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shblackeagle · 3 years

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BBRAE Week 2021

Day one: Unconventional Kiss

Garfield Logan was known to have the silliest jokes and pranks at the most stupid and unpredictable times. He was practically famous for it.

Raven knew that, actually everyone did. That's why she often didn't care if he pulled up a prank or cracked a childish joke when everyone least expected. None of those silly jokes got the team into trouble, at least most of the times, so she basically never invested so much into them. He'd always been like this ever since she knew him. It didn't even change when he became an adult. Gar's silly jokes never changed.

But his feelings somehow did.

As an empath Raven could easily feel the slightest changes in everyone. She always knew if something had changed in someone before anyone, even before the person themselves. Such power was really helpful to the team in many ways. She could feel if someone was being dishonest or too afraid for a mission, maybe even expose a villain's lies. She basically knew things about Titans other titans didn't even have a clue.

She knew about Dick's inner fears, Kory's homesickness no matter how much she tried to hide it, Victor's sadness about his humanity, Donna's insecurities and many more that they didn't dare to share. Despite that, she never pried more than she was allowed to. But being a very powerful empath she was, she often found herself knowing some private secrets she was not supposed to know. It was hard at first but then she learnt to keep this power more under control, not to expose what she knew and maybe even forget them.

But Gar's sudden change of feelings was not something she could easily overlook.

She knew it wasn't as sudden as she wanted to think. She had been feeling it for months now and at first thought it would disappear like many changes of feelings others went through. But not only didn't it stop but it grew stronger each time she felt it.

She knew exactly when it happened. It was long ago in the medical room. She could picture it in her head easily.

She felt his first slight change of feelings when he was badly injured in a mission and she had to spend a long time healing him. It was an ugly fight and if she wasn't quick enough, he might have died. It was a very painful process for her. Absorbing such pain wasn't as easy as she talked about it. The pain would stay with her forever, but it was worth it. Gar was worthy of it. She would always do she could to save him. Whether he knew it or not, he was important to her; more important than she wanted to admit.

When she was done, he opened his eyes and met hers, he smiled at her.

Appreciation

Hurt

Confused

Proud

"None of Vic's medical treatments will ever be as good as your healing touch. Thanks" He said weakly. Raven just nodded at him despite the pain she was feeling at that moment. She didn't want him to feel guilty.

He got up from the bed and sighed.

"But as much as I appreciate it Rae, do me a favor next time will you?" He said pulling away the cover.

"What is it?"

He hesitated for a moment, "Don't heal me next time." She looked at him confused.

Hurt

Scared

Ashamed…?

"Why?"

That was the first time she felt it. A sudden strong feeling coming suddenly and almost overwhelmed her but before she could totally embrace it, it stopped. It only lasted for a very short moment and she wondered if it was from him in the first place. She had just absorbed his pain so she was probably messing up her head due to the pain?

"I can heal myself quickly and Vic's treatments also come in handy. You should use your healing powers for something more important than me."

It wasn't the first time they had this conversation. Gar always asked Raven to never use her healing powers on him and whenever she asked why he always said the same answer.

Something more important? What could possibly be more important than his life?

But before she could ask, the door opened with a bang as Kory came to the room.

"Garfield!" The Princess flew towards the weak man and lifted him up from the ground, hugging him tightly. "I was worried!"

Gar laughed, "No need to be Kory. I'm fine." He looked down at Raven, "All thanks to Raven."

***

Raven tried to forget that strange feeling from that day and she would have been successful if it didn't come to her out of nowhere consistently when she wasn't ready.

Next time she felt it, even stronger than before, was when the Titans decided to have a movie night. They were superheros but even superheros needed some time to be themselves, even if it was just for one night.

It was not unusual for Gar to arrange the whole thing, definitely with Victor's help but mostly himself. He even forced everyone to be in their rooms when he was preparing the movie night in the main room. Dick found it a little extra but who could stop the Changeling? He was always unstoppable when it came to their short gatherings.

Raven was sitting on her bed that night while reading her new book when she heard someone knocking on her door. She knew it was Gar of course. She easily felt him coming to her door excited a minute ago.

Without even looking away from her book, she called. "Yes?"

"Rae it's Gar!" He was definitely too excited for it. It wasn't like they've never done this before but something obviously never changes.

"I'm done preparing the main room for movie night. Everyone is now in the main room. Please join us! The movie I picked is amazing!"

She'd rather not think about the last time he picked a movie to watch. She was so scared that she had to meditate for hours to keep her emotions under control the next day. It was even harder when she could feel others were also scared.

"What genre?" She asked. There was no way she was going to watch another scary movie and absorb others' fear of it for a week.

"Comedy! I promise you'll laugh."

She shook her head. Was he really still into that? She was really impressed by his commitment to take any chance of making her laugh. She appreciated it of course, but found it unnecessary.

She opened her door and found Gar in his pajamas with a grape soda in one hand, offering it to her. She took it, thanking him by a nod.

Happy

Excited

Impatient

He was just so easy to read. He always wore his heart on his sleeve, letting her feel anything he was feeling and since he was usually in a good happy mood, Raven always welcomed his presence.

Not that she would ever tell him that!

"Let's hope this one won't come out as silly as the last time you showed us a comedy movie. It was basically a kid show."

Gar gasped, "How dare Rae! No one is too old for cartoons!"

Raven grinned, "So you agree it was a kid show."

Gar opened his mouth to retort but nothing came. Raven just shrugged and started walking toward the main room with a grin on her face. Gar quickly caught up with her from behind.

"It still made you laugh! I remember that."

"It didn't. It was just a silly cartoon."

"Do you want me to go and get the security cameras to prove my point?" He winked at her as she tried to hide her smile and the door opened to the main room.

That was the moment she felt it again. That powerful strange feeling. It hit her in every way possible as she tried to find the source. She looked at Gar but his face remained straight.

"Hey Rae! Join us. The movie is about to start." Cyborg said with bags of chips in his hands.

"Where's Wally? He said he would come." Donna asked looking around.

Suddenly Wally appeared on the couch with many bags of snacks and drinks in his arms.

"What are you talking about? I've been here for the last three seconds!" He obviously bought them from the supermarket downtown. It didn't take long for him to come and go.

"Okay then. Now that we're all here. Let's watch it." Dick said.

But Raven couldn't understand what they were saying because that was the moment the feeling faded away as quickly as it came. Was it from Gar? Roy? Donna? She wasn't sure. Gar was always so easy to read. She doubted he could feel something so strong and hide so quickly...but could he? If the feeling didn't belong to him then who was it? Who was the one that possessed this powerful confusing feeling?

She immediately looked down at Kory who was cuddling with Dick on the ground. Kory was indeed capable of that. She was also there when the first time it happened. But what was it? Kory's emotions were always loud to read for her and she usually never hid them. Raven knew it.

Raven sat on her favorite part of the couch which was now filled with pillows and blankets and some of her favorite snacks. Thanks to a certain shapeshifter who outdid it. Despite her curiosity, when the movie started, she tried to forget about that powerful feeling. She only felt it twice and it was probably no big deal. For now maybe she would just enjoy being with her friends rather than investing in something she probably had no role in.

Raven was sitting at the end of the couch with Gar beside her. Vic and Wally were also sitting on the couch while Dick and Kory were on the ground, sharing the same blanket. Donna and Roy were on the ground as well but not as touchy as them. All the Titans knew they were a thing but apparently, they were the only ones who weren't convinced.

This time the movie was actually very funny and she found herself chuckling at some of the parts. The main room was filled with Titans laughter as they enjoyed themselves after a long busy week.

That was all she needed. The whole room was filled with happiness. Everyone had forgotten about missions, stress and plans even if it was for just two hours. Even Boy Wonder wasn't feeling uneasy as he was laughing loudly with Kory by his side whose laughter was so beautiful to hear.

Raven closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting in all the happy emotions around her,. Even two days of meditation would not give her such peace as this did.

Azar! How much she missed it!

She didn't even care if she missed some parts of the movie as the Titans kept laughing. Them being happy made her happy. She was so deep in herself and in her own world as she didn't even notice she wasn't even watching the movie.

That was the moment that once again, that feeling came to her.

She opened her eyes quickly, looking at all Titans faces to find a clue yet she found nothing strange. Everyone was busy laughing, eating and drinking exactly like how they were before she closed her eyes.

"You okay Rae?" Gar asked as noticed her curious face, "You seem worried."

Raven looked at him, "I thought I felt something."

"Felt something?"

"Yeah." She said looking at everyone again but she didn't spot anything unusual or something she would worry about.

"Anything dangerous?" Gar asked as he stretched his hand to get another soda from behind.

"I don't think so…" She pressed her back to the couch again, trying to let it go. She didn't want to worry Gar for nothing. "It was probably nothing."

"Well I trust your emotions detector more than anything. It saved us more than we can count." He offered her the grape soda he grabbed, "but for now, let's just not overthink things and enjoy the movie. I'm sure if it was anything alarming, you'd know it by now."

Raven took the soda from his hand, "Yeah...Yeah you're probably right."

Gar grinned, "when wasn't I?"

"Do you want a list?"

He laughed. "Maybe I'll ask you to show me later."

Raven smiled at him as he turned his head to the TV and continued watching. He had a point. If it was anything dangerous, she'd have felt it, but it was so powerful to let it go. During the rest of the movie, she felt it come and go very quickly many times, especially the times she was laughing or chuckling. It was weird how the person could switch it on and off whenever they wanted it. Was it a sort of a red alarm? Was it really dangerous? She doubted it because whoever possessed it was in the room and there were only Titans.

But one thing was certain, as much as the feeling didn't feel harmful, it was very powerful that she could detect it among all those happy emotions surrounding her. What could it possibly be? How could such emotion be that strong? It even beat Kory's loud emotions.

But she'd lie to herself if she said it didn't feel so good. Everytime she felt it, she was overwhelmed by it in a very good way. Whatever that was, it put her in peace and gave her warmth. She would be a big liar if she said she wouldn't welcome it the next time she felt it.

***

Even if Raven wanted to let go of that feeling, that feeling didn't seem to let her go.

It came to her in the most unexpected places, rushing through her whole body and leaving before she knew it. She noticed that each time it came, it lasted longer than before but it was still all over the place and Raven couldn't exactly point her finger to anyone; especially because it came to her randomly.

During battles, her daily training routines, her meditations, sometimes even when she was eating lunch or just walking, even when she was reading her book on the couch and minding her own business! Each time it came, there were many of her friends around and it was hard to figure out who it was.

Mostly because a big part of her didn't want to know who it was either.

It was the truth. Raven never went deep in her investigation to realize it. Probably, if she really wanted to she would have realized it long ago, but she feared that if she knew, she wouldn't feel it again. That powerful feeling, whatever it was, put her in peace and gave her strength. She was fed from emotions and one of her friends was giving her something she didn't know how desperately she desired.

A feeling of home, comfort and warmth. She didn't want to lose that! Raven figured if it was from one of her friends, she didn't need to worry about it. It wasn't like she suspected anything bad about it.

Azar! How selfish of her!

She closed her book and sighed, lying on her back on her bed. She was being selfish. What if one of her friends was in trouble and it was their way of giving her a heads-up, or asking for her help? But such an act required a serious knowledge of how her powers worked and she knew none of them had something like that.

Dick and Victor were the only ones who knew how her empathic powers worked better than others but giving her a strange yet amazing feeling to ask for her help didn't match any of them. Dick would have directly said it and Vic was more into technical ways.

She shook her head and tried to let it go. She shouldn't be using her strength over something ridiculous. No one asks for help by filling her soul with a particular strong feeling. No one even knew she was capable of feeling their deepest emotions as much as she let it show and they most of the time forgot it as well.

She heard a gentle knock on her door when she was struggling with herself. It was Gar. She never mistake his aura.

"Hey Rae...are you there?"

It was a stupid question. Everyone knew that Beast Boy could easily pick up anyone's scent even from far away or hear their heart beats if he wanted to. His heightened powers gave him advantages that most of the time they forgot he had even; just like her.

Pulling her hood down, she walked to the door and it opened as she stood in the doorway.

"Yes?"

Gar was in his casual clothes. A dark jacket with a T-shirt underneath, his dark jeans and a cap. She would never tell him, but he looked very handsome in them. She quickly put that weird thought away before it got somewhere she didn't want it to get.

He was standing with one hand behind his back and his usual smile on his face.

Joyful

Delighted

Self-conscious?

Nervous?

Shy?

"Great!" He looked around making sure no one was near. Yeah he was definitely nervous but why?

"Is everything okay?"

"Oh everything is great! I was just…" He scratched the back of his head with his other hand nervously.

"Well…?"

He sighed, "Well I was in the city to get some fresh air and I passed by your favorite bookstore...thought of something you might like to read but then I saw this." He took out a book from his back with his hand and Raven's eyes widened in surprise. "I know you've been reading the first novel of this series...I thought you want the second novel soon." He stretched his hand and gave it to her. Raven was flattered if she was honest. Gar knew what book series she was reading and bought her the second part of it! She never even thought someone like Gar, who couldn't really focus on reading books, actually cared about her hobbies so much that he knew what she wanted; even before she told him anything.

He suddenly looked scared, "Please tell me you haven't bought it already!"

Raven shook his head. "No, I haven't."

Gar sighed in relief a bit dramatically, "Thank God that would have been awkward."

Pressing the book on her chest, Raven said, "Thanks Gar."

He smiled, "No problem Rae."

That was the moment it hit her again; that familiar feeling. Raven looked around. No one was there except them. There was her chance. This time she had to put her selfishness aside and for once make everything clear.

She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. With just Gar around her, she was now able to figure out who it was.

"You okay Rae? You seem...paler than usual." Gar asked worriedly.

All of the sudden, Raven opened her eyes.

"Where are the others?" She knew the answer but had to make sure.

"Oh? Well Dick and Kory are out, thinking it's a great time to have some alone time. Vic is in his room, coming up with a new technology which I still didn't understand. Don't tell him that though. Donna is on her secret date but let's be honest we all know it's Roy." He laughed and continued, "Wally is off to meet his family and said he would be back…" He took a glance at his watch, "in 45 seconds top."

Raven looked uneasy and pulled the cloak tighter around herself, looking down.

"So...it's just you and me here?"

Gar shrugged casually, "Yeah pretty much but don't worry. If anything happens, we can handle it. It's not the first time we might face a threat alone." He gave her a reassuring smile, "and others are probably heading back as well. So yeah no need to worry."

She wanted to tell him she was not worried at all. She was shocked! But she couldn't bring herself to tell him that right now because she wasn't sure about it.

"Well I'm headed to the kitchen. Do you want me to make something for you? You haven't gotten out of your room since morning. You must be hungry."

Raven tried not to look suspicious so she looked at him with a forced smile, "No thanks."

"You sure? I wouldn't make it too vegetarian for you."

"No no thanks…"

Gar simply shrugged, "Okay."

He turned around and started walking away. Raven looked down at the book then at him for a second and before she knew it she was speaking.

"Thanks again Gar...I appreciate what you did for me."

He turned his head back to her with a smile, "Anytime Rae. If you ever feel hungry, you know where I am."

The door opened and closed and he disappeared from her sight as he went to the kitchen.

Raven stood there for a couple of moments, not believing what she just found out. It was him! That strange feeling came from Gar himself. She just couldn't believe how easy it was to figure it out. It was so obvious. He was there anytime she felt it. It made sense it was coming from him.

But it wasn't Gar who surprised her, what he was feeling shocked her more than anything.

She suspected that she had felt that feeling before and it turned out she was right. She felt it from all titans before; especially from Kory on great levels.

It was love.

Of course it was love! Only love was so powerful that could give her such warm feelings from inside and put her in such a peace no meditation could ever do. Love was a powerful emotion, she knew it better than anyone.

She held the book harder as she looked down. The realisation hit her harder than she expected. She didn't know why she regretted knowing the truth or why she wasn't happy about it.

Gar was in love...it was a truth she wished she never knew.

***

"Have you noticed Garfield has been acting...weird recently?"

Raven asked Victor days later at the gym as he was lifting up weights and she was done meditating. After knowing the secret behind the strange feeling, Raven started to avoid Gar in a subtle way. She was ashamed of prying too much into his emotions when it was obvious he was trying to hide it; so the farther she was from him, the better.

That didn't stop her curiosity though.

"No, why?" Vic asked casually, "Did that green ass do something stupid again?"

"No…" she lowered her voice.

It was hard talking about it. She already knew something she believed she shouldn't have and now she was trying to know more. It was wrong, yet she really wanted to know.

"Then what is it?" Vic's question brought her back to the gym, "You seem worried."

"No, not worried. It's just...he seems different. He...feels different." She said the last part in more of a whisper but Victor heard her.

Shocked

Uneasy

Surprised

Scared?

Yet his face didn't show anything. He just gave her a blank look. Victor was good at not showing his emotions but not as good at not feeling them.

"What I mean is…" she felt stupid in asking, "Is he seeing someone?" Her question tasted bitter on her tongue and she felt she didn't want to know the answer.

This time Victor stopped his exercise and turned his head to her, giving her a questioning look. Raven kept her face straight, not letting him see more than she allowed it but she knew her question wasn't something to just ignore. Victor was curious to know why she would ask such things, especially about the Changling of all people.

After some intense moments, Victor turned back on exercising. "No."

His answer was way firmer than she expected. Raven was taken back on how he seemed upset about her question.

"No, he's not seeing anyone. At least not someone I know." His words sounded angry and Raven wasn't sure why.

"Why are you angry Victor? I just asked a question." He scoffed.

"It's not you Rae…" he lowered his voice, "Stupid green bean!"

"What?"

He looked at her with an angry face. "You're the empath here. You should know it by now."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Before she could get any answer from him, the gym's door opened with a bang.

"The Animal Man is here!" Gar shouted excitedly, "Please cheer for the new gym captain!"

He was in his sports clothes with his towel on his shoulder and a big speaker in his hand. He almost seemed to be at a party rather than at the gym.

"There's no such thing, Animal Man." Dick said following Gar from behind.

Gar put the speaker on a table and turned to the Boy Wonder with a grin, "well I guess I just invented it." His eyes landed on Raven and Victor. "Oh hi Cy! Rae!"

Victor stood up suddenly and walked towards his best friend. Raven could feel how his anger leaving his body the moment he saw Gar. His sudden change of mood surprised her, especially because it was Victor.

"Looks like someone is here to get his ass kicked." He patted Gar's shoulder.

"Oh you wish! I beat Richard, you're easy."

"Only once." Dick said in defense, "and only because you were lucky."

"Two out of three isn't once and it sure as hell wasn't luck."

"Well I guess there's one way to find out." Victor said.

Raven felt her presence was not welcomed anymore. She wanted to leave the gym as soon as she could. Seeing Gar was hard especially when she knew his little secret when she was not allowed. However, the moment he stepped in the gym, his love poured over her like a waterfall. It was hard to stay and harder to leave.

