It's Getting Better . . . Right?

It's getting better . . . right?

A (very) brief look into how Damian’s life with the League was.

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Ao3 // Wattpad

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I'm confused (Part 3)

Damian wanted to spend the whole afternoon in the shower. He wanted to forget everything.

He needed a break.

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions for him. Everything was so confusing.

It was too much.

Although his brothers were becoming more tolerant towards him. It still felt forced.

And to make it worse, things were only getting worse at school.

Today was a good example of that.

His peers usually ridiculed him in private. Somewhere they couldn’t get caught.

They’ve never mocked him in such a public space before. Especially not a public space where adults could return at any time.

It was different.

Damian hates how he allows his mind to wonder how the outcome might’ve been different. If the librarian walked in on what they were doing to Damian, would she have tried to stop it?

Or would she just turn a blind eye?

He hoped that it wasn’t the latter. The librarian was one of the only adults in the facility that Damian could somewhat tolerate.

Out of nowhere, he felt the water become hotter and cursed.

It felt like he was back in the League and they were throwing lava at him again. He was supposed to learn two lessons during that exercise.

One: Learn how to withstand the heat.

If Damian could survive being pelted with lava, he could survive or at least tolerate any high temperature.

And if he got gravely injured or didn’t survive during the lesson? Well, there’s a reason that they had the Lazarus pit.

Any burns or scars that Damian had would dissolve. As if they never existed. It was the one thing he liked about the pit.

Without it, Damian’s whole body would be littered with scars. From the intense training sessions, he’s gone through to the punishments that he has suffered from. Scars were something that he was accustomed to.

Two: Learn how to dodge

If he didn’t want his skin to burnt because of the lava, then he better evade the numerous attacks. It didn’t matter if Damian got hit: there was a sequence on how they launched it. And they wouldn’t stop until all the gallons of lava were empty.

All the injuries that Damian received during that training session might’ve brought him a lot of pain, but it worked.

In the end, Damian believes that the torment that he had gone through was worth it because he had acquired something from it.

He could only hope that it would be the same here.

—————————————————————

Getting out of the shower was harder than Damian thought it would be. He had quickly gotten used to the boiling drops that crashed onto his skin and instantly accepted the pain.

He deserved it after all.

After a few minutes of staring at his sunken reflection, he forced himself to go back to his room.

He didn’t expect to see his siblings lounging around like they owned the place.

Damian hesitated, not knowing what to do.

“Do you guys require my assistance?”

All three heads immediately turned towards him and Grayson’s smile brightened.

“Hey baby-bat.” he greeted, “Any plans today?”

Why do they keep asking that? What do they want from me?

Damian slowly nodded, “Actually,” he lied. “I do.”

The dark-headed trio glanced at each other and Todd raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure?”

No

“Yes.”

He wants to stay home.

“So you aren’t lying?”

He is.

Damian forced a scowl on his face, “No, I’m not.”

The older bat kept pushing, “Are you positive?”

Damian kept a straight face, trying not to let his annoyance show. “Definitely,” he walked forward avoiding the spots where his brothers resided, and crossed his arms. “You guys can leave now.”

Drake walked towards him and Damian had to force himself not to flinch.

Please don’t punish me. I didn’t do anything wrong.

“So you wouldn’t mind telling us what your plans are?”

Damian raised an eyebrow, “I don’t need to tell you anything. It’s none of your business.”

Why can’t they just leave me alone?

“We just want to get to know you better, baby-bat.” Grayson gently assured. “You’ve been here for around a year and we barely know you.”

Damian tutted, “And who’s fault is that exactly?”

His. It was his fault.

Damian knew that it was his fault that no one wanted to get to know him. He was the unwanted one. The one no one expected.

He was an Al Ghul.

A murderer.

He has so much blood in between his fingers and he hasn’t even reached the age of eighteen.

Drake scoffed, “You didn’t exactly make it easy for us to get to know you.”

Of course, he’s right. Drake is always right.

“And am I supposed to care about that?” Damian retorted, “I don’t need plebeians like you to understand me. People like you aren’t-”

“Damian.” Grayson’s stern voice cut through the room like a whip. “Enough.”

“But he was- I didn’t-“ Damian’s voice sounded pitiful in his ears. “Drake was the one who started it.”

The teen scowled at him, narrowing his eyes at Damian. “Why am I not surprised that you’re shifting the blame to me?”

“I’m not shifting the blame towards anyone!” Damian screamed in frustration, trying to get his brothers to understand. “I'm telling the truth!”

The emotions that trashed inside of him for weeks have finally begun to still. As if even they’ve grown tired of trying to figure everything out.

Nothing made sense anymore.

One moment, his brother would act like how his mother would describe a family. Caring, loyal, and loving.

Then the next, they would remind Damian of how the League treated him. Cold, worthless, and unworthy.

Weren’t they supposed to be the good guys?

“What’s going on here?”

Damian turned and saw his father’s muscular frame towering over the door. The tone of his voice was calm, but Damian could see how his blue eyes seemed to rage, demanding for answers.

