Chapter Text
When Lian started self defense training, she wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. Maybe starting with how to block punches, or how to dodge.
“Look, it’s all momentum, see?” Dick said, landing on his feet effortlessly. “Like when you do a cartwheel – it’s not just balance.”
She wasn’t expecting to be taught how to do, as Jason eloquently put it, ‘all that flipsy shit’. When she trained with Dick, it was all of the normal stuff, plus all these extra acrobatics. He claimed it was for fun, but call Lian an immature and unknowledgeable fourteen-year-old, but she was starting to question his idea of fun.
At the moment, she was currently sat on the training mats, watching Dick carefully demonstrate how to do a back handspring. She wasn’t entirely sure why she’d need it, but she’d been doing blocking exercises all day, and her arms were aching worse than they did when she practiced archery for too long. It was a welcome distraction.
“Wanna try again?” Dick asked, falling into a handstand like it was nothing. He must’ve seen something in her expression as she pushed herself to her feet, and nodded, because he added “If you’re done for the day, that’s fine.”
“No, I can try again.” Lian insisted. Dick frowned at her from upside down, and cocked his head, his hair falling over his face. He really needed to cut it – it was starting to resemble those really old photos of when he had a mullet unironically.
“Mm, okay.” Dick said, sounding unconvinced. “Show me a handstand again?”
Lian frowned, but she did as she was asked, and got onto her hands, and lifted herself into the air. Dick could just fall into one, easier than breathing, whilst she was still having trouble doing it one movement. Although, comparing herself to Dick Grayson in the acrobatics department was a ridiculous idea to begin with.
“Why did you want me to do this?” She asked, hair pooling onto the training mat below. Her braid had half fallen out, but according to Steph, she should try to learn to work around loose hair. It was still annoying, though. Maybe she just needed some stronger hair ties…
“Because,” Dick said, now technically right side up. “your arms are shaking. You’re tired, kiddo. We can stop.”
Lian glared at him, and tried to ignore the shaking in her arms as she poked her tongue out. “Yeah, but I can try–”
Dick’s leg reached out from above her, and brushed against her knee. Lian made a surprised noise, her arms suddenly giving out. She used what little amount of strength she still had to make sure she fell backwards instead of onto her head – but she still let out a groan when her back hit the training mat.
“Yeah, that’s enough for today. Teacher’s orders.” Dick confirmed. There was a familiar whooshing sound as he probably did some fancy flip or something to get back on his feet, and then he was helping to pull her up.
“Thanks.” Lian said quietly, massaging her arms. She was pretty strong in her arms, thanks to years of archery, but still. How did Dick do it?
“You’ve gotta start doing this really cool thing.” Dick said, leaning back against the wall, rubbing his wrists. “It’s called stopping when you’re tired.”
Lian opened her mouth to protest, but Dick cut her off quickly with “Ah, no, none of that. You’ve been doing it since you started, don’t think we didn’t notice.”
She shut her mouth, and glared at her feet. She didn’t see why it was such a problem. Sure, she worked until she got tired, and then she worked some more. She just… she just wanted to do well. And she kind of had to – just because of who was teaching her. It wasn’t just Dick, she only worked with him every two weeks, it was Steph, and Cass, and Jason, and her dad, and Damian, and Jon a few times. Once Wally had joined in with Dick, and Lian had felt ready for death afterwards. How Dick kept up with him, Lian didn’t even have the answers.
“I just… wanna do my best.” Lian mumbled, tugging her hair tie out of her mess of hair, and grimacing at the tangles she could see already.
“Christ,” Dick said, laughing slightly. “You sure you’re not one of Bruce’s kids?”
Lian looked up from her feet, and gave him a confused look. He was sat on one of the benches now, and opening a bottle of water. He gestured for her to come sit next to him, and reluctantly, Lian did, taking the water bottle he offered her as well. “What does that mean?”
“You’ve got Bat syndrome, overworking yourself, acting like you’re not.” Dick paused to take a sip. “We’re all bad for it. Which is why,” he gave her a pointed look. “you’ve gotta tell me when you’re tired. Or want to stop. Okay?”
Lian frowned, and took a sip of her own water. “Okay.”
“Besides, it’s bad to overwork yourself. Tim’s awful for it, that’s why we have to break into his apartment to get him to sleep sometimes. It’s not healthy, you know? And if you’re not healthy…”
“…I can’t do my training.”
“Exactly.” Dick said, knocking her arm. “Finish that water, I’ll call your dad. Or Jay. Who’s picking you up again?”
Lian shrugged. “Uh, should be Cha, but we’re eating at Jason’s tonight.” She took another sip, and suddenly remembered something. “Oh! Are you excited for the wedding?”
Dick grinned, and nodded as he grabbed his phone. “Course I am. The planning is finally over, Li.” He said, stretching his arms. “I cannot tell you how relieved I am.”
“So, if anything went wrong?”
“That’s weirdly ominous.” Dick sent a comically suspicious look her way. “I’d be on the warpath.”
“Fair,” Lian said, as Dick pressed a finger to his lips, and held his phone up to his ear.
“Hi, man, yeah Lian and I have just finished up–” Lian heard him begin, as she picked up her bag, and headed to the locker rooms. Technically, the Batcave did have showers, and she knew she was allowed to use them, but she just didn’t trust them. One, they looked ridiculously complicated to use, and two, she was managing just fine by spraying herself with deodorant and changing clothes, and showering once she got home. The day she used the Batcave showers would be if someone was dead or dying.
She pulled off her shirt, and examined her arms. They didn’t look bad, although her palms looked a little raw, but they certainly felt it. Oh well, she’d bother her dad or Jason for an ice pack or something. She had archery practice tomorrow, and she really didn’t need extra sore arms on top of learning how to use a bow-mounted quiver. (She was fine with a thigh or shoulder quiver, but her dad insisted.)
She finished up in the locker room, and had just started raking her hand through her hair to put it up again, when she walked out into the cave again, Dick just saying goodbye to her dad.
“Okay, he’s on his way. He’s zeta-ing, so I’m guessing maybe a half hour.” Dick said, shutting his phone off. “You want anything to eat? I can steal something from the kitchen, or if Alfred’s feeling generous, he might–”
Lian shook her head. “No, I’m good. I don’t have a cereal addiction, unlike you.”
“I do not have–”
“You have three unopened boxes of Lucky Charms at your apartment.” Lian countered. “Wally told me.”
Dick frowned. “Well, if you lived with a speedster, you’d understand the need for snack food.”
“He said he’s not allowed to touch them.”
“Look–”
Lian laughed, and dodged under Dick’s extended arm, her bag thumping her back as she made her way up the stairs quickly. There were a lot of entrances to the Batcave, but this was somehow, the easiest to access, in and out. And Lian still hadn’t gotten used to the steep staircase, despite going up and down it three times a week for the past three months.
Speaking of getting used to the damn thing, Lian had been training for three months already, and that just seemed… insane. To her, and to her dad, the one time she’d mentioned it. Some of her older clothes were struggling to fit around her arms, and her dad had laughed at her and told her it was bound to happen eventually when she complained about all the stretched-out sleeves.
‘Bound to happen eventually’, what did that even mean?
She pushed open the clock, and stepped into the library. Once again, Wayne Manor was full of people. Normally, it was pretty quiet on account of only Damian, Bruce, and Alfred living there, and Tim and Steph often stopping by, but with Dick and Wally’s wedding right around the corner, and with so much to do, everyone had made their way back to Gotham soon enough. And as everyone always had a room in Wayne Manor ready for them – it didn’t take long for everyone to drift back to the Manor in particular.