If only she didn't dig in too much! She regretted it more than anything. If she let it be the way it was, maybe she wouldn't feel uncomfortable around him anymore. So what if Gar was in love with someone? It wasn't her business. She shouldn't care! He could be in love with anyone he wanted. It wasn't like it mattered to her. It didn't matter!

She wished she could sound more convincing in her head.

"What do you say Rae?" Gar's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"I asked if you wanna judge the game, to see who's better?"

He was close, too close and he was letting her feel everything! She wasn't sure if it was his doing or was it because she already knew his deepest emotion; as in she couldn't turn back.

Up close, Gar looked way better than from far. When did he start to look so attractive to her? Did she always find him attractive? She knew he was good looking but now it felt different from the last times. It had changed! Something had changed about him, or maybe about her?

She should leave. She should leave as soon as she can.

"Sorry I can't." She said quickly flying over him to the exit door.

"W-what? Raven you okay?"

She didn't even look back, "I'm fine." And left the room with no other words, leaving the boys there confused.

Except that she wasn't. She wasn't fine at all. Something was happening with her and she knew it was all because of her nosiness from that day. Love was a powerful emotion. Something she shouldn't just mess with especially when Gar initially had kept it hidden within himself. There must have been a reason why he didn't let her feel it in the first place.

But it didn't matter how many times she told herself otherwise, she couldn't help but wonder about Gar's secret lover.

Was she a superhero too? Was she blonde? Azar was it Cassie? No! Gar would never go after girls way younger than him. Then who? A normal citizen no Titan knew of? Someone he met online? He could do that. He just needed to take a picture of himself in those sports clothes and everyone would be all over him.

"Raven? What's with the rush?" She heard Donna's voice as she and Kory were headed to the gym as well. They were both in their sports outfits as well.

She stopped flying and landed on the ground before them. Kory got a worried face as soon as she looked up.

"Raven, are you okay?"

"Yeah...just finished meditating at the gym." She tries to sound normal, "the guys are already there."

"Yeah we know." Donna said, "but are you okay?"

Raven raised an eyebrow, "I am. Why do you both keep asking?"

Donna and Kory exchanged some confused looks and Raven just wished she knew what it was about. She didn't want to get into another intense conversation or an awkward one like the ones she had back at the gym with them. She needed to be alone right now more than anything.

Kory stepped closer to her, "Raven... you're blushing!"

***

Life always put people in the most unexpected situations, kind of like Gar's jokes; you basically couldn't predict them.

But Raven was used to find herself in situations she didn't expect, being Trigon's child gave her that. She was herself unexpected.

It wasn't that Raven was unfamiliar with love. Maybe the time she just left Azarath she could say she was, but it was years ago. She gained more control over her powers and emotions ever since. If she could recall correctly, she always felt love from others, especially when they were younger with more unbalanced emotions.

She felt Kory and Dick's love throughout the years and the alien princess could overwhelm anyone with her emotions, let alone a powerful empath like Raven herself. She felt Donna and Roy's thing with each other, Victor and Sarah's and Gar's.

Azar! Even her own!

So why did it feel so different this time? Why was it so powerful? Raven knew Gar's love before. She'd witnessed many of his crushes before her own eyes. But this time? This love? It was so different on considerable levels.

"Raven! Cover Flash!" Kory shouted as she tried to block the attacks from this demonic creature who seemed to just get out of hell. A gift from her father? Raven decided not think about it.

As Wally was running fast towards the creature, Raven used her soul-self to block the fires. The monster was indeed strong and possessed dark magic as she felt it.

A green flying eagle flew above her fast and went straight to the monster. Raven saw how Gar shifted into a gorilla and attacked it with his power hands. A smile appeared on her face. His presence alone always made her smile.

She still didn't get the time she wanted to talk with him. After her awkward conversation with him at the gym, Raven couldn't get the courage to ask about his feelings; mostly because she was afraid if he was actually in love with someone.

She didn't know how to approach the subject either. For all that matter, Raven wasn't the titan with the best social skills. How was she supposed to start the conversation even? And tell him she basically invaded his mind and his privacy by accident? When she knew it wasn't an accident at all? That she knew he was in love? That she was jealous? To the point she couldn't stop thinking about him?

As if she would ever do that.

So Raven waited for the right moment. A moment she was brave enough to talk about it. It was frustrating how this right moment she was waiting for didn't come for weeks. The universe hated her. She had to endure months to finally find out about the truth and now weeks to talk about it? She knew what he felt, she knew what she felt and that was the biggest problem.

A familiar yell caught her attention as she saw Gar being thrown in the air.

"Beast Boy!"

He tried shifting to something to reduce the pain of landing hard but he was too weak for that. Gar crashed on the ground hard with a hand on his side, trying to stop the cut from bleeding.

Letting go of what she was asked to do, Raven quickly teleported herself on the ground where Gar was lying on the ground groaning in pain.

"Oh Azar…" she whispered as she kneeled down above his head. There was a big cut on his side which he was covering. Raven put her hand on his and tried to remove it so she would heal her but Gar didn't stopped her.

He groaned. "Don't Rae… it's not that important." His voice was weak, "Go help the others. I'm fine."

Raven frowned. "You're bleeding. If it doesn't stop soon it will get dangerous. You might even die."

And it scared her. She couldn't just leave him because of his stubbornness. She had to heal him before it caused him his death. Raven made a move with her hand and made a magical force bubble around them to prevent any attacks or interruptions.

Gar opened his eyes slightly.

"I heal quickly...you know that." He hissed for a second and continued, "Don't waste your power on me...Go!"

It all started with a similar moment didn't it? Him asking her not to heal him. It was months ago by now and Raven remembered all of his words. It all started that day, maybe she would finish it today.

She put his head on her thighs and looked at him upsidedown. Putting her hands on his cheeks, she started to caress them gently.

Stubborn or not, Raven couldn't leave him.

Gar smiled through his pain. Weakly he put his free hand on her and leaned to her touch.

"Raven…" he whispered.

And then it hit her. Raven's heart froze as she realized how stupid she was the whole time. Gar was in love with her!

It all made sense now. How could she be so blind over something so obvious? Anyone even without her powers would have figured it out already. It was right before her eyes. There was a reason Gar's feeling was more powerful than others, that she felt it stronger than others, why he tried to hide it from her, why such a powerful feeling never left her head...and her heart.

She just looked down at him. He was so lost into his world that he didn't feel she had already started the healing process; she knew it because he would have stopped her. It was painful and she tried hard not to make any sound so he wouldn't notice what she was doing.

"God It feels...it feels like heaven…" his words got her attention from his wound to his face. Even wounded, Gar was smiling and making her smile as well. It was what he excelled. He always managed to make her happy even though she didn't admit it.

She was done heading him yet she didn't let go and he didn't seem to be willing to leave the situation either. He looked so in peace and it was heartwarming.

She looked down at his lips. They were slightly apart and hot breath was coming out of his mouth. Raven bent down a bit, still staring at his lips. His smile never left them and Raven realized she couldn't stop herself either.

Still caressing his cheeks, Raven closed her eyes and kissed his lips upsidedown.

Azar she was kissing him! And how much it felt amazing! His lips were soft on hers and she felt him kissing her back shortly after. A smile appeared on her lips as she kept kissing him gently. That's what she wanted. Him with her. How much of a fool she was not to realize it sooner. It felt as if her lips were meant to be on his at that particular moment; and she figured she didn't mind if these moments become more often.

"Guys! Really?!" It was Roy, "in the middle of a battle?

Neither of them cared as they kept kissing. A battle, a mission or even an apocalypse, none of them could take away this moment from her. She had waited long for this to finally happen.

They broke the kiss slowly. She didn't open her eyes and knew Gar didn't either. She could feel his breaths on her face and his hand on hers. He was rubbing his tomb on her hand. She heard him chuckle.

"You knew it all the time, didn't you?"

Love...

For that moment, that was all he was feeling. She smiled.

"Well, you're always easy to read Gar."

@bbraeweek21

#bbrae #beast boy #rachel roth #garfield logan #raven #gar logan #raven roth #well it is a bit late but better late than never #hope you guys enjoyed it #bbraeweek2021 #day one

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imjustheretoseetheprivateblogs · 3 years

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BBRAEWEEK 2021 July 26th – Poolside

Getting a pool on top of Titans Tower was honestly not the Sisyphean task Cyborg had expected it to be.

Finding a space in the Justice League and Titans’ schedule when everyone would be free to come to said pool’s christening party? That was an event the Catholic Church would probably erase to make sure their Easter Calendar would fall on the proper time table.

But however they managed it, Cyborg thought, as he flipped another burger onto the grill, the fact that all charter members of both teams were able to attend was a helluva turn out.

Especially considering the party pooper who was standing beneath the griller’s sun umbrella in full bat-regalia, probably trying not to die from heat stroke.

“I got some plastic forks just for you,” Cyborg said.

“It’s not funny anymore,” Batman said, watching as Bart tried and failed to dunk Kiran under the water. The young speedster instead found himself forced underwater by a sneak attack from Donna.

“It’s funny as until you use your hands to eat a burger.”

Batman grunted, shifting out of the grill’s smoke when the wind changed. Note to self, Cyborg thought, invent smoke inhibiting device for grill.

“I hope I don’t have to tell you that pools require maintenance. And showers afterwards.”

“The pool contains a bacteria-eating enzyme that’s safe for contact with the skin,” Said Cyborg, throwing some asparagus on the grill, “Also means that teammates who breathe water don’t have to worry about burning their nose hairs off.”

“That explains why Arthur has just been sitting on the bottom,” Batman said, “but then again, he’s mentioned sleeping in the bathtub more than once, so I thought it was just something he did.”

Cyborg had to laugh at that.

“It also dies on contact with saline. So it’s also environmentally friendly.”

“Did you see Tim put on sunscreen?” Batman said, giving no sign he’d heard the last part (a shame, thought Cyborg, I’d trust him with the patent).

“I think so,” Cyborg replied, “Would you hand me that corn?”

“What about Dick?” Batman asked, handing Cyborg two ears as Superman landed, carrying a king-sized cooler.

“If he’s not wearing sunscreen, he should at least be wearing a hat.”

“Wearing a hat? Man, you’re wearing a cape in July! At the pool!”

“You’re wearing a hat.”

“It’s a chef’s hat. It’s called loosening up. Ever thought of it?”

Batman’s frown deepened, but Cyborg did notice how he wasn’t corrected.

“By the way,” he said, ignoring the Dark Knight’s grimace, “have you seen Gar? He said he had to go get a pool noodle.”

“That was the last time I saw him,” Batman replied, “Raven too.”

Cyborg looked up from the grill.

“Raven’s gone?”

Batman pointed to a lawn chair beneath three beach umbrellas, a book sitting where a girl had once been.

“She was reading Clive Barker’s Imajica when I arrived.”

“Maybe she finished the book,” Cyborg said with a shrug of his cybernetic shoulders.

“That book has 824 pages if it’s a first edition. It would take 21 hours and 39 minutes to finish that book if she read 250 words per minute.”

A scream drew their attention to the pool, only for the tension to drain when it turned out to be just a splash fight between Diana and Billy.

“I can do a search of the tower, if you can give me security clearance and…”

“Found her.”

Walking out of the rooftop entrance, Raven had returned, seemingly unharmed. She made her way past Wally and Hal who were unboxing Super Soakers (no doubt to begin an all-out water war) and sat back down in her shaded chair.

“Any idea where she’s been?” Batman asked.

“Probably in the mystic realm of “not our business,” Cyborg said, flipping a burger onto a bun and handing it to Batman.

“Here. Go see if she wants a bite. She hasn’t…”

Cyborg trailed off before squinting towards the direction where Raven had come.

“What is it?” Batman asked.

“I’ve got a database that says leopard geckos aren’t native to North America. Also, they’re not primarily green and don’t wear Kat Von D Everlasting black Liquid Lipstick. Would you mind bringing that to me?”

With speed and agility only found in most Olympic hurdlers, the Dark Knight had crossed the roof and snatched the lizard from its resting place, returning to his place by the grill.

“I assume that this is actually Beast Boy?” said Batman, holding the gecko by its mid-section.

“Yup.”

The tiny lizard’s form changed, going from reptile to human in the time it took to blink. And he was indeed wearing smeared black lipstick.

“Hey guys,” Beast Boy said, sheepishly, “couldn’t find the pool noodle. Think Star would mind if I used her inner tube?”

“Bats, would you mind giving us some privacy? Young people talk.”

Batman shrugged and headed for the row of chairs where Raven was sitting. Cyborg turned back to Beast Boy, a smirk at the corner of his mouth.

“So, what’s with the make up?”

Beast Boy pointed to his mouth.

“Oh! This! This is just from a black licorice lollipop!”

Beast Boy licked his lips, trying to hide the grimace from the taste of what obviously wasn’t black licorice lollipop.

“Mmmm. Good.”

“Really?” Cyborg said, “because I could swear that I’ve seen Rae wear that exact shade of lipstick. In fact, I think she’s wearing it right now.”

“EVERYONE IN THE POOL!!!!”

With bounds worthy of a gazelle, Beast Boy charged towards the water, leaping gracelessly into the pool.

Cyborg smiled and shook his head before returning to the grill. Maybe he’d throw an extra vegan kabob on for BB to make up for the ribbing.

#My Writing #bbraeweek21 #BBRAE #DC #DC comics #Teen Titans #Teen Titans Go #Batman #Justice League #BBRAE Week #bbrae week 2021 #This is so late #enjoy

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bigskydreaming · 3 years

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Since you mentioned the constant plot lines of Dick subjected to mind fuckery, does Dick ever think about "Am I really in control right now" while doing something normal like making breakfast. Is he questioning constantly if he actually made that choice for himself? *calls up trusted telepaths and mystics to safeguard Dick's mind forever and ever*

Absolutely. I headcanon that Dick’s built up something of an obsessive habit about constantly looking for new meditative techniques, brain tricks and methods of trying to train his mind to be more resistant to external intrusion/manipulation, like in his downtime his brain is always busy working on that never-ending puzzle of trying to constantly figure out new ways of how to tell that he’s not himself or he’s being influenced by someone or something else. So he’s never reliant on stagnated or outdated ideas or techniques or becoming complacement that he’s alone in his head.

Its a very specific, very weird kind of hyper-vigilance, and it is absolutely not healthy but it is what it is and he doesn’t see any alternative to it. He just doesn’t know how to feel safe and confident in the idea that his mind is impregnable, his will is his own and no one is out to manipulate his thoughts....because its too often been proven that when it comes to him, none of these things are true. It sucks, but no matter how often Dick is perceived as an optimist by others, he’s a realist as much as he can be, and he feels better, more in control, more empowered by being vigilant and proactive about safeguarding and double-checking his thoughts. Because he knows from experience how much greater a toll it takes on him in the aftermath of being taken over or manipulated, when he ends up secondguessing everything he did under someone else’s control and whether or not he could have seen it coming or prevented it.

He and Lilith have a standing coffee date every other week to meet up for drinks and gossip about the other Titans and the cape community, but the unspoken understanding is that while they’re there Lilith runs a scan of his thoughts searching for any sign that there’s someone else’s fingerprints somewhere in there. Like everything else about this, its a messy kind of compromise that they both have considerably mixed feelings about. Dick is someone who likes his secrets, he’s taken the idea that knowledge is power to heart over the course of his life and feels that too much knowledge of him gives people too much power over him.....but he also feels too much guilt over things he’s done while controlled by others and too much fear for what others might use him to do in the future and he’s past the point where he’s willing to let his pride or feelings of vulnerability get in the way of making sure he’s not being used to hurt people he loves again. Its not like people hijacking his brain don’t get access to all his secrets that way anyway, so he’d rather have them in the hands of someone he trusts, like one of his oldest friends, than in the hands of his enemies.

But at the same time, the consequence of this intimate knowledge, of Lilith knowing him so well, so much better than he’s ever truly comfortable with is there’s a ceiling to how close they’re ever able to be as friends. Like its this weird thing where they’re close enough that Dick trusts her with the deepest darkest corners of his head, but that very knowledge of his mind is the reason that at the same time, he can’t quite relax around her ever, with them both being hyper aware of this but there’s not really a fix for it, at least that they’ve found. Dick just doesn’t know how to be so exposed without feeling judged or about to be judged, and he’s not about to ask Lil to be his therapist when he’s already asking so much of her being his secret-keeper and safeguard making sure he’s himself and not a risk to others.

Lilith, for her part, doesn’t like anything about this but doesn’t have any other ideas to offer. She knows Dick’s approach to all this is far from healthy but she also knows why it exists and why it is what it is, and she can’t exactly say that his fears are unfounded or that the possibility of him being hijacked and used against his teammates and family isn’t a very real threat, as its been in the past. And she knows exactly how much it pains Dick to let himself be so exposed in front of her for the sake of keeping others safe, and is glad to be someone he can trust for that, as well as being at least glad that she can offer him some peace of mind and reassurance, even if it feels too much like a stopgap and band-aid rather than any real kind of solution.

But at the same time, this sorta thing requires they both be bluntly honest with each other and there are no real illusions between them, so she doesn’t bother trying to hide that a part of her resents her friend putting this on her, hates the fact that the only reason she is trusted to know him so much better than anyone else is because of necessity. And she really hates knowing the things that he doesn’t share with anyone else and really needs to be sharing or asking for help with or working on in therapy, because she’s hyper-aware of how vulnerable he is to feeling judged and doesn’t want to break this tenuous arrangement by doing exactly that. The downside of being a telepath with someone’s mind wide open before you is no matter how much their thoughts and actions frustrate you, you can’t help but be 100% aware of why they’re like that and just what exactly goes into making them so resistant to change or help.

And that’s what makes up her part of what keeps their friendship brittle and sharp-edged, even despite it being very real and the source of why she does this for him and why he trusts her to do it at all, even with necessity factored in......there’s distance from her side of the equation just like he has his own, because there’s too much obligation and duty and responsibility and caution bound up in the intimate knowledge between them for them to ever fully feel like the friends they SHOULD be and even WANT to be......and so its weird because she knows things about Dick that nobody else ever will, he shares things with her that he won’t with anyone else, and yet despite that and even because of that they’ll never actually be as close to each other as they are with Donna, Roy, Wally, Garth and others.

And they’re both keenly aware of that and are uncomfortable with it because its not what friendship is supposed to be like, its not what they want it to be like, they just don’t know how to make it any other way, all things considered.

But again, even still, there is the fact that there is friendship between them and its real, and its why Lilith keeps showing up even despite her resentments and why Dick keeps letting her in his mind despite how intensely he hates baring everything for someone else.

Lil does it because she knows at the end of the day, Dick only asks because he’s scared, because he doesn’t feel safe and secure in his own mind without her help, and that’s something everyone deserves, especially a friend she values and respects as much as she does Dick.

