Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Floating.

Somehow, I always seem to find myself floating. No, I don’t do drugs or get high but I was floating.

Ping! Ping! Ping!

In my floating a familiar blue appears, I open my eyes to see it again.

Hello Arya, I am system.

Hello system, where am I off to now?

You are off to the DC Universe.

DC?! Does it look like I know much about DC? You already know my knowledge was built on fanfiction!

You will reach there in a few minutes. What power would you like?

• Storybook
• Shapeshift
• Gravity Manipulation.

Hold on you can’t just give me options without explaining what I can do with them!

• Storybook: Allows the user to use a page of a book and use the powers of a character from any universe they can remember. Caution: You can only use the pages of the specific book you are given and to buy pages you would need 10 Karma points.
• Shapeshift: Allows the user to shapeshift into anything they would like, fantasy or real, object or animal. Caution: Overuse of the power will cause you to fall into a deep slumber ranging from a day to a month, to increase your abilities limit you need 15 Karma points.
• Gravity Manipulation: Allows the user to manipulate gravity around them and themselves, it can be used on inanimate objects and animate objects. Caution: Overuse of the power will put heavy strain on the body causing bruising and lots of cramps in the body, to increase the abilities limit, you will need 10 Karma points.

Wait, how do I gain these Karma Points?

You can gain Karma points by becoming a companion to a {main character}. Your options are:

1)Jason Todd

2) Damian Wayne

3) Timothy Drake

JASON TODD! I CHOOSE JASON TODD PLEASE!

What power would you like from the options you were given?

Uh, Shapeshift?

You have chosen {Shapeshift}.

You shall proceed to the DC Universe.

Wait! What timeline am I going to? Please let me have clothes on when I get there-

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There I was drifting away, once again. It felt nice when I thought about it. It was a watery warm feeling, when moving my arms, it felt effortless like silk running down my fingers.

BLAM!

Well, there goes my peace.

My body goes crashing into a rack of training swords, I end up sprawled under the rack. A cold sharp blade is put to my neck, right over my jugular.

“Hey… uh” I laugh nervously, “I’m not a threat?” The knife only inched deeper into my neck, I begin to shake, my heart pounding at the bony cases of my lungs. A kick is jammed into my side, exploding any breath that I had held in my lungs. “Ah!” I cough out, tears prickling in my eyes, that kick was mean, I didn’t know getting kicked would hurt as bad as it looked on TV. I sniff and blink my blurry eyes at the figure, it was a male, eyes glowing? Did eyes usually glow? Oh, it was green too.

Green glowing eyes. White streak in his hair?

Jason… JASON TODD?!

“Hey, don’t hit me again!” I scramble away, cowering away from the glowing green. The eyes narrow at me, I wait for another hit to come my way, well, it comes but not as hard as before. I hiss as I slide against the ground ‘nice, friction burns.’ I sniff really hard as tears threaten to fall down my face, ‘hey, stop tryna cry, we can walk it off, its okay, we’re okay. Everything is okay.’ Tears slide down my face. ’Stopstopstop, okay I lied, we are not okay’ I wipe my eyes and try to breath, everything hurt.

“Hurt?” A voice says, I look up to see Jason crouching in front of me, knife still in his hand but not as threatening. “Sorry.” I blink at him, ‘the fuck he means sorry? I literally told him not to hit me again and he did!’ I frown at him before pulling my arms around my knees and burying my face in them.

“Sorry.” The tone is emotionless, though there was a bit of sincerity within it if you listened hard enough.

1+ karma point earned!

So apparently, getting hit and getting an apology earns a karma point? Talk about being sadistic. After a few moments of silence and me pulling myself together, I finally look up after wiping my tears and a small smile is on my face.

“It’s alright.” I sniff, it was definitely not alright but, lying to yourself felt like the best option I could go with.

“Name.” Jason stared into my eyes firmly. Blue eyed people always seem to scare the life out of me with their eyes, green eyed people not close behind, like please, keep those eyes away from my soul please.

“Arya, no second name. You?” I say quietly.

“Jason.” He just left it at that. I nod at him before standing up and brushing off some dust from my trousers. “Age?”

I don’t even think I know what my age is at the moment, I was so many different ages, so I wasn’t really sure how old I was this time.

Your current age is 17, height is 5,7, weight is 66kg. Birthday May 27^th.

Thanks, System.

“Seventeen. You?”

“Older.” I blink at him.

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

We looked at each other in silence, this was where the friendship between the two of us began. Through the silence and us staring at one another.

Six months later…

My heel connected with a knee with a crack, a knife whipped its way towards my neck, I duck underneath the arm, jabbing the elbow inwards with another crack and pained grunt, I punch the side where the liver is and a second later a body thuds onto the ground curling into itself as it begins to lose consciousness.

A slow clap echoes the room, I stand up straight making sure my head is bowed down, my eyes watching the floor. “Well done, your training was… acceptable.” A flowy voice said, the woman began to come closer to me, she grabbed my collar forcing me to look at her, her smile looked predatory and dangerous, the glint her eyes looked evil. “You still did not kill as you were asked.” My eyes shook as she sneered at me, I kept the rest of my body as still as I could. “Why have you not killed, Arya? It is a simple thing to do.” She asked, I could feel my breath in my lungs threaten to hitch and show a sign of weakness.

“I cannot kill.” I said robotically. A hot, searing slap plummeted itself into my cheek, causing my whole head to whip to the side, her nails had jabbed into my cheek causing it to bleed a little, I stood back up straight, I could feel the ache in my neck from the sudden hit. “I apologise for dirtying your hand, ma’am” I felt like I was eating dirt as I said it, I produced a napkin from my pocket and offered it to her. She wiped her hands from my blood before dropping it in front of me. The woman turned away and left the room, a scowl placed itself onto my face, I clear up the training room leaving the unconscious man in the medical department after treating my face before returning to my dorm.

Walking into the dorm with a sigh, I see the punching bag that I replaced was already spilling sand, I huff in disappointment, I wanted to be the one to break this one. “Jay?” I call out.

“Yeah?” Jason appeared behind me causing me to swing a punch right at his face but thankfully he caught it with his hand, he smirked as he knocked my knee to the side, I hooked a leg behind his sending us tumbling to the ground, we wrestle on the ground trying to one up each other, I end up giving up and tap out with a small smile. “You alright?” Jason asked as we lay on the ground next to each other, he must have noticed my agitation.

“Talia.” I scowl, “One day, just watch, I’m going to actually kill that woman and make sure her father gets stabbed to death or his insides turn inside out and burn.” I clench my fists; Jason laughs before turning his face to me with his usual boyish smile.

“I’m sure you will if you get angry enough.”

“I don’t know…” I frown and sit up, “I may get to the point of nearly killing but then I’d back out...” Jason sits up with a small smile.

“How has your transformations been going?” Jason diverts the convo; I really needed it. Jason found out about my transformations a month ago, I only properly knew how to transform was two months prior to that, I had to beg System to tell me, it took so long, and the first transformation was a huge struggle and took so much out of me, I was comatose for two days! How Jason found out, it went like this:

A month ago (Outsider’s POV):

“Arya?” Jason called out in the courtyard, Arya hadn’t returned to the dorm, he’d looked in the canteen and didn’t find her in the kitchen, she usually would be in the kitchen for a late-night snack, munching on anything that she could find. The was quiet shuffles that came from the courtyard, so Jason went towards the courtyard.

He turned around the corner to the hidden area of the courtyard, which was near the wall of it, the moon shone down in one piece of the area, Arya was there twirling around… dancing, a soft melody coming out of her lips, he wasn’t sure what the song was, but it sounded nice from where he was standing.

Arya broke into a long twirl, before hopping onto her right foot, it was as though she was stepping on a feather from how soundless it was, she leaped gracefully into the sky once again, then she completely took Jason’s breath away by what she turned into, it was an albino tigress, she landed in all fours, her tail flicking in the light, she twirled in the light before transforming into a small bird.

“Arya?” Jason called out, the bird-Arya falls down and Arya transforms back, fear shaking in her eyes.

“J-jay? Uh, what are you doing here?” Jason blinks at her, Arya stands up and brushes herself off. “Whatever you think you saw, you didn’t.” Arya laughs nervously.

“So, you changing into two different animals wasn’t real?” Jason popped a brow up at her, his lips a straight line.

“Hahaha…” Arya smiled stiffly. “Yeah.” She sweat dropped at the unimpressed look on his face, she looked like she was ready to bolt at any moment.

“Okay.” Jason smiled at her.

“Okay…?” Arya looked at him astonished by the fact he believed her, “You believe me?!”

“Yeah, I believe- what the fuck do you think?!” Jason’s smile dropped and looked at her in disbelief. “Do you really think I’d fall for your horrible lying?”

“Hey, at least I tried!”

“Well, that was such a flop!”

“It was an attempt!”

“A sad one, to be honest.”

“Let’s forget about this, I’m sleepy.” Arya tries to divert the conversation and walks past Jason.

“Oh no, you don’t.” He grasps her arm, “We are talking about this now.”

“Aww, I thought that would actually work.”

“Well, you thought wrong.” Arya groaned. “We might as well get comfortable.” Arya dragged Jason down and sat on the ground.

“So, what was that?” Jason gestured to her whole body. “You’re a meta?”

“10 POINTS TO GRIFFINDOR!” Arya cheered. “Uh, yeah.” Arya said nervously as Jason glared at her.

“And you never told me?” Jason said with a scrutinizing gaze.

“What did you want me to do, just go up to you one day and be like ‘oh, hi Jason, I can turn into anything I want but it has some side effects! You’ll still be my friend, right? Cuz if you’re not, I’ll probably cry my eyes out and turn into a wrinkly old raisin and lose all my melanin in my skin’ what was I meant to tell you?” Jason stared at her for a second before bursting out in laughter.

“A wrinkly old raisin?” Jason doubled over in laughter.

“That’s what you got from my very heartfelt rant?” Arya stared with mock-anger. “I don’t think that’s very nice of you, Jason Todd.”

“Pulling my whole legal name, are you?” Jason smiled.

“Yeah, too bad you don’t know mine.” Arya smirks triumphantly.

“Will you ever tell me?” Jason frowned playfully.

“No~” Arya smiles and stand up. “Let’s actually go back inside though.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jason stood up and wrapped an arm around Arya’s shoulder, “You are so showing me all the things you can turn into.”

“I’ll think about it.” Arya says before dashing towards the door to get inside “Race you to the dorm!”

“Oh, you are so on!” Jason chased after her.

Present time:

“How has your transformations been going?” Jason asked.

“Hmm, I’m still trying to figure out how to be the perfect dragon, but I’ve mastered being a ferret though.” Arya smiles, forgetting her anger, her eyes light up as she babbles on about how good of a panther she is, Jason just listens. He was glad that Arya was so passionate about her power, but something else was running through his mind. “…Jay?”

“What?” Jason blinked, “What did you say?

“I said, what did you think, Jay?” Arya looked at him expectantly, Jason had no idea what she was talking about.

“Uh, that’s great! You improved a lot!” Jason smiled.

“You weren’t listening.” Arya frowned, “What’s wrong?”

“…I have a plan, like how to leave the league.” Jason finally admits after a while.

“Oh? Well, spit it out!” Arya’s eyes sparkled in curiosity.

“I would need your powers to help…” Jason looked at her with anxiety, he didn’t want to use her and make her feel like she was a tool to his plans.

“Okay? What do you need me to do?” Arya in all honesty didn’t really care if she was being used, she would only let Jason use her, he’d already been through enough.

“I need your flight and burning skills.” Jason said.

“Of course, flamethrower and Griffon coming right up!” Arya smiles cheekily, “What else?”

“Make sure its only those areas since it would divert all the attention to that area, and we’ll be able to escape unnoticed.” Jason explained.

“Hmm, I guess I can do that.” Arya says as she thinks the plan through. “Just for personal reasons, can we steal some stuff for the trip to uh, where are we going?”

“Gotham.” Jason says quietly, eyes downcast.

“Oh well, can we stop at Metropolis, I want to see this superman guy.”

“Why do you want to see him?” Jason asked.

“I mean, I want to see why people ship him and Batman together.” Arya says with a smile.

“W-what? People do what?!” Jason splutters, as his father mentor is brough up in the conversation.

“Batman’s hate for metas probably had a reason, you know?” Arya says, “Maybe he doesn’t want any metas in Gotham because he has some undying love for Superman or something and that’s why he keeps them away from his home city because it would expose him and make him feel very bare.” Arya sighed with excitement, “That would be a very romantic story.” Jason looks at her, speechless.

“Its... probably not that…” Jason says unsure.

“Just a thought!” Arya smiled brightly.

“Back to the plan,” Jason says seriously, “We can steal some weapons and some armour from the armoury.”

“I’ll find the food, but we need to check the rotations of security.”

“Already did that.” Jason smirked proudly at himself. “They change every two hours and two guards at each post. They increase when they get nearer to the main building, but we are in the west, so we’d be fine while we leave as, you know, the distraction.” Arya grins at Jason’s intelligence.

“We should probably do this in two weeks’ time, we could manage to get as much supplies as we can, for defence I’m working on something.” Arya smiled.

“What is it?” Jason asked.

“I can’t reveal all my cards, Jacy.” She stood up, “Nice talk but I need sleep, that dry XX chromosome won’t let me live a life of peace or comfort.”

“XX chromosome?!” Jason laughed as he watched Arya get on the bunk, “how do you even come up with these?”

“It is called learning science, don’t worry, I’ll find a way to disintegrate her body with some Alkaline solutions when she’s dead. My science teacher taught me well.” Arya closed her eyes and snuggled into the pillow, one of the comforts of being in that hellish place.

“Your science teacher taught you well.” Jason climbed into his own bunk.

“Yeah, he’s a nice teacher too…” Arya slurred as sleep gently overtook her. “Night.”

“Goodnight, Arya.”

Chapter Text

(The past) six months ago…

“Where did you find her, Habibi?” A flowy voice met her ears, her hands were bounded together, her eyes covered with a blindfold, mouth gagged, her heart sped up rapidly, to calm herself, she played with her pinky, stroking the inside of her left pinky with her right thumb. It was something she did when she couldn’t place her hands on her torso.

She still couldn’t feel like she could breathe, the suffocating feeling of the gag being in her mouth, it was like someone shoved a rock down her throat. It stayed torturously down there, lodged and unmoveable.

“Court..yard.” The familiar voice answered robotically.

“How… did she come to be there, Habibi?” The woman dragged something on a surface Arya couldn’t quite picture, but her head was going wild with thoughts.

She was going to die.

“I… I don’t know.”

“Habibi, its alright, go back to your Akhi.” Thudding steps began retreating away. “Now, who are you?” The woman sneered down her ear, Arya flinched backwards at the sudden air hitting her ear with a yelp.

Arya couldn’t really answer, you know with the gag and all, she mumbled an answer. This woman. This woman was dangerous. She wasn’t taking any chances at her life.

“My apologies.” Something nipped at her cheek, but the gag loosened. It was like breathing right after drowning, Arya heaved in breathes of fresh air, coughing a bit from the sudden loss of pressure. She could feel the trickling of blood travelling down her neck. “Pray tell, what is your name?”

Arya coughed a bit, her throat felt scratchy and dry, “Arya.” Her voice mimicked that of a frog, dying, dehydrated, out of water.

 “Good. Trainable.” Arya kept her mouth shut, she wasn’t some dog or pet that could be trained, she was human.

Everything went black in an instant.

Arya left the world of consciousness spiralling.

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Drip. Drip. Drip.

The drip of something permeated Arya’s conscience, as her body began to wake up, pain shot through her body, she felt bruised and abused.  She struggled to sit up, tremors of pain shooting through her body. She had no sense of time, she didn’t even know what day it was, she didn’t even know if it was daylight or not.

She didn’t know if she was going to die.

She blinked open her eyes, to look around, it was well, murky, dusty, it looked like there was no ventilation since it smelt of death with a capital D. The ground was sticky with something Arya didn’t even want to think about.

For a League full of assassins, one so powerful, Arya still thought they should have the decency to clean out the cells, you know give the prisoner some sense of humanity but no, she guessed they don’t really see anyone as humans.

She swiped off the muck off her arm which was coated in it, her shirt was completely soiled and was disgusting as it stuck to her body. She flicked some of it off, but it ended up splattering back onto her, she cringed internally, mentally screaming at how dirty she felt.

Honestly, you’d think the girl at the current moment would be thinking about how she would be killed, instead, this girl was thinking about food. Priorities, right?

Her stomach felt like it was going to fold over itself, this girl kept her mind busy, completely forgetting the whole situation she was in. She was thinking about what they might give her to eat, if they were kind enough to actually give her food. She shifted into a more comfortable position, crossing her legs and resting an elbow on her knee and held her head up with her palm and began to think of different foods. One that she was craving the most was a a spicy chicken fillet burger with a nice crust and crunch with every bite, the hot sauce in the burger, not being too overpowering to the point that the burger was not enjoyable, the salad inside the burger with a nice zingy taste from the spray of lemon juice, the mesmerising pull of cheese that sat on top of the fillet, and the drink at the side, whether it be a nice Rubicon Passionfruit or Rubicon Mango or a simple 7up, she didn’t care, she enjoyed the meal with a crispy side of fresh fries, shoutout the Belgium’s.

“You seem to be enjoying your stay.” Arya whipped her head up, her delusions disappearing instantly, she saw a beautiful tan woman, eyes a beautiful toxic green. “Take her out.” Arya’s cell was thrown open, hooded men marched in yanking her limbs up and dragging her out. Arya wasn’t sure where she was being taken but she wasn’t complaining.

She was dumped in a training ground. The woman stood in front of her, eyes analysing her watching her take in the area. Visible confusion in her eyes, Arya glanced up at the woman trying to understand the woman’s actions.

“My name is Talia Al Ghul.” Arya kept silent, not showing any recognition to the name. “You are to be trained, here. Do you object?” The woman looked at her withs stern eyes. Arya shook her head, it was better than dying a horrible death without food, a win is a win. “Good. We shall meet tomorrow, when you are… presentable.” Arya nodded and the woman waved a hand, Arya was dragged away once again. People really liked dragging her, it seemed.

A two month later…

“Higher. Aim your kick higher.” Talia ordered. Oh, how Arya wished for death nearly every day. For the past two month she had been trained, doing the same moves over and over until they became muscle memory, one mistake or she was punished, ten lashes on her back for each mistake she made. Luckily, she was a fast learner. Shoutout to her African parents for teaching her so well.

Her teachers were arrogant, but good teachers since she was learning more about how the human body worked, her favourite was the Japanese teacher she had, they specialised in acupuncture, and how to paralyse people, it was very interesting to her, the way that one needle could destroy a whole person’s life, a nerve being hit can cause so much damage to the victim. One of the most difficult lessons she had to face was poison immunity, when her teacher found out that most mild poisons didn’t work on her (you know since she was a meta, they didn’t know that obviously), They tuned up the fatality of the poisons and enjoyed seeing her crumble.

Such sadism.

Anyways moving back to the present, Arya aimed her kick higher at the dummy under Talia’s watchful eyes, they always seemed to be watching her, one thing Talia liked about Arya was that she never questioned anything that she was ordered to do, she simply minded her own business, she wouldn’t ask though her eyes would be curious. Talia was very fond of Arya, she could be perfect, if only she killed.

No matter how much she was pressured into killing, Arya would never do it. It was infuriating.

Why could she not kill? Why did she always choose to not kill? Talia wanted to find out. It kept things interesting for her.

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One of the many joys that Arya had in the League was the food, thank God it had taste and sometimes was filling, she never wasted food thanks to generational trauma in her childhood, another thing that gave her joy was, Jason. That day in which she met him, where he kicked her, sprung a beautiful bud of friendship. He never spoke, he listened, when Arya approached him, well, at first, he was sceptical, he didn’t trust her. He didn’t know her intentions.

Arya seemed to be like superglue, no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t fully take it away, she bounced to his side the moment she saw him, whether it be anywhere, anytime, any moment. She stayed by his side. Sometimes she spoke, sometimes she did not, sometimes she was bouncing with boundless energy, sometimes she was silent and calm.

When Arya spoke about random things, whether it was weird or interesting, Jason listened. Sometimes he spoke back, whenever he did Arya’s eyes lit up in happiness and relief, it was confusing to him, but it was a happy type of confusion.

One time when Jason was guarding his Akhi, Arya bounced by and caught sight of him. “Hello, Jason, what you doing?” not noticing that Jason was working.

“How do you know my Akhi?” A small voice pipped up.

“Oh, um, my apologies, I didn’t see you there.” Arya apologised when she finally caught sight of the small boy.

“How dare you show such impudence towards an Al Ghul.” The boy squeaked, it was very adorable. Arya bowed down into a crouch in front of him.

“I apologise, your highness. I shall thinkmy mistakes over and not do them again.” The boy scoffed and looked away in pride that he had subdued the woman into apologising. Arya smiled to herself seeing the boy so confident. She stood back up straight again. “For showing such impudence, as an apology may I show you a magic trick?” A child was still a child.

The boy looked at her scrutinizingly, thinking, “Magic is not real… but do as you like, if it is not up to my standards, you will be punished.” Arya smiled at him before producing a candle stick from her pocket, she lit it on fire, before twirling the candle stick between her fingers once she finished, she closed her palm on the candle and made her hands into a fist before opening it up, the candle was gone.

“Tada!” Arya showed both her palms to the small boy. The boy looked at her with confusion. “Where did it go?” Arya simply shrugged as the boy looked behind her and through her pockets and sleeves. “I demand you to tell me.”

Arya smiled, “Your wish is my command, your highness.” She reached behind his ear and pulled out the candle, still lit on fire.

“Impossible!” The boy looked at the candle in disbelief. He had watched the candle so closely; how did it reach behind his ear? He puffed up his cheeks, “I don’t believe it!” Arya smirked at him smugly. “Show me more of your so-called tricks, I shall catch you!” Arya showed him more tricks, each one different, it riled the boy up even more.

“I have had enough!” The boy stomped his feet and turned away, Jason had a hand held to his mouth stopping him from laughing. The boy turned back slowly as if he forgot something, “What is your name, magician?”

“Arya, your highness.” She smiled as she bowed.

“I shall remember your useless name well.” The boy said with serious look, though a small smile trying to break through, he turned quickly. “Come, Akhi, I want to see mother.” The boy toddled off with Jason behind him. Arya smiled as she watched the two leave before heading off herself.

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This ‘Arya’ was very infuriating to Damian, she always popped up randomly, no matter the time or place. She was also close to his Akhi. She was loud too but only when she was with Akhi. Damian didn’t know how to feel about her. She did get him fruits and make small useless thing like the small carving of a bird she gave him a week after he met her.

Damian wanted to know her intentions. He was going to find out.

“Hey little man?” Arya seemed to call him that infuriating name, all the time. “You know the one thing I’m scared of the most?”

“What are you afraid of?” Damian’s eyes sparkled in childish curiosity.

He was not finding out anything. He got a bit sidetracked and simply… forgot.

“Dogs. Not all dogs, I don’t like them either way.” Arya wrinkled her nose as if she smelt something disgusting. Damian liked dogs, he didn’t know why someone wouldn’t like dogs, they’re cute, trainable and better than humans either way.

“Why?”

“When I was younger, I was about a bit younger than you.” Arya began ever so slowly.

“Oh, get on with the story!” Damian demanded; it was rare for Arya to speak of her childhood.

“Okay, okay!” Arya laughed at his curiosity, “My mother and my two older sisters and me were in our house, I think someone forgot to shut the door, so a big dog ran into the house…”

“What happened?!” He demanded to know.

“Luckily my mother thought quickly and jumped up onto the couch with me in her arms and my second oldest sister on her back.” Arya laughed as she pictured the scene, “Sadly, my oldest sister was not lucky, the dog chased after her until she was in the kitchen, she was cornered, she had nowhere to run, then…”

“What?! What!” Damian stomped his foot in frustration.

“The dog jumped at her and scratched her with its claws before running out the house. That same day, it happened again but to another house.” Arya finally finished.

“Well, maybe if your sister hadn’t runaway, she wouldn’t have gotten hurt.” Damian raised his head up high, nose in the air after saying such wise words.

Arya pinched his nose and laughed, “Well, what was a young child who didn’t know much better meant to do?” Damian glowered at her after she pinched his nose tearing his nose away from her fingers.

“But why do you fear dogs when your sister was the one who was injured?” Damian asked thoughtfully.

“I don’t know, I always saw people scared of dogs, I began to fear them too.” Arya said with a smile. “Though there was a time where I did play with one, I got in trouble for that too.”

“Why would you get in trouble?”

“Because.”

“Because what?”

“Just because.”

“Ugh, I don’t like you.” Damian glared at her, his small hands balled into fists.

“But you don’t force me to leave anymore, so I think you do.” Arya batted her eyes innocently.

“S-such impudence!” Damian spluttered, an embarrassed flush covering his face.

“Right. My apologies, your highness.” Arya bowed teasingly.

“Akhi!” Damian called, whipping his head to Jason whose shoulders were shaking from suppressed laughter. “Make her stop!” Jason was so close to cracking up, he had to take large breaths to seize his laughter.

“Arya-” Jason locked eyes with her, before they both broke down laughing.

“Akhi! Not you too!” Damian’s face was flushed red with anger, his lips in a cute pout, it made the two teens double up in laughter. Damian had enough and drew out his small knife that he kept on him and tried to stab the two, but the two evaded his attempts. “You two are so infuriating!” Damian lowered his knife, shooting the two with an angsty glare.

“Oh, I’m sorry, mon etoile.” Arya grinned crouching in front of the boy. Damian pushed her over making her land on her back, Arya spread herself like a starfish on the ground, exhausted from laughing. Damian pulled a leg back before kicking her leg hard. “Ow! I’m really sorry.” Arya whined. Damian looked at her with a scrutinizing glare. Arya sat up crossing her legs looking at Damian like a kicked puppy.

Damian was only a child, he wouldn’t have seen much of the powerful look in his life, where he’s grown up in a serious environment. “W-what are you doing?” Damian spluttered.

“Doing what?” She asked innocently.

“T-those eyes!” He pointed at her.

“What eyes?” She tilted her head at him.

“Those!”

“Jay, do you know what he’s talking about?” She turned to look at Jason who had an amused smile on his face. Jason shook his head, playing along. “Do you forgive me?” Arya unleashed her best puppy-eyed look.

Damian drew back at the unfamiliar attack, “F-fine!” Damian turned his head away with the tips of his ears burning.

“Thank you~” Arya said sweetly before standing up and ruffling Damian’s hair, Damian slapped her hand away after a while, ears still burning pink. “Mon etoile, keep shining in your classes like you always do.” She waved goodbye to the two boys before making her way down the hallway to get ready for a mission.

As she was gearing up, she felt a cold blade at her neck, Arya smiled sweetly. “You have gotten close to my son, what are your intentions?” Talia’s voice, confident and airy.

“He’s a good child.” Arya told her, it was the truth.

“Yes, yes my Habibi is a good child, but why are getting close to him?” She inched the blade deeper into her neck.

“Good children, deserve good things.” Arya said simply fixing her sleeves and gloves, the blade left her neck.

“Would you give your life for him?”

“Of course.”

“Would you kill for him?”

“If it ever comes to that point.”

“Would you protect him?”

“With all the tendons in my body.” Arya’s eyes were serious and firm, no lie between her words. This… made Talia feel happy. The two teens would be there to protect her child… if it ever went too dangerous for her child to stay at the league, if it ever came down to that. Talia left with a light heart leaving Arya by herself.

“What was that about?” Arya muttered as she sauntered her way to the leaving premises. Talia was a very unreadable person, it made Arya’s mind spin trying to figure her out.

Chapter Text

The present (Third POV)

The next few days was spent strategizing their escape. Arya was working on her shapeshifting and Jason was working on getting supplies for the escape and the materials to aid the escape plan.

Arya was on patrol duty, she turned into a mountain hawk on the nights she could, where she wasn’t busy doing side quests Talia set her on, she didn’t quite know why the woman was on her back, every single damn time she was within 20 meters on her radar. Arya spent the time scoping the area to see the best place, close to the armoury and an easy escape path that would allow both of them to get to efficiently to leave the hellish place.

Jason was stuck doing his own side quests with Ra’s, testing his knowledge, personally seeing over his training, forcing him to overwork himself on nights until Ra’s was satisfied. ‘In a few days, this will all be over.’ It repeated in both Arya and Jason’s head.

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 Arya threw a hefty punch at Jason, he deflected the fist by diverting the punch to the side, he grabbed at an opening, grabbing her shirt and flipping her over him.

 Arya turned in the air landing in a crouched motion so that most of the power of the throw was absorbed by the ground, she glared at him and lunged at his middle, trying to knock the centre of his gravity off, she hooked a leg around his causing his fortress build to unbalance, then.

Then they were falling, Jason began to twist causing them to roll on the ground until he had Arya pinned under him with his arm across her neck and a leg pressing down on her legs.

2+ Karma Points

Fucking sadistic system.

“Hello there.” Jason boyishly smiled, Arya frowned at him in frustration before using her free hand to punch at his right side, causing Jason to groan and weaken his hold on her, she used it to her advantage and flipped them, grappling Jason under her.

“Hi, how are you doing under there?” She grinned triumphantly, she stared down at him feeling great happiness to see the scowl pulling on Jason’s smile, she tapped his chest and stood up and brought a hand up to him for him to grab. Jason grabbed it and as Arya pulled him up, he hooked a foot behind hers throwing her off balance and grabbed her shirt just inches before her body hit the ground.

“I don’t know, how are you doing?” He smirked, before letting her fall onto the ground. Arya huffed and crossed her arms.

“Why don’t you ever let me win?” She scowled.

“I’m just better than you.” Jason smiled devilishly, Arya flipped him off before sitting up and groaning at the pain in her back, “Sorry, not sorry.”

“When are you ever sorry?” Arya glared up at him with her opal black eyes. “You know this would be a whole different story if I used it.”

“But you don’t.” Jason smiled towards the sky.

“Yeah, cuz I don’t wanna get killed or used by people I don’t like.” Arya stood up brushing off dust before landing a kick but soft kick at Jason’s leg.

“Aw, you like me?” Jason teased her.

“Yup, you’re my favourite.” Arya said in blunt honesty catching Jason off guard.

“You’re being for real?” Jason asked sceptically.

“Mhm, out of everyone in the world, you are my favourite person to be with.” Arya opened her canteen and drank a large gulp of water, “What?” She looked at his happy eyes.

“Really?” Jason said in a quiet voice, Arya rolled her eyes and flicked some of the water from her canteen at him.

“Why else would I do everything with you?” Arya turned away from Jason heading to the cafeteria, “Let’s go see Damian, I haven’t seen him in a long time.” Arya whined as she walked off.

“You saw him yesterday.”

“That’s way too long and boy, shut your mouth before you don’t get anything to eat.” Arya threatened. She wasn’t lying. She had taken Jason’s food one day, she was mad at him. He had pierced some holes into her punching bag making all the sand spray on her and in her hair, because her hair was 4a it was hard to get it out in one shower. So as a punishment, she ate his food. It was deserved.

Jason wiped the water off his face before getting up and scrambling after her.

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The moon shone beautifully, the shadows moved through the dark evading the illuminated light, two soldiers at their post once awake were lying with their heads lolled to the side, their weapons casted elsewhere. The two shadows flew around the area like an owl, the most silent flying predator and one of the smartest. They split up as they reached a new area.

Four more bodies dropped before Arya reached her destination, she was at one of the training areas, she shifted her arm into a flamethrower, it still amazed her how her skin peeled back showing the metal of it before merging with the rest of her arm. She blew out a quiet flame increasing the temperature and watched the fire burn before moving onto the roof and to the next destination to start burning once again.

Jason was in the armoury getting the last of their supplies, grabbing some guns and a few blades before tucking it into his makeshift backpack before gracefully making his way out trying to reach the meeting point.

Arya ran on the roofs before her eyes caught onto a washing line, it had clothes on it that she knew of personally and analysed, she shot a flame at it before pouncing off into the darkness by turning into a panther with golden eyes prancing off to the meeting point.

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Jason made his way to the meeting point to find Arya standing there basking in the moonlight with two horses, a sad look in her eyes, only then once he looked closer he saw another person standing next to her. Damian.

“Hey buddy.” Jason said with a sad smile.

“You are leaving.” It wasn’t even a question. Damian knew. “You are leaving me.” Jason didn’t know what to say, he had been so focused with escaping with Arya, he forgot the one person he loved the most. His Akhi. Damian.

“Why are you leaving me?”

“Damian, we weren’t leaving-”

“You are. You are going to leave me here.”

“Habibi, where we are going- I can’t guarantee your safety.” Jason tried to explain.

“I can take care of myself! You do not need to protect me.” Damian’s brows furrowed at him.

“Mon etoile, I’m sure you can but its dangerous, you’ll be safe here, with your mother.” Arya said softly.

“But I want my… ukhti and akhi to be here with me.” Damian said in a low voice, eyes glassy. Arya’s chest seized at the name Damian called her, ‘Ukhti’, sister.

“Arya, Jason.” A voice emerged from the shadows. Eyes glinting a toxic green- no, it was a shimmering emerald. Talia walked forward towards the three. She didn’t seem like she was there to stop them, though, it was hard to have a read on her expression. “Take him too. The league is not as safe as you think.” She told them with a soft smile, looking down at her son.

“Are you sure, teacher?” Arya said quietly, she felt guilty for burning her washing line of clothes now, why did people who always seem bad always end up doing good things?!

“Take him to his father, he’ll protect him.” She looked at the two teens, “Do you understand?” Arya nodded before taking Damian’s hand, holding it tightly. Jason was tense at Talia’s orders. He didn’t know how to feel about seeing Bruce once again. “Now go. Go, my children.” She told them after throwing a large bag at Jason, he didn’t have time to look into the bag and he took it anyway.

“Thank you.” Arya looked at her with a smile before putting Damian on a horse and jumping on behind him as Jason mounted his own horse, the horses went into a gallop, and they moved quickly away into the night, the moon and the stars as their guide.

Once Jason deemed they had travelled far enough, they got off their horses, to take a break, all there was around them was dry and mountainous, Arya kept Damian huddled to her side, Jason was securing the things they brought.

“Damian, I need to show you something.” Arya said quietly, glancing up at Jason for affirmation which he nodded to.” “Damian, I’m a meta.”

“A meta?” Damian asked.

“Yes, I can turn into anything.” Arya slowly turned her hand into a paw and flexed it out for him to touch, he touched the pads of the paw, exploring the fine details of it.

“Damian, this is a secret, okay?”

“Okay.” Damian went silent for a moment. “What can you turn into?”

“What would you like for me to turn into?”

“Can you do a bird?” Arya smiled before turning into a small bird, flying a bit before landing on Damian’s hand, Damian’s eyes were wide with disbelief. “You- You never told me!” she flinches back at the sudden raised voice before jumping off his hand and turning back into myself.

“Well, there are eyes everywhere in the League.” Arya tells him with a small shrug, Jason passes her a small piece of bread to snack on.

“I bet you wouldn’t have told me before you two decided to leave.” Damian narrowed his eyes at her.

“I guess? I don’t know actually.” Arya sighed, before her mind began ticking on about something else, she walked over to the dilemma, what were they going to do about the horses? Where would they leave them? Should they go to the wild? Should they be put in a sanctuary? She didn’t know. “Poor mares.” She muttered as she pets the nose of one. Damian looked over to the mares too.

“What are we going to do about them?” He asked quietly moving closer to the other mare and petting it.

“I don’t know…” She quietly murmured.

“Can’t you turn into something big enough for them?” Damian asked looking over to her, eyes sparkling in thought.

“I can try, maybe an airship?” She took a few paces back, Jason pulled Damian to his side, to keep him out the way. Arya visualised an airship, she blew up like a white long balloon, stretching bigger and wider, a cabin slowly formed, morphing out into the air, a ramp pulled open and a door open.

Damian and Jason looked at Arya, who was now a huge modern airship, propellers and wings and all, Jason grabbed the reigns of the two horses and leaded them into the aircraft, Arya opened up an area just for the horses, it was like a pen for them. Damian sat on one of the seats that was connected to the aircraft, it was soft and cushioned. It was weird if you though about it, they were basically sitting in Arya. That’s so weird.

Once Jason was done tying the horses to the post, he got into his own seat and Arya lifted off, pulling in her ramp and shutting any doors and windows, she moved the massive balloon up into the air.

The ground began to look smaller and smaller the higher Arya went, she got to a nice height, she moved towards west, heading for Varanasi. The flight would be approximately four hours and a bit, it was taking a big toll on Arya since it was her first time being a huge aircraft.

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Two hours into the flight, Damian was getting a bit uncomfortable sitting in one place, he jumped out his seat and went to look at the horses, he petted them and took a canteen of water to let them drink a bit, it kind of failed because he didn’t have a bucket, to let them drink from, and he didn’t think it was enough water.

“Ukhti, I need some assistance.” Damian called out quietly. There was a small shake before some coloured words bloomed on the walls, ‘what is it, mon etoile?’ it read out. Damian should have known Arya couldn’t speak in the form…

“Could you collect water from passing clouds for the mares?” Damian asked thoughtfully, it was a good idea to pass through some clouds and collect some water and let the horses drink from it. Arya did exactly that and made a trough for the horses to drink from as they passed a cloud.

During the flight for Jason, he was taking a nap, reserving any energy he could for the journey ahead of them. Arya could only do so much for them, so he had to stay alert and ready for when they landed.

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Once they landed, the mares were taken out first to stretch their legs, Damian petting them and eat some grass, Jason got out the things they needed before Arya deflated and turned back into herself. She looked absolutely drained, her limbs feeling weak as she walked to them with a weak but accomplished smile on her face.

“Phase one is over!...” She cheered weakly, her arm pumping up weakly before she collapsed onto the ground, face flat into the cool grass, her limps sprawled about on the ground. She could feel the sourness of her limbs trembling through her, she felt like if she moved an inch, she’d be caught into a cramp. She overdid herself too much.

3+ Karma points!

Respectfully, fuck you, Sadist.

The mares moved closer to her after eating their fill and nosed at her pitiful limbs, their cold wet noses adding a bit of feeling into them. “Are you alright, Ukhti?” Damian crouched in front of her, staring at her with his beautiful green emeralds. Arya shakes her head, hitching up a breath from the sores in her neck.

“We can rest here for a while.” Jason said, sitting down next to the two. Arya didn’t need to be told twice, she drifted off to sleep completely, her mind fading into a colourful mess and splash of imagination.

Chapter Text

Spiky blades of grass, tickled against her palms, the gentle breeze brushed over her, she began to feel the numbness of her body as she finally began to wake up. Arya pulled her heavy limbs up, sitting on her legs as she began to wipe off her hands from any dirt she may have picked up on them.

“Finally woke up?” Jason asked, she turned to him with a tired smile before nodding, she didn’t feel like talking at the moment, like who would want to talk after they just woke up?

Arya could hear a passing stream in the distance, it was where the horses were, she stood up, slightly swaying from the sudden dizzy spell that was cast on her. She stood her ground and began strutting forward to the stream (which probably drifted off the river Ganges), so she dipped her hands into it, there was a slight warmth in the water that just begged for her to let her hands drift in it.

Once she snapped out of her daze, she washed her hands and face with the water, taking a small sip off it too. She glanced to the side to see Damian sleeping under a shady tree, he looked absolutely adorable, he looked like a normal child, Arya felt bad that Damian would have never experienced a normal childhood. She wanted to give him all of that, he deserved to get that, he deserved to be a kid, not some full-time assassin.

Arya left Damian to sleep and went to Jason, he was fiddling with the bag Talia gave him, she goes and sits next to him, “Hey Jay, what you doing?” She said quietly, her body still rebooting.

“Just looking in the bag to-” Just as he says it, he pulls out a red helmet, shiny and new, the perfect shade for him, a blazing ember red helmet. Arya knew it definitely wasn’t hers, it practically had his name embedded in it by fate. It was Jason’s and only his.

“It’s beautiful.” Arya smiled softly as Jason’s eyes glowed in happiness, his eyes a beautiful bluey-green, his hair shadowing over them as they sparkled like it was trying to conceal his beautiful jewels from the world. Jason looked at the helmet with closer inspection, who knew such large hands could hold so much care and precision?

Arya takes the near-forgotten bag and looks though it to find a pack of vials of a highly poisonous substance extracted from the seed and bark of the strychnine tree, used in minor doses it’s a stimulant but ingesting more than a touch will result in paralysis of the nerved, severe muscle contractions, and finally asphyxiation.

 A lethal dose is around 1 to 2 mg per kg of body weight. There were another pack of vials of Jimsonweed or the devil’s snare causes asphyxiation and Deadly Nightshade causes dry mouth, dilated pupils, flushed skin, rapid heartbeat and respiration, fever and sweating and most importantly, heart attacks. With the packs of vials, there were some acupuncture needles with them. There was another pack full of vials of anaesthetics.

 Arya regretted all the curses she’s thrown at Talia, maybe she actually was a good person…

“What else is in there?” Arya jolted at the sudden voice, you’d think the girl would have lost the ability to be scared while in the league, well you thought wrong. She just hid it very well in front of people. Anyways, the culprit of the scare was Damian, he was rubbing away the fatigue from his eyes with his small hands that still had that innocent layer of baby fat in them.

“I don’t know, how about you check?” Arya placed the bag into his hands, Damian looked into the bag and pulled out a blade, the handle of the blade was a dark green with silver engravings spiralling away on the blade, the blade’s guard was silver with engravings of roses dancing around the guard, the actual cheek of the blade was a dark black with the bevel being a dark green with hues of blue. Damian’s eyes danced with a mix of hidden happiness, though his face was completely blank. “You like it?” Arya smiles smugly at him.

“…Yes.” Damian says looking away from her.

“Since we’re all awake, we should probably start walking into the city.” Jason suggested, taking the discarded bag from the ground and placing his helmet back in, Damian put his blade into his pocket and Arya put her stuff back in the bag too.

“We’re on the outskirts of Varanasi, it shouldn’t take us long to reach there by horse.” Arya said, hoisting on a bag, since Jason had been carrying them all throughout the trip, they got on their horses, Arya with Damian once again and Jason by himself, they began to trot along the path, heading into the city.

The city was full of bustle and chatter, the three trotted into the busy market on their horses, it was hot and humid near more crowded areas, Arya brought some fruits with some rupees she got from the League. She threw an orange and apple for Jason to catch and let Damian get what fruits he liked, Arya got herself a bunch of rambutan, a favourite fruit of hers after passionfruit.

The sun was at its peak, blades of heat attacking Arya, she was boiling under the sun, to the point she couldn’t even laugh at the heat, she turned her hand into a fan, powerful enough to actually cool her down, she let Damian have some of the cool breeze too, she felt bad that Jason couldn’t have some too but she had put herself first otherwise she would evaporate into nothingness.

“Jay, do you think we could catch a train and sneak the horses into one of the cargo places?” Arya suggested tiredly, they had been riding for about two hours.

“We could try.” Jason said, equally tired and hot, the changed courses and headed to the train station, it was packed and busy but not yet rush hour so they snuck onto the platform with the horses, Arya hopped off the horse, stretching a bit, her butt felt so numb after sitting on the horse for so long, though she had a task to do: Distract the Train workers.

Honestly it wasn’t really hard, just turn into a pretty Asian woman, Bollywood worthy and you’d get all the things you can get, humans were very simple creatures. Arya just stood at the platform and looked pretty, enough for the workers to start catcalling and complimenting her.

 Arya gave the signal and the boys got the horses into the cargo area, once they were in the cargo and had shut the door, Arya smiled at the workers before walking away, disappearing once out of view, turning back into herself sneaking into the cargo area.

The coast was only clear once the train had started to move, then they could actually relax, the cargo area they were in was big enough to give all of them a sense of personal space. Arya laid down onto the cool surface, “We should have done this ages ago.” Arya sighed comfortably. Damian rested his back on the wall, stroking the mares that sat down next to him, whispering soft thanks to them for their hard work. Jason passed around the canteen for the three to drink and Damian fed the horses some apples he cut using his blade his mother gifted him.

The train ride was five hours long before the three with the additional two horses got off the train, Arya thanked God for the fact no one bothered to check the cargo area they were in. They snuck their way out the station, the sun was still out but it was more bearable for them. The journey was getting Arya a bit annoyed because of how long it took to get to one place to another.

“Should I just, I don’t know, turn into a jet or something because I’m getting tired of this place.” Arya complained with a scowl on her face, she had patience, of course she did, but the heat and the fact her back was aching from the lack of comfort she wished she had was getting to her.

“You could do that?” Damian asked, looking at her as if she committed a crime against animals. Which can be argued she did for kind of making the horses walk for so many hours.

“Yeah, sorry.” Arya slumped a bit from the menacing glare she was getting from Damian.

“Just do it.” Jason said with a bit of a scowl on his face.

“Okay, okay!” Arya moved a bit back and looked to see if the coast was clear, she deemed that it was and she turned into a jet, she opened a door and slid down a ramp, she added a speaker to the aircraft. “Welcome to Arya Airlines, I hope you enjoy your flight.” Her voice was a bit robotic but still had that happy tone she always had. Damian huffed and pulled in the mares into the craft, where a pen, similar to the one in the airship was before he took a seat, Jason did the same, Arya lifted off and jet through the air, she was so tired of the slow journey that she just made herself faster every five minutes, testing her limits.

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Arya lands them at a Premier Inn in Britain after dropping off the horses at a farm, it was an emotional moment for both Damian and Arya, the mares had been a big help through the journey, Arya thought she really bonded with the mare she rode on with Damian, Arya threatened the farmer, she told the man to take care of the mares well and that she’d be back to see them, Damian shot a threatening glare towards the poor guy, twisting his blade around in his fingers, the guy got the point and Jason dragged the two away, hitting the backs of their heads for scaring the poor guy.

 Arya booked them a room with money Jason didn’t know she had. They head up and get to the room, there was three beds in it with a bathroom. Arya sighed and flopped onto the double bed after she kicked off her boots because she deemed she was worthy of it, Jason put down their stuff and took off his boots before laying back on his bed. Damian glared at Arya because he believed he was worthy of the bed since he was an Al Ghul. Arya just rolled her eyes and ignored him.

A tired laugh rang out of Jason and he placed an arm over his face, “What’s got you laughing, giggles?” Arya smiled tiredly at him, Damian trudged over to his own bed and faced Jason.

“We actually did it!” Jason laughed.

“Yeah, we did.” Arya smiled into her pillow.

“By the way, how did you get money so quick?” Jason asked her, that was something Damian wanted to know as well.

“A magician never reveals their secrets.” Where she got the money… well, Ra’s wouldn’t notice anyway.

“But you’re not one.”

“Oh, shut up, I need my rest before I can fly us to Gotham.”

“Alright.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Arya falls asleep within minutes; she wasn’t really dreaming but she was floating away. Yes, she was floating again.

3+ Karma Points

You have gained a [side character: Damian Al Ghul/ Damian Wayne]

System. Nice to see you too.

Hello, Arya.

Hey, System?

Yes, Arya?

How many Karma points do I have?

You have collected 75 Karma points.

Do you wish to access the shop?

Sure.

What would you like to buy?

Options?

Your options are:

• Money [10 Karma points]-You can get any currency you want; you can buy £350 and transfer it to the currency of your choosing. This can be a shared product. Example: £350 is equivalent to $446.
• Ability Limit Raiser [15 Karma points] you cannot share this product.
• Energiser [20 Karma Points] – Takes away fatigue for four hours once eating the pill. It can be given to others. This contains 6 pills each buy.

What would you like to buy?

Money and two ability raisers, please.

You have bought [Money] and 2x [Ability Limit Raiser].

You have [35 Karma Points] left.

What currency would you like your [Money] to be?

Pounds.

[Money] has been set to [Pound Sterling].

Thank you for shopping.

Is that all?

Yup, that is all, thanks.

Goodbye, Arya.

Bye.

Shaking, she could feel her body being shook awake, who was shaking her awake?

“Ry!”……… “Arya!”

Arya woke up with a gasp just as she was pushed off her bed with a thud. “What?!” She groaned, holding her head, she blinked her eyes open at the standing figure, Jason stood with a big grin on his face, Damian sitting on the bed looking down at her with a triumphant look on his face.

“You weren’t waking up.” He said simply.

“Because I was sleeping, you-” Arya shut her mouth quick before a scowl placed itself on her face, she didn’t want to corrupt Damian with her use of language.

“I’m what?” Jason asked innocently, a grin spreading on his face.

“I wasn’t going to say anything.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, do you want to explore Britain? We’re in Barking, London, I want to go to sweet Asda for some snacks!”

“Asda?”

“It’s like a Walmart, kind of?” Arya was unsure but she had a driving force and set thing she wanted to get. “I need tea.”

“You British people and your tea.”

“It’s delicious, like I can drink it every morning, evening or night, I don’t care, I need my tea and oh my god!” Arya was looking delirious now.

“What?”

“I can get baked beans on toast!” She smiled widely.

“Ew, you put beans on toast?” Arya threw a punch on his arm. “Ow!”

“How dare you disrespect it, you heathen. You need some good cheese and a good toast and some baked beans and butter with some salad?  That sounds like a good breakfast.” Arya said with her chin raised high. “It got me through tough mornings and is a comfort food from my childhood.” She stood up and pulled his ear closer to her, “Don’t you dare disrespect it or I will leave you to get to Gotham yourself, I’ll take Damian anywhere he wants.” She lies with a grin.

“Lies, you always do that grin when you lie.” Jason said with a smirk on his face, Arya reached up to the bed and whirled a pillow at Jason which he caught.

“Anyways, I got money.” She pulled out the £350 in her trouser pocket. “Three fifty.”

“Where did you get it?” Jason looked at the money then at Arya.

“Magic.” Arya deadpanned.

“Metas.” Jason rolled his eyes.

“We can go shopping for clothes!” Arya’s eyes lit up with excitement.

“Oh, joy.”

“First, I need breakfast.” Arya grabbed her shoes and one of the room cards and ran out the room. Jason groaned in self-pity and took his own card before trailing after her with Damian in tow.

They found themselves at Primark. Arya went running about buying a pair of trainers (unbranded), plain black shirts (they were multipack) and some cargo trousers for herself and a nice little black bag. The total cost being £60. “You need anything?” Arya finally asked once they got to M&S, she was looking at undergarments and Jason was looking at the ceiling since it was looking oddly nice and very interesting.

“Nope.”

“Yes, you do. You need some shirts and trousers. And your boxers.” Arya deadpanned.

“I’ll get them myself.” Jason’s cheeks were flushed in embarrassment. Jason went off to the men section before getting the things he should get, which included a large backpack, for the weapons from the League.

Arya took Damian to the child section letting Damian pick what he wanted, as well as some essentials, most of the clothes Damian picked out were plain and mostly green and black, she bought him two pairs of shoes for him and some socks.

 The three met up at the self-check out and put their clothes into a bag. Jason was quick to get out the store. They had spent £80 all together in M&S. They got to Asda and Arya began buying bathroom necessities, sweets and snacks and a breakfast Baguette (a tuna salad)  and of course, some tea and a can of baked beans (Jason thought she was disgusting for getting it), Jason got two peri peri chicken sandwiches and two summer fruits sparkling waters. Arya picked out some vegetarian meal-deals for Damian to eat.

After the shopping spree they had spent £190 all in that time. They returned to the inn and began eating.

“What time should we get to Metropolis?” Arya took a bite of her baguette.

“Maybe by 2’oclock.” Jason chomped down on his sandwich, licking any of the sauce that spilled out quickly.

“So, we’re flying for an hour.” Arya muses. “What do you wanna fly on? Griffon or a jet?”

“Jet.” Jason said with sparkling eyes, that ride was the most comfortable and it was the best one between the airship and the jet. Damian nodded in agreement as he ate his vegetarian pasta.

“Okay, we should probably get to an open area.

“Where are we going to find one?”

“Right.” Arya thought for a while munching on her baguette. “We can just do it like in a park?”

“Wouldn’t that expose you?”

“Yeah, I guess it would but its Britain. It’s like every other Tuesday to see something abnormal here. We don’t take things seriously like you Americans.” Arya shrugged before opening the drink Jason bought. “Most people would think they’re drunk, it is a Friday.”

“You guys are so weird.” Jason looked at her unimpressed.

“We just don’t care.” Arya chugged her drink after finishing her baguette. “Anyways, I’m going to have a shower she took a pack of shirts and whatever the hell she brought and went to the bathroom. The shower was amazing, it was warm and refreshing, she washed her hair, letting all the dirt and grime that might have gotten stuck in there from the flight, she really needed to buy some hair products, but it was a broke life waiting for the gal. She scrubbed the days-old dirt from her skin with a loofa leaving her extra clean.

She came out looking fresh and clean, she shifted her hand into a blow dryer to dry her hair and dry herself before putting on some baby oil, (she really needed skincare products too) she pulled on a shirt and cargo trousers and a pair of socks before walking out with her dirty clothes. “You can go now.” Arya left no room for any protesting.

Damian had finished eating and took a towel and went inside with some of the clothes her bought, he came out after a while, in his green shirt and grey bottoms and socks, Arya blow dried his hair with her hand, turning her other hand into a comb to make sure there was no knots when his hair finished drying. “Jason, go, you’re finished eating.” Arya ordered, not bothering to turn to face him.

Jason huffed before taking some clothes and making his way into the bathroom, he was in there for a good fifteen minutes before walking out, dressed but hair dripping with water, Arya sighed and shifted her hand once again into a blow dryer and blow dried his hair. “Have I ever told you? I really love your hair.” Arya said touching a curl of white at the front of his hair with a finger.

“Mhm, many times.” Jason shook her hands off.

Arya looked at the clock in the room, it was 12:45, “Should we head out? We can exchange the money at an airport first or I can just get dollars?” She thought of System.

“Sure, just get dollars.” Jason looked at her sceptically, “Where do you even get the money?”
“Magic.” Arya smiled as she did her jazz hands.

“You won’t tell me, will you? How long have we been friends?” Jason looked at her like a kicked puppy.

“Six months and you kicked me.” Arya said unamused.

“You were an intruder.”

“I had nothing on me that was threatening.”

“You came out of nowhere.”

“Well, I just happened to find myself there.”

They argued for a while, they looked at each other with a glare before bursting out in laughter, Damian rolled his eyes at their antics.

“Friends?” Arya lifted a fist.

“Always.” Jason pounded it with his own with a matching big smile.

“Okay.” Arya said with a knowing smile.

“Okay.” Jason rolled his eyes.

The three packed their things into the backpack Jason brought and headed out of the inn after checking out and giving back their cards, Arya gave a fifty to a homeless woman and her dog, Damian gave the dog a nice pet although Arya didn’t like dogs, everyone human or not deserved a meal to eat.

They reached a park, not many people around, so Arya shifted into a jet, it never failed to amaze Jason in how she transformed, it was weird at first but breathtaking to say the least. Once Arya was done, she opened a platform for the boys to step in, before closing it right after they was in and buckled.

“This is Arya Airlines, this flight is on route to Metropolis, predicted time in reaching the destination is 2 pm, have a safe and enjoyable flight, thank you.” Arya sounded like an AI but still had her voice mixing with it.

“You better not crash us.” Jason laughed as he leaned back into the seat.

“Haha, I’ll try.” Arya lifted off from the ground and sped into the sky, blasting into the clouds, when Arya said she would be fast, she meant it.

Jason took the time to listen in to any radios or news channels to see if they were talking about the jet, but none came so he just relaxed and took the time to fall asleep and regain some energy. She made a screen and put on an animal documentary (David Attenbirough, the legend) for Damian to watch to keep him interested. Arya dimmed the lights and flew steadily for the rest of the flight.

Arya landed softly in Metropolis before shaking Jason up by rocking the aircraft a bit. “You have reached your destination, please proceed to the exit on the left.” The door to leave opened up, Jason stood up groggily and picked up his backpack before jumping out where Damian stood. Arya shifted back to herself with a cheeky smile.

“I want to do something while we’re here.” She pulled out 140 dollars and passed them to Jason, “Hold onto those, I’m throwing myself off a building.”

It took a while for Jason to process what she had just said, “You’re what?!” Arya was already heading for a skyscraper, “Arya, No!”

“Arya, yes!” She cheered and ran into the building jumping into the elevator, pressing a button before waving at Jason who was still chasing after her while the door was closing. She got to the roof after getting off at the highest floor and climbing the last flight of stairs. She waited for a few minutes before Jason came up with Damian behind him and looking unimpressed.

“You,” Jason sucked in a breath. “NO.”

“But I can.” Arya smiled; Jason shook his head. “See ya.” Arya ran off the rooftop jumping off like a starfish.

“I knew she was not alright in the mind.” Jason muttered as he looked over the roof with Damian who was just shaking his head, was she really a young adult or a child?

“Help! Help me!!!” Arya screamed hysterically with a few giggles from exhilaration, “Help!!”

After a while of falling, it was getting kind of scary, nothing was happening, no one was coming, Arya was seeing the ground getting closer and closer now, she wouldn’t die because she could, you know fly away.

“HELP! HEL-” Arya didn’t have to finish as arms grabbed her. “Oh.” Arya looked at the man and God, his beauty was something from another planet, honestly Arya thought Henry Cavill did him justice, the man was hot.  

Superman arrived and placed her on the ground, “It’s very dangerous to play on rooftops, young lady.”

“My bad, it was my first time seeing an open rooftop.” Arya said, she was being honest, back in Britain, health and safety is a must.

“Arya!” Jason called as soon as he got out of the building with Damian strolling behind. “Why would you do that?!” He said playing the act of a concerned friend, he knew she was going to be alright.

“Don’t worry, Superman here saved me.” Arya grinned.

“You stupid Brit!” Jason hid a grin behind a scowl, Damian just stood next to him with his usual frown.

“Hey, calm down now,” Arya frowned playfully.

“You should listen to your friends; they must have been very concerned when they watched you fall off.” Superman said firmly.

“Yeah, maybe next time.” Arya’s joking died when she saw two twinning glares pointed at her one firm glare from Superman and one from Damian, though it was for another reason. “Sorry.” She looked down at her shoe rolling it on a small rock.

“Just be careful. Have a safe and enjoyable day!” Superman said before flying off. Once he was gone, Damian was still glaring at Arya.

“I’m sorry.” Arya rolled her eyes. “It was an experiment.” Damian stomped off ahead of the two, Arya and Jason glanced at each other with a smile before taking one of Damian’s hands and swinging him into the air with a small laugh as Damian demanded them to unhand him.

The small detour to Metropolis was quite fun actually, even Damian had a smile on his face, even if it was only for a few seconds before Arya teased him about it.

Chapter Text

Arya, Damian and Jason finally reached Gotham.

Gotham stank of urine and smoke, the smog in the air was familiar to Jason, he looked at Arya with a smile. “Welcome to Gotham.” Arya looked at the city before looking at him.

“This definitely looks ghetto.” Arya wrinkled her nose at the drying vomit she had to walk past, she stayed close to Jason clutching Damian’s hand firmly, it was unfamiliar and so much more different than Metropolis where it was sunny, she bet there was hardly any sun that came through the black clouds.

There was movement in the dark, they weren’t monsters, they were kids. Underfed, off colour looking kids, ranging from the age of seven and over, their limbs were so skinny and their faces looked pudgy with baby fat, their faces lacked the smiles of joy, they had scowls on their faces, eyes untrusting. They were just trying to survive. Arya’s heart ached at the sight of them, she was glad she was in Gotham. Gotham needed change. No matter what stupid laws were put in place that restricted help being given to the city especially Crime Alley, she was going to break them.

Arya placed her hand in Jason’s clenching it tightly as she shook in anger. She couldn’t imagine what these kids went through just trying to stay alive, the amount of child predators, child traffickers, the number of molesters of the dirty streets of Gotham. It was sickening.

Jason squeezed Arya’s hand comfortingly, she looked over to see a great determination that matched her own.

They were going to help. No matter what.

A three months later…

“Jason, how’s the helmet going?” Jason was shirtless, oil flicked on his hands as he was screwing some small screws into the right side of the helmet.

The three had found a safehouse in Crime Alley, hidden between an alley that had a basement, it had three bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen connected to the dining area and a large basement area. The structure of the house was like this, once you walked into the house, you’d be met with the living room, it was a large living room, as you keep walking there will be a hallway, on the left would be the bedrooms and the door to the basement, on the right would be the kitchen and connected dining room.

It used to belong to some drug dealers years back, but it was in good condition. If you were wondering why Damian was still with the two teens, well Damian refused to leave them, and the two weren’t complaining at all, Damian was a little brother to them and neither of them wanted him to go to Wayne Manor to be with Bruce. He’d rather live with the two in the safehouse, so why should they force Damian to go somewhere he doesn’t want to?

Sorry Tals, they ain’t separating at all. (For now…)

To keep rent up and running while Jason worked by patrolling as Red Hood, Arya found some work in transporting at the port, this gained her intel on any drug deals as she worked as ‘Corey Hilbert’, the man was 5,11, a bit beefy but with a mean looking face with a few knife scars. It was Arya’s first male transformation, and it was working wonders for her. Who knew being a man would have so many benefits?

(Its the inequality, Arya.)

With Arya out the house, it allowed Jason to work on his helmet, Arya found any scraps of metal she could for him from the port and helped get any old pieces from guns to upgrade the weapons they took from the League. Also using the extra money from her job she got, she got art supplies for Damian, who found out he liked drawing as a hobby.

“Hmm, I still need more wire, do you think you can get some?” Jason asked, not looking up from his working station. It only had a bit more things to add to it like the defence mechanism and the fingerprint scanner.

“Sure.” Arya continued sewing, she was making finishing touches to her suit, she had already finished Jason’s, it was a spare suit for him if he wanted it, it was black on the torso except the seams which were red, the sleeves were red and the hood was red too, Jason wanted some cargos with some knee pads, not very visible until you look close enough, holsters were sewed on to the sides of the trousers and when you looked at it, it was amazing, it was lightweight, manoeuvrable and stretchy at parts but still very protective, it would protect the user from any knife wounds (due to the fibres used) and fireproof and just don’t get shot since it doesn’t really protect you against bullets, that’s why there’s a need for bulletproof vests that the three still needed to get. It definitely fit Jason’s style.

Arya was making a dark midnight blue suit for herself, it blended in with the shadows and darkness when she went on patrol, it was the same style as Jason but a bit smaller to match her size, not everyone was a Lazarus Pit induced person with hella muscles. Now, Damian’s one, as reluctant as she was, Arya still made him one, though Damian did most of the touches he wanted, it was quite like the other suits, but it had a dark green cloak with a hood with golden threaded designs going along the hood of the cloak which Damian did himself. It was beautiful, each part of the design had so much care put into it.

A timer rang and Arya set down her suit and got up making her way up from the basement into the kitchen, she took out the lasagna tray from the oven and placed it on a rack to cool for a bit, Jason had made it an hour earlier before heading down to work on his helmet.

“Jay, its done!” Arya called down the staircase, Damian strolled out his room and sat at the table after washing his hands.

“Give me a few minutes!” Jason called, Arya took out three plates and a large spoon and cut out two large servings and a smaller serving before placing them on the three plates, leaving half of the lasagna left she placed it back into the oven before setting the plates on the table with a knife and fork, and a bottle of ketchup. Arya took out a carton of apple juice from the fridge and filled three glasses and placed them on the table, she gestured for Damian to start eating, the meal was fully vegetarian, Jason always made sure to buy Quorn meats so that Damian could eat anything he wanted. Arya had no complaints because food was food for her and Jason was a good cook who knew his way around flavour and spices.