Damian forced his face to become neutral as he tried to explain the situation. “Father, I was ju-”

“You know, the usual.” Drake interrupted him, “The demon child acting like a brat, throwing his weight around like he owns the place.”

“I was not-”

“Damian.” his father’s voice was coated in the familiar intonation that Damian could never recognize. Was it disgust? Annoyance? Anger? A mix of all? “We’ve talked about this.”

No, they haven’t.

His father barely acknowledged Damian unless he was reporting a mission, or if he did something wrong. Sadly, it was mostly the latter.

If it wasn’t for all the training that Damian’s received, he would’ve flinched from the way his father looked at him. His gaze was filled with disgust. As if Damian was nothing but a piece of gum stuck in his shoe that he couldn’t remove.

As if he was a burden.

But isn’t that what he was?

His father gave him a final glance, “I’m benching you from being Robin until we get this attitude of yours under control.”

He heard someone mutter an “If that’s even possible.”

When Damian heard his father’s footsteps become inaudible, he forced his head up.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Grayson dragging Drake out of Damian’s room. When their eyes met, the oldest Wayne only sighed before shaking his head at Damian.

He knew Grayson well enough to know what his I-am-very-disappointed-in-you looked like.

“You should apologize.”

“What?”

“Apologize,” Todd slowly repeated, as if he was talking to a child. “You should apologize to Tim.”

“Why would I need to apologize for something that wasn’t my fault.”

Todd shut his eyes and clenched his fists before walking past Damian, muttering to himself.

“I knew we shouldn’t-”

“-bothered to try.”

“-deserved everything that happened-”

That was the last thing Damian heard before he heard his door slam shut.

Suddenly, the events of the night have finally plummeted itself towards Damian’s head.

No more Robin.

Damian felt his chest tighten and his heart seemed to race at speeds that could rival the Flash. Everything around began to spin and he couldn’t help but let out a small, frightened breath.

What was wrong with him?

His feet seemed to tremble and he fell on the floor. The room began to heat up.

The sun was against him. It was like all it wanted to do was burn Damian’s skin until there was nothing left.

Was he sweating?

Damian was definitely sweating. Why was he sweating? It’s the middle of Winter.

He couldn’t breathe.

Is he going to die?

He didn’t even get a chance to prove himself to his father.

Though, his mind couldn’t help but contemplate the possible scenarios of when they find him in the middle of his room, dead.

Would his father cry? Or would he just be relieved? Relieved at the fact that he didn’t have to watch over Damian anymore. Would they be happy that the Wayne family was finally back to being normal? Now that the smudge of brown was gone from their picture-perfect portrait.

“Calm down.” He heard a calming voice mutter, “Deep breaths.”

“Ummi?” Damian’s voice sounded muffled as his vision began to fade into the darkness, “Are you taking me home?”

A silhouette bent down to give Damian an embrace.

He didn’t feel anything but he still heard his ummi’s voice. “Deep breaths,” she repeated.

Damian forced himself to focus on the light as he followed the instructions. He couldn’t fail his ummi. She was the only one who ever loved him for him.

In

Out

His head began to ease up. The pain was slowly going away.

In

Out

He could feel his legs, it no longer felt like a mountain was on top of them.

In

Out

His vision slowly cleared up. He could see shapes begin to form as the light steadily took over the darkness.

He was going to be okay.

“Ummi?” his voice cracked.

There wasn’t anyone there.

He felt tears form on the corner of his eyes, but he refused to let them fall.

If he cried, it meant that Damian was weak. That he was useless. And he wasn’t.

Right?

His brothers probably hate him again because of his stupid little outburst. He was so stupid.

His father banned him from being Robin, so he probably won’t be able to see his teammates for the time being.

Why couldn’t he just keep his mouth shut?

He was all alone again.

He didn’t have enough energy to move to his bed, so he hugged his knees closer to his chest as he tried his hardest to keep his tears at bay.

Everything was back to normal.

Note:

(Damian’s emotions have been building up for quite a while now. He’s confused and frustrated. A dangerous combination for someone who wasn’t allowed to express how he felt throughout the beginning of his life.

And from my experience, it’s the smallest things that just make a person break. So when Damian was blamed for something that wasn’t his fault, he just lashed out.

Sorry for the lack of updates from the past two weeks. School sucks. It’s like my teachers barely give me any work throughout the school year just so they could dump everything in May.

Hopefully, this chapter didn’t disappoint you guys too badly. And if it did, give me some nice constructive criticism in the comments. I love reading them, no matter how harsh.)

oh my god, it looks amazing. thank you so much!!!

inspired by XY's Muse by @xjaccyx

XY’s Muse

The plan is finally in action

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Ao3 // Wattpad

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Chapter 14

The plan was a bit far-fetched, even by Ladybug’s standards. It was sloppy and rushed but she hoped that it would work.

If not, then everything good that’s been happening to her for the past few weeks might just crumple beneath her fingers once again.

And she refused to have that happen.  

