your no.1 obsession ੈ✩‧₊˚

though, if he were to guess, he'd say it's concern, annoyance, and a hint of fear. he readjusted himself where he was sitting with a grunt, "questions?"

"huh?" you mumbled, furrowing your brows as he rolled his eyes, "questions. earlier, when i crashed through the window, you said you have questions to ask."

"oh," you yawned, questioning yourself on whether or not you should even bother asking him anymore - would he even answer? should you waste your time trying?

absolutely.

"if you were hurt that badly," you nodded to the noticeable slash on his abdomen, "why did you come to me rather than a hospital? better yet, why wouldn't you go back with batman?"

when he didn't offer you an answer (just as you suspected), you continued prodding, "instead, you came to me, some civilian you happened to save one day. and then walk home. you didn't even know if i had any first aid knowledge. so why wake me up in the middle of the night?"

robin drew in a breath, reeling from the questions you've all but thrown at him, "i was reckless."

you stayed silent, urging the vigilante to continue, "i was reckless on patrol tonight and ignored orders from batman. if i were to return to the cave like this.."

he trailed off the end of his sentence, but you knew exactly what he was going to say. he cleared his throat to cut the silence short, "what about you?"

"hm?" you muttered, leaning back comfortably against the headboard of your bed while robin sat at the end, "what are you talking about?"

"last week you said you had a shitty day and you wouldn't bore me with the details," he reminded, studying your reaction carefully. when he saw you frown at the reminder of that day, he quickly added, "you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"no," you sighed out, "i think i need to talk about it. it'll make me feel better."

damian noted that you were still upset from meeting him as you started relaying the story to robin, "well there's this boy, and i know it's weird to say, but i've been seeing him in my dreams my whole life. that day that you walked me home was the day that i met him for the first time."

robin pursed his lips in thought for a moment, "forgive me if i'm wrong, but is it not a good thing to have met him?"

"well, it is a good thing," you continued, "but i.. don't really like him."

robin forced out a laugh at your crudeness, "well, that's one way to be blunt."

"right, well maybe not him as a person," you stressed, only now realising that you were venting to the batman's sidekick about boy problems, "but it's what he stands for."

"look at this place," you gestured around, "it's a dump. he's some well off heir who doesn't do anything to help families like me. what he gets in pocket money for a week is what my family makes in a year."

so now he understands why you were so quick to get away from him. he can't even think of anything to say to you now to make you feel better, let alone a solution for you to not run a mile the next time you see damian.

he was silent for another moment before answering, "i think you should give him a chance."

that didn't appear to be the answer you wanted from him based off of the look you gave him. shit, damian, think.

"if he's been dreaming about you too," he fumbled out the words as quickly as he could in an attempt to save himself, "then i bet he's confused on why you're running from him - to him, he hasn't done anything wrong.."

that made you think. damian inwardly cheered, awaiting your response.

"but the point still stands," you stressed, "he doesn't care for people like me - people concerned about where their next meal is going to come from. people who don't have a new outfit to wear every single day."

robin looked down, thinking of something to say to help, "but he can help you. and i bet you could convince him to do something good with his money."

that seemed to strike a chord within you.

"okay," you buried your face in your hands, clearly distraught over your situation, "i'll give him a try, thank you robin."

"no, thank you," he grunted out, heading back towards your window, "i'd either be bleeding out or dealing with batman's 'i told you so' gaze if it weren't for you."

after you said your goodbyes to each other and robin was swinging out of your window, back onto gotham's rooftops, you settled back into your bed, contemplating the deep conversation you'd just had with one of gotham's vigilantes.

now, your question is 'when am i going to see damian wayne next?'

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

when damian returned to the bat cave, he was met by dick and jason dressed in their nightwing and red hood attire. he ripped his domino mask off with a sigh as jason was the first to speak, "trouble in paradise?"

"i'm never taking advice from an imbecile like you ever again," damian snapped at both of them, "'meet cute?' she ran away from me the moment she saw me. the only good thing to come out of going to her apartment with an injury was the fact that she's considering giving me a chance as damian."

dick grinned at that, "well, that's a win, no? my advice worked. everyone should listen to me. always."

both jason and damian gave him a look for that. dick put his hands up in defence, "damn. anyway, what's your plan now? she's willing to give you a chance as damian, yeah, but where are you gonna meet her again? her work?"

"he can't go back to the scene of the crime," jason grunted, "make it an accidental meeting. just pass her by on the street or something. offer to buy her a coffee."

"i am not taking your advice," damian snapped again, making his way to the exit of the cave so he could return to his room, "the first time it ended in disaster, and the second time was just sheer luck."

as damian stormed off and left the conversation at that, jason whistled awkwardly, "he's as terrible with girls as you are, dickhead."

dick spun around at (jokingly?) glared at him, "hey, c'mon, i'm great with girls. it's you that can't flirt to save your life."

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

it'd been a few days since robin had showed up unannounced in the middle of the night, and since then, you'd really been milling over his words. you've come to the conclusion that you're going to keep an open mind about damian wayne - because, at the end of the day, he'd done nothing to you personally.

but the dilemma was that you had no idea where to find him or how to get into contact with him. you know he knew where you worked now, but you were unsure if he would even come back there after you so rudely ran and hid from him.

it's not even like you could ask robin for help, because you had the exact same problem with him. so you were stuck until you and damian either found each other by chance, or damian came back to your work.

neither seem likely to happen unfortunately.

the more time passed, the more anxious you got. and the more anxious you got, the more you started second guessing your decision of giving damian wayne a chance.

it wasn't until one day, about four days after robin had crashed landed into your bedroom with his injury, that someone came into the cafe after closing time.

"i'm sorry, we're closed," you said mindlessly, exhaustion clear in your tone as you continued closing up the shop, not looking up from your work.

the intruder didn't speak, but cleared their throat after a moment as if to get you to look at them. you looked up from the table you were wiping, before freezing at the sight of the damian wayne standing in front of you.

the look in his eyes told you that he had so much to say, but he never actually opened his mouth to say it. you dropped the cloth you were using to wipe the table, "why are you here?"

you cursed yourself at your own abruptness and sighed, "sorry. is there something i can help you with?"

damian seemed to deflate slightly at how professional you were being - clearly a tactic for you to protect your peace and keep him out, "i just wanted to see you."

you raised a brow, but didn't say anything and let him continue, "you left rather abruptly the first time we met."

the ensuing silence was crushing. neither of you knew what to say to each other - the differences between you more palpable than ever. damian broke the awkwardness, "so.. you work here?"

"no," you gave him a tired look, "i'm cleaning these tables half an hour after closing for fun."

at that, he nodded and realised the stupidity of his own question. damian clenched his fists as he studied the cafe - a small place, but it was a place full of life.

"let me walk you home," damian suddenly blurted out. he instantly regretted it when he saw the look on your face. you seemed to be racking your brain for an excuse to not be walked home by him.

"i appreciate the offer," you started slowly, "but i don't need to be walked home. i know gotham's a dangerous place this time of night, but.."

your unspoken words hung heavy in the air - i don't need to be walked home by you. damian nodded in defeat, before hardening his gaze and turning to leave without a word like a child throwing a tantrum.

seeing him all but storm out of the cafe made you sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose in stress. great going, me, you've only gone and fucked everything up.

you simply put your head back down and continued cleaning tables, heart and mind heavy with the weight of your interaction with damian.

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

that night when you slept, you dreamed of damian again. this time, you were in a garden. a garden far bigger than you neighbourhood, one that was clearly well taken care of.

you caught flashes of damian tending to the different flowers, some so exotic and rare that you knew he only managed to get due to his wealth.

the smile that he flashed you every time he offered you one of his freshly picked flowers nearly made your heart skip a beat, your knees almost buckling under his gaze. but they didn't - because, deep in your heart, you believed it would never work.

damian was the type of person that belonged with someone like him - someone raised in wealth, well mannered, and from a family worthy of marrying into the wayne family. not some lower class girl whose first instinct was to push him away and make a fool of him.

before your dream could go any further into the garden, you suddenly shot out of bed at the sound of your window rattling. you scrambled out of bed, knowing damn well who the perpetrator is.

you swung your window open, being greeted by the sight of robin himself - just as you suspected. before you could shoo him away as if he were an actual robin, he put his hands up to placate you.

"with all due respect robin," you seethed, rubbing sleep away from your eyes, "i've just finished a shift from hell and i have a very important assessment in college tomorrow."

"i know, i know, i'm sorry," he apologised, but it didn't feel very genuine, "i just.. wanted to talk."

you were clearly to tired to acknowledge everything wrong with that statement as you begrudgingly moved out of his way and let the vigilante into your room. robin settled in here as if it was his own room, but didn't say anything to you, like he was waiting for you to settle back down again.

you sat back down in your bed, pulling your blankets back over yourself like you were trying to comfort yourself - but you both knew it was because the heating in your run down apartment didn't work.

neither of you commented on how cold your room was as robin tried to ease you into a conversation.

"so how was your day?" robin asked, noting the bags under your eyes. you readjusted yourself under your sheets to get comfier, "just a terrible shift at work."

robin hummed, saying nothing, but giving you a look as if he knew it wasn't the only thing that happened. you simply chalked it up to his perceptiveness and relented, "he came into my work today. again."

although you hadn't said who had come into your work, robin knew exactly who you meant. well, of course he did, because it was him.

so he played the innocent card, "and? did it go well?"

of course it didn't go well - he knows that already. he left like a toddler throwing a tantrum just because you declined his offer to walk you home. and rightfully so - on a technicality, you don't even know him.

