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#how could it not after a chapter like dimensions
charlietheepicwriter7 · 2 months
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Teen Villain Alliance
Chapter 1 - Damian
Despite his proficiency in the skill, Damian hated spying on the Teen Villain Alliance. 
Having appeared two years ago in alliance with Klarion Bleak, the Teen Villain Alliance, or TVA, quickly made themselves known as little more than pests, often rushing in to assist other young adult criminals or harass Justice League officials. Father wanted to investigate when they first appeared, but with Todd’s reveal and Damian himself coming to take his place as Robin, he’d been… busy. 
Which allowed the TVA to flourish into a respected criminal enterprise. No vault was safe, no hero strong enough. A group had even banded together to take down Superman! And while there was no lasting damage other than some bizarre markings on the Kryptoian’s face, it was enough to prove these teenagers as a threat. 
Damian, as much as it galled him, was not the first chosen to infiltrate. Martian Manhunter, shapeshifted into a meta fourteen-year-old girl, tried and was identified as a hero on sight. The Teen Titans and Young Justice got closer, actually able to talk to the villains about joining, but “it was like they could smell the hero on us,” Beast Boy had explained. “I don't know how else to explain it.”
Most likely, the TVA kept tabs on the Justice League and affiliated organizations. They needed someone fresh, someone who wasn’t a hero.
Damian had been more than willing to volunteer. 
Introducing himself as Damian Al Ghul, the recently escaped Heir to the Demon Head, he’d been accepted immediately despite having approached the group mid-heist. All he had to do was extrapolate about how Grandfather’s assassins were chasing him, and the Wolf—a designation given to the members of the TVA’s inner circle—allowed him to join, but he was forced to stay with the hacker of the group while the heist commenced with no interference from a hero.
Damian had been confident. He’d gotten so far in mere minutes when a member of the Justice League, and even Drake, couldn’t get past the first few questions. He’d have the Teen Villain Alliance dismantled within the week.
Then Manson, as the Wolf had introduced herself, took out a device that transported them all to another dimension. Which was where the main base of the Alliance was. And none of his communication devices or trackers worked there. 
Damian had only been able to update the Justice League a few times since his tenure as a spy began. Superman had reassured him it was fine, that there had been plenty of missions were communication was infrequent, but after a month of living in the TVA Base in the Infinite Realms, Damian hated not being able to contact his father easily. And in return, Father and Drake had taken to interrogating him for as long as possible the couple of times he was outside Headquarters. 
(Phantom’s Haunt is what the TVA members called it. It was Phantom Dark’s home that he opened up to them all. Damian didn’t know how to feel about that.)
Damian had only been able to contact Father three times in his four weeks undercover, each time on a supply run… which was essentially just a grocery trip for the Haunt. The first time Damian had slipped away to the bathroom and called, Father had been… furious. He’d thought Damian’s lack of updates was on purpose. It had been five minutes before Damian could correct him. 
He wished Grayson had answered during any of his updates, but he was on a mission in space and wouldn’t be back for another two weeks. 
In those four months, Damian was still the newest member, and had yet to be involved in the truly illegal aspects of the organization. All the information he’d gathered purely administrative, like how Duulaman, a reincarnated pharaoh turned hacker, stole money from various billionaires and government organizations to fund their plans. He’d yet to be involved with anything serious. 
He wasn’t allowed on serious missions either. He only had the supply runs to look forward to, and those only occurred once a month. 
His other objective, to undermine the Teen Villain Alliance and spur a mutiny, was also going poorly. The children he surrounded himself with were fanatically loyal to the Alliance, citing Phantom and his harem as the reason they were alive today. Even those who weren’t directly rescued were loyal. One such child, a boy named Kyd Wyckyd, had confessed to turning to a life of crime due to his terrifying meta abilities and their effects on his appearance. 
But the TVA took him in after the collapse of HIVE Academy. He hadn’t participated in a crime since, preferring to work with the Wolf named Jasmine who led individual and group therapy sessions for the villains. Jasmine had tried multiple times to convince her therapy sessions—more like brainwashing sessions—but Damian had stayed strong in the face of adversary. 
Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be much more Damian could do. He tried to push, to get involved with the criminal aspect of the organization, but the Wolves blocked him at every turn, saying he was “too young.” That he needed “stability” and to “rely on them to keep him safe.”
Perhaps Damian oversold the danger of the League of Assassins. 
For now, Damian hid in his room in Phantom’s Haunt. His castle. Even the magnificence of the compound he grew up in couldn’t compare to the headquarters. There were an infinite number of rooms—”as many as we need,” Phantom had told him—that changed based on the user’s preferences. Right now, Damian’s room looked like a cave. The Batcave, to be precise, though he didn’t allow references to his Father and legacy. 
He was hiding because Manson had suggested he attend some of the classes held in the libraries—there were four libraries at the moment. Classes were taught by ghosts under Phantom’s control and weren’t mandatory, but “everyone’s worried about the lack of structure in your life.”
He tried to tell himself it was because he didn’t want to be brainwashed by Phantom’s lackeys, and that he already knew everything they were going to teach. But in truth… Damian was anxious. Attending school at the Haunt felt too permanent, too much like he was planning to stay. He hadn’t gotten the choice to attend school back in Gotham, with Father acting like he would compromise their identities around children. He wasn’t that petty. 
Someone knocked on his door. “Damian? Are you inside?” 
Sighing, Damian stood up and opened the door. “Dr. Fenton. Am I needed for anything?”
Dr. Daniel Fenton was another Wolf, another member of the harem Phantom had built around him, twenty years old and not an actual doctor but everyone called him that anyway. While Damian had yet to see Fenton and Phantom in the same place, Damian was keeping a detailed record of how the Wolves’ polyamourous relationship worked. Phantom and Fenton both dated Manson and Duualman, though they didn’t seem to be dating each other or Jasmine. Klarion often inserted himself into those relationships for hugs and hand-holding, but only seemed to kiss Jasmine. 
“Actually, yes.” Damian’s lips parted in surprise. “I wanted to talk to you about something down in my lab. Would you join me?”
Fenton’s lab was off-limits to low level members of the TVA. He was the engineer, the creator of all their weapons of destruction. Fenton had no minions, while Manson had her thieves, Duualman had his hackers, Jasmine had her helpers, Klarion had his witches, and Phantom had his fighters. 
Fenton was alone. 
Isolated. 
Damian agreed. 
Fenton led him to the depths below the castle, past the never-used dungeon and through a secret door into a surprisingly bright and airy lab. He caught Damian looking through a window that displayed one of the Haunt’s many gardens, an impossible feat for being so far underground. “Magic castle, remember,” Fenton chided him. “Those work as portals that lead to the garden too, so it’s an easy one-way exit.”
Damian scoffed, abashed that he’d been caught so easily. From a glance, the lab was perfectly maintained, with every piece of equipment assigned to an outline meant to indicate where it belonged. As he walked further into the room, Fenton made slight adjustments to his tools, meticulously shifting them back into place. It looked more like a set than a laboratory. 
But then, Damian observed Fenton. The twenty-year-old relaxed as he put his space back into order, nudging the screwdrivers and beakers back into their designated outlines. As he worked, the sleeve of his lab coat road up, revealing a glimpse of lichtenberg scars before it was hidden again. 
Finally done, Fenton turned back to Damian. “My sister, Jazz, has told me that you’re not attending individual or group therapy sessions, is that correct?”
Well, that revealed a  lot of information. Ignoring the fact that Fenton and Jasmine were apparently siblings, Damian replied, “I do not see a reason to attend. If this meeting is an attempt to force me–”
Fenton held his hands up in surrender. “No, I would never. Therapy doesn’t work if the person receiving it doesn’t want it. But you haven’t been attending any of your classes either, and Phantom has mentioned that you don’t hang out with the other kids. Are you settling in alright? I know the others are a few years older than you, so it might be harder for you to connect with them.”
Damian chewed on the question. While part of him was furious that someone, especially a villain like Fenton, was concerned about him and discussed him with his fellows, the other part… wasn’t. It was true; he was having difficulty connecting with the villains. Damian didn’t particularly want to, but it would make his mission easier. 
He chose a neutral answer. “In the League of Assassins… I was the only child in the entire compound. Other children weren’t allowed inside, not unless their parents did something wrong. And those children…”
“Were used against their parents?” Fenton offered when he struggled to find the words. 
“Precisely. It’s not in my nature to associate with children.”
Fenton nodded in understanding, stroking his chin in thought. “That does present a conundrum alright. How unfortunate; the task I needed your help with requires you to interact with at least some of the others, but if you’re that uncomfortable with the idea, then I could find someone else.”
Damian stared at the man in suspicion. “What task?” he demanded to know. If this was a way to get more information for father, he needed to know. But if this was another trap to get him into therapy…
“You’ve probably noticed by now, but I’m the only Wolf without someone working under me. Sam has her Bats, Tucker has his Flies, Jazz has her Rats, Klarion has his Strays, and Phantom has the TVA as a whole. The others have been pressuring me to create my own group, but babysitting a group of teens in a lab where anything could explode is just asking for trouble.”
Damian stepped away from the nearest device. Fenton continued, “However, I think a group dedicated to investigation would work much better. Here in the Infinite Realms, we’re very isolated from the human world, so my research on competing inventors is always lacking. Tuck and Sam help, but Tucker has his own hacking projects, and Sam targets financially viable targets instead of labs.”
“You want me to be a member of your new… group?” Damian read in between the lines of what Fenton was saying. Surely Father would be proud of him for gaining information about Fenton’s inventions and targets—
“I want you to lead the group.”
His glare dropped right off his face in shock. “Lead?” he whispered. 
“That’s right,” Daniel agreed. “It’s not conventional and I barely got the others to agree, but Damian, you’re one of the best trained villains to ever join the TVA. Yeah, you’re really young, but you are serious and professional. To be honest, most of the kids we take in don’t take our work seriously. It’s not a bad thing, but I need a leader who is willing to keep their group in line. Infiltration and information gathering can be very dangerous, and I need someone who can keep the team safe.”
Daniel trusted him enough for that? Father didn’t trust him enough to be his partner; honestly, Father didn’t even trust him enough to introduce Damian to the world as his son! Perhaps he was aggressive towards the interlopers in his home, but he wasn’t going to stab a civilian!
And while Damian didn’t understand why Daniel was so cautious around what amounted to breaking and entering, he wanted Damian to lead. He trusted Damian for that. 
And Damian was going to take back whatever information Fenton revealed back to his father, like a hunting dog to its master. 
Daniel continued, “Of course, this is still a few months off from being necessary. But that should give you plenty of time to attend some classes to prepare you more! One on leadership skills, one on modern technology, one on basic magic and wards, maybe a refresher on hacking… Knowing you, you’ll test out of them in a few weeks, but the main point is to find other people to join our team. I’m looking for four other team members, and while I am looking for certain traits and skills, it's up to you to decide who you want on the team.” Daniel placed a hand on Damian’s shoulder. “So, what do you think?”
He’d betray Daniel by saying yes. He’d betray Father by saying no. 
He made his choice. 
Damian looked up at Daniel, determination set into his face. “I won’t let you down.”
Daniel smiled. “I know you won’t. You couldn’t if you tried.”
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huicitawrites · 11 months
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The Hunt
Yandere! Miguel O' Hara x Fem! Spider! Reader
T/W: yandere (slow-burn(?)), dark fic, violence, assault, spoilers for across the spiderverse.
Status: rewritten.
Next Chapter
Word Count: 2,4k
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"Y/N! Get. Back. Here. NOW", swinging away from an infuriated Miguel O'Hara wasn't something you had planned or ever thought would occur, never entertained the thought of it. At least not until now, as you desperately attempted to get away from him and somehow escape him- for your dimension-travel watch (as wild as the concept of it sounded) had been snatched by the same man that was madly hunting you down.
How did it even all come to this? Let's rewind, back to the beginning.
Part I
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After being bitten by a radioactive spider in a school trip to Alchemax at the young age of 15, you obtained enhanced spider-like abilities: a sixth sense for perceiving danger, incredible reflexes, amazing parkour skills, extraordinary strentgh and flexibility.
And for the past ten years, you have been New York's one and only Spider-Woman.
Learning to use your powers was a whole trip on itself. They awakened rather clumsily -nothing a leap of faith could not fix- as you began to grasp the ropes of being a masked hero in your teenage years [it's safe to say that your teenage years were truly a heck of a rollercoaster].
Handling a double-life was not easy, that is something you have learned with your ten years experience. You saved a bunch of people and thus many lives, you won many times and saved the city countless more. Yet you also earned a bunch of dangerous criminals and villains tailing behind your back that would want to kill you without hesitation and harm you in any way possible.
In spite of the times you were beaten down, left made a mess in the ground, or at the brink of death- you would always get back up because you were Spider-Woman.
Sometimes, getting back up was hard.
The weight of the sake of the city was on your shoulders. And sometimes, that weight crushed you. When you lost your parents it was devastating, because not only had you failed as a hero, but as a daughter.
[Your dad perished in an attempt to save you from an attack of one of many enemies- the Green Goblin . You two happened to be on a ‘father and daughter’ outing in a nice dinner when the Green Goblin tried to draw out Spider-Woman from her hiding place in Brooklyn (unbeknownst of your true identity and much to your own misery and guilt.) After battling the Green Goblin and imprisoning him, you rose with your dead father in your arms, and an huge crack in your heart that would leave a deep scar.
Months later, your mother's followed suit. That day was chaotic, panic filled the streets of New York as The Rhino, a veteran soldier with super human strentgh and a high-techno advanced armor resembling a rhinoceros, laid waste to the city. You were evacuating all civilians nearby, swinging across and into buildings, picking up and scooping anyone you could encounter and putting them out of danger.
It happened as you held falling debris with your arms. You picked up wailing in between the many cries of people, and your spider-sense guided your eyes up from the ground.
A child, no older than five, was crying. He was glued to the floor, too overwhelmed by the calamity surrounding him. A wall from a building was falling on him and your heart beat raced. You still had people below you that were crawling out and the child was a or two block away. Your thoughts raced in your head, you had to save everyone, down to the last live.
"Come on, come on, come on" you muttered in between gritted teeth as you gathered power and lifted the debris into the air. With the help of your web shooter, you pulled all the remaining civilians out and casted aside the courtesy of double-checking as you swinged toward the child.
You could see how the wall fell over him, and you reached out your arm with your forearm out desperately, attempted to pull him out with your web but the wall was already about to touch his head and-
She pushed the child out of the danger, motherly instincts impulsing her feet at the cost of her own life. The child was pushed onto you and you brought him flush against you with your web, arms encasing him as you witnessed the wall collapse on her.
In shock and disbelief, you gently lowered the child to the ground and ran to the fallen wall. Once again in despair, you clawed through the debris and searched for your mother’s body.
You found her bruised and crushed, her face deformed. You brushed the dust off it. Her pained groan was faint, and you begged her right there and then not to leave you. Not to leave you alone, again.
“Is the kid al…?”
“Yes! Don’t, don’t talk. Help, help is coming. You have to stay, you have to.” But her eyes were already fading, and her limbs growing weak. Your disguised hand snatched up hers and you cried,
“Mom!”
She recognized your voice, the one she cherished the most. Her fading eyes gathered all the warmth they could muster and she reached out a quivering hand to your cheek. Her fingers slid into your mask, and she felt your tear stained skin.
“Ah my baby…[Y/n]…I’m so proud... Your father would be so proud... keep it up”. Her last words were voiced with strain, but you would always remember them.]
They became the fuel for your mission, and no matter how many times you were beaten to the ground and wounded to no end, you stood back up. You would save everyone else, no more deaths, you swore upon your parents' last moments.
Now in your adult life, you found yourself in a stable life besides the implications your side hustle not-so-side -hustle brought. You had an adequate job as a writer for small titles in a decent newspaper, and you had a department you shared with your childhood best friend, Peter Parker [who eventually became your tech-desk guy. Hiding your true identity from your best friend and roommate would have never lasted long anyway. You remember clearly the day you climbed into the living's window, beat up, bruised and tired, when the lights suddenly turned on and a Peter with crossed arms and an eyebrow raised was waiting for you like a parent whose child was past curfew. You were without your mask on. Nonetheless, after stuttering uncontrollably and failing to explain and just simply breaking down in front of him. Without saying any words, he took out the first aid kit and reassured you with a smile. You were so grateful to him.]
So now here you were, crouching on the top of The Clock Tower, the moonlight casting its light on your back and darkening your silhouette. Earlier in the day you dealt with some thugs and minor crimes, but since the sun fell nothing happened. That was odd, NYC was never quite, least of all times at night.
But your spider-sense was running, not rampant, but definetely there like annoying itch on the nape. Something had to be off, you knew it.
"Um, I'm not picking up anything, (Y/n). Maybe you should be calling it a night, you've been doing good work so far. You did lower the crime rate, after all."
"You sure Pete? There's this feeling in my gut and-"
"Your 'spidey- thingy' ?".
"Spider-sense, spidey-thingy sounds dumb" you answered with a small groan, rolling your eyes although he could not see the.
He chuckled, "Yeah, yeah, whatever," he turned serious " but I'm not getting anything from anywhere. From police radios and stations to our own hidden cameras"
"Nothing? Sure?"
"I mean everything is awfully quiet now that I think about it... All I can pick up is glitching, let's see... let me do my thing and-" you could hear frantic typing through the comms of your suit within the mask, you could even picture Peter hunching and fixing his eyeglasses.
What he said left you pondering. Glitching? It couldn't be a coincidence that all the radio signals he could pick up were glitching.
"Aha! Here it is, your spidey-thingy was right." this time, you chuckled as if saying 'see?'. He continued, "-this should be a very hidden signal from the special forces team. Seems classified, man they should really put a little more money into whatever software they use to protect their privacy" and he pushed on one final 'enter', the glitching and static got louder almost startling you to which your friend apologized softly, but it evened out.
"Report the situation, Lieutenant Stacy"
"Requesting back-up right now, suspect is armed with advanced equipment, we are at the Port, South East, many of my men and women have been wounded and- oh, shit, shit" The man's words died down with the sound of something big crashing and breaking.
Well, that's your cue. You stood up on your toes and balanced you body weight forward, diving to the ground. With your limbs extended, you stretched your forearm and extended your wrist, web shooting out from the slick web shooter Peter designed.
Swinging from building to building under the night sky, you jumped across billboards and slid past tight spaces as you were heading to the location of the conflict, and the closer you swinged, the wilder your spider sense got.
When you arrived at the port, you saw a SWAT truck that was flipped over, it had a huge dent in the form of a what seemed to be a claw mark, and the windows had been broken. There were a few members on the floor, and you noticed there were two trying to lift the heavy vehicle.
"Let me help," you announced your presence and they whipped their heads. Their faces were glistening with sweat and dirt, and you could notice their equipment was damaged. You crouched and lifted the truck, there was one member there below, and his leg was twisted the other way, but he was breathing- well, panting.
Without further a do, the soldiers went and dragged out their friend. A soldier's face lit up, though they seemed hesitant [after all, your line of work was kind of controversial among the government and its forces] but they were thankful. "Thank you, Spider-Woman", their voice was genuine and you smiled below the mask.
"Your welcome, leave it to me" winking at them through your lense, you nodded and propelled yourself to the ceiling of the warehouse. You noticed a roof canopy at the center, lucky you, and brought the palm of your hand to it. Utilizing your sticky finger pads, you carefully removed a pane of glass and entered the building without making a sound.
"Be careful, please" Peter voiced with worry.
You hanged the web from it's strongest point at the peak, and slowly lowered yourself down until your hand gently brushed the cold floor . You got off the web and crawled in direction of the tingling of the spider-sense. You found some warehouse crates, pressed your back onto them, slowly leaning your head out to take a peak.
A man stood there, a middle aged man by the looks of him. He had a round pair of black sunglasses on and a large leather coat on, but the most outstanding feature was apparently behind him. Four metal tentacle-like arms sprouting from his back, with threatening looking claws. That had to be the thing that put such a dent in a SWAT vehicle, the advanced equipment you heard of in the interception.
He was ranting about something, speaking to himself. "The power of the sun at the palm of my hand, only to be ruined by that fucking-"
‘What is this man even talking about…’
His words died down in your ears as it took a few seconds for your spider-sense to peak, and you scrunched your face features. Your eyebrows furrowed and your eyes squinted, cheeks squeezing up and causing the lenses of the mask to stretch and flatten.
"(Y/n)? Found anything yet?" Peter inquired.
"This man... I think I know him... but also not..." At this point, your spider-sense was rampant. Your gaze still confused as you tried to decipher him. Your spider sense was alerting you of this oddly familiar feeling. It was someone you had dealt with before, but also someone new. Simply off-putting.
Then the realization fell on you, his tentacle-like arms.
"Is that Doc Ock!?" Without getting a hold of your reaction, you accidentally raised your voice and revealed your location. Your spider-sense tingled again, this time, sensing imminent danger as you backflipped and dodged the incoming attack. The crate you were hiding behind of was broken into splinters.
"Come on out, Spider-Man!" he shouted, his voice in pure anger.
Spider-Man? As long as you remember, you never referred to your disguised self as Spider-Man...
"It's Spider-Woman, mind you" You revealed yourself off the shadows, and the light basked in your costume, revealing its signature colors and design. "Do I know you by chance?" you tited your head, inquisitive in your tone as you were trying to figure things out.
The man's expression fell, and his rage was replaced by annoyance.
"Is this some kind of sick joke, Spider-Man? Have you forgotten the name of the man whose work of life you ruined, Otto Octavius." His tongue rolled of his name with spite and you widened your eyes.
"Doc Ock? But, you are different. You are totally human". Last time you checked, Doc Ock was a mad scientist that turned himself half-octopus by bioengineering his genetics in the name of some sort of sick evolution idea. He had tried to turn the city into mutants like himself for 'the sake of humanity's future' and you managed to stop his plans. Furthermore, he had been sent to a high-security prison for villains, where an anti-serum is being developed to turn him back and halt his aggression.
"Are you pulling my leg Spider-Man?" He said with disbelief, and he began to appear more and more angry by the second. He muttered something below his breath, and you swore you saw one of his tentacles turn toward his face as if it were sentient and listening...
"I've told you it's Spider-Woman." You huffed out, chest puffing out. You had a bad feeling about this...
The man's hand ran down his own face and he groaned, visibly tired. "Well, whatever, but you do appear to be an ally of Peter Parker's, your costume and your name leave little room for further speculation". The mention of your friend raised up your guard, how did he know Pete? Any doubts and hesitation erased themselves of your mind, for your friend could be in lethal danger.
"Oh? What's the matter, 'Spider-Woman'," he sneered.
"Picked right on the web, hmm?" He edged on, a dangerous smirk dancing on his face and two claws raising up in the air, ready to pounce.
There was not much to it, as you jumped sideways to dodge whatever that clawed-tentacle-armor was. You found yourself right back at the gig, fighting a villain as the one and only Spider-Woman.
Or so you thought.
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A/n: Hi! So when I first saw this fictional man I KNEW I had to write about him, originally, it was going to be a long one shot, but I decided to break it into parts. I expect this story to be up to 3 parts or 4 as most. Anyhow, I hope you come to like it!, and sorry for the long- ass intro, I really wanted to dwelve deeper into reader as a spider person. Next is the real thing. I have seen some people have asked me to tag them, so don’t be shy to ask too!
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madschiavelique · 9 months
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𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐨'𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫)
summary : after your little late night training, you came back to your room once more thinking about miguel, and got called just a bit later to get on a mission. you’re all paired up, miguel ending up with you, and let’s just say the mission takes a different turn… or you give miguel a handjob in public toilets while on a mission
content warning : SMUT (18+) minors dni, handjob, miguel is so desperate i swear, no use of Y/N, so much tension word count : 4,2k
note : this bitch became so long i had to make it a 4shot instead of a 3shot, enjoy besties (proofreading is on-going on this one <3)
chapters' list : 1 - love bite 2 - late night training 3 - unexpected mission (nsfw) 4 - shameless (nsfw)
tag list : @marit332 @coralineyouareinterribledanger @sunnyx07 @mamamiriamxo @l3laze @amy180801 @gojos-goth-gf
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Needless to say, after that fortunate nocturnal encounter, you couldn't sleep at all as your thoughts about Miguel multiplied. You replayed the scene in your mind as if you were putting the diamond back to the favourite tune on your latest vinyl, his hands on your body as he readjusted your position, the tumble into which he had dragged you...
"Distracted?"
You rolled over onto your side of the bed, pressing your pillow against your chest. You thought back to the circular movements he was making on your waist with his thumb, to his darkened eyes, to his lips as he prepared to kiss you...
"There?"
You buried your head in your pillow, clutching it tightly under your fingers, your heart dropping into your stomach. And his canines had traced your skin, had trailed dangerously over the line of your pulse in your throat, intimately. You realised that he could very well have torn open your throat and made you bleed out in his arms, but instead, he chose to kiss.
"This is not over."
You would have tried to knock yourself out to get some sleep, but there was nothing you could do. Every minute, every moment, every bit of your attention was riveted on it. So you tried to put on some music, to relax, to put your thoughts on something else. But the taste of his lips on yours kept coming back.
What would have happened if Lyla hadn't interrupted you?
But one thought kept coming to the fore: the attraction is mutual. This simple idea made your heart swell.
Less than an hour later, however, just as sleep and rest were finally opening their arms to you, you were summoned to Miguel's office with some other spiders. So, tired but trying to stay alert, you hurried over there.
The situation Lyla had mentioned was the reason for the call. It seemed that several anomalies had found their way simultaneously into one single dimension, which led to Hobie, Gwen, Pavitr, Peter B, Miguel and you getting together at almost dawn to deal with the situation.
Everyone yawned till their jaws unhooked as the situation was explained, and all you could do was stare at Miguel. He didn't look too good either, but he hid it well, as always. He met your gaze only a few times, an indecipherable indifference in place.
Suddenly, a single, particularly gruelling thought came to the surface, and you felt as if your heart was going to come crush on itself like a tin can.
What if, at any moment, he were to pull you aside and say, "About what happened last night, forget it." You swallowed, caressing the hope that this discussion wouldn't come up.
Who knows, after all, maybe he just wanted to keep it a secret for the time being? You didn't mind the idea, there's always a certain excitement in secrecy.
"Hi there!"
You jumped slightly, placing your hand on your heart as you turned to Layla. The thing that made her so dangerous was that your spider-senses couldn't possibly predict or allow you to sense anything about her presence.
"Oops, sorry for the jumpscare," she smiled with a little shrug of her shoulder, "sooo about this situation with Miguel, how do you feel?" she asked, speaking much more quietly.
"What?" you said, looking around to make sure no spiders were paying attention to your discussion. "I mean... I don't know. We haven't really had time to talk about it." You rubbed the back of your neck lightly, feeling at a loss to reveal the countless thoughts that were monopolising your entire mind. "You mentioned earlier that... he's been keeping an eye on me. What did you mean by that ?”
"Mhm," she said, looking around, but not out of concern for the others, out of concern that Miguel might catch her talking to you. "Well if you wanna know, from time to time since the last mission you were here, the big guy would ask for your location and open a tab with the camera of the place you were in. Pretty creepy in my opinion," she laughed under her breath, "but his main argument was always about 'the bullet' and how 'gotta make sure you're doing better'," she mimicked him. "So yeah, things like that. I mean, he did mention some stuff-"
"What stuff?" you asked, hanging on her every word.
"I think he might've been struggling to find the right reason to approach you-"
"Layla!" shouted Miguel, irritation evident in his tone.
"Ugh, would've loved to chat with you more but Happy over there requests me. See ya!"
In less time than it takes to bat an eyelash, her pixels flew across the room to Miguel. The latter raised his index finger as if to berate his child, and you couldn't help but smile at the scene.