And Dick only asks because he recognizes and accepts that as much as he hates it, the truth is he flat out doesn’t trust himself to be sure he’s in control at all times, which leaves his only option being to trust someone else, with that requiring that he actually TRUST them, fully and completely. And at the end of the day, he does trust Lilith to not just be able to help keep his mind secure but to WANT to, to be invested in it because she’s his friend and she cares about him.

Its fucked up and messy and complicated and sharp-edged and painful, but at least it works, so they make the most of it, focus on the positives as much as they can, and share another scone as they gossip about Gar’s latest crush.

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wordsfromthesol · 4 years

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Not So Secret Girlfriend

Author: @wordsfromthesol Pairing: Wally West x Reader Warnings: Explosions, injuries, still happy tho Word Count: 713 A/N: I didn’t know if you wanted Wally West or Barry Allen…but I chose Wally. Also I kinda forgot about the batsis part, hope you still like it! May do another later with Batsis because I feel like Dick’s reaction would be completely different...anywhooooo

“You planning to go to the Tower anytime today?” You questioned as you flopped onto the couch next to Wally.

“What? Trying to get rid of me?” Wally innocently slapped his chest as a smirk formed on his lips.

“Well you haven’t been there in like 4 days. Won’t they get suspicious?”

“Nah, Dick just pretends to know –” Wally began as he contemplated your words. “Alright fine. I’ll go to the stupid Tower.” His face turned sour as his lower lip puffed out.

“You poor thing.” You feigned sympathy before turning your attention back to the tv.

“If I have to go there…then you have to come here.” A devious smile formed on his lips as he pulled you onto his lap.

Wally stumbled around the Tower, waiting for something entertaining to happen.

“Wally!” Dick’s voice echoed through the hall as he raced to catch up with his friend. “Dude, where have you been?”

“I…uh…was helping Uncle Barry.”

“Anything I should know about?” Dick looked at him skeptically.

“Nah, just dealing with the twins.” Wally relaxed as he grew more comfortable with the fabricated story.

“Uh huh, well Tim’s been investigating some arms dealer. We are going to check it out in a bit.” Dick wasn’t completely convinced, but let his friend keep whatever secret.

“Finally, something to do! I’m so in!”

“I figured…” Dick chuckled to himself. “Be ready in 5.” Wally ignored his request and immediately changed into his costume.

“So where we going?” Wally bounced up and down with anticipation.

“Alright fine. But remember we are only doing recon. Donna and I will join you in a few.” Wally zipped off, leaving only the wind in his wake, It only took him a few minutes to get bored watching the warehouse.

“Flash, you still at the warehouse?” Dick’s voice suddenly came over the comm.

“Unfortunately…” Wally mumbled back.

“Well we just got notifications of an explosion at Columbus Circle –” Wally didn’t hear the rest of Dick’s instructions. That was near your apartment. Too close to your apartment.

He careened around the uninjured, keeping an eye out for your distinctive features. He breathed a sigh of relief as he cleared more and more people from the debris, not seeing your form anywhere in sight. Nightwing and Wonder Girl had shown up shortly after he arrived, helping those to safety. The focused on those down in the subway, while Wally tended to those above ground.

“We got an unconscious girl incoming.” Wally heard Dick say over the comm. “Leg is pretty banged up.”

“No!” Wally screamed as he saw your Y/H/C cascading down Nightwing’s arms. Wally had taken you from his grasp in mere seconds, “Y/N. Sweetheart. Your going to be okay.” His hand brushed the hair from your face as he pressed a gentle kiss to your forehead. Before any of his teammate’s could react, they were left in a yellow haze.

“He did just kiss that girl…right?” Wonder girl spoke up as Nightwing stood with his jaw hanging. Nightwing just nodded his head in response. He shook himself loose from the trance and faced the task at hand.

Wally paced back and forth in your hospital room. You had woken up a few minutes ago, and according to the doctor your fibula was broken in two places and you had a concussion. That information didn’t seem to pacify the mind of your boyfriend. And to make matters worse, Dick Grayson soon opened the door.

“So…you’re Y/N?”

“Uh...yeah.” You weren’t quite sure what to say.

“Yes she knows who you are, yes she knows who I am. We can fight later Grayson!” Wally blurted out, almost incoherently fast. Dick quickly threw his hands up in defense.

“No need. Just nice to finally meet the person who has been stealing my best friend.”

“You knew?” Wally’s eyes shot towards him.

“Well, I knew you were hiding something. Figured you’d tell me when you were ready. Definitely wasn’t expecting you to kiss an unconscious girl though.”

“Yeah…I was worried. Kinda forgot I was in vigilante mode for a minute.”

“Eh, no one noticed. Except Donna…she has questions.”

Wally groaned and turned towards you, only to find you asleep once again. “Later then.” He whispered towards Dick without taking his eyes off of you.

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mischiefandspirits · 3 years

Text

Family Weekend

The Teen Titans headed out for a weekend with their families. Wonder Girl was running a mission with her Amazon sisters. Impulse had planned out some fun with her parents and twin brother. Virus left for their homeworld. Nightstar spent time with her mothers.

Robin, having left Gotham over a year earlier and not looked back, assumed he'd spend the weekend alone in Titans Tower. Then Red X broke in.

Part of Batkid and Robin

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

Robin stared down at his tea with a frown, tapping his fingers against the mug randomly. A small buzz came near and he sighed. “Don’t try it, Virus.” When the buzz kept coming, he glared behind him at the blue Roomba slowly making its way towards him.

It paused, then sighed. Electric blue energy pulled out of the robot vacuum, leaving the black device to roll off on its own. The energy collected into a blue humanoid form with geometric white patterns across them. The patterns on their face formed into a pout as they leaned against the kitchen counter. “How did Robin know?”

He just smirked and turned away.

“Come on!” the Gexin whined and threw themself over Robin’s lap, making the barstool rock slightly. “Robin has to tell Virus how Robin knew Virus was the tiny floor robot. Please!”

“The thing was blue,” Nightstar called from the couch, not looking up from her book.

“Nightstar and Robin have not seen the tiny floor robot before. The tiny floor robot could have always been blue.”

“There’s also the fact Roombas are banned from the tower,” Robin pointed out, patting Virus’s back. “So it had to be some kind of prank.”

“Speaking of, why is there a Roomba in the tower?” Nightstar asked, looking up with a glare and Virus shifted into their amorphous form to hide behind Robin.

“The tiny floor robot is Impulse’s,” they said quickly. “Virus just borrowed the tiny floor robot.”

“Wow, hey, way to snitch!” Impulse huffed, zipping up next to Robin. “And for your information, it’s not a Roomba. Roomba’s are made by iRobot. Uncle Arsenal made this one. Its name is Voobo.”

Robin gave her a look. “Get rid of it before Wonder Girl gets back or its name will be Crushed.”

“Come on, Rob. Can’t it stay?” she asked, batting her eyes.

He was unmoved. “Remember last time?”

“It was a joke! Come on, no one even got hurt. I thought you’d like it. Having Dags around would have kept us on our toes. You love that ‘Constant vigilance!’ stuff.”

“You took one of Wonder Girl’s daggers,” Nightstar said.

“Well, yeah. I wasn’t going to strap one of our kitchen knives to the thing,” Impulse scoffed. “I cook with those, unlike some people.”

“No Roombas -- or Roomba-like devices -- in the tower,” Robin declared.

Impulse booed him and Virus poked part of themself out from behind him so he could see their face patterns making it appear they were sticking their tongue out.

“Hey, you want it to get crushed, be my guest.”

“Shouldn’t you two be packing?” Nightstar asked.

“Nightstar is one to talk,” Virus huffed.

“All my stuff was packed up last night because I’m capable of thinking ahead.”

“Virus only has a few files that Virus needs to transfer into roving storage,” the Gexin hummed, leaning against Robin’s back. “The transfer will only take a minute or two so the transfer can wait until Virus is about to leave.”

“And I’m a speedster. People would get suspicious if I wasn’t late,” Impulse shrugged and scooped up the knockoff Roomba.

“Well, Flash was supposed to be here ten minutes ago so you should probably get packed,” Robin pointed out.

Her eyes widened and she glanced down at her phone. She gave a curse and darted out of the room.

Virus jumped over the counter and grabbed a banana. As they absorbed it, they asked, “When is Nightstar going to leave?”

She shrugged. “Ommi’s waiting for me at a diner nearby since I was waiting for Flash to get here so we could all say our goodbyes together and she’s still tracking down exactly where Troia, Ilia, and Wonder Girl are. We’re going to go raid whatever mission they’re on before Mom gets back from Tamaran tonight.”

“Okay. Then Virus will go do the transfer so Virus is ready to go as soon as Impulse leaves.”

Nightstar shrugged and went back to her book. Though, as soon as they were gone, she tossed it aside and turned her focus on Robin. “You know, I can cancel. Ommi won’t mind messing with Donna, Cassie, and Yara on her own.”

“Kory will be upset if you miss Family Weekend,” Robin pointed out, turning back to his tea.

“She hasn’t been planetside for two weeks. I’m sure Ommi, Uncle Roy, and Uncle Biz will be happy to keep her distracted. Not like we get up to much even when I am there. I’ll just call her later.”

“There’s no reason for you to stay. Go have fun annoying Yara with Artemis,” he sighed.

“If you’re going to spend the whole time brooding all alone again then there’s plenty of reason to stay.”

“You’re the queen of brooding,” Robin chuckled halfheartedly.

“Which means I know how much brooding alone sucks,” she said, getting up and moving to stand over him. “I’ll stay and we can brood together.”

He sighed again and set the mug on the counter. He met her eyes. “I’m fine, Mandy.”

“Dick -”

“Seriously. I’m just going to catch up on some work. I could use the quiet and you deserve some time with your moms. You said Kory’s been getting better.”

“Fine, but -”

“Yara’s on a mission in the Amazon Basin, Irey’s got all sorts of plans set up with her parents and Jai, and Galvio’s going to be off-world. None of them need to be popping in or coming back early just because you think I can’t be alone for a couple of days.” When she opened her mouth, he added, “And neither do any of the other Titans. They’re all working hard to cover for us so we can have this break and don’t need to add babysitting me on top of that.”

She scowled and sat down on the stool next to his. “It’s not that I think you can’t be alone, it’s just that I think you shouldn’t be alone.”

“Thanks.”

“You know what I meant,” she growled, pushing his chest hard enough to make his barstool tip backward.

He hooked his food around hers and righted the stool before it could fall. “I’ll be alright. A little alone time is good once in a while.”

Impulse ran through the room, stopping only long enough to say, “Dad’s here!” before she was gone again.

Nightstar tisked and stood up. “You’re sure?”

He nodded and she turned away. “Fine, but I’ll have my T-Comm on me if you need anything.”

He didn’t respond.

She grabbed her book as Flash ran in.

“Hey kids,” he said, glancing at the two. “Where are the others?”

“Wonder Girl’s already gone, Virus is preparing to leave, and Impulse is packing,” Robin answered.

“Course she is,” the man chuckled. “I’d say she gets it from me, but Uncle Barry was the exact same way so maybe it’s the Speed Force.”

“I think you guys just like to use that as an excuse to be lazy,” Nightstar said as she left.

“I’m sure Artemis would agree,” Wally chuckled. He turned to Robin and the boy stiffened.

Not visibly enough that Flash would notice, but visible enough that…

Robin turned away to grab his tea.

“So, you heading to Goth-”

“No.”

The man shot over to sit on the stool Nightstar had been using. “One of these days I’m going to get you to tell me how exactly you’re related to the Bats.”

“Good luck with that,” he scoffed. He looked up at the man. “You work with three of them. Four when Flamebird’s having a good day. Why not just ask them?”

Shut up. You don’t care. They don’t care so you don’t care.

Flash snorted. “Right. Like getting info out of a Bat isn’t impossible. If I ask Signal, he just shakes his head and says it’s not his place. Orphan just looks sad when you get brought up and won’t talk for a while. Flamebird won’t talk to me, to begin with, so he’s out. His old man hasn’t been much better since Batkid died -- not that I blame him -- and he only got worse when that new thief showed up in Gotham a few months ago so there’s no chance of him saying anything.”

They don’t care.

“If it’s so impossible, then why do you keep bugging me.”

“Well, you’re not really a Bat, right?”

Robin’s fingers tightened around the mug. “No, I’m not.”

“There you go then.”

He glared down at the tea.

Distract.

“What were you saying about a thief? Catwoman got a rival?”

Flash shrugged. “It’s Gotham stuff so we don’t hear much, but I have heard the new guy’s been giving her a run for her money. It’s not only that though. He’s apparently claimed a chunk of the city as his own and screws with anyone that messes around in his territory without his permission. Especially if they involve kids.”

Robin hummed, not paying attention.

Cass doesn’t care. She’s just sad because I remind her of Jay.

“I think he’s called Red -”

“Daddy!” Impulse shrieked as she came streaking through the room to throw herself at Flash, who was already on his feet with his arms outstretched to catch her and pull her into a hug.

Virus came skipping in after her at a much slower pace, a duffle bag in his arms. Nightstar was a few steps behind wearing her battle armor with a rucksack hanging from one shoulder.

“There’s my light! You ready to go?”

“Yup! Just got to say bye to the others,” she said, squeezing him. She let go and passed the bag Virus was carrying to her father before pulling the Gexin into a hug. “Bye, Vi!”

“Goodbye, Impulse! Tell Turtle Virus says hello.”

“I will. Tell Galv-11 I say hi! Twin solidarity!” She pulled away to hug Nightstar. “Have fun with your moms!”

“Yeah, yeah.” She gave Impulse’s back two pats before pushing her away.

The redhead just smiled at her before throwing herself at Robin, a move that would have knocked him off the stool and spilled his tea if he hadn’t seen it coming and braced himself. “Bye, Rob! See you Monday!”

“See you, Pulse.”

She pressed a quick -- for non-speedsters -- kiss to his cheek before pulling away. She gave the group a wave as she took her dad’s hand then the two were gone.

“Well, I’m off,” Nightstar said, adjusting the pack and glancing at her remaining teammates. Her gaze lingered on Robin. “Unless someone’s changed their mind.”

“Bye, Star,” Robin said pointedly.

She nodded to him, then Virus.

“Goodbye, Nightstar. Virus has completed the transfer so Virus will be leaving too.”

“Bye Virus.

They waved then dove into the phone outlet that connected to the satellites on the roof.

“Don’t cause Yara too much of a hassle. You do have to work together when you both get back.”

“Yeah, yeah. We all know she loves it,” Nightstar said, waving him off as she turned to leave. “Talk to you later, Dick.”

“Later, Mandy.”

He waited a few moments after the door shut behind her before getting up to go to the couch, tea still in hand. He sat down and grabbed the tablet he’d left on the coffee table. A few clicks had the security feeds up. The speedsters were long gone, Virus was just finishing the transfer over to the Justice League’s long-range satellites that would let him system hop back to his homeworld, and Nightstar was making her way out. He watched her progress until she was completely out of range before tossing the tablet to the side and slumping back against the couch.

He took a sip of his tea and scowled. He set it on the table and buried his face into his hands.

Over a year and a half away from Gotham and he still couldn’t figure out how Alfred made a cup of tea taste like anything other than gross leaf water.

He didn’t know why he still bothered. He’d never liked tea all that much, even when Alfred made it.

It was just… stupid Family Weekend. He hated it. Hated being alone. Hated seeing the others all disappear to spend time with their families. All it did was remind him of everything he’d lost.

Everyone he’d lost.

Or never had to begin with.

He wouldn’t begrudge any of his friends their family time, though, and he certainly wasn’t going to make anyone stay behind with him just because he was a little lonely, even if that meant telling Nightstar a few white lies.

He just wished he had somewhere to disappear off to as well.

He forced himself upright and turned on the tv. He tried to lose himself in a horror movie as he fought down memories of Barbara’s hacking lessons, memories of pranks he’d played on the others with Cassandra, memories of patrolling with Damian, memories of Duke helping him with his English homework, memories of early morning coffee and cereal runs with Tim, memories of nail painting gossip sessions with Stephanie, memories of Jay’s… memories of Jason.

He considered checking in with the Titans East, maybe even visiting, but Nightstar definitely would have considered he’d try that and told Speedy to let her know if he contacted them. Considering the friendly rivalry they had going on after defeating the Master of Games, she’d definitely sell him out in a heartbeat.

Patrolling was also out since Irey would still be monitoring the Teen Titans' social media so she’d know instantly if he left the tower, something he wasn’t supposed to do since they were all supposed to take Family Weekend off, even if he stayed in town.

Normally he’d bury himself in work, but he didn’t actually have any open cases right now.

One good thing about Gotham’s crime rate, you never had to worry about not having an open case.

Shut up!

Robin was so distracted trying to distract himself from his intrusive memories, he almost didn’t notice when the air in the room shifted slightly about an hour after Nightstar left. His hand subtly moved to his utility belt, but he let it drop after a second.

He glared to the side as something invisible settled next to him on the couch. “What are you doing here?”

Red X faded into view with a shrug. “The better question is what are you doing here, kid? I was told you lot were clearing out for your little Family Weekend thing.”

“You were told?”

“Alright, so I might have been eavesdropping on Wonder Babe and Zippy.”

“What are you after?” Robin growled. He stood up and drew his staff as he went over everything in the tower and tried to figure out what Red X would consider worth stealing.

“Calm down,” Red X said, leaning back and putting his feet up on the coffee table. “I just ticked someone off and need a place to lie low for a few days. Didn’t plan to take anything.”

“Right,” Robin said sarcastically. “You didn’t plan to take anything.”

Red X chuckled and held up his hands. “Alright, you caught me. Tell you what. You let me stay and I’ll keep my hands to myself from now until Monday.”

“And return what you’ve already grabbed on your way here?”

It was only thanks to his experience with masks that hid the eyes that the hero could tell Red X was rolling his as he pulled a handful of Robin’s feathers and one of his spare expandable bo staffs from the suit’s hidden pockets. He tossed them onto the table, saying, “You really need to learn how to lighten up, kid.”

Robin lowered his weapon, but didn’t put it away. “Who’d you tick off? And how?”

Red X shrugged and relaxed back onto the couch, grabbing the remote. “The old man. One of the others accidentally got hurt during my last score so now the lot of them are out for blood. They found my place in Jump so it was either skip town until I can get a new place or lay low. And I’m pretty sure skipping town is what they want me to do so here I am. Doubt they’ll think to look for me here.”

“Why would they want you to skip town?” Robin asked as he took in the new information. He’d never realized Red X was part of a team. Who was the old man?

“Uh, because then I’ll have to go back home and that’s their turf,” he said slowly, like it was obvious.

“Where are you from?”

Red X paused in his channel surfing and looked up at him. “You don’t know?”

Robin glared at him.

“No, seriously, you don’t know who I am?”

“I thought I made that clear the first time we met.”