Her talk with Alya calmed her nerves for a little but now they were back in full swing. It was as if someone poured a bucket of ice-cold water on her in the middle of winter.

Ladybug shut her eyes, counting to ten as she did the breathing exercises Master Fu taught her.

She unclenched her fists and forced her whole body to relax. She’s got this.

If she can face akumas ten times her size alone then she can face Chat Noir.

Right?

She shook her head, “Stop it Marinette.” she scolded herself, “Those types of thoughts will only set you back. Remember what Xavier told you?”

Ladybug felt the corners of her mouth twitch at the mention of the musician. “You got this,” she whispered once again. “You’re gonna defeat Chat Noir and then you’ll defeat Hawk Moth and then you’ll finally tell Xavier that you’re ready to date and then you’ll punch Lila in the face.”

She grabbed the picnic basket, clenching on it tightly as she took one more breath in.

“You got this.”

Throwing her yoyo at the closest building, she began to swing and make her way towards the Eiffel Tower. The same tower where she knows that a certain cat would be waiting for her.

She felt the wind blowing in her face but instead of the exciting rush it used to give her, it only made the knot in her stomach continue to tighten.

It only took her a few minutes to reach the top of the tower.

Ladybug took in her final deep breath. She wished that it took longer.

“M’lady.” a voice said behind her, “I knew you would come to your senses.”

Ladybug didn’t have to turn around for her to know that Chat was smirking. She shut her eyes for a few seconds before gathering up enough courage to turn around.

Chat Noir licked his lips the moment her eyes met his and the way he was looking at her made Ladybug feel like she was nothing but an object to him. An object that belonged to him.

Where did everything go wrong?

Chat Noir, the one person in the world that she thought she could trust with everything, was nothing but a monster deep down. He was worse than Hawk Moth could ever be.

With Hawkmoth, at least she knew that he was a villain. She knew what he wanted and the lengths that he would go to get it.

But with Chat, Ladybug didn’t know.

He was manipulative. He would make you feel special with his words in order to sink his claws into your brain, hoping that with enough flattery, he could make you do everything he wanted.

He was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Chat Noir walked closer towards her, each step purposely louder than the last.

His eyes stared at her deeply. As if she was a snack that he couldn’t wait to eat.

She forced a smile onto her face, “Hey, kitty.”

“Hey, bugaboo.” Chat cupped her face, tracing her jawline with his claws.

Ladybug froze and this time she couldn’t hold back her shudder. She saw Chat smirk and he pressed his fingernails even harder against her skin. If he pushed it an inch deeper, he would draw blood.

She could see the threat for what it was. One wrong move and he could tear her skin open.

Ladybug let him have this ‘victory’ for a few more seconds before leaning away, gently taking her hands off her face. “Let’s eat first, shall we, Chaton?”

She purposely made her voice lower, more seductive, when she said the last word. She needed his guard to be lowered.

“Whatever you want, m’lady.” Chat smirked and for a few seconds, she felt her heart stop.

That was the same smirk he used whenever he told a bad pun. The same smirk he gave her whenever they outsmarted the akuma. The same smirk that used to give her comfort now made her feel like ants were crawling all over her body.

She felt his cold hand tightly gripping her wrist.

It was a warning and a reminder.

She gave him the brightest smile she could muster, “Lead the way.”

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That's right. I uploaded twice in a month.

You guys better be proud.

Like always, please comment your thoughts, suggestions, and feedback. And if you see any mistakes, please tell me. I don't have a beta reader so that'll make my life a lot easier.

I'll do anything for you

(A female Jason Todd fanfic)

Jayla knew what the other vigilantes thought of her. In their eyes, she was nothing but a reckless, impulsive, murderer who they only kept around because she was a valuable ally.

A valuable soldier.

And even though it hurts her to know that her family will never love her unless she quits her current lifestyle, she’ll do anything for them. No matter the price.

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Ao3 // Wattpad

next

The Price You Have To Pay

Lex Luthor was a man with many enemies. And because of that, his private office was a highly secured facility.

You’d have to pass dozens of security protocols before you could even step foot in the building.

But considering the fact that his security team caught a little bird with his wannabe team of superheroes sneaking around, he suspected that he would be getting a visitor soon.

A hot vigilante with dark hair that also contained a stubborn streak of white, perhaps.

He could hear small footsteps getting louder.

Lex leaned forward just as the door swung open. Red Hood walked in like she owned the place.

He eyed her up and down, trying to hide the smirk that was beginning to form as he felt the tension between them steadily rise.

“You know that ignoring the dress code isn’t really a good way to start our negotiations.” Lex drawled, impatiently tapping his fingers against his desk.

Red removed her helmet before raising a perfectly arched eyebrow, “I wasn’t about to walk into your building half-naked.”

“Good thing that no one’s here to see you then.”

Red’s plump lips formed a pretty scowl, “Lex.”

“Hood.”

Lex didn’t know how long they stared at each other before Red gave in, shutting her eyes as she allowed a seductive smile to grace upon her face.

