I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW

I need to be working on REVERSE but this plot bunny was born and wouldn't go away! DX

Alright, but seriously... PLEASE understand that this is an AU (more like a UA [universe alteration]) and has NOTHING to do with REVERSE, headcanon-wise or ship-wise. Some of the ships will probably be in REVERSE if people want them, like SuperMartian and CatBat, but most of them- Artemis x Cameron, Dick x Kaldur- will NOT.

I don't own DC. D':

Soulmate AU in which when you turn thirteen, your soulmate's first name shows up on your wrist in their handwriting and native language.

Dick wasn't sure whether or not to be excited or dreadful of his birthday. Barbara told him that it wasn't all that painful, displaying proudly the chicken-scratch Luke that decorated her wrist. "It's nerve-wracking," she told him, "but it's not the end of the world. Hey, my mom and dad weren't soulmates, but they're happy. And you can get it removed, anyways..."

"Doesn't it just come back, though?"

Barbara had bit her lip in thought. "I don't think so? I know my dad got his removed and replaced it with my mom's name..."

"Alfred told me it's romantic," Dick continued. "He said it may take decades to meet your soulmate, though, so I shouldn't wait. Heck, he and Leslie didn't meet until they were in their forties, and they didn't get together until their fifties!"

"What did Bruce say?"

Dick let out a cackle and then lowered his voice to imitate his father's gravely tone. "It's a frivolous societal norm that shouldn't effect your emotions." The boy grinned wickedly. "That doesn't change the fact that he and Selina jump each others' bones the first second they get!"

So here Dick was, sitting on the couch nervously at 11:55 pm, staring at his blank wrist with bated breath. Midnight Marking, as everyone called it, was a private and domestic affair. The 'Wayne' big birthday bash had ended an hour before, and now he was surrounded by his closet friends. Bruce, Clark, and the Commissioner were relaxed around two coffees at the parlor table, glancing over at their children ever so often. Alfred and Leslie were standing close in the kitchen doorway, the doctor giggling at something her soulmate had whispered to her. Roy and Wally were pressed up against either of Dick's sides, Wally's loud voice teasing his friend about getting some obscure name like PeeWee. Roy was trying to comfort Dick by showing the boy his own mark, Ngựa chứng, in small, tight letters.

And then the clock chimed midnight, giving everyone in the room pause as they turned towards the new found thirteen-year-old. Dick furrowed his brows at his wrist, chewing his lip in silence. "It takes a few moments," Roy consoled the boy. "Not all clocks are exactly at the right-"

He was interrupted by Dick's sharp gasp as a stinging pain shot up his forearm. "Ouch?" he somewhat questioned as he saw a fine black print appear over his wrist. It was in a beautiful calligraphy, delicate and lovely... And in what the heck language?!

Wally howled with laughter, while Dick's face fell and he sighed. Barbara leaned forward with pursed lips. "Is that Arabic?"

পটকা'মাছ

Dick sighed heavily, face downtrodden. "No. It's not Sanskrit or Romani either..."

"Greek?" Roy offered.

"Does that look like Greek, Roy?"

"Just sayin'," the archer huffed, hands up in surrender.

Bruce crouched in front of his son, lifting Dick's face up by the boy's chin. "It'll be alright, chum," Bruce said quietly to him. "We can get a multilingual dictionary and-"

"Don't worry about it," Dick said quietly as he stood and slumped towards his room. His family and friends watched the poor boy slump dejectedly up the stairs, the soft echo of a door closing shortly after.

…

It wasn't any known language, Dick came to find. Or not find, to be more precise. He looked at all sorts of languages and dialects- all of the Middle Eastern languages (most of which he knew anyhow), tribal African languages, even dead languages. He found nothing. The excitement wore off in a few months, and Dick started to cover up the name with a wrist guard and bracelets. Looking at it depressed him.

But time went on, and Dick survived. He, Wally, and Roy met Kaldur, and their troublesome trio became a barber shop quartet. They went to the Hall of Justice, Speedy quit, and they met Superboy. Miss Martian joined the Team, followed eventually by Artemis, Zatanna, Rocket, Batgirl... Bruce adopted Jason and Tim, and their little team became a little family.