Cass, sat on one of the library couches, with a book in hand, gave Lian a wave as she passed by. Lian gave her one back – and honestly, just stopping to think about that was weird as hell. Lian was spending time with, being trained by, and could just wave at superheroes.
Yeah, best not to think about it too hard. No time for an existential crisis.
She made her way out of the library, dodged past Duke, who was writing something down in a notebook whilst walking, went into the kitchen, and sat down at the kitchen island. Tim was in the kitchen, shuffling around the coffee machine. Lian watched in mild interest. How did he even function half the time? No wonder his family had to intervene in his sleep schedule.
Tim still hadn’t noticed her, so Lian pulled out her phone. She had a new message, from her dad.
Cha: Hey, I’m omw. Training go ok?
Me: Yeah, I did good. My arms hurt tho :/
Cha: We’ll get an icepack on the way back
Cha: Or is it worse than normal?
Me: No it’s just normal achy.
Me: Don’t tell Jay that he’ll get worried
Cha: …too late?
Me: CHA
Cha: He wanted to know!!
Cha: Anyway I’m in Gotham now.
Cha: Prepare to be fussed over when we see Jason
Me: Goddammit
Me: Why are u like this
Lian rolled her eyes at her phone. Sure, she didn’t mind when Jason fussed over her – really, it was just him subtly putting more food on her plate and checking her over for injuries, which her dad did anyway, so it was more of the same – but he worried about her. It was sweet, but also a little annoying sometimes. Like, why couldn’t she just grab an icepack, eat, and move on?
“Goddammit Cha.” She muttered to herself. There was a sudden yelp, and Lian looked up to see Tim clinging to a mug and looking at her in shock.
“Lian? What’re you doing here?”
“Training…?” she said quietly, “You know, kind of the main reason I’m here half the time.” She joked.
Tim frowned, rubbed at one of his eyes, and took a sip of his coffee. “But you’re only here on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. It’s Saturday.”
Lian shook her head, and kicked her legs out slightly. “Nah, it’s Sunday.” She corrected. She bit down on her lip, and tried not to laugh as Tim’s eyes widened.
“Oh shit – Cassie is gonna kill me if I’m late.” He muttered, jumping up. “Shit, Kon is gonna be there as well–” he looked down at his oversized hoodie, and groaned. “Kill me now.”
“It’s only four o’clock.” Lian offered.
“That only gives me an hour to get to Metropolis!” he said, quickly downing the coffee from his mug, as quickly as possible.
“When did you last sleep?” Lian asked, as she watched Tim quickly throw the mug into one of the sinks, and do something to the coffee machine. She didn’t know, she had picked up a preference for tea from Jason.
“Fuck if I know.” Tim muttered. He ran out of the kitchen, dodged past someone, and yelled “Has anyone seen my bike helmet!?”
Lian watched him go, rolling her eyes. She did not envy the amount of sleep Tim lost.
“What’s got him so riled up?” a familiar voice said, and then her dad poked his head into the kitchen.
“He’s late for something?” Lian guessed, shrugging. “I don’t know. He forgot what day it was.”
“And this is why we need to keep a consistent sleep schedule. And don’t pretend you do – I know you’ve been staying up to, like, three.” Her dad said, beckoning her over. “Come on, let’s go. Jason said he needs help with dinner, and we know he doesn’t trust me.”
“With good reason.” Lian said, jumping off the stool. She was still a little too short to sit on the stools against the kitchen island properly, so she had to jump. “At least you’re not as bad as Bruce, he apparently messed up a tuna sandwich, once.”
“Again, fed you for fourteen years. And you’re not dead yet.”
“Only because of Jason and Alfred.”
“You’re totally not trying to commit patricide, huh.”
Lian shot him a confused look as they waved to Alfred, and made their way out the door. “Patricide…?”
“Murdering one’s father.” Roy explained, walking over to Jason’s bike. He’d zeta’d over from Star City, and you couldn’t exactly bring a car through the zetas. So, her dad had taken Jason’s bike. Not that Lian was complaining. She loved that thing.
“Oh, that.” Lian pulled on her helmet, and dropped her bag on the gravel driveway as her dad handed her motorbike jacket over. (It’d been a present for her fourteenth birthday. She kind of already had one, but it was just one of Damian’s from when he’d been thirteen. She honestly really liked her own a lot better, it fit her better, and it was bright red.) (Which might’ve been another safety thing, now that she thought about it… like those high vis vests…) “Yeah, definitely. You’re not safe.”
“I’m quaking in my boots.” Her dad responded flatly. “Come on, get your bag on. I’ll get this thing started.”
Lian’s week wasn’t exactly clockwork. There was plenty of variation. She went over to friends’ places after school sometimes, ever since the news about Jason and her dad had come out; he’d been popping up more and more often, and her training sessions were plenty varied. The only thing that was extremely routine was when she trained, and the archery practice on Sundays.
Somehow, somehow, though, the week blew past quickly, and sooner than she realised, Lian was stood in front of the mirror in Jason’s room – it was on the inside of his closet, the only long mirror in the apartment – and trying to adjust the sleeves of her dress for Dick and Wally’s wedding. She liked her dress and all, it was red and had a floaty skirt which was fun to twirl in, but it’d been bought before she’d started any training, and it didn’t exactly fit around her arms anymore.
There was a knock on the door as Lian tried pushing the short sleeves up. “You good in there, Princess?” her dad called.
“Fine!” Lian called back. “My damn dress is too tight on my arms!”
There was a pause, and then a quiet snicker.
“You’re laughing at me! You dick!”
“I – hey,” her dad said, clearly trying not to giggle. “First, language. Second, if it makes you feel any better, it’s–”
“Just part of being an archer, I know.” Lian sighed. “I’m dressed, though.”
Her dad opened the door, wearing a plain black suit, with a red tie that matched her dress. He was actually wearing sleeves, for once. He grinned at the scene. “Aw, I remember when that first happened to me.”
Lian fought the urge to flip him her middle finger, and fiddled with her sleeves again. “Don’t be mean then.”
“Sorry, sorry.” Her dad said, grin still stuck firmly on his face. “Okay, lemme see those sleeves. I’ll see if I can loosen them at all.”
Lian frowned, but extended her arm. “How? You can’t sew.”
“Uh, yes I can.” He responded, pulling at the hem of her sleeve. “You’ve seen me do it.”
“Sewing up wounds isn’t like fabric.”
“It… surprisingly is, actually.”
Lian sighed, and went to say something, before her dad went “Aha! There we go.” And showed her the sleeve. It was significantly looser, and when Lian flexed slightly, it was a lot comfier.
“Better?”
“…Do my other sleeve?”
“Of course. We better make this quick though, Jason can’t fight with his tie forever. And you know what he’s like when he’s ready to go.”
Soon enough; Lian’s sleeves were loose, she gave her hair a final brush through, Roy fixed Jason’s wonky tie, and they were all climbing into the car. The wedding was happening at some nice church Lian had never been to. Neither her nor her dad were exactly religious, and neither were Dick or Wally, so why they were getting married in a church was kinda lost on her, but oh well.
“What’re the odds something goes wrong?” Roy asked, tapping the wheel rhythmically. Jason made a non-committal noise.
“You mean wrong because it’s a wedding, wrong as in there’s an Arkham breakout, or wrong because it’s us?”
“Hm. All of them?”
“First one, no way.” Lian piped up from her place in the backseat. “Alfred would murder a man if anything went wrong. And no one wants to make him mad.”
“True, true.” Jason agreed. “Unlikely, then. Second one?”