"of course it didn't," you buried your face in your hands, "i shut him down instantly. i feel terrible, i told myself i'd give him a chance, but the moment i saw him, i wanted to protect my peace again."

robin hummed, trying to think of a way to help his alter ego (or his true identity?), "you're so sure that he's going to hurt you, i think your apprehension to trust him goes beyond the differences in your social status."

you rubbed your forehead, once again too tired to fully process his words. robin sighed, "you're so sure he's going to hurt you, so you're pushing him away to protect your peace. what if he can give you peace?"

robin felt prideful as he noticed you took his words to heart. you seemed at war with yourself - this was clearly taking a toll on you mentally.

"how was patrol?" you mumbled, clearly trying to change the topic, and ignoring another bigger question - why was robin coming to your window in the dead of night?

robin suppressed a smile as he noticed you drifting back off to sleep. after he'd recapped his patrol to you, you were dead asleep again. the visit was short and sweet, but it gave damian what he needed to help you trust him.

he reached over to tuck your blankets closer to your chin to help you stay warm throughout the cold night that gotham was notorious for. before he climbed back out your window and shut your window tightly, he turned back to look at your sleeping figure.

he's determined to make this right - give you and your family the life you were all deprived off, and prove to you that he's more than just some stuck up rich kid.

part 3

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your family had always struggled for money, and most of your childhood and teenage life was spent wondering if there was going to be a meal on the table for you tonight. he was the very thing you couldn't stand in this city. while people like him hid in their sheltered gated communities, people like you fought for scraps in the streets.

you knew your family would be overjoyed to hear that your soulmate was the heir to the wayne fortunes - their son in law was going to be - well, is - a billionaire. so, for your own sanity, you didn't tell them you actually knew your soulmate's name.

in your dreams, you caught brief snippets of his gated life - life in wayne manor, with a butler, countless pets, and everything handed to him whenever he asked for it. you pray you never meet him, already having it in your mind that he's just another stuck up, selfish rich kid heir.

the universe had never been kind to you - especially not today. everything that could've gone wrong, went wrong. you felt like crying while on your commute home. surely it couldn't get any worse.

as if some higher power had took that as a challenge, you felt a painfully strong grip on your bicep before being hauled into the alleyway beside you. before you could even scream, you were pressed up against the wall with a shove way too forceful and a man was rummaging through your college bag for anything valuable.

'you won't find anything of value in there,' you wanted to spit out at the man, but you were too struck frozen by your own fear to even take a deep enough breath. just as you were about to surrender your belongings, the man was suddenly swept off his feet and hit the floor. a blur of black and red was on top of him, apprehending him and reclaiming your bag.

your saviour stood up, revealing himself to be the sidekick of the batman - robin. you'd never imagined yourself to be one of the victims that either member of the dynamic duo would ever save.

a grunt from the boy in front of you snapped you out of your train of thought as he was holding out your bag. you reached out with a shaky 'thank you' to take it back, but instead, only a wince left your lips as you reached to cradled your arm.

everything happened so fast that the memory of the injury had escaped you. robin didn't seem to worried at the injury as he looked at it, "you should go to the hospital to get that seen to."

.. you don't have the funds for that. so instead, you wave him off with an empty promise, "yeah, will do."

an awkward silence falls between you both. the look in his eyes hidden behind his domino mask told you that he knew you were lying, but he made no move to call you out as you made your move to leave.

"you know, it's common practice to thank someone after they save you," robin forced out, looking away from your injured arm. you stopped dead in your tracks - was robin attempting to banter with you? or was he being serious?

"thank you," you offered him, still a bit shaken by the events of earlier. robin looked around, "do you live around here? it's unsafe."

you started walking out of the alleyway and back onto the street, unaware that robin had taken that as an invitation to follow you, "oh, yeah. my apartment building isn't that far away from here."

"oh," he coughed out, "that's unlucky."

did he mean about being assaulted and nearly robbed so close to my own apartment or the fact that i stay in the poorest neighbourhood in gotham? you wondered, but didn't dignify him with a response.

you both stopped in front of your apartment after a short walk, and you turned back to look at robin awkwardly, "well. this is me."

"right," he said after a moment, taking in your run down apartment before turning to see you scanning your key and inputting your apartment number.

before you could slip into your building where he wouldn't follow, he forced out a goodbye that you could barely hear. you turned back to him, taking him in. he looked stiff and tense, barely able to look you in the eye as you offered him your own goodbye.

gotham's vigilantes are weird.

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

that night, when he returns from his patrol and strips himself of his alter ego, damian wayne dreams of you again. dreams of your fingers running through his dark curls, dreams of your life together, dreams of your laughter filling the barren hallways of wayne manor.

he wants to slap himself for his behaviour earlier. the moment he clocked your appearance and realised who you were, he was no better than a fish out of water. he made an absolute fool of himself.

luckily for him, however, you didn't seem to recognise him - it seemed like you didn't dream of his alter ego, only damian wayne. so he had another chance at a first meeting - hopefully one where he would actually know what to say to you.

meeting his soulmate had been on his mind all day - leaving him preoccupied as he sat at the large dining table, with dick, tim, bruce, and surprisingly, jason. his change in behaviour since returning from patrol had not gone unnoticed by his family.

dick, ever the concerned older brother, was the first to comment on it, "so, damian, did anything happen on patrol today..?"

"nothing happened," damian quipped immediately, giving his older brother a sharp look.

jason bristled at damian's instant defensiveness, "kinda sounds like something happened, demon spawn. you've been on edge since you got back from patrol."

"i am not on edge," damian seethed, "why can't any of you just mind your own business?"

bruce sat watching the conversation play out silently, studying his youngest son's body language as he tried to gauge what was happening.

tim finally spoke up from beside bruce, "you came home from patrol early. you didn't attend your usual training session afterwards. something definitely happened on your patrol. something has the damian wayne rattled."

as if tim's words struck a chord within him, jason suddenly spoke up with a wide grin, "or someone. was it a girl?"

damian flinched imperceptibly at how quickly they'd gotten it right on the nose. jason and tim burst into laughter again, before bruce cut them off.

"was it her? the one you've been dreaming of?"

bruce took damian's silence as his answer. jason and tim quickly stifled their laughter at the mention of the mysterious girl damian has been dreaming of. he rarely ever mentioned something so personal around his family.

"did she know it was you?" bruce questioned simply. what he really meant was: did she know damian wayne is robin?

"no, father, i don't think she recognised me," damian grumbled, throwing glares back at tim and jason as they started chuckling again. dick finally chimed in, "then i think you should introduce yourself to her as damian. you wouldn't have to tell her that you're robin yet."

damian weighed his other options, but he knew deep down that dick was right. which is what led to where he was right now - small cafe near your college. he'd pulled some strings, looked into where you worked, and wound up here. dick had suggested this - you were the barista at this cafe, giving your wages to your parents to support your family. he said that showing up here would end up being a 'meet-cute.'

he's going to kill dick grayson when he gets home.

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

of course this just had to happen during lunch rush. you stood, ready to take the next customer's order, making friendly eye contact with them before your face - and heart - dropped.

in front of you was damian wayne - the boy from your dreams who you've been dreading to meet. he opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out, as if he was just as shocked to see you here as you were to see him.

after a few more moments of gaping at each other in shock, you quickly excused yourself and slipped out into the staff room to hide. you felt like you were reeling, seeing him so abruptly and unexpectedly.

you planned on hiding in the staff room for the rest of your shift - who knows how long he could stay out there for? but, the universe has been really hating you lately, and you were met with the scrutinising gaze of your boss.

as much as you wanted to hide away from the world (and damian wayne), you needed this job and your family needed fed. you couldn't get the encounter off of your mind for the remainder of your shift - every time you took a customer's order, felt the same phantom fright incoming.

your shift came quickly to a close. your mind wandered as you closed up the cafe, your body on autopilot as you brushed and wiped, eventually closing the shutters and beginning your commute home. obviously you knew the dangers of walking home alone this late on your own in gotham - you'd been a victim of the danger only recently. but you had no other option.

tonight, you walked quicker, trying to make your way home before the wrong crowd could spot you. that was until a familiar voice stopped you dead in your tracks, "what's the rush?"

you paused, turning to the alley and squinting to see the owner of the voice before heaving out a sigh of recognition, "robin."

"you never answered my question," robin pressed again, making himself visible from the shadows of the alley. you smiled slightly to yourself, feeling safer now at with the company of gotham's protector's sidekick.

"i don't want a repeat of what happened last time," you said, before an idea popped into your mind, "hold on, what are you doing here?"

robin tensed slightly, coming out of the alleyway and standing closer to you, "i'm on patrol, what else would i be doing at this time of night?"

"you know what i meant," you restated, "what are you doing here? at the same alley you saved me in last time? don't you have criminals to stop or villains to catch?"

"i should be doing that," the boy wonder admitted, looking a little sheepish, "i just believe it would be advantageous for you to have an escort home."

there was a short moment of silence between you as you registered his words, "let me get this straight. robin, the boy wonder himself, wants to.. walk me home?"

robin looked abashed as you reworded him. you tried to stifle a laugh, but you ended up cackling, "so you're walking a girl like me home instead of, y'know, capturing villains?"

you're not sure when you both picked up your feet and continued your commute, but the lively conversation between you both halted as you were met by the front door of your apartment building. robin was nicer than you thought he'd be - more outgoing. you didn't think that the sidekick of the batman took time out of his patrol to walk girls home.

