smaller screens at various angles, and as he approached in awe he spotted a bat sticker on almost every monitor.

No way anyone ever stole THE Batcomputer. People would notice. Someone would talk, there were legends about Batman’s set up!

Half Tucker’s class would have killed for a look at the tech, no way they wouldn’t know if it ever got loose.

Which meant.

Tucker knew his jaw had dropped. Couldn’t find it in himself to close it as he turned back to Tim, eyes wide, and watched all colour drain from the other man’s face.

“Is this the fucking Bat Cave?! Is Bruce Fucking Wayne actually Batman?!” He exclaimed eagerly, not even wondering why Tim suddenly looked so shocked.

This really was the best day ever.

Wait.

“You DO know the fucking Oracle!”

**

Well.

The curse of Robin had come for Tim at last. Bruce was absolutely going to fucking kill him.

But, okay, in his defence, it totally wasn’t Tim’s fault! He’d assumed Tucker already knew because Danny one thousand percent definitely did, he called Dick out in costume!

And Tucker was still trustworthy! Still an asset! And he’d help Tim get past the firewalls, get into Amity Park, all they had to do was get enough work done before Bruce came back.

And killed Tim.

For bringing an unknowing civilian into the fucking bat cave.

Best day ever.

Tim sucked in a great rasping breath, suddenly aware that he’d completely stopped breathing somewhere in there, and shook his head.

Okay. Snap out of it Tim.

Those nights with Alfred-supervision had made him weak, no way only thirty-six hours without sleep should have done this to him.

Too bad, sleep deprivation would have been a great excuse.

He wasted a moment lamenting his lack of immediate coffee and turned his focus to the actual problem: the Amity Park firewall.

Tucker was still staring at him in awe and triumph, though worry was creeping in. Tim pulled on a charming smile, walking to the batcomputer and gesturing for Tucker to join him.

“Uh… yeah, sorry, I thought Danny already told you or I’d have said. I didn’t mean to spring it on you,” he lied, like he’d have ever let the secret slip.

Tucker pouted then, folding his arms.

“Oh, of course Danny knows. Bet that’s how he and Jason met. So does that mean you’re…” he trailed off curiously, clearly hoping Tim would fill in the blank.

Tim considered being mildly offended that Tucker didn’t think he could be Oracle, but he valued his digital security. Zero chance Babs wouldn’t be pulling this video up later for a laugh.

He nodded to his suit instead, the new one hanging waiting. Probably for tomorrow night at this point, since there was no reason to change just to hang out in the cave.

“Red Robin. I ah… saw you last night at the gala,” he added sheepishly, wondering just how much of Tim’s minor breakdown Tucker had noticed while waiting to give Tim the tablet.

And Tucker’s eyes lit up, clearly remembering, and he grinned, clapping his hands together.

“Oh! That explains why you left, huh? I guess someone had to deal with the rogues and stuff,” he mused thoughtfully.

Tim had to hope he wasn’t thinking about the exact same thing. At least the discovery was going well so far; Tim couldn’t think of many people he’d had to share this particular secret with, and most of the ones who did had been villains at one time or another, but still.

Tucker was keeping up, wasn’t freaking out, and had gotten over his surprise in record time. Tim definitely wasn’t disappointed.

Tuck had been a vigilante himself after all, it’s not like he was a civilian. And had already admitted he didn’t pay much attention to vigilantes, so he might not even know which one Red Robin was.

It’d just. Have been nice if he was more impressed.

Not that Tim cared. He wasn’t Red Robin to impress people, and usually didn’t even think about it.

And Tucker didn’t seem surprised or upset when Tim steered him to one of the tables beside the batcomputer instead of the big baby itself, and got one of the un-networked monitors out.

“Pretty much. I get a little… antsy if a takedown goes too easily, because with Riddler it usually means we’re missing something,” he explained dryly, pointing Tucker to a second wheely chair to pull over, “but yesterday it was apparently just a shitty rush job on his part.”

Tucker snickered at that, wheeling the directed chair over and sitting eagerly beside Tim, still darting looks at the bigger screens.

“Should I be mad I didn’t get their best work?” He mock-pondered, and Tim snickered.

“Probably. But Riddler and Croc aren’t really A-listers or big on the mass destruction side anyway.”

“Waylon,” Tucker corrected almost absent mindedly, pulling out his PDA.

Tim missed exactly what he did next as he remembered Harley’s little tidbit, and he pulled a face.

“Yeah… I’ve not exactly had the one-on-one time with him Jason’s had, I don’t think we’re on a first name basis,” he explained, shaking his head as the monitor sprung to life.

Tucker snorted a laugh, flicking through screens on the PDA.

