Dani's To-Do List
- Meet Cass (she's SO COOL)
- find some good cheesecake
- build a lego house
- find a Civil War bunker
Cass looks like a dancer.
She's tall and lithe, muscles packed into every limb. Her Chinese heritage is obvious by the shape of her eyes and the coloring and texture of her short hair. Her eyes are dark and warm, like melted chocolate, but they're sharp and analyzing, taking in everything around her.
Dani feels naked under her stare. Like her every thought and feeling is laid bare for Cass to peruse. Like every flaw is stark against her skin, pointing out everything Dani lacks. She doesn't know if there's a single thing she can keep from this woman.
Cass lightly smooths down Dani's wild hair. She sways gently and places a kiss to the crown of Dani's head.
… Dani would kill for this woman. She would burn the world down if it made her cry.
"Hi," Dani says, breathless as she pulls back to stare up at the older girl.
Cass's smile grows and she inclines her head in acknowledgement. "Hello," she mouths. "Love you."
Unexpectedly, Dani feels the urge to cry.
Has… has anyone ever said they love her before? Not that she can remember. Not Vlad — obviously — but also not Sam, Tucker, or even Danny. Dani knows they love her, can feel it in their auras with every hug and worried question about her whereabouts. She felt it when Danny held her close and sobbed into her shoulder after she restabilized, in the overprotective mothering that followed for weeks after.
But they've never said it. Not even Jazz, Ms. Psychologist "communicate your feelings" extraordinaire.
Dani never noticed that it bothered her. Cass met her, and within two minutes knew Dani's soul, every flaw and crack, and loved it with all her heart. How can someone so pure see Dani and love her so profoundly, so quickly? Dani? Annoying, never-think-of-anyone-else, too-much-everything Dani?
Cass reads all this on her face and pulls her close again. Dani's eyes leak a little into Cass's leotard, but the other girl doesn't seem to mind.
When Dani finally pulls back, she gets a genuine smile. Dani can feel the honesty in the Chinese girl from her open body language. Unexpectedly, irrationally, this dancer loves Dani with her entire being. Not only did she say it, but Dani can feel it, just like she can with Danny and Sam and Tucker (and Dick and Tim and Alfred).
"I love you, too," Dani confesses — also the first time she's uttered those words — in Mandarin. Cass smiles wide, eyes sparkling. "It's nice to meet you."
Cass's hands flutter, twisting around each other and ending with a point at Dani. Dani glances up at her, and Cass reads the excitement, curiosity, and confusion off Dani's face and repeats the movements slowly, mouthing the words as she goes (in English; it's exceptionally hard to lipread Chinese).
"Nice," Cass begins, lowering her upturned right hand from her chin to tap the back of her hand to her also-upturned left palm. "Meet" accompanies two pointing fingers pressed together like two people standing before each other. Then Cass points at Dani, mouthing "you", following the sign with curled fingers and an extended thumb and pinkie, shaking the Y-shaped fist between them. "Too."
Dani tries the signs herself. Cass gently loosens her fingers to correct her whenever she messes up.
Cass smiles brilliantly at her and repeats the "nice" sign, mouthing "good". So it looks like that sign means "nice" or "good", which makes sense. Dani promises herself that this hand language will be her new project. She'll be fluent by the end of the week!
After Cass changes, she grabs a sparkly pink purse and tugs on Dani, asking her to go to the store with that in the same half-sign, half-mouthed language. Dani agrees instantly, following the girl as she leads the way to the garage.
Cass drives a motorcycle.
She's so cool.
Cass stuffs a helmet on Dani's head, securing her straps and worrying the riding jacket she also made the younger girl put on. It's too big, since it's one of Cass's extras, but the dancer is determined to make it fit as snuggly as possible.
Eventually, Cass is satisfied. She climbs onto her bike and gestures for Dani to join her. Dani's arms are tugged around Cass's waist and squeezed, indicating the younger should hold on tight. Dani obliges, leaning her head on Cass's back.
Before long, Cass has donned her own helmet and is revving the engine. Dani holds tighter as they jerk forward, launching out of the garage and speeding down the driveway.
The Waynes like to go fast.
Which is perfect, because Dani does too.
Cass weaves deftly around traffic, splitting the lanes expertly. Her body moves in perfect sync with the vehicle below her, and Dani is ridiculously impressed. Cass is so freakin' cool.