This time, Lex couldn’t hold back his grin. “You know what to do.”

She didn’t protest as she slowly took off her clothes, leaving her with only a pair of matching dark red lingerie.

No matter how many times he saw her like this, Lex still felt like he forgot how to breathe.

The heroes might hate her, but even they won’t be able to deny the fact that her beauty is unmatched. One could even go as far and say that her looks pass Wonder Woman's.

She was absolutely breathtaking.

“Are you done staring at me?” The amusement laced in her voice brought him out of his trance.

A predatory glint appeared in his eyes, “For now.”

Red leaned forward. “What do you want, Lex?” Her voice was soft as her lip curled upwards.

Without even thinking, he grabbed her hips. Dragging her entire body towards the older man so that she was straddling him. “Now we can talk.”

Even though her domino mask was still on, Lex knew her well enough to know that she was rolling her eyes. “Perv,” she couldn’t help but laugh out as she shifted to a more comfortable position.

“I’m more of an opportunist than a pervert, darling. I mean, no one with a brain could ever resist this sight?” He slapped her ass before giving her a mocking smile. “One day, I’m going to wreck your body with all the other suitors you have until the only thing you’ll remember is how good it feels to be under our control.”

The vigilante let out a surprised breath of air, “As fun as that sounds, it probably won’t happen.” He felt her calloused, yet still, somehow soft fingers trail over his chest, “Considering my expertise, you should know how expensive I can be.”

He squeezed her ass, “Then I guess it’s a good thing that we’re some of the richest people in the world.”

She ignored his last remark, “What do you want, Lex.”

“Come on, Red.” he groaned in annoyance, “It was just starting to become fun.”

She shot him an irritated look, “Sorry,” she said, not sounding apologetic at all, “But I’m in a bit of a time crunch right now.”

Lex sighed, for once letting it go. He knows how much of a rough time she’s been having with her other coworkers.

He swears that superheroes are never satisfied.

“What do you want,” she repeated. This time, he could hear a bit of impatience leaking in her voice.

“This one shouldn’t be as difficult as the other agreements we’ve had over the past few months,”

“Just say it,” Red interrupted.

“In a few weeks, there’s going to be a convention in Dubai. And we all know how dangerous these meetings can be sometimes.”

“If by dangerous, do you mean boring?” Red’s voice cut in as rested her head on his shoulder. “You just need someone to entertain you.” she teasingly accused.

“You caught me.” he said dryly, “This convention is going to last at least a week, so prepare your excuse or something.”

Red leaned away from him, “Excuse for what? No one will even notice that I’m gone.” she waved off, “Unless there’s a mission that the bats can’t solve, of course. But even then, it barely ever happens, so I’ll be fine.”

For some reason, hearing those words come out of her mouth made his jaw clench. “Yet every time a hero is in a situation where they won’t be able to win, you still try your hardest to bargain for their life.” He scoffed, “Even though they can’t even bother to treat you decently.”

Red refused to meet his eyes as she clenched her fists. “It’s not their fault. You know that they can’t trust me after what I’ve done.”

“But you haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I tried to kill-“

Lex let out a harsh laugh, “If you wanted to kill them, you would’ve.”

Red flushed, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He raised an eyebrow as he tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “Really? Cause I know about all the training you went through with the League of Assassins. You were holding back. You tried to keep the madness of the pit at bay.” she still refused to meet his gaze, her eyes stubbornly staying on the floor. “And because they’re all well- alive, you succeeded.”

Red shifted, her ass grinding against his cock. She leaned forward and he felt her lips brush against his neck, “Stop talking.” she softly muttered.

Lex gently pushed her away, he was not done talking about this subject. “Do they know?” he questioned. “Do they know that if you wanted them dead, they would be? Do they know-“

She gripped his shirt, “Stop.”

He ignored her, she needed to hear this. “With how badly they treat you, one would wonder why you go to such extreme lengths to help them. They don’t even care about you. They’re only-“

“Please.” Red’s voice wavered, filled with insecurity. Her hands were still tightly clenching onto his shirt. “Just- just stop.” she pleaded.

Lex froze, finally realizing just how much his words affected her. His face immediately softened. He hadn’t wanted to hurt her. He just wanted to show her that they weren’t worth her time.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. He carefully lifted her chin so that his eyes would meet hers. “What I said was uncalled for. I should’ve phrased it better.”

She gave him a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, “It’s fine.” Lex didn’t know who she was trying to convince, him or her. “You aren’t exactly wrong.”

“No, it isn’t fine. I really am sorry, my little agnar.” He ignored how her whole face seemed to turn red at the nickname, “I shouldn’t have been so-“ he searched his head for the right word. “-inconsiderate about your feelings.”

Red only nodded, “Is there anything else you need for the release of my brother and his team?”

“I’ll also need you to pay for all the damage they caused,” he admitted.

“Again?” When he nodded, she only sighed and got off his lap. “Okay, I’ll send you the money soon.”

