#notfic

Jason, during his time with the League, shares his code with Damian, to be used “only in the direst of circumstances, when you have exhausted all other options.” He doesn’t know if Bruce will answer, given how fractured their relationship was before he died, but it is better than nothing. Every tool counts when they live such dangerous lives.

Damian uses it exactly once, and Bruce, who still feels the loss of his son like a yawning chasm in his chest, responds to it even though he knows it can’t be Jason because Jason’s dead. What he finds, instead of Jason, is a boy in League garbs, drenched in blood from the tips of his midnight-black hair to his too-small feet, with a face that Bruce sees himself and Talia in, requesting asylum from a grandfather who wishes to possess his body. Bruce doesn’t question how this boy who is so clearly his son knew the code. Talia al Ghul is resourceful and places family above all; the code is not beyond her abilities to discover, and she is not above using Bruce’s desperate love for his dead son to ensure that hers does not meet the same fate.

Bruce takes Damian in, because of course he does, and since Jason is dead he allows Damian to keep using the code. After all, it’s not like Jason is alive to use it, right? If someone uses the code, there’s no one it could be but Damian, right?

The next time the code is used, Bruce traces the location to Gotham even though Damian was supposed to be in Bludhaven visiting Dick. But whatever happened that resulted in Damian being in Gotham can wait, because he has already failed one son and he will not fail another, his son is in trouble and he needs to get to him, he needs to—

What he finds, instead of Damian, is a boy (just eighteen, too young, but also too old, but also he will always be a boy to him) in League garbs, drenched in blood from the tips of his midnight-black hair to his too-large feet (when had he gotten so big), wearing the face of his dead son.

Like, he’s generally fab with kids anyway but he has a near lifetime of knowledge figuring out what makes Shane tick (and twitch) and this is just a child who isn’t able to control their environment or modulate their responses to things in the way that Shane can.

So when they’re having dinner with the Pikes and Jackie is tiredly recounting the ongoing process of getting Amber tested and how lost they’re feeling, Ilya is like, oh, I have been training my whole life for this. And when 3yr old Amber inevitably starts having a meltdown, Ilya jumps up and says, “Here. I will fix. You stay.”

And they’re like, you know what, sure, have at it.

Within a few minutes of Ilya disappearing with Amber, the crying stops. When they track the two down a half hour later, they’re in the basement on the rug with all the lights off. Amber is wearing a pair of Christmas Pjs (notably a bamboo/cotton mix) despite the fact that it’s February, and she’s laying on Ilya’s chest, ear to his sternum, alternating tapping along as he hums, spinning his ring on his finger, and rubbing his shirt (also a Nice Fabric since obviously Ilya’s whole wardrobe is Shane-approved).

And when Amber sees the family + Shane trooping down the stairs and starts to get riled up again, Ilya is immediately like, “Turn off hall light. It is Dark Floor Time. Only quiet people allowed to join, okie?” And Amber lets out this relieved, shuddery little breath because she has someone who understands and can advocate for her which nearly ends Ilya’s life but also Shane is like, oh shit, yeah, I’m the the best at floor time, I love being quiet and grounded and aimlessly touching my husband, lets fucking go.

So even when the other Pike children get antsy after a few minutes, and their parents take them upstairs, Shane and Ilya stay, letting Amber crawl all over them and get chill before they get her ready for bed.

Afterward, Ilya gives Hayden and Jackie an exhaustive rundown of all the various things they might want to consider for clothing and food and overstimulation and regulation and they’re very grateful but Shane is listening to this going, okay some of this I obviously knew about myself but some of these things I didn’t even notice? Holy shit? He pays such close attention to me?? Hold on, some of these things I haven’t done since middle school. Ilya, did you talk to my mom about my childhood behavior?? And yes, Ilya gives Jackie Yuna’s phone number for additional consult until they get Amber’s official diagnosis and are provided with more resources.

(And maybe at first Shane wants to be annoyed about the fact that Ilya has been, what, researching and compiling some sort of manual on how to handle him? Right up until Ilya reminds Shane that Shane has an Ilya Spreadsheet that now contains over a dozen tabs of Ilya’s likes and dislikes, injuries and recovery protocols, training and diet and supplements, depression treatment with behavioral red-flags and mitigation techniques, and even sexual preferences. And Shane is like, oh yeah, okay, that’s fair)

But anyway. As the Pike kids grow up, Ilya tries not to be obvious about it, but it’s just Known that Amber is Uncle Ilya’s favorite. And everyone is mostly okay with that.

His doting is so quietly impactful for Shane, though, because here is a child who reminds Shane of his own younger self: a little odd, who struggles to articulate what she feels and needs, who gets overstimulated easily and has obsessive interests, but even so, Amber is a favorite and so loved and accommodated by his husband. That’s gotta be healing.

