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redrobin-detective · 5 years

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Lesson One: Be Yourself, Lesson Two: Forget Lesson One

I’m back on my bullshit again with a Wayne Girls shot. I think I’d mentioned waaay back in the day when I was talking about my genderbent Robins/Batgirls that fem-Tim/Tabitha would have a much more complex and kind of ugly relationship with her father. Jack Drake strikes me as a man who wouldn’t be happy to learn that his precious princess was actually a scarily competent combatant. Uh expect more stuff like this because I’m trash.

“Don’t stand like that,” Jack Drake said in a quiet, irritated voice out of the corner of his mouth while Dana was on the other side of the kitchen putting away leftovers. Tabitha looked over at her father in confusion as she set down the dish she was drying.

“Like what, Daddy?”

“Like you’re about to punch some hopped up junkie drug lord out,” he responded harshly, taking a moment to frown at her in a way he probably thought was intimidating but she’d learned to weather Batman’s disappointment so it was lukewarm at best. Still, she mentally assessed her position and posture. Had the reveal and forced retirement of her cape caused her to slip into fight mode even at home? Her shoulders were back, she was comfortably balanced with one hip jutting slightly off to the side. True, she could be battle ready in moments but she didn’t feel like Robin right now. She felt just like Tabitha Janette Drake, as much as she knew who that was nowadays.

“I’m just standing here, I’m not-” she defended

“Are you two keeping secrets from me?” Dana teased from across the room causing her and Dad to freeze but Dana seemed oblivious to the palpable tension. “Well I think it’s great the two of you are connecting, I’ll be watching TV in the living room when you’re done conspiring.” She added with a wink before leaving the kitchen entirely. Tabitha wrung out the semi-wet dishcloth, trying to figure out how to navigate this awkward situation. Robin training didn’t cover ‘how to cool your parent’s jets about your vigilantism’ if only because pretty much everyone else was an orphan. Dad sighed roughly, rubbing his eyes with one hand while the other braced on the counter.

“Honey, we’ve talked about this.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing wrong,” she frowned back, putting her hands on her hips. “All I’m doing is washing the dishes; you’re the one making this weird.”

“No, this is what I’m talking about,” Dad said, angrily gesturing over at her. “You never used to do this before, you never used to-,” he stopped suddenly, pressing his lips together into a hard line.

“Never used to what?” Tabitha asked with annoyance.

“You never used to talk back to me like this,” he said finally. “Before, before Wayne you used to respect me. It was always ‘Yes, Daddy’ or ‘sorry Daddy’ and you were my perfect little princess. And now, now you’ve got scars and muscles and you’re looking at me like you’re contemplating the best way to crush my windpipe.”

“Daddy, that’s not even close to true,” Tabitha soothed, holding up her hands.

“See?” He gestured back, “Even my name doesn’t sound sincere, it just sounds fake. Everything you’ve been doing since I found out has seemed fake.”

“That’s because it is fake, Dad, it was all just an act to get you off my back,” she snapped before retreating back, demurely crossing her arms over her chest. So much for Father-Daughter bonding time. “I- you and mom didn’t want a scientist or president or, god forbid, a fighter. You wanted a princess and so I played the part, it began long before I approached Bruce and then it became a convenient way to divert suspicion about what I was doing.”

“What? So you faked your entire personality? Jesus Tabitha,” Dad laughed, leaning back against the counter and running his hand through his hair. “I feel like I don’t even know who you are anymore!”

“Well you never even bothered to learn about me in the first place, just as long as I was sweet and pretty and compliant you let me do just about whatever I wanted,” Tabitha shot back.

“That’s not true,” Dad retorted.

“Did you know I used to sneak out late at night and take pictures of Batman and Robin throughout Gotham when I was eight? I caught a plane to San Francisco when I was trying to convince Dick to become Robin again, used your credit card and everything. I’ve come home with everything from split lips to broken bones but as long as I covered it with enough make-up and charm, you didn’t notice. You were too busy chasing after your physical therapist.”

“Tabitha Drake that is uncalled for, you apologize right this minute,” Dad growled, putting his finger in her face. In the past, Beth would have simply lowered her eyes, said what her dad wanted to hear and that would have been the end of it. But now that he’s in on the big secret, taken Robin from along with all her friends, confidence and independence, she’s grown tired of all the deception. She looked him in the eye and gently but firmly brushed aside his patronizing finger.