“What, Mr Jones then? Want me to just start downloading the Amity Park records first, then we’ll go hunting?” He added, and Tim nodded quickly, snickering himself at the vision.

Nothing threw a shining ball of confusion into a fight like calling someone “Mr Jones”. He’d have to try it if Croc… Mr Jones was gonna be back on the scene.

It was the name that went on all of his prison paperwork, so it wasn’t like it was a secret identity the same way the bats had.

“Honestly? Better than Waylon. And yeah, we can start with the government files and news reports, just so we have a backup. Then we’ll look around and find out what else B thinks we’ll need.”

Tucker snickered beside him, flicking quickly through screens on the PDA. Despite it being purely for his benefit, Tim pretty much ignored the monitor, keeping most of his attention on the device itself.

It was chunky and very retro, but given the processing power and space for storage? There was a definite charm to it.

Maybe Tucker would let him play around on it later.

But, in the spirit of not being killed when Bruce returned… there was one thing they definitely needed to talk about.

“I…” Tim sucked in a deep breath. He’d put good money on Tuck, Danny, and Sam being what actually solved Amity Park’s last calls to the League.

It might be a traumatic memory. Probably was. But he had to ask. And better him than Bruce.

Tucker looked up when he trailed off, making a curious noise. Not exactly asking what Tim wasn’t saying, but showing he’d noticed the pause.

Sighing to himself, Tim wheeled across to the batcomputer. Bruce probably still had the files up.

“I also think we need to talk about these,” he explained, pulling up the records for the Justice League’s missed calls. Hundreds of them.

Tucker just looked nonplussed for a moment, then sobered. Probably when the dates sank in and told him what they were talking about.

“Oh… yeah. Probably,” he agreed, sounding more serious than Tim had ever heard him. Which kinda proved Tim’s point about traumatic memories.

Leaving the records on screen, Tim wheeled back over, pulling out one of his larger recorders. This conversation might take a while.

“Do you mind if I just record what you tell me? B’s gonna want a full write up. He’s off ripping a strip off of Constantine as we speak, probably, cuz whatever he did… this lot went past voice mail and straight to the trash.”

It wasn’t exactly an apology, wasn’t exactly an excuse, and Tim cut himself off before it turned into whining. The past was past, and it was too late to change that now.

Something complicated crossed Tucker’s face as he spoke, and Tim tried not to look too closely. Didn’t want his overly analytical side latching on.

The only thing they could do was work out what happened, and if there was still anything the league could do to make up for majorly dropping the ball.

Tucker sucked in a deep breath of his own, letting it out in a low whistle.

“Y’know, I thought we were coming down here for fun and tech talk,” he said almost wistfully, and Tim chuckled wryly.

“We can definitely still do that. It’ll just unknot Bruce’s panties some if we’ve got this part out of the way before he gets back. That way you’re just telling me, no “swooping menace in the shadows”,” he added half sarcastically, and Tucker laughed.

He looked… well. Haunted. But that wasn’t exactly a sensible descriptor for a guy who spent years hunting ghosts.

Not too bad though. No tremors, no tightness in the eyes or jaw that said he was hiding something. His skin was still a rich, warm brown, no paler than before.

If he was having a deeper reaction than the tiredness, he was hiding it in a way Tim couldn’t hope to spot. That… was probably the best sign Tim had seen about this particular shit show.

Chuckling to himself, Tucker checked the PDA one more time, then set it on the table and turned to face Tim directly.

“Yeah, might as well do it during the file download. Your setup is gorgeous, but that’s still gonna take a while. If you ask me, you’re not gonna need to ask Danny about it later, right?” He asked, and Tim bit his lip.

Less good sign. Seemed Danny carried more of the weight of this one too.

“B’ll probably want his side, and to check the stories match, but Jason won’t let him push Danny into anything,” he offered instead of a blanket statement.

Tucker cocked his head a little, examining Tim for a long moment in a way that made him feel almost… dissected. Like a piece of tech Tucker had taken apart, and was looking for secrets in.

Finally the older boy nodded and shrugged, leaning back.

“Yeah, fair. It’s damn hard to pin Danny down if he wants to leave anyway. There’s some Fenton tech that’d do it, but it’s not like you can get that here. So… where do you want me to start?”

Filing away that comment about the Fenton tech for later, Tim jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the big screen.

“Do we have time to start at the beginning? The first calls?” He asked, half expecting the answer to be “no”.

Tucker glanced down at his PDA, and snickered.

“Well, I can give you the Cliff’s Notes version. And then if you have questions you can ask?”

Which… yeah, Tim glanced at their little offline monitor. It was a pretty big download; Tucker had meant it when he said he was grabbing everything for them.