“Didn’t B mention something about increased security for today?” Roy said, tapping the wheel to the beat of the quiet music playing. “Or did I just make that up?”
“He might’ve done. Let’s just hope it’s unlikely.”
“Number three?” Lian asked.
“Oh, definitely.” Roy said, grinning. “Half the fucking Justice League is there. It’ll be chaos.”
Lian grinned herself, thinking about the amount of people that’d be there. She wasn’t going to admit it, but she was excited about how Wonder Woman might be there. And, possibly, even better, Wonder Girl. It was one thing knowing she might meet her one day, but possibly meeting her that day? Lian felt a little giddy.
She looked out the window, and watched Gotham fall away. They were technically still in the city, but the venue was on the outskirts.
They pulled up to the church building quicker than Lian expected, and before she knew what was happening, she was being ushered out of the car and into the first room of the place.
They walked into the room, and Lian suddenly felt a lot smaller. There were a lot of people, the room was completely bursting with them. And it didn’t help that a good number of those people were tall as hell, and Lian, decisively, was not.
“We don’t have long until they show up,” her dad said quietly. “Lian, sweetie, we need to–”
“Go do best man things?” Lian guessed, looking around for Damian. He’d promised he’d find her for the wedding, but he was nowhere to be seen. He wasn’t that short compared to everyone else, where was he?
“You got it.” Jason said, going to ruffle her hair, before she caught his wrist, and glared. No. She’d bothered to make her hair look nice; Jason did not get to ruin it. Affection intended or not. He drew his hand back, and quickly pointed her in the direction of Tim, who was thankfully in sight.
“Alright, see ya, Cha, bye Dad.” She said, about to walk towards Tim, when there was an interesting noise from behind her. She turned to see Jason – Roy had already left – staring at her with wide eyes.
“What did you just call me?” he asked, sounding a little shellshocked.
“…Jason?” she said, quickly realising just what she’d said, and suddenly feeling a little embarrassed.
“Jaybird, come on, babe!” her dad’s voice called, and then Jason was giving her a weird look, waving, and then he was off.
Lian looked around nervously. Okay. She could do this. Tim was right there. She just needed to go up to him and say hi. Ask him if he’d seen Damian or Jon.
She walked in the general direction of Tim, not really looking up, keeping her eyes on her feet to make sure she didn’t trip on anyone else’s, and that’s exactly when she nearly did.
She almost crashed headfirst into a woman’s stomach, and immediately had an apology on her tongue, when she looked up, and all her words left her.
Because Lian had just crashed. Into. Motherfucking. Wonder Girl. She’d know that face anywhere, and she’d especially recognise it up close and with all her blonde hair loose around her shoulders. Oh god.
“Woah, didn’t see you there, kid.” She said, and holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, Wonder Girl was talking to her! To Lian! Quick, she had to say something that made her look cool and smart –
“Uh…” she said. Shit! “M-my bad?” she managed, her voice squeaking slightly on the last word.
“Oh!” she snapped her fingers. “I know you! I knew you looked familiar. You’re that kid that Tim told us about, right? Bullseye, or something. Was thinking you looked familiar.”
Lian felt like she was going to have a heart attack. Tim had told Wonder Girl about her. Wonder Girl had known about her. Wonder Girl had heard about her. Was she dead? She was dead, right?
“I’m les – Lian!” she squeaked. Oh god. Had she really nearly just said her name was lesbian in front of Wonder Girl? Kill her. Right now. “I – uh, Tim is kind of, like, my sort of – I don’t – he’s sort of my uncle, sorta?” oh god oh god oh god Wonder Girl was looking at her weirdly and –
She laughed. Lian wanted to jump up and down and curl up and die at the same time. Was she laughing at her?
“Timmy? An uncle? How’d that happen?” she joked. “I’m guessing you’re not Dick’s kid…” she shrugged. “And you can’t be Jason’s, you’re too cute for that.”
Lian felt her soul leave her body. Was she actually going to die? Right here, right now? Was that light just from the ceiling, or was it the gates of heaven opening up to her?
“I – um,” she stuttered. Oh, good lord, she was embarrassing herself. “I – he, Jason isn’t my dad!” Oh god. Could she actually die now, please? “Cha – my dad, is, um, his boyfriend.”
Wonder Girl nodded. “Ah, I see. Oh, I’m Cassie, by the way. Speaking of your… kind of family?” she guessed. Lian nodded quickly. “Have you seen Tim? I promised him I’d come looking better than him, we have a whole competition going on.” She said, gesturing to her blue-silver dress. She did look really pretty in it.
“I… he’s, um, behind you.” Lian said quietly, not really sure where to look. Did she look at her eyes? But too much eye-contact was creepy – fuck! What was she meant to do!?
Wonder G – Cassie, blinked, twisted, and swore when she saw Tim was, indeed, right behind her. “Oh for – come on then, let’s see who’s dressed better. Of course, he’ll vouch for Kon.” She muttered. “Oh, hey!” she said, face lighting up in a smile. “We need a neutral party to judge, come on!”
Lian suddenly felt Cassie take her wrist – sweet lord that grip was strong – and she was being dragged into a small circle of people, consisting of Tim, a guy much taller than him, and a guy a little shorter than him. And Cassie. Woah.
“So, Timmy, you never told me you had a niece.” Cassie said, grinning. Tim blinked as his two other friends laughed, and then he looked down a little, and saw Lian.
“Oh. Yeah, pretty much. How’re you doing, Li?”
Lian fidgeted. This was cool, but also kinda weird. Because on one side, she had Cassie, which, wow, and on the other, Tim, who she knew and had seen get tangled in his own grappling wire before. (He’d been extremely sleep deprived, at the time. What was funnier was when he fell asleep whilst still tangled.) and two people she’d never met before. The juxtaposition was just… weird.
“I mean, I met Wonder Girl.” She said softly. “That’s pretty cool.”
Tim snorted, and his friends laughed louder, and Lian felt a small lump of pride in her chest. She had more control over the situation now, hell yes!
Cassie blinked down at her. “Fucking hell, Tim, you weren’t joking. I’m in civvies, as well!”
“Aaaaaanyway.” The shorter guy said, “I’m Bart, and if we think about it hard enough, we’re related.” He said, and damn, he talked quickly. “And this is Kon.” He said, jabbing his thumb at the guy next to him.
Lian blinked. “…We’re related?” she asked weakly, and Tim rested a hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t think about it too much. That’s just a good general rule to have with Bart, but basically, he’s…” Tim trailed off. “Okay, one second, he’s Wally’s cousin, and Wally is marrying Dick, and Jason is our brother, and he’s dating your dad, so…”
Jesus. “Yeah, I won’t think about it.” Lian said, and that managed to get a laugh out of Bart.
“Don’t we have an outfit competition to pick the winner of?” Kon said, grinning widely in a way that reminded Lian very sharply of…
“Are you Jon’s brother?” she asked suddenly, and then she felt bad because he looked a little shocked, before he grinned again and laughed.
“Oh my god, Clark was right, we do look similar.”
“Super similar.” Tim said, elbowing his side gently.
“Terrible,” Kon said, smiling widely at Tim. “I love it.”
“Ugh,” Cassie said, rolling her eyes, resting her elbow on Lian’s shoulder, and holy shit, she was gonna die. “just get a room already!”
Tim’s face flushed bright red, matching his suit. “Hey, Cassie! Young ears!”
“Who’s winning this outfit battle anyway?” Bart asked, physically sticking his head between the two of them, moving so quickly that he blurred. Oh, he was Wally’s cousin… was superspeed genetic, then?