So Miguel had been keeping an eye on you all this time?
You didn't have that much time to wonder about it, though, because the portal to the dimension in question had just been opened.
"Here here ladies and gentlemen! called Layla, "To make the mission easier, we've split into duos so we don't end up like last time when it was a mess and we called for reinforcements," she cleared her throat and announced with pleasant surprise that the groups would be Hobie with Gwen, Peter with Pavitr, and finally Miguel and you. At the end, she winked at you. "Hop hop hop, let's get going!"
Miguel rolled his eyes and jerked his head in the direction of the gate before pulling his mask over his face.
As soon as you arrived, some sort of completely absurd lorry sped through the city, bumping into almost every street corner, the shape of the vehicle changing with each impact. One minute it was an ice cream truck, the next it was a military van, and so on.
"Who's driving? Stevie Wonder?" blurted Peter.
"Your powers of deduction leave me speechless," Pavitr gasped.
A sort of heavyweight surrounded by lots of red dentured toys walking all around him had built himself a ring at a crossroads with electric cables and cars to mark out his arena. He seemed to be calling out to anyone who thought they were strong enough to take him on in a fight, with anyone who got even a little too close being attacked and chased by the countless toys.
As for the third anomaly, there was still no sign of it. Miguel turned to the group.
" Alright, Gwen, Hobie, you're in charge of fast and furious," pointed Miguel.
"No problem, I'll show them!" confirmed Gwen as she took off.
"Go on, make us dream," added Peter.
"Pavitr and Peter, you'll be working on John Cena," ordered Miguel, as the duo took off, "as for us...".
Just then, in the distance, there was a strange, hoarse rumbling sound, not very loud, but perceptible enough for your keen senses.
"Here's the job," you confirmed, jumping up and pulling your web to get to the site.
The situation was a bit complicated, with three anomalies wreaking havoc all over the city at the same time, it was a serious quota.
The one chasing you now was particularly repulsive and complex. The enemy was... deformed, aesthetically flawed in the sense that its entire being was made up of a sort of light beige bubbly paste, simply resembling bread dough that had been left to rise overnight. The anomaly moved blindly, its being devoid of bones or joints smearing itself slimily over the surfaces it attacked and dragging itself along without the trace it left behind ever stripping it of its own material. Its gaping, open mouth resembled that of a sad theatrical mask, yet thanks to what you and Miguel had understood, this creature could identify surroundings by sound.
The key would have been to make no noise at all, but given that in a bustling city sound was unavoidable, the anomaly kept attacking anything that made even a little too much noise.
"The voice of wisdom is mute, it speaks in sign language, I can make out a middle finger crossing a circle made of a thumb and a index that stick together", Hobie had sung when you had crossed paths at one point, him and Gwen still chasing the lorry that looked like the ones that circuses use to pass through towns, warning of their shows with a megaphone.
The sound of this movement displeased the anomaly and it began to chase him, Miguel grumbling that intertwining anomalies was never a good thing.
It was necessary to divert this flabby paste and attract its attention, and find a way of neutralising it. Miguel tried to throw a multi-dimensional cell at it, but it simply sank into the dough without activating.
"Oh come on really?!" he raged, the thing suddenly turning towards him.
"Hey!" you called in the beast's direction, whistling loudly as it came towards you with that inverted smile. "Come on, come and get me," you smiled, rushing towards the inside of a shopping centre that had been completely evacuated as it closed in on you.
You ran, whistling to attract it.
Honestly, you had absolutely no idea how to confront this thing. You tried throwing a web at it, trying to see if it had any effect, but the web sank into the pile of dough miserably.
Dammit. Maybe clawing would have an effect? You stopped, positioning yourself, calling to it again, extending your claws.
It was hurtling towards you, and your uncertainty was growing with every metre less between it and you. And just as you thought you'd be swallowed up by the bubbly, viscous mass, you were pulled back by a neon-red web that had wrapped itself around your waist.
Miguel had just pulled you against him with one of his webs, distancing you as far as possible from the creature as he threw a web at a shop opposite selling some sort of plush toy that made a noise when pressed. The anomaly rushed at it, creating a cacophony of childish music and tearing as he led you down a corridor nearby.
"Are you looking to die by landing in front of it like that?" growled Miguel in a whisper.
"What can I say, I guess a brush with death is part of my beauty-seduction panoply."
He let out a small laugh, but shook his head to compose himself, "I'd rather you not die, please. Unless you're doing this on purpose to repeat the episode of your gunshot wound?" his hand came to rest on the spot of your old injury, a breath catching in your throat.
You flinched, he'd touched a sensitive spot. You could hear the anomaly in the distance as it fiercely pursued its quest for silence by destroying all the stuffed animals and other objects that might produce any sound.
"Silence suddenly suits you," Miguel murmured, his fingers brushing against your thigh again.
You swallowed, the sensations you'd felt at his touch just over an hour ago spreading through your body again. Did he want to tease you in a situation like this? Well, so would you.
You took off your mask, trying not to let the effect he was having on you show too much, even though the urge was overwhelming, and moved a little closer to him, putting your hand on his thigh. Your knuckles brushed against his covered skin, a smile forming on your lips. You were now close, only a dozen centimetres separating your two faces. His mask depixelised, revealing him staring at you with half-closed eyelids, breathing slowly as your hand came up to his hip, your fingers gently tracing it. He was watching your face with particular interest, calm and curious.
You placed your other hand on his chest, letting it slide down the side of his suit until it reached his back, your gaze never wavering from his. You tilted your head back slightly, feeling no need to overdo it given the fact that he was so tall. Then, bringing your face a little closer to his without reaching him, your hand came to the small of his back and your middle finger traced his spine from bottom to top, his body undulating as he contracted his jaw, letting out a sigh of ease, his eyelids closing.
You brought your lips to his ear, whispering as low as you could:
"I heard you've been watching me?"
You tilted your head to the side, returning to find his eyes, watching his eyebrows furrow at your remark, his upper lip curling slightly to show his canines as his lips formed a soundless "layla?"
You nodded softly, moving closer to his face again, your eyelids brushing his cheek as your hand reached further up his inner thigh, slightly higher than the midpoint between his knee and his crotch, his breath catching on the crook of your neck.
"So?" you whispered again, intimacy mixing with fear of being spotted by the anomaly.
"I did... I do." he breathed, his hand coming to rest on your waist until it pulled you back, pressing you a little more against the wall behind you. The contact made your body burn, his fingers the cause of that hungry fire.
His nose brushed against yours, "Had to make sure you were alright," he breathed.
"Is that the only reason?" you asked, your forehead pressed to his.
His thumb circled your hip in an almost hypnotic way.
"Maybe not," he admitted, his lips brushing yours.
"Hey guys- OUCH! How're you handling the situation ?" crackled Peter's voice coming from your watch and Miguel's. The anomaly immediately swivelled in your direction, "I'm never making fun of dentures again!"
Shit.
The anomaly leapt towards you, and Miguel grabbed your wrist to pull you away from it. You made your way through the maze of corridors with their light marbled floors. You watched your surroundings, trying to find a sound distraction. Not far from a stationary escalator was one of the typical pianos available to everyone in stations or shopping centres like this one. You threw a web over the keys, a strange chord playing for a moment, perfectly distracting the anomaly as you ran elsewhere.
Miguel drew you in when he noticed the distinctive toilet sign.
You went straight into a cubicle and locked the door. Out of breath, you leaned against one of the walls of the small space, trying to calm your breathing, fearing that the creature would spot you with a tiny noise like that.
When the racket seemed to die down, you relaxed and tilted your head back, resting it against the wall as you looked at Miguel through your eyelashes. The cabin wasn't big enough to accommodate two people without them being close together. It was even more complicated with the space Miguel took up, and that's precisely how close you were at the moment, close, your eyes connected tirelessly. You felt as if the air was electric with him, as if hundreds of tingles of closeness were crackling under your skin and he was drawing them all in his direction.
He breathed in, and his torso bulged until it brushed against you. His eyes locked with yours and looked down at your lips for a moment, then he moved forward a little to get even closer, putting his hand next to your head on the wall, and when his gaze returned to yours, the colour of his irises had turned red.
His height and width towered over you, and the impossibility of going anywhere became obvious. Not that you wanted to run away, on the contrary. He tilted his head to one side, his nose pressing against the soft skin of your cheek.
"I couldn't get you out of my mind... so I kept an eye on you," he admitted, resuming your earlier conversation, breathing softly, bringing his nose closer to your neck and inhaling your scent almost drunkenly as his hair tickled your face. "The taste of your skin, your voice, the feel of your fingers in my hair..."
You gently brought your hand to his shoulder, sliding it to the nape of his neck and snaking your fingers through his hair, raking your nails through it while he let out a shaky, breathy moan.
"Yeah, that," he grumbled quietly against the skin of your neck, feverish, his lips brushing against it and sending shivers down the rest of your spine as his other hand slid up the small of your back and pulled you to him until your two bodies were touching.
He began to kiss your neck as if its skin were the only thing capable of quenching his thirst, revelling in your scent and the warmth that emanated from it, tracing the line of your pulse with his tongue from bottom to top as it rushed under the sensation, letting a moan of ease rise from the depths of your throat at the same time.
His hand moved down your side to your hip, leaving in its wake a powder of stars that sparkled in your body and made you feel warm in your lower stomach. He ran his hand down to your thigh, grasping it between his powerful fingers as his fangs grazed the skin of your exposed neck, his other hand pulling on the collar of your suit to uncover a bit more of it. His hand was closing on your thigh, gripping it tightly and squeezing until you felt his claws digging into your still-covered skin, a strangled gasp rattling in your throat as his grip on it pulled you a little closer to him.
And you felt it, that hardness pressed against your thigh. Your heart skipped a beat, and a little knot of warmth sprang up in your belly. You lowered your eyes slightly, and they landed on his erection pressed through the fabric of his suit.
Oh shit. Big.
His fangs traced the skin of your neck dangerously, pressing harder, ready to bite as you breathed out in a whisper: "Wouldn't this be inappropriate during a mission ?"
He exhaled, his low growl reverberating against your neck as he kissed it.
"Hm't can wait," he mumbled incoherently, completely intoxicated by your skin and the sensation of your two bodies so close.
You had to control yourself so that your knees didn't give out on you, it was as if they were made of jelly; boneless, useless muscles surrounding nothing at all. The effect he had on you set your body aglow, heat pooling in your lower back as a fire had started in your abdomen, completely bewitched by his touch and the sensations he provoked in you.
A warm cloud had taken up residence in your lower belly, spreading under your skin, and every movement he made and every breath he breathed on your skin only warmed it, making it expand as much as it tightened.
Looking for a place to anchor yourself, you put your hand on his hip, your fingers still in his hair, tightening a little. He let out a hoarse moan, resting his forehead on your shoulder. Unconsciously, or simply eager for the sensations, his hips had started grinding on their own on your thigh.
It was then that this simple fact occurred to you: you had as much power over him as he had over you.
The thought did not leave you indifferent, not in the least. The simple idea that with a light rub of your fingers you could set off fireworks of pleasure and expectation in him suddenly gave you an exceptional feeling of power.
So you turned your head to kiss his hair tenderly as your hand slowly moved down the distance between his hip and his crotch. His grip on your thigh tightened, but that didn't stop your hand from continuing its trajectory until it reached his groin, tracing the covered skin with your fingertips without continuing your approach.
Miguel's breath mingled with the lament in his voice, and what a beautiful sound it was. Staying like this, tracing the junction between his pelvis and his thigh, was a particularly hot temptation.
"...wer." grumbled Miguel.
You had a pretty good idea what that word was, but just for the sake of it, you asked:
"Say that again."
He let out a groan as your fingers continued their incessant, static waltzing over his groin.
"Lower," he managed to articulate.
You smiled, then, to relieve him, brought your hand against his cock, twitching at the contact of your fingers. A sigh of relief mixed with a ragged moan vibrated through his chest, a slight spasm gripping his hips as your index finger traced his length from base to tip. His pelvis undulated further against the contact, seeking more friction, more heat, simply and preciously seeking more.
Your face, until then hidden in his hair, moved forward until your lips whispered in his ear:
"Like it when I touch you there?"
And you saw his skin shiver like one of an orange, his shoulders relaxing as he let out a "Hmpf" of approval, his hips undulating, craving the single touch of your fingers on him. You could now definitely feel his claws pressing against your thigh and just hoped it wouldn't damage your suit again.
So you wrapped your hand around him, finger by finger, close to the tip of his head, your thumb resting on top of it, making circular movements at a painfully slow pace. You could feel the moisture soaking the digital fabric there as Miguel's breath hitched.
Your lips still close to his cheek came to kiss him softly, moving down his jaw and a little further into his neck, letting your nose brush gently against his skin. Your kisses and the slight movement of your hand seemed to have a particularly pleasurable effect on him.
Since his erection was against his body, you couldn't properly enclose it, but you could see that if you tried to close the loop around it, you wouldn't be able to get your thumb and fingers to come together and touch, and that width impressed you as much as it intimidated you. After all, there's a fine line between fear and reverence.
Nonetheless, you slowly began to lower your fingers, now angled to embrace him as best you could over the thin fabric, then gently moved upwards, slightly twisting your hand near his tip.
A trembling sigh escaped from between his lips as his hand, hitherto resting on the nape of your neck, nestled close to your hair, gripping lightly as he straightened his head to meet your gaze. Needless to say, his eyes were darkened by desire, his jaw clenching.
You continued your movements, switching from the gentle, slow rhythm you'd started with to something a little more sped up, occasionally letting your thumb stop just below his tip, making gentle movements with it that drew moans of ease from him against your ear.
"How does that feel?" you asked, your voice barely audible, kissing his cheek softly.
"Coño," he sighed, coming to kiss your cheekbone "like heaven.” His thumb was rubbing over your neck, gently.
His hips became more insistent, seeking more friction and warmth, eager for anything you could offer him. He sprinkled little kisses interspersed with moans locked against his teeth, his fangs inadvertently grazing your skin, cheek against cheek, his sighs landing on your ear in a warm cloud.
"Don’t stop," he sighed, "don’t stop…"
His voice was deeper, low as his breathing started speeding up.
"Hey guys, we're almost over here, what about you?" Pavitr's voice echoed in the cabin, and you both gasped.
A mass commotion outside: the anomaly had heard your watches sizzling perfectly again, and you could hear it moving insistently towards you. The poor guy would have to wait, because ending up dead in a public toilet choked by a mass of dough was not on your agenda.
"Looks like the fun will have to wait," you whispered to him as you removed your hand from his erection, moving aside to open the door, but the hand that had been resting on your thigh moved up to grip your waist.
"What are you doing?" he snarled, his eyebrows furrowed, panting.
"I'm trying to stay alive and finish my mission," you replied with a mischievous grin as you could hear the door to the toilet entrance shatter.
The fire that burned in your body at his touch was still there... Well, yes, the fire! Yes, fire!
If this creature was made of dough, that meant it could bake. So perhaps it would become solid enough to be placed in a cell.
"This is not over," you whispered to him before starting to replace your mask to leave.
But he prevented the gesture from being completed in time to kiss you, chastely yet passionately. Your heart dropped warmly into your belly as you responded to his kiss.
He stroked your cheek with his thumb for a moment, his brown eyes gleaming with a mixture of frustration and hunger.
The dough paced up and down the corridor, and you leapt to the top of the cubicle, silently trying to pass over each of the toilets to reach the exit.
next part >> shameless (nsfw)
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sonderessence · 7 months
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What abt a
e42 miles x spiteful blk fem spider reader
so what if miles (1610) cheated on reader with gwen (😒..) and to get revenge on him for cheating on reader with.. gwendolyn.., we get with his earth 42 self!
(if you could make this a series i would literally cry of joy.)
Angst for 1610 Miles (IM SORRY I LOVE YOU POOKIE😭☹️☹️🩷)
Fluff and Romance for 42 Miles (🤭🩷)
DONT HIT MY LINE! ...
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1610!MILES & 42!MILES X READER!
WARNINGS: vulgar laguage (cursing), ✦ CONTAINS: 1610!miles being a bitch!!
a/n: imma be honest, i am such a gwen slander after the movie (still love her tho) 😒 but i so love this idea !!
layout inspo/creds: @hiimayee the best miles fic writer!! :3
NOW PLAYING: I HATE U - SZA
part one. ✦ part two ✦ part three
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your boyfriend 1610!miles had been acting strange since he saw gwen after all these years, but you just shrugged it off as him being happy his friend was back in his dimension.
you never thought that your suspensions were true when you found your now ex with his "friend" behind your back.
you looked around the predominantly empty library in search of your boyfriend miles, who was nowhere to be seen. it was highly unlikely for him to be late to anything.
maybe something was last-minute? you would go ask his mother, rio, since you go to her for everything in the more frequent months since miles had been acting — odd — but you doubt she would know since her and her husband were out of town.
grabbing the pile of books you and miles you used to study for the test you knew you were going to fail, you scurried your way you the hushed library.
the sky was temperate, the perfect temperature for the park you thought, smelling the fresh, cool air — but focus! miles has to be somewhere around campus. you stuffed your books it your bag and made your way to his dorm, maybe he was still asleep?
you made your way to his dorm and softly knocked on his door, careful not to wake him. there was no answer. "miles?" you called to the door. again, no answer.
you pulled out your phone from your bag and went to his contacts. maybe he was sick or just skipped school? you had fussed at him the week prior to get more sleep, since he always came knocking at your window to late at night.
wait, should you call him? he's probably busy. and with that thought, you put your phone back in your bag and made your way to the morales house. it wasn't far from the school you two attended, so getting there wasn't a problem.
you knocked on the front door, once, twice. where is he? "miles!! you home??" you heard footsteps from the other side and the door opened to see miles who looked like he was in a rush. his hair everywhere and shirt backwards.
"hey! you okay?" you asked, your voice laced with concern for the boy.
"yeah." he said, his voice coming out hoarse. he cleared his throught. "m'fine, wassup?"
"you were s'posed to meet up with me at the library." you meant to sound playful, but your words came out more of a scoff. "look," he started. "i just forgot."
"forgot?? miles, you could have texted me! i was fuckin' worried about you!" you were furious, crossing your arms with a frown. "you done?" he asked with an eyebrow raised — you could see the twinge on annoyance in his eyes and you could hear it in his tone. "am i done?" you scoffed "are you done running off and not checking up on people??"
he didnt know how to answer that. "look, i'm hella busy right now, we can do the study thing or whateva later." he pinched the bridge of his nose. "fine." you muttered as you walked out the door.
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a/n: how we feelin' about the first chapter?? i might have gone all out but part two is otw!
TAGS: @kazustqrzz, @kxllanxtdoor ( the tags are being annoying 😒)
©bachirasegoist, 2023 — do not steal or copy works
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conflictofthemind · 16 days
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TL;DR: HNL was studying how to give human subjects electromagnetic, most specifically visible light based, powers in order to bend space-time for their needs.
I’m going to try and condense this as much as I can because considering electromagnetism as a major force in ST (pun intended) opens up so many potential areas of analysis that can only be a brief cover of without turning into multiple essays.
Let’s go over the electromagnetic spectrum:
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I hope you might already be recognizing some symbols we see often in Stranger Things, especially if you’ve been following the BTS and some location and set leaks from Season 5.
The electromagnetic spectrum encompasses the different frequencies of electromagnetic radiation - waves of energy that travel at the speed of light (and produce visible light to us at certain frequencies). You’ve probably heard of most of these, including cancer-causing gamma rays and x-rays, the visible light spectrum (the rainbow), microwaves, and radio waves.
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In S5, we have the radio station as a main location for the characters. They’re also driving around in the radio station’s van, which has an image of a hawk emitting a rainbow (visible light radiation). Steve’s car also has a massive antenna on top of it. My first thoughts were that the team was trying to keep in contact with Max in hopes of her being able to hear them in her coma, considering she has a radio near her bedside. While that still may be a reason, I think the characters may have come to realize how important electromagnetic fields could be in their fight against Vecna (this where leader of the AV Club also focused on electromagnetic objects Scott Clarke may make his triumphant return).
Now to pivot onto why electromagnetism is so important to the lore of ST:
What the scientists in Hawkins Lab are likely studying is a way for human brains to produce or manipulate certain types of electromagnetic waves through telepathy. Most obviously this is seen by them having the kids try to manipulate and turn on a circle of light bulbs. Our brains actually already produce electromagnetic waves, but at a very slow frequency. The scientists are constantly measuring brain waves while conducting these experiments. We even get full shots of El’s brain waves during NINA, for example. We also see similar shots in S2 while Will is in the HNL.
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You can also observe that the Hawkins National Laboratory has absolutely massive satellite dishes on it’s rooftop; ones that do not exist on the real life building but are added in post because they pose some sort of significance. Nudge, it’s because they are transmitting and receiving massive amounts of electromagnetic waves.
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Why are they studying electromagnetic waves then?
They are studying electromagnetic waves because they are a method in which time travel can theoretically be achieved - the focus of the Montauk Project in which Stranger Things is based on. The military likely is investigating time travel as another war tactic against Russia.
Let us take a look at the first chapter of the Montauk Project: Experiments in Time book (they are seriously plagiarizing the living hell out of this thing):
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Also, did you catch the whole 'attaching a massive antenna on the hood of my car to pick up a secret signal' thing? That's suspiciously similar to the state of Steve's car! Anyway...
The story of Stranger Things starts chronologically, as does Montauk, with the disappearance of the USS Eldridge and Project Rainbow (named after the bending of the visible light spectrum). Brenner’s father was revealed to have captained the boat in TFS, which disappeared for 12 hours into Dimension X and when it came back, the crew was killed or driven mad (except for Brenner Sr). This inspires Brenner to continue onto the Nevada project, and eventually, Hawkins National Lab’s studies. The USS Eldridge / Philadelphia Project conspiracy from real life went as follows:
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They were studying electromagnetism, specifically the bending of light, to make objects invisible. This was only the first step in the experiments. Once Henry got involved and came back from his trip to Dimension X with powers, Brenner must have realized he could potentially use human subjects to manipulate electromagnetic fields themselves. Human subjects didn’t require machinery or set up and could bend space-time wherever they pleased, as long as they were able to learn the ability.
The more conspiratiorial side of Theoretical Physics proposes using circulating light beams to warp time-space, creating a wormhole in which one can literally walk through time. This is pop-science, likely not true but interesting for fiction purposes. This method of time travel being used is heavily implied due to the fact that the USS Eldridge was already able to disappear into another dimension by the bending of light.
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This is how it worked in the Montauk Project book (absolutely ridiculous how much they took from this honestly):
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My guess is that in the Stranger Things universe, they have not yet managed to time travel, only to create portals into this alien Dimension X. Previously, said portals were only made twice by highly advanced technological equipment. El demonstrated that she was able to open a portal all by herself - another step to achieving time travel with singular human subjects. Season five is when we will see the beginning of the time travel plot line, though it like in Montauk is likely already in a loop.
That’s where we get the name for the Rainbow Room, named after this Project Rainbow. The rainbow represents the full spectrum of visible light, and the goals of the project to bend said light into portals and eventually time travel wormholes.
Implications?:
-Well, first of all it seems very obvious by this point that we are going for a time travel plot line, and this is how it will be achieved.
-Will is heavily connected to light in general, the sun, and of course… the rainbow. He is also implied be the one involved in the time travel plot line. This will be very relevant going forward and deserves it’s own post. Potential funniness of defeating Vecna with the power of the rainbow afoot.
-Coma patients are known to have odd, barely detectable brain waves. The kids will be able to communicate with Max in her coma using the electromagnetic spectrum somehow, probably through the radio waves.
-On the farthest end of the spectrum, we have ionizing gamma ray radiation, which is known to cause cancer in humans. Expect Hopper’s daughter Sara to connect to this plot line (and perhaps Sam Owens’ dead son). There is a whole theory on this site already called radiationgate. I have not managed to look into it yet but I think they are probably onto something there. The original al pitch mentions the UD leakage into the real world causing cancer as well.
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cavesalamander · 1 month
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Scum Villain fic where Shen Yuan wakes up out of a coma and realizes that he just had a very, very vibrant dream about his boy and that web novel he hatereads.
When he gets back home after observation it's so... surreal. He feels so much older now. He's practically lived a lifetime in that dream, even if only a few months have passed.
His room is so... cringe is the word he wants to use, but he can't help but find his past self endearing about it all. Except that line of thought makes... no sense at all. His past self is just him from a couple months ago.
He decides to check up on the story he'd been dreaming about and finds out that, though there were a dozen more chapters, they had stopped updating completely without warning just a few weeks after his own coma.
(The comments after his coma, a few mention him, calling him out or cheering for him finally giving up on the story. Some people even speculate he might have died.)
His old comments were so embarrassing to read, but there's a part of him that... sees his love for Luo Binghe even in these.
Wait, why is he suddenly okay being gay for this protag??
He thinks he probably shouldn't be quite so chill about it.
He wonders what happened to Airplane. He stops himself from thinking too hard on the possibility it could all have been real. That was ridiculous!!
Meanwhile in the world of the system....
Luo Binghe is flipping OUT. His husband his shizun his beloved just up and went POOF. No trace of him, no clue left behind.
(Or is it worse if he dies? The original goods died that night he qi deviated and was replaced by Shen Yuan, so there's no soul there to replace him. Luo Binghe has had to deal with dead Shizun before but this time it's... different.)
Either way, after a whole lot of everyone flipping out, Shang Qinghua seems to know a little too much about... something.
The truth comes out. Luo Binghe admits he's suspected something like that for a while now, but thats not important. He needs his shizun back, so how..?
Cue dimension hopping shenanigans.
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popquizhot-shot · 9 months
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Father Mine- 3
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ok so this is where canon goes out the window, ive made my own universe, this might be blasphemy against marvel comics but i dont know. Honestly i made this up as i kept going and i like how this chapter ended<3 tell me how you like it! if you want a spoiler go to the tags and see what i've tagged :) part 1
You must have passed out because you wake up in someone’s living room.
“Anyone home?” You dare to call out. The apartment is sort of open-plan and if you had the energy to turn around and move you would have been able to see the man in the white suit staring at you.
“Yep. Hello!” The man walks up to you and you flinch at his strong southern london accent and glaring white suit that makes him look like a psycho Colonel Sanders, “I hope you’re alright, Khonshu said you were from another dimension?”
You reluctantly reply, “That’s right? And by Khonshu do you mean the actual Egyptian God?”
He nods excitedly, “Yea! Right twit he is!”
You look at him worriedly, maybe he is psycho colonel sanders after all.
He looks at himself in the mirror and does a double take, “Oh bollocks! No wonder you look scared!” The suit disappears to reveal a man with wild curls in an oversize t-shirt and pajamas, “sorry, sometimes I forget I still have it on.” He smiles nervously, “Um I’m Steven. With a V.”
That causes you to smile a little, maybe he’s not so bad, “Hello Steven.” You wave from your position on the couch and tell him your name.
Behind him you see a bony pigeon looking skeleton appear and your eyes widen, “WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!” You point at it and scream.
Steven turns around, “That’s Khonshu, you can see him?”
“NO SHIT!” You web a wall and pull yourself up to stick to it, glaring at the offending creature.
“That’s mental.” He exclaims.
“What universe is this?” You ask him, eyes narrowed underneath your mask.
“Well, there’s no particular name for it.” Steven begins, but Khonshu intervenes, “How is it that you were able to traverse through the inter dimensional planes?”
“I knew someone who could.”
Suddenly Stevens demeanour changes and your spider sense tingles, you ready your webs against the potential threat.
The voice that comes out of Stevens mouth is not his. It’s the sound of the man who threw you here.
“Kid?” He says when you freeze and take your mask off, looking at him with wide eyes.
“You’re-You’re not Steven.” Your voice breaks at the familiar lilt.