“Yeah, the first time, but…” Red X set down the remote and leaned closer. “Kid, when was the last time you talked to your family?”

That was the final straw.

Robin swung his staff at the thief, who flipped out of the way. Through clenched teeth, he said, “I think the fact I’m here during Family Weekend makes it pretty obvious I don’t exactly have a family to talk to.”

Red X struck out with one of his x’s trying to wrench the staff from Robin’s hands. “Shut up, kid. You can play whatever lost bird act you want for the rest of the world, but we both know you’re one of Batman’s toy soldiers.”

The hero snarled and aimed for the thief's head, but he managed to grab it and disarm him before it made contact. “I’m not a Bat just because I trained with them for a time.”

“Sure, kid.”

“I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention, but I’ve been a hero outside of Gotham longer than I was one there.”

“Oh, I noticed,” Red X said lowly, tossing the staff aside. “What that idiot was thinking letting Flamebird send you all the way across the country right after Batkid got blown up, I’ll never know.”

Robin flinched back at the accusation before his fists clenched at his sides. “Then you’ll be happy to know no one sent me here. It’s just where I ended up when Batman decided he didn’t want to work with me anymore and tossed me out.”

Red X froze and the hero could feel the thief studying him. When he spoke, there was something sharp and venomous in his tone. “He kicked you out.”

“He kicked me off the team, yeah,” Robin said. “He didn’t want me on the team anymore so I found a new one. Like I said, I’m not a Bat. Why does this even matter?”

“He kicked you out,” Red X repeated. Then he was turning on his heel and marching out.

“Where are you going?”

“Forget hiding out. I’m going to go kill Batman. A nice x to the grapple line will solve all our problems.”

Before Robin could move, Red X teleported away.

“Great,” he growled, running his hand through his hair. He grabbed his tablet and ran to the door. As he rode the elevator down to the garage, he checked the security, running the cameras through all the frequency settings. All that came up were two blips, Red X’s entrance and exit.

As he ran up to his R-Cycle, he considered what to do. He couldn’t just do nothing about an honest death threat (and he knew Red X was serious, even he didn’t understand why), but Batman had made it clear he didn’t want Robin getting involved in Gotham. Maybe if he could get to Red X before he left town…

Well, he’d have to hope he could. If not, he’d have to bribe Dove into passing along the message to Oracle or Batgirl the next time she checked in with the Birds of Prey so they could warn Batman. After that, the thief would be completely out of his hands.

He took his R-Cycle out, but only went as far as the nearest highrise before taking to the rooftops. It wasn’t as effective a tactic in the daylight, but it would still limit the amount he was seen so, hopefully, Irey wouldn’t notice he was out.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much he could do. He’d been trying to locate Red X’s hideout since the thief had appeared, but thanks to the invisibility and teleportation abilities granted by the suit as well as the thief’s own skills and the fact Robin still didn’t know what he looked like under the mask, it was slow going. He’d managed to narrow it down to a certain neighborhood after months of work, but patrolling the area didn’t turn anything up so he couldn’t be sure if Red X was there or if he’d already left.

After two hours with no sign of the thief, he decided to head back in. As he rode back up the elevator, he set up a program to track anyone leaving town for Gotham by train or air and double-checked the algorithm he and Virus had set up to search for Red X on traffic cameras. Neither was likely to turn anything up since Red X was too cautious and Oracle was sure to set up her own once the case was handed over to the Bats, but he had to do something in the meantime.

And if it showed them he knew what he was doing…

Of course, none of that mattered when he walked into the main room of the tower to call Dove and found Red X relaxing on the couch.

“Were you seriously lying about killing Batman?” Robin growled. His anger was less about the thief lying and more because he’d fallen for it, but he was still pretty annoyed all the same.

“Nah. I just realized that you being here also means the others didn’t do anything about the old man kicking you out, and wiping out Gotham’s Bat infestation is going to actually take a bit of planning,” Red X said. That same acidic anger tainted his words, but now it was wrapped in a thin veil of restraint. He could see that same fragilely controlled anger in the thief’s body as he came closer, hidden almost perfectly under his relaxed ruse.

“You really think I’m going to just sit back and let you stay here while you’re plotting murder?” Robin said, stepping in front of the thief and crossing his arms.

“Calm down, kid. I’m not going to do any planning here,” he snorted, tilting his head to see more of the tv around the hero.

“That’s not the point.”

“If you’re worried about being an accomplice, then you’ll be happy to hear you couldn’t stop me if you tried.”

Robin pulled out his staff and Red X went stiff.

“Kid, you do not want to fight me right now. Just sit down and watch the movie.”

“Why?” Robin asked, slipping into a fighting stance. “Why are you even going after the Bats?”

“He kicked you out,” Red X growled, the sound of his control cracking slipping in his voice.

“So?”

Suddenly the thief was on his feet and grabbing the front of Robin’s suit.

The hero tried to strike him with his staff, but he deflected the blow and pulled him in until they were nose-to-helmet.

“He kicked you out! He fucking kicked you out! Not even three months after he put a kid in the ground, you were on the other side of the country fighting aliens! Alone!”

“I was-”

“And where are the others? Have you even talked to them? Have they tried to talk to you? They have to know where you are, even if Oracle wasn’t as semi-omniscient as she is! You and your clubhouse are all over the news! Has she or Orphan reached out? Signal? Batgirl? Hell, Tim might be an ass, but I thought he’d at least check-in to make sure you didn’t get killed.”

Robin’s breath caught in his throat and he choked out, “How -”

“Where the fuck was Damian in all this? Did he seriously not say shit about Bruce tossing his fucking kid out?”

Despite his best efforts, he was shaking. He wasn’t sure if it was because Red X somehow knew who the Bats were or because everything he had been burying and reburying ever since he left Gotham was being unearthed and shoved in his face even worse than it normally was during Family Weekend, but he couldn’t breathe.

“You weren’t even at the funeral!”

Robin flinched so hard he’d jerked himself free off Red X’s grip and toppled backward. He slammed his eyes shut against the sting of tears and ducked his head as he took in ragged breaths.

That was not the Bats’ fault. That was all him, and the guilt would always weigh on him.

He’d been selfish, so lost in his own problems that he’d completely forgotten Jason’s funeral. He only even realized he missed it when he spotted the pictures in the news and read about it in the gossip columns. His absence had been noticed, of course. Bruce and Damian told everyone he was sick since it had been before he’d been gone long enough for them to need the boarding school lie, but some didn’t believe it. Dick had read every horrible word there’d been to read.

He deserved it.

As soon as he’d realized his mistake, he’d bought some flowers and spent hours in the cemetery apologizing over and over again, but he knew it’d never make up for what he’d done.

“Don’t you get it? They already let one kid run off and stupidly get himself killed and then they just -”

Robin was on top of Red X in a second, pinning him against the couch. “Don’t you ever talk about Batkid like that! He… What happened to him… You don’t get to talk about him!”

It was meant to come out a snarl, but the tears he was fighting back rang out clearly.

He expected another quip, or for Red X to at least try to fight, but he just stared up at Robin as he went limp in the pin. “Kid…”

“How do you know who they are?” the hero snapped, wanting to focus on something -- anything -- else.

“I’m so sorry. If I’d known they hadn’t told you…” the thief started softly. “I thought…”

“Thought what?”

They just stared at each other for a moment, then Red X raised his hands.

The hero watched for any signs of an attack, but the thief just brought his hands to the helmet. He hit the release and pulled the helmet off.

Robin’s breath caught in his throat for the second time.

Under the helmet was a domino mask, light grey with black outlining the white lenses. Even still, Robin had seen the boy behind the mask in a domino too many times to not recognize him.

He was older, his hair a bit longer and choppier. He had a few new scars and his hair was a white color in the front that was just a little too bright to be natural. It was him though.

“Jay?”

Jason gave a familiar grin as he let the helmet fall to the floor. “Hey, Dickie.”

Robin threw himself off the older boy, scrambling to his feet and pointing his staff at him. “No. Jason’s gone. Dead. I don’t know who you are or why you look like that, but…” Robin was losing the fight against his tears.

“Red Bird,” Jason said softly. He reached out for Robin and the hero swatted his hand away.

“Don’t! You’re-He’s dead! You can’t be him!” Unless… Jason had to be dead. It couldn’t have been a test.

A test he must have failed. That’s why Bruce…

“No. He has to be dead,” Robin said, shaking his head and taking a step back. “He-You wouldn’t have lied to me about that. Not… Not Jason. He wouldn’t.”

“Oh, Dickie.” Jason came forward, ducking under Robin’s strike to pull him into a hug. “It wasn’t a lie, I promise. I did die. I just… got better.”

“Got better?” Robin sniffed and dropped his arms, not returning the hug or pushing away from it as tears filled his eyes and slipped past the mask. “How do you get better from being dead?”

“Heck if I know,” Jason sighed and eased the mask off Dick’s face. As he gently brushed the tears away, he explained, “I just woke up inside my coffin months later. I didn’t… I wasn’t all there so I ended up just stumbling around Gotham for a few weeks until I got brought to a hospital. The step-mom from hell found me there somehow and stole me away to toss me in one of her stupid green pools.”

“She put you in a Lazarus Pit?” Dick hissed, finally hugging his brother back.

“Yeah. Don’t know if she was trying to hurt Bruce and Damian again by screwing up my head or if she was in one of her Maybe they’ll love me this time! moods and honestly thought it would help. I didn’t stick around to find out, just rampaged through the compound until I was able to escape. I managed to make my way back to Gotham, but…” Jason pressed his face into Dick’s hair and took a deep breath. “I don’t know what I expected when I got back, but… I didn’t expect nothing. Bruce was carrying on as usual. Everyone was. And Joker’s just… back in Arkham, ready to escape another day. I died and the only thing that changed was that Damian shipped you off to play with some other kids in California. Except no, he didn’t. Bruce kicked you out! When Damian died, Bruce nearly killed himself in his search for a way to bring him back, to the point that Duke’s gang had to step in to watch the streets and Tim had to step in to watch Bruce. When I died, nothing.”

“Jay -”

“I know I’m not Cassandra ‘Prodigy’ Wayne or Damian ‘Bloodson’ Wayne or Duke ‘Perfect Child’ Thomas or Tim ‘Teenage CEO’ Drake-Wayne, but I thought he’d at least care that I got killed!” Jason snarled, jerking away from Dick to throw his hands in the air before slamming one onto the coffee table, cracking the wood. “I thought he’d at least give a shit about me!”

“Jason -”

He slammed his hand against the table again, and again. “But he doesn’t! Not enough to actually do something about fucking Joker! Not enough to try and bring me back like he did his flesh and blood! He doesn’t care! None of them fucking care about anything but themselves!”

Dick tried to grab his arm, but Jason threw him off.

He turned to the young boy with a glare. “And then you! They just got rid of you! What? Was Bruce so happy to be rid of me he realized he should have cut off the kid acquisitions with Tim? And everyone just agreed with him!”

“Red Wing, please.”

Jason had been taking a step towards Dick, but at his words he spun away. He slammed both his fists into the table with a snarl and it collapsed. He dropped to his knees, breathing heavily.

Dick watched him for a few minutes. Only when Jason stopped shaking and tugging harshly at his hair did he step closer and sit next to his brother. When he wasn’t rebuffed, he pressed their shoulders together. “The pit?”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Damian told me how it affects people. Besides, that table gets destroyed so often we start to get antsy if it lasts more than a week,” Dick chuckled and Jason snorted. He nudged his brother gently. “Is this okay?”

“I’d never hurt you, Red Bird,” Jason declared, though a bit of uncertainty leaked into his voice.

Dick set his head on Jason’s shoulder with a frown. “I know. I was asking if you were okay with me touching you.”

The older brother smiled and wrapped his arm around the younger. “I’m always happy to be your pillow.”

“I’m serious, Jay.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “You’re always serious lately.”

“I still know how to have fun,” Dick said. “You just keep catching me in serious situations.”

Jason gave him a disbelieving expression, but before Dick could comment it shifted into a smile. A familiar smile.

That smile promised a lot of fun, but also explosions and weeks of being grounded. It promised lectures from Bruce to Jason about needing to be a better example and from Tim to Dick about how Jason was a bad influence. It promised exasperated yet fond looks from Cass, Babs, and Damian. If Steph was involved, it promised retaliatory pranks when they placed most of the blame on her. If not, then it promised endless complaining for leaving her out. It promised secret smiles from Duke, either because he hadn’t been involved but still thought it was funny or because he had been involved and was thanking them for not ratting him out.

Altogether, that smile promised the best kind of trouble.

“Jay,” Dick started warningly, but Jason just pulled him to his feet.

“Prove it!”

“What?”

“You think you can still have fun, then prove it!” Jason chuckled, grabbing his helmet and towing Dick out of the room. “Let’s go wreck some stuff!”

“Wh-Jay! We can’t -”

“Calm down, we’ll keep it to the bad guys’ stuff so we don’t hurt your delicate sensibilities.”

Dick glanced down at the X on Jason’s suit. “Speaking of which -”

“Nope. That can wait for after Family Weekend. Right now we’re just Red Bird and Red Wing, not Robin and Red X. We can get back to our little cops and robber game when your friends get back.”

Dick knew he should probably argue. Even ignoring the fact Jason had been discussing murder not even half an hour ago, Red X was still a criminal.

But Red X was also a back-from-the-dead Jason and Robin wasn’t allowed to work during Family Weekend.

“Where are we going?” he asked as they stepped out of the elevator onto the residential floor.

“First stop is your room. I left my stuff there since I knew it would be the last place you’d check. One of us should also probably change if we don’t want to raise questions.”

Dick didn’t bother to ask how Jason knew his way around the tower to the point of knowing where his room was. Clearly, he’d been spying on Dick. It was probably something they’d have to talk about later since Dick knew from experience that his teammates would not appreciate it, but it could wait.

“Well you’ve already stolen my clothes once,” Dick pointed out, tugging at Jason’s cape.

Jason rolled his eyes. “If you didn’t want someone to take the suit you should have locked it away better.”

“I put it in a safe!”

“Not a good one.”

Dick slapped his arm. “You were trained by Selina. Your standards are unreasonable.”

“You say that like she didn’t train you too,” Jason snorted then tugged Dick closer so he could wrap his arm around Dick’s shoulder. “I should probably change though. I don’t know how the family will react if they find out we’re hanging out and I’d rather not risk it ruining our weekend. I can take care of them after.”

“Jas-”

“Yep. Sorry. Work talk later. So, Red Bird, you know of any bad guy bases worth ransacking? Or at least an empty factory we can go to town in? I got some new toys I want to try out.”

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

Impulse was tapping her foot in superspeed as she scrolled through her phone.

“And none of you have talked to him since Friday morning?” Wonder Girl asked and she paced across the living area.

“We texted on Saturday, but it was just a quick check-in. He said he was busy, I needed to stop worrying, and he’d see me today,” Nightstar said, not looking up from her book. She seemed for all the world relaxed, but the others had all noticed she hadn’t turned the page in over a half hour.

“There’s still nothing on social media,” Impulse said, refreshing the page. “I found a few mentions just before lunchtime on Friday of someone on the rooftops that could have been him, but that’s it.”

“The same can be said for the news sites,” Virus said from inside the computer. “Robin has not appeared on any of the news sites since our fight with Mother Mae-Eye last week.”

Wonder Girl tried her T-Communicator again and scowled when it wouldn’t connect to Robin’s. “Are you sure he didn’t head over to one of the others’ bases?”

“I had Speedy and Dove on Robin duty so I know he didn’t hit Titans East or North,” Nightstar said.

“And Aquagirl tells Turtle everything so if he’d shown up at Titans South she would have told him and he would have told me so I would know and I don’t so he didn’t,” Impulse said quickly.

Nightstar looked up from her book and squeezed the younger girl’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. We’ll find him. He probably just took off to do some recon and didn’t tell us because he knew we’d yell at him for not taking the weekend off.”

“He’s going to spend the next week locked in a cell if that’s true,” Wonder Girl huffed. “Then he’ll have no choice but to take a break.”

“Robin would just break out,” Virus argued.

“Maybe I should take a run around the city, just in case,” Impulse said, standing up.

“The tracker on Robin’s R-Cycle showed Robin heading out of the city before the tracker was disabled so Impulse likely would not find Robin by running around the city,” Virus pointed out and the girls turned to his computer.

“You didn’t say anything about him leaving town earlier,” Nightstar said.

“Virus did not think the information was relevant. The information doesn’t help the Teen Titans find Robin since the tracker was disabled before any set destination could be determined.”

“Except we had no idea he’d left town until now! When did this happen?”

“Friday afternoon. Robin le-” Virus cut off as an alert came up. “Oh! Someone just accessed the tunnel leading to the garage.”

“Robin?” Nightstar asked, getting to her feet.

“The people in the tunnel used Robin’s codes, but there are two people and both are on foot. The sensors aren't registering Robin’s gear.”

The girls shared a look and ran for the stars, Nightstar calling over her shoulder, “Meet us down there!”

“On the way!”

Impulse ran down the stairs while Nightstar and Wonder Girl flew down the center. They slipped into the garage to find Virus already waiting. The four took defensive positions behind workbenches and toolboxes just as voices began to reach them.

“You owe me a new R-Cycle. And a new communicator. And -”

Impulse perked up at Robin’s voice, but Nightstar waved her quiet before she could react as a second voice answered, “First of all, how was I supposed to know trying to use your fancy walkie-talkie would break it? Who’s stupid design flaw was that?”

“It’s to prevent it from being stolen and used against the Titans.”

“Okay, that’s actually a good idea, but it’s still not my fault. Second, the paint was your idea! Don’t try blaming that on me.”

“You blew up the crates too soon!”

“No, I didn’t! I told you fifteen minutes!”

“You only gave me fourteen!”

“I gave you fifteen!” the unknown voice yelled as two figures walked into the garage.

The first was obviously Robin, though he was dressed more casually than any of the Titans had ever seen him. Gone was the armored suit, replaced with blue jeans and a red hoodie with a bat insignia over the chest. He still wore his domino mask and steel-toed boots, but the latter was speckled with red paint.

The second boy looked around Nightstar’s age. He was tall and broad, but not bulky. He wore a suit similar to Robin’s, but black and plain. A brown leather jacket was thrown over the top with a red bird patch on the shoulder that matched his red domino mask.

The new boy was scowling at Robin, who was scowling back. Even still, both looked completely relaxed and a smirk was tugging at the new boy’s lips.

“Maybe you need a new watch. Or maybe you just forgot how to count. Did you forget eleven was a thing again?”

The new boy jumped at Robin and instantly the two were brawling, throwing punches left and right and trying to pin each other. The fight was clearly well-practiced, in Wonder Girl’s opinion. Not choreographed or restrained, but instead a flurry of movements that showed how the two knew each other’s fighting style enough to both predict most attacks and roll with those they didn’t. Despite just how rough their roughhousing was, she could see neither was actually trying to hurt the other.