Lian looked at Tim’s plain, dark red suit, Kon’s normal suit with a leather jacket (with all sorts of cool pins, patches and spikes on it, Lian approved) over the top, Bart’s pale blue suit, which looked straight out of the 1980’s, and at Cassie’s long, silvery blue dress. She might be slightly biased, but… Cassie did look the best.
“Cassie wins.” Lian said, grinning at the suddenly horrifically offended expression on Bart’s face.
“What? How?” he spluttered, over Tim, Cassie, and Kon’s laughter.
Then there was a sudden shout, over the general hubbub of noise.
“Lian? We need Lian Harper, over by the door. Liiiiiiaaaaaaaan.” A voice that sounded like Steph’s called. Regrettably, Lian slipped away from the still laughing group, and made her way through the crowd. It was, indeed, Steph, in a red dress, similar to Lian’s. She was one of the bridesmaids, and Lian was the flower girl, so it made sense they’d be dressed in the same way. Cass stood next to her, in a suit, and with a red tie, Babs sat next to both of them in her wheelchair, also in a red dress. Everyone was wearing red, huh?
“There you are.” Steph said. “Come on, we’ve gotta get you your flowers. I did not pass on my favourite dress for nothing.”
“She was very upset.” Cass said quietly, fiddling with the edge of her suit jacket. “She might’ve cried, a little bit.”
Steph gasped. “Cass! Cassandra! Babe!” she splayed a hand over her heart. “I cannot believe you would betray me like this–”
Cass rolled her eyes, and pressed a small kiss to Steph’s cheek, quickly followed by a “Shh.”
Babs rolled her eyes as she leant forwards in her chair to start rolling herself forwards. “Those two, I swear. I feel like I’m their mom sometimes.”
“It might just be a Batgirl thing?” Lian suggested, before quickly finding herself needing to bat off Babs’s hand from her hair. What was it with these people and hair ruffling?!
It didn’t take long for everything to suddenly just start happening. Before she knew it, Lian was walking down the aisle, scattering flower petals, and standing next to her dad and Jason, or ‘the best men’, whatever that meant, near the altar… pedestal… thing… she felt half in a daze as Dick was suddenly at the altar, grinning at Wally, beginning to say the vows.
All of a sudden, Lian felt a stone drop into her stomach. Something was off. Something was wrong.
She looked around the room uneasily. What was it? She sent a look at her dad and – no, she hadn’t imagined it. Something was off, and her dad could tell too.
There was a sudden crash from outside, and Lian jumped. Thankfully, she didn’t make any noise. Dick had trailed off, and everyone was silent.
Then, several things happened at once. Lian wasn’t sure which happened first.
The doors and windows all broke, Lian could see and hear the broken glass fall around her as she was suddenly shoved to the ground. Instinct took over and she rolled to her hands and knees, and crawled to the altar and hid behind it. She didn’t have a fucking clue what was happening.
She was vaguely aware of someone yelling “Get down!” and someone that sounded like Dick saying “Oh for fuck’s sake–”, and a whole lot of yelling and crashing. But this was fine, right? It’d all be over in a second. There were superheroes here.
There was a sudden thump from above, closer than all the crashing, and Lian saw Jon fall, and land in front of her heavily. He groaned, and pushed himself up on his elbows.
“Jon?” she asked, because he just fell from, like, the ceiling, and she was aware he could fly but Jesus Christ this was weird this was so weird and it was scary because she didn’t even know what was fucking happening –
“Lian?” Jon asked, blinking at her. “Oh f – this is not good. This is not freaking good.”
“What the fuck,” she asked, breathing heavily, because her heartbeat was too fucking loud, and she was flinching at those loud noises, “is happening?”
“Uh.” Jon responded, and then his eyes were widening, and he was gone, the only trace of him being a gust of wind in Lian’s face.
Okay, fuck this.
She stood up, as quickly as she dared, and whipped around to see the scene behind her. It was chaos. She could barely tell what was happening, aside from that there were people she cared about, still in their formal wear, fighting, mostly everyone having brought along their weapons, because of course. And…
God. What the fuck were those?
Lian ducked as something sailed over her head and flew out the open hole in the stained-glass windows. Okay, okay, no time to question what those things were, aside from looking like ten-foot-tall metal worms.
Quick, think, Harper, think.
She needed something she could throw. She was better with a bow, but she didn’t exactly have one right now. And her aim in general was good – okay, quick –
Glass. Broken glass. It was all over the floor, she might’ve actually cut her knee on a bit, but she didn’t have time to worry about that right now. She picked a larger piece out of the carpet, and quickly gaged its weight. It was heavy, decent enough for a projectile.
She jumped up again, and quickly looked for someone, anyone, she knew.
There. Jason, wrestling with one of the giant worm things, it was metal, it had grooves, it had joints, she just needed to –
Breathe, find your target, aim, and fire.
Second groove, could be its neck, weakest point, no one in the way –
She threw the glass shard with all the precision she could manage, and watched in shock as it lodged in the groove, making the… thing, cry out with a sound like metal on stone.
She ducked down again, fumbling around for another bit of glass of the same size. She quickly found one – lighter, smaller, but still good – and poked her head out again, looking for another target.
There, Steph, beating off one of them with one of her high heels, her hair falling around her face. Breathe, pick a target, aim, fire. The glass landed in a groove of the fat tendril that was about to take out Steph’s ankle.
It got easier. Well. Not easier. It was a rhythm. Find a piece of glass, break a larger one to get a decent shard, breathe, pick a target, aim, fire.
Breathe, pick a target, aim, fire. Breathe, pick a target, aim, fire. Breathe, pick a target, aim, fire. Breathe, breathe, breathe.
It wasn’t easy. Lian felt like every single one of her nerves was on fire. Breathe. Glass lodged in the red eye of one of the things, one of the Supers’ hands around it, lifting it into the air.
Her heart was a damn jackhammer, and she almost felt like she was fighting for each breath. Pick a target – there, next to Damian’s head, right behind him. When the glass landed, he didn’t hesitate to yank it right out, and start using it like a knife or a shuriken.
She knew her knees were bleeding, and her hands, and she probably had some blood on her forehead because it felt sticky and warm. Aim, right there, no, higher, just below Wonder Woman’s arm – got it.
Okay, maybe it was a little easy. It was easy to stay in the moment, with the movement, in the rhythm. Fire, watch the glass spin in the air as it left her fingers.
She was down on her knees again, hands scrabbling, there wasn’t – there just wasn’t anymore glass. This was – no, shit –
Lian blinked in confusion as a shadow passed over her. She dared to look up – and shit, shit, shit shit shit shit shitshitshitshit –
One of the giant metal worm things was right above her, writhing, its red eyes too close, in fact – everything too close.
The world suddenly spun as Lian felt something wrap around her waist and the floor disappear beneath her. Oh god. Oh FUCK.
Lian blinked quickly, trying to figure out if she was up or down. she wasn’t even sure where she was punching, just keeping her fists balled up and ignoring the fact that her hands were so, so red.
“Lian!” someone yelled. She didn’t know, she was kicking and punching and screaming, and violently throwing herself around, trying literally anything that she could think of to wriggle out of the whatever-the-fuck-it-was’s hold.
An arrow sailed past her, missing the thing’s side by inches. Lian tried to twist, tried to yell, but before she could even take a breath, the thing moved and she couldn’t touch the floor even if she wanted to because she was up in the goddamn air –
They could fly. Of course, they could fucking fly.