Too soon, the ride is over. Cass parks her bike in a parking lot, locking it up with a fancy alarm system that's in plain sight of one of the nearby security cameras.
Then Dani's being tugged into a mall, Cass glancing over excitedly at her at every opportunity (and there are a lot).
Cass uses a sign and points to Dani's shirt. Then she signs something new and mouths "more", with a question in her expression.
Dani shakes her head. "I don't need any more." She signs the last word as she says it. "I already have a bunch."
Cass shakes her head fondly and holds up four fingers.
… That's how many Dick bought her. She also has three of her own, but it's kinda weird that Cass just knows how many she's already been given.
Cass signs more again, this time with resolution. She marches them both into the nearest clothing store.
Turns out, it's impossible to shop with Cass. Those dark eyes pick up every tiny reaction Dani has to every article of clothing shoved her way. With whatever micro expressions Dani leaks, Cass receives all the information she needs to decide whether Dani wants the shirt or not.
Dani can't show any interest without Cass adding the shirt to their cart. Even if she tries to remain impassive, if Dani likes the shirt, Cass just knows. Dani can hide nothing.
She also seems to have accurately guessed Dani's exact size from sight alone.
They leave that store having bought eighteen shirts, half of them from their graphics, half from the color or texture. Cass also managed to get ten pairs of pants, picking up on Dani's interest in cargo pants and getting her five pairs in varying colors. All this accompanied packs of socks and underthings thrown in at random as they passed through each aisle. When Dani finally convinces them to leave, Cass checks them out and signs an order form so they can leave their purchases there.
This same ritual repeats itself in three more clothing stores, expanding Dani's original wardrobe by over a dozen times. Sure, Dani doesn't have a ton of clothes, but she's never needed more, and the only reason she's getting these is because Cass can sense when she wants something.
She senses it way too accurately.
After the fourth store, Cass seems to pick up that Dani is getting anxious at the climbing price tag and exhausted from trying to slow Cass down, and they take a break at the food court. Cass teaches Dani more signs as they eat sugar pretzels and frozen yogurt, watching the various mall-goers pass them by. People watching, Dani finds out, is one of Cass's favorite hobbies.
After their snack, Cass bullies her into getting some new shoes. Dani can admit hers could use a replacement (she could practically hear the worn fabric begging her to let them die with each step) and picks out some sturdy hiking shoes that look like they'll last a while.
Of course, they don't leave until Cass has decided on three other pairs, and Dani just watches her shop, Dani's shoe size in hand, in resignation.
After shoes, Cass reluctantly ends the clothing hunt and brings Dani into a bookstore. The younger girl is much more interested in this stuff, and she excitedly points out cool maps and chatters on about one country or another.
Cass fills a handbasket with the best options, which Dani picks out under the threat of Cass buying everything Dani has shown interest in. Dani knows Cass has the money and spite to do so, and she concedes.
Four atlases, two world maps, a book of ghost stories, the entire series of Dune and Jurassic Park, a history of American spies, the biography of Harry Houdini, and three instructional texts on American Sign Language all join the hand cart. Cass doesn't even seem to strain at the weight.
They also get a new board game. Cass explains that she loves trying out new ones with the family, and they decide on one called "Obscurio" which looks dark and spooky.
Exhausted from their trip, Dani convinces Cass to abandon the mall in favor of getting home in time for dinner and playing their new game. This is Cass's weak spot. She really likes board games, apparently. Or maybe just spending time with her family.
They manage to convince Dick and Alfred to join them, but Tim and Damian decline because they're busy with work or something. Dani assumes Damian means schoolwork, but suspects he's just avoiding social interaction.
Cass sends an emergency text to Stephanie for another player, and the blonde girl shows up just in time for dessert. Alfred sets up their new game calmly, then explains the game after reading the whole rule book.
"We need to choose a Grimoire," Alfred explains, "who will know the identity of the traitor and give the rest of the group clues."
Dick offers to do it, but Stephanie argues heatedly that Cass has to, otherwise she'll see through everyone else and find the traitor and the correct images by watching everyone's expressions and body language. Cass nods sagely at the accusations, and Dani is fascinated by Dick's ready agreement. Just how good is Cass?