“You’re right, I’m sorry, Dana is the best thing that could have happened to you but my other points remain,” she said resolutely. “You’re my dadd- my dad, I love you very much but this is who I am, who I’ve always been. It’s true I like sundresses and cute things but I also like punk music, skateboarding and putting together puzzles. Did you know I’m considered one the best bo staff users in the League and people look to me for answers and help. I understand why you don’t like me being Robin but I feel like I was doing something meaningful with my life, I felt like I was finally me.”

“No,” Dad laughed dismissively. “That’s Wayne talking, he turned you into this. You might think you like all this fighting and other nonsense but I know men like Wayne, they make manipulating sweet young girls like you into an art form.” He set his hands on her shoulders, “and now that I’ve gotten you out, you’ll see. You’ll go back to being my little princess and forget all about this nightmare.”

“Oh what, you think you saved me?” Tabitha spat, “like I was some damsel in distress? I was doing just fine before you decided being Robin was ruining my life.”

“You’re just a child, Tabitha, you don’t know what you want and don’t act like I’m some raging misogynist here to crush your dreams,” Dad rolled his eyes. “I’ve always supported women’s lib, your mother was tough as nails and Dana is smarter than me any day of the week. You’ve got to learn being a strong woman doesn’t mean you have to be, well, strong.”

“Because you’d prefer being the strong one in any relationship, usurping Mom’s family company and running it into the ground, pursuing Dana until she caved to your advances. You just want to control me like you have all the other women in your life,” Beth sneered, knowing she was going too far but when one truth came out, the rest tended to come along for the ride.

She saw it in his eyes, in his body language before he even started to move. It began with the twist of his back as his arm came up, preparing to strike her. Time seemed to slow down. She’s stunned in a way, her parents may have been negligent but they’d never raised a hand to her. True, she’d never spoken like this before but it’s still a bit terrifying in its own way. Had he ever hit Mom? Or Dana? Was he going to try and hit her anytime she said something he disagreed with? The open hand approached her and she watched it with detachment, as if it was a scene from a bad movie instead of her life.

She supposed she could let it connect, god knows she’s taken far worse hits. Maybe hitting her would release some of the tension and things could go back to normal. The thought startled her enough that pretty soon her instincts cut through the fog of her emotions and reacted. Her hand darted out and expertly struck his elbow, throwing off his momentum and allowing her to easily grasp his wrist before he managed to slap her. She could easily subdue him from this position but this was her Dad and instead she locked herself before she really hurt him. For a second, they stared at each other with matching looks of horror over what they’d each almost done.

“Are you guys still whispering in there?” Dana called from the other room and the spell was broken. Tabitha’s grasp slackened and Dad pulled his hand away and held it against his chest.

“Oh god Tabitha, I’m, shit, I’m so sorry I don’t what came over me, I- you know I would never hurt you, right baby?” Dad babbled, looking sad and pathetic. The hand that had almost slapped her said otherwise but she decided she’s spilled enough ugly truths tonight. She pulled the curtain closed around her heart and started in on damage control.

“I’m sorry too Daddy; I said some things I shouldn’t have,” she said, lowering her head and playing lightly with her fingers. “Is your wrist okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, quite a grip you have there, Tabby Cat,” and that brought a small smile to her face. He hasn’t called her that in years, hardly anyone called her Tabby anymore. It’s a childish name for someone who punched out people’s teeth on a nightly basis but she liked hearing it none the less. It felt a little bit like normal, even the fabricated normal she’d learned to live with. “And Tabitha, don’t- don’t act like that.”

“Like what?”

“You’ve got to stop pretending, baby girl,” he sighed and turned away from her. “I’m clearly not as good a parent as I thought I was, letting you live this whole other life behind my back. I’ll do better to get to know the real you if you stop hiding behind this imagined person you think I want you to be. Just be yourself, that’s all I want. Now that this Robin nonsense is over with, we have a chance to start over.”

“And what if you don’t like the real me?” she asked quietly.

“Oh I will, I’m sure,” he mumbled before twisting his mouth and looking away. “Come on, Dana’s waiting on us,” Dad said sternly before shoving his hands in his pockets and stalking out of the kitchen. He’d never been much of a liar preferring to ignore and redirect. Her mother had been great at it, telling bold deceptions with a sweet smile. Tabitha wondered if Dad saw Mom in her or if he saw something else entirely.