The others didn’t quite catch onto that though as all three darted in to break up the fight. Nightstar grabbed the new boy and pinned him against a workbench while Impulse and Virus placed themselves in front of Robin.

“Woah, what? Titans, stand down. Red Wing, don’t hurt her.”

“Don’t hurt her? I’m the one pinned,” the boy gasped dramatically.

“You’re also the one with the souped-up taser,” Robin deadpanned.

The boy smirked and revealed the device in his hand, which crackled with red lightning. He turned it off and tucked it into his jacket as he winked up at Nightstar. “You know, Princess, if you wanted to get all up close and personal, all you had to do was ask.”

Her eyes glowed purple, but Robin grabbed her arm and pulled her away before she could blast the other boy.

“Don’t flirt with my teammates please,” Robin sighed.

“Not my fault you surround yourself with beautiful girls, Kid,” the boy said as he sat up, winking at Wonder Girl this time.

“Who are you?” she demanded, hand falling to her boleadoras.

“What? Don’t recognize me without the x motif and skull mask? I’m hurt.”

“Red X?” Impulse said, glancing between Robin and the boy.

He gave her finger guns while Robin smacked his forehead.

“What is going on?” Virus asked.

“Well, wouldn’t want to overstay my welcome,” Red X said, stuffing his hand in his pockets. “Family Weekend’s been fun, bro. I’ll let you know when I steal a new cycle for you from the old man so you can tell me if I need to add any bells and whistles. Later.”

“You’re not -” Nightstar started, but cut off as Red X dropped something that caused smoke to flood through the garage. “Impulse!”

“He’s already gone,” Robin sighed.

A moment later the ventilation system kicked in and cleared the air to reveal Robin was right.

The four all turned to him and he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Sooooooooo… you spent the weekend with Red X?” Impulse asked.

“It’s a long story.”

“Red X called Robin brother?” Virus said.

“A really long story. The short of it is Red’s just been keeping an eye on me, in his own weird way.”

“He stole your suit,” Wonder Girl said and Robin shrugged.

“So are we just supposed to not go after him if he shows up?” Impulse asked.

“No, this doesn’t change anything about how we treat him in the field.”

Impulse opened her mouth, then closed it and shook her head. “Kid Flash is right. You Gothamites are insane when you get together.”

Robin shrugged again. He grabbed the duffle bag he’d dropped when he and Red X had started fighting and turned to the elevator. “I need to make a call then we can check in with the others.”

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

Dick stared down at his new T-Communicator. He should just call Dove. It would make things easier.

“Barbara Gordon here,” a voice said as the call on the phone in his other hand connected.

Dick took a deep breath and let it out. “Hey, Babs.”

“... Dick?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, I-Hey, how -”

“Jason’s going after Bruce.”

“What?”

“He wants to kill him. He wants to kill the whole family, really, but Bruce seems to be his main focus. Damian too, maybe. I don’t know how much trouble he’s been causing so far, but it’s about to get worse.”

“I-You saw Jason?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine. He didn’t have any reason to do anything.”

“You said he was trying to kill the whole family.”

Dick’s breath caught in his throat and his hand tightened around the phone. “Yeah, well, clearly I’m not part of that.”

“Di-”

“He also might try to steal a motorcycle, but that might have been a joke. You should probably keep an eye out either way,” Dick added then hung up. He turned his phone off when it immediately started ringing. He tossed it into his lockbox and flopped down on his bed, throwing an arm over his eyes.

A few minutes later someone knocked on his door. He shut the lockbox and knocked it back into its hiding spot with his foot before calling for them to come in.

Nightstar slipped in, but just shut the door behind her and leaned against it. She waited a moment before saying, “X isn’t Tim or Duke.”

“Never said he was.”

“But he implied he was and you didn’t correct him.”

“Tim and Duke aren’t my brothers, Mandy.”

“By your logic, you don’t have any family at all. So why is X going around calling you brothers?”

Dick didn’t respond.

“Why’d you spend Family Weekend with him? Why are you wearing a jacket you normally keep locked away with all the other Batman-related things you pretend don’t exist?”

Dick frowned and dropped his hand to his hoodie. “It’s not Batman’s logo.”

“Sure, Dick, and I -”

“It’s Batkid’s.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Oh. Oh shit.”

“Mandy.”

“You think he’s… him.”

“He is.”

“Dick, Jason died.”

“Like I said, long story. He is back. The others know it too, considering the call I just had with Bab-Barbara.”

“You actually talked to her,” she said softly, coming to sit next to him.

“I talked at her. She didn’t get to say much. I just needed to warn her and the others about something Jay said and it’s too involved in our civilian identities to trust the message with Dove.”

“Sure, or maybe you just wanted to hear her voice.”

Dick glared up at her. “I want to hear all of their voices, is that what you want me to say? You know I’m not afraid to admit I miss them, it’s just not going to change anything.”

“Admitting it is the first step,” she shot back. “Now do something about it.”

“They don’t want me, Mandy. I’m not going to go crawling back there just to get shunted back into juvie!”

“You don’t know that’s what will happen.”

“Yes, I do!”

She grabbed his shoulders and pulled him up so they were eye to eye. “Aren’t you the one who pushed me to reconnect with my mom?”

“That’s different and you know it,” he said, pushing her hands off.

“Why?”

“She’s your mom.”

“And they’re your family.”

“No, they’re not!”

“Di-”

He stood up. “They know where I am! I’m not trying to hide! I didn’t even change my codename! If any of them wanted to talk to me, Babs could easily contact me! At the very least, she or Steph could have Holly give me the message! Or Damian could ask Jon to pass the message to Eliza and she could give it to me! And yet that call is the only time I’ve heard from any of them since the Fight! Why do you think that is?”

“Because you’re terrible at dealing with emotions when they’re your own and the rest of your family is the same or worse,” she deadpanned.

“Just drop it.”

She sighed and got up to leave. She paused before opening the door. “You’re going to have to deal with this one of these days. Probably sooner than you think if you’re going to keep talking to Jason.”

“Doubtful. He isn’t exactly sitting down for tea with the Bats either right now.”

She shook her head and left.

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

A little explanation of characters mentioned

Teen Titans:

Robin - Richard "Dick" Grayson: Foster son of Damian Wayne (15yo)

Virus - Galv-10 "Galvio" of Gex (~16yo in comparison to human development)

Nightstar - Ma’andkori "Mandy" Grace: Daughter of Kory and Artemis Grace (17yo)

Impulse - Iris "Irey" West: Daughter of Wally West, Twin of Jai (15yo)

Wonder Girl - Yara Flor: Daughter of an Amazon and Brazilian God (16yo)

Other Titans:

Turtle - Jai West: Son of Wally West, Twin of Irey (15yo)

Speedy - Dinah "Di" Harper: Second Daughter of Roy Harper (16yo)

Dove - Holly Hall: Daughter of Hank and Dawn Hall (14yo)

Aquagirl - Mareena: Daughter of Kaldur'ahm (14yo)

Supergirl - Eliza Zor-El/Eliza Lutessa Luthor: Clone of Kara and Lena Luthor (13yo)

Bats:

Batman - Bruce Wayne (49yo)

Catwoman - Selina Kyle-Wayne (50yo)

Oracle - Barbara Gordon (41yo)

Orphan - Cassandra "Cass" Wayne: Eldest Child/Only Daughter of Bruce Wayne (36yo)

Flamebird - Damian Wayne: Oldest Son of Bruce Wayne (26yo)

Nightwing - Jon-El/Jonathan "Jon" Samuel Kent: Partner of Flamebird (26)yo

Signal - Duke Thomas: Second Son of Bruce Wayne (23yo)

Black Bat - Timothy "Tim" Drake-Wayne: Third Son of Bruce Wayne (22yo)

Batgirl - Stephanie Brown (21yo)

Red X - Jason Peter Todd-Wayne: Fourth Son of Bruce Wayne (17yo)

#batfam #teen titans #reverse robins #dick grayson #Jason Todd #batkid and robin

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yaraaflor · 4 years

Text

how i think a dickroy wedding would go:

for a long time after they settle down together they’re not married. roy doesnt believe in the institution of marriage and refuses to participate. dick is secretly disappointed but he would never want to push roy into something roy doesnt want, and he knows they dont need a piece of paper to prove their commitment to one another.

but fast forward a couple years, one of their kids, lian or mar’i (probably lian bc she spent most of her life wanting her daddy to find a life partner and be happy) is like “so when are you gonna get married? i wanna be a flower girl!!” (even though lian’s been a flower girl in like, 4 weddings already). and roy is like shit. should we get married? and dick cant hide his pure joy at being asked that question and roy is like double shit. have you been wanting to get married this whole time and im holding you back from your dreams?? alright guess were getting married!

at first they agree that its gonna be a small wedding, just family and close friends, no fuss. but their families are huge. and then they sit down to start writing the guest list and its like wait we cant leave so-and-so out and dont forget about so-and-so until the list is like three hundred people and theyre like. shit. were both too popular for our own good so we have to invite the entire superhero community.

huge wedding means mucho cash so bruce swoops in and is like we can host the wedding at the manor?? i can hire planners etc? and dick is like. fine with it bc he knows its bruces way of showing he loves them and that he accepts roy is part of the family now. but bruce is definitely gonna be a mother-of-the-bride-zilla lmao. originally roy wanted nothing to do with wedding planning except for picking the cake, but when he finds out that bruce wayne, control freak extraordinaire, is taking over the plans hes like oh HELL no. and promptly enlists dinah and ollie to also help plan the wedding. 90% of the wedding “planning” turns into roy and bruce arguing about every minute detail while the poor wedding planner tries to play referee and dick is off with lian like “lets go pick out your dress sweetie!” while also solving cases and generally burning the stick at both ends up until 2 days before the wedding.

they try to have separate “bachelor” parties on the same night and roy goes to a strip club but hes actually bored by it and the separate parties all end up together at donna and kory’s apartment at the end of the night and dick gets too drunk so he and roy sleep on their couch, piled on top of each other. they consider a honeymoon but roy doesnt want to leave the kids that long and theyre playing with fate anyway by hope an alien invasion doesnt happen on the day of the wedding, so they figure the honeymoon can come a few years from now.

the day of the wedding arrives and roy is surprisingly chilled out, just like oh, well, guess whatever happens will happen! we planned as best we could! while dick, predictably, has a panic attack about whether hes trapping roy and ruining his life and blah blah blah. eventually he calms down and the actual ceremony goes pretty well. connor is roy’s best man and donna is dick’s. lian (and maybe mar’i) is INDEED the flower girl and she enjoys it immensely. cerdian is the ring bearer. they have a justice of the peace preside so its actually super quick. ollie cries. clark cries. half of the room is crying actually. bruce doesnt cry but jason swears he saw a tear or two in his eye.

the reception is the best part. diana brings themysciran wine so most of the metas can actually get drunk. people give speeches and there is more crying, even during damian’s. donna is taking pictures nonstop despite the fact that bruce hired a photographer (hers are better anyway). they party from the afternoon into late in the night bc everyone is having such a good time. clark leaves to save a sinking boat at one point but no ones upset. bruce sneaks out to patrol gotham for an hour and everyones upset. alfred yells at him. the titans coordinate a group sort of performance telling the story of dick and roy’s love. its mostly wally speeding back and forth pretending to be them having a conversation about how much they love each other. as everyone gets progressively drunker, they start telling more stories that they shouldnt be bc roy and dick invited their like 2 non-super friends too lmao.

it starts raining at like midnight so everyone leaves (its a miracle the rain waited so long bc its gotham). dick and roy say their goodbyes and head off to their hotel suite in the city (roy refused to spend one more minute near bruce). as soon as they get there they collapse from exhaustion and spend most of the next day nursing hangovers. then they end up patrolling that night bc dick is obsessive and roy loves him despite that lmao. its a wonderful time and roy never once regrets giving in to the institution of marriage.

#dickroy #roy harper #dick grayson #my post #long post #hehahugheueh i love my dickroy headcanons

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shield-sheafson · 4 years

Link

Chapters: 2/? Fandom: Teen Titans (Comics), Teen Titans - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Raven/Tara Markov, past Tara Markov/Slade Wilson, Background Dick Grayson/Koriand'r Characters: Tara Markov, Raven (DCU), Donna Troy, Koriand'r (DCU), Slade Wilson Additional Tags: Fluff and Angst, Romance, Past Underage, Past Abuse, Flirting, Weddings, sexually charged lipstick application, Slade doesn't show up in the present timeline he's just in the flashbacks, Flashbacks Summary:

Even normal things feel like they've been ruined: it's been years, but sometimes Tara feels like she's still with Slade. As everybody prepares for Dick and Kory's wedding, all kinds of miserable feelings begin bubbling up inside of her even as she tries to have fun. To add to the stress, Raven has been acting awfully cute lately...

“I don't even know who to invite,” Donna says. With one hand she's writing something in her decorated lavender planner and with the other she's keeping Robbie steady as she bounces him on her knee. Her hair is pulled back into a knotted ponytail and there's an ink smudge on her nose. “We don't actually have that many girl friends.”

“Hey, you have us,” Tara says, gesturing to Raven. “Do we not count?”

“I mean friends she doesn't live with,” Donna says. “Let's see... Karen is in town, I think, and there's always Lilith... Cole...”

“Now I'm getting jealous,” Tara says. “Hey, Raven, Kory likes us better than those chumps, right?”

“We're the darlings of her heart,” Raven says flatly.

“That's what I want to hear. That's the situation with the bachelorette party, so what have you got planned for the groom?”

“It's easier for Dick,” Donna says. “Wally is taking care of most of it, I just need to book a place to throw it and make sure we have enough food.”

“You gonna hire strippers?”

“No.”

“Wally gonna hire strippers?”

“I... don't think so? He's pretty straight-laced.”

“If you hire strippers for Kory's party and not for Dick's, then you're a bad friend,” Tara says. “Hey, are you gonna open that soda, or can I have it?”

“I'm not hiring any strippers,” Donna says. Robbie makes a noise that Tara interprets as a grunt of agreement. “And no, I'm going to drink it.”

“Wait, are we bothering you?” Tara asks, determined to keep bothering.

“Let's go for a walk,” Raven says, grabbing Tara's hand and half-dragging her out of the room. As they pass the couch, Tara lunges to the side to grab a sweater. She's able to grab it by the edge of the sleeve before Raven spirits her away.

For some reason, Raven doesn't let go in the elevator. Tara isn't sure how to bring it up, so she doesn't, and they keep holding hands until they're a couple of floors down and Vic comes in. At this, Raven quickly pulls away and wipes her hand on her dress as though Tara's left something dirty on it.

“What's up with you two?” Vic asks.

Tara starts making up a lie about seeing a dead body, but Raven interrupts her.

“We've been talking to Donna about the parties. She's stressed out.” Raven pauses. “Tara was harassing her.”

“Hey! I just wanted to know if she was hiring any strippers.”

“You tried to take her soda.”

“I asked.”

Vic presses his lips together but he can't seem to hide the smile forming.

“What?” Tara asks.

“Nothing.”

“What's so funny?” Tara puts her hands on her hips. Vic is obviously suppressing laughter.

The elevator dings for the ground floor.

“Well, I'm headed to the basement. You two have fun.” Vic waves as they leave the elevator. Tara rolls her eyes.

The island is mostly filled with the Tower, so even though it's low tide and there's a ring of beach around them, there's nowhere to walk. Tara pulls up the chunk of concrete she usually uses (there's a small crater around it from having been plopped abruptly to the ground so many times), scrambles on, and offers Raven a hand. Raven takes it and Tara pulls her up with relative ease. She silently lauds herself for working out. Raven settles down behind her, tucking her skirt under her legs.

They rise into the air and Tara does her best to carry them both more carefully than she carries herself. She usually doesn't ride with anyone, and she's so aware of Raven's presence at her back. She's afraid she'll suddenly jerk or something and knock Raven off into the ocean.

“Should you be using your powers without being in costume?” Raven asks. “That seems like a bad idea.”

“Nah, we'll hop off once we get to the shore. I know a spot where nobody's ever lurking around, so we'll just land there and walk.”

“So you're carrying me off to a secluded beach?” Raven asks. “What are your intentions?”

Tara does jerk at that and she feels the rock dropping beneath her for a second. Raven yelps and wraps her arms around her torso, which is even more shocking, but Tara catches her rock and they both land back on it with a “thump.”

“What are you doing?” Raven exclaims. “It just fell!”

Tara feels her breath on her ear and is unable to come up with a satisfactory answer, so she says “What do you mean, 'intentions'? I just want to go for a damn walk!”

They ride along in silent irritation, Raven's arms still wrapped firmly around Tara, presumably to avoid a watery grave. When they reach the shore, it's rough and uneven. Tara gently lands on the edge of a large rock pool. Raven loosens her grip and slides off. Tara follows suit.

“It's actually really pretty here,” Raven admits. “Have you ever seen anybody else here?”

“No, it's kind of hard to walk with all the rocks,” Tara says, kicking one for emphasis. “It's rough on your ankles if you're not used to it.”

“I'm not used to it,” Raven says.

“Want me to carry you? Piggyback or bridal?”

Raven rolls her eyes. “Don't push it.”

The rocks closer to the water have been worn small and smooth, so that's where they walk.

Raven gets attacked by a crab.

Tara offers to eat it as revenge.

“It's probably full of pollutants,” Raven says. “Be my guest if you want to throw up.”

They have a nice time.

---

Staff training. When Vic stops complaining about how getting hit on his metal parts makes his teeth rattle, it's Tara and Raven's turn. Vic and Kory hand off their staffs off and Dick gives them a thumbs-up.

“Should I go easy on her because she's so clueless?” Tara asks innocently. Raven shoots her a look.

“Okay, kids, play fair,” Dick says, ignoring the question.

Raven steps back with a look of calm determination on her face and slides her hands into the right position on her staff.

---

Before it started. She hadn't quite figured it out at that point.

“One palm up, one down.” His hand folded over hers, easing the fingers down around the staff.

---

“Okay, warm-up spin. Think windmills,” Dick says.

“Why are you telling us what to do?” Tara asks. “It's not like any of this is new.”

“I know more about this than you, so I'm allowed to boss you around. Raven, good job!”

Raven doesn't smile, but Tara sees something like that in her eyes.

“Stance!”

---

“Keep your legs further apart, like this. No, bend your front leg and keep your back leg straight.” Again, he lightly gripped her hip and pulled her thigh so it was outstretched.

---

“First to land a hit wins! Nobody's getting beaten black-and-blue today,” Dick says. He mimes blowing a whistle.

Raven lunges forward. Her form is a little clumsy, Tara notes. That's what happens when you spend your time reading instead of training. Tara blocks easily.

“Watch your knees!” Dick says. Raven nods and strikes again. Tara blocks again. She notices a thin sheen of sweat on the other girl's face-- her dark hair is clinging to her forehead.