Also, as much as they try to get Amber to hyperfixate on hockey, I think it’d be hilarious if she became a horse girl and Ilya literally buys her a pony.

(Hayden: Oh my god, Ilya. Do you know how expensive horses are?? Ilya: Yes, yes, maybe for 15th best player on the Metros with one hundred other children, horse is big cost, but not for best player in the league married to second best player in the league with Yuna Hollander in charge of sponsorship deals. I set up fund for board and train. Is couch money.)

Posting a fic idea I had for Murderbot & Mensah (3.8k)

Summary: Murderbot gets married not in a weird way in a very Murderbot way—which means horrendously awkward conversations with the in-laws, no fewer than five panic attacks, and ABSOLUTELY! NO! KISSING!!

Bernard is hacking up two kinds of flowers. One resolves when he gets together with Tim, one persists. It's a weird flower though (small, nearly black though green when closely inspected, no stamen or seeding mechanism visible), and the best botanists in the world can't place it.

Tim finally goes to Batman/JL for help, and when they run it through Watchtower databases, there's a match for the description in an old Kryptonian children's book about the god Rao, and this flower is a symbol of the god because it can grow and propagate anywhere in any soil at any time of year, so long as it gets enough sun. It's just a sun-powered little wizard of a plant.

Armed with this weirdness, Tim's botany contact says that, hypothetically, a flower that needed only sunlight to propagate would look like this kno stamen or seeds, etc). But on earth, it would likely be blue or purple, to maximize sunlight absorption. That being the case for this color flower, though, would only make sense if it were native to a place with a red sun.

So probably confirmed Kryptonian flower, they realize the source of it. Cue Bernard panicking that Tim will hate him (he doesn't, he gets it, he just gave up hope a long time ago) and both of them trying to hide Bernard's worsening state from Kon.

They start canceling plans with him and avoiding him as Bernard gets sicker and sicker. It takes longer than usual bc Tim is still there, so he's doing everything he can to cure this, throwing billions at Wayne Tech R&D to develop treatments.

Kon is of course devastated that they hate him, and pretty soon, he's waking up to green and white leaves of ivy on his pillows. Robin is around less and less as Bernard's condition worsens, and Kon starts pulling out the occasional dandelion as well.

Kon's invulnerable, so he won't die from it (or at least not as easily as a human), so the amount of plant matter coming out of him is deeply disturbing. Like, he's eventually having to duck around corners to pull whole ivy vines and foot-long dandelion taproots out of his throat.

Nightwing catches him one day, and asks when it started. He puts the pieces together and tells Kon that he needs to see Tim & Bernard, and not take no for an answer if Tim tries to stop him.

Tim of course does try to stop him, and while they're arguing, he hears Kon gagging and choking and checks on him to find him trying to hide his own hanahaki.

???

Everyone knows who Phantom is. He was one of the very first heroes though he inexplicably chose to dedicate his life (metaphorically) to micromanaging the hell out of some random town no one has ever heard of. He's a specialist hero, only really useful for ghost stuff. He comes every time someone contacts him for help but it's only happened a few times in all of his years of operation.

Then, kid heroes become a thing. Robin, once perpetually hidden beneath the shadow of the bat emerges into the metropolis sun just in time to make the front page.

When Batman's child-raising skills are called into question, Kid Flash is brought out at a press release by Flash to show that these exceptional children are around. They just aren't common knowledge for their own health (aside from the villains - being a child star wrecks your brain).

A few villains do come forward and say "no, the sidekicks will go out on their own if their hero doesn't let them. And they have all the powers and none of the restraint. Please don't separate them."

(Batman and Robin are both very flattered that all their rogues think they have powers. Robin is ✨glowing✨ with pride.)

Cyborg calls Robin at 3am. He asks if he's seen the new 'BooTube' page.

Phantom has set up his own website. It's a dark and moody ripoff of YouTube with 1 channel. His.

Introduction Video: Transcript Hi guys, I can't lie to you, I was as up-in-arms as anyone when I saw what people are now calling "The Robin Reveal". But then I remembered that I started my hero work when I was mentally and physically fourteen years old...

Danny doesn't mention he was also chronologically 14 at the time. Secret identities and all.

...and I had no mentor, no training and no backup. It was just me and two humans, neither of whom even had powers at that time. I understand the call, in a way that none of the non-hero people criticising you could ever hope to comprehend. I'm glad to see most of you fellow child-heroes have an experienced adult watching your back. But if you don't. If there's even one of you out there who need a mentor, consider Amity Park open for business, and consider adding my number to your speedial. I'm not like those people in interviews saying "Oh, someone needs to help the children!" I am helping you, I am helping you whenever you need with whatever you want.