That had to be a sign of good faith, right?

And then after that they’d have to shift everything over to an un-networked hard drive. After whatever Tuck had to do to de-ecto it.

Shoulders settling, Tim put the recorder on the table before him.

“Sounds good. So… Tucker Foley, current top student at MIT and soon to be receiver of a Wayne Enterprises internship,” he teased, enjoying the way Tucker snickered again, also visibly relaxing.

Might as well make this as comfortable as possible. They could break after Tucker finished for some drinks or something.

“What happened in Amity Park?”

**

On the Watchtower, Bruce slid his phone back into its pouch on his utility belt and returned his attention to the pacing magician.

He’d pulled up every type of reading they could gather from Amity Park for the week of the last distress call, and from their current logs.

Thermal imaging, infrared and ultraviolets, seismography, electromagnetic waves, spectrography, and several that Bruce wasn’t sure what they were, just that the Justice League Dark were the only ones who used them.

The fact that even Bruce could see extremely obvious spikes on more than half of them was not a good sign. It made checking the dates almost superfluous.

Nor was the way that even though those spikes had lowered within that same day… they’d never gone all the way back down.

In every magical sense they could detect (and half a dozen scientific ways he was actually comfortable with), Amity Park glowed like a cartoon nuke.

The only good news was that their radiation sensors had gone straight back down to normal after the initial spikes. Which made no scientific sense given the normal decay of radioactive materials, but Bruce was not going to argue.

He appreciated Tim checking in though. The gesture towards clearer communication. He wasn’t sure exactly what Tim would want to show Harley in a tour of the bat cave, but honestly?

He wasn’t going to ask. It was nice to have something that wasn’t his problem, and he trusted Tim and Harley, together or separately.

It wasn’t like Tim would bring anyone else down to the cave.

——————

😇

I regret nothing.

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Next Chapter:

#danny fenton dead and loving it #dp x dc #dpxdc #dead on main ship #danny x jason #never make a promise you can’t keep #jason: oh man danny must be so sick of me i’m taking up all of his time 😔 #danny: dang i gotta go back to school soon instead of spending 24 hours a day with my new bestie this is clearly normal to be sad about #and suddenly constantine was there! wooooo #gonna try and wrap up waylon and harvey next chapter (wish me luck) #we gots bigger fish to fry 😏 #and maybe a justice league meeting just for fun #chapter 12 #counting is hard

[kelcemenow]

Touchdown - Chapter 12.

Pairing Travis Kelce x Reader

Words 2106

Warnings Some strong language and some smut (masturbation).

CHAPTER 11.

CHAPTER 12.

“So, we’re in US weekly.” Travis said with a laugh.

“I know, Hannah showed me this morning. Is that okay?”

“Of course, are you okay with it?”

“Yeah, yeah if you are!” You switched your call to your headphones, “I just didn’t want you feeling like a news story had been made out of nothing?”

“Well, I wouldn’t call it nothing!” He chuckled and his voice was calming in your ear.

You stopped walking as you had reached the gym you were heading to, “You know what I mean!”

“I know, I know! But journalists, you know, they’ll make a story out of anything. No offence!”

You laughed, “Anyway, I’m at the gym now.”

“Okay, babygirl.”

You caught your breath, “I’ll call you before I go to bed.”

“Okay, bye.”

You stepped into the stark white building and walked over to the desk so you could sign in. There was a small queue so you joined the back of the line. You looked around the entrance way, seeing if you could spot anyone that you regularly saw working out, when you made eye contact with someone who instantly looked away from you.

“Hi, Tom?”

He awkwardly shifted his feet towards you and lifted his head, “Hey.”

There was an obvious tension but you continued, “I didn’t know you worked out here.”

“Uhh yeah, I just signed up…thought I’d start exercising, you know.”

“Cool!”

There was a pause.

“I didn’t know you worked out here.” His face was unchanging and cold.

You attempted a smile, “Yeah. So, how have you been?”

He almost turned away from you, “Fine. Did your phone break or something?” He shook his head a little with his question.

“Sorry, it’s been a busy weekend, I had to go to Wembley for work-“

“Yeah Wembley. I saw.” He scratched his neck, “You were really busy cuddling up to football players, it seems.”

The tension grew as you studied his face. His expression hadn’t changed but you could sense a hint of anger in his voice.

You gave a nervous laugh, “Yeah, photographers seem to catch stuff like that.”

“So, that was all it was then?”

You opened your mouth to answer but you stopped yourself.

Tom’s eyebrows lifted, “I see.”

He almost turned away but you stopped him, moving him to quieter corner of the entrance, “No, wait – are you pissed off with me?”

