new fic: KidPlay
Nov. 6th, 2006 07:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sylph_ficsPart of what we're whimsically calling the "HappyVerse", follows all other bits of the Bat/Arrow Thanksgiving. Master list is here.
Title: KidPlay
Co-writer (and the reason this exists):![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
merfilly
Characters: The Bat/Arrow clan, but mainly Tim and Mia
Rating: PG-13 for misbehaving adults
Summary: What're a pair of teens supposed to do while the rest of the house is, well... distracted? When you're the youngest Bat and the next-youngest Arrow, the solution ought to be obvious...
Tim had been paying just enough attention to the sleeping pair to be as amused by them as he was by the information in Mia's book. Connor had shifted onto his side against the back of the couch at one point, which had made Kyle slit his eyes open. The artist had looked vaguely puzzled--and not awake--then simply pulled his legs up onto the couch and slid down, curling around Connor's back... and within two breaths he'd been sound asleep again. That had lasted for a while, then Kyle'd slowly dropped onto his back--and Connor had twisted around somehow, and was curled up with his head on Kyle's shoulder, a leg tucked over his... and his hand was tangled in Kyle's shirt, high on his shoulder. He read over the last few pages of the book with Mia, then looked from her to the game systems to the sleeping pair, arching one brow high to make it clearer that he was wondering what they ought to do with themselves.
Mia put her book down and rose...using just the right amount of noise to keep paranoid older brothers sleeping, and beckoned him to follow her, heading for the basement.
Tim rose just as casually, and followed her, and neither of the sleeping twenty-somethings so much as twitched. He heard happy giggles and Alfred's low voice over the quiet sound of a mixer, and grinned slightly. There would be cookies later--or possibly brownies, but sweets of some kind--if Alfred had the mixer out with Lian. He very carefully was not listening to anything that might be happening upstairs as she pushed the door open and he followed her down.
She walked right over to the weapons' locker and opened it, grinning back over her shoulder. "Want to take a stroll with me?"
"It's the middle of the day..." No, that wasn't exactly true. It'd gotten cloudy while the others were sparring, and at this time of year, it was already more than half-dark... He was SO, so tempted, and he knew his eyes were saying so. "I've got none of my gear, Bruce wouldn't let us pack it," he said reluctantly.
Mia reached over, banged on the locker next to it, and it opened to show extra gear. "Just a little walk."
Tim tilted his head, analyzing pros and cons... and Bruce's annoyance wasn't enough of a con to outweigh the need he felt to be back on the roofs and in action. "If anything'll fit me, sure, let's go..." He stuck his head into the locker to rummage through it, checking pieces. All he really needed was a vest, but there was no way he was going out without that much. "Huh, this might..."
One of the good things about running with Speedy, their colors were close. It wasn't going to be as comfortable as his, but... it worked, and was unnoticeable once he pulled the polo back on. He started figuring out what to take along with him... and was grateful he'd left his staff down here and chosen to borrow one of Ollie's to practice with, as it slipped easily back into his pocket.
Mia tossed him a mask, grinning as she fixed one on. Ollie was insistent that they take no chances with their identities, and her costume concealed even her hair now. She gathered up a quiver and a smaller bow, truly intending no more than a small patrol.
Tim looked at his casual clothing, the mask in his hand, and Mia, then shrugged and sealed it to his skin, though the dark red sent flickers of--//stop that// things best left not thought about through his mind, and finished his selections, packing equally light.
She walked over to a wall and pushed on three bricks in a particular order, and a section of it opened. "Come on, Robin...time to stretch our legs."
He nodded and followed her out. Her city, her lead... though he hoped she'd let him take point if things went physical.
She guided him down tunnels that he recognized as abandoned maintenance tunnels, eventually bringing them out in a neighborhood that had the feeling of gangland central. She went up, high, taking to the roofs to get the birds' eye view.
Where else would a Robin be? He followed her up, looking around, trying to get used to the noises of this city. If he could, he'd find the trouble faster...
His ear caught the sound of arguing, up high, just past the roof they were on as Mia cursed softly under her breath. "We just busted them last month," she whispered, knocking an arrow.
Robin moved to get a better look at the situation, careful and quiet, finding somewhere to perch, and he caught the gist of the argument. //Fighting over the spoils? How... typical.// He would let Mia make him an opening.. and then join in.
She had taken to the edge of their roof, looking down with the arrow ready. Robin could see the mesh of a chicken coop under the six men's feet; he anticipated that her arrow was likely...
It let loose from her bow with a 'shwip' sound and hit dead center, sparking an electric charge that sent all six men into a hot foot dance, and generally scrambled their reactions.
Robin dove down into the mess and started taking them down. Between the gambling, the cruelty, and the various weapons he could see on and around them, the police should have more than enough to hold them once they arrived. Speedy covered from the high ground, her sharper arrows pinning through shoes, pants legs, or just landing in intimidating positions.
Back in the Queen household, Kyle tried to move--and woke at being pinned, tensing... then sighed with relief when he realized it was just Connor. //Oh... my neck is killing me...// he reached up to rub at it, and realized why. He'd managed to prop his head against the arm of the couch and his neck didn't like it. //Ow...//
They were easy pickings for a Robin, and he finished the fight and cuffed the half-conscious or terrified individuals to each other and various objects, then let Mia call the cops as he gathered up her arrows, then returned to the roof to join her.
"Crap, forgot my phone," She told him, readying a flare arrow. She shot it up mostly in a vertical path, and when it hit a certain altitude it flared nice and sharp. "Cops will come for that, but it makes hunting a bit harder."
Connor mumbled in his sleep, then roused almost clear-headed to look at Kyle.
Robin shrugged, "It's just a little walk, Speedy... If that scared them underground, I'd say it's good enough..."
"Hey..." Kyle said with a smile, then rubbed at his neck again, wincing.
[
Connor slipped up, putting hands on the spot, and then pushed just so to alleviate the pressure. "Sleep well?" Connor asked.
Speedy dropped from the roof to a fire escape, then made a leap to a lower roof, moving deeper into the ganglands, and Robin followed her easily.
"Ooh..." Kyle sighed as his neck unkinked, tangling a leg around his fiance's as he slid to drop flat against the couch before it could complain more... "oh, thank you... Yeah, I think I did. ...what time is it?" Not like he really cared with Connor laying over him, but...
"Smells like dinner time, or nearly," Connor said, smiling at his fiance, pressing closer in an innocent stretch of his own back.
They rounded a corner, when a loud cry went up from the street level. "ROOF!!!" A quick glance told them a small group of gang members had made at least Speedy out.
"Damn, hate when they try to hunt us," Speedy snapped, her hand bringing an arrow down for use.
Kyle gasped softly, hands sliding down his sides--his archer was either in a very teasing mood, or still mostly asleep, given the shape of that smile... "All afternoon? I didn't think I was tired..."
"They're stupid enough to?" That startled Robin, and narrowed his eyes. "Let's hunt them back, then."
Connor listened a moment. "Sounds like much of the house is asleep...or out."
//Hmm... sleepy, apparently...// Kyle nodded, and ran his fingers up Connor's back, shifting below him. "Yeah... I don't really hear anything..." //Either follow through or move, Connor..//
Speedy nodded, leading Robin to more advantageous ground as the small gang swarmed up, and Robin followed her, missing his full armor badly at this moment.
Connor moved to get his legs off the couch, making him press more firmly against Kyle, before he was standing fully and offering to pull Kyle up. Kyle took the hand--and followed the pull all the way into his lover's arms, pressing against him, tilting his head up to kiss him hungrily...
She snapped off an arrow before he truly processed that some one was at their level. The concussive shaft rattled him and the two closest to him. Robin shook his head violently--and threw himself into a roll to avoid an attack, then kept moving to buy her room to draw and aim, taking the fight to them.
Connor returned the kiss, hands roaming down to pull Kyle in closer...and froze as a little girl giggle hit their ears.
"Alfie says almost dinner time...wants you t' get the others, Unca Connor."
Mia tracked him, using him to guide in the arrows to the best advantage, like Cyborg had been training her to do. The more she disoriented the attackers on the tanks, the quicker their work got finished, and right now Robin was her only tank.
Kyle's eyes flashed brilliant green before he sighed and stepped back. "Hey there, Lian," he said warmly.
Sensing those arrows coming from behind him was disorienting for the first few moments--it felt like an attack--but then it became part of the pattern, known and useful... Until a kick sent him dodging sideways, right into the path of one--and getting out of the way before the broadhead went through his side left him off-balance and unable to blow the fist that slammed into his mask. He put a kick in the 'banger's jaw and went back to the fight, not too concerned. It happened.
"Sorry!" Speedy called out, aiming wider, away from her path, having to find a new rhythm now.
"I'm gonna go back to Alfie. You get the cranky bears up," Lian told the pair.
Connor chuckled. "Bossy child...not at all like her Aunt Dinah..." he said straight-faced.
"Don't stress!" Robin called back as he took out the leader, altering the dynamic...
"No, not in the slightest... Hm. You couldn't pay me enough to bother your father, Batman, and Black Canary," Kyle announced. "And really, I'm not that much happier about bothering your brother and Dick..."
Connor smiled. "This is where younger siblings prove invaluable," Connor pointed out. "They are likely in the basement," he added.
"We need to practice this more when we get back to the team," she called, firing her last arrow. "Drop and cover," she called before it could break open into its shrieker components.
"...I like the way you think," Kyle said, not for the first time, and headed down to find them... and found the basement empty. "Outside, maybe?" he asked, though he didn't think so... Connor's eyes flicked to the weapon locker, noted the old gear locker next to it was ajar. "Outside...in the city."
Robin did just that, knowing what was coming. //Miss my gloves,// he thought as he clapped his hands over his ears. The arrow head split open and the nerve wracking sound poured out, stunning those still standing, or attempting to. It ended, leaving a small ringing in both Robin and Speedy's ears, but they were able to quickly restrain everyone still staggering and trying to keep from throwing up at the noises they had been assaulted by.
Kyle groaned. "Oh, great..."
Connor walked over to the wall, and opened the secret tunnel. "Use your ring to track them? There are numerous passages here."
Robin moved quickly, running out his stash of zip-cuffs as he finished. Speedy gathered up her arrows, then sighed softly, pleased.
Kyle suited up with a flicker of thought. "I'm so tempted to just let them take the fallout," he muttered softly, annoyed with them.
"Too much peace would be disrupted," Connor reasoned, standing close to his lover. "Go get them, and I will enlist Alfred's aid in hiding this."
"Hm, Speedy?" Robin was curious.
"That was fun," she said. "And yeah, I don't need the lecture on how what we do is not about fun..."
Kyle sighed, "Some days, I hate it when you're right," he muttered and went after them, flying fairly slowly through the tunnels.
Robin snorted. "You're not the one that nearly picked up a new scar... but it was fun. And you were right, we need to practice that more--I'm not used to working with an archer, any more than you're used to working with a close-in fighter. Come on, let's move..." he took them a few rooftops away, knowing the cops wouldn't be far behind that screaming arrow.