Tara advances-- overhead blow, blocked haphazardly. Step forward, complete the second strike (at the beginning of the motion, the staff must be parallel to the ground). Raven grits her teeth. Tara keeps moving forward. Raven keeps moving backwards.

---

He always seemed so much bigger up close.

---

“And... Game!” Dick calls, miming another whistle blow. Tara has Raven's back pressed against the wall, but Raven's staff is lightly resting on Tara's head, on top of what will certainly be a bump the next day.

“Good fight,” Tara says, stepping back. She lowers her staff and rubs her sore head. “Next time, avoid the skull. I don't want a concussion.”

Raven slumps slightly and releases a deep sigh. “You're tough,” she says. “How did you get so good at this?”

Tara smiles. “Lots of practice.”

#dc #teen titans #tara markov #raven dc #donna troy #slade wilson #raeterra #me writing

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edyacouky · 4 years

Text

I’m a User

Hi !

This is my participation for day 02 of @omegajasontoddweek

Day 02: First heat

/!\ WARNING/!\

Mention of rape, nothing explicit. Dubious consent. Neither Roy or Jason are in their right mind to give consent.

Please take the warning at consideration.

For the other that want to read it, enjoy ＾ω＾

~*~

Jason relation with Dick is getting better, despite the fact that his predecessor still can’t talk with Bruce without they argue.

And today is supposed to be the first time he does a mission with the Titan and Nightwing. He was pretty excited till the moment Dick informs him about it, so he doesn’t think much about his pain he feels in his stomach.

But as the day went on, he feels more and more pain, and not only on his stomach. All his body hurts him and his headache is so bad that he can’t listen to what Dick during the briefing.

It’s been a while since he was so sick.

His life on the street makes him weaker. On the first month in the Manor, he was always sick.

Doctor Leslie promised to Bruce and Alfred that it was normal and until he will be a little older, they can expect it to happen again. The better proof of the fact that his body isn’t well, it’s that despite being fifteen years old, he still doesn’t present yet.

He tries to hide to the other that he is sick now. With meditation lesson he is almost sure that he does a pretty good job. He doesn’t want be weak in front of them.

They all ready to go to the jet. He is so ready to follow them.

But when he can’t see for a moment and have some difficulties to stand he has to admit his defeat.

Shyly, he asks Dick to come see him.

“I’m sorry. Jason admits almost on the verge of tears. I don’t feel well. I would bother you more than anything.

-Isn’t it only stress? Dick asks sympathetic with Jason wearing the scent blocker it’s complicated to know how he really feels

-I wish. I really don’t feel well. I think I’m sick.”

Dick wants to take off the blocker but Garth comes say them that they should hurry up.

“Will you be alright on you own?

-Yeah. I just need to take a nap and some paracetamol then I will be alright.

-Ok. I’m calling you tonight. And if everything changes before that don’t hesitate call me or Bruce, ok?

-Promise.”

After a last glance from Dick, the Titans leave Jason rests.

He almost sights with relief when he doesn’t have to hide anymore how sick he is.

He goes to one of the guest bedroom. He takes off his scent blocker and his clothes. He thinks of taking a shower but he walks like a just born fawn and he is too much tired.

He succeeded put a tee shirt and an underwear and fall on the bed without a fight.

All his body is on fire and he knows that the bed will be wet with his sweat.

He just has the time to be disgusted before he falls asleep.

~*~

That’s it. Oliver finally kicks Roy out.

Roy doesn’t care and Oliver can go fuck himself.

He can always sleep in Titan’s headquarter and his dealer sold him something that should make him feel better.

He doesn’t know what he takes, never if anyone told him what it’s supposed to be. What is certain it’s that he totally work on instinct right now.

His smell and earing seems increased tenfold. He feels so overpowered, invincible. No one, nothing can stop him.

He thinks going train a little, maybe going on the street punching some bad guy, but he catches a smell that make him forget all his plan.

An omega in heat.

~*~

When Jason hears some footstep near his bedroom’s door, he first thinks that he is in the Manor and that is Bruce coming to see how he is.

Bruce does that a lot, making sure that he is alright, that he eats well, without expecting anything in return. It’s been a while he feels so happy and protected.

But the alpha scent he smells doesn’t make him think of his father, or any family related scent. He feels in unsure, and panicked.

With great difficulties, using his shaky limbs, he forces himself to sit down and be more aware of what happen around him.

It takes long for his brain to understand what he sees.

“Roy?” He asks

Damn, his voice is broken. He should really drink a little of water.

Roy comes to the bed without hesitation but unsteady.

“You’re the new Robin, right?”

They meet only a few times. When Bruce learns that Roy has some addiction, he didn’t want him to be close to Jason, in case he brings him back bad memories.

But finally, he couldn’t protect him.

“Jason.” He answers

Putting his legs against his chest, he can’t help but thinks that he should run or scream. Maybe call Dick or Bruce.

But he feels stupid for that.

Roy is a hero. Jason is in the Titan headquarter.

Probably it’s Dick that asks Roy to come see how Jason was feeling.

“You smell good.

-Ah … I was sure I reeked sickness.

-Not at all.”

Roy is now sitting next to Jason, a little too close. He strokes Jason’s hair, his hand slides to his cheek, caresses his lips before stop on his neck.

“Can’t believe they let you here alone.

-They had to save kids from a traffic. And I can take care of myself. I’m not a baby. Jason says while pushing himself against the headboard

-Yeah I can see that.”

And without another word, Roy kisses Jason.

He doesn’t understand what happen and why.

He’s still in a fog, he still feels sick. But the arching pain his lower stomach is mixed with a tingling sensation that pushes him to kiss Roy back.

After this, everything is fuzzy. Roy convinces him that they will feel better without their clothes, and they were for a moment, until the fire burning inside Jason grows bigger.

Without he can understand what’s going on, what he wants, what Roy wants, without he get any control on the situation, Roy knock him up.

His first time, that becomes many times in the next hours.

~*~

Roy is very thirsty. His mind is still hazy. He doesn’t even try to dress before living the room. He goes in the kitchen by automatism.

He finishes drinking the bottle of water when the Titans enter.

“Roy? What are you doing here? Donna asks surprised

-I was thirsty.” He simply answers

Dick, that was keep trying to join Jason for the last hour, goes pale and before he can leave the kitchen to go see Jason, Wally is already gone.

Dick is almost on Jason’s room, then Wally stops him.

“I need you to calm down.

-What’s happen? How is Jason?

-Jason needs you to be calm. I won’t let you see him otherwise.”

Dick threatens and bargains with Wally, but it doesn’t work. And Wally is too fast so Dick can pass him without his agreement.

Finally, he inhales deeply and controls his breathing well enough for Wally to let him pass.

Jason is in bed and groggy. A blanket covers his body, but Dick is pretty Wally is the one who puts it, and it doesn’t hide all the bite mark on Jason’s neck.

He lets his Little Wing, his little brother, alone during his heat. Alone, without a nest, food or water. Alone without any protection

Despite his common sense, Dick gently raises the blanket hoping he’s wrong.

It’s worst then what he though.

He almost throws up.

How could he let that happened?

“Dick … Jason whispers when he recognizes his scent

-I’m here, Little Wing. Everything will be alright.

-I’m going get some water and food and blanket. Wally says. And some kit aid.

Dick doesn’t even hear him.

“I’m sorry, Little Wing. I’m so sorry.

-Dick … I’m hurt …”

Dick holds back a sob before anger gets the better of him and he leaves the room.

Garth and Donna force Roy to sit and try obtain some answer from him. But before they could understand what Roy means, Dick appears suddenly to beat up Roy.

When Wally explain to the others in which state Jason is, no one really want to stop Dick, they prefer to focus on helping Jason feeling better and inform Bruce and Oliver about what happen.

When the two mentors pick up, they don’t know how to explain the situation, and they fear their reaction.

How could something like that could happen between heroes? In their headquarter?

This is so mess up.

#OJTW #OJTW 2020 #omegajasontoddweek2020 #omegajasontoddweek #jayroy #jason todd #roy harper

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cryptids-and-muses · 4 years

Text

Wally’s First Gay Panic

Ao3

Wally decided this was his least favorite mission ever. He’d been shot at, fought wizards, chased thieves, and plenty more inadvisable dangerous stunts. But standing there, by himself, surrounded by stuffy rich people, holding a tray of food he couldn’t eat had to be the worst. It was just so boring. Boredom was a million times worse than danger, which may have explained how he ended up on this career path.

Another person grabbed a snack off his tray without even a thank you. Dick had definitely been right about the staff being invisible, a trait he should be using to figure out to gather intel, but he could barely pay attention to what the people were saying around him. He made a horrible spy, but sadly he was the only one unrecognisable enough to play the role. Donna and Garth both got in on their positions as high ranking diplomats to their respective nations while Dick and Roy had already been invited. With all five of them it shouldn’t be hard to figure out where Luthor’s deal was going down. Except all five of them weren’t there yet.

Glancing over, Wally saw Donna and Garth making their way to the snack bar where Roy was already waiting. Under the guise of refilling his tray, Wally went to meet up with his team.

“Any news?” Garth looked at Donna when he said it, but it was clear the question was for all of them. “Our lead with Mr. Cosbur was a bust,” answered Roy, covering his mouth with a glass, “he let slip that the ‘new tech breakthrough’ he’s been bragging about is in the medical field rather than weapons.”

“Luthor mentioned keeping expensive spirits in his private study. I think that’s where it’ll take place.” Donna made a show of smiling as she said it, like she was talking about the latest gossip and not a potentially disastrous weapons deal.

There was a lag in the conversation as Wally refilled his tray, still looking around the ballroom. Roy cleared his throat and Wally realized it was his turn to share.

“Oh, uh, that guy in the horrible orange coat might be involved. Apparently, he just lost his contract with the military, but isn’t very broken up about it. Says he’s already got a new client.”

Donna turned to the crowd, squinting, “Mr. Worloven?”

“Yeah, him.”

“Are you alright Wally?” Garth looked over at him, brows knit together. “You seem distracted.”

A smirk formed on Roy’s face, “Worried about our little bird?”

“It’s just…” Wally let out a huff, “He should be here by now, shouldn’t he?”

Donna shrugged, “It’s fashionable to be late.”

Roy didn’t even try to hide his snort, “As if he’s ever been fashionable.”

“He could already be here.” Garth countered, “This is a very big party and we could’ve just not run into him yet.”

“I guess...” Wally picked up his tray and started working his way through the room again. He didn’t want to get yelled at for slacking. There wasn’t much to overhear; mostly talk of whatever trend was big or the latest scandal, nothing useful or interesting. God, Wally missed Dick. His friend always found a way to make even the most boring meetings fun. He continued to scan the crowd, but when he finally saw Dick, he froze.

He looked good. Like, really good. The suit fit his body perfectly, and the cool blue made his eyes stand out even more than usual. He was in a vest rather than a typical blazer, and had rolled up the sleeves to show off his toned arms. Dick's hair was in that intentionally messy style that Wally kinda wanted to run his fingers through. The only thought that registered in Wally’s head is when the fuck did that happen????

Because Wally had been to galas before with Dick. He'd tagged along plenty of times to make them more bearable for his best friend, his best friend who did not look like that. When did he grow into his lengthy limbs? His frame should be tiny, not lean and muscular. When did his rat's nest hair become so smooth and soft? It's supposed to be stiff and full of gel that's barely working, not loose curls that frame his face perfectly. The grace in his movements was nothing new, but Wally's never seen it used so casually. It was almost like a lazy dance rather than his usual energetic bursts.

Heat had begun to gather in Wally’s cheeks but he barely noticed, too focused on his best friend. How? How do you miss something like this? Dick was easily the most attractive person in the entire ballroom - maybe even the entire world, it was a little soon to tell - and Wally hadn’t noticed. Not until it was shoved in his face and was impossible to ignore.

Wally was snapped out of his thoughts when Dick noticed he was there and beamed at him. For a second he was caught up in how dazzling the smile was, better than the already charming smile he wore for everyone else, because this one was completely genuine and was directed at Wally, it existed because of Wally. That thought made him feel even warmer, but it didn’t last long because Dick was walking over.

Sirens went off in Wally’s head. He was NOT ready to confront this, whatever ‘this’ even was. Dick seemed completely oblivious to Wally’s internal meltdown as he made his way over, expertly navigating the crowd until he was right next to the speedster. He put his hand on Wally’s shoulder and for a second his brain freezes. Dick leaned over and spoke barely loud enough to be heard over the gala, “I’m really glad you’re here, I haven’t been able to find anything useful and this party has been miserable.”

After Wally’s brain finished processing what was happening he jerked back, his shoulder still felt warm. “Uh hi....hey, it’s good to...um, “ he held up his tray, “Mini sandwich?” Oh god he was being weird. Why was he being weird around Dick? Dick was the last person he should be weird around.

Dick frowned, “Is everything alright?” Something flashed in Dick’s eyes and his expression became more serious, “How’s the weather outside?” Their code phrase for asking if there was danger or if something went wrong.

Wally shook his head, “No! No, everything-the weather is fine. Uh...” he looked around desperately for some kind of distraction, "It's...It's these rich people. So annoying ya know?"

"I guess...." The frown didn't leave Dick's face, "You're sure you're okay?"

"Yes! Totally good! Why wouldn't I be?" Okay Wally needed to shut up now before he made this even weirder, "I just....needtousethebathroom!" He said it a bit louder than he intended and ran out of there a bit faster than he should have, but Wally couldn't care less as he shoved his tray on the sink counter and locked the stall behind him.

Time to deal with the fact that he found his best friend super hot.

Yay.

Alright, he was a teen, and a speester to boot, he gets worked up over even small things, this wasn't exactly new. Yeah Dick was a dude, which was new, but it's not like he'd never admired men in the past. The fact that he was Wally's best friend was more pressing. But he could handle this! Just some passing attraction. I mean who wouldn't be at least a little attracted to Dick Grayson? It was no big deal. Nothing he hadn't been through before.

Wally sighed, he couldn't even get himself to believe that.

This wasn't a small thing, Wally could tell that much. He's seen insanely attractive people before and they didn't make him feel like this. Like he felt when Dick smiled, when he touched his arm. Maybe he has felt something slightly similar in the past when Dick curled up next to him after a long mission, or when Wally can get him to laugh so hard he starts wheezing, or when Dick says some offhand comment about how much wally means to him. A blush began to creep into his cheeks. He thought that was just him loving his best friend, but it wasn't, was it?

If that was all it was he wouldn't be thinking about how nice Dick's arms would feel around him, that he wanted dick to smile at him like that all the time, wondering if his lips were as soft as they looked. The speedster let out a hollow laugh as he hugged himself. Guess it was 'Realizations About Dick Grayson' night.

After a few deep breaths he unlocked the stall and got his tray. He couldn't abandon the mission because he was having a bi crisis. His friends needed him. The fact that he may be in love with his best friend would have to wait. Besides, the only difference now was that he knew about it.

#my writing #fanfiction #birdflash #dick grayson #wally west #dickwally #titans #teen titans #fluff #Donna Troy #roy harper #garth #flash #nightwing #kid flash #fanfic

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cryptocism · 4 years

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ive been scrolling through ur blog for a while (cuz ur dc opinions are Top Fucking Notch) and i saw what you said abt bart in tt 03 and f:fma and while i totally agree (it killed tt 03 for me lol) im super curious abt how youd do his development if given the opportunity?

I’ve been thinking about this one like A Lot so buckle up this is long:

it would kind of depend? On whether or not he’d be in an ensemble team like Teen Titans or with his own solo series.

I understand metatextually why he became Kid Flash in TT, since they needed him to be more mature and a more recognizable character and having him upgrade costumes/codenames is a good shortcut for both. But I’ve already talked about why it didn’t sit right with me.

So, lets flip the script a little bit - the start of TT would be largely the same. Our boy Bart is on the new Titans team, and things are kind of awkward after YJ disbanded, also Max is gone and Bart’s relationship with Wally is still not doing great. Things are rough, Bart has newfound doubts to deal with, especially now that the world seems to have gotten harsher and everyone seems to have a lot less patience to deal with him. The pressure to be more mature and a recognizable character is coming from other characters now rather than an authorial need: he’s reminded to take things seriously, or that he should know better by now, that he needs to slow down and think more. So Bart decides a change is necessary, and we get the library scene. He reads all the books, he reappears as Kid Flash, saves Tim via bullet catch, disassembles a gun, takes down Slade, etc. etc. Here’s my departure from canon though: it doesn’t work.

Kid Flash is not a solution, or a magical cure for immaturity. Reading a whole library so he’s miraculously smarter and more mature and capable is, at its core, a pretty naive conclusion. And it makes sense he would think that. But it doesn’t work. He’s still impulsive, distractible, hasty. He can’t put a lid on his own sense of humor. People still think he’s annoying or lazy or careless. And he keeps trying - he knows all this stuff now, he read a whole library! - but he’s still apparently too much the same person as he's always been. And even though he’s trying very hard to live up to the Kid Flash name, it still doesn’t feel like him. Wally doesn’t like it, since Bart is literally just imitating him now, which makes things between the two even worse. And Bart keeps worrying about what’s supposed to come afterwards, since “Kid Flash” is inherently temporary, and while Impulse was only peripherally related to the flash legacy, Kid Flash comes with expectations.

Bart is trying very very hard to be ‘grown up’ and ‘mature’, but he hasn’t actually learned anything other than a bunch of facts (which are still useful, but) he’s just trying to be who everyone expects him to be.

And this is what i mean about the ensemble thing, because this arc would be in conversation with the rest of the core four, who are also trying very hard to be people they’re not, but all in different ways. Bart obviously with the codename change, but Cassie, Tim, and Kon all have similar issues, they’re all trying to imitate people.

Tim is doing his Batman jr. routine, reverting back to the persona he had at the start of YJ. He’s cagey and mysterious and does questionable things without telling anybody, because he’s de-facto leader of the team again, and he has to be better than he is. No more kid stuff, the Titans are serious, he has to treat it like a job, not like a sleepover. And this whole act is putting distance between him and his friends.

Cassie is trying her hardest to put herself in a support role. Donna’s gone and she has some big shoes to fill (she and Tim could probably bond about that if he weren’t stubbornly trying to brood at all hours of the day) and she’s doing her best to just Be Donna. Cassie and Tim would work better with their team roles swapped, and they both sort of know this - Cassie is naturally charismatic, thinks on her feet, can maintain good PR, and when she’s confident in herself is great at leading. Tim is partial to planning ahead, secrets, and keeping in the shadows, and is better at being a confidant and emotional problem solver among the team (when he allows himself to be open among friends, that is).

But they’re both trying to fit themselves into what they see as pre-ordained roles: Robin is leader, Wondergirl is a supportive mediator. But Cassie’s got a temper and little patience for people being idiots, and Tim’s not predisposed to spotlights.