“Do try and get these heroes in line, Red. Some people have plans, and it’ll be so much easier to complete them when a group of teenagers playing superheroes aren’t around to mess it up.”

Red only gave him a smirk, her small breakdown already forgotten. “You know that I can’t do that. If you have any complaints, you can always report it to the Justice League.”

“As if they’d actually do something about it.”

Red laughed, “You aren’t wrong. They preach about saving the world, yet they ignore all the damages they’ve inflicted when they do just that.”

“Since you’re in a bit of a time crunch, I think I might just let you go now.” He licked his lips as he gave her body another attentive glance, “Just a warning though, our next meeting will probably be more intense than this one.”

She gave him a mischievous look, “Is that a promise?”

“You know it.”

She gave him a final smile before bending down to grab her clothes, then walking away as her hips slowly swayed from side to side.

She didn’t even bother to put them on.

Even though he could no longer see her face, he knew that she was smirking. The vigilante was aware of his body’s reaction towards hers.

Lex dropped onto his chair, moving to try and hide his erection before his eyes started drifting towards the office camera.

He couldn’t hold back a grin as a plan started to form in his head.

If there was one thing that Lex was sure of- it was that the bats were naturally suspicious. If the little bird and his team were suddenly free and were able to escape his building without much trouble, they would start to become skeptical.

He wasn’t known for being intelligent for nothing.

Lex would prove to Red that she deserved better.

She doesn’t owe those heroes anything.

Despite everything that she’s done for them, they still tore out the feathers of her damaged wings until she could no longer fly.

Lex could forget Superman for a while. This was a more crucial matter.

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Translation: agnar - warrior

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So what do you guys think? Should I continue this or should I just leave it here? Feel free to comment your thoughts, along with any criticism or suggestions you have. I love to read them!

XY’s Muse

The date is finally here

uploaded on 04/10/21

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Ao3 // Wattpad

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Chapter 10

Waiting for Marinette in front of her parents’ bakery made XY feel nervous. He felt like a thousand red ants were crawling all over him and they were ready to bite him as soon as he messed something up.

He shook that thought out of his head. He was not going to mess this up. He did not have a breakdown over this date for nothing.

I got this, he repeated in his head, I got this

I will not mess this up.

I am XY, one of the most popular musicians in all of France. A small date with a gorgeous girl should not make me this nervous.

I got this.

I got this.

I got th-

XY gulped. He does not “got this”.

In front of him was Marinette in all her glory. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. Marinette was wearing an off-shoulder black and white polka-dot dress that went just right above her knees. Her hair was down and wavy. She looked like Aphrodite in disguise.

“Woah” he managed to say, “You look great.”

“Thank you.” Marinette gave him a soft, pretty smile. “You look amazing as well.”

“Did you make that dress yourself?” He couldn’t help but ask curiously.

She gave him a shy nod, “Yeah. I did. A small friend of mine actually helped me pick this.” Her dark blue eyes twinkled with delight, “I was really nervous that you would think that I looked bad.”

He stared at her in shock. “You could never look bad in anything.” He sincerely said, before smirking at her red face. XY liked it when he made the pretty dark-haired girl blush. “After all, you’re the only person I know who can pull off pigtails.”

Marinette pouted, making XY’s heartbeat beat a little faster. How can someone be this adorable? She playfully hit his arm. “So, where are we going today? Xavier.”

He turned away from her so that she couldn’t see his face heating up. She knew the effect she has on him and the way she says his name proves it. But XY knew he had the same effect on her. The blush that was on her face a few minutes ago proved it. He narrowed his eyes and smirked, their blue eyes meeting. Two can play at that game. “Follow me, princess.”

He gently grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the bakery, not bothering to look at her face. From the random noises she was making, he knew that she was flustered. It was one of his favorite traits about her.

XY ignored the people staring at them. He would normally be annoyed but this time he understood why they were all staring. Marinette looked absolutely breathtaking. He honestly didn’t know whether to smack the boys in her class or thank them.

How could anyone let a beauty like her stay single? He mentally scoffed, I guess Adrien isn’t the only blind person at that school.

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Whenever Marinette was nervous or flustered, she couldn’t form words correctly. It was like there were a million things that she wanted to say but she couldn’t bring herself to say it. It made her jumble up her words, making the things that came out of her mouth as ‘nonsense.’

She didn't know whether she felt relieved or annoyed when Xavier let go of her arm. Marinette was glad that she could get her mind to calm down so that she could speak properly but she missed the feeling of his hand on her body. It made her feel warm. It made her feel safe.

“So,” she heard Xavier ask nervously. “What do you think?”

Marinette was confused. “What do you me-” She glanced at their surroundings and it was like she forgot how to speak. It was beautiful. “Woah. This is- Woah.”

Xavier let out a small laugh that made Marinette’s stomach fill up with butterflies. “I’m guessing you like it?”

Marinette nodded in excitement. “I love it!”

Xavier led Marinette to a beautiful garden. There was a small stream flowing through the side and there were bushes covered with roses. White butterflies were flying around and landed on the flowers. It was absolutely breathtaking.