"Cy always had me covering..." She grimaced. "Cassie or Kon." She looked up with apologetic eyes. "Tim...I haven't been able to say it...but...I'm around, if you ever need someone...you know, not so close...to talk to."
Connor walked upstairs, straight to the kitchen, and set about bringing Alfred into the conspiracy to not let the other adults know about the kids sneaking out to patrol. Alfred was not pleased, and only agreed on the condition that they returned unharmed.
Tim looked away, hand tightening around his right arm, and it took a moment before he said, "Thanks, Mia. I... might take you up on that." He looked back at her, smile more in the tilt of his head and the corners of his mouth, "It's not like I've been around to talk to..."
Kyle surfaced and went up to rooftop height, tracking them. The Lantern picked them up in the vicinity of sirens and a fizzling flare arrow, in what looked like a very rough part of town.
"Yeah, well, I have an address and a phone," she offered, smiling just a shade around the eyes. "I mean, I'd understand in a heartbeat if you'd rather not get too close to me, with..." She tipped her chin up. "They say I could live years and years, though."
"Hey. None of that. It's not like it's going to jump out of you and get me," Tim replied, shaking his head at her. "We need to move. We'll finish this lat--"
"At home," a voice from several feet over their heads said, annoyed.
Speedy looked up defiantly at the man who would one day be her brother-in-law. Ollie had already begun adoption procedures on her, had legally stepped in as Connor's father, and had, privately to the two younger ones, admitted to setting up a special trust for Roy and Lian. The concept of going from having no one, to having such a huge family still took getting used to, but she was quite annoyed to be youngest. "We were on our way back, anyway," she said sulkily.
Robin sighed, looking up at the youngest Lantern, "Weren't you asleep?" he asked even as he stepped up onto the green platform Kyle had made.
"Yes, until Lian came in to tell us dinner was almost ready," he replied, waiting for Mia to join them. The girl stepped up, steadying herself on the rail he provided, before watching the city rush by. "It was just a little walk."
"And how in hell are you going to explain his black eye?" Kyle pointed out meanly.
Robin swore softly, "Damn, it's blacking already?"
"Mm-hmm..."
"Sparring and she got lucky," he replied with a shrug, "if anyone even notices once I get done concealing it..."
"I kinda like the sparring thing, but no one would believe it; you're too good," Speedy told him. "I'll help you hide it."
"The world's best swordsman doesn't fear the world's second best, Mia," Tim said with a grin, wondering if she knew the rest of the proverb. "No offense intended."
Kyle bit his lip on the snicker, waiting to see if she did. Speedy scowled. "I'm not good, but I'm not that bad either," she said before laughing at him.
Apparently she did. "You're right, Mia, you're not."
Kyle dropped them at the closest entrance to the basement, "Get inside quick, and pray you have time to get changed before anyone else is up," he warned, then headed back to the house, losing the uniform just before sliding in the front door again.
Roy looked at him from the stairs, just coming down. "Hey, bro," he greeted.
Mia ran down the passage, shedding gear in the process. Tim ran right beside her, yanking mask and shirt off to strip out of the armor, keeping his eyes off her as she yanked the armor off, then pulled the shirt back on and bolted over to tuck the gear away just as fast as he possibly could.
//Oh, they're toast...// The thought didn't particularly bother the Lantern, either. "Hey, Roy... Lian get you up?" /And where are you, love?//
The kids finished changing and got everything stowed in record time, then Mia looked at Tim's eye cautiously. "Got you good," she said softly.
Connor emerged from the den, game controller in hand. "Occupying my niece is a full time occupation, Roy. Sorry she got up there and woke you."
"No prob... needed to get up anyway, and that lazy a--man was hogging all the covers," he said, censoring himself as Lian poked her head out to grin at Kyle.
Tim winced, "Yeah, I'm starting to feel it, too. Run cover for me? I've got to get up to my room and get my kit.."
Kyle smiled slightly, amused. "He still out?" Watching the two of them was more entertaining than a three-ring circus, sometimes. He sometimes wished Dick had been with the Titans when he was, given the stories he'd heard about the two of them. //And yet no-one ever mentioned this...//
"No," came Dick's light voice from the top of the stairs as he started down, shaking water out of his hair--and not moving quite as easily as he had earlier. //Hm. Now I know what you two were up to...// Kyle thought. "And I was not, either, hogging the covers," Dick protested, walking over to the door of the den, where Lian started trying to drag him into the room--apparently, she'd forgotten about dinner in her eagerness to play.
Mia ran up the stairs, then stopped in the hall way. "Dick! Connor! Roy! Why the hell is everyone here, when I know I heard something about dinner not five minutes ago?" Mia said fiercely. Kyle couldn't help a slight smile as Mia got pushy, //They really are falling right into that tradition..//
"Oh yes, dinner," Connor said, laying his controller down. "Dick, please pick up the Dart and bring her...I believe she has been testing sugary batches all afternoon."
"Good grief, she's going to be hyper for months," Roy said, trooping toward the dining room.
Dick winced, "Anyone gotten--god--our parents?" as he reached down to pick Lian up and toss her into the air.
"Tim can, after he cleans up," Mia said. "He's closing up the computer right now." She ushered everyone along, clearing the hall for Tim and wishing him well on his secondary mission. Roy glanced sideways at his 'little sister'. "You sure you don't have Drake or Lance blood hidden in your history?"
Connor bit back a chuckle at that accusation; this weekend and other meetings with Dinah proved that truth.
Mia shrugged, "Not that I know of," she answered with a shrug, "Wait, Drake?"
Tim had heard all of that from his spot behind the door, and the second the hall was clear he ran on cat-quiet feet up to his room, changed shirts, yanked his kit out of his bags and did the fastest job with the concealer he'd ever managed, then sighed and headed towards the master bedroom. //Why me?//
Dick saw that running streak out of the corner of his eye and frowned. //What the?// He handed Lian off to her daddy and turned to follow his brother.
Mia caught his arm, giving a mischievous look. "Wouldn't want to embarrass him?" she whispered out of the side of her mouth, letting her tone and body language insinuate other activities.
Roy bounced Lian up in the air, smiling happily at the child who was very giggly tonight. //I don't envy any of us when this wears off, but..// "Yes, Drake, Dinah's mom's maiden name..." he answered his sister, then his jaw dropped at Mia's tone //no way...//
Dick gave her an incredulous look, //Riight, girl...//
Connor ducked into the kitchen to see if Alfred needed helping serving, and was shooed out. He returned and suggested they all sit in his quiet voice.
"Hmm. So are she and Tim related?" Mia batted her eyelashes in a way that said she was trying to figure out the relationship angles if it were the case.
"No, different families, I think." Roy shrugged. "But you never know."
Dick struggled to keep his expression light. Better than anyone, he knew his little brother was still... aching, and with what she was insinuating... tension settled into his shoulders and the corners of his mouth...
Kyle moved over to kiss his fiance lightly, wondering why Mia'd decided on this tactic and how badly it was going to blindside/backfire on Tim.
Upstairs, Dinah gave a playful push at Ollie, trying to slip free of the two men keeping her confined to bed, having heard the slight scratch at the door. "Someone's trying to get our attention, politely, you big oaf," she teased him.
"Ahh, Pretty Bird, I just got comfy," he complained. Bruce looked towards the door, and shook his head at the byplay between his lovers. "Then stay where you are, I'll get the door," he murmured, and slid out of the bed to go see who was bothering them. He pulled it open slightly, and found Tim looking up at him. "Yes?"
"Alfred's about to serve dinner," Tim replied, hoping he'd done as good a job as he thought and that the swelling wasn't getting too much worse. Thankfully, the blow had come in at the side of his eye, not directly over it, and it wasn't swelling shut.
"Thank you, Tim."
Ollie sighed, having caught the exchange. He sat up, stretching fitfully, while Dinah watched, before padding over tot he bathroom to use the shower. It did not take their lady long to join him after shedding the garter belt and thigh highs. "Come on Bruce, a quick dip so we're presentable," Dinah purred. "I promise to behave and twist the arrow head's wrist to keep him in line."
"Hey!" Ollie protested indignantly. Bruce nodded and moved over to join them, something dangerously amused flashing through his eyes before he quelled it.
Tim headed downstairs, stepped into the dining room, and stilled. //Oh, boy...// Dick's head turned the second he heard Tim, eyes narrowing--and the level of disconnect between words and the barely-noticeable evidence told him something was going on...
Mia flashed him a very coy smile, blinking at him. //God, Tim, pick up on it, be a normal teen for two seconds,// she thought with every ounce of her body.
Connor was too wrapped up in Kyle right now to really notice the boy, though he felt the tension.
Tim tilted his head, confused, //Mia what'd you do?//
//Oh-kay little brother, you'n'me need to talk,// Dick decided right then and there, but they'd do that privately, "Manage to get them to answer the door, bro?"
"Yeah, so they shouldn't be too long," Tim replied.
//Dammit,// Mia cursed, but she breathed a sigh and pouted when Tim did not move to sit beside her immediately. Roy watched his 'little sister', then looked at Tim more closely, trying to determine just what Mia was covering up for Tim, and poorly. He had not seen that bad a job of pre-planning by Speedy since he ...A grin broke over his own face as he remembered a hasty revelation that neither he nor Dick were carrying condoms, the first time they had decided to risk an encounter all the way.
Alfred brought the last of the dinner dishes in, eyes flicking over Tim and Dick with proprietary concern.
Tim moved over to join her, eyes asking her what on earth was going on... Dick watched that silent conversation, unsure if it was reassuring or more troubling yet--and he shot a sharp look at Roy over that grin, wondering what he was thinking, then moved to go sit down with him.
Upstairs, Bruce was finding the sight of his drenched lovers an almost irresistible temptation. Dinah slipped free of two very amorous grips to rinse fully. "You two can dally if you like, but I didn't have lunch! Ice cream with goddaughters is not enough to do this again on."
Mia moved her hand to take his under the table, and tapped out the code for Gar and Vic, then shifted one finger to touch him, then herself, hoping that would help clear it up. She added the code for cover to the end of it as an after thought, hoping she was being discreet enough with the finger code to avoid notice.
Roy only grinned more when he saw Dick look at him, eyes dancing in mischief. Dick shot another look at him, questioning and annoyed, as Tim's hand tightened on hers in shock, barely keeping it off his face, and 'Why?!' flashed back through their hands.
Bruce shook his head unhappily, "And risk Alfred's wrath? I'd rather not... we'll have to do this again later, when we're not pressed for time..." He wasn't sure if he was more amazed that he'd said it... or by how deeply he meant it.
"My knuckles are still skinned, so, alright." Ollie slid out of the water to let Bruce have the front one, watching Dinah under the other head. The soft smile on his lips told Bruce their archer was as head over heels as ever.
Mia tapped back 'keeping Wing away', smiling up at Alfred. "This is good, sir," she said softly. "By now, normally, I think Ollie would have turned the turkey into fodder for his chili."
Roy groaned at that, echoed by Connor. "All left over meats have been experimented with so inhumanely in this house," Roy laughed.
Tim considered that, considered the look on Dick's face, filed it as 'well, THAT didn't work', and moved on, trying to figure out how he was going to get himself out of this one. He tilted his head. "Hey, if you do it right, turkey in chili's not that bad..."
