Chapter Eight
The Temporary Mrs. Todd - Part Two
"I say you go and enjoy yourself with your new husband while everyone else handles the hard stuff, and then we all get back together to talk about what to do."
Mom was right as she often was, and Stephanie Todd was more than happy to listen to the words of wisdom. Her new hubby would also understand. But still, the news from Tim enthralled her and made her anxious on so many levels.
When she met with Jason outside her room, his eyes bulged as he did a classic double-take as he took in her exquisite yet subtler second getup. He blurted out that she was a siren from the stars because he'd considered a beautiful figure from Middle Eastern folklore only for his brain to short-circuit. She laughed at his sweetness. Even Tim couldn't manage such cultured compliments.
Their entrance back into the party was a grand one, and she waved her bouquet - purple passionflowers, red roses, and Queen Anne's lace - in the air, and right behind them, the drummers hired to signal their arrival. And their first dance could begin. During the moment when his hands placed themselves around her waist, hers on his powerful shoulders beneath the white-and-silver tunic he still wore, and everyone else participating, that was when he properly got a whiff of her perfume when he leaned in, catching a whiff of sweet musk, fresh grapefruit, crisp blossoms, and sultry sandalwood.
Crystal's words echoed in her trace memories: "Irresistibly attracts your pheromones and his, lingers for hours, so try not to spray too much in a short period of time, baby." But then she HAD to drop this little gem, Steph thought with sarcasm.
"Stimulates to the point he's driven wild."
She made the little mistake of looking into his eyes and seeing the smolder that had popped up many times over their moments together, and it stirred up the little burning blip in her important feminine parts.
Dancing worked up everyone's appetites, so it was onward to the sumptuous buffet of seafood, vegan, and meat dishes. And from the husband and wife's first dance to now, belly dancers in gold and sapphire, ruby, and emerald colors continued to perform for them. Steph and the girls including Lian had a blast shaking the hips as long as it was child-appropriate for the youngest guest.
Night had finally fallen, the party going on then, but it was also time for Lian to go to bed, Roy announced, and he took both of themselves out of here to the guest room they shared with Oliver and Dinah - a suite of sorts, if you must. This place was better than the greatest five-star hotel in America. Once Roy was sure his daughter was safely tucked in, he came back in time for the cutting of the cake.
Damn, that thing was magical and unique. It was white and gold like the ballroom, the henna designs consisting of the sun on one side and the moon on the other, both interlinked with scrolling ivy and a couple of birds around. Also topping the single-tiered thing were some red roses, a couple of purple passionflowers, blackberries and raspberries, and finally figs - a full one, one cut in half, and another sliced into four pieces. That Jason had been looking forward to as much as Steph had been looking forward to its final appearance; they got to cut it with a sword. And it had been in the al Ghul family for centuries.
Turkish coffee and tea were served, because it was against the religion to have alcohol, and not only that but there WERE minors here, for the most part. And it did help that Roy, a former alcoholic and recovering addict, was spared the temptation. Tim the caffeine lover's eyes lit up to no one's surprise. He was going to have trouble sleeping, again to no one's surprise.
Suddenly, at a random point, an aide rushed into the area just as everyone was sitting down, and that caused the festivities to come to a brief halt. Talia's face darkened, her lips moving in a way that caused Superman to rush to her side, Wonder Woman joining. That was enough to make everyone look at each other, the newlyweds holding each other's hands tightly knowingly.
Batman's here.
~o~
"After your League dogs blocked me at every turn, I finally find these two here. I'm here because of Black Mask and Cluemaster."
She and Jason were in the library and office before they could even head over to their honeymoon suite which was customarily reserved for newlyweds. Her new mother-in-law had something for them to listen to, and it was none other than -
"What do you intend to do, Bruce?" Superman demanded on the recording on the marble desk. "Take them both back and lock them in Arkham or Blackgate, then throw the key away?"
"Stay out of this, Kent," Batman growled.
Now Diana stepped in. "You have no power here or anywhere else anymore, Batman. You're a falling tyrant with no place to go outside Gotham, your own kingdom which hates you with a passion except for those like you. You can't come onto someone else's lands to dictate what another can or can't do."