“I’m glad you like it.” he sheepishly said. “After everything you told me about the drama that you’ve had to deal with, I felt like you needed a peaceful getaway.”

Marinette’s face started to heat up. “You didn’t have to do all of this, you know. A simple movie date would’ve been fine.”

He sent her a bright smile that would have made any girl's knees buckle, “I know.” he said. “But I wanted to. You deserve nothing but the best after all.”

He held out his hand and she gladly took it. Xavier led her to a casual red and white checkered picnic blanket with a basket in the middle.

The date hasn’t even started and Marinette already wanted to kiss him.

Instead, she looked around. Noticing the lack of people, she couldn’t help but ask “Where is everyone? A beautiful place like this should have more than two people in it.”

“Oh, yeah,” Xavier said casually. “I paid the owners of this garden to make sure that no unwelcome guests arrive.”  

Marinette wasn’t sure whether she wanted to hit him for wasting his money on her or hug him because it’s the sweetest thing that anyone’s ever done for her. So, she let out a small “Oh.” instead.

That caused her date to pause. “Is it too much?”

“No!” Marinette panicked, not wanting him to think that she hated it. “It’s perfect. I just wish you didn’t spend this much money on this date.”

“Oh,” Xavier said in realization. “If it helps, maybe you could think of it as me not wanting the paparazzi to interrupt my date with a beautiful girl.” He patted on the empty space next to him. “Now come on. If we wait any longer, then the food will get cold.”

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XY had no idea how long his date with Marinette lasted. In his opinion, it wasn’t long enough. He could spend all day listening to her ramble about anything.

He liked her so much. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt like this. It was like he could fly and touch the clouds. There was something about Marinette that just pulled him towards her. He felt like they instantly clicked.

He was walking Marinette home and he couldn’t help but notice the way she glowed underneath the moonlight. She was absolutely breathtaking.

He loved how they could never run out of anything to talk about. It was a breath of fresh air from the usual arguments XY always got himself into.

Whenever he was around her, he felt at balance. He didn’t know how to explain it. It was like she was good luck to his bad luck.

Marinette stopped walking and looked at him with her bluebell eyes. “We're here.”

“Yeah,” he muttered, a bit disappointed that he couldn’t spend any more time with her.

“I had a lot of fun today. Can we maybe do it again?”

His eyes suddenly met hers and he grinned. “Yeah!” he said excitedly. “Whenever you're free. I would love to hang out with you again.”

She sent him a bright smile before she leaned forward, kissing his cheek. “Great.” she hurriedly said, her face bright red. “I think I hear my parents calling me. I-better-go!” she rushed inside as XY stayed frozen in shock.

He hesitantly touched the cheek that she kissed. “Best day of my life.” he couldn’t help but whisper.

Deleted scene:

Marinette stared at Tikki, she was about to open her mouth when her kwami interrupted her. “No Marinette,” Tikki sighed in annoyance. “XY is not Chat Noir.”

“How do you know?”

“Cause I literally know who Chat Noir is.”

“Exactly!” Marinette exclaimed. “You could be lying.”

Tikki glared at Marinette, crossing her tiny arms. “For kwami’s sake, Marinette. You’ve been asking me this ever since your date ended with Prince Charming.” Before Marinette could reply, Tikki yelled. “Just let me eat my cookies in peace!”

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1,353 words

It's getting better . . . right?

Inspired by this fanfic

uploaded on 04/16/21

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Ao3 // Wattpad

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I'm confused (Part 1)

Ever since Damian had that weird experience with his brother’s, it was like everyone’s personality towards him did a whole 180. Like a switch has been flipped.

He suspects that the meta-human they fought had something to do with it.

However, whenever he brought it up, everyone seemed to change the subject. As if they didn’t want Damian to know who they fought or how he got injured.

It was both annoying and suspicious.

His nose crinkled in disgust, he wanted his old teammates back.

Even though he hated how he was treated, at least he knew that their actions towards him weren’t fake.

If anything, he knew that he deserved it.

He ruined everything. He was nothing but a mistake that they couldn’t get rid of.

Everything they did towards him was justified. No matter how much it hurts.

So, why. Why are all of them being so adequate towards him now?

It doesn’t make sense.

“Father,” Damian announced as soon as he stepped foot into the office.

“Damian,” the man acknowledged, glancing down at his son. “Is there something that you need?”

“I was wondering if you could tell me about the mission that the Titans had a few days ago. I believe it happened somewhere around midnight.” he paused before adding, “No one is willing to give me any details about it.”

His father stared at him in puzzlement, “You guys haven’t had a night mission for a while. Are you sure that you even had one?”

Damian nodded, “That’s what everyone told me. Plus, they’ve all been acting weird.” his eyes met his father’s as he seriously said, “I believe that everyone has been hit with some type of mind control meta-human.”

Bruce only raised an eyebrow at his youngest’s declaration. “As far as I know, meta-humans like that haven’t gone near your team. Much less you brothers.”