So Cass takes the head of the table, shuffles the circle cards, and begins choosing images to put into her hidden board. Meanwhile, Dani and the rest of the "wizards" — as the normal players are called — claim the color of their pieces. Steph insists on purple and Dick on blue, the two sharing secret smiles that Dani assumes are for some kind of inside joke. Alfred lets Dani choose her color next, and she decides on green. Among the final choices, Alfred claims red.
The goal of the game is to escape the mansion. To escape, each round they must choose a door with an associated image. If it's the correct door, they advance to the end. If it isn't, they don't advance, giving them less time to escape before the mansion closes and they're trapped forever.
A traitor is randomly chosen. Dani is sadly not it. She would've liked to seed discord. Cass senses this and sends her a smirk. She shuffles the circles again, laying them down on the six spots around the board, and holds out a bag for Alfred to choose a "trap" token that makes it harder to guess the right door. He gets what he explains is a "united" trap, and Cass must use only one of two pictures to give them clues.
Cass reveals the clues. Two extremely elaborate pictures on random circles are displayed on a board, two butterfly pins pointing to two different parts of the picture.
They discuss what they think the pins are trying to indicate: color? object? shape? and then close their eyes to allow the traitor to switch out one of the circles and make the rest of their lives harder. To make the game more fun, Dani deliberately doesn't listen to the sounds around her. It's made much easier by Cass playing music on her phone to prevent people from trying to listen in.
The circles are revealed. They fight over which they think it is. One is the right color, one has the right object. At the same time, they scrutinize each other for hints of betrayal. Dani thinks Steph is being too passionate about one particular circle (she likes the color of it, probably), and Dick is always weird. Alfred is unflappable, as always, gently offering opinions on which he thinks it is.
They end up splitting up between two doors.
Dani and Alfred are right, Dick and Steph aren't. They gain two points and lose two, and they have to draw more trap tokens.
The process repeats itself. There are times where the discussion gets really heated. Cass watches it all with a poker face.
They're about to lose. The house is closing. Even if they guess the last door correctly, it's unlikely they'll be able to get out.
They don't guess it correctly.
Now, the traitor comes to light. It's time to guess. If they can guess the right traitor, then at least whoever it is loses with them.
Alfred suggests Dani, since she was definitely the most controversial despite Steph's best efforts. Dani is betrayed by the accusation. She's more betrayed that Dick and Steph agree with Alfred.
In anger more than any logical guess, Dani points at Alfred for her guess. The others point at her.
Cass remains impassive as she studies them. Then a brilliant smile breaks out over her face and she points at Alfred.
The next few minutes are chaos. Dani is deeply hurt by their betrayal and makes it well known, much to everyone else's amusement. Eventually, though, she calms down and they begin packing up the game, slowed by Dani's insistence on studying the art for each circle. They're so elaborate.
"That's a fun one," Steph comments. "It would've been so much more fun with Tim, though. He takes these things way too seriously."
Dick nods as he flips one of the trap tokens around his fingers. "You should see him go against Cass. Tim's better at figuring out the game, but Cass can figure out the people. It's always so cutthroat."
Cass signs Damian's name and laughs silently.
"Yes, he would take the betrayal so personally," Dani laughs. "I can't even imagine him as the traitor, only as the… trait-ee?"
Dick and Steph glance at Cass in surprise. Cass replies to their unasked question with a few signs. "She learn fast."
Dani agrees with a nod, but Dick raises an eyebrow. "Then what did she say?"
Signing as she goes, Dani repeats Cass's words. Cass called her a quick study earlier, so she knows those signs. Look, Dani's a fast learner when it comes to language, but she still can't know signs or words she's never seen or heard before.
"Huh," Dick says dumbly. "That's mad impressive."
Steph nods seriously. "She fits right in."
Dani beams at the praise. "Can we play something else?"
They end up deciding on Uno, and end the night as bitter enemies.
Dani knows they think they're being sneaky, but there's no mistaking the way Dick and Tim bully her into staying at the manor all day every day. It would be more effective if they stayed with her, but both of them have really important jobs.
That first day after meeting Cass, Dani snuck out after they both left. She'd been back in time for dinner, but before that, she decided to wander out of Bristol and check out the high-end shopping area where the richest of the rich shop. She was shooed out of any area she lingered in for too long, so she just wandered around the well-maintained garden overlooking the sea.
She ended up getting bored, so she headed deeper into the city. Later that evening, after Dani stumbled in at almost midnight after a recent dip in the ocean and covered in half-dry cement paste carrying a half eaten cheesecake, the Waynes decide to dedicate their energy to keeping Dani busy with safer activities.
