"I feel like I just ran a marathon," Grayson grins, throwing her arms up. "That was a loooooong part. Of course, I did all the work," she shoots a glare at Quinn, waving her fingers in her face. "I think I got arthritis."
"How about I break your fingers? Then you won't be complaining about arthritis," Quinn warns, smacking her hand away. Grayson narrows her eyes and sticks her tongue out.
"Whatever. You know I'm going to make sure that this isn't as long as the last one. We're going to go chapter by chapter because I know there are things you wanted to talk about, and things that I want to brush on. Part Three- as I've said a million times- was totally my favorite! And it all started fairly well, I think. One of you commented on how nice it was, starting off so calmly. I liked that too. Um… first thing I have in my notes was Dick's final transformation to red," she smiles. "In our heads, it was to honor Harley's memory as much as it was to catch up to the New 52. While I love bird boy in blue, I really do like the red, too."
"He's a total copycat." Quinn giggles. "Harley was red first. Just kidding, now they match! Isn't that a chapter?" She smirks at Grayson.
"Yeah, I think Cassie commented on it in the Lex Luthor chapter," she thinks, twirling a pencil in her fingers. "It was kinda to wrap up the whole symbolism with the clothes. Anyway. We're so sorry you guys thought Harley was legitimately dead! I mean, not that sorry, but we thought you guys would be like 'been there, done that' and not fall for it, though we really did keep it a secret for a long time," Grayson laughs a little.
"Kept secret as in Grayson didn't even know when she was coming back. But that's chapters ahead, so I won't dare talk about it." She sticks her tongue out at Grayson.
"Chapter Two was the Jason and Ivy house hunting thing-"
"-Jay Ivy fuck the world!" Quinn cries. "That was for you readers!" She points dramatically at Grayson's computer. "I still hated having to go back to write it, but that's not important right now!"
"Three was Dick's nightmares- I love writing those."
"Fun fact, that was me writing Harley unlike some of Dick's other hallucinations. So, that was actually Harley and not Dick's perception of Harley and what she would say. I mean he was dreaming, but… it was her? Does that make sense?" Quinn looks at Grayson.
"It makes sense," she assures her. "Four was Nightwing's adventures in Gotham and Five-" Grayson glances at her computer. "Ooooh, Five ended with Dick sleeping with Barbara!" She giggles. "I seriously thought I'd get some hate for that." Quinn shoves Grayson.
"I hated you for that. That's the reason Harley's pregnant."
"It is?" Grayson stares at her in confusion, before bursting into laughter. "Oh my God that's right… Well you kept Harley a secret for so long, we're even. It's because I secretly secondary ship Dick and Babs," she whispers aside, still laughing. Quinn jumps up off the couch.
"I can't even be around you right now." She walks out of the room.
"Bring me food when you come back!" Grayson calls after her, still smiling. "Let's see… Oh! Six was drunk Dick!" she shouts after Quinn. "That chapter was so freaking fun to write. For both of us, Quinn has done Jason for so long that I can't even write for him now. I just don't know how." Grayson shakes her head.
"Hey!" Quinn pokes her head in the room. "You never did the 'killed them dead' thing in that chapter. 'Jason! You're killing them dead!," she wails before giggling and ducking out of the room again.
"I didn't!?" Grayson cries, scanning the chapter. "Huh, I thought that was in there somewhere… we talk about a lot of things that we don't always put in. In Chapter Seven- right off the bat you get a Supernatural reference, and then I think-" she looks up at the door. "Quinn! Was seven the first mention of the hit out on Nightwing!? We can explain that if you get your ass back in here!" Quinn rolls through the doorway hissing.
"I don't know," she mutters.
"Yes it was. Stop acting like a moron." Grayson smiles down at her. "There was a lot of background stuff going on here, a lot of Harley's plot. Not knowing she was alive meant we couldn't tell you. The Joker had the hit out on Dick, and basically Harley tailed him a lot, taking out the assassins and other threats to his life without his knowledge. This was also… was this when she was doing all the torturing and killing to figure out what the Joker was doing with Lex?"
"Yup." Quinn made her fingers into guns and pointed them at the ceiling. "Pew, pew. She killed a lotta dudes to get information. Maybe we'll do a one shot about it or something. This is boring." She flops her arms onto the ground. "My character's dead right now. These chapters suck."
