Riley's POV
A light tapping wakes me from my sleep. Trying to blink the blurriness away, I roll over and glance at the clock.
1:48
My groan must've woken up my bedmate. An arm and a wing wrap around me while a weight settles on my shoulder. "You should probably go get that," Des mumbles into my shoulder. "It's Jessie and Freddie."
A frown etches its way onto my face. Removing myself from the furnace that was Des, I swing my feet off the bed and make my way to the door. The knocking quiets as I get closer and I creak open the door to two sets of puppy dog eyes.
"Nightmares?" Nods. Letting out a sigh, I usher the two blondes inside the room before closing the door. Freddie immediately makes her way to the bed and under Des's wing with Jessie not far behind. Letting a small smile on my face at the sight, I quietly follow.
"Do either of you want to talk about it?"
Freddy shakes her head while Jessie just responds with "the usual." Sighing, I rub Jessie's back as he settles on my chest. I start to hum a Russian lullaby to help calm them even more. After a few verses, I hear Freddy's breathing even out as she falls asleep and Jessie relaxes a bit.
A soft voice interrupts my singing. Tilting my head down, I see tired green eyes peering up at me. "Why was Noise over today?"
"She was double-checking something for us," I reply, running my fingers through his hair. It was true. Yesterday, Raven asked the anti-hero to find out if what Killer Frost said was true. Unfortunately, it was and it was apparently worse than what Frost thought.
"Is the Justice League getting involved?"
"We hope not. We'll deal with it if they do though."
"Will I have to go back to my dad?"
My breath catches in my throat and I pull Jessie closer to me. Beside me, I feel Des shift so we're closer to her and Freddy. "No. You're going to stay right where you belong. Here. With us."
When Jessie finally falls asleep, I lean down and kiss his forehead. "I'll kill the Joker before I ever let you go back to him." I mean every word. Des hums in agreement and tightens her grip on the two kids.
"We'll burn the whole world if we have to."
The next day before we go out for patrols, Des calls a group meeting. I watch from my position by the wall as everyone gets themselves situated in their various spots across the room.
Sam stole one of the chairs and was able to pull Mason into his lap. Scarlet and Ebony sat close by them and entertained themselves by feigning disgust while the two boys whisper and smile at each other. Raven (with Alex in their pocket) and Marinette shared one of the couches while Cole sprawled across the other one. Raven laughs when Jessie and Freddie finish running around and fling themselves on the sniper.
"As I'm sure everyone knows, we've been investigating the recent decrease in crime," Des starts as soon as everyone gets settled, her face and tone completely serious. Everyone's eyes focus on her. "Killer Frost was able to inform us that the Light set up another genetics lab here in Bludhaven. They have been abducting young and homeless metahumans to experiment on. Noise was able to confirm this. We believe that they are trying to come up something to combat the Justice League and their younger team. Knowing that, we also have a suspicion they might try to come after us."
You could hear a pin drop by how quiet it was. I shift from my leaning position to stand next to Des. "Des's and Cole's team are going to patrol as normal tonight. We want everyone to be on high alert when they are out there." I turn my head, making eye contact with everyone.
"What are we doing?" Jessie asks, squirming until he was sitting up.
"We are going to go and meet up with Noise. Then we're going to stake out where we think the lab is. Hopefully, we'll be able to get enough information that we can shut it down quickly and without attracting attention."
"I want all teams to have comms. on and be ready to respond to anything at any time," Des adds. 'Yes's and 'yeah's and 'sure's fill the room and there are a couple nods. "Okay, lets go save some butts then." With that everyone jumps into action.
Next to me, Des lets out a long, heavy sigh. Her eyes were sad and her shoulders and wings were drooping. I barely realize what I'm doing as I reach out and grasp her wrist before I realize what I'm doing. Rubbing my thumb over the ginger's pulse point, I try to give her a reassuring smile. "Everything is going to end up fine."
She looks up, deep amber eyes boring into me. Her face was still full of doubt and the heaviness was lingering but the corners of Des's mouth twitch up. I slide my fingers down until they are intertwined with hers. Giving one last squeeze, I let go and pull my mask over my mouth and nose before flicking my hood up. Des's smile is quickly obscured as she puts on her helm.
"I know. Our family pulls through everything." Phoenix strides past me to our underground entrance. I stare after her as she disappears, Doc and the twins close behind. Trying to ignore the buzzing in the back of my head, I survey the room, making eye contact with Longshot, before gathering my own team and heading out.