He mentally sighed.

Of course, he wouldn’t believe Damian. Why should he?

Seeing no reason to continue this conversation, Damian nodded and turned away, walking towards his room. He knew better than to assume that his father would want to spend any more time with him.

After all, he was nothing but a mistake. His father didn’t choose to raise him the way he chose to raise the others. He was forced to by his mother.

That’s the difference between him and his siblings. His father chose them and he didn’t choose Damian.

It might hurt him to admit it but it’s the truth. Bruce will never love Damian the way he loves his other protégés.

As he laid on his bed, he couldn’t help but be confused by the whole ordeal. Everyone told him that there was a mission that happened to take place at night. Yet, his father said that there was no mission.

If there was no mission, then why was everyone acting so weird towards him. Nothing made sense.

Whenever Damian tried to connect the dots on what caused his team’s whole personality change, he got nothing. All he remembered was waking up with a massive headache.

For some reason, Damian missed the feeling of being hurt. He had become used to it. And when his teammates didn’t make the snide, mocking comments they usually made, it felt weird to him.

It made him feel guilty.

He didn’t deserve love. He didn’t deserve anyone caring for him. He didn’t deserve anything.

As he rested his eyes, Damian made a promise to himself.

He will figure out what happened that night, no matter what.

And when he does, he will save them from whatever caused this personality change.

Cause deep down, he knew that they didn’t want him.

“Hey, little bat.” a voice interrupted his thoughts.

He sat up, looking around his room, and noticed that all three of his brothers were standing in front of his door.

“Why are you guys here?” he snapped, not in the mood for their silly little games.

“We just want to hang out with you.” Grayson grinned, “Are we not allowed to do that?”

Damian faltered, wanting to tell them that they never wanted to hang out before, but before he could say anything, Todd spoke up. “So what are your plans for the day?”

Damian narrowed his eyes in suspicion, “Why?”

They looked at each other and stated “Because we want to hang out with you.” as if that answer was obvious.

“And what if I don’t want to hang out with you?” he asked, although it came out harsher than he meant it to.

The way they were acting scared Damian. They were acting like they actually cared about him.

But they didn’t.

After all, How could they ever care about a bratty, selfish, self-absorbed, assassin?

Those were their words, not his.

Not that anyone ever said it to his face. Even they weren’t that low. But he’s heard those exact words come out of a lot of his people’s mouths. Even Grayson’s.

So he didn’t dare bring his hopes up. This was probably another trick so that they could lower his guard and humiliate him.

Those were their favorite things to do to him.

“Look, Damian, we know that we haven’t been the best-“ Drake’s blue eyes met his and he faltered, probably trying to find the right word. “-people when it came to being around you.”

Todd scoffed, “That’s an understatement.”

Drake ignored him, “But we want to try harder now. So will you please just give us a chance?” he pleaded.

Damian believed that this whole ruse of theirs was nothing but a trick. Yet when he saw the sincerity in their eyes, he hesitated.

They care. His heart seemed to whisper. They actually care.

Or, his brain argued. This is just a trick. Drake was always the best actor out of the three of them.

Damian didn’t know which one to agree with.

Plus, there’s no way that they actually care for you. His brain continued. After everything they’ve said, you’re actually going to fall for this? What would your mother say? Meta-human or not, they don’t care about you.

“If I do decide to give you a chance,” Damian tried to negotiate, “Will you guys finally tell me about the mission?”

No matter how much Damian wanted to listen to his heart, his brain had the most logical information. There was no way his brothers would willingly change their attitudes towards him. Meta human or not.

Damian noticed that they glanced at each other again, something they always did when they were hiding something.

“Look Damian,” Grayson slowly said, sitting next to Damian on his bed. “We can’t te-”

“You know, Father mentioned that we didn’t even have a mission.” he suddenly interrupted.

Grayson and the others froze. “He did?”

Damian nodded as he discreetly tried to move away from him. “So, either there was no mission,” the and you guys lied to me was left unsaid, “Or-“

“We snuck out!” The others stared at Todd in disbelief, “What,” he shrugged. “It’s not like he’s gonna tell the bat.”

Grayson suddenly pulled Damian closer to him, “Don’t think I don’t notice you trying to get away from us.”

He missed the way Drake’s lips curled up in a smirk as he moved closer to Damian as well, “Yeah, little bat. Do you not like us or something?”

“Was that not obvious?” Damian retorted, trying to get away from Grayson’s hug. “Let me go!” when Grayson wouldn’t budge, he added a small, “please.”

Todd laughed, “Let the kid go. If he doesn’t want to find out more about the mission, then that’s on him.”

Damian faltered, he really wanted to know about the mission. He was his team’s leader and he was responsible for their safety. He couldn’t fail them again.

“I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever you guys were planning to do.”

Damian noticed how their eyes seemed to light up and he couldn’t help but feel accomplished.

He did something right.