Dick looked at him incredulously, "You've got to be joking..."
"I'm not, it's not that bad. Different, but not bad..."
Bruce finished rinsing off and slid out, scrubbing the water off his skin. Dinah slipped out right behind him, toweling off briskly, before going to raid Ollie's wardrobe. The archer followed suit, grabbing her hands, and directing her to an end of the closet that had old clothing of hers. "I never throw away your stuff," he murmured.
"Don't encourage Ollie," Roy warned. "He made chili out of beef jerky, tomato paste, and tabasco one time, I think...at least I'm pretty sure that was what was in it."
"If it's so bad, why was Connor always sneaking it out to drop off in Gotham for Dinah?" Kyle asked innocently, tattling on the Bird's addiction.
Tim winced at that list, "That's not chili. I'm not sure what it is, but..." he finally just shook his head, letting go of Mia's hand. Dick blinked at Kyle's question, looking at the archer in question for the answer.
Bruce pulled his clothing back on, watching the two of them with a small smile. He barely got his shirt settled than he had a miniature powder keg of energy in his arms, kissing him soundly. Bruce kissed her back, holding her, and Ollie laughed, actually beating them to the door.
Connor blinked. "That is her secret; not mine to share."
"Cause when Dad's not experimenting the stuff is excellent," Roy replied. "And Kyle, keep your mouth shut about that." Connor wasn't the only one that had snuck her a few cartons of Ollie's chili over the years, after all.
The three adults finally made it to the table looking human, relaxed, and less attached at the hip.
Kyle had managed to nod just before the adults entered, and Tim thanked his lucky stars that Bruce was on the side of him that hadn't been clocked. 'Course, that meant Dick wasn't, but Dick already had the 'we're talking' look on his face, and most of them fell on dinner like starving wolves.
Midway through dinner a knock sounded on the door, and Alfred rose to go get it. Every last one of them was watching the dining room door when Alfred finally brought said guest through the door.
"Miss Starr, to see Miss Lance." Alfred was very dry as he said it, because 'Miss Starr' was in full costume...as in barely covered, per her norm. Dinah smiled, and stood up, squeezing Ollie's hand and then Bruce's shoulder in passing. "Karen!"
The others watched as the two walked back out of the dining room, and Roy found himself wishing for super-hearing. Roy wasn't, actually, the only one, as Bruce watched her walk out the door. Kyle just wondered what the heck was going on, and the bird-boys, as usual, had the curiosity generally attributed to felines working overtime.
Ten minutes later, a rather indignant and not happy Canary poked her head back in the door. "Ollie, Bruce; needed in New York." Her eyes were snapping with vexation. "Alfred, thank you so very much. I'll catch up with everyone later." She tossed her keys at Roy. "Return that for me, Boy-o?"
"Sure, Di...be careful," he said, wondering which uncle of hers was putting a foot down.
Bruce frowned, and asked in swift Mandarin, knowing Power Girl's ears were keen even if she had not returned to the room, "Why, and do you want back out of it?" eyes flicking between her necklace and earrings.
"No, Aunty Dinah, no..." from a not-at-all happy Lian.
"Have to handle it now," she said in swift answer, her accent almost as good as his. "Lian, honey, it's uncle Ted...he really needs me right now." //To put a boot up his ass, but Alan probably put him up to it,// she finished in her head.
Kyle took a quick drink. "Tell Alan 'hi' if you see him, Dinah...I meant to call him yesterday..." Connor nodded, understanding the need to go tend to family.
In the same language, Bruce said something about interferences that made Dick flush and duck his head away, //I didn't know he knew those words..// Tim's eyes were huge--and he'd only caught part of that...
"You didn't even finish dinner, though..."
Roy had to bite back a smile at that--his baby had heard that a few times, and now she was using it. Another time, he'd speak to her about whining... but at this point, Lian was just saying what almost everyone was thinking.
Dinah walked back in to the room and knelt by Lian's chair. "How about I promise that the next time you come to Metropolis, I take you to the Mall of America there?"
Ollie only barely turned away to hide the feeling on his face, to hear she was going to stay in that city. Roy noticed that, and wondered if the parents were as solid as they had seemed, or if it was just a holiday thing.
She found herself with a neck/lap full of clingy 6-year-old, "Don't want you to go."
Bruce's hand slid to Ollie's thigh, laying against his fingers as he added, "Neither do we," still in that same language. Ollie accepted that small support, schooling his features; he knew better than to push.
Dinah looked at them, then to Lian, pressing her lips to the girl's ear, switching to Vietnamese. "Baby, I'll come to you as soon as I make Uncle Ted know I'm happy again with your grandfather," she promised softly, hugging her tight. "Else, Uncle Ted might come and try to beat your grandfather up." She giggled a little at that last, making it seem like a secret between them. Roy winced to hear that language between them--he hadn't realized Dinah'd been keeping her fluent in it.
The unhappy little girl nodded slowly, finally relaxing the death-grip on her neck. "Be fast?" she asked hopefully, pulling back enough to be nose-to-nose with her, eyes big and hopeful. Dick couldn't help a smile at Lian's stubbornness--she'd gotten it honest.
Dinah made an Eskimo kiss and nodded. "Fast as can be...even if I make Uncle Jay bring me back."
Roy took his daughter back from Dinah, eyes reassuring her that he would put her to bed as soon as was possible in case this ran late. Mia watched, and looked over at Ollie, wondering why in the world they had never had kids together.
"Okaay..." Lian knew better than to ask her to promise, cuddling into her daddy's lap unhappily.
The woman walked out, and even Ollie winced at how sharply she took the corner leaving the dining room. They heard the front door open and close, then Roy looked at Ollie. "Bet Ted has something bruised next time we see him," the redhead said, trying to lighten things.
"They are only acting out of concern," Connor said, playing devil's advocate. It got a roll thrown at him by Mia.
"I feel sorry for Karen," Tim said. "I mean, that's a long flight with a p--unhappy--Canary..."
Lian grumbled, "Stupid uncle Ted..."
"Out of the mouths of children," Bruce murmured softly.
"And she will be back," Ollie put in, firmly. "So let's just enjoy dinner, and laugh our as...behinds off at their misfortune for irritating a content Canary." Roy nodded knowingly. He'd seen the results of that a few times...
"So anyone gonna clue the clueless?" Mia asked. She hadn't had a lot of exposure to Dinah's temper, after all.
"Later, Mia...for now, we are enjoying dinner with our family," Connor chided. Tim had guesses, but wanted to be at that conversation, because he wasn't quite sure.
Dick grinned, "Been there, done that..." and his grin just widened. "They're not gonna know what hit 'em."
Ollie squeezed at Bruce's hand, then grinned at Kyle. "If she buzzes you for a ride, you mind?"
"Of course not." Kyle went back to eating, curious but not pressing.
Tim nodded and turned his attention back to his food, wondering if the mess with Dinah would distract his occasionally overprotective older brother. //Alliteration much?//
Alfred supervised the rest of dinner, then looked at Lian. "Miss Lian, if you would help me with dessert?"
That made the little girl smile and nod, sliding down out of her daddy's lap to go with him into the kitchen. Roy watched her go, then looked over at Dick. "More sweets..."
"She's gonna be off the walls..." was his lover's reply.
"This would be the right time to call Grace, if we were back in New York," Roy joked.
Connor stifled a laugh. "Brother, are you implying you are incapable of directing such energy?"
Mia giggled. "Just wait til you two have kids to deal with," she said. "I'm going to load them up on sugar and set them loose." She would never have kids of her own, but all nieces and nephews would be royally spoiled.
"Connor, have you ever seen her on a real sugar high?" Dick asked, very mildly.
Bruce held some faint hope that Alfred had better sense... until Lian came out, carefully holding a heaping platter of brownies... and Alfred followed with cake in one hand and cookies in the other.
Tim started to laugh, shaking his head at the array of sweets. "Oh, man. Sugar-shock on the way..."
"Then I suggest, Master Tim, that you and the others limit how much she gets to eat by disposing of the rest." He gave Bruce a firm look at that.
Ollie reached for the sweets eagerly, as did Connor, no shame in their sweet tooths.
"I meant for me, Alfie," the teen protested, and reached for the brownies, hand colliding with Dick's.
"Did you help make these, Lian?" Dick asked, grinning at her.
"Uh-HUH!"
"And we can tie her down with your new game, Tim," Mia suggested helpfully, limiting herself to a cookie.
"Bet I know some of the graphic artists that worked on it," Kyle said.
"You think? I'll drag the box ou--oh, hey, did you two spot your present?" Tim asked.
Bruce acquired a brownie of his own, listening to the kids.
"Wow, they're really good, too," Dick praised her after a bite.
"Of course they are, Short Pants...Lian made them," Roy teased.
"No." Connor shook his head.
"Presents?" Kyle asked.
"Dinah took Lian shopping, she came back with presents for all of us. She sat yours next to the couch..." Tim replied.
"Huh. We missed that, somehow," Kyle said, now curious, then he happened to glance up at Dick and Roy, and arched a brow. "What?"
"Nothing," came from them both in perfect stereo.
Connor knew that tone. "She bought embarrassing presents again, didn't she?" he asked, making his lover truly intrigued.
"Mine wasn't." But Mia did want to know just what the senior boys had gotten.
"Shutup, Connor," Roy growled at him.
Connor threw his head back and laughed, a full belly laugh that Ollie soon joined in, unable to resist the angry pout set on his eldest's features. Even Mia joined in, giggling at the tone--man, she was going to have to ask Dinah.
Roy glared at his brother and father, then said idly, "You know, I noticed she didn't come back with presents for you two... wonder why that was..." Dick grinned, amused by his lover's attempt to turn the tables.
Ollie got a wicked look in his eye. "Who said she didn't?"
Connor and Kyle both blushed quite red at that look, turning industriously back to their desserts.
"What was it, Gran'pa?" Lian chirped.
Roy grinned back at him. "Huh. That's about what I thought." No way was he bailing his father out of this one.
Bruce shook his head, amused, and nibbled at a cookie.
"Something, pretty, Lian," Ollie answered her easily. Roy flashed back on all the times Ollie had given him a pat answer, thinking he was too naive to get the real deal, and shook his head.
//Nice recovery... definitely keeping that one around...// Dick decided.
Tim watched Mia, waiting for her to look finished, then tilted his head at the door, brow arching. Mia lowered her eyes slightly in assent, looking at Alfred. "Want me to clear tonight?"
Alfred shook his head. "That honor belongs to the patriarchs tonight."
Dick, and Tim, stared at Alfred in complete and utter shock, unable to believe their ears. Had he just really...? Bruce looked sharply at his old friend, wondering what exactly he'd done to annoy the man.
"Sounds only fair," Ollie agreed. "All the kids have taken a turn," he added when Roy looked his way in surprise. Bruce nodded slightly, agreeing with that, and saw the same reasoning written across Alfred's face. That taken care of, Tim stood up and headed out of the room to go finish that conversation.
Mia followed, and caught up to him. "Sorry man, it was the first thing that popped in my head to keep him from following you. It's what normal teens would have been doing...even ones with my problem."