"so do you walk every girl you save home or just the ones from the poor neighbourhoods?" you question him teasingly, gauging his reaction as he fails to meet your eyes.

"you're home safe now, are you not?" robin quipped back, making you chuckle slightly at his inability to handle a bit of teasing. a short silence rested between you both, as if you were both hesitant to say goodbye. robin spoke up again, "are you okay? you seem tense. did.. something happen earlier?"

you flinched at the memory of damian wayne appearing in your workplace earlier. although you desperately needed to rant about how terrible your day had been, you're not sure robin was the best ear for it.

"well i didn't have the greatest day," you admitted, fishing around your bag for your keys, "but i won't bore you with the details."

robin looked eager to press for more, but decided against it. you put your key to the door to let yourself in, before turning to wish robin a goodbye, only to see that he was gone. you looked around, before shrugging to yourself and entering your apartment building.

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

about a week later, you were rudely awoken by the sound of your bedroom window rattling. you shot up out of bed, hair a mess, eyes darting around your bedroom in alert. your first instinct was that one of your little siblings had got up in the middle of the night and caused a riot.

but when your room was empty, you found yourself settling back into your bed in a sleepy haze of confusion. before you could even try to go back to sleep, your bedroom window rattled again, harsher this time.

with an annoyed groan, you crawl out of your bed and towards your window, shoving it open way more aggressively than you should've - clearly annoyed at being disturbed while sleeping,

you were surprised when robin himself fell through your window, clutching his stomach and landing on your room floor with minimal grace. you stared down at the black haired boy on your room floor and cursed to yourself. of course you deserved another run in with the vigilante.

the boy looked up at you with a sharp glare, arm still clutched around his stomach, "are you going to help me or just stare at me like an idiot?"

you scoffed at his behaviour, before whisper-shouting at him, "i'll get the first aid kit from the bathroom. after this, i have a lot of questions for you."

part 2, part 3

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he actually had a roof over his head, a decent (?) parental figure, and an older brother now. he was excited for what his future held in store for him, but he couldn’t help but feel like an imposter in his own life. like he doesn’t deserve what he has now at wayne manor. going from stealing to survive to having a butler caring for him like a grandpa would gave him whiplash.

his older brother, dick, seemed to fit into this lifestyle more than he did. like he was made to be the ward of bruce wayne. but that wasn’t jason. although all these things he had now were nice, he was most excited about the size of the library in wayne manor. despite his hardened exterior from his upbringing, jason had a soft spot for literature and a good read.

although, the roof over his head was never able to stop him from feeling so cold all the time. maybe it was just his body’s instinct, because he was so used to the cold outside on the streets.

the first time jason met the justice league, he found it hard to not be excited about the fact that he was fighting alongside superman and wonder woman. missions with the justice league were sparse - mainly due to bruce’s influence, not wanting his newest orphan doing missions that only adults could handle - but jason did love when they happened. 

they only really happened when they needed all the manpower they could get - even if it meant pulling a teenage boy into their mess. right now was one of those times, apparently, there was an ongoing justice league investigation into some eastern european research company. jason wasn’t sure why (he wasn’t listening during the briefing, he’ll admit) but he did remember keywords like ‘suspicious’ and ‘possible human experiments.’

in hindsight, he should’ve listened. he was currently with batman in the batcave, looking at blurry security camera footage. he could barely make out the silhouette of the suspect, but they were absolutely clearing all the people in the hallway they were walking through. both he and batman watched the footage with determined and concerned expressions, unsure of what to make of the character.

“no survivors left behind,” batman had said, moving the screen to another camera feed. the same figure from before stormed into the room, and shot a man dead at point black range. he didn’t even have the chance to react, “not even crane.”

jason turned from the screen to batman, unsure of what to make of the situation, “well, what do we do?”

“i’ve been trying to track this.. soldier,” he said with uncertainty, “they’re completely untraceable. no dna left behind at the scene, none of the security cameras picked up their face either. cameras outside blacked out as they left, don’t even know which exit they took.”

jason stayed silent, staring at the fuzzy image of the soldier on the screen. whoever this soldier is, he’s sure they’re about to become a big headache for him.

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

being woken up from cryo sleep always felt jarring. before you could even think, your captors were shouting trigger words at you, and then you were gone. like your soul had been forcefully made dormant as a different version of you took over. a more sinister version of yourself you didn’t know you shared a body with.

“ready to serve,” you’d speak after your captors had shouted the trigger words, in a foreign language that the real you couldn’t even speak, let alone identify. your mission this time was simple. go to your assigned city, gotham, and assassinate your target. leave no witnesses. return back to base and be put back into cryo sleep.

on your missions, you felt like a ghost was controlling your body. the real you is always awake, you think - like some sick joke being played by fate. you’ve suffered through so much war, torture, and human experimentation, now you have to watch yourself like a woman possessed as you killed people. sometimes innocent people, sometimes people that were better off being dead.

your captors had many bases over many cities in the world. after your mission was complete tonight, you were to return to the closest base to your location and await further instructions. every night, your subconscious hoped and prayed that someone, anyone, would come and save you from this hell. from your own mind.

little did you know, that help was coming for you.

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

it had taken him all day and night, but batman had managed to find a lead on the mysterious soldier who assassinated crane. he had reason to believe that they’d set up base in a warehouse on the outskirts of the city. with the sheer strength of the soldier, he’d told jason to stay behind. 

jason, of course, disagreed with this, “i can help you, b!”

“you’re not strong enough for a threat this large,” batman dismissed, “you stay here in the cave until i return. you don’t have the necessary experience to fight an opponent this strong.”

jason shrugged off the thinly veiled jabs, “how am i meant to get experience in fighting stronger opponents if you won’t let me?!”

“jason,” batman’s stern tone told jason to stand down, “do not leave this cave. that is an order.”

with that, batman was gone before jason could even blink. after a moment, jason groaned in disappointment, throwing a mini tantrum as he turned to look at the screen of the batcomputer. on it, batman had left the co-ordinates and details of the soldier’s location. 

jason examined the information, burning it into his eyelids as he turned to exit the batcave himself. before he could, he was stopped by the stern voice of alfred, “i believe i heard master bruce telling you to stay here.”

he froze, “alfred, he can’t keep me here. he needs help, you saw what that soldier did to crane.”

“i did,” alfred said, “which is why i cannot allow myself to let you leave.”

jason stared at alfred in disbelief, “you can’t stop me. you can’t keep me here, just like he can’t.”

“you’re right, i can’t stop you,” alfred sighed. all he could see standing in front of him was the same little boy bruce had taken in years ago, “but just know what awaits you if you leave this cave.”

of course jason knew the risks of helping bruce out on a mission this dangerous. against an enemy this dangerous, against an enemy neither of them knew anything about. but he couldn’t just let him walk into this battle when there’s a chance that this soldier could overpower him.

“i need to help him,” jason said quietly, and alfred knew then that there was no changing his mind. alfred looked down, “master jason, you will always be too stubborn for your own good. someday, it may be the death of you.”

then he will die a noble man.

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

batman is strong. trained in every known martial arts and with a mind and body as finely tuned as his own, there are very few opponents he’d struggle against. very few didn’t include this soldier, who although he’d caught them by surprise, they still overpowered him very quickly.

once he’d infiltrated the warehouse, he’d seen the soldier in the footage, standing as still as a corpse. they were standing like a guard dog, a short distance away from a group of men. some dressed like scientists, some dressed like military higher ups. even from a distance, batman could tell that these military personnel were not american.

that only made things more complicated as well as confusing. he looked between the soldier who was in the footage and the group of men with narrowed eyes as he used his detective skills to try and decode the situation. but he came up with nothing.

he moved quietly around the warehouse, trying to get a better look at the soldier and possibly get some identification for them. as he got closer, he had a revelation that had him feeling sick to his stomach. 

the soldier standing in front of him was a teenage girl no older than his own son, jason. 

he felt like he’d just had ice poured down his spine as he stared at her vacant face. her eyes looked lifeless as she stood there unmoving. like a robot. suddenly, the men who were some distance away were shouting something in a foreign language - one bruce vaguely recognised as russian.

he looked over to them only to see them staring at him with pointed fingers. after they’d finished shouting, the soldier suddenly looked up at him. shit, he got sloppy.

he jumped down, attempting to swing past the soldier to incapacitate the group of men before dealing with the girl. before he could swing past, however, the soldier outstretched her arm, causing him to hit it and fall to the ground with a grunt and a heave for breath.

he got himself back up quickly, not allowing the soldier to inflict any more damage to him while he was off his guard. with his momentum, the hit felt solid, as if she had an arm of steel. 

the soldier wasted no time going on the offensive, attacking him with forceful swings and kicks he was struggling to parry or dodge. his mind was struggling to keep up with his body, before the soldier hit him in the stomach with a kick forceful enough to send him flying. 

as he landed, he turned to the side and froze as he made eye contact with robin. batman scowled at the teen, keeping an eye on the soldier who was quickly coming to finish the job, “i thought i told you to stay at the cave.”