"I know, just bear with me," Grayson lays down on the couch and pats Quinn's head, avoiding getting her fingers bitten. "Nine and Ten were mostly Batfamily cuteness, and Carrie's introduction. I loved doing stuff with Carrie. For those who might not know, Carrie was a Robin in a DC AU, The Dark Knight Returns, and then now, in the New 52, she's an aspiring director who knows the Batfam through Damian, just like we used her here. In the comics, Damian is getting acting lessons from Carrie and we don't really know why. Well… we answer that later, and it's awesome. But watch for Carrie later, too!" Grayson laughs.
"Okay, no really." Quinn sits up. "Did you guys really think we killed Harley? It's called Harleywing. HARLEYwing. We weren't going to just murder her off," she scoffs. "And I honestly think we lost readers at the beginning of this part because they really think she's dead. I'm not that evil." She lays back down, muttering to herself.
"I think she's right, too, I think people stopped reading," Grayson says sadly. "At the end of Ten, Dick is kidnapped by the Joker. And this brings us to the eighties."
"And to Harley!" Quinn cries.
"In the first draft we had all the chapters named chronologically by chapter and not by part, so this actually would have been chapter eighty-something. You may have heard us mention these legends. We loved these chapters." Grayson grins. "I cried at least three times re-reading these chapters."
"Wooo! These are the best!" Quinn rolls up onto the couch, across Grayson- kicking her a little, and sits with her legs tucked under her. "Go ahead." She waves Grayson on, bouncing slightly.
"Ok, um… I think it starts with the Joker torturing Dick, sorry for my sick-and-twisted there- but one thing I do remember wanting to brush on was the fact that- they do say this later- but the fact that it was really Harley he was seeing in these chapters. She was in the building, defusing the bomb that the Joker had promised to kill Dick with, and she was in the hospital. I don't think she was a hallucination until he got home." She glances at Quinn over her shoulders. "Another thing that anchored these chapters was some of the detail. We've never been stabbed or shot, but Quinn and I have both spent major time in the hospital, Quinn when she was a kid and me just a year ago I had an outpatient surgery thing. I remember, like, nothing about that. Except for the blurry images, which is where most of Thirteen came from. It's a lot of sleeping, and you're so damn tired and out of it that you miss a lot of things between certain memories. It kinda made it more real, writing from experience. The next thing was Dick getting stabbed in the shoulder. We actually almost fought about this, because to be completely accurate to where I'd stabbed Dick without thinking about it, he would lose the use of his arm. Well that presented a whole different thing, how do we get him back on his feet? We originally had Ivy give him the full-blown antitoxin, but instead we changed it." Grayson giggles and looks at Quinn. "For some really stupid reasons later on," she laughs.
"Oh my gosh this was so much drama," Quinn whines. "And you did not help. I remember I got so mad at you. I think that was around the time I was crying in my closet for no reason… Wow. Anyway, it's just super confusing, so let me break it down. Antitoxin- capital 'A'- is what Ivy gave Harley, but she gave Dick an antitoxin- little 'a' because he's not as special- for no real reason but just to be difficult… and so Dick wouldn't be Captain America or something." She leans her head against the couch. "Originally he was given the Antitoxin, but you," Quinn pokes Grayson, "went back and changed it. Whatever." She snaps back up. "Oh and there are more antitoxins later, but still, only Harley has the Antitoxin, so only she can heal like Wolverine or however many other Marvel lines I'm crossing there."
"Yeah that. Ignoring all of the hostility that Quinn clearly harbors against me still." Grayson picked at the blanket under her, not looking up. "Basically, the eighties was from when Dick got kidnapped, to the superfluous chapter with Bruce and Clark, when he's alright again. It was just emotionally fantastic. Then after that, there's some Batfam cuteness and Dick goes out on patrol again and then boom- Harley's back. This little bitch," she sits up, pointing at Quinn. "I had no idea that Quinn was going to bring her back when we wrote this chapter; it was a well kept secret. I basically went into that chapter as angry as Dick was at Jason, thinking he'd throw him around, and Jason would give him a clue that he and Ivy are actually working with Harley; when she spoke behind him, I nearly threw my laptop across the room in surprise and excitement."
"That was my goal!" Quinn cries. "If anyone threw a laptop, slammed a laptop, closed it in frustration, or broke it- sorry not sorry- let me know because that would just make my life." She giggles. Grayson punches her arm.