She would be annoyed, but keeping her from the city meant they did their best to entertain her personally, and, well. She really likes hanging out with them.
In particular, Dick and Tim seem to enjoy shoving her and Damian together.
It starts with Tim exploiting some favor Damian owes him into spending a whole afternoon with her. Dani would be offended at the blatant blackmailing needed to get Damian to hang out with her, but she knows he just enjoys being difficult and doesn't mind the means so long as she gets the end.
Tim also prepared an activity for them, like they're children. He gives them legos, and tells them to have fun. Damian and Dani both take great offense to that. Damian demands they plan his downfall. Dani agrees that the tyranny cannot stand.
But while they talk, Dani fiddles with the pieces, sticking them together in a big long block. It can work as a wall, so she starts making a basic house. When Damian joins her, he insists that if they're going to waste their time doing something so inane, they might as well make something grand.
"The Manor?" Dani asks, and Damian gets this spark in his emerald eyes that Dani is starting to realize is interest.
They become a bit obsessed.
Alfred drives them to the store several times over the next two weeks so they can get more bricks. They must spend over a grand on the basic pieces alone, and that's before they go into specialized pieces for the decor.
No one but Alfred is allowed to see their progress. Unfortunately, that's both Alfred's… including the cat. Damian lets him in, and Dani can only kick him out so many times before she runs out of energy and lets the devil cat sit in her lap while she builds walls.
The end result is a huge four-square-meter replica of the Manor, a meter and a half tall, with accurate dimensions and precise window and door placement. It's ridiculously intricate. After much debate, Damian and Dani decide not to decorate the inside. They agree that after the three-and-a-half-week hyper fixation on making their Manor replica, they need a break from their project AND legos.
The rest of the family is overly impressed by their creation. Dick even posts a picture of it on social media (sans the creators, since both Damian and Dani dislike their pictures being taken or posted). Apparently, it gets several thousand likes.
The first day of her break from the lego house, Dani escapes the Manor and goes back into the city.
She meets an interesting ghost named Lyla who leads her into an underground cave that used to be a bunker where her family would hide escaped slaves. Dani has to explore the entire place, and ends up with an armful of decades-old books and a new understanding of the Underground Railroad. On her way out, she runs into Stephanie.
What are the odds that Steph would be two streets down from where Dani emerged from the underground bunker? Weird coincidence.
"Whatcha got there?" Stephanie asks, gesturing to the pile of books in Dani's arms.
"Not sure yet," Dani replies honestly, still a little thrown from the sudden appearance of the blonde. "I just got them. Uh, what are you doing here?"
"I was taking a walk," Steph lies. She looks like she ran here. Her hair is all windblown. "Want to hang out? I haven't seen you since our board game night! Every time I've stopped by in the past three weeks, you've been holed up with Damian."
"We were building a lego house."
Steph rolls her eyes with a huge grin. "Yeah, a lego mansion. I saw the picture. You two are insane."
"It had to be done," Dani says solemnly. "Who else, if not us?"
Stephanie laughs, easy and free. "Anyway, I'm not doing anything, want to hang out? I parked a couple of streets down, so if you want we can drop off your books."
"Actually, if you're offering, want to help me get more of them?"
Steph's eyes glitter in curiosity. "Yes please. I need to see where you disappear off to."
Psh. Like it's ever the same place twice.
They drop Dani's armful of books into Stephanie's old beater car that Dani doubts the integrity of. Steph claims that she's keeping it running on pure spite alone, that it's her baby and it dies over Steph's cold dead body. Dani gingerly sets her bounty of books down and climbs into the front seat, shuffling through candy wrappers.
Under Dani's direction, they relocate to a street a block off from the secret entrance. Since Lyla's family has been dead for over a century, Dani isn't worried about showing off the bunker. She left it open specifically so someone else could stumble across it. It's not like it's dangerous or anything. Dani already checked it out to make sure.
Dani leads the way. Steph skeptically follows Dani into the crawl space, then gasps aloud when they enter the bunker. Dani's ridiculously bright flashlight illuminates a decent portion of the room. Before, she hadn't bothered to turn it on, but Steph doesn't have Dani's eyesight.
"Holy crap," Steph mutters softly. "What is this place?"
