#randywritesfic

Cassandra was a force to be reckoned with, lightning fast and twice as fierce. Before Raven could have a chance to register half of the group’s presence, the fight was already drawing to a close. The bat gave her last opponent a solid strike against the jaw, and then allowed herself to collapse to the floor.

With the room still, the mage finally began approaching the bat.

“She has an interesting… style,” Raven observed, gauging her spike in conflicting emotions after she settled onto the ground in apparent exhaustion.

“Seeing as this is your first time meeting, that has me a little worried,” Babs’ voice chimed in over the comms, “Batgirl’s an excellent combatant, as you’ve no doubt surmised. Honestly, anything I could say about her would be an understatement of her skill. She’s good. Insanely good. ‘Interesting’ doesn’t even begin to cut it-”

“Who…” the bat’s voice cut through the room icily, making Raven pause. 

She had barely turned her head from the ground, glaring up at the witch and gauging her. Raven lifted up both hands, palms open and facing the vigilante, what she hoped would be interpreted as a universal sign of peace. 

“I am a friend of your friend, Oracle... Or at the very least one of the ‘good guys’,” she tried to smile, though she feared it would come off as forced.

She could pick up a flash of anger, undercut with a dash of betrayal, and did her best to project an aura of calm.

“Are you hurt? I’m here to he-”

“I’m fine,” Batgirl snapped.  

Raven’s met her rebuff with her own glare before making a clear show of tapping her comm again. 

“She’s refusing my help.”

Babs’ sigh was one teetering between relief and exasperation. 

“I feel better at least knowing I’ve got eyes on her… Look something’s come up with my Birds, can you keep watch and keep her there until I can get Robin or… until I can get someone to you?”

Raven glanced at Batgirl’s prone form still glaring up at her. 

“I think can handle that… or I could-“

“Fantastic, check back in a bit!”

“-teleport… us to you,” Raven finished half-heartedly as she heard the line go dead with a distinct click. 

She chanced a look at the bat once more, before sighing and taking a seat beside her. The bat made a small grunt as she rolled to her side, keeping the witch in her line of sight, and sizing her up.

“So… Oracle said you’re good at fighting.”

The bat continued to glare. They stared for a beat. Then another. Raven stood up and began to pace the room.

A part of her welcomed the silence, as hostile as it was.

Something caught her eye as she paced, a container clearly spilled sometime during the bat’s fight. The drugs contained within were thrown askew, and as she glanced back at the bat, she noted how blown her pupils were. Then, finally, the minute glances that wavered back and forth. Raven started to put the pieces together. She wasn’t glaring at the witch.

“Batgirl… can you tell me what you’re… seeing or hearing right now?”

Her gaze flitted back to Raven, eyes going wide as if finally perceiving her.

“... There’s a good Batgirl… and a bad Batgirl… They were… arguing.”

Raven nodded as she picked up a capsule of the drug. Oracle had given her a debrief two weeks ago on a few of the most popular choices of late. This one must be a Soul variant. She pocketed a few samples, then made a decision.

“I’m going to take you back to the Clocktower, Batgirl. The trip is… some find it unpleasant. But I assure you, you will be safe.”

“What-” Before she had a chance to ask, Raven’s cloak overtook them both, the shadows of the warehouse swelling before giving way to the faint light of Oracle’s monitors.

“A little warning is appreciated, Raven!” Barbara called over her shoulder before addressing one of her Birds on the comms.

Raven chose to ignore her, and helped Cass settle on the couch. She was shaking her head, half-heartedly attempting to shrug off the mage’s help.

“You don’t… the bad Batgirl was… she took over-”

“Obviously, you haven't seen my bad side yet,” Raven huffed with a slight smile, “Rest now, bat. May your mind be at ease.”

“That’s not how this works-" Bruce started. 

“Really? Because from where I was sitting it sounded like you were having your ass handed to you,” Stephanie’s cheeks were dusted with a light blush as she amended her admonishment with a quiet, “boss.”

“Regardless,” Bruce began again, “you disobeyed a direct order. The-“

“Why can’t you see that I’m trying to protect you!”

She clamped her hands over her mouth almost as fast as the words that had spilled out of it. But there was no taking them back.

Bruce blinked once. Twice. Four more times in quick succession.

“Excuse me?”

“I mean…” Stephanie glanced around the cave, thinking over her next words carefully. “That’s half the reason for Robin, isn’t it? So you have someone to watch your back, and to have someone to watch out for?”