"The beheadings of Stephanie Brown's father and the one who tortured her - and whom Red Hood infiltrated and brought down - are too great a coincidence. It pertains to the League, which means you have done it yourself, Talia, or you let Spoiler do it."
"I'm not at liberty to help you add to your case files on two young people who didn't deserve what you and Gotham gave them," Talia hissed. "One - a former son who took every shot from you and his enemies, and now he could have died if we hadn't been there. He has a true family now, and so does Stephanie. You've lost all of your toy soldiers. You're alone and the number one threat on our radars. You dare to come here and demand I turn over my children who will one day rule in my stead."
"What are you planning with them now?"
"Leave before I remove your head, or these two here - your former friends and allies you had your contingencies against. Your odds aren't with you, Wayne."
"Then tell Spoiler and Hood the odds are against them."
Stephanie huffed, Jason glaring at the thing despite the defense Talia, the Man of Steel, and the Amazon were spewing for them. Gotham was more their home than it ever would be Bruce Wayne's. The new Mrs. Todd could still remember when he told her to go home or else she'd be killed, that no one did what she was doing in his city, and she shot back that he wasn't her king and employer. "She saw me in you," Jason once bitterly said when she told him this. "Thought you'd get yourself killed like he scapegoated about me." Now he was putting her with her new husband in that category, and he didn't know they were a thing yet.
"Weren't you the one who foolishly believed a young girl who thwarted her sperm donor would be safe if she and her corrupted mother remained with him?" Talia demanded on the speaker. "And weren't you responsible for telling Jason you weren't his father, just before he ran off? You took Jason off the streets due to a warped sense of charity and an unconscious need to replace Richard - don't deny it no matter how much you will - and you thought charity towards Crystal Brown and her daughter would be the answer. I have more than mere resources on my mind. I love them both as much as I love Damian, and I don't see them as expendable."
Bruce said nothing but this: "They're not expendable. They were both inexperienced wild cards and wouldn't listen to me."
"Inexperienced? Wild cards? Could have fooled me," Clark said with a huff. "I heard enough from Jason, so what did Stephanie tell me? Oh, wait: you compared her to Timothy, you made it clear she was never wanted except for an all-hands-on-deck, but that can be said for all the kids. Jason and Steph never felt safe for a day in their lives, and whose fault is that? Their fathers, Joker, Black Mask, and now you."
Because my mom drugged herself to cope, and so did Catherine Todd. My father, Riddler, Mask, and yeah, Joker for Jason.
Clark continued. "Neither of them was born into wealth so that they could stay invincible. They didn't ask to be born in Crime Alley, and they didn't treat anything as a game. Those people you're supposed to protect are the ones they understand and relate to the most, not you. No wonder the population like them more than your entitled ass these days." Would have gotten a laugh if not for the fact there was more to say. "They stepped up when no one else did anything, they took the brunt so that the rest of humanity thrived, and so they felt safe in return. Now one of them is finally safe from two nightmares. You don't make them feel safe; you never have, and if you think you could, it lives in your brain, Bruce. You don't make anyone feel safe anymore."
Jason growled. "Oh, get his ass out of here already."
Coincidentally, fate answered him, because there was soon the sound of whooshing and snaps, which meant Diana whipped her Lasso of Truth out, but with no intention of using it except one other thing. She was taking him out, and Batman's gadgets were no match. There was just a faint trace of the last sentence before the recording ended: "And last we heard, the Federal Bureau Investigation was digging into Bruce Wayne. I plan to bring you back to them and show the coward you were for running away."
That was a blast of a mental image to have, clenching their guts in the process.
~o~
"Hell of a post-wedding present, right, Blondie?" Jason asked jokingly when they were finally alone in their bridal suite.
Bridal chamber. That sounds more romantic and outdated at the same time, but to hell with some modern terms. They're boring and bleh.