Tom shook his head again and avoided eye contact with you, “Shouldn’t I be? Did you think about me at all? Did you?” He took a few steps towards you.

“We’re not together, Tom.” It sounded harsher than you wanted it to.

“Yeah, I get that.”

You narrowed your eyes at him as he spoke.

“Look Y/N, I like you and I just thought you wanted to take things slowly but now I know this has all been because you were busy sleeping around with whatever his name is. Is this some sort of weird kink you have, messing people around? Or is it because he’s got money, is that all you’re after?”

“Excuse me?” You were aware you were starting to raise your voice but you didn’t care.

“You fucking heard. Does he know about me?”

“About what? Not that I need to explain myself, but we’ve been on a handful of dates, Tom. Whether I want to take things slowly is my decision and if in that time I find that I have a better connection with someone else, so be it. It’s none of your business.”

You didn’t wait for a response from Tom. Instead, you walked away from him and out of the gym, deciding to jog home for your evenings exercise. You quickly pulled your headphones over your ears and pressed play on your gym playlist, letting your feet hit the pavement. With each step you felt your aggression ease slightly so you hastened your pace, hoping a faster run would make you feel better. You could feel the burning in your chest start to ease but your mind was clouded with what had happened. Tom had been so demanding, so cruel. You blinked hard and tried desperately to enjoy your run.

As you breathlessly stepped through your door, Jess looked at you with wide eyes, “You’re back early. Didn’t you just leave?”

You grasped for the back of the couch to steady yourself and leaned forward slightly, attempting to catch your breath, “Didn’t…quite make it…Tom…crazy.”

Jess scrunched her nose, “What?”

“Tom…at the gym…just went crazy with me.” You spoke in between desperate breaths, “About Travis…that photo in…US weekly.”

“What? Really?” Jess picked up some dinner plates from the small dining table.

You stood up straight and stretched your back, “Yeah. Really.” You shook your legs and walked towards the couch, “He just started saying…all this stuff…nasty stuff…about us and me…and Travis.”

Jess made her way over slowly to the couch, still holding the plates.

“I was actually quite scared, Jess. He was really…pissed off with me.” You took a deep breath and closed your eyes, “It’s almost as if…he thought I’d cheated on him or something.”

Jess hummed lowly, “Well…”

Your eyes opened quickly to face her, “Oh Jess, not you too. Don’t you have a go at me.”

“I’m not, all I’m saying is-“

“Hey, you were all in favour me and Travis the other day, you were so excited for me! Now, you’re on Tom’s side.”

Jess sat down next to you, “No, Y/N. Look, I am excited for you and I’m not on anyone’s side.” She shifted slightly, “Maybe I just hadn’t thought about it from Tom’s side. As far as he was aware, everything was moving along, slowly yes, but for him this has come as a massive surprise. Maybe you should apologise to him?”

Your mouth opened, “Apologise? You didn’t hear how he spoke to me.”

“He was hurt, Y/N. Stop being so stubborn.”

You looked away from Jess, taking a breath. Jess waited but when you didn’t respond, she stood up.

“Or not.”

You heard her move out of the room and the sound of dishes being moved around in the sink echoed out of the kitchen. You laid your head back and stared up at the ceiling, letting the feeling of adrenaline settle in your chest.

______________________________________________________________

You tried to keep your voice down as you laughed. Jess had gone to bed as she had an early shift at work the next day so you caught up on some TV before crawling into your bed yourself. You were wide awake, reeling after your run-in with Tom when Travis Facetimed you.

“It’s true! The network and managers and everyone made me do it!”

Travis looked relaxed as he spoke to you. He was at home on his couch wearing a casual outfit of a white t-shirt and red shorts. You were quietly pleased that you had worn some decent pyjamas even though you weren’t expecting to see him.

“No way. I bet you loved it, getting all of that attention from those girls!” You grinned at the screen.

Travis laughed and rubbed his beard, “Well, that certainly helped!”

There was a short comfortable silence before Travis spoke again.

“I miss you, Y/N.”

You blinked and your head lifted slightly. A smile crept onto your face as you studied his, searching for any sign of insincerity. But there was none, he looked genuine.

“You do?”

Travis licked his lips, “I do, babygirl.”

Your stomach burned and your clit began to pulse, “I love it when you call me that.”

Travis’ eyes widened slightly and his voice lowered, “Is that so?”

“Ohh fuck, yes.” You clenched your legs together.

“Is my babygirl getting all hot and bothered?” His voice stayed low, in almost a growl, which only fuelled you more. His eyes searched the parts of your body that he could see on the screen, “I wanna see you.”

You titled your head with a sweet smile, “You can see me.”