He shakes his head, “My name is Marc.”
———————————-
“Miguel! Stop it!” Jess finally snaps and the man looks up at her.
She takes a hold of his hair and uses it to maneuver his face to look at him, “You either go and get her back, or you fucking move on. Because in this state there is no way you will be able to do anything. Get your shit together. ”
He gulps, not used to seeing her angry side often and nods.
“She thinks I’m a monster.” He looks down at his toes and breathes shakily.
“Then prove to her that you’re not. You’re her father, regardless of what she says, she still loves you. You need to apologize to her.” She looks at him pointedly and he sighs.
"What do you want me to say, 'Hey honey, I know what I did was wrong, I was wrong to chase a teenager and I was too blinded by my fear of losing my daughter again that I chased you away. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.' Thats not going to be good enough."
"It's a start."
"Jessica." he looks up
"What?"
"I should have told you, something about her."
"What?"
"She's not a normal variant, even if her universe was destroyed. That fact alone makes her a special case. There's a reason I sent her to Earth 19999. Her atoms and dna will not glitch there. And I don't know why."
"Why didn't you send her there before?"
"It was too dangerous."
"As opposed to Earth 1999999?" Jess raises an eyebrow.
"Very similar universes, but everything is flipped."
The woman tilts her head, "What do you mean?"
————-
You sip on the hot tea Steven had made for you, glaring at the bony god sitting opposite you.
“I cannot send you back, child.” He says and you roll your eyes,
“As if I didn’t know that. The tea’s lovely, thank you.” You smile at Steven who beams at you. He’s much nicer than the American man living inside him. The one who was Miguel in this universe.
“Marc?”
He nods, “I happen to know of someone who can help you.”
You tilt your head, “Go on.”
He went to explain how he was on call as an Avenger, who were considered the world’s mightiest heroes, and how he was acquainted with someone known as Dr Strange.
As soon as he says, the name Strange, your mind considers the possibility that you might be in the universe of idiots, as Miguel calls it. Earth-1999999.
He’s spent whole hours explaining the entire storyline that honestly came out of a movie to you and while it was such, really Captain America you ditched your best friend to go be with someone who had already moved on? You were drawn to the universe.
It reminded you very much of your home universe that was destroyed.
When you’d nodded and said you’d be on your way he’d blocked you from leaving. Saying it was too dangerous and that you were being an irresponsible person.
You tried to reason with him but he was able to block your punches with efficiency, and he reached for your web slingers. The ones Miguel had given you.
That was currently why there was a purple bruise on Stevens’s cheek that you felt bad about. This sweet man didn’t deserve to suffer the consequences of a hard punch. So you had helped him around the kitchen and he made you tea as a way of saying thank you.
“If you can’t take me away, you can atleast lead me to Strange, considering your own Knight isn’t letting me leave.”
“For good reason.”
“But it doesn’t make sense, without the watch I would be glitching every three seconds because the universe would not accept my genes. Here I haven’t glitched a single time.”
The god tilts his head and seems to contemplate your words, mimicking the man who looks at you with his head tilted, “Most interesting.”
Whatever you were going to say died on your tongue as orange sparks began to appear out of thin air, forming a circle and then a portal out of which a man with a weird beard walks through. He nods at Steven and walks over to you, “So you’re the one huh?”
“No, your mom is.” You snarl, “Yes. Doctor Strange, I’ve heard of you.”
“Oh?” He raises an eyebrow, “Am I a common topic of conversation in the multiverse?”
“When we have to make fun of something yes.” You grin.
He rolls his eyes, “How did you arrive here?”
“Look I'd leave if I could, sir. But my device was taken away by the jerk who sent me here.”
His eyes narrow, “Sent you?”
Shit, you might have said the wrong thing.
------------------
"So you're not from here." The sorcerer supreme raises his eyebrow at you.
"No, sir." you're shocked at your politeness, but the man demands respect.
"And you cannot go back?"
"No."
"There is only one person now, who is capable of autonomous multiverse travel, America Chavez. And even her powers are not perfect. It is too risky to do this."
"What would you have me do then?" you ask.
"Wait here, there must be a reason you are not glitching. Maybe, you were meant to be sent here." Strange reasons.
His words make sense, honestly, maybe this universe would be your new home. Even back in Nueva York, you had to wear the watch at all times, or you'd be glitching.
But did Miguel know that? Because if he didn't know, then that would mean he'd sent you to your death.
You just nod at what Strange says, his words going in one year and out the other. You miss the way his eyes glint and flash. His shadow moving under him.
"She can stay with us at the tower." Steven puts his hand on your shoulder, looking directly at Strange, no smile on his face. After a few moments, the Doctor nods.
Your spider sense starts to tingle, and you glace at Steven, who only smiles at you. All teeth. Eyes that are blank. Devoid of emotion.
Now that you're here to stay, he looks like he's never been happier.
"You're going to enjoy yourself here, love." he pats your shoulder, "We'll all have a bit of fun."
You need to run.
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bliss-in-the-void · 7 months
Text
Gege Akutami, You Do Not Understand Gojo Satoru, and Here is Why
I was reading this article to help me cope with the traumatic events of Chapter 236 when a certain portion didn’t sit right with me.
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Long post, click to read the full analysis:
(this is probably the most important post I've made so far)
Now, we all know that Gege doesn’t like Gojo. They don’t make it a secret in the slightest. Which is fine in itself, as an author you are 100% within your right to hate a character you created, and I respect that—it gives dimension to the dynamic of a story.
What I don’t care for is the reasons Akutami lists for their dislike of Gojo.
Reason #1 as stated in the above blurb of the article: Gojo doesn’t have depth.
To me, this is a wild statement to make as an author, but especially as the one who wrote Gojo. Where does he lack depth? Genuine question.
I believe he is an incredibly complex character.
He is the first sorcerer in centuries to be born with the Six Eyes and Limitless techniques, which automatically sets up so many nuances. Coupled with the fact that Akutami has stated that he grew up spoiled, that right there should tell you some things about why he is the way he is. He has a bit of an inflated ego when it comes to his powers. And why wouldn’t he? From the time he was born, the people around him treated him like some sort of God. How else was he supposed to grow up? He’s told his whole life he possesses unparalleled power, and he’s going to believe that.
Even still, it really isn’t as unchecked as Akutami seems to believe it is. Despite his distaste for authority, Gojo still reports to the higher ups, goes on missions, exorcizes curses, and works collaboratively with his fellow sorcerers. If he was really the giant egomaniac Akutami argues that he is, he’d say ‘to hell with authority’ and run off to do whatever he wants like Yuki. I mean, COME ON, this guy is the most powerful modern sorcerer and he still attended all four years of high school. He could have easily never attended—who was going to stop him?
He has a peculiar sense of humor that can get inappropriately timed in certain moments, but it’s obvious that it’s a deflection and a coping mechanism for the horrors of a sorcerer’s reality. He doesn’t just joke about death and dying because he doesn’t care. He cares too much and he doesn’t know how to deal with it, so he suppresses and laughs it off. Moments like this are seen after Suguru dies in JJK 0 when he was clearly crying afterward, but had to put on a cheerful facade for Yuuta and the other students.
He is a very good teacher. It’s hard for a naturally gifted prodigy to effectively teach things which come automatically to them, and somehow he finds creative ways to do it. Teaching Yuuji to control cursed energy by using one of Yaga’s dolls and giving him a movie marathon? One of Yuuji’s favorite hobbies? Genius and so considerate for Yuuji. He’d just been thrown into the sorcerer world, learning all these new things, and Gojo decided to introduce a foreign concept to him through something familiar and comfortable to him. That is amazing, and the mark of a very kind, understanding teacher. He’s also really patient with his students. Yes, he gives them tough love sometimes by throwing them into missions, but it really is to make them strong. How else will they grow if they aren’t put under pressure?
His motivation for being a teacher is very selfless. He himself has stated that he isn’t suited to be a teacher, but that he has a dream to raise a generation of strong allies to prevent isolation from occurring like what had happened to Suguru. He felt guilty about growing apart from him, didn’t see the warning signs before he snapped, and regrets not being there for him more. His entire purpose now is dedicated to making sure the new wave of sorcerers have a tightly-knit network so that no one ends up alone and on a dark path like Suguru.
He constantly sticks his neck out for the helpless even when it’s far from his benefit. He paid off the Zenin clan to save Megumi, the child of the man who ruined his high school years and nearly killed him. He then raised him. He threatened the higher ups to keep Yuuta alive, and then did it again for Yuuji. He does this to preserve their youth, because his own was taken away from him. His whole life he’d been controlled by the higher ups and people around him because of who he is in the sorcerer world, so by waving his own status in front of authority to hold them back from his students, he acts as a sort of shield to take as many burdens off of their shoulders as he can so that they can remain carefree. As much as he can within his power.
With all of that being said, I really don’t understand where Akutami is coming from with lack of depth, but another argument I say to that statement is: well, you’re the author, give him the depth you think he’s missing. (Personally, I believe he’s one of the best-written characters in any anime I’ve seen).
Reason #2 is that according to Akutami, he doesn’t have a likable personality.
What about his personality is unlikable?
He is cocky, but not to the point where he stops caring about others, not to the point where he never considers how other people feel or how his actions affect other people, and not to the point where he never feels guilt and remorse about his shortcomings. Like I said, he lives his life trying to prevent his past from repeating itself, to save the fates of others.
I really don’t get it. In JJK 0, after Nitta gives her report on the shopping mall, Gojo thanks her and praises her. Would a cocky asshole do that? No. If you wanted to characterize him as unlikable, you could have made him dismiss her, or ignore her.
He makes pop culture references, he has endearing flaws like not being good at drawing, being a lightweight drinker, and overdoing it on the sweets. He’s funny, he’s kind, he’s considerate…he is a very likable character.
Honestly, the self-absorption he displays when he’s fighting is probably a result of his upbringing. Being told you have so much power you have so much power you have so much power over and over again instills this belief that yes, he’s needed by Jujutsu Society to fight curses as a weapon. As. A. Weapon. The Six Eyes & Limitless user is a formidable weapon, but what about Satoru Gojo, the person? The only time he feels useful is when he’s fighting curses. That’s where he gets his self-worth. We can see that expressed in this panel, from Chapter 236:
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In the second half of Gojo’s second text bubble, he says, “でもどこかで人としてというより生き物としての線引きがあったのかな”.
This translates to: “But I wonder if somewhere there was a line drawn between being a creature rather than a person.”
Rather than having drew the line himself, being constantly treated like the strongest, being handed over the difficult missions, being relied on so heavily pushed him away from other people. It distorted the perception everyone had of him, and it distorted the perception he had of himself. He also believed he could never lose because he let his human side fade into the background. The world didn't need human Satoru Gojo, they needed sorcerer Satoru Gojo, the one who could bend rules to his will with his might, the one who could exorcise any curse and save the day no matter how bad things got. Why would he remain human when that part of him was treated as non-existent? The only person who did treat him as a person with weaknesses and flaws has been dead for eleven years. Of course that voice of reason is going to fizzle out.
How can you possibly vilify him for that? It would be a disservice to everything he has had to endure his entire life.
Reason #3 and the last point I want to touch on is when the article says, "Akutami believes that much of this adoration is based solely on his striking appearance, overshadowing his more abrasive personality traits."
Okay. Where to start?
Honestly, and I know this is probably not Akutami's intention, but that comes off as so condescending. It's so presumptuous. It's as if to say we're all going "ooh look at pretty man, pretty man do no wrong because too pretty" mindlessly with dilated pupils and drool coming out of our mouths. Uh. No.
Yes, Satoru is a good-looking character, but no, that is very far from why we like him so much as a character, and it's also very far from why he's so popular. Aside from all of the points I've made above explaining why he's so universally loved, I'll make another one that isn't superficial and tired.
He's so relatable.
This is a man so incredibly traumatized by his high school years that he is mentally and emotionally unable to move on. Suguru Geto was his very best friend, and for reasons he took too long to understand, chose to abandon their friendship for his own goals. For anyone who has grown apart from a best friend, this hits so hard.
Because of his upbringing it was hard to become close to anyone. But somehow, Suguru was able to break past his walls, and for that, he became entirely too dependent on him. This is common for anyone who finds it hard to make friends and get close to others. Once someone is allowed in, you cling so hard to them and imagine them being there for your entire life. So, when they leave, you take it entirely too personally.
Everyone has a right to live their own lives, and as we see with the divergence of Suguru and Satoru, sometimes our paths aren't leading to the same place. It's not personal. But Satoru took it personal, and that's so beautifully human. When you lose a best friend who was important to you, you think "I like being around this person, they put me at ease in a way no one else does", and you assume they feel the same way about you. So when they leave and show you that no, they didn't feel the same, it hurts. It's almost as if they're saying "I actually do think you're unlovable like everyone else, that's why no one likes you, you are too much."
Someone you thought was safe, isn't anymore.
That is such a relatable thing to watch a character go through! Especially someone as awe-inspiring and charismatic as Gojo! As an audience, we think, "he's just like me!" and we like him for it.
So, as I stated in the title, Gege Akutami, you don't understand Satoru Gojo at all. I commend you for writing such an amazing, iconic, universally loved character, but I will never understand nor respect the superficial way in which you perceive him.
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tokki-tteokbokki · 10 months
Text
One by One
Finale: Dreams Really Do Come True
Han x Fem Reader + skz ot8
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MDNI
18+
“After constantly fighting with your boyfriend, Jisung, your relationship abruptly ends. Unaware of the secret hope of your relationship's demise by your friends.
One by one, the boys can't help themselves.”
Chapter 7:
Warnings:
smuttiest thing in this series :), gang!bang?, cuckhold, oral sex, unprotected sex, multiple cream!pies, some member x member, dégradation, rough sex, dirty talk, name calling, cum swallowing, fingering, fluff at the end
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“I’m going to make you cum seven times, look at them one by one. They need to know who exactly you fucking belong to.”
The week flew by and it was already Friday. The Friday. You nervously fidgeted with things on your office desk, anything to take any tension away from the evening you were going to have.
Minho explained the plan to everyone, Jisung’s ultimate fantasy. You had some doubts that it was going to work, how could anyone get off to this? Then again, your legs squeezed together and your heart rate picked up every time you thought of being watched by the boys while Jisung fucked you into the next dimension.
The thought of Jisung’s body close to yours again, his lips, his hands, his cock buried deep inside you while he gives you his signature lust filled face. His brows would angle upwards, his mouth was parted to allow his animalistic pants through, his eyes turing a deep shade of brown while he watched his baby lose herself underneath him.
You shook your head and backed out of your desk, rolling your chair back and standing a stand. You walked over to the window and looked at the scene down below before spinning around and darting to your desk to check the time. It was only thirty minutes before you were off the clock. You couldn’t stand to just sit still in your office, you impulsively decided to check on the boys and see what they were up to. Probably not the best idea as you were on the menu tonight and it would be like dangling a steak in front of a pack of hungry wild dogs but it was better than fading away in your office alone.
You opened the rehearsal room door to the boys running through a few dance routines. Minho noticed you in the reflection of the mirror and hid his smirk in his dance. You carefully stepped into the room trying to keep your presence minimal but with no success. You watched them all intently but your focus was on Jisung. His body moved effortlessly and you could feel yourself heating up. You didn’t know what to expect tonight but all you knew was that this was five different kinds of crazy.
The music cut and the boys panted in relief. Realizing you were there they all gathered around to greet you, except for Jisung. He stood away taking a drink from a water bottle watching his band mates fawn over you. “Jisung!” Minho called “Let’s have everyone over tonight, it’s been a long week.” Jisung shifted uncomfortably, it was a miracle he hadn’t confronted Changbin about what he saw. He was hesitant about having everyone over but reluctantly agreed.
Everyone but Jisung knew what was going to happen tonight. Each of the boys were desperate to touch you again, to feel your delicate body tremble from their touches, to watch your face contort into an orgasmic masterpiece. “(y/n), can you come with me to the store to get some things?” Minho asked “Uh, yeah sure.” You replied “We’ll see you guys at home.” Minho collected his things and began to head out the door with you.
The elevator ride was quiet, you stood quietly beside him. Making your way outside, the crisp night air brushed your face. Minho finally broke the silence as you walked down the street “Nervous?” “Yeah.” You inhaled sharply “Is this really going to work?” Minho smiled and wrapped an arm around you “Absolutely.” He stopped moving and his arm fell and wrapped around your waist, pulling you in close “You sure you can do this?” He asked looking into your eyes, your could feel yourself getting lost in his eyes that were perfectly framed by loose pieces of hair “Yes.” He smirked and slightly leaned in “I always knew you were such a good girl.” He praised, your stomach fluttered from his words. “You tell me if you want to stop.” He became serious for a moment. It indeed was a very big thing to do and there was a lot at stake. You appreciated his concern, as sadistic as he was he always made sure to read signals and honour boundaries. “I will.” You wrapped your arms around his neck and placed a quick peck on his lips to his surprise. He released you while trying to hide his flush cheeks. “Come on, let’s go.” You playfully punched his arm and walked ahead
Jisung, don’t fuck this up again. She’s perfect. Minho thought smiling and speeding up to catch up to you.
Arriving back at your shared building, containing your nerves and excitement was proving to be harder by the minute. You both walked up to Minho and Jisung’s apartment door, your heart thumped in your chest. Minho keyed in the code and opened the door. You took a deep breath and walked. You were greeted by everyone, Jisung stood quietly in the kitchen and watched as you entered and removed your jacket. He admired as the clothing fell off your shoulders, your delicate frame teasing it’s appearance. Minho noticed Jisung’s reaction to you and smirked “This is going to be easier than I thought.”
Minho stepped behind you “Let me take your jacket.” You gasped quietly at his frame behind you “Oh, thanks.” He subtly whispered “Play along.” His tone was ordering and sent a tingle through your stomach. He pressed himself into you, you could feel his breath on your neck. His hands slowly traced down your shoulders to your arms where your jacket dangled off you. He teasingly pulled the jacket off the rest of you. Jisung watched the blatant display in front of him, he looked at your quickly blinking lashes and rising and falling bosom. He turned away before he got too excited.
The rest of the boys tried their best not to be obvious, they were already leaking primal desperation, watching Minho play around was not helping, especially Jeongin. Hyunjin nudged him, watching his dick twitch in his pants before handing him a pillow “Really?” Hyunjin raised a brow in amusement catching the attention of Felix on the other side of him. He peered and watched Jeongin quickly adjusted himself. His cheeks flushed pink under his freckles. Chan sat watching the comedic scenario in front of him. His tongue rolled in his mouth before he looked away focusing on the TV.
Before long, all nine of you were squeezed onto the couches watching a movie all of you could care less about. Minho made sure you sat in between him and Chan. Jisung sat on the adjacent couch with a perfect view of you sandwiched between his elders. Their bodies pressed into either side of you. About fifteen minutes into the film Minho boldly took his hand and placed it on your thigh. Immediately, your breath sharply quickened. Jisung looked back from the screen, his blood was heating up. Suddenly another body was reaching for you, Chan stretched his arm around you, loosely dangling his hand of your shoulder, close enough to cup your breast if he wanted.
Felix and Changbin completely oblivious continued watching the movie while one by one Seungmin, Hyunjin, and of course, Jeongin caught on. Minho leaned to whisper in your ear, knowing damn well Jisung was watching in complete rage. “It’s time, you’ll be a good girl for us right?” You inhaled sharply, it was go time. Finding your courage you blinked and softly turned your head to meet Minho’s gaze. “I’ll be good.” You whispered back. Minho’s lips curled back into a smirk as he caught Chan’s attention. Chan bit his lip in reply, he slowly inched his hand closer to your breast. Your stomach was on fire, this was really happening. You turned your head back to face to TV screen, trying to maintain composure. As Chan’s hand began to discreetly cup you, Minho’s hand slid further up, high enough that if he extended his finger he’s be touching your clothed crotch.
Your breathing became a steady pace of subtle heaves. Your hips softly responded to the sensations of their touch. It wasn’t long before your breath heavily came from your parted lips. Jisung never took his eyes off you three, he was fuming with jealousy, possession, and lust. He felt his own body respond. He watched how you were becoming a putty of desire, he wanted to take you so aggressively and remind everyone in the room who pleases that pretty pussy of yours the best.
Seungmin curiosity peaked and he adjusted himself slightly to get a better view. Your eyes now closed trying to hold in the feelings of neediness as Minho and Chan touched you with more intent. “Wow.” Seungmin let out making almost everyone turn their heads in the same direction. Changbin’s one lane brain hadn’t caught on until Felix poked him in the side “Wh-“ He joined with the rest watching you be groped. Minho turned his head to Jisung, his eyes were wide with complete shock. What the fuck is he doing?
Minho brought his mouth closer to your ear, never breaking eye contact with Jisung “(y/n)” He called sweetly, your eyes slowly opened “Look at Jisung.” He ordered. Your gaze followed to see Jisung on the other side staring at you. You feelings were so complex in this moment, your body felt so good but your mind was torn, you felt embarrassed and proud at the same time, you felt guilty and smug. Jisung’s body was stiff, his mouth agape letting out shallow shaky breaths. Your eyes followed his figure down until you saw him sitting with his legs apart and saw him twitch in his pants.
Suddenly you felt Chan’s lips against your neck, you couldn’t hold your sweet moaning gasp in. You saw Jisung’s eyes flicker wider “Jisung” Minho called “Do you understand yet?” He tilted his head, motioning him to look at the other boys. They boys piled together, watching as Chan sucked on your neck and played with your right tit. Jisung’s eyes shot back to Minho, he was speechless. All of them??? Minho smiled deviously “You.. All?” Jisung choked “(y/n). Tell Jisung what you’ve done.” Minho laughed “Who you’ve done.”
You couldn’t answer, you didn’t even know how to answer that. Trying to figure out words, Chan slid his hand inside and under your bra, pinching your nipple hard. You yelped in response, throwing your head back. Chan released himself from your neck “She’s been a little slut.” Chan smiled, watching you struggle as he rolled his fingers. Realizing that getting you to talk was futile, Chan began “First it was me” Minho smiled “Then it was me” “I was third” Jeongin added. Changbin awkwardly sat, almost sweating “Uh.. Well you already know.” Everyone let out a giggle “I had her next” Seungmin chimed “I got her to dance for me”Hyunjin smirked. Felix blushed and turned to look at Jisung “And he’s not a virgin anymore” Minho helped the shy Felix. “There’s just one thing missing Sungie.”
Jisung knew exactly what he was talking about, was this real? Is this really happening? “We want you to have exactly what you want.” Chan encouraged still fondling you. “Jeongin, take her shirt off.” He ordered. Immediately, Jeongin scrambled over and lifted your shirt over your head “Hyunjin, take her pants off.” Hyunjin came between your legs and peeled your bottoms off. You were nearly completely exposed, only in your bra and panties. The energy in the room shifted, they were hungry beasts. You were the only meal they could devour. Minho climbed behind you “Be good.” He whispered. He looked at Jisung “You were right, she’s so tight… She’s such a little freak.” He smiled wide, trying to provoke him. It was working.
Jisung was riled up to the tens. He was ready to fuck you into oblivion. His dick was begging to be released from his pants, painful almost. His fist clenched tightly to which Minho noticed “We’re going to have one more go with her and then you can have her. We’ll see who she belongs to.” Minho was malicious, he knew how to make Jisung tick. “Baby Bread, you’re up.” Minho announced. Jeongin loved watching but now he’s the watched. Taking a deep breath he stood up and leaned into a soft kiss with you. “Noona, are you ready?” His fox like expression came through with his smile. He kissed you again and traced his finger over your clothed pussy. “Tell me. Do you want me to fuck you like I did in the plane?”
Jisung adjusted himself to hear your answer, your words still lost somewhere in your brain. Minho wrapped his hand around your neck “He asked you a question” You gasped “Answer him.” You looked up at Jeongin still smiling and toying with your panties “…yes.” Minho still holding you in place, Jeongin reached around your ribs and unclasped your bra, leaving your beautiful breasts exposed to the captivated audience. “Felix, come play with her tits.” Minho tasked. He shyly made his way over, still new to him he at least new what you liked. Jeongin made his way to pull your panties down and off you. Felix’s sweet hand found your tit, he rolled your nipple between his fingers as he grabbed a handful of you.
You struggled against Minho’s grip, you looked down and saw Jeongin kneeling between your legs, his fingers dancing around your inner thighs. Your vision shifted to Felix’s mouth opening and inching closer to you, you felt his breath against your nipple. He lowered himself down and began sucking your nipple intently. You moaned but quickly yelped when you felt Jeongin’s slender finger plunge into you. Your head fell back into Minho’s shoulder, the sensations were exquisite. You could feel the eyes on you but only looked for one.
Jisung watched Jeongin’s fingers thrust in and out of you he could see the hint of resistance your tight pussy naturally had. Felix felt the goosebumps raise on your naked skin, he moaned deeply into your breast, the vibrations of his deep octave motioning into your body. You were worried that it wasn’t working for Jisung, that he was upset because he was so still and expressionless… Until you saw his hand sneakily rubbing his hard cock over his pants.
Being watched made you drip onto Jeongin’s fingers, the lewd squishing sounds got louder, mixed with the sounds of your moaning. “Ready to take Jeongin’s dick?” Minho sounded behind you. “Mh-m” You whined. Jeongin swiftly removed his clothes and lined himself up with your hole. Felix lifted his head to see him stretch you open, your eyes fell on Jeongin about to push himself in before he could Minho grabbed you under your chin “Look at him.” Forcing you to look at Jisung. He was panting, excited to see you spread open, his cock throbbing painfully underneath his hand.
Jeongin’s dick pushed into you and he let out a low groan, your walls sucking him inside. He pushed farther and farther until you pretty little cunt was full. “Fuck.” Changbin sighed, placing himself behind Felix, peering over his shoulder. This was so bad, it was so wrong but it was heavenly. Eight of the most beautiful men with no other focus than you. Even better, the one you loved looked at you with undying desire once again.
As Jeongin began to move in and out of you, you cried sweetly at the sensation of him penetrating you so deep. A continuous harmony of pants and moans escaping your mouth filled the boys’ ears. “Seungmin.” Minho called, Seungmin’s perked up like a puppy to his master “She’s a little loud don’t you think?” Seungmin smiled and leapt off the couch.
Jeongin continued giving you long strokes, every inch of his cock working it’s way in and out of you while Seungmin adjusted himself to your mouth. Minho still behind you “Open up.” He ordered. Your mouth fell open and your tongue stuck out. Seungmin slapped the tip of dick on your tongue, leaving the subtle taste of his precum on your tastebuds. Soon enough, your two holes were being filled. Your moans became muffled around the throat fucking Seungmin was giving you. Jeongin’s dick pulsed hard, watching his friend use your pretty little mouth worked him up he was quickly finding his finish. “Look at that, you’re already going to make him cum.” Minho pointed out
Being so full was working it’s magic on you as well, seeing everyone enjoy your body so much was making your clit thump in excitement. “Ah! She’s getting so tight..!” Jeongin whined. His thrusts became harder “Ah!” He moaned out, spilling himself inside you. It wasn’t long before the vibrations of your moans Seungmin’s cock brought him to completion. His brows tightened up as his thrusts jerked out spurts of hot cum down your throat.
Minho smiled deviously behind you “Swallow.” He ordered to which you obeyed. Panting from the stimulation, it was far from over. Your eyes drifted to Jisung aggressively palming himself, his chest was almost heaving. You looked exquisite, a complete whored out mess.