robin looked between the soldier (who was currently storming towards them with malicious intent) and batman, “well, clearly you need my help.”

batman got up on his feet before the soldier could reach him and begun fighting with her again, “when i give you an order, you follow it.”

robin quickly moved from his position and to the side of the soldier, trying to hold back her punches, “jesus, she’s strong! is this arm made of metal?”

the soldier didn’t answer, simply swinging her arm and swatting robin away like he was simply a fly. he landed in the distance with a groan, and batman tried to keep an eye on him in the distance even as the soldier continued her assault. eventually, he managed to get a hit in, but it didn’t seem to phase the soldier.

suddenly, robin was behind her, and leapt on her back. batman hadn’t even seen him getting back up or make his way over here. the soldier grabbed onto him and flipped him over her shoulder, and he landed on his back in front of her with a grunt. he noticed when he landed that she furrowed her brows slightly when he landed.

as he landed, batman finally had an opening to hit her and escape with robin. he only managed to slice the soldier in the arm with a batarang, and he’d expected her to retract and hold her arm as it gushed blood.

to his own surprise, he only heard the sound of metal grating upon metal as the fabric covering her arm was cut to reveal what he had thought to himself earlier. a metal arm, gleaming under the dingy lights in the warehouse as both batman and robin stared at it in shock.

the girl moved to attack them again, but batman grabbed robin’s bicep with force and swung out of the warehouse, smashing a window that was in his path. the soldier simply watched them leave.

the asset’s mission was only to protect her captors from batman and robin. not to chase them.

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

both jason and bruce returned to the batcave with their own injuries from the brief encounter with the soldier. bruce had waved alfred off when he approached with a first aid pack, claiming he didn’t need it, but jason did.

jason sat in his chair, watching alfred carefully as he worked to disinfect some small scrapes and cuts he’d received when he was flung around. he looked up at bruce, who was staring at the batcomputer, still in his suit but had lost his mask, “what are we gonna do?”

bruce didn’t answer for a moment, and didn’t take his eyes off of the screen in front of him, “she had a metal arm.”

alfred looked up from jason’s wounds to eye bruce carefully. neither alfred nor jason knew where he was going with this, “it didn’t look like a normal prosthetic arm. i was able to take a sample of her dna.”

as bruce input the dna sample into the batcomputer’s scanners, hoping to get an id on the soldier, jason jumped out of his chair when alfred finished his first aid work. he moved to be closer to bruce at the batcomputer.

as the dna results showed up on screen, all three of them stopped and stared in shock. jason stared at your date of birth in shock, “there’s no way this chick was born 120 years ago! she looked my age!”

even bruce himself looked shocked at the information, reading out your name, “born in 1905.. went missing in 1920. she’s older than you, alfred.”

alfred didn’t seem to have anything to say regarding that. bruce continued scrolling through some of your information (although, since it was so long ago that it was created, there wasn’t much to read), “i also ran some identification of the men that gave her the orders to attack.”

jason turned to him, silently urging him to continue, “they gave her orders in russian. the id i ran on them identified them all as hired guns and scientists that work for an eastern european research company that’s been around since the 1910s.”

“do you think they had something to do with her disappearance? back then?” jason questioned, staring at the only picture of you on the file the computer had compiled. the picture of you was a far cry from the girl he encountered earlier. you looked happy in it, like a normal teenage girl.

“we can’t rule it out as a possibility,” bruce mumbled, “but none of this makes sense. why is she still a teenager? why was she so strong? and what of the metal arm?”

silence fell over the trio as they weighed the information in front of them. none of it made any sense. the three of them were staring at the screen in concentration and confusion, before jason suddenly fell to the ground, crashing into a pile of limbs as he was screaming in an abrupt and unexpected flurry of agony.

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

you were strapped to the chair again. the chair that you always find yourself in if you fail as the soldier. as the asset. the scientist in front of you - you never bothered to remember his name. not that you ever could, he never seemed to cease the torture he inflicts on you.

there was no point in remembering his name because when his higher ups were done with him, you’d finally gain the satisfaction of killing him as the soldier, although he’d just be replaced by another scientist who’d probably be worse than him.

his orders always started with the same thing - remove the brain washing held over you. make sure the real you is the one to suffer. then came your punishment. it varied depending on who was in control of your punishment. at the beginning of your captivity, the very first scientist who had you decided to sever your arm with no sedative or painkillers. it was punishment for trying to fight against the enhancement serums they tried to inject into you.

to your own luck, this time, this scientist had a thing for electrocution. although you had the power of regeneration, it still hurt like a bitch.

at the beginning, no matter how much you screamed in agony and begged them for mercy, or tried to stay quiet and accept your fate, the punishment was always pure torture. torture that never stopped until they decided you were broken enough and you were put back into the cryo chamber to be put back to a sleep that could keep you alive for eternity until they needed you for another mission.

the cryo sleep was how they kept you young and alive for so many years. after the second world war ended, you were very rarely brought out for a mission. you had to be kept in your prime in case there was ever a time you were needed consistently again.

“put her under,” the scientist said sharply, his russian cutting you from your thoughts as you heaved for breath, limbs spasming from the previous electrocution, “and wipe her memory, too.” it was time for you to be put back to sleep until they needed you next. you can only pray in your nightmares for salvation.

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

batman had brought up the issue of the soldier to the rest of the justice league. he had to put his pride aside and ask for assistance, particularly from the metas in the justice league. the soldier was strong, yes, but there was a slim chance of you overpowering the kryptonian.

wonder woman and superman stood in front of him, taking in the information in the file batman had compiled and gave to them. in it not only contained information on your short 15 years of living during the first world war and your disappearance afterwards, but some information on the company you were working with.

as the trio debated their options and how to handle the soldier, jason sat outside of the meeting room, his back pressed to the door as he eavesdropped. bruce had already reprimanded him for this, for eavesdropping on confidential meetings. in fact, bruce didn’t know he was even here.

he was meant to be resting after he experienced that sudden onslaught of pain the night before. he promised bruce he’d stay at home and in bed. but bruce should know by now that jason never upholds these promises. he’s sure that alfred’s realised he’s gone by now and has alerted bruce anyway.

his mind was heavy with the events of last night. all the information he had about you, the sudden invisible attack on his body, and the possibility of you being brainwashed. that’s what he was hearing from the door behind him.

the theory that you were being brainwashed triggered jason to feel sad. guilty, as if it was his fault. he knew that you were physically and mentally his age, and had been through a lot more than he had. you barely had a chance to live your life before you’d disappeared.

“we must assassinate on sight,” he heard one of the muffled voices behind the door say with a tone of finality, causing him to shoot up from his spot on the floor. he spun around and pushed the door open, causing the justice league to turn and look at him.

bruce buried his face in his hands, as if he was disappointed but not surprised that jason had followed him here, “robin, i thought i told you to stay home.”

superman looked between the teen and his colleague as jason brazenly spoke his opinion, “i don’t think any of you have the right to decide to kill this girl!”

the justice league eyed him carefully as if he was a bomb ready to explode. he might as well be as bruce sternly glared at him, “robin. keep your personal feelings out of this matter. the soldier has killed many innocents and keeps escaping without a trace. she overpowered both of us easily last night. we can’t just let her roam free.”

“if she’s brainwashed like you said,” jason started, looking at the justice league with a disgusted look because they’d resorted to assassination of a teenage girl, “then it wasn’t her who killed the innocents. it was whoever was controlling her.”

“undoing the brainwashing could be a gargantuan task that not even all of our combined forces could accomplish,” wonder woman stated, “we don’t know what we’re in for.”

“but you’d resort to murdering an innocent?” jason seethed, “if you kill her even though she’s being controlled, you’re no better than whoever’s controlling her.”

that caused them all to stop and consider his words more carefully. superman eyed wonder woman, batman, and jason respectively, trying to play mediator in the situation, “he’s right. we should be keeping that decision as our very last option.”

“in that case, where do we even start with trying to undo the brainwashing?” wonder woman spoke what everyone was thinking. a tense silence fell over the room as everyone weighed their options.

“i’ve already collected enough information on the company and have information about their bases of operation,” bruce offered, “we could search them all for more information on the soldier. maybe we could find a way to undo the brainwashing.”

everyone looked around before nodding, making jason’s heart soar - one step closer to his goal.

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

when jason and bruce returned to the batcave, all jason could feel was cold. not from the icy silence bruce had been giving them since they returned from the meeting, but the genuine feeling of being outside in the snow without a jacket.

jason was barely listening to bruce as he ripped into him, reprimanding him for leaving his bed after his sudden attack and for eavesdropping and invading a justice league meeting. at some point, bruce had placed his palm on jason’s arm, before retracting it quickly.

“jason,” bruce stated, “you’re freezing.”

that snapped jason out of his thoughts, “i’m always freezing like this. although.. the last few days, i-”

bruce furrowed his brows as jason suddenly stopped as realisation hit him like a freight train. two realisations, actually. the first was that you - the soldier, the asset - were his soulmate. hence why you made a face when you threw him over your shoulder last night, and why he suddenly felt like his skin was on fire.

the second was that the fact he always felt cold was no coincidence. he’d constantly felt freezing his entire life, then the morning of the day that you’d killed crane in broad daylight, he suddenly felt warmth. true warmth for the first time in his life.

and now it’s gone again. he had read in the news a while ago that a science company had a huge breakthrough in an experiment (a human experiment, coincidentally) and had successfully frozen people and reawakened them a week later. they’d survived a week in cryostasis. 

the idea was far fetched, that he knows, but he couldn’t get it out of his head. that night, when he was alone in his room and away from the all knowing eyes of bruce and alfred, he conducted his own research into the matter. to his own shock (and dread), he feared his suspicions were correct.

the very company that had you were a sister company of the one that had human experiments in cryostasis. he couldn’t jump to conclusions, but he had a pretty good idea of what was going on behind the scenes.