“I wanna see more.”

You gasped slightly before angling the camera down your body. You were wearing a matching set of red lace pyjamas; high waisted shorts with a cropped tank. You heard Travis groan as you lifted up one leg which gave him a view of your smooth legs.

“God, baby. You look good.”

You brought the camera back to your face. Travis’ face looked hungry for you, a similar look he was giving you back at the hotel.

“I should’ve had you when I could.”

You smiled as you squeezed your legs once more, feeling a rush of blood to your pussy. Travis must’ve have noticed.

“Do you wish I was there to help you out?” His lips curled into a smirk.

You closed your eyes and ran your hand down your side, “Fuck, yes I do.”

“Show me what you’re doing. I need to see you.”

You tipped the camera down to follow your hand as it reached inside your shorts, fiddling with the waistband. You heard Travis shuffle and his breathing began to get deeper and louder. As you pulled your shorts down, Travis groaned even louder and you quickly turned the volume down on your phone. You leaned your head down so you could catch a glimpse of him, his eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed, mouth slightly open and tongue gently running along his top lip. It turned you on even more seeing him like this, desperate for you but unable to have you. You parted your legs a little to give easier access to yourself and a better view for him. You felt goosebumps as your fingers ran lightly along your pussy, imagining that it was his fingers instead. You were becoming wet and your fingers moved easily along your slick opening.

“Go on, babygirl. It’s me, I’m there.”

You plunged your fingers inside of your pussy, using the knuckle of your thumb to gently rub your clit. You gasped at the sensation, something you hadn’t felt for a while. It was sensitive but you continued, letting the pleasure take over. Your body began to tingle, starting in your feet and arms before spreading across your chest. Travis’ eyes focused on your body, watching it move and squirm, his gaze made your nipples become hard, poking against the fabric for him to see. You sped up your pace, pumping your fingers faster and deeper. You moaned under your breath, writhing on your bed, a tightness building up in your core.

“I wanna taste you so bad.”

Travis’ words were enough to send over the edge, your walls clenching around your fingers. You whined as you rode your high, your head tilting back onto the bed and your back arching upwards, letting your hardened nipples press against the thin fabric of your clothing. The pleasure ran across your body like a tidal wave, making your legs weak and your chest fall heavily. You squeezed your eyes shut and listened to Travis’s voice as you moaned away the sensation, relaxing every muscle and collapsing slightly back onto your bed.

“Good girl, that’s it. Man, you’re so beautiful.”

You opened your eyes and brought the screen closer to you as your breathing slowed, “When can I see you?”

“What, you wanna come here?”

You tried to control your breathing as you reached for some tissues to wipe your hands. Staring back into the camera, you watched his excited expression, “Whatever is easier for you, big guy. Honestly, I just want to be around you.”

He lowered his head and smiled enough so that his eyes creased more than you had ever seen, “I have some time off coming up. Why don’t I get you some plane tickets, you stay at my place and we can hang out a bit?”

You smiled at the screen, “I can sort the flights, don’t worry about that.”

“Nah, baby. Let me.” He winked, “I’ll show you all of the best sights in KC. One of them being you if you pack those jammies in your suitcase.”

You giggled and pulled the duvet back towards your chest.

“I’m gunna send you something, too. Can you send me your address?”

“Well, now I’m intrigued.” You raised an eyebrow at him.

He grinned at the screen, “You’ll see soon enough, babygirl.”

You sighed and laid further down in your bed, lifting your hand to cover your mouth as you yawned.

“You tired yourself out?” Travis smiled.

“Just a bit. And here I was thinking tonight would be boring.”

“I should let you get some sleep, don’t think about me too much.”

You yawned again, “We both know I will.”

“Goodnight, beautiful.”

______________________________________________________________

Oooof. That man. That gif of him smiling is something. So, we're going to KC! Next chapter will be as soon as I can! If you want to be added to my Taglist, just comment and I'll pop you on the next one.

Taglist @rd14 @dandelionwrites8 @keiva1000 @fantasywritersstuff @caelipartem @anacarangel @she-lives-in-her-dreams @kkrenae

#travis kelce x reader #kelce x reader #travis kelce imagine #travis kelce #nfl imagine #original story #travis kelce smut #travis kelce fic #touchdown series #chapter 12

[yourfavghestie]

so I was chatting with my ghesties on Discord and we came across this interview…and…

YOU TRYNA TELL ME ALL THE KARATE SHIT THAT COPIA DOES IS REAL?!?!

THIS WASN’T A LIE?!