Dick was sixteen now, and puberty had finally caught up to him. Sure, he was still relatively short, but his scrawny body had grown into lean muscle, and his jaw was now square and strong. He had grown his hair out to wear in a loose bun, and he was finally able to shave, to Bruce's humor. He didn't go by Robin the Boy Wonder anymore, either. That name had been passed on to the twelve-year-old Jason Todd-Wayne. Now, Dick was Nightwing. He was barely allowed to patrol by himself still, but Nightwing was making a name for himself in Gotham's sister city, Bludhaven (with the exceptionally overprotective and watchful eye of the Batman looming over his shoulder of course).

It was mid December, and the Cave was decked out in holiday garb. M'gann was in the kitchen with Tim and Garfield, teaching the children how to bake angel food cake, and Jason lingered in the doorway with his arms crossed, huffing. Connor was lingering in the kitchen, attempting to help his girlfriend while the martian tried to shoo him away. Connor was even worse in the kitchen than Clark, which was saying something.

In the living room around the tree and television (which was playing Charlie Brown's Christmas) sat the other senior members of the Team. Wally and Artemis were cuddling on the couch, the archer berating the speedster about something or other once again. Karen, Raquel, Barbara, and Zatanna were listening to an animated ten-year-old as Cassie relayed her trip to Themiscyra with Diana the past Thanksgiving break. Mal, Roy, and Kaldur were sitting around a few mugs of eggnog, and Dick was trying to get the Christmas tree lights to work.

"Wally," the acrobat cried out, "I thought you said you were going to help me!"

Mal laughed from the other side of the room and rose to help his younger friend. "The day Wally West gets off his a- butt for anything other than food will be the day vampires invade America."

"Invade America?" Artemis cocked an eyebrow.

"Well, you never know. I hear Romania's a haven for the supernatural."

"You really believe in that stuff?" Wally asked incredulously.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Baywatch? You're on a team with a Martian, Kryptonian, Atalantean, a magician, a shape-shifting ten-year-old-"

"Alright, alright! I get the point."

The team was making merry and discussing what was going on in their lives when the children emerged from the kitchen with M'gann. "The cake will be done in a half hour!" the Martian announced as she sunk into the couch next to Artemis, Connor plopping down at her feet.

"Um... Jason?"

Heads turned to where the preteen was staring at Mal's outstretched arm that was hanging Christmas lights. "What're you doing?" Mal questioned as the preteen kicked the carpet.

"...Does it hurt like everyone at school says it does?"

Mal looked down at his wrist where loopy letters spelled out Karen. He smiled. "A little, but not bad. And it's worth it." He shot a grin to his girlfriend, who blew a kiss back.

"Don't let anyone tell you about it," Wally told the boy, "Or at least, don't let them tell you it dictates your life." He showed Jason his arm which read 'Linda' in Vietnamese letters. "Arty-farty over there and I don't match up, but we love each other anyways. Right, babe?"

"Sometimes."

Wally cried out in indignation, but Artemis ignored him in favor of displaying her name to the preteen who stood before her. 'Cameron' covered her wrist in tight, scrawled letters. "You can get it covered up when you turn eighteen if you hate it that much," she told him, "or you can be like those love-birds over there," she pointed to Mal and Karen who were nuzzling noses on the other side of the room. "Some people don't meet up until they're over fifty. I don't think I've heard of anyone meeting their soulmate after seventy, though..."

"Not necessarily," Dick chimed in slowly. "Just because you meet your soulmate doesn't mean you'll like them at all."

"Yeah," Wally laughed, "Or maybe you'll never meet your soulmate, like this poor sap."

"Wallace!"

Dick's face fell and he looked away, shoulders slumping. Wally inwardly groaned. Dick always had mixed reactions at being teased about his mark. Sometimes he was okay with it- then again, most of those times were when he was a little more than tipsy- but sometimes...

"I don't have a name," M'gann chirped in an obvious attempt to change the subject.

"You're a Martian, though, Miss M," Jason told her.

"I'm half human," Connor said, "and I don't have a mark."

"Maybe it's because you were born at sixteen?" Barbara hypothesized. "The mark forms at thirteen, so maybe your body just kinda skipped over it?"

"Hey!" Wally exclaimed, turning to Kaldur. "Do Atalanteans get marks?"

Kaldur looked an odd mix of thoughtful and embarrassed at the question. "My King is half human, but he does not have a mark..." A small smile graced the young man's lips. "He claims it is because his Queen is not human and therefore does not have a mark herself."