"It's okay, Mia. Don't worry about it. I can handle my brother." That wasn't what he was worried about. He pushed the guest-room door open and tilted his head, inviting her in. She slipped inside with him, standing by the dresser as he followed in and closed the door.
"About that 'too close to you' thing. I'm Robin. I'm not--wasn't--supposed to get too close to anyone. Nothing to do with... that. But..."
Mia looked down. "Look, I just meant I know my life expectancy. Kinda tough to really be chummy with someone you know is going to croak before you, barring supervillains of the week," she said.
Tim looked at her sadly. "And my invulnerable Kryptonian best friend, the guy I--" he cut that off, "died right in front of me. "
"I know. That's why...even though I think our mentors expect you and I to be friends...I figured it wasn't a really great idea. But I wanted you to know...I'd still do anything to help you out, as a Titan, or a friend...if you can tolerate the risk."
"...I doubt Bruce expects me to be friends with anyone, given... well, a lot." //Young Justice, the Titans, Steph...// Tim was torn between the urge to stay farfarFARaway from everyone and the loneliness that had lurked around the edges of his life since---since things he wasn't ruining the rest of the day by brooding on.
Mia considered, then nodded. "So...friends to spite them, spite the odds, and have a safe place with no strings at all?"
Tim thought about that a minute, then, nodded. "I... yeah. That... sounds pretty good."
She reached out then, hand open to shake his. "Sounds like a plan."
Tim wrapped his hand around hers tightly. "Yeah."
"So let's go kick some video butt," she said, laughing and pulling him toward the door.
"Sounds good," Tim agreed, and let her drag him out the door.
They found the other young adults in the den, Lian playing one of the many game systems already. Connor and Kyle were studying their groom and groom hand made bears, wearing green masks...and Kyle's had a green ring embroidered in on the correct hand.
"Cute," Tim said once he got a look at the bears. "huh. Looks like we're going to have to wait, Mia.."
Dick studied the way Mia had a grip on his brother's hand and reminded himself sternly not to read into things--and that he ought to talk to Tim later, not drag him away...
Kyle glanced up, "Yeah, they are," he had to agree. "Someone make sure I tell her thank-you?"
"I will," Connor said, and Kyle's ring finger pricked just before the front door opened and they all heard Dinah again.
"Thanks, Guy...yeah, I know, but you were heading this way for the hockey game anyway. Good bye Guy!" The door closed solidly before Dinah made loud clicky noises striding back down the hall to the den.
"Dinah?!" came from two voices in the kitchen in startled, perfect stereo--and Dick and Roy looked at each other and cracked up.
"Yes, Oliver, Bruce!" she called, coming in and shooting Roy a look that said 'knock it off'. She was also rubbing her knuckles, which were very red as she sat down.
Roy lifted his hands quickly, shutting up--and elbowed Dick in the ribs to get him to shut up.
Kyle looked over at her, "Hi, Dinah--thank you. These are great... we'd missed seeing them, somehow, sorry..."
She smiled at him, took a deep breath in formal style... released slowly to calm her agitation as Lian flung herself into her lap, the game forgotten. "You're welcome, Kyle. Just a small welcome from me into one of the two craziest families on the face of the planet...not having white hair."
Roy had to duck to hide that grin, but it was undeniably true. Dick couldn't help the laugh--she'd pegged that one. Kyle smiled, nodding.
Lian held her tight, "you're backyou'reback!"
Bruce hit the door and slid through, searching her face...
In explanation she held up her still reddened knuckles. "Karen, not Ted...." She did not add that the fight with Karen had been over an insult to Barbara, after the nigh-invulnerable woman accused Dinah of having let Oracle twist her brain so far she could not think straight.
Roy winced, remembering punches he had thrown at the ones with skin like iron. Mia's eyes widened, and she looked at Tim. //She really doesn't think first,// passed through her brain. Tim wondered what the hell was up with that, and shrugged at Mia, baffled. //Don't ask me...//
Ollie lingered in the door, having arrived right behind the other man.
Bruce's eyes widened slightly and he walked over to sit down next to her, thumb running lightly over the back of her hand. Dick winced, rubbing at his hand sympathetically.
"Dinah, you didn't get to finish eating..." softly from Connor.
Dinah shook her head at Connor. "I'm not hungry now." She settled Lian against her chest, then leaned against Bruce. Ollie adeptly sat on the other side of her, picking her legs up until she was laying across the two men. Lian cuddled close, holding on, chattering softly about having her back.
Roy watched the way Dinah let herself be pampered, then turned back to Dick in astonishment. Dick's eyes widened right back, startled. He knew Dinah well enough to realize how bizarre that was.
Connor smiled and nodded at Dinah. "Unwise to eat on a riled stomach anyway."
Bruce glanced from kid to kid, then looked firmly at the door.
"Mia, got another TV in this place?" Tim asked in amused annoyance. //There is some power that doesn't want me near a game system, I swear.//
Connor was gathering up the game system Tim needed. "Roy has one in his bedroom," Connor said blithely, earning a dirty look from his brother.
Dick shook his head, amused. //Little brothers. Honestly.//
The kids vacated the room in short order. Tim and Mia to Roy's to steal the TV, Roy and Dick to the guest room he was supposed to be sharing with Tim, and Kyle tugged Connor in the direction of his room insistently. Approximately ten minutes too late, the two eldest broke apart to stare at each other, having had the same realization about what, exactly, they'd left laying out on the bed...
"Oh god..." Roy's face was almost the shade of his hair, and Dick was trying to match him. "Uh huh..."
In their room, what of Tim's face could be seen around his hand was almost exactly the same color. Mia had scooped up the blue and red satin cloth scraps, and now stared in wide-eyed disbelief at them.
"I... god, no wonder they yelled at Connor," Tim managed, not looking.
Mia looked around, and finally shoved them under the pillow, shaking her hand out. "Oh migawd, remind me not to get on Dinah's good side either," she said quickly.
"Why?" Tim was curious.
"I don't even want to know what she gives the girls in the family..."
Tim's eyes widened--and he shook his violently. "Not thinking about it, notthinkingaboutit... Come on, everything's hooked up... and I'm going to try and pretend I never saw those. Really, really h--intently."
Mia sat beside him to play, then glanced sideways at him. "So do they wear their own, or each other's colors?"
"MIA!!!" Tim barely managed to keep that from being a full-fledged shriek.
"Well?!"
"I... I cannot believe you even would ask that, I'm trying not to think about it!!"
Mia smirked. "Okay. I take it back." She concentrated on the game then.
Downstairs, Bruce just held her gently for a while before he asked, "Want to talk about it?"
"Simply put, everyone was convinced I was making a huge mistake." She sighed, stroking Lian's hair. "Like I can't choose for myself what potential disasters or rewards I'm stepping into." She flushed, looking up at Bruce. "You came up when it was back down to me, Ted, and Pee Gee."
"Oh god," Ollie said.
Bruce winced, "How did that go?"
"That's when she p...made me angry and I tried to deck her. Then I went and called Warriors, and got a ride from Guy back out here." She sighed. "Sorry. I just wanted to go nip it all off now, put my foot down that I was dating who I wanted and for them to all butt out."
Bruce nodded, "It's all right, Dinah. I understand."
Ollie nodded. "Yeah, it will work out for us." He watched as the woman and child both got sleepier by the minute, laying against them that way.
"Ted kept his mouth shut as I was leaving the room...think he got the point," Dinah whispered sleepily. Bruce nodded, stroking her hair again, gentling her. She closed her eyes fully, hand still moving now and then on Lian's hair, but she was very much asleep.
"You've got the magic touch, Bruce," Ollie said softly.
Bruce smiled, just a little. "She was already running low," he replied just as softly.
"Getting angry does that to her," Ollie replied. "Now, the question is, Bruce...where do we go from here?"
"...You want to start that discussion with her asleep?" politely incredulous whisper.
Ollie nodded slowly. "Just the thinking part of it, ol' man...although, Ted might have done us a favor. Pushing her against us is more likely to keep her from having that flight reaction once we go back to our regular lives tomorrow."
"A very small one," Bruce grudgingly admitted, petting her gently. "I could have done without that assistance... You were right, though. One costume, one civilian... but which way? If you're serious about this mayoral run.." //You're not going to have nearly as much time..//
"Arrow and Canary are linked...and the biggest threat to me being two separate men. If Dinah is seen with me, it just won't work, I don't think." He regretted that some. "Not to mention, her public identity is a bigger threat to Lian and Mia if she is with Ollie Queen, than if she is with Bruce Wayne, cultivator of the brash and dangerous lifestyle..." Ollie teased. "I have no doubt you two can be perfect ....flakes...for each other in the public eye."
"Hmm.... you're right," Bruce had to admit, then he slowly, slowly smiled, "Yes... I'm sure we can..." he sounded... amused by the thought.
Ollie chuckled softly. "And then, when we meet up with everyone, we confuse the hell out of them," the archer said. "Think we can get the ladies to their beds?"
Bruce's smile at the thought of that confusion... was one that hadn't been seen in years, a wicked, playful one that promised trouble in spades, then he considered that a moment. "Maybe..."
Ollie met that smile with one of his own. "We could always slip free and let them rest here," Ollie hinted. //She's had you all to herself, after all...//
"True..."
Ollie suited action to words, freeing himself first, then helped Bruce slip out from under Dinah's warm weight. An afghan was hastily grabbed and placed over the two sleepers, before Ollie led Bruce out.
Title: KidPlay
Co-writer (and the reason this exists):
merfillyCharacters: The Bat/Arrow clan, but mainly Tim and Mia
Rating: PG-13 for misbehaving adults
Summary: What're a pair of teens supposed to do while the rest of the house is, well... distracted? When you're the youngest Bat and the next-youngest Arrow, the solution ought to be obvious...
Tim had been paying just enough attention to the sleeping pair to be as amused by them as he was by the information in Mia's book. Connor had shifted onto his side against the back of the couch at one point, which had made Kyle slit his eyes open. The artist had looked vaguely puzzled--and not awake--then simply pulled his legs up onto the couch and slid down, curling around Connor's back... and within two breaths he'd been sound asleep again. That had lasted for a while, then Kyle'd slowly dropped onto his back--and Connor had twisted around somehow, and was curled up with his head on Kyle's shoulder, a leg tucked over his... and his hand was tangled in Kyle's shirt, high on his shoulder. He read over the last few pages of the book with Mia, then looked from her to the game systems to the sleeping pair, arching one brow high to make it clearer that he was wondering what they ought to do with themselves.
Mia put her book down and rose...using just the right amount of noise to keep paranoid older brothers sleeping, and beckoned him to follow her, heading for the basement.
Tim rose just as casually, and followed her, and neither of the sleeping twenty-somethings so much as twitched. He heard happy giggles and Alfred's low voice over the quiet sound of a mixer, and grinned slightly. There would be cookies later--or possibly brownies, but sweets of some kind--if Alfred had the mixer out with Lian. He very carefully was not listening to anything that might be happening upstairs as she pushed the door open and he followed her down.
She walked right over to the weapons' locker and opened it, grinning back over her shoulder. "Want to take a stroll with me?"