Before you could catch your breath, Hyunjin’s lips crashed into yours, plunging his tongue into your mouth. You groaned at the sweet taste of his lips. As your mouth top was preoccupied you felt your clit being rubbed up and down between your lips. Changbin pinched your cunt together, moving up and down, stroking your clit. You squirmed underneath Hyunjin and against Minho who kept you in place. “I can’t wait.” Changbin uttered, taking his pants off. Hyunjin smiled against your lips, pulling away he smiled “Are you ready?” You dazedly nodded. Hyunjin knelt next to you, pulling his pants down, letting his dick free. Both men aligned themselves at your openings.
“Wait.” Hyunjin called “Felix, let her jerk you off.” Felix blushed but pounced back over. His adorable eagerness never failed to make you feel some type of way. He shyly unzipped and pulled down his bottom, his tip leaking. You wrapped your delicate hand around him, making him whimper. “Focus.” Minho whispered. You felt Changbin’s wet tip slide between your folds, ready to suck him in. Hyunjin licked his lips before brushing the tip of his cock along your bottom lip. All at once, they both pushed into you and your hand instinctively moved down Felix’s length. All three men moaning in unison at the pleasure you brought them. All the movement being timed so perfectly.
Minho looked at Chan who sat behind Hyunjin. Chan was solid in his pants, he was ready to make you cream on him again. Minho was also getting excited, his dick was poking into your ass cheek, desperate to plunge into your tight cum filled walls.
“N-n-noona!!” Felix whined “It’s too good, I’m g-gonn-a” Something about Felix’s whimpers set of some kind of bell in Hyunjin and Changbin’s heads. He just sounded so cute and the fact that it was you making him so weak turned them both on even more. Hyunjin moaned, grabbing a fist full of your hair and began to throat fuck you. The head of his dick smashed into the back of your throat making the tears well up in your eyes.
Changbin’s point of view was a sinful sight. Your muffled choking around his friend’s cock, the way you stroked his other friend who was desperate to finish all over your tits. He grabbed your waist, and slammed into you. Your eyes widened and a few tears fell to which Minho wiped them away. “Almost, you got this.” He praised into your ear. Your senses were overwhelmed in the best way. Changbin’s thick length violently rocked into your pelvis, making you cum repeatedly. Felix almost on the verge of tears “Please…” Suddenly Hyunjin leaned over and began kissing his friend. Felix kissed him back without hesitation. All of you moaned loudly at the surreal sight. “Fuck!” Changbin yelled thrusting his cum hard inside you. Felix shuddered as he tasted Hyunjin. Hyunjin body twitched but his mouth never leaving Felix’s. Felix cried loudly as you stroked the cum out of him and onto your plush tits, strings of cum painting your erect nipples. Hyunjin’s right hand tightened his grip on your hair while his left held the side of Felix’s neck. His forehead pressed against Felix’s, he rammed himself into your throat one last time, releasing his essence into your mouth.
The three of them pulled themselves away, flopping onto the couch.
“Well done, princess.” Chan praised you. You looked over to him smiling before turning your eyes to Jisung. He was silent but fully feeling the moment. He was more than ready at this point. He looked at Minho, as if to say “Fucking hurry up.” Minho caught on and smirked “Hyung. I don’t think she’s had enough. Look at her, she’s creaming.” Minho reached down and spread your lips open to expose your dripping hole, Chan leaned forward to see your cunt oozing Changbin and Jeongin’s cum. “At this rate, I’d say she belongs to us.” Chan chuckled. This made Jisung boil.
You belonged to him. He knew that, they knew that, and you knew it. And he was going to show them what a cock whipped slut you are for him.
You breathlessly watched as Chan moved over to you. “Ready princess?” He smiled. You nodded shamelessly. Minho adjusted you to be on all fours, your head towards his crotch and your pussy angled up towards Chan. “Jisung, come get a better look. You have to see how much she loves getting fucked by Hyung and I.” Jisung immediately pulled the ottoman up and sat down. He leaned forward onto his thighs. Minho smiled and nodded at Chan.
Both men removed their clothing. “Look at Jisung.” Minho ordered. You shyly turned your face to meet his eyes, a rush of adrenaline and nerves flooded you. He looked at you with nothing but desire. Your clit throbbed and you felt your insides turn. Minho grabbed your chin and made you look up at him. “No time to be shy now.” He grinned. Without warning you felt a stretch “Ah!” you yelped.
Chan’s hands on your cheeks, he thrusted steadily. Minho forced your head up “Open.” The memory of the time on Jeju came back to you, you smirked back in defiance. Minho grabbed you by the hair “Hyung, teach her a lesson real quick.” You suddenly felt a harsh stinging on your ass, you wanted to physically react but your head was locked into place by Minho’s fingers in your hair. “Open your fucking mouth.” He ordered again, you obeyed without hesitation. He slid his cock in slowly before finding a rhythm.
Chan’s cock pumped in and out of you, the gentle curve of his dick rubbing your sweet spot. You moaned into Minho’s cock “Look at you, you love this don’t you? Being whored out in front of your ex.” Minho grunted and steadily picked up the pace. The rest of boys watched you get fucked, their minds still hazy but their bodies responding again to the stimuli.
“Look at me.” You looked up at Minho “You want Channie Hyung to fill you up?” Your mouth still full, you muffled a positive response “Hm?” His pace picked up “You’re just a cumslut aren’t you? Aching to be filled up by all these guys?” You moaned at the degradation, it was true. You loved being full of all of them but you were eager to be full of Jisung once again and have him fuck all their cum deeper inside you.
Chan moaned from behind you, crashing into you. “Be a good girl and make him cum.” He encouraged. Minho pulled out “Tell him.” “Cha-an..” Minho grabbed you by the hair again “Louder.” “Chan! Cum for me… please…!” Chan smirked at the response. Minho put himself back in your mouth. They both began to aggressively pound into you. “Ah.. Sh!” Chan groaned pushing himself as deep as he could inside you. “Aah-huh.” He choked, cumming inside you. “Ugh.” Minho groaned, seconds after Chan finished Minho shot his load into your mouth. “Don’t swallow, hold it.” He panted.
Obeying his instruction you held it in. “Look at him.” He turned your face to Jisung, whose mouth was agape “Open” Minho instructed. Your mouth fell open, Minho’s cum covering the inside of your mouth, dripping down your tongue. Jisung finally spoke “Fuck”.
“Who do you belong to?” Minho asked. You swallowed with no answer just staring ahead at Jisung. Minho smirked with pride. Him and Chan backed away, leaving you a cum filled mess on the couch in front of Jisung.
“Well?” Jisung questioned “Who do you belong to?” He pressed further. There were no words left in your system, all you knew was that you needed Jisung inside you.
He got up and stood in front of you, he pulled his shirt over his head. His pristine body on display for the room. “Do you need a reminder?” He leaned down, his face close to yours. Your lips burned, aching to have him. So distracted by his beautiful face you didn’t notice his hand creeping down to your beaten pussy. You felt his finger enter you without warning. You squeaked in surprise. “Look at them.” Jisung whispered, you turned your head and looked at the seven men who just rocked your world, all in awe that the sight before them. Jisung’s finger pressed up into your g-spot, he gently rocked the pad of his finger along. God, he remembered everything that drove you crazy.
Jisung leaned into your ear
“I’m going to make you cum seven times, look at them one by one. They need to know who exactly you fucking belong to.”
You shuddered into his voice. He turned your head back to him, all feelings moving through your bodies, his mouth found yours. Overwhelming emotion coursing through your veins, you desperately grabbed his face. Your hands cupping his full cheeks. His tongue rolled along your bottom lip, you opened your mouth and let him in. His delicious taste seeping into your tongue.
He pushed you onto your back and took his pants and boxers off. His perfect cock about to be back inside you. Desperate, he wasted no time in shoving himself in. You whimpered at the sensation “Ug-h, still so tight.” He snickered. His hips perfectly rolled into you, he grabbed your legs and pushed them back, giving him the access to fuck you deeply. “Jisung!” You cried, the feeling of the deep penetration getting to you. You eyes rolled back, Jisung throbbed inside you. “(y/n)” He panted “Look.” Your head fell to the side and you looked at Jeongin, he smiled as he watched you lose yourself.
An orgasm approaching you screamed out “Jisung!” You tightened up and released. “Count.” He ordered “One!” You cried. You looked at Seungmin next, a cheeky grin splayed across his face. Jisung slammed into you harder, your vision blurred and the overwhelming sensation took over. “Ah!” you yelled through your second orgasm. “Two!” Jisung opened and pressed your legs back further, he ground his hips upwards. You looked at Hyunjin, his fingers played at his lips. “Please Jisung!” You cried out “Cum.” His words were demanding. Another thrust in and explosions pulsed throughout your body. “Three!” Your eyes found Felix, he bashfully played with himself. Without mercy Jisung continued, determined to make you count all seven. Your body was spent, the pleasure was too much. Seconds later you found yourself creaming your fourth climax on Jisung. “Four!” Your gaze moved to Changbin, he sat awestruck looking at you being fucked into oblivion. Repeated thrusts crashing into your swollen cunt, your body twitched “Five!” Switching your view again, your eyes fell onto Chan, he leaned forward looking you in the eyes. You couldn’t take it, your mind was starting to go fuzzy but Jisung wouldn’t let up. “Ji-“ You tried but stopped at the sensation of his finger gliding up and down your clit. “Jisung..!” You wailed, exploding another gasm on his dick “Six!”
Finally, you looked at the man who orchestrated this fiasco. Minho proudly looked at you, he always knew who you belonged to. He chuckled softly “Well?” The unbearable sensation rushed over you again, you screams echoing throughout the apartment. “Seven!”
You weakly looked at Jisung, sweat coating his body. He was close, watching how weak you are for him was enough to make him bust but he needed to prove a point. You were his and only his, no one could make you cum like this, no one could stimulate your pussy so much you thought you couldn’t make it, no one would ever worship you the way he did.
His hand wrapped around your neck “Who do you belong to, (y/n)?” He panted. Without hesitation “You! Only you! Han Jisung I’m yours and only yours!” You cried “I belong to you!” Your words broke him, he thrusted hard and fast, you both moaned, cumming with each other for the first time in what seemed like forever.
Your eyes could barely stay open but you felt a fluffy sensation cover your body. You forcefully opened your eyes and saw that Minho had brought over a blanket for Jisung to wrap you in, Minho patted Jisung on the shoulder and then moved his hand along your head “You did good, (y/n)”. He looked at Jisung “Do not fuck this up again.” He smirked. Jisung smiled in response and then cradled you in his arms, your head resting against his chest. You watched as the boys scurried around to bring you water and some clothes.
You looked up at Jisung. “Sungie.” You rasped “Hm?” He immediately looked down into your puppy eyes “I love you.” He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on your lips. “I love you too.”
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itsgodepi · 8 months
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If I lose my mind | Ch. 1
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Series summary: When life has given you more than enough lemons and you cannot figure out how to make a lemonade, the only way to make it work is to get rid of the whole basket. But was it neccesary to send you to a whole different dimension for that? A juicer would have done the job, really. Or, one day you go to sleep as a normal person and the next you wake up as a Formula One driver. You've never been a fan but isn't it like, one of the most exclusive sports? Pairing: CL16, LH44, CS55, DR3 x fem!reader Chapter: Next Word Count: 1.8k Also on AO3
There is not a word to describe the overwhelming sense of anguish that invades your body as soon as you lay down on bed. The tears keep burning their way down your cheeks, unrelenting ever since you first stepped into the apartment. You blindly reach up for a pillow, hugging it close to your chest as if that could calm the emptiness consuming your heart. Even breathing is getting more and more difficult, the air not reaching your lungs as you keep sobbing uncontrollably. 
“No puedo más (I can't do this anymore)" you cry into the pillow, voice rough with sadness. Curling in on yourself as you close your eyes, the pressure that has been building up inside your chest getting to a point that is unbearable. Your fingers digging into the pillow with such force they hurt, while sobs keep your whole body.
There is no saying how many hours pass by until you finally fall asleep, cheeks sticky with tears and lips bitten raw. Finally, a moment of rest after this nightmare of a year, a streak of sleepless night broken by sheer exhaustion. 
Although you can feel yourself letting go of your consciousness, the fire in your heart does nothing but grow. Your breath picks up the pace mere seconds later as well, seemingly following the rhythm of your heart, which has started beating like it will break out of your ribcage any minute now. You try to calm yourself down, mind floating in a strange limbo that you cannot escape. What is happening? Why can’t you open your eyes? You can feel them moving behind your eyelids, trembling from the effort. Actually, you belatedly notice, it is your whole body that is shaking with tremors. You attempt turning around or moving in whichever way you can, desperately trying to get out of this half-conscious state. Still, that plan quickly backfires, every single muscle on your body is tensed up and locked on position, it hurts to even think of stretching them. 
Suddenly, a bright light starts shining with such force that you can feel it heating your face. Although your first guess is that you have slept through the whole night and the sun is finally coming to save from this awful dream, as its power keeps increasing, you realize how wrong you are. It feels like a spotlight is being pointed right at your face, the brightness so powerful that your eyes are burning even though they are closed. You seek protection under your hands, your pillow, anything, but your body is still refusing to obey your orders. 
The sounds at the back of your mind start gaining prominence as you fight to wake up. It had started as a beeping noise, but as your anxiety grows, you realize there is something else. Screams, claps, music,… 
And then, it all comes crashing. 
Your eyes forcefully open at once, blinded by sunlight and moving side to side in complete distress. There are voices and noises coming from all directions, but it is impossible for you to understand anything, the sounds echoing as if you were trapped under water. You try to move around and feel your surroundings, where is the bed? Where am I? However, before you can do as much as stretch your hand forward, something collides with your body in full force. The impact makes you lose your balance, the realization that you are actually standing up being too vague for your still woozy brain to process. A pair of arms come to envelop your body, keeping you upright and even lifting you up in the air at some point. 
The words have become clearer now that you are regaining consciousness. “That was amazing!” “A fucking P10, oh my god” “You were flying out there” the screams accompanied with irregular bangs that keep bouncing off your head. 
What is happening? 
Head filled with the worst ever case scenarios and fear flowing through your body like thunders, you break down. There is no use in standing around and politely asking who the fuck are they and how have they entered your house. Your mind is running wild with possibilities. So, with your voice coming straight from your heart and those awful feelings taking control over your body, you start screaming and trashing around like a mad woman. Feet kicking everything and everyone that dare coming close to you. 
Unexpectedly, you are released without having to put much of a fight. The sudden lack of support leaving you to fall down to your knees, legs too numb to do anything to stop it. That seems to not only surprise you, but also those around you, the yelling dying down after that. Now the only thing filling your ears is the erratic beating of your heart and the distant music. The tears do accompany you yet again, feelings swarming your mind with such force that you feel out of breath. That fight or flight mode you were hopping would save you is promptly drowned by them, a nervous attack building inside your chest so powerfully that it leaves you frozen in place. 
“Hey, calm down, it's okay” someone shushes you, a pair of hands coming to rest on top of your shoulders with such care that you do not notice them at first, too focused on trying to even out your breath. It is only when your head is suddenly pulled forward, that a panicked gasp breaks out of your lips, hands flying up to grasp at your head that feels like it is being pulled out of your body. 
But instead, what you feel is the rough scratching of fabric over your cheek and something that bumps into your nose. What-? 
That awful sensation of being underwater is instantly relieved when whatever had been covering your head slides right off it. You first thought is that someone must have put some sort of fabric over your head to restrict your vision, that this people have broken into your house and tried to get you out of the way, but when you see a light blue helmet being taken from you, you can only stare at it open mouthed. 
Your field of vision has finally been cleared up, and for better or for worse, your surroundings have also been discovered before you. The helmet is the center of it all, being held by a man dressed in a weird bright orange jumpsuit that would stand out anywhere but even more so in this situation. Who is he? His worried-filled eyes are making you feel so uncomfortable that you cannot hold his gaze for more than a second, it is like they are trying to dig into your mind and fix whatever is scaring you right this second, but how can he when he is the main culprit? 
Well, not only him, but there is also a group of at least 20 men surrounding you, all of their eyes set on your trembling form. Your anxiety increases by the second, gaze flying everywhere as the sound of your heartbeat rings on your ears. You cannot recognize this place or anyone for that matter, where are you? This is not your bedroom. What happened? 
The man in front of you claims your attention once again, his hand reaching up for your arm as his lips move without making a single noise. You want to stop him, back away and put some space between the two of you until you figure out who the fuck he is. And yet, you remain completely still, your body pulling you down like dead weight. Even the muscles on your chest seem to have been locked in place, the air stuck on your throat as your mouth gapes open. His hand comes up to cradle your face when he notices, the heat of it comforting even though his expression is filled with concern. He talks and talks, the words not registering on your woozy mind since you cannot concentrate in anything but how heavy your eyelids feel. 
The man quickly catches those signs, his eyebrows furrowing as he tries to shake you out of it. He also seems to call for help, because yet another face pops into view, their expressions matching. But it is too late. 
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That is the last thing you see before once again falling into the darkness. 
A sigh passes by through your parted lips, body melting into the soft bed sheets. It feels a bit too hot under the covers, the fabric sticking to your skin uncomfortably as you sleepily move around. 
Stretching your muscles feels wonderful after hours of uninterrupted sleep. The sun seems to still be down, the room drowned in complete darkness as you turn on your side to get a better hold of the pillow. Your alarm has also not rung yet which means that there is still some time to laze around. 
However, before you can get a hold of that precious sleep you have been chasing, a few knocks on the door come to wake you up. 
With a groan, you sit yourself on the middle of the bed, hands covering your face as you try to keep yourself upright. Who could be outside? It is not like you have invited someone over and forgot, right? God knows you are not in the best condition for a visit right now, did you even put your pyjamas on last night? Cannot remember.... You have not ordered anything lately either. 
Rather than giving up at the lack of response, the person outside starts banging harder on the door, the noise fully waking you up. You decide to get out of bed and attend whatever is so urgent, body screaming in disapproval as you drag yourself out of it. 
Maybe you should have noticed something was strange the second your foot stepped down into the carpeted floor, or when you knock your knee on something that definitely was not there before, but the visitor does not let your mind wander too far. The knocked ceases before you can reach the door, instead there is a strange mechanic sound and a couple of beeps followed by the door opening on its own. 
“Hey, are you awake? I wanted to let you sleep in a bit more but-” comes a man’s voice, one you have never heard in your whole live and that freezes you in place. Yet, that is not even the most surprising thing, he is somehow talking in English for some reason. 
The man has the audacity to take a peek inside the room, his eyes searching in the shadows while you are freaking out. You recognize that face, the memories come crashing as soon as his gaze meets yours and he smiles. He was there in your dream, when you fainted, dressed in white like the rest of the men surrounding you. What the hell is happening? 
Was that… real? 
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V The Mysterious Wayne Family
Dick Grayson V Gotham - Chapter 2
“Why can’t I sit in the front seat?” Danny demanded to know, crossing his arms from the back of Dick’s car. 
Dick sighed, peering back at him with the rearview mirror. He’d been shaky as they escaped the apartment without getting attacked by the media. Did the idiot get sick? Was the media in this dimension such a big threat? 
Truthfully, Danny didn’t know a lot about this dimension, despite having lived in it for around a year. That year was spent almost entirely homeless, spending only the last few weeks with Dick. Otherwise, he was sleeping where he could, spending his days in libraries and conning people out of cash as a child medium. 
…Well, calling it “conning” was a bit of an overstatement. He did get people in contact with dead relatives and the like. He just… didn’t always quote them exactly, especially when it meant he could get enough money to eat for the day. 
“It’s unsafe, Danny, you know that.”
Danny glared at him from his booster seat, which put him perfectly at eye level so he could lock eyes with Dick with the rear-view mirror. He hated this whole situation: the booster seat, his age, needing to rely on an adult, the stupid media, the stupid police, the stupid Dick… Okay, he kinda liked the booster seat. It was based off of some hero—Superbman—who was an alien? But looked like a human?
That may be one of the biggest differences between this dimension and his hom–the dimension he was born in. Danny had been one of the only heroes back there, along with Valerie and Dani, if you could even call them heroes. In this dimension? There were hundreds. There were space aliens to normal people in costumes to other humans with powers, and while not all of them were heroes, a lot of them were. 
And Danny hated how easy they had it. 
Every day back in Amity Park was a fight for acceptance, a battle to convince people that yes, he was a ghost with good intentions, only for that trust to be lost the moment he wasn’t fast enough to stop a ghost from hurting someone, or got thrown through a wall trying to protect people. It was constantly one step forward and one step back, and nothing Sam or Tucker or Jazz said ever truly made him okay with it.
Despite everything, he hoped Amity Park was doing alright without him. He couldn’t go back—wouldn’t go back, even if he had an open portal and his powers, not after what happened—but hopefully they were doing okay. 
He hoped his rogues had listened and stayed away from the Fenton portal. For their own safety.
Like every time he thought of his pa–the Fentons, the scars across his chest flared up. They might have been long-healed, but the pain always lingered, a sharp lance that lingered in the thin skin of his wound. Fiddling around in his pocket, Danny found his juul and puffed. Exhaling, a bubble gum smoke filled the cabin as the CBD started to work its way into his blood. 
Dick coughed. “You know you won’t be able to do that in the manor, right?”
Danny grumbled, rolling down the window a crack. 
“I’m serious, Danny. I know you need it, but the rules are different at the manor. You’ll need to go outside to smoke.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll smoke outside. Wouldn’t want your gramps to get bent out of shape.”
He laughed. “I think Alfred would be alright, once we explain your medical issues. It’s Bruce we’ll have to worry about. He’s got this thing about drugs… once he learns what’s in your juul, he do whatever it takes to get you off it. He won’t even listen if we tell him about your chronic pain, he’ll just think you’re lying!” Dick threw his hand up in the air. “Honestly, it’s just lecture after lecture with him.”
“He can suck a cock then!”
Dick laughed, all traces of anger gone as his bright eyes glanced at him through the mirror. “Say that to his face, and you get ice cream for a week.”
“Done!”
The illusive Bruce Wayne. Danny had heard the name from the TV that morning, and apparently he was Dick’s dad. Not that Dick ever mentioned him in the months they knew each other. Not that this Bruce guy ever visited on the occasions Dick managed to convince him to stay the night, nor in the weeks after his foster placement was finalized. Danny didn’t even know Dick had a dad until this morning, so clearly something was going on here. 
If he focused on this case—the mystery behind the estrangement of Dick and Bruce—then he’d finally be able to get his mind off Mrs. Bennett’s case. The Shade had approached him early that morning, flickering in the moonlight, barely visible and just formed. Her case was so easy too; her killer was her son-in-law, she’d been awake when he killed her and he’d definitely left behind evidence too, but there was no telling if the other detectives at Bludhaven PD would find it. Or would care enough to find it. 
Corrupt bastards. 
Speaking of which—”Are we actually going to be able to consult on cases while we’re in Gotham, or was that just something you said to make me feel better?”
“I believe I said case, as in the singular one with Mrs. Bennett. But yes, I’ve already arranged it with the Commissioner.” 
“But she works for the Damir family! We can’t trust her.”
“We can’t trust her when it comes to cases related to the Damir family,” Dick corrected. “Other than that, she’s decent at her job.”
“That’s not a compliment.”
“She’s better than the other officers in our department?” he tried again.
“Also not a compliment. I’ve met dead guys that are better cops.”
They bantered back and forth, but the closer they got to Gotham, the tenser Dick became. Dick wasn’t the type to get serious out of nowhere—the only times Danny could remember were when a case involved a gang or that one terrible time when some ugly-ass assassin with a stupid-ass name came to town—but whatever was waiting for them… must be bad. Right? 
Gotham, Danny noticed as they drove through town, looked better than Bludhaven, like how rats look better than turds. Danny had heard the rumors about Gotham, mostly about all the dangerous villains, but there was clearly some money going into infrastructure. Beautiful gothic buildings dripping with gargoyles towered overhead, and there weren’t nearly as many boarded up shops and potholes. 
It wouldn’t have been a bad place to set up shop if it weren’t for all the Shades around.
The ghost population of this dimension mostly comprised of Shades with the occasional Poltergeists and Wraiths. Ectoplasm wasn’t as accessible here; just traveling to this dimension had stripped Danny of almost all the ectoplasm in his body and he still hadn’t recovered, so his powers barely worked. But Shades were shadows of humans when they were alive, weak and incorporeal unless you were a ghost too, barely kept together with their obsession.
Bludhaven had a lot of Shades. That’s why Danny settled down there when he first arrived. He wanted to help people move on if he could, either by solving their murder or contacting their loved ones. 
If Bludhaven had a lot of Shades, Gotham had a colossal number. 
Shades clogged the walkways and the streets, dissipating when someone or something went through them and reforming in an instant. Some alleys were plugged with them and some alleys were empty. Danny watched with wide eyes. Ghosts were supposed to be rare. He’d thought ghosts were rare. But Gotham was plagued with violent crime… violent, unique, indescribable crime, worse in intensity from Bludhaven, but not quite there in frequency. There were women with their faces melted off, men ripped in half down the center, children blown to bits, creeping around the streets of Gotham. 
Danny sunk down in his booster seat. “I want to go home,” he admitted quietly. 
Dick sighed. “I know, kiddo. I want to go home too.”
He blinked away stubborn tears. Dick didn’t understand. This wasn’t Danny’s home, this dimension wasn’t Danny’s home, Dick wasn’t Danny’s home (as much as Danny appreciated Dick, he wanted his family, but they hated him, they attacked him, they—)
Dick continued talking. “But you know what? Everything’s going to be okay. Because my grandfather is going to love you. And Bruce— He’s a little rough around the edges and we might not get along right now, but he’s going to love you too.” Dick sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than Danny. “Tim’s going to adore you; he’s told me that he’s always wanted a younger sibling and I can’t blame him; his house looks so lonely and his parents were always gone. He’s staying with Bruce now as a foster since his dad’s in a coma, but he’s been family long before that…”
He listened to Dick continue to ramble about his family. Bruce was rarely touched upon in his stories, but Alfred was spoken of with unmistakable love (Danny never knew his grandparents, Mom and Dad were disowned years before he was born, he could probably guess why), and he clearly adored Tim (He could understand that, Danny loved Jazz with his entire soul, but what would it have been like if he had a younger sibling? Would his relationship with Dani have turned into this if they could’ve spent time together?). Dick continued with stories about his best friend and ex-girlfriend, Barabra (Sam and Tuck, Tuck and Sam, his friends were dead and it's his fault—), and even a few including Tim’s ex-girlfriend too.
He closed his eyes and tried not to think. 
Before long, the car slowed to a stop. Ahead of them was a grand manor, the kind shown in those regency tv shows that Jazz loved watching, with obsessively maintained gardens and beautiful, clean exterior. A stone staircase led up to larger-than-life wooden doors; Danny couldn’t identify what kind of wood, but it was probably something expensive and old. Mahogany? That sounded like an expensive wood. 
Dick put the car in park before turning around in his seat to look at Danny. “Alright, buddy. Are you ready to meet our family?”
“Your family,” Danny corrected mulishly, unbuckling his seat belt. 
“Our family,” Dick said again, smiling. “They’re good people, and they’re going to be here for you.”
“Sure.” Sliding out of his seat and out of the car, Danny stayed slightly behind Dick as they walked up the steps and to the front door. Before Dick could knock or find the doorbell, the doors opened to reveal an old stereotypical butler. He even had a British accent! “Master Grayson,” he addressed Dick coolly, but when he looked at Danny, his expression softened. “And Young Master Daniel. It is good to finally meet you, and welcome to Wayne Manor. I am the family butler, Alfred Pennyworth.”
Danny ducked away. “Danny’s fine,” came his muttered response. 
Alfred smiled. “Young Master Danny, then. Come along; Master Bruce is waiting for you both in the foyer.” 
Dick grimaced. Did that mean something bad? What was a foyer, a fancy word for office? Was Dick going to get scolded?