“Great.” Grayson finally let him go, “Today is actually the day where we relax and just bond. Tim had this ide-“

Damian wasn’t paying attention to the older kid’s babbling. He still couldn’t decide if the turning in his stomach meant that this activity he was doing with his brothers was a good thing or not.

It was weird.

Usually, his instincts were something that Damian could clearly interpret. But lately, it seemed like even they were confused.

Though, he had a feeling that it might have something to do with his memory loss of what happened that day.

He glanced up and noticed that his brother’s backs were facing him. They were walking in front of him and considering the fact that they didn’t give Damian a second glance, he assumed that they were having an intense conversation.

Damian knew that something happened that day and considering how no one would tell him about it. He knew that it was important. And he will stop at nothing to figure out what it was.

Even if he got hurt in the process.

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It turns out that Drake’s definition of “bonding” meant going back to the Titan’s Tower.

Damian did not want to be there with his brothers. He didn’t know how to explain it but he got this feeling of deja vu.

And it was not the good kind.

Damian mentally put that in his box of questions to find answers for.

He found everyone from his team hanging out in front of the TV

It was probably another team bonding experience that he wasn’t invited to.

“What’s up guys,” Grayson greeted as hopped on the couch.

The other followed his lead, leaving Damian alone in front of the door.

He didn’t know what to do.

Should he join them?

No.

He would only ruin the bonding experience.

Instead, Damian retreated into the kitchen. Hoping for some peace and quiet so that he could think.

Damian should’ve expected something like this to happen. Even if he only agreed so that he could get more information about the mission, a small part of him found himself looking forward to spending the day with his brothers.

What was the point of that whole sentimental speech if all they were gonna do was abandon him as soon as they saw his team?

Were they embarrassed to be seen hanging out with Damian?

Probably.

Damian sighed. Since when were they so close with his team anyways? As far as he knew, his brothers refused to be associated with anything that Damian was associated with.

Though, he couldn’t help be saddened at the fact that his own brothers had a closer relationship with his own team than he did.

Damian clenched his fists. It wasn’t fair.

None of this was fair.

He was about to leave when a lonely mug caught his eye. It was plain white and covered with bats.

He’s never seen this mug before, yet something about it just seemed so familiar.

He reached out and grabbed it, studying every inch like it’ll give him the answers he was looking for.

“There you are!” he heard a voice suddenly exclaim, “GUYS, I FOUND DAMIAN!”

The sudden screaming caused Damian to jump and drop the mug.

Fuck.

He messed up. Again.

Damian kneeled down, grabbing the larger pieces of the glass when he froze.

Flashes of Grayson forcing Damian into the tower resurfaced. He saw that Drake and Todd were there as well with everyone else. Todd was sitting there with a mug. The exact one that he just broke.

“Damian,” a hand touched his shoulder and Damian flinched, forcing the hand away.

Realizing what he just did, he muttered a soft apology.

“It’s fine.” Todd waved it off, “But are you okay? You just froze there for a minute.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Damian tried to assure, “I just- I think I remembered something.”

With that simple sentence, it was like the whole room froze.

They warily looked at each other before Emiko hesitantly spoke up. “What did you remember?”

Damian shrugged. “Nothing much. I just-“ he turned to his siblings, “Wait, why didn’t you guys inform me that we were all in the tower during the mission?”

Minutes seemed to pass and no one said anything. It was like everyone was waiting for someone to speak up.

Suddenly, Djinn pulled Damian out of the kitchen. “Come on.” she urged, “Why don’t we watch a movie or something.” leaning in, she whispered. “The atmosphere there was getting way too tense and awkward for my liking.”

Even though Damian knew she didn’t mean to make him feel bad, he still did.

If he just asked them that question in private then all of them wouldn’t be in such a bad mood.

Why did he have to ruin everything?

Damian sent her a fake smile, “You can pick what you wanna watch. I usually don’t waste my time watching foolish things.”

Djinn nodded, used to Damian’s cold demeanor, and picked a movie called ‘Legally Blonde’. “This one is a classic.” she informed him, “It’s a team favorite.”

Due to the fact that Damian was rarely invited to their “team” outings, he didn’t know that. But he didn’t want to ruin the comfortable atmosphere they were in so he only nodded, turning his focus on the huge screen.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t realize that everyone else joined them in the room.

As his eyes got heavier, Damian felt a warm blanket cover his body.

He noticed that Drake was sitting next to him, gesturing for Damian to rest his head on his shoulders.

The smile that Drake sent him when he complied made Damian’s stomach turn.

This happened before, his brain mentioned. And it didn’t turn out good.

Oh really? his heart asked. Then why don’t we remember it?

Because we can’t remember anything that happened! His brain snapped.

You heard what they said before. His heart kindly reminded him, They care. Why can’t we just give them a chance?

His brain seemed to scoff, sure. It sarcastically said, give them a chance. But don’t blame me when you regret it.

Just one chance. his heart firmly stated, ignoring the brain. Don’t we deserve it?

Damian wasn’t aware that he snuggled closer to his brother.

Just one.

For once in his life, Damian decided that maybe it was time for him to listen to his heart.

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