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

the next time you came to, you were being pulled out of the ice (again). before you could even gain your bearings in the cold, dark environment you’d suddenly woken up in, someone was shouting words at you aggressively in a language you couldn’t interpret. the more he spoke, the more your grasp on reality faded. the more your soul retracted into itself as an artificial one took its place.

the man in front of you gave you a hard but cautious look. you stayed silent for a moment before turning to him with a soulless stare, “ready to serve.”

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

after his discovery, jason had pulled some all-nighters the following days, doing as much research as he could without bruce or alfred finding out. he intended to show them when the evidence he’d collected would be irrefutable. 

though that was his dilemma. there were countless accusations towards the company, and much disdain towards their human experiments, but there were no cases actually made against them. and no hard evidence to suggest that you were one of their victims.

which led him to where was right now. staring distantly at a building he believed was an unofficial base of operations, hopefully the one you were being kept in. he’d managed to slip away right under batman’s nose, deactivating the tracker he knew he had on him. batman really thought that he could sneak it into his suit without jason noticing.

jason felt confident as he closed the distance between him and the building, noting how little guards there were outside. he chalked it up to the company not wanting to draw suspicion. after all, this was just a normal building, right?

he snuck in through a window, and noted the dim and dingy lighting in the hallways and rooms. creepy. definitely the type of place one would keep a brainwashed meta soldier.

jason couldn’t help the unease that settled in his gut the more he explored the building. the halls were long and empty, the sparse lighting making it hard for him to make out whatever was in the distance. the longer he explored the building, the more he found it unusual and unsettling that he hadn’t encountered a single person. the feeling of impending doom he felt deep in his gut was too palpable to ignore now.

he stopped roaming the halls for a moment, turning back to look the way he came and then where he was walking to. it felt like he hadn’t made any progress in his search, but he knew for a fact that he was well and truly lost in the maze of halls. 

jason stood still for a moment, the hairs on his arms standing upright in anticipation like a warning for what was to come. suddenly, he heard a familiar rough voice shouting again in russian, “soldat, kill the intruder!”

jason doesn’t know what the man said, but it did not sound good. at all. before he could think any further, he was suddenly struck from behind and thrown into the wall beside him with force that left him reeling. he landed with a surprised grunt, looking up at the perpetrator although he already knew who it was.

of course, it was you. well, not the real you. the soldier. the asset. you stormed towards him with thoughtless eyes, intending to kick him while he was down. jason moved as fast as he could, getting up before your foot could connect. he only managed to dodge the kick with a second to spare, seeing as your foot connected with the wall, leaving a whole almost thick enough for him to crawl through.

he gulped at the sight of it but couldn’t spend another moment thinking about the what ifs. you instantly pulled your foot free from the wall, making a beeline for jason again. he dodged as many of your attacks as he could, but he could already feel himself bruising and bleeding when a few hits connected.

the one sided battle seemed to drag on, your stamina and speed not letting up even for one moment. jason, however, was currently more human than you, and no matter how prideful he may be, he has to admit his strength doesn’t even hold a flame to yours. 

he had to do something. quick. batman wasn’t coming here to save him this time, jason had ensured that himself. jason struggled for breath as he dodged more fast paced jabs and swings that he was finding more and more difficult to dodge.

first, he tried your name. no visible facial reaction, and your attacks didn’t let up at all either. shit. he then tried repeating some information he read in your file, “please listen to me, you lived in gotham in the 1900s then disappeared in 1920! who you are now isn’t the same girl from back then.”

still no reaction. now was a good time for him to start panicking. he now really regrets removing his tracker and leaving batman in his dust. there was still one trick he had up his sleeve - one he wanted to keep only as a last resort, one that he wasn’t even sure would work. 

“please,” he spoke in careful, broken russian, “listen.”

you simply narrowed your eyes, not offering him a response as you grabbed his forearm and flung him out the nearest window. he went through the glass and landed in the greenery outside, grunting at the new scrapes and cuts he sported. 

he was now really regretting removing his tracker. you leapt through the window moments after him, not even breaking a sweat as you approached him. jason was losing the energy to continue this one sided fight, and as it continued, your hits only kept getting harsher and harsher.

eventually, you ended up straddling him and he just laid there, taking hit after hit. as he braced himself for the punch he knew would knock him out, he was confused when you suddenly stopped and got off of him.

he was barely able to open his eyes from how swollen they were to see that you’d finally had enough of beating him up before going in for the kill. he could barely make out you cocking a gun and aiming for directly between his eyes. it was then that he realised that you were sporting the same injuries as him, but it was as if you were simply ignoring them.

jason cursed himself and his own stupidity in that moment. by allowed himself to get hurt, he wasn’t exactly doing you any favours.. as much as he wanted to save you from your captors, god did he want to save you, he realised how far their reach is into your mind. their control ran deep, like tendrils clutched tightly around your sanity and control. 

in this final moment, he thought about everything that led him to this. just as he allowed his eyes to rest, you fell to the ground in a slump in front of him. despite his bone-deep exhaustion and constant ache and agony from his physical wounds, he found himself sitting up and crawling over to your now unconscious body. if he didn’t know any better, he’d assume you’re dead by the way you were lying still.

before he could reach you, a pair of black boots blocked his path. jason felt both relief and dread filling him as he trailed his eyes up to meet batman’s. again, if he didn’t know any better, he’d say that batman was enraged and overall done with him and this situation.

but he knew how to read the masked vigilante, and knew that he was just hiding his concern under the rage. although it was hard to see with the way he had his jaw tight with tension, “you have a lot of explaining to do.”

as batman took a step towards him and leaned down to pick him up, jason scurried away from him with the best of his abilities like an injured and scared animal. like batman was the predator and he, robin, were the prey. 

batman looked at jason with a warning look before he opened his mouth to speak, although his voice came out more worn and hazed than he intended, “please, this is our chance, b. we can take her now while she’s still unconscious.”

before batman could protest, the last of jason’s strength left him and he finally let himself rest. batman sighed, looking between the two unconscious teenagers and their matching bruises and cuts skeptically before throwing a teen over each shoulder like they were sacks of potatoes and zipped away.

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

it took some time for jason to reawaken after the whole ordeal. the extent of his injuries required him to be hospitalised - although bruce had him resting in the medical ward of the manor. 

meanwhile, you’d been recovering in a hospital room like jason’s, except yours was heavily armoured and under constant surveillance. you’d been chained to the side of your bed by heavy duty handcuffs, but bruce couldn’t shake the feeling that none of it was enough. 

while jason recovered from his injuries, dick was roaming the halls of wayne manor like a ghost haunting them. mainly, he was arguing with bruce’s decision to keep the asset so close to home after what happened. 

it had caused many arguments while jason was still unconscious, and they continued even after he’d woken up again. alfred never offered his opinion on the matter, only watching bruce and his oldest son argue over the morality of the situation.

“she beat him half to death, bruce,” dick had seethed, sick of bruce not explaining anything to him, “i thought you of all people would have at least turned her into the authorities.”

bruce stayed silent, his eyes locked onto jason’s still unconscious form. dick continued, “look at him, bruce. you saved the girl - no, monster - that did this to him.”

“he was trying to save her from something,” was all bruce said, “he used the last of his strength to ask me to take her with us. that was the last thing he said to me.”

“he’s a fool, you shouldn’t have indulged him,” dick grumbled, although the disdain stemmed from his concern for his younger brother, “what was he thinking?”

“there must be a good explanation for all of this,” alfred finally spoke, “young master jason would not act this rashly without a reason.”

the two younger men stayed silent, knowing the butler was right. they knew jason, they knew that he wouldn’t act so out of character and risk his life if he didn’t have a damn good reason to. 

with every passing day that jason didn’t wake up, the concern for him only grew. they needed answers and they needed answers quick. there were also concerns for the asset - what if her bosses came back for her? they don’t know anything about her.

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

when jason woke up, the first thing he thought about was how he felt like he’d been hit by a bus. his eyes felt heavy like lead, struggling to accommodate to the brightness of the room he was in. 

he looked around, racking his brain to remember what happened. he couldn’t remember anything at first, then it hit him - the building, the fight, everything.

jason shot up from his hospital bed, instantly regretting it when he felt the burn of his injured and unused muscles, and his aching bones. he looked around, recognising the room to be in wayne manor. hastily, he pulled the blanket off of himself and swung his weak legs off of the bed, shuddering when his feet landed on the cold floor.

with shaking steps, he slowly made his way out of his room and into the hallway, looking around for any of his family members. he was silently panicking, wondering whether or not bruce had heard his final request before he passed out. 

he knew that bruce would’ve done what was best for him - keep him as far away from the soldier as possible. especially after she’d beaten him half to death then aimed a gun between his eyes. but he could feel a warmth in his chest that expanded the further he walked down the halls.

he followed the feeling, ignoring the burns and aches in his muscles as he did so. eventually he reached a heavy duty metal door, and pushed it open with all the strength he could muster. when he finally had the door fully open, his heart stopped when he saw you.

jason knew he should’ve been happy that bruce had at least listened to him, but the handcuffs and surveillance were overkill. he stared at the handcuffs chained to your wrist at an awkward angle above your shoulder, rubbing at his own wrist as he realised where the dull, phantom ache was coming from.

suddenly, he heard yells of his name from a voice he recognised to be dick’s. his older brother barrelled through the hallways, and through the open door of your room to see jason staring blankly at you. dick looked between you both before settling on jason, “you have a lot of explaining to do.”