Kon on the other hand has a story that’s less about who he should be and more who he shouldn’t be. The Lex Luthor dad storyline is here (minus the mind control shit, although the threat of it is still brought up) and Kon is doing his level best to do nothing that could be interpreted as something Lex might do. While everyone is doing their best to Not be their own person, Kon has no idea if he ever was his own person. He’s questioning everything he does, wondering if it’s some kind of evil gene showing through when he’s angry or petty or selfish. He’s going through lots of clone angst.

So they’re all dealing with expectations and who they are or aren’t supposed to be, trying to fit themselves into boxes that don’t suit them and then convincing themselves that this is how it ought to be. Kon ought to avoid feeling or acting in any negative light because any sign of Luthor is a sign of evil, Cassie ought to tone herself down and act like Donna, Tim ought to step up and lead the team and act like Dick, and Bart ought to listen better and be smarter and slow down and grow up and do his level best to just Be Wally.

Throughout the issues they’d all get a spotlight on their various crises, taking them through complimenting character arcs. Kon would realize through a couple close encounters and chats with ma and pa and talks with his friends and citizens of metropolis that nobody is all good or all bad. Clark can be a real asshole sometimes and Luthor’s actually done a fair bit of good (usually in his own interests, but still we’re gunning for nuance). Turns out he doesn’t have a dark side to be tempted by, he was made from 50% complex person and 50% complex person, just like everyone else. Which means he isn’t destined to be the next Superman, or Superman’s next supervillain. He’s just like, a person. With his own thoughts and feelings that have nothing to do with genetics.

Tim would wear himself out and hide it from everybody until he killed himself, but it’s only when he sees Cassie also wearing herself out too that his ‘somebody needs somebody’ instincts kick in and they’re actually able to talk about how miserable they both are. Through some trial and error they’re able to figure out a good co-leader system for leading the team, having each other’s backs along the way, which allows for them both being able to help out the other members of their team with their own shit i.e. Kon and Bart’s identity issues.

Bart is, like Cassie and Tim, wearing himself out trying to be this perfect version of Wally that never actually existed. He actually hates the recognition the new name gives him, because people have expectations for him now, ones he can never seem to live up to. He’s bad at following orders still, which makes him a pretty shit sidekick for Wally, in fact he’s just pretty shit at being a sidekick in general. But, he reasons, he’s supposed to be grown up and responsible now, and responsibility is all about doing shit you hate until you die, so he’s probably on the right track.

It’s only later, once he gets some support from his friends, who help him deal with things like Max and YJ disbanding and stuff that he’s able to actually sit down and have a heart-to-heart with Wally. Wally confesses that he understands the pressure to live up to a legacy, and how he did his best to just Be Barry when he became the flash. In fact while Bart was trying to live up to Wally and be a good sidekick, Wally was trying to live up to Barry and be a good mentor. Wally’s the one to tell him that Bart’s always done his own thing, and is at his best when he does. They both agree they suck as partners, but maybe they should’ve tried to be family first. And there’s probably a racing metaphor in there somewhere because speedsters love their racing metaphors.

ANyway Bart returns to Impulse, forging a new path, getting along better with Wally now and hanging out with him just as civilians with no pretense. He learns some valuable lessons about how maturity can’t be learned in a book, and that he’ll get it himself the more he lives and learns from experience. The Titans all get along better now that they’re all sure of their places in the group, and they can all go on just being themselves without worrying about expectations or roles to fill or whatever.

...If Bart still had his solo series instead though, id actually want it to go in a sort of different direction? The thing about living up to predecessors and trying to be some ideal version of another person works well for the Titans because they can all deal with a similar issue in different ways, but I think it would also be interesting to do the complete opposite.

Lots of shitty things happened in very quick succession in Bart’s life that he had no control over: Max’s disappearance, having to move in with Jay and Joan (who are nice, but whom he barely knows,) leaving his friends in Alabama, Young Justice breaking up… Basically, things kind of suck for Bart, and all he wants is for them to go back to the way they were. Instead of trying to be grown up or mature or whatever, Bart is resisting every single encroaching thing about coming adulthood. Because all growing up ever seems to mean is that everything changes and either you have to leave the people you love or they have to leave you.

So this series would focus mostly on that, both in his civilian life; going into high school, not knowing anybody, the few friends he does make are less interested in ‘kid stuff’ and more focused on dating and interpersonal drama, high school itself seems to be geared entirely toward the “what are you going to do with your life” question, when he visits his old friends back in manchester, they’ve all kind of grown up without him. And in hero life; everyone from Young Justice is trying to move on and not talking to each other, his father figure and mentor is gone and he's not really jiving well with the rest of the flash family, and people just seem to have less patience for Impulse now that he’s older.

Growing up is hard. It’s hard and no one understands. Especially not when you’re also a superhero and have dealt with some quality trauma like losing loved ones and feeling yourself die. So it makes sense that Bart would resist that in every way possible, do his best to pretend like everything is still how it used to be, for once in his life just trying to make everything stay put. He refuses to get rid of his old stuff, he doesn’t want to treat any villainous threats seriously, people in school keep talking about college and jobs and tuition fees and Bart wants none of that, he acts out, refuses responsibility, gets reckless under the pretense that he never used to have to be cautious.

And this is the part where I’d bring in Inertia, cause Thad was robbed and I want him to have an actual arc that doesn’t end with infant-splosion. Also he can have a good ol companion arc to Bart. Welcome to foils everybody, where two identical boys with opposing life experiences get to thematically compare and contrast with each other as they deal with the trials and tribulations of growing up.

So, I’m ignoring every appearance Thad ever made after Impulse 1995, picking up instead where his story left off where he swore vengeance on his creators and disappeared into the speed force. And he’s off to do exactly what he said; Thad Thawne II is going to kill his namesake/grandfather/creator - the president of Earthgov.

But, turns out assassinating the president of a whole fucking planet is a lot harder than he thought - Thad has planned extensively for every moment of his life, so once he starts going off script things predictably go a little off the fuckin rails. Thad fails, obviously. For one because despite how much President Thawne might deserve to die, Thad at this point hasn’t done anything worse than attempted murder, and making him a killer would put a wrench in any kind of redemption arc he could have. Also he’s acting on rage, in a highly emotional state, basically going up against the entire government. Of course he’s going to get caught by the science police and brought into custody.

Bart, meanwhile is jumping with both feet into any kind of escapism he can find, which involves various time travel shenanigans and lands him in the 30th century. He gets to reunite however briefly with his mom, but the mission he had gets derailed by the appearance of Inertia.

Every time Bart and President Thawne interact, the president always seems to make a bid to sway Bart to the Thawne side. This never works, which is part of the reason Inertia exists in the first place; a version of Bart that the president could control. When Inertia landed in the 30th century, hell bent on assassinating his creator, the President subdued him and eventually coerced him back over to the Thawne side of the family feud. No longer a rogue agent, Inertia is back to his old self, all about destroying Bart and the rest of the Allens.

They have a battle, taking place all over the 30th century city, and Bart does his best but Inertia has the entire Earthgov police force on his side, and Bart eventually gets captured. He gets taken to some kind of holding facility, meets with the President who monologues as him while Inertia stands beside him like a good lackey. Then suddenly the speed-inhibiting cuffs or whatever Inertia had put on Bart to stop his speed malfunctions, and Inertia drops the act, now Impulse and Inertia working together to take down the Earthgov people holding them there.

Turns out as soon as Inertia knew he couldn’t take out the president, what with all the military force President Thawne had on his side, he bided his time until he could. He uses Bart’s help to finally get President Thawne cornered, and the assassination plan is back on track. Except now Bart is the thing stopping him. He makes the argument about how murder bad. Heroes don’t kill, etc. Inertia insists he isn’t a hero. But Bart reminds him that that’s not how Max saw him.

Inertia hesitates just enough that President Thawne is able to get away, and now the two of them have to make an escape attempt back to the past. Bart insists on trying to take Meloni with them, and they try but ultimately fail somehow (maybe someone has to stay behind to make sure they can make the trip safely, idk. At first Thad is willing to stay behind, since there’s nothing really for him in the past. But Meloni knows that President Thawne would destroy him if he did, and she can’t let harm come to either of her sons - and she does consider Thad her son, just like Bart. She’s had far too little time with either of them, but she loves them all the same. She tells them to take care of each other, and is the first to encourage them to be like, actual brothers.)

After yet another tearful goodbye, Bart swearing he’ll find a way for them to all be together again, Bart and Thad go back. And they do end up having to lean on each other, because shit’s tough for the both of them. Thad initially wants to apologize and possibly reunite with Max and Helen, and then finds out Max is gone. And Bart has someone who understands exactly what he’s going through.

Things get a little more lighthearted from here. Bart and Thad don’t get along well at first, since they’re both going through rough times and lots of changes and their first instincts are to lash out at each other. But eventually they form a sort of camaraderie through shared grief, then shared fish-out-of-water experiences. Which evolves into shared inside jokes and video games and comic books and they become slow but steady friends.

They upgrade into brothers when Bart defends Thad against the repeated (and not entirely undeserved) suspicion he receives from the rest of the Flash family. Jay and Joan take him in, but it’s clear they don’t trust him, and neither does Wally. Bart stands up for Thad, arguing that he’s as much of a Thawne as Thad is, and treating Thad like he’s the next Cobalt Blue is just going to ensure that history never changes and stupid family feuds are forever. After this, Thad starts trusting Bart a little more, and kind of solves Bart’s problems regarding encroaching adulthood with his friendship. Neither of them really had a childhood, and Thad hasn’t experienced 21st century life at all, much less the societal expectations to grow up. So Bart gets to have fun again, and Thad won't judge any of his games or his books or his attitude or interests for being childish or lame because he’s fascinated by the experience of anything regardless of the target audience.

And from there it's a series about these two becoming brothers and growing up and the different lessons they learn and wacky characters they meet along the way. Thad ironically also puts Bart in a position where he has to take on more responsibility, since even though Thad can imitate heroic actions and is actually pretty good at it, he doesn’t understand what makes them heroic. Bart has to draw on a lot of the things Max taught him and now has to teach them to Thad.

There’s crossover comics with Superboy, where Bart laments about having to deal with grown up stuff, and Kon gives him a new perspective on the whole “being young forever” thing, since that was a reality Kon actually had to deal with and it sucked.

Through various misadventures they meet new and familiar characters to give them different perspectives on the whole passage of time thing. Villains who despise children or childish things, villains who embrace it but probably too much. People who talk about growing up as the worst time of their lives, others talking about it like it was the best. Kids and adults alike trying to force Bart and Thad to act a certain way while treating them another.

The two of them come to opposing conclusions about this; Thad wants to embrace change completely, partly because he wants to experience firsthand all that life has to offer, but also his worldview depends on believing that anyone can change, and anyone can be better, because he has to believe he can be redeemed for all the shitty stuff he did. Bart, on the other hand, knows his life isn’t perfect but thinks, based on recent events, that it’s all just going to get worse from here, and so resists change as much as possible.

Thad, in his haste to experience everything, sometimes ends up going too far, either burning both of them out, or pushing them into situations that they’re not ready for or are ill-equipped to handle. Bart, on the other hand is so resistant to change or responsibility that he stops them from doing actual necessary things like planning their futures or doing chores or making new friends. This acts as the crux for their main conflict that slowly builds throughout the series, and then in a finale to the arc, they both figure out a way to get Meloni back to the past, and to raise some stakes they have a falling out in the middle of the mission about it.

Bart accuses Thad of trying to leave him behind, or trying to be the better version of him again, and that old insecurity about Thad replacing him crops up. Thad thinks Bart just can’t handle anything outside his personal bubble and wants to force him to live in the real world. Plus he also feels kind of abandoned by Bart, who often would leave Thad to do the scary adult things on his own.

Tensions still high, there's suddenly an external threat to deal with - probably president thawne and the science police - and they attempt to continue arguing even while fighting the president. I’m making this up as I go so lets say yada yada big climactic moment it's looking like the two might fail to get Meloni back and they’re both still angry with each other and Bart just… can’t take it anymore.

He keeps losing people, and the ones he keeps he always seems to screw up with. And at the end of the day he’s just a kid who wants his mom. Is that really so much to ask? So there’s a reversal, a parallel, if you will, of the assassination attempt from the beginning of the series, this time with Bart. Or, because I don’t think many people would buy that Bart would actually ever for real kill someone, maybe he’s finally about to get his mom back, but she doesn’t want to go (since she made that deal with the president that he wouldn’t harm anyone of the Allen family so long as she stayed with him) so he’s trying to force her, risking the lives/well-being of the entire Allen bloodline across all of time.

This time it’s Thad who has to talk him down, who has to remind him about being a hero, who has to remind him that trying to go back to some magical time in the past where things were better is just going to stop him from learning and growing as a person, and that doing anything and everything possible to get there is just going to lead to Bart doing something he Actually Can’t walk back from.

Alright but here’s the thing because having Bart be forced to leave his mom again for like the billionth time is tired and overdone, and personally the whole message about heroics involving extreme and damaging amounts of sacrifice can only go so far. So here; Thad and Bart are both right.

Like on the one hand, yeah, it’s childish and selfish for Bart to want to be with his mom at the expense of literally everyone else in his family. On the other hand, the fact that they can’t be together because some asshole is upholding a stupid grudge is bad and unfair and wrong. The issue needing to be fixed is not the kid who wants his mom, it’s the jackass keeping them apart (and who also wants to kill/imprison people). So Bart convinces Thad that they have to save Meloni, and Thad convinces Bart that there has to be another way - one where they get their mom back and the Allens don’t have to be hunted.

The whole story would be leading up to the two of them coming to this conclusion; the healthy middle between the two extremes. Where they have the maturity to plan ahead and sort through their differences and figure out the best course of action with the least amount of collateral, but they don’t let go of that adolescent need for justice and fairness - that thing that makes you dig in your heels and say “no. That’s not fair, that’s not right.”

SO here’s where I’d put the title card: “Bartholomew and Thaddeus Take Down The Government”. How do they do it? No idea! I’m flyin by the seat of my pants here! Do they run for office? Do they publicize the president’s crimes in such a way he gotta go to jail? Do they somehow turn public opinion against him enough to get him out of office? idk!!! And I don’t remember enough about Earthgov’s political situation to put an accurate read on what exactly they might do to disrupt it.

Either way they don’t kill him, manage to free their mom, and they all go back to the past together. And a new arc would involve the three of them getting settled in the past; Meloni would be a main character now, and hers is a two-pronged fish out of water story where she’s trying to figure out how shit works in the past, with overtones of the struggles of being a single parent.

And... I’m not going to say any more about that because this is long enough already oof.

TL;DR I think a coming of age story would be cool for Bart, and having to deal with growing up when he never really had a childhood. Also the comic itself would be aimed at younger audiences, who can probably relate to having a Bad Time in the Teens and wacky hijinks with friends and siblings.

#soapbox #anonymous #asks

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cosmicheromp3 · 4 years

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happy new year to dani @leonardodvnc, here’s my gift for you for the AHN gift exchange! i hope you like it and that i didn’t do too bad by your requests haha, i had a lot of fun writing lian’s pov for the first time! ❣️

you can also read on ao3. enjoy!

“Here’s the plan.”

Wally looked at the sheets of paper Dick had just placed on the counter, next to where Lian was sitting on top of it (to be on everyone else’s level, of course). “Tell me he doesn’t seriously have a strategy for baking cake.”

“Have you ever met Dick?” Donna asked with a raise of her eyebrows.

“Don’t complain about the plan, I helped come up with it.” Lian crossed her arms. She was proud of their plan and wouldn’t let them put it down. “We need one, so all of you don’t burn down the kitchen.”

She looked pointedly at Wally, who acted surprised – eyes wide, eyebrows shooting up, pointing at himself and mouthing “me?”. Lian couldn’t keep up her stern face and giggled at the exaggerated expression.

“I doubt it’s even possible to burn down the Watchtower kitchen.” Donna said, looking around at the professional grade kitchen. It was very big and clean, with marble countertops and the biggest fridges Lian had ever seen. She had never been here, since there was a smaller and less intimidating kitchen that everyone – or at least her dad – always used.

“Why are we at the Watchtower, again?” Wally’s mouth made a funny shape.

“It’s the most accessible to everyone.”

“Roy could come here.”

“He’s not going to, I checked.” Dick was very patient.

Lian not so much. “Can we please get back on track?” She pleaded, finally shutting Wally up.

When they were all quiet again, Dick continued. “So, the plan. Donna and I will make the batter while Wally and Garth make the frosting, and–”

“I don’t want to be on team Wally.” Garth complained, very rudely interrupting Dick.

Wally huffed. “What are you, ten?”

“Hey!” Lian smacked Wally on the arm. “I’m ten.”

“See, Garth? Lian’s ten and more mature than you are.”

“That’s not–”

“Everyone!” Donna’s shouted above the complaining. It was impossible to stay on topic with these four – if Lian hadn’t seen them come together as a team, she’d doubt how they got things done. “Wally and Garth, you are both children. If we actually want to have something to give to Roy by this evening, I can trade places with Garth. If that’s okay with Lian and Dick?”

Lian made a serious face, narrowing her eyes, hands on her hips like she’d seen her aunt Dinah do. She traded looks with Dick, who made a move with his head as if to say it was her choice. “I’ll allow it.” She’d heard the phrase on TV, and it made her feel like an important grown up to say it.

Dick and Lian gave everyone their specific instructions. Lian wanted different flavors for the cake, and she wanted it to be tall. Not so tall that it would fall, but tall enough to look cool. And have loooots of filling. So they had a lot of work to do.

It went a bit smoother after their initial discussions. Lian’s task was the most fun, that’s why she had picked it. She was supervising everyone else so they wouldn’t burn anything down – this was, as previously stated, her biggest concern; she could picture a big fire coming out of the oven and Garth having to explode the pipes to put it out with water –, but she was also making decorations.

She started making a bunch of little arrows, cutting fondant into stripes, triangles and feather shapes that she assembled. Then she made quivers and bows. She had seen so many of these in her life that she worked totally by memory, even for the details (because, of course, she was adding lots of details).

She was very, very focused on cutting the shape of a bow with an arrow nocked into it, tongue sticking out of her mouth in concentration, when she was startled by Donna raising her voice.

“Wallace Rudolph West, I did not just see you use super speed to add more sugar to the frosting.”

“What could go wrong about more sugar!”

“Uncle Wally! Don’t ruin the cake!”

“I won’t, sweetie, I totally know what I’m doing.”

“He doesn’t.” Garth mock whispered to Lian, but he was on the other side of the kitchen so it was actually loud.

Lian glared at Wally with all the intensity she could muster. She thought she had a pretty good intimidating face, if you asked her. When she was satisfied he would behave, she shoved him so he’d get back to work.

Team Batter had been suspiciously quiet about what they were doing, so Lian checked on them from her place on the other side of the counter. They were taking pans out of the oven.

“That is not cooked, Dick.”