Either way, the full truth wasn’t going to do this family any good. Dad was already strained by recent revelations, her constant mouthing off and bossiness would be the final nail in the coffin of their relationship. Bruce and Rachel would give anything to have their fathers here, alive and worried about them, she should make more of an effort to get along. He doesn’t like this new, confident, domineering Beth and he’s seen through her saccharine pretend Tabby so perhaps something in the middle.

She’ll exchange ‘Dad’ for ‘Daddy’ and tone down the sweet, submissive innocence she’s used to sprinkling around him. It’s not quite the real Tabitha who swears like a sailor and can fit 8 marshmallows in her mouth and orders adults and metas around with the expectation of being obeyed but it’s close enough. Well not really but if she’s lying to everyone else she might as well lie to herself.

“Tab, are you almost done in there? Bring out some ice cream when you come,” Dana’s voice carried from the living room.

“Sure Dana,” Tabitha smiled a sweet smile that would fool almost anyone, and set out to do what her stepmother asked. It was what a good daughter did after all.

#wayne girls au #I have a lot more thoughts on how Jack and Tabs relationship would pan out #from early years where she was just a little girl to be seen not heard #ignored in favor of business and the next adventure #to the revelation that tab had faked most of her personality in front of him to keep him happy #didn't want to bother him by showing how strong and independent she'd become #lots of fights lots of assumptions that Bruce *turned* her into this #issues that are never really resolved when he's murdered #and she's sad but also so bitter that up until the end he'd never bothered to understand her #just kept living his own lie on who she was #which of course spills into all the OTHER bitterness in her life #ahem I may have given this just a *few minutes* thoughts #end me I can't believe I'm back to this #why does this au call me so much #5 minutes back in batfam and here I am with my girl robins and batboys

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strivingscribe · 6 years

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Salt of the Earth ~ Ch 009

Salt of the Earth by MsMoon

Chapter 9 ~ The Elephant & Ram in the Room

Chapters: 9/?

Chapter Navigation: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,

Fandom: Young Justice

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Angst, Feelings? Violence?

Relationships: Nope.

Summary: After responding to an incident, members of the team are saved by an unknown metahuman. But no protocols are in place to deal with the series of unfortunate events that assail Anitia Moore. What exactly should the team do when a someone with powers needs training but doesn’t want to be a member of the team?

Author’s Notes: Happy New Year!

It was a Monday...which meant the house was pretty clean. Certain maintenance chores were done every day, but the weekends were when big-ticket items were taken care of. Anita clung to this every time she remembered that strangers in masks were in her home.

They were downstairs. The Vigilantes.

...on a gorram Monday.

It was still early, and though Mom had been informed of something happening.. Anita suspected that she hadn’t been informed of everything that had happened. She couldn’t imagine Mom not dropping everything and racing home if she knew what went down.

Anita took a fortifying breath. This was her home. She would not cower up in her bedroom, fretting about things like laundry in the boys’ rooms. She reached out and carefully took the carvings of the little purple elephant and the tiny green ram. Her fingers ran over the stones and her shoulder blades relaxed just a touch.

She closed her eyes, took another deep breath, listening to her own sounds as she tried to ground herself. She put the ram in her right pocket and the elephant in her left, shimmying her shoulders in an effort to loosen up. Then she opened the door, and descended downstairs.

She didn’t make eye contact as she went into the kitchen, but she was still aware of them. Periphery vision was a thing, after all.

She counted four of them, plus Superboy. ...fantastic.

She really wanted to stay as close to normal as she could, but she wasn’t sure how to do that other than ignoring them.

She opened the fridge, trying to keep as close to routine as possible…. that meant thinking about a meal of some sort. They had left-over spaghetti...but Travis could be so finicky about leftovers.

“Anita?”

She started, jumping away from the cover the fridge door provided and into the corner cabinet. When the fridge door closed, a very repentant Nightwing was standing there with both hands up.

“Sorry.” he said, his voice smooth.

“I uh…” Anita shook her head. “I didn’t hear you.”

“You were pretty focused.” he allowed, an easy smile on his face. “Plus, I’m fairly well trained in sneaking up on people.”

Now that she wasn’t intent on ignoring them, her eyes pinged to Robin standing just behind him. Great… Gotham Sleuths were in her house. She ground her back teeth together, her throat flexing before she asked, “Does anyone want coffee?”