“why’s she tied up like some rabid animal?” jason questioned, turning to look at his older brother, “there’s no need.”

“there is a need,” dick argued, “she almost killed you, jaybird. i don’t even know why you wanted her here so bad anyways. what were you thinking?”

jason felt himself getting angry at his older brother’s words, “dick, she needed help. they were holding her hostage. i think she’s been brainwashed by them.”

“do you hear yourself right now?” dick asked incredulously, “you have a crush on some soldier who tried to kill you now you’re making excuses for her? you sound insane, jason. that fight left both of you unconscious for weeks. you did a number on each other.”

jason hid his shock that he’d actually been unconscious for that long, “i didn’t land a single hit. she did a number on both of us.”

before dick could explode into more questions, bruce appeared at the door to the room, “i’m sorry, jason. these precautions were necessary.”

jason looked over dick’s shoulder to see bruce. he had dark eye bags and looked like he hadn’t slept in a week. to be fair, he always did look like that. jason looked back at you, still as unconscious as he was moments ago, “bruce, you need to listen to me-”

“there’s no need for an explanation,” bruce cut him off, “i already know enough. i found these in your room the night after you two fought.”

bruce dropped some sheets of paper, clearly lifted from jason’s room while he was still out. jason stared at them blankly - these sheets of paper were all the evidence and research he’d collected before chasing you down. bruce looked at him sternly, “be honest with me, jason. how is the soldier injured?”

“i don’t know,” jason said too quickly, dick and bruce looking at him and then each other with expressions that told jason they didn’t believe him. bruce tried again, “don’t lie to me, jason. she has the exact same injuries as you do, and i know that you couldn’t have done that on your own.”

jason sighed, giving in to bruce’s pressure with pink tinted ears, “fine. i think.. she’s my soulmate.”

dick stared at him incredulously while bruce gave him a look he couldn’t read. jason felt like an idiot admitting something so personal to his brother and father figure. dick suddenly exploded, “you’re joking, right? this has to be some sick joke.”

part 2

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which, of course, you had no intention of doing. the guilt of it all wasn't long lasting at all, when the memories of the breakup and the reason why resurfaced.

part of you was scared that he would turn up at your new place, but there's no way jason would rat you out, right..?

right.

after a few weeks in your barren apartment, you eventually got sick of the sight of it. you were also sick of everyone's constant worrying and messaging, hating yourself for making them worry and the soul crushing guilt of ignoring them for so long.

as you stood in the middle of your living room trying to hype yourself up to actually go out and food shopping instead of just ordering in, you were interrupted by a curt knock on your front door.

you might've just summoned he-who-shall-not-be-named. shit.

you snuck towards the door, jumping at the sound of fists pounding on the door again and a familiar voice calling out your name, "open the door!"

with a sigh you swung you door open to reveal jason. you stared him up and down, "i thought i told you your apartment privileges were revoked."

"mhm," jason hummed offhandedly, barging by and into your apartment. you scoffed incredulously at the man's audacity, "oh, no jason, come in and make yourself at home. honestly."

he waved you off with a grunt, turning back around to face you as you closed your door again, "you're looking better."

you rolled your eyes at the way he got straight to the point, "yeah, 'cause i've had my alone time to collect my thoughts, now i'm almost ready to be a functioning member of society again."

jason nodded but the look in his eye told you he didn't believe you, "and that's why you're still in your pyjama's at 2pm on a friday?"

"well yes?" you groaned, sinking back into the couch. jason kept his distance as if you were contagious of something, "well go get changed, we're going out for lunch."

the audacity.

"uh, no," you scoffed, "total hard pass on that one, jason."

"not happening this time," jason demanded, storming into your bedroom and re-emerging moments later with a random outfit he'd clearly picked from the top of your drawers, "get changed, we're checking out that new place on the corner."

"so demanding," you stared at jason incredulously, "you come into my apartment, rummage through my drawers, pick the most abysmal outfit i have ever seen, and demand that i go out for lunch? what if i had plans?"

jason raised an eyebrow, "be honest, you were gonna spend the rest of the day sulking."

"i was not!" your voice raised suddenly in defence, "i'll have you know that i was originally going to go out grocery shopping."

jason nodded offhandedly, "oh i'm sure you were, yeah. and that's why you're still in your pyjamas?"

the attitude on this boy.

"i won't forget this," you murmured eerily, "the cat thing too."

jason raised his hands in his own defence, "what was i meant to do, huh? he's holding the poor thing ransom, they don't even like each other."

before you could retaliate, jason pushed you in the direction of your room, "just go get ready so we can eat, i'm starving."

"y'know, you forcing me to become a functioning member of society an hour after i decided i was gonna do it myself is making me not want to do it anymore."

"god, you're childish."

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

true to his words, jason had made you get dressed and dragged you out to lunch at the new place that had opened on your street. you stepped into the dimly lit building, jason following behind you dressed in his typical lazy attire.

the servers made quick work of getting you sat and taking your orders, and as much as you hated to admit it, getting out of the apartment was working wonders for your mental health.

for once, jason todd was right. it feels so wrong for you to say that.

"i'll give you your dues for this one, jason," you hummed, digging into your meal which was one of the best meals you've ate in a very long time, "this was a very good idea."

jason hummed, proud of himself as he demolished the burger in front of him, "i always have good ideas. everyone should listen to me for everything."

"i wouldn't go that far," you scoffed, looking at jason in confusion when he suddenly looked over your shoulder and started choking on his burger. you cursed, nudging his drink towards him, "you good?"

through his chokes you could barely make out what he was saying, only able to catch him saying something about behind you. you spun around, only to freeze at the sight behind you.

dick grayson himself was standing behind you, his eyes wide and locked onto the sight of his ex girlfriend and his little brother sitting at a table alone.

before dick could open his mouth to speak, you spun back around to jason, feeling betrayal hit you when you saw that he didn't look shocked or annoyed that his older brother was here, he looked.. ashamed.

ashamed as he stared into your eyes. like he was begging for forgiveness.

you were so confused until the realisation hit you. you stared at jason for a moment, hesitant to ask the question that was weighing down on your tongue, "jason, did you know he was going to be here?"

jason opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words to defend himself. you shot up from your seat, wasting no time in storming out of the restaurant.

you couldn't believe you fell for this - of course jason would be trying to help dick. they've known each other since they were kids, they're brothers. how stupid of you to think that jason would help you.

dick reached an arm out to try and stop you from storming by him, calling your name to try placate to you, "c'mon, plea-"

the situation only worsened when a new voice appeared, "dick?"

all three of you turned to the new addition, and you felt your heart drop into your stomach at the sight of dick's ex, curling up to him. and he made no move to stop her.

ignoring all of them, you turned around and made haste to get back to your apartment, trying not to break down before you could get there.

part 4

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jason stood awkwardly by the living room window, reeling by the display of emotions he'd witnessed within the last minute alone. he looked around before coughing to clear his throat, "y'know, a lot of your problems would be solved if you.. y'know.. went to get the cat yourself."

as if the idea of willingly going to see dick again triggered you, you raised your head from the cushion it was previously buried in, "jason, seriously?"

he put his hands up in defence, "it was just a suggestion. listen, i know what he said to you.. and about you but please you need to hear the idiot out."

you narrowed your red-rimmed eyes at him as you made your declaration, "jason todd, you are hereby revoked of your apartment privileges."

he simply stared at you with raised brows, "you're not serious."

"oh, i'm serious," you got up from the couch, reeling your arm back as if preparing to throw your cushion at him, "you have 10 seconds, boy."

with that, jason was wasting no time climbing out your window with a grumble about 'not getting stuck between these two idiots anymore,' and was gone before you could even swing your arm. you slumped back down on your couch, weighing your options on what to do next.

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

you cursed your own stupidity for not lifting your cat before you left that night. now, because of your own foolish emotions, you were stood at dick's apartment - the apartment you used to share with him.

you took a deep breath, hesitating for a moment before knocking on his door. you had to do this before you lost your confidence. a minute passed and there was no response - your first guess is he was at work.

you knocked again for good measure, before hearing a gruff yell from inside the apartment, "go away, jason!"

you raised your brows in surprise before frowning - jason's been two timing you? bitch, "i'm not jason!'

there was a sharp silence before it was broken by the sound of something falling (dick, you assume) and the sound of glass bottles clashing. quickly, the door flew open, giving you a glance into the wrecked apartment before dick positioned the door so that you could only see him - not that he was any more wrecked than the apartment.

he had strong stubble on his face - something you know he didn't like. something about not having his 'pretty face obscured by a beard.' his eye bags also rivalled yours, his eyes tinted red like he'd been crying and tried to rub the tears away.

you both stared at each other in shock for a moment, before dick managed to snap himself out of his stupor, "you came back-"

"for my cat," you quickly interrupted, "i left her here and i need her back now."

dick looked almost hurt for a moment before he turned his head back into his apartment - staring at your cat, probably, who had secretly been watching the entire encounter. he turned back and looked at you, "no."

