#ttlb 1

“You’re getting better.” Dick said. His tiny fists were raised. 

“I’m sorry I kicked you there,” Aspen said. She’s winded. Dick is not. It stings just as much as it did the first day, that she’s so unfit compared to him, but hey, he’s a circus kid, those are both advantages. She’d get there too, eventually. Dick took her on the trapeze the other day. 

“You didn’t hurt me.” Dick smiled, which was the only cue Aspen gots before he hit her with a spinning back kick right in the gut. It bypassed her own defensive stance, it was so fast, and it felt like someone threw a brick at her stomach. When she doubled over, he grabbed her arm and threw her over his shoulder on to her back on the mat, twisting her elbow and wrist with surgical precision until she tapped out. He let her go, then, offering her a hand up without a shred of pre-teen smugness. Aspen wondered, not for the first time, how this kid is so chill, how he managed to be this nice while kicking her ass, but she just closed her eyes and let her head collapse against the mats. 

Dick laughed. Good. Kid didn’t smile enough. 

“That’s enough for today.” Calum says. He’d been watching from outside of the mats, like he did every time she sparred with Dick. 

“Good work, Grayson. I’m just gonna stay here, do a quick quality control test of the mats. I’ll catch up.” Aspen nodded, not opening her eyes. Thank god they’re done. Some of this training felt good, she wasn’t going to lie, but about this time every morning she was tempted to just let Dick kick her ass until Calum let her go have a shower. 

She could feel Calum’s presence above her as Dick’s footsteps tapped off of the mat and then out the door. Calm didn’t move, and after a long moment Aspen cracked an eye open to see him looking down at her, with that face he does when he’s really trying not to be amused by her. He was, she knew he was. “Mats are good.” She announced, opening her eyes all the way and giving him a tired smile. Calum stuck out a hand to help her up, and this time, she took it. “Fairly high quality, good condition -” 

Halfway through helping her up, Calum knocked her feet out from under her and yanked on her hand, pulling her into his chest as she fell on top of him. Her head was spinning, but once she got her bearings she realized he was lying on his back, with her lying chest to chest on the mats. His grip is tight; he’s clinging to her. She can feel her heart thumping against his solid chest. 

“Focus, Penny.” Calum said. He had her right on top of him, his eyes sparkling into hers. 

“Oh, I’m focused.” She smiled. “What am I focused on, again?” 

Calum laughed a little. She felt lightheaded. She loved these moments before they kissed. “You’re in a bit of a scrape here, darling.” 

Aspen considered it for a second. Calum’s other hand was on her waist, holding her steady. He was smiling up at her. He was sweaty from their workout earlier, and his hair was all messed up. He almost looked normal like this. Like her gym-buddy-boyfriend in basketball shorts. Her heart thudded against his chest harder. “I’m in complete control of this situation.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah.” 

Calum flipped them over, supporting himself carefully over her. His hand is planted by her face; he’s careful not to hold her down. His other hand was still steady at her waist. “You sure about that?” 

Aspen smiled bigger. “You’ve fallen right into my cunning trap.” 

“That’s sure what it looks like.” Calum teased before he leaned in to kiss her. It was light, at first, but she pressed deeper, keeping him there. It felt good. She couldn’t feel her aching muscles anymore; she was out of breath for an entirely different reason. It felt so good she almost forgot to wrap her leg around his, trap his arm, and tilt her hips to tip him over on to his back. Almost. 

Calum let her grab his wrists as she straddled him, trapping his hands against his chest as she looked down on him. She knew he was letting her do this, she’d seen him in a fight. It still felt good, though. The first time she had tried that, he had just laughed. Now he was playing at being trapped beneath her. “Goddamn,” He said, obviously pleased. Aspen would be pretty pleased too, with a good-looking girl on top of her, but it was more than that. He was proud. Maybe he didn’t resist her maneuver, but he hadn’t been expecting it, either. 

After that, Aspen didn’t waste her time. She leaned in, knitting her fingers in Calums as she kissed him, and he opened his mouth almost immediately to let her kiss him deeper. She felt warm all over. Calum smelled sweaty and rich and it was driving her wild. 

Calum pulled back after a moment, and Aspen let him, just so she could catch her breath. She could hear him smile in the small space between them. But his hand slipped from hers to give her waist a gentle squeeze. “We have work,” he reminded her. 