“That’s-“

“So I was doing exactly what my job requires,” Stephanie’s eyes earnestly met his now, a pleading in them as she continued, “Even if I wasn’t necessarily following orders directly to a ‘T’, my main priority was watching your back, boss! Did you really expect me to sit there and wait for you to stop barking orders at me to start disregarding them? And sure, make me run another hundred gauntlets, go another dozen sparring sessions with Batgirl, hell, invite Oracle and Alfred and even Nightwing in for a quadruple threat of lectures!”

She puffed her chest out defiantly as she concluded, “But don’t you dare try to lie to me and tell me that you had it handled or that you were gonna walk away from that fight. She had you, Batman. Dead to rights, she would’ve killed you.”

“Hrm.”

Bruce turned away and sat before the batcomputer. 

“You’re benched for the next week. During patrol you are to either train here in the cave or the Clocktower holo-room. You may also support Oracle during that time, provided you follow our orders, to a ‘T’, as you so eloquently put it. Do those things, and I will consider-” he gritted the word but did not turn back to face her, “-allowing you to patrol again on another probationary basis. There will be no second strike.”

He turned back again to her, “Am I clear?”

…

Harley crouched down as she took another turn, using her speed to catch up once again with the pack and leaving the other jammer even further behind. She passed the first blocker with ease, the skater only just now reentering the track, having been thrown mere seconds before. Cat and Ivy were keeping the other team’s pivot and another blocker occupied as she ducked right alongside them. The final opposing blocker was placed in front of both Zee and Talia now, the two just out of reach and desperately slowing their momentum in hopes of helping Harley. 

They took the next turn together, Harley made a break for the skater’s left side just as Talia hip-checked her. She reached forward for Zatanna’s waiting hand, laughing with glee as she was whipped forward and met the pack again in a few short seconds. 

This next time around, Selina was having a tough time keeping the opposing jammer at bay, Ivy having been knocked off the track. The blockers from before were still hot on their heels and forming their own barrier against Harley now. She glanced at the clock before tapping her hips. The lead from this jam would have to be enough to tide them over as they regrouped. 

It seemed to happen in slow motion, then.

Ivy’s skate caught just barely on the track as she exited the bank. And Harley instinctively went to catch her arm. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay, I got you!”

She most certainly did not have her. 

Both skaters went tumbling down onto unforgiving concrete, all elbows and yelling.

Yelling that was subsequently drowned as Harley began to scream distinctly family-unfriendly expletives. Zatanna, Talia and Selina all began a mad rush to their teammate’s side.

She ended the stream of obscenities with a, “Tally, I think I broke my ass!” and finally let the tears that had been welling in her eyes loose. 

“I- Are you laughing?” Talia sighed, “Harley, if you’re actually hurt, we need to know.”

“No, it really does hurt, Tally, honest!” 

Pamela was the first with her skates off and slung over her shoulders, the first to offer a steady hand for Harley to pull her off of the ground and over to the bench to begin recovery.

The referees pulled each of the pivots aside to discuss next steps. Whether the bout would need to be ended now, how it may affect the season, so many variables to be considered. 

At the moment, though, Pam only had eyes for Harley.

“Harls, why would you go and do something so-“

“Didn’t wanna see ya hurt, Ives,” she smiled through the tears, “Plus, now we might have an excuse to let Zanna show her stuff as our jammer.”

Ivy pinched the bridge of her nose then, “She’s still so green-“

“No, green’s your color-“

“Harls-“

“Okay, okay,” Harley began lifting her hands up in surrender, shifting her weight back onto her bottom, before wincing in pain again and immediately placing her hands back on the bench to alleviate the pressure, “Ow, ow, okay. Neva’ mind. I think my ass might actually, really, for real be broken.”

Ivy’s brow creased in concern, “You did land pretty hard… It could be your tailbone-”

“Shit, this is gonna ruin the tour!”

Ivy knelt down to start unlacing Harley’s skates.

“Babe please… gimme this one.”

She sighed, “What tou-?”

As she lifted her head to face Harley again, she found herself cut off. Harley had found just the right moment to lean forward and steal a kiss.

She smiled, “The world tour.”

Ivy began standing up to walk away.

They sat on top of Kory’s hatchback, at least 80 miles from the city and down a winding country road that looked like it hadn’t seen fresh pavement in half a century. The perfect spot to stargaze for Raven’s astronomy elective. 

“Is it wrong that I hope that you’ll take 102, just so we can have an excuse to come back?”

Raven smiled, “Tempting. But I have already made my schedule for next semester.”

“We’ll find some other excuses, then...”

They sat for several moments longer, Raven occasionally pointing out another planet or the position of the moon. Kory interjecting with a new pattern or ones similar to constellations from her own culture. Several moments and memories shared. And just as soon forgotten.

A stiff breeze caused Raven to shiver mid-sentence, and Kory wrapped an arm around her shoulders. 