"An old bunker built for a rich family in the sixties," Dani replies, setting down the flashlight to illuminate a bit more of the room.
Stephanie is examining the ancient rug with her cellphone flashlight. "This place is way older than the sixties. It must be at least a century old."
"It's from the eighteen sixties," Dani clarifies. "Look, I even found a newspaper." She moves over to the wooden table where a faded newspaper lay next to a ceramic glass. "See? 1862."
Steph seems to be losing her mind. "How did you find this place?!"
Dani shrugs. "I was looking for treasure." She's always looking for treasure. When she met Lyla, the girl had begged Dani to find out the fate of some of the slaves her family had tried to get further north. They were apparently one of the safest stops on the Underground Railroad (and wasn't that a wild piece of history for Dani to learn about), and were rich enough to make this metal-coated bunker that used to be some kind of cellar. Lyla's family home was burned to the ground at some point during the Civil War, her family was executed trying to buy some fleeing slaves time to get ahead of the Confederate army.
Dani never knew America had such a fascinating history. A secret network of hidden houses to ferret whole families across America? Bonkers.
"You… you found a war bunker looking for treasure?" Steph seems to be in either shock or awe. Dani decides she's in awe. Dani's just so cool, Stephanie should be in awe.
"It's part of the Underground Railroad, actually," Dani corrects. "The family kept all their anti-slavery and pro-union stuff in here along with any slaves they were helping out."
"How do you know that?!"
Dani gives her a secret smile. "So, help me with more of these books?"
Dani only chose six from before, mostly stuff she could use to find the identities of Lyla's family and hopefully any of the people they helped save. Lyla directed Dani to a family register and a hollow book full of correspondence. Slaves were mostly illiterate, but there were a few simple learning books for them during the long hours waiting for the cover of darkness so they could move to the next stop. The rest of the books were for Lyla's family.
"I don't know which ones would be cool," Dani adds. "I got some history stuff, but I also thought I'd grab a book or two for Jason. Dick said he likes reading. I figured I'd get him a preemptive gift for when I meet him." So far, he was the only Wayne kid Dani had yet to meet. She'd even said hi to Duke in passing, who stopped by for dinner during a rare reprieve from his slammed college schedule. In the month since she's been in Gotham, she'd yet to catch a glimpse of the elusive second child.
"Holy crap holy crap holy crap," Steph gushes, picking up one volume reverently. "Uncle Tom's Cabin?! Is this an original? Holy crap, this must be worth… Geez, this is worth a fortune."
"Crazy," Dani says, looking through some of the other books. She'd never heard of any of these books (except the Bible), and Uncle Tom's Cabin was no exception. "Would Jason like it?"
"He might actually kill for it," Steph confirms. "We'll keep this one. The rest should go to a museum or something."
Dani and Steph manage most of the rest of the books and documents between the two of them. They do leave the religious texts, though Dani is pretty sure Steph will be returning for those too. She seems very self-righteous about getting this stuff to the proper historians. Dani isn't super concerned, as long as she gets to keep a souvenir.
After they shuffle out of the space, they're both covered in sweat, dust, and cobwebs. Steph is bright with excitement though, and it's infectious. Dani skips along with her, balancing the books against her chest.
When they approach Steph's car, she stops short and swears. "Aw, man, they booted my car…"
Dani checks, and sure enough, there's a yellow boot on Steph's driver side tire, a big sign taped to the window detailing how to pay to get it off. Steph growls at it, fumbling her keys out and unlocking the door to put the books in.
"Why did they boot it?" Dani asks, skirting around Steph to put her own stack next to the others in the backseat.
"Because they're predatory pieces of garbage," Steph mutters, popping her trunk. "You can park here for three hours. We've definitely only been here for two, if that. But the police aren't going to care about a booted car enough to come out here, and the booting company charges seventy dollars to come take it off."
"Highway robbery," Dani agrees. She follows Steph to the back and watches her pool out a couple of tools. "What are you doing?"
"Taking off the boot," Stephanie replies. Her blonde ponytail bounces as she makes her way to the boot and undoes it in two seconds flat. "This is the third time this month. I refuse to let them earn money off of me."
"Isn't it illegal?" Otherwise everyone else would take them off, right?
Stephanie sends her a feral grin. "Obviously." She tosses the tool back into her trunk, leaving the boot on the side of the road. When she goes to shut the trunk though, Dani stops her.