"no?" you narrowed your eyes, "dick, it's my cat."

dick thought for a moment before a thought clicked in his head actually, "actually, she's not yours. whose name is on the insurance?"

you took a deep breath - you already felt like crying then beating this man up. as much as you loved your cat (and needed her more than anything right now), it wasn't worth this dickhead wasting your time and rubbing it in your face.

you pinched the bridge of your nose in stress, "you know what, dick? you can just keep her."

dick's eyes widened as you left, but he called out your name to stop you, "wait! don't go!"

instinctively, you felt yourself stop, which made your ex smile. you heaved out a sigh before continuing on your way out, ignoring dick as he kept shouting after you, "listen, i'm sorry about what i said!"

but his words fell on deaf ears when you were gone. again. and it was all his own fault. again.

he re-entered his apartment, slamming his door and trying to hold his emotions back. your cat - a gorgeous little siamese - looked up at him innocently. dick stared at her before reaching his hand towards her, encouraging her to come closer to him.

he barely had his hand extended to her for a moment before she turned her nose up at him, sauntering away to another room. he buried his face in his hands, "i can't believe i thought keeping a cat that hates me would bring her back."

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

returning home yet again without your cat was something that left you feeling sour. on your walk home, you'd been cursing dick grayson's entire bloodline. jason todd's too - this was just as much his fault.

as you dumped your keys on your kitchen island and prepared to rot in your bed and do nothing about your stolen cat, you pulled out your phone to see dozens of missed calls and unanswered messages from dick. he's in for a surprise if he thinks you're going to answer any of them.

although, by the time you were tucked into your bed and struggling to fall asleep that night, you were tossing and turning at the thought of him. it felt like you were kicking a puppy earlier when you told him you weren't here for him.

on one hand, you know he humiliated you and said some terrible things (and is now holding your cat as ransom). on the other hand, he did look genuinely guilty. like he'd been beating himself up over the whole ordeal.

you were angry and upset with him - that was a given. after everything, it was only natural for you to feel that way. you were only human. but at the same time, you were only human. you both had your life together planned out, and now that was all gone.

that's not something you can just let go of easily. with a tired groan, you reached over for your phone, the sudden rush of light from your screen causing you to wince as you read the time. 3:49 am.

against your better judgement, you clicked on his contact (which was still not blocked), and felt your heart skip a beat when you saw his profile picture - a candid picture of him, offering the cheesiest and biggest grin possible while having you in a side hug. although you were cut off in the profile's frame, of course.

your finger hovered over his number, debating whether or not you should go ahead with this. before you could talk yourself out of it, you clicked on his number. the minute you heard the ringing tones, you tossed your phone away from yourself as if it burned you.

shit, you thought, no way he's awake right now. but he'll definitely see it when he wakes up.

to your surprise, after only two rings, the call was answered. you could hear his confusion as he called your name, begging you to say something.

after a few more calls of your name, he went quiet, accepting the silence. you reached for your phone again with trembling hands, still unable to use your voice to say something to him. you could barely offer an explanation to why you called.

eventually, you sat your phone beside you, and you couldn't bring yourself to end the call. you're not quite sure when you fell asleep.

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

when you woke up the next morning, the call was ended. no evidence that it had ever happened. you got up, made yourself breakfast, and spent your day bed rotting again, believing that the call was just some sort of fever dream.

but for dick, it was a step in the right direction. when he was sat up at 3:49 am, sitting in your shared his bed with his head full of regrets, he was shocked to hear your song suddenly blaring through his phone's speakers.

your song. your favourite song. your song that you're always humming, that's always playing as you both moved around your kitchen in (failed) attempts to make a nice dinner for yourselves.

with fingers shaking from both excitement and fear, he answered the call only to hear silence. he called your name once, testing the waters. you didn't answer.

he called your name twice, silently praying to himself that you didn't accidentally dial him in your sleep. you sleepwalk, he knows you sleepwalk, maybe you somehow picked up your phone and called him?

as much as he wants to believe that your muscle memory kicked in, he knows that was a far fetched idea. but there was no clear explanation to him why you'd even call him, let alone at 3:49 in the morning.

he tried your name one more time - full of desperation and want. no response. after that, he swallowed his pride, and let the call continue. in his head, this was a step forward for him on his path to forgiveness.

he readjusted himself in bed, lying on his side and staring longingly at your profile picture. a picture of you he loves - in it, you're looking up at him, a lovesick smile and pure love in your eyes.

the photo haunts him. he loves it so dearly and holds it close to his heart, but he can't bear to change your picture in his phone. despite your long-term relationship, he never knew that you had the other half of this photo set as his picture on your phone.

part 3

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clark does this so often that it makes it hard for you to be able to see your relationship bloom into something healthy in the future. he always does it without a word, too - not a call or even a message with an explanation or an apology. the apologies always came later.

which was what allowed this to continue happening. he always smothered you, always made it up to you with a giddy, lovesick smile that made it hard for you to hold it against him.

quite frankly, you were sick of it - to make up for standing you up for the umpteenth time, he always suggests another date, at a fancier restaurant every time. and every time, it ends the same. you walking home alone again.

you just wish you didn't like - no, love - him that much to let him back in so easily. on your lonely walk home, your mind wandered to the bullshit excuses he'd always come up with to placate you after the fact. always something to do with work, but you knew from lois that the daily planet never usually called their journalists back to work after their shifts unless one of their stories had a huge development.

you don't think clark's the type to cheat at all. but the lies are too obvious for you to ignore now. it wasn't like he was superman and kept standing you up in order to save metropolis-

that quick and fleeting thought of yours made you stop dead in your tracks. superman's civilian identity has always been a mystery to the world - a mystery that the world so desperately wants to solve. you've heard of some theories about how he can disguise his real face as a civilian using some alien tech, and some about how he probably doesn't have a civilian life, probably living off grid somewhere.

quickly, you pulled out your phone and searched the news for anything on superman within the last hour. your suspicions were correct - superman was currently wrapping up a battle on the other side of metropolis right now.

you shake the thoughts away from your mind and suppress a chuckle at your own behaviour. how could you possibly think your own boyfriend was superman? you chalked it up to the irrational part of your brain trying to make any excuse for him.

even when you were back in your apartment and cleaning yourself up for bed, the ridiculous thought still lingered. even while you brushed your teeth, you couldn't help yourself from connecting more dots, no matter how far fetched the ideas were.

you always thought it was weird how clark never took his glasses off around you. never. not even to go to sleep in your bed, he just downright refused to take them off.

when you laid down in your bed and got yourself comfy, you shook the ridiculous thoughts off again. you were reaching too far - the man had stood you up for the last time and you were grasping at straws trying to keep him around.

then the sadness hit again. you tossed and turned in your bed, trying to ignore the heaviness on your chest. you fought against the urge to reach for your phone and check your messages, but eventually caved and you just felt even worse when you opened it to see not a single notification from clark.

with a sigh you turned your phone off completely and rolled over, hoping to be able to sleep through the volume of your thoughts.

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

you were awoken by the sound of your front door rattling off of its hinges with the force of someone knocking. you rubbed your eyes and scowled at the noise, looking out of your window to see that the sun was already high in the sky. you must've slept a while.

with a tired grunt, you rolled out of bed and made your way to the front door, mind too hazy with sleep to consider who could be at the door. without thinking, you swung it open, immediately regretting it when you saw clark on the other side looking apologetic with a bouquet of flowers and a gift bag.

you tried to slam the door shut again, the shock of seeing him in front of you enough to wake you up properly. before the door could close in his face, clark quickly pushed his foot through the frame.

"leave me alone clark," you called out, trying to push the door firm against his foot so that he'd retract it and you could lock him out. he didn't seem to budge at the force you were pushing against his foot however, "please, just let me explain!"

you thought for a moment before shaking your head (not that he could see that anyway, right?), "no, clark! no more! what's it this time, huh? you get 'called back to work?'"

the words he was going to say seemed to get stuck in his throat at your jab, "please, just let me explain. i'll tell you the truth this time."

"this time?" you questioned incredulously, "so you have been lying to me this whole time?"

"no-" he sighed at his own word choice, but the desperation in his tone was hard to ignore, "please, let me in. i'm so sorry. i'll tell you the whole truth this time. i don't want to give up on us."

his confession made you falter slightly. you didn't want to let him in, didn't want him to have the luxury of apologies. but the way he said it felt so real - the emotion he said it with felt so real.

"fine," you snapped, pulling the door open and walking further into your apartment, "you have five minutes to explain, clark. then you're gone."

clark smiled gratefully, his huge figure entering your apartment with the bouquet clutched tightly to his chest. although you'd only been dating for a few months, he fit right into your apartment like it was where he was meant to be.

you both moved into your living room, clark gingerly handing you the beautiful bouquet and the gift bag. you nodded for him to sit down, and a tense silence fell over the both of you. clark dwarfed your couch with his sheer size, and you had to bite back a smile at how comical he looked.

"i think i should start with an apology," clark offered sincerely, angling his body to face you, "i should've been honest with you from the beginning. open up your gift."

you felt yourself getting more and more concerned with the way he was talking, but you opened up the gift bag and pulled out a sleek looking black box from the bottom, "clark, just spit it out."