Somehow, she sucked in a breath, and screamed. “Cha!” her voice getting lost in the chaos, she ducked as something – maybe a bullet, perhaps rubber or metal, she wasn’t sure – pinged off of the metal skin of the worm thing, she needed one of the people with super strength, she needed someone who could actually fight this thing and not just shoot at it –
Then she was moving, being moved, and then she was weightless as the world spun.
Had she just been fucking thrown?!
Something slammed into her back, her temple sung in pain, and then the world was dark.
Everything ached. Her head, especially. She didn’t even want to think about moving.
Everything was dark, and quiet. Not silent. Something was rumbling softly in the distance. Her ears were also ringing, a little bit. She was cold. And… felt gross. Crusty was a good word for it, which, ew, but it was accurate. It was probably all the dried blood. She reckoned she was on the floor, judging by how that side was all pressed up against something hard, and uncomfortable.
She flexed her fingers, just slightly. They ached, and one clicked, the sound as loud as a gunshot to her ears. She took in a shuddering breath, and bit down on her lip. Fuck, how did her teeth hurt?
Lian dared to crack open her eyes. It… wasn’t very bright. Wherever she was. But she reckoned if it was, it would’ve made her head hurt more. Small blessings, as Dinah always said. Small blessings. She blinked again, trying to see where she was.
It was – well, she had no idea. It was a big room, high ceilings. Shelves. A lot of them. Linoleum floors. Metal walls. Was this a warehouse?
As she scanned her eyes across what small corner she had visuals on, she realised with a jolt that she was not alone. There was another figure, slumped against the wall.
A figure… in dress shoes?
Wait. Jason. Why was Jason here? Where even was here?
You know what? It didn’t matter. She needed to… not cry. First of all. Do not cry. Keep calm, figure it out.
Okay. Not crying. She would not cry. Okay. What now? Jason was unconscious, which wasn’t good. But, even if Lian strained her ears, there was nothing else to be heard, aside from the odd car from far away. (Near a road, she’ll try and remember that.) so it seemed like it was just him and her. So, it might be safe to wake him up.
She flexed her wrists. Could still move them – good. Stretched her arms, her legs, rolled over onto her front. It hurt like a bitch, and she might’ve gasped a little, but she could move. And yeah, she definitely cut her knees and hands, but it was fine. She could work around it.
She paused. Would she be able to stand up? Walk? Best not to risk it. She crawled over instead, her knees crying out in protest. Jason was still pretty firmly unconscious. How could she wake him up?
“Jay.” She whispered. “Jason!” she added, a little more desperately. Jason didn’t move. Fuck.
“Jason,” she repeated, poking him in the side. “Jay, Jason, Red Hood, Jaybird, Robin, Jason.” Running through every name or nickname he’d ever responded to that she could remember.
Jason groaned lowly, and Lian felt like cheering. He stirred a little, before he stiffened, and his eyes blinked open. He stared at Lian for a second, eyes unfocused, before he blinked, and he was back.
“Who’re you calling me Robin?” he muttered, and Lian sighed in relief. “Oh, Jesus fuck – where are we? Are you okay?”
“Um, I don’t know.” Lian whispered. When everything was so quiet, it just felt wrong to talk normally. “I don’t know where we are,” she said, and fuck, her voice was shaking. Keep it together, Harper. “and I’m a little hurt. But I’m okay. I can move, and I don’t think I’m injured.”
“But are you okay?” Jason pressed. “Like, are you gonna have a panic attack or anything? Because I’m freaking a little. So, are – are you?”
Lian paused. Her heart was thumping in her chest, and she felt small, and shaky, and –
“No.” she lied. “I’m okay.”
And she was gonna have to fight through it. Get safe, then panic.
“Okay,” Jason said, struggling to his feet, pulling himself up with one hand on the wall. “let’s get out of this place.”
Lian took the hand he offered, and pulled herself up. Yeah, ow. She was gonna need to get her knees patched up. And also, her hands. And something on her forehead was throbbing a bit.
Jason pressed a hand to his ear, and frowned. “Fuck, I hate the earpieces. Helmets are so much easier.” He joked. He was trying to lighten the tension, Lian realised. It only worked a little bit. “Hey, do me a favour, can you start looking around? Don’t touch anything, just let me know if there’s anything out of the ordinary.”
Lian nodded, and looked around, going to the nearest shelf as Jason added “And stay where I can see you!”
“Alright, Dad.” Lian muttered, mostly to herself.
The shelves were mostly empty, really. Just boxes, which she wasn’t allowed to touch, so she left those alone.
“Come on, come on, work you little–” Jason muttered, and then “Piece of shit – oh hi Oracle.” Lian snorted as Jason was suddenly stuttering through an apology.
“No – I didn’t mean, O, come on. Look, we’re kinda in a serious situation right now. Yeah. We. I’m with Bullseye. Think you can track us?”
Lian went to the next shelf, and paused. It was muffled, and coming from a box, but there was a weird noise.
“No, I don’t know why we’re here. There’s no sign of the fuckers… is everyone safe? Is Arsenal?”
It kind of sounded like ticking. But not like on a clock, more like beeping – oh, like on one of those digital timers –
Wait.
Oh. Oh no.
“Jason?” Lian said, her voice coming out a lot more strangled than she would’ve liked. “Jason, I think…” she trailed off. There was no way, right? She was definitely making this up. Hearing things. Right? Right? That didn’t make sense, why would there be –
Jason ran over and took her by the shoulders, gently, and turned her around so she was facing him. “What is it?” he asked, and he looked afraid now. Which wasn’t exactly helping Lian’s own heartrate.
“I think there’s a bomb.” She said, softly. And Jason froze, his grip on her shoulders going tight, he went completely still. The only thing she could hear was the fucking ticking.
“Pass – pass me the box.” Jason said, voice quiet. He let go of Lian’s shoulders, but his movements were slow, and halting. Oh god. This wasn’t good.
Lian turned around slowly, and took the box from the shelf, and handed it to Jason, holding it as gingerly as she could. As if it were about to explode at any wrong movement. Because it kind of would.
Jason whipped out a bat shaped… thing, from… somewhere, and split open the box with the sharp end. He sucked in a sharp breath when he opened it.
“Lian.” He said shakily. “I – don’t freak out.”
“Only if you don’t.” she said quietly.
He swallowed, and nodded. “Okay. No promises. Because there is actually a bomb.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. We’ve got fifteen minutes.”
“Oh.” Lian was… surprisingly calm. Okay. There was a bomb. A fucking bomb. Okay. Okay. Okay.
“Oracle. Did you catch that?” Jason said, shakily. “I – I don’t.” he closed his eyes, and shuddered. “I can’t–”
He was about to freak out. Okay. Okay, how could she stop that?
She slipped her small hand into Jason’s large one, and squeezed. Jason normally squeezed back, but this time, he didn’t.
Suddenly, Jason’s hand was pressing something into her hand, and was sitting on the floor, pressing his face into his hands.
Lian blinked. She opened her hand, and saw Jason’s earpiece. She could feel the small vibrations against her skin; someone was talking. Hesitantly, she pressed it against her ear.
“-ood, Hood, are you with me?” a familiar voice asked. Barbara. Babs.
“Um.” Lian said. There was a pause.
“…Bullseye?” Babs asked. She had a thing about comms, that Lian had picked up on quickly. Only codenames could be used, just in case someone hacked in and listened.
“Hi, Oracle.” Lian said quietly. “Uh, J – Red Hood, is kind of…” she looked at Jason again. He wasn’t moving, well, he was shaking. But Lian was guessing it wasn’t voluntary. “…acting strange. I think he’s freaking out.”
“Yeah, I’m not surprised.” Babs muttered. “Okay, Bullseye, is Hood talking to you?”