Steph looks at her curiously, but Dani isn't looking at her. She's eying the car further up the street that also has the boot. "Stephanie, I have an idea." She looks at the blonde, her own feral grin on full display. "Let's become vigilantes."
"Is there a reason there are forty-eight car boots in the garage?" Tim asks at breakfast, looking pointedly at Dani. The teen simply smiles demurely and takes another bite of her waffle. Stephanie has the same innocent smile as she pours an unholy amount of syrup on her waffles.
"There are car boots in the garage?" Dick echoes, looking between the three of them.
"Forty-eight of them," Tim confirms, still staring at the two girls. "Why?"
"Souvenir," Dani says.
"On a completely unrelated note, Dani and I got a Christmas present for Jason."
"Is it forty-eight car boots?" Dick wonders, eyes glittering in amusement.
"No, those are mine," Dani cuts in. "Don't you dare take them. I'll boot your car. I have enough of them."
"Not if they are taken," Damian points out, his first contribution this morning.
"Well maybe those aren't all the ones we got."
The boys all look at them. Stephanie nods sagely. There are ten more in the back of Stephanie's car. They haven't had the chance yet, but they want to boot the booter cars. It's the next stage of their vigilantism movement.
"Stephanie," Tim says. "Did you really spend all of last night stealing boots off people's cars?" He sounds so resigned. Dani finds this hilarious, but she must keep the poker face.
"Don't look at me! It was all Dani's idea!"
Dani doesn't bother denying it. "It was for justice," Dani tells them. They all look at each other this time, Tim and Dick with blatant concern. "They booted Stephanie. I took that personally."
"Is this going to be a thing?" Tim asks, looking genuinely concerned at the thought.
"Maybe~" Steph sings.
And at least once a week, Steph and Dani get together and ride through the streets, unbooting every car they find and keeping the car boots. It becomes their Thing.
Everyone else doesn't say much else about it, politely (or maybe fearfully) ignoring the growing mountain of the car boots that they're building in a dedicated corner of the garage.
Dick is exhausted. He needs a break. He needs a vacation. Maybe he should get dengue fever so he can just sleep for a week. But the mission doesn't stop, and Dick needs to get a grip.
Luckily, Dani is hanging out with Steph again. He didn't think that sending her to find Dani when she disappeared off the grid a few nights ago would turn into some kind of anti-parking enforcement movement, but he's glad they're getting along. He just hopes they stick to the unbooting thing for now. As much as he wants to see the chaos they'll get up to together, he's too tired to deal with any messes right now, but he's also far too tired to be worried about Dani wandering around in the city.
"And what have we heard from the other side?"
Dick refocuses on the League meeting. A couple of weeks ago, a section of the US government started causing issues in random cities. They've been established for a good few decades, but Dick had never heard of them, and neither had anyone else in the League. They're a unit of specialized officers under the moniker: "Ghost Investigation Ward". Not only was their purpose ridiculous, but they kept their heads down. Dick had only learned about them when Constantine came to him with the dreaded phrase, "We have a problem."
After a bit of investigation, it turns out that the GIW received government permission to do whatever it takes to eradicate "ectoplasm based entities". The Anti-Ecto Acts were on par with the Patriot Act, essentially stripping anyone that tried to get in the GIW's way of their rights. These "entities" were treated like demons: beings that existed to cause pain and misery to others.
But the thing was, "ectoplasm based entities" were just denizens of the realm on the flip side of Earth. Constantine called it the realm between worlds. Zatanna called it the After. From what Dick can gather, it's essentially a lawless zone of magic and soul that accumulates from the mortal worlds that are connected to it.
If any of those magical souls managed to get into their world, they were labeled "ghosts".
Listen, Dick knows ghosts exist. He's met a few. But he never considered them to be a big enough problem to involve an entire branch of government. And honestly, when he first heard about it, he hadn't really cared. They're spirits, right? It's not as though exorcising them back to the afterlife is unwarranted.
But the GIW aren't exorcising them.
They're torturing them.
They're torturing human souls.
And they have the legal right to do it.
Dick was —is— furious. He's working with the League and JL Dark to get the Acts repealed and shut down the government faction. There's been. Well. There's been no progress.
Then Constantine goes and throws in that the other realm isn't actually lawless. It has a king, actually, and that king is pissed. They've just tried contacting him to set up a meeting. So far, no luck.