"And then I was thrown into the next chapter in as much shock as Dick was. How the hell was I supposed to react to that?! So, fun fact again: the inspiration for Dick Grayson's reaction to Harley's sudden return was John in Sherlock, when Sherlock turns up out of the blue on his date with Mary. Dick actually mimics some of Martin Freeman's actions from this scene in The Empty Hearse. And then Quinn goes and is a bitch again and she's all pissed cuz Dick slept with Barbara. I think that, had I not thrown the curveball of Dick and Barbara's one-night stand, this chapter would have gone a lot differently."
"Little bit." Quinn holds her fingers up, almost touching. "But maybe not, Harley just went on a killing spree- sure it was for good and righteous," she dramatically fist pumps, "reasons of protecting him and doing whatever it takes to stop the Joker, but it all turned out happy enough in the end for your liking. With some hints at the Harleywing baby." She sticks her tongue out at Grayson.
"We should… probably talk about that…" she laughed a little. "In the chapters before Dick even finds out he has a kid, there wasn't much except for the plot drama and Harley coming back from the dead. Each family member took that their own way, with two specific ones- I worked hard to make Barbara likeable again after my brief Dick and Babs romance. Damian is obviously the one having the hardest time adjusting with Harley's sudden resurfacing. We figured, with how much he cares for Dick, he'd have some choice words. And he did."
"Surprise!" Harley giggled. "Anyway, they kinda have to get over it considering I throw everyone into drama right away. Was that bad?" She glances at Grayson. "Now I feel like that was bad."
"Nah."
"Is anyone even following this for the plot anymore anyway? I think they're just here for the weird ships," Quinn makes a fog horn noise. "I'll still try like the Dickens with those weird plot plans I have though!" she exclaims.
"Should we talk about the baby? How that text conversation originally went?" Grayson grins, crossing her arms.
"If you bring up Barbara and him one more time, I'm leaving for real this time," Quinn warns. Grayson waves a hand dismissively.
"I loved bringing in the old Titans. Dick's Titans, Timmy's New Titans, and Dickie-Bird's Young Justice team. Minus the heroes that were inducted into the League, like Zatanna- another ex- and Cyborg. When everyone was together at Titans tower was pretty cool."
"Or the ones that died like Wally," Quinn remindes her. "RATATATATA!" she suddenly yells. Grayson bursts into laughter.
"Guys! I'm whelmed! Who taught you to fight?!" she cries, still giggling.
"Admit it, you've never been punched so fast." Quinn hides her face, giggling. "WOOOHOOO!"
"This guy's gonna be eating through a straw for a couple of weeks-" Grayson snorts, and then she covers her face. "Sorry! We play this stupid Young Justice game on the PS3, and we're always KF and Nightwing," she explains, laughing. "It's actually sad cuz Dick names his dog Wally after Kid Flash…"
"So, we have a break here. It's… twelve days I think." Quinn wrinkles her nose, unsure. "We tried to make it obvious that we were rolling with the days then bam, Joker trial. And that's where you meet the dogs. Wally is a Blue Heeler puppy, and Clark is an older Bernese Mountain dog. Wally is more medium sized dog while Clark is probably as big as me." She curls in a ball giggling.
"Oh my God! Speaking of video games," Grayson smack's Quinn's arm.
"We kinda weren't, but okay."
"We told you this all started from the Batman: Lego games, right? Well so did my deep seated hatred for Black Canary."
"Not this," Quinn groans.
"Fucking Black Canary- okay, on the bonus team levels in the Second Batman Lego game for Nintendo Flippin DS, I have one fucking bronze trophy because fucking BLACK CANARY can't do anything but scream-"
"-You just don't know how to work it."
"-and she dies every time."
"Not for me."
"She's useless, and I hate everything about Dinah Laurel Fucking Lance," she crosses her arms, ignoring Quinn. "Notice that my Joker killed her first when he got into the Hall of Justice." Quinn rolls her eyes.
"Yeah you're allowed to act like this about Black Canary, but I hate Babs and it's a big deal?" She shoves Grayson into the couch arm. "And sorry to our readers. The Hall of Justice was a place I told her to do whatever and lots of people died. I think Green Lantern died originally too. I try not to tell her to do whatever she wants anymore. When I do it, it's fine. Only main characters die." She smirks.