Lian paused. “Jay?” she called. Jason didn’t respond.
“No.” Lian told Babs. “He’s, um, like all curled up, and he’s shaking. What – what do I do?”
Babs didn’t get the chance to say anything, before Lian was continuing. “I mean – there’s a bomb, Jay – Hood, isn’t responding, and I don’t know where we are.”
“Bullseye.” Babs voice said, clear and distinct, cutting through Lian’s mess of thoughts. “I’m going to need you to do something for me. Okay?”
Lian swallowed, nodded. “O-okay. What is it?”
“I’m going to need you to get Jason to stand up.” Babs, said, her voice shockingly calm. Lian inhaled shakily, and made a noise of agreement.
Babs kept talking, not to Lian, but in general. Lian barely noticed it. She was focused on getting Jason to stand – it wasn’t entirely easy, he was a large guy, and Lian was only small. She managed to get him to his knees by wrapping her arms around his ribs and under his shoulders, and pulling him up. Then he shakily stood up on his own, keeping his hand around Lian’s. It was – it was weird. His eyes were open, but they weren’t seeing anything. He wasn’t really… there.
But that was fine. Scary as fuck, but fine.
“B – Oracle?” Lian whispered, keeping her grip on Jason’s hand tight. “He’s stood up now.”
“Okay, that’s great, you’re doing great, Bullseye. Can you see the clock on the bomb?”
“Yes.” She looked at the red numbers, luminous in the half-darkness.
“How long do you have left?”
“…Twelve minutes.”
“Okay, okay.” There was a pause. “Yeah, they’re in Gotham, uninjured, Hood is dissociating. Bullseye is doing okay. She’s functioning.”
“Oracle?”
“Yes?”
“What do I do next?”
Babs exhaled lightly. “Okay. Uh, how big is the warehouse?”
“It’s… it’s big.” Lian said, “I can’t–” she squeezed Jason’s hand tighter. God, please respond, Jason, please – “I can’t see the other end.”
“Christ.” Babs muttered. “Okay. Get to the other end. Bring Jason with you. Whilst you’re walking, I want you to tell me if you see a door. Alright?”
“Alright.” Lian muttered, “Come on, Jay, we’ve gotta move.”
The warehouse got darker as Lian walked, Jason stumbling as he walked behind her, one hand wrapped around his, the other hand pressing the earpiece to her ear.
God. This – this was the most terrifying situation Lian had ever been. And she was calm. Well – no. She was freaking the fuck out. But she was – it wasn’t at the front of her brain, if that made sense. She felt like she was in the centre of a hurricane. Eye of the storm, or whatever the phrase was.
There were no doors. Lian felt a cold, heavy weight drop into her stomach. “O-Oracle?”
“Yes, Bullseye? Found a door?”
“I’m at the other end. There’s no door.”
“…What?”
“There’s no door.”
And there wasn’t. It was just smooth, metal walls. And Lian knew she’d spent a lot of time getting Jason over to this side of the damn thing, and they were running out of time –
“Okay, okay, Bullseye. Are there any windows?”
“W… windows?”
“Yes. Windows. Are there any?”
“There’s – there’s, um,” keep it together, Harper, keep it together – “there’s kind of windows. They’re – they’re like, uh, slits. And really high up.”
Babs made a weird sound, and Lian realised she was sucking on her teeth. “Ah, okay. Are you in a corner?”
“No?”
“Check one out. You might be on a second floor. There should be a ladder, or something, if you are.”
To Lian’s relief, there was. Now she had to get Jason down it.
To her surprise, despite not really… being there, Jason could still move. He was down the ladder without Lian even asking verbally. She had no idea if this was usual for when people floated off, or if Jason was just special, or if it was all that Bat training, or whatever.
Lian dropped down the ladder quickly, desperate to get out. There was no light whatsoever on this level, Lian needed to hold on to Jason anyway, but it still made her feel better.
“Are you still there?” Babs asked, her voice loud in Lian’s ear, making her jump.
“Yes, I got down a ladder.”
“Okay, okay, can you see anything?”
“No. It’s – it’s really dark. I’m just holding onto J – Hood.”
“Stay where you are. There should be–”
There was a sudden sound of glass breaking; and Lian yelped. She dropped the earpiece, and it clattered to the floor. She ducked down, and grabbed it from the floor, her nails scratching against the linoleum.
When she pressed it against her ear, there was suddenly a familiar voice that wasn’t Babs speaking into her ear.
“Bullseye, where are you?” her dad asked, and the mere sound of his voice made Lian want to sob in relief. “We’re in the warehouse. Batman is taking care of the bomb. Where are you and Hood?”
“Downstairs.” Lian said, and she would be lying if her voice didn’t break. “We – we went down a ladder.”
“Stay where you are. It’s okay, we’re here now.”
A light shone down from the ladder, and then a dark shape, dressed in red –
“Cha.” Lian said brokenly. Roy jumped down from the ladder, and before Lian knew what was happening, she was pressing her face into her dad’s shoulder, his arms wrapped around her, and his hair brushing over her forehead.
“Hey, con yêu.” He muttered, hand rubbing over her back. “It’s okay, I’m here now.”
Lian’s throat tightened. She wouldn’t cry. She wouldn’t. she managed to choke out “Jason,” before the first sob caught her.
“Batman’ll be down here soon, it’s okay.” Her dad repeated, like a broken record. “It’s okay, it’s okay.” He half sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as he was Lian.
The hand from her back disappeared, and Lian hoped it was going to Jason’s own hand or something. But she didn’t know. And she didn’t really care. Her knees and hands stung and throbbed, and everything ached, and her dad was here now, and Jason could come back, and Batman, Bruce, was just upstairs, getting rid of the fucking bomb –
She clung onto him, and finally, let herself cry.
It was raining, once they finally stepped out of the warehouse. And not just drizzling. It was absolutely pouring down, great sheets of water cascading down from the sky.
Jason came to when the water first hit his face. He gasped, and jerked, and let out a strangled half-scream, until Bruce took him into his arms, and wrapped the cape around him. It barely took any time at all for Roy to gently place Lian down, and wrap his own arms around Jason from the back. It took about five seconds of hesitation from Lian herself to join in, pressing her face against his side.
And it didn’t take long for the heavy weight of Bruce’s cape to slide over her shoulders too. They were all wrapped in it, surrounding Jason, keeping him safe, as the rain lashed down.
Lian would feel bad about dripping blood on the Batmobile, if she weren’t fucking exhausted. All the dried blood on her hands and knees had washed away into liquid from the rain, and she was sat in the front of the Batmobile, next to fucking Batman, soaking wet, bloody, and ready to fall asleep.
When did her life get this fucking weird?
Jason was in the backseat, leaning against her dad, and blinking sporadically. He still wasn’t quite… around. But he was better than before. He could talk, now. And occasionally say something, but it was mostly just muttering. Lian didn’t catch much, aside from the word ‘alive’ over and over again.
Her dad was half asleep, also. Lian could relate.
There was a thin sheet of glass between the front and back seats. It was more for security, because the damn thing was bulletproof, but Bruce mentioned it was also pretty soundproof, so it gave Jason and her dad some privacy to talk to one another.
And it left Lian feeling a little alone. She liked Bruce, she did, but it was kind of hard to talk to him.
“What,” she began, and to her horror, her voice was raspy and hoarse. It’d been all that damn crying she swore she wasn’t going to do…
“What happened to Jason?” Bruce guessed. Lian nodded, keeping her eyes on the window. It was easier to talk when you didn’t have to look.