The Team chuckled at that. After they quieted, Wally raised his voice again (prompting Artemis to elbow his gut after he brought up the question). "Hey, you're half human, right? Do you have a mark?"

Kaldur's face flushed a dark red, and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah- yes, yes I do... It is hard to read because of my tattoos, but I believe it is an Eastern language? I have never actually investigated it..."

"Let me see!"

"Walla-"

"Dick knows a lot of languages," Jason told their co-leader. "He could probably read it."

Kaldur looked to Dick, face still flushed. "I- ah-"

"It's a personal thing, Jay," Dick spoke softly to his little brother. "It's something you've gotta really think about..." His eyes flashed up to Kaldur, and the Atalantean nodded his thanks.

The conversation changed after that, M'gann successfully diverting it as to not bother Kaldur or Dick anymore. The day went on, celebrated with cake and hot chocolate. The Team broke out the X-box for a short while before a mission notice came in to Nightwing and a small squad deployed- Mal, Dick, Kaldur, Wally, and Artemis. Upon coming back, the sweaty superheroes decided to take a dip in the heated pool.

Dick dipped his body into the water, sighing in pleasure as the warm water seeped over his tense muscles. He closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the edge of the pool-

And promptly got a face-full of saltwater.

Sputtering and gasping in surprise- he must be really tired to not have noticed Wally blundering towards him- Dick glared at his friend. As Wally threw back his head in laughter, Dick grinned mischievously and motioned for Kaldur to come over. Silently, the older hero slipped underwater and sped towards where Wally stood in front of Dick.

"Man!" the speedster cried, rubbing at his eyes, "you should have seen you- AUGFUH-"

Kaldur had gripped the redhead's ankles and tugged him underwater. Wally emerged gasping and coughing up water, throwing his soaked bangs out of his face. "Hey! Not cool, dude."

"You started it!" Artemis called from across the pool to her boyfriend, who gave her an abashed and betrayed stare.

"Hey! Babe, you're supposed to be on my side!"

"Then start being right!"

Slowly, the members of the Team started trickling out of the pool, leaving Dick and Kaldur behind. The latter was floating on his back, close to sleep, while the prior was attempting to massage his swollen shoulders.

Suddenly, a warm hand touched Dick's shoulder, making him gasp. He knew it was his friend, but the touch still startled him. But then Kaldur's fingers started rubbing circles into the knots of his shoulders, and Dick melted under the touch.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Dick asked as he rolled his neck, making Kaldur chuckle. Dick shivered at how close his teammate was, goosebumps running up his spine.

"I am well-versed in anatomy," Kaldur responded. Upon hearing how perverted the sentence was, though, he quickly added on, "Magic revolves around the entirety of the body. It joins the physical being with the spiritual essence. My tattoos are a symbol of that. They represent the fluidity of the spirit joining the solidity of the body..."

"Sounds romantic."

Kaldur smiled softly. "Yes. It does..."

A few minutes of silence passed before Kaldur spoke again, still working on a thick knot in his friend's right shoulder. "My Queen versed me well in the ways of Atlantis, and my King versed me in that of the human world..."

"You lived on land for a while, right? In Maine?"

Kaldur nodded. "I went by the name Kyle for quite some while. A close friend of my King's- an old shipmate of his father's- took me in. I stayed from age eleven to thirteen... Robert was the man who taught me about my mark."

Dick tensed up at the mention of the marks, and Kaldur's brow furrowed. "If you do not mind my asking... Why are you so averse to the markings, my friend? It appears to be more than Wally's and Artemis's mere attempts at breaking... social norms."

Dick licked his lips, wriggling under his friend's touch. Kaldur pressed his thumbs below Dick's shoulder blades, relaxing the younger man as his pressure points were massaged. "Ah... Well, it's normally a big affair, y'know? And Roy and Wally were teasing me about it for months, and... well... I just can't figure out what language my mark is in." Dick could feel Kaldur cocking an eyebrow without turning around. Slowly, he lifted his arm and took off his wrist guard, bracelets following shortly. "It's some kind of dead language, I think. I mean, I researched a ton of them for months... Honestly, sometimes I still do, but... Kaldur?"

Dick heard his friend's breath hitch, felt Kaldur's fingers tightening around his waist. The teenager's face flushed as he recognized the proximity between their bodies, and he wriggled a bit under the touch. "K-Kaldur?"