I uh—

Wtf Tobbe 😭

#ghost band #ghost #ghost bc #thebandghost #papa emertius #the band ghost #copia #papa copia #tobias forge #papa popia #popia #papa emeritus iv #papa iv #cardi c #cardinal copia #karate #chapter 12 #chapter 13 #I know king fu

[nature-nerd-sarah]

Eliza being a huge fan of PA-san's Vtuber persona is of course a fun character quirk, but I also love the little easter egg of her having Shimarin and Hatsune Miku figurines in her room.

#bocchi the rock! #kikuri gaiden #manga #spoilers #bocchi spoilers #chapter 12 #eliza #eliza shimizu #pa-san #yuru camp #shimarin #hatsune miku

[manga-meow]

#The Duke of Death and his Black Maid #chapter 12 #manga #manga cap #my edits #monochrome #mangacap #manga panel #cat #popular #1k #5k

[thoselovelythings]

#first day of december #december 1st #december #winter #Christmas #holidays #December quote #chapter 12

[whinlatter]

She stares at her own drawn face in the dormitory mirror, grips the sides of the sink. And still, she can’t bring herself to pick up the quill and tell him. It’s so lonely up here. I’m so scared about this inquiry. I’m so scared I’ll let everyone down. I’m so scared you’re going to change your mind. [ scarecrow, n., an object made to resemble a human figure, set up to scare birds away from a field where crops are growing; (archaic) an object of baseless fear ]

🪶 read the author’s note for this chapter (coming soon!)

🐾 listen to the playlist

🪺 watch the trailer 

🦉 thoughts & questions? ask me anything!

#beasts #chapter 12 #at long bloody last #dropping a chapter at 2am on a wednesday get a GRIP #yes i know it looks ridiculous to have a SYLVIA PLATH poem next to a quote from chamber of secrets but that's what you get for enabling me #hinny #ginny weasley #post DH #postwar #hermione granger

[untaemedqueen]

At Your Service

Escort!Jeongguk x CEO!Reader

Genre: Strangers to Lovers!AU, Angst, Fluff, Smut

Chapter 12.

Series Warnings (Will Be Updated): Angst, Fluff, Cold Heartedness, Emotional Trauma, Healing, Smut, Dark Humor

Warnings For This Chapter: Soft Dom!Jeongguk, Spanking, Riding, Praise, Unprotected Sex, Daddy Kink

A/N: My mouse batteries are slowly dying and I don’t have extra so this chapter is a rush job to publish. I’ll do a tag list next time probably.

Now seated at the table, Jeongguk squeezes your hand as if to let you know you don't need to be nervous.

The air since his two best friends arrived has been thick and hazy, emotions of distrust and awkwardness swimming through the atmosphere. It seems like it's a tangible thing, if you're being honest. Like the distrust from these two is going to wrap around your neck and choke you out.

It doesn't help that their eyes are hazed over with discomfort either.

They're protective.

You know this to be true but they're not putting a foot forward and you being who you are, you're immediately recoiling within yourself and trying to stack a huge wall up just in case one of them tries and offends you.

You've become soft with the escort by your side in such a short amount of time that your brain and heart are trying to make up for the damage.

Guk, who's been looking between both parties, is watching you fight the inner turmoil within yourself now. He's worked so hard to break down your walls and he won't forgive his friends if he has to start all over again.

Taehyung looks you over once more, something he's been doing since he stepped foot in this apartment.

"Dinner's almost ready," Guk announces, trying to start some flow of conversation.

Maybe Jimin's been waiting for someone to speak first but now he sits up straighter, bringing his glass of wine away from his lips.

"Has Gukkie cooked for you before, Y/N? Everything he makes is delicious!" Jimin raves, nudging the youngest's shoulder.

"No, I haven't but he did tell me that he learned to cook from his dad who worked in restaurants so I'm excited to try it," you reveal, adoring the way your boyfriend squeezes your knee affectionately.

Taehyung, who seems to be the most suspicious of you, raises his eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh," he drolls, swirling his wine in his glass, "I'm surprised he told you something like that. His ex-girlfriend Chloe didn't even know that. You do know about her, don't you?"

Your boyfriend rolls his eyes, not appreciating the tone his best friend is aiming your way.

"I do," you reply just as equally unamused, "I've even met her. She's… sad."

Jimin snorts into his glass of wine, chuckling at how completely devoid of emotion your voice sounds. "When did that happen?"

"I took Y/N with me to my grandmother's luncheon. She liked her a lot, accepted her faster than Chloe, which is only right because they're so completely different," Guk announces, standing up to check the oven.

Jimin and Taehyung exchange a look that you can only deem as surprise and they seem to be having an unspoken conversation with just looks.

You understand being protective of your boyfriend. Hell, you're protective of him too. So even though the wall is still building back up within you, you accept his two friends' caution.