“It should be done by now. The timer went off and it’s brown on the edges.”

“That’s liquid in the middle. That’s so liquid my hydrokinesis probably works on it.” Dick opened his mouth to reply but Garth cut him off. “I know that’s not how it works, I’m just making a point.”

“Okay, okay, we’ll put them back in.”

Donna was looking at the same scene next to Lian, who had the urge to smack her hand on her forehead. “I think you’re my last ally.” She told her, very seriously.

Donna nodded solemnly. “I will not disappoint you.”

In the end, seemingly baked cakes came out of the oven (they smelled great, at least) and something that looked like and hopefully tasted like frosting was sitting in a few different bowls, some of it white and some of it colored red.

Putting it all together was fun but, if Lian had thought it was messy before, this was even worse. When they were done, everyone had frosting on their faces, the cake looked more pink than red, the lettering on top was wobbly and the decorations were placed in no discernible pattern and slipping on the side. But it was as big and tall as Lian had wanted, they’d made it from scratch all together, and she knew her dad would love it, so it was actually her favorite cake, ever.

Roy woke up from his nap to the movement of someone jumping on his bed, but was only really awake when the shouting started. This would’ve sent warning bells off in his brain if it wasn’t something he recognized.

“Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!”

He tentatively cracked one eye open and found Lian’s face directly in front of his, a cheerful grin taking up her entire face. Even though years had passed, seeing her like that still made something in his chest warm.

“Hi, baby.” He said, his voice raspy with sleep. He hadn’t been able to take a nap like that in ages, but he’d never complain about Lian waking him up.

“Get dressed! There’s a surprise for you!” With that, she jumped back off the bed and, after giving him one last look and motioning for him to hurry, scurried out of his room.

Roy couldn’t help being confused, but did as he was told. After he’d thrown on a t-shirt, still wearing the sweatpants he’d been sleeping in, he walked out of the room and could already hear voices – and Lian trying to shush the voices – from the hallway.

He was greeted by a chorus of “Happy Birthday!” when he walked into the room, which only served to confuse him more.

He was excited about seeing Dick, Donna, Garth and Wally all in regular clothes just hanging out in the kitchen, normal like they rarely got to be, but also: what. “My birthday was over a month ago.” He said, and he couldn’t decide whether to smile or frown.

“You were off-world in a League mission then.” Donna explained. “We know you did something with your family when you came back, but Dick and Lian schemed to get us all together.”

“I knew Dick was up to no good when he asked to borrow Lian this afternoon.” Roy’s eyes switched between the both of them, Lian smiling widely and Dick doing his best not to look overly proud of himself. It had been a while since they’d last hung out as a group. “You guys planned this?”

“Yep!” Lian said, popping the p. “We also made a cake!”

Only then he noticed the cake sitting on top of the kitchen counter, fully decorated, several layers and leaning sideways a bit, but clearly made from scratch by everyone in the room. His throat closed up just a little. He must have been getting old for these kinds of things to get him so emotional.

“That looks amazing.” Thankfully his voice didn’t crack, so he maintained some of his dignity. “Thanks, everyone.”

Lian ran up to him to wrap her arms around his torso, and squeezed. Roy automatically placed a hand on top of her head to stroke her hair, and when she let go of him he hoisted her up to carry her, getting a delighted yelp out of her. He was barely able to do that anymore, with her growing quickly at ten years old, but he’d still take any opportunity he got.

“Come on, old man, blow the candles!” Wally cried out from where he was, next to the cake with the lighter in hand.

They all clapped and whooped when he did – after he joked that Lian help him blow them out, like he used to tell her when she was younger, and even though she acted like he was being dumb she couldn’t hide her smile.

He cut a slice for everyone, and they all scattered around his small apartment, throwing themselves on the chairs and the sofa. He was too happy to make any comments about them making a mess, which they were surely going to make.

He sat down on the sofa in between Garth and Dick, with Lian on the floor with her back on his legs. He had barely settled down when Dick huddled closer, their sides pressing against each other. It was a warm, familiar feeling.

He turned to whisper to him, through the bantering that was quickly filling his home. “Thanks for this. I needed it.”

Dick gave him a small smile, his hand coming up to wrap around his arm. “You deserve it. It’s the least I could do.”

He didn’t have the words to reply to that, so instead he returned the smile and quickly placed a kiss on his cheek. He was pleased when he saw a light blush creep up Dick’s face.

“Keep something for the rest of us, Harper!”

“I’ll save some especially for you, West.” He winked at him, Lian made an ‘ew’ sound as was her ten-year-old given right, and everyone dissolved into laughter.

Later, after they were done with firsts, seconds, and thirds, Dick stood up to collect the plates and leave everything in the sink. He came back and sat sideways with his back on the armrest, propping his legs up on the couch, on top of Roy’s lap and extending to poke Garth on the side – Garth, who had somehow ended up upside down, his head dangling off the couch and making faces at Lian.

He looked around the room at his friends. Donna was sat on the floor, her back to Wally who was on the armchair braiding her hair. He was talking animatedly at the same time, telling everyone a story about the twins, managing to gesticulate wildly with his arms without messing up Donna’s hair. The moment had, at some point, transformed into something quieter, the room filled with only the sounds of Wally’s voice and Donna’s soft melodic laughter.

Lian crawled up the couch to fit herself between Roy and Dick. As Roy lazily drew shapes on Dick’s leg through his jeans, he could feel Lian’s breath growing softer until she fell asleep, curled on his side.

When it got late, everyone started trickling out one by one, saying their goodbyes to Roy and hugging him as best as they could without disturbing Lian. He picked her up to carry her to her room – she looked so content in her dreams it made Roy’s heart burst, a bit.

As he was closing the door to her room, taking one last look at her calmly sleeping, he felt arms curling around his waist, a body pressing to his back and sighing contentedly. He turned around in Dick’s arms, leaning down for a kiss that tasted like cake and frosting that was just a little too sweet.

#dickroy #roy harper #dick grayson #lian harper #fab five #my writing #fic #i honestly have no idea how this got to 2k #i was shooting for 1k but before i knew it the first part had reached 1k on its own #and i realized roy wasn't even in the first part so i had to make it at least close in length #so here we are. did i overthink this? probably

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shblackeagle · 3 years

Text

Bbrae week 2021

Day two: Poolside

Raven wanted to blame curiosity for this.

Living on earth gave Raven many opportunities to explore things she had always been denied. Her mother, Arella, was a human after all and she always wondered about how her life used to be before coming to Azarath. So she most times wondered how living on Earth would be like as a kid, dreaming about seeing it once in her life.

Despite the way Azarathians always treated her, no one could deny that she was half human; humanity was a part of her. So she tried out new things and learnt many things she couldn't even imagine before; Like having coffee, listening to music, shopping, going to supermarkets or even riding a bike.

Perhaps wearing a bikini was a part of that.

Shifting uncomfortably on the pool chair, Raven tried to make sure she wasn't too exposed to her teammates while reading her book under the parasol. The summer sun was so hot and from her experience, she knew it wouldn't end well if she stayed too long under it.

Raven looked at herself. How on earth was it considered clothing? It didn't cover anything! She was basically showing her whole butt to everyone and she knew her nipples were visible through such a thin top. She could have as well be naked and no one would tell the difference.

Looking up from her sunglasses, Raven saw how confidently and comfortably Kory was in her bikini. Raven didn't know how that was possible, but Kory's bikini was even worse than hers; yet the princess found no difficulties showing off her almost naked body.

Raven noted to herself: Next time bring Donna for shopping!

The laughter from the pool caught her attention. Donna, Roy alongside with Garfield and Dick were playing volleyball in the pool, Victor as usual was in charge of the cooking, saying something about he didn't trust anyone with cooking, and Kory was lying under the sun, trying to get tanned; which was questionable to everyone why her of all people.

Raven was sort of glad Kory was comfortable showing so much skin. When Kory was around with her shiny skin, barely people would notice her. It took away all the attention she didn't need.

Well, almost all the attention.

Smash!!

"Oh damn! Gar, you okay man?" Roy said apologetically before swimming towards The Changeling with a worried face who was groaning in pain and holding his nose up.

"Dude! Why would you throw the ball like that?!" Gar snapped at Roy and whined, "Ugh!"

"Sorry man." Roy apologized, "I thought you'd get it."

Dick, holding the said ball in his hand, swam towards Gar, "Don't be such a baby Gar. It was just an accident."

Gar gave him a an annoyed look as Donna approached him.

"Take a moment Gar." She said pointing at where Raven was busy reading with her thumb, "But it's weird how you didn't see the ball coming."

"Yeah exactly. Did you have your head in the clouds?" Dick asked with a smirk.

Before Gar could even open her mouth, Wally who was playing frisbee with himself suddenly stopped running and said, "No not in the clouds," he titled his head to where Raven was sitting, "totally on the earth, probably on a pool chair."

Donna chuckled quietly as Gar looked at Wally with an angry face but he just shrugged and threw the frisbee again to catch it. Putting a hand on Gar's back Dick said, "maybe you should rest for a moment."

Gar nodded and walked to the edge of the pool, hoping Raven didn't notice this embarrassing accident and Wally's stupid remark. Thankfully, she seemed to be in her world.

Raising her head from her book, Raven saw Gar approaching her. She could feel a slight pain from him but his face didn't reveal anything.

"Are you okay?"

Gar stopped near the edge, "yeah...just taking a moment."

Raven nodded and went back to her reading. She saw Gar pressing his back on the edge and rested his arms, looking at the game. Her eyes widened as she took a long, impressed look at his back.

Dick's trainings must have paid off because when did Gar exactly become so muscular? They saw each other everyday so how did she miss his process becoming...that?

"What are you reading?" Gar's head suddenly spun to her and he seemed like he was waiting to ask her that question. Raven thanked Azar she was wearing sunglasses otherwise he would have seen how she was shamelessly staring at his back.

Trying to act normal, she just raised her book so he would read the title on the cover.

"The Witcher?" Gar read the title, "Sounds cool. Let me see!"

Using his arms, Gar pulled himself up from the water, revealing more of his body for Raven to see.

Azar, help her! When did he become like this? Raven tried to remember if she had missed the time he was becoming this muscular without her noticing because she could swear he wasn't like that last time she saw his torso and his arms. Along with his shiny green skin, he was almost impossible not to look at.

He sat on the stool beside her chair and leaned his elbows on his knees to get a better look at what she was reading. Raven could feel the heat coming from his body and suddenly felt it was so hotter than it was a minute ago.

"Guess it's fantasy right?"

Raven nodded without speaking. She couldn't trust her voice when he was this close to her. Looking from her sunglasses, Raven couldn't take her eyes off his body. Water droplets were racing down on his stomach and his wet hair looked so soft and shiny.

Azar, she wanted to touch it! She wanted to feel those muscles under her hands and feel the heat coming from them. She wanted to run her fingers on his skin and play with his hair!

"By the way Rae…" Gar slidded the chair closer to her as Raven could feel the blush on her face. His body was just inches away from hers and Raven couldn't focus on what she seemed to be reading.

"You look... amazing in your new swimsuit."

She could see a shade of blush appearing on his face as he said it. Suddenly, Raven became aware that she was in a bikini, showing her almost naked body to Gar! While he was just an inch away from her!

Holding the book closer to her face, "Thanks."

Gar smiled and took a long look at her legs then looked back at her and Raven just wished she could see if what he was seeing gave him the same feeling.

Did he like what he was seeing?

She hated how she cared about something that stupid. Why would she care about what he thought about her body? It was hers for a good reason.

"Rae…" he whispered.

Looking up from the book, she saw his blushing face. Scratching the back of his head, he opened his mouth.

"I wanted to say-"

"Gar! You're good now for another round?" Dick shouted, "because Wally here doesn't know how to play!"

"Hey I can play! You guys are just too slow!" Wally said in defense.

Sighing in frustration, Gar turned his head to others, "I'll come in a sec!"

Garfield seemed unwilling for a moment, but still stood up. Then as if he got a new idea he looked down at Raven with a smile.

"Hey, why don't you play with us?" He asked, "The water is so refreshing."

Raven shook her head, "No thanks. I'd really rather read."

"Come on Rae! You don't even have to play. Just hit the water. You won't regret it." He sounded almost desperate.

Raven held the book closer to her face, either as a sign of unwillingness or to hide her red face. "No."

She didn't mean to sound rude but knowing her being in water meant being physically closer to him, Raven decided it was for the best if she stayed where she was and not to think further about his body.

Garfield seemed sad for a moment but didn't say anything. He went to the edge and gave Raven a very good view of his butt then jumped into the water, splashing a few water droplets on Raven's legs. It didn't ruin her book so she didn't complain.

She saw him playing skillfully, hitting the ball with such a strength she didn't know he had and swimming so easily that she wondered if he turned into a fish. He was just so hard to look away from.

Raven cursed herself for not watching the first round if that's what she could have seen. Him being unfairly attractive and eye catching to the point she couldn't even pay attention to her surroundings. Her book, left open and forgotten in her hands was waiting for her to read another sentence whereas she was busy ogling Beast Boy for a good time.

If Beast Boy was the correct name for him in the first place.

"Yeah that's what I'm talking about!" Dick cheered as he high-fived Gar when he scored.

"Hey guys! Hotdogs are ready!"Victor shouted from the barbecue, "I also made one vegan for you green bean."

"Okay Cy. Thanks." Gar said as they all started to get out of the pool one by one.

Raven tried to take the chance to refocus on the book. However, the more she looked at it, the less she could comprehend the words; almost as if English was an unknown language for her.

Her whole head was filled with Gar in his awfully tight swim shorts. Raven hated how they were so tight that they didn't leave much things into her imagination. She didn't know if she didn't like how exposed he was to her or how he was exposed to others as well.

Maybe he could even be equal with Roy in skills if he wanted to? Or even Dick? Based on his performance in the pool, Raven believed he might be able to. He definitely was no longer the small teenager anymore.

"Here."

Gar's voice almost startled her. Raven looked up and saw him offering her one of the hotdogs Cyborg had made.

She sat up, trying her best not to look suspicious. "Thanks."

Gar nodded and sat again on the stool beside her, and started eating his food. Putting her book open on her lap, Raven tried to keep her face away from him and pretend she was enjoying the view in front of her; even if her view was Wally eating a bunch of hotdogs.

She just had to endure this for a couple of minutes. When Gar was done eating, he would be gone for another round and leave her and her mind alone. Maybe she could finally focus on enjoying the pool day rather than how he would react if she asked him to change his swim shorts.

"Umm Rae?" Gar asked, "weren't you on the exact same page when I left?"

Raven's head spun quickly to him and she saw him looking at the book on her lap with a confused face.

As fast as she could, she grabbed the book and started clumsily flipping the pages.

"I-It fell!" She stuttered while flapping the pages, "I had to...it wasn't the right page so I just couldn't find…"

She was talking nonsense now. She could feel her face getting hotter by each second as she was trying to find a proper page to make her point. But it was too late now. From the corner of her eyes she saw Gar smirking at her.

Oh Azar he knew!

She looked at him with a frown. No way she was letting him enjoy this!

"What?!" Her voice was louder than she intended, making the smirk on his face even wider.

Scooting the stool closer to her, Garfield put a hand on her book, stopping her from flipping the pages randomly.

"You'd rather read a book than come to swim with us in the pool huh?" He whispered, "now I know why."

Raven couldn't even find her voice when he was gazing at her like that. She felt her face was hotter than the sun above her but she couldn't find the strength to look away from him.

She was caught!

Still smirking, Gar whispered again. "You could have just said it, you know. I'd have made it much more enjoyable for you."

"Oh shut up Gar!" She snapped, glad that she found her voice again. "It's nothing like that."

He chuckled at her frowning face. "Sure Rae."

"I wasn't staring at you!"

"Never said you were." His smirk somehow got wider, "But it's good that you mentioned it could possibly be the case."

Azar he was teasing her! Raven awfully wished she never said anything. It was so embarrassing. He knew it! He knew she was looking at him the whole time. Knowing Gar, he would be teasing her till the end of time for this.

His face was just an each away from hers now but opposite of minutes ago, it wasn't because he wanted to look at her book. He was this close to look at her!

He looked down at her lips and Raven's heart froze. No! He was not going to kiss her! No matter how soft and delicious his lips seemed or how much she wished he would. They couldn't just kiss in front of others.

His nose touched hers and Raven just closed her eyes. Her whole face felt hot and his body heat was making everything much hotter, especially how this time she could feel his knees into her legs.

"You're cute when you're flustered." He whispered and gently put her sunglasses on her forehead, taking a good long look at her blushing face.

Raven wished the Earth would open and swallow her whole body. She felt his hot finger on her cheek caressing it gently.

Azar why was he hesitating? She just wished he would kiss her already!

"Cheer for me okay?"

She opened her eyes confused. "What?"

Before she could react, Gar pressed his lips on her right cheek, kissing her lightly.

This time her book did fall on the floor. His soft lips on her cheek felt amazing and Raven didn't even get time to say anything. He kissed her! Garfield actually kissed her when they were both almost naked. The whole concept of what happened made Raven shiver under his touch.

He pulled away slightly and whispered to her ear. "Hope you'll enjoy it."

Suddenly he got up from his seat, leaving Raven dumbfounded, and shouted, "Hey Dick! Wanna race?"

"Oh you're on!" The Boy Wonder said challenging from his chair near Kory.

Raven didn't know what happened. One moment Gar was in front of her eyes smirking at her, the next she found him racing with Dick to the other side of the pool.

Now knowing he had an eager audience, Gar spared no pains making sure she enjoyed what she was watching; even if she seemed to be reading the book she quickly picked up from the floor. It was fake reading. She was staring at him! So why not give her what she wanted? Or maybe a bit more?

Gar saw her taking glances at him constantly; obviously she forgot that she didn't have her glasses on her eyes and he could catch her watching what he was doing when he looked at her.

She would get her revenge of course. Raven wasn't the type of person to just let him tease her without a payback. Till that time, Gar decided to enjoy this and let her enjoy as well.

Frowning at him, Raven knew what he was doing. That stupid green Titan was mostly showing his skills off to her than competing with others. He would often glance at her with his stupid grin when he nailed a dive or did an outstanding swimming move; telling her that yes! I know you're watching!

Not wanting to tolerate more of his teasing, Raven used her telekinesis power and splashed water on his stupid face when he turned around and winked at her in the pool.

"Rae!"

Proud of what she did, Raven held the book in front of her face again, fully aware she was not going to be able to read another line.

***

Writer's note: Yes! Raven reads The Witcher book series and she's a big fan of it. No one can convince me otherwise lol

@bbraeweek21

#bbrae #bbraven #rachel roth #beast boy #garfield logan #raven #gar logan #teen titans #I'm basically a day behind the schedule but I just wanna participate for bbrae week.#it was supposed to be smutty at first but i changed it to fit the rules #lol #bbraeweek2021 #day two

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