Slowly, the Atalantean turned his friend to face him. Dick looked up- he was only a few inches shorter than Kaldur, but it still made him feel so short to have to look up at the other hero- and noticed how Kaldur's eyes were wide with surprise and caution.

"K-Kal...?"

Words left Kaldur's mouth in a language Dick didn't recognize. It was soft and lilting, strange in a sort of curious and unique way that sent shivers down his spine. "W-What?" Dick asked, and wow, since when did he stutter this much?"

Kaldur repeated the words, "পটকা'মাছ," and the sound was so beautiful that Dick's eyes fluttered shut. The words- he didn't even know what they meant, but they made his brain explode with light and happiness, and his stomach grew butterflies as his face heated up.

"Say it... say it again."

Kaldur took Dick's wrist in his hand, his thumb rubbing over the mark with a tender reverence. "পটকা'মাছ."

"What does it mean?"

Dick didn't need Kaldur to tell him, but he wanted to hear the words. He needed to hear those words fall from those dry lips, needed to see that jaw clench and relax as Kaldur's tongue flicked on the roof of his mouth to pronounce the name once more.

"পটকা'মাছ... It is my name."

Dick felt his chest clench as he whirled around and snatched Kaldur's arm, lifting it up to inspect his wrist. And sure enough, in an oh-so-familiar chicken-scratch of a script, there was written: 'Rikárd'. The teenager's breath hitched, and he looked back up into Kaldur's eyes, noticing for the first time just how bright they were. Bright and silver, with an inkling of blue running around the pupil. "Rikárd... It's the same as 'Richard', which is the origin of the nick-name-"

"Dick."

And then Kaldur was kissing him. Kaldur was kissing him. Kaldur was kissing him.

Dick let out a gasp as the dry lips rubbed against his. Kaldur tasted like salt and iron, from sweat and the water and blood that had risen to the surface of his flushed face... Dick's eyes fluttered closed as Kaldur's arms reached around him, grabbing his lower back and shoulder blades. The touch was firm and warm, sending shivers down Dick's spine and making him whimper into the kiss. He hardly had time to react, having been so surprised, before Kaldur pulled away. Kaldur smiled at him, and Dick felt a joy rising in his chest that he hadn't felt in ages...

The acrobat grabbed his friend- his soulmate- before Kaldur could back away, smashing their lips together with no such grace. Their teeth clashed painfully, but Kaldur only leaned into the kiss, tugging Dick close to him until they were pressed chest to chest, allowing the younger hero to explore with his tongue.

Dick had kissed like this before- making out, frenching, whatever you wanted to call it- but all of the fairy tales were true. Kissing your soulmate... It was like staring into the sun, powerful and nearly painful with how overwhelming it all was.

Dick moaned and scrabbled at Kaldur's bare chest as he felt the other's tongue stroke across his lower lip. Teeth tugged, tongues explored, lips huffed out heavy, fogged breaths as the two young men groped for purchase on each other, hands exploring muscular chests, arms, backs...

After a few minutes, they had to part for air. Dick, very much so overwhelmed, rested his forehead on Kaldur's collarbone. He felt gentle kisses being peppered onto his temple and cheek, making him grin into the skin before him. He kissed Kaldur's neck, cackling at the violent shiver that ran through his new found lover's body.

"So... What now?"

Kaldur shrugged, content to just hold his soulmate. It had been seven years. Seven. Years. Kaldur had waited this long to find his one and only, and he finally found him. He didn't have the same outlook on soulmates that Wally and Artemis did. He believed in fate, believed in Higher Powers that were looking out for him and trying to lead him to his true love. It was horribly sappy, but Kaldur wouldn't have it any other way.

"...Do you wanna go get sushi? And maybe a movie?"

Kaldur rested his chin on Dick's head. "As long as I am with you, beloved."

Kaldur could feel his soulmate blush. "Way to be a sap, Kal."

"Being as happy as I am, how else would I react?"

And well... Dick didn't have a good answer for that besides a tender kiss.

...

Please forgive me for any political/ethnic errors! I did my best and spent a couple hours on research... DX

PS- the name on Roy's wrist is 'Jade', and 'Rikard' is another spelling of Richard.

PSS- the language I used for Kaldur's name is Bengali (it is SUCH a pretty language!) and it actually spells out Puffer'Fish. XD I thought it was cute...

Review if you want to, and thanks for reading!