"so, i haven't been telling you the truth about my job," he started, "i am a journalist at the daily planet, yes, but i have a.. side hustle, you could call it."

"okay," you spoke cautiously, "but i'm confused why you wouldn't just tell me about it."

"well i couldn't exactly tell you then, but i'm ready to now," he continued, "i hope this doesn't get in the way of our relationship, because i really like you."

when you opened up the black box, you felt your heart stop at the content - an absolutely gorgeous necklace, with a dark blue gem as the pendant. it looked expensive.

"clark," you breathed out in shock, cradling the necklace gently in your hands as if it would break at the slightest touch, "i.. i can't take this. it's too expensive-"

"no," he insisted, reaching forward and clasping your hands around the necklace as if to solidify the fact that the necklace is yours, "please. take it. it would mean a lot to me if you took it."

clark held his breath in anticipation for reaction, sighing in relief when you nodded in acceptance, "the gem's blue topaz.. it represents communication, love, and clarity."

you cleared your throat, unable to take your eyes off of the gorgeous pendant until now, "what was it that you wanted to tell me?"

clark took a deep breath as if to steel himself, then took off his glasses as if to prove his next point, "i wanted to tell you that.. i'm superman."

the silence that fell across the apartment was thick enough to steal both of your breaths. you were completely frozen, not even blinking as you took in the new information. clark looked at you cautiously, extending his hand to pat your shoulder comfortingly, "are you.. okay?"

"yeah," you breathed out after another minute, "yeah, i am. i guess that explains all the missed dates."

clark winced at the mention of all the times he stood you up, "i'm so sorry about that. i promise i won't miss another. are you.. okay with me being superman?"

you nodded after another moment, "yes. yes i am. i think that's an acceptable excuse for you to miss dates."

clark was unable to hold back his smile - the contagious kind that made you unable to hold back your own smile. you leaned forward, connecting your lips with his. you could even feel him smiling into the kiss.

"oh," he blinked, "turn around, i'll help you put the necklace on."

"oh," you echoed, nodding to yourself as you gingerly picked up the necklace, handing it back to him as he clasped it tightly at the back of your neck. the moment felt impossibly intimate.

looks like he's forgiven for missing all those dates.

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you hadn't spoke to any of dick's brothers since the split, but it was valid since they had witnessed the very argument that spelled the end of your relationship.

the argument was so stupid. it had started over nothing and just spiralled into something so much worse - a screaming match in the middle of wayne manor that ended in you storming out of the mansion.

it started simply with dick mentioning offhandedly (although, his tone felt snide) that you weren't as loud with your love as he was. by the end, you were screaming and picking away at each other's insecurities in front of his entire family.

you knew it wasn't your fault - at his original comment, all you'd said back to him was that you preferred the more quiet and tender moments that nobody else gets to see. that that was what true love felt like. and apparently he'd taken that the wrong way.

now, you were sitting alone in your new apartment. it was completely unfurnished and bare of any life, since you'd abandoned most of your stuff in dick's apartment on the other side of the city. you felt like you were in some stupid 2000s movie with the way you were sat in day old pyjamas and cradling a tub of ice cream like it was sacred.

you occasionally checked the notification bar on your phone - calls and messages from your mother, your friends, jason, and tim all expressing their own concerns over you. although for jason you couldn't exactly say concerned - he was more saying that his brother was 'a dickhead, and an idiot for fumbling.'

dick still had your cat. your precious little baby girl, and you needed her more than ever right now. but your pride was getting in the way of going back to dick's apartment and demanding he handed her over.

part of you considered breaking your already week-long silence to the world by asking jason or tim to go to dick's apartment and steal her. you knew they would - especially jason. he'd do anything to go out of his way and annoy dick.

with a final spoonful of your ice cream, you picked up your phone and sent jason a short but sweet message - 'can u pls get my cat from your bro.'

before you could even turn your phone off again and place it face down, the screen lit up with a response from jason - 'rn?'

of course you could always trust your ex's little brother to get the job done. you sent him a simple thumbs up in return, and 30 minutes later, jason was knocking on the front door of your apartment.

the only problem was that he didn't have your cat. when you swung your door open and didn't see her, you sent jason a teary glare. he raised his hands frantically when he clocked that you were about to cry, "listen, dick wouldn't let me take her-"

"and you just let him keep her?!" you sobbed, jason looking more and more lost as you continued to cry. he looked around your barren apartment sheepishly, "he was clinging onto that thing like his life depended on it! trust me, i tried."

you turned back around to enter your apartment as reality sunk in - your evil, evil ex was holding your cat hostage, and not even the red hood could save her from his grasp.

jason followed you into your apartment awkwardly, "so.. how've you been?"

"how do you think i've been?" you all but snapped as you sank back into the couch, "sorry."

jason nodded slowly as he settled on the other end of your couch, "nah, it's okay. breakups are.. hard.."

he patted his thighs awkwardly as you both sat in silence - something he wasn't used to with you, "would you ever consider talking to him? or, at least unblock his number?"

you whipped your head around to him, "are you serious?"

"so that's a no," jason hummed, "is that a solid no or would you consider talking to him again after some time apart-"

he was abruptly interrupted by you lobbing a cushion straight for his head, "you heard the things he said to me, jason! the things he said about me! he can't just.. take all of that back and apologise as if we haven't been dating for five years."

jason winced at that, "yeah, that's what i thought you'd say."

when he noticed you were about to cry again, he quickly changed the subject, "your apartment's.. nice."

"don't lie," you sighed, looking around the place - it was run down and bare of life, "it's a dump, jason."

jason suddenly got up from his seat, clearly done with the awkwardness of the conversation and the heaviness of everything unspoken, "well, i've got to run. y'know, vigilante stuff."

you simply waved him off, and he quickly left, as if your sadness was contagious.

˚₊‧꒰ა ✦ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

15 minutes before,

jason's fist thudded on the front door of you and dick's shared apartment - well, now it was just dick's apartment. that's gonna be weird for him to think about. nobody at the manor had processed the breakup either yet, not even damian or bruce.

after a few moments of silence, jason raised his fist to beat on the door again, but before he could, the door swung open to reveal his brother. jason visibly cringed at the sight of him.

dick grayson had clearly seen better days than this - he was clearly wearing pyjamas that were days old, his hair was a mess, and his eye bags were like panda eyes. the two looked at each other, taking the sight of each other in before jason finally broke the silence, "you look rough."

dick groaned, not doing anything to stop jason from elbowing his way into the apartment, "no, jason, it's fine, come in. make yourself at home."

jason looked around the apartment and winced at the sight of it - the apartment which was once so full of life had never been as dull as this. all the photos in the apartment that had you in it were either taken down or turned face down. there were also some empty beer bottles littered across the coffee table.

jason bristled at the sight of the place, before his gaze landed on your cat who was quietly lounging in her cat tree and observing her co-owner and the guest.

"she wants her cat back," jason spoke, jumping straight to the point, "she's in a bad place, dick."

dick walked up to the cat and pet her gently, the cat edging away slightly from his touch as if she knew what was going on and wanted to return to you, "if she wants her cat back that bad she can come get her herself."

jason groaned and buried his face in his hands, "i'm not doing this, dick, i'm not going between you both like some messenger."

dick moved in front of the cat tree possessively (although to jason, it just looked comical), "jason, you're not taking this cat. did she seriously send you here to get her cat just so she wouldn't have to see me?"

"well i think she's right to do that," jason grumbled, "you said some pretty nasty stuff to her the last time you saw her."

dick folded at the reminder of what happened, "i know i did. gosh, i'm such an idiot, jason."

"yeah, you are," jason agreed, settling down on dick's couch. calling it his brother's couch felt wrong - he knows it was you who chose the furniture. he shouldn't give his brother all the credit, "have you even dropped her a message? tried to apologise?"

dick slumped onto the couch beside him in defeat, "of course i have, jason. i think she blocked me, none of my messages are going through. shit.. what am i going to do?"

jason looked between dick and your cat, still sat elegantly watching the conversation unfold without a care in the world, "listen. i'll take her cat back, and i'll try convince her to unblock you. the rest is up to you."

dick weighed his options, "but the cat stays here."

"no," jason pinched the bridge of his nose, "this whole plan relies on me taking the cat to her new apartment, dick."

"you know where her new apartment is?!" dick basically lit up - the most optimistic jason had seen him in a long time. jason considered the pros and cons of telling his older brother your new address before sighing, "dick, i can't tell you where her apartment is. just let me take her cat to her, she really needs it, man."

dick looked at him defiantly, turning his nose up like a child, "absolutely not. if she wants her back, she can come get her herself."

jason let out a sigh of resignation before moving from the couch, making his way to the front door, "you obviously have a few drinks in you. i know what your play is with the cat - you think if you hold the thing hostage, she'll come back here, right?"

when dick stayed silent, jason continued, "thought so. listen, i'll go to her apartment and try to get her to unblock you, but i think she's pretty adamant about not talking to you right now."

"and she really wants that cat back!" jason called as he slammed the front door shut, leaving dick alone again with his thoughts. he laid back on the couch, dwarfing it with his height and leaving his legs leaning off of the arm rest at the end.

the apartment that was once lively and full of love had never felt so cold. it felt so drained of colour, as if it were also mourning the end of the relationship.

part 2

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