Hey guys! I'm baaaaaaack!
I wanted to explain a bit about where this came from. Years ago, I read a fanfic called For Ever Kneel'd by Almyra under the Narnia archive. The author made a throw away comment about wanting to work Edmund into a retelling of the Highwayman and it's stuck with me all these years. As I finished up a story on AO3 with a friend of mine, the idea for this story struck and well...instead of working on my thesis like a good grad student, I wrote this instead. I hope you all love it.
As an aside, this IS a No Capes Alternate Universe. This is the only time I'm going to say it. If it's not your thing, then please kindly hit the little back button at the top of your browser. I love comments, but spare me the rants about how it doesn't match up with anything in the DCU or DCEU. Barring that, I would love to hear from you!
Aside #2: There are a shit ton of historical inaccuracies which I am purposely including. In the 18th century women would not have dressed the way Artemis does and in all likelihood none of her part of the story would have happened the way I have written it. I'm taking a lot of creative license both within the historical setting and from the source material because somewhere along the way this thing developed its own plot. The characters are probably hella ooc buuuuuut I tried.
Enjoy!
AJ
Jason Todd-Wayne settled two suitcases next to the gate of the cottage and rubbed his arms in the frigid English air. How he'd let Babs talk him into a winter wedding and a honeymoon in England, he still wasn't sure. But they were here, and he was determined to enjoy it.
Barbara Wayne née Gordon flipped her red hair over her shoulder and waved as the car drove off. She stuck her hands in the pockets on her purple peacoat. "It's a cute little place, isn't it?"
A smile spread across his face as he reached out and pulled her close. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Yeah, it is. How did you find it?"
She stepped away to open the gate. "Honestly I just googled romantic holiday cabins. Though the fact that it's on the Bodmin Moor was a draw."
Jason grabbed the two suitcases and wrestled them up the gravel walkway to the porch. He opened the door and motioned for her to go ahead.
She raised an eyebrow. "You're not gonna carry me over the threshold?"
A laugh bubbled up from his gut. "I carried you over the threshold last night at our hotel, remember?"
She playfully swatted his arm.
He swept her up in his arms and carried her inside. "You were pretty tired. Conked out cold by the time I got out of the shower."
"In my defense, I was so excited about marrying you that I didn't sleep much the night before. And after the day of smiling for the Gotham gossip rags, I was exhausted."
"I'm teasing, I think I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow." He set her down and then tilted his head to kiss her. "Also why was this place being on a moor such a selling point?"
A grin split her features as she slid her purse off her arm. She dug inside for a moment before retrieving a copy of The Hound of the Baskervilles.
"You seriously picked a honeymoon location from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?"
"Like you wouldn't have done the same thing, Mr. I-read-Jane-Austen-for-fun." She slipped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest. "If Northanger Abbey had been a real place, we would have gone there."
"At least you appreciate my literary tastes."
"It's hard not to appreciate literature when you work in a library."
Jason held her close, enjoying the nearness of her. It was as close to heaven on Earth he could get.
Of course a chirping cell phone put an end to it. "It's probably my dad. I told him I'd call when we got here," Babs muttered into his chest.
"Who's to say it's not Bruce?"
"Well since it's coming from my pocket, I think I can guess." She laughed leaning away from his embrace.
"You have met Bruce the-paranoid-billionaire Wayne, right?" Jason shook his head. "About my height, but with a permanent scowl."
Babs dug her phone from her pocket. "Looks like we were both wrong. It's Alfred."
Jason let her answer the phone while he carried their bags upstairs to the bedroom.
The digital clock next to the bed glowed out the time, 3:39 AM. Jason rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. He'd travelled overseas before with Bruce, but the wakefulness that plagued him didn't feel like jet lag. Maybe it was that the cottage was too quiet. He had grown up in Gotham, and now he wasn't sure if he could sleep without sirens splitting the air. The trees outside the cottage window creaked as wind moved the branches. A cloud moved away from the moon which now cast a ghostly light across the floor.
This is ridiculous. Babs is out like a light. With the craziness of the last few days, I should be asleep, too.
His wife shifted next to him, burrowing into his side.