The warehouse had been somewhere near Gotham, just on the outskirts, just on the outside of the outskirts, whatever. She didn’t know. And kind of didn’t care.
“Yeah. He just… went away. It was scary.” She explained softly.
“It can be scary when people dissociate.” Bruce said. “Dissociating. That’s what it’s called when people… what did you describe it as?”
“Going away?”
“Yeah. That.”
Lian fidgeted. “Is it…” she trailed off. “Scary? When people go?”
“You mean for the people dissociating?” he hummed softly when Lian nodded. “It can be. But it happens when a situation is too scary, or traumatic, or reminds someone of trauma. All the emotions and experiences are too much for the brain to deal with, so it shuts off. It’s a brain protecting itself. Sometimes people go deep, sometimes they don’t.”
“Did something traumatic happen to Jason?” she kind of already knew the answer, it seemed like everyone had something shitty happen in their past.
Bruce was silent for a moment, before sighing heavily. “Jesus, what didn’t? Jason…” he paused. “…died.”
Wait. What?
“But – he’s not dead?”
Bruce sighed. “No. He’s not. Not anymore.”
Lian blinked. Jason… died. Was dead. Not anymore. He… Lian was pretty sure that death wasn’t something you could recover from that easily.
“But you can’t come back from the dead.” Lian protested weakly.
Bruce paused, before exhaling slightly. “Damian’s best friend is a half alien that can fly. Dick was about to get married to a man with superspeed. I dress up as a bat to fight crime with my kids. Coming back from the dead is hardly the weirdest thing about any of this.”
Lian snorted, despite herself. “Cha goes and shoots arrows at criminals at night. And he’s one of the normal ones.”
Bruce nodded, and in the reflection of the window, Lian saw him smile. “He is. Kind of sad, huh?”
“Kind of cool, if you ask me.” Lian responded, wiping a hand over one of her knees. It came away sticky. Yikes. Good thing they were going to the Batcave, she’d probably get patched up there. But still…
“How is, uh, Jason… not… dead?” she asked, fidgeting slightly.
Bruce sighed heavily, and Lian saw eyes moving under the cowl, looking up at the rear-view mirror. Because, yes, even the Batmobile had one. “That’s… not exactly my story to tell.” He said, sounding unsure. And that was a weird tone to hear coming from Batman. “He probably won’t be too pleased with me even telling you. But I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.”
Lian nodded, and looked down at her scraped knees in the dark, the only real light coming from the passing streetlights, dimmed slightly by the rain crashing down around them.
“How did the… metal, snake, worm things, go?”
“Not well, considering they mostly got away. No one died. A few injured. Everyone is at the Cave.”
“…Everyone?”
“Everyone. I won’t lie to you, it’s a bit of a nightmare.”
Lian snorted. It might’ve been because of how tired she was, but it was just so funny. Yes, of course Batman would find it nightmarish that so many people that weren’t his kids were sat in his basement. When stuff like one of his kids, and… whatever Lian was to him, had gotten stuck in a warehouse with a bomb. Yes. Of course.
“Are you laughing?”
“…no.” Lian said, grin tugging at her mouth.
So. Jason had died. That – she – okay, she had questions, but the ache in her bones and the steady motion of the Batmobile was enough to make her feel sleepy.
She leant back against the seat, and let her eyes close. Bruce wouldn’t be mad if she fell asleep, right?
As it turns out, Bruce was not mad. He even smiled a little when she woke up, confusedly asking why it was so bright if it was night time. It took her a second or two to realise she was in the garage part of the Batcave, and it was bright because of the lights.
Stepping into the actual Batcave, behind Bruce, and behind Jason, who’s hand was curled into her dad’s, was a little… overwhelming. It wasn’t because of the adults in front of her, no, she was half hiding behind them. It was… well, the adults that weren’t. She’d asked if Babs was in there, really the only person she wanted to see, but apparently, she was still in the Watchtower. But for those who were in the Cave…
The table in the middle was full, for a start. People were scattered around, sat on the floor, or floating, because of course. And there was an immediate reaction to their arrival, in the form of a small cacophony of noise.
“Lian!” a familiar voice said, and then Jon was right next to her, floating off the ground slightly. He looked dishevelled, but honestly, who didn’t? “Are you okay? We don’t really know what happened–”
“Jon.” An older man – who Lian slowly realised was Jon’s dad, and therefore Superman – said, in a warning tone of voice, and Jon blinked a little, and smiled guiltily.
“I’ll ask you later.” He said, smiling apologetically, before flying off to talk to another boy hanging in mid-air. Lian doubted she’d ever get used to that.
“Lian? Come on, kiddo.” Her dad said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “We’re going into the med bay. Okay? We gotta check you and Jason over for injuries.” He said, side stepping around a dark-haired woman sat on the floor, talking to Cassie.
Lian blinked at him. “But I’m not injured.” She protested. “I’m fine!”
“Yeah, good luck pulling that with this bunch.” Her dad said, tugging her into the med bay. “You know how often these damn Bats just straight up deny being hurt? No one believes it anymore.”
So, despite all her protesting, Lian was dragged into the med bay. It made sense to check Jason for injuries, because she knew he wasn’t the type to tell anyone when he was hurt, and he was still dissociating a little, so he probably wouldn’t be able to even tell. But Lian was fine.
“Okay, Alfred’ll be checking Jay and Bruce, so I’ll sort you out.” Her dad said, gesturing to one of the benches. “Go sit down, I’ll get some disinfectant and band-aids.”
Lian might’ve put up a fight, but she was tired, and her knees really were starting to sting now, so she did as she was told and sat down on the bench, looking down at her shoes. They’d been shiny, when the day started. Now they were kinda grimy, and scuffed. She felt the same way.
“You look like you’ve been through the wringer.” A familiar voice said. Lian looked up to see Damian standing in the doorway of the med bay, looking tired and dishevelled himself.
“You don’t exactly look great either.” Lian responded, smiling slightly. It was forced, and both of them knew it.
“No one does.” Damian muttered, before coming to sit down next to her. “I knew I hated weddings.”
Lian smirked, and looked down at her shoes again. She was probably never going to be able to wear these shoes again, huh? Which was a shame. She’d liked them.
“Yeah. They’re not great.” She whispered. “How did – um. How did… you deal?”
“With?”
“I don’t know… how old were you when something this stupidly scary happened for the first time?” she asked, kicking her feet slightly. Damian made a huffing noise from beside her.
“I couldn’t tell you that.” He said, and he sounded like he was forcing the words out. “The first time I remember… I was six. Maybe seven. That damn mountain…” Lian looked up quickly enough to see him shake his head. “It’s not really a conversation I think either of us could have right now.”
“That bad, huh?” Lian guessed.
“That bad.” Damian confirmed. “I’ll go tell Jon you’re doing okay, then? He’s asking about you.”
Lian pulled a face. “Eh. Try okay-ish?”
“Will do.”
Yeah. Okay-ish. That was a pretty good way to describe how she felt. Sure, everything ached and she was bleeding and she still didn’t want to blink for too long because then she’d be back in the warehouse –
But she was okay. Okay-ish.
“Don’t know how you did it.” Her dad said, coming back into view, his domino off now, holding a packet of band-aids and a small first-aid kit. “He’s still mean to like, everyone else, you’re like the only exception.” He said, shrugging, and kneeling down in front of her. “Alright, let’s get those knees cleaned up.”
“It’s because I’m the only one younger than him.” Lian said, wincing slightly as the disinfectant began to sting. “It’s the older brother instinct. All the Bats have it.”