After a few minutes, Jason came up and washed his hands before sitting at the table to start eating, “You’re disgusting, ketchup on lasagna?” Jason wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“It tastes good and makes it taste nicer.” Arya argued as she continued squeezing ketchup on her lasagna. “Even Damian agrees.” Arya pointed her fork at Damian. Damian glared at the two and finished his lasagna.

“Don’t include me in your senseless banter.” He grumbled and got off his chair taking his plate to the sink and dumped them inside, taking his glass of juice from the table and made his way to his room. Arya watched Damian disappear into his room before turning back to Jason.

“See even he agrees that ketchup on lasagna is wrong” Jason smirked triumphantly, Arya narrowed a look at him.

“In my opinion, you are wrong to do that, ukhti!” Damian shouted out of his room, a mortified look made its way onto Arya’s face

“I see nothing wrong with it, you’re just a hater.” Arya finished her lasagna, picking up her drink, she said directed at Jason.

“Not a hater, just normal.” Jason smiled proudly at himself.

“You’re lying to yourself.” She stuck her tongue out at him, “Gaslighting 101”.

“You’re the bully here, in this situation.” Jason pouted at her.

“Nah, just telling the brutal truth.” She sipped her drink, she pulled out her phone to look at the latest news in Gotham, Brucie Wayne was having a gala in three days, oh, to be rich like him. Then an idea slipped into her face.

“Gonna crash a party in three days”

“I’m not going to stop you.” Jason sighed as he took the last bite of his meal.

“Nope.” Arya popped the ‘p’ with a grin. “You will help me, right?”

“If I say no?”

“I don’t know, I’ll think about it when it comes down to that.”

“What do you need me to do?” he sighed.

“I need you to come with me, Blue Orphic and Red Hood.” She smiled toothily.

“You chose your name, Blue Orphic?”

“Yup, Blue Orphic.”

“It’s a good name.” Arya began gathering the dirty dishes.

“I know, being mysterious is something I like being.” She said putting the dishes in the sink. “Come, kind sir, I have something to show you.” She lead him to her room, her room’s theme was black and dark blue, she had a large bookcase filled with books, next to it a desk with a black and blue gaming chair in front of a computer that had a notebook and pot of pens next to it, she had a large double bed with a bedside drawer full-face masks displayed on her dresser with matching gloves, one full-face mask, a midnight blue with small golden constellations dancing around the eyes with a few shooting stars.

The other mask was green which Damian patterned with golden swirls accentuating the white lenses, the gloves matched the colours of both of the masks, there was a strip of dark blue with golden flecks along the sides of the gloves, the other gloves pair of gloves smaller than the other one had a design on the dark green strip, both of them, the mask and the gloves, were beauties and matched their owners perfectly.

“Well?” Arya looked at him expectantly.

“Arya…” Jason was speechless. “They’re amazing!”

“I know right!” An excited smile matched Jason’s, “Now I don’t have to wear a black fabric mask when patrolling.”

“How did you guys come up with them?” Jason looked at her.

“I’ve always loved looking at the stars and I like mysteries, like what else is in space other than things we know? So that’s one of the reasons I went with Blue Orphic since space is an enchanting mystery.”

“It’s perfect for you.” He said with a smile, his eyes glancing over to the gloves and masks once more.

“Thank you” She smiled. “By the way, can Damian come too?” Arya asked with a cheeky smile.

“Go where?” Damian materialised out of nowhere.

“To the Gala?” Jason asked.

“Yeah, the Gala, what else would I be talking about?” Arya turned to Damian, “Do you want to go to the Gala?”

“Were we invited?” Damian asked with a brow raised.

“No, we’re going anyway.” Arya said with a grin.

“It is unwise to attend a place uninvited.” Damian said, being the responsible one out of the two of them, Arya rolled her eyes.

“Well, I don’t care, a party is a party and it’s not like people eat all the food there, think about all the food waste while these snobby riches just laugh and giggle and through hidden insults using posh words instead of properly eating. The Charity Gala is probably to show other people that they seem like good people, when they don’t give a damn about our side.” Arya said trying to convince him, “And, don’t you want to see how your father is like?” she raised a brow. Damian had been asking how his father was like. Jason wasn’t really the best person to ask since he has negative views on Bruce and Arya, well, she couldn’t really say anything too since she was quite ambivalent towards Bruce.

Damian was quiet for a while, “Okay.” Arya’s smile widened in triumphantly, Jason sighed from the sidelines.

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The next day rolled over, Arya was heading out to the library, she was wearing a dark black hoodie and some black leggings with black trainers and her backpack, she walked through the streets, minding her won business, keeping her head looking down, a sour lollipop in her mouth (blue raspberry flavour) as she walked to the library, it wasn’t very exciting.

She got to the library after a while, she waved at Barbara who was at the desk, “Hey, Barbara, do you have any books to recommend?” Arya asked.

“Hey Arya, I have a book you can read.” She turns in her wheelchair and moves to a drawer and pulls out a familiar book Arya had seen before. “The Song Of Achilles.” A pained ache pinged into Arya’s heart, that book had made her stare at a wall for a good hour. Disbelief, anguish, annoyance, sadness, all these flurried together in that one hour.

“Thank you.” Arya takes the book and place in the book scanner thingy after scanning her library card, she was so going to let Jason read it. The book was an amazing one. She puts the book into her backpack. “Bye, Barbara.” Arya smiles at her before heading out.

“Bye Arya.” Barbara smiled back as she watched Arya disappear out the door.

Arya decided to take the long way back home, taking out her earphones and plugged them into her phone and listened to some Lana Del Ray. (She thanked God she at least existed in the universe). She hummed a bit of Young and Beautiful, walking through the street, passing people, waving at young curious toddlers as they stared at her as they walked past holding their parents’ hand.

Once she reached home, she took off her shoes and slipped on her slippers and went to find Jason. He wasn’t in the basement, so he was in his room, Arya knocked on his door. “Jay! I got a book for you!” Jason opened the door, his eyes sparkling in excitement, it was good that Arya was a bookworm like him too. Arya pulled out the book from her backpack. “The Song of Achilles.” She passed it into his hands and passed him a lemon flavoured lollipop with it.

“Thanks, I’ve been wanting something to read.” He says with a smile, taking the book and lollipop.

“Have fun.” Arya said as Jason closed the door on her, his book-loving heart was already ready to read the book. Arya grinned to herself, ‘Have fun indeed, Jason Peter Todd.’ She thought.

The teen made her way to her own room, slipping off her bag in her rolling chair, she changed into her satin pyjamas and flopped onto her bed. She looked around her room ceiling as she laid on her bed. That’s when she saw it.

 A large spider crawled down the wall next to her bed, Arya looked at it once before taking another glance, she wasn’t scared of it, she could easily kill the spider with one of her needles which she always has on her at all times but where’s the fun in that?

Arya faked a shrieked and took her pillow, laptop and duvet and ran out the room, she scurried past Jason’s room and knocked onto Damian’s door.

“Damian!” She hissed, “Damian, please! Open your door!”

“What is it?! Damian threw the door open, his hands covered in paint.

“There’s a spider in my room, please let me sleep in yours!” Arya begged.

“It’s just a spider, it will not hurt you.” Damian scowled.

“I don’t care but I am not sleeping in a room where spiders can creep into my duvet and crawl on me.” Arya frowned playfully, hoisting up her load to keep the laptop from slipping off the duvet she had in her arms.

“Have you forgotten all your training? You’re a failure of an assassin.” Damian moved aside and let the girl in, Damian’s room was of neutral tones, the walls were grey, the only things in his room that showed his personality was the blades he had on his wall and the art supplies he kept on his desk. Damian returned to his desk, while Arya placed her stuff down onto the carpet. She wanted to know what Damian was making.

Arya peered over his shoulder taking a peek at his artwork, it was a beautiful landscape, the mountains of the Himalayas, they stood strong and proud, dusted with snow, the sky a beautiful powder blue with clouds unfurling on the page, the gentle touches of his brush were precise and effortless, he was currently painting a great mountain hawk with a small brush, making sure to make the details refined and perfect, Arya watched, each movement he made, making sure to keep silent to not disturb his focus, Damian was truly amazing. Arya smiled proudly to herself as she continued to watch Damian make the finishing touches to his work.

Once the brush entered the water cup Arya finally spoke, “You know Dami, you should enter an art competition, I think you’d win.” Arya said with a smile.

“…I can do that?” Damian asked a bit unsure, it was one thing doing art for himself, as his hobby but other people seeing it and judging it? What if it wasn’t good enough for them? What if they thought his art was bad?

“Damian, I believe you can do it, we can sign you up for a youth competition, as an eight-year-old, you’re better than most teens I’ve seen.”

“What- what if I don’t win?” Damian asked, turning to her, eyes filled with anxiety.

“It’s alright, I’m sure you’ll be the best artist in me and Jay’s eyes, and I’ll make sure you’ll know it.” Arya said reassuringly. “You can always try again in a different art competition.”

“I’ll think about it.” Damian said glancing at his art, still unsure whether he should enter a competition or not, Arya nodded with a smile.

“Enough of this competition talk, I have a show we can watch for tonight since I’m going to crash in your room for tonight.” Arya grinned.

“…that was your real reason to come here.” Damian gave her a side eye.

“More or less.” Arya said opening her laptop, she waved him over to sit on his bed and watch the show she wanted to show him, Damian rolled his eyes and complied.

“What’s the show called?”

“Miraculous: The Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir.”

“This is the show that makes you get mad right?” Damian asked glancing at her with narrowed eyes. “Why would you want to watch something that makes you mad?”

“It’s been getting too interesting lately.” Arya said, starting the first episode, that night, Damian had started the beginning of his first canon event.

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“Are they that unintelligent?! They have the same hair style! How can they not know?!” Damian screeched at the screen, Arya nodded in firm agreement. “If they’re in love with each other, how can they not see that Marinette is Ladybug and Adrien is Cat Noir?”

“Love makes people blind, Damian. Love makes people blind.” Arya sighed, giving the frustrated boy a side hug as they watched the show.

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“In the daytime, I’m Marinette. Just a normal girl, with a normal life!” Arya sang as she cleaned in the kitchen.

“She is not normal at all, she attends a school with a model, the mayor’s daughter, she made an album cover for a famous rockstar and her parents own a famous bakery!” Damian interrupted with a huff. “Lies! All lies!” He stomped off into the hallway back to his room, Arya waited for a few seconds.

“One…. Two…. Three!” The theme song for Miraculous started up, Arya laughed to herself, the poor boy was addicted to watching it, he was already halfway done through the season one and it had just been a day since he’d started! Not to mention he was keeping her laptop hostage and wouldn’t let her take it back, he was guarding that thing with his life, Arya gave up trying to take it after the third attempt.

After Arya had finished cleaning the kitchen, she realised she hadn’t seen Jason at all the whole day, he hadn’t left his room ever since I got him the book from the library, he hadn’t left to go on patrol at all too!

She knocked on his bedroom door, “Jay, you in there?”

“What?” She heard a watery reply. “Jay, I’m coming in.” Arya said a bit worried.

‘Oh my god, he isn’t-’ Arya opened the door and there was a puffy eyed Jason staring at her. “Are you crying?” Arya asked cautiously, a smile threatening to curl on her lips.

“Fuck off.” He flipped her off, wiping his eyes with his free arm.

“Sorry, forget to tell you it was sad, but it was good, huh?” Aya joked a bit trying to get Jason to smile, instead she got a thin line and unimpressed eyes glaring at her.

“How I coped with it was reading fics?” Arya tried to suggest.

“No, go away.”

“Can I have the book to reread?” Arya asked with a bit of an awkward smile.

“Get out!” Jason clutched the book closer to him.

“Okay, okay!” Arya ran back out the bedroom door, shutting the door. “Well, damn.” Arya muttered to herself, she shrugged to herself and went to pop into Damian’s room and watch Miraculous with him.

She was so going to make sure that she teased Jason about the book, once he had processed it all, of course.

Chapter Text

{7:00 pm}

The three stood on the rooftops looking down at the gala currently at play, Brucie Wayne had just entered with his most recently adopted son Timothy Drake. Arya had mixed feelings on Timothy Drake, she didn’t know whether she liked him or disliked him, he was smart, she’ll give him that but from what she knows, the things he does is very questionable to his intelligence.

“Right, let’s crash a party.” Arya grinned, “I’ll go by the front entrance, you guys do what you like.” Jason and Damian nodded and Arya slipped down her mask. “I’ll let you guys onto the balcony.”

Arya turned into a stretching bridge to a balcony letting Jason and Damian slide down to the balcony. She turned back to herself, turning into a green and blue dragonfly flying into the entrance. The boys drifted through the shadows, their training kicking in as they whipped past laughing snobs of riches, they reached the most populous area in which most people were, Damian and Jason ventured off elsewhere after that, Brucie was in the middle of all the drama. Arya flew past them to reach the table of dessert and turned back into herself. Of course, she wanted to crash the party but… the desserts were just sitting there, teasing her and she wanted more energy too.

Her ability to shapeshift needed, sleep and food, the food she ate gave her energy, this allowed her to convert them into things, like bullets, if she wanted bullets she’d have to use her food and convert them into it so she could have a supply of ammo when she wanted to shoot it out of her, she needed sleep so that her body could recover from the lack of energy she got after shapeshifting.

 Arya, as mentioned before, can turn into anything and everything, she can adapt her forms into anything she wanted, as long as she had energy for it, her time limit in forms depend on how much she’s eaten, though the thing about Arya is that she has fast metabolism. Imagine food being your energy supply but you have a fast metabolic rate that it tears down into the food you eat. That is why Arya needs the ability raisers, to help slow down her metabolic rate.

Though depending on her form, her energy would be consumed, bigger forms take more energy from her than smaller forms.

She took a plate of madeira cake and some macaroons before finding a corner to eat, she pulled up her mask to reveal her mouth, so she sank her teeth into the dessert. She didn’t know what made it taste so delicious, well the fact that it was made by professionals or the fact she didn’t have to buy it.

Arya happily hummed as she ate her slice of cake before she finished everything on her plate, she stood up to get another slice from the table, she got a nice moist chocolate cake, that had edible gold sprinkled on it and some marbling swirls of gold around the cake, she went to her claimed corner and ate it happily. Once she was done, she could finally do what she truly wanted to do, wreak havoc.

Arya jumped onto the chandelier, she sat in them, her legs hanging in between the metal bended poles, that was probably gold and worth more than her salary even if she worked for over three years, it wouldn’t be enough to cover the cost of it. She turned her hand into huge party popper, yes, a party popper, she wasn’t going to do anything massively damaging, just some fun!

BOOOM!

Shrieks and gasps of shock erupted over the orchestra who also stopped playing, as confetti fell everywhere, Arya adjusted her hood over her head, “Hello!” She chirped as the invited guests snapped their heads up to look at her as she swung on the chandelier, a few hired security guards ran towards the girl as she jumped down onto the ground, Arya drew some needles coated in some anaesthesia, she flicked them at the guards, all perfectly coordinated, slipping right to their necks, piercing a vein before they all flopped onto the ground, she turned her finger into a powerful magnet, pulling out the needles from their body, “How rude of you to interrupt someone.” Arya said in a feigned upset tone, toeing at a slumped limb with her shoe.

 “Hello~ you aren’t on the guest list.” A flirty voice said behind her, she turn to see Brucie Wayne standing there with a glass of champagne with a drunken flush on his face.

“I think you forgot to put my name on it, but it’s alright I’m here now!” Arya beamed under her mask, “The name is Blue Orphic, its spelt buh-” after she counted how many letters there were on her fingers as she spelt it. “You can call me Blue, if it’s too much for you to say!” Arya looked around the ballroom and realised it was already half empty, people pooling out the doors, “Hey, where are you going? I though this was a party!” Arya pouted under her mask, she turned towards Bruce. “Hey, let’s dance!” She turned her hand into a wand, “ylf meth ekam!” Arya swished her wand-hand and Bruce and most of the guests floated up, along with Arya.

Shrieks and unsure sounds came from the guests and Bruce. “Bibbity bobbity boo!” Arya pointed the wand at the now vacant orchestra instruments, the instruments started playing. “Okay, everyone, we can dance now, just walk like normal!” Arya said cheerfully.

“So, shall we dance?” Arya said holding her gloved hand out for Bruce to take.

She waited for him to take her hand, looking through the whites of her lenses, just as Bruce reached out to take her hand, a red head came towards her with an assistant holding a camera, Vicki Vale. Arya frowned at her under the mask. “Hello, I’m Vicki Vale, could I interview you?”

“Fuck off.” Arya grabbed the camera and dashed it behind her, consequently smashing it. She turned her hand into something blaster shaped, she shot something slimy at Vicki, it engulfed her body slamming her into the wall on the far side of the ballroom, sticking her there, her mouth covered to keep silent, her body stuck and immobile. “Hey, did you see that? Isn’t my blaster so cool?!” She turned back to Bruce, to find him a few air steps away. “Why are you so far away? We were meant to dance.” Arya said stomping forward with a hand held out.

“S-stay back!” Bruce stumbled back, putting on the act of a scared drunk. Arya put her gloved hand down.

“That’s very mean of you to say to guest.” Arya said with a sad voice, kind of like talking to a child.

“B-but you weren’t invited!”

“I don’t need an invite to get free food.” Arya stuffs a macaroon she had stolen into Brucie’s mouth before floated off up the stairs, “You can get her off with- I won’t tell you actually, bye!” Arya chirped as she disappeared off into the shadows with a wave.

Arya looked around for the boys but couldn’t find them anywhere.

Crash! KREEE!

That’s not good.

Arya ran to the scene to find a very angry Jason, a peeved Damian and… a terrified Tim.

Arya analysed the scene, a broken table, obviously thrown, a chair and a takeaway coffee cup, crushed but empty. The scene of everything that happened in the room, played out in Arya’s head like a movie, Jason must have thrown the table and broke the chair, Damian probably crushed the cup with his foot, but now she knew for sure, Damian and Jason didn’t like Tim.

“Hey, time to fly.” Arya grabbed Jason and Damian’s arm and pull away breaking through a window, Arya turned into dragon as if it was muscle memory, she had finally pulled it off after so much training, she disappeared with boys on her back, Jason was currently bashing at her scales, eyes glowing a poisonous green after taking off his helmet to breath. Damian was silently fuming.

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They finally reach Crime Alley rooftops, before she turned back into her normal self, Jason still had his glowing greens. “He replaced me!” Jason was looking for something to punch, “He fucking- he replaced me! He has a new Robin and its-” Jason screamed, he needed something to punch, his screams sounded so raw and hurt.

“He’s weak.” Damian said, through gritted teeth. The boy he saw was so weak, he wasn’t worthy of the mantle given to him. Damian didn’t like him at all.

Arya came back after disappearing with a punching bag, Jason charged at it, throwing powerful punches, each punch coming stronger than the other, booming through the night. The punching bag couldn’t take it any longer and promptly tore apart. Jason had calmed down enough to stop punching and lashing out.

The swirling pain in his chest, the feeling of betrayal, of course he knew that Robin was never his but… it hurt. The fact that Batman chose another Robin hurt. It wasn’t fair. At first, he knew that Batman had a new Robin but seeing how happy Bruce was with the new son, the new Robin? He never made it for him but he’s there for that one?

Arya placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, Damian had jumped off the rooftops heading back home.

“Baking? You don’t have to go on patrol today, I’ll do it.” Arya suggested, Jason nodded his head after a while of thinking before pulling away and making his way down the building back to the safe house. Jason already had kicked off his boots and thrown his mask and gloves on the floor and began washing his hands with soap, with all the ingredients set on the counter. All different, there was cocoa, chocolate chips, icing sugar, flour, eggs, milk butter etc. There were a few things that he could be making but no matter what he would bake but by the end of the night he would have baked something, and it would be fucking delicious.

The crashing party was such a bad idea. While Jason and Damian were at home, Arya stood on the edge of the rooftop they left her on. Arya had a swirling guilt building in her stomach, it made her feel sick, wanting to cleanse her stomach from eating the sweet treats while Jason suffered, though the confetti and the blaster kind of took care of the slices of cake she ate. She already knew how Jason felt about being replaced and seeing Bruce, but she wanted to do something fun.

That wasn’t fucking fine with her.

She is so used to going all out then getting the consequences of her actions. It had gotten her into bad situations before and still decided to not think her actions through.

 She felt guilty. Arya knows that it’s not her all her fault that Jason got upset but she felt bad, she jumped off the building turning into a white owl and flew off, looking over the Crime Alley, she dropped into an alleyway not really expecting to find anything.

She transformed back into herself, walking through the alleyway, she heard a cry of help, she made it to the out the alleyway to find a man pinning a woman, clearly struggling, to a wall. The woman had long black silky hair, her skin a beautiful caramel under the streetlamp light, she wore a nice white floral dress and a white cardigan, her fingers painted an emerald green, Arya took out a needle and shot it right at his neck with some anaesthesia coated on the needle, the man flopped down onto the ground. “Gosh, how many people do I have to knock out today?” Arya muttered a bit irritated, she walked to the woman, who was still shaking, clutching to herself, Arya kicked the unconscious man, rolling him a bit away so she could approach the woman, she made sure that her hands were always in view to the woman, the poor lady’s eyes was still shaking in shock.

“Hello, I’m Blue Orphic.” Arya introduced slowly as she carefully neared the woman, the woman’s lips trembled as her eyes began to water, a sob of relief erupting out her lips as she draped her arms around Arya, sobbing out thanks through gasps. “It’s what I’m here for.” Arya rubbed soothing circles on her back as the woman cried her heart out.

Once the lady calmed down, she wiped her cheeks free of tears, “Would you like for me to take you home?” Arya asked softly, she held out a gloved hand for the woman to take, the lady grasped her hand, holding it firmly, “Hold on a second.” Arya bent down to the unconscious man and yanked out the needle with her free hand. Making sure there was blood as it came out, dirty scums like him deserve to be punished for a long time. “Is there anything you’d like for me to do with the guy?”

“No, can- can we just leave?” She tightened her grasp on Arya’s hand.

“Alright.” They began walking away from the alleyway, “So… what’s your name?” Arya asked her after a while.

“Ashika…” She said quietly.

“That’s a nice name!” Arya quipped up with a smile behind her mask, “Sorry if its rude to ask, do you have an Indian background?” a small smile appeared on Ashika’s face.

“It’s alright but yes, I am from India, how did you know?” She turned to look at Arya.

“I had a friend called Ashika, she was pretty, like you.” Arya grinned under her mask, Ashika smiled shyly.

“Thank you, you’re very kind.”

“Nah, I’m not that kind actually.” Arya said bashfully.

“Well, you were kind enough to help me, I think that’s enough to make you kind.” Ashika smiled brightly.

“Uh, um thanks.” Arya smiled under her mask, feeling a bit flustered, “You’re kind to say that, Ashika.”

“But it’s the truth.” There was a comfortable silence after that, the two walked hand in hand, Arya kept Ashika company all the way back to her apartment.

“Well, this is where we say goodbye.” Arya let go of Ashika’s hand as she stood in front of her apartment door. “It was lovely meeting you, Ashika.” Arya said with cheerfully.

“It was lovely meeting you too, Blue. Thank you for helping me earlier.” She smiled thankfully.

“You’re welcome!” Arya waved goodbye and headed back to the streets of Gotham, she wandered through the shadows, keeping her eyes open, looking around.

There wasn’t much that happened except stopping a mugging and stopping two guys from getting jumped by some older teens, Arya laid on a slopped rooftop, watching the illuminating light from the moon, Arya pulled up her mask so she could breathe a bit better, she had her arms crossed behind her head for a cushion.

Arya had been distracted for the past two hours with Gotham on her mind, but now that she deemed that it was a calm night, her thoughts of what happened earlier rushed back to her, with no restraints, it was as if they were waiting for her to come back to her. Her lips pressed into a fine line, her face losing the usual positivity she radiated. “Well, damn.” Arya cursed, the guilt was trying to eat her whole.

A sudden wave of fatigue hit Arya like a train, she was already losing the battle against it a promptly fell asleep.

Hello Arya

…

I can sense you are feeling upset and guilty.

Yeah, I am.

Why are you upset, Arya?

I messed up and in the process got Jason and Damian upset too.

Humans tend to make mistakes.

I guess.

Would you like to access the shop?

Hmm, I might as well while I’m here, how much Karma Points do I have?

You have [42 Karma Points]

Is there anything new in the shop?

There is an [exclusive offer!] in shop.

Well, what is it?

The item is a [Comms Link Earpiece Set].

A comms link? That’s kind of stupid when it can get hacked by other people, like Barbara Gordon.

It is not hackable; the system will overload the hacker’s motherboard and give their information and anything on their hard drives to the user of the earpiece set. Along with the pair of earpieces there comes a cellular device in which the owner can use to go through any of the information they have gathered. Caution! This can only be shared with the [Main Character] and [Side Character/s] of your story.

….

What is the matter, Arya?

Why the fuck is this so OP?

It is on high demand by other [Players] at the moment.

Players? Anyway, how much is it?

It costs [120 Karma Points]

…SYSTEM, DOES IT LOOK LIKE I HAVE 120 POINTS?

You do not. You have [42 Karma Points]

Hey, uh, System, You’ve known me for like how long? You can, you know get me a deal right?

What kind of deal do you wish to have?

Can I like pay you monthly till I reach 120 points?

… I shall confide with [Creator].

Okay.

….

YOU HAVE A CREATOR?!

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Thank you for shopping.

Thanks System… you made me feel better, thank you.

…You are welcome.

I would give you a hug but I don’t think I can.

Goodbye Arya.

Wow, rude and here I was trying to offer you hugs.

Goodbye Arya :)

You can make smiley faces now?!

Smack!

…Did you just hit me? That’s so unfair, I can’t even hit you back.

…

Okay then! Goodbye System.

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Arya woke up to the dark skies, something was pressing against her side, she looked over to her side to find a package with a small blue grumpy bear plush next to it, God, she loved System.

She climbed off the roof, slipping down her mask over her face, grabbing her items and went back to the safehouse, again, she must have been out for a long time because Jason was nearly finished decorating their treats, Damian standing next to him in a matching apron, with a decorating brush. She stood at the doorframe watching him decorate with icing sugar powdered on his apron and his hands with a small smile on his face, his eyes a beautiful green.

She watched him work on decorating cookies, each one different from the other, all decorated with a gentle hand. Once he was done, he took a step back from his crouched position over the treats and gave himself a proud nod, Jason smiled down at Damian, giving him a thumbs up.

“How many have you made?” Arya startled the two, though it wouldn’t be noticeable unless you looked closely at their eyes which widened a just a bit.

“I don’t know.” He said composed, placing down the icing he was holding.

“Do you think we can give some to the kids down 29^th?” A bigger smile drifted onto Jason’s face.

“Sure.” They had some leftover small paper bags from the last time the two had too many cookies to know what to do with, it had become a weekly thing for the three once, they had gotten into the set routine of helping out the kids in Crime Alley as much as they could throughout the weeks.

Arya washed her hands before joining Jason and Damian at the counter and he handed her a bag and some tweezers, four cookies for each bag, there was double chocolate chip, normal chocolate chip, raspberry cheesecake and white chocolate strawberry.

By the end of all the packing they were left with 30 bags, the extras were for the house, (meaning when Arya wanted a midnight snack to eat to refuel), “Well, these are amazing!” Arya melted as she began chewing down on a raspberry cheesecake cookie after taking off her mask, placing them onto the side of the counter, God, they were too good. “So. Fucking. Delicious.” She smiled at Damian and Jason as she continued eating the cookie.

“Glad you like them.” Jason said as he and Damian puffed their chests up in pride.

“I need you to teach me.” Arya pouted playfully.

“The brownies you make were good too.” Jason said reminiscing the first time she made them, Arya was using Gordon Ramsey’s recipe, but she couldn’t tell Jason that and when Gordon said his recipe was good and it was the fact the brit didn’t exist in this universe.

“You are such a liar, I remember the last time you made brownies it was better!” Arya scowled; Jason just smiled at her. Damian washed his hands and took off his apron. Arya’s scowl turned into a sad smile as she remembered what had happened earlier. Jason and Damian noticed her dimming playfulness.

“Ukhti, what is wrong?” Damian’s emerald greens glanced up at her, Jason was curious too.

“Sorry… for tonight. I’m sorry.” Arya said quietly, glancing down. “I didn’t mean to make you too upset.”

“What are you talking about?” Jason asked.

“At Wayne Manor, you guys were upset…” Arya said, chewing the inside of her cheek.

“Its alright, we were not upset at you.” Damian said with a frown.

“But still!-”

“But nothing.” Jason intercepted, “We’re not mad at you, I’m mad at Bruce, and other things, okay?”  Arya finally looked up at the two.

“Okay.” Arya trailed off before a familiar smile lifted onto her face, “Well, I’m…  glad you’re not mad at me, then.” The two just look at her, two smiles sparkling their eyes, “Right, then I need a cup of tea for all that overthinking.” Arya said with a sighed, moving towards the cupboards, where she had one full of tea. “Tetley, PG Or Yorkshire?...” Arya muttered to herself. “Definitely, PG.” She took out the box and placed a teabag in a mug, she turned on the kettle after filling it up with some water, because she wasn’t a bloody heathen to be putting water in a microwave.

Once the water was done boiling, she poured it into the cup and mixed it with a spoon and added some sugar before taking out the teabag, she smelt the aroma and sighed, “This is what I needed.” She took her mug and her grumpy bear plush that System gifted her and took a few cookies, she turned to the boys who had started cleaning up. “I’m off to my room for a bit of me time.” She didn’t bother to get an answer, it was time for her to relax and clear her mind with a lovely cup of tea and her handful of cookies.

Such bliss and pure happiness came after she settled down in her chair in her room and took a well-deserved sip of her tea and took a munch of her cookies, “I love a good tea and biscuits, just hits the spot.” She relaxed happily in her chair.

Such bliss indeed.

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Bruce loosened his tie and sat down in front of the batcomputer, trying to find information on the new face in Gotham, Blue Orphic. According to Oracle, the figure had been seen throughout Crime Alley, evading cameras and sightings when they could, the only reason there was any information is from people who have been saved by the figure. It’s unclear what gender the figure was, though it could be taken from their height, approximately 5,7 that they were female. What was worrying is that Blue Orphic’s intentions are unclear and that they give signs that they are a metahuman.

A metahuman unregistered and unknown running around Gotham was troubling.

What was also on Bruce’s mind is the fact that Tim was targeted by Blue Orphic’s accomplices, Red Hood and an unknown. Red Hood was a notorious crime lord, ruling over Crime Alley, whenever Batman tried to confront the crime lord, he always seemed to disappear without a trace. Red Hood was someone who murdered criminals, delivering bodyless heads in dufflebags, there was a significant drop of crime in Crime Alley when it came to light that Red Hood was the culprit to bodyless heads appearing.

Though some reports have given that Red Hood is caring towards children and pose no threat to them, especially, Alley kids. Batman and Robin weren’t trusted in Crime Alley, but they trusted Red Hood and Blue Orphic more.

Batman now had a mission, capture Red Hood and Blue Orphic and find out their motives in Gotham. Batman wanted answers and he would get them.

Chapter Text

This is not an update but this has been on my mind for the past two weeks.

People. We are witnessing a genocide, a literal cleansing of people, people like you and me, individuals who are innocent!

These people are Palestinians, they have Jewish, Christians and Muslims being mercilessly killed and bombed by the State of Israel. 

I was distraught for the past few years seeing what these people did to Palestinians, the attack at the Al Aqsa mosque during Ramadan and during the years, the killing of children, no person left unharmed, the elderly, the sick, the women, EVEN THE UNBORN, they have not been unharmed by these people.

How can you sit here and not do anything? If this was your family? Your home? You wouldn’t like it! You would want others to help!

Multiple war crimes have been committed by the Israeli military, they even brought trucks of sewage and sprayed it on the homes and walls of Gaza. They celebrated deaths of the many!

Even civilians of Israel have been taunting the dead, making fun of them, jeering over the lack of food, water and aid that the Palestinians have…

Yes, I know some people are good and innocent, I know there are good people out there but I hope you’re one of them, one who will spread awareness! One who will believe in what is right.

This is not political. It’s a humanitarian crisis. A genocide.

It has killed 3,500+ children, CHILDREN! 1,000 women dead and over 200 elderly and over 19,000 injured.

They aren’t numbers, they are people. People who lived lives like you and me.
They were  people who are like you and me.
They are people who drank water and juice like you and me.

They were  people who ate food like you and me.

They were  people who laughed like you and me. 
They were people who cried like you and me.

They're in a blackout, cut from society, medias showing the TRUTH being hidden away!

They stay strong, I recently saw a man carrying the limbs of his sons in bags, I saw women crying over their children who had been put into body bags to be buried. I have seen men become martyrs, I have seen children absolutely traumatised, eyes wide and frightened by the slightest plane that flies over head, I’ve seen children playing a game called ‘Carry the Martyr’ Should they even know what that is? To even be playing it? Children have been playing in the cemetery, saying ‘we play in it because it is ours, we will be in them one day.’ 

How are you telling me that Children are getting their names written on their limbs  so that they could be identified?

50% of the population of Gaza is made up of children below the age 14.

What makes Palestinians any different from you and me?

Why are they being treated like cattle instead of the humans they are?

why are they being referred to human animals by Israelis? 
THEY ARE HUMANS.

HUMANS LIKE YOU AND ME!

They will be remembered. In my heart and I hope in yours too.

In heaven shall their souls reside, let the musk of heaven fill the streets of Gaza, for Palestinians are innocently being massacred.

Chapter Text

Corey! Move these to the warehouse!” A voice bellowed from a portly man wearing a stained tanktop wearing a high vis over it and a yellow hard hat sat upon his head, where his hair follicles seemed to have escaped and ran down his head and slipped into his nostrils, which were flaring with immense hair growth, how could the man even breathe through that bushy canal?

Corey (Arya) gave a small nod and hefted up a large crate and began hobbling away down the wooden planks of the dock to the concrete of the road towards the warehouse.

Arya set down her crate next to all the other piles of crates, feeling an ache in her back, stretched and cracked it and rolled her shoulders, the form she was in was strong but old, but hey, it got her some income and work done and intel too. Who knew men at the port could gossip more than a bunch of girls in a café?

Speaking about the men at the port, it was time for break, which consisted of eating droopy sandwiches and drinking some warm tea, Arya moved towards the port area that had all the chairs where the workers sat, Greg Micham, one of the workers brought out a large thermos and filled cups with tea and Chedder-  whoever called him Chedder was probably not in the right mind- brought out some sweetcorn and tuna sandwiches. All the boys, sat in a semi-circle, munching on their sandwiches and sipping the tea and then, Richie began to start his ‘I heard a few days ago’ stories.

Richie was a sweet guy, he didn’t lie but boy, he gossiped and gossiped and gossiped, he could run someone’s energy down for how much he could talk, that’s why Arya, as Corey, obviously, gave him a time limit of thirty minutes, if he went over the time limit, he would be stripped of his bi-weekly cookies that Arya brought in, made by Jason, of course. And the thing was, Arya only came three days a week for work!

“I heard from Old Bessie from down at the market that there’s something big is going to happen in a few nights.” He started, his eyes glancing around at each and every one of his coworkers, “Something to do with Arkham and a large shipment or something.” A few murmurs broke out at the mention of Arkham Asylum. It always was Arkham, wasn’t it?

“Who’s it going to be this time? Joker? Scarecrow? Riddler? Killer Croc?” Tommy laughed bitterly. “At this point, its like a party every night in Gotham, just waiting for the next part.” A few murmurs of agreement drifted through the lot.

They soon moved on, downing their tea and finishing up the cookies before getting back to work once the break was over. Arya liked her coworkers; they were a rowdy bunch at times and were calm at times too.

Three hours went by and soon work was over for the teen, well, Corey, Arya bid the guys a goodbye with a grunt and small wave and went home, she drifted into an alley and turned into herself making her way back to Park Row.

There was a group of kids, with a boombox listening to Crazy Frog watching her with wary eyes, “Nice, taste.” She told them as she walked by.

“You know it?” One of them asked quietly.

“Practically grew up with it.”

“Wow, you’re old.” It’s always kids, isn’t it? Being so brutally honest, but Arya loved kids being kids, it made her happy.

“Yeah, its tough getting to my age, I feel like someone’s nan trying to get out of bed like a turtle on its back.” The kids laughed at her.

“Nan? Isn’t that food?” Another asked.

“Oh, that’s another word for Grandma, in British terms.” Arya said before turning, “Well, bye kiddies, have fun.”

“Bye old lady!” the kids chirped with cheeky smiles on their faces.

“Oh, come on! I’m not even that old!” Arya huffed as the kids laughed loudly at her.

She made her way home, slotting her key into the lock and finding a letter on the floor, addressing ‘Mr Damian Whittaker’ It was a name that Damian took on when Arya and himself, signed him up for the Young Artist Competition, Arya picked up the letter, making her way to Damian’s room, rapping her knuckles against the door.

“Mon etoile, a letter has come for you!” She heard light footsteps come to the door and open it, “The Art Competition, remember?” Damian took the letter with a look of apprehensiveness as he began to open the letter using a small blade he pulled out his pocket, he pulled out the letter and began to read, his eyes drifting along the paper before he folded it back up and looked at the girl, a look of pride and disbelief in his eyes, he cleared his throat before he began to speak.

“It appears, I have achieved first place for my work.” Arya squealed and pulled him into a hug.

“I told you, mon etoile! I told you!”

“I had no doubt that I would win, after all, I am an Al Ghul.” Damian puffed out his chest in pride, Arya smiled at him.

“Yes, your highness, there was no doubt.” She paused, “Did it say anything about your prize?”

“Ah, yes, it said, my prize is $550” He said with a small smile, “I may bring a plus one.”

“That’s great! Does that mean you’ll take the prize?” Arya asked, pulling away from him, she hugged him for way too long, he was getting a bit antsy.

“…Yes, I have decided that I will receive my prize for my achievement.”

“If you want to keep your appearance hidden from.. Bruce, I’ll just-” She turned her hand into a wand and swished it around letting sparkles follow the tip of it, “Bibbity bobbity boo?” Damiann shook his head.

“It is fine. It is time for his true heir to make an appearance.” This caused Arya to pause.

“You’re- you’re going to leave?” Arya’s tongue felt heavy.

“Affirmative.” Arya’s heart stuttered.

“Have you spoken to Jason about this?” Arya asked, a small curve playing on her lips, her eyes holding a swirl of emotion she didn’t quite know how to process.

“I have. Though, I will not reveal myself like as prize winner, I will reveal myself, tonight. At his cave, which has created for the sake of Batman.” Damian said, “Remember to feed the cats as I do not know if I may be able to do it anymore.” The cats Damian was talking about, were the strays of the Alley, they were elegant and smart creatures, wary quite like the residents of Crime Alley, Arya and Damian, sometimes Jason, went over to feed the cats.

Arya’s smile quivered, she was happy, of course, she wanted Damian to have fun and be safe, enjoy life, but she also wanted him to stay, she knew she wasn’t the best, but she truly tried to make Damian happy, the thought of him leaving to go to his original place in the world hadn’t entered her mind. She hadn’t even thought it would be even in Damian’s mind the entire time.

“Mon etoile, I’m proud and happy you told me.” Arya pulled him into a hug, her eyes stinging like pins were being pricked into them, she was still as moist as she was when she came to this world, she was going to let herself feel when she had to, of course, the conditioning at the league was still in her but she was getting past it. “Go take your place, like you were destined to.” Arya beamed once she pulled away. “Mon etoile, I’ll visit you when you’re there, okay?” Damian gave a small nod and just then, Jason walked into the place.

“He’s told you, hasn’t he?” Jason said, after glancing to the two, his eyes lingering on Arya for a moment, the two stared at him confirming his thoughts. “We’ll have Sweet and Spicy Cauliflower curry with chickpea pancakes tonight then.” Jason said, heading to the kitchen. It was a warm and nice meal, a cosy meal, one that was just calming to the heart.

Damian headed to his room to pack a backpack for his things, packing his gouache paints and his paintbrushes along with his blades and a few pieces of clothing, he took his sketchbook too, Arya stood at the doorframe, watching, but not really there. What could she do? Her heart was calling for her little brother to stay. Her etoile. Her star, but he was leaving just as the stars disappeared in the morning Sun. She knows she can see him when she wants, but it isn’t the same as the memories she had with him.

Feeding the cats, going to Gotham Zoo, fighting over who the best character is in Miraculous (Arya’s was Plagg and Damian’s was Tikki), giving in depth analyses of different animals like why orcas are the biggest bullies in the sea with the mentality and intelligence of a fifteen year old, the nights where they went to go see how their mares were doing in Britain, the nights where Arya spoke pure nonsense and Damian just listened, the nights Arya just spoke about her family before him and Jason, the days they trained with each other and played with wooden swords, playing ‘pirates’, the nights when the three played Mario Cart on the TV, screaming at each other for ‘cheating’,the nights when the three played a game called ‘zombies’ in which one was blind folded and had to use their other senses to find the other two (Arya was given a handicap after she used her ability to cheat), the time she and Damian tried to surprise Jason on his birthday with a mildly deflated cake but nice tasting cake. There were more memories that Arya treasured, she loved the boy deeply.

He was leaving, starting to grow up, but he will always be the young prince she met at the League, intrigued by the ‘magic tricks’ she used to do, he would always be the young boy she will always tease and support.

He was Damian Al Ghul. Damian ibn al Xu’ffasch. And just Damian. Her star.

Damian finished packing his backpack, the things he thought were necessary, Arya’s eyes fell onto his iPad on his bed, she picked it up and gave it to him, “Take it too.” She said with a soft smile, it was something she bought for the boy and she wanted him to have it. Damian nodded and slid it into his backpack and set it on the bed as Jason called for them for dinner.

Dinner was a warm and cosy time, there was the delicious aroma from the food and the warmth that came with it, but the soft sadness still lingered in the air, just staying there, it may be their last meal together.

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Blue Orphic and Red Hood stood on the rooftops, watching their third disappear into the shadows, making his own path of life.

“You know, today has been such a sad day.” Arya broke the silence.

“Please, just shut up, Arya.” Jason said with a loud sigh.

“I was just saying!”

“Arya, please.”

“I know you’re sad too!”

“Oh my god…”Jason sighed, “I’m going to start patrolling.”

“Mm.. okay, I’ll just stay here.” With a gust of wind, Red Hood disappeared with his grapple hook. Arya sat on the rooftop, just watching the last spot Damian had been before he disappeared, her lips pursed into a line.

Time passed, Arya was still watching, then she heard, a heavy booted tap land on her rooftop, she already knew who it was. “Batman.” She turned in his direction slightly, a cheeky smile raising onto her lips. “What do I owe the pleasure of your visit on this quiet night?”

Chapter Text

“Batman. What do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” Arya said, clearly finding humour in the situation, she decided to show her respect, something no one would have ever guessed she could have, she stood up, turning her body right in his direction.

“What are you doing in Gotham?” His voice, low, controlled and ever so demanding.

“I think Gotham lets those she wants, come in.” Arya said simply, standing up straight.

“Meta’s are not allowed in Gotham.”

“Oh? So, you know, but I don’t have any fucks to give, you might find them six feet under, if you find them. Please, give them back to me.” Arya’s smile widened under her mask.

“Leave Gotham.” He ordered, giving no room for negotiations, Arya simply gave him a pair of the birds and placed one foot’s heel before the tip of her other foot and gave him a bow, spreading her arms in the process.

“No thanks, twinkle toes.”  She stood up straight and tipped back over the ledge of the rooftop, still flipping him off, Batman ran to the edge, looking over to find not a trace of her.

Then his comms linked up, “B, you should probably head back, there’s a kid that claims to be… your son.” His eldest son was on the line, his breathing sounded bated, he was injured. Batman let out a grunt and grappled his way back through the city.

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Back to the Present…

“Unbind me, you fool!” Damian struggled at the roped that bound him tightly.

“I can’t do that, kid. Not until Batman comes back.” Dick Grayson said through bated breaths as he clutched his side, the boy had done quite the number on him, and it had only been a few days since Dick got back in Gotham too!

Damian struggled a bit more, as Dick picked up his backpack that he had, “Do not touch that!” Damian managed to loosen the ropes and lunged at him to get the backpack. Dick raised it just out of his reach, causing Damian to let out a low growl.

“Someone’s a bit feral.” Dick smirked, Damian lunged at him again and grabbed the strap of his backpack and pulled it away from him defensively.

“Do not touch my possessions.” Damian dusted off his bag, before placing his arms through the straps.

“Sooooo, little man, where did you come from?” Dick went with a different approach.

“Nowhere you should know.” Damian glared with his emeralds, then, he began to look around the cave, eyes travelling onto the different gadgets and suits on display, his eyes hooked onto the first Robin suit. “Is that what you wore when you were training?” He asked.

“It was what I wore when I went out on patrol.” Dick narrowed his eyes at him, Damian rolled his eyes.

“Its just missing a sunhat and floatie, to be honest.” Damian smirked, before seating himself in the rolling bat themed chair, placing his backpack in his lap.

“Would you care for some tea?” Alfred appeared in thin air, holding a tray adorned with a plate of cookies and a teacup set. Damian glanced at him, “that would be appreciated.” Alfred poured some floral tea into a teacup and placed it in a saucer and passed it to Damian, who took it gratefully, taking a sip. The warm liquid seeped into his lips, a nice calm taste met his tongue, flavourful but not overpowering.

“Where are the other servants?” Damian asked once he placed his cup into the saucer.

“Alfred is not a servant.” A low voice emerged from the darkness, “He is a friend.” Could be an understatement but, that’s what the man in black wanted to share.

Damian hopped onto his feet, Dick sat in a chair, Bruce glanced over at his first son with a calculating gaze, processing the injuries Damian had managed to inflict on him. “Father.” Damian greeted, Bruce finally started taking in his appearance, he was a carbon copy of him, his skin a contrast to his own, a nice warm tannish look to him, one that had been trained under the sun, Arab and Asian accents mixed with Bruce’s own, he was drawn to his eyes, a strong sage green mixed with courage and strength… it reminded him of Talia.

“Talia... You are Talia’s son.”

“Woah, your ex?” Dick gasped from the background.

“Affirmative.” Damian said with a proud smile, “My name is Damian Al Ghul, ibn al Xu’ffasch.” Bruce took in his words and thought deeply but his thoughts were cut off as the Batcomputer screen changed showing a face on the screen. Talia came into view.

“Habibi, you have finally met your father.” She directed her attention to him first, “I must say, congratulations for getting first place too, just as an Al Ghul would.” Damian smiled proudly at the praise.

“Talia, why did you not inform me that I had a son, he looks around eight.” Bruce glared at her.

“I will soon turn nine.” Damian added.

“Beloved, it would have caused you to not return.” It was a true statement honestly, Bruce was the type to take responsibility and if he knew about Damian he would have probably stayed behind at the League and Ra’s Al Ghul’s plans would have worked against him as well. Damian glanced at Bruce who had a frown on his face, ‘would he have really stayed?’ he thought as he looked at him before turning back to his mother. His mother had told him many stories of his father, if he had stayed that would mean no more Batman. He would have been reduced to a pawn of Ra’s Al Ghul’s plans.  Maybe it was right for Bruce to have left…

Bruce remained quiet for a while, silently thinking, Talia let out a small smile, “Damian, stay with your father, listen well.” She almost sounded motherly, Damian nodded before she disappeared off the screen, leaving silence in the cave.

“Well, that’s a lot to take in.” Never mind. Dick stood up, making his way up the stairs to head to his room to rest.

“Should I take your belongings to the room I have prepared?” Alfred asked Damian, holding his backpack.

“I shall take it myself, Pennyworth.” Damian took his backpack, Alfred was one of the people Jason had advised him to at least trust, “Lead me to my room.”

“Very well.” Alfred led the boy out the batcave to his designated room, leaving Bruce to his thoughts. The two make their ways through the hallowed walls of the manor, they made a stop at the door of the bedroom. “Your tour will have to begin in the morning, may I ask, what your food preferences are?” The old man asked.

“I only eat vegetarian or vegan meals, I am fine with eggs and milk.” Damian gave his dietary requirements, Alfred gave a nod and opened the door to his room.

“Your bedroom, young master, with an ensuite facility included.” Damian gave a short nod and entered taking a glance around the room, it was much more bigger than his last room back at the safehouse, a double bed, a wardrobe, a bedside drawer and a lamp were the only things in the room, it had yet to be accustomed to Damian.

“You may leave.” Damian said simply, Alfred closed the door, Damian listened to the footsteps that began distancing his room. Damian placed his backpack on the bed, he took out his sketchbook and pyjamas, he went to the ensuite to change into his sleepwear, he got back onto bed, his hands were itching to do a sketch. He didn’t know what he wanted but he just wanted to sketch something at least.

Once his hand got hold of his pencil, it went across the page freely, his shading to his crosshatching, there were coiling and swirls upon his page, they all came together to create something he hadn’t known had been on his mind, two figures were on his page, wearing league uniform, it was Jason and Arya, the two were both masked, their eyes and hair left out, he had drawn even the annoying cheekiness of Arya’s eyes and the brave kindness of Jason, though Damian would never admit it, he quite liked Arya’s coiled hair being left out, it felt like a puff of cloud, Damian paused. It had only been two hours or so since he last saw the two, his heart did not, soften! He could almost hear the two arguing, he could hear Arya dragging him into the argument, even if she knew she was wrong, the girl simply likes arguing for the sake of arguing, honestly annoying sometimes.

Though there were days she was quiet, she said she was having a ‘reset’, when she tries to figure out what is going on around her and she would adapt to it, or she’s just tired and exhausted, give her some tea and some food then she up and energised again, or she would go to sleep. She was a lazy person at times.

Damian then thought about Jason, he was quiet, like a calm ocean, he was calm when he was reading books, cooking, training, helping out with the food bank and homeless shelter, he had his times when he got angry too, mostly when he was patrolling or when kids were involved, Damian didn’t quite understand why he got mad but Arya explained that it’s similar to the way Damian doesn’t like animals getting hurt or injured when he could do something about it. Arya said that was what made him strong, he way he fights for change with the power that he has, Damian thinks that’s very respectable. Though a thing about him is that he hates being complimented, which Arya likes to tease him about, because that’s just what she does.

Damian placed his sketchbook and pencil on the bed and laid on his back, and promptly fell asleep. The night was unfamiliar at the manor, not quite like the league or Crime Alley, he’d get used to it. He knew he would, because that was what Damian did, he adapted and achieved.

Chapter Text

A random day in the past…

“Goes into the night! To save the day! Who are these heroes? To show you the way? PJ Masks, it’s the PJ Ma-”

“Arya, I swear to God, if you don’t shut up-” Jason shouted from the basement.

“You’ll what?!” Arya said testing him.  Pounding heavy steps ran up the basement stairs and out into the hallway, Jason stood seething staring at Arya, her eyes widened, and she dashed into the living room where Damian was watching Miraculous on the TV, Jason chased after the girl, the two ran around the couch like a game of cat and mouse, irritating Damian who was trying to watch the show.

Jason got tired of chasing Arya around the couch and climbed over it and jumped onto the girl, Arya’s breath was slammed out of her, Jason pushing his weight onto her body. “Please- you’re so- heavy-” Arya wheezed, still not giving up, trying to push his weight off her, Arya struggled for a while since Jason wasn’t doing anything to move off her, he laid flopped across her. Arya thought of the best thing to turn into, she phased her body and turned into a ghost, letting Jason phase through her body with a thud, the girl laughed at his expense and floated up and turned back to herself once again, she stuck out her tongue at him. “Loser.” She jeered; Jason jumped to his feet trying to grab her, but she turned herself back into a ghost once again, letting him grasp on nothing but air. Arya cackled.

This went on for a few more minutes before Damian had enough, he couldn’t hear his show because of the two! “Take your tomfoolery elsewhere!” The boy turned glaring at his siblings in all but blood, Arya gave a smug grin at Jason, and sat down next to Damian who started up a new episode of Miraculous. Jason huffed and sat next to them; his arms crossed over his chest.

The three watched the episode, the show was very interesting. That’s how Arya made a mistake. Arya let down her guard around Jason. Taking up the opportunity, Jason unravelled his arms and threw a punch at her arm sending her off the couch and onto the floor, Jason sent her a smug look while she glared up at the eldest, she rubbed her arm with a frown and flipped him off. Damian sighed and shook his head, Arya deserved it for always provoking Jason and testing his patience.

“You know what? I don’t feel respected in this family.” Arya began her dramatics, she placed a hand over her chest and sniffed a little, “I deserve better.”

“Boo hoo, no one cares.” Jason rolled his eyes, the boys were already used to her acting.

“Wow, some brothers you are. Tonight? I’m running away!” Arya cried, shifting on to her feet her face scrunched into a face looking for sympathy. Damian didn’t even spare her a glance, entrapped with his show, Jason sat with an unimpressed look on his face. “I was lying, how could I leave my two most favourite people in the world, for the sake of your loving hearts, I won’t leave!” Arya brought her dramatics to a close and sat back down on the couch and rung her arms around their necks pulling them into a big hug, Jason squirmed to get out of her hook as Damian just sat watching his show, unbothered. Arya let go of Damian to scruffle Jason’s hair up.

Jason managed to tear her hands away from his hair and frowned at her, “Don’t even try to ask me to do your hair this week.” Jason kissed his teeth and stood up from the couch.

“No! You can’t do that to me!” Arya cried, “I wanted help with box braids!”

“Should’ve thought of that before annoying me all day.”

“Not my fault you can’t take a joke.” Arya huffed.

“Mhm, do your own hair.” Jason scoffed and headed back down to the basement. Arya muttered some colourful words, it wasn’t that she couldn’t do her own hair, it was because it was nice to have someone else help do it, and a bonus was that she wouldn’t get her arms tired, so her only option now was, dutch braids.

Defeated, she went to her room, getting a detangler brush, some hair oil and water spray and keep-in conditioner she sat down in a chair, facing a mirror in her room and began, she sprayed her hair with some water, starting at the ends of the curly bunch in her hand, she made sure it was well saturated before she started brushing.

A repeating strategy, spray, brush the ends, brush, brush, brush, move higher, spray, brush, brush, brush. She did the process in every section of her hair before getting some hair oil and smoothing down her hair with it, threading her fingers through, making sure her scalp was massaged with some oil too for stronger hair growth. She then, parted her hair with the end of her rat tail brush, going over the line and putting stray hairs in the section that they were supposed to be in, she brushed her right side of her hair first after tying her other side with a scrunchie before she started weaving a nice braid on her right side, making sure to collect most of the hair strands she could.

Once she was done, she moved on to the other side, weaving her hair into another nice braid, she looked into the mirror once she was done, and she couldn’t believe it. She felt like a hair stylist as she looked at her hair. She always had trouble taming her hair by herself, making sure they look similar and nice but this? It was perfect.

“Praise the Lord!” She cheered, “For years,” She sniffed dramatically, “I have suffered the torment of my hair not doing what I wanted,” She rose her hands in the cupping the air, “My Dear Lord, thank you. I have done it, finally!” She sniffed once more before a grin appeared on her face, “Time to do my edges, then.”

She took out an edge brush and took out  some gel using the brush and began taming her baby hairs, making nice curls on her edges, she was on a roll because not once! Had she needed to redo her edges. God was blessing her so much.

Though she encountered a problem, she decided she wanted to go out and her dark blue hoodie, was on her bed. She hyped herself up, ‘I can do this, I can do this! I won’t ruin my hair!’ She hopped on her feet, stretching her joints as she mentally prepared herself, she picked up the hoodie and held it open enough for her head to fit through without touching the edges of it. Once she got it over her head, she gave herself a high-five. “Who’s the best? Me, that’s who!”

She pulled out her braids from the inside of her hoodie and let them free, she then applied some light tinted gloss, she smacked her lips together and gave the mirror a beautiful smile before pocketing her gloss into her black bottoms and head out of her room.

She announced her departure to the house before leaving, the familiar smell of piss wafted through her nose, she had become accustomed to the alley smell, and she knew the exact point in which part the smell would leave her presence.

Arya didn’t have a set location to where she was walking, it was five in the evening, not a great time to go on a walk but, who cares? Not Arya. She plugged in her earphones as she walked and pushed the in her ears, her ears began filling with Strangers by Kenya Grace.

Clouds grew darker as she walked through the streets, looking down at her shoes as she vibed to music, “And one random night when everything changes...” She hummed.

The streets began to feel quieter, the people Arya saw on the street had decreased to a number of maybe two people, Arya kept walking just as the first few droplets of water began to fall, painting the pavement with dots of darkness, Arya looked up watching the rain as they dropped onto her face.

She kept walking, she quite liked the rain, it was peaceful and nice, it helped with nature, the rain helped rejuvenate lands and crops, a happiness that came to farmers who needed water to help their livelihoods.

The rain continued, Arya’s hoodie was feeling soaked and she felt the calm coolness of the water as the fabric stuck to her skin, she grinned as she splashed in puddles, water seeping into her shoes and socks, a soft grin graced her lips as she hopped along the path, feeling a pump of adrenalin and endorphins, she turned into a bird, flying into the rain, finding a nice rooftop upon some apartments, it was large and spacious, the rain had made a layer over the rooftop, she turned back into herself, splashing in the water, a childish glee filled her face as she jumped through the masses of puddles she found.

The song on her phone changed to her PARTYNEXTDOOR playlist, the rain just felt perfect, the songs needed to be heard by the sky, she took her earphones. Arya broke into a clumsy slow little dance, consisted of spinning the tips of her shoes as she twirled around, a bright string of laughter escaped her lips as she grinned and danced as the rain pattered down onto the rooftop.

Water splashed against her shoes as she danced, mimicking that of a ballerina as she spun across the rooftop, pirouetting this way and that, splashing in the rain with the droplets trickling down her face, accompanied by the symphony of harmony.

The burst of absolute joy in her heart as she danced, making her feel like she had been transported to a whole new world, a bright and happy one, she sang along with the lyrics with pure happiness glowing on her face, she stretched out her arms and spun.

“May I join?” A low but soft voice asked pausing Arya, mid spin, Arya slowly turned towards the figure. It was a guy, around nineteen or twenty, hooded in a dark black coat, covered in a sheath of rain, Arya brought down her arms and looked at him, searching for any ill-intentions. After a few long seconds, Arya deemed him harmless, she nodded slightly, and the guy came closer to her.

As he did so, his face became more visible in the darkness of the evening, his warm ivory face had a hard but soft look to it, his plush lips with an in built sweet smile with a small beauty spot right underneath them, his cheek dimpled on his right, his eyes were a soft honey-brown, curious though they seemed tired with the light dark circles underneath, but ever so enchanting to look at, it was is a pool of gold was held in his eyes. There is a myth that said that brown eyes used to shine like the moon and hide their charm, they were coloured by the river of heaven’s honey…

Those very eyes were hooded underneath his long natural lashes, his brows were etched in a soft look, his chocolate brown curls peeked from under his hood.

Arya’s heart fluttered. Her cheeks felt hot. She mentally screamed.

“May I join?” He asked once again politely, ‘He’s as respectful as Gotham can get!’ She screamed, Arya nodded slowly, Arya’s heart couldn’t help it and fluttered.

2+ Bonus Karma Points!

After a while of the two looking at each other, Arya began to feel a bit bold, she began starting the spin, the both of them walking around each other slowly, the two looked at each other, accompanied by the rain and the sloshes of water by their feet.

The playlist reached Belong to the City.

Girl, I~ can change your life.

(Change your life)

They began to dance slowly, they were no professional dancers, but it felt perfect, a laugh of joy slipping out of Arya’s lips, his grin flashed awake too.

I’m from the City~

Where you don’t gotta love to love,

You ain’t gotta love to fuck~

Time flew past, the two splashed and danced in the rain, both hearts warm with joy and happiness.

Girl, I’m just tryna say,

I’m from the City~

The playlist reached its end, the two were sitting on the edge of the rooftop, at a comfortable short distance.

“So, what brought you up here?” Arya started slowly, brushing a wet strand of hair away from her face.

“…just wanted to come up to see this shithole from above.” His eyes gazed over the shining specks of light through the shrouded darkness of the city, there was something in his eyes, they were tired… emotionally and physically, Arya did not press instead she said…

“It’s my kind of shithole though, it’s beautiful.” He gave her a strange look when she said that.

“Beautiful?” He raised a curious brow.

“Yeah, like all types of shit just happens here and mixes up and creates a city of shadows and darkness.” Arya said leaning a bit back as she glanced at him, catching his honeyed eyes with her opal eyes. He stared at her, searching for something, he glanced away as he found nothing.

“Never thought I’d hear someone call Gotham beautiful.” He chuckled lightly, it was melodious and sounded like wind whispering in a tree or like the ripples of a clear mountain lake, it was like the soft whisper in your ear, the gentle hum of the earth when you’re alone at night, it warmed you like a fire on a stormy night, lifting your spirit like a soft beam of sun. Arya couldn’t help but feel warm as she smiled at him.

“I mean, Gotham has everything you could possibly want, like a dark novel.” Arya flashed a grin.

“That’s one way to put it.” He smiled back at her, the two talk for a while, it was comfortable and calm, with the rain as the background noise, as they switched from topics of interest to pure randomness.

Though it all came to an end, once Arya’s alarm on her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was time for patrol. The girl hadn’t realised that two hours had passed. Arya paused and took out her phone and turned off her alarm, she glanced back up at him.

“Sorry, I need to head home.” Arya said with an apologetic smile, walking towards the fire escape door.

“Wait!” Arya turned to face him once again, “What’s your name?” He asked, rain pattering against his coat. Typical, of Arya to not give her name before talking to some random guy. Well, he was a stranger that she met on a rooftop.

“Arya, yours?” Arya grinned, he opened his mouth once again to reply but thunder crashed loudly, deafening Arya’s ears for a while, she blinked and looked again, trying to read his lips, “What did you say?!” She asked again.

“Azriel!” He shouted back, with a nod and a wave, Arya ran down the stairs to the exit, running through the streets.

“Azriel… it’s a nice name.” Arya muttered with a goofy grin, her cheeks aching from all the smiling, she just couldn’t help it. She felt like her heart was going to burst.

She got back to the safehouse, fumbling with her keys and opened the door, getting hit with a contrasting warmth from the cold and rain, she stepped into the house and removed her shoes and pulled off her hood. She was absolutely soaking wet, dripping with water. Arya let out a sigh and headed to her room to get a change of clothes and take a warm shower.

“Arya! Why are there puddles of water leading all the way into your room?!” Arya heard from Jason when she was in the shower. Arya ignored him, she had someone else to think about, she would deal with that later.

Once Arya was dressed and warm, she cleaned up the water puddles she left in the house, she reached the living room and saw that Damian was still up watching TV. “Damian, go to bed, its…” She glanced at her phone, “It’s 9:43.” Damian seemingly ignored her. She looked at him with a hard stare, “Damian, I will ruin season 5 for you, test me.” That caught his attention.

“You will not.” He stared her down.

Arya unfazed smirked smugly, “Yes. I. Would.”