"How'd you get into the wine business?" Taehyung asks, his voice a tad less judgy then previous statements.

"I don't know if Y/N wants to tell that stor-" you boyfriend begins, opening the oven.

"It's okay," you promise, cutting him off.

He looks over at you with soft eyes, trying to read your body language and expression but he finds no fierceness within you at the moment.

"I too had a significant other that was really terrible and toxic for me. When that went to shit I decided to build up an empire for myself so that my name would always be out there. I made a name for myself so he wouldn't forget. Wine just happened to be the thing I had the most knowledge in," you tell his two friends, pouring yourself another glass of the deep red alcohol.

Jimin hums in agreement, nodding thoughtfully at your words.

To be honest, when these two men met Chloe, they were immediately turned off. She carried herself in such a way that it was embarrassing to watch. She was spoiled and whiny, completely the opposite from their youngest friend.

You're completely the opposite. Even though you have a rough disposition to you, the friends are already warming up to you.

If Jeongguk is serious about you you're not going anywhere anytime soon and they're going to have to get used to this.

"Guk's been getting bottles of wine from your company for months now, maybe it was destiny," Jimin suggests with a smile.

Taehyung beside him only chooses to stare down into his glass of wine. He only looks up when he's decided on what to say. "We're very protective of him. He was hurt badly by Chloe, almost as if he was losing himself every step of the way. We just don't want to see that again."

You nod understandingly, looking over at your boyfriend who's lost himself into the role of being the host for the evening.

"I would never want to see him hurt," you reply, watching how he takes the lid off the pot carefully, "I care about him more than I care about myself."

The escorts two best friends share a look with one another and Taehyung continues to nod thoughtfully until your boyfriend speaks up.

"Okay! Dinner's ready!" he beams, passing you a new bottle of wine.

He kisses the top of your head sweetly, setting down the hot pot on the table.

When Guk looks over at his best friends while you're consumed with opening the bottle, he simply tilts his head as if to ask if they'll accept you.

Jimin gives him a cheerful wink while Taehyung begrudgingly nods.

"Good," Jeongguk hisses happily, hearing the cork pop forcefully from the bottle.

With a groan, the escort crawls into his bed beside you.

"It's a nice room," you breathe, looking around at the multitude of framed small artworks.

When Hawking jumps up onto the bed, forcing Guk closer to you with how massive he is, your boyfriend only rolls his eyes playfully.

"Thanks, buddy," he breathes, looking behind him with a wistful scowl.

"What'd you think today?" the escort inquires, drifting his lips over your shoulder.

Turning to him, you lay your head on your hand. His arm curls around your waist like needy vines and his chocolate irises bore deeply into yours. The moonlight that streaks through his windows is hazy and bright highlighting all of his perfect features for your eyes to feast on.

"I expected them to be cautious of me," you reply, allowing him to get closer.

Guk runs his finger from your waist to your hip, lifting up the short nightgown you have on.

"They warmed up. They know you aren't going anywhere," he promises, letting his fingers dig sweetly into the globes of your backside.

When you hiss softly and move closer, your boyfriend groans wantonly.

"You don't know what you do to me," he whispers, rearing his hand back to spank your backside.

You writhe beneath his touch, mewling when he immediately soothes your stinging skin.

When he goes to climb over you, Hawking won't budge for a second, already comfortable with the place that he's deemed his own for the night.

The escort rolls his eyes, trying once more before huffing out impatiently.

"I swear this dog sometimes…" he mumbles, lifting your leg over his own and showing you his simple strength by tugging you close.

You can feel how hard he is as it rests against your inner thigh. His cock is throbbing for relief and you can only bite your lower lip with anticipation.

"Tell daddy what you want," Guk hisses, pulling your lip from between your teeth with his thumb.

"You, I want you," you gasp, pressing your breasts to his chest.

"Mmm," he hums, entering his thumb into your mouth slowly.

You swirl your tongue around the digit, feeling your liquid arousal gushing out of you at the loud groan he admits from your actions.

"Fuck, look at you," your boyfriend hisses, watching how your cheeks hollow around his thumb.

When he goes to pull his hand away from your mouth, you gently bite down on him playfully.

His bottom lip purchases between his teeth and he whines softly at the sting. "Be a good girl, baby."

You let him go begrudgingly, giving him a gentle smile as he narrows his eyes at you.

"You're really asking for it tonight," he mumbles, entering you with one hard thrust.

You gasp loudly, grabbing onto his muscled arms.

"Fuck," he seethes through his teeth, dipping his head down to kiss at your breasts, "you're so damn tight."