Aspen dropped her head into the crook of his neck and pouted her lips, brushing up against his neck. He was right, she just hated to let go of him. It was so recently she got to kiss him at all, it still felt like a privilege. “I guess I’ll let you go this time.” She said, heaving herself off him. 

She was picking up her water bottle and towel when she heard Calum find his feet behind her. The mats amplified his sounds. On any other terrain, he’d be soundless. “And here I was gonna tell you to be more aggressive when you’re sparring.” 

“I can be aggressive when I’m not fighting a kid.” Aspen said, trying to focus in on the training again. “You saw the security footage.” 

Calum reached out and squeezed her elbow. “I did.”

Aspen looked over at him, and he gave her a little smile. Just recently he had seen the footage of Liam attacking her. He had asked her if it would be alright, if he saw it, in that initial talk after he gave her the lab. She had wondered if he had already watched it, but she gave him permission anyways. Based on that, the first moves he had taught her were focused on getting out from under someone. He still wouldn’t spar with her, in case the experience of having a guy try to take her down freaked her out. Aspen was kind of thankful for it. She’d felt nothing but safe with Calum, but she’d also had a few nightmares, and she was gonna take it easy in any way she could at that point. She was tough, and she was gonna stay tough, but that meant not overwhelming herself just to look tough. 

They split apart after that, going their separate ways without a kiss goodbye. Aspen had her own bedroom in the manor. She hadn’t been allowed to stay over, but she had a place to keep her work clothes and a four-piece bathroom near the manor’s gym to get showered in every morning. Calum had stocked the room with, she was pretty sure, the most expensive soap you could find in Gotham - the prices when she looked up the brands made her head spin. She left his place every morning smelling like a basil-lavender-sicilian-lemon-rose, and feeling only a little bit like the world’s most complicated one-night stand. 

There were rules, you see. And they were good rules, and she understood them and all. Her problem was just the fact that these rules existed. Aspen, historically, had not done super well with Calum’s rules. 

He didn’t want Dick to know about them. That was fine, that was something Aspen understood, she didn’t want to waltz into his kid’s life while there was a possibility of them not… not seeing this through. Aspen, for her part, wasn’t crazy about being linked to him in the public eye. She’s seen how his girlfriends get treated in the supermarket check-out line. So that meant she hadn’t been able to stay over, and Dick’s pretty involved in the whole “Batman” thing so she hadn’t been able to have Calum over at hers without raising suspicion, and she wasn’t gonna be able to fuck him at the office, and neither of them could really do the seedy-motel thing, and… 

Long story short, these rules meant they haven’t done much more than kissing, and Aspen was starting to lose her shit about it. I mean, if he wasn’t feeling comfortable emotionally, that would have been one thing, but if it was just from circumstance… 

Aspen, in the steam-soaked shower, slipped one hand delicately between her legs. God, if only Calum was here. Her body was aching, but she wasn’t tired out yet, and she just yearned for this final bit of tension to be released. 

She takes a deep breath and turned around, turning the cold water on until it hurt her skin and gave her goosebumps. 

Fuck. 

Or rather, Profound Lack Thereof. 

                                   ---------------------------------------------------

“I don’t think you should be there.” Aspen said, pouring herself a cup of tea. Used to be she only grabbed something caffeinated in the afternoons, when she needed a pick-me-up, but between early mornings training and nights in the Cave she was starting to need more of it.

“It wasn’t a question.” Calum replied, knife clinking against the plate. They were in the kitchen, having breakfast at the little table with Dick while Alfred busied himself around the stove. 

“You don’t need to be there the whole time with the DA. I’ll be fine.” She insisted, cracking open a scone. Honey ginger. Alfred was mixing it up this morning. 

“I know you’ll be fine, but I want to be there anyways. At least for this first meeting. You're my employee, it'll look good for me to be supportive and involved.” 

"Dick thinks you should come home after work and hang out with him instead of coming to the meeting. They grow up so fast." Aspen said, giving both boys a wide eyed, emotional look. 

"I think he should be at the meeting, actually." Dick piped up. 

Aspen snapped into a glare. "Seen and not heard, Grayson." Dick grinned at her and wiped yolk off his mouth. He knew there was no venom in it. Aspen looked back across the table at Calum, where he was still looking back at her. He could be hard to distract when he wanted to be. 