They followed Alfred into the house (although, calling it a house felt like an understatement). It was even fancier inside, with marble floors and a glistening chandelier overhead. Danny felt significantly out of place in his jeans and ratty coat he’d pulled out of the trash.
There was a man pacing in the room (was this the foyer?). He was dressed in a fancy suit and built like a brick house, but looked similar enough to Dick in a weird funhouse-mirror way. The moment he saw them, his face smoothed into a banal smile and Danny immediately didn’t like him. “Dick! You’re home.” Striding up to them, the man immediately hugged Dick, who stiffly returned it. “Welcome back, chum. And who’s this?”
Dick’s smile was strained. “This is my foster son, Danny. Danny, this is Bruce; I was his ward until I turned 18.” Ouch. Not even a foster son, but a ward? That sounded like a significant step down from fostering. Danny glared at Bruce, who seemed taken aback by his hostility. Dick laughed nervously. “Sorry about him, he’s shy.” Now Danny glared at Dick. 
Bruce’s smiled evened out as he crouched down, like that would hide his fucking massive body. “It’s nice to meet you, Danny,” he said. “I’m very happy you're here. Hopefully it’ll be a lot more peaceful now that you’re staying with us.”
Danny scowled. “Suck a cock, douchebag.”
Bruce’s smile dropped as Dick smothered a laugh. “Watch your mouth,” Dick scolded without any heat behind it. Danny smirked. 
“It’s okay, Dick,” Bruce said, straightening up. “I’m sure Danny’s just shaken up from the sudden change. I’m feel the same, since you didn’t tell any of your friends or family that you were taking in a child.”
“Oh, so you can adopt a child without telling anyone, but when I do it—”
Alfred stepped in. “If you both could contain yourselves a minute longer, I can get the Young Masters settled in. I’ve already arranged a room for you in the family ward, Young Master Danny, if you’d like to rest? It is still rather early in the morning.”
“It might be better to give him a tour of the manor before anything else,” Dick said, eyeing Danny warrily. 
“I’m not going to get lost.”
“Mhmm.” Dick didn’t believe him. 
“I’m not!”
“Just like how you didn’t get lost at the precinct? Or at the morgue? Or at—”
“I never got lost on the streets!” Danny thought that was rather impressive. Besides, it’s not his fault the morgue was just empty hallways that all looked the same!
“The streets are labeled. Besides, you’ll never know where the in-house theater is without a tour.” Dick winked, like that was a big selling point. 
Bruce interrupted them. “Why don't you give him a tour after we talk, Dick? It’s been a long time since we last spoke and I was hoping to ask you about your… recent life change.”
Dick pinched the bridge of nose. “Of course you want to start the interrogation right away,” he muttered, eyebrows furrowed. “Alright, but I don’t want Danny to hear this. Alfie, could you– Tim!” Following Dick’s glance, Danny found a teenager in his fancy pajamas standing on the stairs leading to the second floor. The teen, who looked enough like Dick to be his brother and Bruce’s son, rubbed his eyes like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Tim can take you on the tour! Come on, Danny.” 
Dick ushered Danny up the stairs to Tim. “Will you be okay without me?” Danny asked, not wanting to leave Dick alone with Bruce.
He got a bright smile in return. Danny didn’t trust it. “Of course I will, kiddo. Don’t worry about me, just focus on having fun with Timmy.”
Tim looked blearily between them. “What is going on?”
“You’re taking Danny on a tour so he doesn’t hear me and Bruce fight,” Dick told him plainly. “Danny, this is my brother and Bruce’s foster son, Tim. Tim, this is my foster son, Danny. You two have fun!”
Ignoring Tim’s protests that he hadn’t had breakfast yet, Dick pushed them up the stairs and into the immediate hallway, closing the door behind him. They stared at each other for a moment before Danny pressed his ear against the crack in the door. “When did Dick get a kid?” Tim asked.
“Like, three weeks ago, keep up.” Tim tried to say something again, but Danny shushed him. After a moment, Tim joined him in eavesdropping by the door. 
Dick spoke. “I’ll start. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you both I was fostering a kid. I was planning to inform you after the two month mark and Danny had settled in a bit more, but obviously that plan is out the window.”
“I accept your apology, Master Dick,” Alfred said, and there was a sigh of relief. “However, I would still like to know how this happened in the first place.”
“I’m more interested in knowing how you managed to foster him without us being interviewed as character references.”
“...I may have used my boss’ influence to make sure that only my co-workers were interviewed?” Dick admitted.
“Master Richard.”
“I’m sorry, Alfie, but he’s a flight risk! Do you know how many times I managed to get him to come home with me only for him to disappear in the middle of the night!? Fourteen times! Danny’s admitted that he ran away from his previous home, he still hasn’t told me his real last name, and he’s paranoid enough to give Bruce a run for his money! I’ve just barely managed to gain his trust. I didn’t need Bruce being Bruce to ruin it for us—”
“If you had asked me to stay away, I would have—”
“No you wouldn’t, Bruce! You’d pick and prod and try to uncover his every little secret because you don’t trust me to figure it out myself! If Danny had suspected that someone was looking into his past, he would have bolted, B. And I would have lost him forever.”
Danny nodded. He would have. Not that Bruce would have found anything about his past–the perks of getting stuck in an alternate dimension–but some rich asshole poking his nose in his business? Danny would have snuck onto the next bus out of the city.
“You can barely take care of yourself, Dick!” Bruce insisted. “If it was such a dire situation, then you could have contacted me and I would have–”
“–Lost him immediately because he has a strange hatred for billionaires?” Dick scoffed. “He wouldn’t let you get within six feet of him if you tried to take custody.”
“I–”
“He bites too.”
“Dick–”
“Hard.”
“Richard–”
“And it’s pretty bold of you to say I can’t take care of myself. Have you looked in the mirror recently? Because the word hypocrite is written across your forehead in crayon.”
“But I’m not the one who struggles to make rent each month.” Danny flinched. He’d known that Dick didn’t get paid that much, but was it really that bad? Didn’t Dick get a pay increase when he was made detective? Or was Danny taking so much money that it negated the pay increase— “Nevertheless, I’m not trying to take custody away from you, Dick. I’m just… trying to figure out how we got to this point.”
“We got to this point by not trusting each other,” Dick said tiredly. “And I still don’t trust you, not after what you did.”
Dick, I–”
“No, Bruce. This is my life. Besides you were only a few years older than me when my parents died and you decided to raise me on your own. It’s hypocritical for you to complain that I’m doing the same. Look, I’ve known Danny for over a year–”
“You mean you’ve hid this from me for over a year?”
“Bruce–”
“I knew I should have been suspicious when you got that foster license. You’ve been planning this for months–”
“Bruce!” Dick snapped, and Danny had never heard Dick that mad before, not even the first time they met. “Obviously I’ve been planning this for months! I’ve been planning this since the first week I met Danny! The only reason I got that damn license was for him!” He felt… warm. Danny knew that foster licenses were hard to get, but Dick had really wanted him since the week they met. Danny had been so… feral back then, he couldn’t imagine anyone wanting him, not even Jazz. Dick continued, voice barely audible through the door. “He’s a good kid. You don’t have anything to worry about.”
A sigh. “I just… don’t want you to do anything you’ll regret, that’s all.”
“Are you saying you regret adopting me?” The angry voice was back. “Adopting Jason?”
“That’s not what I meant—!”
Tim pulled him away from the door. “We shouldn’t be listening to this. Come on, let’s start that tour you need.”
Danny tried to pull away, but Tim was deceptively strong for his thin frame. Despite his struggles, he was halfway down the hall before he knew it. “Let me go, cocksleeve!”
“You don’t need to hear that,” Tim said. “Trust me, things always get… heated between them, when Jason is brought up. That’s not something you need to witness.”
Jason, huh? That must be the linchpin in this entire investigation. Dick had never mentioned a Jason before, but he was clearly important if the entire family got bent out of shape for him. Did Dick cut contact with Bruce because of this Jason? Did Jason force Dick to do it? Dick would never abandon his family like that, Danny knew this had to be true because of his determination in trying to take Danny home, but if he was forced to stay away… Maybe Jason is an associate of Bruce that Dick hates?
Danny finally managed to jerk his arm away. His entire hand ached. “You don’t have to drag me!”
Shock crossed Tim’s face, like he’d finally realized what he was doing, before it fell. “I’m sorry, Danny. I shouldn’t have pulled you. It’s just… Jason isn’t something you should hear about, at your age. I would appreciate it if you didn’t bring him up, especially around Bruce. Okay?”
Studying the boy, Danny agreed. Sounds like Jason’s some sort of criminal contact, so it was best to behave carefully. Danny kicked at the ground, scraping dirt off onto the carpet that ran in the center of the hall. “So, what do you guys do for fun around here?” He asked. “I don’t need a tour, I’m not a baby.”
Tim rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I just spent the night in the library, working on a case? If you want to lend a hand with that?”
Danny narrowed his eyes. “I thought you just woke up?”
“...Just because I was in the library doesn’t mean I was awake the entire time.”
Ah, a fellow insomniac. His eyes narrowed further. “I only like interesting cases. What kind are we talking about? Fraud? Robbery? Some dinky school kid project?”
“Multiple homicides. If that’s interesting enough for you?”
“...Carry on.”
A/N: Anyway, I’m using @/jedipirateking’s age chart for the ages of Batman characters. Since we’re right before Under the Red Hood, that makes Dick 24. Danny is roughly a year younger than Damian, but was originally 17 before he was deaged. 
Dick: Yes, this is my feral street child. Danny: *foaming at the mouth, swearing*
Tim, internally: Oh! Dick must have already informed Danny about our identities! They work on cases together too, maybe we can work on one to bond? Danny, internally: Wow, rich people have weird ass hobbies
Danny: *so close, yet so far from figuring out the Jason thing* Red Hood: Did someone just walk over my fucking grave again?
Yes, some things are being kept vague on purpose. That’s for a better reveal in the future.
@starlightcat04 @maeashryver @widderwise @darkstarsapocalypse @sisma @luminanightfall @storm-fire98 @amyheart19 @collectingthegoods @redhoneysugarorange @lordfirecat2004 @screechingnoises @meira-3919 @dannyphannypack @satisfactionbroughtmeback @rowanaway-fromthisbs @i-always-say-yea @avelnfear @some-rotten-nest @ark12 @heirxofxtime @akikkobara @blep-23 @skulld3mort-1fan @markus209 @stargirl1331 @onlyhereforthechaos @inth3world @awkwardmaiden @fantasticbluebirdfan @currant-owo @alice-hazelwood @screamingtofillthevoid @crystalqueertea @gaelicholiday @gmkelz11 @mattybook1987-blog @bytheoldwillowtree @apointlessbox @chemical-pepis @ghostface3100 @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit @bathildaburp @boo-ghosties @bubblemixer @halfalix @lyra689 @dragon-dancer16 @lunadoll36 @mimilikey @hellomygay @frogs-are-pretty-awesom @overtherose @cyrwrites @your-emo-nightmare @lexdamo @roman4517 @a-slytherinish-gryffindor @raginblastocyst @thegatorsgoose @fisticuffsatapplebees @olivethetreebitch @vixen-uchiha @ae-vixrose @joseph557 @kisatamao @gin2212 @thewondersoflebanon @d4ydr34min9 @malice-of-the-sunrise @tiblii @that-awkward-fae-nerd @aph-mable @dolfay @ghostreblogging @wackyattack @writer-extraordinaire @boo-ghosties @coruscateselene @emergentpanda-blog
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julesthequirky · 5 months
Text
The Choice: Chapter Three
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All my work is purely aimed at those 18+ so minors kindly, DNI.
Summary: You find three of your favourite characters in your home. It shouldn’t be possible, but there they are. In the flesh. How the hell did they get there? And surely there’s a way to get them back? But as you get close to each one, the thought of sending them back proves difficult to comprehend.
Characters: Fem!Reader, Dean, Beau, Soldier Boy/Ben.
Warnings: Language, angst.
W/C: 1,644
Ben turned to exit your room, leaving you standing like a moron, stuck on what to do. Fuck! Your ex always said you were shit with making tough choices. Said you always looked like you were forever stuck in a damn action, like a mannequin. He always saw the pain in your face as you struggled to decide. He’d clap his hands in front of you, and you’d look at him in annoyance. Then he’d choose for you, and that voice in your head would chime up.
Inadequate.
Useless.
Can’t even make a single decision for yourself.
Well, it wasn’t true, and you could. You pushed yourself. If you followed after Ben, you’d just have to get the box again. But if Ben left…No, the door was locked. Unless he broke the lock. Would he? Fuck!
Your clenched and unclenched your fists. Your heart raced in your chest, your body heating as you continued to struggle.
“Wait!”
Your voice sounded so strangled, so strained. From outside your hallway, you heard a huff. That seemed to snap you out of your mannequin state.
You rushed back up the chair and reached to grab the box, and once it was in your grip, you jumped down from the chair and ran out. Ben was making his way down your stairs.
You followed him as he headed into the living room. He bent to retrieve his shield. You shoved the box in Dean’s hands and hurried to pick the DVDs from your shelf. The Supernatural box set almost knocked the wind outta your chest as it fell into your grasp. You grabbed The Boys and Big Sky and dumped the sets on your coffee table. Ben had turned around at this point and was looking at your display with his signature look of disgust.
“The fuck is that?”
“I tried to tell you. You’re fictional.”
“What?”
You let your words sink in. Turning to Dean and Beau, you rubbed your forehead. This was not how you wanted them to find out, but Ben had forced your hand. You hadn’t planned on a way to tell them, it wouldn’t have been like this. You would have softened the blow.
You paced in the limited area.
His brow furrowed, deepening, his lip curled, he snarled. He picked up the DVD set with Butcher’s face on the cover.
“I knew I had to tell you. Not like this but— but shit…this world, my world. It’s the real world. And the same man plays each of you. Look.” You slipped your phone from your sweater pocket. Your hands trembled as you typed the name in, and then you passed the phone to Dean. His eyes widened, and his mouth opened, only to close a moment later. His head tilted to one side as he took in the information. There were those damn butterflies in your stomach again.
“It’s like that time Balthazar sent me to that alternate dimension.”
“Yeah, except this time, you’re not Jensen. Jensen is an actor who plays a character on screen. God, this makes no sense.”
Yeah, it made no sense. It was fucking insane. Jensen played Dean, Beau, and Ben. They shouldn’t even exist. Yet somehow, they were here.
“This ain’t makin’ a lick of sense, darlin’. You’re sayin’ we’re not real. None of us? Except you?”
“Exactly.”
“Yet, somehow, thanks to a picture frame, we are.”
You nodded.
Ben’s gruff pants pulled your attention to him. He had his fists tightly clenched, his eyes squeezed shut, and his chest heaved as he huffed breaths in and out. For someone so tough and brave, seeing him like this killed you.
Your hand reached out to comfort him. His eyes snapped open and shot you a glare. You pulled your hand back in fright.
“Fuck you. I’m real!” He spat and stormed off.
Your first instinct was to follow him. To smooth things over. Apologise.
“Ben!”
As you stepped towards the hallway, a hand rested on your shoulder, stopping you in your tracks.
“Let him go, darlin’,” Beau said softly.
You watched Ben’s hulking frame leave your sight. Shaking your head, you turned to Beau. Dean was inspecting the box the frame came in.
“I can’t. He could break something. He could hurt himself.”
“Give him space to process.”
You pressed your lips together, grimacing, not fully agreeing with the Texan. Your eyes darted towards the hallway. God knows how he was feeling. Or what he was even thinking.
“You go in there, you’re just gonna make everything a million times worse. He needs space.” Dean said a matter-of-factly, looking at you momentarily.
You stood there, hand on a hip, chewing your bottom lip, finger twirling and tugging absentmindedly on the hair at the nape of your neck.
“You don’t know what he’s like.”
“And you think you do? Because you’ve seen him on TV.” Dean asked pointedly.
Wow.
Hurt flashed across your face. The air whooshed from your lungs as your mouth fell open.
Right here. Was reality. His words stung. Sure, they’d never affected you before. But that was because you were never on the receiving end. Reality struck. What the fuck did you think was gonna happen? That he would fall madly in love with you and live happily ever after?
You heaved in breaths as you stared at him. His words rang in your head over and over. Your ex’s voice collided – “You don’t know anything!” – making Dean’s jibe that little bit more painful. You felt your throat constrict painfully. You strengthened your resolve. There was no way you were crying in front of Dean or Beau.
“What the fuck do you know? You’ve barely been here ten seconds, and suddenly you think you know everything?”
You lashed out and stormed off, stomping up the stairs like a child having a tantrum. You slammed your bedroom door, huffing and puffing, pacing, fingers rubbing your temples. Fuck. A year after the divorce, your ex was still inside your head, finding ways to assert his control. And you were no better, throwing your ex’s words right back at Dean. Dean didn’t deserve it, of course. He had only been trying to help, and you’d gone and made it worse.
It was time to face the facts. You always made things worse. Everything you touched turned to shit.
You slumped on your bed, gripped your pillow, and stuffed your face into it. You screamed, releasing all your pent up anger and frustrations. The initial release felt cathartic as hell, but on the third, it just felt pathetic.
They were right. What the hell did you know? You didn’t. He was just a damn character off a dumb TV show. A show you took way too much of your time, consuming. Just to escape reality. It didn’t mean a damn thing.
You didn’t know Ben.
You didn’t know Dean.
Shit, you didn’t even know yourself half the time.
You brought your knees up, hugged them and sobbed. Great big chest heaving ugly sobs, clutching the pillow. Your mother was right. At thirty-six, you were a divorced loser with nothing to call your own except your dead dad’s house and a black cat.
Perhaps you were just being overly sensitive, melodramatic, or self-pitying, but the truth was the truth.
You mourned the breakup of your marriage, your dad, and your sad, pathetic existence. Fuck, you wished your dad was here. He always knew the right thing to say. He’d wipe your tears and tell you it would be if it was meant to be. He’d kiss your forehead, stroke your hair and then he’d tell you a corny joke only dads find funny, like – How do you get a country girl’s attention? A tractor.
You smiled and chuckled a little. He always knew how to cheer you up.
A soft knock roused you from your reverie, and you sniffed, wiping your tears from your cheeks, and eyes.
“Hey, you in here?”
“Yeah.” You called out, sounding so small.
The door opened, and Beau stepped in. He eased himself down beside you.
“You wanna talk about it?”
You shook your head.
“Talking does nothing.”
“Oh, I dunno ‘bout that. In my experience, talking does a world of good. So does a punch list. And breathing exercises.”
“Yeah, I know. You got Musk on there.”
Beau smiled and nudged you with his arm.
“So, come on, what’s really going on? I may not know you, but I can see there’s more inside than you’re letting on.”
You stared at the pillow in your hands. It had soaked up your tears. Soaked up your screams. Now, it was going to soak up your fears.
What to say? Your throat felt painful and tight, like something constricting your airways. You swallowed thickly, hands tightening their grip on the pillow.
“Last year, I got divorced. I’m thirty-six with no kids and a broken marriage. That’s my legacy.”
Beau shook his head.
“Hell no. That’s not your legacy. You’ve got plenty of life still left in you. There’s still plenty of time.”
He spoke kindly, softly.
“Divorces suck. I should know, and it’s only been a year. You’re still grieving. It’s natural. Your fears will only manifest if you let them. Don’t listen to the naysayers. Ignore them. They only feed into them. You’ve come this far. You’ve got so much further to go, and you know what? It gets easier. You just gotta take one day at a time.”
You smiled faintly, and he pulled you in a side hug. You said your thanks, and he smiled warmly.
“Come on, darlin’, let’s get back down there. Gotta check on Grumpy Captain America in the kitchen.”
You snorted and placed your pillow back on the bed. It seemed that he, too, possessed the ability to cheer you up, just like your dad used to.
Tags:
@deans-spinster-witch, @curlycarley
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madschiavelique · 10 months
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𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐞 (𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐨'𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫)
summary : so you were called for back-up on a mission with gwen, hobie, pavitr and miguel. you get him out of a tight situation, he drags you in a dark street, you get back to the team, you get shot in the thigh, and miguel starts sucking on the bullet to get it out of your skin :D (or most simply, how you got wounded and miguel is playing healing vampire)
content warnings : blood, bullet (if there are others please do tell so that i can add them !), biting (literal), miguel licking you, no use of Y/N word count : 5,3k
note : the spider babies feel like a lil found family to me, so i had to make them goofy in this. i thought about miguel’s bites not only being poisonous, but also in another dosage a great pain killer (i have strictly no idea about how realistic all this is but here have fun reading this besties). this stands as the first part of a 3-shot that i am writing for my bday which is in 4 days hehe (crying), also i didn't proof-read this and english is not my first language :D, enjoy
chapters' list : 1 - lovebite 2 - late night training 3 - unexpected mission (nsfw) 4 - shameless (nsfw)
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Although this wasn't your first mission, you couldn't help but feel like a frozen steak being thrown into a hot pan. You weren't always flung into the thick of the action, of course, but today you were, because you'd been called in as reinforcements with Pavitr.
Miguel had taken Hobie and Gwen on this mission, hoping to get Gwen more used to the terrain. You had arrived a little after her, and for the moment you had restricted access to the field. But today was clearly an exception. You and Pavitr had been called in as back-up, and you immediately took the portal to the dimension in question.
As soon as you emerged from the portal, your spider-senses alerted you to the need to throw yourselves to the ground to avoid the rush of bullets that had been fired in your direction. Exchanging surprised glances, you began to crawl to the side of the building that seemed to be opposite to where the incessant gunfire was coming from, hoping to avoid being riddled with bullets. Because although Swiss cheese was appetising, it wasn't in your plans to become one.
Pavitr tapped his watch.
"Miguel, we're here, where are-" but he had no need to ask the latter's whereabouts, since right in front of them swayed Hobie and Gwen, who seemed to be fleeing... A bride?
It was a bride armed with some sort of personally optimised cannon that was firmly strapped to her body, and if your instincts were right, it would appear that her ammunition was not as simple as that commonly sold, and you dreaded to know what would come out if she fired. She moved with a sort of jet-pack, following your friends at breakneck speed, her long white veil rippling like a trail left behind an aeroplane. Immediately, the two of you began to follow to join them.
"Hey, Hobie! Gwen! We're here!" you shouted.
Suddenly, the bride's head swivelled in your direction, her big red lips stretching into a smile as her eyes widened like two big marbles. Ouch, maybe shouting your presence in the middle of a fight wasn't the right decision.
You could already hear Miguel's voice echoing in your mind: "You should have taken advantage of the surprise and used it to your advantage instead of letting the whole town know that two Spider-Men had just joined the fight!"
But hey, what's done is done, and you'll certainly remember to be more observant on your next mission.
"Ah, Miguel's little minions have joined the party! Honey?" she shouted as you both reached Gwen and Hobie, "we've got some newcomers, I hope they're on the guest list for the ceremony. It would displease me greatly if we had to eliminate them just for that reason."
"After all, murder and marriage are the same if the two people know each other and it all ends in death," you say, your eyes falling for a moment on the absolutely enormous cannon she seems to have programmed to shoot you.
"Marriage is just another contract to life anyway," replied Hobie, to which you nodded sharply. "Anyway, with her chemtrail theory flying around behind her, I'm worried."
It seemed that the anomaly was not a single anomaly, but rather a couple of anomalies, which was probably why these two had been asked to provide support.
"Where's Miguel?" asked Pavitr, all still running.
"Oh bloke, you're not going to believe your eyes when you see him," sneered Hobie.
"What happened?" you asked.
"I took a few photos of the occasion," said Gwen, "but nothing beats seeing it for real."
A loud bang sounded, and you turned to see what had just happened. The face of the building you were standing on was melting: the bride had fired a bubble of acid that had burst against the wall and was biting all the adverts that were stuck to it.
"Destroying propaganda? Bonkers, I'm starting to reconsider this," Hobie huffed.
"Miguel's further down the avenue, on that street over there," said Gwen. "Go and see him before he comes, it's well worth a look.
When the mystery is too great, you don't dare disobey, so while they were busy evacuating more civilians to reduce the number of casualties from the mission, you set off in the direction you'd been told.
You swung out into the street, and as you rounded the corner, you couldn't help but stifle a laugh. The great Miguel O'Hara, the man at the head of the Spider Society, guardian and master of the inter-dimensional balance of events, was pasted up and looked like an Egyptian drawing in the process of running, or the typical chalk drawing you would draw on the ground at a crime scene, all covered in a gooey fluffy substance.
You swung over to him, and he noticed your arrival. You landed on the edge of the wall he was stuck on, biting your lip to stop yourself from bursting out laughing.
"If you want to say something now is the time to shut up." he said, teeth clenched.
"Gwen was right, it's definitely worth the trip. Comfortable? Need a magazine? A snack perhaps?"
"Hilarious, are you going to mess with me like this for much longer or are you planning to help me out of this situation?"
"My intentions were of a slightly more agreeable nature," you huff, walking towards him on all fours.
The substance surrounding him seemed to be a kind of solid foam that kept swelling slowly. You drew out your claws and began to cut the foam from his arm.
"Lovely couple over there, real synergy between the two of them. Shame almost half of marriages end in divorce."
"You get sentimental about enemies? Keep your sensitivity out of the fight and concentrate."
"Focus on foam? Honestly you know your Marshmallow Man costume lacks realism."
He let his neck tilt back until it touches the wall, murmured between his lips: "todos me vais a matar."
A small smile stretched across your face, the poor guy must have felt like he was babysitting, and although you were older than all the other teammates, hanging out with them brought out your absurd and more childlike side, your inner child in a way.
You managed to dislodge quite a bit of foam, but it was taking too long, it was thick and had the consistency of snow whose surface had crystallised.
"I'm pulling your leg, jefe" you say, the little use of the Spanish name making him react. What, You've got to make a profit from duolingo after all. " Okay, pull in your tummy."
"What?"
You raised your arm in the air, your claws extending a little further. Lately you'd been trying to see how far you could push the limits of your costume, and the increase in your claws was one of them. It was a bit painful, but if it meant Miguel could get out of this situation and get home safe, then you might as well take it. All you could hope for was that you wouldn't fail...
Then, with a sharp, wide stroke, you sliced through the foam. The cut was perfect, and Miguel, who was just as surprised as you were, popped out of his spot as if he'd just stepped out of a mould.
" Well," he turned to you, dusting off the few remnants of foam still clinging to his body, "observations?"
This was an exercise that Miguel inflicted on every recruit during their training or recruitment. It was simple: he selected a small anomaly to keep things simple, and asked the recruit what observations they'd make to neutralise the target. Except that, in this case, the anomaly wasn't so minor. You were racking your brains.
"I didn't see the husband, but I did see the bride. She's got a jet pack that should be neutralisable, it'll slow her down in her movements, but you'd have to aim carefully to do that. Her only power is her weapon, except that as it's attached to her it's going to be complex..."
Then you remembered her attire, and especially the long veil firmly placed on her head.
"Her wedding veil, you should be able to pull it down and hold it still."
Miguel nodded, you didn't know how to take the look he was giving you through the mask, but you hoped he was satisfied with the answer.
"The husband's pretty much the same, except-" but he didn't finish his sentence, suddenly grabbing your arm and pulling you instead into a much darker, narrower adjacent alley. He leaned against a wall, looking down at the street you had just left.
"Here's the husband," he murmured.
The suddenness of the gesture took you by surprise, of course, and you seemed unable to think straight. Not just because you were so close that your bodies were pressed together, but because all your senses, all your nerves, seemed to come together in one and the same place in your body, a place where it felt like sparks were flying: Miguel's hand was placed on your waist.
Through the thin but hard-wearing fabric of your suit, you could feel the heat from his fingers spread across your skin, sending a shiver down your spine and up to your neck and cheeks to warm them. His grip was firm on your flesh, and you tried to calm your breathing, which had been racing as fast as your heart at this closeness.