“Okay, first of all, Jon, and second, I hope you’re not implying Jason is Damian’s dad.” He joked. “Ooh, that’s a nasty one.” He commented, nodding at her right knee. “You’re gonna have scars there, if I had to guess.”
“Sick. We’ll match.” She said quietly. “And no, Jason isn’t, but that’s our dynamic.”
“Of course, of course. My mistake.” Her dad muttered, slowly positioning the band-aid before sticking it down. “Okay, one knee down. You want any painkillers or anything?”
“No, thanks.” She lied, but before she even got the sentence out, her dad was pressing a blister pack of ibuprofen into her hand.
“Just in case you change your mind.” he said, and Lian was glad for it. They continued like that for a bit. He’d patch up her hands and knees, and they’d talk.
By the time he’d finished her right hand, and Lian felt like she couldn’t flex anything without at least one band-aid popping right off, Bart was running into the room.
“You gotta come out! Right now!” he said excitedly. “Come on, they’re actually getting married!”
“In… the Batcave?” Her dad asked, sounding doubtful.
“Why not?” Bart said, grinning, and there was a whoosh of air, and he was gone. Lian and Roy quickly followed him, and indeed, Dick and Wally were stood, facing each other, in front of the massive Batcomputer, everyone else in various shades of dishevelment shuffling around, trying to see properly. Lian didn’t miss Damian sat on Jon’s shoulders, Jon floating upwards slightly.
“Wrote a whole best man’s speech for nothing!” her dad muttered, but there was no real frustration behind it.
Alfred was stood in the middle of them, smiling, but still looking serious, somehow. Of course, he was officiated, because what couldn’t Alfred do?
“Alright,” he began, and Lian could see the edges of Wally’s form blurring slightly. Did all speedsters vibrate when excited, or was it just him and Bart? “You’ll repeat after me.”
“I, Wally West,” Alfred began, and Lian watched as Wally nervously repeated his words, whilst grinning all the while.
“I, Wally West,”
“take you, Dick Grayson,”
“take you, Dick Grayson,”
“to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.”
Wally blinked in shock, and there was a small ripple of laughter. Dick grinned, and blinked quickly himself. Lian suspected he’d be the type to cry at weddings, but she didn’t expect him to cry at his own. She really should’ve known better.
“To be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward, until death do us part.” He grinned wider, and added, “And wherever you’re going, I’m going.”
Dick laughed, short and sharp, and quickly went to wipe at his eyes. “Oh my god, you dick.”
Wally’s grin didn’t falter. “No, you’re the dick. We’ve established this, babe.”
“Boys.” Alfred warned, and Dick quickly wiped at his eyes again, and inhaled deeply.
He quickly repeated the vows Wally had said, only with the names obviously switched. And when it came to the ending, he also added, with his own grin, “Wherever you’re going, I’m going.”
Lian wasn’t sure what that was about, but it was clearly an inside joke between the two. It was sweet, though.
“Do you, Wally West, take Dick Grayson, to be your lawfully wedded husband?” Alfred asked, and Wally’s hands quickly went to his pockets, his face quickly falling.
“Ah, sh–”
“I got ‘em!” Bart called, a ripple of air went through the crowd, with a few people making noises of protest. Wally grinned at his cousin, and held up one golden ring.
Dick rolled his eyes, but was still grinning as Wally took his hand, and slipped the ring on.
“I do.” He said, looking for all the world like the happiest guy on Earth.
“Dick Grayson, do you take Wally West to be–”
“I do!” Dick said quickly, taking the ring from Wally’s hand, and slipping it onto Wally’s hand.
Alfred smiled, and said, “You may now kiss the groom.”
Dick launched forward and grabbed Wally by the front of his slightly ruined suit jacket, and pulled him into a kiss. Almost immediately, Lian found her eyes covered by her dad’s hand.
“Hey!” she protested. “I’m fourteen, not four, you weirdo!”
There was a ripple of laughter through the cheering, and everything seemed a little more okay again.
A hot shower, a pair of pyjamas (well, it was really just an old shirt of Jason’s and a pair of Damian’s sweatpants that fit her) and a small meal of water and granola bars (she hadn’t been able to stomach much else, but Alfred had insisted she try and eat something) Lian walked into the living room to see… a deconstructed blanket fort, really.
“You’re not serious.” Lian said in disbelief, looking at the small sea of mattresses and blankets that lined the living room floor.
“Oh, this is serious.” Damian said, frowning a little at Jon, who was cheerfully bouncing up and down on one mattress, and floating a little higher each time. Lian did have to fight down a giggle or two when he spun slowly in the air, like there was no gravity. “You’d be shocked at the amount of times we’ve created a small den in here. As ridiculous as it is, it does… help, to sleep with others nearby.”
Jon fell from the air – and for a horrible second Lian was back in that damn church, hiding under the altar and with Jon and broken glass falling down from everywhere and nowhere, and then she blinked, and she was back – and onto the mattress, gasping dramatically.
“What’s this? The great Damian Wayne–”
“Shut up.”
“–admitting that he likes something?”
Damian glared half-heartedly at Jon, who was grinning widely. Lian pushed that weird moment to the back of her mind, and laughed.
“I admit I like a great many things, thank you very much.” Damian snapped, but there was no real venom behind it. “I enjoy the company of Titus and Alfred. The cat.”
“That doesn’t count!” Lian protested, settling down on the couch next to him. “Everyone likes your pets.”
“She’s got a point, Batboy.” Jon said, sat cross-legged in mid-air and bobbing up and down slightly. Lian didn’t think that was really on purpose, sort of like how no one stood perfectly still even when they were just standing there.
Damian rolled his eyes. “I don’t see why you both act as if I never admit enjoying anything.”
“Because you don’t.” Lian and Jon chorused, completely on accident. They locked eyes for a moment, before dissolving into laughter, whilst Damian made some sort of offended spluttering noise.
“I do.” He protested.
“Name one thing that isn’t your pets, or being Robin.” Jon suggested.
“Or related to being Robin.” Lian quickly added.
Damian gave them both a flat look, before raising his hand, and checking with his fingers. “Art, gymnastics, video games, skateboarding…”
“Hanging out with us?” Jon guessed, tilting his head and leaning forward, grin wide and mischievous.
“No, I enjoy the company of those who don’t insult me.” He snapped, but there was a smile under there anyway. Lian laughed, closing her eyes as she did so and – and she was back in the warehouse, swore she could hear the steady digital ticking from the bomb –
Her eyes shot open, and she scrubbed at them with the heels of her hands.
“Lian? You good?” she wasn’t even sure who asked, but she nodded, and faked a yawn, which quickly became kinda real.
“Yeah, m’fine.” She lied. “Just tired, y’know? Think I’ll… call it a night.”
They didn’t question it, simply bade her goodnight as she crawled into a nearby mattress, next to the larger one Jason was passed out on. She laid there, for a while. Not really trying to sleep, or even closing her eyes. Just… lying there.
One by one, everyone’s voices got quieter, there was sighing, the sound of fabric moving, and eventually, near silence. Save for everyone’s breathing and soft snoring.
She probably wasn’t the last one awake. But it still felt like it. But she was safe, and warm, and Jason and her dad were right there if she needed anyone. There was a kitchen not too far away with water and food, and she was in a borrowed shirt and sweatpants which were warm and comfy.
She was safe. She still ached, and if she payed too much attention to her heartrate, she certainly wouldn’t feel it anymore, but she was. And that was good.
Lian let her eyes close, and tried to relax. After all, it’d been a long day. She needed the sleep.
And if the universe would be so kind as to give her a break, well, she wouldn’t exactly say no.