Dick had started watching their spat like a tennis match, poached eggs forgotten, as Aspen geared up for her rebuttal. “As far as the DA knows - and correct me if I’m wrong - Liam and I are just unfortunate employees of yours. I think it might be a little suspicious. You can stop by at the start or the end to say hi and continue your professional relationship with the DA’s office, but I don’t need you to babysit me through the whole thing.” She couldn't say it out loud, but she didn't want to make the DA suspicious that there was something more between them. Romance-wise or caped-vigilante wise. "I mean, you are also Liam’s boss. Do you visit him when he's meeting with his legal team?" 

Calum's eyebrow twitched, even though the rest of his face was impassive. Aspen smiled. She knew he loved it when she hit him with a good argument. "I was his boss, and he wouldn't want me there. Also, he did kidnap you." 

"Good point. Counter: I also don't want you there." 

Calum smiled and ducked his head. "We'll discuss this at work." He said, and Aspen couldn't tell if that meant she won or not. 

"I guess we will." 

Aspen turned back to her scone, buttering it pointedly. It took a lot of effort to butter something pointedly, but she was determined. She couldn't maintain her facade once she took a bite, though. The scone was still warm, melted butter running through the fluffy insides over chunks of candied ginger - fuck, she was going to have to take another cold shower. "Mr. Pennyworth, another triumph." She announced. 

"Thank you, Ms. McMichael." The butler called over from the stove. "Again, I did ask you to call me Alfred." 

"And I asked you to call me Aspen, so it looks like we're at an impasse, huh." She said, after another bite. 

Dick caught her eye as she set about buttering the other half of her scone, and something in his gaze almost made her pause. Hm. That looked like trouble. Maybe it was time she saw herself out. "I think I'm gonna head out now. My big meeting at the hospital is tomorrow and although I have some wealthy patrons and the like behind me, I want to be prepared." She took her napkin off her lap and downed the rest of her tea quickly, winking at her wealthy patron across the table. “Plus if we’re, uh, working late tonight I need to get it done as soon as possible so I can focus.” 

“Good luck!” Dick said cheerfully. 

Aspen gave him the stinkeye, even though she appreciated the sentiment. “I’m gonna kick your ass tomorrow morning.” She promised. 

“Like hell you will.” 

“Not at the table, if you please, Master Grayson.” 

Aspen stuck her tongue out at Dick as she left. Calum shook his head near-imperceptibly at her, but he was fond, she could tell. At least, that was probably fond. She’d put $5 on it. 

“Hopefully I won’t see you gentlemen tonight.” She said as Alfred came over to help her with her coat. 

“Let’s hope.” Calum agreed from the table. He hadn’t gotten up. “Let’s meet after lunch to discuss the meeting?” 

Aspen knew she wasn’t getting out of this. “Drop by the lab whenever.” She sighed. “See ya, boys!” 

She smiled to herself on the way out the door. One of the best things about this new life was finding a place at Hood Manor. She had been disconnected from her roommates ever since the promotion to PA, and now, with her fucked up hours at work and in the Cave, she saw them less than ever. It was nice to have somewhere she fit again, that was all. Being the person who drank tea with Alfred while Cal and Dick, for some reason, took decaf coffee. Being Dick’s godforsaken sparring partner. It felt a little bit like having a life. 

Aspen slid into the driver’s seat of her car. Her new car. Not just new to her, either, new new. There wasn’t a convenient transit route up to the Manor, and if she was coming up every morning before work and every night after, Calum figured he’d just… buy her a car. He didn’t fuck her on top of it, it didn’t get THAT shades of grey, but holy shit, she had a quasi-boyfriend who bought her a car. She still felt a little thrill every time she turned the key in the ignition. He had offered to pay for gas, too, but she had insisted on taking care of that herself. He would have, though. If she let him. He would have taken care of everything. 

Sometimes Aspen wonders what might have happened if things had unspooled differently. If, after Calum had kissed her that night, she hadn’t gone back to help Liam. Maybe if she had played her cards right she’d be burning in the sun in Mexico, or on an iron-wrought balcony in Paris. Maybe Calum would have been with her. Probably not. Aspen was almost certain she’d made the right choice, in the end. I mean, she had this car, now. But she wondered, every so often. 