His second hand still had your arm in its embrace, and the simple thought occurred to you: what if his hand came down your arm to meet yours?
You looked up at Miguel's profile, watching the street you were on, alert. You took a deep breath as you watched him, his scent coming to you through the mask as earthy, pungent. And he turned his head towards you.
The distance separating your two faces was small, terribly small, and you wondered at that moment how the scene would have unfolded if neither of you had masks on. Would he have paid any attention to the way you were looking at him? Would those dark eyes have sparkled? Would you have been able to feel his hot breath on your face?
"Is everything all right? Your heart rate's increased."
The sentence refocused you for a moment as if you'd just plunged into icy water, your reverie no doubt perceptible through the suit. You lowered your eyes, glancing at the placement of his two hands on you, blinking rapidly as you tried to pull yourself together. Quick, an excuse, anything.
"The others," you breathed, using the card of concern for teammates, "I wonder how they're holding up."
"Uh huh..." he murmured, the answer only half satisfying him, his gaze piercing yours through his mask as you felt his hand tighten on your waist, another shiver running through your body. You didn't really understand why he'd maintained this seemingly intimate embrace, but to be honest, you weren't against the idea of this position for a few more moments.
It felt good to be like that, to share someone else's closeness.
He was so big, he seemed to engulf you with his size and thickness, looming over you, and so much strength and threat in one body aroused as much interest in you as it did fear.
Pull yourself together, for God's sake, what's Miguel, your boss? He's got better things to do than that, than get close to you, than get intimate with you...
He seemed to be inspecting you strangely, and the intensity of this gesture made you look down even more, the ground suddenly seeming very interesting to look at. But if he had anything to say on the subject, it could obviously wait until the mission was over.
"The way's clear, let's go," he says, finally letting go of his hold on you, "before these idiots do any more damage than they already have."
And with a thump, he pulled a web and propelled himself into the air. A gasp escaped your lips, the sudden sensation of not being touched leaving you feeling grey. You took a deep breath, trying to refocus your thoughts on the mission and not on the irreplaceable sensation that Miguel's hands had left on your body.
You dashed off in your turn, following him to join the others.
Not far away you could hear Hobie shouting: "They're pissing on us without even making us think it's raining!" Hobie, charming as always.
Needless to say, it was a fairground. Miguel threw a web in the bride's face and found the other three on a roof. Furious, he pointed his finger towards the corner of a building that was on fire, from the bottom of which civilians kept coming out, coughing, some even injured.
"Who did this?" he asked, his throat rumbling in frustration.
"You did," Hobie answered point-blank.
"Bravo," he growled sarcastically, "it's good to admit your mistakes."
"It's paradoxical communication," he informed you, avoiding a projectile that you couldn't identify, no doubt another munition of dubious composition from the bride's weapon, who seemed to be hurtling towards you with intensity.
" I Leave it to you for two minutes and you destroy everything," Miguel murmured as he began to run towards the enemy.
" Submerged by their numbers of two we couldn't do anything," pleaded Pavitr.
"Gobsmacked, maybe she's rebelling against a terribly phallocratic world," Hobie says as he dodges a huge snowball as big as himself launched from the cannon.
"Darling? Maybe it's time for dessert, what do you think?"
Shit, here comes the husband too. He was equipped with a jet-pack just like the groom, but his weapon was much less sophisticated than his wife's, a simple submachine gun, which didn't make it harmless, quite the contrary.
"Great idea! It's time for the icing on the cake," and with these words she seemed to throw portions of sweet and colourful cream towards your group.
"Come on, dance! Dance!" ordered the husband.
"No! I don't wanna dance, I'm from the town in footloose," you blurted out, trying to pull a simple web towards the cannon of the bride's gun.
You didn't succeed, but threw a second one anyway, taking the risk of standing still for a few moments to improve your aim. The web shot out and hit the barrel of the weapon. Yes! but the celebrations were short-lived, as a rush of bullets came crashing towards you, and even in your haste to escape, you were hit in the thigh.
A strangled little grunt vibrated against your teeth and lips, you didn't know exactly what it had struck in your leg, but the pain was sudden and stinging. Still, you followed the others a little, with difficulty. Every simple movement was a painful tug.
The group eventually stopped in an empty courtyard, to deliberate, talk strategy and how to organise themselves. The landing on the ground was a little abrupt, and you staggered back to your feet towards the group.
"Hey, you all right?" Hobie asked you.
"Never been better," you said, giving a thumbs up, your nose wrinkling at the next step.
"Are you sure you're okay? You're walking like a Disney witch," said Patvir, raising an eyebrow.
"Bollocks, your thigh!" pointed Hobie as he came towards you.
You looked down, the bullet had of course pierced the fabric of your suit, stretching the elastic material over your bloody thigh from the hole the bullet had punched in your thigh.
"Calm down," Gwen said in the distance, chatting to Miguel, "let me take care of this, Miguel."
"Like you've taken care of everything else so far, Gwen?" he said, his hands resting on his hips.
"Miguel?" called Pavitr.
"What do you want?" he asked as he turned his head suddenly towards where you guys were.
"Can't you answer 'yes' like everyone else?" gasped Pavitr.
But Miguel was already coming towards you, he must have seen the impact in your thigh.
"Nice icing on the cake, eh?" you said, laughing slightly at the situation. After all, ridicule poisons fear.
But the shots were already ringing out and they were coming towards you.
" Okay," breathed Miguel, "Hobie, Pavitr, Gwen, try to immobilise them. The husband is easy to neutralise, just hit his jet-pack and take away his weapon. For the bride, try to take her towards the river, if you make her fall into the water she will start to sink with all her layers of clothes and the weight of her dress. Pull her by her veil if you have to, but go ahead. The first one to do even a little unintentional damage again will end up with his back broken like a glow stick, got it?"
"I don't take orders," Hobie refused.
"Hobie, you take care of the bridegroom with Gwen," Miguel continued as if he wasn't listening to him any more, moving closer to you. He tossed him his multidimensional cell device, as if he was worth reaching for.
"Why does he only come and ask me things once a day, as if I were a vitamin?" Hobie huffs before launching himself into the air.
"Oh, you know, that's what we love about him, his boundless empathy," remarked Gwen before shooting a web and leaving in her turn.
"Why do I always get the less interesting ones," said Pavitr before leaving as well.
Miguel turned to you, taking off his mask. His brown hair was dishevelled and he didn't even put his hand through it before ordering:
"Sit.
You'd have liked to contradict him, to say that you could definitely wait until you got back to HQ and received treatment there rather than slowing down the mission when you'd literally been called in as backup. And here you were, the backup turned liability in the situation, so contradicting him wasn't really in your plans.
You backed away, leaning against the wall and letting yourself slide with difficulty against the bricks as you tried to put as little weight as possible on your damaged leg. With a muffled whimper, you reached the ground, stretching your bad leg further as you bent the other. You took off your mask in turn, no longer able to hide your expressions of pain. The sensation you'd had at first had been sharp, but now it felt like your thigh was on fire and the wound was licking at your skin like flames.
Miguel came forward and knelt beside you. His gaze was riveted on your thigh, and when his gloved hand came to rest beside the wound, you stiffened your back and couldn't help breathing in through clenched teeth. His brown eyes looked up into yours, watching your expressions through the wild strands of his hair. But it was also simply a look for permission to continue his gestures.
"If it hurts too much, use your mask," he said, his eyes returning to the wound.
The mask? In what way would the mask be- ah, so... You watched your mask, hesitating for a moment. What Miguel meant by that suggestion was biting your mask. Since you were probably going to grit your teeth, you might as well not hurt yourself too much and tear them up by biting into something. You wavered at the thought, preferring not to damage any more of your costume. You'd already dented it with your punctured thigh, but ripping your mask on top of that? No, preferably not.
His thumb felt your skin, and he pressed down on a spot that threw you so hard that your hand immediately grabbed his wrist. You were breathless, almost nauseous from the pain, and you opened your frowning eyes again to meet Miguel's gaze, which had stopped all movement of his hand.
You looked up at him, your eyes and nose stinging with the tears that threatened to spill from the pain. He breathed, his eyes falling on your hand, then straightened towards yours:
"If you don't let me touch it, I'll pin your hands down with my webs, is that clear?"
Biting the inside of your cheek, you let out a shaky breath and removed your hand, which seemed ridiculously small compared to his.
"Well, the bullet's really not deep, so it should be fine."
Honestly, you didn't know whether it was better for you to know what was going to happen, and you were somehow grateful that he wasn't detailing his operation to you, even though he was doing it mainly out of lack of time.
His two hands came to grip your thigh to hold it steady, he gave you one last look, then lowered his head close to your thigh, and you saw a flash of white gleam from his long, sharp fangs before they sank into your skin. A strangled cry drowned in your throat as you felt them ooze something wet, liquid seeping into your skin and blood.
Miguel's bites weren't just poisonous, they could also be incredibly helpful in situations like these, where they acted as both a mild painkiller and a kind of antidote that accelerated the healing process. And although the painkiller aspect wasn't performing well enough for your liking, you were still quite happy not to feel like you were in complete agony.
The sensation of his lips on your flesh, however, previously drowned out by the sensations of all your aching nerves, became much clearer. Their softness grazing your skin with more intimacy than he was aware of.
He hadn't bitten down on the wound, to prevent the bullet from moving any further, and you took a deep breath when he moved away, pulling his fangs out of your skin. His tongue cleaned them, and he glanced at you as he did so, just to make sure you were all right.
Please tell me I haven't become a big walking tomato, you thought. Now apparently the most important phase would begin: extracting the bullet. You bit down hard on your bottom lip, still feeling pain, then nodded to allow him to continue.
He bent down again, coming dangerously close to the wound, to your raw flesh where warm blood was dripping. The bullet wasn't far from the surface, luckily the suit had played a large part in cushioning it.
He breathed in lightly, then put his lips to the wound. A current of electricity ran through your body as all sorts of sensations mixed together in one place. The burn on your thigh had just met the slightly sticky wetness of Miguel's saliva and the warmth of his mouth and lips as he began to draw.
You realised what Miguel was doing, he was sucking the bullet out of your flesh. His tongue flicked lightly around the impact, and his fangs, still a little elongated, lightly traced your skin.
Your breath was erratic, and you tried to stabilise it, but the sensations seemed so extreme that the task was complicated. The thing about spider-senses is that your senses are heightened, so the slightest movement of Miguel's lips, tongue or fangs sent shivers through your body. He drew back to spit out the excess saliva and blood that had mingled before coming back and sucking harder. You could feel the bullet coming out little by little, still biting your lip fiercely until you felt a metallic taste, and were insistently reconsidering the choice of biting into your mask. So you switched to the side of your index finger, biting it as your frown of pain intensified.
Then Miguel pressed his lips a little harder, and your body had to grab hold of something. Then, inadvertently and with many mental 'oh no's attacking your being as soon as the gesture was made, you grabbed Miguel's hair.
His eyes immediately looked up at yours, wide, questioning the gesture, and the sight made you feel as if your heart had fallen into the warmth of your stomach. His brown eyes had a flash of red and peered through his long lashes, their colour blending perfectly with his blood-smeared cheeks.
You were so desperate for a foothold that your body hadn't given a second thought to what it should be gripping. He just froze, for a few seconds that seemed as long as minutes. You calmed your breathing, taking advantage of the respite from his movements to relax a little. Worried, you looked up at him again, dreading his reaction.
But nothing, no 'what the hell are you doing', no 'stop that immediately', no 'that's inappropriate', no reprimand, nothing. Your fingers in his hair relaxed, they were much softer than you'd imagined, but your hand didn't leave its place. You felt both his hands tighten around your thigh, making you swallow hard. He just gave you one last look before flicking his tongue around the wound and continuing his suction.
Your fingers reflexively gripped his hair again and Miguel let out a low rumble from his throat that vibrated up your thigh and into the bullet. The sensation was such that you suddenly turned your head to the side, closing your eyes tightly until you saw stars. The tears that had welled up started falling, determined.
Miguel's hot breath washed over your bare, rosy skin, turning visibly purple with the repeated suctions Miguel left in his path. His normal teeth were biting into your skin around the bullet to create the pressure that would eject it.
You locked your fingers in his hair again, and felt his hands tighten their grip on your thigh as a low hmpf vibrated against your skin again. Then he drew in harder, and pressed his teeth in deeper, and you felt your finger beading with blood as your teeth pierced your skin.
And then, at last, you felt the bullet come out. A deep sigh poured from your lungs as you eased your hand from his hair to wipe away the tears that had rolled down your cheeks. He stepped back, his eyes looking into yours, his cheeks and nose all covered in blood, and between his reddened teeth was the crushed bullet.
You looked at him like this, your cheeks heating up violently. He spat the bullet out to the side, then looked back at your thigh. He breathed heavily, clenching his jaw as he let go of your thigh, bringing one of his hands up to wipe his cheek with the back of it.
"Put some webs on it, that should be enough to last us until we get to HQ."
His eyes scanned yours, tired, reddened, a tear still running down them. He wiped it away with the back of his index finger, letting it fall onto the fabric of his suit. The gesture was gentle, almost like a caress as his finger gently traced your cheek.
"You did great, muñeca", he said, his voice soft, softer than you'd ever heard it.
The nickname gave you a warm, soft feeling in your lower stomach. He straightened up, his mask in hand, the other stretched out towards you, ready to be seized.
No comment on the pulled hair? You were afraid he'd mention it, or were you afraid he wouldn't mention it at all.
"Can you stand up?" he asked.
You looked at your thigh for a moment, then did as he instructed and pulled a few webs over the still open wound. Then, looking up, you grabbed Miguel's hand to help you up. You breathed through your teeth, the pain was still there, but now that the bullet had been dislodged and Miguel's pain-killing venom was coursing through your veins, the ache was lessened.
You were swaying slightly and Miguel's reflex was to place his hand on your waist to steady you. He gave a retentive tt-tt.
"Try to stick to the webs, do as little walking or running as possible," he said before putting his mask back on, which you in turn did. "Ready?"
You bobbed your head, putting your weight on your good leg, "ready.
With a nod, you both took off.
Soon you found Pavitr who had managed to catch the husband who, on closer inspection, had one of his eyes as white as a half-cooked egg. Perhaps this explained his random aiming. In any case, he was huffing and puffing like a rhinoceros.
"It's about time," Pavitr yawned, "your leg?"
You gave him a thumbs up.
" Where are Gwen and Hobie? " Miguel asked.
"Further down the river like you said."
"Well, you can go back to HQ, we'll take care of the rest- can you go on?" he said, turning to you.
"Yep, the only thing that could stop me would be myself."
"Was that the philosophical moment?" asked Pavitr. "That deserves a few lyrical songs, doesn't it?"
"It's pathetic," admitted Miguel as he left.
You followed him, Pavitr entering a portal to return to 928.
"Are you trying to destroy our pseudo-friendship?
"Pseudo-friendship?" he chuckles, "you mean how I removed that bullet with my teeth, and you-"
"Ah, the amnesia's getting to me!" you cut in, continuing along the road faster than him until you reach the river where, hanging from a lamppost on the quayside, the bride was dripping wet and stripped of her weapon. She seemed simply stunned, and Gwen and Hobie were standing in front of her, still tense from their fight.
You approached the two lads, smiling at Gwen who had finally succeeded in her training.
"Good job!" you said, raising your fist to her height, which she banged in a friendly manner, doing the same for Hobie.
"Hobie?" called Miguel in the distance.
"Don't move," said the latter, "it's like with bears, if you don't do anything they'll leave."
"This is the right way," affirmed Gwen.
"Where's the weapon?" asked Miguel, who had finally reached your level.
"It fell into the water," he replied simply.
"What?" asked Miguel.
"Relax, I'm just messing with you. It's behind you," he said, pointing with his chin at the wet weapon on the ground.
"So, how did it go?"
"I wouldn't go into details," Hobie sighed.
"What are you trying to accomplish here?" Asked Miguel.
"I don't want to listen to you; malicious criticism hurts my self-esteem and praise leaves me sceptical."
Miguel sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, murmuring "Voy a matarlos."
"I hope one day you'll understand what I've just said," he whispered, climbing up the lamppost to unhook the bride and place her in another multi-dimensional cell.
"Did you hear anything?" you asked ironically.
"Oh no, I didn't hear anything, did you?" questioned Gwen to Hobie.
"I've got an ear infection."
You smiled at this conversation, watching Miguel fiddle with his watch.
"How's your leg, by the way?" asked Hobie.
"I've still got the bullet, I'm going to be ringing airport buzzers for the rest of my life."
"Huh?" exclaimed Gwen.
"Just kidding, everything's fine."
"Why do you have to be like that? In situations like this, 'I'm fine' is the standard response," she huffed.
"I'm on a strict diet of misplaced enthusiasm and gut-wrenching regret." You affirmed.
"Huh huh, diets are bad," Hobie remarked. "It's just another way for capitalism to prove that their system is superior to you."
"Well, come on, let's go home," Miguel called.
His eyes fell on you for a moment, and in the space of that glance the vision of his crimson eyes, his fangs glistening with your blood smeared across his cheeks came back to your mind. You entered the portal, and soon enough, as you got into the lift, the horizon formed as far as the eye could see, with towers sunk like daggers into the belly of the sky, and so high that, from sleep, you could plunge into the clouds.
And now you couldn't think of anything else but Miguel.
part two >> late night training
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luxaofhesperides · 6 months
Text
greener on the other side.
Danny makes a habit out of hopping into portals and exploring he places he ends up. It just so happens that this time, he ends up in Gotham right as the Signal begins his patrol. Duke meets the strangest, funniest, cutest guy on the roof of the Gotham City Public Library. He knows Batman would not approve of literally anything he’s doing, but sue him, he wants a meta friend and this guy seems to up for it. – OR: how Duke and Danny got together despite having secret identities and living different dimensions.
chapter two: how it grows - 10.7k
read chapter one here or the entire fic on ao3.
here's the duke pov! one chapter left from danny's pov, then this fic is complete and i can get started on the rest of the series focusing on their relationship! . . .
Duke doesn’t like to make a big deal of things. He’ll try to handle things on his own and roll with the punches. As long as he keeps his cool, things will work out. 
Unfortunately, feelings are not one of the things that just ‘work out on their own’ and he has to admit that he might just need some outside help for this. The problem, then, becomes a question of who he can go to.
He’s come a long way since he was part of the We Are Robin gang and knows that he can rely on the rest of the Bats for help. He’s one of them, something that still feels surreal when he thinks about it for too long, but Duke has his place with them both in and out of the mask. He gets along well enough with Damian, trains often with Jason, bothers Dick for help when he gets in over his head, and makes fun of Bruce with Tim and Cass and Steph. 
They’re good people and he trusts them. They’re messy, with lots of history and fights between them all, but what family isn’t like that? 
They’re good people and he wants to ask them for help, but Duke can’t bring himself to go to the Manor. They’re all just… Some of the advice they give him for his civilian life is suspect at best. So instead, he’s going back to Jay’s house, hoping his cousin will have some normal advice for him.
Though he spends a decent amount of time with the Waynes, Jay technically still has custody of him; Duke doesn’t want to leave his family behind at all, not if he has any other choice, but he knows that looking after a teenager while being single and not having the biggest paycheck is stressful. Plus, it allows less time for any resentment to spring up between them with the amount of secrets Duke is hiding from him. 
As unprepared for him as Jay was, he still does his best. He’s waiting in the living room when Duke arrives, dropping his keys into the dish on the side table in the entrance hallway. A bowl of popcorn and two glasses of ice tea are set on the coffee table and Duke gladly takes one and drinks half in one go before he even sits down.
“Alright, man,” Jay says, “What’s going on? You never ask me for advice.”
Duke sighs. “It’s, uh… dating problems? I guess?”
“You guess?”
“I don’t actually know if it was a date or not and I need a second opinion.”
Jay gives him a long look. “Usually, just having to ask tends to mean it was a date and you just didn’t notice in time. You getting back with that Izzy girl?”
“No! We both decided to stay friends, and it’s not like we’ve been hanging out much at all since the break up. This is someone new.”
“Anyone I know?”
“Nah, he doesn’t live in Gotham.”
The smile falls from Jay’s face and he leans closer to Duke, suddenly growing serious. “If this is an internet friend, I’m going to have to lecture you on stranger danger. Come on man, I know you’re smarter than that.”
Duke shakes his head, pushing his cousin back into the couch. “No! No, no, definitely not! Do you really think I don’t know anything about internet safety? Not the point. The point is, he’s from out of town and he’s really cute and I spent most of yesterday just hanging out with him and took him to the best food trucks I could find. Was that a date?”
“Honestly? Sounds like it. Good for you man. Just make sure to let him know if you want the next one to officially be a date.”
See? Simple, normal advice. Jay is just telling him to communicate like a normal person. It’s not that simple, of course, since Duke isn’t going as Duke but as The Signal, but it’s still good advice. Once he finds the courage to ask Danny out on a proper date, he’ll do it in a way that leaves no confusion.
It won’t be any time soon, though. Not when they’ve just met and Danny doesn’t even know his name.
“It’s that easy, huh?”
“Sure is,” Jay grins. “How do you think I got all the girls when I was in school?”
“Is that also why you can’t get any dates now?”
“Alright, you little shit,” Jay laughs, throwing an arm around Duke’s shoulders to trap him in a noogie. “See if I give you advice ever again. Is this the thanks I get for looking after you?”
Duke can break free from his grip easily, but it’s been so long since he had a nice, easy interaction with his cousin that he just sinks into it, laughing. Time apart has made things better between them; there’s less stress involved with hiding his identity, and Jay isn’t worried out of his mind about raising Duke right while also making enough for rent and groceries. 
“You staying the night?” Jay asks, finally releasing Duke.
“Nah, the Waynes want me over for game night and I really wanna see them try to kill each other. But I got a couple of hours until they’re expecting me.”
“Up for a movie?”
“Is it another zombie movie?”
“You know it.”
Duke shrugs. “Sure, put it on and I’ll try not to laugh too hard when you get scared.”
It’s nice and lets his mind finally stop spinning in circles, going over everything he can remember from his not-date with Danny. He’s missed spending time with his cousin even if living away from him is a lot less stressful. As great as the Waynes are, they can’t give him this.
What they can give him is chaos and embarrassment.
“Caught you slacking yesterday,” Jason says casually as he drops onto the couch next to him. Both of them watch as Steph and Damian team up to kill Bruce for taking all their properties in Monopoly, and Duke suddenly has a feeling that he should have stayed with Jay after all.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replies, “I’m never slacking as the Signal. I’ve never done a single thing wrong, ever, in my life.”
“Didn’t you lead a gang?”
“Didn’t you decapitate eight men?”
Jason pinches his side in retaliation, making Duke jump. “So, you pulling a Superman? Flirting with a civilian you saved?”
They didn’t go anywhere near Crime Alley. How did Jason just happen to stumble across them? He probably should have expected someone to have spotted him. None of the Waynes care too much for other people’s privacy. 
“No,” Duke says slowly. He is flirting with a civilian, but Danny is not someone he saved. Danny is someone who helped him out when fighting crime, and is fun to be with. “I was just showing him around Gotham?”
Jason’s eyebrows go up. “An out of towner? Didn’t think they’d have the balls the stay in Gotham longer than a few hours.”
“Yeah, well, he’s not one to be scared away so easily.”
“And does this someone have a name? If he’s spending time with you, I wanna know his name.”
Duke side eyes him. “Why do you want to know?”
“Look, it’s good to keep an eye on any civilian that gets close to us. In case they’re a threat, and in case they get caught up in the bullshit that saturates every part of our lives. The longer they’re with us, the more danger they’re in. But I can help you look out for him. So: name?”
That is… a depressingly good point. Duke can’t save everyone despite how hard he tries. It would be good to have someone else looking out of Danny while he’s in Gotham, just in case. 
“Danny. His name’s Danny.”
“No last name?”
“I don’t know it. Look man, I only met him two days ago. He’s a meta like me and he’s not from Gotham. That’s about all I know.”
“That’s it?”
“Again, we literally just met. If he decides to keep coming around, then I’ll learn more about him.”
Jason gives him an assessing look, then gives him a sharp grin. “Oh, I’m sure he’ll be coming back for you. Boy was giving you doe eyes the entire time he was with you. Don’t drag him along too much, yeah? Poor thing’s got it bad for you.”
“He does not!”
“I’m not blind, Narrows. And I know you saw it too.”
That’s the problem. He did see how flustered and cute Danny was around him, always finding some way to bump into him or have their arms brush as they stood around, always sticking close as they soared through the air almost close enough to hug. It was cute, so adorable that Duke wanted to squish his cheeks and also lie face down on the ground. But it wasn’t Duke who was causing Danny to blush was the slightest of touches. It was the Signal, the daytime hero, and Duke knows they can’t build anything good together when it’s built on a foundation of secrets. 
Danny’s got his own secrets too. Being a meta is only one of them and he’s not sure he’ll ever get to know those parts of Danny when the guy can just choose to never return to Gotham again. 
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to try. It’s stupid and reckless when they’ve only known each other for two days but no one has ever made him feel so normal before. Even in the midst of using their powers and hopping around Gotham fighting crime, there was a sense that they understood each other, that their lives rhymed and it made everything so easy and comfortable between them.
“And?” Duke sighs. “He doesn’t even know my name. It’s not really anything right now, okay? We just get each other and it’s nice to spend time with someone like that.”
“Want me to find him for you?”
“Please don’t.”
Jason shrugs. “Alright, your loss.” He looks back to where Bruce is calmly stealing Steph’s Monopoly money as she has her arms around his throat, trying to choke him as she clings to his back. Damian is trying to steal everything back. None of them have caught on to the fact that Tim and Cass have teamed up and have taken over the bank and are steadily taking properties on the board, fully and shamelessly cheating. 
He’s so glad he chose to sit this game out. 
Jason seems content with leaving the conversation there, so Duke cuts his losses and leaves before Tim and Cass have to fend off everyone else and turn this entire game night into a blood bath. 
It’s not like anyone’s going to win against Cass anyways.
Duke fully intends to go up to his room and get a full eight hours of sleep while everyone else goes on patrol. He’ll take some time to think about how excited he is to see Danny again when he brings his friends over next week, but only for a bit. His sleep is so important.
Batman could never compare to how much he values his sleep.
He’s got good priorities, okay? He’s not changing them for anything.
Instead of sleeping, though, he ends up laying on his bed for hours, all his thoughts swirling around in a restless tangle. This is why he can’t ask the Waynes for advice on Normal People Shit. They just make him overly paranoid and sure that everything is going to go wrong. 
Danny’s a mystery. He didn’t feel like one when they met; Danny was just an average citizen standing on top of a building, and the Signal had a duty to check up on him. 
But when Danny turned to face him, his eyes were a bright blue, practically glowing, and there was a light emanating out of his chest, as if he tucked a star into his ribcage. No normal human looked like that, and Duke would know. He’s seen a lot of weird shit with his powers, especially once they started affecting his eyes even more, but even people who dabble in magic didn’t look like that.
Danny had looked ethereal. Unreal. As if he wasn’t from this world at all. Like someone who had stepped out of a story and into the real world.
And he was fun.  
That’s what’s tripping Duke up. He’s met other metas before. They tend to either be 1) homicidal, 2) depressed and traumatized, or 3) serious and heroic. Sure there were some that had a sense of humor, but it was just to keep the mood light as they went around saving people and being more Hero than Person.
That’s what Duke had become, growing into his role as the Signal until he worried that it was taking away from Duke Thomas. The other Bats seemed to have no problem with their various identities, or enjoyed being in the mask far more than they enjoyed taking it off. Duke, as he usually was, is the outlier. 