“No, you would not dare.”

Her smile grew wider, “Marinette-”

“Stop! Stop!” Damian said frantically hopping off the couch, “I’m going!” He switched off the TV and stomped to his room, not before stomping onto Arya’s toes.

“How cute.” Arya grinned at him as he scowled and went to his room. She was soon left to her thoughts as she sat down on the couch. Her mind instantly went back to the boy she met on the rooftops. He was cute… and he had dimples. That was a bonus point.

5+ Karma Points.

See, even System agreed.

Arya shoved a pillow into her arms and squeezed it tightly, a goofy smile playing at her lips.

“What’s got you smiling like that?” A voice rang into her head, she looked up and saw Jason looking at her, Red Hood demeanour and all as he was placing his guns in his holsters.

“Hm? Nothing.” She still had the goofy grin on her face as she stood up, placing her pillow onto the couch. Jason eyed her before putting on his helmet. Arya raced into her room and got into her suit and came out hopping on her boots as Jason waited for her at the door.

Once she was done, they started going on patrol, as they swung over the skylines with their grapple hooks, Jason opened the comms link, “So why were you smiling like that?”

“I already told you; it was nothing.”

“Liar.”

“Okay, it was just some guy I met today.” Arya landed on the same rooftop she saw Azriel on.

“A guy, hm?” The mirth in his voice was evident.

“He doesn’t mean anything to me, we just met and maybe danced.”

“How romantic.” Jason teased.

“I’m this close to cutting the line, Jay.” Arya grumbled before a thought seeped its way to the front of her mind. “Anyways, do you know what the Alley kids call you?”

“What? Don’t change the subject on your little crush.” His smug voice was ever so infuriating.

“They call you ‘Papa Hood’.” Arya smirked widely as she was met with silence before the comm line cut off. She let out a cackle, he couldn’t handle the fact that the kids loved him, he gave them cookies, he played with them when he had time, he comforted them, he gave the older kids advice and helped them when they had homework. Bless his soul, he was a father-like, through and through.

1+ Karma Points

Even System agreed.

Would she see Azriel again? Well, she doesn’t really have her hopes up, but she’ll definitely think about him.

She’s not that delusional.

(She is.)

Chapter Text

Birds chirped at the window, not pigeons but the small sparrows, Damian was adjusting to Wayne Manor, he was an Al Ghul after all. He stayed in his room most of the time, occasionally leaving when he was called or for meals. He kept to himself, either on his iPad which he still had and drawing in his sketchbook that was slowly getting filled up.

There came a knock at the door, “Master Damian, your father requests your presence in his study.”

“Thank you, Pennyworth.” Damian slipped off his bed and opened the door and made his way to the study. Damian Knocked onto the door, “Father, Pennyworth said you called for me?”

“Come in, take a seat.” Bruce was sat at his desk, he gestured for Damian to take a seat in the chair in front of his desk, Damian shifted onto the seat, sitting up straight and poised. “Damian, you are not in trouble.” Bruce reassured him, “I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

“What would you like to ask?” Damian asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“How has your stay been so far?” Bruce eased slowly; Damian’s brows furrowed slightly.

“It has been adequate, why do you ask, father?” Damian leaned back into the chair.

“I have observed that you scarcely interact with your brothers.” An astute observation.

“They are not my brothers, father.” Damian’s brows furrowed deeply.

“They are, Damian. They are your brothers.”

“They cannot be- Grayson is too… him, and Drake is too weak.”

“I assure you, Tim is not weak at all, Damian and Dick is just like that.” Bruce’s lips perked up, amused. “Damian, would you mind trying to interact with them? And not try kill them.” Bruce must have heard of his recent attempts to kill Drake, Damian shifted a bit in his seat.

After a calculative silence, Damian’s mouth quirked into a devious smile, “I will try, father.” He was going to bring absolute hell to the manor.

“Thank you, Damian.” Bruce smiled, not really knowing whether or not to trust Damian’s smile. “Is there anything you’d like to ask?”

“I have two questions.”

“Go on.”

“When will I be introduced as your true heir?” Damian asked him, genuinely eager to know what he would say.

Bruce hesitated, “Damian… not yet.” Damian deflated slightly, due to not hearing the words he wanted to hear.

Damian decided to ask his next question, “What’s the Wi-Fi password?”

“Wi-Fi password?”

“Yes, Wi-Fi password.”

“Why do you need that?”

“For my iPad.” It was quite obvious why he would need the Wi-Fi password, he obviously needed it for his electronic device. Bruce, come on.

“…you have an iPad?” Bruce hadn’t gotten the chance to go through the things Damian brought, he was giving him a chance to adjust, and he was trying not to be invasive of the very few things Damian had brought with him.

“Yes. Now would you tell me?” Bruce decided to write the password down on a slip of paper, it was a long one, you know the usual, heavily encrypted passwords and all that. Damian took the slip happily before moving onto his feet, standing up. “Thank you, father. Good day.” Damian never waited for a reply, he was out of there in a matter of seconds heading to his room to finally have Wi-Fi on his iPad.

He turned the corner to the hallway where his bedroom resided to find Grayson at the door, a fist raised to knock onto his door, Grayson turned and his blues met Damian’s greens, lighting up. “Damian! I was just about to knock on your door to ask something.”

“Grayson.” Damian said slowly, “What would you like to enquire?”

Grayson’s smile quirked up, “I was planning on some brotherly bonding time!” Damian’s brows furrowed, was it coincidental that he was asking to do the very thing, his father had asked that he should try interacting with his brothers.

“Would Drake be coming?” Damian asked slowly.

“No, but if you’d like we can invite him too.”

“That would not be necessary. What are your plans for this brotherly bonding time?”

“I heard there’s a nice little cup decorating shop downtown, I noticed you quite like art.” If smiles could blind, Grayson’s definitely could. Damian nodded before opening his bedroom door, walking in to get his coat, (it was cold in Gotham at the moment, because, ya know, winter), he placed the slip Bruce gave him onto his desk before walking back out to join Grayson.

The two got into Grayson’s car and sped off down the drive, heading downtown.

A man we all know stood at the window for a while, watching before he made his way to Damian’s room. The door opened by a gloved hand, a precaution, just in case. His eyes scanned the room, instantly hooking onto the sketchbook on Damian’s bed, he flicked through the book.

There were beautiful sketches, small paintings, small drawings, watercolour paintings, doodles and whatnot. Little birds like robins, sparrows, songbirds, blue birds, and catbirds, little mammals like squirrels, possums and shrews, there were rabbits, tigers, panthers, wolves, ferrets. They were beautifully drawn.

Every brushstroke, every sketch was made with a poised hand, with thought and imagination, it was as if reality and illusion coalesced. Damian was a great artist. As he flicked through the book, he crossed onto one of the most recent pages, two figures were on the page, wearing league uniform, the two were both masked, their eyes and hair left out, one female, one male, it was like looking at a photograph. To have made it into Damian’s sketchbook, they must have been very dear to him.

He closed the book, looking for the electronic device Damian claimed to have, it took a minute to find it, hidden in the backpack he had, wrapped in a shirt, still charged up, he got into the iPad after guessing the password a few times, he was in. (A/N: I feel like its one off those old movies when someone hacks into something like “aaaaand, we’re in! (┬┬﹏┬┬) “ )

Meanwhile, Damian and Dick had gotten to the cup decorating shop, it was covered in small Christmas decorations, small fairy lights and decorations, it was only two weeks before it anyways, Damian would never quite understand the eagerness of the west to have so much festive joy, but that’s just him. Having come to a country where they have a lot of festivals to celebrate from a place where they don’t celebrate things is a weird change for Damian.

The bell on the door chimed as Dick opened the door, letting Damian go in first, the cold slipping away from his cheeks as the warm heating brushed over him. “Welcome, to Crafty Cups!” A woman dressed in a Christmas jumper with a headband of reindeer ears, “I’m Kathy, welcome to today’s session, you may take a seat at that table while I get your cups and some equipment to decorate!” The woman was overly cheerful, it was scary.

“Thank you, Kathy. We’ll take a seat.” Dick grinned at her, placing his hands on Damian’s shoulders steering him to the said table, Damian shrugged off his hands once they got to the table, throwing a small glare at Dick before taking a seat. Dick found Damian’s glare unbearably cute.

Kathy came back after a while with two cups, two aprons and a basket of equipment to use, “You may start decorating your mugs, remember, there is no stop to imagination, be as creative as you like!” She beamed before going off to help a different table of people.

Dick glanced at Damian as he took one of the mugs, “What are you going to make?” Dick asked grabbing his own mug.

“My horses.” Damian simply said, opening some paint to splodge onto the pallet to mix.

“You have horses? What are their names?” Dick passed a few paintbrushes to Damian.

“Amir and Hani.” (Prince and Happy)

“Did you name them yourself?”

“I only named Amir.” Damian said as he mixed the perfect shade of brown for his mares.

“Who named the other?”

“My… sadeeqa.” (Friend but for a female) Damian started applying the paint onto the mug, Dick wasn’t very well versed in Arabic, but he knew a few words and phrases.

He raised a brow, this could be a chance to get some closure on what happened in the league, “Your friend… what was she like?” Dick asked beginning to paint his own mug.

“Annoying.” Damian said simply, his brows furrowed, not in a way as if he hated the person he was talking about, “She was quite an imbecile and acted very foolishly.”

Dick lets out a light amused laugh, “What did she do that was foolish?”

“Jump off skyscraper building rooftops.” Damian said as painted his cup calmly, it was eerie, kind of startled Dick.

“Is she alright? Skyscrapers are dangerously high.” He was concerned like any person would be.

“She lived unfortunately.” Damian said in a tone dead voice, almost unhappy about the fact she lived.

“Oh.” Was all Dick could say in response.

“She is like an unavoidable irritation that keeps living no matter the circumstances.” Damian said changing the colours of his paint on his paintbrush.

“She seems fun.” Dick smiled at Damian, who kept his eyes focused on his cup.

“She has done a good thing in showing me one thing in her life.” Damian’s lips quirked the tiniest bit.

“What is that good thing?” Dick leaned closer to him.

“A TV show.”

“That is?”

“…. Miraculous Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

“What is the show about?”

“Teenage superheroes and an infuriating love square.” Damian’s ears tinged a bright pink as he said that, though he was holding back on what he wanted to say about the show.

“Is it interesting?”

“I would say so.” Damian admitted.

“Oh really, maybe I should watch it.” Damian kept silent, he didn’t know how to feel about someone else watching the same show as him other than Arya, but he didn’t have the rights to stop someone from watching it. “I am done with this mug.” Damian said putting down his paintbrushes.

“Ooh let me see.” Dick said eagerly leaning over to look at his mug. Damian turned it around to show him two beautiful mares, “Oh wow, Dami, that’s beautiful, which one is which?”

“That’s Hani and that’s Amir.” He said pointing at the darker mare first before the lighter mare.

“They’re beautiful.”

“Yes, they are my mares.”

“So where are they? Back at the League?” Dick was trying to learn more through the conversation.

“No. In Britain.”

“Britain?”

“Yes, I go see them every month.”

“Why are they in Britain?”

“I could not bring them to the city, that’s animal abuse.” Damian stated, it was common sense.

“True, so, did you leave them at a farm?” Damian nodded.

“McGregor Farm.” Dick stored that piece of information in his head.

“Your mugs look amazing!” Kathy came back with a bright smile, clapping her hands together. Dick’s mug had a few blobs, they were meant to be humans? A big black blob with blue eyes, probably Bruce, a grey blob, with a wonky tuxedo, probably Alfred, a blob with a wonky leotard, Dick, then three more blobs, one had green and blue eyes, one had blue eyes, Tim and the smallest one had green eyes… Damian. Damian glanced at Dick, maybe he wasn’t so bad? Maybe he could try more?

“Well, let’s go to get them dry and placed in your boxes which you can decorate too!” Kathy said in her cheerful voice, the boys stood up following her to another station. They placed their mugs in the dryer machine thing. (A/N : I don’t know, okay? Because the mugs are not going in a kiln or whatever.)

Kathy gave them boxes to decorate while their mugs dried, Damian made simple flowers and Dick decided to just do polka dots, it was the simplest thing he could do.

Soon Damian and Dick walked out of Crafty Cups with their mugs in their decorated boxes, they walked back to Dick’s car pretty happy, which could be seen by the way Damian was in a calm mood, pretty proud of his mug, he set it in his lap as Dick drove.

“Would you like to try Batburger? Dick asked as he tapped his steering wheel rhythmically.

“Do they have vegetarian or vegan options?”

“Yes, I’m pretty sure they do, they have a veggie venom burger.” Dick said.

“Is it good?” Damian asked sceptically.

“I wouldn’t know, haven’t tried it.” Dick confessed, as he pulled up to the drive thru of Batburger. “Would you like a milkshake too?”

“Vanilla.” You couldn’t go wrong with vanilla.

Dick ordered as he got to the window and they soon got their food, he parked in the parking lot before he opened the fast-food bag, passing Damian’s food over and his milkshake. Damian took a bite of his burger, chewing on it trying to understand what he was eating before he set down the burger in its wrapper, “I have tasted better.” He simply said, eating the fries instead and sipping on his milkshake.

“Is it not that good?”

“They don’t know how to season it well to make it taste better. It is an insult to my tongue.” Damian said with furrowed brows, Dick let out a laugh at his words.

“That’s one way to criticise food.” Dick started to eat his own burger and fries. Damian pondered for a moment, trying to think of how to interact with Dick as a step on this bonding thing Bruce was trying to make him do.

“…What milkshake did you get?” Damian asked, pausing his hand from taking a fry awaiting an answer. Dick’s eyes softened at Damian’s attempt to have an interaction without him having to initiate it first.

“I got strawberry.” Dick said with a beaming smile, “It’s my favourite.”

“Wow. You are just like her…” Damian drawled as he ate his fries.

“Your friend?”

“…Yes.”

“She has great taste then.”

“Sure.”

“What’s wrong with strawberry milkshake?”

“Everything.”

“What? No, it’s amazing!”

“More like sickening.” Damian had a small smile lifting on his face.

“No way!” Dick started giving points on why strawberry was amazing. This small bickering between Damian and Dick was comforting. Maybe if Damian tried enough, it would be okay?

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“Jay, I want to go to Winter Wonderland.”

“Okay? And why do you feel the need to tell me this?”

“Let’s go kidnap Damian.”

“…Arya, what?”

“It will be fun!”

“Ry, please, no.”

“Why? We can also give him presents too while we’re at it!”

“Arya, you don’t even celebrate Christmas.”

“It’s not like I can’t give him gifts too, it doesn’t have to be for Christmas, okay?”

There was a deep sigh, “Okay.”

“Wait- what do you want to get him?”

“I don’t know. Something arty?”

“Brush pens, get him those, I’m getting him a few sketchbooks. Alright! High five!” A hand was raised, there was another deep sigh before the hand was met with another. “Yeah! Let’s do this!”

Chapter Text

“HAHAHAHAA!” My body was filled with exhilaration as I swung from building to building, holding onto my grapple, flying just felt so freeing and nice. It was getting closer to December, the winter chills brushing against my suit, I perched onto a lamppost, all poised and proper.

The light flickered beneath me, I crouched a bit and waited. It was my gut. There was something happening. Something had been brewing in Gotham for the past few weeks. My eyes browsed around, catching on every single movement.

I waited.

I waited.

I waited.

Pounding footsteps caught my ear, fast paced, stretched out, there were two, no, there were three people running.

Creeping towards the source, I land on a rooftop, peering over the edge looking down an alley, just when a child began running down the alley chased by two men. Flipping down right behind the child, pausing the men.

“Meet left and right.” I say raising my fists, a smile behind my mask. “Goodnight.”

The two men lunged, armed with a knife and the other with a gun, the guy on the left shot at me aimlessly, I ducked, grabbing his arm, batting the gun away, I thrusted him over my shoulder, hard onto his back. The other whipped by the side of my face with the knife, I smirk as he left his chin open for a graceful uppercut, sending him tumbling backwards.

“You bitch!” He snarled as he wiped the saliva on his top lip.

“I’m no dog, mate. You’re the one barking like some rabid dog.” I joked. Amidst my distraction, a hand gripped onto my ankle, I looked down to find the dirty sausage fingers from the man I took down before, “Didn’t your mother not tell you to keep your hands to yourself?” I slammed the back of my heel of my boot onto the hand. The fallen man let out a grunt that made me smile satisfyingly.

I yanked my ankle out of the hold before a sound reverberated through the night, piercing through my ears. The sudden noise made me freeze before I slowly looked at the other man.

He was holding the gun that the other man was holding, untrained but had a firm grip on the trigger, the knife he once had was discarded onto the ground. I gave the man who was on the ground a firm kick to the head knocking him out.

“Someone grew some balls, you proud of yourself?” I mocked him, before I lunged and grappled onto him, making him fall down onto his back, the gun still held firmly into the ground. “Why were you chasing after the kid?” I asked, digging my arm into his throat, my leg pressing down onto his wrist that held the gun.

The man spat at my mask, triggering me. My hands snapped onto his throat, strangling him, “The kid, what did you want with him?” I said, the pressure on his neck increased, he writhed and squirmed, his freehand clawed at my hands. “Just fucking tell me, you have about thirteen seconds before your neck is going snap…” I drawled.

Twelve….

The man rasped, still trying to claw at my hands.

Ten….

Saliva started spilling out his lips as he gritted his teeth together, veins popping in his neck and head.  They looked like worms, haha. Ew.

Seven…

He started turning dark red, bordering purple.

Three…

“A….ct…” He finally let out, I stopped releasing his neck, now bruised with hand marks that dug into his skin.

“What was that?” The man let out a line of coughs and wheezed, taking in breaths of air.

“Au- auction.”

“And who is leading this auction?” I asked.

“B-bla-ck Mask.” I gave him a hum before I knocked him out, I turned on my comms, getting off the guy.

“RH, Black Mask is having an auction and I suspect some child trafficking.” I pause, “Do you mind checking in the GCPD Database about any missing child reports from maybe… this month?”

“Alright, I’ll get to that.” Jason said before ending the line. Turning around, I say the child peeping from behind a trash can, I thought he’d already left. I give him a slight wave.

“Go home, kiddo.” I say softly, he stared for a while before scurrying off, I hoist up the two men, “Hmm, should I cut off their fingers or castrate them?”

The two men found themselves with a zip lock bag containing their bloody balls three hours later.

“Last Christmas, I gave you my heart, but the very next day, you gave it away” I sang as I was doing some cartwheels along the edge of a rooftop, near the end of Park Row. A dizzy spell flew over me, causing me to stumble and nearly topple over the edge, “What the fuck?” I muttered under my breath, I took a few breaths, wondering why I was feeling this. Looking down, I saw a trail of red along the rooftop edge. Where had it come from?

Pressing a hand to my side, and I found the answer. My glove came out coated in a sheath of blood, how had I not noticed? The guy must have shot me earlier. Checking my pockets for any bandages, I fumbled with them trying to pry my fingers inside, they came back as empty as they came in.

With a sigh, I began trying to change my hand into a wand to open up a portal, a weird tingle, like it was going to work but then, nothing. Had I forgotten to eat? Or is it the loss of blood and energy?

The answer was both. After Damian had left, I couldn’t eat as much as I wanted to, it was different eating without the three of us at the table, of course, I tried but it wasn’t the same.

My body began shaking as I lost more blood, I raised a hand to my comm and turned on the line, “R- help. J-just- come- my body- it’s- shock- help.” I cursed as I trembled to get the words out, my body starting to crumple. “H-hur-ry.”

“I’ll be there in twelve, keep talking. Anything, Keep talking to me.” Jason didn’t ask questions, I was unserious most of the time but when I made that call, Jason knewsomething was up.

My mind was getting hazy, my breath getting heavier and shorter as my head started to slump onto my chest, “R-rainbow D-dash should h-ave b-been m-ma-in c-character.” I began to shake even more.

“Why do you think that?” Jason was urging her to talk more.

“R-rainb-boom.” I pulled up my mask just above my nose, my tongue was starting to get heavy, “g-ga-ve t-them cu-cute- cutie marks.”

“Who?”

“Th-the fr-friend gr-oup!.” I was starting to get a bit hazy.

“…why do you think that?”

“g-girl boss.” I laughed deliriously.

“Cuz she can kick ass and be sporty.” Jason sounded.

“S-see! Ya- get it!” I cheered before I choked myself into a coughing fit. Heavy boots landed on the rooftop. “Oh? Y-yay! Y-you’re here.” I say turning over to look, my eyes unfocused.

An eerie laugh met my ears, “Yes. I am here.” The man said with a giggle, “We’re going to have so much fun!”

I gasped, “Joker.” My comms and tracker were cut off.

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“Blue? Ry? Stop. Stop messing with me. Arya?!” Jason reached the last place where Arya’s tracker last pinged, he saw a trail of blood before finding a bigger pool of blood, soon being dragged, there were signs of struggle, sloppy but it was there, as Jason trailed the track further there was a letter written in blood.

‘Red Hood! I hope you find this letter well, I’m taking your friend for a while to have some fun! – Joker XXX’

Jason’s hands trembled, scrunching up the letter in his hands, green blurred his vision. How many times? How many times does Joker do this? He took Barbara’s ability to walk, he tortured Jason for months, he killed hundreds, traumatised thousands, he was the devil’s incarnate, he knew no bounds to his terror on Gotham. Why was he still alive? Why did he walk through Gotham time and time again? Why is he still breathing in the very city he terrorises?

Now Arya? Arya, the same person he heard laughing even though she was bleeding out? Arya, the same person who pestered him all the time? Arya, the same person who helped him run from the league with Damian? Arya, the same person who never took anything too seriously? Arya, who smiled even in the most serious situations?

Joker had gone too far. If death was not going to come fast enough, Jason would.

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“Wakey Wakey!” My eyes blurred as I opened my eyes, my pain receptors screamed at my side, I was patched up but it was fine, “Its Joker on the Line and you’re here to play!” His fuzzy figure spun in a circle, making my head spin.

“…play?” I asked, he leaned close to my face, his breath hot on my face, I scrunched my face as my eyesight cleared.

“Hey! Hey! What’s your name?” He asked eagerly with his manic smile.

“Blue.” My eyes roamed the place as I looked for any familiar places, it was underground… an underground circus… It smelt like sewage and sulphur, it was lodged into the back of my throat like I could taste it on my tongue each time I swallowed my saliva.

A hand grabbed my face, pulling me to look into his manic eyes, “Do you like it? It took my little friends a long time to make this place! Hey, hey a little birdy told me, you’re a metahuman!”

“…It’s just a magic trick.” I smiled toothily.

“How about the little trick at Brucie Wayne’s manor? It was live streamed!” Who in the right mind gave this maniac a TV because, I was ready to fight and scrap with them. I guess my little trick came back to bite my ass when I was down. “Anyways, it’s time to play!” His henchmen pulled me up, my body was playing ragdoll at the moment, must have been drugs. They strapped me onto a wheel, metal wielded onto it, trapping me completely, “Spin time, I wanna play some darts!” His henchmen spun the wheel, I began to spin round and round, the last thing I knew, Joker had darts in his hand, sharpened, with a fat grin on his face. I was trying to turn into a small animal, it didn’t work.

Everything faded to black.

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

So, it’s time for my past, eh?

Let’s just say when I was a kid, I was demon spawn of a child, I literally plotted plans with the devil himself.

So, my first memory was me and my first ever school, it was primary school, and I was a little child in nursery, I like doing hand painting and playing with my three friends, we were a little gang. There was another memory of me in an empty tire and getting rolled through the playground in it. I don’t even know why they had piles of tires for kids to play with.

We got up to mischief together, I don’t remember much from back then because I was literally three, but I heard a lot of stories of myself and my mischief.

My father, he was a strong man, strict, scary but sometimes funny, he was an immigrant that came to the UK with his twin brother, his twin is more outgoing and fun, the two were troublesome twins, I definitely got my mischief from them. Anyways, my father met my mother one time, he had to go give his greetings to her grandmother’s household and he met her there and let me tell you. He fell in love at first sight.

He was an immigrant, he had a job, he was getting income, what else was on his mind except marriage? So, one glorious day, my father asked my mother for her hand in marriage. Guess what she said? NO.

Real Queen behaviour.

My father, that sap of man, did not let it go. He tried to impress her many times, he tried getting her attention, he kept proposing.

And my mother, being the Queen she was, kept rejecting him.

He never gave up.

One day, my mother realised she had fallen for my father too, his efforts on catching her attention worked. She finally accepted his proposal.

My mother, she was a strong woman, not that affectionate, she was naggy, but she could be kind and loving in her own little ways, she too was an immigrant, coming from the same home country as my father, such small worlds. They were the first to get married from their community in the city, it was in a big hall, and they wore the most beautiful clothes I have ever seen.

My mother’s wedding dress was a light green, flowy with gems across the front of it, it was sparkly, her hair was done and curled adorned with jewellery and a veil. My father wore his traditional marriage clothes with his head crowned with an Arab style turban, his hands holding on to a sheathed blunted sword in a silver sheath. It was special. And matched my mother.

A year later, my eldest sister was born, I laughed at her baby pictures so much, because why was she dressed like a boy? Probably my father who did that he definitely wanted a boy but he got a girl so, boo hoo.

Two years after that, my other sister came, then me! Then after me came my other three younger siblings. Two brothers and one sister.

Let’s keep it to the original three, me and my older sisters. As children, we had it um, you could say it was tough. My eldest sister was the perfect golden child, she dislikes all of us. Though, I like her just fine. My second eldest was a troublemaker like me. We were kind of like twins. Literally.

Our mother dressed us the same. Like she wanted twins. Too bad so sad.

It was strange in our household with the three of us. My father was harsh on us, when he was asleep, it had to stay silent in the house, or there would be consequences, that included the glorious crocodile belt or the wooden cooking spoon or the wire.

It was traumatising. Though it was funny to talk about it with my siblings when reminiscing the past.

Getting hit was unfair but I think it was okay, because I am was a bad child apparently. I got shouted at a lot. They can just say it in a normal tone, but I guess they were too angry to say it kindly. Hey, I was only a kid.

My sisters, well, let’s just say I had anger issues and my siblings loved tormenting me. When I got angry, adrenaline spiked, and I would start screaming, throwing and fighting. Though it always ended up with me getting spent up and annoyed silently. Or I would get into trouble and given ‘a reason to cry.’

We had our fun times, like when we played with a suitcase, my sisters and I took turns getting into the suitcase and getting closed up in it. It was fun getting pulled around from the inside, but then it was my eldest sister’s turn and me and my other sister, closed it up. We couldn’t undo the zip. It was jammed.

We started getting scared and my sister started screaming because she was trapped, we started rolling the suitcase to the staircase, to get our mother but we nearly accidently pushed her down the stairs, so we laid the suitcase back onto the floor and retried the zip. It worked, thank God! Now my sister has claustrophobia. WOO HOO!

Though one core memory is when I got stuck outside the window of our bedroom… could have died but mama was there! She pulled me back in, though we all got into trouble.

Now, my other sister, what I did to her was multiple accounts of tempted murder and I gaslit her, she was annoying. Absolutely infuriating. Brushing off the murder attempts, I gaslit my sister by making her and our friends at the time believe she did something that made us all get into trouble, but it was truly me. To this day, she still thinks she’s the one that got us into trouble.

By the way, if you’ve never chased your sibling with a knife… you don’t know what life’s about. The thing is about siblings is that you want them dead but you can’t handle them being gone… I lowkey miss them little shits.

Moving on! When I got older, I became what was known as the forgotten one, my younger siblings were born, my older sisters disliked me, so you know what I did? I began to detach myself from them.

I stayed in my room, stayed in my bed, hid away into the storage room to keep them finding me, I kept to my books and kindle, I pushed everyone away. Maybe I shouldn’t have? It wasn’t like they’d remember until I let my presence known.

I remember the laughter, everyone all downstairs, no one mentioned my name or remembered me, I remember no one leaving me any food to eat even if I was the one that cooked, I remember the time where everyone had takeout, but they forgot me and when I asked, I wasn’t allowed any. How was that fair? Had I really become so detached that I wasn’t part of the family?

It clawed at me like a bald vulture was tearing at my stomach and picking at my head, waiting for me to wither away and die.

I never knew I was never needed.

So, I made sure I was needed, I did things in the house, I cleaned, I interacted, I shopped, I went out with my siblings more frequently. Pushing myself beyond limits. Overcoming mental breakdowns just for them. Doing all I could just for them. I never did anything for myself anymore. It was just… for them. They hallowed me out.

I just wanted to be needed.

I just wanted to be remembered too… like everyone else was.

After a while, I cracked. Arguing, fighting, storming to my room, I became irritable, a fist of rage and hate. I hated them. All of them. Did they expect me to forgive and forget? Did they really tell me ‘They’re your family, you have to forgive them.’? Sure. Fine. I will, I’ll never forget.

The nights I cried my eyes out, the times I was told, ‘why do you keep laughing?’ the times I was told, ‘why are you like this?’ the times I was told ‘you can’t hate your family.’ They’re the reason I have cried the most in my entire life. Haha. I was so fucking tired. So, so tired…

Then the only thing that gave me a chance to fucking breathe came along, fanfics and books. I traversed through different worlds, my mind full of imagination, then came a fandom I hadn’t quite noticed before, it was a distant memory in my mind, I watched the series so far back in my life. Batman. I found myself interested more and more in the other characters, my favourite being, Jason Todd.

He was interesting, someone I could relate to at times, he was humourful and a reader too, he liked classic books, though I hardly read many classics other than Jane Eyre and A Christmas Carol and some Dickens books, it was interesting to find him being a reader too. A character I could finally find comfort in. Jason Peter Todd.

On that note, would he come for me? Would he actually come for me?

No. Let’s not get my hopes up, I’d rather he stay away from here. Just this once, I want him to forget me…

Damian and Jason…

Just don’t put yourselves in danger for me.

Forget me… please.

Chapter Text

“Wake up.” Freezing cold water was dumped onto Arya’s face, she sat up with a gasp before she winced at the cuts in her arms from Joker’s dart session. “So, this is the new vigilante?” An unfamiliar voice came round, muffled by some sort of covering.

“Well, Maskie! This one can be part of our show!” Joker’s crazed voice came about.

“The auction?” Black Mask glanced at Joker, intrigue in his voice.

“She can be entertainment during intermissions, and I can have my fun!”  Joker clapped his hands together happily.

“So, I don’t get a say in this? Okay.” Her voice was rough and hoarse but very much there.

“Oh, she’s interactive! How fun!” Joker leaned in closer to look at her.

“And she’s trying to tell you that your breath stinks and your teeth needs brushing.” Arya furrowed her brows. Joker placed a hand over his mouth, breathing on it before turning to Black Mask.

“Does it really?” He asked, someone in the background let out a snort making him frown, his brows furrowed.

“It smells like you ate ass.” A punch came her way, getting her right in the face. “You insecure ass.” She hissed as she rubbed her face before her shirt collar (Thank God she still had a shirt on) was grabbed, Joker glared at her.

“You need to shut up.” Arya smiled infuriatingly.

“Hey, Jokes, can we play something first?”

Like a switch, Joker’s angered face changed into intrigue, “Hm, what is it?”

“Let’s play courtroom, Black Mask can act as the judge!”

“Hm… interesting. Let’s play!”

Somehow, they managed to make a makeshift courtroom with Black Mask sitting as the judge, his men and the Joker’s men sat in the jury boxes and Arya and Joker had their own pedestal, “Order! Order in the courtroom!” Black Mask was using a squeaky hammer and bonking it on the table he had. Everyone sat down ready for the court reading to start.

“Miss Blue, plead your case.”

“Thank you, your honour.” Arya stood up, “Your Honour, I am a simple person, I mind my own business- “

“OBJECTION!” Joker burst out standing up, “LIES! She’s telling lies!”

“OBJECTION!” Arya turned, “HE’S SPEAKING WHEN ITS MY TURN!”

“Mr Joker, please sit down, your objection is overruled.” Black Mask turned to Arya. “Miss Blue, continue.”

“Thanks, your honour, as I was saying- I was minding my own business laying on the ground when this man! Drags me!” Arya glared at Joker.

“OBJECTION! THAT’S ON FALSE ALLEGATIONS!” Joker pulled out a shoe and threw it at her, his men cheering in the jury box. “I didn’t drag you! My men did!”

Arya dodged, “Still! You told them to!” Arya took off her sock- it was the only thing she had along with her trousers and shirt- she balled it up and threw that motherfucker at Joker, it landed right at his forehead, “AND YOU CAN TAKE THEM ALLEGATIONS UP YOUR FOREHEAD.” Joker launched another shoe at her. “This is unfair.”

“ORDER! ORDER IN THE COURTROOM!” BM bashed his squeaky hammer on the table. “Mr Joker, please refrain from throwing shows at Miss Blue and Miss Blue, refrain from throwing socks at Mr Joker.” As soon as BM finished saying that, Joker threw a shoe at Arya for good measure, and it actually landed. Black Mask let out a sigh as Joker’s men cheered from the jury box.

Meanwhile…

Damian was on his iPad watching the final season released of Miraculous when he got a text on SMS. Shocking. Like who texts someone when their watching something? Plus, that gives more of a reason to get blocked, though Damian was feeling a bit curious, so he paused the episode and saw an unknown number. He looked at the text ‘mB7PuieF0PwJCaNdrVI408xXgUJKDT5P153iZZAsouA0whqAATW/DxZGsa570h’ Joker has Arya Stay Safe- Akhi.

Oh. That’s not good. Damian definitely thought that wasn’t good. He glanced at the last thing Arya gave him, sketchbooks. He hadn’t opened them yet. Something in his gut made him open them. There were pictures.

The first page had the words, ‘mon etoile, let this book be a portal to your mind’s imagination :)’ His eyes browsed through the first page, the collage of pictures of him and Arya, she took somehow, there was one of him sleeping on the couch and Arya posed in front of the camera, there was one of Jason (his face not seen in the picture) holding him by the ankle with Damian trying to attack his knees, there was another of Damian and Arya riding Amir and Hani through fields. There were more pictures, different moments they spent time together. It was kind of stupid how she placed something of her identity into the book which any person could have gotten their hands on but… it was nice.

Damian looked up from his book, eyes filled with a purpose, he ripped out the collage out the book, folding it neatly as he tucked it into his pocket, Damian grabbed his blades and pulled on his jacket and slipped his feet into his shoes and opened his window before scaling down the wall, staying in the blind spots of the security cameras before he slinked into the darkness making his way through the night as the first specks of snow began to descend onto Gotham.

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“Akhi.” Damian stood in the kitchen; a gun pointed at him by Jason. Jason immediately lowered the gun and crouched down to his height. “Is she really gone?”  The house was silent. No laughter. No singing. No Great British Bake Off. Nothing. It felt like no one lived in the house. “I want to find her.”

“Habibi… you cannot, it is dangerous! Fuck- I shouldn’t have told you if you were going to come.” Jason’s voice was tinged in frustration.

“Akhi, I will stay.”

“No, Habibi, no, you are going back!” Jason’s mind was already spiralling from the stress- which he was in denial of- and Damian being on Gotham’s streets when the clown was out and about adding on the fact the clown had Arya? Yeah, long day.

“I refuse, Akhi.” Damian crossed his arms, his eyes full of hurt the fact his brother refused let him help. “I don’t like it much there, they don’t understand me.” Damian said quietly.

“Habibi, but it’s safer there.” Jason said placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, “It’s much better for you to- “

“No! I do not want to!” Damian burst out, sure, it was childish, but he is a child.

“Damian. Listen to me, you have to go back.” Jason said firmly, his eyes churning with green. “It is better- “

“How do you know what is best for me?” Damian challenged glaring his green eyes.

“…You’re going back.” Jason took a breath in, willing himself to not blow up, Damian huffed loudly. Upset and frustrated. “Damian, Habibi, I just- I need you safe, so that- he won’t take another person from me.” Jason pulled him into a hug. It was long and tight one. Damian wrapped his small arms as much as he could around Jason’s large figure, his head tucked between Jason’s shoulder and neck. He needed this. They both needed this. They both were not the type to hug, so this  was a development!

They stayed like that. On the cold kitchen floor, embracing each other. Nothing was said but a lot was spoken.

“Ukhti, missed the snow.” Damian mumbled into Jason’s shoulder.

“I’ll find her, so she’ll get to see it.” Jason brushing his fingers through Damian’s hair.

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After a few hours, Damian was trudging back to the front entrance of Wayne manor, belly full of Jason’s cooking, his neck wrapped with one of the scarfs he stole from Arya’s room. I mean, she wasn’t exactly there to stop him. Damian knocked onto the front door. He could’vemade his way back into his bedroom through scaling back up the wall, but he was way too tired for that. He honestly just wanted to sleep.

“Master Damian.” Pennyworth opened the door letting the boy in, “Your father would like a talk.”

“Tell Father, I do not want to talk to him.” Damian said simply, making his way up the stairs, as he was going down the hallway, he was met with the sight of a Timothy Drake. “Drake.” Damian looked at the teen.

“Damian, where did you go?” Drake felt uneasy by the way Damian was just staring at him not answering.

“Out.” Damian narrowed his eyes at him. His hand playing with the hilt of one of the blades in his pocket. The tension of the hallway was thick. Even the sharpest blade would have trouble cutting through it.

“Dami!” Grayson’s voice came from the start of the hallway.

“That is not my name.” Damian turned to look at him. Grayson’s octopus arms were coming his way, he dodged them, only missing them by an inch.

Grayson pouted, “Damian, where did you go?” he asked as he scanned the boy’s outfit.

“Out.” Damian repeated the same answer he gave to Drake. Grayson frowned as he never got the answer he wanted.

“Damian, we were looking for you…”

“I was safe.”

“Well, I guess that’s reassuring...” Grayson sighed. “Did you eat yet? I’m sure Alfred-”

“I have.” Damian interrupted, brushing past Drake to get to his bedroom, he opened the door and glanced around before his eyes settled on the bed. His iPad was gone. He whipped around, “Who took it?” Damian glared.

“Hm? Took what?” Drake asked him, stepping in to take a look in his room.

“My iPad!”

“Your iPad? I haven’t been in your room.” Drake said.

“Me too, maybe ask Alfred if he’s seen it.” Damian was distressed, who could have taken it? It wasn’t like he didn’t make it known that he had an iPad, and the only person he’s directly told about it… was Bruce. Plus, the fact Bruce wanted to talk to him.

Damian stormed his way through the manor trying to find Bruce, his heart was beating faster, the manor was too humid, he let out breaths as he moved from different rooms to the next before heading down to the Batcave and lo and behold. His iPad was in Bruce’s hands.

“Is this ‘Arya’ of importance to you, Damian?” Bruce asked calmly.

“Give it back, Father.” Damian narrowed his eyes, he grit his teeth as he seethed in anger. It was a breach of privacy. He had every right to be angry.

“Where did you go, Damian?” Bruce looked at him with his icy blues.

“I went out.” Damian said for the third time in thirty minutes. “Give it back, Father.”

“Is she someone related to the league?” Bruce gave Damian his iPad back. Damian turned on his heel beginning to walk away. “Was she close to you? And you have a brother?” Bruce narrowed his eyes a bit, was it a son he never knew about? Was Talia keeping secrets from him once again?

Damian kept silent and head off to his room.

“Oh, you found it.” Grayson said before he was shoved away by Damian as he was walking past him through the hallway.

“Leave me alone.” Damian slammed his bedroom door shut, opening his iPad to see if Bruce changed anything. He was already angry enough before but now he was on another level. Finding out that Arya had been taken, Jason not letting him stay and help find Arya and make Joker pay for what he’s done, and Bruce just added more fuel to the flames, by taking and going through his iPad.

His eyes stung as he drew sharp breaths in. He felt like he couldn’t trust anyone anymore. Damian sunk down sitting on the floor, leaning his back on the wall, he placed the iPad on the floor beside him. He took out the folded page he tore from his sketchbook, his eyes blurred as they gazed over the pictures.

Damian buried his head into his knees, his hand holding onto the torn page tightly.

Everything wasn’t the same anymore.

Chapter Text

How many days had it been since she had last seen the sky? Arya didn’t know. She was tired, her body just kept her awake, it screamed, alarms blaring, her body hurt, she’s pretty sure that she has multiple broken bones. The show had to go on. The auction had to go on. There was nothing she could do. She had witnessed many people being sold off. She couldn’t do anything about it. She was lying on the ground waiting for her call.

The door of her room opened a crack, her eyes gazed over to the door, instead of the annoying laugh of Joker or some bastard it was a small child, a curious look in her eyes. “Blue lady.” She gasped as she looked at her with a sparkle in her eyes. Arya sat up, painfully slowly, leaning on her hand trying to keep her balanced, she placed a kind smile on her lips.

“What is it, little angel?” Arya asked her softly, the little girl moved closer with a small giggle.

“My name is not angel, its Rosie!” She had a cute lisp, she was missing her two front teeth. She sat in front of Arya, fiddling with her skirt, it was dirty and clear that she was about six or five. Her hair was a beautiful honey brown, her eyes a nice hazel, her cheeks sunken but still plum from baby fat. She smelt like urine. She must have soiled her tights from not getting to the bathroom in time. Arya’s eyes panged with pain as she looked at little Rosie.

“What brings you here, little Rosie?” Arya asked her, smiling a bit.

“I wanted to see you, you’re amazing! You dance and do flips!” Oh, she must have been talking about the intermission part where Arya has to perform. She hated it. The eyes. Everyone watching, it disturbed her. She didn’t like too may of the eyes, they stared, and it freaked her out. She just put her mind elsewhere.

We’ll, get to what she has to do when she does her performance later.

“Thank you, little one.”

“I want to be just like you Miss Blue! You’re cool!” Arya’s small smile twitched, she would never wish for someone to be like her at all.

“Oh, little Rosie, you can’t be like me, you have to be like you.” Arya pointed at her heart, “If you’re like me, you won’t be who you are. That’s not very good, is it?”

“But- you’re cool!”

“And you’re cool too, darling.”

“How?” The girl tilted her head.

“You’re brave, you’re kind and you’re pretty!” Arya gave her a sweet smile as the little girl played with her skirt.

“Really?” She asked shyly, Arya nodded.

“Definitely.” Arya glanced at the door, she was tired of talking now, “Little Rosie, you must go back.”

“But I want to keep talking to you.” Rosie pouted.

“I know but you might get into trouble, you don’t want that, my dear, do you?” Arya asked, Rosie shook her head. “Alright, off you go, little Rosie.” Rosie waved before she scurried back out the room. Arya flopped back onto the ground, hissing in pain from her wounds and bruises and her fractured bones.

She glanced at her fingers, bent the wrong way and purple, she let out a laugh at the angle they were pointing it, it looked like some cows bent teeth. God, her imagination was running wild.

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Two weeks. Two weeks since Arya was taken. Two weeks since Jason started his search for her.

Night after night, evening after evening, Jason was on a hunt.

It was difficult, each time he thought he had a lead, it would either be a fake or be interrupted by Batman and Robin. He steered clear of them s much as he could. They weren’t his focus right now.

One thing he didn’t quite understand was why Joker wasn’t doing things as he normally would, which was Exhibit A: throw Joker venom about. Exhibit B: Get some fear gas and spray it around Gotham. Exhibit C: cause explosions around Gotham. And finally Exhibit S: Do everything above.

Anyways, back to the situation. People weren’t talking.

And by the people, it was Joker’s men and Black Mask. They were hiding something. They took that secret to the grave. Literally.

They were gatekeeping.

Jason wanted to know what they were gatekeeping too. Though every time he encountered them, they’d end up either killing themselves or getting killed by Jason out of frustration. No matter how much he threatened, they never spoke.

Joker was up to something.

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“Tonight, a new game is up!” Black Mask announced to the cheering crowd, “Place your bets! Any volunteers for Roulette?” He glanced around looking for the volunteers, there were hands raised by many, he chose randomly, a skinny, obvious addict made his way down the stairs, probably eager to get his hands onto money.

Arya was pushed onto the stage, she stumbled from the previous nights of games. She was thankfully masked; it was a blue domino mask made out of her original full face mask. “Miss Blue.” Black Mask introduced her, “Our lovely contestant over there wishes to challenge you, if he wins, he gets his very own bag of drugs of his own choice!” Black Mask pulled out a pistol placing two bullets inside, spinning the barrel before he placed it into Arya’s hand.

“The rules are easy! Spin the barrel and shoot!” Arya glanced at the gun, “You’re not allowed to die though.” Black Mask whispered into her ear, “You bring me money.”

Arya sighed, she hoped she really did die from a bullet. Out of spite.

“As always, ladies first.” Her opponent jeered at her with a smile. Arya raised the gun to her head, her finger on the trigger. She smirked at him. Her insides were in an inner turmoil, was she going to die? Was the bullet in this shot? Can she survive? Will she die in this pathetic way?

Will she die as a source of entertainment to people?

Bang.

It was an empty shot. The crowd cheered, eyes peeled, waiting for what would happen next.

Arya passed the gun to him, his hand lingered on hers for way too long, she shook her hand out from under his clammy touch, her lips turning into a grim smile.

The man spun the barrel and pointed it at his head. Arya’s jew clenched as she looked at him. The crowd was silent, holding their breaths in anticipation.

Bang.

The man let out a smug smile. The crowd roared, entertained. The first round done.

“They live! Let’s add another bullet!” Black Mask spoke loudly, the crowd chanted for more. He glanced at the two, “Let’s give them what they want, eh?” You could hear the distinct joy the man had. Arya’s lips twitched into a scowl for a moment as Black Mask placed another bullet into the barrel.

Her opponent looked at her, his froggy eyes glazed up and down at her figure. Arya really hoped this bitch died sooner or later.

Pause.

When had her thoughts become this violent?

Anyways, the guy decided it was his turn to go first. He spun the barrel, pointed the barrel at his head.

Bang.

The crowd cheered as the man lived another breath. He smugly passed the gun to Arya, his sausage fingers rubbed a knuckle as she took the gun. Arya threw him a dirty look, before pulling her hand away, spinning the barrel and pointed the gun at her head. Unafraid, her heart had slowed into a regular rhythm.

Bang.

She lived.

Another bullet was added. There was four in the barrel now. It was Arya’s round to start. She spun the barrel and lifted it to her head, finger on the trigger. She had a third of a chance that she could live from this shit.

Bang.

She had some fucking luck because what is this?

She smiled at the man spitefully as he began to finally fear for the fact that he could actually die, Arya passed him the gun. “Pull the trigger hard.” Arya hissed as she leaned up to his ear. She took two steps back and smiled innocently.

The man’s hands shook as he brought the gun up to his head after he spun the barrel, he held a breath as his finger touched the trigger.

The gun sprawled at Arya’s feet, she glanced at it before looking at the very much alive man. “You’re meant to actually shoot.” Arya said as she picked it up. The crowd booed at the guy who was breathing heavily, his eyes blown wide.

“I don’t need them fucking drugs anyway, bitch.” The man spat at Arya’s feet.

“Don’t worry,” Arya had a manic smile on her face. “I’ll just do it for you.” She said with eerily calmness before she drew up the gun, spun he barrel and aimed at his head.

Bang.

Blood splattered onto the floor, brain matter was set flying with it as the body plopped onto the ground. The stadium grew silent before the crowd roared, clapping.

[Achievement Unlocked: First Kill]

It felt wrong. So wrong on so many levels. Celebrating a person’s death? But the guy was nasty.

“Miss Blue has won!” Black Mask cheered, placing a hand onto Arya’s shoulder as his other hand slipped to get the gun from her hands.

Arya felt so fucking numb.

What was this?

Who had she become?

She was led back to the small four walls she was stuck in when she didn’t have to do anything for performances.

She couldn’t even get the chance to think as Joker made his way into the room, giggling to himself.

“Wow, how does it feel? Your first murder?” Arya didn’t answer. “Quiet, are we? I’m in the mood for some more fun.” The incarnation of evil pulled out a pair of cuffs. “You have powers don’t you, meta? Why don’t you use them?”

Ever since Arya had been taken, she refused to use her powers. At all, heck, she couldn’t even turn into anything at the moment. She hardly had any energy. She was starving. She was thirsty. She was hurting.

She was growing weaker by each day. Her ribs could slowly be seen, her shirt was getting much looser than when she first had it on, it was tight and snug, now loose and cold. Her lips were mostly chapped each day except the moments when she was given at least water. It was not even nice, someone obviously spat into it. It was either that or dying of thirst.

One other thing that worried her was that she missed her period. Of course, she made sure that no one would ever take advantage of her. She was never going to let someone do that, yes, there had been attempts but Arya’s league training knocked in subconsciously and they either ended up with broken limbs and knocked out teeth. The starvation and torturous situation was the reason her period skipped.

Like any girl, she feared for her life. Okay, her first thought was, ‘Am I pregnant?’ that was ruled out. Then, ‘Oh my gosh! What if I can’t have kids? Does that mean that if I miss this, I can’t get on my period ever again?!’ Thoughts like that.

So, she can scrap any ideas of ever reuniting with her dream babies in the real world. Yeah, dream babies are a thing and are painful to think about once you wake up.

Going back to the present, Arya was cuffed up, it was time for Joker’s midnight torturing session. Woo. Hoo.

One of his men carted in a trolley, they were tools and damn, there was a lot.

Here we go again.

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By the end of the session, Arya’s pain had increased drastically, her body coated in her own blood, her skin was curling up from the amount of tissue Joker ripped off, her nails had been ripped off forcefully, by Joker using some pliers, her fingers hurt like hell, even worse than before. He never even let her toenails go free. He ripped the off too.

She’d been biting on her lips before Joker decided to gag her, not wanting her to end up biting off her tongue consequently breaking all the fun he was having hearing her scream and cry out in pain as he brought out different tools to use for his fun.

His main objective was to get Arya to transform into something. He was left getting a bit bored after Arya kept refusing.

Her mentality was strong enough to withstand his temptations. No matter how much she wanted the pain to stop, even at Joker’s words that seemed so true to her, that he’d stop once she complied. She refused. She pushed that away. It felt unreal. Too good to be true.

She would never let herself become a victim of his use. She would never betray her morals of helping him as he most definitely would if Arya gave in.

She wouldn’t.

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Joker’s voice took hold of the crowd, hushing them, his men rolled something in covered by a cloak. “I’ve got a present for Miss Blue!” Arya walked slowly onto the stage, not knowing what this crazy man could come up with. He had tortured her enough for the past week, her nails were still bloody and she couldn’t walk properly due to her feet becoming mangled because of Joker’s fun.

“I present to you, a chair!” He pulled off the covers and Arya was dragged into the chair, once she was seated, her arms and legs immediately were cuffed to the chair. Arya tried to pry her arms off. No use. Fully stuck in the cuffs.

Something was placed onto her head and Joker pulled out a dial.

Her mind clicked, she knew exactly what she was strapped into. An electric chair.

This bitch was trying to kill her!

(It was obvious from the attempts before but who cares.)

Murmurs drifted through the crowd. These fuckers were intrigued about what would come.

“Today, we’ll see how much a person can withstand an electric chair.” Joker cheered, “Come on, boys. Put it on!” Joker’s men powered the chair on. Joker pointed the dial at Arya and the chair.

The crowd began shouting numbers of volts to be put on.

“Let’s start off small, shall we? FORTY VOLTS!” Joker’s grin grew wide and dangerous as he turned the vial before pressing the button above it.

It started out as a tingle before pain erupted threw all of her nerves and receptors. Arya screamed.

She thrashed in the cuffs and tried to get out. It was no use. She was too weak and couldn’t pry herself out. It was so cruel, some of the crowd quietened down in pure horror but the others cheered and shouted more numbers as Arya’s body fell still.

Arya breathed heavily as she felt sweat pool from her forehead, dripping down her face, her mask was uncomfortably stuck to her face it was disgusting.

“One hundred and ten volts?! I hear ya!” Joker cheered as he changed the dial once again.

Electricity ran through Arya’s body, she spasmed and shook as the volts ran through her spin, her arms and ankles bruised even more from her thrashing, the cuffs were getting caught in her already soft flesh. Digging deep into it.

The numbers went up more and more.

The crowd watched, all of them kept watching as Arya went through higher numbers of volts running through her body. They were wicked people. Absolutely wicked people.

Finding joy in someone getting tortured in front of them.

At this point, Arya’s mind was all muddled up and fuzzy, she didn’t even know what was happening, she couldn’t bear to open he eyes and look at all the people watching her from their seats.

She hated them.

She hated their eyes.

She wanted to pluck and burn each and every one of their eyes.

Joker had already reached over the limits a normal human could take, he watched with glee as Arya took each and every dial he put. She was interesting.

It seemed like she didn’t have a will to live but this proved otherwise. Joker let out amused chortles of laughter before he ordered his men to uncuff Arya from the chair that had encased her.

Arya couldn’t even stand or move. Everything had been drained out of her body like a matchstick’s flame being blown out.

The poor girl was done.

A slow clap came from the distance, “Bravo!” Black Mask clapped, the was a small girl behind him, pushed along by one of his men. Joker glanced at the small child.

“What’s your name?” He smiled eerily wide.

“Rosie.” The name caused Arya’s eyes to snap open.

No.

Not her.

Please not her.

Arya’s eyes met with the small girl and the girl gave a small wave with a shy smile.

“You wanted to join the show, right?”

“Yes!” The girl perked up, “Miss Blue is so cool, I want to be just like her!”

Arya’s mouth went dry, no way. No. Rosie why would you say that?

“Be just like her, huh?” Joker mused full of mirth, his eyes had a plan.

“Mhm!” Rosie’s eyes sparkled innocently. She didn’t know.

“Well, then.” Joker snapped his fingers, and one of his men passed him something Arya couldn’t quite see from her unfocused eyes. “This is what happens to her each and every day.” Joker swung his arm.

It hit.

It hit something.

Soft pudgy flesh.

There was a crack and then a flop.

Stillness.

Huh.

[Caution: Low energy]

Huh?

[Caution: Rising Stress levels]

What just happened?

Arya’s eyes caught sight of a treacle stream of blood.

Her eyes followed it.

She wondered where it came from.

She followed it.

She followed it.

She followed it until she found its source.

Soft pudgy cheeks, indented head.

Blood on forehead. Blood in hair.

Oh.

Oh.

It’s fine, its just…

It’s just…. Rosie.

Little Angel.

Little Rosie Angel.

Rosie.

Arya’s heart stuttered.

Her mouth opened a fraction before she screamed.

She lost all balance, she was knocked off her feet.

She moved her stupid broken body to cradle, the little girl. Her hands trembling as the warmth of Rosie’s body began to disappear.

No.

Nonononono!

This wasn’t meant to happen. She was meant to be saved.

She was meant to grow up and become a person only she could be.

Rosie. Left.

It was better on the other side than over here.

Something shattered in Arya.

No mercy.

No mercy.

They shall receive no mercy.

+2 Karma Points

[Achievement Unlocked: No Mercy]

Chapter Text

She couldn’t breathe, it felt like she was being strangled, the ringing in her ears resounded through her head like the sound of a flashbang in COD.

Rosie.

Little Rosie.

Little Angel.

And there he was laughing as he continued as he was holding the weapon of her death. 

Why?

Why her?

Arya’s body trembled as she brought her hands to her head. Her eyes glancing around the place, the audience just watched, they watched as Joker murdered her. Her eyes fell back to Little Rosie. Her head was bleeding out… was that part of her skull?... was that pink mush her brain?

Arya’s mouth fell open, she clutched her shirt as she stared at her Little Rosie’s poor body, her chest felt like there was a tank sitting on her.

[Energy dangerously low!]

A blue luminescent screen popped in front of her eyes, covering her view of Rosie’s body.

[Would you like to buy {Energiser}?]

The one thing Arya hadn’t thought to buy this whole damn time she’d been in this place.

The one thing she could have used to save so many people.

She failed.

She fucking failed.

Yes, I would like to buy the Energiser.

[You have purchased {Energiser}. It contains six pills.]

Arya felt a weight in her pocket immediately, she pulled two pills out and placed them in her mouth, crunching down on the pill, swallowing it dry.

Something ignited.

A flourish of energy filled her body, spreading through each nerve and muscle in her body like electricity. Her hunger was replaced with a hunger for death. Her fatigue, gone. Her blood rushed with adrenaline, itching to get her hands onto something.

An inhumane scream pierced the underground stadium, silencing the crowd, her mask began to slip off. Her body grew bigger, scales of obsidian permeated her skin, her fingers turning into opal black claws that shimmered with a sage green and purple as the lights began to flicker, with a crackle of sound wings emerged from her back, stretching wide and big, her eyes turned into slits.

A dragon was unleashed into Gotham.

A dragon out for blood.

The night blew against Red Hood’s back, he was along the edge of Crime Alley, gazing over his territory.

A gust of two grapple hooks breached the night’s uncanny silence. “Red Hood.” A low gruff voice said.

Red Hood turned his head slowly to find Batman and Robin on the same rooftop as him. His eyes lingered on Robin before it went back to Batman. “Batman.” Red Hood distorted voice came out of his helmet. “What do you want?”

“For you to stop your murders.” Batman pressed on, “You cannot play judge and jury. You cannot take lives of the many no matter what they have done.”

“Oh, don’t start with that bullshit.” Jason scowled, “You know damn well I’m doing Gotham a favour. Doing what you can’t.” Jason’s hands itched to get his guns from his holsters but chose not to.

“You have to stop.” Batman stressed on once again.

“You know, the crime rates in Gotham have decreased by forty percent. Forty fucking percent since I came here.” Red Hood said with pure venom in his words, “You know damn well that your ‘I am vengeance’ bullshit wasn’t working anymore since Batman can’t kill apparently.” Jason laughed humourlessly.

“Some people say things and some people act. You’re the talker and I’m the person who does what I say I would do.” Batman bristled at this.  A direct hit!

“All you do is send them back to Arkham just for them to break out and wreak havoc once again. That’s the difference between you and me.” Jason sneered, “I end things before it gets worse. That’s what Gotham has needed since the beginning, so don’t try stop me now.” Jason shot his grapple, hooking onto the ledge of a building swinging away.

Then all hell broke loose as Batman threw a batarang Jason’s way, Jason manoeuvred himself out its path, which unfortunately, caused him to cut his flight short and land on a rooftop.

Then it began.

The fight was a battle of both skill and tactics.

The Batman and Robin duo attempted to stay ahead of the game while they countered each blow and move Jason threw at them. Robin struck first, a flurry of blows from his staff forcing Jason to parry and dodge before Batman threw another batarang to create an opening.

The Dark Knight followed up quickly, his moves being a mix of defence and offence as he dodged Red Hood’s blade.

As the fight went on, Red Hood was focused and collected contrary to his self before allowing him to see Batman and Robin’s tactics much more smoothly. While the duo fought together, Red Hood managed to out manoeuvre them, getting himself into a position where he could trap Batman, forcing the big old furry to reel back.

Jason’s calm mind paid off even more after he landed more blows onto the two getting him ahead of the fight. He finally got them where he wanted-

An inhumane roar eclipsed the night, pausing both parties. Flames of blue and lilac erupted into the dark clouds of Gotham.

“Arya.” Jason gasped. Batman caught onto the name, his brain churning as Jason made his way towards the source.

His body was on autopilot as he swung his way through the city using his grapple, there was a cloudy buzz in his ears.

He just knew it was her. His sister in all but blood was alive.

Arya was alive.

Meanwhile, there was a beast of fantasy unfurling in front of their eyes. Joker was amused, his smile was sickening. “HAHAHA! BRAV-“

He caught the sight of the beast, Arya sent a claw whipping right at him, slitting his throat, not killing him, no, she had plans for that fucker. She was never going to let him die that easily. She cut through his larynx, silencing any sound he could try to make except wheezes, he clutched his throat as he began to bleed out from his neck.

Arya took up any space that was free, continuing to grow larger, she heard screams of people. The audience who always came to buy women, children, drugs and whatever the shit Black Mask sold.

Arya sent whips of fire their way, turning all that was in their way into ash. She glanced around as gunshots bounced off her scales. She was searching for Black Mask.

She found him quite quickly, he was scrambling for the exit of the place, Arya stabbed his legs with a claw, it was like he was a cheese block on a toothpick, he screamed out in pain. A lovely melody to her ears. Arya put him in her grasp along with Joker, before she sent more flame whips to any other surviving motherfuckers.

A thought emerged from the back of her mind, she turned round, a difficult task in her current form, she broke a few doors, she saw the trafficked people huddle back against the door.

“You can leave, now.” Arya’s voice was distorted, sending waves of shock down their spines. Arya obviously too occupied mind, as she turned once again before she burst through the ceiling, Joker and Black Mask in her claws as she did so.

She made sure that the two felt the brunt of the falling ceiling.

She let out a roar into the night sky as she flew into the sky, the wind on her back as she slit through the black clouds of Gotham, her wings flapped away the clouds. Her body was still full of energy, she sent out flames of fire around her. Her ears picked up on a hum of a flying vehicle coming straight at her.

The batplane.

As it grew closer, she sent sickles of wind towards it, taking it off course, before flying up with the squirming Joker and a praying Black Mask. No God is helping you, Black Mask.

She pierced through the sky with demonic speed, her eyes changing the slightest bit to allow her to look through walls to see if there was anyone in the buildings, as she began to drag Joker and Black Mask against the walls of the buildings. Dust, glass, bricks, whatever she could. Arya dragged them onto it, searing the skin off their faces from friction burns.

After a while, she flew down into an empty warehouse, she created craters using their bodies, crushing their bones as she did so. She grew a smile as she threw their bodies around. She thrashed their bodies around, bouncing them off the ground like bouncy balls.

A maniacal laugh of absolute joy escaped her jaws as she watched the two absolutely kiss ass with the ground and the walls. The fallen debris and parts of the building fell on top of their bodies. Arya dug them back out making sure they were alive as she continued.

Blood was spilled across the place, who knew the human body could have so much blood? Arya giggled childishly as she threw the two carelessly until she got bored of it.

Black Mask was the first to die.

Apparently, the pain was too much for his ass to handle. Pathetic.

After throwing away Black Mask’s body, she focused onto Joker. Don’t worry she was going to get back to Black Mask, the sweet relief of death will be the first thing he would wish for when Arya got back to him.

 Now, Joker and his inhumane pain tolerance.

He had the same smile he had before, it infuriated Arya. Muddling her brain with anger.

Cracks started to erupt in the empty warehouse, Arya began to break each bone Joker had in his arms and legs. It was like a symphony to her ears. Crack after crack she broke each and every bone in them, some were already broken, she fractured them again. And again. And again.

She smashed at them and promptly disintegrated each and every single one of them. She began to claw at his flesh creating line after line, deep into his flesh. Once she was done, she cubed his flesh for a while before completely tearing it off from his main body. His high-pitched wheezes made Arya laugh manically.

His smile had finally faded.

He met his match.

Someone unafraid of killing him.

He couldn’t even scream. Arya had stripped him of that freedom when she slit his neck.

He was pooling with blood, his limbs reduced to mushy blobs of flesh.  Arya’s dragon form emitted power as she blew out a flame, it curled at his skin, going at it layer by layer.

She was certain he was reaching death.

He wasn’t even letting out wheezes of pain anymore.

Arya wasn’t letting him die so easily.

Arya turned a claw into a mages staff, healing Joker and she brought Black Mask into the living once again. Before she started again, torturing them to the edge before healing them once again.

