A series of short aus written for a meme on tumblr, eventually this will contain:
- superhero pt 1 & 2
- fortune teller
- pirates pt. 1 & 2 (prompt: "you can't steal something that's been given to you")
- awkward teenage 7 minutes in heaven
- Person A's car breaks down on the side of the road and person B drives the tow truck that's coming for A
- minotaur (written for oqweek)
- missing year (cw: character death)
- Game of Thrones au
This one is superhero au, initially prompted by oqpromptsandfanfics on tumblr.
Superhero AU
He's seen her before, of course he has. Is there anyone who hasn't these days?
She's constantly on the newspapers or gracing the cover of one magazine or another. A frequent presence on television, always fighting side by side with Captain America and Iron Man, defending their city from the neverending string of madmen intent on wreaking havoc with it.
But seeing her from behind a screen is nothing compared to seeing her now, flesh and blood in front of him. Now she is larger than life, the fire that shoots from her hands is almost too bright and she seems to go from one place to the other as if in a poof of magic. He's aware that it's technology; the technology built into the beautiful black suit she wears is what allows her to do all of this and yet… he can't help but gape.
There's a feeling that he gets as she puts herself directly in harm's way, as though something in his chest is threatening to tighten and chase all the breath out.
It happens quick as a wink. One of those moments capable of shaping a lifetime within the span of 10 seconds.
Roland steps out from under his arms, yelling "doggie!" and chasing a lost puppy that's running right through the line of the destruction.
Robin's heart stops. The ground seems to crack beneath him as he sees with sudden clarity what is going to happen. In the spin of a second, the tentacled beast to Roland's right will spread its arms and grab his boy. The most precious thing in Robin's world will be at the mercy of a villain who's made clear she's a stranger to such a thing - will use his son to taunt and distract the superheroes for only a minute or two before throwing Roland aside as Robin has seen her do to any number of poor, unfortunate civilians caught in her deadly grip.
It's already in course, it's happening now and Robin barely registers that he's shouting his son's name in desperation when she appears.
Come from out of nowhere, as if by miracle; swift as any conjured thing. She reaches for Roland, holds him in her arms with a protective grip, and then there's a flash of light and the beastly metal tentacles are curling in.
Roland is crying as she places him in Robin's arms and she soothes him, gently runs a hand to move the curls away from the boy's eyes. Robin thinks, oddly, that he catches something about sushi in what she whispers in his son's ear, is fairly sure that there can only be one reason for her to use the word fishy: to pull a giggle from his son.
"Thank you," Robin says, with no small amount of gratefulness, once he's done doing an eye check on his boy for bruises.
She meets his gaze with a beam on still on her face.
A weepy bark coming from the left has Roland immediately perking up. "Doggie!"
An improbable thing happens next — she turns and walks right toward the dog, ignoring the trail of destruction that surrounds them, the fight that's still going a few steps behind her, crouches down to pick the puppy up and bring it back to his son.
"Roland?" she asks, eyes flicking to Robin to make sure she has the name right. Both he and his son nod dutifully at her. "Is this why you ran toward that… monster? To get the dog?"
Roland nods his yes, reaching out a hand to pet the puppy still in her arms.
"Well, that was very brave of you. But next time," she says with a hand beneath Roland's chin, "remember that you shouldn't let go of your daddy's hand."
"I can take the monsters," she tells him, serious but kind, "but you have to help me by staying safe."
"Okay," Roland agrees, every bit as serious as she's spoken to him.
Robin watches, enthralled, as she passes the small dog from her arms to his boy's. Her raven hair is loose and wild, it whips behind her with the wind, and she has a few wounds on her face which don't seem to bother her at all. All in all she looks… well, she looks like a superhero, he supposes.
But Robin isn't done being the daftest man on Earth, apparently, and as the dog barks happily at being placed in Roland's arms, he murmurs, "Uh oh."
She turns those dark eyes on him, raising a brow.
Robin shrugs his shoulders the best way he can manage with a toddler and a puppy in his arms. "Who'd have predicted we would leave this situation with an addition to our family?" he tells her.
To his very great surprise, she cracks a wide smile, laughs silently under her breath. "Who'd have thought?" she concurs with what almost sounds like a teasing tone.
If Robin looks like the biggest fool to walk the planet smiling at her like he does - well, could anyone really blame him, when she's just saved his son, and, not to mention, given how every curve of her looks inside that body suit?
The loud, distinct sound of an explosion interrupts the moment. She rolls her eyes heavenward, and groans. "Must they always go for the bridges?" she says to herself, already walking away. "As if we don't have to deal with enough transportation issues in this town."
As fate would have it, their paths cross again.
This time she's running, limping and bleeding from her leg. She doesn't have her suit on but he'd recognise her no matter the outfit, and she holds a gun with a shaking hand. Robin thinks she might have taken a bullet and he's certain she's about five minutes away from fainting.
He doesn't stop to consider it. He pulls her into a darkened alley, puts his coat around her and holds her close, waits out the shouts of the people following her as they run past what he hopes will look as an oblivious couple getting affectionate in public.
His body shields her and he puts a hand on the back on her head, keeping her face tucked into the crook of his neck.
She sighs against him once they're all gone.
The whole thing happened as he was making his way back home from work, so his apartment isn't far and he takes her arm, wraps it around his shoulder to help her reach it.
He is right about the bullet but wrong about her fainting — she's a lot tougher than she looks, and she finds her voice to call someone… from what looks like a watch. Who'd have known that was actually a thing?
Robin makes a point not to listen, steps into the kitchen to get her a glass of water while she talks to whoever it is that comes to the aid of superheroes in such circumstances.
He's thinking of the blood on her face when she clears her throat behind him.
"You could have gotten yourself killed back there," she says, sternly. "I didn't need help."
"Apologies, but it seemed like you did need help. In fact, it seemed like you wouldn't have gotten away if I hadn't stepped in."
Robin offers her the water, pulls up a chair for her to sit on.
"I can handle myself. And you have no business getting involved."
"I've no doubt you can. And I've no doubt you'd have found a way to evade them eventually, had they captured you."
She looks at him like he's not making much sense.
"But I had to try and help you despite it," he says. "You see, you might not remember it but I owe you my life." He states these things as facts, because they are.
"Perhaps you are right and I ought not put myself in the line of danger. But I would have remembered it, hadn't I at least tried… If it's all the same to you, we're here now and what's done is done."
He's drawn the curtains of his apartment closed, to make sure no one can see inside, and he's also left most of the lights off for good measure. It's just him, her and a thread of orange light that still manages to slip in — oh, and the dog, who's stayed asleep through their arrival.
She nods at him thoughtfully, seeming somewhat contradicted by his words.
"I remember," she says, finally, with barely a flit of her eyes toward the corner where Cap sleeps. "Your son is Roland, right?"
He smiles.
"Is he here?"
"No, he's staying at his mum's tonight," Robin tells her. "He'll be dejected to have missed this, though. You are all he talked about for months on end."
She cracks a tentative smile at this, just the shadow of one, really, lifting the corner of her mouth. It's enough to change her whole demeanour.
Truly, she is lovely.
She attempts to lift an arm toward him and immediately groans at the exertion. Still she offers him her hand with some difficulty, saying, "I might as well introduce myself. I'm Regina."
Robin takes her hand in both of his, but doesn't shake — he turns her palm up instead and gently lowers her arm to rest on the table between them. She looks up at him with an intent, and dare he say, intrigued gaze.
"Robin Locksley," he says with a smile.