It’s why he always has to wrestle with imposter syndrome, forcing himself to stick around until he can finally feel like he belongs with the heroes of Gotham. He can act unbothered as much as he wants. It will never change the fact that, at his heart, Duke is still the terrified and angry boy sneaking out of foster homes and orphanages to search for his parents, refusing to find a place in the world that wasn’t by their side.
As the only meta on the team, his powers are both a blessing and a curse. They’re another reminder that he’s the odd one out, the one who doesn’t fit in as easily as all the others, but also a tool that lets him help in ways no one else can.
He always has something to prove when he’s out as the Signal. He always has to make himself worth keeping around as Duke.
With Danny, all of that fell away.
Using his powers was fun with him. They darted around the city, from rooftop to rooftop, stopping crimes and teasing each other as they went. There was no pressure to conform or prove himself, just the easy joy of feeling the air rush by him as he swung through the skyline, hundreds of feet in the air. 
It doesn’t hurt that Danny is cute, too.
Sighing, Duke rolls over and shoves his face into his pillow. 
He hadn’t realized how lonely he was until he met another meta who wasn’t trying to attack him. Sure, he has other hero friends, but they’re either regular humans or not human at all. One day with another meta, just shooting the shit, enjoying their time together, makes him all too aware of how much he’s wanted something like this since his powers first manifested. 
Jason said that Danny was down bad, but Duke’s not doing any better, honestly.
He can’t wait until he sees Danny again.
It takes putting on some soothing music and trying not to let all his thoughts drift back to Danny before Duke finally feels sleep take a hold of him and gladly gives into its embrace. . . .
The glow appears suddenly, a flash of light in the distance, and that’s all Duke needs before he takes down two muggers and zip ties their wrists together quickly. “Stay safe!” he calls to the victim, quickly grappling away as she glares at her attempted muggers. She’s looking rather violent, and if she wants to whack them over the head, then that’s her right. 
Duke doesn’t need to worry about it. He’s already dealt with the problem and now he can make his way to Danny, falling into the familiar rhythm of catch, fall, and release as he chases after the cold star-glow of Danny.
He makes his way to the glow until he can see Danny standing on the roof of the mall in Diamond District. Duke stops a few buildings away, taking the time to catch his breath and make sure he’s in Signal mode instead of Duke Thomas. 
Then, as prepared as he’ll ever be, he shoots his grapple out.
Danny and his friends are already facing him when he lands, eyes flickering between him and his grapple gun.
Duke tucks it away and offers them a small wave, giving Danny a soft smile. 
“This is him!” Danny announces, turning to face his friends so he can do a little flourish and show off Duke. “This is the Signal, and he’s a legit hero here.”
A goth girl looks him over with an unimpressed gaze, then clicks her tongue in a way that reminds him way too much of Damian. “Too much yellow,” she says, “You should update your armor to be less… this.”
“Sam!” Danny says, smacking her arm. “Uncalled for!”
“What? I’m right. That’s way too much yellow.”
The other boy pushes his glasses up his nose and glares at Duke. “So you’re a hero, huh?”
Duke blinks and the sudden hostility, then nods. “Yeah, sure am.”
“And you save people?”
“I do my best.”
“Even if they’re not human?”
Oh, Duke realizes, they’re just being overprotective of Danny. It kind of sucks to be on the other end of it, but he’s glad to know that Danny has people that will stand by him. Being a meta without any support is awful and often dealy; human traffickers especially love to target vulnerable metas. 
“Even then,” Duke says. “If anyone needs help and I can help them, I do. It’s how I got into the hero business.”
“Quit the interrogation,” Danny hisses, then turns to Duke with a strained smile. “I am so sorry about them. This is Sam, and this is Tucker.”
“Well, welcome to Gotham.”
Danny hooks his arms with Sam and Tucker’s, pulling them closer to himself with enough force that they stumble. “Stop being mean, guys. We’re here to have fun, remember?”
Sam sighs, then gently knocks her head against Danny’s. “Yeah, alright. We’ll behave.”
“ Thank you. Let’s hit up Wayne Tower first, then the botanical gardens and maybe lunch after that?”
“Sounds good,” Tucker says, pulling his arm free from Danny’s grasp just to hop onto his back. With Tucker secured, Danny sweeps Sam up into a princess carry, and all three look at Duke like this is something totally normal that happens all the time. And maybe it is! It’s probably normal for them and Duke is not going to judge them because he wants to make a good impression and not be a hypocrite.
He’ll just… not talk about the Bats and how bizarre they all are. Duke himself is not exempt from this.
“You gonna be able to hold them both and fly around?” he asks, just to make sure. He definitely doesn’t want anyone falling to their deaths while he’s leading them through Gotham.
Danny just offers him a grin, the tips of his sharp canines just barely visible. The glow in his chest gets a little stronger and his eyes flicker from blue to bright green. “Don’t worry. I’m strong enough to be their Uber today.”
“We’re not paying you,” Sam and Tucker say at the same time, then high five. Danny rolls his eyes, and Duke can’t help but smile seeing their little routines.
They must have been friends for a long time to be so close.
Duke makes a mental note to spend a day just hanging out with his own friends soon. It’s been a little too long, hero work and school taking up all his time, and though they understand and try to keep him in their lives through texts, it’s all too easy to slip away from each other. 
Focus, Duke, he tells himself. Today is for Danny and his friends. 
He’s the Signal. There’s no time for Duke’s problems. He’s got crime to fight and three teenage tourists from who knows where to show around Gotham. He’ll deal with his own shit later.
“I’ll lead the way to Wayne Tower then,” he says, walking backwards to the edge of the roof. Danny lifts up from the roof, hovering a foot in the air, and it’s so hard to look away from him when he’s literally glowing, eyes bright and hair turning white. “Also, just as a heads up, I may have to leave for a few minutes to deal with crime, but I will come back. Just stick to the roofs and you’ll be safe.”
Sam looks around, assessing the city. “Lots of crime here?”
“We’re called the Crime Capital of America for a reason,” Duke responds wryly and she grimaces. 
“Well. At least the aesthetic is pretty nice. I’m digging all the gargoyles.”
“Wait ‘til you see some of our churches. Stained glass, dark stone, really Gothic. I think you’ll like it.” Then, to Danny, he says, “Ready?”
Danny nods, and Duke turns and jumps off the roof. 
Behind him, he can hear a gasp, and then he shoots his grapple out and begins swinging through Diamond District, trusting that Danny is following behind him as they fly above the busy streets. And sure enough, when he flips off the edge of another building, Duke catches a glance behind him and sees the shimmer of an invisible Danny flying towards him, with two additional little shimmers that must be his friends.
He goes back to grappling through the streets, keeping an eye out for any crime. 
“Come in O,” he says quietly, activating his comm. 
“Signal, everything good?” Oracle asks, hopping onto his frequency within a second.
“Yeah, I’ve just got a few visitors I’m escorting around Gotham. Can you keep an eye out for any crimes that need my attention? Just let me know where they are and I’ll deal with it.”
“Sure thing. Who are these visitors?”
“Out of towners. One’s a meta and they wanted to do a little sightseeing, and you know how this city is dangerous for people who aren’t used to it. And with meta human trafficking…”
Oracle makes a small sound of understanding. “Yeah, best to stick close to them while they’re here. Good call, Signal. I’ll keep an eye out and let you know if anything pops up, but so far, it’s all looking quiet.”
“Good to hear.”
There’s a pause, and then Oracle’s voice turns teasing, bringing more Barbara into the forefront. “Soooo,” she starts, and he can already hear the grin in her voice. “Making friends, Signal? Looking to start up your own team? It’s tradition, you know; we’ve all done it.”
“Nah, they’re not looking to join the cape scene. They just want to see the sights, hang out a bit. Are you looking for information on them right now?” He can hear her typing loudly, fingers flying across the keyboard. She’s supposed to be working in the library, but she’s also got her own office in there now that she’s the most senior employee. It would be just like her to pass off patron duties to the other libraries and bust crime rings from her office desk. 
Zero separation between regular work and night work. The curse all bats and bat-adjacent folk struggle with. 
“Who do you think I am?” Barbara scoffs. “If you’re making friends, then it’s my duty to make sure they’re good friends. At the very least, I can’t let you run off with villains in the makings, or cultists wanting to sacrifice you or something.”
“They’re normal civilians,” Duke hisses into his comm. He casts another glance behind him to see Danny flying off to the side. From what he can make out from the movement of the shimmer, like a heat mirage given form, he’s pointing something out to his friends. “And how likely is it that they are villains? I doubt anyone looking to hurt me is going to ask me for a tour of Gotham.”
Barbara hums. “You never know. Tim befriended Anarchy. And a couple of League assassins.”
“Tim’s a special case. He can befriend literally anyone. I mean, didn’t Jason and Damain both try to kill him? Now look at them. Thick as thieves.”
“He is something special,” Barbara agrees, amusement coloring her voice. “Say, can you tell me their names?”
“Who?”
“Your tourist guests.”
“Danny, Tucker, and Sam. Why?”
There’s a pause, even the clicking of her keyboard going silent. Oracle being stopped in her tracks is never a good thing and Duke is suddenly worried that she did find something that will connect the trio to some evil world domination plan.
“I can’t find them.”
“What?” 
“I’ve run their faces through the databases, I’ve searched for people matching their descriptions, I can’t find any tech on them that I can hack into… It’s like they don’t exist. Digitally, that is.”
Duke lands just a block away from Wayne Tower, staring up at it. The glass glistens in the few rays of sunlight that force their way past the clouds hanging heavy in the sky. It’s taller than any other building in the district, overlooking Gotham all the way to the bay. He hears the slight shuffle of feet as Danny lands on the roof behind him and sets Tucker and Sam down. 
He wants to keep talking to Barbara because he can’t recall a time she wasn’t able to find something. She’s ruthless in the pursuit of information, effortlessly hacking into even the most protected files, capable of finding people and vehicles and buildings and everything else someone might need for a case. 
The fact that Danny and his friends have hidden themselves from Oracle’s all seeing eyes has him on edge. 
He really hopes it’s nothing. He wants to be friends with Danny. He wants to trust him to be a good person just trying to live a quiet life as a meta. He wants just one thing to not blow up in his face. 
“Here we are!” Duke announces, showing off Wayne Tower with a flourish. “I can’t get you much closer to the tower without people noticing you pop in out of nowhere, so you’ll have to walk the last two blocks to get to the building.”
“Impressive place,” Tucker comments as invisibility slides off of him. Sam appears a moment later, followed by Danny, the glow in his chest softening and growing a little dimmer. 
“Wayne Enterprises is always striving for perfection,” Duke agrees. “Though, between you and me, I’m 99% positive that the only reason this building is as big and impressive as it is stems from Wayne’s need to be better than Lexcorp.”
“Lexcorp?”
“Rival company in Metropolis. Lex Luthor is the CEO and we all hate him for a lot of reasons.”
“I kinda want to pit Vlad against these guys,” Sam says, shooting Danny a grin.
Danny snorts and shakes his head. “Vlad has a cheese castle. I think he’s already lost.”
Duke is really interested in hearing about the cheese castle, but a quick glance at the watch hidden in his wrist gauntlet (put there only so he can dramatically check the time and leave with some insane excuse when criminals were complaining to him about their own poor choices) tells him that it’s nearly time for the next tour to start. 
“Alright, folks,” he says, “You’ve got around eleven minutes to sign yourselves up for the next tour, so if you want to make it, you’d better get moving!”
Tucker swears, then sprints for the edge of the building. “Danny! Get me down there! I’m not waiting another hour for a tour!”
Danny rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling fondly as he flies over to Tucker and scoops him up. They both disappear over the edge of the building, leaving Duke alone with Sam.
“So,” she says, and her tone could be mistake for conversational if it wasn’t for the coldness of her eyes. “You’re getting pretty friendly with Danny, from what I’ve heard.”
Duke smiles nervously. This is the beginning of a shovel talk, isn’t it? “I guess so. I mean, I’d like to be friends with him.”
“How old are you?”
“What?”
“How. Old. Are you?” she bites out, walking closer with a glare.
“Why do you want to know? I can’t just be giving out information about my identity, you know.”
“If you’re not a teenager, then I am going to have a few knives sharpened for when you make a wrong move towards Danny.”
“Wait, wait! I’m still in high school! That’s fine, isn’t it?” He definitely shouldn’t be telling anyone this, but if one of his friends said they were hanging out with someone they don’t know outside of a mask, or a username, or whatever, he’d want to make sure that person wasn’t a creep. Her protective anger is admirable, really. And besides, he gets it. If telling her his age (or age range) will reassure her that he’s not going to… groom Danny or something, then he’ll tell her. 
He’d never fault someone for looking out for their loved ones. 
“You better be telling the truth. For your own sake.”
“Cross my heart,” Duke says. 
Danny pops up through the roof a moment later, startling both of them, easily breaking the tension. “Come on, Sam, Tucker’s signed us up and doesn’t want to wait for you to get over there.” He picks Sam up, then glances between her and Duke. “Wait. Sam. Tell me you didn’t threaten the Signal.”
“Do you want me to lie to you?”
“I can’t take you guys anywhere, I swear…” Danny mutters, then flies down to the street.
Duke blinks at the empty roof, then decides that he’s just going to move on with his day and enjoy spending time with Danny. 
He grapples closer to Wayne Tower, following Danny’s glow to make sure they get inside just fine. It’s only a block, but anything can happen in Gotham; better safe than sorry. As soon as he watches them go into the building, Duke sets a timer to display on the corner of his helmet visor and gets back to patrolling, keeping watch over Gotham while he waits for the tour to finish.
“Signal,” Oracle says, and Duke snaps to attention, landing on the next building at the end of his grapple, hopping down from the ledge with ease. 
“What’s up, O? Got something for me?”
“Not quite. I’d like you to keep an eye on your guests. One of my drones picked up a strange reading that’s similar to magical residue.”
“You think they’re magic?”
“I think there’s something going on with them that we should keep an eye on. I know you said they’re just here as tourists, but you know we can’t take chances in Gotham.”
As much as he understands Barbara’s concerns, Duke can’t bring himself to be suspicious of Danny or his friends. They do have secrets, and none of them have even hinted at how they arrived in Gotham, appearing suddenly and without warning on a rooftop. But he’s always been one to give the benefit of the doubt. To try to talk things out, figure out a solution where no one needs to get hurt. Most of the time, it doesn’t work since whoever is causing problems really only cares about venting out their pain and frustrations through property damage and loss of life. Sometimes, though, the people causing problems need a little help, need protection, need some space to calm down and get themselves under control, and having a horde of Bats chasing them only makes things worse. 
“They really are just tourists,” Duke says. “I know how you feel. I get it, there’s definitely something more to the three of them. But it’s not causing any harm right now, so I say it’s none of our business.”
He hears Barbara sigh down the line, but she’s always been good at respecting boundaries (when it doesn’t come to privacy) and will let people do as they believe they should. It’s why she helps out Jason every so often despite his violent methods and familiarity with killing. It’s why she has her own group and leads them without controlling them the way Batman tries to. 
“Alright,” she says, “You make the calls since they’re your guests. Just be ready for me to say ‘I told you so’ when something goes wrong.”
“Yeah, yeah, we know you’re always right, O. Let me make my mistakes in peace, alright? We’ll fix it when we need to.”
“This is why you’re my new favorite,” Barbara jokes.
He makes to respond, maybe poke fun at some of the others with her, when he catches sight of two guys trying to break the lock on a bike to steal it from the sidewalk. Dropping down from the roof, he casually walks up to them, then clears his throat and shakes his head in disappointment at them when they jump and whirl around to stare at him.
“Really?” he says, judging them harshly, “Stealing someone’s bike? In broad daylight?”
They both flush with embarrassment, scowling at him.
“Well, we gotta get home somehow!” one of them says, kicking at the bike in frustration.
“Can’t you take the bus or something? Walk?”
“We don’t have any money on us for the bus and we’re heading to Robinson Park. I ain’t walking that far.”
Well. At least they’re just trying to get around and weren’t planning on selling the bike off. 
“Two options,” he says, and both guys tense up immediately, prepared for a fight. He hates that that’s the reaction people have to Gotham’s heroes. As soon as they turn to a crime, no matter how petty, they’re prepared to be beaten down into submission. It’s a precedent set by Bruce that he’s never really liked and Duke does his best to embrace how different he is from the rest of the Bats to show the people of Gotham, criminals and all, that everyone can turn to him for help.
“I can buy a week-long bus pass for you both. Or, I can give you two a ride.”
They share a glance, slowly relaxing. “Can we do both?” one asks. “Get a ride from you and the bus pass?”
Duke glances at the timer in his visor. He’s still got forty minutes before he needs to go back to Wayne Tower. 
“You know what? Yes, we can do that. Let me get you those bus passes and then we’ll get going.”
The two men share an excited grin, stepping away from the bike and its slightly mangled lock. They follow Duke to the nearest bus station where a little kiosk is tucked under the awning. Barbara, listening in as she always is, buys the bus passes for him, getting them to print within seconds when they get there. 
“Sending your new motorcycle to your location,” she says as soon as he hands both bus passes to the men. 
As far as Duke knows, he only has one motorcycle. He wishes he could ask what Barbara meant with new motorcycle without anyone listening in, but he’s gotta give the guys his attention, keep them company while they wait. 
They make small talk for a bit, the two asking him what being a hero is like while Duke chats about life in Gotham and shares some Batfam gossip (mostly patrol blunders of one of them slipping while crossing the rooftops and eating shit). 
It only takes seven minutes for the motorcycle to arrive, appearing in front of them in the street as the cloaking turns off. 
“Woah,” one of the guys breathes, staring at it in awe. “Man, you heroes get the coolest shit.”
“Perks of throwing ourselves into the line of fire. Literally.” 
He sees why Barbara sent him an entire new motorcycle (!!!) because his original plan of having three people squeeze onto the seat of one motorcycle was clearly going to end in disaster. This new one, Signal Yellow as it should be, is more armored, a little larger, and has an extended passengers seat attached to it so three people can ride it easily.
Duke swings his leg over it, settling into the seat and grips the handlebars. “Come on,” he smiles, inviting the men to join him. They do, nearly tripping over themselves as they get seated, excited grins on their faces. 
It’s nice to know that no matter how old people get, a cool motorcycle is the way to most people’s hearts. 
And what a change it is to see two men, likely college students in their final years, go from scared and unhappy people to acting like kids again, jumping at the chance to ride a motorcycle with a hero. 
Small interactions like this, where everything goes right, is exactly why Duke is determined to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, a chance to choose differently and be good.
“Hold on tight!” He revs the engine, then takes off, the men letting out whoops behind him as they rush down the street. The motorcycle picks up speed quickly and runs so smoothly it’s as if they’re flying, easily dodging all the cars around them. 
Normally, he’d go invisible and use the cloaking mode on his motorcycle to get around, but with two civilians riding with him, he’d rather be visible so cars don’t accidentally hit them.
The ride to Robinson Park takes fifteen minutes at the frankly dangerous speeds Duke was going, and he has no regrets about speeding because 1) it’s fun as hell and 2) the guys with him are clearly having a blast.
He slows down once they reach the park, then pulls over to the side of the road.
“Thank you for riding with Signal Wheels. Be sure to leave a review!”
“Five out of five!” one guys says as he gets off the motorcycle. His hair is a mess, completely windswept and tangled when Duke turns to look at him. “Holy shit, dude, I think I’d marry your motorcycle if I could.”
“Oh same,” Duke laughs, holding out a hand for a fistbump which is readily granted. 
The second guy needs a moment longer to get off, laughing breathlessly. “Ten out of ten,” he says, once he’s next to his friend.
“Trying to one up me, huh?” 
“Just being honest here.”
“Alright, well you two take care now,” Duke says, shifting his weight to one foot in preparing to kick off and head back to Wayne Tower. “And be sure not to lose those bus passes!”
“Thanks Signal!” they both call out as Duke heads back down the road, turning invisible as soon as he gets to a good speed.
He’s got just enough time to make it back to lead Danny and his friends to the botanical gardens. He cuts it close, but he makes it, pulling into an alley and hopping off the motorcycle.
“O, would you mind getting this back to wherever you piloted it from?”
“Not going to take your new friends on it?”
“Nah, I get the feeling they prefer flying.”
“You got it, Signal.”
The motorcycle pulls out of the alley silently, then heads down on road once cloaking is enabled. It’s gone just in time for his guest to walk out of Wayne Tower, trailing after Tucker who talks with his hands moving around energetically, too distracted to watch where he’s going as Sam and Danny pull him this way and that to keep him from crashing into other people. 
Danny spots him first, after he stops and his brow furrows, a look of concentration on his face. Then his head turns and his eyes snap onto where Duke leans against the wall at the mouth of the alley. He grins, the glow in his chest flaring brighter for a moment, and Duke offers a small wave, unbearably charmed by how cute Danny is, especially when he’s so clearly delighted to see him.
“How was it?” Duke asks once they’re close enough to hear him.
Tucker immediately launches into a rant about WayneTech and the R&D Lab and how he would give his liver to work there. Then he starts rambling about technology and coding and a few of the things he’s created and how he’d love to look through what WayneTech does. He doesn’t stop even as Danny flies him up to the roof, Duke following after with his grapple, Sam clinging onto his back. 
“So, so cool,” Tucker gushes, “I could probably take over the government in Amity with this kind of tech.”
Okay. Kind of a concerning statement to make, especially in the wake of Barbara’s suspicions of them.
Sam snorts. “You could take over the government in Amity now, if you wanted to.”
“Yeah, I could.”
“Not that you’d be good at it. What would you do as mayor?”
“Create a steak festival to celebrate steak and all the meals you can make with it.”
“Oh you little—” Sam lunges at them and Tucker falls back with a shriek. And then they’re tussling on the rooftop, arguing about meat and veganism and the farming industry, which, what a subject change.
Duke looks over at Danny, who watches them wrestle with fond exasperation. “Should we… stop them?”
“Let them get this out of their systems,” Danny replies. “They’ve been having this fight for years. I’ll stop them in a few minutes, and then we can go to the botanical gardens.”
So they stand together and watch Sam and Tucker roll around the roof, trying to choke each other out. And all Duke can think is, Man, I can’t ever let them meet the Bats. They’ll get along like a house on fire.
Or, it’s all he thinks until Danny shifts closer to him, just a few tentative steps. He’s suddenly starkly aware of how small the space between them is, how Danny’s close enough to touch, how much he’s been looking forward to this moment since Danny left a week ago.
Boy was giving you doe eyes the entire time he was with you, Jason had said. Duke saw it, when he was with Danny, reveled in it, basked in the attention. It wasn’t that he didn’t reciprocate, but he knows it can be hard to convey anything through his helmet, but there’s only so much action can do.
But it’s what he can do, so Duke shoves away his nerves and wraps his arm around Danny’s waist, pulling him closer.
Danny lets out a cute little squeak, cheeks filling with color immediately, and Duke is so, so endeared he wants to cry. 
“So, what’s the story behind this fight of theirs?” he asks, leaning closer to ask his question quietly in Danny’s ear.
“Oh! Um,” Danny blinks at him, visibly flustered, and Duke wants to squeeze his cheeks together, he’s so cute. 
Oh, he really is down bad. Damn. He hopes Barbara isn’t watching through his helmet camera, but he knows better than to expect her to not be collecting blackmail on him for this.
Which is whatever! Jokes on Barbara, he’s not at all ashamed of what he feels for Danny!
He could do without the ribbing from the rest of the Bats. They have no leg to stand on when it comes to relationships and being honest about their feelings. He’ll turn every conversation about Danny into improvised therapy if he has to.
“Well?” he prompts.
Danny glances at his friends, then leans into Duke and turns to him with a small smile. 
“So,” he begins, then launches into a wild story from his freshman year about Sam and Tucker splitting the school into two groups to have a mini civil war over meat vs vegetarian food. Which lead to eating grass (?!) for lunch, a ghost lunch lady attacking the school, and the teachers having their own hidden meat lunch kept secret from the students, which lead to more chaos once it was discovered.
“That was a wild school week,” Danny concludes, just as Sam and Tucker’s fight winds down.
“Dude,” Duke says, staring at Danny, unsure if he wants to laugh or ask follow up questions. “What kind of life have you been living? That’s so much. The only thing we’ve got here is shootings and so much crime. Also a zombie in the sewers.”
“See, you drop info like that on me and suddenly I’m convinced that my life is actually pretty tame compared to whatever’s going on here.”
“No, no, listen. In Gotham, you expect this kind of nonsense. But your story started so deceptively normal! ‘Just a fight between friends’ and then a ghost attack? Betrayal from the teachers? Grass? Danny, everything you said left me reeling.”
“It’s not that bad!” Danny laughs. “The ghosts barely cause any problem anymore. They’re just kinda like anyone else, now.”
“What’s this about?” Sam asks, brushing her skirt off as she stands. Tucker pushes himself up to his feet and takes a moment to wipe the lenses of his glasses.
“The first time we met Lunch Lady.”
Sam and Tucker make a sound of understanding, nodding. “That sure was something,” Sam says.
“To think we were so young and innocent back then,” Tucker says with a fake sniffle. “So innocent!”
“You’re still as insufferable as ever,” Sam replies, taking his smack to her arm with grace.
“You two ready to head to the botanical garden now?” Duke asks, getting them back on track. Danny moves out of Duke’s grasp, unfortunately, to return to his role as their personal Uber, this time getting Tucker in a princess carry while Sam clings to his back like a koala.”Well. Guess Danny’s decided you’re ready.”
His friends snicker while Danny rolls his eyes and mutters about their unending arguments, then nods at Duke to lead the way.
Giving him a little salute, Duke readies his grapple, then takes off, leaping off the building to return to the skies. Danny follows him effortlessly, a soft glow that occasionally passes by in front of him playfully, sticking close as they head north. 
The botanical gardens are a large spot of green in the otherwise urban landscape. It’s a few blocks away from Robinson Park, close enough that everything nearby is deemed Ivy’s territory, but far enough away that most people can pretend it’s like any other building and visit it safely. It’s been a long time since the botanical garden was attacked, or use for Villainous Purposes™, so Duke is comfortable letting Sam, Tucker, and Danny explore it on their own. 
Plenty of other people are also in the gardens, from what he can see a roof away. And no one’s run away screaming, which is definitely a good sign.
“Oh, wow,” Sam says once she hops down from Danny’s back. She stares at the gardens with something unreadable in her eyes, as if she’s seeing more than what’s there. “There’s so much…”
“Poison Ivy—one of our rogues who can control plants and is doing a lot better these days, don’t worry—she takes care of most of the gardens. The greenhouse in the middle is hers for studies and experiments with plants, but she lets the public walk the garden. She’s even added little informational cards for kids to read so they can learn more,” Duke says, walking up to where Sam is leaning concerningly over the edge to get a better look at the gardens. 
“That explains it,” she says, explaining nothing. “Do we have to pay to go in?”
“Just five dollars per person. It’s her income, and we’re all encouraged to leave a donation so she doesn’t turn to crimes to get enough money to support herself again.”
“Well!” Danny claps his hands together. “Let’s go, then. Jazz made sure we had cash on had, so it should be fine.”
“I can cover our tickets,” Sam offers, “Since this is for me.”
“Then I’ll cover lunch,” Danny says.
Tucker shoves his hand onto Danny’s face to push him away as he says, “No, I’ll pay for lunch. Danny, you’re not spending anything since you’re the one that scoped out this place last week for us. Got it?”
“Yeah, yeah, got it. Thanks, guys,” Danny smiles, then turns to Duke. “Would you mind waiting here for a bit? I’m gonna check out the gardens for a bit, but then I’ll be back.”
“Sure,” Duke says easily. It’s a quiet day anyways, and he’ll take any excuse to spend more time with Danny.