“Yes.” Robin said, causing Artemis to scoff at him. “What?”

“You drink too much coffee as it is.” she muttered. “It’s already screwed up your sleep schedule, and it’ll stunt your growth.”

Anita didn’t bother examining this interaction too much as she was already focusing on making coffee. A full pot. She wasn’t sure why, but she wanted some for herself… probably just for something to stir and stare at. Also, it tasted pretty good.

...of course, now that everything was set in motion, they were just waiting for the coffee to filter through. She took a deep breath. “I don’t… I don’t really know if there’s a procedure, or…” she shrugged.

“I don’t think there are regulations for this situation.” Nightwing allowed. It was then that Anita met his eyes… or his mask. Whatever. She allowed herself to look at them, and she counted Nightwing, Robin, Superboy, Artemis, and Miss Martian in her kitchen.

Almost on instinct, her hand slipped into her pocket, and she brought out the little green ram.

“What’s that?” Superboy asked.

She shook her head. “Just Amun.”

“But...what stone is that?”

“Huh?” she looked up and realized that it was Robin who had asked. “Oh. Serpentine.” she reached into her other pocket and pulled out the purple elephant. “This one’s Ganesha. He’s made of Amethyst.”

“What are they for?”

She blinked, regarding him with slow apathy. “...they make me feel better.” perhaps more spite leaked into her tone than she’d intended.

“How?”

“I don’t know.” Anita snapped. “I hold them, and I feel better.” Anita felt irritation gnaw at her neck, her shoulder hunching up slightly. Coping mechanisms were coping mechanisms, and she hated that he was pointing out that she needed them in order to… well… Cope!

“I think Robin’s just curious as to your process. Specifically which stones do what.” Miss Martian confided.

Oh. Right.

“I ...I mean, I get that. Don’t get me wrong, I’m curious too.” she shrugged. “But I’m a little on edge right now, and I don’t have a lot of answers anyway.” Admitting that took a bit of the wind out of her. Or fire… whichever.

“You… you don’t know?” it sounded so accusatory, even the team was staring at Robin with that ‘you know what you’ve done’ expression.

Anita took another deep breath. “Those bugs of yours, are they working now?”

“They should be.”

“Should be?” Anita’s tone matched his from earlier.

“They are.” Robin said, voice more firm now. “If our comms are working, then the listening devices are as well.”

“Good.” Anita grunted. “Listen, about this...this Luthor thing?” they all seemed to stand up a touch straighter. “I think I should get this out as soon as I can.”

“I could scan your memories and set up a mental link so that we could see the memories directly.” Miss Martian offered.

Anita stared at her. “I…..ok, so. It’s nothing personal, or anything,” Anita held out a placating hand that was also a motion for every part of that idea to stop. “but I’d rather chew aluminum than do that. If it’s all the same to you.”

“Oh.” Miss Martian looked away, shrinking from the foreground of the conversation. Was that why she was here? To do...mental things?

“Does aluminum do something for you too?” Superboy asked with a smirk.

Anita regarded him with confusion before she grinned. “... I mean, yeah.”

“It does?” Artemis chuckled, surprised.

“Yes, assholes.” Anita laughed. “It does. A lot of things do.”

“What does Aluminum do?” Robin asked.

Anita shook her head. “I mean, it’s not super useful...and it’s not like I can get anything from the minuta of tin foil or anything, but… aluminum brings a sort of...kind of… like a metal sense, I guess?” she struggled to name it as it wasn’t something she really gave much thought to. “I can tell what metals are around me.” she shook her head. “It’s not super useful or anything.”

“But still cool.” Artemis announced.

“True.” Nightwing murmured. “And you are correct. We should record your account of the events that occurred with Luthor as soon as possible.”

Those words brought such somberness back into the kitchen.

Anita nodded. “I’d seen him earlier today at school.” she said. “He made a few vague threats towards my family before one of the teachers intervened.” she swallowed, remembering how Superboy came into her walk home like a wrecking ball. They probably knew that much, though. Maybe they even knew that he’d been at her school. It was hard to tell what was viable.

“Do you recall what he said?” Nightwing asked.