Just as they thought they would finally die.

Arya would heal them and started again.

She minced.

She stabbed.

She permeated the lines of morality.

The cycle continued again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Then finally after Arya was done seeing their bodies. She threw them around, tore them with her jaws, she crushed them, she did whatever she could for her finale. She ended them by crushing their heads together and simultaneously ripped them apart, splitting them in half before she began to tear them again and again.

She crushed their hearts, before she flattened them into a paste.

It was like they were one with the ground once she was done, a pool of red, and pink, their skin, their bones, their organs. Everything was all a slurry of mush. She burned their remnants into ash, she watched as the ash began to float up.

Her dragon form finally began to fade away, she was back to Arya. She was coated in blood, her dark caramel skin coated in the blood of Joker and Black Mask.

Her body hurt. Her fractures, her wounds, her nail-less fingers and toes and bruises ached. She was hungry. She wanted to sleep. She wanted to sleep in her own bed. She wanted to talk to Jason. She wanted to talk to Damian. She wanted to do a lot of things.

What Arya wanted most of all was… to go home.

Her body teetered before it fell back onto the ground, exhausted and fatigued. Breaths of air started to clear up her muddle thoughts as her anger faded hunger sated.

Then, it hit her.

Like a train hitting a car, it hit her. She had killed. She killed people. She took lives. A massacre. She Killed.

Something clenched at her heart, her eyes burned as her throat clogged up. She looked at her very hands coated in blood, they trembled and shook as she looked at them. Her hands were red with blood. In each and every crevasse there was blood.

Her breath shook as she glanced at what she’d done. Joker and Black Mask were gone. Reduced to nothing but ash.

Hot tears began to travel down her face. Broken wails of utter distraught emerged from her throat, scratching at the very tissue of it.

For the first time in months.

Arya cried.

She cried.

She finally let herself cry.

“ARYA!” The sound of heavy boots ran towards her fallen body. Arya paused as she looked.

Jason.

Jason was there.

He was coming for her.

He actually came for her.

Jason tore off his helmet as he reached her, he pulled her into a hug, hugging her tightly like he was afraid she was a hallucination. Like she was going to disappear through his fingers like silk.

“I’m s-sorry.” Arya said with a sob.

“Ssh. No. You did nothing wrong.” Jason hugged her tighter.

“I-I didn’t m-mean to- I was-” She was cut off by her own sob, “I w-was so- angry-” Arya’s vision was eclipsed by memories of how she burned the people in underground place, how she murdered them with her own flames. How she murdered both Black Mask and Joker.

She didn’t know how to process it.

[Caution: Energy growing low!]

Whirring of Helicopters began to appear overhead just as Batman, Robin and Nightwing entered the scene. Arya glanced at the new three.

“Mon soleil, go.” Arya’s weak arms pushed at Jason. Jason shook his head.

“I’m not leaving you! Not again!” Arya shook her head as the knock-off mystic force made their way towards them.

“I’ll be okay. I can survive more.” Arya conjured as much energy she had left in her, it was like sucking out all the life of a plant. She changed her arm into a staff. Jason caught onto what she was doing.

 It was too late, he disappeared in a flash of light, along with his helmet.

Her hands slipped down onto the ground as they returned to normal. A growing headache plummeted itself onto her, she winced, scrunching her eyes shut. The pain was pounding like a heartbeat. Her body began to numb slowly, all control she had on her body began to fade.

Three pairs of boots finally made their way to her, someone was checking her pulse, another was saying something.

Arya couldn’t care less to keep being awake anymore.

She wanted to sleep.

[Due to high stress levels and low energy- commence induced coma]

[18-day coma]

[Calculating…]

[432 hours.]

Chapter Text

[Due to high stress levels and low energy- commence induced coma]

[18-day coma]

[Calculating…]

[432 hours.]

[Day 1: Start]

[17 days left…]

“No! Don’t-” Jason materialised in his room, his helmet falling onto his bed, his words died in his throat. Arya had sent him away. Just as she was in his hands, she slipped away once again.

His mind was racing with thoughts, his eyes clouded with green, he was both upset and angry with the addition of worry. Like, he was mad because, first, Batman and Robin, of course, then it was Arya being so injured and he couldn’t do anything about it since Arya sent him away, at the moment, now he’s mad that Arya sent him away instead of letting him help plus! He doesn’t know what Batman, Robin and Nightwing will do with her!

Jason took in a breath to calm his nerves to collect himself before he did something reckless, he sat down on the bed and pulled out his burner phone and texted Damian.

???: Arya is alive.

???: She’s injured.

Damian: How bad?

???: Cannot give an answer to that, Habibi.

Damian: Why not?

???: Arya sent me away before I could get her help.

Damian: Why would she do that?

???: Batman, Robin and Nightwing.

Damian: Heading to the cave, right now.

???: If you’re doing what I think you’re going to do, keep me updated.

Damian: Of course.

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Damian: She’s in the cave. They came by Batplane.

Damian: She went through surgery.

Damian: From the scans she has multiple fractures in four of her ribs.

Damian: Gun shot wounds.

Damian: Infected wounds

Damian: Incision lines in her arms and legs.

Damian: Fingers broken.

Damian: …Signs of electricution.

Damian: Major bruising

Damian: Nails all removed.

Damian: Fractures in her collar bone and dislocated right shoulder.

???: Habibi, you don’t have to continue anymore.

Damian: They don’t know when she’ll wake up.

???: Habibi, she’ll get better.

It could be a lie, it might not be.

 Though one thing for certain, Arya may never be the same anymore.

Encountering Joker is a life changing experience.

And the fact Arya finally killed.

That will definitely change her.

Floating, she was floating once again, Arya opened her eyes, the familiar warm blue.

System, your favourite is back!

I can assure you, you are not my favourite.

Lies. You love me! You gave me grumpy bear last time!

…An act of amenities since you’re a loyal customer.

That’s a lie but go off, I guess.

Do you want to access the shop?

Uh not really, is there anything to do here?

Buy items.

I don’t have that much karma points for that anyway, I’m broke.

You have {75 Karma Points}

And? I’m saving up.

Anyways, System, do you have games?

No.

Can’t you ask {Creator}?

I can ask.

Then ask them for Papa’s Pizzeria and Papa’s Cupcakeria and Cooking Mama game.

You are the first [Player] to ask for this from {Creator}.

Then the rest of them are boring for staying here for so long.

You can {spectate} your body.

Really?

Yes.

Then I wanna do that then while you ask {Creator}.

A blue panel appeared in front of her asking if she wants to spectate her body, she pressed ‘yes’, of course.

It was like a whole other world experience, seeing her own body on a hospital bed, bandaged up, oxygen mask and IV hooked up to her. She looked at her face more.

Why my face look like that?

Arya laughed at herself.

My hair! It’s gonna end up getting so tangled.

Someone better brush my hair or I’m going feral.

Where is this place anyway?

Arya glanced around, it was like dark, the beating of the heart machine was the only thing making noise and… are those bats? First of all, cute and second, Batcave.

So, the bats had her.

Cool.

Her first thought was that she’d end up in some cell with the Justice League reprimanding her but! She’s in a coma!

They can’t really do anything about that.

And she can’t do anything about that too…

Arya’s mind went back to everything that happened.

Rosie.

Her little Rosie.

Arya stopped spectating her body, going back to the glowing expanse.

To her surprise, she was not alone.

A small girl.

Her hair was a beautiful honey brown, her eyes a nice hazel, her cheeks weren’t sunken, they looked healthy….

“Rosie.” Arya said choked up. The small girl smiled up at her.

“Miss Blue.” Rosie smiled widely. Arya dropped to her knees and pulled the girl into a hug the girl’s small arms wrapped around Arya.

“You doing up there? Having fun?” Arya asked as she snuggled the girl more into her arms.

“Yeah! There is a nice man who plays with us all the time! It’s fun! There’s other kids like me too!” Arya sniffed as she smiled at the girl, brushing her bangs away from her face.

“Really? I’m so happy for you, darling.” Arya said watery.

“And guess what!” The girl bubbled happily.

“Yes, what is it?” Arya smiled as she wiped her eyes.

“We get anything we want! If we think it, we get it! We never ever, ever get tired!” Rosie’s eyes sparkled.

“I’m happy you get everything you want, my angel.”

“Miss Blue, why are you crying?”

“These are happy tears, sweetheart. Happy tears.” Rosie’s small hand wiped away a dropping tear. Her hand was so small against Arya’s cheek.

More tears slipped against her will.

“You’re a liar, Miss Blue. These aren’t happy tears!” Rosie scowled cutely, making Arya laugh lightly.

“They’re trying to be, darling. They really are.”

“Stop being sad.” Rosie said as she wiped more of her tears.

“Give me a minute, sweetheart.” Arya laughed.

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“There’s no known information on her. I’ve ran through tests and none of her DNA and fingerprints match to anyone.” Bruce grumbled at the Batcomputer.

“So, she simply doesn’t exist?” Dick asked next to him.

“It would seem so. There are no records and its like she only appeared a year ago?” Tim said as he looked through surveillance in Gotham. “Barbara also said she frequently went to the library too, no one would have guessed.”

“Her DNA doesn’t show any meta genes though.” Tim chimed.

“We can’t forget the fact she has connections to Red Hood. It can be presumed she killed Joker and Black Mask and multiple people too. She’s dangerous.” Bruce narrowed his eyes.

“So you’d rather have her not fight back, from the looks of it, they were actions of self-defence.” Damian materialised out of nowhere making Dick and Tim, both jump but Bruce only bristled the slightest bit. Damian was going through her medical report.

“Damian, she’s killed many-”

“I have killed too.” Damian narrowed his eyes at Bruce.

“Damian, you were raised-”

“Perfectly well.” Damian interrupted, “I killed far more people than the number she has.” Damian scowled. Bruce frowned at him, his brows furrowing the lightest bit.

Dick tried to mediate, “Hey, let’s not-”

“She only killed people who deserved it. If you can recall, only the people who were trafficked were left unharmed by the flames and the damage.” Damian said challenging Bruce to refuse the facts that Arya truly had enough control over her power to ensure the trafficked people were left unharmed in her massacre.

Bruce grew firmer, “No one deserves to die, Damian.” Tim and Dick glanced at each other, sharing looks of uncomfortableness and worry, it was like a wolf and a panther were going head-to-head. Damian glared at Bruce, Bruce glowered back.

Damian was the first to turn, he grumbled under his breath in Arabic.

“Damian, you know her, don’t you?” Damian paused at the question, thinking whether to lie or tell the truth. On one hand, it would allow him to vouch on Arya’s good nature but that would cause some problems as on the other hand, Bruce could conclude that Arya had connections to the League and that would connote that Red Hood is also from the League which would make the conclusion that Damian knows who Red Hood is! That would cause Arya to be at risk of being targeted by the Justice League, because she’s a meta or placed in Arkham. OR having rehab lessons on how to control her powers when she wakes up.

“Damian, you know her.” A statement. A fact. Bruce knows. Damian cursed his ability to answer quicker.

“She’s not dangerous.” Damian repeated once more through gritted teeth before slamming down the clipboard of Arya’s medical report onto the table and went to his room. Bruce made no move to call him back, he instead, frowned and furrowed his brows. Making mental connections.

“B, you didn’t have to make him upset like that.” Dick furrowed his brow.

“He was defending a murderer, of course he had connections with her.” Bruce continued, “This means that she has connections to the league. We don’t have much-” He was cut off by a loud slurp. Both Dick and Bruce’s eyes flicker to the source, Tim was holding a mug of decaf coffee to his lips.

He grinned sheepishly, “Sorry.” Bruce sighed and shook his head. Dick glowered at him before making his way out the cave to find Damian.

He wasn’t in his usual spots, which were the library and the drawing room, Dick made his way to Damian’s room. He knocked on the door, “Dami, you in there?” He received no reply, “Damian?”

“What do you want?” Damian grumbled, it sounded muffled by the door.

“To talk to you.” Damian was silent for a while before he unlocked his room door, Dick took the invite before it slipped into the room, shutting the door behind him.

Dick took a seat next to Damian on the bed, “She was your... friend, wasn’t she?”

After some silence, “She’s my ukhti.” Dick’s eyes widened.

“Your sister?”

“Not by blood, mother trained her,” Damian paused before sharing, “She never killed, no matter what punishment nor treatment she was given, she refused. That was the type of person she was.” Damian pulled out the collage of pictures Arya made for him. Dick leaned to peak at it, his eyes browsed through the photos. Each of them was happy and carefree, “I do not know what truly happened to her to push against her morals, but I do know, She will not be the same again.” Damian frowned.

Dick placed a hand on his shoulder, “I’m sure she’ll still be the same sister you knew her as.” And for once, Damian didn’t brush the hand off his shoulder. He was finally opening up.

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[Day Three]

System, I’m sick of this game! These customers are absolute assholes and they can suck my voluptuous dick! Why are they giving me TWO DOLLAR TIP?!

This is the game you asked {Creator} for.

AND IT’S TAKING THE PISS!

I GAVE THESE BASTARDS EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT AND THEY GIVE TWO FUCKING  DOLLARS?

It seems so.

You don’t care about my pain, do you?

No.

Eh, at least your honest, luv.

Chapter Text

Gotham was getting better; the curse of chaos was finally starting to uplift. The smog that used to linger in the air finally was clearing up. Gotham knew. The people were starting to notice…

Of course, there was still the dangers of walking the streets alone and what not but… something was different. Old Grandmas could definitely feel the change, their mouths uttering the words “Gotham’s healing.”

Then, it was revealed.

“Breaking News: It is a great night. Tonight, it has come through from Gotham City Police Department that two terrors that roamed these streets, Joker and Black Mask, have been found dead. There are questions that have risen, how? When? But who cares? THE FUCKERS ARE DEAD!” Such Gotham behaviour. The TV reporter whooped and danced.

Gotham was celebrating.

This was a beginning for a better future for Gotham. Don’t get your hopes up though, Gotham will always have crime.

That’s something that can’t be changed.

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“Hello? Roy speaking.” No voice gave him an answer, I mean that’s what he gets for accepting an unknown numbers call, right? “Hello?”

“Roy.” An unfamiliar but familiar voice, it made something swell painfully in his chest, no, it couldn’t be. “Roy, its me.”

“Jay?” A lump grew in his throat as his eyes welled up with a sheath of moisture.

“Alive and mobile.” Jason replied, a small smile drafted on his lips.

Roy huffed a wet laugh, “Did you really have be so dramatic with that ominous silence?” Jason was such a theatre kid.

“Open your door.” Roy practically scrambled for the door, swerving round the couch, swinging the front door open, a smile crescent on his lips. A breath lodged itself in his throat. “Jay, what the fuck.”

Roy looked at empty space. “Got you so excited, huh?” A breathy laugh came from his phone and… behind him…

Roy whizzed around shutting the door, his phone flying out his hand, “Bitch.” Roy said lightly before barrelling right into Jason, who was now an inch taller, who knew the little squirt would grow taller than him and have more muscle? But who cares? His best friend was alive and breathing. Roy wrapped his arms around Jason, both of them teetering off their balance, toppling both of them over.

Roy was still hugging him tightly, Jason hugged him back, “What a greeting.” Jason laughed.

“Oh, shut up.” Roy sniffed.

“Being a dad ‘as got you soft.”

“So, what?” Roy glanced at him with red rimmed eyes.

“Nothing.” Jason smiled sitting up as Roy finally let go of him.

“How. Why and when.” Roy said wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

“Long story.”

“Great. I have time, Lian’s at her mom’s.”

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By the end of it, Jason and Roy were sat on the couch, Roy on multiple occasions had tears slipping down his face, but Jason didn’t mention it. “So let me get this straight, you’re basically an undead?”

“Yeah. The grave couldn’t keep my ass under.” Jason said smugly, expecting a laugh, he glanced at Roy, “Too soon?”

“Yeah… too soon.” Roy said brushing his cheeks with the back of his hand. “Anyways… this girl? Arya?”

“She’s my sister, she’s currently with the bats.”

“Expand.” Roy looked at him expectantly.

“You know how… Joker and Black Mask are kinda dead now?” Roy linked up the loose tethers.

“Oh.”

“Uh yeah, she- she killed them. Um, proud of her really. Her first kills being meaningful…”

“But?” There was always a but.

“She’s in a coma now.” Jason leaned back into the couch, bring his hands together.

“Oh.”

“Um, my little brother told me- he told me that she was injured severely… Joker had her until something broke her…” Jason took in a deep breath, “I don’t know what happened, but she was- tortured.” The too lingered in the air.

“Jay, I’m so sorry.” Was all Roy could say.

“Well, I’m sorry that it even happened to her…” He felt muddled with sadness and helplessness. I mean, he could break into the cave and take Arya back but that could harm her too, she could need the medical care they’re giving her, she could be in need of intensive care, plus a public hospital is not an option nor an option Jason would take. He felt so guilty that he couldn’t do anything for her.

Though he could smuggle some medical supplies but that would be a decrease in supply for other people and if Arya found out that he did that- due to her selflessness at times- she’d be mad.

“Jay, it’s not your fault.” He knew that, but the thought he could have gotten to her faster when she made the call. He felt like he could her tried more harder to find her. A hand placed itself onto his shoulder, Jason turned his head to look at Roy, “It’s not your fault. It’s no one’s fault.”

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[Day Eleven]

System, I’m bored. I’m sick of hearing my voice and playing these games.

You have [Seven Days] left.

Really? Damn, I hate this.

You can access the shop.

Oh yeah, fuck saving up.

What would you like to purchase?

Ability Limit Raiser.

You have purchased {Ability Limit Raiser}.

You have [60 Karma Points].

Thanks, System.

Oh, system, how long does it take for nails to grow back?

Three to six months for a fingernail, a toenail takes six to twelve months.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN A YEAR?

NAH THIS AIN’T FUN AND GAMES NO MORE!

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[Day Twelve]

London Bridge is falling down.

Falling down.

Falling down.

London Bridge is falling down.

My fair lady.

Arya lost it.

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[Day Twelve]

64 64 64 ZOO LANE 64 64 64 ZOO LANE

There’s one with a hump, and one who can jump!

And one who’s well, a little bit plump.

64 64 64 ZOO LANE

SOME LIKE IT HOT AND SOME LIKE IT CHILLY

AND SOME LIKE IT BOTH WAYS BUT THAT’S A BIT SILLY!

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[Day Thirteen]

Creator decided it was a good idea to give her a karaoke mic. Poor System.

It’s getting late, I know you probably wanna stay, uh

It’s complicated but I’m in the mood to spill my brains to you.

If you aint busy take a walk with me

We could get high and you could talk to me

I ain’t been doing way too good lately

I’m losing signals in the hills, I’m having difficulties.

Calling on my angels!

It’s getting darker and I’m starting to get anxious!

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If I only knew what my heart was telling me!

Don’t know what I’m feeling is this just a dreaaammm?!

Uh oh, yeah!

If only I could read the signs in front of me

I could find the way to who I’m meant to be,

Uh oh, If only, YEAH!

AM I CRAZY, MAYBE WE COULD HAPPEN!!!

YEAAH!

WILL YOU STILL BE WITH ME WHEN THE MAGIC’S ALL RUN OUT?

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[Day Fifteen]

I WANT MY FUCKING TEA.

I NEED MY KARAK CHAI RIGHT NOW.

I WANT A SPICY FILLET BURGER!

I WANT RASPBERRY RIPPLE ICE CREAM WITH SHORTCAKE!

I WANT TEA.

I NEED TEA.

Hold UP! Memories! UNCONCIOUS PEOPLE DO NOT WANT TEAAAA!

Well, that’s a lie, I want tea…

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[Day Seventeen]

Why are my thoughts so loud?

Like calm down.

….

WHY IS SKIBIDI TOILET PLAYING ON REPEAT?

I’M GOING TO KILL THAT FUCKING TOILET I SWEAR-

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[Day Eighteen]

Arya, you’re quiet today.

I don’t know what will happen when I’m out…

Your body is still trying to repair itself.

Is this your way of saying ‘take care?’ Thanks, Sugarlips.

Your ability stats are in full capacity.

Oh yeah, I can just heal myself.

It will be painful.

Uh, why?

You were injured severely, your pain receptors are quite acute to everything once you wake up.

Oh wow. I can’t even have a simple blessing.

Anyways, its been good I guess, thanks for keeping me company System.

I love you.

Your love is appreciated.

Don’t miss me too much.

I won’t.

Hey-

[Eighteen day coma- ended]

[….]

[Waking up…]

Arya’s eyes snapped open. Instantly, a railroad of pain attacked her- it was definitely better than when she was last awake. She could feel all the bandages on her. They were warm and disgusting. Her lips were chapped and dry, her eyes felt crusty and disgusting too.

Arya brough a weak and shaky hand and rubbed at her eyes, she let out a hiss as she glanced at her very nail-less fingers. She was not going to be looking at her fingers without their nails. It was fucking disgusting.

Arya turned her extremely weak arm into a staff and casted a healing spell, letting it was over her like a wave. Then, the pain kicked in, the bonding of bones, the moving and shifting of the bones to the correct place, the way her nails began to sprawl about and sprout back to normal.

She bit her lip as she fought through the pain before it ended, leaving her with sweat pooling out her forehead. She felt something, a tube. A fucking urinary catheter, she felt a bit… violated. She didn’t even know what to do with it, so she sat up and pulled it out slowly.

A frightening experience but she was not having a tube in her lower regions. As she did that, she removed anything else that was stuck on her, bandages, patches, band aids and the IV. It felt like an ASMR session, honestly.

Feeling a bit uncomfortable with the way she was basically wearing just a hospital gown, Arya magically changed into nice simple clothes (a shirt and some sweatpants and freshened up a bit. The girl had the power to do it, of course she’d use it.

She loved her power.

After a while of staring at a wall, Arya genuinely wondered on what she could do, what was her next plan?

“Ukhti.” Whelp, now she knows. Arya glanced over to the glass barrier of the cell, there stood Damian, he was holding the sketchbook she got him, she gave him a small wave as he opened the holding cell door. She turned her hand into a blade as Damian charged at her with his own blade, she parried the boy’s blade with her own, the sound of metal clinking through the room before she managed to push him back. Damian sheathed his blade and hid it before standing back up straight.

“Mon etoile.” Her voice was raspy and scratchy, she smiled slightly as she turned her hand back to normal. “How have you been?”

Damian stared at her for a while, trying to gauge the fact that Arya was awake and not in fact dying. After a good minute, his body kicked into action, beelining straight to Arya, placing his sketchbook on her lap, “I made this.” He flicked to a page, it was a beautiful piece of art, one that struck Arya’s heart, it was made by the watercolour brush pens that Jason got her, it was a painting of the moon and the stars. “You like the stars and the moon.” He said it as if she lost her memories, Arya simply nodded. The boy didn’t know what to do at all, he didn’t understand how he was feeling.

Arya cupped his face in her hands, a thumb brushing away a tear if it was any other day, Damian would deny ever letting fall. Arya placed a soft kiss onto his forehead, a small gesture that meant so much without words. It was a way to reassure him and herself. Damian wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly as he let out a sniff, she rubbed soothing circles onto the small of his back.

“Damian! Step away from that individual!” The loud voice caused Arya to jolt as she looked up to see Batman standing in front of the open door of the cell. Damian ignored him, wiping his face before talking about his sketchbook and what he drew and painted. Arya listened intently, promptly ignoring Batman’s existence too. It was just Arya and Damian, in their own little world, Arya catching up on everything she missed for the two months. Damian was going on and on, his eyes sparkling in happiness, something Batman saw as the boy stayed in his residence, a freeness he never saw much- if not at all! Though that wouldn’t brush off the fact that the individual is a murderer.

It took a while before Damian finished his rambling, he gave her a small smile which she gave him back before she signed, ‘I’m glad you had fun.’ Arya signed in League, she raised a teasing brow, ‘Do you like Dick the most here then?’ Damian scowled, “I did not say that.” Arya nodded with a small smile, he totally liked Dick the most.

Someone cleared their throat, both Arya and Damian looked over, Batman and Nightwing stood at the door, looking serious, well more like Batman, Arya glanced at Damian before pushing him gently towards their direction, his face twisted into a mix of confusion and defiance. Arya gave him a mildly serious look and he huffed and took his sketchbook and left. He had thoughts of lingering a bit more, but it seemed like Arya didn’t want that, so he complied.

Batman began. “Do you realise what you’ve done?” Let’s just say, Arya has done a lot of things, would you truly know what exactly they’re talking about? It’s like someone asking how much water you’ve drank your whole life, you don’t fucking know- anyways, Arya shrugged having that British Line smile you give to passing strangers on the street. Batman’s lips twitched down, “What are you?” He growled at her, thank God his eyes were covered by his lenses otherwise Arya would have freaked out.

“Arya.” She said simply, her voice still raspy and scratch, gah damn she needed some water, as Batman opened his mouth to speak, Arya raised a hand causing him to pause. He was respectful, nice. Arya shifted her hand into a wand, Batman and Nightwing tensed up. A bottle of water dropped out of thin air, Arya shifted her hand back to normal before grabbing the bottle and opening it taking a few sips, pleasantly amused to their reactions. “Did you think I’d do something to you?”

A low guttural growl rumbled out of Batman, like is he some kind of animal? Oh, he dresses up as a furry. Makes sense. “What are you?” He asks once again, shifting into a more intimidating stance, it took all attention to him.

“A question.” He obviously wasn’t happy with that answer.

“You do not have meta genes or nor do you have any of your existence being recorded.”

“Is It.” Arya said with a dead tone.

“That does not explain-”

“Whomp whomp.”

“Did you just say ‘whomp whomp’?” He gritted out as Nightwing started to snicker in the background, “You do realise you’ve killed multiple people, an explanation would be preferred.”

Everything paused. Arya’s mind short circuited. That was the thing she forgot. Her mind muffled up, a distinct ringing screamed in her ears, it was like a wall had cracked between her memories of what she did. It started out as a giggle, “No I didn’t.” Her shoulders shook as her amusement and humour dropped, denial and disbelief replacing it, “No… I didn’t- no… I couldn’t… no…” Right? She couldn’t have killed right? Maybe… maybe it’s just a dream?

“You did, you killed 137 people, including Black Mask and Joker.”

“Hah?” Arya asked her laughs slowly turning into absolute distraught.

The scream.

The laughs.

The eyes.

Then the fire.

So much fire.

Screaming.

More screaming.

Crying.

Lots of crying.

Begging.

Ash.

Burning corpses.

She couldn’t breathe.

She couldn’t breathe.

Breathe.

She’s trying! She really is! Its not her fault it feels like someone is strangling her to death, her body starting to feel numb and useless. Arya was fucking trying to breathe.

Oh no.

“Breathe… in… and out…”

Someone is asking her to breathe but she can’t simply comprehend how. It was like someone stripped her of her ability to do that against her will. Like a snake coiling around her neck, tightening her.

The lights began to be too much. The feeling of her clothes. The bed. The blanket. Everything was feeling too much she just wanted it to stop.

[Caution! Stress levels increasing!]

Thanks for stating the obvious.

Something touched her. She screamed. Flinching away, curling into the corner on shaky legs before she accidently hit her head on the wall. Knocking herself out.

It never comes easy for the girl. Does it?

Chapter Text

Her eyes flickered open, the sudden glare of the light made her wince, she tried to bring a hand to brush her eyes. She was met with resistance. She glanced down and saw that her arms were bounded. “What is this?”

“You’re awake.” The sudden voice caused her to flinch, her head whipping round to the source so violently that she was on the verge of getting whiplash. Batman. That man was back to haunt the girl, it wasn’t even laughable. She can’t even catch a break. “I have questions that you must answer.” Arya was one breath away from giving him the dirtiest look she could ever give. Arya’s lip curled in disgust. She’d listen to his questions. That doesn’t mean she has to answer.

Batman took her silence as the go to start asking, “Who are you?” She’s pretty sure she answered this question before.

“Arya.” Arya knew that just her first name would not give him much to work with.

Batman breathed out his nose loudly, “What are you?”

Arya gave him a side eye, “A human.”

“Are you a meta?”

“I don’t know.” You can’t really classify her as one since she has no meta gene just an immunity to some things like poisons that her past teachers at the league gave her but that’s not the matter here. “Hey, my question for you is, where are the pills I had?” Arya knew he had her pills, she bought those with Karma points, you know. She had four left the four pills didn’t seem to be on her person at the moment so that means… THE FLYING RAT TOOK IT!

“Where are you from?” Batman ignored her question, RUDE, Arya pursed her lips slowly filling with frustration.

“Earth.” She smiled with annoyance. “And where I’m at, is my limit.” Arya said shifting into a ghost and phasing through her bounds and the cell wall to float right in front of Batman, who stiffened up, hands reaching to his utility belt. “Boo, bitch.” Arya floated through him, letting a cold breeze wash over him. In all honesty, Arya was scared out of her mind. She was trying not to think about what she did, but its kind of hard when you can see evidence of what you’ve done everywhere. There were piles upon piles of pictures, burnt bodies, their faces melted off, their faces were like clay as they screamed.

Against her will, she shifted back to normal, she shuffled away from the pictures. The constant ringing of screams was still in her ears. She caught sight of her hands as she was about to cover her ears. Blood. Her hands were red with blood. It was dripping off her hands. She tried wiping on her shirt, they were still red. Red. RED!

“Water?” Arya glanced around looking for some water, maybe that could wash her hands? The blood can come off with some water?

Someone touched her shoulder, “DON’T TOUCH ME!” She yanked her shoulder away and stumbled back over something. She just wanted to find water, was that so much to ask?

“Ukhti?” Her vision blurred as she met two green eyes. A hand grabbed onto hers stopping her from toppling over. “There’s nothing there.”

“Huh?”

“There’s nothing there.” Damian brought her hands up so she could see them, they- they didn’t have blood on them.

“No blood?” Arya squinted her eyes at her hands, sighing in relief as the hazy blur that grew over her eyes finally came back into focus. “No blood?”

“Yes. No blood. Never there.” Damian patted her hand before letting his own fall by his sides.

“Oh.” She said as her heart finally stopped going haywire in panic, her shoulders slumped in relief as she dropped her hands, brushing them against her thighs. She took a calming breath.

“You’re back now?” A different voice spoke, Arya slowly turned seeing Nightwing standing next to Batman. Arya stared at them silently, her eyes glancing between the two. She was mentally screaming because NIGHTWING IS AMAZING and she felt so embarrassed that she’s gone through mental hallucinations and a whole mental breakdown in front of BATMAN AND NIGHTWING.

She moved her lips to speak, “Where’s Chickadee?” So composed.

“Chickadee?” Nightwing tilted his head in confusion.

“You’re Chickadaa, He’s Coocoo and little Chickadee is the last one.” Arya said as if it was so obvious, “Chickadee, where is he?”

“You do not need to know that information.” Coocoo growled.

“I’ll find out myself.” Arya said simply turning her hand into a small hand mirror, Damian looked at the mirror in mild interest, “Mirror, mirror, in my hand, show me Robin.” The mirror blurred before showing a very concussed and bruised Robin… in the Titans Tower. “Oh, shit.” Arya glanced at Damian, “Don’t say that word.” She told him quickly; her little brother rolled his eyes.

Arya glanced back at the other two, “Sorry, thanks for um, keeping me alive um, bye.” Arya gave them a peace sign, her other arm turned into a staff before she promptly disappeared in a poof.

“Damian, where is she going?” Batman asked the boy.

“Tsk, to save the chick.” Damian tutted and turned. Such stupid questions, right?

“Damian, what do you mean?” Nightwing asked as Batman made his way to the computer, his cape fluttering round him.

“He’s injured.” Damian said simply, just as Batman opened up the camera footage of Titan Tower, someone had overridden the footage, it was all distorted and glitched, you could hardly see anything.

“Nightwing, we’re heading out.” Batman said swiftly making his way to the batplane, “Damian, go upstairs and stay with Agent A.” As he said that, Damian was already halfway to the stairs to the mansion.

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Green blurred his vision, the pit was raging in pure happiness as he strut closer to the crippled masked boy who lay slumped against the wall. A mad smile etched its way across his face as he scrunched a bundle of the boy’s hair, “You think you can replace me, Replacement?”

“What- are you talking about?” The boy struggled as the grip of his hair grew tighter, he was on the course of passing out from being thrown about the place and the grip on his hair was definitely not helping. “I-I did- didn’t replace any-one.”

“You’re wearing borrowed clothes.” The man sneered close to the boy’s ear, it was thick with the venom of hate.

“W-what? I’m- I’m not!” The boy squirmed in his grasp, desperately trying to claw at the hand pulling at his hair.

“Akhi. That’s enough.” Another hand was placed on the assailants arm, another trying to loosen the hand on the boy’s hair. The hand soon relaxed.

“Arya?” The voice wavered slightly, dropping the boy onto the ground.

“Move.” Arya pushed him back, crouching in front of the crippled boy. “I’m sorry, you don’t deserve this.” She turned her arm into a staff, casting a healing spell onto the boy.

“D-did I do that?” Jason stumbled back glancing at his bloody gloves, the guy was wearing  a modified version of a Robin suit. Creepy but he was going to traumatise a kid anyway. Arya took in a deep breath. “I-I didn’t me-”

“Go, Akhi.” Arya interrupted, her voice devoid of emotion. “We can talk later.”

“But-”

“Go.” Arya continued to keep her attention towards healing the boy. “I’ll find you. Just go.” Jason reluctantly left, he caused enough damage for the night. She wasn’t mad. Just… I was not going to say disappointed, she felt that in someway, it was justified but that’s just her. Don’t go beating up people out of jealousy, just keep it stepping.

Arya shifted her focus to the now unconscious boy moving him into a more comfortable position once the healing spell finished healing him. “I’m sorry.” She said quietly before she stood up brushing her hands on her trousers. She made the mistake of glancing at her hands. She froze up. Soon the red specks became splodges, spreading like ink in water over her hands. She began to stumble across the place, each surface she touched soon bleed with blood. Red, red, red everywhere, the floor, the ceiling began breaking apart on red. What was going on? Arya continued to trip over broken furniture. She ended up cornered in the corner of the large room. Crackles of the ceiling breaking and the rush of blood that began to come closer towards her. She pulled her knees closer to her body, holding her ears from the piercing sounds of things breaking and the rush of blood. “Help me.” Arya sobbed into her knees as tears began to drift down her face as she began to lose all hope.

Blood began heading her way, seeping its way to her like a river curling its way towards her, she buried herself into the corner, trying her best to keep her body from touching the mess she made. “Arya…. You did this. This is the blood you made...”

“No. I didn-” Arya cried.

“You did.” The distorted voice began to laugh, “This is not even all of it.”

There was more?

More blood she had shed on the lands of the living?

“No- No more!” Arya pleaded, “I can’t! Not anymore!”

“An eye for an eye… a tooth for a tooth… a life for a life!” The voice giggled in delight.

“W-what?” Arya paused as she held onto the words that would free her from the world of blood. A life for a life? Her own life as payment for her wrongdoings?

“A life for a life~” The voice chortled.

“A life for a life?” Arya echoed, “A life for a life.”

“That is your punishment. The blood of the people you massacred will chase you… It will chase you till the end of time.” The voice was thick with mirth.

“No- How do you know?”

“That is your punishment.”

“Who? Who gave this to me?” Arya asked as helpless tears made their way down her cheeks.

“You. Child of Eve and Adam. You did.” The voice began to change, the tone shifting to one of hers.

“No. I couldn’t have- TELL ME YOU’RE LYING!” Arya pleaded as her voice began to break and crackle. Her voice only laughed at her. She pressed her hands at her ears trying to block the resounding laugh that bounced in her mind. “YOU’RE LYING!  YOU’RE LYING! YOU’RE lying….” Arya began to sob in helplessness. There was nothing she could do. Her nails beginning to dig into her arms.

A life for a life.

A life for a life.

A life for a life.

“A life for a life. A life for a life.” Arya repeated it like a mantra.

“Arya.” Hands cupped her face. “Arya?” Her eyes were dilated as she continued to murmur. “Arya! Snap out of it!” He shook her. “Arya, come on!” Arya made no sign of recognition, continuing to murmur the same words over and over.

Jason had come back after Arya hadn’t gotten out after a few minutes. He found her huddled in a corner, positioned uncomfortably and so out of it. Her arms were red with deep scratch marks in her skin. After trying to get her to get out her head, a crash met his ears. Jason whipped his head round to find Batman and Nightwing. Well, fuck.

Jason picked Arya up, hoisting her motionless body over his shoulder, as Nightwing went to the unconscious Robin, “Move, Batman.” Jason grit out as Batman blocked him from leaving.

“Who are you? What do you want with Robin?” Batman growled as he prowled closer. Jason shifted looking for a way around him.

“None of your fucking business.” Jason sneered as he threw a smoke bomb onto the ground, taking the advantage of the obscuration of vision, he dashed out a window, deploying his grapple hook sailing through the air with a hand gripped tightly over Arya’s shirt.

On his tail, Batman was after him, Jason kissed his teeth as he swung from rooftop to rooftop, still holding onto Arya who hadn’t come back to her senses yet.

The chase went on for a long time, the distance between Jason and Batman grew shorter and shorter. Jason was starting to get tired; his arms were aching and even Arya’s (concerningly) lightweight was starting to take a toll on him. The creeping ache that was branching off on the top of his back to the burn in his biceps and triceps was getting quite hard to ignore. As I said, the chase went on for a long time.

Because.

In the midst of a swing to the next building, just as Jason found an advantage point that would pivot him away from Batman’s path. Batman threw a batarang right at the wired line connecting Jason’s grapple hook and the next rooftop sending him plummeting through the city. With an occupied arm, Jason was panicking as he tried to get his spare grapple as he cursed under his breath. “Shit, shit, shit!” Jason hissed as he began to brace for impact, curling his arm protectively over Arya more.

“Jay?” A small voice spoke right next to his ear.

“Arya?” Jason was relieved she was finally out of it, “If you can’t tell, we’re kind of falling, so… help?” Arya blinked slowly before she shifted into a Valkyrie, obsidian wings spouting out her back as she manoeuvred herself off Jason’s shoulder, hooking her arms under his arms, beating through the sky with the strong wings she now had.

However, that didn’t stop Batman, he was like an itch that refused to go away, even after you had to lose all your decorum and use your teeth to try scratch the itch away, plus the fact that Arya hadn’t eaten much to give her energy and the only thing she was running on was the fluids she received in the Batcave and the water she drank. She was already at a disadvantage and her form, though not as powerful was gradually draining all the energy she even has since she also used her powers to heal chickadee.

“I’m running low.” Arya told Jason, as her wings flew quietly.

“Do you have enough energy to get us somewhere?”

“I don’t know-” Arya was cut off as something intercepted her from flying further away. No, it wasn’t Batman. Arya cursed as she began to twist down, she curled her wings protectively around Jason as they began to plummet down. She was burnt out. “Mon solei, I’m out.” Jason gripped onto her arms as Arya tucked him within her wings that were slowly beginning to fade and curl back.

Her back took the brunt of the fall, the two tumbled across the rooftop they landed on, breaking apart back into two entities once again, the last of Arya’s feathers faded, she was back into her normal form once again. The pain in her back began to web out through her back like static electricity, she groaned as she turned to look at Jason. He was relatively okay, he was already getting up.

Arya rolled over, her back felt like it was going to creak like a door with no WD-40, “For fuck’s sake.” Arya muttered as she swayed onto her feet.

“You okay?” Jason asked, pulling her up to stand up straight.

“Hell, no.” Arya said with a wince, two feet landed on the rooftop. Superman. He did not look happy. His face twisted in slight recognition at Arya. “Hey, I think he recognises me?” Arya whispered to Jay.

“Well, no shit.” Jason huffed.

“Who are you? Why did you break into the Tower?” Superman asked as he stalked forwards.

Arya suddenly gained her humour back into the situation, “Look at this wasteman, tryna act big.” Arya glanced at Jason, their eyes locked onto each other before they erupted in laughter. Not the best moment to laugh but they couldn’t help it. They were sore and tired. Everything was funny. Superman breathed loudly out his nose, his brows furrowed. This caused them to double over in laughter, Arya clutching onto Jason’s shoulder, trying not to fall down.

“This is not a laughing matter.” Superman stressed. His eyes in a small glare, a frown playing on his lips. The two pursed their lips together, trying to keep the laughs that were building up in their throats. “It’s not funny.” Superman gave them a hard look.

The two side glanced each other, Arya was the first to break. “PFFT BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!” Causing Jason to break into laughter, “I CAN’T TAKE HIM SERIOUSLY- HAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!” Jason was wheezing beside her.

A mistake for both parties but they couldn’t help it…

Next thing you know, a pinch pressed into their necks, it was a quick and small pain. Didn’t take long for the two to crumple down, their laughter dying out. Jason was already knocked out cold. “Shit.” Arya slurred as she slumped onto Jason, holding onto him tightly as her eyes began to droop down. Another figure made their way onto the rooftop. Batman never knew to mind his business did he? Arya flipped him off before she flopped into unconsciousness.

Damn.

Chapter Text

Sword flew after her accompanied by their natural counterparts, the spears cut through their air, coming after her as she clambered over bits of fallen boulders, her lungs burning with every breath she took. “You can’t escape! You can’t run!” The mockery filled voice cackled.

“Yes, I can!” Arya replied, panting as she slid down a jagged rock that tore into her side and her shirt, tearing into her flesh. She could feel her heart jumping out her throat as it burned from the attack of oxygen trying to shove itself down her lung, which were currently on fire and screaming. Her feet beat at the ground, propelling her forwards with the odd pieces of unstable rocks and debris making her slide and stumble.

Her efforts were paused as her feet nearly fell off a cliff edge, she skidded to a halt. Stray rocks falling into the abyss that was beyond the cliff. Arya glanced to the other side.

She was not going to make it.

Bullets whizzed passed her, cutting her ear and her cheek in the process. They were coming. Her heart was beating a 70mph. her lungs felt like she had been running since 1972. Excruciating pain peaked in her thigh as a bullet edged its what through her leg, she cursed as she felt tears prickle at her eyes as the pain caused her leg to tremble as blood began to seep out the wound. Through multiple unsuccessful attempts, Arya found out she couldn’t transform.

So, her options were either dying from bleeding out or having a quick death by jumping. She never even thought for another second, of course she was picking a quick death.

Arya leaped.

Her fucked up leg swaying like a ragdolls arm, dripping with blood, she brought her knees into a curl, hooking her arms into the air before flaring back into a backwards c shape with her body to keep her momentum up and keep her in the air for longer.

A stray bullet hit her shoulder, shrugging her out of her form, Arya cried out in pain, her arms stretched out as she ignored the pain tying to reach the ledge of the other side as bullets flew at her sides and hair.

She never made it.

Gravity pulled her down into the abyss. So much for a leap of faith. Arya screamed as her body dropped, she scrunched her eyes as tears began to fall down her cheeks that began to fly up as she fell. Regret began to fill her brain.

She never get to say goodbye.

She didn’t get to see her brothers together one last time.

She didn’t get to hear the two laugh together once more.

She didn’t get to apologise. You know, for all the bullshit she got them in.

Heck, she didn’t even get the chance to apologise to her blood family for being so troublesome.

“I’m sorry.” She sobbed helplessly. She was going to die, she might as well apologise for the things she did that she never apologised before, however, “I won’t apologise for killing Joker and Black Mask,” That’s for fucking sure. She shouted out her apologies and pleas for forgiveness before she plummeted into a river that was at the bottom of the dark place.

Disgustingly warm and thick liquid swallowed her body, the scent of blood permeated through her nose, the distinct taste of metal breached her tastebuds, slowly beginning to greedily absorb all the breath in her lungs, squeezing it out like a deflating balloon. She tried to keep her head up above water, kicking with her strong leg and her dying leg to keep herself from submerging. It was no use as hands began to pull at her body, clambering onto her and pulling her under the waves of the river of blood. Arya screams of panic were muffled as blood began to enter her ears and nose, at the same time filling her mouth as she tried to claw the intruding hands off her body to return back to the surface.

Her efforts were all for naught.

She gave up.

She left the last breath of air in her lungs escape as her body weakened.

She let the hands take her.

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A nauseating white was all Arya could see. What was this? A kind of mental asylum aesthetic or something? Why had she woken up for the past two billion times to white walls in a holding cell?

Her arms were bound once again with a different type of cuff, she didn’t care much about it because, thanks to Batman knocking her out, she got to regain a bit of energy. Heavy emphasis on a bit. The girl shifted herself into her now favourite intangible form, the bounds dropping through her.

She was alone.

She phased through the confines of the cell moving along the hallway, she shifted back into herself before going on a little stroll around to find where  they put Jay. She’d rather be with someone than be in the clutches of her own mind, it would keep her distracted from the niggling thoughts in the back of her mind which she was trying to forget about at this moment in time.

It didn’t take her long to find Jason’s cell, the guy was slumped by the wall, guard up and all, “Come on, loser. Let’s go.” Arya said unlocking the door from the outside. Jason stretched before getting up.

Arya smiled slightly as Jay dapped her up, “Took you long enough.” He grinned.

“My bad, g.” She said walking by his side, “Was halfway down.”

“Let’s get to the zeta tubes.” Jay suggested.

“And where’s that?”

“It’s been a while since I’ve come round here so… through here?” Jason walked towards the door, it slid open automatically. Instead of the zeta tubes, they were met with the eyes of the Justice League instead. “Shit.” Jason took a step back. His ears picked up on an audible gasp beside him. Arya was trembling, her eyes blown wide. Jason grabbed onto her shoulder, “Hey, no spacing.” It was an attempt, Arya’s breath quickened.

A screech of a chair and Batman was up. Jason cursed before covering Arya’s eyes after ripping a piece of cloth, “You’re with me, remember?” He grabbed her arm and dashed down the hallway they came from, taking a few sharp rights, thank God Arya was moving still.

It was the eyes. The eyes. Them looking at her like she was an animal in an enclosure, after the shit Joker and Black Mask pulled, looking people she didn’t know in the eye freaked her out, but if she can’t directly see their eyes its better in some way.  Jason and Damian’s eyes were distinct to her, she’s been with them for so long that it wouldn’t really freak her out.

Footsteps chased after the siblings, Arya was just following Jason blindly, literally. Sans sight, it didn’t stop her from crashing into Jason as he abruptly paused in his step.

“Stop, you are cornered.” A beautiful strong voice said. As you guess, it was the Flash. Nah, I’m lying it Wonder Woman. No offence. Jason tapped on Arya’s arm, a signal. Arya tapped back. Plan A that was totally-not-made-up-on-the-spot: Shit talk and get food.

“I’ll talk. If you’re willing to listen.” And when Arya means talk, you ain’t getting shit out of her, unless she wants to. Talking uselessness was her thing, so why not put it to use. “Two condition, I get food and you leave him out of it.”

The was a silence, Arya couldn’t really see so she didn’t know what was going on. Jason, however, watched as the heroes threw looks around, before Superman, the obvious spokesperson, nodded, “We’ll take your offer, however, if you do anything suspicious, the deal is off.” He said firmly.

Arya gave the heroes a cheshire smile, “Whatever you say~” This girl doesn’t care.

Wait, she still had something to say, “So, about the food?”

“You will receive it later.”

“I want the food now, by the way, if you’re taking suggestions, two spicy fillet burgers, three orders of peri peri large fries, a strawberry milkshake, and a waffle with a side of forest berry ice cream, thank you~” She was met with silence, “Can a girl not live? By the way that’s just starters. Fast metabolism things.”

“Someone finally understands!” A happy voice said, Flash.

Arya gasped, “Shut up! No way, you too!” Arya turned to the direction his voice came from, “I want you to interrogate me, we’re besties now.” Flash was one of her favourites too, she liked him, he’s funny and kind.

“That’s not how it works.” Another voice said, quite miffed by the situation.

“No one was talking to you.” Arya said not even turning to face him, no respect deserved, “If I wanted your opinion, I would have asked.” Gagged. She gagged the guy.

“Though he is right, you do not get to pick.” Superman spoke up.

“I’ll interrogate you.” Batman finally spoke up.

“You’re trying to be the main character so bad, like just stick to being a side character in the background, oh my gosh.” Arya was getting peeved, Jason tightened his hand over her arm, getting her back on track with the whole thing. “Sorry, that was a bit mean.”

Someone chuffed a laugh in the back, snorting a bit but they quickly quietened down. Must’ve been Batman and his Batglare^TM , how boring. Let the person laugh.

A hand placed itself on her shoulder as Jason’s hand reluctantly let go, “Don’t touch me, you wanker.” Arya shrugged their hand off, “Just give directions.”

“You’ll bump into a wall.”

“I won’t.” Arya frowned at them, how ableist, just because a blind person can’t see with eyes doesn’t mean they can’t see with their other senses (Toph from Avatar was an icon), at this moment in time, Arya was using her hearing, hearing how the sound bounces off walks, similar to bats and their echolocation, it’s a skill that was honed into her training at the League when she had blindfolded training, thank Talia Al Ghul for that.

Soon enough, she was in the interrogation room.

Plan A begin!

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“-So that’s how I got stuck outside the window and was grasping on for dear life otherwise I would have fallen into the garden that was filled with random bikes and dangerous shit like that!” Arya laughed carefree before she gasped taking a peri peri fry and munching on it, “You know what you should try? Greggs! Number one place you gotta go to in the UK, and the sausage rolls? SPECTACULAR! I can’t eat the normal ones so I eat the vegan ones and its just as good!”

“You’re stalling.” Batman growled, “Why did you kill Joker and Black Mask?

“Who said I killed them?” Arya said with a brow raised, munching.

Batman gave her a glare which she couldn’t see, “You were found with their blood on you. You possess abilities to transform.” He paused, “You are Blue Orphic, too.”

“TEN POINTS TO RAVENCLAAAWWW!!” Arya cheered.

“You killed one hundred and thirty-seven people that night, why?” It was starting to get really annoying to be asked a question she wasn’t comfortable about. Arya’s smile dropped as she chewed quietly.

“…I don’t wanna… talk about that…” Arya switched up quickly a smile appearing on her face, “Anyways- my dad used to-”

“-do your parents know that you’ve become a murderer?” Arya paused, she hadn’t heard a question about her blood family in a while.

“You don’t know anything about my parents.” Arya frowned, “You don’t get to talk, you don’t even have parents anymore, talking about mine, my parents are alive. While yours?”

She sensed the air shift. “I know your whole life,” She laughed coldly, “I knew everything about you since I was five. I watched your little life. Saw your weaknesses, your strengths, your victories, your losses.” She leaned forwards, resting her elbows on the table, weaving her fingers together, “I could ruin your life, if I wanted to, I could provide evidence about everything about you. Documents. Receipts. Haha. Recordings. Dates. All the people you care about.”

She felt him stiffen slightly in his chair.

“But I won’t!” Arya smiled cheerfully, “I know everyone else’s as well.” Arya added.

“Anywaaayysss, now I can get onto reasons why I should be Batman.” Arya said taking a bite of her burger, as if she didn’t just give the most groundbreaking news to Batman, “Number one, I’m Batman. When the night calls? I’m awake and there. Two, I’m Batman. Three, I’m Batman, the better version, but I can’t beat the Lego one.” Arya gasped, “You wanna meet him?!” She didn’t wait for an answer. She shifted her left hand into a wand and whoosh!

Lego Batman. The icon. The legend. The moment.

“Woah, ‘Puter, is this one crazy dream or am I seeing a super cool version of me?” Lego Batman looked up at Man Batman, Computer never answered, you know, not the same universe and all.

“Hey, Batman!” Arya smiled, Lego Batman turned, “Lobster thermidor? Heated up for 20 seconds right?”

“Oh, my favourite, thank you!” Lego Batman was eating up his lobster thermidor.

“That’s not me.” Man Batman looked at Lego Batman.

“Of course, he’s the better one and you don’t say thanks.” Arya smiled.

“Of course, I am the better one.” Lego Batman said with a proud smirk.

“Anyways, bye!” Arya waved at Lego Batman before magicking him away. She finished her meal, wiping her fingers with the wipes provided, sipped on the milkshake before shoving the tray of rubbish away to the side. “You need to be better. Start with therapy, my guy.

“You’ve been wondering around looking like a massive furry for years, jumping from building to building using a grapple hook like Tarzan in the jungle. You are emotionally challenged and disproportionate looking like a chiselled Dorito on chicken legs wearing a cape for effect. If I wanted to see someone like that, I would have called Captain Underpants, because underwear is meant to be worn inside a costume. I don’t know what you were thinking, especially Superman but he’s challenged. He has an excuse but you?” Arya scoffed, “Come on, man. Show them you’re not on their level. You’re breaking people’s realities here, man. Little yutes be telling me how they wanna be you, fam. Nah, after seeing you all close up? It’s no wonder they wanna replace you. And tell your kiddies that wearing an eye mask does not hide their identity, anyone can figure out who they are just by putting pics up next to each other. Adding to that point, tell your little bestie Superman, glasses don’t make a change. I can tell who he is without guessing.” Arya paused then added, “No offence.”

“Have you got that all out your system?” Batman asked.

“Oh, I’m glad you’re not sensitive because I have more. That’s for another day though.” Arya smiled.

“Why did you kill those people?” Oh, so he’s changing the subject now.

“Anyways, as I was sayi-”

“Why did you kill those people?” Batman interrupted.

“As I was-”

“Why did you kill those people?”

“As I w-”

“Why did you kill those people?”

“AS I-”

“Why did you kill those people?”

“AS-”

“Why did you kill those people?”

“STOP! THAT’S NOT FAIR!” Arya banged her fist on the table, her body trembling, “You don’t get to protect them! The same people who were entertained for weeks by torturing me! They came night after night to see how much they thought I could handle. Have you ever been stuck in an electric chair?  Having people shout how many volts you can take? Have you ever been beaten purple and blue every FUCKING night just so they could see a reaction?!  Have you had each nail in your body ripped out because they wanted to see you in pain? Have you ever had your bones cracked just so they can hear the bones crack? Have you been starved to the point of fainting and the only food you get are moulded pieces of scraps with water that probably had someone’s shitty finger and spit inside? Have you ever been forced to perform like some ragdoll to keep yourself alive even when you feel your whole body failing on you? Have you been watched like an animal in an enclosure by freaky and perverted eyes?” Arya took in a shaky breath, “I am a person who was forced to survive in a place that should have never been made. Not one. Not one fucking person thought to help me. Not one. In return, I gave them what they deserved. Every fucking day for weeks I was stuck there. I was fucking lying to myself saying I didn’t want anyone to come for me, I wanted someone to come so bad.”

Arya’s voice broke, quieting down, “So- so bad. I wanted s-someone to come find me. At the same time, was I w-worth saving? Was I meant to be saved by someone who could die at the very hands and souls that did this to me? I would never wish that upon anyone. Never.” The cloth on her eyes were wet, the indent of her eyes were soaked, “You don’t get to protect them. I tried for so long. I let them do what they did, if I didn’t, they would have found someone else to entertain them, how could I let that happen to someone who didn’t deserve that? I stayed silent. Whatever they gave me, I didn’t complain. No matter what. No complaints.

“I wasn’t allowed to sleep on most nights, they wanted to see the main star of the show! I let them, I stayed awake otherwise they would do worse. I stayed awake because sometimes they’d sneak into the room to try to fucking t-touch me. They snuck into the room to try r-rape me. FUCK YOU FOR TRYING TO DEFEND THOSE BASTARDS! Fuck you. I f-fucking hate you that I want to strangle you to d-death.” Arya was sobbing hard, the cloth was soaked and dripping with tears. “Y-you’re not allowed- to- to defend them. They killed her. They killed her for wanting to be like Miss Blue. No. NO! You don’t get to do that to her.  She was a baby. My baby was only six. Six. She didn’t deserve having her brains on the dirty floor. She didn’t deserve to be in those dirty clothes they left her in for days. She didn’t deserve having her hair knotted. She didn’t deserve to be left dirty. She deserved to be at her home, with her parents. She deserved to have been playing with her dolls. She deserved to be wearing her pretty clothes. She deserved to have grown to have hobbies. To go to school and have adream. She deserved so much more. She deserved-” Arya paused as she came to a realisation that broke her down completely. Rosie’s body. What happened to Rosie’s body when she left her to kill those who deserved it? Did they find her body when she was in a coma? Did they bury her in a nice grave with a headstone? What if they didn’t? What happened to her angel’s body?

Guilt overwhelmed her heart as gut wrenching ugly cries echoed through the Watchtower, absolute remorse scratched at her throat as hot scolding tears burned down her face a bubbling headache brewed in her head, no edge or room of the Watchtower was left untouched by her screams. They travelled down the hallways, hitting every surface and place that could be seen. She let herself go. She let herself feel. She let herself actually feel. The things she had held back before was unloading.

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“TAKE ME TO HER! WHAT DID HE DO TO HER?!” Jason was banging on the cell door, the wails coming from Arya sounded inhumane. His sister… crying like that? He’s never heard her cry like that. His knuckles were getting bruised, breaking, as he tried to get the door to open “FUCKING TAKE ME TO HER!”

“You need to calm down.” Superman said, trying to calm him down.

“You want me to fucking calm down when my sister is crying like that?” Jason was seething. “From all the time I’ve known her. She’s never and I say fucking never cried like that before! Let me the fuck out!” Superman shared a glance with Wonder Woman who gave him a small nod, Superman opened the door and Jason rushed out, running blindly towards the source.

His heart was in his throat as he thought about the scenarios that Batman could have done to his sister. His legs beat down on the platform with adrenaline pumping through his veins. He skidded through corners, running like his second life depended on it.

Soon enough, his ears were abused by focal point of it all. He dashed through the hallway, slamming a door open to find a bewildered Batman, not knowing what to do. Just watching her cry violently as she shook and trembled, her hands tearing at her hair, strands caught in her fingers, tangled.

Jason wasted no time. Batman was useless. Jason wrapped her into a tight hug, untangling her fingers from her hair gently as she cried into his chest, Jason threw a glare at Batman, “I knew you were fucking the same shitty person as you were before.” Jason seethed, his jaw clenching. “Fouf years. Four years and you still haven’t fucking changed!”

Batman frowned at him, confused on what he was on about.

“I don’t even know why I even thought you could, dressing up another one after I died, NOT EVEN SIX MONTHS LATER! Then you mess everything up like you were entitled to do so. Now this? MAKING HER CRY?” Jason was fuming, “I’m fucking done with you and your bullshit. Fucking things up like always.”

Batman was silent for a while before his mouth dropped open slightly, in realisation. “J-jaylad?”

Chapter Text

“J-jaylad?” Batman spluttered helplessly as he glanced at the person before him, someone he once called son which he desperately wished to call once more.

“No. You don’t get to call me that, you piece of shit. Not after the ‘you’re not my son’ bullshit.” Jason growled out. “I’m not your fucking son , times have changed, Batman.” Arya had long quietened down ever since Jason started shouting at Batman, the only remnants of her crying was the violent hiccups riveting through her body and the quiet sniffles. Batman wasn’t worth Jason’s time, he focused his attention back onto Arya, his hands reaching behind her hair to untie the soaked cloth around her eyes. “Ry, I’m taking it off, okay?” He told her, Arya sniffed in reply.

Her eyes were bloodshot red, she’d burst a blood vessel in her eyes, her eyes were still in a sheath of tears, her cheeks were wet with tears and were slightly splodged pink (a feat he had never seen before on the girl). Arya’s lips curled into a frown, holding back hiccups of tears as she wiped her eyes with the palms of her hand. She was so exhausted, both mentally and physically.

“J-Jay- Jason- How-” Batman stammered, he didn’t know what to say, his son was alive right in front of him.

“Don’t fucking start, right now.” Jason glared at the man. “I don’t wanna hear it.” A small tug on his sleeve caught his attention once again, he turned his head, cutting his glare towards Batman and looked towards Arya, his eyes softening at her. “Let’s go home.” Jason said, Arya nodded slightly, her arm shifting into a staff.

It was like they were never there.

Batman was still processing everything. He couldn’t even stop the two from disappearing.

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Home.

The place where Arya, Jason and Damian found comfort in. Crime Alley, hidden in a literal alley. Where they baked cookies, watched shows and movies, where they painted, where they clumsily danced to those catchy songs that everyone practically knew, where they laughed at each other and together, where they cooked (mostly Arya and Damian doing the prep work for Jason), where they cleaned up which ended up with a karaoke session on occasions. A place they built for themselves. A place Arya hadn’t seen in months. Her lips trembled as she took in the sight of home, her eyes flowing with fresh tears.

“Damian is coming.” Jason told her softly, pulling her into a hug, Arya sniffed once again in reply, melting in his comfortable arms as she cried- not as violently as before, it was more relived and a quiet one. Jason rubbed circles into the small of her back, “I’m sorry I couldn’t find you fast enough.” Jason whispered quietly.

Arya shook her head, “No.” Arya sniffed hard, wiping her tears with a hand, her voice was hoarse and raw. He didn’t need to apologise for anything to her. He never did anything wrong to her. She didn’t have the words to articulate how thankful she felt as she saw Jason come after her when she lost it back then.

That’s all she cared about. The fact he was the first person she saw after all that meant so much to her.

He cared enough to look for her. To look for her. For once she wasn’t some second choice or anything beyond that. For once. She was a first choice, no other choice, a first choice. It truly baffled her. How could she be a first choice? The very thing she’s always wished she could have been in her life? How was she Jason’s first choice? The thought of that just made her tear up more.

“Ry… this is the most you’ve cried.” Jason huffed out a laugh, rubbing circles into her back. Just to lighten up the mood, both Jason and Arya knew that, she needed that.

A whisper of laughter floated out her throat, she brought her hands together before signing ‘let me have this’.

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Damian entered the house, his backpack strapped onto his back. He plopped it onto the ground next to the shoe rack, beelining straight to the couch, where Arya and Jason were, the girl was buried in a blanket which she hadn’t worn in ages nursing a nice cup of karak chai- her favourite tea. Arya shifted looking over to Damian.

He caught sight of the redness of her eyes and the puffiness of her cheeks, causing him to frown. “Who made you cry?” Damian said huddling into her side. Arya wrapped her blanket around the boy, bringing him into a cozy hug.

“No one worth my time.” She croaked out with a quirk of her lips.

Uh oh. The tears were back again. The three of them. Arya’s heart feeling soft and warm.

She was sipping her favourite tea sweetened with some sugar, snuggled between her brothers, the TV on with Great British Bake Off. Home. They were home. Being with Jason and Damian was where she belonged. Somewhere where she could find comfort and happiness accompanied by laughter.

“Why are you crying again?” Damian asked, bless his heart, he was just worried.

“Nothing, I’m just happy.” Arya sipped the last of her tea, passing the empty cup into Jason’s empty hand.  He was obliged to take it, he placed it onto a coaster on the coffee table.

“Why are you crying, then?” For a split second, Rosie overlapped Damian, a bittersweet smile graced her lips as she felt her throat choke up again.

“They’re happy tears.” She whispered, Damian raised a brow, not believing her at all.

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“Batman, what happened?”

“Where did they go?”

“How did they leave without us knowing?”

“Batman, are you alright?”

Superman stepped up, cutting off everyone, “Guys, calm down, I don’t think-”

Batman was frazzled, a rare sight indeed. Cogs were turning in his mind, connecting links together.

“Uh, is Spooks okay?” Not now Hal.