“Great. I’ll be right back!” And then he wraps an arm around both Sam and Tucker’s waits, picks them up like they weigh nothing, and casually hops off the roof. 
Duke sits down on the edge of the building, watching as they cross the street and enter the botanical garden, Sam pulling out her wallet to pay for their entry. He idly kicks his heels against the wall, looking around the street, enjoying the rare Gotham peace.
No one is calling for help and Barbara hasn’t alerted him to anything. This is a good thing, but it doesn’t change the fact that Duke is bored.
He pulls out his phone, which he knows he shouldn’t have while he’s in the suit but it’s his day shift, he can do what he wants, and checks his friends (no Bats allowed) group chat and sees that Izzy is active. He opts to leave the chaos of the group chat to message her directly.
flashlight: hey izzy u know how we broke up
2(00)chains: oh boy. strong opening. but yes i am aware we broke up
flashlight: would u be mad if i started dating someone new or is it too soon?
2(00)chains: OMG DUKE??? WHO IS IT YOU NEED TO TELL ME RIGHT NOW
flashlight: izzy.
2(00)chains: babe u gotta give me something to work with so i can know if i should give u my blessing or not
2(00)chains: but also if u want to date and they make u happy, then yes u can date
flashlight: okay thanks!! wasn’t sure and didn’t know if it would be rude
2(00)chains: rude to date when ur single?? it would have been a problem if we were still together but that ship has sailed bby
2(00)chains: but duke PLSSSS i need deets. give me some tea… a girl is parched…
flashlight: lmao. so dramatic. but uuuuuuh
2(00)chains: little concerned by that pause there duke
flashlight: ok hes a meta
2(00)chains: ok strong start, u dont need to hide powers from him
flashlight: he’s not from gotham and doesnt live here so idk how well long distance would do
2(00)chains: duke. is this an online friend u’ve never met before.
flashlight: no!! i met him in person in gotham!! he’s just visiting!!!!
2(00)chains: ok ok go on
flashlight: uh
flashlight: he may only know me as the signal?
2(00)chains: DUKE. 
2(00)chains: i understand the need to keep ur identity secret
2(00)chains: but PLS do not be a superhero love story cliche. im begging here. u didnt even keep it secret from me
flashlight: he may also not exist in this world (universe?)
2(00)chains: .
2(00)chains: u know i think u can make it work
2(00)chains: u have my blessing! if he says yes when u ask him out (which he better do 🔪) then i demand to meet him!!
flashlight: u got it izzy
flashlight: thanks!! u always got my back ☺️
He only has a faint prickle on the back of his neck to warn him of Danny’s approach, looking up through gut instinct only just to see Danny’s fuzzy glow fly up to him.
Danny pops into visibility a moment later, pouting. “I was hoping I could sneak up on you.”
“It’s gonna take more than that, babe,” he laughs. “I’m hard to sneak up on.” Bar that time Cass… and Bruce… and Tim… Dick, also… Jason, too…
Okay, so anyone who isn’t a Bat won’t be able to sneak up on him easily.
“Babe?” Danny repeats, his voice suddenly much higher. Duke freezes and takes a moment to curse his loose mouth; he and Izzy love pet names and still call each other terms of endearment even now when they’ve broken up. And since he was just talking to her, habit made him put his foot in his mouth.
“Yeah,” Duke says, committing to it, “Babe”
Danny makes a little whine in the back of his throat, face going red, and then his hides his face in his hands and floats up higher, curling his body up into a small ball. The movement reminds him of the videos he’s seen of astronauts in space, moving in lazy circles in zero gravity.
“Sorry,” he adds on, “I was texting a friend and we call each other things like that, so I just… slipped up. Didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“I’m not,” Danny mumbles.
“What?”
“I’m not uncomfortable.”
Duke smiles. “Alright. Wanna come down and join me, then?”
Danny continues hiding for a few moments longer, then reaches a hand down towards Duke. He doesn’t look at him, shyly turned away, still red in the cheeks. 
How is he so sweet?  
Duke has never met someone so cute, and full of light, and literally glowing. He never stood a chance.
He takes Danny’s hand, gently pulling him down to the roof, wrapping an arm around him once he’s sitting to make sure he doesn’t go floating away.
“So, what did you want to talk to me about?”
“Oh, I was just… I really like hanging out with you and you’re super cool and I thought I should explain a few things about myself.”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“I do,” Danny says, resolutely. “First, I’m not from here.”
Duke stares at him. “Yeah, I got that. Kinda obvious after we spoke for the first time.”
“No, I mean. Really not from here. From a different dimension.”
Oh. So Danny’s just casually walking the multiverse, apparently, and chose to return to Gotham to spend time with Duke. That’s honestly really flattering. 
“Makes sense,” he says.
Now Danny’s staring at him, incredulously. “How does that make sense? Do you not have questions about what that means, or where I’m from, or how I got here?”
Duke shrugs. “Not really. Listen, there’s a lot of weird shit in Gotham. Like, a lot. Batman was lost in time once and presumed dead until Red Robin helped get him back. There’s incomprehensible magic and time travel and so many aliens, dude. This is not that out of the ordinary.”
“YOU HAVE ALIENS?” Danny shouts, then claps a hand over his mouth, eyes wide. And then, whispered, “You have aliens?!”
“Yeah, we have aliens. Some try to kill us and conquer Earth, some live here as superheroes.”
“No way,” Danny breathes. “Can I stay here forever? My dimension doesn’t have aliens. I really want to meet aliens.”
“If you stick around long enough, it’s kind of inevitable that you’ll get caught up in some crazy shit, and you’ll probably be able to meet Superman then. Or maybe Martian Manhunter, if he’s available.”
He watches Danny mouth Martian Manhunter in awe and is so charmed by him and his visible excitement about aliens. Most of this is just how he lives life, knowing all these impossible things are out there but have very little to do with him. It’s only mind blowing when he actually meets Superman and all, but that’s because meeting big heroes is like meeting celebrities and it never stops being cool.
“Wait, I’m getting distracted.” Danny shakes his head, then lightly claps his hands against his cheeks. “Okay, so. I’m from a different dimension. And Tucker has made a few phones that can work literally anywhere. But only to contact other phones he made for interdimensional communication. I had him make one for you so we could keep talking even when I go home, if you wanted.”
“I want it! I very much do want it.”
Danny grins. “Great! Perfect, okay.” He reaches into his own chest (?!) and pulls out a phone.
“Um.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I can use my insides like a pocket dimension for extra storage.”
Sure. This might as well happen. Duke takes the phone and looks it over; it looks like a large, square flip phone, but when it opens, the screen and keyboard are both touchscreens the glow a faint neon green. He opens up the contacts menu, finds Danny, and shoots him a quick text that consists only of a smiley face. 
“Man, this is so cool,” Duke says. “Thanks for giving it to me! I really am glad I can talk to you some more.”
“I feel like I should be thanking you for giving me the time of day.”
Duke knocks his shoulder against Danny’s. “Come on, man, don’t say that. Anyone would be happy to spend time with you. Besides, I’m really not as cool as you think. I’m a normal guy outside the suit.”
“You still have powers.”
“I do, but I’m not the only one.”
“I know this is a bit of a bad question, and I do understand how important secret identities are! But do you think I’d ever get to know you when you’re just… you?”
Duke thinks about how much Batman would disapprove, the lengths Tim went through to protect his own identity as Red Robin, how everyone around him would become a target if anyone figured out who the Signal is…
But then he thinks about how much keeping this secret puts a strain on his relationship with his cousin, how much of a relief it is to have his friends in the know so he doesn’t have to constantly lie to them, how he’s the only hero Danny knows in this dimension and the only person who can help him while he’s here.
“I’ll tell you one day,” Duke says, “Promise. When we get to know each other a little more, yeah?”
“Yeah, alright, that’s fair. Thanks, Signal.”
“You need to get back to your friends?”
“Nah,” Danny shakes his head, “They can manage on their own. Besides, they agreed to one hour each place, and Tucker’s hungry enough to drag Sam out as soon as it hits that hour mark.”
“Well, in that case, why don’t you tell me a little more about your dimension while we wait? Or any other place you’ve visited.”
Danny grins, leaning closer, and says, “Have you ever met a yeti? Cause I have.” . . .
He doesn’t get to see Danny or his friends off when they return to their dimension. They’d been in the planetarium for hours, and Duke had to end patrol and turn in for the day to look over cases with Steph and Tim, then work on his college application. 
He does get a text from Danny, his new phone going off with a soft sound of a wind chime, in the middle of looking at different colleges and stressing out.
Danny: got home safe! off to fight dinner now 🤺
Danny: wanna talk more tomorrow?
Signal: sure! i’d love to!! good luck with dinner?
There’s a brief pause, and then Danny sends a blurry picture of a rotisserie chicken flying through the air towards a woman with red hair, holding out a steak knife, ready to attack. 
…Yeah, he’s going to question that tomorrow. For now, he just sends Danny a thumbs up emoji and goes back to staring at his list of potential schools he wants to go to with growing despair.
Does he want to stay in Gotham? Gotham City University isn’t all that bad, and he’s familiar with the campus. Or maybe Montclair State University. Rowan University and Rutgers University don’t sound bad either, and both are still in the state, so he wouldn’t be too far from Gotham. Maybe he could go to his parent’s alma matter; UCLA and Penn State are both out of state, though, and way more expensive, even if Bruce offered to cover his tuition.
What would he even study?
So lost in thought, Duke almost doesn’t realize that his regular phone is ringing until the noise cuts off. His head jerks up and he stares at it, wondering who could be calling him right after he finished eating dinner. 
Then it rings again, Barbara’s name popping up on the screen, and he lunges for it, worried that something’s going down in Gotham without him noticing.
“Babs! Is something wrong?”
“No. Should something be wrong? I was calling because you didn’t check in with me before you ended patrol, and you haven’t been responding to any of my texts,” she says, sounding distracted as the sound of her keyboard continues on steadily in the background. She must be working as Oracle already, preparing to assist the Bats on their patrols.
“Oh, sorry. Everything’s fine, our visitors were from another dimension and they really were just here to sightsee. Nothing to worry about.”
“I saw that you got a gift.”
Duke understands exactly what she’s calling about, now. He should have expected Barbara to fall to the siren call of new tech. “I did,” he says, offering nothing else just to mess with her.
“Duke,” she says, “It’s a matter of safety.”
“Just admit that you want to check out interdimensional tech.”
Barbara sighs, then says, “I want to look at interdimensional tech. Come by the Clocktower tonight and drop it off.”
“I don’t know, Babs,” he says teasingly, “I think Tim might want a look at it first.”
“I should have never believed Dick when he said you were well behaved. ‘The good one’ my ass,” she grumbles. “What do you want?”
“A favor to be decided in the future. No questions asked expect what’s needed to get that favor done.”
“Deal.”
“I’ll swing by soon. Do you think you could help me with my college apps while I’m there? I have no idea what to do or where to go.”
“Sure,” Barbara agrees, her voice warm, “I’d love the chance to big sister you. Jason hogs you too much.”
He does, and Duke doesn’t really understand why Jason gets along so well with him, but he’s not going to question a good thing. Street kids gotta stick together, after all. Even if neither of them are living on the streets anymore. 
It’s nice to know that the others are just as willing to help him out, even if he works separate from them most of the time these days. 
“Oh, and the phone I got from Danny has contacts already added to it. Please don’t text Danny or anyone else without saying it’s you.”
“That sounds like you’re giving me permission to talk to me.”
“I figured you’d want to talk to Tucker some, since he’s the one who built it.”
“Well,” Barbara says, and he can hear the smile in her voice, “Thanks for the permission. I’ll be sure to get as much information as I can from him.”
“Please don’t ruin this for me.”
Barbara laughs. “Oh, don’t worry Duke. I know how to be nice, especially with people you’re trying to impress. It’s Dick you should be worried about.”
She’s right. 
Duke drops his head onto his desk with a groan.
“I’ll see you later, Duke.”
“Yeah, alright. See you, Babs.”
She ends the call and Duke sighs, contemplating taking a nap before he heads out. But that would mess up his sleep schedule, and he’s willing to do a lot, but not that. Instead, he flicks through his phone to the group chat with his friends, and sends a quick question about when they can hang out again.
He’s missed them. Seeing Danny with Tucker and Sam reminded him of how much he loves his friends and spending time with them. He should take a page from Danny’s book and spend a day with them, just catching up and enjoying their company. 
And if they tease him about his crush on Danny, well, better them than the Bats. 
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I think we don't understand the dimension of HOW GAY this chapter was. I have so many things to say, like little Yoichi being manipulated and abused by his twin brother whose companion is the only kind of relationship he knows, but then one day a completely stranger decided to take afo's twin twink brother away from him (with him) and afo has an absolute incestuous breakdown. The craziest thing about all this is that Yoichi accepted this stranger's hand immediately and ran away together still holding hands. Also, the moment Kudou saw Yoichi he knew exactly what he wanted to do? Like, I'm gonna take this person with me and he is gonna stay by my side. Because, think about it, Kudou never took Yoichi to a shelter where someone else could take care of him, no, Kudou decided it was best Yoichi stayed with him. Now, imagine how furious afo was after seeing his brother running away with another man, his brother, the closest person he ever had (and vice versa) escaping from him with someone he has never seen before. Afo must have been so pissed because his possession didn't think twice before leaving him forever. This chapter was kind of out of the blue taking into account the previous ones but it was magnificent nonetheless✨💫. And the last thing, this chapter was not about the quirks AFO and OFA themselves it was purely about the relationship between the holders.
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justanamesstuff · 5 months
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Chapter 1
Seasons
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Matty Healy x f!reader
A/N: Hiii guys, I'm so nervous for this BUT very excited too!! I hope you like it <3
Warnings: swearing a bit?, typos maybe.
Word count: 3 K
MASTERLIST TAGLIST
Every season has its colours, has its smells, has its traditions. Like every season, this love has its particularities…
Around November of 2020, England
“Matty- Oh my god!!“ 
The constant banging on her wall and the high-pitched moaning at the other side woke Y/n up. Quickly, she took her pillow and placed it on top of her face, trying to muffle the horrible sounds reaching her ears. ‘God, is she having a good time? Or he’s killing her?’, the thought crossed the girl's mind. 
Most of the time they weren’t that loud, but during that morning they just seemed to not care.
It was useless, the sounds were getting louder and louder. Y/n couldn’t bear with it any more and knowing that even if they –luckily– stopped she wouldn’t come back to sleep. So, Y/n decided to go downstairs. Maybe one of the guys was making breakfast, which would help with the awful start of her day.
Her prayers weren’t heard. The kitchen was empty and no breakfast was made. She tried to cheer up a little, because Y/n needed to survive the day. To be honest, every day and morning it was getting harder and harder.
After a quiet but long sigh, Y/n started cooking for everyone. Nothing unusual since she tried to do it most of the mornings in exchange for their generosity letting her stay at the boys' studio –which was half Matty’s house as well. Spending the quarantine rent-free with them, listening how they recorded the new album and messing around was a true blessing if she tried to focus on the bright side of everything. 
Well, they kind of forced her because they were very against Y/n spending those months alone in her flat. The boys cared about the girl as a best friend and as a sister too. They were a bunch of drama queens most of the time, but deep down Y/n was enormously grateful with/for them.
Thinking about the first months, Y/n couldn’t deny those were amazing. The entire group spent a lot of quality time, doing the stupidest challenges, doing Instagram lives for the fans, watching a lot of movies, etc. Although everything took a turn when another person joined the party. When Nadia arrived.
It wasn’t like Y/n hated her, in fact, it was the opposite which created a big dilemma for her. Matty’s girlfriend was nice and the idea of having another girl was actually  comforting during the tough times. But Y/n wasn’t so fond of the situation for other reasons.
For a period –a very long one– if you asked her, she endured with it and put on her best –fake– happy face. Y/n’s acting talents were very handy at times. Although, her true feelings were still there, underneath the surface, where no one can notice them. Specially Matty.
 Time went by and the whole thing was making her more anxious, and although the idea of leaving crippled into her mind at every minute, she couldn’t really decide. Y/n didn’t want to leave but watching Matty 24/7 attached to the other girl’s side was taking the best of her mental health.
Y/n’s mind was running fast with thoughts while she cooked, which made her subconsciously ignore the tall man coming down after he heard movement downstairs. George watched his friend move around, knowing more than anyone in the house about her sorrows. George was probably the closest to her out of the four guys. He was the only one who knew all of her secrets and kept it secured as if it was his own.
The drummer stared at her, expecting for Y/n to notice him, but he acknowledged that the girl was in another dimension. She used to do that more than she liked to admit. George could bet ‘the morning moaning festival’ taking place half an hour prior was the main reason.
Y/n finished cooking a big amount of scrambled eggs and turned searching for a plate when she saw George standing in the partially lighted corridor. “Fuck G! You scared the shit out of me!” she exclaimed while resting a hand on her chest.
“Sorry!” the big man shrugged his shoulders. “Didn’t mean to scare you, love.” he apologized, approaching his best friend. “Good morning.” he greeted her properly, and she huffed.
“Good morning to you.” Y/n answered sarcastically after G placed a kiss on top of her head. 
“So, you heard, huh?”
“I can’t stand it any more, G.” she let him know. “It’s just a lot.” she continued, lowering her voice scared another of the boys could hear her.
“I know, love.” the drummer said with an apologetic expression. “But the lockdown is nearly over, and y’know none of us would like you to go.” G said as he searched for mugs.
“Why not? It’s my life, my freedom!” Y/n protested, starting to get annoyed. “It’s getting worse every day…” Y/n desperately moved her hands in the air trying to prove her point.
“Believe me… I know!” George searched for her eyes, keeping eye contact when Y/n looked back at him, waiting for his next words. “I’m not in your…situation, but I’m getting a little annoyed too.” G agreed with her.
“Yes, but it’s his house. He can do whatever he wants…”
“I half agree.” G nodded. “This might be his house, but it’s the place we choose as a studio, so for the time being its our place too…yours too!” George continued rambling, filling the mugs with hot water. “So, they need to stop with the noises.”
A comfortable silence fell between them until Y/n broke it again thinking out loud.
“What the hell can I do?” 
“About what?” A third voice came from the hallway. Matty made his entrance wearing a tired expression matching his gray sweatpants and plain shirt. He approached Y/n, leaving her a kiss on her right cheek. “What can you do about what, love?” he rephrased his question. 
“I- It’s nothing — Morning” she said without looking at him, instead walking towards the table bringing a mug with her.
“There must be something. You sounded worried.” Matty insisted.
“It’s something between Y/n and I, mate.” George said in a joking way, trying to distract him. “Something between best pals, you wouldn’t understand it.” he stated, rounding Y/n with his left arm meanwhile he winked at Matty taking a sip of his morning tea.
“Fuck off!” Matty protested. They usually have a competition about the title which Y/n find equally lame and cute. She easily felt the tension leaving her shoulders, relaxing thanks to their stupid discussion, knowing that for now Matty dropped his interrogation.
“Tell him, darling!” G urged her.
“It’s too early for this fight. Shut up and sit. I’ll bring the cutlery.” Y/n said, detaching herself from George. 
“Y/n is just too nice to tell ya, mate. She loves me more.” the singer continued joking, obviously unaware of the real implication of his words.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Matty.” George answered, sitting at his usual spot at the table.
“Who was the beautiful soul that made breakfast?” Ross entered the kitchen and stopped in his tracks, closing his eyes and inhaling dramatically.
“You know the answer.” John teased as he appeared from behind Ross. “You know you don’t have to, Y/n.” the musician approached her and helped with the forks and knives.
“Yes, for the hundred times…I know, John.” she looked at him. “But we all know that I would feel guilty since you all never let me pay for anything.”
“Because you don’t have to pay us, love.” Matty said from his place at the table with his sight fixed on his phone. He and the damn nicknames.
“But- “
“No but’s, Y/n. We’re happy to have you here!” Ross said as they all sat around the table.
They were serving breakfast when the conversation took another direction -something about the coronavirus and all of that. At the same time, the last resident of the house made her entrance.
Y/n sometimes envied her. Matty’s girlfriend always looked immaculate to a point that you could never think she just woke up. Y/n knew comparisons were wrong, but it was hard to avoid them. The girl felt awful: her hair was all tangled in a messy bun on the top of her head; only wearing an old t-shirt -from a not so famous band--and a pair of pyjamas short; and she was not wearing any makeup meanwhile she stuffed her breakfast on her face.
Nadia was all classy and perfect, the opposite of Y/n. Maybe that’s why he chose her and not his best friend. Y/n knew thinking like that was also wrong, yet again she couldn’t help it.
Y/n witnessed how Nadia greeted everyone and sat beside Matty, flashing him a cute smile he returned. They were in love, and it was obvious to everyone. Y/n was so happy for her best friend to find someone who loved him, although for many years she hoped that person would be her. For years, Y/n hoped Matty noticed her more than a mate.
When they first met, Y/n thought she felt a connection different from with anyone else in her life, although that changed quickly. Matty proved to her time and time again he didn’t want a relationship with her or nothing similar no matter how flirty he was during that first night. And Y/n forced herself her mind and heart to believe it.
Y/n was very unaware that, at the time she met the boys, Matty felt the same way she felt, but the old Matty didn’t want to lose the new friend he encountered. As another way to self sabotage himself, the young Matty did almost the impossible to show Y/n they were friends and just friends. A decision he took while being drunk became a life rule.
Since that moment, since that night, their relationship was kind of determinate. They were friends, the best friends. Not that night, but after a while, Y/n became part of the family and even Matty’s family –both sides– loved her as another member of their family. Y/n felt safe and loved, something she cherished so much since she hadn’t had that kind of love back home. Her family wasn’t like them, the opposite in fact.
For the longest time, Y/n tried to ditch her feeling for Matty. Every time a new girl showed up, tugged under his arm, Y/n decided it was the time to stop getting hurt and move on. Even though, her heart couldn’t do it. It hurt her. And with Nadia was the hardest since all of them could notice it was different, more mature…more serious. Nadia was more than a random girl for Matty and everyone was sure of that.
“Penny for your thoughts.” Matty interrupted Y/n’s inner monologue, staring at her, while his right arm was around Nadia.
“What?” Y/n answered, coming down to earth, with a question. 
“You were gone.” everyone was strangely in silence while they looked at each other.
“I was just thinking about the government lifting the restrictions. Meaning, now I can go home.” she half lied, while messing with the leftovers of her breakfast. Y/n did chat about it with G that morning anyway, and it was a reality Y/n needed to get away from the lovers for a time.
“I told her, none of us want that.” George interrupted their conversation.
“Of course not.” Jaime, who joined the breakfast table, said to her.
“I know, guys. But it’s been almost four months and I- This is not my- “
“Don’t finish that sentence.” Matty warned her, and she looked him directly in the eyes.
“It’s the truth, Matty.” she said, dropping her fork on the plate.
“It’s not, this is your house too, Y/n/n.” Ross, sweet Ross, reminded her. “At the same time, if you want to go back to your flat, I understand. We’ll miss your meals.” his comment made everyone chucked, except Matty who was studying every one of her movements. 
A weak smile was plastered on her face while she stared down towards her plate unable to make eye contact with Matty. “Don’t get me wrong. I love being here with you guys, but I need my space.”
“If this is about some couple…” Jaime looked at Matty and Nadia “Waking up the whole house.” he finished the sentenced winking like a cartoon.
“For fuck's sake.” Matty swore under his breath. “Is it about that?” he looked at Y/n.
“‘Course not!” she looked at him trying her hardest to hide her feelings.
“I wouldn’t blame you if that’s the reason. I’m sleeping on the other side of the house and I can listen to them. You’re right beside Matty’s room!” John emphatically said.
Before Matty could say a word, Y/n exclaimed, “It’s not about that, okay?” she simply lied. 
Y/n could sense George staring at her. “It’s what I said, I need my space, and it’s not like I’m going to disappear.” another white lie. Y/n was planning to do exactly that for a while until her wounds healed again. “You’ll still have to bear with me.” she finished her little speech.
“We can simply send the couple to your flat, and you can stay here in peace” Ross joked this time. All of them except for Matty laughed again.
“Stop with that, he will get angry.” Y/n defended Matty.
“I know it’s not my house either,” Nadia started saying. “If I can say something, I would like you to stay, Y/n.” she continued rather shyly. “It’s nice to have a girl around.” Of course, she was so nice. “I promised we’ll keep it down.” she looked quickly at Matty for reassurance and then again at her.
“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry you’ll have to survive with these boys, but I really need to go.” Y/n explained. “Another reason is the fact that I have to prepare to get back to work soon.”
“So, when did you start thinking about leaving? Since you apparently have a lot of reasons to leave.” Matty said with a strange expression on his face.
“Matty-”
“Are you that eager to leave?” ‘He was pissed?’, Y/n thought. 
“Matty- “she protested, not knowing what else to say.  
“No, it’s okay. I get it! You want to leave, it’s okay.” he stood up from his seat gathering the plates to wash them.
“Matty!” Y/n said again.
“It’s fine, Y/n!” he said more sternly, obviously not fine with the situation. 
The rest of the group –included Nadia–, took that as a cue to leave the friends so they could talk. They made stupid excuses, leaving Matty and Y/n alone in the kitchen.
Matty went to the sink, beginning to wash the dishes. After letting a big breath out, Y/n stood up approaching where he was standing.
“Why are you so angry?” she asked him, folding her arms, standing beside Matty looking at his profile. Matty was stroking the plates with more force than needed for the task in hand.
“I’m not. I said that I got it, and it’s fine.” he answered.
“You’re obviously not fine, Matthew.”
“Do you want to know how am I? Perfect.” he stated, turning the water off and drying his hand with a cloth while he turned to look at her. “I really don’t get it why you want to leave so suddenly.”
“It’s not that I want to- “another big lie. She wanted to, she needed to.
“Bullshit!”
Y/n tried to defend herself, “I’m not going to disappear…”
“Bullshit!”
“Can you stop that?” Y/n stood directly in front of Matty. 
“I know you’re going to disappear. I know you. We’re best friends and something is bothering you, I can tell. It hurts that you’re not telling me anything and I fucking bet you told George already.” She couldn’t tell him the truth.
“Is this more about that competition?” Y/n tried to distract him.
“Yes- No- Of course, not- This is about you and me.” Matty said, melting her heart a little. He was obviously troubled with the idea of Y/n leaving.
“Matty, there is nothing…mayor going on. Trust me. I need silence. You said it, you know me. I crave my space…alone.” she told him sweeter this time.
“Yes, I know. But you can find somewhere here-“
“You know that’s a lie.” ‘What a hypocrite I am’, Y/n thought. 
“I know.”
“You aren’t gonna miss me. You have the boy and Nadia- “she moved uncomfortably in her place.
“It’s not the same, you’re my best friend. I’ll miss you, darling.” Matty looked at her with his best doggy eyes.
“Don’t!” Y/n pointed a finger at him.
“What?” he played dumb.
“Don’t give me puppy eyes, it won’t work.” she smiled this time.
“Shit, are you so certain about it?” he looked down, defeated.
“Yes.” Y/n simply said.
“Okay, I understand. You can go.”
“Thanks for your permission that I didn’t ask for.” Y/n tried to joke.
“But- “ he ignored her.
“But?”
“But promise me that you are not going to disappear for too long.” he said, staring directly into her eyes.
“I promise.” Y/n said way too quickly. After a couple of seconds, she had to look elsewhere.
“Can we hug?” he said very slowly. 
Y/n chuckled, placing her arms around his shoulders, at the same time Matty placed his on her waist.
“I love you.” Matty mumbled on her left shoulder.
“I love you too, Matty.” Y/n said, feeling it from the deepest of her heart. There lied the difference. 
Maybe, she couldn’t love anyone like she loved Matty, even though she had to try for the good of their relationship. 
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