"It's the middle of the day..." No, that wasn't exactly true. It'd gotten cloudy while the others were sparring, and at this time of year, it was already more than half-dark... He was SO, so tempted, and he knew his eyes were saying so. "I've got none of my gear, Bruce wouldn't let us pack it," he said reluctantly.
Mia reached over, banged on the locker next to it, and it opened to show extra gear. "Just a little walk."
Tim tilted his head, analyzing pros and cons... and Bruce's annoyance wasn't enough of a con to outweigh the need he felt to be back on the roofs and in action. "If anything'll fit me, sure, let's go..." He stuck his head into the locker to rummage through it, checking pieces. All he really needed was a vest, but there was no way he was going out without that much. "Huh, this might..."
One of the good things about running with Speedy, their colors were close. It wasn't going to be as comfortable as his, but... it worked, and was unnoticeable once he pulled the polo back on. He started figuring out what to take along with him... and was grateful he'd left his staff down here and chosen to borrow one of Ollie's to practice with, as it slipped easily back into his pocket.
Mia tossed him a mask, grinning as she fixed one on. Ollie was insistent that they take no chances with their identities, and her costume concealed even her hair now. She gathered up a quiver and a smaller bow, truly intending no more than a small patrol.
Tim looked at his casual clothing, the mask in his hand, and Mia, then shrugged and sealed it to his skin, though the dark red sent flickers of--//stop that// things best left not thought about through his mind, and finished his selections, packing equally light.
She walked over to a wall and pushed on three bricks in a particular order, and a section of it opened. "Come on, Robin...time to stretch our legs."
He nodded and followed her out. Her city, her lead... though he hoped she'd let him take point if things went physical.
She guided him down tunnels that he recognized as abandoned maintenance tunnels, eventually bringing them out in a neighborhood that had the feeling of gangland central. She went up, high, taking to the roofs to get the birds' eye view.
Where else would a Robin be? He followed her up, looking around, trying to get used to the noises of this city. If he could, he'd find the trouble faster...
His ear caught the sound of arguing, up high, just past the roof they were on as Mia cursed softly under her breath. "We just busted them last month," she whispered, knocking an arrow.
Robin moved to get a better look at the situation, careful and quiet, finding somewhere to perch, and he caught the gist of the argument. //Fighting over the spoils? How... typical.// He would let Mia make him an opening.. and then join in.
She had taken to the edge of their roof, looking down with the arrow ready. Robin could see the mesh of a chicken coop under the six men's feet; he anticipated that her arrow was likely...
It let loose from her bow with a 'shwip' sound and hit dead center, sparking an electric charge that sent all six men into a hot foot dance, and generally scrambled their reactions.
Robin dove down into the mess and started taking them down. Between the gambling, the cruelty, and the various weapons he could see on and around them, the police should have more than enough to hold them once they arrived. Speedy covered from the high ground, her sharper arrows pinning through shoes, pants legs, or just landing in intimidating positions.
Back in the Queen household, Kyle tried to move--and woke at being pinned, tensing... then sighed with relief when he realized it was just Connor. //Oh... my neck is killing me...// he reached up to rub at it, and realized why. He'd managed to prop his head against the arm of the couch and his neck didn't like it. //Ow...//
They were easy pickings for a Robin, and he finished the fight and cuffed the half-conscious or terrified individuals to each other and various objects, then let Mia call the cops as he gathered up her arrows, then returned to the roof to join her.
"Crap, forgot my phone," She told him, readying a flare arrow. She shot it up mostly in a vertical path, and when it hit a certain altitude it flared nice and sharp. "Cops will come for that, but it makes hunting a bit harder."
Connor mumbled in his sleep, then roused almost clear-headed to look at Kyle.
Robin shrugged, "It's just a little walk, Speedy... If that scared them underground, I'd say it's good enough..."
"Hey..." Kyle said with a smile, then rubbed at his neck again, wincing.
[
Connor slipped up, putting hands on the spot, and then pushed just so to alleviate the pressure. "Sleep well?" Connor asked.
Speedy dropped from the roof to a fire escape, then made a leap to a lower roof, moving deeper into the ganglands, and Robin followed her easily.
"Ooh..." Kyle sighed as his neck unkinked, tangling a leg around his fiance's as he slid to drop flat against the couch before it could complain more... "oh, thank you... Yeah, I think I did. ...what time is it?" Not like he really cared with Connor laying over him, but...
"Smells like dinner time, or nearly," Connor said, smiling at his fiance, pressing closer in an innocent stretch of his own back.
They rounded a corner, when a loud cry went up from the street level. "ROOF!!!" A quick glance told them a small group of gang members had made at least Speedy out.
"Damn, hate when they try to hunt us," Speedy snapped, her hand bringing an arrow down for use.
Kyle gasped softly, hands sliding down his sides--his archer was either in a very teasing mood, or still mostly asleep, given the shape of that smile... "All afternoon? I didn't think I was tired..."
"They're stupid enough to?" That startled Robin, and narrowed his eyes. "Let's hunt them back, then."
Connor listened a moment. "Sounds like much of the house is asleep...or out."
//Hmm... sleepy, apparently...// Kyle nodded, and ran his fingers up Connor's back, shifting below him. "Yeah... I don't really hear anything..." //Either follow through or move, Connor..//
Speedy nodded, leading Robin to more advantageous ground as the small gang swarmed up, and Robin followed her, missing his full armor badly at this moment.
Connor moved to get his legs off the couch, making him press more firmly against Kyle, before he was standing fully and offering to pull Kyle up. Kyle took the hand--and followed the pull all the way into his lover's arms, pressing against him, tilting his head up to kiss him hungrily...
She snapped off an arrow before he truly processed that some one was at their level. The concussive shaft rattled him and the two closest to him. Robin shook his head violently--and threw himself into a roll to avoid an attack, then kept moving to buy her room to draw and aim, taking the fight to them.
Connor returned the kiss, hands roaming down to pull Kyle in closer...and froze as a little girl giggle hit their ears.
"Alfie says almost dinner time...wants you t' get the others, Unca Connor."
Mia tracked him, using him to guide in the arrows to the best advantage, like Cyborg had been training her to do. The more she disoriented the attackers on the tanks, the quicker their work got finished, and right now Robin was her only tank.
Kyle's eyes flashed brilliant green before he sighed and stepped back. "Hey there, Lian," he said warmly.
Sensing those arrows coming from behind him was disorienting for the first few moments--it felt like an attack--but then it became part of the pattern, known and useful... Until a kick sent him dodging sideways, right into the path of one--and getting out of the way before the broadhead went through his side left him off-balance and unable to blow the fist that slammed into his mask. He put a kick in the 'banger's jaw and went back to the fight, not too concerned. It happened.
"Sorry!" Speedy called out, aiming wider, away from her path, having to find a new rhythm now.
"I'm gonna go back to Alfie. You get the cranky bears up," Lian told the pair.
Connor chuckled. "Bossy child...not at all like her Aunt Dinah..." he said straight-faced.
"Don't stress!" Robin called back as he took out the leader, altering the dynamic...
"No, not in the slightest... Hm. You couldn't pay me enough to bother your father, Batman, and Black Canary," Kyle announced. "And really, I'm not that much happier about bothering your brother and Dick..."
Connor smiled. "This is where younger siblings prove invaluable," Connor pointed out. "They are likely in the basement," he added.
"We need to practice this more when we get back to the team," she called, firing her last arrow. "Drop and cover," she called before it could break open into its shrieker components.
"...I like the way you think," Kyle said, not for the first time, and headed down to find them... and found the basement empty. "Outside, maybe?" he asked, though he didn't think so... Connor's eyes flicked to the weapon locker, noted the old gear locker next to it was ajar. "Outside...in the city."
Robin did just that, knowing what was coming. //Miss my gloves,// he thought as he clapped his hands over his ears. The arrow head split open and the nerve wracking sound poured out, stunning those still standing, or attempting to. It ended, leaving a small ringing in both Robin and Speedy's ears, but they were able to quickly restrain everyone still staggering and trying to keep from throwing up at the noises they had been assaulted by.
Kyle groaned. "Oh, great..."
Connor walked over to the wall, and opened the secret tunnel. "Use your ring to track them? There are numerous passages here."
Robin moved quickly, running out his stash of zip-cuffs as he finished. Speedy gathered up her arrows, then sighed softly, pleased.
Kyle suited up with a flicker of thought. "I'm so tempted to just let them take the fallout," he muttered softly, annoyed with them.
"Too much peace would be disrupted," Connor reasoned, standing close to his lover. "Go get them, and I will enlist Alfred's aid in hiding this."
"Hm, Speedy?" Robin was curious.
"That was fun," she said. "And yeah, I don't need the lecture on how what we do is not about fun..."
Kyle sighed, "Some days, I hate it when you're right," he muttered and went after them, flying fairly slowly through the tunnels.
Robin snorted. "You're not the one that nearly picked up a new scar... but it was fun. And you were right, we need to practice that more--I'm not used to working with an archer, any more than you're used to working with a close-in fighter. Come on, let's move..." he took them a few rooftops away, knowing the cops wouldn't be far behind that screaming arrow.
"Cy always had me covering..." She grimaced. "Cassie or Kon." She looked up with apologetic eyes. "Tim...I haven't been able to say it...but...I'm around, if you ever need someone...you know, not so close...to talk to."
Connor walked upstairs, straight to the kitchen, and set about bringing Alfred into the conspiracy to not let the other adults know about the kids sneaking out to patrol. Alfred was not pleased, and only agreed on the condition that they returned unharmed.
Tim looked away, hand tightening around his right arm, and it took a moment before he said, "Thanks, Mia. I... might take you up on that." He looked back at her, smile more in the tilt of his head and the corners of his mouth, "It's not like I've been around to talk to..."
Kyle surfaced and went up to rooftop height, tracking them. The Lantern picked them up in the vicinity of sirens and a fizzling flare arrow, in what looked like a very rough part of town.
"Yeah, well, I have an address and a phone," she offered, smiling just a shade around the eyes. "I mean, I'd understand in a heartbeat if you'd rather not get too close to me, with..." She tipped her chin up. "They say I could live years and years, though."
"Hey. None of that. It's not like it's going to jump out of you and get me," Tim replied, shaking his head at her. "We need to move. We'll finish this lat--"
"At home," a voice from several feet over their heads said, annoyed.
Speedy looked up defiantly at the man who would one day be her brother-in-law. Ollie had already begun adoption procedures on her, had legally stepped in as Connor's father, and had, privately to the two younger ones, admitted to setting up a special trust for Roy and Lian. The concept of going from having no one, to having such a huge family still took getting used to, but she was quite annoyed to be youngest. "We were on our way back, anyway," she said sulkily.
Robin sighed, looking up at the youngest Lantern, "Weren't you asleep?" he asked even as he stepped up onto the green platform Kyle had made.
"Yes, until Lian came in to tell us dinner was almost ready," he replied, waiting for Mia to join them. The girl stepped up, steadying herself on the rail he provided, before watching the city rush by. "It was just a little walk."