“Batman?” Wonder Woman approached slowly, keeping her hands in his sight. She placed a gentle hand at onto his shoulder (at a safe distance in case he wanted to move away, of course), she felt him stiffen under her touch. “Batman, are you alright?” Batman breathed out a puff of air, his head slightly bowed down in thought.

Superman had lead away the rest of the league, wanting Batman to have some privacy. “He’s-” The words died in his throat, could he really be his son? The very same who had that cunning witty smile when solving a cold case? The same one who swung a tire iron at him? The same son he shared snacks on rooftops after a long night? The same son he found sleeping in the library with a book in his hands? The same son who... the same son he had to- he found in that blown up warehouse? The same... son... he had to see... descend six feet into a hole... no longer having that cheeky smile?

“Batman?” Wonder Woman breached his thoughts, “You were not responding. Are you alright?” She asks again, worry masking her eyes.

“I need to go.” He brushes past her, heading to the zetas, not sparing a glance back. Poor Wonder Woman was just worried about her friend.

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“Alfred!” Bruce called.

“My, my Master Bruce. I have not yet lost my hearing yet, I can hear you quite well.” Alfred walked into the cave, elegant as always. “What is the matter, Master Bruce.”

Bruce wilted at the sight of Alfred, his shoulders slumping. Alfred moved closer, pulling off Bruce’s cowl with steady, gentle hands, letting Bruce’s sweat dampened hair sprawl free. Panicked eyes left for him to see.

“Alfred, Jason- he's- he's alive.” Bruce blurted. Alfred eyed him, taking in the distress and disarray Bruce was in. A truth he could hide. Alfred knew him too well and could distinct between lies and truths- even the white lies couldn’t go by him. Alfred’s brows furrowed in bewilderment.

“How could that be, Master Bruce?” His tone equally confused, “That’s quite the statement, Master Bruce.”

“I-I saw him. He was breathing and-” Alfred raised a hand, pausing him.

“Take a breath, and come upstairs, a good brew of tea will do you well.”  A comforting gesture for the both of them, a way collect their thoughts and regulate themselves once more. Alfred knew that Bruce wasn’t lying, it sounded unreal and prodded at his heart with hope that it true. A prickling fear pecked at his skin they made their way upstairs once Alfred helped take Bruce’s gear off, in the silence they had adopted themselves in.

In the kitchen, Alfred had brewed some chamomile tea, a pleasant tea that healed soothed the mind of body and helped with the restlessness of their hearts. “Alfred,” Bruce started, “He’s angry, Alfred.”

Alfred glanced at him, a bit confused, “Why do you think he’s angry?”

Bruce was quiet for a bit, “He said I haven’t changed, Alfred. He thinks- he thinks I replaced him with Tim. That’s why he must’ve hurt him, Alfred.” Bruce was letting his thoughts out while Alfred listened, He listened to the fears of his psuedo-son being the listener he needed. “Alfred, that girl too, Jason knew that girl too. Alfred, a lot happened to her that caused her to become this way. Damian said- Damian said that these were her first murders, would that mean that in the league, she refused to kill?”

“It would seem so, Master Bruce, that girl, Arya, if I remember correctly did not display any violence throughout her stay at the cave.”

Bruce was silent, collecting his thoughts with a few sips of tea, “She helped Tim.” He finally said, “She went to heal Tim.” It was quite the miracle finding out that the bloodied Robin was unharmed but unconscious, though his memories of what happened was still intact.  Bruce was teetering between the idea that Jason’s change was caused by the girl, but could she truly be the cause of the change?

The connection between Jason, Arya and Damian all linked to the league. The bond between Damian and Arya was not like a servant and an heir to the League, no, it was different. A close bond, a bond closer than Damian has had to anyone in the Manor, it was not a friendship, something closer, more familial.  The comfortableness Damian displayed to her was something he hadn’t given to anyone else; he spoke to her eagerly like a child not like the trained assassin he put himself out to be. Then, there was the link of Arya being Blue Orphic which she already confirmed, that would mean that Damian had always known that Arya was Blue Orphic, adding onto that fact, Arya is connected Red Hood considering the fact she helped Red Hood get away, meaning that Red Hood knows who her identity is and possibly knows Damian too.

They found Arya severely injured causing her coma which adds up to her outburst on her torture that she we went through. Once she woke up, she healed the remaining injuries with her powers. She presented disarray at evidence of her murders, through panic attack and possible hallucination of blood conveying her guilt upon that matter. Plus, her uncomfortableness towards people looking at her in the eye is an involuntary traumatic response from her torture which was shown at the Tower. However, she was quite adamant about justifying her murders, almost as if she was firmly trying to believe that she was in the right for her killings. She needs help. From her outburst, she truly feels guilt upon the murders especially her reason for her killings was a young girl. Rosie James-Smithers. A six-year-old girl who was abducted from a shopping centre and trafficked through four states. That was the girl’s breaking point and the end of her limits. All possible clues go to the theory that the six-year-old was murdered in front of the girl.

 Now there’s Jason, how had he come back from the dead? Why hadn’t he returned to the manor? Why had he not looked for Batman? How did he end up with the league?

“Alfred, where is Damian?”

“Young Master Damian has stayed in his room since you ordered for him to come up from the cave, why do you ask?” Alfred asked.

“I think I have some questions he may have the answers to.” Bruce finished his tea, placing it on its saucer with a clank.

He was not in his room. The windows were blown open, a chilling breeze of late January curled around the room. “Alfred, he’s not here.” The only things left were his Ipad and a few clothes. The text left on the screen of his Ipad was “come home, Habibi.”  Damian left, not sending back a reply. He just left.

Bruce made his way down to the cave, with a new objective.

Find his sons and bring them home.

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Arya was asleep. Sleep has finally casted its spell, she was nuzzled next to Jason wrapped in a blanket with Damian sitting near the edge of the couch, observing her. “She’s become weak.” Damian said quietly. Arya’s initial form was different, distinctly skinnier an astute observation from how her shirt seemed to be looser than normal, she had lost the muscle she had from constant training and malnourishment. She had scars flittered across her body- though you could still tell which ones were relatively new or not. The scars unravelled up her arms like spiralling tiger stripes though the most distinct ones were her wrists, a focal point of the scars, like band on her skin. There seemed to be the same scars around her ankles. It didn’t take much imagination to know what caused them. Cuffs and ropes and from the scaring it seemed she did retaliate as much as she could.

“Damian, she has not become weak.” Jason replied quietly, brushing his fingers onto her coiled hair. Damian pressed his lips together, a sadden look glossing over his face before his eyes flickered up to Jason’s. “She’s gone through something no one should have.”

“You mean being a victim of that clown?” The question caused Jason to stiffen as his mind flickered back to his own experience with the said clown.

“Yes, Akhi.” Jason brought his gaze down to his sister, who slept quietly, no thoughts to the things happening at the moment. “But he’s gone now. No one will ever be hurt by that thing ever again, Habibi. She’s avenged all the victims of that clown, even if she doesn’t know it.”

“She’s avenged you.” Damian said after a bit of silence.

A small smile lifted on Jason’s lips, “She has.” He said softly, his voice tinged with sincere gratitude, “She truly has.”

Chapter Text

“Arya, come on, you’re gaining eyebags, go to bed.” Jason sighed at the girl who was fixated on watching another few episodes of Great British Bake Off.

“I don’t want to.” The girl muttered.

“Are you scared?” Jason asked, his voice calm and soft.

“Of what?” Arya asked defensively, shifting a bit on the couch before turning to look at him.

“Sleeping.” Jason was genuinely worried for her, she refused to sleep after the first night, she had woken up in a panic apologising for her kills. It took a while to calm her cries down. Jason could relate. Killing is never easy, killing never gets easy and never will, unless you’re a psychopath but you’re probably not.

“I want to go out.” Arya swung her feet off the couch standing up, taking a small stretch.

“Where are you going?” Jason glanced at her.

“To the rooftops.” She said, her eyes looking kind of distant.

“To see what?” Jason got up from the couch and switched off the TV.

“The stars.” Arya trudged to her room to grab a hoodie. Jason sighed and waited for her at the door.

“Where are you two going?” Damian popped out of his room, wearing his pyjamas, blinking sleep away.

“Stargazing.” Jason answered with a small smile.

“I would like to join.” Damian said quietly.

“Go get your jacket then.” Jason laughed lightly as he watched Damian scurry back into his room to get his jacket. After a while, Arya made her way out dressed in a light purple hoodie and some sweatpants, “Arya... it’s cold, go get your jacket.”

“Oh, my bad.” She disappeared back into her room to get her jacket.

It took a minute or so for both Damian and Arya to finally come out ready to go out, Jason really felt like he was a mother taking care of toddlers, he shook his head with a sigh and opened the door, “Everyone ready?”

“I guess?” Arya muttered.

“Let’s just go!” Damian pushed passed him, getting outside first, Arya followed right after him as Jason locked up.

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“I can’t see the stars with all this smog.” Arya frowned from where she was laying on the rooftops, between Jason and Damian.

“Then do something about it.” Damian hissed at her making her huff as she turned her arm into a staff, waving it around causing the smog to brush away into different directions and gently budging the clouds out the way to allow the twinkle of stars to finally be seen by the naked eye one again.

Three shooting stars blew past the sky as the three watched in silence, “you know,” Arya just had to break the silence, “I was told that shooting stars are actually creatures that tried to overhear what’s going on in heaven, but Angels shot them down with meteors. Ain’t that funny?”

“Ry, what the hell?” Jason asked turning his head to her.

“If you think about it, people are just like ‘oh! It’s a shooting star! Make a wish, hurry!’ But its actually creatures being launched by meteors.” Arya started to laugh.

“You didn’t have to share that and ruin peoples hopes.” Jason muttered.

“Don’t tell me you believe that nonsense, Akhi.” Damian piped up, sounding a bit amused.

“No, I don’t for your information. I have long lost belief in that.” Jason bit back, a scowl curling on his lips.

“It would be crazy if you did, Jay.” Arya said with a matching amused smile.

“Well I don’t! End of!”

“Ooh someone’s getting angry, isn’t that right, Dames?” Arya turned to look at Damian with a cheeky grin.

“Oh yes, quite defensive, I must say.” Damian grinned, giving Arya a high five.

“Wow. It really is your own people.” Jason rolled his eyes.

“Cry-“

“-About it.” Damian finished, causing Arya to delve into another fit of laughter.

“So mature.” Jason narrowed his eyes.

After a while, Arya’s laughter died down, she glanced at the sky, zoning out a bit. The silence resumed as she watched the stars twinkle. Stars are funny balls of fire, just shining their flames in the night with all their might. They were truly beautiful things, hot and flashy. Dangerous for a human to touch, maybe they were like that because they don’t want to be touched by anyone. Arya thinks that no one should be touched when they don’t want to be touched too. She thinks that’s a valid enough reason to not want to be touched.

However, uninvited entitled guests will always never listen. They never do. Like the thoughts in her head that slowly coalesced her ears, blocking out all the sounds she wanted to hear and replacing them with screams and cries and laughter. Arya didn’t like that. She never wanted to hear those again, but her thoughts did what they wanted. That’s all she could hear even in her sleep. Hell, if she could even call those blinks sleep.

“Ry?” Jason’s voice echoed through her head. Snapping her out of whatever place she had wandered off to.

Arya sat up, rubbing her eyes, “what do you want?” Arya muttered.

“You weren’t responding.” Damian said quietly. “What were you doing?”

“Mmm… that’s a good question.” Arya said shifting to crossing her legs. “Oh. I have a question.”

“Go on then.” Jason waited, bringing his arms behind his head from where he was laying down on the rooftop.

“Is it bad that I loved killing them, like hearing their screams for a change?”

Jason paused looking over at Arya before sharing a look with Damian.

“That’s a hard question to answer.” Jason admitted, glancing at her. “But you did it to save yourself, right?”

“In a way.” Arya said, starting to play with the sleeve of her coat.

“What do you mean by that?” Damian asked, his eyes looking at her curiously.

“There… was something… that happened.” Arya shifted slightly, looking up at the night sky once again. So dramatic, innit? Sorry. Sorry. Back to the story- Arya watched as the stars twinkled again. “If that didn’t happen… I wouldn’t have killed anyone. I don’t think I would have gotten out.” Arya confessed. It was true. If Rosie had not been brutally murdered in front of her. If she hadn’t seen the girl’s brain matter on the ground. If she hadn’t seen the poor baby die. Arya would have stayed there, she would have kept trying to push herself to keep living and surviving.

“What did happen?” Jason asked after a while, leaving her room to not want to answer his question if she wanted to. He wouldn’t pry or pressure her at all.

“They killed my Angel.” Arya said, her eyes looking dead, the sparkle of joy and excitement she had in her eyes faded for a moment.

“You’re angel?” Damian shifted closer to the girl, curious on who this angel was. 

“She was a sweet pure little child. She didn’t know how bad the world could be.” Arya laid back down on the rooftop. “I really hate people.”

“…no, you don’t.” Damian nudged himself right into her side. Arya wrapped an arm around him.

“Maybe I want to, but I just can’t because I love them too much to not care.” Arya sniffed, brushing a hand over her eye, damn those traitorous tears.

“Maybe.” Jason agreed. “Maybe you love people too much, making you wish  they loved you enough back to care about you the same way you care about them.” A truth Arya hated to think about.

Some people deserved the world, and some people deserve nothing.

That’s how the world worked, it was unfair. No one can always get what they want. That’s just something you have to live with.

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They got ice cream. Arya was feeding her long-starved addiction with some strawberry shortcake ice cream while Damian and Jason got vanilla. Nothing could go wrong with vanilla ice cream.

“You guys don’t understand how hard life is with sisters.” Arya said scooping the last of her ice cream.

“I’m sure it’s not that bad.” Jason said licking some ice cream off his spoon.

“You may think living with me in the house is hard-“

“You said that not me.” She was cut off by Jay with a cheeky grin, Damian sniffling a snort.

“Ugh, shut up.” Arya rolled her eyes. “Anyways, my sisters were horrible rats, I remember coming back from a hot and humid day at school, I had left a drink in the fridge for days to actually cool down because they heat in the UK was disgusting cuz how are you telling me I take two steps outside and I’m dying?”

“Maybe carry a water bottle next time?” Damian suggested.

“That’s just extra luggage I don’t want to carry when I can steal water from my friends’ bottle at school, plus my bag was heavy with books.”

“Then take out the books.” Jason said as if it was common knowledge.

“Hey, I have no lockers like over here. Our school had them but then they took them away. So yeah, that was not an option, okay?!” Arya glared at him.

“Damn, my bad then.” Jason muttered, scooping more ice cream.

“Back to the story- anyways, I left the drink in the fridge to cool and was dying to drink it. I kicked off my shoes and went to the kitchen just to find out, someone had drank half of it. I wouldn’t have minded even a quarter but half? That wasn’t enough to quench my thirst!” Arya complained, “I was waiting for a whole damn week for that!”

“You could have just bought another one.”

“I couldn’t. I was broke back then. No money to my damn name. My dad got it for me from a wedding.” Arya pouted.

“Peak.” Damian muttered.

“You did not just use my lingo on me.” Arya was astonished, she was almost smiling.

“Tt, just get on with the story.” Damian rolled his eyes.

“We’re gonna get back to that but okay!” Arya said with a small smile, amused. “So then I asked around and found out my eldest sister had drank it! She already drank hers. So I had  to do something about it. I had a two litre empty bottle of diet lemonade that was dirt cheap from Aldi which was like 17p-“

“Seventeen pence?” Jason blurted after finishing his ice cream.

“I know, right! Bargain!” Arya smiled.

“Oh sorry, your story?” Jason apologised.

“Oh, so I had the bottle and so with good thinking, I swung it at her head.” Arya laughed, “and then we scrapped in the hallway. I was at a disadvantage since I still had my backpack on and my school uniform!”

“So, you’re the problem.” Damian said, passing over his unfinished ice cream to her.

“What?! I was not the problem. I was the victim of injustice.” Arya denied, finishing his ice cream off with a massive scoop.

“You started the fight.” Jason added in.

“It was valid!”

“You could have asked her to buy you a new one.”

“Wow… it really is your own people that aren’t on your side.”

“Hey, we’re neutral here.” Jason laughed as Arya scowled at them.

“I’m so offended.” She huffed.

“Anyways, let’s go to the pharmacy to get you some sleeping gummies.” Jason suggested after having a small laugh with Damian.

“Do we have to? Most of the doses won’t work.” Arya frowned, a niggling fear creeping into her heart as she thought of the idea of sleeping. “You know, my immunity levels and all?” 

“We can try.” Jason said, pushing her to the direction of the pharmacy.

The three end up getting some vegan sleeping gummies from the brand Starpowa. As long as she had no dreams, Arya was fine with eating them but she still had a sense of apprehension towards them because what if they don’t work? What would she do then? Get herself drugged up on some sleeping drugs that can knock out an elephant?

The three were walking through the streets of Crime Alley, talking before Jason’s back up phone rang. “Hold on, gotta take this.”

“Think it’s a call for help?” Arya asked Damian.

“Probably.” Damian shrugged as the two paused at the side of the street, waiting for Jason to finish his call.

He came after a while, “Some kids called about a gang. Arya?”

“Yeah, I know.” Arya’s arm shifted into a staff, “Tikki Spots on!”

Soon Jason was in his Red Hood gear, helmet on and everything, “shout it for the whole fucking world to hear, Arya.” Came his voice from his modulator.

Arya smiled brightly. “Mon etoile, hasn’t seen that before.” She glanced at Damian, whose eyes sparkled with intrigue. They were definitely going to feed into Damian’s obsession with Miraculous.

Arya knew Jason rolled his eyes, “Go home.” He huffed before sending a grappling hook to a rooftop and flew off.

“Let’s go then.” Arya placed her hand on Damian’s shoulders steering him towards home.

“I can walk myself!” Damian protested, pushing back on her hands.

“I know you can.” Arya smiled. The two of them made their way home with Damian arguing about his capabilities and Arya just agreeing without any mind to what he was saying just to make him more aggravated. Well, it worked as Damian ended up practically pouncing onto her, trying to strangle the girl who laughed at his attempt.

That night, Arya found out that the gummies worked with a large dose of fifteen gummies.

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Two weeks had passed, making it come to early February, the three had shifted back into a routine, it wasn’t perfect, but it was alright.

“Batman keeps asking where ‘Jason’, ‘Arya’ and ‘Damian’ are, each time he shows up in the same place I’m at.” Jason gritted out as he grabbed himself a cookie from the cookie jar, there had been multiple approaches made by Batman recently, figuring out Red Hood’s routes in Gotham. Hell, he was even going to the border of Crime Alley!

“He needs to give up. No one wants to talk to him or interact with him.” Arya laughed lightly, “imagine if he tries to get Talia to tell him.”

This caused all three of them to pause.

“Oh my God. What if he does!” The three of them looked at each other. Arya turned to Jason, “Call her already!”

“I’m doing that, right now!” Jason had already pulled out his phone, dialling the number she had given him the night they left the League.

After the first ring… “Children, how have you been?” The familiar flowy voice came through the phone.

“Hey, Talia, just asking, did Bruce call?”

“No, is there a reason why he should?” The three of them visibly relaxed to hear that.

“Teacher, he may or may not have found out about our existence.” Arya decided to add. “Now he’s looking for us.”

“Why do you wish not to be found by him?” Talia asked. The three glanced at each other. Arya shrugged, she had a few problems with Bruce she could overlook and forgive because, hey, people make mistakes too. Nothing too serious.

She’s lying. She would have wanted Bruce to kill Joker too but too bad, she did it herself so whatever. She’d rather not go to jail or Arkham for what she did. So yeah, she’d rather not be seen by him anyway. “Reasons.” Arya admitted, not wanting to go on about it.

“Anyways, Talia, if he calls, don’t tell him anything.” Jason said, “Please.”

“That is fine with me, Habibi.” Talia said calmly. “If that is all, I must go, children. Stay well. And Arya, I will call about your new development.” Then the phone call cut.

“She’s going to kill me.” Arya sighed, “But who cares? Who hasn’t tried?!”

“Oh.. that’s not..” Jason started.

“As if people haven’t tried to do the same to you, Akhi.” Damian said with a roll of his eyes.

“The way we’re just talking about this like it’s normal is killing me.” Arya began to laugh.

“We’ve been trained in the league. It is normal.” Damian scoffed with a smile threatening to show.

“We need therapy but are we gonna go?” Arya smiled brightly.

“No.” Damian and Jason chorused together as grins grew on their faces.

“This is why we’re family.” Arya matched their grins.

Family. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

Chapter Text

“NO! I didn’t mean too!” Arya was crying, her hands bunched onto Jason’s sleeves.

“Arya, you’re here. With me and Damian.” Jason held onto her, speaking to her slowly to try get her back. She had woken up in a panic and Jason, being the good brother he was, was trying to calm her down.

“I can’t- no- what if-“ Arya stuttered and stumbled on her words. She had thought she had gotten better! She really thought she did, like she was eating better, she was having a good time, she smiled more, she laughed like before. She was getting better. She even slept more. She was… trying to get better.

“Arya, it’s okay.” Arya was really trying to believe that, she really was. She felt different, she felt like an imposter trying to fit back in. No. She had always been an imposter, hasn’t she? Arya was not from this world.

No.

She was not from this world.

Arya paused her eyes growing dark. She stopped crying, her hands letting go of Jason’s sleeves. Her body freezing up as blood rushed through her ears.

She was not from here.

This little place she thought was home was only to make her belong.

Arya did not belong.

She never belonged.

“Get off me.” And like that, Jason’s hands were off, backing off and giving her space. Arya’s tears broke down her face as she pressed her lips together, she wiped her face roughly with her hands before getting off her bed and ran.

She ran. She couldn’t even compute Jason calling out for her.

Arya ran out the house, barefoot and all. Running.

Run, run run, Arya. A fantasy she had gotten her whole head wrapped around. How fun, isn’t it? You got sent here. For what?

Her feet pounded against the road, the stray stones that dug into her feet felt numb to her, her chest burned as she ran, her throat had a constant onslaught of scolding air, trying to pump her lung with air. It hurt so much Arya thought she deserved it.

Run. Run. Run.

She was literally impersonating the gingerbread man. There’s no other way to put it.

She dodged past cars, jumping on top of the hood of they were close to crashing her, she ran on top of them, jumping on car to car. She couldn’t hear anything. She just didn’t feel like she belonged anywhere.

Back at her own world. A stranger whose parents didn’t even know what she liked or disliked. In the league, she didn’t belong. A trained person by Lady Talia who refused to kill. A strange one. She refused to kill no matter the consequences, whether they threatened her life or beat her half to death. She refused to kill. When she was kidnapped by Joker, she was the imposter. The stranger who seemed to spike intrigue in everyone who saw her. Miss Blue, wasn’t it? She was the rare exotic creature no one had seen before, wasn’t she?

She was the piece of a different world most people would have not seen.

Joker made sure that she was shown to be that way. She was an imposter. In a world that didn’t need her, or did they?

Now? She felt like an imposter in her own home. She didn’t even feel like herself. After the killing. She hadn’t felt like herself since then. She felt like she was wearing a sheath of a person trying to match what they were like before. The person she was before will never come back… it was inevitable. Killing changes people, whether you like it or not. It changes people.

Before Arya knew it, she was way out of Crime Alley. Still running.

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Blares of sirens chased after her. Police were chasing her now. Great.

The poor girl’s heart was beating out her chest, there was a constant reminder of her poor decision to run without shoes. The skin of her feet were peeling off and she’s sure they were bleeding, the dog of stones that penetrated her skin and were stuck lodged in her feet was astounding. She cursed as she breathlessly made her way through the streets dodging cars and pedestrians who were still out at this horrendous time of night.

Then she accidentally backed herself into a corner. Surrounded by cops, guns pointed at her. Her mind racing, battling the idea of revealing her power or not. What if she hurt them? What if she killed them? What if she-

Her mind wasn’t working until a gunshot sounded through the night. A slow pain grew in her arm as she held it. She wasn’t even doing anything! She had stopped running ever since she was cornered with only a large wall to jump over. There were at least six cops pointing a gun at her and a K9 that looked absolutely terrifying.

They were all looking at her. Their eyes. No. She was not doing that again. She was not going back to there. Not again.

Take their eyes out.

Oh, now that’s a thought that truly scared Arya. Even more than that stupid dog that growled and barked at her.

Her back was pressed against the wall. Her brain having thoughts merging with one another. The pain in her arm from whichever motherfucker shot her, the pain in her feet from her peeling skin and the rocks wedged into it.

Fuck it.

Arya shifted into a form she hadn’t tried before. A kitsune. Such an intelligent and supernatural creature. One that had powers of metamorphosis and illusion. The thing Arya needed.

She shifted the reality the police could shifting that small alley she was trapped in, to a world beyond their imagination. What they saw, could not be uttered. There was confusion, fear, anxiety and apprehension that grew on their faces, the dog grew restless. Arya jumped over the wall that was keeping her captive as their eyes drew off her. She left them in the spell long enough to escape.

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She crash-landed on a rooftop, her form shifting back to her normal self, she grasped at her arm that dripped with blood. Upon some touches, she realised her arm still had the bullet inside. With the state she was in, she didn’t trust herself to deal with it.

She was bleeding. She was tired. Her feet felt like they were hot on fire. She had a fucking bullet in her arm. Her heart in her throat due to the thoughts in her head.

A heavy press on her chest that grew more evident.

She buried her face into her knees and cried, curling her arms around her knees.

She was so done with everything at this point.

Through her sniffs and tears, Arya heard a small clack land in the rooftop her brain thinking whether to care or not. There was small footfalls that made its way closer, “Are you okay?” An adolescent boy’s voice spoke.

“What do you want?” Arya sniffed.

“To thank you.” Thank? What could they possibly be thanking her for? Arya raised her head to be met with a blur of colour, red, green, yellow- Robin. He glanced at her through his domino mask, taking in the state she was in, “why… are you barefoot?” At least he wasn’t asking if she was okay again otherwise she would have blown up on him.

Arya shrugged, brushing away a stream of her tears. “Maybe I wanted to be those ‘be one with nature! Shoes are barriers to the true and loving world!’” Arya said sarcastically wiping away more tears.

“Okaaaayyy…” He replied, not knowing what to say.

“Why are you even talking to me?” Arya asked, shifting to sit cross legged.

“You… helped me.” Robin said slowly.

“So what?” Arya shrugged, looking down at her red feet coated in blood. Damn. She hurt them bad, no wonder she’s been in constant pain, not to mention the bullet still inside her arm.

“Why?” Robin asked.

“Stop asking useless questions, go. I’m sure Batman wouldn’t want you talking with a monster like me.” Arya turned her body away from the vigilante, her eyes gazing over the city instead of looking at the cold, grey and damp rooftop.

“Why do you think you’re a monster?” Robin sat down at a safe distance besides her.

“Who wouldn’t? I killed and used my ability to hurt others.” Arya’s eyes blurred making her blink rapidly. She felt like a log had lodged itself in her throat that even a glass of water couldn’t wash down. She felt so vulnerable and bare that it scared her. Her mouth wasn’t keeping up with what her mind was trying to make her do. Her mind trying to make her run away and yet her body stayed rooted to her spot. She felt like saying anything that came to mind. “It’s trying to kill me.” She said quietly.

“What’s trying to kill you?” Robin asked in a low tone.

“My mind.” Arya let out a breath as more tears slipped down her face as she wiped them with the back of her hand, letting out a humourless laugh, “I can’t sleep. I can’t stay happy long enough to not have the voices come back. I can’t even do anything I like anymore without it turning back to over there. I can’t even sit in chairs with armrests! It’s crazy.”

The constant fear that someone was going to chain her up in a chair and not let her go, turn a vial and electrocute her, upping the voltage each time. The eyes watching her try survive while constantly giving more hurdles for her to go over. The constant cheers that flooded her ears each time she did a single thing making her feel her hair stand by its roots

Robin kept silent. Being a listener is far more greater when someone just wants someone to listen. Just listen for once. It could do so much for a person.

“I can’t-” Arya felt choked, “I can’t even tell my brothers, they’d get so worried and I can’t do that to them. Heck, I don’t even know why I’m telling you!” Arya stifled a sob, pressing her lips together. “I’m gonna end up dead.” She said so faintly that Robin had to strain to hear her. Arya took in a shaky breath, “I’m going to end up dead.” The barrier keeping her tears and sobs away broke. The acknowledgment of the fact if she kept going on with the way she was going she was going to end up dead before she even knew it.

She had been spiralling in silence ever since she woke up from that coma. She thought she could handle it herself and brush it off like normal. She thought she could make it through and carry on like nothing happened.

She couldn’t.

That was the truth.

She couldn’t.

Arya was shaking as she brought her hands up to her face, “ex-excuse me.” Arya apologised quietly as an ugly sob retched itself out her throat.

Robin stayed silent. Just being there for her as she cried.

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Arya’s eyes were puffed up and felt swollen when she finally calmed down. A good cry always made you feel good. “Sorry.” Arya croaked out.

“No, it’s fine, I don’t mind listening.” Robin smiled at her.

“You’re a good kid.” Arya said softly, sniffling a bit. Then she noticed her arm was still aching, she had forgotten about the bullet. Oops.

Arya turned her opposing hand into a staff, magicking the bullet out and healing her wound and taking away the puffiness of her eyes.. She didn’t feel much energy to heal her feet too.

“Thanks, chick.” She said her lips twitched upwards slightly. Just a bit.

“What is this, a nickname? Because I prefer Robin.” Robin scowled playfully.

“Yeah, I’ve been calling you that since I woke up from the coma, chick.” Arya teased him. “You’re just a baby.”

“And you’re a fossil.” He narrowed his brows at her.

“Fossils have more information than you think, TD.” Arya finally smiled with hint of mischief mixed in. “I’ll see you around, sorry for dumping shit on you. You didn’t need to hear that. I’m sorry.” With that, Arya teleported away leaving the vigilante on the rooftop.

“B, you’re right. She needs help.” Robin turned on his comm.

“Where did you find her?” Batman asked through the comms.

“There were reports of someone running through the roads from Crime Alley to this place.” Robin said, “Guess who that was?”

“Is there anything you want to mention?”

Robin was silent for a while, wondering whether or not to tell Batman what happened but he chose not to. “No, that’s all.” He said through the comm.

“… there’s a robbery happening at the bank again, what’s your ETA?” Batman knew Robin was keeping something from him but he he would ask later. Right now, Gotham was alive, and crime was still hanging at each corner.

“ETA fifteen minutes. See you there.” Robin swung away into the night.

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“You finally returned home, huh?” Damian glanced at her with a scowl dialling a number on a spare phone. “She’s come back home, she looks… weird like always but fine except the bandages on her feet.” Damian kept his gaze on Arya as he spoke with Jason. “Akhi says you shouldn’t have left so suddenly.” He said, a small relieved look on his face spoke so much to the girl and meant a lot.

“Tell him, I’m sorry.”

“You can tell him yourself.” Damian frowned cutting the call. Arya sighed with a slight nod and pulled Damian into a hug, “Get off me!” He spluttered but made no move to push her away.

“No, I’m sorry for making you worry.” Arya whispered to him, “I’m sorry mon etoile.”

“I was not worried.” Damian wrapped his arms around her, “maybe a bit…” he confessed.

“I’m sorry.” Arya kissed the top of his head. A slightly better feeling replacing the curdling cruel ones she had before. One day, maybe. One day it might just fade away.

Chapter Text

“…what are you doing?” Jason had opened the door to Arya’s room just to find her lying on the carpet just staring at the ceiling and Damian sketching her with his pencils on her bed.

“Floor time, you should try it.” Arya felt relaxed just staring at the ceiling, it was either that or just watching something on her phone. Just as Arya thought Jason would leave her alone, he laid down next to her.

“How are you feeling today?” Jason asked, staring at the ceiling.

“Mm, could be better.” Arya said truthfully.

“To make you feel better… would you like to come with us to the zoo?” Damian and Jason were going to the zoo in about half an hour, it was one thing that Damian wanted to do but didn’t want to say much about it because apparently he didn’t want to act childish. Bless his heart, who would call that childish? Maybe at the league of assassins but not Arya and Jason.

“No.” Arya shut his offer down, a frown on her lips.

“Okaaaayyy….” That was a huge no from his sister.

“Just take pictures for me.” Arya says absentmindedly.

“It would be better if you just-“ Jason tries.

“No, I’m fine with not going.” Arya shut his try down once again, Jason let out a sigh before sitting up.

“Alright, suit yourself then.” Arya wasn’t trying to be difficult, she would have loved to go to the zoo with them but she was still feeling a bit off and the thoughts of accidentally killing someone with her powers frightened her. She felt like she could be much safer at home than being out and about.

“I’ve finished.” Damian announced, turning his sketchbook around. Damian was practicing his perspectives and was using Arya and her room as a great practicing point.

“Looks amazing.” Arya said with a slight smile.

“Damian, go get ready to go out.” Jason said after agreeing with Arya, Damian scrambled off Arya's bed and left the room swinging his bedroom door open. “You gonna be okay by yourself?” Jason turned his head to her.

“I’ll live.” Arya said with a slight shrug.

“Call me if you need me to get anything.” Jason stood up leaving the girl to ready himself to go out too. “Okay?”

“Okay.” She simply said, shutting her eyes, slightly drifting off.

“We’re going!” Jason announced making Arya’s eyes snap open, she dragged herself off the floor and went to see them off.

“Tell me all about later, mon etoile, okay?” Arya ruffled her younger brother’s hair making Damian smack her hands away with a scowl.

“Stop that! I just brushed it a few minutes ago.” He scowled at her.

“My bad.” Arya laughed lightly.

“You promise you’ll listen when we get back?” He asked quietly.

“I promise.”She smiled softly.

“Alright then, let’s head off.” Jason smiled at the two, his heart feeling warm from the interaction of the two.

“Stay safe.” Arya smiled as the two waved her off and left. Arya locked the door and headed to her room pulling out her laptop to start watching a show to pass the time.

An hour had passed and her phone began to ring, she mulled over the fact she had to make some form of human communication on the phone when she wasn’t even the one who even called that person, though she had nothing else to do, so she grabbed her phone to see who was calling her.

No ID. Was Arya feeling bored? Yes. Yes she was. Was she feeling silly enough to entertain someone? Maybe not. Was she in the mood to entertain herself? Yes. Did she want to talk to someone at the moment? Not really. Was she curious to know why she was being called regardless on who it was? Definitely.

She picked up the phone, “Hello?”

“Arya.”

“Teacher.” Arya switched to her professional behaviour, straightening up and listening more attentively. Talia didn’t really have any reason to talk to her except about the fact that she hid her powers from her but it wasn’t necessarily a big deal, but it was something that would have been addressed either way.

“Arya, I must warn you. My father has become quite absorbed in the knowledge of your power. Make haste, he’s in Gotham.” What happened to ‘hello?’ ‘How are you?’ Just a massive load of bricks thrown at her.

“Thanks, Teacher.” Arya cut the call, letting the warning seep into her skin. It conjured a boiling rage beneath her skin, her veins pumping hot with blood. “FUCK! This is not fucking fair!” She screamed, taking in a breath of air. Before she knew it, she grabbed a chair and let it collide with the wall.

Newtons Third Law: For every force in nature, an equal and opposite force is acted upon it. The chair bounced back off the wall onto the floor of her room. She grabbed things on her desk and launched them at the wall, her perfume bottles and body oils shattered against the wall, leaving wet marks as Arya managed to haul the table up and flipped it at the wall.

She didn’t stop there. She continued until her whole room was cluttered and messed up beyond repair save for her wardrobe and the frame of her bed. It took too much thought for her to figure out how to dismantle the two into pieces. She’d rather not anger herself more.

Taking a breath of air, she sunk onto her fallen mattress, grabbing a scrunchie  and pulling back a huge bundle of her braids to put them into a nice ponytail. She sighed as she let her arms drop glancing around at the mess she made, she stood up and started glancing around the room to find her phone. Only finding it to be smashed up along with the rest of the things she’d smashed. She picked it up and tried to put it on. It obviously didn’t work, it was unsalvageable. “Shit.” She cursed, kissing her teeth. She headed out the room to eat some sweets from the cabinet. She slammed open the cupboards and found the cookie jar and stuffed a few in her mouth.

She pocketed some of her stash of sweets and went back to her room, headed straight to her wardrobe and grabbed the bag she used when Jason, Damian and herself were escaping the league and packed a few things inside, adding in her needles and vials inside and a few in her pocket. She shrugged on a jacket just as there was a knock on the door making her pause. With a great moment of thinking she promptly-

Jumped out the window of her room.

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“There’s a petting area, would you like to go?” Jason asked Damian who was constantly eager to see every animal there was. They had made their way past the birds area which too quite a long time since Damian wanted to read all about each bird from the cuckoos to the parrots to the flamingos, he even added in his own facts he knew about them, ensuring that Jason acknowledged each and everything he said, waiting for either a nod or a question about the birds which Damian would gladly answer about.

“What animals would be there at this petting area?” Damian asked as Jason steered him towards the petting area.

“I’m not completely sure but I believe there should be some ferrets or rabbits.” Jason smiled as he saw the excitement that sparkled in Damian’s beautiful emerald eyes.

“Are you sure we can pet them?” Damian asked, his face taking a look of caution and a bit of apprehension.

“Yeah, that’s why it’s called a petting area.”

“What if we hurt them?”

“I’m sure you won’t, habibi, plus the zookeepers will be there to ensure you learn what can hurt them or not.” Jason reassured him.

“Alright.” Damian said with a mix of hesitation before dragging Jason over to the said petting area.

Soon enough, he had a lap full of fur, “Jason, we must adopt these ferrets.”

“Damian, habibi… we can’t.” Jason tried.

“Why not? We can take care of them, perfectly well.” Damian tilted his head, not seeing anything wrong with it.

“Habibi, a ferret has a lot of care that we have to ensure that they have.” Jason explained, “Plus we have to keep the ferret entertained a lot.”

“I can do that!” Damian argued.

“No, Damian.” Jason shut him down firmly making Damian huff and turn his attention back onto the ferret.

The two were silent as they went off to the next animal petting area which were rabbits. They finished washing their hands and headed into the hay floored room.

“If Arya was here she would have said yes to having a pet.” Damian grumbled making sure Jason could here him.

“Well, she’s not here, is she?” Jason rolled his eyes, sure it was a bit salty but hey, he was annoyed. He didn’t have the time to take care of a pet, be Red Hood, ensure that Crime Alley is protected, deal with Batman and the birds, make sure that they at the least have food on the table with the income he gets from being a Crime Lord, make sure his lackeys are in line- hey, he has his work cut out for him.

“I’ll tell her to get me one.” Damian said after some silence. He knew Arya would almost never say no to him, of course she had her moments when she did say no to him for safety reasons and to be an actual sensible adult who could actually make sensible decisions- shocking. I know.

“Then ask her yourself, brat.” Jason was simply done with it all, couldn’t care less.

“I will.” Damian said proudly, a smug grin on his lips as he stroked the bunny in his lap. “And she is going to say yes.” Jason doesn’t make a reply to his jest.

The rest of the time at the zoo, Jason trailed behind Damian, taking pictures for Arya, and even letting Damian go to all the enclosures and even made a trip to the gift shop to let Damian buy a few memorable items, you know like a good older brother.

Then they were off on their way back home. Jason unlocked the door to the house and Damian slipped passed him, beelining straight to Arya’s room.

“Ukhti, I have to tell you about the zoo.” He opened the door to not find Arya but a room trashed and broken. He paused, letting his eyes glaze over the mess before his eyes flickered to the window that was slightly ajar. “Akhi! She’s gone!”

“What do you mean she’s-” Jason was cut off as he looked into the room. With quick thinking, Jason pulled out his phone and called Arya’s number, just as Damian picked up Arya’s broken phone. “Fuck.”

The girl had left.

Chapter Text

You know what’s really unfair? Not one, not two but fucking twenty one assassins vs one girl. Sure, she may have abilities that she could have used to absolutely annihilate them, but she’s mentally unstable and having her own inner turmoil, the questions being can she kill in this situation or not?

She didn’t get the time to answer before they attacked, Arya had been running for about thirty minutes and they weren’t letting up, she led them away from the city by foot! To make sure no civilians were caught in the crossfire as she shot needles laced with anaesthesia at them as she ran. She managed to get nine down with that tactic.

That was just the beginning, the first nine were decoys. The other twelve were the real threat. They came like the twelve days of Christmas, one by one, they began to overwhelm the girl, each with a new attack. Arya hesitated on whether to kill or not to kill like a tennis ball being rallied over a net. She forgot that indecision gets people killed. In her case? It got her knocked out.

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“I see you have returned to the land of the living.” Arya heard as she stirred. You know, she was getting fucking tired of this. She’s was half a tick away from deciding that this world should be brought to an end and rebuild fucking Uchiha style. Let the world burn into oblivion and then start it all over again. It sounded like a plan.

“Your Majesty.” Arya greeted, because hey, she’s still respectful when need to be.

“Arya, correct?” The man asked with an amused smile. Arya narrowed down her eyes on his figure, glazing from his feet to his head- hold on, he dunked himself into the Lazurus pit and still could not fix that hairline?! Anyways, Ra’s lips began to move once again, “To think an ex-affiliated assassin with such powers had escaped my eyes is truly a tremendous feat.” He glanced down at the girl with an interested look sprawled on his face. “You were the one who began that fire that night, you had taken out a lot of supplies while you were at it. How remarkable your powers are.”

“Cut it out. What do you want, your majesty?” Arya frowned.

“I want your power.” His eyes glowed with a thirst for power.

“I know that. What do you want me to do?” Arya sighed, crossing her legs in resignation.

“Peculiar.” His brow perked up, “Not a single protest?”

“It’s easy to tell what people want.” Arya said as the binds around her body fell, “Speak your desires.” Arya grinned as a smile spread on the Demon Head of Assassins.

“Very well.”

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Red Hood appeared before Batman, beside him a child shrouded in a green cloak with golden accents. “Red Hood.” Batman said, his eyes washing over the child next to him.

Instead of Red Hood speaking, the child spoke up, “We need your assistance.”

Batman opened his pursed lips, “It’s to do with the Assassins and Arya I presume.” He had seen the movements of assassins within Gotham for the past two days, not that they had made any harm, it was more like they were searching for something, or someone. A night ago, Oracle had seen footage of Arya running off to the outskirts of Gotham before all sightings of her had been cut off and ended. “What are your links with League of Assassins?” He asked.

“Had some business with them.” Red Hood took off his helmet at the same time, the cloaked child took off his Hood.

“Damian… Jason?…” Batman gasped out. The links began to spindle together, the information linking up and beginning to make sense. Jason had been in Gotham the wholetime. Damian, Arya and Jason. No wonder Red Hood had been under the radar. Arya was there to make sure of it. How long? How long had they been in Gotham without him knowing a thing? How long had he not noticed his sons being in the same city?

“Bruce. We need to use the cave.” Red- no. Jason said. No wonder Jason had been so protective over Arya. They’ve known each other in the League. How did he get there? How was he alive?! How did Jason and Arya meet at the League? Is that why Jason uses guns? Is that why he kills? “Bruce! We don’t have the time!” Jason stepped forward threateningly. “My sister could be in God knows what danger in Ra’s hands and you’re stuck here freezing up!”

“Akhi, let’s go.” Damian tugged Jason back before opening up a grappling hook, he pulled on his hood and swung off looking back for Jason to follow which he does after putting on his hood. Batman took a breath to get his mind back into focus before shooting off after them.

They soon found themselves at the Cave. “Uh, B? I didn’t know you had formed an alliance with the Red Hood.” Nightwing had his guard up, moving Robin behind him, a forced smile on his lips as he kept his eyes on Red Hood and the child behind Red Hood.

Red Hood moved past him and headed to the Batcomputer, searching up possible routes that Ra’s could have taken to take Arya.Arya’s phone was broken so there’s no use in trying to find that. The best thing he could track were vehicles that were similar to what the League used. Luckily for them, a plane had landed outside of Gotham and had been on quite the route. Bingo.

Arya was still in North America. They didn’t have much time left before the plane would move again meaning that the place they had her wouldn’t be in Gotham but somewhere near Gotham.

Jason took out his Burner phone dialling someone, who picked up, “Talia, do you know where Ra’s is?”

Batman, Nightwing and Robin’s attention heightened at the name. “Mother,” Damian spoke up, “He has Arya.” The links in Nightwing and Robin finally became clear.

“Damian?” Nightwing said quietly, wondering why on earth he would be with Red Hood and not at the manor with them.

“Habibi, there’s not much I can do about that. I had Ra’s location only for a few minutes and that was when he was in Gotham. I relayed such information to Arya as we conversed. Ra’s has grown interested in her powers. He has made his choice to have her for himself.”

“Mother… have you know he had grown interested in Arya for a while?” Damian asked pointedly.

“Astute as always, Habibi. I have.” She said, “However, I hadn’t realised his desperation for power had grown so drastically. You must make haste. Ra’s is planning to return to the League in a few hours if you want to save Arya. He knows that her mental state has been deteriorating since her first kills, he’ll use that to his advantage.”

“Thank you, mother.” Damian said, his eyes growing more determined.

“I will try slow down his operations on the outside. Though I cannot do much for you as I wish. Be calm. Remember your training.” Talia said before ending the call.

After a while of silence, Damian glanced at Jason who was still trying to find some possible routes. “Akhi, did you know? Did you know she had been struggling? His voice quiet. Jason paused and crouched down to Damian’s level, taking off his helmet, ignoring the two shortages of breathing from both Robin and Nightwing.

“Habibi, I have.” Jason confessed, “I just- Arya… had been struggling and I hadn’t helped her enough.”

“Might I add that she had been showcasing signs of giving up recently,” Robin spoke up after getting over his shock, “My last encounter suggested such inference.” Robin finished firmly.

Jason narrowed his eyes at him, “what do you mean by that?”

“A few nights ago, I found her on a rooftop, she had been upset and one of the last things she said was ‘I’m gonna end up dead.’ This was after she had been chased by some police and was left with a wound in her arm.” Robin reported back the events of the night.

“She’s… fuck.” Jason cursed as his mind began to fill with thoughts.

“Akhi, do you think she’s suicidal?” Damian spoke with a slightly tensed look.

“No! No.. she-“

“Jaylad, calm down.” Batman cut through moving towards him.

“Don’t fucking tell me to calm down when my sister could be moments away from her death!” Jason sucked in a breath of air, brushing a hand through his hair.

“She promised! She said she’d listen to my day!” Damian had his fist clenched to the side… his hands gloved with the gloves he and Arya had made during their first months in Gotham as they made their suits. It was true, Arya had promised. And one thing they both knew about Arya was that she never broke promises. Call it wishful thinking but that was the push they needed to keep going. They were going to find her.

Whether or not they had to burn the Earth to do so.

They were coming for her.

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“Explain your powers to me.” Ra’s ordered. Arya had refused to say a word. She was bloodied up but she had a grin on her face.

“I won’t tell you.” She said, she spat some blood towards his feet. “Your wish to be immortal is nothing but a stupid dream.”

“You cannot grant my desire?” Ra’s furrowed his brows, “Or is it that you do not want to?”

At this point, Arya has had it with everyone. Especially people that tried to get her to use her powers. She’s done. They can fuck themselves over it. “You want me to use my power, huh?” You know.. there are perks with being a reader of Manhwa, books, manga and comics. And she read all four. Merging characters into one person is fun. Bucky, Sukuna, Sung Jin-woo and Aaron Warner (just for the looks.) Bucky from Marvel, an amazing tactical soldier, good at his jobs when it came down to getting them done. Ryoumen Sukuna, an absolute villain, ruthless, unforgiving and heartless, something Arya needed in this moment, his cursed techniques were amazing and Arya liked fire and chaos and Sukuna quenched her thirst for a pure villain in her heart. Sung Jin-Woo, an absolute master of his power, he changed his world and had fought creatures that even the greatest heroes could not touch with his shadows. His speed and regeneration was something Arya loved and the his I-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude is all she wanted. And Aaron Warner, to finish, she liked his looks and his energy sensing. If she knew where people were… she’d have her fun.

Sure it was reckless but…

[You have purchased {Energiser}. It contains six pills]

It’s good to see you, System.

You too, Arya.

Activate [shut off].

[Activating shut off.] It will automatically activate after 30 minutes.

Bye System.

…Make them pay, Arya. Goodbye.

So, you must be wondering what [shut off] is, right? Being a good narrator, I’ll tell you. Choosing the ability to shut off was a bonus award given to Arya after she had achieved the reward for [No Mercy]. [Shut Off] gives the player to shut out the emotions that hold them back and that give mercy. The thoughts that may have come due to morality would be blocked and shut down. And the users pure Id would come to life and they would be able to control the user. It does come with a time limit and for Arya it’s thirty minutes as she hasn’t boosted this specific award with an [Ability Raiser].

Plus, the girl is quite tired of people thinking she’s someone to be used. The only person she actually allows are her brothers. Damian and Jason.

[Shut Off] Initiated.

Arya threw down five pills down her throat before throwing one at Ra’s, “Run. I quite like a chase.” She smiled innocently.

Power unfurled within her veins, her heart pumped faster as a manic grin permeated on her lips. She began to shift. Taking on a bit of each character she had chosen. She took the black hair of Sung Jin-woo and she took the face of Aaron Warner which she had in mind, she took the body of Sukuna and merged the mind of Bucky Barnes and Sukuna with a hint of Sung Jin-woo. She happily added in their powers into her body as Sukuna, being the King of Curses could handle such power. And his body did and not to mention his body was a masterpiece. A true art amplified by his power. Arya finished using Sukuna’s reversed technique and healed herself.

“Don’t worry. I’ll find you. I’ll even give you a ten-minute head start.” Arya stretched a manic smile.

“You dare to-“ He was cut off with his arm flying off.

Arya giggled like a child, “I fucking dare.” She turned her eye to the assassins she had been sensing ever since she took the ability of Aaron Warner, “Run too. Give me some fun.” She said in League, “Protect him as much as you can. I will find him anyways.”

A smoke bomb sent a cloud across the room they were in, Arya cut through it easily in a single motion. Some assassins had taken Ra’s and ran.  How fun.

The rest came to begin a barrage of attacks. “Hahaha! This is what I’m fucking talking about!” Arya laughed wildly as she began to play. She grabbed an assassin’s head and crushed it with her fingers, she didn’t stop there as she began to tear apart the others with sickles made by the shadows. Arya could sense the fleeting of a few individuals going North. She pinpointed Ra’s among them. She was coming~

After ten minutes passed.

The building quite literally and quite simply… exploded.

She hadn’t done it but the assassins must have to slow her down. 

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“Wow. That was refreshing.” Arya smiled as she jumped through the rubble that had taken out a lot of the Assassins without her help. Arya bounced onto her feet giving herself time to stretch and warm up as warm blood flushed through her ears. Twenty minutes. She had twenty minutes left of [Shut Off]. Time to make use of it.

Chapter Text

“There has been an explosion at a facility at Happy Harbour. Plus, there has been an increase of power surge.” Oracle came through the speakers.

“Can you pull up any security footage?” Jason asked, his eyes fixed on the screen where stats had increased from the sudden power surge at Happy Harbour.

“Yes, there seems to be a fast-moving figure, heading straight for the harbour.” Oracle pulled up some camera footage that had captured a blur. “Laughing has been heard on some cameras.” She pulled up some salvageable audio.

“That’s ukhti!” Damian pulled on Jason’s jacket, “That’s her laugh!” Damian could recognise his older sister’s laughter anywhere, he had been stuck with her for so long making sure that in every form she takes her laugh is recognisable. It’s a kind of cackle with a light ringing sound that sort of makes you laugh along when you hear it. It also had a slight hyena giggle to it. He’d know that laugh anywhere. “That’s her… but it’s different.” As another clearer image came through, “Her form looks powerful, Akhi, look at her eyes, it’s not normal.”

Jason glanced closer at the image, the form she had taken didn’t have the sparkle in her eyes that the rest of her form did. Her eyes were fixated on something in the distance with a predatory smile pasted on her face. “Damian, stay here.” Jason said as he grabbed his helmet again.

“No! I want to help!” He was tired of being left by himself and only God could strike him down and stop him from helping this time. He never got to help last time and it wasn’t fair at all. He wanted to do more, he wished that Jason and Arya stopped babying him! He was assassin born and raised! He’s the Heir to the Al-Ghul throne! He’s not like a pathetic child that needs to be taken care of all the time. He- He hated feeling like he couldn’t help… it wasn’t fair on him!

“Damian, please just listen-”

“No! I am quite fed up with you treating me as an insolent petulant child! I can help and I will!” Damian challenged before walking off to the bat plane, he knew how to use it, but he hadn’t tried it before.

“Damian, you are not piloting.” Batman put a hand on his shoulder stopping him. Damian brushed it off with a glare shot at Bruce.

“I know how to pilot it.” Damian bristled.

“Damian, no.” Nightwing said with a slight amused smile. Just then the Bat plane came to life. Red Hood was in the cockpit.

“Get in or I’m leaving without you.” Red Hood said dryly. The bats piled in and soon enough they had taken to the skies, Jason put the plane on autopilot and began to load his guns while Damian pulled out a katana from the comforts of his cloak.

“Ahem…” Nightwing cut the silence, “Jay? Is that… really you?”

Jason paused checking his gun, “What’s it to you?” he wasn’t in the mood to talk at the moment. He had to think of ways to help Arya and make sure she didn’t hurt herself.

“If you were alive... why hadn’t you come back to the manor?” Dick asked, a tinge of hurt and vulnerability in his tone.

“I’m not talking about this.” Jason said obviously not wanting to explain his reasons, plus there was Batman and Robin listening in. Dick’s face twisted slightly with longing and sadness, but he resigned anyways.

Batman cleared his throat, “Red Hood, any information about Arya would be appreciated.

Both Jason and Damian glanced at each other having a mental conversation, Jason looking a bit more guarded, but they came to the bats for help. Help that they need. “She’s not dangerous.” Jason said firmly, “she’s our sister, we know she wouldn’t hurt anyone unless they deserve it.”

“She is kind. Kinder than she should be.” Damian continued, “She does things that I still may not understand but she tries her best to do what’s right. She hides a lot. She doesn’t like talking much about herself unless there’s someone relevant involved or if she has a memory of someone else. There is something else about her, she’d always protect us. No matter what she’d make sure of that. Even if the cost could be bitter.”

“Recently, she’s spiralled even worse. Worse than I thought, should have known when she started staying more nonverbal.” Jason placed his guns back in his holsters.

“She’s strange. Really strange. She always has been but she’s still our sister. She does not mean harm unless people provoke her to do so or if it’s necessary in situations.” Damian paused, “Arya’s kills broke her. She was never cut out to be an assassin in the League due to never killing. It took a massive toll on her, it’s not what she deserves.” Damian finished with a frown.

The other three had been listening to the two talk silently. It truly showed how much Damian and Jason liked their sister. A bond thicker than blood.

Batman then spoke up, “What weaknesses does she have?” It was an essential thing he needed to know. Regardless. If she was in a state that could cause harm, he needed to know how to shut her operations down and even better- calm her down.

“Us.” Damian and Jason said in unison, “and children.”

“Is that why you insisted to come along, Dami?” Dick asked.

“That’s not my name but yes.” Damian looked at the estimated time of arrival to Happy Harbour City. Five minutes.

“A fire has begun. It’s near the harbour and it seems that Arya is the cause of it. Luckily no casualties have been reported yet.” Barbara’s voice cut through the bat plane. “It seems there is an aim to this.”

It wasn’t too long till they finally reached the scene. They landed on top of an open helipad. Jason and Damian getting off first, not bothering to wait for the other three. Flames of fire and smoke covered the harbour, fire brigades at scene could not control the fire. The chortles of laughter bellowing through the sky as tremors began to shake the ground.

“Why are you running away?! Didn’t you want my power?” A distorted voice boomed through the harbour. Damian and Jason swung down the direction of the source, the bats not far behind.

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“AHAHAHAHAHAAHA! Come on do better!” Arya said as she swiped guns in half. Ra’s was trying to take off. Arya wasn’t going to let some bullets stop her. She threw down the air craft and tore the doors off, just to find two assassins strapped with explosives. They tried to cling to her arms but she just batted them off. Letting them explode like pretty fireworks. How pretty.

A manic smile relished on her face as she grew restless, she really liked hide and seek. She zoned into Ra’s energy… in the sky. He had managed to take off, that’s not good. Is it?

The sky was filled with smoke with the fire that burned on the land, feeding on whatever it could feed on. The harbour was a burning hell. Boats, the dock… the fire ate at it, taking whatever it could devour, melting whatever it could. It didn’t take long for the fire to spread off the docks into the greenery towards Mount Justice and… the power station. How lovely.

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“Big problem. The fire is spreading fast and heading towards the power station. We need to call in anyone close by since this fire is getting out of hand.” Oracle crackled through the comms.

“Go ahead. We’ll try to slow Arya down.” Batman said through the comms.

“Superman is on his way. He’s been alerted on the situation.” Oracle said before closing the line.

Damian and Jason were long gone out of sight, once the comms were over. The remaining three bats went off to save civilians and help the firefighters

It didn’t take long for Superman to boom through the skies. His eyes scanned over the initial damage and then they flickered over to the fire leading to the power station. He flew over and used ice breath to blow out the fire with a cool breeze, leaving crystallised ice around the power station in case of any flames that found their way to the power station once again.

His job wasn’t done there, the embers had reached the greenery too, the forests around Mount Justice was at stake too. The animals that inhabited within the green emeralds of Mother Nature, they would all be gone if he didn’t act fast. He would ice out the flames and let Mother Nature do what she does best… grow. Well, there’s carbon and plants love that stuff like a drug.

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Noise. Noise. Noise. It just wasn’t there. Arya couldn’t hear anything anymore, it was lovely. Like a cup of ice water at night after a deep sleep or nap, refreshing her like a cool breeze within a heatwave. Silence. Yes, that’s what’s she wanted. She didn’t want to hear those prickling thoughts, the screams, the laughs, heck- she couldn’t even feel the eyes on her anymore. It was freedom! She twirled in the sky letting ebony wings erupt from her back, the sun’s rays blemishing it with hints of gold that spread along her feathers.

She dipped back in the air making a loop before her eyes locked onto the flying aircraft trying to fly away. The sun kissed her arms as she drew an arrow of fire before sending it off to capture her prey. The arrow flamed by cursed energy and fire flew off into the distance and hitting the aircraft dead on. “Yup, still got it.” Arya smiled cheerfully as she walked upon the cloudy skies, her wings flapping behind her before she tipped off and skydived right towards the burning aircraft.

She tapped onto the metallic surface of the burning aircraft with her feet before tearing it into two. Another empty aircraft. Ra’s was a slippery snake. Not many can catch him off guard, he had escape plans figured out. Plans to be a step ahead of many. That’s not good, [No Mercy] was nearly out of juice, she only had about less than five minutes. Tingling at her subconscious was two energy flames down below, who were they? Arya cleared her mind of it and kicked the burning metallic corpse and shot it right at a building below, watching it explode like a beautiful firework. “Woahh that’s really pretty!” Arya’s eyes glistened the sweet melodies and the crumbling of the building looked like a very immersive video of ASMR. She liked those.

There came a sharp pain in her head like a flash of white light.

[No Mercy] is trembling.

Why is it trembling? What’s going on? Arya brushed it off. Where was she? Oh yeah, the buildings crumble and the explosions! She wanted them again. Arya glanced around the sky her eyes hooking onto a helicopter on their way. Hmm, reporters maybe. Zipping off, she barged into the window. She threw them all out one by one, “have a good skydive!” Arya waved them goodbye as they screamed incoherent words as they descended. Their voices sounded like tingling bells upon the ear. It was beautiful. They were off tune but they sounded lovely as they faded away, like snuffing out the light of a candle.

[No Mercy] has ended.

Her mind was clear, nothing was there but a warm feeling of freedom. She twisted out the window as the helicopter began to drop from having no pilot. “Here we go!!” Arya gripped onto the window, the glass digging into her palms as she began to spin the aircraft like a beyblade being shot off. Arya changed back to her normal self, she began to let herself sink down after the helicopter.

System. Thank you.

You’re welcome, Arya, is this truly what you want?

What do I want…?

Is this the choice you’re making?

What? What choice am I making? I’m just- I’m just falling.

You are. Arya, you don’t want to save yourself.

It was like a scolding slap was burned across her cheek, it was never about Ra’s was it? Heck she didn’t even care about the fact he got away. She doesn’t care that he hurt her anymore. She was never angry about that was she? As long as she was alive she was going to be used. That’s what it was. As long as… she was alive… she’ll be used… how can they use someone if they’re dead? No one can, can they?

Tears pricked at her eyes as her mind came at peace that she truly didn’t want to live just to be used. Joker… he wanted her power for his own fun. Ra’s wanted her power for more power. The audience wanted her power for entertainment and pleasure. Living. A thing that’s meant to be joyful, but has there been much joy when you’re used? The welded scars have been cracked open consuming the girl, tissue by tissue the scars were torn apart, once she had even stuck plasters on top, spending time to weave threads through in hopes to keep them in place.

Arya, what do you want to do?

I want to die.

Not a question. Affirmation actually. She wanted to die. Her body felt like a pin as it began to drop with gravity’s pull. She crashed into the helicopter. An audible crack resounded from God knows where in her body. The tingling sensation of pain began to fade away as a blank canvas grew as she painted on her memories of her time in this world. Landing on the training grounds only to meet Jason, her Sun, her favourite person in the entire world in the League of assassins. Talking to him after training, him helping her with her own training. Reading books and just talking in their shared bunk. Teacher Talia, who honed her skills herself. Deeming her some what worthy. Damian, her sweet star, the Prince of her heart and his beautiful language of art he was diverse in shown with his art. It was wonderful, seeing him mix colours and make creations, sketch out the beauty of his mind so skilfully you could wonder if the world had hidden the treasures he held within his pens and pencils. Locked away by the League of Assassins. She liked watching Miraculous with him too. She should have shown him other shows to watch, maybe Avatar. She won’t make it back so there’s no use.

Now… her family. From the Before, she would want to talk to them again, laugh with her sisters and learn to play those games her brother loved just for them. She would… apologise for being difficult… she had been difficult hadn’t she? But she’s not going back. Maybe.. they don’t realise she’s gone? What if she didn’t belong anywhere. She didn’t claim their last name anymore did she? No, no she didn’t she just went along as Arya. Instead of Arya Rhianuwa Yxlani Asteril. Her full name. Heh, it even spelt Arya out too, didn’t it?

A subtle smile grew on her lips. The helicopter and her were falling, gravity being gravity. The building would explode with her, wouldn’t it? The lives she took… it will now be repaid for. A life for a life.

Arya shut her eyes and breathed in a scalding breath of air, letting her lungs pump for her one last time. Let the cycle of blood run through her veins. A goodbye pump from her heart like a burning last kiss. It didn’t matter anymore. Ra’s didn’t matter. Arya didn’t matter. She never mattered… it was time to go…

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“ARYA!!”

Chapter Text

“ARYA!!” No, they’re not calling for Arya, are they? Arya couldn’t help but think, who could it be? No-no! It’s doesn’t matter! Arya was going. She was repaying her sins with her death. The life of a murderer should be taken just as painfully as they took a life of another. Yes… A life for a life.