"No response," Zatanna reports.
"We could always summon him," Green Arrow suggests. "Like any other entity, right?"
"Yeah, sure," Constantine drawls, sending a glare in the blonde's direction. "Let's just summon a pissed off god that could snap his fingers and end us all. Let me get right on that."
Green Arrow shrugs, probably rolling his eyes under his mask. "It's a sure fire way to get ahold of him."
"And a sure fire way to die," is the snappish response.
"Knock it off," Zatanna interjects. "It was just a question. Arrow, it's not a smart idea. Like summoning Triton."
Raven, who's been fairly quiet as she listens, shivers at the mention of her father.
"If we want a prayer of getting these acts repealed, we need to talk to someone in charge," says Hawkgirl. "Is there anyone else we could summon?"
"There's no information on the King's cabinet, if there is one. It's possible he hasn't chosen one yet." Zatanna looks thoughtful as she mentions this. "He was crowned less than a year ago."
"He's new?" Dick asks in surprise. "Why?" How often do immortal beings pass on titles? They're souls, so they couldn't die, but could they possibly be contained or otherwise eliminated for a change in rulership? Even JLD's information on the realm was limited. The place and anything about it wasn't meant for the living.
"The crown used to belong to a tyrant that ruled for millennium. The most powerful beings, called Ancients, sealed him away centuries ago. Since then, the realm has suffered from chaos and lawlessness." Raven's face is shadowed behind her hood. Her monotone voice has stolen everyone's attention. "I haven't been able to find out why or how, but the king woke up last year. And a young, strong soul challenged him and shut him away by themselves. The crown was passed to them not much later."
Dick didn't miss Raven's use of neutral pronouns. Is it possible for the King to be a female? Is there even gender in the realm? Ugh, focus Dick. "Do we know anything else about them?"
Raven's lips purse. "I've heard some things. The realm is happy with the change. They say the new king will usher in an era of peace, that they are a spirit of protection. But I've also heard that they are young, with far too much power and responsibility." There's a beat of hesitation. "I've heard whispers of war."
Several members straighten at this. Dick feels his own spine stiffen. "Are we aware of whether this king is for or against it?"
"As far as I've heard, only that they will bring peace. If the king truly is a protection spirit, they would be against war. But I can't be sure."
Dick is silent as he contemplates this. Everyone is looking at him, waiting for Batman's verdict. What should they do?
Dick is so tired.
"We want to avoid war at all cost," Dick says finally. "We'll continue pushing against the Acts as much as we can. In the meantime, prevent the GIW's movements as much as you can in any legal capacity." And Dick would be contacting anyone not JL associated to actively oppose them. Vigilantes aren't heroes for a reason; they can break the law as independent parties. "In the meantime, JLD." Dick feels the wait of all their attention, their anticipation. Praying he's making the right decision, he orders, "Look into summoning the King."
My friend got booted a single minute after the parking hours ended and I started a quest to avenge her. Went to city hall today to protest against the company (long long LONG story short, this company is very unethical and illegal, and they aren't even allowed to be booting people in my parking lot, since it's private property and they aren't contracted with us, and they do this a whole heck of a lot). Anywayyy, in addition to the parking revolution, my friend said I should include it in my fic. Actually, she said a one-shot, but I could fit it in really nicely, give Steph and Dani a chance to bond. Lmao, love how it turned out.
Also, I don't know if this is well-edited. I'm just tired today. I've been working on grad stuff the past few days pretty intensely, and I'm just a bit worn out. So I'm just posting it, to be edited later, probably. Don't know if the Civil War stuff is accurate either (it IS all the way in Jersey, but I'm pretty sure the railroad went up further than that, trying to get the slaves as far north as possible, I'm too tired to look it up). I also hope that the books could realistically be preserved in the bunker over a hundred years. We'll say it was a well insulated bunker. The board game? I wanted a random one, and I liked that one when I played. If you haven't played it, it's pretty fun. Not, like, revolutionary or anything, but the art is sick.
I know I haven't responded to everyone's reviews yet, and I will. I was gonna do it Monday, but then. Y'know, the grad stuff. So I will get to it! I have certainly read them all though, no worries about that ;)
We got some plot~~~ We got some future King Danny~~~ All we're missing bat-fam wise is Jason and Bruce! (I don't know Duke or Harper that well, but I may add them in some when I get the chance).