It was something out of the Arabian Nights. She was Scheherazade and he was Shahrayar, except there was no life and death between them. The circular bed was customized ebony finished with the posters crawling with intricate gold leaves, sided with true gold tables topped with mirror surfaces and Moroccan lanterns that were plugged into the electrical system. Modern in that way, yet retaining magical romance. The ruby brocade curtains maintained that ambiance, too. The bed's headboard was carved with Arabesque motifs, the lighting of the room's atmosphere penetrating those opened spaces onto the wall. Steph laughed at the dominant use of red in this room, but then again, it was popular. The quilt she sat upon on the foot end was heavy silk trimmed and dotted with more gold, but the carpeting was of various lush, dark colors similar to a Persian rug. Jason walked on it back and forth in front of her, hands on hips when he got serious with their conversation.
"It's just like him to come here and try to ruin our day. And took him long enough to come here. Old man would have done it sooner."
"Yeah, but Talia was that damned good," Stephanie said with a grin, leaning back and spreading her arms out on either side, reclining and stretching her spine. "She kept us both safe, but with him breaking and entering while he's being investigated..."
Jason nodded somberly, knowing exactly what she was thinking. "Means we gotta move against him sooner than expected. Start putting all our plans in motion." He sighed and looked down at the floral carpeting. "Since when does everything go according to plan, just as we want them to?"
Steph sat up straight again. "Not everything. One thing might work out," she said, heart fluttering a little. She wasn't foolish. She knew from the depths it was true, conscious or not. "We got each other, and something's gonna come out of it."
"Something like?" he asked with one eyebrow raised.
She found herself looking him over. She'd done it a lot of times tonight, but now she...something was warming her, pushing her out of her comfort zone. Those powerful, supple muscles over bones hardened by life, death, and resurrection, joined with scars that were long healed on the outside while others remained, as well as the fresh new bruises slowly healing from his latest abuser. All beautiful, perfect and marred at the same time. The most beautiful flowers in the world didn't get the way they were on their own, after all. That white tuft in the front of his mane was part of his character, a symbol of the new him that Bruce never accepted and never would.
Unlike him, she was willing to accept all of Jason's flaws. "The fact we're gonna make this partnership work. I don't care about HIM anymore, but a wise person whose name escapes me said the best revenge is living well. We ignore him and prove him wrong at the same time," she stated, causing his body to straighten, and his face to become that of a child filled with wonder.
"...you read my mind, Steph. We tell each other what we think and want without demanding as Batshit does. I think we both let ourselves be poisoned with self-doubt, but we never should have had to prove ourselves to people who didn't deserve it. I spent years with the Outlaws and now with you and the kids to know this. Yeah -" He shrugged, shoulder muscles rolling with the action. "- we surpassed Batman, maybe or maybe not. To hell if I'm being cocky because I know we will get him this time."
He stopped talking and walked over to sit right beside her, and took her hand with her rings in his hand. That was when she saw them neatly aligned next to his wedding finger. "We are ours," as Edward VIII inscribed in the engagement ring he gave to Wallis Simpson. That story wasn't entirely true as the great love story most of us believed, but those words...they apply to us.
"Stephanie, Talia gave me my life back after I was put in the Pit, and when she took you in to train you, she saw in you what she saw in me. She's not an idiot. Therefore, I see it in you. We gotta let old fears go so we can emit real change and throw the damned status quo out the door. I know we talked about this before, but if I don't say it enough, I look forward to doing that with you."
He genuinely smiled down at her, on their wedding night, repeating basically their past conversations as though it were the first time all over again, renewed and fired up because their shared biggest enemy was on their tail and would act once he trapped them again. If he does, we're gonna be ready for him.
Her and Jason's bond was drifting towards teamwork and something that she should go ahead and name if only she wasn't afraid of rejection or hesitation, and she didn't know which one would be worse. She was afraid of a third ending like Tim and the one before him.
Over the past three months, it had been rising like the sun over the horizon.
She wanted more with Jason Todd, her new husband and partner. And this time, she was brave to lean up, stopping an inch from his lips -
- only for his to press against hers with the element of surprise like fireworks.
The henna on the wedding cake: sun for resurrection and renewal, moon for feminine energy, protection, fertility, and good luck; ivy for fidelity and birds for freedom and the link between heaven and Earth.
R & R! :'D