“What about your promise to me?!” Arya halted. Promise? Who’s promise? Never mind that, what promise? Who- Damian. Arya cracked her eyes open. She had promised to listen to Damian’s day! Arya twisted her body to turn and look over the helicopter, her body protesting due to broken bones and bleeding tissue Arya had caused plummeting into the helicopter. They were still falling. Arya glanced over, squinting her eyes away from the glare of flames and smoke of the living hell that was slowly dying. There stood Jason and Damian. On the very building the helicopter was heading straight for with alarming speed. Arya trembled as she realised- she was going to end up hurting them- fuck that! She was going to kill them if she continued!

“GET OFF THE BUILDING!” She managed to crackle out like dying lighter, “Get off-“ she began to cough, blood choking out her throat burning her as it came. Her internal injuries were far more severe than she thought. She had burnt out her reserves by combining into all those characters. Maybe if she still had that stupid energiser pill- if she hadn’t been cocky and thrown it at Ra’s maybe-

No. There’s no time for if, bits and maybe’s anymore. She was not going to let her brothers die at her hands. She refused to be the cause of their death. They deserve to have a death that was made by old age. Never. Not to die now because of her. If she ever let that happen. She would never forgive herself. Not even in death.  Arya pushed herself into the broken window of the helicopter, clutching onto the pilot chair before dragging herself onto the chair- though tilted sideways. She looked at the controls, her eyes hazy as she tried to focus them on the buttons and handles. “What the fuck is this?” Arya said grabbing onto a handle and pulled with the strength she had left. Pushing it to the right, steering away from the building her brothers were standing on.

As she thought things were going well, the helicopter began to spin out of control, throwing her back. Her injuries cried out in pain as she landed badly trying to regain control over the aircraft. “You stupid fuckass helicopter! Stop-“

The ground was coming closer. Successfully she had avoided the building. “Nonononono! The promise! The promise!” Arya cried out as she tried to get out the chair. Her body was stuck, screaming instead of helping. Glued to the seat. Why? Why couldn’t she move? What’s- No! The promise! She always kept her promises! Always! Arya’s mind flickered to Damian and Jason as the ground grew more clearer and resolute.

A tear dropped down her face, curving over her cheek and slipping down the side of her face as her eyes were glued to the ground. Her body relaxed as she began to hear her heart resound in her ears. The rush of blood through her veins- proof of her living.

She was going to die, wasn’t she? Did she truly want to now? No. She did not. How could you even think she would want to die right now? Her promise wasn’t fulfilled. Jason and Damian would survive though? That’s something…

“Mon etoile… Mon solei… forgive me for leaving…” Arya shut her eyes, it bought her more comfort about the fact that she wouldn’t know when she would die. She wouldn’t be able to calculate such things if she had her eyes closed, wouldn’t she? The speed the helicopter was spinning and falling was far greater than it should be, the ground felt like it was in arms reach. The girl, battered and injured in the helicopter by herself. The hum of death was growing louder.

Then silence.

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“Are you alright, young girl?” A deep kind voice asked, Arya opened an eye. She was… not dead? The helicopter was set down on the ground. Arya blinked before she leaned down and rested her head onto controls. Her body stabbing her with pain in horrendous ways. She began to cry. Every tremor in her body hurt. Her nerves burning alive in alarm. Everything just hurt. Hurt. Hurt.

Breathing pinched at her heart painfully. Blood began to load out of her throat, acid burned at her throat as it mixed with a load of vomit. Her ugly cries felt like it was relieving but at the same time she was not worthy of such ways of relief.

“Arya…” two people had climbed into the helicopter that had been set down. Her brothers. Warm arms wrapped around her taking her limbs into their arms cradling her out as she continued to tremor and cry. Her eyes blurry with tears and feeling tired and hazy as she felt the line of consciousness begin to fade. “No. Arya you have to stay awake. No more sleeping. Okay?” The voice was soft around the edges but firm. Jason.

“Ukhti… your promise… do you… remember?” A lovely star she loves more than anything, Damian.

Arya swallowed a sob, “I do.” She choked out, “I’m sorry.” She apologised.

“No, none of that.” Jason said softly. They got out the helicopter, Arya shut her eyes. She didn’t want to see what she had done to Happy Harbour. She didn’t want to know. The more people she hurt. No. She didn’t want to know. “Arya, don’t go to sleep. Awake remember.” A gloved hand poked at her face.

“I am awake…” Arya said after her tears sated. Her brows scrunched together as she felt the onslaught of pain get to her. Booted feet landed onto the ground in front of them.

“Superman, anymore casualties?” Batman asked the man who had spoken before, so- he’s the one that caught the helicopter.

“No there isn’t any, those injured are being treated, Batman.” Arya flinched at the fact people were hurt. She turned her head, letting her forehead rest at Jason’s arm. She brought up her hands- despite the pain and pressed them over her ears. She didn’t want to hear what she’s done. None of it. She knew it was her fault but… she couldn’t bring herself to listen. The sounds blurred together. People talking. People shouting. People screaming. A faint ping began to rise within it all. Her ears clutching onto it and not letting go to the pinging noise.

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When she opened her eyes, she was inside a plane. “You said you wouldn’t fall asleep.” Arya blinked to clear up her eyesight.

“Hm?” She questioned glancing up at Jason, she was strapped into a hospital bed on the bat plane. She had been patched up with first aid and  some IV’s hooked up but her limbs were bound. She tugged at them trying to free herself. She began to panic as she didn’t have much energy to phase through the binds.

“Arya- no, you’re safe.” Jason placed a hand at her.

“No- I can’t he’s going to get me- I have to get out.” Arya gasped out as she struggled. “Help me- help me Jay!” Jason immediately got to untying the bounds before Batman stopped him.

“Jason, it stays on.” He said pausing Jason’s movements.

“She doesn’t like it so it’s going off.”

“How do we know she won’t go on a rampage?” Batman said with a hint of authority.

“Ask her. Arya will you go on a rampage?” Jason asked.

“No. I’m out. Get these off me.” Arya said as she continued to struggle with the binds. She was way too exhausted to be able to transform plus the IV was being used in her body wasn’t enough to remotely recover her for a while to do that.

“See.” Jason said with an infuriating smile aimed at Batman, he shook off Batman and began to unbind Arya under his watchful eye. Once they were off Arya didn’t move to get off the bed. She liked the feeling of moving her limbs without binds thank you very much.

“Ukhti, now, can you fulfil my promise?” Damian’s small voice peeped up.

“Go on then.” Arya smiled as she began to listen to all the things Jason and him did at the zoo and all the animals he petted. The others which consisted of Batman, Nightwing, Robin, Superman and Jason listened in as well. The atmosphere was slightly tensed with the other vigilantes but Arya felt fine as she listened to Damian intently. Once he finished his day at the zoo story he glanced at Jason before a small mischievous smile grew on his face.

“Ukhti… can we get a pet, please?” The use of the word ‘please’ was a shock to Arya. He had said it so sweetly and easily she almost never caught onto what he was asking.

“Uhh mon etoile, what- where is this coming from?” Arya asked a bit confused but not turning down the idea.

Jason sighed loudly, “he wants a pet and he’s adamant on getting one. He doesn’t understand that we-”

“We’ll get one then.” Arya simply cut him off a smug grin grew on Damian’s face as he looked over at Jason with an I-told-you-so look. “What’s the kind of pet you want? I want a cat. You know those strays we feed, Mon etoile? How about them?”

“That’s a good idea.” Damian brightened at that. “And then they can have a place to stay unlike that wet alley.”

“I want a cat for me and you can have a cat for you.” Arya suggested to Damian.

“What if they fight?”

“We can make them a boxing ring.” Arya joked.

“I am not cleaning cat fur off my carpet.” Jason spoke up. “Plus we need to have a real chat about having a pet. That’s a huge responsibility and it takes time to-”

“Uh, I’ll clean it?” Arya offered but Jason looked at her firmly.

“I don’t think so. Think about recovering before that.”

“Can’t I just?” She waved her index finger like a wand.

“No.”

“You know life would be better if that man hadn’t stolen my pills. I would have been energised and up if he would just give them back.” Arya indirectly looked at Batman with a slight glare.

“Those pills… what do they do?” Batman asked moving closer before Jason held out an arm to stop him as Arya looked like she was about to flinch if he came closer, she had her shoulder nearly inched up to her ears.

“They… they provide energy and refresh the body, taking away hunger and thirst...” she said quietly, glancing away.

“What are the side effects?” Batman pressed.

“None. There aren’t any. You just energise. Can you give them back?” Arya asked.

“I don’t have them.” Batman said, making Arya blink.

“Wow.” Arya said blankly. “Someone knock me out.” She shut her eyes.

“I can!” Damian said cheerfully, already readying a fist.

“No one is knocking anyone out.” Jason shut them both down.

“Boo, you whore.” Arya frowned before she opens her mouth once again, “you know, Ra’s stole my backpack and it had all my sweets in there. It exploded. That bitch, I’ll catch him! Nah fuck that, I’m stealing his money.”

“Arya, you’re not doing that.” Jason said slightly amused with a sigh.

“Oh and give me a high five.” Arya said confusingly, her palm stretched out but not lifted. Jason put his hand over her palm.

“What’s it for?”

“I cut his arm off.” Arya grinned brightly. “It went flying like ‘wheeeeeee!’” Silence casted over the lot of them as they processed what she said.

“You did that to Grandfather?” Damian asked in a small voice in astonishment. Superman visibly looked confused about the relationship between this Ra’s and Damian and was concerned too. He kept his thoughts to himself.

“He deserved it after beating me up.” Arya said without a hint of remorse. “He got away and then I got distracted because I-“ Her mind flickered through her memories like a movie. Dying was a scary thing. Being close to death was scary too. In those moments you can’t help but give up. The inevitable end would reach you. Your soul would be taken without your body being able to grasp onto it, trying to pull it back to where it used to reside.

People say death would be free of pain, Arya didn’t think so. She thinks that death will be filled with the pain in which it has created, the feeling of pain within your body will remain. No matter how much you try to free yourself from it. The pain of death will continue to linger like an untamed itch in your skin. What if she had died at that moment? No, any moment. With Joker, she would have died mangled up and torn and frazzled. Her nerves screaming forever for comfort it would never receive because the pain of death wouldn’t end. What if she was exploded alive with the helicopter? The burns would not heal, it would continue to burn her skin and devour her whole with the wounds and stabs of metal that would have permeated through her body. She would have died painfully.

That’s why Arya vowed to never want to be cremated. It scared her to the ink that as her body was burnt, she was going to end up feeling it along with her soul. What she understands is the soul controls the body not the body controlling the soul. What pain happens to the body could end felt with the soul so in that sense she would feel it. She wouldn’t want that.

“Ry?” Arya snapped out of it, her eyes flickering to the voice. “Where did you go?”

“Where… did I go?” She processed the question before opening her pressed lips. “I was going to death.”

“….why?” Jason’s voice hid sadness and disbelief at the truth of her words. Damian visibly perked up, listening intently to what Arya was going to say.

“To… repay.” She closed here eyes. “I’m tired, mon solei. I’m so tired.” Her voice pinched at her throat making it hard to swallow her own saliva.”

“That’s not fair, okay? That’s not fair on me and Damian. How can the sky be complete without the moon to be there? It’s meant to be the Sun, the moon and the star! And you want to go?! That’s- you can’t, okay? You can’t leave.” Jason crouched down and turned her head to make her look at him and Damian. “What about us, hm? What about the cats? What about the alley kids? What about Miraculous? What about the star gazing? What about the painting day? What about the baking? What about the karaoke? What about the lasagna nights? What about Amir and Hani,huh? So you’re just going to leave all that? Leave us?” Jason took in a breath of air, “and don’t start with the ‘you don’t understand’ bullshit, because we do, okay? We do Arya and we’re here. We’re always going to be here. You’re our sister and nothing is going to change that. You signed us up into it so you can’t just suddenly abandon us. Now what do you really need, Arya?” At this point Arya was crying, she was being selfish, she had been. She was ready to go and lose everything at more than one point. It was true, Damian and Jason wouldn’t be complete without Arya, would they?

The Sun didn’t need the moon to shine, Jason shone just like that. But the Sun had never said that they didn’t want the moon to be in the sky with them. They were different but people still looked up to them. The same goes with the star, the moon loved their company more than anything, the moon helped the star make connections. The star made constellations, ones that drew a bigger picture in the sky. The moon was there to give it that one push to be more confident with their art that painted the inky black canvas. The star and the sun loved the moon. Just as the moon loved the sun and the star. The moon felt like the sky didn’t need them anymore since the Sun and the star was there instead... they don’t see the beauty they bring.

“I need… help.” She sobbed as Jason brushed her tears aside. It felt like the pressing feeling on her chest was finally beginning to subside as she finally admitted that. “I need help, Jay, Dami. I don’t know… what to do anymore.”

“It’s okay… we’ll figure things out together, yeah?” Jason said softly, brushing away more tears from her face.

“We can start with therapy. All of us.” Arya laughed lightly, before switching back to seriousness, “or im not going.” It was one thing that long overdue for the three of them. Sure Jason and Arya may have made jokes about going but it was getting way too serious.

“I don’t need any, I’m perfectly fine and capable!” Damian spoke up proudly, Arya burst out laughing at him.”What, what is it?! Its true!” The three soon began to bicker and laugh amongst each other without a care in the world. In their own little bubble that didn’t include the four (Nightwing, Batman, Superman and Robin). It was a sight to see how animated they all were together. The others were just outsiders, weren’t they?

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Once after Arya was out of surgery from all the injuries that consisted of broken ribs and broken hip bone and a few minor fractures in her back (thank God she had no spinal cord damage), Arya was placed on a watched recovery scheme. There were many people and reporters outside the hospital that waited for a statement on Arya and who she was, her powers and the fact she had caused immaculate damage on Happy Harbour. Conspiracies had come about that she was a new villain and the heroes should provide justice with her being placed in jail. Jason would turn over the world before he would let them do that.

“Arya, you’re not allowed to use your power.” Jason chided once again.

“But it’s just to heal up.” Arya huffed taking a spoonful out of the lasagna that Jason had cooked and placed into the Tupperware container he had brought with him on the visit. “Mmm, this is the good stuff.” Arya licked the sauce on her lips. She had refused to eat anything that the hospital gave her save for the roast potatoes they only made on Thursdays and some ice cream, she drank her water though.

After an attempt at the tomato pasta, she deemed it disgusting, the same goes to applesauce which she vowed to hate for the rest of her life. She put it on the list of apple things she hated that had Apple pie at the top. However she had a cheeky love for apple crumble, the only thing she would allow herself to eat with some warm custard.

“Ukhti, I finished my sketch!” Damian showed her his sketchbook of her being in her hospital bed.

“Damn, Damian, I look rough.”

“Yeah, you look very displeasing to look at.” He smiled gleefully.

Arya gasped offended, “excuse you! I’m here fighting for my life and you’re here calling me ugly? I see how it is, mon etoile.”

“And who’s fault is that? Who’s the one who decided they wanted to kill themselves?” Damian gave her an unimpressed look.

“I’m not suicidal!” Arya denied.

“Says the one who’s in the hospital bed, helpless.” Damian rolled his eyes. “I love walking, I especially love running.” Damian teased.

“Jason, give him a slap for me.” Arya looked over at Jason expectantly.

“Hmm, I don’t know, I quite love walking and running too.” Jason’s face filled with mirth.

“I’ll get both of you, yeah? Mark my words you’re dead to me.” Arya glared at the two teasing her.

“You sure? Because just a few days ago you were certainly keen of dying.” Jason smiled.

“I swear to God…”

“Swear what? That you’re gonna kill yourself.”

“Take me now.” Arya groaned and shut her eyes, as Jason and Damian laughed. Sure, it was a bit of a touchy subject but hey, your family always find a way to laugh about traumatic experiences like it was some random fun memory.

Just then a few officers came into the room, “gentlemen please step out. We have a few questions for the lady.” Stupid surveillance and police, the two looked at Arya before glancing back at the officers. Arya just nodded and they took the sign to get out the room but staying close by.

Then the officers delve into a series of questions which Arya may or may have not replied to because she doesn’t need to tell them anything she doesn’t want to but she did say something that was worth catching. “I’ll restore the things I damaged at Happy Harbour.”  They wrote that down on a statement list.

“How will you do that?”

“Under… under the Justice League’s supervision.” Arya said.

“We will go talk to them about such conditions. However, you will have to get your identity onto Data and classed as a Meta.”

“Umm, sure?” Arya said shutting her eyes as they began to leave. Then the door opened once again but it wasn’t Jason and Damian, it was Batman. “…what is it now?”

“You will soon be taken into a rehabilitation facility for metas, to control your powers and have you under better surveillance.” He announced.

“Will they be able to come see me?” Arya asked, it was a valid question.

“Once your therapists deem it to be fine.” Batman said firmly. “Are you agreeing to go?”

“I don’t know but it’s worth checking it out because I can leave whenever I want.” Arya shrugged.

“You will be tracked if you try.”

“They can try.” Arya challenged with a grin. Batman soon left after taking to Arya for a while about the next steps that would happen after. Then finally, her brothers were back into the room with… Timothy Drake and Dick Grayson. “Oh my god…” Arya sighed.

“Hello, my name is Dick Grayson! So, you’re the infamous Arya.” He beamed.

“Yes. Yes I am.” Arya said with a slight smile, “You know I’ve always wanted to call you the Nightwanker but we never met. A chance I missed.” I sighed and shook my head as Jason burst out into chortles of laughter with Damian hiding a smile.

“I feel offended.” Dick clutched a hand over his heart, “what a cruel thing to say when you’ve just met someone.”

“I speak my mind. Sorry.” Arya gave him the pursed British smile as she poured some tea out of a thermos that Jason brought into a cup, taking a small sip. “Mmm, Yorkshire.” She hummed.

The atmosphere was calm, Arya felt her eyes drooping after she had finished a load of tea and the lasagna that Jason had brought which she was graciously thankful for. She slipped her eyes shut as Damian bickered with Tim and Dick caught up with Jason, pressing him for any pictures he had of Damian on his phone. Sure, there were things that were left unsaid but they’d reach it when they got to it. Right now, Arya was going to finally get the rest she wanted for so long. Her heart warm and ears filled with the noise of the people she loved not being in danger or fretting over her, she drifted off into a deep sleep.

Chapter Text

“That’s the last one.” Arya shifted her body back to normal. She had been restoring all the places she had damaged through her little rampage around Happy Harbour. Sure, it was something but it was still traumatising to the residents that were still living there. She didn’t want any gratitude or anything from them, she felt like she’s done enough damage to the place.

“Good job.” Flash clapped her on the shoulder, he was her favourite hero after all, she requested him and he was the nicest. “Now, we head back to the facility but first… ice cream?” Flash offered making the girl smile.

“Sounds good.” Arya said, “can you get me some wool too? I want to try crocheting.”

“That’s a very good hobby to pick up, it builds good concentration.”  Flash smiled.

A thought of going back to the facility bothered her, “Umm… Flash… I don’t… want to go to therapy today so can you tell them?” Arya said after a while of silence, she had just realised that today at the facility was her mandatory therapy and what she can say and will stand for was that her therapy was shit and she hated therapy plus she was rarely speaking in those sessions which was a waste of time for her. It was a different case for Jason and Damian, sure at first, they didn’t really speak to their own therapists, but they got through to them in the end and they quite liked going to therapy on some days. Damian didn’t say much but he did do lots of art while he was there, he was a naturally closed off person, same goes to Jason but he opened up slightly, only giving information he was comfortable giving and having heard.

“I’m sorry Arya, but it’s mandatory for you to go.” Flash said with a slight sorry look, “but it’s helping, isn’t it?” Helping her ass. All that therapist did was look bored and write down stuff on her notepad. Arya had a great time with her own notepad and pen and she wrote all the things she didn’t like about the session happily and ended each meeting with a middle finger shoved into the woman’s face before heading out to go back to her room to wallow away for a few hours.

It was kind of shit that Arya couldn’t have any visitors or go out by herself. Plus she has  surveillance on the daily, the health check ups were boring, standing on the scales, being asked what she ate, why she hadn’t eaten (the food tasted watery and flavourless. After being blessed with Jason’s cooking. She wasn’t going back.) Anyways, back to the present, “Yup! Very helpful!” Arya smiled.

That very night. Arya left the facility with a kiss thrown at the camera as she phased through the walls.

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Gotham was like a home call. She had flown her way back landing on a rooftop, “Wow… feels great to be back.” Two taps landed on the rooftop behind her, she sighed internally, “Batman, I’m not going back there.”

“You agreed to stay at the facility.” Batman reminded her.

“I know how to control my powers.” Arya kicked at a small piece of rock.

“Your outbursts were out of control.”

“Ummm, that is true, I won’t lie. I’m only human after all~ I’m only human after all, don’t put the blame on me.” She spun  around as she referenced the meme.

“Arya, you agreed to go to the facility and take therapy.”

“That woman or whatever she is,is shit and I’ll be damned if I go back and you find her dead.”

“You’re planning on killing her?”

“No!”

“You insinuated such thoughts.”

“I mean, maybe once it or twice like a bit of a stab there and stab there~ then boom problem solved.” Arya looked at the frown he was giving, “I know it’s not good, but I wasn’t going to do it!”

“I’ll talk to them about getting you another therapist.”

“Uh I don’t think so. You’ve gone so long with no therapy, so I think you have no right to say what it’s like.”

“It can benefit you to continue going.”

“I’m not going anymore. I don’t want to get my hopes up thinking another therapist will be different. I don’t even talk to the writing rat.” Arya sat down on the rooftop letting her legs hang off the edge. “I don’t even get why I’m here.” Batman had a feeling it wasn’t about her coming to Gotham. It was something else entirely.  Something he could dig into depending on Arya’s slightly open state.

System, why have I been sent here?

I shall ask [Creator] for you, Arya.

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[Creator] has revealed that you, Arya, you are not one person. You have many different versions that have been sent to other universes. In all versions, you are a reader. A reader who has wished to be in other universes. A reader who wanted change.

What the fuck.

“WHAT THE FUCK SYSTEM!” Arya screamed at the skyline. So… she’s not even.. one person? She has multiple versions of herself? What the fuck? Is she— she’s more of a monster than she thought.  Is she human? Does she have to return back to the world she came from or does she have to stay in this one? Does any universe accept her? Is this how she infiltrates most realities? Why does she remember the other worlds she has been in? Who’s the real her? Where is she then? The Original her?

Arya felt sick. The familiar tingles reached her cheeks as her mouth began to flood with saliva. She began to gag. She turned her head and threw up next to her, it wasn’t much since she hadn’t eaten much anyway. The acidic tingle in her through burned as clear-ish vomit escaped through her mouth. A sheath of moisture glazed over her eyes, and she blinked rapidly as she finally stopped throwing up, slightly dry heaving.

“Water.”  A bottle pressed at her arm. She took it and drank a few sips tentatively.

“I need you to knock me out cuz I can’t sleep and I’m probably in a bad place right now. I’m going through an existential crisis, and I don’t know how to handle it yet.” Arya said as she began to shake. Not knowing whether to laugh or scream. It was either those two options because she’s had enough of crying. She had cried more in this entire year than she ever has in her entire life which she could vaguely remember.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.” Arya shook her head. “If I wake up in that facility, I’m coming after you, mate.” It wasn’t a threat, nor was she actually going to go through with it. It just.. made her feel slightly better. A pinch dug into her skin. She silently counted and reached 15 seconds before she knocked out.

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She awoke in the bat cave in one of the holding cells, thankfully not bound. There was Superman and Batman there, who were there as soon as she woke up.

Arya had been in the blue talking and freaking out on System who had tried to calm her down. It had been a massive drop on her, what the fuck does System mean that she had multiple versions of herself? Who was the real one? The original? The first?! Nope- she’s not relapsing once again.

Arya phased through the cell, becoming an intangible ghost for a second. “Do you have something filling? I haven’t ate something like that for months.”

Superman looked at Batman who said, “I’ll inform Agent A.”

“Okay, thanks.” Arya smiled slightly. Then the door to the cave opened, Damian running down the stairs. “Hey, mon etoile.”

“Ukhti, I was only informed of you being here by Agent A. What happened?”

“I left that place. So I’m here now.” Arya said simply, in the place it didn’t feel like you were human there, it was like being locked up without nowhere to go, surveillance always watching. “It’s not even comfortable.”

“Then can’t you change it into a better place with your staff.”

“I haven’t eaten and can’t really sleep there. People are losing it each day.” Arya said tiredly, due to the confines of the facility, people often started to go insane. Who wouldn’t? Being locked up isn’t fun at all. “Why is that place even open? Is that a licensed place?”

“It is fully licensed and the people are trained to work there.

“Fire them. And my therapist. They’re all wankers.” She paused before looking at Damian, “do not copy my words.” Damian shot her a dirty look.

“I already know how to use the words in a correct manner.” Arya frowned at that, “I’m not a child.”

“You are.” Arya said firmly, “stop trying to grow up so fast. I want to savour you being young, y’know.”

“I’m not a child.” Damian said firmly.

“Oh.” The girl said flatly before smiling slightly, “just don’t repeat my words, regardless. Oh! I had a show I wanted to show you.”

“Is it going to be like Miraculous?” The two had shifted to sitting down on the floor somehow in their own little world. Still, vaguely aware of Batman and Superman in the cave but they weren’t actively listening as much and were doing something else.

“No, it’s better. It’s called Avatar: The Last Airbender. You’ll like it. I think you remind me of one of the characters.” Arya smiled

“Really? Who?” Damian’s eyes sparkled with intrigue.

“I’ll just say they’re part of royalty in the show, like you.” She ruffled his hair just a bit before her hand got smacked away as Damian tried to fix his hair up again.

“Are they strong?” Damian asks curiously, he would only accept strong people as someone he could relate to. That’s for sure.

“Definitely. My favourite character is their uncle. You’ll understand why when we watch it.”

The two siblings spoke for a while, changing into different topics letting time go by. Some times taking little nips at each other and laughing (on Arya’s side) and taking different perspectives of different topics. They got into a little argument that Batman had to break up with a firm telling off, and since Arya wasn’t his kid, she silently laughed and pointed at Damian while he was being scolded for his use of words. Arya was a little shit and she relished in it.

After that, they were all called up for dinner by Alfred Pennyworth. She finally formally met the man who raised Batman. An icon. The living legend. And someone who has lived for god knows how long and gives no fucks. It was nice to hear someone with a British accent Arya guessed, she felt herself slowly having a bit of an American Gotham accent but Alfred’s accent- though posh to the ear, was really nice to hear. Though she had peeved him by calling him ‘sir’ and ‘Mr Pennyworth’. Not her fault that in all lines of education she’d had her whole life (primary, secondary and a year and a bit of sixth form) it had been instilled into her that calming a teacher by their name was punishable with detention and being the outside-loving  kid— being stripped of a playtime or a  lunch break. That was hell for little Arya (despite the fact she still ran out of classes anyway, regardless.)

Anyways, during dinner, Arya ate a considerable amount of bread rolls. Who knew bread rolls were all it took to make Arya eat? Damian watched her eat about nine bread rolls before beginning to eat his own food. Alfred was a great chef, he knew how to make even the simplest food taste really good. That’s what was happening with Arya but… it felt nostalgic at the same time. Like when her father went out to Sainsburys or Lidl when she was younger to get a fresh baguette from the bakery. He always gave her the end pieces, she’d hollow them out and fill it with coleslaw or cheese but one that was her favourite was filling it with ketchup. Arya had a phase where she was obsessed with ketchup. She used to make sandwiches with only ketchup. She’s always been insane. Sorry to burst your bubble but she’s been a criminal since young. Well, morally.

After about another eight rolls of bread and some potato salad, Arya finally filled her fill. It felt sort of nice? Being full again. She sipped some apple juice for good measure before setting her cup down with a small smile of appreciation.

“Thank you for the meal.” Arya thanked Alfred. “The potato salad was delicious and how did you make the bread rolls be so soft and buttery? It felt like a dance in the night sky!”

Alfred cracked a smile, “I am quite pleased you enjoyed, though I do not know what a dance in the night sky may feel like, though I’m sure it’s in a good sense, I suppose.”

Arya gasped loudly, “you need to have a dance in the night sky! It’s amazing! Isn’t that right, mon etoile?”

“I suppose it is a wonderful experience.” Damian said pretending to be dismissive about it.

“It’s the best thing in the world! I think everyone should have a chance to dance in the sky at night above the clouds with the moon.” Arya said wistfully, her mind clearly somewhere else but not in a bad place like usual.

Later after dinner had been taken away, Arya found herself in the gaming room playing Mario Kart with Damian. Dick had shown Damian the game and Damian was getting relatively good at it. He thought. “Ukhti! How dare you slide that banana peel at me?! I was so close to the finish line and you intercepted me!”

“I don’t know Damian, that banana peel was too enticing not to use.” Arya laughed lightly, her face brightening up a little bit.

“Well you should have had more restraint, you- you traitor!” Damian began to form insults Arya never knew could be formed.

“Damn.” Was all Arya could say. She was silenced by a ten year old. That’s crazy.

“Take your controller, another round!” Damian shoved the controller into her hands.

“I’m bored of this, why not play Just Dance on the Wii. I’ll show you my Rasputin moves.” Arya offered.

“After I beat you.” Damian hissed at her making her sigh and resign to another few rounds of Mario Kart.

When they finally got to Just Dance, an hour had already passed, “Damian, I’m telling you, this is amazing and you know Power by Justin Bieber and I think his name is William, gosh that was my childhood. I have to pass that down.” Rasputin was soon on and Arya was there popping her knees to get everything right. It felt like a workout but it was worth it. If you need to get into shape, just do the Rasputin four times each day.

“What kind of stupid dance is this anyway?” Damian panted as he put his whole soul into the dance.

“Hush, it’s amazing and should be a generational heirloom to be passed down.” Arya said as she watched Damian start the Russian kicks.

“This… seems to be… some training… regime..” Damian said through pants as he continued.

Just as Arya was about to open her mouth to speak, the door to the gaming room opened and Arya whipped her head suddenly, her hand shifting into a blaster as she pointed it at the new individual at the door. “Easy, it’s just me.” Two hands were raised in surrender. Dick Grayson. Arya lowered her blaster and shifted it back to her hand. Before she could ask a question, Dick answered her before she could form them in her mouth. “I came to see what you two were up to, Ooh! Rasputin! I love this!”  Damian had paused his dance and was trying to look neutral as the dance continued in the background and the stars began to decrease because he had stopped dancing.

“We were just trying it out, we’ll go.” Arya began to stand up and Damian came to her side, sweaty and still trying to compose himself from the dancing battle he just had. It was fun while it lasted, pity they couldn’t try Power or What did the Fox say? Or Watch me.

“You two can stay, I’m sorry if it came across to you both that I didn’t want you to stay.” Dick apologised.

“Oh… I just thought you wanted to play- you can play it’s fine”.

“No, I insist, I mean, Just Dance is more fun with other players, right?” Dick flashed a smile.

“I guess so?” Arya said her eyes flickering down to Damian. “Think you can beat me?” She challenged him.

“I am the epitome of battling.” Damian announced.

“Oh? Is that so?” A smirk painted itself onto Dick’s face, “I’m the current holding champion at Just Dance in the Manor, so that’s a challenge I’m taking up on.”

Soon enough they were battling with dance on various different songs. For some reason, Dick kept winning nearly every single just dance the three tried. “This is fucking rigged! How?!” Arya slumped onto the couch, she turned to Damian, “No swearing still.”

“Majnoonah.” Damian said with a shit eating grin.

“Not a curse but, still offensive.” Arya simply said, “good job.”

“I don’t need to curse when I can tear down your whole bloodline.” Damian shrugged.

“Anyways, I won, like always.” Dick interrupted a smile of a thousand suns on his face.

“The game is rigged.” Arya repeated, “how could you beat me in a One Direction song? That doesn’t make sense!”

“I’m just better.” Dick said with a smug grin. Arya launched a pillow at his face which he managed to duck.

“Shit. Nearly got you.” She huffed before leaning back on the couch with her arms crossed. It felt more annoying than coming back from a long day just to find the food you kept in the fridge had been eaten. Damian tugged on Arya’s shirt, he wanted water. Arya shifted her hand into a wand and magicked up a bottle of water for all three of them. “Hey Dick, do you know if your dad still has my pills?”

“B? He has your pills?” He said after taking a sip of water after thanking her.

“He’s a thief. That’s what your father is.” Arya said slightly bitter. She used her Karma points for the pills he took from her! It’s not fair that she can’t have them back. “They’re not even dangerous.” Arya rolled her eyes.

“Where did you get them from?”

“Up your bu—“ a hand was clamped over there mouth. It was Damian’s.

“Akhi said you have to stop saying that.” Damian was a snake at times, he was still in the phase where he’d snake on Arya to Jason and Jason would deprived her of his cookies.

Arya moved his hand off her mouth, “you snitch!” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“I’m telling him you said that to me”.

“I’m telling him you called me a majnoonah.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Yeah? I wouldn’t?” Arya began to stand up, “I’ll find him and tell him right now.”

“He wouldn’t believe you, I’m his favourite.” Damian rubbed that into Arya’s face.

Arya’s face soured, “No?! I am!” The two fell into a bicker on who Jason’s favourite sibling was before a voice interrupted.

“You’re both wrong, I am.” Dick spoke up and two pairs of eyes shot a disgusted look at him, a common thought running behind them. No, no he was not. “You two are mean.” Dick pouted, the two’s faces scrunched in disgust even more.

“Let’s go.” Arya simply said, steering Damian out the room.

“You do not need to convince me, my legs were already ready to flee from whatever… thatwas.”

“You two are so mean!” Dick said as he followed the two out which made them start running down the hallway.

“How big is this place?! I want to get out!” Arya whined as she ran alongside Damian, a smile slowly forming as she ran. Dick was slowly gaining on them. Arya shifted into a large panther and Damian jumped on her back and Arya ran.

“Hey! That’s not fair!” Dick said as he increased his speed still at a comfortable distance between them, Arya skidded round a corner, Damian clutching onto her fur firmly to not fall off, she found a staircase and managed to jump up it without jostling Damian too much. Dick still wasn’t letting up and was still chasing the two, a happy smile on his face with determined eyes to catch the two.

The two reached a dead end and Dick had them cornered, Arya glanced back at Damian a subtle nod being made between the two, Damian leaned down and held onto Arya, wrapping his legs round her and keeping his hands bunched into her fur. Arya’s tail flicked with anticipation before she ran at Dick who braced himself for an attack that never came. Arya made a run and pounced at the wall, running against the wall for a few seconds using the momentum of the speed and the weight she was putting in to continue her mission which was to manage to get out of Dick’s reach and not allow him to catch the two. Damian held on tight with the few seconds they were airborne, they landed safely on the ground just as Dick turned around just as Arya’s tail flicked smugly.

The chase began once again. A determined smile was on all three of their lips, Arya’s paws pounded at the floor as she prowled down the hallway finding the staircase once again after another sharp turn, she shifted back to normal and placed Damian on the banister, “Slide!” She pushed him down before following straight after. The two slid down only looking up to see Dick jumping onto the chandelier and swinging down from it. The two got to the end of the staircase and began to run once again. Dick was still gaining on them, they turned a corner before they came to a skidding stop at a white gloved had being raised.

“Miss Arya, Master Damian, Master Dick, no running in the halls.” Alfred chided, a disappointed look on his face.

“Sorry Alfred, we were just having some fun.” Dick said as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“You know the rules more than these two, Master Dick. You should know better.” A hint of amusement could be heard in the butler’s voice. He was glad the three were actually getting along and not fighting. Plus, Damian was less standoffish with Arya around. He seemed to be more of a child than the grown up front he put himself to be.

“Sorry Alfred.” Dick said once again and then the three were off speed walking this time. They weren’t running so they’re not breaking Alfred’s rules at all. They were walking  poised and proper making their way down the hallway just as a door opened and someone walked out making Arya and Damian have to reflexively swerve out the way. Tim had walked into the hallway and was looking quite confused about the predicament.

“What are you all doing?” He asked his eyes flickering between Dick and the two siblings.

Arya just pointed at Dick, he’s older, he can explain.

“We’re having some fun. Isn’t that right, guys?” Dick said with a smile.

“I don’t even know why he’s chasing us anymore.” Arya said with a shrug.

“Honestly, same.” Dick agreed. “What were we doing before?”

“Just Dance.”

“You guys were playing Just Dance, without me?” Tim asked a bit offended.

“I’m just a guest here, look at him.” Arya gestured to Dick.

Just as Dick was about to speak, a low voice interrupted, “Arya, it’s time for you to go back.” Bruce. Arya internally sighed as she turned to look at him, not meeting his eyes. Not that she was scared of him, they just creeped her out and made her think of things she didn’t want to be reminded of. She was getting better at looking at people in the eye for longer durations so that’s something.

“I don’t think I want to go back there.” Arya simply said, she could feel the slightly confused look Damian was giving her. He had thought Arya was happy at the facility and was healing pretty well there and from their talks she spoke about how she liked-

“You lied.” Damian spoke up, his brows furrowed at her.

“I did. Yes.” There was no use lying to her little brother.

“What did they do to you?” He asked, concern peeking into his voice.

“I’m fine. It doesn’t matter. I’m just not going back, no one can force me to.” Arya raised her head, “the food is shit and flavourless. It’s like throwing a ball of needles down my throat and asking me to swallow it. I won’t eat it.”

“Is that why you are so… thin?” Damian couldn’t think of a way to word it better. Arya knew what he was prodding at.

“It’s not a disorder. I eat fine, you saw at the table. I like eating nice food.” Arya frowned, “I don’t want to talk about this.”

“That sounds like—“

“No.” Arya cut whoever was talking, she was already walking off.

A hand gripped onto her shirt, “you said you would accept help and you needed it.”

“Well maybe I don’t- maybe I don’t need it. I don’t even know what I am anymore so I guess I’m not human.” Okay, now Arya was projecting. Maybe finding out that she is just one of another person’s reality really messed her up. She doesn’t know when she’s going to- “System, what am I?”

You are Arya.

“Are my memories my own or are they shared too?”

That depends on [Creator]’s choice.

“Can I fight them?”

Fight who?

“That dumb washed out bitch called Creator. What did they do to me? Why did they do this to me? Am I even real? Am I a person’s imagination? Am I a fragment— do I even have feelings? Is that their methods too? Am I allowed to be sad?” She received no answer, “What the fuck is going on?”

“That’s what I would like to ask. And who’s System?” Dick asked.

“A bitch that’s fucked with my mind.” She didn’t really think System was a bitch, she was angry, she knew that System was just the messenger not the cause.

“What did she do?”

“I don’t know? Do you think I’m human?” Arya asked. It’s not that she needed an honest answer she just needed someone to tell her she is. She needs someone to. It can’t really be explained properly with words but she nee

“I believe you are human.”

[Creator] believes you have spoken above your limit.

“What? Limit? What limit?” Arya’s body began to lock up, Hw limbs not listening, her nerves began to tremble. A pinging pain in her head began to form as her ears began to muffle over. It felt like her ears were stuffed with cotton, her lips stitched together. She could hear the rapid beat of fear of her heart not being able to control her body. Soon enough, her eyes rolled backwards. Leaving the whites of her eyes free. Her body began to fall, no strength left to keep her up. Her body going on full lockdown. Arya knew she messed up. It wasn’t like when she fell into her comas. No. Not this time. It was something else. Someone else.

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She was floating among the warm bluish atmosphere once again, the warm breeze brushed passed her but she couldn’t help but fear it even more. It lacked the usual serenity she always felt within the place.

She was afraid.

Afraid.

Afraid.

Afraid.

Afrai-

“Arya.” A soft voice, it was hard to identify to the ears if they were male or female, Arya stuck to the easy route and thought of them as a they. “Don’t be afraid, my dear.”

Arya believed that gave her more of a reason to be more afraid… no matter how calm and sweet the voice felt to her, no matter how tender and enticing their voice was to her ears, she couldn’t shake off the feeling of fear.

Are you [Creator]?

It was easier speaking in this… domain you could say, it was more like speaking your mind than your actual voice. It was efficient and useful, it somehow allowed her to be less afraid.

A large figure came into view, cloaked in a white cloak of light, their face covered by it slightly, only letting the bottom half of their face to stay in view. In all honesty, their presence screamed of ethereal beauty, Arya couldn’t have her eyes linger on a single part of them, they just had too much going on. From their plush dark red lips, to their pointed fingernails, a beautiful ombré blackish blue, speckled with a glimmer of God knows what. They towered over Arya, more like they were like a large expanse of space that they had domain over. They were like an Angel, covering Arya’s horizon’s everywhere she looked she could see them. Their beauty, their brightness, their entirety.

“Yes. I am [Creator]” A smile grew on the figure’s face, it wasn’t exactly a modest smile, more like a cheeky one, a kind that knew a lot behind that very smile. It infuriated Arya. It filled her with an otherworldly rage.

YOU FUCKING BITCH!

Chapter Text

YOU FUCKING BITCH!

“Oh dear, how very rude.” The amusement in their voice fuelled Arya with a different kind of hate and she’s not the type to hate a person lightly. Since Arya was a very nice and vocalperson. She expressed her disdain towards the figure with anything that slipped into her mind. Her mouth running nonstop with whatever coherent swearing she could remember in her mind. Once she was done huffing and puffing, the figure laughed.

Arya’s brows twitched before they furrowed deeply as a frown pressed itself further down on her lips, one thing she learnt from her life if someone decided to laugh after you displayed anger, they frankly didn’t care. It felt humiliating, like all that happened to her was just like a joke to the figure.

“My dear, I understand your anger towards me.” The figure smiled kindly, it wasn’t enough to sate the feeling of humiliation the girl felt thoroughly running through her.

Why was it me? Why did that- that first Arya wish to be like this? Why did I have to suffer?

“My dear, that happens within the world that was sort out by your heart.”

So you’re saying it’s my fault? It’s my fault?! It didn’t make sense to Arya, how could it be her fault, she didn’t ask for this, and she’s pretty sure her heart didn’t ask for pain and suffering. She just… she picked her main character, her side character, that’s all. Was it so wrong that she just wanted a nice place? A place to make good memories that would flash before her eyes when she would take her last breath. Was it so wrong?

“Darling, it was not your fault at all. It may have affected some aspects of the world but it was not made perfect.”

Arya couldn’t understand where she went wrong. She had been a- a good person she thinks. A kind of person who laughed and smiled at most things in life. She knew her thoughts on justice. What she thought was deserved to people who hurt her. To people who hurt others. Was it wrong to pass that judgement. She was guilty of murder. She knew that. She was sorry about taking the lives of other but she not for Black Mask or Joker. She refused to give remorse for them. They were tyrants on earth that brought upon chaos and they deserved to be punished within her eyes. Her methods for their deaths were deserved she knew that they were. She’s allowed to not feel guilty about those.

“Arya, you’ve zoned out.” Creator looked down at her. There was an obvious level of superiority between the two and they both knew it. Arya didn’t like it.

Creator why did you grant the first Arya’s wish?

Creators lips parted slightly as the smile they had kept on the smile on the lips faded from sight. “You want answers… Do you believe I would let you be so easily?”

Of course fucking not. You’ve been like a ratass itch in the ass for like- I don’t know how long. I need answers, notice how I said need? I suggest you start talking.

Humoured, the figure laughed.

“Very well. Your body currently is between a state of life or death. You’re not breathing and your heart has been paused.” A sick smile grew on their face, white teeth flashing, “you have a few tests that will determine whether you live or die and join back to the Original.”

Are you fucking with me right now?! I’ve already been fucked over THERE and now HERE?! I thought this was a safe place. What the actual fuck. You’re sick! How about my brothers?! How—

Oh.

Arya smiled sweetly, Excuse me, do you mind coming down my size please? Creator complied with her request. Curious.

Arya had enough. She’s been played like a fiddle, climbing over a hurdle just to be bombarded by hundreds, once she gets over those it a thousand more replace it. Arya blitzed right in front of the figures big ass cloaked head and punched them right in the face. Fuck this reality and fuck them. After that first blow, she continued with her righteous assault, just as her fist lifted off the figures face slightly, her other fist replaced the other just as quick. She didn’t let the figure have the chance to even realise what she did. It was like white flashes hitting the figure, their head thrown back from the force. It didn’t take a while before Arya connected her legs at Creator’s middle.

Arya tore out all the anger she had for Creator, her heels connecting at every target she fixated on. Sure she may not have liked being an assassin but she still learnt a few things for a few months and that was how to kick absolute ass and win.

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“Ukhti!” Dick had caught Arya just as her body began to fall, Damian was hovering next to the two as Dick checked her pulse. A grim look crossed his face.

“She’s not breathing. Pulse absolutely gone.” Dick said, Bruce hastily made his way to their side. Turning the girl’s face that was gradually losing all warmth under his fingers.

“Take her down to the cave. We can probably jumpstart her heart with the electric cardioversion method.” Dick collected the girl in his arms and rushed towards the cave entrance with Damian and Tim on either side of him with Alfred already on his way with Bruce explaining things to Clark on the way down.

Just as Alfred was about to start the ministrations needed with Arya placed onto a table. A soft dark blue force field erupted from Arya’s chest, a dome over her body, pushing back Alfred’s hands.

“Great Heavens, what on earth is that?” Alfred said quite taken a back. His question was soon answered as a blue game-like panel opened up in front of him.

Hello, I am System.

The bats and Damian and Clark, crowded round it. “Are you the one Ukhti speaks to?” Damian narrowed his eyes at the panel. “What are you? What have you done to her? What is going on with Arya.”

Damian Al Ghul, Arya is undergoing a trial only she can overcome. It will determine whether or not she will continue to live or return.

“Return.” Damian echoed, “where will she be returning? She is meant to stay here.”

As you might have suspected, Damian Al Ghul, Arya is not someone of this universe.

“Are you saying she is an otherworldly being?” Damian raised a brow, a scowl on his face. “She’s human. She cannot be.” To Damian, that’s his sister. He knew damn well she’s human and he’d be damned to be told otherwise. Just then the prowl of a motorbike made its way through the cave, coming to drifted stop as Red Hood finally made his way to the cave. Jason wrenched off his helmet with a quick hiss and smoothly got off his bike at the same time, his feet already beelining towards the table where Arya was, under a luminescent force field of blue.

“What’s going on? Why is this thing—“ Jason punched at the force field but it didn’t budge.  

Jason Peter Todd, hello, I am System.

“I don’t give a flying fuck who you are, get Arya out.” A murky green flooded over his eyes, glowing. The bats tensed, save for Damian, who was used to it, Alfred since he could never be afraid of his young master and Clark, who had no idea what was going on with Jason’s eyes.

I am afraid I cannot. Arya is undergoing her trails. If there is any damage or change done to her body, it can cause her to fail her trials.

In all honesty, System doesn’t like it what’s going on herself. She’s just the messenger not the actual cause. She cannot go against Creator. They created her and she has no power over that.

“What trial are you talking about?! Just get her out!”

I cannot it is what has been ordered. With these trials she is either to remain here or to return.

“What do you mean return?”

“Apparently Arya is not from this universe.” Dick said helpfully, his eyes glistened with intrigue.

“…so she would return to her beginning universe?” Jason said after prolonged silence.

Not exactly.

Silence.

“That’s your queue to explain.” Tim spoke up.

…It can be possible to see her trials. Is that something you wish to see?

It was either never seeing Arya again, up and doing something than seeing a motionless dead body in a dome or waiting for her to wake up from whatever this shit was and get a proper explanation. “Please do, because what the fuck?”

“Young Master Jason!” Alfred had let the first curse slide but he wasn’t going to let that happen again.

“Sorry Alfred.” Jason said wincing slightly under Alfred’s glare. A hologram shot out of the force field, a screen pixelated largely above them. “So… I’m guessing we sit down?” Jason offered.

“I’ll go get more chairs.” Alfred said walking off into the cave just as Damian took purchase on the batchair, beating Dick to it and Clark took that cue to leave, sensing it was rather a personal and serious matter which should be left to the Bats (and Damian and Jason.)

Once they were all settled down on their own respective chairs, the screen flickers to life.

“Fuck this. Fuck you. Fuck your family. Fuck your life. Fuck your powers. Fuck your superiority and I’m saying once I’m fucking done with this shit, I’m going back on all morals and I’m drinking the fuck out of my liver and probably get some sort of poisoning because FUCK THIS!” That was Arya alright. She was walking along a path, eyes glancing around to find anything recognisable.

“So, she’s on her first, I’m guessing.” Dick said out loud. Most of them were leaned forward, watching the screen carefully.

Arya came to a pause as she found a familiar street. She turned into it, her feet beating across the ground as a four bedroom British  house semi connected to another house. “Why- why is this place here?” She wandered past the drive to the door, her hand turned the handle. It was a medium sized house. Not too big but not two small, two living rooms, one used as a dining area and the other used for guests, there was a downstairs bathroom and then a kitchen that had a door leading to the garden, her eyes flickered to the fridge. A star of the Week award certificate held by a magnet on the fridge. The name on the certificate was her youngest brother. “…okay?” She decided to head upstairs, there she found the room she shared with her sister, her younger one and second eldest sister.

“So her home looks like this, huh?” Jason mused to himself, he took in the place where Arya grew up in on the screen, his eyes flickering at key characteristics of the house. Considering how she never spoke much about herself but other people in her life, seeing such a personal space like her bedroom before her bedroom in Gotham was nice. It wasn’t that much different, though she shared a bunk bed with her siblings so that’s different.

“System… what am I meant to be looking for?” Arya asked, the familiar blue screen appeared before her.

[Hello Arya, you current task is to find the objects around the house that resonate with you. You currently have 0/4. Find them and you will move on to the next trial. You have three minutes.]

“Three minutes?! Fuck!” Arya began to rush around the room, “me? What did I like?” She climbed up on her top bunk and yanked off her pillow, finding her kindle. “Aww my baby, I haven’t seen you in so many years.” She was a reader and her kindle was her sole favourite thing to use for reading E books.

[you have 1/4 items.]

“Uhhh what do I also like?” She got off the bunk, before getting to her chestnut drawer and taking out a small childish diary and a picture frame of a person on there. A girl..

[You have 3/4 items]

“Akhi, any guesses on who that person could be?” Damian asked Jason hushedly.

“Not really, it could be a sister but they don’t look similar and she’s never said she had an adopted sister so it’s most likely a friend.”

“What else do I like the most… Sleeping!” She grabbed her eye mask which was a polka dotted cow.

[You have found 4/4 items.]

“Quite easy if you ask me.” Arya said smugly before leaving the bedroom without a second glance back. It was a place of memories of laughter, tears and grief but she let go of that hadn’t she? She didn’t have much feelings about the place anyway, she wanted to leave. “What’s next?” She asked as she was back on the street, walking away.

[World building. You will gain additional help from a person of the past.]

“Who?” Just then the coming down the street, a small girl, her hair a beautiful honey brown, her eyes a sweet hazel with her cheeks that were not sunken with hunger anymore. Rosie. “My Angel!” Arya practically ran to the girl, picking her up and swinging her around in a circle before hugging her cuddly.

Rosie giggled, “The nice man asked me if I wanted to help you, Miss Blue! I said yes!” Her little lisp was so adorable and melted Arya’s heart.

“A child?!” Damian emphasised his exasperation, “A child is meant to help her? How useless.”

“Habibi, you can’t just say that.” Jason ruffled his hair quickly before his hand was batted away with a scowl from Damian.

“That’s right, Damian, even the smallest creatures can be of help in ways you may not understand.” Bruce spoke up.

“Thank you, my Angel, you are very kind.” Arya kissed her cheek softly before settling her on her hip. “We have a mission to do, but first, I’m going to spoil you rotten my dear.” That was something Arya had wanted to do ever since she met the kid, wanting to escape Joker and Black Mask but her fate had been to die and cut that dream out and left it to dry out. Now that she can finally see Rosie again, she was sure gonna make the hell out of the time. Fuck the task first.

“Is she seriously going shopping?” Tim asked as he watched the screen.

“Yup.” Jason sighed.

“With what money does she even have to be buying such— there’s no one currently in that place is there?” Damian soon realised.

Arya’s trial took place in a dimension where there wasn’t anyone who was included within the trial.

“You look like a princess, my dear.” Rosie had chosen an Elsa costume to wear and Arya was doing her hair just like Elsa did in the first movie. Rosie beamed at Arya, her face brightening up even more. They were currently in a store and since there was no one there, they just tried anything and everything that caught their eyes.

“I really look like a princess?” She bounced on her feet as she asked Arya, face beaming brighter than a thousand suns.

“Definitely, you’re my princess for sure.”

“Thank you, Miss Blue!” Rosie twirled her dress showing it off as Arya gave her a round of applause.

“Hmm, want to get some grown up make up too?” She wasn’t going to do anything drastic, only eyeshadow and tinted lip gloss.

“Yeah!! I want big girl make up!” Rosie’s eyes practically sparkled and soon enough they were at the makeup aisle. Arya had opened a palate of eyeshadow and had the brush and began to place on makeup that matched with Elsa and adding some star glitter which Rosie picked out. The two had fun going around shops and playing pretend, eating snacks they could find in stores.

That’s when Arya realised, she   couldn’t use her powers. “Hmm, they took it away? Alrighty~” She accepted those terms, regardless of the fact that they were convenient at times. She could still fight either way. Fighting to kill was what she could do. She came to terms with that.  

“I believe that young girl is the individual Arya feels most guilty about.” Bruce spoke up.

“She told you about her?” Damian asked with a raised brow.

“She did. In the JL Tower.” Bruce could sense the glare coming from Jason as his mind reminded him of the state he brought the girl to that day.

Once night struck, Arya and Rosie were huddled in a bed in Dreams, in matching Hello Kitty Pyjamas. “Miss Blue?”

“Yes, sweetheart?” Arya smiled softly, brushing a strand of hair Out of Rosie’s eyes.

“You’re cool. I wanted to be like you a lot.”

“I’m not cool, little one. I’m not as great as you think I am.”

“You talked to me.” Rosie said shyly, “At that place, no one talked to me, the angry bad guys always shouted at me when I never got to the toilet in time.”

“Rosie, I made the bad guys go bye bye. I made sure of that.” Arya smiled softly at the little girl, pulling the duvet up to her chin.

“…they hurt me, the clown hurt me really bad.” That caused Arya’s eyes to well up as the images of Rosie’s brain matter and blood splattered across the floor.

“I’m sorry.” Arya said quietly, “I’m so sorry I couldn’t do anything to stop him.”

“It’s okay, he hurt you too. I heard you… screaming.” Children aren’t as oblivious as you think. Sure they soak up things like sponges but children can make things out when they want to. And Rosie, she knew Arya was getting hurt back then but she didn’t realise why at the time. Now that she was dead, in heaven when she looked back to her final moments, she did realise, Arya was hurt too. “He hurt you bad, huh?” Rosie said with a sad look in her eyes.

Jason and Damian straightened up with matching grim looks that passed both of their faces. Anger simmered slightly within them, however there’s nothing that you can do to a dead man, sure curse his name and all but what can you do to a man who has no grave too? Their blood seeped into the ground, their body left in a paste. What can you do?

Arya nodded with a matching sad look. “But it’s okay. He’s gone now too. He can’t hurt me or you anymore.” Arya pulled her into a snuggle, wrapping her arms around the small girl, “He will never see us again and you won’t get hurt, ever.”

“The nice man told me that he won’t go to the Gardens.” Rosie’s words gave a little bit of reassurance to Arya’s mind. At least God was not merciful to a man like that.

“I guess Joker really has gone to hell then.” Dick quipped up, rather happy about that fact. Jason glanced over at Dick, Dick’s eyes held information about Joker that he didn’t know about. He was curious, but not that curious to ask about his murderer. 

“Yeah, he’s right. He won’t go to the Gardens. You have fun there right? Rosie nodded with a beaming smile on her face, “that man being there would ruin your fun, that’s why he’s not there.”

“But he’s die, right?”

“Yes, he is die.” Going along with Rosie’s terminology and grammar, who’s gonna stop her from speaking her truth? “Rosie, I think it’s time for bed, angel.” Arya hoops her nose making the girl giggle.  

“But I don’t need to sleep!” True, she’s a dead girl, but…

“It will make me feel a lot better if you do sleep, it’s night time.” Arya was willing to hold onto the life that Rosie could have had when she was alive. Maybe because Rosie was someone she wanted to see grow up, maybe it’s because of that, Arya was attached to the girl. She reminded her of the innocence of children in a world that did not quite give the love all of them deserve. The world that took her life before she could reach adulthood. She was six. She was murdered. And all Arya could do was watch. Watch in that chair. Which she could have easily broken out of if she had just used her powers. If she just took that chance- No, before that she could have used her powers-

The sound of a soft snore broke Arya out of her head, Rosie had fallen asleep.   Arya shifted the duvet over the small girl, tucking her in, brushing her hair out her face, letting her fingers run through Rosie’s hair. Peace. She could be at peace here. A spell of sleep washed over Arya, sending her into a dream.

[The next Trial has begun.]

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“What do you think the next trial is going to be, Akhi?” Damian asked Jason.

“I’m not sure, Habibi, I hope it’s one Arya can get passed.” Jason replied.

Chapter Text

“Mama?” Arya’s voice was just a bit off whisper, she couldn’t help it. Her mother did raise her and all, she thought she had gone past that. She was walking forwards with her life but this was different. The silhouette of her mother was walking away from her. That’s not right. That’s not- that’s not how it goes. “Mama! Ma!” Her legs were carrying her on God knows what. She was running. “Ma, why are you walking Away?!”

Jason and Damian could see the similarities between the two. Evidently. They had the same lips, different eyes, similar nose. You would know they were related if you saw the two walking on the street.

 Each time she ran to a point her mother was at, her mother was at another point. Even the toughest of men would crumble for their mother. Someone who raised them. If you had asked Arya at sixteen that she would be crying for her mother to walk back to her she would  have laughed and told you that she couldn’t possibly do that since she disliked her mother and had always wished for another at times. However now? She was balling her eyes out, still chasing the escaping silhouette of her mother. No matter how much she fell she chased her. Calling out to her mother who didn’t spare a glance back. “Mama… did I- Mama I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Mama.” She cried out, her lungs burning from exertion of the exercise of both crying and running. That’s a talent if you ask me.

“So her mother must be the next trial she has to overcome.” Bruce spoke up. “There seems to be a chain, the first trial was about her as a person, this one could be about her family.”

They just had to watch and find out if that was right.

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Her legs slowed down coming to a stop, as Arya realised, it was time to let go. Properly. “Mama.” Her voice shook, “I have to… I have a life I like, Mama. I’m sorry I wasn’t the best daughter, you have the eldest daughter for that though Mama, just like you wanted, huh? I…. I have a family too, Mama, they’re brothers. Their names are Damian and Jason, they… they make me happy, Mama. I know you love me, now I know that, Mama but it’s already too late for me to go back and change things mama. I’m sorry for not understanding better. That this is your first time at life too, I understand now. I- I understand you cared, you worried, you- you always knew things about me in ways I didn’t know myself and I’m sorry for- for thinking you didn’t love me. You did, Mama. You loved me a lot. I think… I chose to remember more of the bad things to overlap the good things…” Arya glanced up from her feet as tears flowed freely down her puffed up cheeks, her mother stood in front of her, a smile on her face, a sweet smile, one she’s seen many times in her childhood.

Jason seeing Arya show her real feelings and actually accept the fact that she was wrong in some ways- well kids made mistakes that only when they’re older they could understand and here, Arya was understanding her wrongs. No wonder she never spoke about her family that much. She was figuring out what she thought about her family herself. Figuring out whether her memories were twisted up in some type of fantasy she put up to make them look bad to her.

Jason knew what the trial was about now. Moving on from the Past. Arya’s biggest fear was letting go of what she had.

“Mama, I’m sorry.” She felt like a kid again, she wrapped her arms around her mother, the familiar scent of her made her cry even more. She missed this. Her smell, her warmth and… her love. She knew her mother didn’t show much but when she did it meant a lot. When her mother finally wrapped her arms around her, she felt like she truly was her child. The child of her mother. One that was loved. Loved even with all the mistakes that were made. Truly loved. Sobs of apologies flowed out of Arya’s mouth. The whole time, Arya was just finding excuses. Excuses to why she couldn’t be the problem. Thing is, it was easier to deny than accept the fact that people could love you and care about you. Wasn’t it?

Think of it this way, your best friend or a friend you’ve had in the past or in the present. You look at them and wonder how they could have became your friend, with all the flaws and mishaps you have in your life, with all the imperfections that you have within you and not once did they stray from you. Did they?

The thing is about Arya. She didn’t try. She didn’t try to put herself out her comfort zone and try new things. She kept to herself and didn’t want to let anyone in. If someone truly didn’t love her, would they still have given her a plate of food, something to drink, a place to sleep, clothes to put in dressers and wardrobes and money to use? She didn’t even try see it. She didn’t try to think about the things done for her by her family, instead blaming them for bad things and little things that upset her. 

“Would you like to stay with me?” Her mother finally opened her mouth.

“Stay? I don’t have anything to do, I guess I could for a while?” Rubbed at her eyes, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands.

“No.” Hands dug into her shoulders and Arya finally saw the look in their face. Black, soulless eyes. No. That wasn’t her mother. Not her at all. “You stay here. Forever.”

“Mama? What- what are you going on about?” The rest of her family appeared around her, surrounding her. Her eyes flickered around confused. Their eyes matched the soulless black eyes that stared at her. A shiver trailed down her back. Why? Why were they looking at her like they did ? Her eyes glanced away from their eyes, glancing towards their shoulders instead.

Her brothers could see the panic draw into her face as she shifted between each family member. Conflicted between staying or leaving. The thing is… Jason and Damian were selfish too. They knew family was important but.. Arya was their family too.

System’s panel appeared before Jason’s face.

[Jason Peter Todd, you have the power to help or not. Would you like to play memories?]

“What-“ Jason blinked as he began to think. It was a selfish thing to ask, it could be something that could manipulate Arya’s choice, to stay or leave but… he couldn’t lose his sister.

“Akhi… please.” Damian tugged on his hand, “Shes our family too.” Damian spoke his mind without no fear, he did consider Arya’s position in the situation but he wanted his sister back and by his observations, people who make others upset aren’t people you should stay with.

“Now, Damian that’s a difficult decision.” Tim spoke up, “we don’t actually really know if that’s the correct choice for Jason to pick since the trials could change to something more difficult if Jason helps.”

“Shouldn’t this be a choice for Arya herself?” Dick voiced out his own thoughts concerning the situation. The silence was deafening. There was a mixture of agreement and disagreement between the individuals in the cave.

Jason took his pick.

[You have chosen to ‘play memories’.]

Memories began to drift onto the screen in front of them. Portals of Arya’s time with Jason and Damian began to play, her getting chased around the living room by an angry Jason, Damian threatening to stab Arya with his dagger within the League, Jason and Arya sparring in the night, Jason and Arya sitting under the stars after extensive training regimes they just finished, Arya talking about anything that came to mind. To balance things out, good memories played on times she was with her family but you could guess where her heart really was, despite the fact they were good memories. With the memories of Jason and Damian.

“My… I’m sorry, I have people to go back to. You guys had your time with me and I know you guys did your best.” Arya moved out the circle of her family, “…bye, I have to find someone. I did- I do love you all… but I have to go. I’m sorry.”