“Uh, he was offering me—well, Lexcorp was going to offer—but, I mean, he was there to discuss scholarship options.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “It got really weird when he managed to convince Mr. Davis to leave his own office so that he could talk to me.” she let out a long breath that she’d been breathing at an accelerated pace. “He said something about my family, saying that I couldn't rely on them forever and my mother wouldn’t be able to support me, and… that I’d want to keep them safe.” she didn’t miss the looks they exchanged, though she couldn’t decipher what they meant. “That’s when we were interrupted. I don’t think I’ve ever really sat and talked with Ms. McGuire, but I could’ve hugged her.”

“Who is she?”

“The school’s guidance counselor.” Anita said with a grin. “She just barged in there and told Luthor it was inappropriate to meet privately with a ‘female student’, and it was the school’s responsibility to guard even the ‘perceived safety’ of their students.”

Artemis’s hands settled on her hips as she leaned back slightly. “I think I like this teacher.”

“Um. When I got home, he was just here.” she jutted her chin out to the doorway between the kitchen and living room. “Strolled on over like he’d been waiting for me. I told him to say what he was going to say, because it was obvious he wasn’t going to just go away.”

Anita set Ganesha down on the counter, holding him upright and placing a single finger on the carving’s back. “He said he’d knocked communications out. I played to his ego, tried to stall. It didn’t make sense, it still doesn't.” she tried to focus on specifics without being too comprehensive.

They didn’t need to know how he held himself, or more importantly how she felt in response to his presence.

“He said an associate of his was interested in me, and he was doing damage control. Seeing if he needed to get involved.” her eyes darted back and forth rapidly.

“What is it?”

“I don’t….No. He didn’t.” she blinked. “He never used a pronoun when he referred to his associate.” she squinted. “I don’t know if it’s because this associate wanted anonymity, or if he just wanted to dick around.”

“Was that it?”

Her eyes darted to Superboy and away again. “Nothing of note. He just wanted to...I don’t know.. See what was so special about me and…”

“What?” Superboy’s query made her lose her train of thought.

“He said… ‘especially after yesterday’. I asked if he knew the man in the masks, and he said at first ‘he’s with me’ and then later that he knew him or was aware of him via associates.” Anita blinked. “I mean, Luthor’s a big fish, so the likelihood of ‘the associate’ that’s interested in me being the same one who knows the man in the masks is… probably low.”

“What exactly did Luthor say?” Nightwing asked.

“I asked if the asshole in the masks was with him, and he said yes, and then he elaborated that he was aware of him through, but he started looking for a word and I suggested the term ‘associates’ and he agreed that he knew him via associates.”

Anita stared at them as they all looked between each other. Of course, what she didn't know is that Miss Martian was facilitating a mental conversation between them, one that she was not privy to.

“Uh.” she cleared her throat, looking at Superboy. “You said someone was going to be… uh, telling my mom what was going on.”

Of course, that wasn’t true. Superboy hadn’t told her anything, she’d overheard Robin say it over the comms to Superboy. She also heard that it was Kid Flash who was doing this...which meant, it should’ve been done quickly.

“I said that.” Robin corrected, and a part of her felt relieved. Not that he was correcting her, but that he was willing to be truthful about the situation. “Kid Flash went to explain the situation to your mother, but Superman was already there talking with her.”

“Huh…” Anita murmured, somewhat amused by Superboy’s shift.

He scratched his nose trying to hide his smirk. ‘Like father, like son’ was the first thing that came to Anita’s mind.

“Is something the matter?”

“Uh… Well. I mean, that was… at least, it feels like that was a while ago, and I guess I expected something in the way of response… Considering it was Kid Flash that was getting it done… I guess I thought it’d be a quick response.”

That got quite a few grins.

“Not for lack of trying.” Miss Martian muttered. “Unfortunately, Superman has him pinned there.” she said. “The adults are talking, but they want him to run messages when they finally make a decision.”

Anita’s expression slid into neutral as she absorbed this. She wasn’t sure why, but she had expected something else. This was… anticlimactic?

“Hm.” was all she said in response. Did she even need to fix dinner, or was this just another waste of energy? It didn’t matter what she decided to do if the adults were the ones making the decisions.

“Hey, are you ok?” Artemis’s question snapped her attention back into the here and now.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” she said with a shrug. She took a deep breath. “I think I’m...just gonna watch Netflix or something.” she murmured, pouring out some coffee for herself. “Help yourselves to coffee.” she said, leaving the cabinet that held the coffee mugs open. The cream and sugar were in there too, so it wasn’t like they’d need further direction.

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