"And how in hell are you going to explain his black eye?" Kyle pointed out meanly.
Robin swore softly, "Damn, it's blacking already?"
"Mm-hmm..."
"Sparring and she got lucky," he replied with a shrug, "if anyone even notices once I get done concealing it..."
"I kinda like the sparring thing, but no one would believe it; you're too good," Speedy told him. "I'll help you hide it."
"The world's best swordsman doesn't fear the world's second best, Mia," Tim said with a grin, wondering if she knew the rest of the proverb. "No offense intended."
Kyle bit his lip on the snicker, waiting to see if she did. Speedy scowled. "I'm not good, but I'm not that bad either," she said before laughing at him.
Apparently she did. "You're right, Mia, you're not."
Kyle dropped them at the closest entrance to the basement, "Get inside quick, and pray you have time to get changed before anyone else is up," he warned, then headed back to the house, losing the uniform just before sliding in the front door again.
Roy looked at him from the stairs, just coming down. "Hey, bro," he greeted.
Mia ran down the passage, shedding gear in the process. Tim ran right beside her, yanking mask and shirt off to strip out of the armor, keeping his eyes off her as she yanked the armor off, then pulled the shirt back on and bolted over to tuck the gear away just as fast as he possibly could.
//Oh, they're toast...// The thought didn't particularly bother the Lantern, either. "Hey, Roy... Lian get you up?" /And where are you, love?//
The kids finished changing and got everything stowed in record time, then Mia looked at Tim's eye cautiously. "Got you good," she said softly.
Connor emerged from the den, game controller in hand. "Occupying my niece is a full time occupation, Roy. Sorry she got up there and woke you."
"No prob... needed to get up anyway, and that lazy a--man was hogging all the covers," he said, censoring himself as Lian poked her head out to grin at Kyle.
Tim winced, "Yeah, I'm starting to feel it, too. Run cover for me? I've got to get up to my room and get my kit.."
Kyle smiled slightly, amused. "He still out?" Watching the two of them was more entertaining than a three-ring circus, sometimes. He sometimes wished Dick had been with the Titans when he was, given the stories he'd heard about the two of them. //And yet no-one ever mentioned this...//
"No," came Dick's light voice from the top of the stairs as he started down, shaking water out of his hair--and not moving quite as easily as he had earlier. //Hm. Now I know what you two were up to...// Kyle thought. "And I was not, either, hogging the covers," Dick protested, walking over to the door of the den, where Lian started trying to drag him into the room--apparently, she'd forgotten about dinner in her eagerness to play.
Mia ran up the stairs, then stopped in the hall way. "Dick! Connor! Roy! Why the hell is everyone here, when I know I heard something about dinner not five minutes ago?" Mia said fiercely. Kyle couldn't help a slight smile as Mia got pushy, //They really are falling right into that tradition..//
"Oh yes, dinner," Connor said, laying his controller down. "Dick, please pick up the Dart and bring her...I believe she has been testing sugary batches all afternoon."
"Good grief, she's going to be hyper for months," Roy said, trooping toward the dining room.
Dick winced, "Anyone gotten--god--our parents?" as he reached down to pick Lian up and toss her into the air.
"Tim can, after he cleans up," Mia said. "He's closing up the computer right now." She ushered everyone along, clearing the hall for Tim and wishing him well on his secondary mission. Roy glanced sideways at his 'little sister'. "You sure you don't have Drake or Lance blood hidden in your history?"
Connor bit back a chuckle at that accusation; this weekend and other meetings with Dinah proved that truth.
Mia shrugged, "Not that I know of," she answered with a shrug, "Wait, Drake?"
Tim had heard all of that from his spot behind the door, and the second the hall was clear he ran on cat-quiet feet up to his room, changed shirts, yanked his kit out of his bags and did the fastest job with the concealer he'd ever managed, then sighed and headed towards the master bedroom. //Why me?//
Dick saw that running streak out of the corner of his eye and frowned. //What the?// He handed Lian off to her daddy and turned to follow his brother.
Mia caught his arm, giving a mischievous look. "Wouldn't want to embarrass him?" she whispered out of the side of her mouth, letting her tone and body language insinuate other activities.
Roy bounced Lian up in the air, smiling happily at the child who was very giggly tonight. //I don't envy any of us when this wears off, but..// "Yes, Drake, Dinah's mom's maiden name..." he answered his sister, then his jaw dropped at Mia's tone //no way...//
Dick gave her an incredulous look, //Riight, girl...//
Connor ducked into the kitchen to see if Alfred needed helping serving, and was shooed out. He returned and suggested they all sit in his quiet voice.
"Hmm. So are she and Tim related?" Mia batted her eyelashes in a way that said she was trying to figure out the relationship angles if it were the case.
"No, different families, I think." Roy shrugged. "But you never know."
Dick struggled to keep his expression light. Better than anyone, he knew his little brother was still... aching, and with what she was insinuating... tension settled into his shoulders and the corners of his mouth...
Kyle moved over to kiss his fiance lightly, wondering why Mia'd decided on this tactic and how badly it was going to blindside/backfire on Tim.
Upstairs, Dinah gave a playful push at Ollie, trying to slip free of the two men keeping her confined to bed, having heard the slight scratch at the door. "Someone's trying to get our attention, politely, you big oaf," she teased him.
"Ahh, Pretty Bird, I just got comfy," he complained. Bruce looked towards the door, and shook his head at the byplay between his lovers. "Then stay where you are, I'll get the door," he murmured, and slid out of the bed to go see who was bothering them. He pulled it open slightly, and found Tim looking up at him. "Yes?"
"Alfred's about to serve dinner," Tim replied, hoping he'd done as good a job as he thought and that the swelling wasn't getting too much worse. Thankfully, the blow had come in at the side of his eye, not directly over it, and it wasn't swelling shut.
"Thank you, Tim."
Ollie sighed, having caught the exchange. He sat up, stretching fitfully, while Dinah watched, before padding over tot he bathroom to use the shower. It did not take their lady long to join him after shedding the garter belt and thigh highs. "Come on Bruce, a quick dip so we're presentable," Dinah purred. "I promise to behave and twist the arrow head's wrist to keep him in line."
"Hey!" Ollie protested indignantly. Bruce nodded and moved over to join them, something dangerously amused flashing through his eyes before he quelled it.
Tim headed downstairs, stepped into the dining room, and stilled. //Oh, boy...// Dick's head turned the second he heard Tim, eyes narrowing--and the level of disconnect between words and the barely-noticeable evidence told him something was going on...
Mia flashed him a very coy smile, blinking at him. //God, Tim, pick up on it, be a normal teen for two seconds,// she thought with every ounce of her body.
Connor was too wrapped up in Kyle right now to really notice the boy, though he felt the tension.
Tim tilted his head, confused, //Mia what'd you do?//
//Oh-kay little brother, you'n'me need to talk,// Dick decided right then and there, but they'd do that privately, "Manage to get them to answer the door, bro?"
"Yeah, so they shouldn't be too long," Tim replied.
//Dammit,// Mia cursed, but she breathed a sigh and pouted when Tim did not move to sit beside her immediately. Roy watched his 'little sister', then looked at Tim more closely, trying to determine just what Mia was covering up for Tim, and poorly. He had not seen that bad a job of pre-planning by Speedy since he ...A grin broke over his own face as he remembered a hasty revelation that neither he nor Dick were carrying condoms, the first time they had decided to risk an encounter all the way.
Alfred brought the last of the dinner dishes in, eyes flicking over Tim and Dick with proprietary concern.
Tim moved over to join her, eyes asking her what on earth was going on... Dick watched that silent conversation, unsure if it was reassuring or more troubling yet--and he shot a sharp look at Roy over that grin, wondering what he was thinking, then moved to go sit down with him.
Upstairs, Bruce was finding the sight of his drenched lovers an almost irresistible temptation. Dinah slipped free of two very amorous grips to rinse fully. "You two can dally if you like, but I didn't have lunch! Ice cream with goddaughters is not enough to do this again on."
Mia moved her hand to take his under the table, and tapped out the code for Gar and Vic, then shifted one finger to touch him, then herself, hoping that would help clear it up. She added the code for cover to the end of it as an after thought, hoping she was being discreet enough with the finger code to avoid notice.
Roy only grinned more when he saw Dick look at him, eyes dancing in mischief. Dick shot another look at him, questioning and annoyed, as Tim's hand tightened on hers in shock, barely keeping it off his face, and 'Why?!' flashed back through their hands.
Bruce shook his head unhappily, "And risk Alfred's wrath? I'd rather not... we'll have to do this again later, when we're not pressed for time..." He wasn't sure if he was more amazed that he'd said it... or by how deeply he meant it.
"My knuckles are still skinned, so, alright." Ollie slid out of the water to let Bruce have the front one, watching Dinah under the other head. The soft smile on his lips told Bruce their archer was as head over heels as ever.
Mia tapped back 'keeping Wing away', smiling up at Alfred. "This is good, sir," she said softly. "By now, normally, I think Ollie would have turned the turkey into fodder for his chili."
Roy groaned at that, echoed by Connor. "All left over meats have been experimented with so inhumanely in this house," Roy laughed.
Tim considered that, considered the look on Dick's face, filed it as 'well, THAT didn't work', and moved on, trying to figure out how he was going to get himself out of this one. He tilted his head. "Hey, if you do it right, turkey in chili's not that bad..."
Dick looked at him incredulously, "You've got to be joking..."
"I'm not, it's not that bad. Different, but not bad..."
Bruce finished rinsing off and slid out, scrubbing the water off his skin. Dinah slipped out right behind him, toweling off briskly, before going to raid Ollie's wardrobe. The archer followed suit, grabbing her hands, and directing her to an end of the closet that had old clothing of hers. "I never throw away your stuff," he murmured.
"Don't encourage Ollie," Roy warned. "He made chili out of beef jerky, tomato paste, and tabasco one time, I think...at least I'm pretty sure that was what was in it."
"If it's so bad, why was Connor always sneaking it out to drop off in Gotham for Dinah?" Kyle asked innocently, tattling on the Bird's addiction.
Tim winced at that list, "That's not chili. I'm not sure what it is, but..." he finally just shook his head, letting go of Mia's hand. Dick blinked at Kyle's question, looking at the archer in question for the answer.
Bruce pulled his clothing back on, watching the two of them with a small smile. He barely got his shirt settled than he had a miniature powder keg of energy in his arms, kissing him soundly. Bruce kissed her back, holding her, and Ollie laughed, actually beating them to the door.
Connor blinked. "That is her secret; not mine to share."
"Cause when Dad's not experimenting the stuff is excellent," Roy replied. "And Kyle, keep your mouth shut about that." Connor wasn't the only one that had snuck her a few cartons of Ollie's chili over the years, after all.
The three adults finally made it to the table looking human, relaxed, and less attached at the hip.
Kyle had managed to nod just before the adults entered, and Tim thanked his lucky stars that Bruce was on the side of him that hadn't been clocked. 'Course, that meant Dick wasn't, but Dick already had the 'we're talking' look on his face, and most of them fell on dinner like starving wolves.