The ghost swallows and seemingly forces down his brimming sincerity.

And for those of you who do already have backup? Consider checking back here. I'm going over my old reports from my first few years on the streets to see what I most needed to hear, and what I wished I knew sooner. Hopefully no one else will have to learn what I know the hard way.

You know how to fight, this channel won't be for that. This is about coping with secret identities, and the messed up situations that can only happen to a vigilante or hero.

Anyways, the first video is already ready to be edited so in a few days I'll be back here to discuss what you do when you've been cloned. How to deal with that emotionally and physically. My clone isn't very well known outside of my town but I think she'll add a great perspective!

Day 2: Cornered

“Hey! Kid! Stop running, we just want to get you some help!”

Dani sprinted down the alley in another attempt to shake off her pursuers. She hadn’t been expecting to start melting, much less have some concerned civilian report her condition to nearby officers before she could find somewhere to hide and get her gooey problem under control.

It had become a nonissue since the ecto dejecto, but since landing in this strange world she’d have the occasional relapse. The first time it had happened had been the worst, she’d thought she’d dissolve into nothingness in a foreign world without anyone ever knowing a thing about what happened to her. To her surprise though, she hadn’t shed a significant amount of ectoplasm at all, and once she’d stopped actively melting, she’d been able to reabsorb what she’d shed.

“Shit!”

Deadend.

She could get out of this if she could pull herself together enough to phase through the wall.

Concentrate!

She closed her eyes, and breathed in deeply like she’d seen the heroes do in movies.

She peeked open an eye.

Nope! Not even invisible!

Come on ghost powers! It would be reaaaaally handy if she could make like a ghost and disappear!

Her hands flickered like a faulty lightbulb before they started more noticeably dripping.

Okay! This was fine! Perfect even! She was definitely not panicking! No way!

There was still a chance she could convince them she was fine! Dani took another deep breath in and willed herself to be as solid as possible, wiping some of the residual goo dripping from her face onto her sleeves. After a moment of thought, she decided to shove her hands into her pockets too before turning around and trying to act as innocent as possible.

Not a second later and the two officers closed in on her.

“Haha hi there guys! I’m sure there’s been some kind of misunderstanding, I am perfectly fine!”

“Whether or not that is the case, we’ll still need you to come with us. A young lady such as yourself shouldn’t be running around back alleys on her own.”

“I wouldn’t say she’s on her own.”

The dread and anxiety that swirled in Dani’s stomach was replaced by with relief when a familiar figure was revealed towards the mouth of the alley.

“Mr. Greed!”

Greed sauntered further into the alley before wrapping an arm around each of the officer’s shoulders, dragging them down a bit with his weight and momentarily distracting them as Dani skirted around them and towards sweet sweet escape!

“What seems to be the problem here officers?”

His teeth flashed threateningly, and he was visibly putting more weight onto his latest victims. Dani snickered a bit to herself while Greed got things sorted out.

Boo-yah! Great timing Greed!

“Come on kiddo, let’s get outta here.”

So like, imagine when this is all over and Maxwell has to go back to Gath to face his father. He promises Torse that he’ll be back as soon as he settles matters with his family. A thorough investigation of his father and brothers to root out everyone that conspired to see Cadswitch killed. Maxwell admits that it could take months if not years seeing that the estate is secured and his grandfather is avenged. Torse offers to come but Maxwell dissuades him saying that Zern needs Torse just as Gath needs him.

Before Maxwell leaves, they each swap some token of their affection. Maxwell gives Torse his gloves, and Torse has Marya remove one of the blades from his gauntlet so that even if he himself cannot protect Max, some part of him will be able to.

There’s no way for them to reliably communicate with each other because of the befrumplement of time. Maxwell could speak across the dimensions but get responses back to questions he hasn’t even asked yet. So they accept that this will be the last time they speak to each other for what could be a truly unknown amount of time. Comfrey still hasn’t figured out a way to reliably choose what time you pop up in Zood or Zern, and more than that, the Effulgent Biangle has yet to be bound to a gate like the Calefactory and Obtenebrant have. So Maxwell not only has to contend with time passing by as his responsibilities demand, but the time it will take him to find the Effulgent Biangle again.

Let’s say… 7 or so years pass on Maxwell’s end. He’s still young, but there are some signs of aging. He’s got a few greys at his temples and wrinkles forming at the corners of his eyes from smiling. Time spent in the sun will do that to you, and Maxwell has spent plenty of time in the skies fighting. Fighting Hatwell who absconded with the Karakamanchi blimp to escape being tried for his complicity in Cadswitch’s death, helping Monty to dismantle the Empire and discontinue use of the Queen’s Smog, to free his family of its ties to the Ministry of Deranged Science. And each and every day, after every battle, he thinks of Torse. Of getting back to him. The blade Torse left him has been affixed to a gilded hilt engraved with the year it was in Zood when Maxwell left, and the time it was in Gath when he arrived. All the while, hoping that he makes it back to Torse before he gets tired of waiting.

