b r o k ɇ n

“ i could have helped. it’s not like i’m just some helpless girl- i…i’m frostbite. at least i was…but…” shaking her head some, she nearly had to pry herself away from him to give him distance, keeping the door open and letting him inside. her emotions were in such a twist- happy, upset, even a little angry that it was showing with her powers. not noticed to her ice had began to trail up her arms, and were she walked left patches.

“ so much has happened…i put frostbite on a break because i couldn’t go out there and be safe with myself. my powers were on fritz, an i jus’ i kept gettin’ injured because i could barely feel it. i did try looking for you…i called everyday.”

erika found herself plopping down on the couch and just looking at him, tears still in her eyes, trying to bite back the ramblings. she should just be happy that he was back, but her heart ached so deeply.

he let his arms slip from around her, following her inside. it had been forever since he’d been there, yet nothing had changed. besides maybe the two of them. 

      “i-i... you’re right.” jonas sighed heavily--       a feat of strength at this point, seeing as       the combination of his binder and the        crushing anxiety his guilt was causing him       were making it rather difficult to breathe.       “i should’ve tried harder t-- to get them to       understand, but erika, I just--”

no. no, he needed to stop defending his actions. he’d picked up and left without telling her, he’d hurt her, and now he was facing the consequences. jonas just had to accept the fact that what he’d done was wrong (no matter what lee and dick and bruce-- all of them. no matter what they said.)

jonas paused to take off his hoodie, his shirt,  and then his binder before sitting down next to her, letting his wings stretch out to their full length. he’d always been very careful not to  knock anything over at erika’s-- her father had not been appreciative of that time jonas admitted to having broken a vase. not good.

      “i’m sorry. what i did was wrong. i thought       i was protecting you, but i hurt you more       than i ever---”

just hearing those words, her voice. she sounded so broken, tired, scared. and this was his fault. it was all his fault. 

      “babe, erika--- NO. i-i’m not.” he found himself       scooching even closer to her, wings wrapping       around her chilled body, shrouding them both       in darkness. “i’m sorry. i can’t say that enough.       i ruined everything. i-i... g-god damn it...”

and suddenly his head is nestled against her  shoulder, wings trembling, eyes squeezed shut in a failed attempt to stop the tears. he just can’t believe he’d caused her so much suffering---

how many months had it been now? after a while erika just sorta stop keeping track. it felt like an eternity. one moment he was here, holding her and the next there was nothing but emptiness. she tried calling, texting, leaving voice mail after voice mail.

asking if he was okay. wondering what she had done wrong. begging for him to come back. to at least tell her he loved her one more time. sometimes she would just cry into her voice, shout, just letting her emotions overwhelm her.

and for nothing. nothing more than just the chance to listen to his voice ask for her to leave a message, and he’ll get back to her when he could. she had been becoming too reckless when she donned frostbite, more injuries…simply from not caring. 

she was just starting to feel back to herself after putting herself on a hiatus, to try and gather herself. try and find who she was before she met jonas. 

it was just another day, home alone while her father was at work, doing homework. being an ordinary girl. that was at least until she heard a knock on her door. getting up, she opened the door and felt as if she herself had froze once she caught sight of him.

she tried to speak, but words seem to escape her, suddenly finding herself hugging him as tightly as she could, closing her eyes tight and keeping him close. fear overcoming her at the thought of him leaving again. as much as she was trying, she began to cry, dull warmth wetting her cheeks, hiding her face against his chest.

it was probably the quickest he’d ever left his apartment. lee had shown up, having heard that things at cadmus were heating up; they were starting to look for him again. she’d said it was a matter of leave immediately or risk having his life torn apart one more  time, and though jonas didn’t want either,  leaving was a better option than staying.

right off the bat, he’d expressed concerns about ericka, but the witch had word from batman not to let anyone outside the family know his location. (”family” meaning dick, bruce, alfred, sheri, lee, or... nevermind.) there wasn’t really any other option, and he hated himself for it. for not trying harder to convince them that ericka deserved to be in on their little rescue mission.

almost in tears himself, jonas hugged her tight to him, mentally swearing that-- no  matter the reason --he would never leave her again. his wings threaten to burst  through his binder, but he couldn’t care less. screw the binder, screw the hoodie. he didn’t need any more pain right now.

      “you didn’t do anything wrong, okay?       nothing. cadmus was getting too close,       and a few... a few friends of mine took       it upon themselves to help me out,” he       explained. it wasn’t the best explanation,       but he had a sneaking suspicion that if       he said anything more he would end up       hanging in a gotham alley.             “i didn’t want to risk you getting hurt. if             they came after you to get to me--- oh,             god, babe, i would never forgive myself.”             he buried his face against her hair, able             to breathe in deeply for the first time in             just about a year. 

      “Your little JACKAL       HIT me with a HAMMER       and then DRAGGED me       by my WINGS---

Jonas’ blue-green eyes shift to her outstretched arm and he nods softly. “Y-Yeah, I think I’m gonna need to take it easy for a while. Ice might help.”       He loops his own arm around her       waist, the primaries of his damaged       wing just barely dragging along the       ground. His other wing his held tight       to his back, feathers tickling their       arms.

He willingly takes her hand to help himself up, brushing off his clothes as he does. Jonas is completely ready to pretend that he did the whole crash-landing thing on purpose.

Totally ready.

      “Yeah. Oh, yeah. I’m fine.       Peachy. Ah-- Ow----”

The redhead cringes as he flexes his wings.

「☆」▬♦

                   ‘ Are you sure? It looks like you                    took quite a tumble there. But                    if you say so…. ‘

      “Y---- Yeah. Yeah, no,       I’ve had... l-loads of        bad landings like this.”

Not since you were little, you idiot.       Jonas brushed himself off       and took her offered hand,       appreciating the help with       getting to his feet. Once       standing, he stretched and       shook out his wings, making       sure none of his feathers       were damaged.