"I hated Barbara for a while too because of Alicia fucking Silverstone. Ugh. 'Barbara Pennyworth' what a fucking joke. 'Uncle Alfred!'" Grayson whines mockingly.
"Another thing about that movie, the ice age did not kill the dinosaurs." Quinn grins.
"She supposedly visited from a British fucking school!" Grayson cries. "She had no accent, unless you count stupid as one. Alfred was British! Like she had any rights to call him 'Uncle,' or touch fucking Chris O'Donnell… my fucking Chris O'Donnell you stupid non-British hoebag…" Quinn clamps her hand over Grayson's mouth.
"We're going to wait for you to calm down," she tells her. Grayson stares at her innocently and says something, muffled by her palm. She pulls her hand away, watching Grayson carefully. "What was that?"
"The. Train. Game." She stares at her pointedly.
"Mon. Op. Oly," Quinn replies.
"Guys, the train game is this fucking awesome game called Ticket To Ride but you have to buy the anniversary edition, and I know I played the American version but there's a whole bunch of other versions and in the anniversary one theres little giraffes sticking out of the circus cars and there are little barrell cars and passenger cars and it's so fun," she gasps, inhaling deeply when she finishes. "And I hate Monopoly," she glares at Quinn.
"And you get mad at me when I don't focus on this… thingy we're doing right now. The Afterworld. Word."
"There isn't much else to focus on. Ahh! Family drama! Joker is killing everyone! Even from prison! Barbara's in a coma! The end," Grayson narrows her eyes, knowing she's being difficult. "Anything to add?"
"Don't you wish to go into detail about why the Joker is so upset?" Quinn asks in mock seriousness. "You enjoy letting him attempt to murder people- as we've previously discussed."
"Why's he upset?" she asks cluelessly.
"Well didn't he have a pregnant wife before he became the Joker? Something like that. He's like… mirroring that onto Harley or something?" Quinn groans, hiding her face in the couch. "Why is being smart so hard right now? I can usually logic pretty good. Pretty. Good."
"Great SCOTT! you're RIGHT!" Grayson cries, grabbing Quinn's face. "Logic is hard because it's past your bedtime, but I'm just getting started." Quinn wiggles away from her. "The Joker, ladies and gentlemen, follows that widely accepted backstory from The Killing Joke, in which he was a bad comedian searching for his big break, with a supportive and loving wife carrying his child." Quinn starts making biting actions near her ear, but she just pushes her away. "In a desperate attempt to earn some cash, he helps these men rob a place- dressed as the Red Hood- he was more 'flashy Maitre D than motorcycle fetish'-" she giggles- "But that's where Batman accidentally knocks him into the vat of poison shit. Or whatever. I'm paraphrasing the comic. Then he goes home and finds out that the guys he was helping had killed his wife, and obviously, his child along with her. So keep that backstory in mind. That's why the Joker is so damn pissed off about Dick and Harley." She smacks Quinn who is chewing on her sleeve.
"There we go!" Quinn cheers. "I was a little useful! I reminded you of something important." Her face is still squished into the couch.
"It's about your bedtime, isn't it," Grayson asks, flattening a palm against Quinn's head and smooshing her into the cushion.
"I have work at eight am," she wails, flailing. "That's in like five hours. I know it's only twelve, but somehow that maths right for sleep."
"Yeah. So see you guys next time," Grayson shrugs, smiling. "And watch for Harleywing: Part Four, coming on Thanksgiving! Thank you all so much for your continued love and support and reading and commenting. Thank you!"
"I hate these!" Quinn wails, rolling across Grayson's lap and not noticing they were done. "They make no sense. Why are we in present tense? The story isn't. Can we break the fourth wall?" She leans up, staring at you the reader. "We aren't even in the same city let alone room? How does that work? Are you a hologram?" She gasps. "You're so lifelike!"
"It's called 'times reader' writing, or the like. Grayson and Quinn x Reader. Hi there!" She waves, tucking her ginger bangs behind her ear. "You're way cooler in person. Anyways, we'll have to say goodbye for now. Thank you all so much for reading and commenting and following. Be sure to go to Part Four and follow and read the first chapter! See you next time!"
"Bye!" Quinn giggles, waving excitedly and smacking Grayson in the face.