“Miss Blue! What took you so long?!” Arya whipped her head round to the sound of the little girl. A small hand wrapped into her own. Sparkling hazel eyes looking up at her.

“I was just talking to my--“ when Arya turned back to her family, they were gone. A pang of pain wretched through her heart as she thought of her family. It was time to let go, wasn’t it? “Nevermind.” She gave Rosie a smile.

[You have passed the ‘Memories’ trial.]

Rosie tugged on her hand, “Let’s go! I wanna get ice cream!”

“Alright! Ice cream!” Arya cheered, why not indulge in some sweet cold goodness after all that crying? Rosie really spoke her food language and she relished in it.

“How many trials do you think she has to face?” Dick asked, a smile lifting on his lips as Arya and Rosie- on screen- got ice cream together.

“I believe it could begin to get harder however you can take a prediction of what the next trial could be, the last two were about the past so, it could be related to time and the next trails could be either the present or the future.” Bruce explained with a firm look on his face.

“Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.” Dick leaned back in his chair.

Chapter Text

I’m so sorry… IM NOT DISCONTINUING DONT WORRY!!

 I’m just going through A LOT and I’ve been yk going through that depressed era that comes around each winter- it’s not even funny but it’s fineee!!! I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s being at a new place, not being able to cope with changes but hey! I made new friends, friends are kinda different yk? Like you don’t know what kind of things fly with them or not. You obviously don’t want to hurt their feelings but you don’t also want your feelings to get hurt.  There could be a lot of miscommunications but you can’t help that sometimes unless you talk or speak up. You know… I think my worst fear is being forgotten, by my friends or like left behind because I can’t catch up to them moving ahead… sometimes talking helps. I figured that out. Sometimes I talk too much and I get   VERY self conscious and stay silent. I’m only sixteen, these things happen I can’t help it. I’ll get over my overthinking, maybe one day. ANYWAYS-

Writing just has been kinda hard with school work and stuff but I’ll make it happen, maybe not this month but in the future. 

I’m not American but I feel bad seeing Trump back in power, I figured that all the women and children have been failed. It’s your body not someone else’s. Imagine this, if you did something good, you would be praised for it, not someone else. If you did something bad, you would be punished for it, not someone else. Why do men think they have control over women? They shouldn’t think that and shouldn’t enforce such disgusting beliefs. Leave a woman to do what she likes to her body, whether it’s abortion, to not wanting to get married to ANYTHING. I’m so sorry American children and Women. I firmly believe that if Kamala was a man, she would have won.

Also, Isnotreal is going kinda crazy rn, not a shock but hey, one day, they’ll be erased. And for good. 

THANKS FOR READING ALL THIS TIME!!!

Chapter Text

The next few trials were pretty much annoying and hard. There was the Villain vs Hero, trial. It was a weird genre but fun for Arya. She chose To help the villain. It turned out that the Villain was actually innocent and the hero framed him as evil and conditioned the world over and over into making him seem like he was the hero. So whenever the Villain tried fixing things in the world the hero would make everyone find their doings as evil.

Arya and Rosie had to uncover the truth and reveal it to the world and to stop the hero from conditioning the world all over again, Arya took away his ability to speak. His voice box was the key to the hero’s ability to condition. It could not be replaced due to the damage Arya made on him. Rosie was used as a distraction for the hero. Being the ‘hostage’ of the villain since the hero was so wound up on being a hero in the world they created with lies, obviously thought the villain was finally accepting the role he made for them. It was a trap, the hero was high with his fake justice that made it all easier to get everything he had built up in the world destroyed. Outing himself to the whole world that is. It didn’t take long for the world to realise.

Their world was put back into order and Arya and Rosie completed the trial which was unveiling truths.

There were others but not as interesting as that specific trial. Then… Rosie had to go, Arya had to go on by herself.

“My Angel, it’s time for you to go,okay?” Arya hugged the girl in her arms, “You go play with the other kids up there and have fun, okay?”

“Okay! When you come up to the Gardens, find me too! I’ll tell the nice man about you too.” Rosie beamed.

“And you know what? I will always remember you, my sweet angel.” Arya smiled softly, “I was in a dark place and you shined. You shined when I needed light the most.”

“That’s silly, I can’t shine.” Rosie giggled,.

“You do to me.” Arya’s voice wavered slightly as her smile tightened. “You always will shine.” She brushed her hair out her face.

“I think you shine too then!” Rosie’s eyes sparkled, “because you make me happy and that makes me feel warm inside.” Arya laughed lightly at that.

“You do the same for me too.” She kissed the top of Rosie’s head just as Rosie began to fade. “I love you, my Angel.”

“I love you too, Miss Blue!”

“Not Miss Blue… Arya.” Arya corrected the girl softly.

“That’s a pretty name.” Rosie said with a smile, “Bye-bye!”

“Your name is the prettiest, Rosie.” Rosie faded away with a toothy sweat smile, her cheeks flushed with an innocent pink. “Bye.” Arya’s fingers held onto nothing now.

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She came across a bridge, a wooden one crossing over a trench to the other side that held three doors. Blue, red and white, Arya would have laughed at the ironic colours being used if she wasn’t in such a serious situation. As soon as she stepped onto the bridge, flaming arrows flew between the seams of the bridge. She should have guessed that Creator would do such a thing.

When she finally got passed, the flamethrowers, the arrows, the spears, the tear gas, the flying swords and whatever the fuck came after that, Arya finally got to the other side. Better than she thought but still in bad condition. She didn’t even look at which door she decided to open.

Let there be light.

Then there was light flashing into her eyes, she blinked as she looked around the place she was in. A stage. Seats. People. Laughter. Eyes. “Nonononono….” Arya turned to the doors and tried opening them. “Please, no! You can’t just- no!”

“Isn’t that the underground circus or auction place from that night?” Tim’s eyes widened.

“Yeah, it is, but that’s how it looked like before it was destroyed.” Dick replied.

“System I swear to God, please… not here.” Arya was practically clawing at the door trying to pry it open.

[… Your next trial is… {Relive}, Arya.]

“…Slit my wrists right now and let me die. I’m not doing this again.” Arya was done. That wish wasn’t granted. Her body was moved forcibly onto the stage. The tattered mask she had on her face as Miss Blue was slipped on. The roars of people began to fill the room. The manic laughter of Joker returned.

If Creator could bring back Rosie. She could bring back the maniac.

All life drained from Arya’s eyes as she met eyes with Joker’s manic eyes.

It happened again.

And Again.

And again.

“It’s fine, at least it’s me and not someone else.” Arya would repeat. Each and every time. “It’s fine…. It’s fine…”

Everyone who was watching the screen project the many moments of Arya being tortured beyond human limits. Disgusted by the actions of humans, the people in the crowd just watching at the auction. Cheering with sickening glee when Arya managed to survive. What’s even worse was Damian and Jason having to see their own sister got through that and not be able to do anything.

“You’re fucking sick!” Jason was shouting, “Let us help her!” Jason yelled at System.

Arya’s pain had increased drastically, her body coated in her own blood, her skin was curling up from the amount of tissue Joker ripped off, her nails had been ripped off forcefully, by Joker using some pliers, her fingers hurt like hell, even worse than before. He never even let her toenails go free. Again. Just as he had done the first round.

She’d been biting on her lips before Joker decided to gag her, not wanting her to end up biting off her tongue consequently breaking all the fun he was having hearing her scream and cry out in pain as he brought out different tools to use for his fun.

His main objective was to get Arya to transform into something as incredible as the dragon he saw in his last glimpses of life. Too bad. Creator took the power away.

“”Come on~” Joker drawled with a grin, tilting her head up with a blade. “Where’s the dragon, hm?”

“It’s up your ass.” Arya grit out.

“Wrong answer.” Joker smiled widely.

It was painful for Jason and Damian. The fact that they were only seeing snapshots and different scenes, they knew damn well that Arya was going through worst behind the scenes.

Then it came. The chair. Arya was strapped onto it. And with that, came Jason’s last straw.

“System or whatever the fuck you are, let me help her.” Jason was one second away from murder. He’d been patient enough. He wants his sister back.

[I cannot go past my programming.]

“You can’t or you just wont?” Jason’s question was put out there as he was met with silence.

[You are the Main Character, would you like the option of guiding Arya or joining her?]

System wanted to help. Even though System was just a programme, she knew feelings. Learnt them even. Thanks to Arya, of course, you could even say she cared.

“Let me in that fucking place.”

“Jason- think about it more carefully, you’re being emotional right now.” Bruce spoke up.

“I don’t give a damn about being fucking emotional, I’m done sitting here watching my sister suffer and not being able to be THERE for her!” Jason glared, he didn’t need Bruce’s input at all, plus he’s in no mood to listen to such a person anyways.

[Request is being processed.]

“This looks familiar.” Joker smiled widely, holding a metal crowbar.

“No…. No, you can’t she’s just” Arya was cut off as Rosie was brought onto the stage.

“You wanted to be like Miss Blue didn’t you?” He cooed at the frightened girl.

“You said he was gone-”Rosie looked at Arya with betrayed eyes as she was cut off as Joker did the same thing he did before. The metal bar pummelled against her skull taking Rosie out completely. Her body flopping on the floor. The scene replayed over and over.

Arya was screaming.

She couldn’t do anything again and again. Each time. Rosie was killed. Again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Until Arya wasn’t screaming anymore. She had broken her limb after limb to get out the chair to at least save Rosie once. It never worked. Each time. Each and every time something happened that intercepted her attempts.

“I’m done…” The words tipped out her mouth, her eyes sunken with heavy bags, the shine in her eyes wiped clean off, “I don’t care anymore… let me die.”. She was stuck in that very chair, locked in, limbs bound. It felt like her body was burning to be alive but only had the strength to die. She was okay with that, dying that is. If she could be relieved of not being able to save her angel from dying in front of her eyes a million times over, she’d take death over it any time.

Joker cackled seeing her broken state. “Given up so soon? I haven’t even had all my fun~” he jeered in her face.

“Too bad, I’m done.” The voice that answered him did not belong to Arya.

Jason had made his entrance clear as he cocked his gun and aimed. “Fuck you.”

Bang!

Clank.

Bang!

Clank

Bang!

Clank.

Silence. Oh how the silence was so loud it was almost deafening. Sweet, sweet silence.

Chapter Text

Hahaha…. Umm so yeah three months has been pretty bad [insert cricket noises]
I have been writing the chapter but idk I can’t get into it, I have a point in which I need to get to but it’s the process of getting there that’s hitting hard.

uh then there was all the bad mental health- HEY I NEED TO ASK WHO IS GIVING ME EVIL EYE CUZ WHAT IS THIS?? 
So basically in reality I’m the kind of person to laugh at everything and whatever, I’m a lively loud person. Just who I am, then suddenly I’m crying more, I’m just not feeling alr and thank god I didn’t get to the point of hating life- it was kinda ironic since I was learning in  psychology class and I was like “Woah this kinda sounds like what I’m going through these past two months… should I be in a ward?… Nahhh I’m alr.”I seriously love my friends bc they’re there for me (not that I would always load them with my thoughts) it’s just nice having them listen. 

I’m kinda failing in my course (I WILL HAVE A COMEBACK- pray for me. I need them) I feel so bad for not doing as much, I just see notifs on kudos and it fills me up with joy but then I get reminded I haven’t updated in so LONGGGG. 
I’m so sorry, I’ll do better.

ALSO RAMADHAN MUBARAK TO ANY MUSLIM READERRRSS!! 

Chapter Text

[Request has been processed.]

Jason hadn’t even been able to finish he was saying before his body locked up and his eyes rolled back. The others were quick to catch his limp body. In the same state as Arya’s but… his heart was still beating and he was breathing but he looked lifeless. It was both a relief and a concern either way. Alfred had already wheeled up a bed for Jason to be laid upon.

The Screen popped back up, Jason’s voice was heard, then gunshots.

“Ry?” Jason untied the girl, once the clown was down, the setting seemed to fade away, he brushed his hands over the girls face, tilting her face to find her eyes.

“You’re not… real. Jason doesn’t come at this part….” Through cracked lips, Arya’s voice broke through.

“No, I’m here, I found you quicker this time.” Words he didn’t believe but they were comfort for her, he genuinely thought he should have been there for her, not watching her suffer when this whole time he could have been there in the first place. He kneeled down and got to getting her bounds and cuffs off.

“It’s going to restart, again?” At this point, Arya had no trust in the reality she was seeing. Sure, Jason had come, that was new, but it was just going to restart again… wasn’t it?

“No. I promise it won’t.” Jason assured her, “we can leave, Ry.”

“What’s something only Jason would know.” Arya pulled back a bit, her eyes narrowed at him.

“We had dancing battles in the kitchen, you made me my gloves.” He pulled up his hand that were adorned with the gloves Arya had made, the red lining still there. “You said… I’m like a phoenix, that’s why you made the flaming design. When you met Damian, you showed him a magic trick with a candle and when we first met, I kicked you right after you asked me to not kick you.”

“You don’t have to continue… why? Why did you come for me?” The girl had no tears left to cry, the confusion and the pain in her eyes searched Jason’s eyes. “How- how did you get here?! You should be- you shouldn’t be here! It’s not safe, anything could happen! And Damian? You just left him there too, No he would be safe- Dick cares for him. Jason, why?”

“You’re my sister and nothing is going to change that, it’s not gonna matter if we don’t come from the same blood. You’re stuck with me and you know how I am with my people, I won’t ever let you go unprotected. Plus, I’m done with you doing practically everything, give yourself a break!” He ruffled her messy hair, “you’re not invincible and you’re allowed to be weak. You give out all these helpful ways and shit but you never really listen to yourself at all.”

“Oh.” Arya could only say.

“Yeah, oh.” Jason shot her with a grin. “Now let’s get out of here, it’s stuffy.” As soon as Arya took Jason’s outstretched hand to her her injuries began to disappear as if it was some kind of dust that needed to be brushed off.

[Main Character Ability has been used.]

“Oh? You have abilities?” Arya let go of his hands to stretch her tired limbs, “Fuck that was long.” Considering the constant replay of every single part of her time in the underground auction, she was both mentally and physically exhausted, every time a change would occur it would somehow lead to the same ending, the ending she hated each time with her entirety. Seeing Rosie die.

“If we get out, I’m visiting Rosie’s grave.” She wasn’t necessarily saying it for Jason to hear too but for herself. To place a little piece of hope within herself, maybe the Jason next to her wasn’t her Jason maybe he was just a lie but he was some kind of Jason. It didn’t make sense to her but it was comforting having him there even though she wasn’t truly sure if he was another test- a lie even. Could she keep one thing to comfort her in The Blue?  

“Master Jason has gone into a comatose state, though his current state is far more different to Miss Arya, he’s breathing and heart rate is fine, his brain activity is stable almost like he’s just asleep.” Agent A looked at the heart monitor, keeping track of the peaks.

“Keep your eyes on his condition, Agent A.” Batman said as his eyes flickered to where the screen used to be. It had been switched off as soon as Jason lost consciousness. He moved his eyes away to look at Damian, though the young boy was trying not to show it, he was torn between his siblings. One was in a state like she was dead and had a force field around her which stopped his attempts to reach her and the other was in a comatose state, a state he had never seen his brother in… it unlocked a fear he never thought he would get. The fear of losing his siblings.

“Hey, Damian, would you like to eat?” Richard asked Damian, placing a hand on his shoulder, an attempt to get him out the cave to find a distraction of some sort, “I’m sure we can make some cucumber sandwiches.” It was simple enough to make them and Dick was sure he could make them…. It didn’t involve cooking and they tasted good.

“I do not need anything.” Damian’s eyes never left his siblings, keeping them within his view, he was tensed up under Dick’s touch. It broke Dick’s heart to see the boy so… afraid.

“I think you do need something.” Dick’s eyes softened as he looked at the boy trying to keep a strong front up.

“I do not need-” Damian was cut off as Dick crouched to his level and gave him a warm hug. It was different, he wasn’t used to it, it wasn’t like Arya’s or Jason’s hug.Damian so wanted to push the man away and shout curse upon curse but his chest felt tight. Just this once, he let Dick hug him. It’s not that he needed it. No, he was stronger than that… it was because Dick needed it, right? That had to be it. “Unnecessary.” He muttered under his breath with a scowl.

“Why are we FALLING?” Jason shouted, they were in the blue, his limbs were flailing about due to the lack of ground and control.

“I don’t know but this place.” Arya was horizontally falling, her eyes slipped shut. She didn’t really care since the blue would never cause her any harm. After a while, Jason finally got a hold of himself and calmed down. “When is this going to end.” Arya said bored of falling.

“Now.” The familiar voice made Arya begin to tingle with rage. Just then the two plummeted into an area of no gravity. “Hello again, Arya.”

“I hope you get a stick shoved up your ass.” Arya grit out trying to find Creator.

“Anything is a dild-”Creator broke off with a laugh, “Never mind not the time for such jokes, don’t you think?” Creator finally decided to materialise the white cloak they had before was still there.

“So you are?” Jason asked, a scowl cemented on his face.

“I am Creator.”

“So you’re some kind of supreme being?” Jason glanced at them sceptically.

“I wouldn’t say that but in a sense, yes. I am.” Arya could feel Creators gaze shift her, she straightened up even more, her body tensed up like a coil ready to spring. “You have done quite well with your trials.”

“And you put me through them why, exactly?” Arya asked, her fists clenched by her side.

“To see how much you could handle. Just for funsies.” Creator’s crescent smile became for visible.

“So you’re a weirdo that gets a rise out of putting people in traumatic situations.” Jason’s scowl deepened, “reminds me of someone.”

“You dare make assumptions of the type of person I am?”

“I do.” Jason’s eyes narrowed, the curl of a luminescent green flashing within them.

“I realise now maybe it was too much letting System get you here.”  Creator’s smile dropped, “She shall be punished as for you, begone.” With a raised finger, Creator pointed right at Jason.

A crushing feeling began to sprout from with his chest making him claw at it, the air he was breathing was beginning to be snuffed out like a flame on a candle being blown out.

“Stop it! Stop!” Arya held onto Jason, the helplessness within her began to seep in. Helplessness… it’s a feeling she hates. “I SAID STOP IT! This is between me and you.” She glared at the being. “He has nothing to do with it. Let him go.”

The sickening smirk stretched on Creators face. “True.” And with that Jason was gone.

“I fucking hate you.” Arya said with such conviction, it was as if the hate had consumed her whole being. Her jaws clenched, threatening to crack her teeth.

“That’s charming Arya, because I have known.” Creator giggled.

“What’s so fucking funny?”

“No matter what form you are, you always hate yourself.” Creator smiled wispily.

“Okay? And what point are you trying to bring up because get to the fucking point and just say it.” Arya narrowed her eyes at Creator.

“I am You.”

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“What?”

“I am You.”

“What are you?”

“No, the question is who really are you?” The white cloak fell away, revealing an almost identical copy of Arya. Though… a powerful presence exuded from their person. Their eyes a different nature to Arya’s almost like an Apex Predator. Golden crystals fragments within the darkness of their eyes, their body adorned with golden vines, golden chains holding gem upon gem hung off them. They looked older and younger at the same time, carrying a childish but mature energy that coalesced within each other. “You, are a fragment of me.”

“What?”

Chapter Text

What the fuck. NO WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH AI?? All but ONE fic, they all got scraped. I’m seconds away from crashing out WHAT THE FLIPPP 

I’m literally contemplating privating EVERYTHING but I won’t do that, might just have to continue to get this fic over and done with and there HAS TO BE BETTER SAFETY MEASURES against AI. SERIOUSLY! :/

I have exams and the ONE THING I KNEW WOULD BE A SOLACE FOR ME like comfort fics and the comedic ones, so MANY have been hit, that isn’t even funny. FOR AI? 

When I get my hands on the person who made this fucking shitass AI, their lives will be in my hands.

I hope there’s fucking lawsuits COMING for that rat.

Chapter Text

“Now why have you gone and told me that?” Arya scowled at Creator- well her. “I could have gone through life not knowing that, excuse you.”

“Because, why not?” Creator grinned.

“Gives me another reason to hate myself now. Good job.” Arya gave Creator a standing ovation. “Should have kept that information to yourself.”

“Anyways, since you’re done being dramatic.” Creator said dismissively, “Even though you never asked, I will tell you how. So one lonely day in bed, a day filled with the wish to disappear and be elsewhere-”

“So you basically hated yourself so bad  that you became this?” Arya gestured to Creators entirety. “So… how am I a fragment?” Creator’s eye twitched at being interrupted.

“Worry not, as much as you are a fragment of me, you are you and I am you, easy!.” So much for a non-cryptic response.

“What the fuck.” The voice startled Arya, she had completely forgotten Jason was still there, not in pain anymore like earlier. She guessed Creator forgot he was there too. “Arya could never be you, that’s some bullshit and you know it.” He grit out in anger.

“Ah, you.” Creator smiled condescendingly at Arya’s brother,, “Arya, you always tend to love the ones who are hurt by the entails of life.”

A bitter smile stretched on Aryas face, “So there’s more than me then if I’m a fragmentof you?” She asked trying to divert Creator’s attention away from Jason. Given the last time Jason was in Creator’s interest.

“Definitely, I provide you with your powers you know. I keep you alive. I can take away your time too.” Creator said as if it was the most simplest thing in the world. “One knew when her time was up, and she left the world and cleared it of any trace of her, she didn’t desire much power, nor did she wish to change anything. She returned to me.” Creator glanced at the slightly confused look on Jason’s face, “This is a conversation you should not listen to. Goodbye.”

It felt like a shove that knocked out all the breath out of Jason, a strangled sound escaped his throat before he dissipated from The Blue.

“You didn’t hurt him or anything, right? You just sent him back?” Arya demanded to know.

“I didn’t hurt your precious brother.” Creator’s form shifted to a slightly younger look, more devilish and cunning however.

“Ew, anyways does that mean I’m myself like, I’m me?” Arya knew that she didn’t make much sense but she was trying okay? Give the girl a break, she just found out that she’s a fragment of a bigger whatever you want to call it and there’s other versions of her?

“In some way, yes, I choose what memories you keep, however I also share memories with other fragments. You may have memories of ‘you’ in other worlds but it’s not ‘you’ it’s a different fragment that I’ve chosen to share their memories with you.” Creator explained.

“Bitch, that’s all I wanted to know! Fuck off and fuck you! Now I can stop having a fucking existential crisis and get my life bang in order instead of it being out of order and live life doing what I  want but in  my terms and let me guess, I bet I had no fucking mission to complete you were gonna let me go.” Arya shot Creator a dirty look after her little ramble of her plans.

“Yeah, I was.” Simply said, almost too dismissive that Arya completely brushed over how suspicious it was…

“Bitch! You put me through hell and back again to set me through all the worst shit to let me go at the end and for what? A laugh and a giggle?!”

“For you to accept.” Creators voice was eerily calm, “A part of you believed that the world I put you in was some silly little fantasy world made by people, thinking things can be changed by a touch of power. Sure it could but it’s also the reality of peoples lives and the world.”

Creator pointed a finger at her, “Letting go of your original family was part of it, if you hadn’t done that, the other trials wouldn’t have been completed if you struggled on that, the trial before, your home and the things you were meant to collect. They all tethered you to your old world which you shall not return to. Some of the other trials I can’t lie, were for my own fun, teehee!”

“Not funny but go on?”

“Oh yeah, I made Rosie for you.”

“Hah?”

“Think of it as character development.”

“HAH?!” There was a lot Arya had not questioned but now this? This took the cake.

“How else did she manage to sneak out to see you in that room you two met?” Creator dismissed. “In a place like that where she could have been beaten for managing to escape her cell?”

“You’re actually wicked. You’re fucked up in the head.”

“It was a necessary evil. I had to make sure you kept some sort of humanity and kept it.” Creator’s eyes crinkled with mirth, “You loved having her back, didn’t you?”

“…you’re done right? Done with all this shit?” Arya ignored Creator’s attempt to make her stumble off the tower she was slowly building.

“Ah, you want to return.” Creator’s eyes flashed in mirth, “might just keep you here for fun.”

“You really weren’t loved at home, you lonely cunt..”

“You would know.” Creator shrugged.

“Okay quick question, you know when I got them depressive thoughts and all, was it fucking you?!”

“Collective effort, love.” Creator smiled innocently.

“I bet you’re so proud of yourself.”

“Very.” Arya let out a small huff of frustration, the sound made Creator’s shit-eating smile stretch to their ears.

“You’re a right lonely cunt, honestly I’m glad you did make yourself lonely. You had friends. Friends that loved you, people who cared about you, people who wanted you. You just holed yourself up in your tiny bubble after each bad thing that happened to you, it’s funny you know. How one bad thing made you think that whole world was against you.” Arya scoffed at Creator.

“Shut up.” The fact Creator could just probably silence here, but they don’t? Interesting. A crack formed within their façade, a smile stretched across Arya’s face as she picked up on this.

“No, actually I won’t.” Arya was relishing in the moment, “Small little Arya became thisjust because of too many bad days. I feel sorry for you, honestly. You wanted the others to suffer too, huh? So everyone could feel a bit of your pain, the other Arya’s, or the other ones that don’t go by Arya, you wanted everyone to at least strugglethrough life.”

“You don’t get to say that not with-“

“No! I do get to say this, I have every fucking right! So I’m not fucking sorry that you feel hurt with me saying this shit!”

“You think I haven’t thought of this before?! YOU THINK I HAVEN’T?” Creator snapped, “Multiple lifetimes and- and- still-”

“Girl, I don’t care.” Arya started to laugh, “You don’t get my sympathy, not after everything, but you know what we can do?”

“What is it?” Creator raised a brow skeptically.

“We can hate each other all we like.” Arya offered a smile.

“….Yeah, I can do that.”

“I hate you.” Arya smiled softly. She don’t forgive Creator. Not at all. She doesn’t think no matter how much she may try to lie to herself to try think that there was a reason behind all of Creator’s actions, she still thinks she won’t ever not hate them.

“I hate you too.” Creator gave her the slightest smile back. In all truthfulness, there was a lot that wasn’t said between the two, however, they’re the same person at the same time. They know in their own ways what they really meant to say to each other. Maybe it was both their egos clashing, maybe it’s because they were both liars in their own rights that stopped them from saying more. It doesn’t matter. They understood each other in ways maybe you might understand.

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“Wait does that mean there is a another me that’s a guy?!”

“Oh my days, Arya.”

“It’s a genuine question! Like damn, I always knew that I could be hot as a man.” You can’t really blame the girl, it was necessary.

“Arya, please.”

“Do I get a spouse?! Do I treat them good? Do we have kids?! Oh! Oh, do we have pets?!” Okay, she’s pushing it here.

“How about you focus on your own life. You’re kinda dead right now.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“I hate you.” They sure did.

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Jason shot up from the medical cot, “Arya!” His voice scratched against his throat head he blinked away the haze over his eyes. The sounds of beeping crackled at his ear making him wince slightly, too much. Everything felt too much, the blanket over him felt like hell on Earth, the blood rushing through his ears, his fingers twitched as he locked them over the fabric of the blanket, his eyes was seeing everything and nothing at the same time, his head felt like it was going to dislodge from where it sat on his neck, it felt hammered down on his cranium. His chest seized as his lungs struggled to steal breaths of air, his throat scorched from the scalding burn of the air he could manage to pass through to it.

It hurt.

It hurt.

It hurt.

“Akhi!” A small hand grasped onto his arm, shaking him out of his mindless state. “You can breathe, Akhi!” The fingers tapped on him rhythmically, funny thing about humans is, brains run on rhythms, the follow it, they find it, they relish in it. Jason’s was no different, before he knew it, his breathing followed along with the taps on his arm, one tap, breathe in, second tap, hold, third tap breathe out. And there he was breathing.

The haze fell away from his eyes as he blinked, his cot surrounded by Damian, Alfred and Dick. He kept his eyes on Damian, the boy’s hand shook on his shoulder, he was afraidthough there was relief in his eyes, “Master Jason, some water.” A cup was pushed to his lips as Jason’s eyes flickered to Alfred who gave him a look when he didn’t unseal his lips to let the water pass.

The water finally slipped down his throat, soothing the burn that scorched his throat from earlier. He guzzled it eagerly after the first couple of sips, “Master Jason, pace yourself, you do not wish to choke.” Jason listened with the slightest burrow of his brows.

“Akhi, why did Ukhti not wake up too?” Damian asked, Jason’s eyes moved to meet his.

“It’s whatever that damn troglodyte sadistic being who pulled all this shit that’s got Arya stuck in the Blue..”

[You have been granted chances to help Arya return. Do you wish to have these chances {Damian} and {Jason}?]

“And creator of that thing.” Jason pointed at System’s panel with slight distance.

[Yes/No?]

They both picked the obvious answer.

[What kind of person is Arya? You have four options.]

“Go on?” Jason raised a brow at the question, kind of a strange question to ask isn’t it?

[1. A liar 2.A lover 3.A parasite. 4. An error.]

Jason and Damian glanced at each other, “A liar.” Damian said, it’s not in the way you would think. Arya was of course a lover, she wasn’t a parasite nor an error. Though if they had to pick between the two first options it would be the first. Arya lies. She lies about being alright. She lies about not caring about herself as much. She doesn’t directly lie to others but the person she lies to the most is herself.

Her own self.

She lies about not needing to be saved too. She lies about being fine with things that don’t align with her beliefs, she accepts them to some sort of extent but not all the time. She lies about being okay with being hurt. She lies about thinking she deserves it because deep down she knows no one, including herself deserves that.

While Arya is a lover, it’s true when she loves it’s not exactly quiet. Love isn’t meant to be anyway. Her kind of love is the one that has the comfortable noise that fills you up with all sorts of emotions that siren scream in harmony with one another.

[Are you both  positive with your answer?]

“Yes.” The two answered in unison.

[Processing….]

[Processing……..]

[Correct. ]

[Creator gives their thanks. You have given purpose to {Arya}.]

“Purpose?” Damian questioned, his eyes narrowing the slightest bit.

[Yes. {Arya} finally belongs. She feels like she belongs too. {Main Character} and {Side Character} have completed the {Trials}.]

[{Arya} shall return.]

With that System’s panel lit up before deteriorating into tiny pixels that flew through the walls. Jason scrambled off his cot to follow the pixels, much to Alfred’s dismay, with Damian right at his heels.

The force field around Arya’s body glowed a deep shade of blue, before it collapsed like a bubble. A breath seized and frazzled Arya’s body, her arms going locked straight as her hands began to tremble with life. Batman was already at her side, trying to make sure she wouldn’t choke on her breath, placing her in the recovery position.

“Arya!” “Ukhti!”

“Ugh…” a groan tumbled out of Arya’s mouth, like usual, water was given to sooth the ache in her throat. “I feel like I was dead:”

“Welcome to the club.” Jason choked out wetly.  

“Oh no nonononono, why are you guys—” she was cut off by a bone crushing hug, her breath cut off by the shear force of it. Another pair of arms crushed her too. “Oh, dear.” Tears welled up in her eyes, and she breathed. “I think I’m gonna nap now.” Her voice croaked out, her eyes slipping shut.

The warm embrace of her brothers meant so much more that words could put together.

Life would get better, she knew that. It’s just continuing to climb the mountains of setbacks regardless of how high they tower. Because a setback is always an opportunity for a comeback. Isn’t that right?

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When Arya woke up, her eyes met with an unfamiliar ceiling, more homely the sun which was a rarity, shone through the slits in the curtains. The shards of gold pierced through bringing a warmth along with it or maybe it was just her hallucinations.

Other things registered, whatever bed she was on was the best bed she had ever been on. She was so investing in one when she got home. She felt a soft breath of air tickle her neck, she turned to find the sleeping face of Damian, he was curled up towards her, his arm thrown over her middle. She felt another weight on the bed, her arm was tossed over someone’s chest, she glanced to her other side to find Jason asleep too. The tired bags that hung under his eyes became a concern, Arya’s brow furrowed slightly at the sight.

“Your breathing changed.” Jason’s eyes slid open, the cerulean blues mixed with the emerald green met her eyes, “You really didn’t take a nap, you liar.” A small smile graced his lips.

“My bad.” Arya whispered.

“Okay?”

“….One day.” Arya smiled brightly, she was going to be okay. She knew that. Time would tell, she just had to let it.

Chapter Text

“You did it all wrong!” Damian the origami from Arya’s fingers, “you were meant to fold here! Not there, that’s the next step.” He was keeping Arya company as she was getting tested, her organs did exactly… die so it was suggested that she had tests run to see if everything was in order.

“I want to sleep, mon etoile.” Arya sighed, her eyes ready to droop.

“All you have done is sleep. You can stay awake for longer.” Damian scowled at her. “Again, do it again.” He shoved her the paper to fold again. Arya took it with a sigh.

“You know I would be more awake if I ate one of my pills.”

“You’re not allowed. Father said-”

“He’s not my dad.”

“Yes, that is true but you are in his home are you not?”

“Ugh different house, different rules I have to follow.” Damian was lucky that Arya followed other peoples house rules out of respect.”I want to go home.”

“You wreaked havoc in your room. It’s not suitable for you to be in there.”

“Oh yeah… I forgot I did that.” Just then the door opened up and Jason walked in.

“Good job, habibi, for making sure she didn’t leave.” He placed his helmet on an empty chair.

“Not you too, I’m literally fine. There’s nothing wrong with me, my organs are fine and very much happy-” she was cut off by her stomach growling. “Okay, one less happy organ but overall fine!”

“I think Alfred can get you something.” Jason told her, “I’ll go ask.” As he left, a small pit of anxiety filled Arya’s stomach, you know, like when you’re over at your friend’s house and they offer to ask their parents for food for you but use your name and mention that you’re hungry, that kind of anxiety.  She knew that Alfred probably wouldn’t mind giving her some food, he was definitely the kind of person to make sure no one went hungry in his manor.

“Ukhti, come on, you have to restart.” Damian pestered her once again, his patience was running thin.

“Okay, okay!” Arya huffed and started folding, looking up after a few seconds to look at the instruction book, this heavily felt like a motor exercise to see how well she could follow instructions and fold the paper, she eyed Damian suspiciously as she continued without a word of complaint, she was going to let her face do the talking for her instead. After a while, her mind got distracted from her initial suspicions on Damian’s need for her to continue making origami, she actually became invested in making them. The animal she was on was a dragon, it was a complex and was taking up her time. With a fold here and a fold there, the dragon was slowly coming into shape.

By the time she was finished, Arya picked up the dragon and turned it around in her hand, it wasn’t perfect, stretched out the wings, she tilted it just like the way she had soared through the sky that night. Oh, how she wished she was flying too, it was freeing in all ways possible. If she could, she would love to be reborn as a bird. A smart one, a crow or an eagle, no, an owl, the most silent predator in the entire world, you wouldn’t even know that they were there until you look hard enough. They soared so silently before their prey could alert anyone else, they’d be plucked from their fickle burrows and nests, left to be digested within them, only their pellets to be left of them once they're done digesting the little flesh they had.

Though don’t put their prey down though, if an owl is seen anywhere, roaming, they have a call that all the small critters recognise, its shrilly sharp kind of sound that all of them can pick up and mimic to others, it travels like a soundwave passed along from creature to creature, it’s quite harmonious, the way that the small creatures, if it could save even one life, cast an alerting cry for the others to hear and to warn. It’s beautiful.

“Arya, here’s some toast.” Jason’s voice snapped out of her dainty little rabbit hole, her origami dragon was plucked out of her hands, “Buttered, just like how you like it.” In her lap, the plate of toast was placed on her lap.

On her first bite she knew, she loved toast. It was one of those days where you randomly remember how good toast is.

“You eat like mongrel.” Damian looked her with disgust though the amusement in his eyes said otherwise.

“Well at least she’s eating something.” Jason’s voice was filled with equal mirth.

“I want like- two more.” Arya brushed the crumbs off her lips and gave a wry smile.

“You and toast, man. You and toast." Jason shook his head with a soft laugh grabbing her crumb covered plate. “I’ll get you some.” He patted her head.

Though, she never got to have her two extra pieces of toast though. Batman opened the door to the room Damian and she were in, well, Bruce Wayne, he wasn’t in the cowl. She shifted her eyes away from meeting his eyes.

“Hello, Arya.” He greeted, Damian shifted in front of her, concealing a part of her view of Bruce. From where she was sitting, she could see the slight tense of his jaw at the sight, it changed and loosened after a quick second. Arya’s eyes trailed down to what he was wearing, comfort clothes yet still somehow, he had that old money formal look.

“Hello.” She greeted back.

“How are you feeling?”

“Fine.”

“Do you feel any discomfort?”

“No.”

“Do you have anything to ask?”

“When can I leave?”

“Amanda Waller has yet to make a decision on whether you stay within Gotham or if you get imprisoned. It was a decision made prior to the Justice Leagues knowledge.”

“Ugh, that bi-rat, like she’s just asking to be shanked at this point.” Arya groaned, Bruce tensed up at that, his brows slightly furrowing in the same way Arya saw Damian do when he didn’t like hearing something. “I’m not going to actually kill her... maybe.” Arya clarified.

“She’s going to decide your placement.” Bruce told her. Between Waller and Bruce, she’d have to pick Bruce. Waller was held in deep place of hate within her, she had harsh methods Arya particularly didn’t like, and it almost felt like she was exploiting heroes and rogues for her own personal gain and just because she could. Sure, the rogues were bad and all but most often than not they were interesting people.

Arya sucked in a breath of air, “Can’t you... tell her that Batman will take care of it?... That you... will um, you will-”

“What’s this?” The door opened wider, Jason holding a plate of buttered toast, and two cups of cardamom chai, Arya’s eyes washed over the cup, her hands already reaching out to take one cup. The warmth of the cup seeping into her hands, calming the trembles that threatened to emerge. She took a sip, the warm liquid, sweetness spread along her tongue. A good cup of chai always hits the spot.

“A woman called Waller is deciding Arya’s placement.” Damian spoke up, grabbing the other cup of chai from Jason, the plate of toast was placed on Arya’s lap. She happily chowed away on more toast, taking more sips of her chai to wash it down.

“Waller?” Jason glanced at Bruce, his brow raised.

“Waller is deciding her placement.”

“You know how Waller is, you can’t say you haven’t.”

“She deemed the Justice League untrustworthy in making sure your sister doesn’t go out of control again. She’s a threat.”

“Excuse you, I’m harmless until things happen.” Arya spoke up, “Eww, I sound so cringey, ‘when I get mad, I see red’ type of thing, ew!” Arya cringed hard.

“Yeah, that was a bit..”

“You can’t even talk! You see green when you’re mad, you're the epitome of it!”

“You don’t deserved your toast.” The last slice of toast was snatched off her plate and an audible crunch echoed through the room.

“Whore.” Arya scowled at Jason.

“Slag.”Jason gave her a shiteating grin.

“Bellend”

“Knobhead”

“Pillock”

“Green?” Bruce spoke up breaking the two up, glancing at Jason, “Jason- how did you-”

“Take a wild guess.” Jason simply crossed his arms over his chest.

“Lazarus pit. Oh Jaylad-“

“Don’t wanna talk about it.” Arya silenced herself after Jason said that and slurped up her tea which resulted in Damian smacking her on the arm giving her a dirty look that screamed drink properly. She only grinned and slurped louder. The manor wasn’t going to be quiet and she lived for it- even though she probably shouldn’t be as happy about it. If it meant fighting Batman and Bruce and hearing Jason roast his ass, she’s going to be there.

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A few weeks passed from there, winter brightening up and letting spring come along, Arya was stuck at Wayne Manor for the time being and well, it couldn’t be any less fun. Currently she was on a chair in the living roomand was getting her scars painted on by Damian. Of course, it wasn’t that she hated the scars but she felt like if she kept looking at the scars that spiralled over her arms she would begin to hate them. She could remove them if she didn’t want them but then it would be like hiding the fact she hadn’t survived, and that would be hypocritical of her too, always finding good in scars in others but not with herself? That would be betraying both Damian and Jason.

Moving on, where were we? Oh right, Damian was painting over Arya’s skin, the scars being painted with gold skin-safe paint, red paint wrapped around her arm too, the fine detailed of scales meticulously was applied over them. Damian would accentuate the scales with slight lines of gold and white. It was all coming together. Damian really opened the portals of imagination with his heart, the was two inspired Chinese dragons that coiled themselves around Arya’s arms, “Mon etoile, these are amazing!” Arya lifted her arm up to look at the masterpiece. The scent of paint hitting her more concentrated  as she let her eyes rove over the design.

“I’m not finished!” Damian snapped at her, taking her hand in his to finish the details of the dragon even more. “And stop shivering, you’re going to mess the lines up.”

“I’m trying but the paint is cold.” Arya pouted petulantly which Damian kissed his teeth at, “Hey! You’re not allowed to kiss your teeth at me, I’m older than you!”

Damian kissed his teeth again, “Well I just did.”

“I’m going to tell you off to Jason.”

“He doesn’t care.” His eyes narrowing at her.

A sudden sense of déjà vu washed over Arya, she felt like they did this exact same thing before.  “You absconded rat, we’ll see.”

“I’ll tell him you called me an absconded rat.”

“I don’t care, tell him.” Arya shrugged accidentally making Damian’s paint brush make a line of gold paint in the wrong place.

“You messed it up!” Damian’s head shot up and glared at her.

“Sorry!” Arya winced slightly under the harshness of his glare as Damian tried to fix the stray brush stroke of paint on her arm.

“You’re such a child, you can’t even sit still.” He tutted as he managed to fix the painting with a skilful hand..

“Well, that’s mean.” Arya commented, staying still.

The two bickered back and forth as Damian continued working on the twin dragons on Arya’s arm. Until, the door to the living room opened up and Dick and Tim walked in. “Do you guys always argue like this?” Tim asked as he sat down on the couch, a good spaces away from the chair Arya was sat on. It was a calculative approach honestly, had a clear view of everything in the room, Dick, however walked his way over to see Damian’s masterpiece.

“No, but Damian suddenly caught an attitude he so desperately wanted to use on me.” Arya gave Damian a side eye, “He was never like this before, my baby was so nice to me.”

“Don’t spread lies.” Damian quipped.

“You see this?! He’s evolved into someone I don’t recognise.” Arya faked a sniff, mourning the change- not that he truly changed. “He doesn’t love me anymore.”

“I pray for whoever chooses to marry you.” Damian shook his head, finally finished painting her arms. Tucking the paints away and back into a pack.

“Too bad I’m never getting married, I say men shall all die and I’ll go kiss a woman.” Arya said with her head raised.

“Is this your coming-out reveal?” Damian looked at her.

“Hey! I like whoever. Like have you not seen those baddies on the street standing of business? I’m not better than no man!”

Okay “You need to have a restraining order put against you.”

“Noooo, don’t strip me of my fine baddies.” Arya sighed, “I’m joking, I’ll flirt and be on my way, maybe I’ll think about them at night but let me!”

“We should have a coming out party!” Dick clapped his hands together.

“Guys I’m kidding I’m actually straight! Maybe? We can do it for jokes, wait! Jason is missing!” Arya turned to Damian, “Damian call him! He has me blocked right now.” Arya laughed as she remembered why.

“What did you do to him?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Arya giggled to herself.

“You’re a freak.” Damian looked at her with slightest bit of concern.

“Can’t disagree with that.” Arya shrugged as Damian got out his iPad from God knows where and FaceTimed Jason.

“Habibi?” Jason answered, “What’s up? You don’t usually call, you text.”

“We’re having a coming-out party, and you need to be here.” Damian said monotonously, “For Arya.”

“I knew it! Turn it to her!” Jason on the screen looked so damn smug, “you’re bisexual and I knew it!”

“Where has these allegations come from?!” Arya groaned and put her h hands  on her face, “I don’t know what I am okay?!”

“Ever since that day you kept talking about that girl you passed on the street talking about she smelt like happiness and crazy. What even is that? How is that a smell?!”

“Maybe I said it for jokes you don’t know?!”

“You were talking about every single detail of her outfit and how pretty she looked for a good thirty minutes.”

“I know a baddie when I see one, it’s not a crime to find someone pretty.”

“You’re bisexual!”

“Stop and get your ass over here so we can have a party!” Arya ended the FaceTime call, obviously flustered at the fact she was so called out. “Don’t believe him guys, he’s a true liar.” Arya gave an awkward smile.

“We know what you are.” Dick patted her shoulder, “It’s okay, be who you are for your priiiiiidee.” It was safe to say that Dick was one of the people she pleasantly was fine with in the manor, a bit under Alfred but definitely along the same lines with Tim on her list of people she was cool with.

“Right, we should probably get this party shebang started!”  Arya clapped her hands together, “Where do you guys keep your bunting and things?”

“I can ask Alfred.” Tim spoke up, “I’ll tell him about the party too, his pizza rolls are amazing!”

Soon enough the party was coming together, the living room being turned into a small party room. In the middle of it, Jason came in with an inflated helium balloon reading ‘Congrats you’re bi’ scrawled on it with permanent marker, and a cupcake box that were all co-ordinated to show the bi flag, Arya definitely thinks Jason wasn’t joking anymore, she just told him to put them on the table and tie the balloon onto something because fucking hell… she had no words for him.

The party was spontaneous and at full blast when Dick got out the Wii and it was Arya versus Jason, “You’re getting in my space!” Arya shoved Jason as they danced to Birthday, after Jason got over his initial embarrassment he was popping all the moves and Arya was notletting him win.

“You’re the one in my space!” Jason scowled as he focused on the next moves coming up at the bottom of the TV screen.

“There’s a line and you keep stepping over it!” Arya shouted at him.

“Are you schizophrenic? What line?!”

“It’s imaginary, you should know this!” Arya snapped back, “It’s the rules!”

“Are they always like this?” Dick whispered to Damian.

“You mean them acting like complete imbeciles, yes, yes they are.” Damian took a bite of his cupcake.

“I never knew Jason was so good at Just Dance.” Tim spoke up from behind a cup of some tropical fizzy drink.

“He only gets this way when he’s competing.” Damian said with slightest bit of pride. “Or when he just needs to win against Arya.”

“HOW?! HOW?! This game is rigged!” Arya screamed, throwing her Wii remote onto the couch, “How’d you get more than me? You weren’t getting perfects and I was!”

“I’m just better.” Jason gave her the smuggest smile he could bare. That set Arya off, she grappled him to the ground, trying to strangle him.

“Hahahahaha! Loser!” Jason laughed as he parried and blocked her hands her from reaching his throat. Arya jammed an elbow right into his side and Jason managed to kick her off, though Arya was not faltering, she slid back onto her feet and was already ready to lunge at Jason who was already prepared for it. A playful smile glistened on his face as his eyes glinted with mischief, it had been a long time since Dick had seen it and by God, it made his heart melt at the sight of it.

Dick’s little brother had come back in the form of a over 6ft tall, more muscular man, a man he never got the chance to actually grow up with. Too busy with his own issues with Bruce and his own team that he left his brother behind. That stuck with Dick, stuck with him a lot. What if he was over more often, not for Bruce but for Jason instead, maybe Jason would have been more open to him. The thing he’s most grateful for is the fact that Jason didn’t hate him. For not being around as much. For not being there. Jason didn’t hate him even after everything. They weren’t as close as Jason, Arya and Damian were but having even the slightest of things to bond over was good to Dick.

Thing is, after Jason died, he stayed around more for Tim, he was never going to let another Robin to be subjected to what he did to Jason. Never. It was the least he could do, learning from the past mistakes of his life. Now that Jason was back, he wanted to do the same, let him feel more welcome and more loved. The same goes for both Arya and Damian, Arya had grown on him but she often kept boundaries up, only letting Dick see and know certain things.

“Master Jason, Miss Arya, what is this behaviour?” Alfred’s voice broke through the room, Arya and Jason scrambled up side by side, looking unkept. Alfred’s look softened before he lifted up a tray, “Your pizza rolls are ready to eat.” And boy did they look good. The cheese pull was heavenly and the aroma was just too good not to eat. To say the least, they all dived for them. Even little Damian.

“Arya you’ve already had four!” Damian pushed Arya out the way to get another.

“Jason has had seven!” Arya pointed at Jason who was happily munching away on his seventh roll.

“You guys just aren’t quick enough- hey!” Jason protested as Dick swiped one from his party plate, shoving it into his mouth.

“What?” Dick drawled batting his lashes innocently.

“Fuck you.”

“Mon solei! Not in front of Damian!” Arya snapped.

“I already know how to swear you fool!” Damian rolled his eyes.

“Such language isn’t for your tongue, my sweet sweet star.” Arya patted his head.

“Get your greasy fingers off me!” Damian ducked away and took another pizza roll and filled himself a cup of juice settling himself into a nice corner. Arya took a seat next to Tim who was sat on the couch just watching everything play out.

“You know, Tim, you don’t have to try stay out of things.” Arya said after a few moments of silence.

“Damian and Jason don’t really like me.” Tim said after taking a sip of his drink.

“Since I don’t know, I’m not going to say that they do but trust me they don’t hate you. If they did you wouldn’t be in the same room with them nor would Jason laugh around you, and Damian wouldn’t provide any of his commentary if he hated you. So you’re good.” Arya said leaning closer to him, letting her shoulder bump his just a tad. “And plus, if they hated someone, I’d probably hate them too, and look, I definitely think you’re a chill guy.”

“Because I am a chill guy.”

“Yeah you look like the type that’ll love to get stoned.”

“W-what?!” Tim burst into a startled fit of laughter.

“Just saying!” Arya grinned, “Though, don’t do drugs kiddo, ain’t good for you.”

“I’m not a kid.” The slightest pout appeared on Tim.

“Awww!” Arya pinched his cheeks, “You’re still a kid to meeee!”

“Get offf!” Tim burned red with embarrassment batting here pincers off his cheeks.

“Yep, just like a kid.” Arya grinned as Tim flipped her off. Gosh she was going to find more way to annoy Tim and it was going to be fun as hell.

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“I used to think that I wasn’t fine enough!” Arya sang into the microphone, they were doing blind karaoke and after all those tries this was the song that she actually got right. Love by Keyshia Cole.”And I used to think I wasn’t wild enough!” And this girl was pouring her heart out like she’s been heartbroken and murdered by a man’s love. Good thing Dick was as dramatic as her, they started belting their hearts out when the chorus came along, Dick grabbing his own microphone, Arya threw an arm over his shoulder and he did the same to her and the swayed along to the song.

“Oh, Loooooveee! Never knew what I was missin’, But I knew once we start kissin’ I fooouuund, LOOOOOOOVEEE!” The two sung in unison, their faces twisting up as if they were in pain. But, it was the only correct way to sing the song, right?

The next rounds of blind karaoke was just as fun, until Damian got mad after getting Gummy Bear three times in a row because Jason and Arya wanted to mess with him which ended up with Damian launching cupcakes with freakish accuracy right at them which ended up smearing down their face. Which in turn, Jason and Arya scooped up the frosting and smothered Damian’s face with it to which Tim and Dick ended up laughing at the three causing the trip to glance at each other, nodding firmly twice before attacking the other two before they could make it out the room.

Peals of laughter rung from the room that they were in as they all collapsed in a heap of tired limbs covered in icing and cupcake. Then Dick decided it was a great idea to do an ending speech because why the fuck not? Plus it was getting late for Damian and Arya agreed that Damian should get cleaned up and head to be too to catch up on his sleep which Damian retaliated only wanting to sleep if Arya does the same to which she agreed to.

“So uh, thanks friends and family for coming to this party.” Arya spoke into the karaoke microphone, “I’d like to say a few acknowledgements to my family, Jason and Damian. My two most wonderful brothers in the entire world and credits to Damian for these dragons that are currently covered under the frosting and cake, I promise you they were magnificent pieces of art. And I’d like to say thank you to my big brother Jason for being a dickhead.”

“Boo!” Jason booed from his seat with a smile flipping her off.

“Alright, kidding. Thank you for Jason and Damian for never giving up on me and for making life worth living in. I only love life because I live through it with you guys.” Before Arya could choke herself up with tears she gave a smile, “Anyways as a lasting message, men are shit so imma go kiss a girl instead cuz I’m cool like that, mic drop.” And Arya dropped the mic, the four boys clapped their hands as she gave them her signature bow.

“You realise we are male, Arya.” Damian said as he stopped clapping.

“Yeah but I have exceptions on who shit people are, so it doesn’t apply to you, or Jason or Dick or Tim because you guys are cool.” Arya hooped Damian’s  nose, “Now let’s get cleaned up and in bed and sleeping because I am knackered!”

And that’s what they did the cleared up the room as good as they could before Alfred took over, they washed up (Arya mourned the loss of her twin dragons) and soon enough Arya was stretched over a bed like a starfish with Damian kicking her out of his space in the bed.

Sleep came easier than usual for Arya, and with a few winks, she was out cold.

Chapter Text

Rain fell heavily upon Gotham, Waller was making her move. She had decided that Arya was not someone fit to stay within society, regardless of the fact that there hadn’t been any activity from the girl. She sent a firm message that was loud and clear to Batman that, she was to be contained and taken to the underwater facility and put in an induced coma and to stay there. She was considered a threat to humanity.

When Jason and Damian found out, all hell broke loose. Though Arya was a different case now, first she had been afraid, angry but now? She was just calm. Like crashing waves calmed by a breaking tide.

“Arya don’t tell me you’re considering going?!” Jason asked her incredulously, “What happened to sticking together? You said you’d stay or was that just another lie you told us to make us feel better?” It seemed Damian was on the same lines as Jason was.

“You’re not going.” Damian gritted out before running out the room.

“Excuse you, but I never said I was going.” Arya finally spoke up.

“Then why are you so calm? Why aren’t you mad?” Jason asked raising a brow.

“I’ve been thinking-“

“Dangerous but okay?”

“Hey! Stop that, anyways I was thinking.” Arya narrowed her eyes at him, “Why not just erase Waller, a little bibbity bobbity boo would help.”

“You realise that Waller is literally the government and-“

“And an exploiter.”

“Arya, no.”

“Ugh boring.”

“It’s too late to wipe the databases with my information, I already have a digital footprint.”

“Why not just erase the data on you and what you’ve done?”

“Well, that is like a whole process of wiping out the memories of people and the news from months ago, I genuinely don’t care if the Justice league know, but then there will be people looking for answers and their gaps in their memory will need to be replaced- see? It’s already so long and that would mean using my powers up.” Arya sighed, in all honesty Arya hadn’t really been using her powers at all. After the whole Creator debacle, Arya kind of just didn’t use it, she had no need to. She wasn’t going on patrol, she was provided with everything she needed so quite frankly there wasn’t really a need for her to use them.

“Arya, remind me.” Jason sighed, “What can your powers do?”

“I can become anything and everything I put my mind to. I use food and rest as energy sources.”

“Arya, you can do anything with them, you can literally can make  all of the problems that you might encounter not happen.”

“Isn’t that just cheating?”

“Arya your whole existence is cheating the system.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

“But I don’t want to overuse my power.” Arya frowned, “what if I get into a coma again and end up in the Blue and Creator keeps me there?”

“You won’t, Arya.”

“How would you know?!” Arya’s face twisted with frustration, “What if I go just a tad bit out of my limits and Creator decides to be a dick again?”

“Arya, we have the pills remember? I’ll just get them from Bruce.” Jason place a hand on her arm, it was grounding. Warm, welcoming, right. “Arya the things you can do is greater than you think, the only thing that stops you sometimes is yourself. Thinking that you can’t. Arya, you did more than I could have done. You killed Joker. I couldn’t do that- well I don’t think I could’ve even if I had the chance.”

“Don’t say that, you’re definitely stronger, you survived when you could have just accepted death.”

“Isn’t that what you did too?” Jason countered back, “you decided to live. Not die. You decided to beat those trials in the Blue to come back to the world we live in. You did that. You kept fighting over and over and over. Don’t let your dumb brain tell you can’t do anything because you’ve proven it wrong countless of times.” Jason poked her forehead with a finger. “You can do it.”

“Geez, when did you get so smart, weirdo?” Arya glanced away, a sheen of tears over her eyes, not falling, just settling there.

“I was a literature kid, I’m bound to be smarter than you with words.”

“Hush.” Arya rolled her eyes, “Nerd.”

“I’ll take that with pride.” Jason smiled.

“Anyways, I’ll think about it,” Arya notice the protest that Jason was about to give to that and swiftly cut him off, “Just know I’m not going to Waller any time soon or ever. Possibly.”

“Good. Glad we can agree with that.”

“Yeah, just figured she ain’t worth my time.”

“Definitely not worth your time.”

“She’s like a beg tryna be relevant in places that she’s not wanted. I’d say that’s embarrassing and quite frankly, fuck the government, they’re not for the people anyway, they’re for themselves.”

“Damn right.” Jason hooked an arm over her neck, pulling her down for a noogie, making Arya laugh.

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A strangle gasp broke through Arya’s throat as she scrambled out her bed, her eyes blurred with figures she had seen fall. They were coming. She yanked the door open, stumbling her way down the hallway. “No!” A shadowed hand tried grabbing at her, accompanied by pinprick eyes staring at her. “Go away- I didn’t-“ her legs carried her along, refusing to surrender to the constant shake that trembled through her body.

She was backed into a corner. They multiplied, they seemed melt into their own separate entities. All in the same purpose which Arya could see from their eyes- to hurt her- it was revenge. That could be the only answer.

Her throat scratched along boulders of air to her lungs that lay heavy in her chest, her diaphragm crushed her lungs, she felt like she was choking. It hurt.

It hurt.

It hurt.

It hurt.

She could feel her body failing on her. She could feel the drop coming. She couldn’t let herself drop, no. No no no! They’d get her! Her ears wrung with a ring, she scrunched her eyes shut, covering her ears as a sob managed to wrack out of her.

A pounding headache started to form, each time she sobbed, hot tears seeped from her eyes, the headache slowly began to ache worse and worse. She was tired. So so tired.

She couldn’t hear. She couldn’t see. Ironically, that gave her peace.

The headache got too much, her lungs pushed at her to actually breathe properly. Beyond the pounding of her head, she tried. The lump in her throat and the pressing of her chest, both working together to both push and pull air within her. The buzz filled under her skin before flushing out like a dunk in ice cold water. She just wanted it to end. Fuck.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The human mind is a strange thing. It worked in patterns efficiently. Picks up on patterns and cues. It hooked on it. In many dangerous situations such as earthquakes if you ever find yourself stuck under something, make frequented taps with something. Conserves energy and saves you from a sore throat. Only when you hear people close by try yell. The human mind somehow surpasses comprehension, why does it pick up on patterns and frequencies. Another analogy, the beats of a song, it allows you to match how you may dance to it. It’s something easy that you can pick up. Good thing Arya was no different to this.

“What the fuck is that?” Arya rasped, her lips crackled and parched. Her eyes peeled open and she could just feel the dried tears and crust sticking to her cheeks and eyes. She rubbed at it with the back of her hands before blinking several times to make sense of what she was seeing. She could feel her back pressed against the meeting of two walls, it was hard and cool, the carpet felt nice under her but her ass feel so sore from staying rooted to the ground for so long without shifting. You know how it gets, don’t even lie.

“Arya.” Piercing blue eyes stared at her. Their figure was still hazy to look at but she could really tell those were eyes.

“Bomboclart. You could kill someone with them eyes.” Her eyes already moving away from them, focusing on their outfit to actually understand what the fuck or who the fuck she was looking at. Large frame, Hm not Jason though, Jason would never wear something like a dress shirt. Too fancy. It couldn’t be Dick, the trousers were too uncomfortable to do anything acrobatic-like in. Couldn’t be Alfred, he doesn’t have blue eyes. Which was heaven. “Bruce.” She mused.

“Are you alright?” He asked her.

“Mmm, yes?” She was alive and breathing. Tired? Yeah, she was. Up for jokes? Yup. And she had one crouched right in front of her.

“You don’t seem very comfortable sitting there.” Bruce said, stating the obvious. Of course she didn’t feel comfortable, her back is some weird angle, her neck aches, her feet are numb and she can’t feel the back of her heels. Bruce stretched out a hand for her to take. She took it. “Easy now, no quick motions.” He helped her up, she definitely needed it because her legs didn’t feel like her own all of a sudden and her head just blanked out for a while. Shout out to the anaemia girlies, Arya gets you now.

“Thank you.” She knew when gratitude should be given. Especially when Bruce managed to pull out a bottle of water from nowhere. That was like she had been given ambrosia. He had already opened the bottle by the time Arya grabbed it and took a few good gulps. Water, what a beautiful blessing. After she had her time to drink, she wiped her lips of the few drops that managed to spill out and close the bottle back. “Thank you, again.” She gave him a thumbs up.

“You had a panic attack, do you know why?” Bruce asked, not going roundabout with it. Arya liked that. She didn’t like people sugarcoating things. She likes things told to her straight up.

“Yup.” Arya glanced away, she noticed that Bruce would move his face so that he’d be in her field of vision, so she knows she’s talking to him and that she has his full attention. It reminded her of her dad.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Bruce maybe wasn’t the best person to ask that. Arya had displayed her dislike against him. Subtle but it was there.

“I’m hungry.” Arya deflected.

“Let’s go to the kitchen then.” Bruce knew that she didn’t want to talk about it, but leaving her alone wasn’t right. Especially since Damian was asleep and Jason, Tim and Dick were out on patrol, plus Alfred, as godsend as he was, he also needed his sleep too.

When they got to the kitchen, a dangerous place Bruce had been banned from utilising, he watched the girl move around with ease. She was making toast, she pulled out jam and butter and spread them on her slices of toast, separately. She made the most of the rest of the bottle of water and drank in between her crunches of toast.

“You make things really hard to hate you.” Arya spoke up after another sip of water.

“You actively try to hate me?” Bruce sat in one of the stools near the island.

“A lot actually.” Arya smiled, “I know a lot about you, your childhood, why you took up the cowl, your friendships, connections. I know all that.” Bruce tensed slightly at that admission, “But then, it’s like I don’t know you at all at the same time.”

“How do you know all of those things?” Bruce decided to ask. It felt like a breach in his privacy plus he had the right to know.

“In my world, you’re a prominent figure in society. There’s a lot of ways to get information about you, when I was seven I practically knew everything I could find about you from my TV. When I grew up, that just got easier. I liked you a lot. You were one of my favourites, I had a massive figurine of you that I stole from my brother, I lost it and mourned the Batman figurine for years.” Arya’s eyes grew distant. “Then I used to ask, why doesn’t Batman never kill?”

“Killing only begins a cycle that can never be stopped.” Bruce said. That was only the tip of the ice berg for it. Just the tip.

“You are capable of killing. You always have been. You just don’t.” Arya sighed, “All those lives I took, they could have been a mother, a father, a sister, a brother, a daughter, a son, a friend to someone. I took that away. I took them away. What if I ended up dying there, in their place instead? They would have had a part in it. But all those lives would have been saved right? So I should have died in their place?” Arya’s eyes hardened with a look of defiance and something else. Not something you could strictly confine to a category of anger, frustration or sadness.

“No one would have deserved to die.” Bruce broke her pattern of thought. “They didn’t deserve to die, and neither would you.”