Something banged against the side of the house. Jason's heart raced in his chest as he sat upright. This isn't Gotham. No one is trying to get inside. No one is going to burst in with a gun. Calm down.
"Jay?" Barbara's cool hand found his arm. "What's wrong?"
"I heard a noise."
The banging continued. That's when he noticed a shadow moving across the window. He got up and padded to the glass pane. The shutter buffeted in the howling wind. His sweat soaked skin chilled at the proximity to the cold air. He lifted the sash and fastened the shutter back down as the wind suddenly died.
Jason was about to duck back inside when a different noise echoed across the hills.
Tlot. Tlot. Tlot. Tlot.
A silvery shape cut a swath down the road.
"Babs," Jason hissed. "Do you see this?"
She wrapped her arms around herself as she joined him at the window. "See what?"
"The guy riding a horse," he deadpanned. Don't tell me I'm going crazy.
"I know I said I picked this place because of the Sherlock Holmes book, but this isn't funny."
"It's not a phosphorescent dog. It's a guy on a horse." Jason shot her a look.
The figure rode up to their cottage, right under the window. He had a bicorne hat on his head as well as a fitted jacket that sported lace between the lapels. His pants were offset by boots that came up over his knees. As he turned the reins of the horse, the moonlight caught on a pair of pistols and a rapier hanging from his waist. He stopped and looked up at them, like he was expecting them to be there, at least if the smile on his face was any indication.
"Dude looks like Napoleon with that hat," Barbara whispered.
"Oh, now you see him." He looked at her.
She stuck her tongue out at him.
Jason had only looked away for half a minute, but when he turned back to the courtyard, the figure was gone.
Dick tapped his spurs to the side of his horse, Nightwing, urging the mare onward. Night had descended on the moor and the moonlight cast ghostly shadows on the surrounding highlands. He'd forgone his dark cloak in the hopes that Artemis might see him coming. Riding to meet her was always a gamble. Neither her father or the inn's stablehand thought much of him, but that didn't stop him.
He rode up to the inn. Artemis' window faced the road and he could see a lamp burning inside, despite the shutters being locked. Nightwing's hooves clattered over the cobblestones as he stopped under the window. He stood up in the stirrups and tapped the shutters with his riding crop. A shadow passed over the crack in the wooden panels, his love likely on edge. He whistled a few notes similar to a robin's song.
The shutters flew open, bathing the inn-yard in warm light. Artemis stood at the window, braiding her long blonde hair. Her lips quirked up into a smile when she saw him. "Has the highwayman resorted to robbing homes now?"
"Just the hearts of innkeeper's daughters." He winked up at her. "Care to join me for a moment?"
Artemis leaned out the window and looked around. Apparently satisfied with what she'd searched for she climbed through the window.
Dick dismounted as she worked her way down the lattice to the ground. As soon as she was steady on her feet, he pulled her into his arms.
"I've missed you." She wrapped her arms around his waist.
"I've missed you, too." He tilted her head back with a finger under her chin before pressing his lips to hers.
"Are we riding out?" She pulled the bicorne hat from his head and ran her fingers through his dark hair.
"I am." He pressed a finger to her lips when she opened her mouth to protest. "Simply because I may not be back by morning. I don't want your father to sic the village dogs on us. Plus I'm sure our son will need his mother soon."
She peered up at him with steel in her grey eyes. "Then why not choose a different target? Besides, Jade is with him."
"Because the family I'm after is off to London and their route takes them through Bolventor."
Artemis chewed on her lip. "I suppose I can understand why my staying here would be wise."
"I'd much rather have you with me." He tucked an errant tendril of hair behind her ear. His fingers slid down the braid to where it was tied off. "What's this?"
Her cheeks tinged pink. "It's a love knot."
A grin split Dick's face. He pulled her flush to his chest. "Kiss me for luck. Tonight's haul will give your father a dowry to rival kings."
Artemis' fingers twisted in the lapels of his claret-red coat and kissed him.
"I'll be back as soon as I can. By midnight tomorrow at the latest." Regret that he had to tear himself from her embrace welled up in his gut.
He mounted his horse and galloped away into the night.