She always took the long way to work, and today (after she took advantage of the parking spot with her name on it) she stopped by the coffee shop around the corner. It still felt weird, to be able to buy a tea in the morning without going into a shame spiral over wasting her money on something she could make at home, and how she was gonna waste all her money on this, and drink herself into poverty like some Charles Dickens character on hard Earl Grey. The baristas were starting to remember her. It felt surreal. She used to be a barista remembering people and trying to get a perfect ristretto shot -- not in Gotham, but while she had been in school. This was gonna wear off eventually, she was sure, getting knocked on her ass every few minutes about the intangible what-the-fuck-ness of her life, but for now… 

Her current project at work was teaching herself programming. Well, she called it teaching herself. Whenever she got really stuck, something she couldn’t fix with a google search and a prayer, she’d wander down the hall to whatever software engineer had the best opinion of her at this point. She was learning some basics - she was getting ambitious for sure, trying to code a machine-learning AI to create an index of violent deaths in Gotham, comparing the crimes to the villain they were attributed to or proven to be from. Anyone could look at a corpse with facial rictus and say it was a Joker special, but she’d be interested to see if there were any less obvious signatures from Gotham’s flourishing criminal community that they just hadn’t noticed. 

When she got really frustrated, she’d take a break, roll her chair back and slouch and try to collect her thoughts. She had a few tanks of critters Calum hadn’t noticed until after they had moved in, and she let him and Dick name most of them, so he wasn’t mad about it. She watched the axolotls, Martha and Achilles, wiggle around the aquarium for a minute. 

She hasn’t started a proper research project yet. She’s been running PCR gels and such for Calum, especially back at the Cave, but for a while she hadn’t been able to think of exactly what she wanted to dedicate her time and extensive resources to until Calum had to fight off a Venom-crazed junkie and came back bruised and bloody. That wasn’t exactly new, but the other guy hadn’t made it through the withdrawal combined with the stress from the injuries. Then Aspen knew. Might as well give back to the hospital that gave her her first stitches since that canoe trip when she was sixteen, right? They needed it most, too. Venom wasn’t really starting to get national attention yet, partly from the mayor’s attempts to keep it quiet. Cal had filled her in on that. 

Anyway, she was meeting with the board tomorrow to see if they’d approve the collaboration with her as chief liason. Which. She was gonna be one of the only people without “Dr.” before her name in that room and she was gonna be coordinating a big research project, hopefully meaningfully participating in it, and - it was big, was all. 

Maybe it was good that she hadn’t slept with Calum yet. Wouldn’t want to think that this was just because she was a pretty face. 

Well. Such as it was. She rubbed her scar absentmindedly, staring at her computer screen.

She heard Calum’s footsteps before he knocked on the doorframe of the lab. When she wasn’t doing wet lab, Aspen liked to leave the door open. If Calum happened to be swinging by, he’d be able to see her at her computer and know she was okay without having to duck in. Of course, he did also have cameras in the room, but she liked to think he noticed and appreciated this too. 

 She turned in her chair and gave him a smile before she spoke. She was still being careful about what she said to him at work, at least while the door was open. “How’s it going, boss?” She grinned, raising an eyebrow at him. 

That was careful for her, anyways.

“Always a pleasure, Ms. McMichael.” Calum didn’t smile back, but he had a warm look in his eye, and that was enough. “I was hoping to talk about the meeting at the DA’s this evening. May I?” 

His hand was on the doorknob. Aspen was almost squirming in her seat. “Please.” She said, in her most polite voice, and Calum closed the door. 

Immediately, Aspen stood up and started to walk over to him. Not too fast. He didn’t need to know how eager she was for him to just touch her again. Calum looked her up and down as she walked over, jaw flexing. “I really do want to talk about the meeting.” He said. 

Aspen didn’t reply until she was already within arm’s reach and Calum’s hands had closed around her waist and pulled her in. She leaned closer, the tip of her nose brushing his cheek as she ghosted her lips over his. “I know you do.” She said, so close she knew he could feel her lips flex into the words. 

Calum groaned, lips parted, eyes already closed, waiting for her to lean in and complete the kiss. Aspen knew that. She didn’t move. After a long, long second, Calum groaned again and grabbed the back of her neck, pulling her in for a kiss with mouths already half-open, deep, totally work inappropriate. Aspen couldn’t help but smile against his mouth, pressing her body up against his so close she almost fell when he stepped her back until her back hit something he could kiss her up against. He smelled clean now, like boy and expensive cologne, and Aspen knew for the rest of the day she’d be smelling him on her skin. Fuck. 