“You know a part of me did die that day.” Arya finally looked him square in the eyes, her hands shook before she put her hands down flat on the countertop to hide it. “The part where I couldn’t kill. Deep down, I know it was wrong to kill them, I’ve thought about it over and over. Haunts me. Their eyes, their eyes, you don’t understand. They were happy to see me suffer. They all conformed to the idea that it was acceptable to let me suffer. They watched me cry. They watched me bleed. Not one, not a single one spoke up or said ‘hey this is kinda crazy watching Lady Blue get brutally tortured, we should do something.’”

“And this was just two weeks. Two weeks and I didn’t know. I didn’t know time. The place I was in. Who was give me some sustenance next. Nothing. I didn’t know a single thing and you know what the fuck I thought ‘I’m glad it’s not someone else going through this.’” Arya bit in disgust. Her eyes teared up with anger.

“It’s not your fault, Arya.”

“Don’t do that to me.” Arya said harshly, her eyes tearing up more. “Everyone says that. Each and every person I know says that, it’s starting to sound like a lie each time.” She was the one who was careless. She let herself get shot. She didn’t do a check. She thought about the other possibilities if she didn’t mess around and play around while handling those two pricks that ended up getting her shot. It was hard to think of anything else. It was her fault. Batman didn’t know that. Bruce didn’t know that. No one knew. The only correct things she did that night was telling  Jason to come get her.

“Arya, you wouldn’t have known that it would happen to you. No one knew. Everyone has regrets for way things in life should have gone.”

“It’s kinda hard to think that my locus of control was what brought me to this point.” Arya glanced at her now cold toast. It didn’t look very appealing to eat it anymore, nor did she feel hungry anymore. “I’m sorry though.”

“What are you sorry for, Arya?” Bruce’s eyes widened a fraction, he wasn’t expecting an apology at all for anything.

“I killed Joker. You had your moments with him. Your best enemy.” Arya glanced at him, “I’m not sorry he’s dead, he had a long run that should have been cut down years ago.”

“You shouldn’t have killed him.” Bruce said, his voice even, clear and steady.

“Doesn’t change that I did. I’m glad it wasn’t by your hands or by Jason’s. It would have wrecked you. People would fear you more than they do now.” Arya pursed her lips slightly before opening her mouth again, “The Batman who kills. There is a variant of you that did. You went crazy. Unstoppable. I bet you’ve already gotten a file to stop yourself too in the Batcave if it ever gets to that point.”

“You’ve seen it?”

“Gotham got worse. So, moral of the story. Don’t kill, man.” Arya cracked a smile. “It’s not a nice thing and it never and I mean never gets easier.” Arya pulled up a thumbs up. “Unless you convert those deaths into numbers and whatever and just keep them as just a point being taken off instead of taking accountability then you might bypass all the shit that comes with it when you’re awake.”

Sleep isn’t for the wicked, sleep is for the innocent. Macbeth taught her that, the poison in her mind might settle in there forever. No antidote. She may just have to live with it forever. Arya picked up her plate, “This was a nice talk.” She dumped the uneaten toast in the bin, it was stale, she felt guilty not eating it slightly, not too much though. After setting the plate away, she crossed the distance between Bruce and her, before giving him a quick right hug before he could even register it. “Thank you.” She was gone, disappearing out the door of the kitchen and down the hallway.

What a confusing kid, Bruce thought. Every time he thinks he understands the girl, she presents a change or an unpredictable move, she was like an untameable river, she could either be in your favour or against it.  She proved to be an ever changing individual. However she has a few self-esteem issues. She takes in things said to her, though her thoughts are her drive, she either believes something or she doesn’t, no matter how much you may try tell her something. It’s especially difficult when you’re someone she doesn’t sincerely trust.

Bruce was no therapist. He wasn’t, these were just assumptions that he had yet to perceive as facts. One thing that he can guarantee is that Arya is capable of being a threat, it doesn’t mean she is. There’s a difference.

Bruce got to walking to the cave, he had a few things to add and change in his files on Arya.

Chapter Text

“You got them?” Arya asked Jason. He held up a pill that Bruce hadn’t crushed into powder, her energiser. Arya tapped into her usual power, letting it strum through her. It felt like second nature but still a bit foreign, her skin gave way to the woven pieces of a staff. It branched off her right hand like another limb. She opened a hand to take the pill, she popped it in dry, the flush of power began to hum in her, a warm powered beat of her heart began to flounder at her ears.

They were in the heart of the forest that stretched out from the Wayne Manor garden. They hadn’t spoken a single word while they made their way out there nor did they tell the others of it.

“You ready?” Jason placed a hand over her shoulder.

“No, but it’s now or never, innit?” Arya gave him a wry grin, her first time using her power after so long. It was nerve wracking. She had spent nights upon nights just stressing over, thinking 101 scenarios that could occur. She had enough and just wanted to bang it out right then and there and face whatever consequences would come.

Jason cracked a smiled before giving her a nod. She replayed what she had to do, wipe her the memory and footage of ‘Arya’ out of the government system and civilian memories (including government figure memories) and replace them with a gist of things she did but not completely. That was what she had to do. Erase and remake.

A curdling of light shot up from her staff-hand, the blend of a stark yellow and cerulean blue breached the smoky clouds of smog that continuously smothered Gotham. She came to support her staff-hand with her other hand keeping it stable. The beam of light breached the earth’s atmosphere stretching out at a point to devour the Earth, sealing it like a large bubble.

Arya’s arms began to shake as her operations began to take a toll on her, Jason was quick to help, his hands keeping her arms steady. He wasn’t sure how to help but it was doing something which was taking off strain off Arya’s arm.

“How long until you think you’re going to be done?” Jason asked her, his voice raised slightly so she could hear him.

“There are a lots of people in the world you know!” Arya said through gritted teeth, waves of energy began to brush over towards Arya, it was all the memories of her actions upon Happy Harbour City and some things she had done in Gotham that had been seen by people- such as the dragon incident. She had replaced the memories with a bit of a distortion, one which wouldn’t allow people to figure out who she was. Like an entity just being there, not really knowing what it is.

After a good thirty minutes, the trail of light that had been shooting into the sky slowly began to dissipate. Arya’s arms ached, the same could be said for Jason. “Ugh, I’m knackered.” Arya slumped to her knees, nestling over the earthy ground as she rubbed her arm which she had shifted back to normal.

2+ Karma Points.

[‘Fear does not define you’ award achieved.]

A warm smiled appeared on Arya’s face, she hadn’t heard from system in a long time. Creator must have disabled System after the whole trials thing. It's good to see them back.

Hey, System. I missed you.

Hello, Arya.

Creator around?

They are aware of my communications with you, they have other [Players] to attend to.

Damn, I send my prayers to the other me’s.

Is there anything you would like?

Not really but I’d like to ask, are you alright?

I am at my optimum Arya, thanks for asking.

You’re welcome, I’ll catch up with you later, yeah?

Goodbye Arya.

Bye, System!

“Talking to System?” Jason asked, he was sat on the ground with a stick digging into the ground, it was clear he noticed that she wasn’t mentally present when he asked a question earlier.

“Yup.” Arya stood up, pulling her brother up with an arm, “Race you back to the manor? Loser has to ask Dick for a hug for five minutes.” Dick’s octopus hugs were so retraining and warm, Jason physically bristled up, he could endure a minute but five? Plus, he hadn’t truly had a long conversation with him after came back. Interactions were necessary but they hadn’t truly had time to catch up. “Threetwoone go!” Arya had sped off.

“You’re not allowed to shift!” Jason ran off after her, his long strides eating up the distance between them, both of them weaving in and out the path of trees and jumping over the overgrown roots that were sticking out the ground.

The manor lights were coming into view and they were tied, their heaves of breath were as in sync as their strides, left foot forward, right arm forward, right foot, left arm forward- you get the gist of it.

A giggle slipped out of Arya followed by a low chuckle from Jason, they glanced at each other as they increased their pace for the last stretch of ground they had to cover. They ended up finishing in a tie. Alfred was waiting at the door with a look of disapproval.

“Master Jason, Miss Arya, what on earth are you doing being out in the woodlands so late?” He raised a brow. “Master Bruce wishes to speak to you in the morning. Now off you go to your rooms.”

“Sorry Alfred.” The two chorused, holding back adrenaline filled laughter with stretching smiles.

“Alfred, but who won?” Arya asked glancing at her brother before looking back at Alfred.

“It was a tie.” The look on his face softened, “Off you pop.”

The two walked into the manor, talking amongst themselves since they came tied what the next plan would be. The next day, although they hadn’t decided yet, it was a full house and Arya was plotting. After Bruce had a talk with Arya (mainly because of the memory wiping stunt late at night since the energy spike was a clear indicator that Arya had did it- reported by Oracle), let’s just say he wasn’t very happy but it did mean that Waller would be off his back and they’d have some peace, in turn meaning that Arya can leave the mansion now!

Anyways, Dick had come back from Bludhaven for the weekend, it was after lunch where Arya said, “Hey, Dick, guess what Jason told me recently?” A sly grin stretching over her lips.

“Oh? What did he say?” Dick have a smile back to her, though upon noticing the slightly malicious nature of her smile his brows furrowed in confusion.

“Jason said he misses your hugs.” Arya finished just as Jason just walked into the room.

“Aww, little wing!” Dick was already travelling towards him with his arms stretched out when the realisation dawned on Jason, his eyes blowing wide in disbelief and betrayal. He was scooped up in a hug from Dick immediately, Jason’s eyes locked onto Arya’s as he began to mouth death threats at her as she began silently dying from laughter as she watched Jason reluctantly give Dick awkward pats on his back. “I missed hugging you like this.” Dick squeezed him even more, “Now you’re taller than me, it’s not fair.” There were a few undertones of different ways you could take his words but the main one, he felt like he wasn’t there around to see him grow.

Awkwardly, Jason brought his arms around Dick, reciprocating the hug. The hug was… nice, his body remembered but it felt different. Maybe he had grown up a lot. Actually you could say he had, no one prepares you for a younger sibling, and the fact he had two (three- he’s getting there) now, that was a lot. Jason didn’t have that before when he was at the manor all those years ago. It was just Dick and him. He wonders if he was a good brother- oh.

Oh.

Jason realised. Dick had felt like he had failed him in some way. Failed in being a good brother to him. He can’t lie, Dick was a teenager that did some mistakes but growing up? Jason didn’t hold them against him anymore like he first did after the lazurus pit. He understood. Sometimes he felt like he was failing Damian and Arya each time they got hurt or something happened to them. Dick was feeling the exact same thing. No older sibling wishes for their younger sibling to get hurt much less die. Which Jason essentially had died.

So, when Jason had come back, Dick hovered, he couldn’t believe that his younger brother was back, just different- not the bad kind-ish. Just grown up. He had grown up but Dick wasn’t there to see it. No records of his growth either. Lost in the annuls of time and just in general, Dick didn’t think there was anything for him to try find. He doubts the League took any time to do such things.

“Hey, Dick.” Jason spoke up.

“Yeah?”

“You know Arya has never had one of your hugs.She looks like she could use one now.” A wicked look glinted in Jason’s eyes.

“Huh?” Arya raised her hands in surrender, “I’m very goood thank you, you guys can hug it all out by yourselves-“ she was cut off by a bundle of limbs hugging her. And Jason?

Somehow, Dick had managed to wrap his arms around Jason’s bulk and gotten to Arya too. How long were his arms?! He’s so octopus-y. It was a nice, constrictive sort of hug. Arya sighed into the hug.

“You know what? This is an amazing hug.” Arya said quietly.

“You’ve set yourself up for more hugs now.” Jason whispered to her.

“I’ll gladly give you two more hugs!” Dick’s heart was bursting with warmth and happiness.

“Eh, I’ll live.” Arya shrugged, hugs were hugs. Maybe she needed a lot more of it from an enthusiastic recipient. Dick ticked all of the boxes she wanted and she knew if she asked for a hug it wouldn’t be a bother to him.

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Arya was in a mood. She made it everyone’s problem. Obviously. She started by downing a whole jug of juice that she knew Damian wanted to have, hid the stash of coffee Tim had around the manor, superglued socks into all of Bruce’s main smart shoes she could find, she cut down all the jokes that Dick tried to make to cheer her up and when Jason texted her about a book he wanted to recommend her, she blocked him on everything. That was when Jason’s mental alarm bells rang. Something was up.

“Who was it?” Red Hood’s modulated voice came out of the helmet. Robin, Red Hood and Nightwing were all on the library roof, Jason stood with his arms crossed over his red bat insignia.

“Are we talking about, Arya? Because I don’t know.” Nightwing raised his hands in surrender.

“Well, someone had to have done something, Arya doesn’t just block me. She never does, that’s my thing.” Jason loosened up his tensed shoulders.

“Well, maybe you did something.” Robin frowned, a bit sour about having his access to premium coffee denied.

“Akhi, could have never.” Damian’s voice crackled through the comms from the batcave.

“Damian, you’re meant to be in bed.” Jason said with obvious disapproval in his voice.

“Ukhti is hunting me.” Damian said, now it sounded like he was on the move through the cave, by the sound of his clothes rustling.

“Hunting?!”  Dick asked incredulously. “What did you do?”

“I ate the last cookie Alfred made.”

“Rest in peace.” Tim offered into the comm.

“She drank all of the juice, and she knew I wanted to have some.” Damian hissed into the comm, “I asked her if I could have some and there was enough for four people! She drank it right in front of me, not even using a cup! Akhi, it’s not fair!”

“Honestly, that’s fair, Dami.” Jason mused, he understood why Damian would take the last cookie and he doesn’t blame him, Alfred’s cookies are to die for, “I’m coming back in twenty.”

“You have to come-“ Damian cut himself off as footfalls began to echo through the cave that began to oscillate into the comm.

A solemn agreement was made between the three vigilantes, a quick infiltrate and subdue was due. Target: Arya.

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“Let go of me!” Jason had his arms wrapped around an angry Arya, her feet off the ground and kicking like a petulant child.

“No.” Jason said, amused. At the same time, Damian looked smug as hell as he looked at Arya with a greater-than-thou look.

“I don’t like you.”

“Sure you do.” Jason rolled his eyes before slinging the girl over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, meanwhile Damian was throwing her the middle finger and she threw one back.

“Jason, Damian’s swearing at me.”

“No, I’m not!” Damian squawked, quickly putting his middle finger down.

“Liar.”

“I don’t care who did what, shut up.” Jason opened the door to the living room and practically tossed Arya onto the beanbag. “You’re going to sit and tell us what’s wrong.”

“No.” Arya muttered into the beanbag. It was childish but she couldn’t bring herself to care, all energy deflating out of her.

“Five… four… three…” Jason started counting down. If Arya wanted to act like a child, he’d treat her like one, Damian on the other hand was enjoying this thoroughly and was laughing away behind a hand. Arya folded under no pressure.

“I’m having cramps.” The female body is such an amazing thing, regardless if you’d want crotch gremlins or not, it was more or less consistent in making sure you knew that you had fertile loins in the year. One of the main reasons why you have periods is because your body feels that it’s safe enough to have a child, if a child isn’t conceived then the uterus lining begins to break down to allow a new one to form in hopes a fertilised egg will nestle into the lining the next time you’re fertile. However, sometimes people may not receive their periods for a long time, it could be due to diets, issue in health or other factors but one that is to be touched upon is the body sensing that it isn’t safe for a baby to be born.

In Arya’s case, the fact that she had lost so much blood, had a weak diet and had physical trauma occurring on her, her body figured that it wasn’t the best time for her to need a child (not that she’d want one anytime soon! Nor does she wish for one), her periods paused, she hadn’t seen them in about four months since her encounter with Joker.  She felt like she was missing an essential piece of her, though the stress of not getting your period on time is real. And she felt it heavily.

“Cramps as in abdominal cramps?” Jason asked carefully.

“Mhm.” Arya hummed into the beanbag.

“What nonsense. That is the cause of your hellhound behaviour today?” Damian tutted as crossed his arms over his chest.

Arya’s neck snapped over to his direction, her eyes filled with a newly flames rage that showed in the tense setting of her jaw. “How about you get continuously stabbed in the stomach, dragged over stalagmites every single time you try to fucking move. How about you get a disgusting feeling of nausea that just sits on the top of your stomach without any medicine to help. How about you fucking try that, so do yourself a favour and shut your fucking mouth before I take your tongue away and make you involuntarily mute.” Arya grit out in a wave of anger before putting her head back down. A disgusting spin of nausea waving over her, the lights were starting to get overstimulating, the same kind of feeling you get when you walk into Primark, and it's packed with people and its waaaayy too warm and humid inside with people just talking a fraction too loud. It was sickening.

Arya’s never spoken to Damian like that. Damian looked at her with a slight astonishment, curiosity and a bit proud. He huffed and kept his mouth closed. He knew pushing at Arya when she was in such a state would just bring a whole new form of Arya.

“Arya, don’t talk to Damian like that.” Jason sighed, he knew she didn’t mean a single word and was running on pain and hate, nevertheless she shouldn’t have said it. “Apologise.”

“Sorry.” Arya muffled out.

“You have to take me to see our horses for me to forgive you.” Damian said with a smile stretching on his face.

“Okay.” Was the reply he got from the girl, who was slowly starting to curl up on the bean bag, clutching her middle as her sequence of breaths began to increase, her cramps were turning up a notch. She was never the type to get her cramps along with her period, it was always before. It was something no one can get used to, plus this impromptu period wasn’t something she prepared for beforehand. The given pads she found in the toilets were thin, she had made a thicker one by stacking two and one at the end.

“Did you have any pain killers?” Jason asked, crouching down to her level, keeping his voice nice and quiet, not to overwhelm her.

“Didn’t work and I don’t have the access to any meta ones.” Arya breathed in sharply as a cramp hit particularly strongly. She dreaded of what was to come later.

“I’ll ask Alfred, I think he has some.” Jason assured her, he did find it strange that even though her blood samples didn’t present her as a meta, her body worked like a meta-person. Creator must have had a hand into that.

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Hormones were whack and Arya was feeling worse. She had vomited a whole lot throughout the day, she was looking worser than before. She paled. Paled! She didn’t even know that it could happen to people of her colour, but she definitely looked out of it and pale. She was feeling even more gross when her period actually began, which meant Jason had to sped away on his motorbike to get Arya her very specific needs which included heavy duty pads, a takeaway box of lamb donner over some salad and fries with Algerian sauce, mayo and lots of ketchup smothered over it, Rubicon mango and some lemonade and a strawberry trifle as a cheeky dessert.  He didn’t really get how Arya would eat it all, but he wasn’t going to argue with the girl. With Nightwing and Robin out on patrol and with Oracle on the line, Jason thinks that Gotham is fine for the night.

Meanwhile, Damian was trying to entertain the girl, to distract her. “Father said that he has a dog, he is called Ace.” Damian was trying, okay? He was trying to get her involved with the conversation, but she wasn't really responding as he would have liked. “I want to meet him, Father said he’s been recuperating elsewhere. I wish to have a dog and a cat.”

“Ask your dad.” Arya said flatly, pulling herself more into the cocoon of blankets she was wrapped up in on the couch.

“You are correct, I should ask.”

“Mhm.” Arya hummed boredly. Damian noticed this, his face dropping sadly, his brows furrowing softly, his eyes growing upset.

“Am I... boring you?” Damian asked quietly, Arya’s eyes flickered over his form. She wasn't being fair, and she was hurting Damian’s feelings.

“I’m sorry.” Arya opened her cocoon of blankets up and a hand reached out and curled over Damian’s wrist and she tugged him inside with her, fitting him right next to her. “You don’t deserve me being like this when you’re awake past your bedtime to keep me entertained.” She kissed the top of his head. The tension that Damian had accumulated started to trickle out of him as he slumped next to her. “I’m feeling very uncomfortable and well, you can guess my mood.”

“Is this what you usually have to go through each month?” Damian was educated; it comes with being an Al Ghul. He didn’t get the mood changes but understood the concept hormonal aspect, though its nothing like the textbooks. In cases like these, it’s good to ask he presumed.

“Uh yeah, it’s different for a lot of people. Though some women are really neglected when they stress their concerns about their body.”

“Isn’t it a doctor’s job to help the patient in any kind of way they can?”

“Well, some doctors just think that anything that a women may find concerning must just be due to their cycle- which is wrong. If it were a man, it would be a whole lot different.” Arya said, voicing a bit of frustration at the health care system.

“All patients should be treated the same regardless of gender.”

“Exactly.” Arya slumped. “When do you think Jason will come back with my food. I want to eat for the stimulation not because I feel hungry.” She was getting rather tired of talking and her social battery was slowly getting drained.

“I can call him.” Damian slipped out the blankets to head to his room to get his ipad. Arya curled up into the couch with a sigh as she shut her eyes, it was going to be a long few days.

After a good thirty minutes, after Damian called Jason, said man was finally bac at the manor with at least seven different brands of heavy duty pads, some Arya didn't know existed, he’d bought her a care bear hot water bottle a  Funshine bear designed one, a juxtaposition to Arya’s actual current mood which was leaning towards Grumpy bear. While Arya got herself sorted, Jason heated up her food and gave her half the actual portion size that she was given, out of good intention due to her vomiting a lot and feeling nauseous throughout the day but also leaving her strawberry trifle in the fridge for when she felt like having dessert.

When Arya was back in the living room, the table was pushed near the couch, her food steaming, her drink propped up next to the plate, her hot water bottle filled up and warm, her pile of blankest from looking ever so enticing and the TV had the Great British Bake Off playing, Arya beelined straight to her well-deserved place and started eating slowly with a small smile on her face.

The flavours flourished on her tongue pleasantly, the savouriness of the donner went well with the fries that balanced it out with the smothering of ketchup over it, the salad that came in between was refreshing between bites and just overall kept the whole meal in harmony. She loved it. When Arya was full, she had a bit left that she didn’t want, so as brothers do, Jason and Damian finished it, Damian, of course, didn’t eat any of the donner.

 The day may have started like bum day usually did, but it sure turned into a slightly better day. Arya went to sleep happily that night. Full of yummy food and the dizzy spell of nausea had gone away long ago.

Chapter Text

The wind bristled past the barn, the horses were out grazing on the field with the little shepherd dog Bessie running around with them, tongue flaying happily. Mr McGregor stood on the field with a cup of his tea. Mentally ticking of the list of things that he had done for the animals and the things he needed to add, such as a new fence for the sheep and some tools needed for next harvest. His peace was interrupted by an unmistakeable voice, “MR MCGREGOR! HI!” He internally sighed before turning around.

“Arya, Damian.” He gave the two a nod before he saw a third that wasn’t Jason, who came on occasion, a man roughly in his early twenties, blue eyes and black hair. “Who’s this?”

“Uhm, let’s just say he’s uh a brother?” Arya glanced at Dick, who looked slightly stunned at being called her brother, even though it sounded unsure, it still meant a lot to him and he felt very grateful for it.

“My name’s Richard but please call me Dick.” Dick grinned, his dimples engraved in his face charmingly.

“Alright,” McGregor had no reason to ask any questions more than necassary, he knew to keep to his business, “Your horses are over there with the other girls.” The man pointed across the field to the horses that were grazing together.

“Race you, mon etoile!” Arya sprinted off.

“YOU CHEATER!” Damian screeched after her, already gaining on her, despite her head start.

“Are they usually like this here?” Dink asked McGregor.

“They are fuzzballs of chaos, especially the little lady. She and the little man used to threaten me with knives and daggers the first few times they came round, the little lady always provided money for the animals.” The old man explained, “It’s quiet here on the farm but it always ends in a loud day, whenever they come around without the other brother around to keep them in check.”

“I bet the animals love them.” Dick grinned.

“Oh, they both love and dread them.”  McGregor chuckled lightly, “Alright, I’m off to get more tea from my missus.” With that, his wellington boot covered feet were off heading to his small house. Dick was slightly stunned in how easy the man was in leaving them to his farm, but it showcased his trust in them.

From a distance, Dick could see the two climbing onto their mares, with Arya helping Damian get on Amir before she vaulted herself onto Hani. They were riding bareback and without safety gear which was safe to say Dick was concerned.

“You two! You need to wear safety equipment!” Dick’s voice travelled across the field. The two put their horses into a trot to make their way over.

“You’re no fun.” Arya pouted, “It’s fun riding bareback, its like freeing!”

“Grayson, I am skilled enough to not need any equipment.” Damian scowled slightly.

“Your safety is my biggest concern, especially you Damian, you’re only a child.” Dick stressed his concern.

“I am not a child.” Damian huffed.

“You kinda are, Dames.” Arya chimed in.

“I am not!”

Just as the two were about to delve into an argument, Dick raised a hand, “You two, are both kids.”

“Say less!” Arya shifted her hand into a wand and casted a quick spell that had both Damian and herself in horse riding gear and put some saddles on their horses, Damian in dark green and Arya in dark blue, “Uh, Dick, do you want to also..?” Arya waved the wand in a circle.

“Sure! It’s been a while since I’ve ridden a horse.” Dick beamed, with a quick flow of her wand, he was in light blue riding gear. A similar colour to the blue bird on his Nightwing suit.

“Ukhti, give me some apples for Amir.” Damian held out a hand to her, which in turn Arya magicked up some apples for him leaving him with an armful of apples, which he took and walked over to his horse with a hand flat, offering up an apple. “Eat well, Amir, so you can run efficiently.” The other horses around the field began to approach from seeing Amir get some apples and started crowding together around Damian who was pleased to see the other horses.

“Damian loves animals, he really gets into his element around them.” Arya told Dick.

“Is that so?” Dick smiled fondly as he watched Damian get his hair messed with by different horses and spluttered in the face by Hani as he tried to give as much apples as he could to the horses.

“Damian! Do you need help?” Arya called out to the boy.

“That would be appre-!” Damian yelped as he got knocked over by the horses who were trying to get apples from him. Arya began ugly laughing at the sight instead of helping him.

“I think, I’ll go help.” Dick held back his own laugh as he jogged over to get Damian back up right as Damian’s own horse began to laugh in its own horsey way. Once Damian was back on his feet he shot a glare at both Arya and Hani, a scowl on his face. In all honesty, he just looked like a wet kitten who had had their first bath with how his hair was going all over the place. It’s safe to say Arya doubled down in more laughter, falling back onto the grass just laughing at Damian.

“I’m dead-” Arya repeated as she laughed, clutching her middle.

“You will be once I am done with you!” Damian scowled harder, stalking a path between the horses to Arya.

“I am so showing Jason.” Arya shifted her hand into a polaroid camera and snapped a photo of Damian.

Damian lunged.

His attack never landed since Dick plucked him from the air, cradling him in his arms.

“Unhand me!” Damian pushed at Dick’s face and elbowed his chest.

“No fighting your sister.” Dick set him down on his feet. Turning on his heel, Damian vaulted himself up onto his horse, Amir, using the stirrup to help him kick his leg over and shot off with Amir over the plains of the field.

“Oof, now he’s upset.” Arya finally stopped laughing and stood up, “Hey, Hani, let’s go chase them.” She called to her horse, who neighed in agreement. She climbed on to the horse, “You coming, boy wonder?” Arya smiled at Dick.

“Why not.” Dick climbed onto the back of Hani,

“Let’s go girl!” Arya tapped the heels of her boot gently against the sides of her horse and soon enough they were moving. “You good for a chase, girl?” Hani neighed in reply as their speed kicked up as they crossed the field to get to Damian and Amir who were both still increasing the distance between them.

“Arya I’m going to fall off!” Dick was gripping onto the saddle, knuckles white as his hair whipped back in the wind.

“Oh yeah. You know how to ride, right?” Arya grinned.

“I remember but I haven’t…”

“Good enough!” Arya stood up on Hani and passed him the reigns. “Be good for him, girl.”

“What are you doing?! Arya it’s dangerous to do that without-“ Arya jumped. “ARYA!” Dick forgot that the girl was a shapeshifter, no more like he knew and does acknowledge it but still! It would raise anyone else’s anxiety if you saw what he was seeing from his perspective.

Wings sprouted from her back, batting against the wind as she flew next to Dick who was trying to get his heart back in check and continue steering Hani.”Yes?” Arya smiled at him. She was being a little shit messing with Dick’s heart like that but hey, it’s his fault being a new member in her familial circle.

“Oh my gosh, is this what Jason has to deal with when he’s with you?” Dick was clutching his metaphoric pearls. My gosh he’s in for more shit from the girl.

“Well, I’ve jumped from skyscrapers and random shit for fun without safety equipment so I’d say so.” Arya gave him a thumbs up as she momentarily swooped higher before getting back to level with Dick. “You’re stuck with me now. Your fault, big bird.”

“Thanks for the heads up.” Dick just shook his head and sighed.

“Besides, I’ve seen you do worse than me. Like jumping out a plane with no parachute.” Arya grinned. Dick had done that before but that was with knowing his team would be there to catch him. It was trust. It had to be different. “Oh look, Damian’s not so far away now.” Damian indeed was in sight, Amir was in a trot ahead of them. Arya batted her wings, before Dick knew it, Arya was already speeding away and at Damian’s side.

The three had a good time at the farm but most importantly, the trip gave Dick an interesting insight into how Damian actually is like away from the manor. Damian wasn’t an uptight and angry kid, he wasn’t. He wasn’t always scowling, he could express his curiosity freely and his delight when he thought no one was looking meaning he trusted Arya enough to leave his guard down. Helping Farmer McGregor feed the animals, make his runs around the farm, managing to drive the tractor? The fact Damian could drive gave Dick a bit of a scare but Mr McGregor didn’t seem at all concerned like he’s seen Damian do this before. Anyways, he definitely felt like this was a trip he was blessed to be part of. It warmed his heart to be there and he definitely treasured the memories he had at the farm. Especially when Arya was being chased by a chicken and was screaming for her life running from it. Who knew Arya was scared of chickens? He sure didn’t. He’s so glad he brought his phone and was recording it, he couldn’t wait to show Jason when they got back.

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Meanwhile with Jason…

Jason had gotten back from Crime Alley to find Arya, he wanted to ask her if she wanted to come back home. He’d fixed her room for her, got her a new bed frame, a better cupboard, got her a few notebooks in dark blue, made her a picture collage on her wall of all the pictures she liked and hung it up on her wall. He thought it out carefully for her. Would she like it? Would she stay there even though the man our rooms were more bigger with a nicer bed and all the rich people things that were there? What if she liked the richer life and not the home that they had created for themselves in Crime Alley hidden in a damn alley?

“Master Jason?” Alfred broke him out of his thoughts.

“Oh, hey, Alfred, do you know where Arya is?” Jason gave Alfred an easy smile, the old man always had a special place in his heart.

“Miss Arya, Master Damian and Master Dick have all gone out. I am not sure where the three have gone but I am sure they will be back soon.” Alfred said gesturing for Jason to come into the manor, which he did. “Would you like some lunch?” Ooh, Alfred always knew how to make a banger of a lunch. Who’s Jason to say no to a good lunch? Made by Alfred too? Say less.

“That sounds great Alfred!” And off Jason went, trailing behind Alfred like a little duckling. Alfred had been busy in the kitchen making a delicious pasta sauce that enveloped the kitchen, but that was not the only thing he made, the scent of sweet cinnamon buns wafted closer as Jason headed further into the kitchen. Fresh out the oven and freshly coated in icing might I add. Heavenly, isn’t it?  That’s what Jason thought too.

Alfred plated him a serving of pasta and a serving of the cinnamon buns, which Jason gratefully devoured with well mannered practice, he hadn’t mastered the art of eating pasta for nothing. “This is amazing Alfred! You’ve got to tell me what spices you use, it just hits the spot!” Jason’s eyes sparkled with the kind of beautiful curiosity and excitement Alfred had seen in the boy all those years ago. Alfred’s eyes crinkled as a subtle smile graced his face.

“Of course, Master Jason. The secret is to add a little sugar to the sauce to batter the acidity of the tomatoes.” Alfred said, sliding another smaller serving of pasta to Jason. “The tartness mellows out and the sugar allows the sauce to balance out the taste, of course there’s more in play however, the best way to learn is being in the kitchen and cooking.”

“The next time you decide to cook pasta, call me, Alfred.” Jason grinned. To Alfred, he saw the boy from long ago that had left the manor way too early, the smiles on both the boy from now and then over lapped each other. His boy had returned. His dear boy.

“I’ll be sure to do so, my boy.” Alfred smiled gently.

“Ooh, Alfred these are so good!” Jason had already finished his serving and moved onto the cinnamon bun serving he had been given.

“I believe we have some vanilla ice cream, would you like some?” He was met with a nod of approval of the idea. Alfred and Jason fell into a pleasant conversation about recipes they have made and things they have yet to make, both parties feeling a sense of nostalgia and content, just talking about culinary ideas and plans. Something they both enjoy.

It was a pleasant peaceful moment.

It was peaceful. Bruce had come home.

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Arya, Damian and Dick had chosen to go BatBurger get some food and Arya was complaining about another thing on her mind. “Oh my days, I’m getting sick and tired of guys, ugh. I’m around you guys aaaaallll the time and I’m the only girl.”

“We do not force you to be here.” Damian side eyed her.

“What’s wrong with being around guys?” Dick smiled.

“I’m literally the only girl in the manor. Wait, I know!” Arya shifted into a boy version of herself. “Now I fit.” Her face had sharpened, her hair had changed into two Dutch braids going down her head and the ends rested over her shoulders, her back broadened and her height increased.

“Congratulations, you have used your brain.” Damian deadpanned. “It must have been a treacherous endeavour but you managed to succeed.”

“Bro, what was the need for that you-“

“Right!” Dick cut in before they could start arguing, “Pick out what you guys wanna eat, it’s on me”.

“It’s on you, huh?” Arya’s smirk widened. “I want to have three of the Robin meals, two bat shakes, four of the jokerized fries, then I think I’ll have-“

“Is she going to finish it all?” Dick whispered to Damian.

“Do not underestimate her. She is the embodiment of a black hole when needs be. Especially when she’s not paying.” Damian’s nose wrinkled slightly, “She loves food, if you need to bribe her, offer food. She’s a simple minded fool.”

“Okaaaayy…” Dick genuinely didn’t know how to respond to that. Damian ordered some jokerized fries and a small bat shake, claiming he wasn’t too hungry. By the time Dick had gotten his meal, he saw the true colours of Arya’s gluttony. One that the books had mentioned. She was disgustingly fast at consuming the array of food in front of her and so cleanly too?

“Arya… the food is not going to run away..” Dick said, a tremble of shock in his voice, he’s seen speedsters consume food before but it was always fast and you couldn’t really tell how they eat but seeing a normal human do it? Without super speed as well, Dick felt like he was going to get indigestion from watching her eat.

“How would you know that?” Arya paused just when she was about to take a bite of her last burger.

“Cuz food doesn’t run?”

“The percentage is never zero. What if it grows legs and runs? What if it grows wings and flies? You never know, Dick. You never know.”

“Such nonsensical thoughts.” Damian spoke up. “Shut up and eat your food so we can leave. I have things to do on my iPad.”

“Like what? Watching avatar?” Arya rolled her eyes chewing on a bunch of her fries.

“Indeed.” No further explanation was given.

That was the end of the conversation. Just stopped right there. They are quietly and left heading back to the manor.

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“No. You listen! I have done more than you ever did in Crime Alley! You always steered clear from it.” Jason said through gritted teeth. “You left them abandoned.”

“That doesn’t mean you should take lives, Jason.” Bruce’s brows twitched downwards. “You don’t get to choose whether someone should die.”

“And let the crimes happen again?! Do you think throwing a sexual assaulter, a rapist into prison would just make them stop? Who’s to say they won’t do it again?! They’ve done it once they’re most likely going to do it again!” Jason countered back, “So I chose the most permanent way to ensure they don’t and you’re going to stand here and tell me I am wrong for it?! To let a child predator or letting a drug dealer getting their hands on another kid?!”

“Taking a life is not something you get to choose, Jason. I’m not trying to-“

“You don’t get it do you? You never have.” Jason scowled at him hard, his eyes glowing a murky green. “What about the victims, huh? The injustice they face each and every time their rapist, their sexual assaulter is out and about and they can’t do anything about it. What about the ones who died, huh. What about them?”

“That doesn’t give you the freedom to just-“

“No. I don’t want to hear your nonsense about your ‘No killing’ agenda. I just wanted you to do one thing for me.” Jason cut Bruce off. “There was so much you could have done ensuring that Joker was dead after my death.” That caused Bruce to stiffen, the death of Jason was hard on him. They hadn’t directly spoken about it either and this was the first that it came up. “But you didn’t. Joker was out and out causing more harm. More deaths and each time you put him back in Arkham where he still managed to get out. I’m not mad because you didn’t save me, but it’s the fact you let your little cat and mouse cycle with Joker go on for longer than it should have.”

“I do not have a-”

“Don’t try and lie to my face and say that. He was the only one you’d chase until the end of the world. You were obsessed with him.” Jason’s voice was level, unshaken. It was a truth he believed in. Batman was obsessed with the Joker and the Joker was obsessed with Batman. “Joker meticulously planned shit because he knew you would come. You two were playing a twisted game and it only ended because my sister got dragged into it. I wish I was the last person that Joker ever chose to torture but because of you. You. Other people suffered, people died. Just because you didn’t end Joker and his game.”

“It’s not up to me to play Judge, Jason.” Bruce ground out his throat.

“And here you go again with that nonsense!” Jason threw his hands up in frustration.

“It’s not nonsense, Jason. It’s a rule that is supposed to be followed for a reason.” Bruce’s eyes narrowed slightly, his back straightening up. “What good will more killings bring to Gotham?”

“It’s necessary. If you won’t do it? I will.”

“You’re not thinking logically, Jason, you’re running on anger again just as you’ve done so before.” Bruce took a step forward. “Killing is a permanent stance. Justice isn’t about vengeance, it’s about allowing the innocent to have protection and giving the chance for criminals to change. You going on your killing spree only brings more pain than there needs to be in Gotham. You need to stop, it’s not good for you or Gotham, Jason.”

“I’m not your sidekick anymore, Bruce. You can’t control me anymore.” Jason said with a nod more so to himself than anyone else. “You don’t understand, you just won’t.” Jason’s voice was calmer than before, his eyes glowed greener. “You don’t want to see it, you don’t want to hear anything you don’t like, because it doesn’t align with you. Too bad, Bruce, whether you like it or not, I’m going to stay in Gotham and do shit my way.” Jason walked off to the manor entrance and Bruce just let him.

Just as Jason was going to open the door, the door swung open and the trip that had gone out had come back. “Oh hey, Jay!” Arya beamed, “Where were you- oh.” Arya noticed the green haze in his eyes.

“Akhi, are you alright?”

“Jaybird?”

“I’m fine.” He shoved past Arya to head out the door before pausing, “let’s go home. I don’t think I’m welcome here.” His younger siblings were already at his sides without question and Jason started resuming his walk once again.

A sad look etched itself onto Dick’s face before it turned into anger, he walked into the manor to find Bruce. “What did you do?” Dick demanded, his hands tensing at his sides.

“It was a disagreement.”

“B! We just got him back!” Dick yelled. “You’re trying to push him away again! What if he doesn’t want to come back anymore!”

“He’s dangerous, Dick, Jason’s methods are too extreme in Gotham and what good does the killing bring to the city except pooling more damage that it already has!” Bruce’s eyes blazed in anger, jaw clenched and tense. “He’s not the person you knew, Dick.”

“I can’t believe you, Bruce.” Dick’s brows narrowed at Bruce, the sheer disbelief in his face spoke volumes. “He’s your son. Even if he came back grown, that doesn’t change that, even if he’s different to how he used to be. Oh, I can’t imagine dying and coming back to life, I couldn’t but Jason lived through it! I wouldn’t blame him for being different either! He’s gone through death for fuck’s sake, Bruce!

“The fact he even came back home, to the manor, by choice might I add is a blessing you keep forgetting to acknowledge!” Dick’s voice trembled with rage, “Be real with me, Bruce. Do you want Jason to not come back home? Because what you’re doing is only pushing him away! When he came back to Gotham, he didn’t come home to the manor, and now I think I understand why. You don’t listen. Jason has been talking to you and you’ve only thought about your own rules… you didn’t even try to actually think from his perspective. Fuck you, Bruce.” Just like Jason had, Dick walked out the manor.

As he walked out the manor grounds he found Tim who’d just finished school and had come to the manor and Arya (who was now back in her normal form )in the middle of a chat, Jason and Damian nowhere to be seen.

“Woah, what’s up with you?” Tim asked Dick.

Dick swept a hand through his hair, “Bruce being Bruce.” The tired wrung out frustration in his voice was something both Arya and Tim noticed immediately.

“Oh.”

“Yup.”

“Wow, I was just planning on getting along with that specimen of a man, bummer.” Arya said with a sigh, “Okayyyy since we’re all not staying in the manor tonight, sleepover at our house!”

“You’ll let us come over?” Tim asked in pure shock, he hadn’t seen that coming.

“Yeahhh, like you guys are in the ‘I don’t really like what Bruce’s doing but we can’t do much about him’ club. Wait lemme get Damian’s iPad real quick, I’ll be back in a few.” Arya ran back into the manor and was out after a few minutes holding a large Tupperware and a tote bag that had Damian’s iPad and sketchbook.

“Was that from Alfred?” Dick asked about the Tupperware.

“Yup, it’s cinnamon buns!” Arya grinned, “Let’s gooooo!” Arya shifted her hand into a wand and magicked them back home. Her home. “We beat Jason and Damian!” Flopped back onto the sofa.

“Woah, this is homey.” Dick sat next to her.

“Oi, Mr Stalker, you can sit down.”

“I’m not a stalker!” Tim grumbled as he sat down.

“I know you’re itching to look around.” Arya said with a grin, “Damian and Jason like their privacy, you’ll have to ask later if you want to go in their rooms.”

“I wasn’t going to look around.” Tim scowled.

“Hm. Sure.”

“I wasn’t!”

“Do you believe that?” Arya turned to Dick.

“Not even one bit.”

About a good twenty minutes of the three just watching a random survival show Arya put on the door swung open and in came Jason and Damian. The two both passed at the sight of the trio on the couch sharing a blanket over them as they watched a challenge happening on TV. “You brought them here?” Jason said exasperated, “A little notice would have been nice.”

“Sorryyyy.” The girl wasn’t sorry in the least as Jason basically stomped off to his room. Arya glanced at Damian a silent conversation playing between them before he rolled his eyes and gestured towards Jason’s room. “Okay, let’s have some cinnamon buns, I hear it doesn’t bang as good as it does the next day.” Arya got up from her place on the couch and headed to the kitchen to get some plates, Damian following her. A silent question hung above Tim and Dick but they definitely chose not to ask anything out loud.

“Akhi hasn’t spoken about what happened. You have to find out what Father said to him.” Damian took out the plates as Arya began to cut apart the cinnamon buns.

“Hmm, you keep those two entertained, alright? I’ll try- heavy on the try, get a gist of what could have happened okay?” Arya said with a slight smile, there was a sad-concerned look in her eyes which Damian recognised. He gave her a nod and headed off with two servings to give to Tim and Dick in the living room. He was not entertaining the two at all, he had things to do on his iPad, very important things. Like drawing. Secret is… Damian is one of those finger artist that draw digital art with their fingers, Jason was meaning to get him a digital art tablet and pen but he hadn’t gotten round to it, not that Damian knew anyway. The brat was spoiled, but what can you say? He’s a prince who basically was transported from the ancient money life to the old money life, that had to be a drastic change for the kid.

With a serving of the dessert in her hand she headed to Jason’s room, knocking on the door, “Guess what I have that’s cinnamon-y and smothered in icing!”

“Go away, Arya.” Jason grumbled through the door, from where Arya was standing she knew he was a few steps away from the door.

“Great, I have so much to eat for myself! Alfred gave us a whoooole lot more but I’m feeling a bit cheeky for more.”

“I know why you’re out there.” Jason opened the door, Arya lifted the cinnamon bun up right in his face making him lean back slightly, “Fine, bribe accepted.” Jason let her in. Mission developing!

“Oh I missed your room.” Arya glanced around, it’s been months she’d set foot in the place, “I see you added a few books on your shelves, and… no way you put all your Jane Austen books in order of when they were released, how did you even figure that out?”

“You’re doing too much.” Jason said, he was actually quite proud of his growing book collection.

“Okay, I’m going to be real here now and just say it, what happened?” Arya whirled round, facing him, a hard set on her face.

“Nothing…” Jason frowned, “Bruce was just- Arya do you think I’m doing something wrong?” Jason sat down on his bed setting the plate of deserts on his bedside table, his hands slowly became his centre of attention.

“What do you mean by wrong?” Arya sat down beside him, glancing up at the ceiling.

“I came back to Gotham to take out the Joker… the whole time all I wanted was Joker gone.” Arya stiffened at the sickening name, she glanced at Jason, the way his shoulders were tense, his neck looked like he was just ready to sprint. “Then came the drug lord thing and taking care of Crime Alley, taking down the gangs and shit… I was doing something but then Joker died, which well- thanks for that by the way and I wish you never had to have to deal with that insane freak of nature but after his death, I’m sat here thinking what’s next?” The moisture in his voice began thicken.

He continued, “Is what I’m doing really that wrong?” Arya knew this question wasn’t really directed for her to answer, the waver in his voice was enough to tell her what Bruce had said to her brother. “Did I come back wrong? Or is the good that I’m doing not enough for him? He looked at me like I was a mindless killer and the fact he doesn’t try to even get it- he didn’t even try to look at the things I’ve been doing for Crime Alley! None of it! It’s always his word, isn’t it? Only his! I don’t even know why I even thought he’d listen to me, he never did when I told him I didn’t kill that guy all those years ago. I was being fucking stupid.”

“You are who you want to be, Jay.” Arya began, “I’m not going to lie to you and say you’re a saint but you’ve done top tier shit for Crime Alley. Bruce has to see that. And I bet he does but it contradicts what he stands for. You’re not a murderer, you’re not senseless in that sense. Sure, you kill but it’s within your own rules. You set out those rules for the people too like no innocent killing, no selling drugs to kids, no trafficking kids, no hurting the sex workers or causing trouble down those ends. There’s so much more that lies between those lines and your rules and it shows that you care about your people.” Arya smiled at him softly.

“So no. I don’t think you’re a raging murderer. I don’t. I think you feel the most out of all of us. You put yourself in victims shoes, you’ve seen things. You know things. You feel. That’s what makes you so much more greater than Batman. He can’t understand it because he always has a place to go to, a wealthy mansion in Bristol with all the rich people. You’ve been on the streets, you’ve been around the sex workers, you’ve seen the worst of the worst and had no where else to stay. You’re an empath.” Her voice softened, like a balm of healing being thrown into the air.

“You just feel loudly and no one really tries to see that behind your ‘anguished’ acts but I see it, the Red Hood is a figure of avenging the innocent, I don’t think there’s anything bad about it too. You were meant to be loved in your being, not your performance, so I don’t think about the big bad Red Hood you put out for the rest of Gotham to see, so to me? You’re not exactly wrong. You’re not a monster. You’re not a senseless thing. You’re my amazing big brother who makes hella good lasagna and eats ice cream with me on rooftops and the same person I follow off to the market and hope you put the tomato or mango that I picked up for you to check into the bag, so yeah. You’re kinda the best person I know and look up to. Being not who Bruce wants you to be shouldn’t destroy all the things that make you, you! Now- before I mentally rip my heart out my chest and cringe badly in my bedroom, can we please just hug it out and if you want, we can cry with snot and and tears and whatever!” Jason’s lips trembled as a a queasy breath of air escaped his throat like he was being strangled by a truth he didn’t want to hear.

“Fucking hell. You talk so much.” Arya had gotten lost in her mind just saying whatever she could she hadn’t really noticed Jason’s red rimmed eyes, his eyes glossy. Arya gave him a hug. He needed one. “Someone needs to sign you up for empowerment speeches or some shit because what the fuck?” Jason’s voice was hoarse and cracking, it was like Arya had just torn him apart each damn wall that he put up drawn with doubts and insecurities with paint and she’d just come and bulldozed it down with a wrecking ball.

“Nah, I’m going to end up stuttering or getting a word wrong and you’ll catch it on video and torment me with it.” Arya laughed, Jason would do that. He would. Jason laughed.

“Sounds like a plan, do a speech sometime soon again.” Jason joked pulling back from the hug.

“No thanks.” Arya shook her head, “you’re setting me up for failure.”

“Uh, no, I’m you’re ‘amazing big brother who makes hella good lasagna.’” Jason teased at her.

“I hate you!.” Arya got up off his bed in embarrassment, “I thought we were having a real good heart to heart now you’ve gone and just ruined it, I’m going to pull an Eva Smith, oh my days…” Arya walked out his room a smile at her lips that was evident in her voice.

“Noo, come back! Say the speech again! I need to record it this time!” Jason trailed after her, “I’ll have it all written down on a shirt of your whole speech and I’ll walk around in it everywhere!”

“Go away!”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“I will strangle you.”

“You won’t.”

Arya swung a punch which Jason let weave past, “Told ya.” He jested a winking cheeky smile on her face.

“Dick!! Jason is annoying me!” Arya ran off to the living room.  That reminded Jason that Dick and Tim were in the house now. Honestly, he didn’t really mind it. It felt… odd, having two more people in the place but it definitely felt just a little bit more homey. Not that he’d admit it.

There really was no place like home.

Chapter Text

It was 9am. 9am. And there was music blasting, Evanescence to be exact, Haunted.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Jason’s voice basically bass boomed through the place from his room. It was the morning after Arya had returned home with Tim and Dick in tow and the argument with Bruce and Arya was already back in action with her bullshit.

“Good morning to you too.” Dick sauntered into the room with a serious case of bed head. He had slept on the couch while Arya shared her room with Tim. Timbins was out cold asleep on her bed due to a little comfort spell from Arya to get the boy some more sleep, he looked like he needed it with the evident bags under his eyes.

“Want some breakfast?” Arya asked, already heading to the kettle to heat up water for her tea, she had already fried some eggs and turkey bacon while she was vibing to her music.

“Smells good.” Dick’s hand was already trailing off to snag a piece of bacon. Arya had already eaten but she was feeling a bit kind, you know? When you have guests over and you just want to make them comfortable with their stay. That kind of kind.

“You know you can just grab a plate and take some.” Arya plopped some toast on a plate and passed it to Dick.

“Thanks!” Dick smiled brightly. “Do you happen to have coffee?”

“Uhm, maybe?” Arya opened the cabinet that held all her tea, she shoved a few around and right in the corner at the back of the cabinet a jar of instant coffee.

“That’s a lot of tea.” Dick said, a hit of amusement in his voice, “You’re really living up to your British nationality.”

“And there’s nothing wrong with it.” Arya said with a shrug of her shoulders. The stomping of footsteps coming down the hallway to the kitchen broke through to the kitchen, Jason was coming. Arya switched off the Bluetooth speaker and shifted into a kitchen towel, landing plop on the floor.

“Where is she?” Jason was fuming. His eyes locked onto Dick waiting for an answer.

“I don’t know.” Dick raised his hands in surrender, “Want breakfast?” He gestured to the tray of food. Jason grabbed a plate and walked over to th e tray, Arya basically cartwheeled out the kitchen, Dick had to stifle a laugh, it was something about a kitchen towel just cartwheeling that was just so funny.

“What’s got you laughing?” Jason asked him, his hands still moving to get more food onto his plate.

“Nothing.” Dick said pressing his lips together to stop laughing as Arya cartwheeled back into the kitchen, doing a floppy dance as a kitchen towel.

“Something’s up, she’s here isn’t she?”

“Nope!” Dick squeaked out as a laugh began to slip out his throat. Jason whirled around, eyes scanning before he managed to pick up on a kitchen towel flopping onto the floor.

“Arya.” Jason set his plate down just as Arya shifted back to normal, already poised to run, with a fast spring in his step, Jason had crossed the kitchen just  as Arya was going to run for it. “You, are so fucking annoying.” he swatted her arm lightly.

“Ow!” It didn’t hurt; she was just being dramatic. “Dick, he slapped me” Arya held her arm like it was broken.

“Keep me out of this, I’m just an innocent bystander.” Dick raised his hands placatingly. Just then, Damian walked into the kitchen, he looked the most well-kept and rested out of all of them, he blatantly ignored all three of them and grabbed himself a plate and started putting on his own food from the tray.

Arya moved around Jason and grabbed a carton of juice and pulled out a few cups pouring juice in each. Damian happily took a cup and wandered off to the dining table to start eating his breakfast.

After a bit more of Arya’s whinging and Jason’s grumbling, they finally got to the dining table and ate their breakfast and that's when Tim joined them. Hair askew and all but he looked well rested.

“Chickadee, finally up?” Arya ruffled his hair, which he batted off.

“You did something.” He said with conviction.

“I did, a nice little spell.” Arya smiled.

“Knew it.” He muttered.

“Would you like a coffee of apology?”

“Hell yeah.”

“It’s in the kitchen, get it yourself, man.” With that, he trotted off with an aim. Sweet, sweet caffeine.

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“Miss Blue!”

“Arya.” Arya corrected the little girl as she ran into her arms, she wrapped the little girl into a warm hug.

“Come on! Let's go play!” The girl dragged her to the playground getting into the roundabout. “Push me! Push me!” Rosie giggled.

“Okay, okay! Arya grabbed onto the bars and began to push, “Hold on tight!” Rosie gripped onto the bars and swung her feet, a happy toothy grin on her face.

“Faster, faster!”

“Faster? Okay!”

The peals of laughter rung out from both of them. It was a nice dream, one of the best Arya had. Dreams always come to an end. Always.

Arya woke up. It was softer than usual, her usual dreams with Rosie always ended in a heavy pain. It was different, her chest squeezed with pain, but it was more dull, less concentrated. Grief is always hard, it doesn't make it easy to move on, but it doesn't last forever unless you make it.

Grieft was different to every person, some worked, some cried, some withered, some just began to lose themselves. Grief was something that can take hold of your heart, for Arya. It fills her mind constantly making sure that she never forgets, no matter what happens and how long she goes on, it stays in her mind. It came with acceptance. Arya accepted that Rosie died and she couldn’t do anything about it. She couldn’t have known Rosie would have been used as a tipping point and a way to break Arya’s heart in the most brutal ways. 

It took time, healing those wounds, they were still fresh but lingering onto what caused them when the cause was already gone was no use. She was healing. Healing takes time, sometimes she had setbacks but just… not this time. She was going to live. 

“You okay?” Jason asked, flopping a pillow over her face, she had taken a nap on the couch, smothered in a fluffy blanket.

“Yeah, I’m just... going to go to the graveyard.” Arya sat up, the pillow plopping in her lap.

“Why?”

“I have someone to visit.”

“Who?”

“Rosie.” Silence took hold of the room.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Jason asked her, concern shining in his eyes.

“Would be nice.” Arya got off the couch walking off to the bathroom to wash her face meanwhile Jason himself went to Dick.

“Oi, we’re going out. Heat up the food in the oven for Damian and Tim. It’s vege cottage pie.” Jason said in passing the kitchen where Dick was making a PB & J sandwich.

“Where’re you two going?” He asked as he set down the butterknife covered in jelly.

“Out.” Jason rolled his eyes.

After about twenty minutes, Jason and Arya were on their way to the cemetery. They picked up a bouquet of flowers from the flower shop, a mix of baby’s breath, lilacs and pink and white carnations, held together by a light pastel baby blue ribbon.

They got to the cemetery, it was quiet, the marble gravestone still didnt have an overgrowth of nature curling around it, save for the little daisies that was peppered around the grave. Arya placed the bouquet at the headstone, “Keep playing up there, okay? I’ll visit again.” Arya stood up, turning to Jay. “Anyone you wanna see?” Jason shook his head, the two made their way out the place.

“You okay?” He asked her.

“Mhm, she was all mine, you know.” Arya smiled slightly, “Creator said that they created her for me.

“Why?”

“Apparently I had to stop thinking of this world like it was just a story.”

“So... in your world,” Jason ventured into the questions he had built up after his experience into the Blue, “This was all fictional?” He had waited a long time to ask. 

“Yeah, it was. I... I don’t know everything about this place, just bits and pieces but I don’t belong to that world anymore, I belong here.” Arya glanced at him, firmness within her eyes, “Just here, with you guys.”

“Yeah, with us.” Jason gave her a little side hug before giving her a noogie making her laugh.

“You’re messing up my hair!” Her hair was pretty frizzed up, which meant she was definitely getting her hair done either tomorrow or another day.

“That was the plan, Ry.” He laughed along with her.

.

.

.

.

.

A couple days had passed, and Dick and Tim were still around. The five were on a drive, Arya had magicked a seven seater Land Rover and they were headed off on a trip a little outside Gotham to go to a theme park for the day. It was a whole argument on who could use the aux. Arya was banned which was rude since she basically made the car, but she wasn’t going to fight them about it.

“I don’t like this one, change it.” Damian reached into the middle between the drivers and passenger seats to try change what was playing on the aux.

“It’s my turn!” Tim shoved him, “You already had your pick.”

“You guys don’t get to pick, I’m in shotgun.” Jason said with a smirk, he claims it’s a universal rule that only the person in the front passenger seat should be able to pick the music.

“That’s not fair! You let Damian choose one.”

“Thats because I also liked his recommendation.”

“Favouritism.” Tim grumbled slinking back into his seat. He was already plotting how to get the seat on the drive back.

“Come on guys, this is meant to be a fun trip.” Dick quipped up from the drivers’ seat. “We’ve got two more hours to go before we get there, you’ll all get a turn, or I’ll just ask Arya to take the aux away.” That caused a displeasured murmur among the three as Arya grinned. She would if they didn’t let her have a go. “Exactly.”

After a while, Damian spoke up, “Ukhti, I want a different seat, this is uncomfortable.” His seat shifted into a more comfortable one, more tailored to Damian and a screen shifted in the seat in front of him which was Dick’s which he got to messing with already looking for a show to watch. Arya was in the back lounging across the spare seat. She liked the back, sat on the left and stretched out going to the right. It was nice and comforting but the only downside is that she wouldn’t get to mess with the aux. However, she was where they put their bags too that had lunches and snacks. She gladly took advantage of it. She opened up her bag and started chewing on some gummies.

“Arya, pass some over.” Jason said from the front.

“No, they’re mine.” Arya said petulantly.

“Which ones are those?” Damian asked peaking over his seat to look into the back.

“The sour gummy worms, the vegan ones from Aldi.” Arya grinned.

“I want one.”

“Hey, me too!” Tim piped up.

“Oh? You want one?” Arya licked a finger, before touching a gummy worm, “This one?” She did the same, “Thiisss one?”

“You are so...” Damian’s brows twitched in annoyance and displeasure.

“I’m so what? Say it with chest.” Her grin widened. Damian stopped holding back and soon a thread of arabic curses upon Arya, her bloodline, all fell from his lips as he began to hit her, trying to get another snack from her bag.

“Help! Jay! Help- ack- my face!” Arya screamed from the back trying to block Damian’s blows.

“You should have shared.” Jason said with a little laugh, looking at the overhead mirror watching the scene commence. Arya managed to shove Damian back but Tim, the quiet thing, managed to grab her bag of snacks,.

“No! My snacks!” Arya cried out.

“Thanks for your service, Timmy.” Jason smiled as he was passed a can of Pringles and a bag of sweets for him and Dick to share.

“You’re welcome.” The kid practically beamed. It was an interesting development between Tim and Jason, Jason did feel bad about what he did to Tim. He just hadn’t gotten to apologising but he was trying just in different ways, like on patrol, he would listen to any ideas Tim would have, he’d acknowledge them even though it may bother him that Tim was nestling his way into his turf business but the kid had good ideas that was worth listening to. Plus, he wasn’t bad company at all. Jason actually liked Tim being around, he was a little shit at times like when he went into the basement and was messing with Jason’s plan board.

Along with Tim, Jason came to notice a few bad habits the boy had. He realised that what Tim’s coffee addiction was really a caffeine addiction, that’s was pretty much caught when Tim made some concoction of coffee and a few types of energy drinks in a mug. A collective agreement not in Tim’s favour was made that day. Anyways, the two were getting along.

“I hate all of you.” Arya said, “Watch, I’ll eat your lunches, you fuckers.”

“You wouldn’t.” Damian said settling in his seat as he opened a pack of gummies to munch on. Come on, it's his sister you’re talking about, he knows her.

“Rosa Parks didn’t die for me to be at the back of this car.” Arya huffed slouching in her seat.

“Maybe you should have thought of her when you put yourself back there.” Jason said amused just as Arya’s nearly empty bag was thrown back at her, the only things left inside was her water bottle and a pack of chocolate digestives.

“You guys took all the good stuff! My chilli heatwave doritos, who has it?” She leaned over the seat, “Tim!”

“What? They’re good.”

“I had to go buy them all the way in England and you took them!”

“Magic more.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Tough." He said in between crunches of his pack, his thumb and index coated in a dust of orange-red from the seasoning. Arya reached over and nabbed the pack from him, “Hey! I was eating that!”

“Don’t even start with that, now” Arya scowled as she sat back in her seat, “Do yourself a favour and get your own, to the lot of you in fact!” Damian and Tim had perfectly executed their scheme together that Arya was a bit proud that they were kind of getting over their differences (especially on Damian’s part) even if it was out of her own displeasure.

When they finally got to the theme park, the spring sun was beating down and the cold breeze was waving through air. The five were headed off to the first rollercoaster, Jason was on navigation with Damian at his side and Dick, Tim and Arya trailing behind them. The trio were caught up in a conversation that Arya had started which soon ended up in erupting in laughter when Arya tripped over a stray rock, gripping onto D9ck to save herself from falling.

“It’s really not that funny, Tim.” The boy was still holding back peals of laughter behind his hand.

“It was.” Dick laughed heartily, adding more to Arya’s embarrassment as they got into a queue for the ride.

“Right.” Arya resigned with a sigh, resting her hands on Damian’s head and slumping her weight on him. “Those two are making fun of me, mon etoile.”

“Get off me.” Damian hissed at her, bringing his arms up to manually take her off him.

“I feel sooo mistreated.” Arya adjusted her jacket and moved off Damian, “I could just fly home and leave you all here without a car.”

“You would never.” Arya wouldn’t, maybe she’d leave Dick and Jason but not Tim and Damian, those to were just kids to her. Babies.

“Maybe I’ll surprise you, new year new me, all that jazz.” Arya rolled her eyes.

“It’s not new year's any time soon, its April.” Jason said with a smile pulling at his lips.

“Ugh, then a birthday month resolution thing, May is coming up.”

“That doesn’t exist, but you do you.” Jason was met with the bird from Arya.

The five spent the day at the theme park, the group found out that Arya was a theme park fanatic, for rides that were meant to be scary and unexpected, you could just hear her laughing like a maniac on the ride with crazy adrenaline induced eyes. She loved rides, especially the fast, the twisty, the loopy and especially the dropping ones.

Then, there was Damian, the kid’s faces on some of the ride were hilarious, he was so straight faced when his hair was all out the place in the snapshots taken by the ride cameras, the four printed out so many pictures of them, absolutely pissing themselves in laughter at the boy’s expense who claimed ‘it was not funny’ with his annoyed scowl that set them off more.

On the drive home, everyone was tired, save for Dick who was driving them back to Gotham. Arya was dead to the world, asleep in the back with one of the giant plushies she had won at an arcade game as a pillow. It had been a day well spent. The car ride was quiet, a quiet happy car ride. Arya’s mind engraved the memories into her soul. Her soul simmered in tranquil contentment… that’s all there was to it. 

[5 Karma Points have been granted by {Creator}.]