For Torse… decades pass. Let’s say four, to be mean. Forty years. Forty years he’s held onto Maxwell’s gloves in a compartment in his ribcage near his heart, now an ashen grey with subtle tears at the seams where they’ve gotten caught on Torse’s sharp edges. Every single day for forty years, he has wondered how Maxwell fares. He knows Maxwell is a capable warrior and that the others will keep him safe, but some anxious part of him fears for Maxwell. Knowing how reckless he is, the fire that burns in his heart. It’s all too possible Maxwell could have died and he would have no way of knowing. Let’s say once, about twenty years in, Comfrey or Olethra or Marya make it back to Zern, but it’s only been about a month in Gath. Torse is plagued by guilt, ashamed that he wishes for Maxwell’s company when his family’s legacy is at stake. Just as his own with the Aganti Zernai was before the reformation of Zern began.

So, time keeps passing. Torse rebuffs the advances of the more frivolous Zoodians that now travel back and forth between there and Zern. Maybe a few clockwork men as well, looking for a companion to pass the years with. Meanwhile, Maxwell is just straight up oblivious to any passes being made at him if not outright put off by them. Monty has had to explain on more than one occasion at a gala that Maxwell is spoken for, much to the dismay of many a young lord or lady.

But then that day comes, the day when Maxwell is finally able to return to Zood, to Zern, to Torse. He sends a pterosaur ahead with a message to Torse before he can even find out how much time has passed, but as soon as he realizes it’s been FORTY YEARS, he straight up ditches Wealwell in Oda and books it for Zern.

Torse gets the pterosaur and starts panicking. The forty years that have passed may not have been the kindest to him. He has new battle scars, some of his iron body has rusted and not yet been replaced because he routinely puts the needs of others before his own. Will Maxwell still care for him in the way that Torse still cares for Maxwell? Has always cared for him? So Torse grabs Sandy and asks him to help tidy him up. He’s nervously fiddling with the gloves Maxwell left him, he’s commissioned someone to make Maxwell new gloves now that these are worn and weathered, he literally cannot throw up but he’s starting to understand what that might feel like.

But then Maxwell bursts in the door, chest heaving from exhaustion because as soon as he landed he sprinted through the city to get to Torse. Torse doesn’t even get to say a word before Maxwell rushes forward and sweeps him into a hug saying, “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me for taking so long to return.”

And Torse, relieved to be holding his favorite person, just says, “I would have waited several lifetimes.”

(They exchange gifts later because Maxwell commissioned Marya to make Torse a new gauntlet with even cooler knives since he stole one from Torse. He still offers Torse the original knife back but Torse makes him promise to keep it so that he always knows Maxwell will have something to keep him safe. Torse does NOT offer Maxwell his old gloves back, because he grew terribly attached to them in his time away. But when he offers Maxwell the new ones, Maxwell does cry a little. It feels dangerously close to a marriage proposal.

Him looking directly into the camera and telling Will the title is waiting for him like it's an incantation that will guarantee Will comes back healthy and whole.

Hangman trying to be the champion and man Will believed he was, the kind of champion he thinks Will would be, because the worst thing that could ever happen is Will coming back and standing across the ring with disappointment in his eyes.

Hangman laying awake at night remembering Will catching his eye that time the Death Riders caught them both, how scared he'd been, and how Hangman had tried to signal to him that everything would be okay. Will had believed him. Hangman doesn't know why Will had believed him.

Hangman dreaming about being able to save Will, save him from the cage, from the Death Riders, from the DCF, from shadows he can't remember when he wakes up. Dreaming about throwing his body over Will's the way Will had for Kenny and Kenny had for him, being able to complete that chain and pay it all back. Dreaming about not feeling any of the blows raining down because all that matters is Will clinging onto him because even barely conscious Will knows Hangman will keep him safe. Dreaming about walking behind Will in the back after a match, maybe they were tagging, maybe the match was against each other, Hangman's never quite sure, seeing Will's legs buckle and catching him before he can fall. Will murmuring I'm all right cowboy, just...just give me a minute into the curve of Hangman's neck. Hangman letting Will lean all his weight against him until his legs steady, until his exhausted muscles stop trembling under Hangman's fingertips.

Hangman waking up from those dreams hard and not knowing why, there's nothing erotic about them, the hell is that all about, and then pointedly not thinking about it for the rest of the day.

Hangman passing someone who uses the same shampoo as Will, or the same cologne, and the wind shifting just enough to stop him in his tracks but not knowing why, just knowing he lost his train of thought all of a sudden.