After a few long moments, he drew back, keeping one hand tight in her hair so she couldn’t chase his lips. He’d picked up on doing that surprisingly quickly, and she kind of wished it didn’t turn her on so much. “You’re a terrible tease, you know that, darling?” He murmured as she tested his grip. 

Once she established that he wasn’t going to let her go for another kiss, Aspen leaned her head back, looking at him through half-lidded eyes, throat open and unmarked. “What’re you gonna do about it?” 

Calum closed his eyes and huffed out a breath, finally letting her go as he rolled so he was next to her, back up against the same wall. “Nothing. For now.” He conceded, finding her hand without opening his eyes. 

“Oh, good, no consequences.” Aspen teased once she had caught her breath, rubbing her thumb along his knuckles. Calum cracked his eyes open and turned his head to smile at her as she brought his hand to her lips and kissed the knuckle of his pinky finger, then the ring finger, then the middle, then the pointer. Then, once he had been lulled into a false sense of security, she slipped her fingers out of his and grabbed his wrist, pulling two of his fingers into her mouth to the first knuckle before he could make a fist and cut her off. She could feel him test her grip as she drew her tongue along the underside, but he was more than strong enough to break her hold entirely, and he didn’t. Aspen met his eyes and hollowed her cheeks, and when he experimentally pushed his fingers a few centimeters deeper she let go of him and let her hand trail down to grip his forearm, putting him in complete control. 

“Fuck, Penny, look at you.” Her heartbeat picked up as he experimentally started to fuck her mouth with his fingers. He never went deep enough to gag her, but he started to use a little more force, and she let him. Was this how it was gonna happen? Up against a wall in her lab? Would he bend her over her desk so she couldn’t sit down to work without thinking about his grip on her hips, his hand in her hair? Calum was looking at her like he’d devour her if he could, fixated on her lips wrapped around his fingers, but when their eyes met again he snapped out of it, withdrawing his fingers and using that hand to grip her jaw, palm pressed against the ridges of her throat. It felt like he knocked the breath right out of her. Aspen groaned and tested his grip, but she wasn’t going anywhere. 

Calum watched her squirm for a second, smile on his lips when she relaxed. “God, you’re a menace.” He said. She could feel the cool wetness of his fingers against her jaw. It had only been a few seconds, but the feeling would stay with her all day. 

She took a deep breath to try and calm the pounding of her heart, regain her composure. “Means a lot to hear it from you, sir.” She smiled. 

Calum moved in for a quick kiss, a peck, and he kept his hold on her the whole time so she couldn’t chase his lips and draw him back in. “You really have to stop that.” He said, letting her go, and this time Aspen was ready to focus and not try to make out with her illicit boyfriend. 

“Fine.” She sighed, walking back to the desks and pulling out a chair for him, too. Not that she had stopped her seduction entirely. She knew he was watching her walk away. “Step into my office. Let’s talk about the appointment with the DA.” 

In the end, Aspen got her way. Kind of. They decided together that Calum would accompany her to the DA’s office, but not stick around too long. He was not to be coming into the meeting with her. She was putting her foot down. He made it hard, given that he was adorable and kept trying to give her little touches to get her to cave. 

Unfortunately, she didn’t have to suck his dick to get him to agree. Next time, maybe. 

As Calum left, he paused with his hand on the doorknob. He hadn’t opened the door yet, which was the only reason he smiled and said “Be good,” after he kissed her goodbye at her desk. 

Aspen grinned lopsidedly. “Oh, I’m very good, sir.”

Calum sighed, fingertips still on the doorknob like he didn’t want to leave. “Stop. You know what that does to me.” He almost pouted. 

Aspen was delighted. She liked when they could have serious, intense, sexually charged moments, but this was fun. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, boss.” She said, without bothering to feign innocence. 

“Sure.” Calum shook his head. “I’ll meet you back here when it’s time to leave for the DA’s office, alright?”

“Sounds good. Have a very calm and productive day.” She said, and she meant it, a little. She didn’t want him distracted by their unbearable sexual tension for the whole afternoon. That would just be cruel.

He laughed as he opened the door to leave. “Likewise, Ms. McMichael.” 

Aspen didn’t say goodbye, just smiled at him as he left. She knew if she did, it would come out too soft, too fond, and if any of her coworkers were passing by they might hear it and get suspicious. It was fun, for a second, to feel like she was caught in an office affair without the violence and terror and legal frustration of the other half of her life. For a second, she pretended to be a regular scientist, just trying to violate HR regulations and fuck her boss.