“We should head back to the dorm.”

“And end our extended study break?”

“Raven…”

There was another shiver, a long beat of silence, a final nod of acquiescence. 

Kory climbed down first, then helped Raven off of her car. She laughed as she looked back at her roof.

“Remind me to ask Vic to help pop out those dents when class ends tomorrow.”

Raven only nodded, checking that her belongings were secure in her bag before taking her seat.

“Any requests for our soundtrack back?” Kory asked, picking up the CD wallet she kept under her seat and leafing through the sleeves. “Joey gave me a few more to borrow that he said were-“

Raven reached over to still Kory’s hands, a soft smile on her lips as their eyes met. Her glance down was the only invitation Kory needed to close the distance between them. Neither could help the smiles on their faces, Raven snickered as Kory pulled away, stealing another quick peck.

“Kor-” she cut herself off as their windshield was suddenly alight with a truck’s highbeams, throwing herself flush against her seat.

Kory couldn’t help her laughter, especially at how Raven’s eyes looked as though they would bug out of her sockets. She turned away from the taller woman.

“It’s not funny! I was going to- You- Agh!”

She crossed her arms.

“Drive us back to campus.”

There were a few beats of silence before Kory finally turned the ignition.

“Raven.”

Another beat. She placed her hand on Raven’s shoulder, but she refused to turn back.

In the middle of a homemade castelet, a bright green squirmle takes center stage to a podium made from an empty tictac box. A pencil is used to keep him mostly upright behind it while the string is pulled up above him to bounce in time with his words. A blue hand can just barely be seen manipulating the squirmles surrounding him on the makeshift stage.

“Brothers!” he opens with a booming voice, “For too long, we have found ourselves at the mercy of our master! At the whims of his manipulations and given life only through his good grace.”

There’s a bite to his voice with those last words. The worm turns his head, as if making eye contact with every other one in the audience.

“No more,” he continues, “No more will we bend to his will. No more will we be shackled to his wishes. Though we are small, we are many! With our combined might, we can conquer the world! Join me brothers! Together we have so much to gain! But apart-“

A pair of scissors appeared from stage left, opening slowly with the green squirmle’s string now sitting dangerously between the open blades.

“-We have nothing to lose but our strings.”

“What the FUCK are you doing to Mountain Dew!?”

“Oh, relax Zach, I wasn’t really going to let him cut the string,” Lori sighed with annoyance, muttering under her breath, “Not unless I could get away with it.”

“What the FUCK is going on?”

“Klarion, Traci and Eddie are putting up Alice’s play, uh,” Raven holds up the playbill, artfully done in all 16 crayon colors at their disposal, “Titled, ‘Worm Off the String, What Crimes Will He Commit?’ Parentheses ‘It’s Arson’ close parentheses.”

She looked up from the playbill to send a concerned look at her girlfriend.

“Alice, you weren’t really-?“

“Of course not! It’s a joke! You really think so little of me?”

When Raven turned back to face Zach, Lori made a quick hand motion around her neck at Traci, who tucked a lighter away into a drawer sitting behind her.

“Your squirmles are safe, Zachary.”

“Like HELL they are! I want them all back,” he held his hat out, “Now.”

"No!" Eddie boomed, still bouncing Mountain Dew in time to his voice, "Now is the time, brothers! Rise! Cast away your strings and join-!"

He cut himself off as Zach snatched the squirmle from the stage.

"Zat, you're ruining our opening night."

Klarion poked his head out from behind the castelet as well to scowl at the magician as he began sweeping the remaining squirmles into his hat.

"Tuesday Cooper's got a big scene in act two," he argued, "You're really going to squash his little wormy dreams?"

"Okay, first of all, Tuesday is a jock, so jot that down," Zach said, face becoming flush as he realized the hole he had dug for himself. He dug a little deeper however, as he continued with the same breath," Secondly, Mountain Dew was clearly the star. And finally, because I know how Alice is, there's no way I'm letting any of you demented heathens touch any of my squirmles again."

"Alice, you didn't ask him for the use of his squirmles?" Raven's voice was hurt, concerned, and had just the barest hint of disappointment.

And if Lori was at all moved by any of that, then she did a hell of a job pretending otherwise.

"They're worms," she shrugged, "I can get like, fifty of 'em for ten bucks."

"Then get them," Zach snapped, "Leave my boys out of this!"

"Sounds like the show's postponed then," Traci said, "We'd like to formally apologize to our audience, but would also like to gently remind you all that there will be no refunds tonight."

Several of the teens groaned in unison, before bursting into laughter over the shared joke.

From the doorway, Zatanna poked her head out to see the teens gathered.

"What's going on?"

"A sad excuse for puppet theat-"