His lips pluck sweetly at your nipple, starting a smooth, relentless pace with his thrusts.

Your mind muddles with each snap of his hips and you can barely think or string a single thought together.

You can only focus on how his smooth, thick cock fucks deeply into you, gently tapping the mushroom head to your soft cervix folds with ever thrust.

"O-Oh my God," you cry out, squeezing your eyes shut.

"That's it, baby," Jeongguk whispers breathlessly, pulling away enough to pinch and roll your nipples between his fingertips, "I love to see you so fucked out for me. I love how dumb you get on my cock."

You can only babble in response, pushing your hips down to meet his.

"You're so fucking wet, my God!" your boyfriend groans loudly, flipping you over to ride him.

Hawking lifts his head and huffs out gruffly before hopping off the bed with a yawn.

The escort spreads your knees wider, pushing the comforter off the both of you to see you in your entirety above him. His hands grip at the soft, fleshy globes of your ass roughly and you begin to ride him with as much fervor as you can muster.

"Oh fuck! Good girl!" Guk praises loudly, letting his head loll back at the pleasure.

You can only whimper, adoring how the head of his cock taps against the spongy patch of nerves within you.

"Goddamn, look at you," your boyfriend hisses, spanking your ass with strong hands.

Your skin smarts, only adding to the immense pleasure and your body shivers at the impending explosion that is readying itself within you.

"C'mere," Guk hisses, sitting up and lifting you up slightly with ease.

"I fuckin' feel it. I want you to cum all over this cock. Give it to me, baby girl," he orders, fucking up into you roughly.

You can only squeal, digging the heels of your feet into his terse thighs.

Wrapping one arm around your back, he holds you close. The warmth you feel, the closeness you feel, it only brings you that much closer to your own release.

His golden skin sings with a sheen of sweat and you can't get over how impossibly handsome he is before you. He looks up at your pleasured face as if you hold the keys to the entire galaxy and the vast beyond.

He has three words on the tip of his tongue that he won't dare say because he's afraid to push you away. He adores you in all honesty, you're the first real, tangible thing he's ever gotten the pleasure to experience.

He's falling fast and he has no hope to come up from breath anytime soon.

"Oh, baby," he moans, wrapping his hand around the back of your neck to pull you in for a kiss.

When your lips touch, it's like wildfire. The pleasure, the passion it soars through you like fireworks and you can only grip onto him in hopes of not losing yourself.

The gentle squeaks and whimpers you give against the pretty pink petals of his lips makes him put in all his effort into his thrusts.

"Daddy!" you cry out, feeling the bubble within you about to burst.

"Go ahead, baby girl. Cum on my cock," he grunts, accepting the way you bury your face into his neck.

When your thighs quiver and lock, when your cries become short and loud, your boyfriend's eyes flutter shut. Such peace, such pleasure, he's never known it like this before.

When you orgasm around him, sobbing his pet name, he pulls you down with him.

"Shit! You're incredible!" he praises as your cunt rhythmically clutches around his cock begging to milk him for all he's worth.

His thrusts become slower and harder, shivering below you until his hips stutter all together.

Ropes of his warm seed paint your walls and he whispers your name reverently, coasting his large hand over your back.

"Oh baby," he sighs softly, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes.

You don't move off of him, coddling to him like some sort of needy animal.

Pulling the blanket up with a tired arm, he covers both of your bodies.

Your hair is splayed all over his chest and your face is so perfectly nestled into his neck that he can't hope for anything else but this.

You're too tired to move, satiated beyond belief. Maybe it's the stress of the day now turning into sleepiness but your boyfriend is the most comforting body pillow below you at this moment.

Brushing your hair back and behind your shoulder, Guk lifts his head to lay it down on his arm. His fingers draw unimaginably soft random shapes to your skin and it's so peaceful to watch your face become highlighted by the moon's rays.

While you can still be deemed a puzzle, a Rubik's cube, he's slowly figuring out the answer.

When your breathing becomes more shallow, he lets himself utter the words he's been holding while he thinks you're asleep.

"I'm falling in love with you," he whispers, holding you closer to him.

Your eyes open, not daring to look up at him but you can hear the emotion in his voice. You can see the way he swallows thickly, his Adam's apple bobbing with every one.

You know he thinks you're sleeping, you know he's speaking openly with hopes that you can't hear him right now so you let his sentence float away in the stagnant air like water down a calm river.

You're afraid to say it back. You're afraid it might be true. And you're even more afraid that you might be feeling the same way.

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#at your service #chapter 12 #chap 12 #ays #jeongguk smut #jungkook smut #jeongguk fic #jungkook fic #bts fic #jeon jeongguk #jeon jungkook