Midway through dinner a knock sounded on the door, and Alfred rose to go get it. Every last one of them was watching the dining room door when Alfred finally brought said guest through the door.
"Miss Starr, to see Miss Lance." Alfred was very dry as he said it, because 'Miss Starr' was in full costume...as in barely covered, per her norm. Dinah smiled, and stood up, squeezing Ollie's hand and then Bruce's shoulder in passing. "Karen!"
The others watched as the two walked back out of the dining room, and Roy found himself wishing for super-hearing. Roy wasn't, actually, the only one, as Bruce watched her walk out the door. Kyle just wondered what the heck was going on, and the bird-boys, as usual, had the curiosity generally attributed to felines working overtime.
Ten minutes later, a rather indignant and not happy Canary poked her head back in the door. "Ollie, Bruce; needed in New York." Her eyes were snapping with vexation. "Alfred, thank you so very much. I'll catch up with everyone later." She tossed her keys at Roy. "Return that for me, Boy-o?"
"Sure, Di...be careful," he said, wondering which uncle of hers was putting a foot down.
Bruce frowned, and asked in swift Mandarin, knowing Power Girl's ears were keen even if she had not returned to the room, "Why, and do you want back out of it?" eyes flicking between her necklace and earrings.
"No, Aunty Dinah, no..." from a not-at-all happy Lian.
"Have to handle it now," she said in swift answer, her accent almost as good as his. "Lian, honey, it's uncle Ted...he really needs me right now." //To put a boot up his ass, but Alan probably put him up to it,// she finished in her head.
Kyle took a quick drink. "Tell Alan 'hi' if you see him, Dinah...I meant to call him yesterday..." Connor nodded, understanding the need to go tend to family.
In the same language, Bruce said something about interferences that made Dick flush and duck his head away, //I didn't know he knew those words..// Tim's eyes were huge--and he'd only caught part of that...
"You didn't even finish dinner, though..."
Roy had to bite back a smile at that--his baby had heard that a few times, and now she was using it. Another time, he'd speak to her about whining... but at this point, Lian was just saying what almost everyone was thinking.
Dinah walked back in to the room and knelt by Lian's chair. "How about I promise that the next time you come to Metropolis, I take you to the Mall of America there?"
Ollie only barely turned away to hide the feeling on his face, to hear she was going to stay in that city. Roy noticed that, and wondered if the parents were as solid as they had seemed, or if it was just a holiday thing.
She found herself with a neck/lap full of clingy 6-year-old, "Don't want you to go."
Bruce's hand slid to Ollie's thigh, laying against his fingers as he added, "Neither do we," still in that same language. Ollie accepted that small support, schooling his features; he knew better than to push.
Dinah looked at them, then to Lian, pressing her lips to the girl's ear, switching to Vietnamese. "Baby, I'll come to you as soon as I make Uncle Ted know I'm happy again with your grandfather," she promised softly, hugging her tight. "Else, Uncle Ted might come and try to beat your grandfather up." She giggled a little at that last, making it seem like a secret between them. Roy winced to hear that language between them--he hadn't realized Dinah'd been keeping her fluent in it.
The unhappy little girl nodded slowly, finally relaxing the death-grip on her neck. "Be fast?" she asked hopefully, pulling back enough to be nose-to-nose with her, eyes big and hopeful. Dick couldn't help a smile at Lian's stubbornness--she'd gotten it honest.
Dinah made an Eskimo kiss and nodded. "Fast as can be...even if I make Uncle Jay bring me back."
Roy took his daughter back from Dinah, eyes reassuring her that he would put her to bed as soon as was possible in case this ran late. Mia watched, and looked over at Ollie, wondering why in the world they had never had kids together.
"Okaay..." Lian knew better than to ask her to promise, cuddling into her daddy's lap unhappily.
The woman walked out, and even Ollie winced at how sharply she took the corner leaving the dining room. They heard the front door open and close, then Roy looked at Ollie. "Bet Ted has something bruised next time we see him," the redhead said, trying to lighten things.
"They are only acting out of concern," Connor said, playing devil's advocate. It got a roll thrown at him by Mia.
"I feel sorry for Karen," Tim said. "I mean, that's a long flight with a p--unhappy--Canary..."
Lian grumbled, "Stupid uncle Ted..."
"Out of the mouths of children," Bruce murmured softly.
"And she will be back," Ollie put in, firmly. "So let's just enjoy dinner, and laugh our as...behinds off at their misfortune for irritating a content Canary." Roy nodded knowingly. He'd seen the results of that a few times...
"So anyone gonna clue the clueless?" Mia asked. She hadn't had a lot of exposure to Dinah's temper, after all.
"Later, Mia...for now, we are enjoying dinner with our family," Connor chided. Tim had guesses, but wanted to be at that conversation, because he wasn't quite sure.
Dick grinned, "Been there, done that..." and his grin just widened. "They're not gonna know what hit 'em."
Ollie squeezed at Bruce's hand, then grinned at Kyle. "If she buzzes you for a ride, you mind?"
"Of course not." Kyle went back to eating, curious but not pressing.
Tim nodded and turned his attention back to his food, wondering if the mess with Dinah would distract his occasionally overprotective older brother. //Alliteration much?//
Alfred supervised the rest of dinner, then looked at Lian. "Miss Lian, if you would help me with dessert?"
That made the little girl smile and nod, sliding down out of her daddy's lap to go with him into the kitchen. Roy watched her go, then looked over at Dick. "More sweets..."
"She's gonna be off the walls..." was his lover's reply.
"This would be the right time to call Grace, if we were back in New York," Roy joked.
Connor stifled a laugh. "Brother, are you implying you are incapable of directing such energy?"
Mia giggled. "Just wait til you two have kids to deal with," she said. "I'm going to load them up on sugar and set them loose." She would never have kids of her own, but all nieces and nephews would be royally spoiled.
"Connor, have you ever seen her on a real sugar high?" Dick asked, very mildly.
Bruce held some faint hope that Alfred had better sense... until Lian came out, carefully holding a heaping platter of brownies... and Alfred followed with cake in one hand and cookies in the other.
Tim started to laugh, shaking his head at the array of sweets. "Oh, man. Sugar-shock on the way..."
"Then I suggest, Master Tim, that you and the others limit how much she gets to eat by disposing of the rest." He gave Bruce a firm look at that.
Ollie reached for the sweets eagerly, as did Connor, no shame in their sweet tooths.
"I meant for me, Alfie," the teen protested, and reached for the brownies, hand colliding with Dick's.
"Did you help make these, Lian?" Dick asked, grinning at her.
"Uh-HUH!"
"And we can tie her down with your new game, Tim," Mia suggested helpfully, limiting herself to a cookie.
"Bet I know some of the graphic artists that worked on it," Kyle said.
"You think? I'll drag the box ou--oh, hey, did you two spot your present?" Tim asked.
Bruce acquired a brownie of his own, listening to the kids.
"Wow, they're really good, too," Dick praised her after a bite.
"Of course they are, Short Pants...Lian made them," Roy teased.
"No." Connor shook his head.
"Presents?" Kyle asked.
"Dinah took Lian shopping, she came back with presents for all of us. She sat yours next to the couch..." Tim replied.
"Huh. We missed that, somehow," Kyle said, now curious, then he happened to glance up at Dick and Roy, and arched a brow. "What?"
"Nothing," came from them both in perfect stereo.
Connor knew that tone. "She bought embarrassing presents again, didn't she?" he asked, making his lover truly intrigued.
"Mine wasn't." But Mia did want to know just what the senior boys had gotten.
"Shutup, Connor," Roy growled at him.
Connor threw his head back and laughed, a full belly laugh that Ollie soon joined in, unable to resist the angry pout set on his eldest's features. Even Mia joined in, giggling at the tone--man, she was going to have to ask Dinah.
Roy glared at his brother and father, then said idly, "You know, I noticed she didn't come back with presents for you two... wonder why that was..." Dick grinned, amused by his lover's attempt to turn the tables.
Ollie got a wicked look in his eye. "Who said she didn't?"
Connor and Kyle both blushed quite red at that look, turning industriously back to their desserts.
"What was it, Gran'pa?" Lian chirped.
Roy grinned back at him. "Huh. That's about what I thought." No way was he bailing his father out of this one.
Bruce shook his head, amused, and nibbled at a cookie.
"Something, pretty, Lian," Ollie answered her easily. Roy flashed back on all the times Ollie had given him a pat answer, thinking he was too naive to get the real deal, and shook his head.
//Nice recovery... definitely keeping that one around...// Dick decided.
Tim watched Mia, waiting for her to look finished, then tilted his head at the door, brow arching. Mia lowered her eyes slightly in assent, looking at Alfred. "Want me to clear tonight?"
Alfred shook his head. "That honor belongs to the patriarchs tonight."
Dick, and Tim, stared at Alfred in complete and utter shock, unable to believe their ears. Had he just really...? Bruce looked sharply at his old friend, wondering what exactly he'd done to annoy the man.
"Sounds only fair," Ollie agreed. "All the kids have taken a turn," he added when Roy looked his way in surprise. Bruce nodded slightly, agreeing with that, and saw the same reasoning written across Alfred's face. That taken care of, Tim stood up and headed out of the room to go finish that conversation.
Mia followed, and caught up to him. "Sorry man, it was the first thing that popped in my head to keep him from following you. It's what normal teens would have been doing...even ones with my problem."
"It's okay, Mia. Don't worry about it. I can handle my brother." That wasn't what he was worried about. He pushed the guest-room door open and tilted his head, inviting her in. She slipped inside with him, standing by the dresser as he followed in and closed the door.
"About that 'too close to you' thing. I'm Robin. I'm not--wasn't--supposed to get too close to anyone. Nothing to do with... that. But..."
Mia looked down. "Look, I just meant I know my life expectancy. Kinda tough to really be chummy with someone you know is going to croak before you, barring supervillains of the week," she said.
Tim looked at her sadly. "And my invulnerable Kryptonian best friend, the guy I--" he cut that off, "died right in front of me. "
"I know. That's why...even though I think our mentors expect you and I to be friends...I figured it wasn't a really great idea. But I wanted you to know...I'd still do anything to help you out, as a Titan, or a friend...if you can tolerate the risk."
"...I doubt Bruce expects me to be friends with anyone, given... well, a lot." //Young Justice, the Titans, Steph...// Tim was torn between the urge to stay farfarFARaway from everyone and the loneliness that had lurked around the edges of his life since---since things he wasn't ruining the rest of the day by brooding on.
Mia considered, then nodded. "So...friends to spite them, spite the odds, and have a safe place with no strings at all?"
Tim thought about that a minute, then, nodded. "I... yeah. That... sounds pretty good."
She reached out then, hand open to shake his. "Sounds like a plan."
Tim wrapped his hand around hers tightly. "Yeah."
"So let's go kick some video butt," she said, laughing and pulling him toward the door.
"Sounds good," Tim agreed, and let her drag him out the door.
They found the other young adults in the den, Lian playing one of the many game systems already. Connor and Kyle were studying their groom and groom hand made bears, wearing green masks...and Kyle's had a green ring embroidered in on the correct hand.
"Cute," Tim said once he got a look at the bears. "huh. Looks like we're going to have to wait, Mia.."
Dick studied the way Mia had a grip on his brother's hand and reminded himself sternly not to read into things--and that he ought to talk to Tim later, not drag him away...
Kyle glanced up, "Yeah, they are," he had to agree. "Someone make sure I tell her thank-you?"
"I will," Connor said, and Kyle's ring finger pricked just before the front door opened and they all heard Dinah again.
"Thanks, Guy...yeah, I know, but you were heading this way for the hockey game anyway. Good bye Guy!" The door closed solidly before Dinah made loud clicky noises striding back down the hall to the den.
"Dinah?!" came from two voices in the kitchen in startled, perfect stereo--and Dick and Roy looked at each other and cracked up.
"Yes, Oliver, Bruce!" she called, coming in and shooting Roy a look that said 'knock it off'. She was also rubbing her knuckles, which were very red as she sat down.
Roy lifted his hands quickly, shutting up--and elbowed Dick in the ribs to get him to shut up.
Kyle looked over at her, "Hi, Dinah--thank you. These are great... we'd missed seeing them, somehow, sorry..."
She smiled at him, took a deep breath in formal style... released slowly to calm her agitation as Lian flung herself into her lap, the game forgotten. "You're welcome, Kyle. Just a small welcome from me into one of the two craziest families on the face of the planet...not having white hair."
Roy had to duck to hide that grin, but it was undeniably true. Dick couldn't help the laugh--she'd pegged that one. Kyle smiled, nodding.
Lian held her tight, "you're backyou'reback!"
Bruce hit the door and slid through, searching her face...
In explanation she held up her still reddened knuckles. "Karen, not Ted...." She did not add that the fight with Karen had been over an insult to Barbara, after the nigh-invulnerable woman accused Dinah of having let Oracle twist her brain so far she could not think straight.
Roy winced, remembering punches he had thrown at the ones with skin like iron. Mia's eyes widened, and she looked at Tim. //She really doesn't think first,// passed through her brain. Tim wondered what the hell was up with that, and shrugged at Mia, baffled. //Don't ask me...//
Ollie lingered in the door, having arrived right behind the other man.
Bruce's eyes widened slightly and he walked over to sit down next to her, thumb running lightly over the back of her hand. Dick winced, rubbing at his hand sympathetically.
"Dinah, you didn't get to finish eating..." softly from Connor.
Dinah shook her head at Connor. "I'm not hungry now." She settled Lian against her chest, then leaned against Bruce. Ollie adeptly sat on the other side of her, picking her legs up until she was laying across the two men. Lian cuddled close, holding on, chattering softly about having her back.
Roy watched the way Dinah let herself be pampered, then turned back to Dick in astonishment. Dick's eyes widened right back, startled. He knew Dinah well enough to realize how bizarre that was.
Connor smiled and nodded at Dinah. "Unwise to eat on a riled stomach anyway."
Bruce glanced from kid to kid, then looked firmly at the door.
"Mia, got another TV in this place?" Tim asked in amused annoyance. //There is some power that doesn't want me near a game system, I swear.//
Connor was gathering up the game system Tim needed. "Roy has one in his bedroom," Connor said blithely, earning a dirty look from his brother.
Dick shook his head, amused. //Little brothers. Honestly.//
The kids vacated the room in short order. Tim and Mia to Roy's to steal the TV, Roy and Dick to the guest room he was supposed to be sharing with Tim, and Kyle tugged Connor in the direction of his room insistently. Approximately ten minutes too late, the two eldest broke apart to stare at each other, having had the same realization about what, exactly, they'd left laying out on the bed...
"Oh god..." Roy's face was almost the shade of his hair, and Dick was trying to match him. "Uh huh..."
In their room, what of Tim's face could be seen around his hand was almost exactly the same color. Mia had scooped up the blue and red satin cloth scraps, and now stared in wide-eyed disbelief at them.
"I... god, no wonder they yelled at Connor," Tim managed, not looking.
Mia looked around, and finally shoved them under the pillow, shaking her hand out. "Oh migawd, remind me not to get on Dinah's good side either," she said quickly.
"Why?" Tim was curious.
"I don't even want to know what she gives the girls in the family..."
Tim's eyes widened--and he shook his violently. "Not thinking about it, notthinkingaboutit... Come on, everything's hooked up... and I'm going to try and pretend I never saw those. Really, really h--intently."
Mia sat beside him to play, then glanced sideways at him. "So do they wear their own, or each other's colors?"
"MIA!!!" Tim barely managed to keep that from being a full-fledged shriek.
"Well?!"
"I... I cannot believe you even would ask that, I'm trying not to think about it!!"
Mia smirked. "Okay. I take it back." She concentrated on the game then.
Downstairs, Bruce just held her gently for a while before he asked, "Want to talk about it?"
"Simply put, everyone was convinced I was making a huge mistake." She sighed, stroking Lian's hair. "Like I can't choose for myself what potential disasters or rewards I'm stepping into." She flushed, looking up at Bruce. "You came up when it was back down to me, Ted, and Pee Gee."
"Oh god," Ollie said.
Bruce winced, "How did that go?"
"That's when she p...made me angry and I tried to deck her. Then I went and called Warriors, and got a ride from Guy back out here." She sighed. "Sorry. I just wanted to go nip it all off now, put my foot down that I was dating who I wanted and for them to all butt out."
Bruce nodded, "It's all right, Dinah. I understand."
Ollie nodded. "Yeah, it will work out for us." He watched as the woman and child both got sleepier by the minute, laying against them that way.
"Ted kept his mouth shut as I was leaving the room...think he got the point," Dinah whispered sleepily. Bruce nodded, stroking her hair again, gentling her. She closed her eyes fully, hand still moving now and then on Lian's hair, but she was very much asleep.
"You've got the magic touch, Bruce," Ollie said softly.
Bruce smiled, just a little. "She was already running low," he replied just as softly.
"Getting angry does that to her," Ollie replied. "Now, the question is, Bruce...where do we go from here?"
"...You want to start that discussion with her asleep?" politely incredulous whisper.
Ollie nodded slowly. "Just the thinking part of it, ol' man...although, Ted might have done us a favor. Pushing her against us is more likely to keep her from having that flight reaction once we go back to our regular lives tomorrow."
"A very small one," Bruce grudgingly admitted, petting her gently. "I could have done without that assistance... You were right, though. One costume, one civilian... but which way? If you're serious about this mayoral run.." //You're not going to have nearly as much time..//
"Arrow and Canary are linked...and the biggest threat to me being two separate men. If Dinah is seen with me, it just won't work, I don't think." He regretted that some. "Not to mention, her public identity is a bigger threat to Lian and Mia if she is with Ollie Queen, than if she is with Bruce Wayne, cultivator of the brash and dangerous lifestyle..." Ollie teased. "I have no doubt you two can be perfect ....flakes...for each other in the public eye."
"Hmm.... you're right," Bruce had to admit, then he slowly, slowly smiled, "Yes... I'm sure we can..." he sounded... amused by the thought.
Ollie chuckled softly. "And then, when we meet up with everyone, we confuse the hell out of them," the archer said. "Think we can get the ladies to their beds?"
Bruce's smile at the thought of that confusion... was one that hadn't been seen in years, a wicked, playful one that promised trouble in spades, then he considered that a moment. "Maybe..."
Ollie met that smile with one of his own. "We could always slip free and let them rest here," Ollie hinted. //She's had you all to herself, after all...//
"True..."
Ollie suited action to words, freeing himself first, then helped Bruce slip out from under Dinah's warm weight. An afghan was hastily grabbed and placed over the two sleepers, before Ollie led Bruce out.
Re: Part A, p. 1
Date: 2006-11-07 11:45 pm (UTC)Aww. The HappyVerse. Such a wonderful title.
Thanks. It suits.
Such a lovely, lovely image. It just speaks to the familiarity of this couple, that they retreat to this comfort level when they aren't even fully awake.
*nodnod* Yes. It does. They know each other very, very well after all.
*g* I love that Tim let Robin go long enough to allow someone besides Bruce or Dick make a decision. . .the boy can be very bossy at times (not as badly as others in his family, but he's had some excellent role models in how to alienate friends and piss off people.)
*GRIN* Yes, that was fun. I was glad he did, too. And yes, he's both bossy and has those great examples of what NOT to do.
I also love the plural of brothers. *happy squee.*
It was simpler than brother and brother-in-law...
Also, I might entirely making this up, but the way Tim is described as looking at the pair, along with his verbal slip later in the fic? Had me convinced that, not only was he trying to judge the atmosphere of the room, but he was also totally reminiscing about the great love of his life that is gone. Also. . . possibly that which was with Dick, but mostly that which might have been with Kon. It was very subtle, but the interpretation I got from that paragraph, anyway.
You are making nothing up. You have an excellent grasp of things-not-said. *nod* This surprises me not-in-the-slightest, however. He was thinking about Dick, a little... but this is me, the Tim/Kon fangirl. Of course he was thinking about Kon.
The image of Alfred and Lian makes me dead from the. There should be more Al and Lian fics. Alfred is a great example of a - I hesitate to use the word responsible, because the others are too, in their own way - but more mature? adult male, of the type that Lian doesn't have with anyone else.
"From the."? I grin about the fact that you like the Lian and Alfred interaction, however. Alfred is an excellent grandfather, is how I would put the phrasing you're looking for, and no, she doesn't have any other grandpas.
I understand the squick factor for him, but Tim is a stronger person than I am. Because I woulda listened. *g*
Oh, I would've, too. So very much.
I love Feisty!Mia. This is a perfect evolution of that girl who, instead of becoming a groupie of her savior
like every other damn woman in the dcu who gets rescued, chose to want to pick up the bow and *fight* like him. It's why Mia is awesome, and it's shown fabulously here.Filly's Fiesty!Mia is an utter delight, and yes, Mia's determined streak is a wonderful, wonderful thing.
Again? This is shades of that Lonely Place of Dying Tim. . .the one that wanted to be a hero so desperately bad - before he'd gotten smacked down and around the universe by all the bad facets of being one.
That's the Tim I fell for, so I'm not surprised that that's the Tim that's here. He is what he is, after all, and despite how bad he's been hurt, he's still a hero, damn it. And an honestly supportive 'dad' and big brother have helped a lot with the fallout from a few months back.
And by showing peeks of their origins still coming through, it shows that, regardless of the fact that DC doesn't give us a LOT to go on with them, there is so much rich potential in their friendship that could give way to some truly fantastic stories.
*beams* Thank you! It... annoys me that we haven't seen hardly anything of the two of them together, given the power of their joined legacies (yet another reason DC sucks), so I was delighted to get to play with them. And yes, they have serious potential.
It was again, very subtle, in a way that made you go, "Well, of course." They're both part of a heady lineage. . .both sought out and wanted the roles they chose. . .and both are stubborn/feisty. . .and in the beginning, before the crap began to fly, both loved being a superhero.
*looks up slightly, and beams* Some days, you read my mind. And I'm glad it made you go "Well, of course", not "what the fuck?" And Tim... still loves being a hero. Still thinks it's worth it. And I'm pretty sure Mia does too.